Twas the night before Christmas

All through our house, the boys were mixing green slime and Grandma Joanie was setting a beautiful Christmas Eve table for dinner with the Lovejoy-Grinnell-Leibowitz-Leibo-Genovese family.

Christmas Eve MOST trip

Christmas Eve the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology was open and we had some pre-holiday sillies to get out. We had the run of the museum and very few other visitors with whom to share it. I haven't been with them to the MOST in more than a year and it was startling to me to see how much more they are interested in, and in different ways, than they were last time I visited with them. They wanted to learn everything about the human heart (and climb up into the chambers in the huge model), climb all through the climbing structure by themselves (they are way too fast for me now anyway), fly all the planes and helicopters, do every hands-on exhibit related to wind, solar and water power, climb through the caves, and dig for fossils in the sand. They also watched the ball exhibit (balls moving through different pulleys, channels, etc in continuous movement) for a good 20 minutes, watching in one spot for a few moments, then moving on to another spot to watch a different thing happening. It was all pretty amazing to me and to them, and I think we'll be making more trips here again soon.

Very helpful older brother Theo getting Reed ready for his bath. Reed loves when his brothers help him.

Getting in the Christmas spirit

After the big boys get on the bus on the mornings I'm home with him, Reed often goes to the door and insists that we go for a walk. He never minds being carried or the cold. It's a great reason for me to get up and get us both some fresh air!

a 

The boys had a Dr Seuss party at school to celebrate their readathon last month. Some local and school celebrities came to the school to read Dr Seuss books to the kids.

Last Friday our neighborhood Santa made a visit to the Firebarn. No photos of the kids with Santa were taken, but they also had a great time running around, reading Christmas books with neighborhood friends, and eating cookies and hot cocoa.

Saturday morning the boys had their last ice skating lesson of the season. You wouldn't guess it from their faces but they decided they didn't like ice skating and didn't want to sign up for the next session. But they were gliding and hockey stopping like champs throughout the lesson. Maybe they'll take it up again next winter.

Saturday Grandma Joanie and I took the big boys to Symphoria, a wonderful holiday concert with the Syracuse pops chorus, the kids chorus, ballet and other dancers, and the entire orchestra. It was fun and touching and will absolutely become a holiday tradition here.

Sunday I took the boys and our neighbor Grace to the beautiful and ornate Landmark Theatre to enjoy a fantastic jazz band playing Christmas songs and then watch Elf in the big theatre. Couldn't get a good photo with the kids and the flash in the dark but we had a great time.

Fun at home

As we settle in for a long Syracuse winter, we're having more indoor fun, which can also be fun. Here's Reed and Theo in their Spiderman masks (above) and the boys playing superheros with their friend Walter. Reed loved being right in the middle of all the fun, chasing the big boys around.

Mama and Reed on a hike to Pratts Falls with friends from the neighborhood.

Reed and Milo

Reed interacts with Milo more than I remember the big boys interacting with the cats when they were this little. Probably this has more to do with Milo being old and tired now and not being willing to move when she sees Reed coming, rather than a genuine affection. But Reed has taken a special interest in Milo and Milo lets him do pretty incredible things to her.

Thanksgiving

This was our pool- and canal-side table for Thanksgiving. There were 28 altogether enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at the home of friends Jan and Dick. Theo and Beckett enjoyed some swimming between dinner and dessert.

More pool time

This is the boys jumping in all together, with Theo holding one of Reed's hands and Beckett holding the other. It was a success once, and a failure once (the boys jumped and kind of pulled Reed in, at slightly different times, resulting in Reed scraping his leg along the edge of the pool).

Grandpa Stu was in the water for at least two hours today concocting all kinds of great games with Theo and Beckett.

Digging at the Lighthouse pier.

Eating at the boys' favorite restaurant, Sanibel Grill.

Ocean swimming

One of the afternoons we all went to the beach, the boys took a break from castle building to run over to the water's edge. After a few minutes of play in the wet sand, watching the waves destroy their drawings, they started getting into the water. Grandpa Stu went over to supervise and soon called for backup as the boys started playing in the waves. Within just a few minutes, they went from dipping toes in to being tossed around by the waves. Their favorite activity was to wait for the waves in waist-deep water and punch or kick them as they broke at their bodies.

\

Beach

Every morning I went for a walk on the beach with Reed. The first morning we woke up in Sanibel, all the kiddos woke up early so we all went out to watch the sun rise over Fort Myers Beach. The next morning, just Beckett and Reed came with me. The other mornings Reed and I went out by ourselves. We had a couple of beach afternoons, including one with just Mama and Reed when Reed played in the sand and I read my book for an unexpectedly long time.