Chava's Special Day

Yesterday was Chava's Special Day at school. She got to pick her favorite book (we call it Murdley Gurdson which is incredibly adorable to hear a four year old say) and make a puppet of one of the characters. Most importantly, she got to wear a necklace that said "Chava's Special Day" and she got to sit, with us, in chairs during group time, when the rest of her classmates sat on the floor. Chava had asked me on Wednesday if I would wear a skirt and "be fancy" for her special day and I, of course, forgot. But Al and I decided to get dolled up to go in and it was completely worth it for the look on Chava's face when she saw my bridesmaids dress and high heeled patent leather shoes. She was less impressed with Al's coat and tie, but I think it was the entire package that made her day.

What else do you do after a bath besides plant tomatoes?

Al is seed crazy. It all started last year when our friend Eric gave him some heirloom tomato seeds. The next thing I knew, there were containers of seedlings every where. I don't need to tell you how many times I knocked those containers over and swore at him while I cleaned up the dirt. My annoyance was lessened a bit when I tasted the tomatoes, but still...

Now he's indoctrinating the children.

Chavie

The quality of these pictures are terrible (on my phone), but they are SO Chava I just have to post them. Often, when we go to pickup Maddox, she will ask if we can sit in the car and listen to the end of whatever song is playing (the girlfriend likes her music, and is pretty particular). She's tired and quiet by the end of the day (the temper tantrums come later, like 15 minutes later).

And, this is what all the waiting was for...

I finally uploaded the pictures on the camera and this is what I've got. These were all taken by the kids - they have completed mastered the camera at this point. Actually, I took the one of Chava's hair because she was insistent I take a picture so she could see what her hairdo looked like. Of course, I got NO pictures of us at the playground all weekend long, riding bikes, scooters, etc. etc. Oh well.

Stolen from Kesher

I do have some pics in the camera, but the acts of finding the cord, connecting to the computer, and uploading all seem insurmountable. For now, I'll pilfer from the Kesher website to share some pictures of Chavie at the Purim carnival. I'm assuming there are no pictures of Maddox because he had his head buried in a mound of whipped cream, searching for the elusive Hershey's kiss, the entire time (you think I'm kidding, but I feel fairly certain that each of my kids played this game about 10 times. I was busy manning the popcorn popper and Al was... doing something else).

Liveblogging the filling

Al just texted me with this photo:














More to come, I'm sure!

Two from Saturday

On Saturday, Maddox and I headed to Nashoba Valley with our friends Calvin and Calvin's dad, Nathan. Our goal was modest - spend an hour or two on the "magic carpet" (basically, a conveyor belt the kids step on and off) and a few trips down the bunny slope. It was a huge success! Maddox really liked it, although he was tired by the end and frustrated that he couldn't control his skis better. I rocked the slopes on some "new to me" shaped skis that Noah scored at the dump and I am reminded how much I love to ski. Next up: shorter skis for Maddox, and the chair lift!

Chava's Performance

Chava Does the Stones from Rachael Weisz on Vimeo.

Gymnastics

Saturday was our last gymnastics class for a while. We'll have the month of February to luxuriate in nowhere to be on Saturday mornings and start swimming lessons in March (and the kids are big enough now that we don't have to go in with them, yahoo!).

Pictures and tears

I don't know if Maddox will need a get after this, but here are pictures from his big wedding day:




























Clearly, his teacher saw the Papa in him and asked him to do the kiddish(that's the teary part. Papa and Grandmum would have so loved to hear the stories he brings home from Kesher):














There was a nice bit on the Kesher web site about this dreidel activity that explained it a bit further, and has a lovely picture of Maddox holding up his project. Go here.

Uh oh.

Maddox and Chava have been watching Discovery Kids t.v. It started with the Magic School Bus, which is a great show for kids. Then, one day, Maddox discovered a Trading Spaces show for kids that comes on just before the Magic School Bus, and he was hooked. It's a fine show; the premise is that two boys team up to transform a girl's room and two girls work together to transform one of the boys' rooms (Maddox really, REALLY wants to be on it and get an x-wing fighter bed). But. The big BUT: Discovery Kids has ads. Lots of ads for lots of crap. And, so, I bring you this morning:

Chava: Mom, can I PLEEEEEEEASE have a pillow pet?
Me: A pillow pet? What is that?
Maddox: You can go to www.pillowpet.com.
Me: (rolls eyes)
Chava: You could get them for us for our birthdays!
Maddox: (in all earnestness) They make great gifts.

Cultah

We went to the ICA on Saturday for a "Family Play Date." On the last Saturday of every month, admission is free for families, and they have activities set up around the museum for the kids to do. We started off with lunch at the cafe (because any outing is really about the food) and then moved on to sketching the waterfront.
There was an improv performance that involved the kids and some other activities we didn't make it to this time, but we'll be back! It's a beautiful setting and a part of the city we don't get to much.

Verbatim

Scene: Tuesday night. Al is out. Post-dinner, we are upstairs for a rousing game of Hssss!

Chava: Mom! I have to poop!
Me: Well, then, go poop.

Chava runs off to make her deposit. A few seconds later, we hear, with much excitement:

Chava: Maddox! Come here! You've gotta see this!

Maddox runs over (thudthudthud).

Maddox: Wow!

Chava: I know! I pooped a turtle! It looks just like a turtle.

Maddox: She really did, Mom. You guys should enter her in a talent contest.

Chava

Post nap, in a cabinet. Too bad this wasn't taken with a better camera!

Crazy Hair Day

Today was crazy hair day at Maddox's school: You pay a buck (all proceeds went to help Haiti) and you could wear your hair some crazy way. If Maddox's hair looks a little different in this picture, it's because he took it upon himself to trim (and by trim I mean CUT OFF) his bangs on Tuesday night. He was very proud he got all the clippings in to the trash.

Milestone

Maddox can now tie his shoes. He likes when Chava helps.

Music

Chava LOOOOVES this song... Al has been introducing her to the dance numbers from Glee (which you should be watching when it returns in April, if you are not already) and this, along with You Can't Always Get What You Want, are her favorites. Maddox is a fan of this one:



Go figure.

Anyway, try starting your day by dancing to All the Single Ladies in the kitchen in your pajamas. It's a real pick me up.

A few from last year

Our friend Lisa passed along a few pictures taken in December that made me chuckle... Maddox trying on a moustache for size (his friend Cavlin was the leader in this artistic endeavor), our kids at the zoo (I love how Chava and her friend Carter are holding hands), and the kids table at New Year's eve... maybe we need to work on Maddox's table manners, you think? I'm going to focus on my beautiful children instead of the terrible election results because, as I learned in social work school, "denial in the service of the ego" is a high level defense. I'm nothing if not highly evolved!

Also, Maddox wanted to know last night where the first person came from. We talked about possible options - he does not believe God does magic. He thought evolution was interesting but then wanted to know exactly how apes came about. I was stumped, although I went with an explanation that involved morphing sea creatures. Chava was listening carefully to this discussion but not participating, until bedtime last night when she demanded to know "Who painted me and Maddox?" which I did not understand at all, but finally figured out that she wanted to know who created her. Sheesh. More wine, please.

Quote

Chava to Maddox: Do not wear my high heels on the stairs. It is dangerous and you could get deaded.

last night

Last night our friend Chauncey came over with his daughters Isabel and Carter. Isabel is a year younger than Chava but the two girls just luuuurve eachother. They are also like a bad science experiment together - the two of them have WAY more energy than any two little bodies should have. They always work each other in to a frenzy by the end of the night. They love to play babies together and spent the evening putting Chava's dollies in bed and taking them out of bed, changing their diapers and pushing them around the house in doll strollers (until the realized that Chava could push Isabel around in a doll stroller so then they did that, at breakneck speeds). All to say that when they left there was dolly detritus all over the place. I am trying to get better and follow Al's lead in pushing the kids to clean up their toys every night before bed, so I was being the enforcer to get all the crap put away. Chava did the whole thing with a swim diaper on her head. I can't believe I missed the photo opp.