O Christmas Tree

I love our family Christmas tree. Last year we bought an artificial tree, pre-lit and all, which was fine in our little apartment for people with a teeny little baby who were about to move to a new house. I kicked and screamed about artificial trees--I am not a fan. But we got one and it was fine. This year, however, our house layout made a real tree easier to manage--quick in and out with no carpet to pull needles out of. So it's back to a real tree!

Anyway, over the years, we have chopped down our own tree, gotten a wide and wild one from the Yale School of Forestry, bought from Home Depot and local lots, grocery stores and tree farms. We always manage to get a great looking tree that smells fresh and never stays well-watered. What I love best, however, are the ornaments. When Peter and I were dating, we started a tradition of exchanging ornaments each Christmas. By the time we were married--10 years ago next week!--we had 14 ornaments between us. For our honeymoon we were in New York City for Christmas, but our first year with a tree, we proudly hung the 14 ornaments. We bought cheap plaster ornaments and painted them, along with a piece-by-piece wooden nativity set that we also painted. We had no money but we made it all work!

Even now, every ornament on our tree tells a story. Broke college students, broke newlyweds, new parents x3. Every trip we take we try to find an ornament, so we have a turtle from Oregon, a decorated/painted egg from the Czech Republic, a DisneyWorld Mickey Mouse one, a candle from Maine, a Lincoln Memorial one from DC, a baseball one from Cooperstown, NY. There are ornaments for each child for each year, handmade ornaments from the kids, ornaments with our dogs' names, ornaments we received as gifts.

There is a time and a place for a tree with a theme, with color-coordinated balls and ribbons and perfect symmetry. Our family tree will never be that kind of tree, but it's perfect just the way it is!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Bring on the Christmas events! Last weekend, we went to the Happy Birthday Jesus Party at our church--a lovely reminder of WHY we celebrate in the first place. Peter and I were "in charge" of the 4-and-5-year olds, much to Rebecca's delight. The magician was a big hit, especially when he turned an unsuspecting dove into a chihuahua. Molly's age group had an international-themed dinner party, and she happily recounted that she was wrapped up as a Christmas gift--hot dog style--by the bigger kids and "we won because I was so cute"--whatever that means! No pictures of these events....

Saturday night Peter and I had a night out, our first overnight child-free time since Amelia's birth over a year ago. We saw a play (hilarious, called Altar Boyz), ate dinner at a restaurant without highchairs (Asian fusion tappas, if you must know), listened to live music at a bar, and had dessert at a nice restaurant downtown. Again, no pictures of this event....

Finally, an outing with art: Sunday we headed to the Pink Palace for the Festival of Trees/Enchanted Forest.

Trees are decorated with a theme, sponsored by local businesses. The girls had a three-way tie for favorite--the High School Musical one, the Hannah Montana one, and the cupcakes/candies one. Baby Amelia liked anything she could grab (which was an awful lot).

The Enchanted Forest--with its animated fuzzy creatures, gingerbread village and train sets--was a winner. Molly and Rebecca enjoyed the Scavenger Hunt (find the red mailbox, the elf with a brown beard, the raccoon with a tool box, etc.). Amelia did her trademark point-and-giggle move and liked walking over the confetti snowflakes.

The Enchanted Forest was a hit when I was little--used to be in department store downtown, then later at the gigantic Agricenter, and now at the Pink Palace museum. Last year--my first time to go in many years--the creatures smelled like moth balls and cat pee (did not deter the girls' enjoyment). This year, they clearly had been cleaned up and spruced up.

The whole event culminated in a visit with Santa. Amelia was exhausted and crying, though the photographer did snap one picture with her looking less-than-thrilled but not crying. Rebecca is in her fake smile phase, as you can see, and Molly looks like she is 7-going-on-17 here. Yikes!



Bring on the Winter Wonderland!

17 Girls and Their Fancy Hats

Molly's tea party in honor of her 7th (gulp!) birthday was a great success! Moms dropped their beautifully-dressed daughters off for an afternoon of wide-brimmed-hat-making, vase-painting, playroom-destroying, tiny-cupcake-eating FUN! A few brave adults stayed around as witnesses. Our friends drove up from Jackson, MS, and were a HUGE help in getting ready (I am trying now to convince Paige to be a caterer if teaching doesn't pan out for her.). Molly grinned from ear to ear all afternoon. Who knows how many more years she will let me do little girly things for her/with her, so I relished this event.


with Kas and Rebecca


Jordan and Madison


painting vases and teacups = relative quiet for a few minutes!


receiving the birthday song!


Dad helps with choosing ribbons and flowers for hats


the cookie cake

We Gather Together...

We welcomed a house full of family for Turkey Day! The 5 of us watched the Macy's parade in the morning (favorites included the Rockettes and Hello Kitty). Peter made a scrumptious herb-butter-infused turkey, we made desserts and side dishes, and all the folks who came over contributed to a filling and fulfilling meal. It was a perfect crisp day, so the kids went on a woodsy hike with Nana before dinner and another hike with Nana, Uncle Matt/Dad and Papa after dinner. The playroom and the deck enjoyed lots of squealy girls, and we the adults just enjoyed relaxing, watching football and catching up. Peter's parents were here from Oregon, Matt and Laurie and their beautiful 3 girls came from 2 blocks away, my parents made the trek across Memphis, and my aunt and cousin came from northern MS and Collierville, TN, respectively. So many blessings!

dancing with the Rockettes


cousins!


just the 5 of us


pulling the wishbone--caroline and hallie were victorious!


the girls at the "kids' table"


the grandparents and my girls!


the big people table

The Pilgrim and Her Progress

Rebecca's fabulous Montessori school hosted their Fall Program on Nov 23. We were treated to coifed kids singing about community, early US history, Native Americans, the continents and turkeys running away to avoid death. The parents supplied the potluck lunch--we all outdid ourselves with amazing food as always--and the kids supplied the adorable entertainment. Rebecca has been singing the songs for weeks, and she sang her heart out for the program. She held the poster of Columbus's ships with pride (she plans to name her firstborn daughter Bella Santamaria Nina Pinta Rosa). So proud of our little pilgrim!

One Fine Day at the Memphis Zoo

Who knows how many lovely Saturdays we have left before it's too chilly for outside time? So, we picked up Papa and loaded up for a trek to the Memphis Zoo, one of our favorite family fun places in the city! This was the first time Amelia really noticed the animals--she pointed and giggled, first at the giraffes, then at the zebras, polar bears, pandas and seals. The animals put on a great show for us!

Election Day (aka The Nerd Superbowl)

In the days and weeks leading up to the elections, we talked often to Molly and Rebecca about the process and about the issues pertinent to this year's race. See my blog entry from February 12 to see how I tried to approach the issues for young children. We didn't talk much about African-Americans and women and how historic this year was in terms of the big picture. I focused on reasons why people choose to vote for a particular candidate and, for that matter, why people choose to vote at all. Molly learned in school about electoral votes, the two political parties (including their symbols--her favorite part), the voting process. I wanted to take them with me to vote but ultimately, I am glad I didn't--I voted early and waited in line for 2 hours. The excitement of seeing Mommy vote would have been significantly diminished by the tired, hungry, bored, annoyed feelings that occur after waiting in line when you're 4. I'm lucky to keep them entertained for 20 minutes at the grocery store.

Anyway, the girls knew I supported Barack Obama and they knew my reasons, at least some of them. They have beloved family members on both sides of the aisle, so we were very careful to explain that people make a choice based on what is important to them and that supporting a different candidate is fine as well. We talked about John McCain's service to our country as a soldier and as a Senator. I told them very sincerely that whoever won the election would be our next President and would therefore have my respect and support.

For election night--which we call the "Nerd Superbowl" in our house!--I printed out US maps, labeled with state names and numbers of electoral votes. We had a blue marker and a red marker. As the states were called, Molly colored in the state and made a list of electoral numbers in red and blue columns. By the time they went to bed, only a few states were colored in. I would have let them stay up, but it was a school night and they were both bouncing off the walls by 9:00--which is already past their bedtime.

When they awoke the next morning, Molly's very first question was "WHO WON?" I got a bit teary as I explained how historic this was, explaining in very simple terms what slavery was and about segregation (which they had encountered from watching "Hairspray," but that's another story!). Rebecca looked puzzled. She said she "hadn't even noticed" that Barack Obama's skin was a different color from John McCain's or from her own. This occured to me: With each new generation, we are pushing that prejudice and bigotry further into history, making it a laughable sidenote: "we did WHAT to each other!?" We--and the country--must be doing something right if our daughter didn't notice the color of someone's skin. Maybe it's possible that ALL babies will be born into a world where "you can do anything" is not just lip service. It's real and right in front of us. That is something you can't deny, no matter whom you voted for.