Kevin went to The Netherlands on a business trip for a week, during which the boys and I were extremely happy to welcome Gran-Gran to the Menagerie House. I just remembered that I did post about her toy-induced trip to the ER, but really, other than that one bad night, we all had a wonderful visit. Our only complaint is that it was too short, but the good news is that she will return, hopefully for Kiri’s birthday party at the end of March.

Since Kiri is a bit young to care much about the specifics of his party, his brother was happy to step in and take charge of the situation. He was more than happy to instruct Kiri as to the importance of a desirable theme for his party, and he came up with two themes. He couldn’t decide which one, robots (since “Kieran needs to learn about robots”) or food (since Kiri has yet to meet a food he dislikes), was best, so I asserted my maternal rights and picked a Spring theme.

That was partly because I’ve had enough Winter, and partly because I want to make the cake. I’ve gotten all into decorating cookies this winter, and I would like to expand my horizons a bit and try a fancy cake. I’ve had my eye on this bunny cake pan for a while, and with a recent sale at my favorite baking store, Fancy Flours, I was able to finally able to fit it into our budget. I think I will have to make two bunnies for his party, and then possibly I’ll make some egg and baby bunny shaped cookies for the children to take home. I thought it would be cute to make carrot cakes, but they are so moist I don’t know if they’d really make stable 3-dimensional bunnies. I may punt and make one chocolate and one French vanilla, or possibly lemon. Perhaps I will think about how to decorate them and draw inspiration from that. Also, I’d best got on the mission of consulting a calendar and picking a date for the fiesta.

While I’m on a creative segment here, I’ll mention that I have joined Chichimama’s latest knit-a-long. I would love a pair of nice warm mittens, so these will be for me. Since being frugal is so very necessary chic these days, I turned to my stash for yarn and found a nice variegated purple-pink heavy cotton yarn. My only concern is that the colors are so busy that the main artistic point of the mittens, a long cable running from wrist to fingertip, will be hidden. Then again, I want to make this “Just Enough Ruffles” scarf at some point, so maybe I’ll go ahead with the pink and purple first for fun and to get mitten knitting experience, and then pick up a pretty solid color color later to make a second pair of cable mittens and a JER scarf in the same color. I’m almost finished with my gauge swatch and it looks like it’ll be spot on, which rarely happens for me, so clearly the variegated yarn would be quite usable for this pattern. I just have to sew together the sweater I’m working on for Kiri to wear this Spring and then I’m free to make the mittens.

Speaking of creative pursuits, Santa left an easel for Liam this year. He loves to use it on days when he is willing to stay still for a few minutes, and Kiri has taken quite a shine to painting himself. When I chose the word “himself” I didn’t mean it in the literal sense…

..but Kiri took it that way.

The statement, “Kiri, we only paint paper!”

…does not stop Kieran, the All-Surface Painter.

Now, of course, if one is decorating cookies with frosting then one obviously has edible media on  hand…

…and on face. How amazing is that???

But the best part – the most exciting artistic discovery ever…

…is that a loyal dog makes such a huggable canvas!

In other news, we are seeing the beginnings of sibling rivalry these days. It is clear that the boys adore each other. When he is unaware of adult eyes Liam will not uncommonly watch Kiri play for a few minutes and then walk over, give him a big kiss, and whisper “I love you, Kiri K!” And every day at 8:30 A.M. the saddest boy in the world is Kieran. That’s because Liam’s kindergarten starts then and we have to leave him at school for a few hours. As we get into the car, Kieran will point to Liam’s car seat and shout, “Yee-Yee! Yee-Yee! Mommy! Yee-Yee! Now!” (He hasn’t gotten the hang of the “L” sound yet.) And the tears, they flow. On days when Kiri is inconsolable I will turn into the driveway of the house immediately behind the school. It belongs to one of the faculty members, and it affords a good view of the kindergarten play yard where Liam and his classmates are at play. We watch for a few minutes until I am able to calm Kiri enough to make it through the morning.

On the other hand, however, there are loud and screechy daily battles over my lap because neither child will share that spot with the other. And when Kiri misbehaves, Liam is not above reminding me that whatever the crime (large or minute) in question is, well of course, it is most certainly not his doing.

“Mommy, good job cleaning Kiri up. You see, I am old enough to know that painting my face is wrong, wrong, wrong. And Kiri…is not.”"

Point taken, kiddo. Now, enough crowing already.

Valentine’s day is upon us. It’s not a holiday I pay much attention to, but it is a big one with the grade school set. Liam’s class had a Valentine’s Day celebration today. Each child brought in a Valentine of his or her making, and then they had a swap…

..and Liam got to bring home this beauty.

And then, after snack…

…they made heart necklaces from felt and wool roving…

(not the best photo with part of Kiri’s head there, but it shows off the hearts the best of the ones I took)

…and made Valentine’s Day ornaments. I have never seen an ornament like this, and I think it’s gorgeous.

Liam was especially proud of this one since he made all of it himself with the exception of tying the knot on the thread. “I even sewed the ribbon into a loop by myself, Mommy!”

And here it is in its place of honor on our “Valentine’s Day tree.” The boys and I made Valentines and hung them on the tree while whiling away our Snow Day last week.

The Snow Day was also a great time to play with the ferrets…

…get them all rowdy…

…and more than ready for a nap!

This is Pippi enjoying an afternoon siesta.

I’ve spent way too much time on this post already, so I will end it here. These, my friends, have been the highlights of the last couple of Menagerie House weeks. Lots of everyday fun and games about sums it up, and I am not complaining one bit. So come back soon, ya’ll, and I’ll give you a knitting update (with pictures) and a collection of Cute Conversations.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even…

…a baby.”

Happy Holidays from the Menagerie House, and may your New Year be the most fabulous year ever.

]]> http://menageriehouse.com/2008/12/25/twas-the-night-before-christmas/feed/ 5 liesl dsc009711 http://menageriehouse.com/2008/12/24/down-to-the-last-few-ribbons-and-bows/ http://menageriehouse.com/2008/12/24/down-to-the-last-few-ribbons-and-bows/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 04:51:58 +0000 lieslf http://menageriehouse.com/?p=476 ]]> Whew! It’s amazing I managed to post at all this month. It’s been crazy. But with the exception of a couple of packages that still need to be wrapped, we are ready for Christmas. We arranged and purchased the class gift for Liam’s teacher and her assistant. Tips and seasonal gifts for various people have been taken care of. All of the presents for family in other states have been sent out. Christmas lists to Santa have been pored over, carefully edited, and sent off.  We even got to wave to the Jolly Elf himself as he rode down our street on a fire truck last weekend! We made 82 cookies for our MOMS Club cookie swap, swapped them, and are now enjoying a variety of cookies that are new to us. I made a batch of cut-out cookies tonight. Liam will help me frost and decorate them tomorrow. Also, tomorrow, we need to make a quick run to the grocery store for the few items that didn’t come home from my weekend grocery trip. (Invariably, I always forget two or three things at the store…even if they are on the list, and even if they are common everyday things like tissues. Argh!)

Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the holiday. Bring on Christmas!

“Mommy? Mommy? OK, Santa’s a nice guy and he gave me a fun cowboy rubber ducky and all, but
can you tell the dude to put me down?!!”

Instead, every night the children left their slippers out in a row on the benches outside of the classroom. With the short attention span of small children, the slippers were passing into history and turning more into decorations than anything else. But this Monday, the class was busy playing inside after their snack when they heard a knock at the door. One of the boys ran to answer the door, but no one was there. Instead, he noticed that the slippers had been moved and that each slipper had something peeking out the top.

It seems that St. Nicholas stopped by to leave treats in the children’s slippers, and they were so engrossed in their play that they neither saw nor heard him. He left a tangerine, some pecans and almonds, and a very special golden walnut. Mrs. C told the children that if they whispered “Thank you!” to  the golden walnut, St. Nicholas would hear them and he would answer. And Liam is absolutely sure he heard a man say, “You are welcome.”

This is the really fun, magic part of the Christmas Season.

Since we were trying to keep things simple and non-stressful, we didn’t plan any formal activities. Instead, we let the children play as they wished for about an hour, maybe a bit more. The visitors loved checking out Liam’s toys, and he had a fun time showing them off. We set out some chips, a fruit plate, and a veggie tray along with cider for hungry guests, and the adults had a good time visiting and watching the children play. I have some very sweet pictures from that early part of the party, but I’m not going to post them as I don’t have permission to show the other children in this format.

After the children were played out and asking for cake, we brought it out. Liam asked for a ‘purple robot cake” this year. It took me a few days of careful conversation to figure out what constitutes a purple robot cake, but after consultation with both Liam and the bakery, the masterpiece turned out like this:

Liam just squealed with delight when I arrived back from the bakery with this cake, and judging by the squeals of his friends, they liked it too. It is a 12 inch round cake with one devil’s food layer and one yellow layer. It was frosted with vanilla buttercream frosting, and the decorating was done in two shades of light and dark purple icing.

Liam blew out his candle, and then we all had ice cream and robot cake. While the adults cleaned up a bit, the children played some more. Then Liam opened his birthday presents:

This one turned out to be a crown from one of his classmates…

…and this is a train music box from Kevin and me.

Finally he worked his way through his presents. The younger children were looking like they’d had enough fun, and it was getting dark and cold outside. People started heading off into the evening, but before going out the door, each child received one of these:

Some children decided to have their purple robot cookies as dessert after dinner, while others were eaten before the buckles were snapped on car seats.

All in all a fun party, a happy birthday boy, and a nice afternoon visiting with friends.

And now – time to start the Christmas decorating in earnest!

Five years ago tonight, on a Thanksgiving evening, you came to us and changed a husband-and-wife duo into a family. At first, and for a long time after, you were a Mommy-only baby, but eventually you reached out and allowed others into your life – Daddy, Gran-Gran, Pop-Pop. You were ever so shy around anyone you didn’t know; I thought you would be hiding your face in the crick of my neck forever.

Then, last year, with the start of nursery school, and more so this year, with your move into Kindergarten, you have lost a lot of that baby shyness. Your world has grown so, and while your Daddy and I are clearly still the center of that world, you are reaching out more and more to friends, old and new. With those big blue eyes, inherently sunny disposition, and your uncannily adult-like speech you can bring a smile to almost anyone’s face. You are very sensitive towards others, and cautious about new situations.

I’ve watched you grow from baby to toddler to big boy. You still have a lot of growing ahead of you, my dear, and although I would never rush you along in life, I do sometimes imagine the young man you will one day be. And when I dream those dreams, I see a man with the sensitivity, intelligence, and eloquence that it takes to be a real force for good in the world. Maybe it’s the not-so-fine times our country is going through these last few years, but I feel the world needs all the help it can get from the force-for-good department.

That’s a lot to ask from anyone, so while I thank you for indulging my dreams for a moment, all I really want for you right now is for you to keep on playing, making friends, inventing songs, stomping in puddles and doing all those happy and important childhood things you are already doing. And as you grow I hope that your love of life, people, and animals is unblemished, that your boundless curiosity remains unfettered, and that your intellectual and emotional strength help you to lead a strong and centered life. Or to cut to the chase, I want you to be happy and able to overcome the major and minor obstacles that show up in the road of life.

Today I give thanks for the blessing that is you. I can’t wait to see how you’ll grow and explore this next year of your life, and you know that Daddy, Kiri, and I will be right there loving you every step of the way. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday, Mr. 5.

Love,

Mommy

But that day it was not to be – he was indeed feverish and cranky. I’d never been called to come to school to pick up a sick child before, and I hope we don’t have to do this again anytime soon – poor Liam was sure he’d done something wrong to result in his teacher asking him to go home. He stayed home with me yesterday due to the fever. Last night, both Kiri and I became feverish and cranky, so I found myself in the pickle of entertaining two sick boys who both want to hang out in my lap and read books. The catch of course, is that neither child feels that my lap is big enough for two, so a certain amount of shoving and pushing results. And they never agree as to literary selection either. So we went the domestic arts route today, and by gosh we had some giggles by the end of the day!

Liam and I started out by making a new lemur tail for trick-or-treating tomorrow night. (SuperLemur is back in action for Halloween ’08, but somewhere over the summer we lost last year’s tail.) The new one took a good chunk of the morning, and it actually looks much better than last year’s creation. I’ll post a picture tomorrow when I get a full photo of SuperLemur.

By that time we were all cranky, so we watched some Sprout and took a nap. Kiri kept on sleeping, so Liam and I took advantage of that to make some dough for cut-out cookies. We got them all baked and decorated:

Special note to all you grandmotherly types out there – yes, he was feverish in this shot, yes, I know he has no shirt on, and yes, I know he should have shirt on. Liam remained unconvinced by all my logical explanations and hissy fits, so we went about life with a shirtless Lemur.

This is the first time I’ve ever frosted cut-out cookies - usually we put sprinkles on before they are baked and call it good. But the frosting allows for more creative decorations, plus wow, is it yummy.

We were on the clean-up phase when Kiri came back. We offered him a cookie, and then he got busy helping Liam clean the counter:

This is the two of them hunting down the last drops of icing, plus all the spilled colored sugar and non-pareils.

This was Kiri’s first ever time as bakery assistant, and he was pretty much wowed by the job.

“Mmmmm, I love to put things away already, but I never knew clean-up time could be so sweet!”

And with that we made it to the end of the day. Liam is definitely better, Kieran’s about the same, and I’m about the same, too, but at least we’re all happy and got some constructive things done today. I am willing the boys, especially Liam, to feel better by tomorrow so they can enjoy Halloween – I don’t want to be the one to have to explain to SuperLemur that he’s too feverish to go out! I will keep everyone posted, I promise!

Seriously, folks, Tupperware is the best toddler toy ever, hands down. Here is Kieran stirring ice in a pitcher and pouring it back and forth into a plastic bowl. He amused himself this way for many hours this summer.

Here’s the early summer milestone – learning to climb the stairs. It took him most of the summer, but he can now safely go up and down the stairs at great speed, even on all fours.

All that working and playing makes a guy hungry, thirsty…

..and tired. Nighty-night, Baby!

For a while last spring and into the summer, Liam was quite fond of this guy. I made him a hat just like that of his cartoon buddy, only in Liam’s favorite color, red. It got a lot of wear until the weather became hot; I’m predicting a return to this hat now that it’s cooling down.

A guy’s gotta have wheels. Here’s Kiri at a park attempting to “drive” a climbable truck sized for the pre-school set. He was not quite tall enough to really get into the game.

Kevin had a birthday (40!….ssssshhhhh) this summer. Liam and I made him a cake while Kiri cheered us on from behind a pile of oranges in his highchair. Here’s the chef with his masterpiece. About the only part of the cake that wasn’t 90% Liam-made was the baking part. He did the mixing, the pouring, the frosting, and the decorating.

We spent a fun evening with friends at the fair. Liam is all about pony rides these days, and a fair is a great place to find them.

Child-labor laws? I’m not allowed to force my toddler to mop the floor? But he’s the one who threw lunch there in the first place!

Here’s Liam putting out a pretend fire in a scale-model house. This was a safety demo evening put on by our local volunteer fire fighters.

If you know the Princeton campus, you know this fountain. It used to be strictly verboten to go into the water there, but on this July night we found people and dogs of all sizes wading and splashing. There was even a couple of grad students floating in inner tubes.

Here’s Liam watching a puppy play fetch in the water. Shortly after this picture was taken, we adjourned down the street for ice cream. Evenings like that are what summer is all about.

I’m interrupting this summer-logue for a Random Ferret Picture. This is Pippi, who has developed a ferocious passion for climbing legs.

And here is Houdini, who thinks it is just the funniest thing when Pippi jumps on her from hip-height. Here she is doing the Weasel War Dance that ferrets perform when having lots of fun.

A shot from earlier this week of the boys taking a break from play. If you look closely at the sun angle and the quality of the light, you can tell Summer is pretty much over…

…or just look out the window. It won’t be long until you are seeing photos of the boys in mittens and coats.

Thanks for stopping by, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed these photos from the Menagerie House. Hopefully I’ll be updating more frequently now. Next week we’re off to Walt DisneyWorld, so I’ll have lots of content!

…with the first day of kindergarten. My first baby really is growing up. (Note to self – stock up on tissues for these moments.) Our big boy was all excited to go as lots of his friends from last year are in his class, and he hadn’t seen most of them since last Spring…

“Bye, Daddy! Bye, Kiri! Let’s get going, Mommy!”

And so began the day. And it continued wonderfully. May he love the rest of the school year as much as he loved today!

(I’ll be back with more details in a few days. I also have a post that I had intended to put up on Labor Day with photos from various events this summer. I also have a great “Bits and Pieces” post. Alas, all of this will have to wait. My computer died last week, and the verdict from the repair shop is that it needs a new motherboard. It’s on order, but it won’t be in until next week sometime. I’m using Kevin’s machine right now (Thank You, Hon!), but it doesn’t have all the stuff that I usually use on it. Hopefully the parts will arrive soon and I’ll be able to post a flurry of new posts…)

Next time I will listen a bit more closely.