Holidays | Goddess in Progress

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Halloween, Age 3

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (9)· November 1st, 2010

I’m telling you, Halloween is one of those holidays that just gets better and better as the kids get older.

Year One? SUCKED.

Year Two? Cute, but not old enough to really have any clue what was going on. And I love my claim that Rebecca is “no butterfly or princess.” HA. Two- and Three-year-old Rebecca would beg to differ.

Year Three? Loved the costumes, psyched to go trick or treating.

Year Four? Remembered the year before, started asking about Halloween in AUGUST, and all-in-all totally psyched about the entire experience.

We got little pumpkins and painted them.

Poster paints with Q-tips for brushes, tarp on the kitchen table, plastic-wrapped plates to hold the paint.

We got big pumpkins and carved them.

As they lack both the dexterity/coordination and strength to actually carve the pumpkins, I blatantly stole my friend’s plan and had the kids tell me what they wanted their pumpkin to look like, including what shape to make the features.

A happy pumpkin, with circle eyes, a circle nose, and one rectangle tooth in the middle.

A grumpy pumpkin, with triangle eyes, a triangle nose, and one rectangle tooth on the side. Eyebrows added by mom, so it looked grumpy instead of just sad. And yes, Rebecca is trying to make a grumpy face for me. And yes, she’s wearing Sesame Street elbow pads. And no, I don’t know why.

We went to a preschool costume party.

There was a storyteller. It was loud. The kids excitedly pointed out every kid from their classes that they recognized. There were a lot of princesses, a lot of very small Jedis, and a lone Darth Vader.

They picked their own costumes (from Old Navy… No, I don’t make them myself.)

You had her at “pink.” And at “fairy.” And especially at “magic wand.” And thanks to my kids’ recent love of Super Why!, when she first put the costume on, she immediately proclaimed, “now I have the power to spell!” Thank you, PBS. That’s EXACTLY what fairies do.

This was the biggest hit with everyone he saw. Apparently the kids talked about their costumes at school, and nearly every kid in Daniel’s class went home and told their parents that Daniel was going to be a hamburger, because they thought it was the funniest damn thing they’d ever heard. It didn’t occur to me that it would be that much of a standout, maybe because I simply clicked and ordered it online from Old Navy. But in a sea of jedis and batmans, I guess the way to make a name for yourself is to be a puffy fleece hamburger.

They were pretty freaking pumped, even before consuming a single piece of candy. And Rebecca does still have a bit of the ninja in her…

They trick-or-treated.

But not for long, because it was freaking cold, and my neighborhood takes FOREVER to start trick-or-treating. Unlike some towns, ours does not have any kind of posted trick-or-treat times, so hardly anyone goes out until it’s totally dark. We were the very first ones out at about 5:30, and at 40 degrees in costumes without hats, they lasted about 20 minutes before asking to go home. We visited a few more neighbors and were home in under an hour.

Happy Halloween!

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Categories : Holidays, Preschoolers

Tags : Halloween

On Fireworks

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (5)· July 6th, 2010

My kids saw fireworks for the first time at Disney World. It wasn’t really planned. I was off having dinner with the Shredheads before my first 5K, the kids were with M and his parents at the Magic Kingdom. As happened every night we were there, time got away from us, and they were eating a late dinner. Just as they were getting ready to leave, the show began.

The kids were initially excited – a cast member dressed as Tinker Bell rides a zip line down Main Street to start the show via her magic wand. Rebecca was thrilled. And then, the first BOOM. She was so hysterical and clung so tightly to my mother-in-law’s neck, it is going down as near legend. Daniel might not have cried, but he most definitely hid in M’s arms and only occasionally peeked out between his fingers. In the months that followed, the kids will happily retell the story about Tinker Bell, the pretty colors, and the VERY SCARY BOOMS. “We were scared,” the story always ends.

I had no intention of taking them to see any fireworks this Fourth of July. Being the middle of summer, it doesn’t get dark until quite late these days. Not only were fireworks already established as SCARY, they were also entirely too late.

We spent most of the Fourth in the car. We drove down to Connecticut for a family party. 3+ hours down, 3 hours at the party, 3+ hours back. Naps were totally messed up (Becca slept 30 min as we arrived at the party, Daniel slept 2.5 hours at 6pm on the way home), and it was an all-around long day.

We had to drive into Boston to drop off my sister-in-law and her boyfriend, and there were crowds of people headed towards the river to watch the fireworks and hear the Pops. I tuned the radio to the live broadcast and heard the beginning of the 1812 Overture (woo for real artillery!) as we headed on the final stretch towards home.

All of a sudden, from the back seat, came an overtired but impassioned plea: “I wanna see the fireworks!”

Huh?

Both of them. BEGGING to see fireworks. As we got onto the highway, we could see a few towns’ displays in the distance. The big Boston show didn’t start for nearly an hour. And suddenly M remembered the perfect viewing spot. The roof of the Tufts University library (M used to work at Tufts) has a perfect line of sight to downtown Boston.

There were tons of people there (lots of summer school students – suddenly realizing how long ago 19 was…), eagerly awaiting the start. The minutes creeped by and the kids got loopier and more tired, but we waited.

Finally, they started, and we threw the kids up on our shoulders so they could see above the crowd. It was perfect. Easy enough for the kids to see (I couldn’t see a thing), but far enough away that you couldn’t hear any of the booms.

The kids only lasted a few minutes before they decided they were done, though of course there were some indecisive meltdowns on the way to the car, including Rebecca moaning pathetically, “I miss the fireworks!”

Next year, my dear. Next year we’ll see them again.

It was completely unplanned, hours past their bedtime, and from an objective standpoint, probably a terrible idea.

I’m so glad we did it.

Comments (5)

Categories : Holidays, Preschoolers, Toddlers

Tags : 4th of July, fireworks, late bedtime, spontaneous

Happy Father’s Day!

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (8)· June 20th, 2010

A very happy Day o’ the Daddy to our beloved M and all of the other Super-Dads out there.

What a difference from the first and second years…

Back tomorrow with more crazy travel tales.

Comments (8)

Categories : Holidays, My beloved, Toddlers

Tags : father's day

When at Grandma’s house

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (5)· December 21st, 2009

Oh, the fun things you get to do.

Play an improvised game of ping pong ON TOP of the ping pong table.

Have smoothies for breakfast on the kitchen floor with grandma.

Dig in to extra baby shower cake with grandpa.

Visit an aquarium way cooler than our own.

Hang out with seldom-seen (or never-before-seen) family.

And wear goggles at any time of day or night.

Comments (5)

Categories : Family, Holidays, Toddlers, Travel

Holiday Card Exchange

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (20)· December 15th, 2009

Well, now this sounded like a good time!

Here you go, the final card. When I saw that picture, I knew I had to use it. The faces are too perfect. Rebecca all cheesy, Daniel with his mouth wide open (the boy can’t keep it closed!). A fun moment. Happy Holidays, whatever your celebration of choice may be!

I ordered the cards from Shutterfly and they came very quickly. Names removed in post-production, of course.

Comments (20)

Categories : Blogging, Holidays

Hannukah 2009

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (3)· December 14th, 2009

We’re really having fun with Hannukah this year. Something about this age just makes celebrations like this more fun. And I’m totally, shamelessly feeding into the over-blowing of a very minor holiday. Because you know what? I grew up with Christmas. And when December hits, I feel an overwhelming need to be festive. Except that we want to raise Jewish kids. And while we’ll continue to participate in Christmas with my family (for whom it was never a super religious day, anyways), I don’t want to overdo it and then get all confused as they get older. Well, best defense is a good offense, so I’m trying to make Hannukah really fun.

Step 1: Candles. Huge hit, especially since I let them pull up chairs to the sideboard where we keep the menorah so they can see them up close when we light them.

Step 2: Presents. Trying not to go too nuts, but it’s really fun now that they sort of “get” the idea of presents. Just one thing each night. They were skeptical of my initial offering of bean bag chairs, until I showed them how to flop into them.

Step 3: Party! We had some friends over for a little Hannukah party last night. My three favorite Jewish comfort foods (brisket, noodle kugel, and latkes) all turned out quite well. The nice part about having friends who all have similar-aged kids is that we’re all on the same wavelength and schedule. Party starts at 4, we ate dinner at 5:15, and everyone was out the door at 6:30. Even if it ended in a poop explosion and the place was trashed like a frat party, it was still good fun.

Comments (3)

Categories : Holidays, Toddlers

Tags : Hannukah

Just Keep Clicking

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (9)· December 2nd, 2009

Holiday cards are some serious pressure. Especially, I think, because I kind of hated the ones we sent last year. Hated the picture, design was meh. I was determined to do better this year. Which, of course, means that the photography gods have not been smiling on me recently.

Oh, sure, I’ve got some cute pictures from October that will certainly work. But I also have this mental block about wanting them to be as recent as possible, even though the kids don’t change in appearance month-to-month they way they did as infants.

And the last few weeks have been, to say the least, rough. Fewer daylight hours for nice outdoor shots. Lots of cold and rain. A week of visitors and holidays throwing us off our normal routine. Six hellacious days of (suspected) H1N1 for Rebecca. OMFG the tantrums. Yesterday, I think the two of them made a pact before I got them out of bed that at least one of them would be screaming at all times. Thank god M came home early from work, because I was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.

Anyways, all that adds up to a notable lack of good photos. Sunday night, I made a declaration: I had until Wednesday afternoon to either take some new pictures or just order cards with the October pictures in them. So I carried my camera to our various outings this week. Indoor activities, flourescent lighting, and never-ending runny noses and tantrums seemed to indicate it just wasn’t going to happen. Nothing holiday-card-worthy.

And then, just before lunch today, the hazy sun was out and it was warm enough to play outside. The fates aligned. The tantrums paused. I pulled out the camera and just kept clicking. That’s the joy of digital photography, is it not? Just keep on clicking. Doesn’t matter if 95 out of 100 shots are crap. The more you take, the more likely you are to get the one. (If you need tips, Sarah posted some great ones on HDYDI the other day.)

And so, before I click “confirm order” on this year’s batch of cards, here’s a few that, adorable though they are, did not make the final cut.

Comments (9)

Categories : Holidays, Photos, Toddlers

Thanksgiving 09 – mixed reviews

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (1)· November 27th, 2009

Well.

The food was good. Really good, if I do say so myself. And judging by the very reasonable amount of leftovers in the fridge, I finally seem to have hit a sweet spot on quantity. I started cooking early in the day (with some assistance), and cooked on and off until the final push to finish everything at about 5. Really not bad.

My dad and stepmom were in town, and I almost felt bad that there was so little I needed by way of food prep assistance. But hey, they were there to take the kids out for a walk while they were going stir-crazy before lunch, so that in itself is a big help. And, really, they were just there to see the grandkids. And see them, they did. Daniel, especially, seems to just love the extra attention and was on full funny/cute overload.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the rest of the day (or week) was such a great success. It was cold and rainy, so no outdoor activities. Rebecca has been miserable and sick and over-tired the whole week (today marked 4 straight days of wailing and flailing with a side of fever and runny nose). Unpleasant, at best. She is a pretty demanding child when sick (I will admit she may have gotten that from me), but she feels so rotten that she has no idea what she wants.

“I want oatmeal!
NO OATMEAL!
I want TV.
NOOOO Sesame Street!
I want to sit on the chair.
NOOOOOOOOOO! NO CHAIR NO CHAIR!
Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh……

I feeling sad right now.”

It’s exhausting.

The kids briefly sat with us for dinner, though there was a lot of demanding to get down, and a lot of “I don’t yike it” when suggestions were made to try anything but the cranberries. Rebecca had yogurt for dinner. Daniel eventually discovered a love for Pumpkin Bread Pudding and, while devouring his serving and that of the person next to him, exhibited a focus I’d never previously seen. He is my child, after all.

At any rate, Dad and Stepmom are headed home in the morning, and I can only hope Rebecca gets over this virus and doesn’t pass it along to her brother (a girl can dream). It’s been, quite frankly, a nightmare. Especially since I feel pretty confident that there is nothing to be done but wait for it to run its course.

Alas. At least the food was good.

Comments (1)

Categories : Cooking, Family, Holidays, Illness and Injury, Toddlers

Tags : Thanksgiving

Our Third First Halloween

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (6)· October 31st, 2009

My kids may be rapidly creeping up on 2½, but this year felt like our first real Halloween.

Year One was a nightmare. Not yet three months old, I remember it being one of those hellish, screamy newborn days. Traffic was awful and M was super late coming home from work. I couldn’t calm the babies down. Between the drool and the spitup, they had long-since ditched their Halloween onesies. I was just glad when it was over.

Year Two, we actually bought costumes. The kids even wore them! And kept the hats on and everything! But they were still awfully young, had no way of understanding candy or trick-or-treating or anything, and kids didn’t start going door-to-door in our neighborhood until after my young toddlers’ bedtime. Ah well.

But this, Year Three, now this is a little bit of actual Halloween. Costumes have been worn for several practice occasions and are much-loved. Books about pumpkins and costumes and trick-or-treating have been read (and frequently requested) at bedtime. They love their “candy bags,” and have been practicing saying “Trick or Treat! Thank You! Happy Halloween!” for weeks.

This morning, we carved our first family pumpkin, and the kids were enthralled. “It’s a jack-o-wantern, Mommy!”, cried Daniel. Rebecca fed our kitty-cat pumpkin some of her cookies and announced that the jack-o-lantern “wikes it.”

After nap, the costumes came on and we twiddled our thumbs waiting for it to get dark enough to start trick-or-treating. One of the few times of the entire year that I have the slightest regret about my kids’ early bedtime.

We were seemingly the first ones out in our neighborhood, and the kids loved it. Boldly walked right up to the door, knocked, and said Trick or Treat in full voice. Daniel then mixed phrases and shouted “Thank you for the Halloween” all the way back down the steps. I had to run back to the house to hand out candy, but M tells me they got a little grabby at the last few houses. Ah well, it was a solid first effort.

Once home, they sat down for a little football and enjoyed their spoils (one lollipop, each, for tonight), and got a kick out of the other kids coming to the door. All in all, a great First (or, third) Halloween.

Comments (6)

Categories : Holidays, Toddlers

Tags : costumes, Halloween, trick-or-treat

Saturday Snapshot – Halloween Preview

By Goddess in Progress · Comments (6)· October 17th, 2009

Again with the random blogging PR perks, I got a tip that the Stone Zoo was hosting some early Halloween festivities this weekend! Among other things, there were trick-or-treat tables set up along the zoo path, so the kids got to practice the “trick or treat” “thank you” and “Happy Halloween” sequence that we’ve been talking up. Oh, and we got to preview this year’s costumes. They were a big hit.

Daniel is actually wearing the same pirate costume from last year. It was really big on him back then, but he can still fit into it now. Rebecca was thrilled with her new butterfly outfit.

For any area folks that missed it (I assume it will be a washout with tomorrow’s nasty forecast), the Franklin Park Zoo is doing a similar program next week.

— — —

And, lest I forget, we do have a winner for next weekend’s Halloween Town tickets. Random.org had the honors of choosing:

Halloween Giveaway Winner

It’s Rebecca, hooray! Of course, I saw her this afternoon and forgot to bring the tickets… but it’s not like we don’t see each other five times a week, anyways. I’ll try to remember to bring them to COPE on Tuesday!

Comments (6)

Categories : Holidays, Toddlers

Tags : Halloween