Christmas Proper

Christmas morning was just a regular morning in our house since Cathy was away. But we went to the cousin's house to celebrate with family in the afternoon. The next morning however,
we were greeted with this image upon waking. Logan was up very early and waited patiently for over an hour for Avery to awaken so we could check out what was lurking behind all that colored paper. Notice the lovely display on the mantel. It is our display of broken ornaments. Someday we'll have greenery and candles, but not for some time I fear!
Avery upon waking.
Logan and Finley playing that morning. Our family gift was flood lights for the yard so that the kids can play outside more easily after dark. With Logan in school all day we struggle with the darkness coming so soon. Now we have portable lights so they can sled, use the trampoline, play basketball, etc with some light. We'll keep it dark sometimes since that can be fun, but now we (oops, I mean they) can play safely too.

Oh yes. Christmas Preparations.

I sort of skipped over the whole holiday, but we did celebrate in our own way. Logan really sang when we went caroling. We made a gingerbread village with a house, tree and people. (All prepackaged this year, but still....)Logan's are on the left, Avery's on the right.
Meryl is still young enough to tolerate this sort of thing!
On Christmas Eve Day the kids and I spent the day at the Children's Musuem in Boston.
We'll need to go back again soon.

We are eating!

Meryl and Finley have decided they are ready for solid food. Which is both exciting (for them) and messy (for me.) Smushed peas with a little spinach juice. Sounds great, no?

Finley is a little peanut but she can pack the food away and handles a sippy cup like a pro.
We take more baths these days!

Chocolate, Pajamas and Body Type

This video was taken 3 1/2 years ago. It is Avery with a knife trying to get into a bag of chocolate chips. She is 21 months old. Note the pajamas.

Meryl is wearing those pajamas! She is 5 months old. Yikes!

If you wonder when I post this stuff- Always when nursing just one babe. I can't even read the paper when they are both eating.

Making a Mountain out of a Molehill

We live in a very flat neighborhood and although the woods has hills, it is all, well, wooded. So we made our own little hill in the yard. Just plywood on a 2X4 frame, but hey- it works! I feel very trailer-trashish (so very un-PC), but my kids are happy and it gets them playing outside for much longer than without it, especially since I seem to spend all my day inside feeding a baby or two and changing diapers. A place where Meryl can sit. She did just fine with the slant.

The whole gang.

Perhaps Avery watches too many sports on tv? Just one mention of icing the ramp and she's dreaming of being number 1.

Logan pulling Meryl.

Bad Hair Day

No matter how I look at it, Meryl just has bad hair.

4 inch long hair in some places. Bald in others.

Sticking up at all crazy angles.

Ben Franklin-like in the back.

Ready for some comb-over action.

It took me awhile to appreciate a bald baby. But bald is beautiful .

A Wintery Day

What a great day. First we attended the annual revelery at church, then we made sugar cookies and went skating at Memorial Park. By the time we were done we had about 4 cookies left uneaten.


Logan and Avery love to be pushed around the ice sitting on the shovel. Finny really liked it too.

We had never skated here before. Although it requires a trip in the car, it might actually be easier than going to our pond which is a solid 10-15 minute walk in the snow (with kids and a stroller.)

Christmas Card Out Takes

4 kids. 1 picture. How hard can that be?