Holiday Recovery

We are settling back in now from the holiday travel and festivity.
We got to see so many friends like sweet baby Liam:



and storytellin' Nina:



Since our good digital camera broke, I used a still camera mostly so I'll have to go old school and wait until the roll is used up to get them put on a disk. More pictures of friends to come...

In the meantime, Papa's awesome Nikon got a few at Erickson Family Christmas:

Last Round of Stockings. Promise.

Monster Crisis

Henry saw a "Charlie and Lola" episode one morning in which Charlie dresses up like a monster.
This means, of course, that Henry cannot finish the episode and must commence creating his own monster costume. Here is version #1:






And version #13:






He decided the Batman costume was much more scary than paper bags, and the claws sculpted from card stock were "absolutely ferocious."
The pie pan stuck through the batman ear things I cannot explain, nor the mustache fangs or kneepads on the upper arms.

You'll have to ask to the monster.

Giddy Up

A recent castle Henry built:

School Pictures

I grew up reading this comic strip about Marlys and Maybonne, two sisters tortured by adolescence in the 1970's. They are a celebration of dysfunctional families, funny phrases and cultural embrace.

I read this one about ten years ago about school pictures and have never forgotten it:








If I were Lynda Barry I could wax comically about Henry's hair in these:



and Svea's crooked bangs and war paint (if you look closely, you can see the permanent orange marker with which she colored her cheek bones - and soles of her feet - the night before school pictures. She has never done that before or since School Picture Day):



At least she didn't look like a Band Aid Mummy.

School Days

We successfully completed our first semester of preschool.

As I have lamented to many of you, the learning curve of Preschool Momhood was steeper than I thought.
I have not made friends with any of the other moms yet, and I thought that would happen more naturally, without so much nervous effort.
I have, however, forgotten show-and-tell items almost every time (Henry now reminds me on Wednesdays) and I have forgotten the snacks for the class when Svea is Leader for the Day.
A teacher has also asked me, "So what exactly goes on at your house?"


I definitely laugh out loud at the posters and lists of events that Henry's teacher posts outside of his classroom. His teacher, and all of his classmates have been so patient and accepting of Henry's obsession with sports, particularly football. He's learning to branch out to dinosaurs and painting, but only occasionally.



The Halloween Parade was of course a hit, as was the Thanksgiving Feast and the Christmas Program (pics to come on that one).







As I was learning the ropes around the hallway, a few times Brian would come or do the drop-off completely, cousin Reggie came once, as did my brother, Uncle Johnnie when he was in town.
You should know that Uncle Johnnie has a way of charming people without effort, without intention, and it is fascinating.
So he helps me with the drop-off and pick-up for a few days and all the teachers FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM. So annoying.

First Svea's teacher flirts with him about "who is buying breakfast" etc. and I'm all, "What the what?" and Uncle Johnnie is oblivious. So the next day she's all, "where do you live?" and "OH MY that's so far away!! hee hee hee what brings you HERE?" and "omigosh and you teach ART?"
Then the next week, she tells me that the 5-year-old class teacher across the hall had just come over and asked who he was and what he was about. Again, what the what?



There's this sweet little girl in Henry's class, Alana, who keeps making art for Henry. First it was this field:




And then this picture of them standing next to each other:



Then the last day of school, she designed an invitation to a tea party for just Henry.

Maybe he got more than just his athletic ability from Uncle Johnnie.

Hard At Work Around Here

I tried to get Henry to say "Guy Noir, Private Eye" while typing, but he didn't really think that was funny.



Svea just doesn't answer when I try to talk to her while she's stencilling, marking and scribbling..

I Just Don't Know Where They Hear Such Things

Overheard from the front seat the other morning:

Svea: Don't worry about me.
Henry: I'm not worried about you.
Svea: You are NOT my best friend.
Henry: Yes I am. Say it: I am your BEST FRIEND.
Svea: (sigh) No...I need a break.
Henry: So nip it.
Svea: (another long sigh, chin in hand) I just need a break.




This morning Svea was leaning far down in her chair so that her foot was closer to Brian so she could kick him while he ate breakfast. Brian told her to, "please sit up and eat your cereal."
Svea sighed long and hard and said, "I can only do ONE thing at a time, DAD. (long pause)Good GRIEF."





(Thanks, Bobbie, for these great photos. And I am aware of how this post looks in the wake of the movie post)

Incredible Hulk Henry

As a baby, he greatly disliked fingerpainting.






Superheroes change our lives in so many ways...

Happy Anniversary, Honey.

This afternoon at 3:30 pm, Brian and I celebrated 7 complete years together.

Last year we said this, but this year we haven't the time since we have moved from sippy cups and diapers to anticipating actually seeing (in the theater) the James Bond movie that was released 3 weeks ago. Seriously, we are going to the theater. We even have a babysitter.

It keeps getting better!



(And thank you, Neda and Anis, for getting married so Brian and I have a picture of ourselves together)

A Whole New Level of Fan Mania

We know this guy.

Seriously. He was in our wedding.

And he did in fact win those tickets to the game.

More Madness...Israeli Style

We have some friends who don't have stockings but do have an interest in archeology and the Middle East.
So what better way for them to celebrate this Christian holiday than with relevant stockings?

A bit of Hamsa jewelry for Lilah to ward off the evil eye:



Palestinian pots from Iron Age I for Jennie:



And a felt interpretation of large glass beads to deflect evil for Menachem:



This is so fun...

On Guard! (Is that what knights say?)

In a moment of confused and blurry parental decision making, I bought Henry and Svea foam swords and shields at the Dollar Store. Actually, I bought Henry a sword and shield at his animated request and slipped another set in the cart so Svea could continue learning to protect herself.

We got home and Svea shrugged and said, "I am NOT playing that game" so I played until I was sick of it. Good thing Patches was here and willing.





After Svea watched Patches play, she took a turn. I think she swung everything around for about 42 seconds. That's my girl.

One More Stocking...

I say one more, but who knows really.

I made this for a fellow Obama fan the other night:



and Henry found it to be a good fit.


He was shouting, "O-Bahm-aaaaaaahhhhhh!" in this photo. Shout away, son.



(Kate, I hope you don't mind. I forgot to mention that Henry tried it on before we got it to you.)

Svea's Famous in Selma

When we were tailgating with the Alabama fans (before the Tigerwalk with Auburn fans), a photographer for the Selma Times Journal took a picture of me and Svea.


The woman with the painted face and Auburn sweatshirt is Mimi.


Ha.