Tired and Happy

It probably goes without saying that it's been a very long day. I'm going to try to update quickly so Pete and I can have a quick game of Trivial Pursuit.
We had a couple of near-misses last night during our Santa-ing. Henry, unsurprisingly, was not sleeping soundly. He wandered into the hallway once around 11:30 and then came into our room an hour or so later to tell me he had to pee. He had already peeked into the living room and determined that Santa had been here, even though I tried to block his view.
He wasn't up crazy-early this morning, though, which was nice. We stayed in bed until about 6:50. Here he is trying to peek into his stocking, before Clara was up.
This one is the best shot of the day.
When the sleepyhead awoke we took stockings down. She tried to open her first stocking-gift with her teeth. That's why I love this photo. I don't love the hot-cocoa mustache Henry is sporting.
Here are the two cuties, sitting on their new floor pillows, checking out their stocking goodies.
Here you can see that it was still a little dark out. The cloudy weather didn't help, though we did have one brief spot of sun this morning. Pete's showing Henry that what he had in his stocking was a movie theater card.
Mmmmm.....delicious cinnamon rolls.
And then back to presents. Clara liked her little lego guys. They're almost like dollies.
Henry helped Clara "unwrap" her doll bed.
Here's the little Mama. This bed was my mom's when she was little, and mine as a child as well. Clara also got the high chair, which no longer has its tray.
Here's a little bit of the aftermath. This was before round two with Pete's parents and Liz and Van.
After naps Clara and Henry got a whole new set of presents to open from their grandparents and aunt and uncle. Here's Clara with a little baby doll that she can take in the bath.
She also got a new Northwestern t-shirt which she wore proudly over her dress all through dinner. She sat down first and promptly tried to get the raspberries off everyone's salad.
Here we are before digging in to our red red meat and other Christmas foods.
After all was said and done we got the kids into their jammies with the promise of one quick movie before bed. Franklin also got a little extra attention.
And finally, here are Pete and I, tired and happy, just a few moments ago.
I hope your Christmas was as full of love as ours.

Merry Christmas!!

Here are the kids in their Christmas Eve duds. The typical shenanigans of trying to get a nice photo...

Kefir!

Pete loves the way Clara says "kefir," which is something she requests often. So, by letting her have her snack at the coffee table, I was able to get a little video of her saying it. It sounds kind of like "feh-fuh". She's also kind of into Cookie Monster lately.

Our Week

Here are some images from the past several days....
Clara helped me do some baking last weekend. We're doing more today...
This is from my first batch of peppernuts this year. Henry likes the "doubles" so I didn't worry when I had to cram one sheet pretty full. I ended up with an interesting variety of shapes. Here you can see a double, a Mickey, a tilting snowman and a giant glob I call The Shopping Cart.
Clara sported pig tails for the first time this week. They lasted about 6 minutes. She and Henry had a visit from Santa at school. Clara told me all about it: "Ho ho. Try? Uh-huh, hunh." This is interpreted as "Santa came. I cried. Like this."
This morning was full of activity including a quick trip to the bookstore and post office and then the library. After lunch we played in the snow and delivered cookies to our neighbors. Now the kids are napping and I'm working on making more treats! We're planning to go visit some friends in Oak Park tonight.
Oh...I had to include this picture. Henry is throwing snowballs at the snowman. But notice Clara's hunch-shouldered cower. She already has perfected the Little-Sister-Flinch.
I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday preparations as much as we are!

Rudolph the Red Nosed

For your listening and viewing pleasure:

Probly

I should probably write a blog post.
But I'm coughing a lot and feeling kind of crummy.
And I don't really feel like downloading those photos, even though the camera is sitting right in front of me.
And I should frost those cookies and put cookie plates together for my teammates at work.
And I told Henry we'd watch a movie.
And there are still a few Christmas cards to address and stamp.
So you'll have to wait.
(Cough cough cough cough)

Denver with the Girls

A few months ago Amber and Ellen and I decided we needed to finally just bite the bullet, make the plans, kiss our hubbies and kids goodbye and head off to see each other for a weekend. We chose Denver because it was a direct flight for all of us and seemed like an interesting place to go. We all loved the city! Here are some pictures, not necessarily in order.
Amber and I got in first, met up and waited for the bus into the city.
We checked into our hotel (which wasn't this rumpled until later, actually) and got some lunch while we waited for Ellen.
That night we met up with Brent and his friend Alex for drinks at some hipster place (Fancy martinis all around? Don't mind if we do!) and then Cuban food for dinner.
...And more drinks (Mango mojitos you say? Yes, please.) afterward. Yes, we got home safely and before midnight.
The next morning we found ourselves a moderately un-greasy breakfast and then grabbed the free bus to the lower downtown area.
....Where we spent much time at the Tattered Cover.
Then we walked up to this area for a look-around.
It was a little chilly, but we're from Iowa. Then we found the Wynkoop brewpub. I'm not sure we were really feeling it with the beers so early, but they were good. The salty pretzels helped.
We took a little tour. This guy showed us their new machine for canning their beers. They fill the cans by hand, one at a time...as the guy is demonstrating here. I really wanted to bring a 6-pack home for Pete, but couldn't justify the $20 bag-check that that would have required.
Other sights at the Wynkoop:

We made an unplanned stop at the Rockmount Ranchwear shop, which turned out to be quite the place. We couldn't afford any of their awesome cowgirl shirts, but we did admire this giant styrofoam Santa.
Then we made our way back to the hotel where we enjoyed the free hot chocolate in the lobby and sat for some knitting and chatting time.
The ceiling in the lobby reminds me of Nanabijou Lodge.
That evening we visited a Christmas Market and then tried to get out of the throngs downtown for the parade so that we could catch a cab to a restaurant. We finally were told our best bet would be to walk several blocks to another hotel to catch a cab there. Then one of those bicyclist cabbies came by and offered us a ride. When I asked how much he said "just a cool tip". Hippie. The ride was quite exciting. Here we are, trying not to squeal in terror as he zipped about in 4 lanes of traffic and cut off buses.
When we did catch an automobile cab we made fast friends with Hanta, the Kenyan driver. He took us to La Loma (on Will and Sandy's suggestion-thank you very much) and picked us up again later and also drove us to the airport this morning. If anyone is in need of cab services in Denver let me know, I'll give you Hanta's number.
We all ate enchiladas at La Loma and they were about the best enchiladas I have ever had. I could eat another plate right now.
Here are Amber and Ellen after much talk about all of the important girl things....sex, lactating, husbands, parenting, high school, food...(they all seem to tie together in one way or another, don't they?)
Sadly, I did not get any pictures of us in the snowy weather this morning. Happily, we are all already planning to make this a more regular event. There's a lot to be said for girls you've known since long before all of that sex, lactating, high school, husbands, parenting stuff. I think we're probably all rejuvenated for a while.