Wednesday was Eliza and Ani's turn to be o-u-t with the flu (oof. a long day.). Now my sister...this is about what we're all up for today:
Ice Age, The Meltdown, courtesy of Mormor (my mom), who has kept the household going, making sure everyone has the food they need or want, washing dishes, reading and reading and reading...we're ushering out the old year with movies, soup, and the lights of the Christmas tree...
My uncle as a baby, my Grandma Jane, and my dad
My dad wearing the Santa beard, seated between his Grandma Travis and Aunt Millie
My sister and I, confronting a scary looking Santa. This photo is ridiculous and frightening to me - my girls glossed right over the Santa part (neither has ever "visited" Santa) and zeroed right in on the outfits, of course. 
reading
celebrating
...and getting out to enjoy the brilliant sunshine before more snow (we cross our fingers, they hold their breath...).
A dormant Plot 55
It is interesting for me to see what she has picked up from her reading, what her understanding is of how different sounds are spelled, and gives me some ideas about a place to start with some more directed writing down the road a ways. She has that desire to communicate and here is one more door opened wide for her...
Well, there won't be pictures of Christmas, but luckily (!) the girls seem determined to wear the same outfits for many days to come...so I get to share these photos from the Farmer's Market today. They are always welcome in the back of the apple and wool lady's truck...seemed like a good base for these girls in their "spy outfits". New hats, jackets, the jumpers underneath...
You can also see one of the homemade projects from Christmas in these photos: field bags - er, I mean spy bags...made from old pants of mine, sewed by Dan and myself...more photos of those to come.
After days of not feeling well, we determined to get outside during these days of celebration...it was a great idea, though the noses were running and bodies were tired when we returned. The change of scenery, the fresh air and freedom has always worked wonders for us, since Eliza was a baby in a sling. The relationship between the girls transforms, inevitably improves. 
Ah, this week is about secrets and making and snot. A lot of snot came through this week, a few pounds or so, and we are bound and determined to be moving it along quickly. So this week is also about elderberries, echinacea, and my dear neti pot. Last night was about sewing, for Dan, and working on letters for me, as we listened to a couple of episodes of This American Life and he drank wine, I peppermint tea. Sigh. I am looking forward to more evenings just like this one...
It has also been about more decorating - snowflakes and crazy popsicle stick stars (and cats and rabbits, funny enough), and paper wreaths - and listening to stories, stories and more stories. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Jim Weiss' entertaining animal tales on tape, Pippi Longstocking, Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, as well as all the Christmas and Winter books that came home from the library with us.
There has also been chicken tortellini soup - twice - because we think it might make us all feel better, and it is so delicious and simple. Squash muffins, rosemary bread with avocado, and clementines. I think Sugar invited Snot to join us this week, so we've banished her to the middle of next week (the peppermint bark will keep, right? and the chocolate-covered apricots need not be a solely Christmasy treat...). 
I snuck outside when I saw the sun breaking through the clouds and hitting the neighbor's house, out my kitchen window, with such golden fury that I just couldn't miss it. Put the soup on simmer, called to Dan, left the girls with Alice in Wonderland, and followed the pink strip just visible beneath the descending dark. It was worth it. My head and its extra pounds slowed me down, but that was fine, 'cause when the shuffle of my boots stilled, I heard an owl. I long for moments like these and haven't heard an owl since we moved here, and there it was, the reward for getting out in spite of impending dinner and a sloshy head. Pink sky and a hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
These two bearers-of-the-sun were waiting for the girls when we got home last night from our lantern walk...yes, the photo is fuzzy, but then again, so are they...made from a second-hand angora sweater and a wool sweater from Goodwill. Definitely inspired by The Yeti Club and these.
...and snowball fights (can you see them? kids against grownups...er, Dan.)...
...and painting (in the "paint shirt")...
...and lantern-making...
...and at last darkness again and a walk to the bike path, and over the river into true darkness, with our lanterns swinging by our sides. We talked about what we are grateful that the sun does for us in our lives: Ani is glad it has a home, way way up in the sky where it is safe; Eliza is grateful that it feeds the plants in our garden and gives us food; Dan is grateful for its nearly constant company on his walks to and from school; I am grateful for the energy it provides our bodies in so many ways...We were also munching on peppermint bark we'd made earlier in the day and Anika shared that what she is reeeeeeally grateful for is actually chocolate, so we talked about how we need the sun even for chocolate. Then a few good sun songs for good measure and the slow lovely walk home in the dark. Happy Solstice.
If a "dusting" can be slushy, that's what we got. We were still pretty excited...enough to throw on clothes and get out there to shovel! "Mama, I've been waiting and waiting for this, of course I'm gonna shovel!"
We picked Papa up in the afternoon and headed out to a tree farm to cut down our own Christmas tree. I have such mixed feelings about this, but the idea of cutting our own was so exciting for the girls, and it seemed like one of those things a person should do once in their childhood...I have to say that the little voice running through my head sounded a lot like the duck from Babe who runs around the barnyard shouting "Christmas is carnage!" Ah, well. Our little pine is quite lovely and is still standing after 24 hours with cats.
Ani loved the trees that were just her size
Today was about secret errands and trying to get things wrapped and ready for mailing (not all done yet...). While Dan and Eliza were out for a while this afternoon, Ani and I made wrapping paper, inspired by this post on this beautiful blog called Red Bird Crafts. She LOVED this project.
We didn't have a snowflake stamp, so we cut one out of a potato, and used an old parsnip from the bottom of the "rotter" in the fridge to make little polka-dots as well.
And of course, the thumbs got involved...
And soon after, the feet, but I was too busy holding a giggling girl while she pranced across the paper, and plopping said girl into a bath to take photos...
My favorite things adorning the tree just now are the snowflakes Dan and the girls made last year and again this year, and the little origami balloons that you can just pop over the stringed lights. We did this years ago in Seattle, and it is just magical, that glow. My sister-in-law asked if I could post a how-to on this, and I made an attempt to photograph every stage and got terribly frustrated (the camera of course cooperated on photographs of some of the gifts we're making, but I can't post those, as they haven't yet been given!). I did a quick search online, and there are many tutorials for "origami balloon" that should do. (Here is the first one that pops up on google; it looks accurate and easy to follow) Here are a few shots that seem to have worked out.
I was struck, as I looked through the pictures, by how much my hands look like my grandmother's. Same shape, same short fingers...I've been looking at these hands all my life, and they are suddenly a big woman's hands. A little dry, not very fancy, but strong and ready to work, massage, streeeeeetch to make the octave on the piano, or fold some little delicate pieces of paper into little balls of light.
We ended the day stringing popcorn and cranberries - it is the first year the girls have each been able to handle doing their own. The kids are in bed, it is time to keep on keepin' on with the making...