I only hope ALL her "community service" is on a volunteer basis....

you never know with this rascal!

We went to help get the Thanksgiving baskets ready for about 350 families at the local food pantry. Beatrice lasted almost 90 minutes, then started playing tic tac toe with the twist ties, so it was time to go.  But last year was under an hour, so we're making progress!

Our town has many, many very poor families and it feels good to contribute even a little bit to helping them out during this season. We are so very blessed!

Let the Holidays Begin...

 Many months ago we bought tickets to Cirque de Soleil's Holidaze show for dear friend Mary Jane's retirement.  Well, today was show day.  We went to a fabulous lunch at Ceres Bistro in Worcester, then headed to the Hanover theater for the show.  Here's the guest of honor with her biggest fan:

Still cute once in a while:

The show was simply heart-stopping and we were all spellbound by the sights and sounds:

(all pics from internet, not from the actual show today)

Some of the acts and things the performers' bodies did were nail-biters!  (actually this was taken before we left....can't believe my girl has somehow recently "inherited" my long-time childhood habit)

The acts with the girls were of course Bea's faves:

                                                  

and the gingerbread flipping was just incredible!

The best of friends, food, colors, and entertainment all in one afternoon. Doesn't get better than that! It even snowed briefly and the few Christmas lights that are up about town looked magical.

Meanwhile when we got home, our own "Circus soufflé" or "Circus olay" started:

 We didn't hang a rope and hula hoop from the ceiling, but this whirling dervish spun nonetheless!

She wants to do backbends like the superhuman little girl in the show whose body bent like a Gumby doll:

 I know the scenes in her head will appear in her artwork for weeks.  Here's the first segment of the roller skating act:

 Lolo and Lola arrive soon and we're hoping to get the Christmas lights on the house tomorrow.  We are also volunteering at the food pantry in the afternoon, our second year to do so.  It's a big week ahead and I'm starting to settle into this holiday season thing pretty nicely.  Someone else in the house, however, has been scoping the catalogs for weeks now and Santa's list is growing longer each day...

and the last activity of the day, "Daddy Going to Work" (she sometimes divides words with lines), shows Daddy between his car and the shop,  complete with earrings, his messenger bag, his keys, and "a piece of wood so George can make a neck for a new guitar."  My little artist has definitely taken her work up a notch the past few weeks.  She literally can spend hours drawing, and she and Anthony drawing together is one of her favorite things.

Momentous Occasion

Without any suggestion from us, Beatrice mentioned today that she wants to get her very own library card.  We were due for a visit to return old books and pick new ones anyway, so we headed there to strike while the iron was hot.  

She ever so carefully crossed her "t,"

dotted her "i,"

recited her address and phone number, and the deed was done!

There's nothing like your OWN stack of books on your OWN library card!

Independence, control, feeling like a grown up...ahhh, 5 1/2 is beautiful...

                 

(and on another note I found this on the cell phone, taken last week.  She's been begging to do yoga lately so we've snuck in a few sessions at home.  She sticks with it 5-10 minutes and then ditches me, but I do have a feeling she's going to love this activity someday....the "downward dog" in the background gave me a chuckle.)

Can I plead the fifth?

Two interesting questions came out of my daughter's mouth this week:

a) "No, I mean how does the baby get IN the woman's body????"
b) "But mom, is Santa Claus really truly real?"

Seriously Bea, can't you space questions like this out a bit?  I'd give myself an A+ for my answer to the first, and maybe a C- on the second. Either way, hopefully there are no follow-up thoughts for at least six months.

Another beautiful Saturday

It was a picture perfect day and, thanks to Beatrice regressing to her early toddler days of late and waking up shortly after 5 a.m. we were able to be awake and aware of most of the hours of it! We spent a little time outside this morning trying to get a decent Christmas photo of our two "kids."  The settings on the camera were all off, which of course I noticed after the best shots were taken, but I think we have something to work with.  It was a rush finish because then Bea and I headed to the Lutz children's museum in Manchester, as we'd planned to meet buddy Ethan for a playdate.  It was a step back in time and the kids had a blast.

Look at how tall my girl is getting?

                   Several of my great-aunts were postmistresses.  Thought of them here:

You'd be amazed at how high the prices were at this general store!

Ethan and Bea had fun running the farmers market, 

and following Mr. Schultz's strict instructions in this one-room classroom:

I wonder if this is how she looks in school sometimes:

Goofballs!

The animal room was not a favorite for Bea, although she enjoyed petting a beautiful rabbit.  These two buddies are such nice friends.  Just love seeing them side by side:

Meanwhile, here are a few pictures that didn't make the cut for our annual card:

Actually, this was my favorite, but for some reason the official artist in the house gets the final vote:

3-day weekend

We had a wonderful weekend highlighted by a visit from Maryam and Muhammad,  a late-night playdate with dance buds Lucy and Faelin (while Mommy and Daddy got a movie night) and meeting our friends David & Meaghan's new baby Annalena, born October 1st. Unfortunately I have no photos of those events to prove it!  I did however take out the camera when Truman and Hank stopped by this afternoon and the kids were having a blast outside.  Our playset is always a favorite place for these three!:

She can't hang by her knees yet, but enjoys this as a trapeze:

My brother Dan, who has not appeared very often in this blog:

She tried to keep up with her baseball-loving cousins, but this game was short-lived:

Did you know that jumping between pitches makes it much more fun?

Worry not PETA, that isn't an animal around her neck, by the way, it's a velvety, fabric-rose-wrist-and-cuff lined top that Beatrice wore all three days of the weekend.  It even served as pajamas last night since she went to bed right from the car after her playdate. She's in love.  I can't help but call her Zsa Zsa in it:

Back to the swing set:

Adoring her big cousin Hankie:

                                                         Look what I can do!!!!!

Hank climbed across the top and back today, very proudly, but Bea stayed at the top of the ladder:

Making yourself dizzy never gets old:

                                                          Birdseye view:

                                                     Truman, looking very "8" in this picture:

A couple hours with the boys wears this girl out!

I'll end with this photo of Annalena on Halloween, as bread-stealing hero Jean Valean from Les Mis.  Best Halloween costume ever???? Only a baby born in Manhattan could be this cool at 4-weeks old.