Friday, December 17, 2010

Gingerbread "Festivity"

Our gingerbread projects, on two different days, didn't start out "festive", but I'm afraid ended that way when Rowan had complete meltdowns because they both didn't go exactly how he had imagined. The house didn't look just like the picture on the box, and we didn't have any candy for the gingerbread people, as they had had when he decorated his gingerbread man at school.

Team Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

Niamh Decorating Her Gingerbread Man


Gingerbread Tragedy
I was only able to keep my temper for the second meltdown by documenting this tragic face (taken post rolling on the floor, kicking and screaming).

Muriel Eating Gingerbread Man

gingerbread man bokeh
It was too late in the afternoon for good light in this photo, but I still had fun playing with the tree bokeh.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Rowan's Holiday School Program-2010

Little Star Song

A few weeks ago Rowan's school had their holiday program. He was a little nervous beforehand, but did really great. I found it interesting that the school did not have a Halloween party since not everyone celebrates Halloween, but that they did sing some religious songs for the holiday program. Maybe they figure that since there was a Hanukkah song in with all the others it was okay?





Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Morning in San Francisco

The morning before Thanksgiving we spent a little bit of time in San Francisco. Not too long, because we were worried about afternoon traffic getting out of town, and we were also all a little grumpy from not going to bed until (at least) midnight the night before. We made a quick-ish stop at the Ferry Building where we got donuts (egg free!), chocolate, bread, and cheese. After that we went to the Golden Gate Bridge for a quick walk before heading to Santa Rosa.

Bay Bridge GBW
the bay bridge

checking out the bay CV
Ro outside the Ferry Building

The Embarcadero CV

Niamh With Donut & Attitude CV
Niamh's first donut ever! Complete with four-year-old attitude.

Muriel + Donut + Carseat


R @ GG Bridge CV

Niamh @ GG Bridge CV

Muriel @ GG Bridge CV
I wanted a picture of all three kids together in front of The Bridge, but that wasn't in the cards.

GG Bridge w- Sunflare CV

Monday, December 6, 2010

Little Bird

Soaring Like a Bird
"Mama, when I jump it feels like I'm soaring like a bird!"

12.6.10

Chocolate Stare
St. Nicholas visited our house last night, leaving the kids a few treats,

Ostheimer Angel
three new figures for the nativity scene,

St. Nicholas Day Mess
and three new Christmas books. This year Muriel received Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, Niamh received The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, and Rowan received Christmas Day in the Morning.

Italian Peppermint Hot Chocolate

We ended the morning with Italian peppermint hot chocolate and a sad, sad attempt at making eggless St. Nicholas bread. I thought that a sweet dough like what is used for cinnamon rolls would be a good substitute for what the bakeries in Morges make. Cook's Illustrated has a recipe for quick cinnamon buns that don't have eggs. It sounded perfect! The recipe though did not have yeast, which made it more like a biscuit dough, which is very hard to shape into little St. Nicholas men. So next year I will try again, this time with a yeast dough!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Static Electricity

The Static Electricity Is Out Of Control

The static electricity in our house since we came back from CA has been out of control. It's not only doing crazy things to the girls' hair, but every time we touch a light switch we get a nice jolt of electricity. I hope that this won't last the rest of the winter!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010