If you're me, you bake. But since this is our last year in Texas, I decided the Christmas cookies should have a Texas theme. So I made use of the (what I then thought to be useless) Texas cookie cutters Jay got a year ago. Shame on me. You'll notice the Lone Star State as well as a cowboy boot. Thanks to Miranda for the fabulous plate. Perfect timing and we love it! Annie spotted the rooster on it in no time (though it's not entirely visible in the photo here). There would be more cookies, but when you're home for 3 days with a sick kid you also eat a lot. Merry Christmas to all!
Poor Annie and Papa (and I'm sure in about five minutes, poor me). They both have come down with the cold to end all colds. Frankly, I'm not surprised one bit. We've been traveling, entertaining, being entertained, all of which require contact with many people and environments. Not that it wasn't worth it. I just am not surprised. Poor Annie has a hacking cough and Papa, well, let's just put it this way: Papa doesn't get sick very often, in fact, it's rarely an annual event, so when he does, his and the worlds of all those around him come to a screeching, dramatic, overblown hault. I never knew a human could make such a pathetic face... I thought a face like that was reserved for puppies and harp seals.
Annie, on the other hand, is more of a stoic trooper. You'd barely know she was ill save for the hacking up of lungs and constant need for a tissue. She's a pretty chipper sick kid. Of course, the cough is interrupting what is already a fragile nap schedule, so right now I'm listening to her sing in her crib, when she should be asleep, singing that is often interrupted by another lung being projected out of her body. I just hope that this ill-timed illness comes to an end by Saturday when we're off to Connecticut for our annual Christmas family-a-thon. We get to see both sets of grandparents and my sister-in-law's family (an all-too rare event). So hopefully, given the new blog format, I may be able to squeeze in a post in between two of the many pounds I'll be gaining while away. In the meantime, enjoy Annie's performance in the above video (apparently Roscoe didn't) and HAPPY HOLIDAYS from our blog to yours.
‘Tis the season of holiday parties and last weekend, my mothers’ group had their first one. It was wonderful. There was awesome food and the kids all got along and there was even a puppet show! At first, I thought Annie was going to write a critique for the New York Times because of her very serious demeanor while watching, but then as it went along, every time an “act” would end, she’d look at me and say, “No, no, no...” So after the party ended and we asked her how the show was, she replied “Crap?” Or so we thought. Then we figured out after more investigation and a certain mother’s intuition that she was in fact saying, “Clap?” Shortly afterwards, she added “Clap is noisy?” So I then figured out what disturbed her about the show... the applause. Annie has an aversion to loud noises. This was the first time Annie had been exposed in her toddler-hood consciousness to a live performance and didn’t quite get the spontaneous clapping that would happen after the puppeteer completed a scene. So, after understanding that, I’m pretty sure she really enjoyed the show, just not the people making noise with their hands after it. Above is a shot of her and her friend Sara Kate (and their matching shoes) watching the show. It really was a great time.
This week, I’m trying to get into the Christmas spirit the best I can despite the lack of a Christmas tree. We haven’t gotten one for several years because A) we have cats, really ornery cats; and B) we’re out of town for two weeks during Christmas, so it hasn’t really made sense. But now that Annie’s more aware of her surroundings, I can see how she would really enjoy one. That said, we are going to have one in Connecticut once we get up there which she will be able to help decorate. I’ll be sure to whip out the camera for that one. In the mean time, to make up for it, I'm baking a lot of cookies. This can't be good.
In the interest of speed and ease of use, I've decided it high time to move the Annie Chronicles to a more universal format. I'm hoping this will make it quicker for me to update (as this year is only going to get busier) and to post videos right into the blogs, which will also allow us to archive them so you can always see them. We'll see how this works.
All Hallows Eve 2014
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We are back with some Halloween highlights.
If you can't tell, Harper is using her ice powers here.
If you can't tell, Harper is singing "Let it Go" h...
