Odds and Ends

No creative theme to link all these photos, but here they are:

These days Dagny must wear Finley's backpack out to the parking lot each afternoon and while it slows us down significantly, it's pretty darn cute. 

 Finley was upset when this trend began since it is "his" backpack, but since he doesn't want to carry it lately - everybody wins.

 Air hockey anyone? Sports, sports, sports, sports!

 We have to peel this jersey off of him most nights and even then, we have to pick an agreed upon day when he can wear it again.

 At the Discovery Museum's wind room, Dagny did her best Marilyn Monroe.

 Dagny's a bookworm just like her brother.

Finley in his formal guitar PJs - they are button down and have a pocket, so Finley had asked if they were for fancy occasions.

 Basement antics with Dan as a horse.

Thanksgiving at Home in 2013

We hosted our first Thanksgiving this year and while all I had to do was buy a turkey and bring chairs up from the basement, I still feel like we accomplished something quite grown up. Thank you to my mom for making it all happen and appear seamless.

One table for Thanksgiving:

Second table for both Hanukkah and Thanksgiving:

Our guests included my parents, my sister, my aunt and uncle from Maine and their kids/grandkids (my cousins) who live in Dedham.  That is a total of 13.5 people (sorry, Dagny, you only take up a small space and certainly don't each enough turkey to factor into the size we bought).  Pretty good for our first time, right?

Everyone cooked or brought something, which made life for us hosts pretty simple.  The kids played, the adults chatted, and before we knew it - it was dinner time!

We all ate up and everything tasted delicious.  Dagny enjoyed her first Thanksgiving on solid foods, thanks Aunt Caits for the pict.

After dinner, my sister, cousin, and Mom made the foam turkeys that I had bought for the little kids to do and had a ball doing them!

They were very proud of themselves. Later, Finley wanted to know why I only got turkeys for the grown-ups to make.  Ha!

After dinner, the older kids played while Dagny completed another Thanksgiving tradition she missed out on last year as an infant - watching football.

Happy Thanksgiving (belatedly) to all!

Mixter Crew

It was great having my parents and sister here for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Not only did my mom so all the cooking (and cleaning!) for Thanksgiving, but they entertained the kids and even babysat while Dan and I went to dinner and a movie :)

When we arrived home from school the day they drove up, Dagny climbed right up on the couch to hang out with her giant bear and her Granddad.

She was in heaven and my dad seemed pretty thrilled, too.  Just out of the frame is Finley playing Duplos with my mom, he gave her all of five minutes to get settled before he asked to play "tree trimming."  Grammy's a great sport :)

They also had fun outside exploring the ice pooled in the sandbox with my folks.

Granddad always travels with two guitars to Finley's great joy.

Dagny was all smiles after a nap one afternoon and entertained us all.

Aunt Caitlin got in on the kid fun by playing Hungry Hungry Hippos.

My parents left on Saturday morning, but Aunt Caitlin stayed to play a while longer.  I snapped these great photos of three of my favorite people in the world.

We don't have these guys close by, but when they come it feels like they have always been here.  Family rocks!

Hanukkah 2013

Hanukkah 2013 was one to remember, mostly because it overlapped with Thanksgiving and it was a whirlwind of family, food, and fun!

After putting Dagny to sleep Tuesday night, Finley helped me make Hanukkah cookies! Notice we're both wearing aprons :) Thanks for the photos Grammy!

We started the Hanukkah celebrating Wednesday night.  With Grammy and Granddad's help, we were able to make latkes, light menorahs, and open gifts before bed!

A baby carriage for Dagny!

 

Magnatiles for Finley!

Balance bikes for both kids, thanks Uncle Carl!

 Aunt Caitlin surprised the kids with a trip to Build a Bear for Hanukkah.  Finley made a Bruins bear that Caitlin and I named Puckleberry Finn and Dagny made a calico covered bear.

 The gifts continued throughout the week, Finley's new soccer goal has been a huge hit since we opened it!

 Thank you GG and Grandpa!!

While the dollar store glowballs they sent, have also been providing endless minutes of fun in the light and in the dark.

 

Dagny even inherited a Mixter family heirloom that was made by my dad's father back in 1982! Thanks Aunt Sudie and Uncle Pete!!

 

We celebrated the last night of Hanukkah at the temple with the kids preschool crew.

Finley seemed to really understand the holiday this year.  I suspect this was a combination of being 4 and of getting to learn all about the history behind the holiday in school.  He understood the oil lasting for 8 days and somewhat about Judah Maccabee wanting to free his people and even that the dreidel game came from long, long ago.  Pretty cool stuff.  On the other hand, Dagny mastered the concept of opening presents and what that really means :)

Though it's over now, Dagny will probably continue celebrating Hanukkah for weeks to come...