What's In The Dress Up Box?

Fuzzy

Things were a little fuzzy at 6:30 this morning...the kids were in their fuzzy pjs, and the parents were fuzzy with sleep, and everyone was fuzzy with head colds. But snot or not, Santa delivers! Vincent didn't know what was in store, and Zoe only had a vague idea about a sweet treat in a stocking. Of all things, that's what she remembered from last year. Indeed, everyone's stocking included a fruit twist.

Santa left the stockings in the living room, but also stopped by Daddy's office. Zoe and Vincent headed in there to get some paper for painting, but got distracted by...scooters! For them!

I can't tell you how much fun it was to watch them discover their scooters. Zoe didn't say anything, just laughed and laughed. Vincent was exclaiming something about a "dooduh." They both hopped aboard and expertly wheeled off with no instruction.

Zoe Captures The Scene

Sparkle Jars

Water, karo syrup, dish soap, glitter glue, clear glue, fine glitter, coarse glitter, sequin snowflakes...put it all in a jar and glue the lid on tight, then shake it up and see what happens. There are many, many recipes for this activity on the internet, and I don't know that we used the best one, but it works. Really, the finished sparkle jars are very pretty. I made one, too :). 

We're calling ours sparkle jars, but I see lots of references to them as calming jars. The shaken jar, with glitter all aswirl, represents a storm of emotions. As you watch the glitter slowly settle, so do your feelings settle and calm. 

Ironically, Vincent had a tantrum over the calming jar minutes after it was completed. He wanted me to keep shaking his. Again and again, no pause to watch the glitter - just keep shaking it. And yes, he can shake it himself. So, not so calming for some of us, but definitely sparkly.

Zoe had a haircut, the first since last summer. The ends of her hair were getting pretty frayed and tangle-prone, and it was just too long to deal with easily. About three inches came off. It's still long enough for fancy hair dos (above, courtesy of the stylist), but much more manageable.  

Medley

New (Old) Friend

 

This new arrival is a 30(ish) year old hand-made Strawberry Shortcake doll. Remember Strawberry Shortcake? I was way into her, at least for awhile. My little plastic doll had an enormous head, impossibly tiny clothes, and a scent of artificial strawberry. This bigger, more huggable doll smells faintly of caramel corn. She loves to go for rides on the Radio Flyer, enjoys good books, and doesn't mind if you pick her up by the hair. 

Two!

Mama: Vincent, how did you get so messy?

Vincent: Two!

Portrait of Zoe by Vincent (after clean up):

Icing

Thanksgiving day...

...we went for a walk after our meal. It was a warm and golden afternoon and we shed our coats as we walked. But this week...

...it's cold! It rained all day yesterday, and we woke today to a dusting of snow. Zoe had to go outside right away. With her first step out the door, she slipped. Ice! Mid-moring, we watched snow fall from the sky. For, like, all of two minutes. The icy little pellets melted on contact. This snow thing, along with the several nights of hard frost, is unusual for our typically moderate coastal climate. I hope my Meyer lemon tree survives (I'm covering it at night).

*****

Zoe saw some fancy frosted sugar cookies in a magazine, and wanted to try her hand with royal icing. We decided to make cookies to give to our neighbors for holiday gifts. The kids helped measure ingredients and roll dough and cut out cookies. Waiting for the cookies to bake and cool wasn't easy. Making icing was noisy (the Kitchenaid got a work out). Mixing colors into the icing was fun. Decorating was messy.

We did good work, but I was exhausted and out of patience by the time everything was cleaned up. Zoe is old enough, and has the personality for, this kind of project. Vincent liked it, but I will enjoy doing this kind of thing with him much more in a few years. But I'll probably try again before that, because soon I will only remember the best part of the project: how happy the children were to give the cookies they made to our neighbors.