Winter Wonderland

My oh my, where has time gone? Here it is the end of January and what do we have to show for the month? It's been nothing but work and school for the last few weeks. So, let's rewind to the beginning of the month.

The first few days of January found us in the Winter Wonderland that was Ottawa. We had nothing but non-stop snow while we were there, which was perfect since we were hoping for a white Christmas. When was the last time we had snow for the holidays? Denis enjoyed his first Canadian winter, and we enjoyed watching him frolic and play...

Christmas the Third

Christmas the Third! New Year's Eve! Another night of celebrations - this time in Ottawa. We're having a nice visit with Jon's family. The main highlight? Meeting Baby Amelia. Denis is intrigued by his new cousin and can't wait for the day when she can actually play with him! Other highlights? Snow, snow, and more snow... (more on this winter wonderland later). And Christmas Pie. Maybe we'll borrow this tradition, Mar!

Denis the Dinosaur (he's in the book!)

The Christmas Pie

Christmas the Second

Our trip to St. Louis has come and gone. We had a wonderful time visiting my family. Denis couldn't have been happier to see his cousins and to have some playmates! As for the adults, well, the cordials of Nocello couldn't have been nuttier, the lime bars couldn't have been tastier, the fireplace couldn't have been cozier, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit couldn't have been funnier, and Christmas the Second couldn't have been merrier. Thanks for the lovely time, Monica and Doug!

St. Louis Snow

Looks like we'll have a bit of snow when we arrive in St. Louis on Saturday. Fingers crossed for a white Christmas! We're off to the airport!

Santa Claus Has Come to Town

Denis isn't quite sure what to make of Santa. He likes the idea of Santa, but Santa himself... well, he's a little scary! D had the chance to meet Santa twice this week. Finally, at the end of the second visit, he was willing to climb up on his lap. Ho ho ho!

Santa's Lap - Take 1

Santa's Lap - Take 2

Christmas the First

Since we're traveling over the holidays, we decided to have an early Christmas last weekend - the first of three Christmases we'll be having. Below are some pics and clips. Enjoy!

Nazca performed a taste test on the cookies for Santa

Santa hung stockings and assembled a marble tower

Denis out-smarted the marbles

Papa served Christmas breakfast

A Merry Marble Christmas

Merry Christmas, Nazca & Pisco!

A Christmas Spat

Christmas Calendar - Which Days Were These?!

Somewhere between days 14 and 24, Denis and I were busy making Christmas cards for friends...

Sticking 'ornaments' on a paper tree (thanks, Granny!)...

Lighting candles on our German Christmas Town (anyone know what these are actually called?). Please note, in the clip below, D's latest trick of hiding everything up his pant legs...

Decorating gingerbread houses with a bunch of friends (thanks, Julie!)...

Eating cookies and enjoying copious cups of cocoa (by far his favorite Christmas activity!)...

Wrapping presents and putting them under the tree (Nazca, despite my best efforts, has been just as busy attacking the presents and ripping off all the ribbons and bows!)...

And attempting to see the Luminarie for 'Christmas Eve'...

Instead, all we saw were these crowds...

So, we made do with some other lights around town and enjoyed some cookies and cocoa on a street corner!

Christmas Calendar - Day 14

Denis is home with an ear infection today. Pobrecito. After sleeping in, he went straight to the Christmas calendar and said, "Mama, do dis!" Perhaps not so pobrecito... In the pocket for Day 14 was a Father Frost matryoshka doll. And what a merry matryoshka morning we've had! (Father Frost is the Russian version of Santa Claus, in case you were wondering.)

Denis figured out how to open the matryoshka while Nazca looked on, waiting for the right moment to pounce on an unsuspecting doll.

In case you need 2 minutes of live matryoshka footage...

Poor Nazzie. Never got the chance to pounce. She will later, no doubt. I can already hear it, "Pi-co! No! No!" Poor D. He constantly gets Nazca and Pisco confused.

The two matryoshka books we read - neither of which have anything to do with Christmas. Yet, they seem so festive to me. The second one has matryoshka dolls that pop out of the book. Very clever!

Christmas Calendar - Days 8, 9, 10

We've been having some snowman fun lately. Unfortunately, there's no snow with which to build a real snowman, but that hasn't stopped us!

We've been reading about snowmen...

Targeting a velcro snowman...

Watching a snowman favorite...

And making some snowman art...

We've got our fingers crossed that there'll be plenty of snowman-making snow in the US/Canada over the holidays. Start your snow dances, everyone!