Goody-Two-Shoes

If the shoe’s fit to eat, eat it.

Snow-How

Reed, for whatever reason, makes the “s” silent when saying words that begin with that letter. Spoon becomes ‘poony, socks are ‘ockies, and snow is ‘no, which is also the sound he made when I asked him if he’d like gloves to go along with his powder-blue snowsuit.

As you can see, the extreme cold biting at his fingers left him ‘uper ‘ad.

Yes, Olivia,..

...there is a Santa Claus.

And yes, Santa, there’s a six-year-old who’s eager for you to receive and read the handwritten letter detailing her good deeds and gift wishes.

Joker Face

The ones from the cutting-room floor of our holiday card project:

Ten Carrot Go

This punny title isn’t worth its weight in gold, but this picture’s worth a thousand laughs. (That container he's pushing down the hallway? His diaper pail.)

Cous and Effect

Whenever Reed and Olivia get together to play with their sole cousin – Quintin’s a cool guy, so I guess he’s also a soul cousin – the fun, smiles, and presents ensue. After Turkey Day hosting duties of their own, Uncle Erick and Aunt Danielle paid us a visit this weekend. It’d been since Easter that we’d seen them, and so it’s been great catching up. To boot, my brother has a job interview on Monday in the city over from ours, which means that if all goes well, we will soon be able to spend more time together beyond the occasional holiday weekend.

Over the Topper

A star is born bound: Olivia affixed the starry topper to the Christmas tree this evening. When decorating the tree, we had to leave the bottom third of it bare because Reed insisted on grabbing all the spherical ornaments within reach. He would place them on the ground as if he were setting up penalty kicks, and yelled “goal” any time he sent one rolling.

Not Thankful for the Thankflu

Three-quarters of the whole lot of us was sick this Tofurkey Day, which meant that we had to cancel our dinner plans with friends. Beni and Olivia were bed- and couch-bound with flu-like symptoms, and Reed’s temperature was at a fevered pitch. My guess is this wave of non-wellness probably had something to do with the Lions being on national television.

House of Pain

The truth hurts, but so does catching the side of your head on a corner. The truth is that the little guy calmed down quickly after the hard knock, especially when we got him looking like his favorite musical artist.

Back to the Featured

(Photo courtesy of Olivia's first-grade teacher)

Last week was Olivia’s turn as her class’s “Featured Friend,” a program her teacher has implemented so that each student is highlighted and celebrated for a whole week at some point during the school year. The kids are given a poster board to create and share a timeline of their lives, and they are encouraged to bring in other materials and persons of significance. Beni and Reed made an appearance early in the week, and I stopped by for an origami demonstration and question-and-answer session that left me as baffled as Sarah Palin after a Katie Couric interview. (Sample questions: What is your second-least favorite color? Can you say something in Chinese? What is your third-most favorite mammal?)

Speaks (at High) Volumes

A glimpse of our mornings, afternoons, evenings, and occasional middle-of-the-nights:

Call of the Wild Child from chris k on Vimeo.

Family Treat

Perhaps they should rename it the Festival of Cookies: Beni took the kids to the annual Festival of Trees fundraiser, where they participated in the annual noshing on festive cookies. When not licking off the frosting, Reed spent most of his time parked in front of the Plinko board.