Keeping Cozy

‘Tis the season, eh? Well, our chimney may not allow smoke to escape from the actual fireplace, but at least we’ve got the elements of a pillow bonfire to keep up cozy! How adorable is that?

And…egg nog. Yesss!!!

I did a better job of bringing in my herbs this year before frost time, so we’ve got some bright green sage, parsley, oregano and thyme. Hopefully they’ll hang around til next spring. The thyme is not super happy indoors, but the other three are looking great. Especially the oregano.

Joe brought the boys to the European Winter Market they hold at the train depot in downtown St Paul. A little jealous to not have been along, but I was busy finishing up schoolwork for my last prerequisite class. Next stop: Art Education program at the U of M, starting June 2019. Application in.

Two weekends ago, we got to celebrate the wedding of our dear old friend, Caitlin!

We were very classy and elegant about the whole thing

Great friends from way back!

It was a lovely Stillwater evening. Plenty of sillies and nacho cheese to go around.

This past week, my book club celebrated a very special December meeting at the Alumni House (Briggs House) on the Macalester Campus. I think it’s been five years, now? Pretty crazy. I’ve gotten to have some great discussions with these folks every month, and read a lot of things I’d meant to read and/or never would have otherwise read.

On Tuesday, Santa came to Curran’s, a restaurant just two blocks away. Grandpa Jim thought we’d all probably better go see him. Here’s a fuzzy version of the pic on our fridge.

Henry was not interested in being in the picture, so he hid behind Charlie. He was okay with talking to him afterward, though.

Speaking of Henry, he’s been quite busy using Charlie’s chemistry set the past few weeks. We’ve gone through a lot of vinegar, baking soda, and whatever other random powders and liquids I can think of to let him experiment with. Here’s our cocoa powder day:

Oh, and of course,  slime

Doesn’t his newest hat look great? Thanks, Rebecca!

He’s been loving Geronimo Stilton books lately, so we’ve spent a lot of time in this chair together going on mouse adventures. I think this particular moment, however, followed the reading of a book about emergency vehicles…

Today was his sing-along at school. My last Judson Preschool sing-along! Five of them, I’ve been to. I think this was the one my kid was most participatory in. Neither of our boys is particularly interested in singing songs in front of groups of people. Last year, Henry sat cross-legged on the floor and never looked up the entire time. This time, he stood front and center, did all of the actions, and even sang sometimes.

Here they’re plugging their noses because of the stinky sock they’re singing about.

So anyway, to quote my favorite holiday movie, Home Alone II: Lost in New York:
“Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal…

…and a Happy New Year.”