more Hanukkah at home

Playing dreidel with all our gelt:



Our menorah:

L.L.Bean

We went to L.L.Bean the next morning. The kids loved watching the fish!

Christmas night in the hotel

Can you tell Jane is tired?





I have a tip for anyone who wants to alleviate a tantrum. Take a video of the tantrum, then show it to the tantrum-thrower. It works every time!

Malcolm's all ready for bed!

Christmas

We spent Christmas at Grammy's house. She had breakfast for us when we arrived.







Since Ben and Amy were travelling, their dog Maggie was staying with Grammy. Jane was happy about that!

Hanukkah in Maine

About an hour before we were going to depart, Jane got herself all ready to leave. When I told her we still needed to eat breakfast, she said: "No, we're going out for breakfast."



Grandpa peeling potatoes:



Malcolm looking at a book:



Latkes!



Funny face:



Nana and Jane:



Rayna's new slippers:



Jane got a Jane-sized giraffe towel!



Nana's new cowl:



Samara's and Jake's new hats:



Menorah time:

Hanukkah gifts

I love that at Hanukkah the kids only get one present a day (or sometimes we skip a day) and they have a whole day or two to play with it before getting another.

Here's Jane's new Cinderella dress. I had gotten her a cheapo one last year but it fell apart!



Cash register/calculator:



Malcolm's new favorite toy:



Of course some new books!

sugar igloo

Grammy gave us all the supplies to make an igloo out of sugar cubes, plus some cute penguins.

Thanksgiving part 2

Nana and Grandpa had a lot of snow, so we brought the kids' snowsuits!



I love how the sun looks in this photo.



Snow snack:

Thanksgiving part 1

First we stopped at Uncle Ben and Aunt Amy's house to visit. Look at Reagan's eyes!



Malcolm not liking his snack?

children's museum

We went back to the Children's Museum during Thanksgiving week. The reason I'm late posting this is because I had left our point-and-shoot camera in Maine and I just got it back.





We stopped at Central Square in Waltham on the way home. It was really nice out!

Jane's baby bird

Now Jane can pretend the eggs I knit her previously are hatching into a baby bird.



(Free pattern found here)

gingerbread men (and women)

sewing project

Jane made a dress for... can you guess? Susie! And Malcolm made a sleeping bag for his dragon.

Susie with her birthday candle

During her previous birthday party we had neglected to have a real dessert with a candle on top, so we put one in a cookie I made for a cookie swap.

eye drops

Jane had a strange look when she got home from the eye doctor!

craft room

I had been wanting to do this for years. I converted the "office" into a craft room.



Previously, our art supplies were scattered throughout the house. Pipe cleaners, stamps and stickers in the living room:



Crayons and coloring books in the dining room:



Chalk and paint on a shelf with games and puzzles:



Here's how the bookshelf looked before:



Now all the art supplies are together, and easier for the kids to get to!



And now the easel is out full-time.



Jane has declared that the craft room is the best room in the house.