Kirk's Birthday in NYC!

So I somehow managed to forget to publish this photo in the main blog about our NYC trip...don't you just love Katy's hat??? She bought it on the street and wore it 24/7 last weekend! This photo was taken at Kirk's birthday dinner at our favorite Times Square eatery: Ruby Foos. There is something about the decor (dark, asian artifacts) and the music (very eclectic...spanning several decades) and the food that all just works! Katy had amazing wonton soup...Kirk and I split a noodle dish and several sushi rolls...and a lettuce roll appetizer. Our waiter, Will, was great...and recommended an awesome dessert (chocolate bananna egg rolls with caramel and chocolate sauces...he also included Thai peanut sauce saying it was his favorite with this dish) and presented it with a candle. Anyway...figured this was a good pic for everyone to enjoy...

New York City!

We are settling back into our routine after spending 3 days in New York City. We took the train down on Thursday afternoon and arrived around 7p. Dinner was at the Carnegie Deli...a very quiet scene compared to what it is like at lunchtime! If I'd only had my camera to get a shot of the sandwich Kirk and I shared. And we had to have a slice of cheesecake...which all three of us polished off together! Saturday, Katy was very excited to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. We were there at 8:30 that morning for the first session. After getting her 'skating legs back' after a 5 year absence, she had a blast. We also were excited to meet up with my college friend Allison and daughter Marin, who joined us on the ice.

After skating, we walked over to American Girl Place for some shopping with the girls, who had each brought their doll with them. First stop was hair styling...and ear piercing! Since some of the newer dolls come with pierced ears, the store is offering this service for older dolls...and Katy and Marin jumped at the chance! We had lunch reservations and enjoyed each other's company as we (and the dolls) enjoyed a leisurely meal.

After saying goodbye to Allison and Marin, Katy and I continued onto the Museum of Modern Art, which was only a block from our hotel! I was amazed at the number of famous paintings that were on the 5th floor alone...and thing Katy was a little impressed that her mom knew a good number of the artists and paintings without reading the descriptions! I love these two photos I shot...only wish I'd realized the flash had washed out much of the Cezanne (a print of which I use to have hanging in my classroom at BHS)!

Katy and Paul....

Katy and Jackson...

Friday night, we had tickets to see the musical Mamma Mia, which was such a treat! What a wonderful production! Anyone would love the show, but those of us who remember the Abba hits must marvel at how wonderfully the writers wove a story around so many of those songs! And yes, they had us dancing in our seats by the end of the show!

On Saturday morning, Katy and I took off for Times Square and some shopping, facing 20 degree weather and a cold windchill! We scored a couple of 'Coach' bags on a side street...so she had a mini Canal street experience. Alison dropped Marin off with us at noon and we went out to lunch with Kirk who had a break from his conference. Then, I headed up to the Natural History Museum with the girls, and we spent the afternoon looking at dinosaur bones and planetarium exhibits. Saturday was Kirk's birthday, so Katy and I celebrated with him at our favorite haunt, Ruby Foos, with sushi, Chinese food and yummy drinks. Sunday, Kirk had some time to walk with us around Times Square again after breakfast, and we headed out to Penn Station to take our train home. Altho exhausted...I felt like we really took good advantage of our visit to NYC and enjoyed ourselves despite the winter weather!

Merry Christmas to Friends and Family!

Christmas Eve Morning: We are all home relaxing before the big day, so decided to start a new Christmas tradition: Santa head pancakes! Yum! Kirk also made Popie's brown sugar bacon...more please!


Christmas Eve was spent with the Cauchons at Tom and Roxanne's house in Waltham. We got some great shots of all the Cauchon cousins together...and a nice family shot of Tom, Roxanne and the boys! We ate a great Italian style buffet, participated in a neat 'setting of intentions' ritual led by Roxanne, opened gifts and visited until almost 10pm. Then it was a hairy ride home through fog and rain as the temperatures around here soared, melting most of the blizzard snow from last weekend.

Christmas morning started at 6:45....ah, the days when we had to wake Katy up with loud Xmas music! We started with stockings and took the traditional 'Katy with her stocking' picture. One day...I'll put them side by side in an album! Thanks to all family who sent stocking stuffers...they were great!

Katy's annual 'grandparent gift' was a special one this year...a My Twin doll made especially to look like her. The annual gifts are one way I keep the memory of my parents alive for Katy.

Katy and Kirk just opened a family gift...the game of BUNKO!

Boy, was Katy surprised to receive her first 'Benjamin' from Popie! She just couldn't believe it! Thanks to Popie from all of us! We are sure that her gift will help us have some special times in New York City in January!

We carried on the tradition that Kirk started all those years ago...of Santa's Last gift. Kirk send Katy and I on quite a scavenger hunt, filled with riddles that kept Katy and I going from one end of the house to the other for some time! At the end, Katy got her Troll bead bracelet and Swarovski crystal cat. I had to open the garage door and was surprised by my very own Kayak!!! Kirk went through some maneuverings to get the kayak here and ready to surprise me...and man, was I surprised! Bets are on that I won't use it much....but I'm setting an intention right now to plan a few trips once the weather gets warmer here
Well, it is about noontime here in 45 degree Attleboro and the presents are opened and many surprises were had! I've posted some of the best pics...enjoy and hope to talk to many of you as the day goes on! Enjoy the warmth and peace of the day!

Ode to our 'Everlasting' Christmas Tree

Oh

much maligned tree

of plastic magnificence!

We resisted your

seductive call for years,

not wanting to give in.

Yet how many hours we have saved,

how many pine trees we have conserved,

how many more moments enjoyed since you were purchased?

Watching sturdy aluminium poles fit together,

pre-lit branches glow as plugs engage,

our tree goes into full splendor in less than an hour, ready for decoration.

No more hiding the 'hole' on the back,

no more messy waterings, only to have needles fall copiously and early.

Branches bend to accommodate the ornaments of our choice!

Your fragrance, no longer from freshly sawed trunk and branch,

now permeates the air from our terracotta dove filled with essential oils of evergreen.

Oh, why did we wait?

We love your warm glow, cast out into the night, high above Metacomett Drive, lighting the wintry air!

One Week Until Christmas...

...and I've been thinking a lot about traditions. So I've taken my trusty camera and tried to give you a snapshot of some of those traditions that seem to stand the test of time. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our friend Dot getting together with us to build gingerbread houses. We've tried 'em all...from cut outs to molds (which is what i used this year) to prefab from Michaels...to the one Dot found this year that was even already glued together! No matter what disasters we've encountered...we've always ended the afternoon with completed houses (sometimes held up by cans from the inside) and good memories of sharing time with Dot.

Of course, there is the North Pole village that we erect every year. We started our collection 10 years ago after moving into our house, fulfilling a dream Kirk had of having a Christmas village. In my day, I've carved styrofoam, come up with wiring schematics that let an entire village turn on with the flick of just one button, and combed the craft stores for all sorts of decorative materials. This year, we tried something new. Each of us chose one spot of the house to set up our village made up of houses we personally loved. Katy chose houses from Elf Land (a sub-set of the NP...can you imagine...), Kirk chose his favorite houses (mostly colorful one) and I put up my all time favorite, Route One North Pole...home to Mr. And Mrs Clause. Can you tell that I needed a break? LOL!

Another 10 year old tradition is the making of gift bags. The year Katy was born, we started making bags that contained a home made cookie mix in a jar, chocolate covered and decorated pretzel rods, a handmade ornament by Katy, and a little handmade gift from me. I was hoping to teach Katy how much fun and meaningful it can be to make gifts. We've continued the tradition all these years...the ornaments went from tempra painted wood stars (when she was 10 months old) to more complicated beaded icicles. I've now got friends who count on those cookie mixes to help in their holiday baking!

For many years, we've marked the 24 days before Christmas with a Playmobile Advent Calendar. They are so cute and detailed (my favorite was one of Santa's bakery, where you put together the kitchen and angels baking sheets of cookies...) and every year, we take all the pieces and put them in a special basket that Katy can play with the following year. She has set up some elaborate scenes for Santa in years past. We were saddened last year when we couldn't find one that had a Christmas theme (they released a pirate one for boys and a doll house for girls...no Christmas at all) but gladdened when we found our current calendar at a local Learning Express...with a Christmas in the Woods theme. What is it about these little plastic items that make them so irresistible?

When we moved our family Xmas tree upstairs to showcase in the large window over our new garage, I missed having a tree downstairs as I spend so little time upstairs. Fortunately, I found this skinny little rustic tree that year which is perfect in the kitchen. I decorated it with all stars and moon ornaments that I have collected through the years and the white lights keep me in peaceful company those dark, 5:30am mornings and shine out brightly as it gets dark now before 5p.

So it is a week until the big day...and we are in good shape. With nothing on our calendar, we designated Sunday as 'baking day' which is probably a good thing given the weather we are suppose to be having over the next 72 hours here in New England. So I went out shopping for everything we need for a cozy weekend together, punctuated by a few visits from friends. It seems so important to spend some time together enjoying all the preparations and decorations and traditions and I think we will be able to do just that during the days before Christmas.

December musings...

Well, it has been a month...so my best intentions have not helped me stay current with this blog! November flew by! One highlight of the month for me was traveling to NYC on a bus trip organized lead by Trish from Katy's karate school. A group of us went on the trip expressly to visit Canal Street and go 'knock off' purse shopping. What a hoot! Gayle, Terry and I found ourselves in a van filled with bags on a side street within 5 mintues of getting off the bus! We had a great time, hit Little Italy for a late lunch, flew up to Tiffanys, then took a bike rickshaw ride through Time Square. For Gayle and Terry, who had never been to the city, it was eyeopening, and I enjoyed it on a whole other level, getting to feel more comfortable navigating Manhattan.

Before you know it, it was Thankgiving, which I hosted again this year. With a vow to stay 'centered' and unstressed, I managed to get food out ahead of time and actually relaxed and enjoyed visits with both brothers and their famlies. The next day was my birthday...and I invited local friends in for some home-made eggnog late in the afternoon and enjoyed their festive company before taking off with Kirk for a birthday dinner. My big gift was an iTouch...does basically everything that a iPhone does...but no phone...which is fine with me! It has been fun searching for applications and watching Three Stooges videos I bookmark from You Tube!

Pinnochio!

The opening night of Pinnochio was a success! With a few minor glitches, the hour long production was well done by all with some of the best costumes we've seen in a long time. Here, Katy plays the fruit seller. She had a couple of lines when Pinnochio is introduced to the crowd as a 'talking puppet.' She loved, loved, loved this costume..but was sweating the whole time b/c it was so hot!

Katy's next costume was that of a ballerina. She wasn't as thrilled about this one...but we all thought she looked just fine!

Here Katy is standing next to her friend Hannah on the right. Friend Zach is two down on her left. Zach has been doing TYT with Katy since first grade. Neither of them have missed a play in all those years. It works out great since they both go to the same school...Zach's mom Cyndi and I get to carpool! Zach is a grade ahead of Katy (6th). He got a pretty good part (finally) in this play as he was the evil coachman who tries to steal the kids to turn them into donkeys! It is a role Zach has been practicing for his entire life!
Katy asked (again) to draw the winning ticket for the traditional 50/50 raffle. TYT director Vivian Humphries is on her right.

Post production shot...of friend Hannah and Katy! And yup....we get to watch the entire show again, today at 2p! Zach's family is throwing a party for him after, which we are invited to, so it will be a full day for us. I'm glad Katy has a long weekend...not having school again until Wednesday!