Happy New Year!!

I have been thinking, lately, about how different my new years' celebrations have become over the past few year compared to the years pre-kids. These days, 10pm finds me headed for my jammies and consoling myself that it will still be 2011 when I wake up, even if I am not awake to actually ring it in. Pre-kids, 10pm saw me finishing me make-up (who has time or energy for that anymore?!?!) and heading for the door. Pre-kids dinner on New Years Eve - steak, sauteed mushrooms, a nice glass of wine, most likely at a restaurant that didn't serve french fries. Tonight's menu - tacos and fruit smoothie. Perhaps a bowl of ice cream for desert. Pre-kids celebrations included tons of friends, music, dancing and laughter. Tonight has seen building with new LEGO sets, cuddles and hugs, extra bed time stories.

I would be kidding myself (no pun intended) if I didn't admit to missing the old New Years Celebrations. I miss being able to decide that afternoon where and with whom we were headed out. I miss being able to stay up to the wee hours of the morning, knowing that I can sleep in the next day. I miss being able to go out and not worry how things are going at home. Still, those days were pre-kids. And that would be a loss for too great to contemplate. No little hands reaching out in the night to make sure I am still there, no unsolicited "I love yous", no tickle fights or silliness. I would miss looking down at their sleeping faces and being able to see only sweetness, the challenges of the day forgotten.

So wherever you are tonight, and however you are celebrating the arrival of 2011, I hope that you are surrounded by teh people that you love the most, and who make you smile. As for me, in celebratiuon of this special night I may even be reckless and stay up until 11pm........

The Super Snow Fort

I have come to realize why it is important for kids to have 2 parents. Now, before everyone gets up on the old soap box, this is not a deep social commentary on single parenthood, gender roles, or gay and lesbian rights. It is simply a post about my own light bulb moment today, so here is what I have discovered.....I have been known, in the past, to gripe (just a wee bit) when my husband doesn't see things my way. I may, occasionally, get upset that he doesn't approach the world (and parenthood) the same way that I do. But today, he shone as uber-father by spending time with the kids doing something that I never would have conceived of......

Today was the day that the super-fort was born. Now please understand that this was not your average, Mama or kid led building project. It was not built with snow piles, or even with recycle box molds. This baby was build using a snow-blower, and a blow torch. Really. It can hold up to 6 kids at time, and Charlie can actually stand up inside. It has 2 doors, a chimney, and the outside doubles as a climbing mountain / snow slide. It really is the coolest thing I have ever seen.

So today's post is in homage to my hubby, and his truly male brain that is so entirely different from my own. Honey, you rock.

Science Co-op - Terrific Towers

We are all still loving our little science group that gets together every few weeks...here are a few pics from one of our last gatherings. The experiments are not complicated, and could all be replicated with things you have at home. It is lovely, though, not only to have someone else arrange it all, but to have other families to 'play' with.

On this day (somewhere back in November, before the holiday craziness took over) the kids used straws, Popsicle sticks, cups, take, etc to build towers. Their goal was to build a tower that was at least 2 feet high, and that could support 6 pounds of weight. There were a lot of creative ideas, and the final products were wonderful. As an added challenge, once they were all built we put them through an 'earthquake' test to see which ones would hold up. There was a chorus of ooooohhhs and aaaaahhhhhhs and oh no's, but the buildings all stood their ground.

Oh My...

I am positively shamed to see how long it has been since I have chimed in here....we really are alive and doing well, just a little distracted by the holiday cheerfulness. The tree is up, the packaging is finished, only one more sock to knit, the baking is done, except for the second batch of almond cookies that I will need - the first batch somehow disappeared (grin).

Our home feels so warm and cheerful this season, more even than in past years. Partly, I think, it is because the kids are old enough now that they really are active in all that we do, rather than come-and-go participants. The bulk of the decorating has happened through their little hands. The gifts have all been chosen and wrapped with their involvement, and their little fingers taste tested each and every bowl of cookie dough. This year Christmas feels like a family endeavor, rather than a Mommy led 'event' as it sometimes has in the past.

To top it all off, in a heartfelt effort to simplify our lives lately, we have shunted many, many boxes of 'stuff' to the local second hand store, and found homes for most of what remains. We have tried to focus more on the experience of the holidays and less on the 'things' of it, and our home is feeling lighter, more peaceful, and more like the haven it is supposed to be because of it.

I have a few more days of work to get through this week, but we should still be able to get in lots of home time. We are looking forward to Christmas eve with our own little family, Christmas day with Pop, Uncle Steve, Aunt Mindy and Griffin, and then Boxing day hosting Grammy, Auntie Bonnie, Uncle Ted, Max, Tory and perhaps even another family friend at our home.

We are looking forward to a few weeks of family, friends, celebration, and relaxation. What more could one want for Christmas?

I really have been taking photos during my 'absence', and I promise to get caught up soon along with some shots of the holidays in our family. I hope that you are enjoying peace and loved ones wherever you will be over the holidays.

Thanks for sharing this space with me and have a Merry Christmas!!

Company...

Mommy, I can't help you clean up the toy room - I am busy keeping you company!!~Charlie