The Backside of February

I wanted to write about how glad I always am to see the backside of February, but here it is the last day of March already! (I've had a draft of this post sitting around for ages... well, at least for a month.) I'm not sure why the shortest month of the year always seems to drag on and on. I guess it's because we're all itching for spring by then. Anyway, here are some highlights from February.

A lost tooth! Denis lost his first tooth on February 10, but had no idea where or when it popped out. (We didn't find it until days later.) The Tooth Fairy still managed to come and left a shiny coin under his pillow that night. And so it seems we have entered the next phase of childhood...the awkward one when a kid's new teeth are much too big for his face! (Update: Denis lost a second tooth in March!)

Warm cups of cocoa and a cold day of sledding. We went up to Mt. Rokko a few weekends ago to meet a bunch of Denis's classmates who arranged an uber-sized play date for the morning. It was a cold and windy day, one with real snow even! (In addition to the fake snow they make for sledding.) After a couple of hours, Dima was done, and was stumbling along asking me, "Hot cereral? Hot porridge? Hot choc-it?" Poor boy was cold! So we went and found a warm cuppa at the cafe...

Below are pictures from an earlier trip up to Mt. Rokko this winter, on a much warmer day.

  

Four Years Ago Today

Four years ago today, we officially became Denis's parents. Feels like yesterday...and a lifetime ago! Happy Gotcha Day, Denis! We love you more than you could possibly know.

Bali - Winter Break 2012

We spent ten lazy days in Bali for our winter break this year. Our daily routine consisted of breakfast, beach/pool, lunch, nap, pool/beach, dinner, bed. Wake up, start again. We traveled with two sets of friends - both from our Peru days - and had a great time catching up. More photos coming soon.

Christmas Clips

Below are a few clips from our Christmas celebrations. The boys love watching themselves and reliving the holiday moments, but there's no pressure for anyone else to watch!

Clip 1: In which Denis lights the schwibbogen (thanks for the word, Mar!), and in which Dima is jealous.

Clip 2:  In which the boys discover what Santa left under the tree. Speaking of under the tree, it seems as though there were a lot of presents under there. But Santa only left each of us one thing (plus a few family gifts - games and puzzles), and we all got each other one thing. But somehow the whole pile looks like a proper bounty! Some of the other presents are from relatives, and I guess it all adds up. We try not to put too much emphasis on the gifts (more the gift-giving), but for kids, let's be honest, it's all about the gift-getting! 

Clip 3:  In which the boys discover what Santa stuffed in their stockings.

Clip 4:  In which we exchange gifts with one another. In an effort to try to put the focus on what we were giving to each other (rather than what we were getting from each other), I made Santa sacks this year. We each filled our sacks with one gift for everyone else, and made a point to watch everyone open what they received. I'm sure the message was lost on the boys, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to try!

Christmas Continued

It's hard to believe that our winter break is almost over. Tomorrow morning, it's back to school! Here are a few more pictures of our Christmas celebrations, with some video clips coming soon.

Both boys had holiday celebrations at school just before we went on break. Dima and his Peter Pan classmates had a great time with all the singing, dancing...and a visit from Santa. Denis's KB class had a dance party, which was a great ending to their unit dance unit and a perfect beginning to the holidays. Jon and I were both able to slip away from work for a few minutes to attend both parties. You'll see below that we missed the "Dress In Red" memo for one party!

One of the calendar activities before Christmas was to light the candles on one of those beautiful wooden German village scenes (What are those called? I always forget!). Denis got to do the honors, much to someone else's chagrin. 

We spent a cold weekend afternoon making gift labels, wrapping presents, and stuffing our Santa sacks.

Here's Nazca hiding in the tree...again.

Another calendar activity was to sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve Eve (December 14 for us this year). The boys donned their new matching pajamas (I vow to only do this at Christmas!), then Denis and I brought down our mattresses from upstairs, watched a couple of Christmas shows, and then went to sleep under the lights. Dima got to stay for part of the fun, but had to sleep in his own bed this year. He joined us again in the morning for breakfast by the tree - and more Christmas shows. Aren't the holidays great?!

Christmas Eve dinner was spent with our friends. One of Denis's classmates and her family joined us for lasagna, which is somewhat of a tradition in my family. (Mine was almost as good as yours, Mom!)

That evening before bed we left a note for Santa, along with some cookies and milk. Oops! Only the crumbs are left here.

Santa then came and performed his magic...

Christmas morning finally arrived, and the boys got to see what Santa left for them. Everyone ooohed and aaahed for a while, then we exchanged gifts and played with our new toys.

I made something new and something old for Christmas brunch this year. A potato-feta-scallion frittata (a fabulous recipe from the fabulous The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, a gift from my fabulous sister - thanks again, Moni!) and my mom's Caramel Pecan Rolls (these were as good as yours, Mom!).

Santa was good to me this year. He brought me a new ice cream maker. The boys and I made homemade peppermint ice cream (my favorite this time of year!), which we enjoyed after dinner that night. Santa was good to Jon, too. (He got a new BBQ/smoker, which we plan to break in soon.)

The next morning, we left for Bali. Those pictures coming soon!