Just another CarleSpawn weblog

New Year’s Eve
Ezri got to go bowling with friends in the morning. She’s pretty good with a 6 lb ball.
In the evening there was a half sleepover party thrown by a very cool family with a girl just Ezri’s age and an older girl for her to idolize.
Ezri got her own Champagne glass with purple stripes on it filled with fancy fizzy apple juice.
Her doll got to join a toy celebration over at the toy table which had little glasses and plates for all the toys.
There were cookies and brownies.
Great party to start 2014 with some great friends.

Giant decorated Christmas tree

Outside making snowballs

Enchanted Railway fascinated both kids. Ezri liked counting the train cars and figuring out the trains relative sizes this year. Ivan loved every time the Thomas the Tank Engine train came past.

Ivan loved this big red button. It controlled some miniature sledders that would sled down a miniature hill when you pushed the button. It was not so important what it did but more that it was big, red and pushable.

On the gnome hunt, we found 7 of 15 gnomes hidden in the Children’s Garden. We’ll have to go back to find those other gnomes.

Chasing her brother around the play structure

Another collection of quotable Ezri:

e: In the future we go to the Dinosaur Park.
A: How do you know that?
e: I remember it.

e: Knock Knock
A: Who’s there?
e: Breck.
A: Breck who?
e: Breakfast walk on a pancake. I wish our floor was made of pancakes.

“Good drinks are even specialer with people you love.” This is a comment on her memories of drinking chocolate “coffee” (Ovaltine) with Arden and it also strikes me it is a universal truth.

i: Ivan is big! Ivan is big.
e: Did you say Irish Pig?

At night passing a store window filled with lighted Christmas trees, “Behold! Christmas trees.” A block further passing a lighted Citgo sign, “Behold! The Gas Station!”

As we passed a large inflatable lawn Santa who had his illumination in the groin area, “Why does Santa have a little, red wedgie?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to make a snowman if we had a dog?” She has a theory that it would fetch us good sticks to use for the arms.

Ivan liked shaking snow onto Ezri’s head.

I pulled both kids around in circles in the backyard.

Ezri pulled Ivan on the sled.

Ivan tried to pull Ezri. It was slow and worked best on the slight downhill slope, but there was movement.

In our sledding loop around the backyard, we waved hello to and greeted our friends the snowmen as we zoomed past. I also pulled the kids right up to the door of the playhouse many times to deliver them home by sled.

Ezri got to pick our frosting colors. So, it’s pink & purple.

Ivan helped decorate too.

The final product looked like this.

Ezri explained to Ivan in a matter-of-fact tone that, “the spaghetti monster is on top just like always.”
I love the tree with all it’s kid-made ornaments. Thanks to Charlotte, Julia, and Eleanor for adding to our ornament cluttered perfection.

Here are a couple photos of Ezri decorating. She has some real ornament application skills this year. There was a very picturesque snow going on out the window as we decorated.

That’s the last night of Hanukkah celebration. Each kid got a Zelf toy, but could not hold still for a group photo. At least it’s a decent photo of the zelfs (zelves perhaps).

We continued our now annual outing to buy books for disadvantaged kids this year. This was the first year I think Ezri understood the spirit of this action. She kept asking about people who didn’t own many books. “How many books does she have? Does she have only like six and then the ones from the library?” We talked about how if you don’t have much money and struggle to pay for food and your housing you might never buy a book because they are important but less important than food and a place to live. She kept coming back to, “How many books does she have?” I think the idea of a home without books was understandably inconceivable to my kid.

Ezri bought a book for a 5 year old girl and after carefully considering all the Pinkalicious books (and only the Pinkalicious books) in the store she chose Emeraldalicious.

Ivan happily pointed and said “Dat one! Button. Read it.” at the book,Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter. Which I took to be his choice for a 2 year-old boy.

I picked a title for a teen girl who I hope likes Matched by Ally Condie. It seemed a good wide appeal book with its dystopian romance.

Here’s Ezri with our completed Menurkey who she has named Menurka.