Our holidays A to Z

A is for All the dear friends we've seen - from as far Away as Singpore, to points in between. Many near to our hearts, we've long-time Adored. And lucky for us, some are right next door.

B is for Babysitters, who helped us attend evening parties! They're always nice and luckily never tardy.

C is for Cookies, the types there are many. I had a few, the kids they had plenty.

D is for Double Decker trains, Doubling the fun!


E is for Ethan Exploring presents, Each and Every one.


F is for Firetruck - santa brought the perfect gift for Kola, what luck;)

G is for Graduation at the Gymnastics center, Great teachers Great tricks. Both boys made it, but only got one pic.


H is for High school, the reunion party was fun. Thanks to Dave and Karen for Hosting everyone. (and the fire department for responding to the excessive fireplace smoke.)

H is also for Hannukah, where we learned of driedels and light with good friends at twilight.

I is for the ice storm that came barreling our way and provided us a jammyfest after Christmas day.

J is for Junket - let's load up the car. With food and presents and a 20-minute snooze, it's not far.

K is for Kola the Kooky Kook in his fancy tall hat. You want fries with that??


L is for Lights - I hung them up high. A few burnt out, so some extras I'll buy.

M is for the Memories from years so long ago. Dad played Ramsey Lewis Christmas - once on vinyl, don'tchaknow.

N is for our Nutcracker and Nativity set, I'm so glad to they're on display. We carried them home from Germany, though no customs fees were paid.

O is for the Ornament-making we whizzed through in Kola's class. Ethan and Alyssa made some later, at age 5 they're not as fast.

P is for Pictures on all our friends' greetings. We love to see the kids grow up now I know time is fleeting.

Q is for evening Quiet as I strolled down our street - the holiday lights were glistening a winter wonder treat.

R is for Rain, today flooding the plain. I need to mop the basement since we don't have a drain.

S is for Sleep - fast and sometimes deep. Dreamt of my new red sweater and where did I put that receipt??

T is for Tree with ornaments some homemade, some bought. When Kola brushes past the tree his pjs often get caught.

U is for Unique and thoughtful gifts, some white elephant some not, we had some laughs and thank yous, too - makes the shopping and wrapping a pleasure to do.

V is for the Voices at my niece and nephew's show at church. They were loud and proud and practiced hard we got there early to find our perch.

W is for Wonderment, I see it in their eyes. Reindeer food, santa letters, all a fun surprise.

X is for the x box, I have no idea what it is. Someday I'm sure I'll see it all, but they're still little kids.

Y is for You for keeping close in touch. The cards and holiday letters, it's never ever too much;)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ready or not, here it comes!

christmas is music to their ears!


it wasn't his breath - I checked.


sugar buzz, anyone?


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I've vowed to get ahead of the game this year, so the days leading up to Christmas feel less like Christmas-cram (as I've named it in previous years while morphing into scrooge) and more like a celebration. I'll let you know how that works out. But so far, we've done most of our holiday cards, baked cookies, put up the outdoor decorations, put up the tree, and done most of our shopping. It's party time! So now we can look forward to the kids' school parties I'm helping with, a reunion with former co-worker friends, high school friends' christmas party, caroling, block ladies' white elephant, .... well you get the idea. I'm looking forward to all the hugs and good cheer.

The boys have been enjoying every activity so far, showing me that there is Zen in The Art of Christmas prep. I looked past the cookie dough that splattered on the walls and floor as the boys put a good three hours into our cookie making, and just as much gusto into decorating, licking, and eating. After a warm bath to get all the sugar out of his hair, Kola said, "I'm as fresh as a cupcake!" Kola helped me carry the tree into the house, while Ethan gave directions and held the door. The boys did a great job at the holiday photo shoot - and thanks to our good friend and talented photographer Werner for his keen eye and patience to get some great shots sans the blur of boys in constant motion.

A steady stream of holiday crafts, hot chocolate, treats, snowfalls and Christmas prep have all added to the boyz energy level and excitement. But no matter how they tried (even with a present at stake!) they couldn't fake a smile for Santa. I think the photo up top says it best - to say the boys were nervous and wary is an understatement. We have annual photos of santa where Ethan shows his consistency...



luckily, the place where we saw santa had its act together by asking kids to fill in a wish list to bring to santa's lap. When Santa asked what the boyz wanted, Ethan was silent but nodded when his card was read - Kola mumbled "firetruck." They both wanted to know if the next day, their gifts would be under the tree if they were good. Ah the waiting is the hardest part. xo b/s/e/k

Skate/school

He's up!


He's down...


Backwards swizzle


Kola teaches grandma about cars


Grandma answers questions about owls


Grandpa teaching his craft


Ethan's class - future illustrators?


Deep into the Fall, we're fully immersed in schools: Kola's preschool, Ethan's elementary school, gymnastics, art class, skate school, and starting tomorrow - soccer classes. There's so much learning going on around here, I had a dream this weekend that I flunked the kindergarten geography entrance test and they had me taking classes at Ethan's K-5 school. It was harder than you think, but at least I could get a glimpse of what's going on in there. Ethan's in school about 14 hours a week, but we get about :20 minutes of recap. Lucky for us, K's and E's schools are very welcoming to visitors. As you see, I brought a couple ringers in! Grandma visited Kola's school with screech owls from the field museum and grandpa took the reins for me (I'm a member of the art appreciation committee at E's school) to teach face drawing to Ethan's class. Both kids were very excited to show us around, and Ethan made sure Grandpa saw his locker.

Skate school has been fun to watch, and the kids like it. The only casuality was Kola's bike helmet, which got pretty cracked up with falls. His first day on the ice was mostly spent horizontal in various poses, but he got a lot of practice getting up;) He was a great sport about it and still wanted to go back. He's improved a lot but after about a half hour he's pretty "wiped out." Ethan has definitely built on his skllls from last year and excels at backward swizzles!

Aside from my duties social secretary and backpack/homework tracker, I am now chair of the Greening Advisory Committee for our village's park district. If you've been reading for a while, you may recall that I started this committee a year ago as a working group to draft the park district's first environmental policy. We've now formed an implementation team to enact the policy, which I think is pretty exciting and can make a difference in so many ways.

Sig has a new boss at work, and that seems to be going well. And all of this just reminds me we have lots to be thankful for! Thank you for keeping in touch with us. More soon! xo b/s/e/k