Happy New Year!

It was 7:00, it was cider in the plastic "champagne flute," and Dick Clark was nowhere in sight (or is it the guy from American Idol now?) but there was a countdown and balloons fell and people yelled, so it was a New Year's party to us!  Beatrice wanted to make her own pizza tonight, so we headed to Pizzeria Uno's and we finished eating just in time for this mini New Year's celebration.  Let 2014 begin!

playdates

Highlights

Sula got a rawhide bone which she immediately buried somewhere in the yard,

                                    Beatrice was in disbelief that she got the Lego Friends yacht,

we almost forgot about checking the stockings until Bea reminded us,

and her cleaning trolley from Santa convinced her that she now wants to be "a maid at a school."  

Checking her supplies:

This Goldieblox game was a huge hit and, if the custodial job doesn't pan out, she may just have a shot at being an engineer:

I can't even imagine having figure this thing out at 5 1/2, but she not only did so, but did it in her own way, not the one exactly suggested by the game:

The biggest hit of Christmas 2013 was "Leah" the newest addition to our family, courtesy of Lolo & Lola:

Another "new to the family" is my 12-year old at Atticus, who has returned to our home after living with my Dad for the past 5 years.  He and Sula cannot coexist on the same level, so he's outside or in the basement most of the time, except for the rare treat of coming up while Sula is outside.  Long story, but here he is with his gift:

Leah stayed with Bea all day, and the highlight was when the "sisters" put on their matching personalized jammies at bedtime.  This is how my daughter gets Leah's hair out of her eyes:

"A doll with matching jammies for her and me" was her first request of Christmas a couple months ago.  Actually the request was also for a pair for Anthony and me, but that didn't quite pan out, at least for now:

The girls said their prayers and went to bed together with not a peep:

This Hello Kitty in a Christmas dress was also a big hit.  She's nicknamed it "Babushka" and I have no idea why, but it's cute.  

And I can't fail to mention this Barbie fashion vending machine, which was one of the big 4 on the Santa wish list.  Uncle Paul came through and she just loves having her princess dolls swipe their credit card and shop for new shoes, handbags, or jewelry.

and, lest I forget, here's a great shot of her other beloved "sister" Rachel, who we snuck a visit with before the Christmas festivities took over.  Hopefully these two will reunite next for Tet in a few weeks:

Christmas Eve was wonderful with the Brodeurs all getting together and it included a talent show and lots of food and fun, and I have not one photo to show for it.  Maybe my brother took some??? (please send along Moe if so!)  My highlight of the day, other than the fact that Beatrice slept in until 7:45 and actually had to be awakened by us, was that she insisted on giving us her presents first and actually wanted us to open all our presents before her until we insisted she should do some too.  Sometimes, there's just not a sweeter, more thoughtful, loving child on the planet.

p.s. Thanks Moe for sending these photos from Christmas Eve:

Counting Down...

The days are swiftly going by.  Each day a new sentence to the Christmas story is read from the advent calendar, and a chocolate beneath each number consumed.  There's snow on the ground, the air is bitter cold,  I've had two snow days off of school, Beatrice has had two early dismissals, the tree is up, cards are mostly all written, presents wrapped,  "Jingle Bells" is being rehearsed, and shopping just about complete.  (In between all that, there were two dental visits resulting in a brand new root canal, and she was an incredible trooper, but I won't dwell on that part of our holiday season.)Beatrice is so excited and, depending on the moment, talks about "Mama's birthday,"  "Jesus's birthday," or "Santa coming" as the most important facet of December 25th.  She opted not to visit Santa's helper and just wanted to send a letter instead.

It specified wishes for four gifts:  Goldieblox and the Spinning Machine game/book, a cleaning trolley and new bath toys that she saw in a catalog about a month ago, and a Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse fashion vending machine.  Only Santa could come through on a pipedream like that last one!

Here's the view inside the house these days:

We've had three batches of snow and it's been cold enough so none has melted.  Today I finally got the camera out to catch this snow bunny:

Bea can eat her weight in December snow:

The building of Fort Farrows:

Her ability to actually be helpful with regards to snow removal has really increased:

Know why this one's blurry?  She was chucking a hunk of ice right at me!!!!

Last night, to celebrate the fact that she became a member of the "100 club" (requirement: being able to count to 100 to a teacher), we went to this lights display:

Beatrice also earned a paint set from her teacher for her accomplishment, and she and Daddy set about creating some masterpieces this afternoon. I love how she's squatting on her toes while she paints:

and this one (in which she's splattering paint like she's Jackson Pollock on a piece she titled "Outer Space") shows a lot about our daily life this month with the wall calendar being filled in with squares from the advent calendar, and our word wall on the kitchen door. Bea can read 30+ words these days and she's so excited when we move a word from the right hand "still working on it" side to the blue "I KNOW IT" columns. One of these days I'll get it together enough to videotape her reading:

Puddle Jumper

St. Joseph School Christmas Show

We've been hearing numerous Christmas carols for a couple weeks now, and finally tonight was the night of the annual Christmas show at Beatrice's school.  It was hard to get good photos during the actual performances, but we snuck a few here and there, mostly between scenes.

Sandwiched between the cow (aka Rowan) and Jaelynn:

I have a feeling these two should not have been placed next to each other!

Arianna, Ethan, Wyatt, Bea, and Jaelynn getting ready to sing Little Drummer Boy:

Couldn't get a front-on picture of friend Rosie:

Good old Ben stopped by the table to say goodnight:

It was a formal, serious night, but there was plenty of fun too!

Bea and friend Samantha raided the cookie table and ended the night racing around the church hall:

Here's preK and K performing "Friendly Beasts."  Beatrice is in there somewhere!