all aboard!

the snow is falling outside the window. packages are sent. the tree is lovingly decorated with what cosmo calls "ordaments." we are settling into our first christmas together, at home. our home.

cosmo and i took an exciting trip to north texas, to have an early christmas with family there. cosmo returned loaded down with gifts, candy, and stories (told breathlessly) of an indoor water park, a magic wand game,

and a frozen town of whoville. not to mention his first ever sighting of an actual falling star! we got to star gaze out at nani and papa's place in the country, during a meteor shower. unforgettable.

we also now have in our possession a copy of the polar express (the movie, not the book). this has been a favorite of cosmo's, viewed over and over again, every time we visit nani and papa. cosmo doesn't really watch movies. most of them are too scary for him, or too long, too dialog heavy to hold his interest. he really clicked with the polar express though, the first time he saw it, and was not frightened by the hair-raising roller coaster scenes. i think the fact that there is no evil bad guy makes a big difference too. cosmo's understanding of santa is that "it's just a story," but, it is a really engaging story, and the polar express presents a convincing image of the whole operation. last night, in celebration of the last day of pre-school (breaking for the holidays), we had our first ever "family movie night." we watched polar express. carl had never seen it, and cosmo wanted to make sure he didn't miss a single second of it. then he would tell carl what was gonna happen next, and occasionally, we'd look over at him, and he'd be mouthing the words, as if he had the whole thing memorized.

 

to counter the full-on indoctrination into christmas, this year, i thought it would be nice to acknowledge channuka too. i crafted a simple menorah out of a nice chunk of cedar, and found some channuka candles at cvs. cosmo lit the candles each night, and we sang "o channuka." we played the dreidel game a few nights, after dinner, and on the last night, i made latkes, which we ate in front of the TV, while watching polar express. how's that for blending traditions?

[updated, january 4, 2010-- my computer is back in my lap, and here are the photos] soon, i'll post something about holiday crafting, once everyone has received their gifts.

season's greetings to you and yours!

shop local!

before you start clicking items off your holiday list on amazon, consider heading downtown to your local book shop, (if there are any left in your town, that is). we are lucky, here in bloomington, to have a number of great ones, including an all volunteer run, non-profit--boxcar books!



i had a few titles on my list, that i wanted to get for some children in our family. i started to order them online, and then i remembered that the book corner, on the square, will give a 10% discount if your total exceeds twelve dollars, and 20%, if you spend over sixty dollars. if they don't have what you are looking for, they will order it for you, lickity split. plus, you get to interact with real people, browse through books (with pages), and bump into friends and neighbors on the street.

support local booksellers! keep downtown vibrant! shop local!
ok, i'll stop telling you what to do now.