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Painting
12.07.10 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Painting
Jude has discovered paint. He uses bold strokes, and no yellow, pink or red. He prefers blue, green and black and there is no arguing with him. He has a clear vision of what he wants to create and there is no altering his plans, otherwise you will get splattered! During this painting session, Jude painted for a good, solid 40 minutes or so, and even then he wasn’t done. Here is a taste of his work.
Painting #1
Painting #2
And out favorite from our new artist!
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Advent
12.03.10 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Advent
When I was little, December was accompanied by a sound that, to this day, is evocative of those peppermint taffy candies that have a little tree in the center. The sound is of a big jingle bell banging against a door.
The reason is because of the advent calendar that my mom made for each on of us. When I was little, mine was red, about three feet long with green yarn that was used to tie the candy on and had a big bell attached to the bottom. Of course, there were 24 strings for 24 pieces of candy and we got to eat one candy each night after dinner as we counted down to Santa’s arrival. My mom would hang them on the pantry door so each time she would open and close it, the three bells, one for each of us kids, would wack against it, chiming the whole season through. We didn’t buy candy at the Hansen house. Money was tight, candy was a treat, so we just didn’t have it around. I don’t think it really mattered the flavor or kind, just the idea that we got to eat candy EVERY NIGHT all through December was incredibly exciting, and would send us all running to the calendar as soon as the dinner table was cleared!
When I became an adult, my mom decided to pass the advent calendars on to each one of us kids. By that time, they were pretty worn out from so many days of tugging on strings and getting wacked on the door. I salvaged what I could and made a fresh one. The poem part, that my mom typed up on an old fashioned typewriter with red ink is grimy and yellowed, but it is the original from my calendar. The Santa attached on top was found in my grandmother’s things and passed onto me, it seemed a perfect replacement for the accordion tissue paper Santa who had adorned mine for many years.
Now my kids will share a tradition and memory with me. They only have one to share, so two candies are tied to each string these days, and the peppermint taffies were deemed ‘too spicy’ so we have Twix and KitKat instead, but the idea is the same. Perhaps it will be one of those things that they will cast aside someday, but I will have great pleasure throughout the years that remain before me, come December and the bell starts ringing again.
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Caroling
12.02.10 | Permalink | | Comments Off on CarolingHere is Jude singing by the tree. And when I say singing, I mean crooning, “Ooooooohhhhh…..” just like they do on the Charlie Brown’s Christmas, near the end when all the kids gather around the terrible tree that Charlie Brown bought to sing/hum Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
Can you see the similarity? Sweet Boy!
*By the way, Jude is potty training and when he wears anything, he forgets to use the toilet, diaper or no. So usually, as soon as he’s home, he peels off any and all clothes and just runs around naked all the time. We’ll get there! In the meantime, lots and lots of nakie boy in our house!
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Oh Christmas Tree!
12.01.10 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Oh Christmas Tree!In years past, we have been that crazy family who sets up their tree right after Halloween. We LOVE our tree! The light it offers is ambient, the stories that accompany the ornaments are heartening, and the sparkle the tree adds so soon after Daylight Savings gives us an uplift that can’t be found elsewhere. This year, our tree tradition had to wait as we hosted Thanksgiving, so as soon as the smell of turkey had vacated the premises, Bradley was sent out to the garage to retrieve the crates of Christmas decor that will accompany us during these long, dark, winter nights.
This year, everyone had to help ‘fluff’ the tree. I was grateful because usually that unpleasant task falls to me and I come out looking like I went blackberry picking with all the scratches up my arms!
We used to be tried and true ‘real’ tree buyers for years. Then one year we were looking for a tree for DAYS. We couldn’t find one at a farm and were having a hard time with the thought that not only were we killing a perfectly good tree, we (college students at the time) were looking at spending 70.00 on a decoration that we were going to throw out in less than 30 days. So we bought this little number at Fred Meyer that year for a little over 100.00. Since then, she’s been a part of our every Christmas celebration and we don’t have to worry about needles falling off, fires starting, watering or anything, plus we can put it up on November 1st! It’s nice.
This year Gigi was terribly excited to put up the tree. As soon as she got the go ahead, she found the box of ‘her’ ornaments and started hanging them on. Each year we buy an ornament or two for our kids so that when they grow up and leave us they will have a set of ornaments to take with them. Naturally, those special ornaments ALL belong on the tree in the VERY FRONT. No exceptions. And when I would request a move of a large LARGE ornament to a less conspicuous place, my request was met with suspicion. So our tree is full full FULL of many MANY ornaments!
Jude’s ornaments all went in the same spot. He had a few key pieces that he wanted to hang all from one branch: his guitar, robots and rockets are clustered together like cherries hanging from a branch. He returns often to vroom the rockest through the air, strum the guitar and battle the robots against one another. It’s pretty cute, but it remains to be seen whether or not the ornaments will make it through the season.
And finally, the kids in front of the finished tree. Awww! Happiness and peace to you all as we enter this special time of year!
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The Last 2010 Thanksgiving Post!
11.30.10 | Permalink | | Comments Off on The Last 2010 Thanksgiving Post!
The Grown-up Table
The Kid’s Table
The Turkey that wouldn’t finish cooking! It took two additional hours and caused just a bit of stress for my dad, the turkey roasting chef!
Big Brother Bruce
Gingerbread House building and decorating for the kids.
Jude REALLY enjoyed the gingerbread houses – enough that he wouldn’t stop when it was time to eat. “I BUSY!” he told us.
