School Christmas Program

Is there anything sweeter than a children's Christmas program?

Ellery had her big stage performance last Thursday.

She had been practicing the songs for weeks and she was very excited to finally perform them.

Although Vaughan had been diligently practicing too, this performance was only for the Pre K children. Vaughan shed a tear or two hundred and then eagerly watched from the audience. Next year she will have her moment in the limelight.

And then...

It was a hectic morning. The kind where you can't seem to catch up. I cleaned up breakfast only to turn around to a slew of dolls scattered across the floor. I reminded the girls that they needed to clean up one activity before moving onto the next.

I went to warm up my coffee and came back to a pile of 50 pipe cleaners and the baby was complaining - it was time for her nap. I completed a quick diaper change, plopped her in bed and returned to a, once again, cold cup of coffee. It was probably 5 minutes before I realized that all was quiet.

The kitchen was S I L E N T! I drank my coffee with a smile from ear to ear - knowing all the while things were too quiet for too long. And - I heard giggles from down the hall. Should I:

A: continue enjoying the peace and quiet

B: go see what all that giggling was about

My curiosity won out. As I approached the girls' room the giggling was louder. I pushed gently on the door (so that they wouldn't hear me and I could really surprise them). But, I was met with resistance. Were they pushing the door closed? How did they know I was coming to check on them?

I pushed harder - a little worried - to be honest. The door nudged open and THIS is what I saw.

Panties everywhere.



Panties on their heads, on their arms, on their legs. I looked behind the door and saw that they had pushed their hamper against it and had stacked a pile of books there too.

I burst out laughing (wouldn't you?)

And then I ran and grabbed the camera!

Christmas Cookies

Have you made your Christmas cookies yet? It seems like everywhere I look (or really, browse and read) everyone is making Christmas cookies. And, for the record, they all look pretty darn delicious and perfect.

Take a look at these my cousin Andrea made last week or these - scroll to the bottom of the posts to see her beauties. They look, really um..professional. Right? As you might have guessed from the picture above, the efforts here at the McKnight house did not produce the same Martha-like cookies. Instead, we created some sort of giant cookie blob. And in case you were wondering, they didn't taste that good either.

Yesterday, we tried once again. This time from a box from Trader Joe's. Alas the results were much improved. Showing once again, that cookies from a box can be delicious and lordy so much easier to make.

Next up - Gingerbread Houses...but don't hold your breath.

Falling Trees and Santa

This picture really doesn't describe what happened last Thursday. Let me set the scene. I was in the basement on a conference call - the girls were at ballet. I heard a very loud crash accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. It was a distinctive sound and I immediately knew it was the tree.

This tree had been a problem tree from the start. Despite our best efforts to get the darn thing to stand straight, it refused. First leaning this way, then leaning that way. I am not a perfectionist and I was perfectly willing to let the tree be what it was....a slightly tilted, but still beautiful symbol of this special season. Then the C R A S H!

I ran upstairs (my phone on mute) and was shocked by the ensuing disaster. Not only were there the teeniest tiniest pieces of glass EVERYWHERE, water was seeping out of the stand and onto our oriental rug. On my hands and knees (still clutching the muted phone between by cheek and shoulder), I heaved the tree upright again. My knees were wet, my neck was achingly trying to keep hold of the phone and I was starting to break out in a sweat. Because now what?

I had stopped the water from spilling but, you see, the tree had fallen in the stand and now I needed to hold it upright and try to adjust the bolts to keep it in place. The bolts were not turning. I tried my best, let go and backed away. That was when the tree came crashing down on the other side.

I stood staring at the outfall; broken ornaments everywhere, a wet rug and a horizontal tree. I politely excused myself from the work call and immediately dialed Alan. I left a desperate message - I was frustrated.

30 minutes later, he pulled into the drive and rescued both me and the tree.

Onto better recent events...I took the girls to visit Santa on Friday.

Please take note of Vaughan's sweet face! She wanted nothing to do with Santa last year -- and I have the photo to prove it.

She couldn't get enough of him this year. She followed him around the tea room, tugged gently on his arm sleeve and asked repeatedly for "Holly Pockets" (aka Polly Pockets). Santa fell in love with Vaughan. As enamored as she was with him, he was just as equally enamored with her.

Seriously - look at those eyes!

Hope you are gearing up for Christmas this weekend....we sure are!

Latham might be bigger than Gagi by January!

Happy Saturday!

Cold Feet, Warm Heart

Photo by Danielle!

Last week, we decorated our house and our tree. Today, Ellery asked if we could keep the tree up all year. Honestly, I wish we could. And then I thought, isn't it a little odd that we all buy recently chopped down trees, put them up in our houses, string them with lights and finish them with ornaments?

By the way, WINTER is here. I think the high today was 40. I know, I know those of you in the upper regions probably think that is a walk in the park. But down here in the South - that is

C O L D!

These toes have been cold which has necessitated a non-stop fire in the fireplace.

In other news, and soon to be posted pictures:

• The water main in our front yard burst (imagine gushing water, and lots of it)
• Our Christmas tree fell over twice last Thursday; first crushing the ornaments on the right and then the ornaments on the left. It was awesome
• We attempted to take a picture for our Christmas card. We have not been successful yet

Roaches

I just killed a roach. UGH! Those of you who know me know how deeply upsetting this is. The paranoia has already set in. My eyes are continually scanning the room - searching for more unwanted creepy crawlers.

The only thing keeping me sane until Alan gets back in town tonight....is looking at this picture of sweet Latham.

Don't be jeal

These cheeks are seriously irresistible. No seriously, I can't stop kissing them.

Celebrate We Will

In 1998, we spent Thanksgiving in Turkey. My mom had this grand idea - turkey in Turkey on Turkey Day. Turkey was amazing -- though I don't think we actually ate any turkey. My mom and her friend did crash a Turkish wedding. What? Your mom isn't a wedding crasher?

One year, Alan and I met his sister, her family and his mom in New Orleans. We ate at an Italian restaurant on Thanksgiving night. Afterwards Alan and I hit up Harrah's for some blackjack. What? You don't frequent casinos on Thanksgiving?

This year, we stayed put. We had a small Thanksgiving with our family and Gagi and Pop Pop. Celebrate we did. After all, it doesn't matter if you are in Turkey or Atlanta Thanksgiving is about being with the ones you love.

Friday, the celebrating continued. It was Gagi's birthday. We passed the day visiting with good friends and family. What a fabulous long weekend we had. I hope yours was just as fulfilling.

Gobble, Gobble

Sunday night I tossed and turned. Try as I might, I couldn't sleep. It was not how I had hoped to start off the week. And as used to sleeplessness as I am these days, this lack of sleep was not due to my children. This time, it was my dad.

Last week my dad had his annual physical and after describing shortness of breath he was ordered to take a nuclear stress test. That in turn led to an angiogram which led to an angioplasty (removal of a blockage in his artery and the implantation of a stent.)

In the end all is well. The blockage was found and fixed before he sustained any damage to his heart. My heart was heavy with concern all week.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful (as always) for the health of my family. This Thanksgiving writing those words carries a bit more weight, a but more realism.

Every night when we pray with the girls, we discuss what we are thankful for; our family, our house, our health, our friends, our dolls, the mailbox?? etc. In doing this, I hope we are teaching our children to be grateful all year, to be grateful in spite of and because of trying times and challenges. In doing this, I acknowledge all of the blessings in my life. And today, I am so thankful that our family is well and that we have the privilege of spending the day together.

Hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble!

Obsessed

I am obsessed - and no, not with the show. Have you seen that show though, Obsessed? Fascinating really but not where I am going with this post.

I am obsessed with quinoa (keen-wah). Have you tried the stuff? I started hearing a lot about it over the last 6 months. Something about how it is a grain, some sort of super food. It all sort of went in one ear and out the other. I am all about healthy eating and trying new foods - but I had never tasted quinoa and I had no idea how to cook with it.

For the record (and according to Wikipedia), quinoa is a grain-like crop grown for its edible seeks. To me, it tastes and acts very similar to couscous. I think it is often used as a rice substitute.

My mom makes one mean chicken salad. Usually, she adds wild rice and grapes to it. But a few months ago, she substituted the rice with quinoa. That was all it took -- I was hooked. I am kind of a texture eater and I LOVED the texture of the quinoa. Since then, I have been adding it to soups, salads, pretty much anything I can think of.

This weekend my mom made it with lentils. This is her recipe adapted from this one here:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 1/4 cups water, plus 2 cups
• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lime, zested
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped

Directions

Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a large microwave-proof bowl with a cover, add the rinsed quinoa and 1 1/4 cups water. Cover and microwave on high for 9 minutes. Let it sit for 2 minutes then stir. Quinoa should be tender enough to eat, but with a little "pop" upon biting.

Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a saucepan,simmer the lentils in 2 cups water until the lentils are tender, but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain and cool.

Saute the celery and carrots until tender.

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard and vinegar together, and drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. Add the garlic powder, lime zest, and salt, and pepper, to taste.

To assemble the salad: In a medium salad bowl, mix the quinoa, lentils, celery, carrots, green onions, and chopped cilantro. Top the salad with the dressing, toss to coat and serve.

Leave Your Sleep

Once upon a time, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to music. I listened to it as often as I could. I loved discovering great new songs by artists I knew and I loved discovering artists I hadn't heard of.

Then I had children.

Suddenly, the Wiggles sounded good to me. Imagination Movers rocked. And LIVE music -- forget it. How could I see a show that started at 10pm? That is when I am going to bed. It was a sad, sad situation.

To further complicate things, my children are really into music.....and they have very definitive opinions about the kind of music they like. These days, they ONLY want to hear female singers. Hey - at least we have moved beyond the Wiggles, right?

Recently I discovered Natalie Merchant's new cd, Leave Your Sleep. You can hear it playing in the background of the video. The girls LOVE it. They spent an hour choreographing dances to the cd on Friday.

The cd has so many different styles of music; from folk music to Irish/celtic to reggae. There are some musician who contributed who you will recognize (Medeski, Martin and Wood) and others you might not (Katell Keineg).

The lyrics are actually poems -- ee cummings, some nursery rhymes, etc. The song in the video is ee cummings.

I love it and the girls love it and thank goodness it isn't Imagination Movers!

You can listen to the song here. Check it out it will be worth you while.

P.S. Now watch the video again and check out Sweet Latham watching the girls dance.

MAGGIE AND MILLY AND MOLLY AND MAY

E. E. Cummings (1894 – 1962)

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

Kickin' it in the classroom

We have been kickin' it in kids' classrooms the last few weeks. I went to Vaughan's class to help with some sort of Garden Party. You see, the class has been working in the garden and this party was supposed to celebrate the final harvest. I'll be honest, I had no idea what the party was about. I just showed up and did was I was told.

The children read a book about a garden going dormant in the winter and then we "harvested" seeds for next year. Each child scraped out tomato seeds that are going to be dried and then used again next year for planting.

The party ended with a feast of fried green tomatoes and caprese salad. Vaughan made weird faces and refused to try both.

Alan also paid V's class a visit today. He lead the class in some hokey pokey. I am hoping to post some pictures of that soon - cuz I am thinking they will be pretty funny.

Last week at dinner, Vaughan announced something about the sun dying, being in heaven...She proclaimed that her teachers told her this. It was a cloudy day - but I found it a bit odd that her teachers told her that the sun had died.

Later that night, I received an email from her teachers. Sunshine, their pet bird, had passed away. RIP Sunshine.

Tomorrow - I am heading to Ellery's classroom. Nothing like kickin' it in pre-K.

Around here

We have been hanging around the house a lot lately - mostly because it is fun but also because it has been COLD here. Burrr...and, yes, I know I am a wimp. So those of you in MN, Canada, NY, just got ahead and laugh now.

Latham has become the ultimate cuddler. She gets in there good and close and breathes her sweet baby breath right on you. It is heavenly.

Oh and for those of you who have been wondering, Ken is alive and well and still, um, without clothes. For the love of grape seeds - can we get some clothes on the poor man? He must be cold!

So much to catch up on

I probably have a total of 90 seconds to get this post up. The girls are playing in the basement and the baby is on her mat staring at me. If she could talk she would be saying, "Mama, pick me up and love on me some." And that is just what I plan on doing in a few short minutes.

There is a lot to catch up on. We have been busy having Garden Celebrations at school, cooking lots of soup (potato leek, lentil, vegetable) and growing.

Seriously - check out Latham's cheeks. She is a growing girl. By the way, that is Gagi behind the Bert head. Her costume rocked and so did Halloween. I think it was the best weather we have had in a long time.

OK - time is up. I have lots and lots and lots of fun photos to share...hoepfully I will get them up here soon!

Happy Halloween

I could hear the girls giggling this morning in their room. I snuck in to check in on them and get in some quality cuddle time. Vaughan was standing on the windowsill, peering out at the street. I announced "Happy Halloween" and they both lit up. You see we have been dressing up and going to Halloween parties for the last week. Every day they ask if it is Halloween yet - every day (until today) I have had to disappoint them with a no.

So today the girls will wear one last time their Pippi costumes. They rock a Pippi Longstocking! Don't you agree?

P.S. Alan and I went to a party last night as Captain Stubing and Julie from The Love Boat. I think we pulled it off!

Halloweening

We have been getting ready for Halloween...and it has been hysterical. Apparently the three shortest people in the house thought they should try to hang things up high. I like that in this pic it looks like Ellery is holding up Gagi and Gagi is holding up Danielle! Oh and that cat -- sure is SCARY!

Ellery's Party - Part 2 and Some Visitors

We had a busy weekend (aren't they all?) After a birthday dinner La Parilla Friday night, we kicked off Saturday morning with Ellery's birthday party.

The girls had a fabulous princess gymnastics party (theme created by Ellery).

After a quick bite to eat, we hustled to the soccer field for Ellery's game. Have you watched little girls play soccer? It is something to see...for so many reasons. Some of the girls are holding hands, other are hugging. Some of the girls are playing with the grass -- and occasionally, some of the girls actually kick the ball.

After the soccer game, I took the girls out to ride bikes. About 40 minutes into our rather disastrous bike ride (Ellery had no air in her tires and her training wheels kept flying off), I got a text from Alan.

"Katie is on her way and will be here in an hour."

My friend from college, Katie, recently relocated to Birmingham. We had talked a few days earlier and I had hoped she would come for a weekend visit. But with Katie - you just never know.

I was giddy when I read the text message. The last time I saw Katie, we were living in NYC and Ellery was 6 months old. Now Katie has a little girl.

Let me introduce Katie's delightful daughter Ava Jane. This little angel will melt your heart.

I mean seriously - look at that face!

The girls loved loved loved Katie and loved loved loved Ava Jane. Ellery was enchanted with Ava Jane -- she couldn't get enough.

Katie left way too early on Sunday morning. The girls asked multiple times Sunday afternoon/evening if my friend was coming back. Vaughan was devastated that there wouldn't be another sleep over. I missed that little Ava Jane the minute she left my house.

Katie - come back for a visit again soon!

Isn't She Lovely?

Sweet Latham hasn't had nearly the airtime she deserves. She is the happiest most easy going baby I have ever come across (if I do say so myself.)

And she might also be the fastest growing. The little nugget is barely fitting into her 6 month clothes!

Happiness

Happiness!

Three Birthdays and a Funeral

Cue the music, Strawberry has passed away. For those of you not in the know, Strawberry was a fish gifted to the girls from Santa last year. He had seemed rather "lethargic" of late and upon returning from our D.C trip (post on that soon) he had settled in comfortably on the bottom of his home.

The girls didn't notice - he had always liked to hide under the rocks. I announced his departure and decided that this would be a good learning opportunity. Strawberry's death was a chance for me to talk to the girls about dying, about what happens when we die, how those who are left behind might feel.

I told the girls to dig a hole in the yard for Strawberry. Ellery came back inside about 5 minutes later crying hysterically. She could barely catch her breath. It broke my heart. After a proper burial, both girls seemed ready to move on.

And are we ready to move on now too? We have had three birthdays in the past 3 weeks. We started off with Danielle's.

Danielle's family sent her these beautiful flowers.

The girls were all up in her business...ready to get at that cake!

A few days later we celebrated my birthday with cake and dinner out!

And then it was Ellery's birthday. She started off the day with the traditional cupcake for breakfast.

Followed by a family dinner: chicken kabobs, rice and veggies.

And now for a little product placement....

I made these cupcakes for her party at school.

I used this Trader Joe's frosting mix and IT ROCKED!! If you have a Trader Joe's by you -- go get this and make a cake. It will be well worth the effort.

Lator gators...got to get the wee ones ready for a soccer game!