WIP (Weekend In Pictures)

Inside Bag Number 10, on Saturday morning, were some fancy chocolate-coated peppermint marshmallows and a note that said, "Time for hot chocolate."  Perfect timing, because it was nigh upon the annual Leesburg Christmas Parade (excuse me, the Leesburg Christmas and Holiday Parade, as it's now known).  And it was pretty cold outside.

So, we drank hot chocolate and watched the parade.  Here it comes:

There were lots of scout troops marching and passing out candy.  Daphne's school made a float (they were the only school that did...I really love Daphne's school).  Below are the Principal (right) and Assistant Principal carrying the banner:

And here is a happy kid, all full of hot chocolate and with a bag full of candy at her side, giving a wave

to Santa!

Living on the parade route is a really cool thing which I do not take for granted.  I am very thankful that we don't have to drive to it and find parking and all that, and I am glad Daphne will have this in her set of childhood memories.  ('Cause she's probably never going to Disney).  (Just kidding).  (But only sorta).

Saturday afternoon was the Big Princess Birthday Party.  It was a LOT of work but it went very well and the customer seemed pleased.  The little girl LOVED it, but it probably matters more that the mommy did.  But I think we did well for our first gig.  Glad it's over.  I got home just in time to see Santa on his annual trip down our cul-de-sac on the fire truck.  I would have been really sad if I'd missed it.  Thanks to Kev for watching Daphne all day so I could go to work.  She started coming down with a cold that afternoon and is home from school today, still sick.

Yesterday, we all needed a break, so Bag number 11 declared it was Family Day.  I got to pick breakfast (baked oatmeal - yum!),  Daphne got to pick a board game (Wildlife Memory), and Kev got a new Ukulele Christmas music book for Family Band Time, which we had up in the attic.  Here is Daphne as One-Man-Band:

We were also supposed to go pick out an ornament for this year, but skipped it since Daphne was sick.  We did decide to go to a drive-through Nativity last night, though, since you didn't have to leave the car.  We even wore our pajamas.  Which turned out to be a good thing, because Daphne fell asleep in the car before we even entered the scene.  The line of cars was miles long and really really slow.  We left the house at about 7:00, and it was almost 9:30 when we got home.  The church was only five minutes from the house!  So, Daphne, who could actually breathe because she was sitting straight up, fell sound asleep while we were still out on the highway.  Kev would have fallen asleep too, but he was driving so I wouldn't let him.  At last, we made it to see Baby Jesus:

and some camels:

and the rest of the production, which was really nice but maybe not totally worth the wait in line for two hours with a sick, sleeping kid.  I was disappointed that she missed it.  She would have liked it I think.

Today I am going to try to get some things done, like Christmas cards and other little house projects, but I know it won't be easy with Daphne home from school.  That's OK, though.  I guess a little rest, even if it's forced, might be good for me.  Better go check on the sick kid now.  Hope your weekend was good too!

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine

Bag Nine: Make a Snow Globe

Seven and Eight

Bag 7:  Make Your Own Christmas Mug.  Just in case there is eventually hot chocolate.  (Hmm...perhaps some Bag foreshadowing).

And Bag 8 - the most fun so far - Christmas Charades.  Here is Rudolf:

And here is the Heat Miser:

I think these are the same ones she got last year.  She was also Professor Hinkle from Frosty.   I was the Grinch, Buddy the Elf and Cindy-Lou Who.  Thank goodness there are no pictures of that.  Kev was Santa, Frosty, and Charlie Brown.  It is harder than you think to come up with Christmas charades ideas.  But it is a lot of fun to play.

Kev pulled out Daphne's 2nd tooth last night.  She looks pretty funny.

Today, out of nowhere, she asked me if there is such a thing as bacon dot com.  As a matter of fact, it turns out, there is!  Everyone loves bacon.  Who knows where she comes up with these questions, though.

OK.  The couch is calling me...

Six

Number Six:  Ornaments for you to color.

The countdown continues...

Bag Update and Other Goings-On

This blog today is mostly pictures.  I am too far behind to write about the last few days in great detail, so you lucked out and will be spared this time!  Here are the highlights:  Bag 2 was a small stuffed Snoopy (above).  But Friday was more about the tree-lighting, so here are a few pics from our adventure downtown:

That's the Mayor in the red scarf, getting ready for the countdown.  Daphne is ready.  Below is just after the switch was flipped.

Ooooooh.  Aaaaaah.

It was a good night out.  Uncle Jeff and Cousin Curt met us and we ended up going to a new Thai place for dinner.

Saturday morning, we opened Bag 3: Go pick out a toy to donate to Toys for Tots.  So, we walked to the Farmer's Market for eggs, grabbed breakfast at the deli, and then went shopping at Ben Franklin, where Daphne picked out some John Deere tractors for the donation box at the rec center.  In the afternoon, I took the Daisies to the Girl Scout campground for a day of activities like candle-making, soap-making, campfire building, trail marking, and so forth.

The girls were awesome and didn't complain the whole day.  It was fun but exhausting.  I fell asleep on the couch at about 8:00.

Sunday, Bag 4 told us it was time to put up the tree!  We got the new She and Him Christmas CD to make it more festive.  As it turns out, Kev had gotten that for me for Christmas.  D-oh!  Advent Lesson Number 1:  Tell Kev if you get a CD for the bags.

The annual putting on of the angel:

Ta-da!

And finally, last night was Bag 5 and Daphne's half-birthday.  There were cupcakes (featuring the candle she made at the girl scout thing):

And the Advent treat:  Some of those sticky gel things you decorate your windows with.  

Today it is rainy and yucky and I am sleepy.  I had to re-arrange some of the bags due to changes in our holiday schedule.  Advent Lesson Number 2:  You have to be flexible.  And it's not a bad idea to have some back-up treats in case of emergency.  You can always put them in the stocking if they don't get used.

Time to go wait for the school bus.  I'm glad we have nothing planned this afternoon.  We could all use a little break.  Bag 6 coming soon...

The Mayor and Bag One

December started off big.

Daphne and I  spent the first morning of December at Leesburg's brand new Chick Fil A.  It was the grand opening, and there were people who actually camped out overnight to be one of the first 100 customers and receive a year of free sandwiches.  We weren't that hard-core.  We just wanted breakfast.  So we went at about 8:30 after all the craziness had passed.  We WERE there, however, in time for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which our mayor does when any new business opens in the town.  I think it was a pretty cool thing for Daphne to see.  We missed the actual cutting, because she was in the play area, but we went outside and saw the Boy Scouts do a flag-raising ceremony followed by a band playing the National Anthem.  Then they started giving everyone cow stuffed animals, and Daphne decided she wanted to meet the mayor, who I had told her was sorta like the president of Leesburg.  So, I took Daphne over to the Mayor, who is this really really nice lady, and they shook hands.  Daphne told her that we planned to be at the First Friday annual lighting of the town Christmas tree (we go every year - so much fun) and the next thing I knew, the Mayor had recruited Daphne to help her flip the switch that lights the tree!  Imagine how HUGE of a thing this is if you are five.  Daphne is so excited.  She said, "Mom, the whole town is going to cheer for me!"  She thinks she's famous now.

So, after school we decided to take a walk downtown to see the tree (or as it turns out, trees) she will be lighting (above).  Everyone was out decorating their shop windows and things, getting ready for First Friday.  There are some really great things about this sleepy little town at Christmastime.  (There are some not-so-great things too, but we can save that for another blog).  Anyway, tonight's the big night, so we'll see how it goes.  I hope Daphne doesn't trip over the wires, knock down the tree and get booed.  That's what would happen if it was me I reckon.  I'll just stand back and stay out of the way.  I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Last night was also the grand opening of Advent Bag #1.

Bag One's activity was "Write a letter to Santa," which she did on some extra super fancy Christmas paper I bought a while back.  This was a little difficult because it was WAY past bedtime and people were loopy, but she got it done and it will go out in the mail today.

Today we have a short morning business meeting about the Princess party, a visit with Daphne's friend's foster kittens, a trip to the school book fair, lots of catching up on Daisy stuff, laundry and house-cleaning, a First Friday tree-lighting ceremony with the Mayor, a visit with Uncle Jeff and Cousin Curt, and Bag Two.  I will not be cooking today.  And will I ever knit or read books again?!

Happy December!

December Eve

Well, I tried.  My goal was to be completely ready for Christmas by December 1 so that I could coast through the month.  A lofty goal.  Too lofty, as it turns out.  But although I'm not finished, my start is nothing to sneeze at.  The month of December should be pretty easy.

This afternoon, I finished getting the Advent bags ready for the countdown to Christmas, which starts tomorrow.  I really enjoyed doing this last year, and so did Daphne.  Kev mostly enjoyed it, I think, but for him, there can be too much Christmas, and a 24 day countdown is probably pushing it a little.  What I like, though, is that this countdown forces us to stop down at least once every day as a family and do something together to celebrate the season.  Otherwise, we'd probably just go through the usual tired after-dinner routine, which often involves some or all of us being cranky, behaving poorly, collapsing into a crying heap, and/or falling asleep on the couch.  These bags generally seem to promote good will and good behavior.  So, I highly recommend doing this if you have kids in your house.  Or even if you don't!  And if 24 seems like too much, you could always count down the 12 days of Christmas. 

If you want to see what kinds of things were in the bags last year, you can go to the December 2010 archive on the sidebar.  This year will be much of the same.  I'll try to check in each day, though, with a "Bag Report."  So stay tuned for that.

Here is a helpful Thanksgiving tip for you:  If you are in charge of the cheddar biscuits and have to buy a giant thing of buttermilk because the recipe calls for 1/2 cup, don't throw out the rest of the buttermilk.  That's what I usually do.  But this year, I decided to make buttermilk pancakes from scratch, and I am so glad I did.  They were awesome and they made my family happy.  Making pancakes from scratch is only very slightly more difficult than using a mix, so I don't know why people don't do it more often.  I used this recipe and just ignored the part about the molds. Williams-Sonoma never lets me down.

On Sunday, my Daisies went Christmas caroling with the Brownies and Juniors from our school to collect food for a local shelter.  What a great day.  The weather was awesome - in the high 60s - and the kids were so cute.  Everyone had a great time and we collected quite a bit of food.

Then last night at our meeting, the girls received their Girl Scout pins in a short ceremony.  Here they are, singing a little song for the parents.  I wish I had video.  Cute.

Meanwhile, I am still fighting some kind of weird head-cold thing.  I haven't gotten full-blown sick, but I've been feeling pretty crummy for a week now.  Maybe it's the crazy weather.  It has been so warm that the cherry tree out back got confused and started blooming.  But today, a cold front is blowing through and it will probably feel like winter again tomorrow. 

The rest of this week is about making small steps toward finishing Christmas.  Daphne just asked to help decorate.  This should be interesting.

Another quick tip:  If you happen to get superglue on your fingers while decorating your home for Christmas, pure acetone nail polish remover will get it off.

See you tomorrow for Bag Number One!

Thanksgiving

 I like Thanksgiving.  Great food, visitors from out of town, naps.  This year, I was once again in charge of cheddar biscuits, sweet potatoes (thank you, Suzanne), and a dessert (the apple crisp of course).  I've been fighting a little head cold all week, but it didn't stop me from enjoying all the food.  (Last year, I was REALLY sick on Thanksgiving and couldn't taste anything.)  And it was great to see my aunts. 

Here's everyone at the table with plates of food waiting to be eaten:

It took about 15 minutes to eat.  Best meal of the year.

Wednesday night, we went out to celebrate Daphne's good report card.  She picked the gas station Thai place for dinner, and then we saw the new Muppet Movie.  It is awesome.  Really really good.  At one point, during a hilarious scene with singing chickens, I laughed out loud for about 2 minutes straight. I never do that at movies.  And the audience clapped at the end of the movie.  That doesn't happen every day.  So, go see it if you can.  You will be glad.

Cider making has begun again at our house.  One of them is giving off a pretty bad smell.  I hope that means the yeast is doing its job in there.

While Kev has been working on cider, I have been working on projects for my new job helping to plan birthday parties.  Our first paying gig has a princess theme.

And Daphne has been working on learning some Christmas songs at piano lessons.  Sometimes Kev joins her on guitar.  It is one of my favorite things to see/hear.

Sunday, the Daisies are going caroling, which should be very cute. 

I hope you all had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and are enjoying the nice long weekend. 

And now, Christmas.  Bring it.

School, Candy, and Rock and Roll

The most recent theme in Daphne's kindergarten class is "turkeys."  They've been talking about turkeys for the last couple of weeks, and Daphne has decided that she loves turkeys.  So much so, that she isn't going to eat one for Thanksgiving.  We had a long discussion in the car the other day about killing animals and eating meat and so forth.  It went something like this:

D:  Mom, it isn't fair to kill the turkeys!  I'm never eating turkey again!

Me:  Well, we need the protein that we get from meat to be healthy.

D:  Why can't they just make meat at a factory instead of killing animals?

Me:  You can't MAKE meat.  It comes from animals.

D.  Well, I don't want to kill any animals.  I'm not eating meat anymore.

Me:  Then you will have to get protein some other way, like by eating lots of eggs.  (She doesn't like eggs)  And that means no more hot dogs, hamburgers, bacon, ham, chicken...

D:  That will be hard.  (Long silence)

She ate some beef at dinner last night without mentioning anything.  I'm not sure how much she understands, but  I know that she feels pretty strongly about the turkeys.  I told her she could just have ham on Thanksgiving if she wants.  She said she was going to demand that nobody else eats turkey either.  I told her she can't do that, but if it would help, I'd skip the turkey too, and just have ham with her.  This seemed to help, and to be honest, I'm not that crazy about turkey anyway.  I feel an inevitable vegetarian phase coming on at some point with this kid. It's only a matter of time.

Yesterday, I got to go to Daphne's school for American Education Week.  The parents were invited into the  classroom to see the typical goings-on, which was good, because it has been hard to get a clear picture of a school day just from Daphne's descriptions.  While I was there, she did an art project  and worked on the computers:

Then, the parents were herded into the cafeteria for a special treat.  The kids all appeared on stage to perform the Turkey Tango  (click picture to enlarge.  Daphne is left of center in green.)   :

There is nothing like a bunch of five-year-olds singing and dancing.  I loved it.  And the kids had a great time.

How could I possibly think of eating a turkey after that?

In Daisy news, the girls in my troop each brought some leftover Halloween candy to be donated to soldiers.  They made some cards to go with it.  Yesterday, I took the candy to a local dentist's office, which was participating in a candy buy-back program, so it could be shipped overseas.  It turns out that they were paying a dollar per pound of candy donated!  I figured we might get some toothbrushes or something, but didn't know there would be cash!  Anyway, we collected 17 pounds of candy, so we earned $17 for our troop.  Maybe we'll have an ice cream party or something with the money to make up for the Halloween candy they gave away.

Last night, I went to Jammin Java in Vienna with Jeff to see the great John Wesley Harding:

He appeared with his latest band, which was made up of him, some Decemberists, a guy named Scott McCaughey from various bands like the Young Fresh Fellows, and Peter Buck, from a little band you may have heard of called REM.  It was a weird show.  I have seen JWH probably more times than any other musical act, several times since the very beginning of his career in the late 80s.  He usually plays alone or with a couple other people in an unplugged setting, so it was strange to see him with a whole big loud band.  He did do an acoustic solo set in the middle of the show, but it was all new songs that no one had ever heard.  In fact, during the whole show, I had only ever heard two of the songs, and that was just because I happened to see them on youtube. Normally, I would be very upset seeing a whole show of songs I don't know, but the band was so great that it didn't matter.

It was weird to be 20 or 30 feet from Peter Buck.  He appeared to be very disinterested in the whole thing, and stood off by himself for most of the show, very still and expressionless.  Every now and then, he'd lean into a chord a little, and there would be a slight hint of stink-face as if he was about to get into it, but then, he'd quickly return to being stoic, as if he suddenly remembered he was playing for about 150 people at a coffee shop in suburban Virginia instead of a stadium full of superfans.  Maybe that's just the way he is, though.  I don't think he'd be doing the tour if he wasn't enjoying it.  He certainly doesn't need the money.  He played mandolin on a couple songs, which was really cool.   And he was wearing a fabulous shirt.

After the show, I got the new JWH release on vinyl, and he signed it for me.  He has aged.  That means I have aged as well.  In fact, the whole crowd was made up of a bunch of really old looking people, who were probably actually about the same age as me.  (Shudder).  I got home at 11:30, and was exhausted.  No more rock shows for a while.

The Christmas train is rolling along at my house.  I feel pretty on top of things at the moment.  It's nice to have my act together for once.  I better get off the computer, though, and do something productive so as not to throw off the groove.

Save the Turkeys!