An Extended Holiday
On January 21, we finally took down our Christmas tree. I've always been one to get the tree down first thing on New Year's Day, but none of us were ready this year. It probably had something to do with being gone for much of December, and possibly a bit to do with our tree being artificial for the first time this year (it wasn't any deader on January 21 than January 1 after all), and of course it took several days to restage all the Christmas morning pictures with our new camera, but whatever the reason, having the tree up kept our home festive a bit longer this year. Now we're down to snowflakes on the front windows—but those can stay quite a bit longer if the reports we've received on Canadian winters hold true.
This month has been a full one and a fun one as well. Somehow we managed to clog January with two birthdays. For Sera's, just after the New Year, we loaded everyone up and hit Denny's. She also got her first birthday cake—chocolate with flowers. Since then, she knows what chocolate looks like. No chocolate cookie or brownie is safe when she's in the room—she crawls right over and begs. She also got a fun Little People train that the kids chose out for her and—wonder-of-wonders—she actually likes it more than the box it came in. She's showing such maturity these days.
Emerson's birthday included his first big birthday party—a "bug" party—with friends. By "big" we mean three friends. Emerson prefers smaller crowds and less noise, so it was a perfect match. Of course none of the two- and three-year-olds actually wanted to play any of the party games: "stick the dot on the lady-bug" involved a scary blind-fold, and "buzz, buzz, sting" (aka duck, duck, goose) went completely over their heads. They had fun digging around in a container of rice for plastic bugs though, and the rest of the time they just played with toys. That's what it's all about when you're that age anyway I guess. I, however, am beginning to see the allure of Chucky Cheese birthday parties.
Addy and Theo have enjoyed getting back into a routine after the holidays. I must be rubbing off on them or something. Addy almost got to start at a cute preschool I found, only they filled up right before I got her in—we're both disappointed by that, but hoping a spot opens up before long. She's still having fun in Joy School, especially since Emerson and another little girl joined the fun. It's great to have an extra week between teaching, and it's nice to be able to cancel so easily when it gets too cold. Meanwhile, Theo managed to talk his way into a sled recently (he paid half), and he rarely stops talking about how much he enjoys careening down the hill (or "tobogganing," as the Canadians say) with his friends at recess.
Of course recess has been cancelled a number of times this month because of the cold—they cancel whenever the temperature plunges below -20º C (-4º F), which has happened alarmingly frequently lately. We got down to -40º recently (that one's the same on either scale—FRIGID!), and found out how things work around here when it gets cold. They don't. Cars don't start, people don't go out much, and ice forms on the inside of the window-panes. To make up for it though, the school takes the kids to the YMCA for swimming lessons, which Theo has loved.
As for us, I have gotten down to writing a lot more recently. Once the kids go down for their naps, I plunk myself down at the computer with some hot cocoa and write away. I've completed another picture book and am in the midst of rewrites for a middle-grade novel I'm working on. Meanwhile, Aaron has a great concert season planned out, including a performance of Carmina Burana with the Wind Band—it'll be great!
