Bye Daddy
As Bug so poignantly put it, we had to "say a very sad goodbye to Daddy" this past weekend. Monkey and Bug are old enough (and have gone through this enough) to realize what's going on and  process it all a little better this time around. They were sad before he left, but they responded by getting in extra wrestling time and giving him good long hugs at the airport--even Goose gave him a long hug without hesitation (she's hit that stage where she often refuses hugs, especially goodbye ones, so that's a big deal). When we got home, I overheard the girls explaining to their buddies (stuffed animals) about Daddy being gone and Bug put on a Daddy shirt to help her feel better. Daddy keeps coming up in conversation, especially at moments that they wish he was around for: making and eating Christmas cookies, going to see a living nativity, etc. This time though, instead of having "I miss Daddy" meltdowns about it, they tell me I need to make sure to write him a message about it--a much more cheerful way of missing him.

Before he left, we talked about how Daddy would be missing Christmas this year, and I suggested that we buy and fill a mini stocking for him to take with him. It made me happy when the first thing they thought of that he would need to celebrate Christmas was a nativity set (small enough to pack and not breakable, they said. We found an ornament at the Christian bookstore that fit the bill). We also filled it with the requisite chocolate Santas and candy canes.

Christmas Movies & Music
Part of our Advent celebrations that I don't think I've mentioned yet is that we've watched Christmas movies every morning instead of their usual shows during our morning milk and snuggle time (and yes, Mommy has caved and frequently let them watch more than the usual 30 minutes because I love Christmas movies). Their absolute favorite: The Nutcracker, not a kiddie cartoon version but a full length ballet version designed by Maurice Sendak, full of color and drama. We also went to library and checked out a storybook version and a DVD of a televised version from the 60s. They found the 60s version a disappointment since it skipped some of their favorite parts: the moment when Clara rescues the Nutcracker by whacking the Mouse King with her shoe and the part with the Chinese dancers from the Land of Sweets. The Sendak version also had particular attraction for them because one of Drosselmeier's gifts is a toy castle full of miniature dancing automatons (thank you, Hugo Cabret, for inspiring that particular obssession!). We now own a wooden nutcracker, and the girls often request the Nutcracker music, so they dance and pretend to Clara and Drosselmeier.

We also went to the library for a showing of Polar Express. It's the first time the girls have gone to see a movie somewhere, and much as they loved it, it'll be awhile before we go to a real movie theater since I spent the entire hour and a half answering questions. They were also big fans of the hot chocolate and cookies that the librarians provided.

Of course, our house has been full of Christmas music, not just the Nutcracker Suite, but a pretty eclectic collection of other Christmas music. One of Monkey's favorite things lately has been rocking the air drums along with A Twisted Christmas. One of my favorite Christmas music memories from this year though was watching all three girls dance up and down the grocery store aisles singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of their lungs. Monkey and Bug even had real jingle bells strung on their clogs.  

Christmas Cookies!
We baked lots of cookies this year! We made enough rolled out sugar cookies, peppermint snowballs, and M&M cookie bars this week to pass out plates to about a half dozen neighbors plus a big plate for the librarians and, of course, lots of leftovers for us! The girls helped me measure and mix. Monkey and Bug even cracked eggs and manned the handheld mixer on their own (with close supervision, of course). They all pitched in to cut out and decorate the sugar cookies. Those activities actually held their attention longer than I expected because we decorated them with sprinkles before cooking them (I didn't have to deal with icing, and they could switch back and forth between activities). Obviously, beaters and bowls were licked and cookies sampled for quality control purposes. The girls had a great time walking around to pass out cookies and were even brave enough to say Merry Christmas and pass out the plates themselves.

COOKIES!!!

Monkey and Bug hard at work smashing candy canes.

Library Day
No storytime again this week, but we had a great time reading lots of stories. This week we came home with these books:
Let's Say Hi to Friends who Fly!
The Duckling Gets a Cookie
Mother's Day Mice
Mary Veronica's Egg
The Nutcracker
The Night Tree
Babar's ABC

Living Nativity
While running errands one day this week, we spotted a church near us advertising a living nativity. It also happened to be next to a pretty elaborate Christmas lights display. We decided--ok, Bug decided and informed me that we should come back when it was dark. We had a great time. The girls watched the living nativity and listened to the church choir sing carols for a long time while enjoying complimentary hot cocoa and Christmas cookies.

Seeing the living nativity inspired this scene of "Joseph," "Mary," and "Baby Jesus."

Lessons
Confession: with all the Advent festivities, we haven't been doing reading lessons as consistently this week. We worked in a few, and the girls did a great job. Monkey even read a few words all by herself! They've also gotten more adept at memorizing books and then "reading" them to Goose, which she loves.

We haven't done anything resembling formal math lessons in a while, but all the baking involved lots of counting and measuring, and Goose still loves counting anything or nothing. At some point in the car this week Bug even spontaneously counted all the way to 50! She only needed prompting after 19, 29, etc. I think that's a record.

Favorite Conversation of the Week:
Bug: "[Monkey] called me funky! What's 'funky' mean?"
Me: "Um . . . I guess it means you're a little weird."
Bug (racing back to the playroom): "I'm not funky! I'm a LOT weird!"