Holiday portions

Seven stockings to stuff at our home this Christmas. The first step we took towards preparing for a new Orton was putting up a stocking. We're looking forward to an added measure of cheer every day! What a blessing.

We ventured out, along with all the other car owners in Manhattan, to buy a Christmas tree. It looked small enough to be proportionate to our little apartment, so we snatched it up and tied it to the roof. In year's past, My Hero had to carry the tree home on his head, so this was a real luxury.

Woah Tannenbaum! That tree scraped the ceiling and we had to push the couches back. It sure looked smaller when it was outside.

Home visit

December 6th was also our first home visit with the midwife. Our midwife is actually Scandinavian, too, so we kicked off our clogs and had a good visit about our common heritage. I decided sort of late in the game that I just wasn't interested in another car ride to the hospital while in labor. As you can see, it was quite an educational morning for the girls. Not pictured, but present was our friend Lynn who is also a certified midwife. We welcomed her to join us in the planned home birth, a first for all of us.

Don't worry, this is the last time you'll see my belly and it won't get any more graphic than this. =)

Ethnicity

Caucasian people have ethnicity, too! Five in our family are dual citizens in Finland and the U.S. December 6th is Finnish Independence Day. In Finland it is more of a patriotic observance than a party day. We celebrated all week long by learning about our Scandinavian and Nordic ancestors. We watched an excellent film about the Vikings who did NOT have horns on their helmets. Evidently, Wagner introduced that idea in an opera. We did not eat blood pancakes, but we did eat pancakes. The girls made Viking masks and a model of a Viking long boat. They also completed a unit on Viking explorers. We learned that they were not only sailors and warriors, but also artisans, storytellers, farmers, explorers and families.

Still Crazy

My Hero dared me to do this. I'm not sure you can tell that I'm 8 months pregnant in this photo, but that's what makes it so astonishing. I won't be doing anything else impressive for quite some time.

Sparkle's Big Day

We have a tradition in our family that when a child can write their own name they can get a library card. Congratulations to Sparkle!!!

Happy Birthday Two Torpedo!

Balloons can be fun first thing in the morning. Apple cider donuts are good any time of the day or night. But when you're Torpedo: Happy is what happens when all your helicopter dreams come true!

Men at Work

You may wonder what it's like having a father who is a playwright. It's generally not glamorous. Torpedo has the right idea.

Mt. Vernon extreme edition

I know I've posted about trips to Mt. Vernon repeatedly, but everything is more fun with cousins. We had to wait to get in the playroom and then occupied over half the available slots. Go Big!

Suburbana

We are grateful for all that we enjoy. But, seriously, this Thanksgiving we were so happy to get out of the city. We love to cook together and it's a lot more fun in a full sized kitchen. Are you having fun, Grandma?
Please note the shelves full of glass items that my little driver isn't touching. Shopping was fun again! I wish they had these at Ann Taylor!! Tangent, this get away car did allow our budding clepto to swipe a Hershey bar which required a second trip across the parking lot to return it.

Bamboo

In a cliche world of processed everything, wrap your mind around this Bamboo sculpture! I haven't attempted an original thought today, but I'm pretty sure it would require a healthy dose of quiet time for me to generate anything as radical as this. I'm inspired, but I should start small. Where are my finger paints?

Making faces