Extreme Cuteness

This is why Christmas is so fun and magical!  Merry Christmas, everyone!  Make it a good one.

Sugarplums

 Guess who visited us today?  The Sugarplum Fairy!  We stole Maria's idea and Ruby got to entertain Xanthe and her friends, since Golda got the job of being the Sugarplum Fairy at Claire's birthday party.  Xanthe and her little buddies learned a dance and performed it for my camera.

 They took dressing up very seriously!

 After the Sugarplum's ballet instruction, she served cupcakes and pink Sprite.  It's not dancer food, but it's what they eat in the Land of Sweets.

 Hazel, Esmae, Jade, Izzy, Emi, Claire, Aubry, Xanthe, Phebe and Hazel

 Our craft was pretty lame, but the kids didn't seem to notice.  I googled "kids Christmas Crafts" and bought coffee filters and suckers.  They're supposed to look like dancers, and some of them did, if you used your imagination.

 Heart-to-heart princess talk between Claire and Hazel

 The Fairy sent the girls home with their work of art and a bag of adorable chocolate-and-candy-cane dipped marshmallows that I made and forgot to take pictures of.  I think Xanthe had a great time.  After the last princess left, Ari's school friends arrived to decorate and exchange cookies, and Scott grabbed Golda, Ruby and Freestone and took them to Gardner Village.  That left me to eat chocolate and relax, since Ari had the whole household under control.  I tried to soak up the Christmas Spirit because - holy cow! - it's the 23rd!

Scott and I were still in the "let's enjoy Christmas with our precious children" mode tonight, so I read them The Night Before Christmas.  It went like this:  "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...Freestone, sit down...Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.  Ruby, grab Ptolemy before he falls.  The stockings were hung by the chimney with...Ari, why are you kicking Golda?...with care...Xanthe, can you just hold still?..."

We did make it to the end, but it wasn't how Clement C. Moore would have read it.  Nevertheless, looking back on a fun day I can say that I really looked at each of my kids and saw how beautiful each one is, now, in this moment.  That's my Christmas gift to myself, to notice the riches that surround me and to love them.  I'm so grateful to have Scott and six and a half perfect kids.  Really, who needs gifts?

Up to Our Ears

 Another Rhapsody gig with Luke and Evyn

Band concert...hence the flute. 

We're up to our ears in Christmas music!  Last Friday there were three recitals and a Rhapsody performance.  I missed Xanthe's little dance recital that Lexie put on because I was at the cello gig at the retirement center. Scott and Coco said Xanthe was the best one there!  (I'm sure they're not biased or anything.)  Ari did a great job playing in a cello trio...except on the song where she was the bass line.  The bass line is, apparently, not as much fun to practice as the melody.  It has been enjoyable to hear her repertoire of Christmas music each morning when she practices.  I'm going to miss it.

I've sneaked into a couple of Golda's Rhapsody performances during their holiday tour of local elementary schools.  What a fun group!  Ruby's guitar recital featured the first performance of the advanced kids playing in an ensemble.  Classical guitar is such a solitary instrument, it's a great experience for them to play in an ensemble.  They have been practicing on Friday nights since August.  Roy, Ruby's teacher, was elated with how they played.  Ruby did a good job on her solo, too, even though the video is inexplicable blurry.

And there's a sample of our holiday soundtrack.  I can't get some of the others to load...fortunately for you!  I think we're winding down on the recitals.  Now that the kids are out of school ,we've moved into the cookie baking and gift delivering portion of our holiday season.  Yesterday:  marshmallows dipped in chocolate and candy canes and egg nog cookies.  Today:  Ari says it's candy cane shaped sugar cookies.  Now, could we please have some snow to set the mood?

Notes of Christmas Cheer

Some of the Christmas gifts and cards we've gotten have brought me a little chuckle, all for different reasons.  This one is from one of my ballet students to "You."  I can just hear Seinfeld saying, "Hey...you!"  And my student's mom saying, "If you can't remember your teacher's name, just write YOU.  Let's go!"  Regardless, I love the gift.  It was foam soap, right in time to spruce up the red bathroom for a weekend of parties.  Thanks, You!

It was only after we gobbled up every last crumb of the delicious cookies from the Smiths when we noticed the tag:  "To Kings, Kings and Dopps."  Oops.  I think we were supposed to share with my parents and Josh and Emily.  Sorry, guys.  The cookies were really good, though.  We enjoyed them enough for all of us?

Here's another one from a ballet student.  "Dear Circe, thanks for being nice to us and for teaching us ballet. Merry Christmas.  So I'm giving you this gift for being nice to us and this is also a gift for Christmas."  I can't tell if she really thinks I'm nice, or whether she's trying to bribe me into being nicer by giving me a gift specifically for being nice.  Either way, the giver is a darling girl and I just love her!

Ari took a bunch of odds and ends to sell at "Class Store" yesterday.  One was a witch candle.  Judging by her teacher's thank you note, she decided to give him the candle instead of the Lindor chocolates I wrapped for him.  Now the question is, what happened to the chocolates?  I know what I would have done with them!

One more note...enjoy these last few days before Christmas, YOU!

Hammer Time

"Mine!"

Ptolemy trying to smile

The next day on our errands

"Don't take a ficture of me, Mom!"

Ever since the wrapping came off this toy Sunday night, construction has not stopped.  All the other kids wanted to hammer too, but I made a rule that only Ptolemy can do it.  The bigger kids are too aggressive (noisy!) with their hammering.  Ptolemy has been working, working, working on those pegs everywhere he goes.  Tap tap tap...tap tap tap...He patiently hammers each peg down, only to turn it over and start the process again.  I think he's ready to go to work for Uncle Clint's construction company!  

Surprisingly, I don't even mind the little taps.  It's just so cute to watch the concentration and dedication.  I hope the novelty doesn't wear off for awhile!  If you have a two-year-old, you might want to put one of these classics on Santa's list.  Thanks, Emily!  :)

The Coat

Christmas Bazails

 On Sunday, we rang in Christmas with the Bazails who jetted in from Miami to celebrate with us. It has been a year since we've seen Alex and Lincoln, and boy, have they grown!  It's scary! Once again, I did a pitiful job of taking pictures!  We had a great time, though, with Roland and Sarah, Jim and Tricia and the Kings.  The kids exchanged gifts and everyone ended up happy.  Tricia and Jim brought Kentucky Fried Chicken.  How can you go wrong with KFC?  It was delicious!  Emily made chocolate cream pies and we sang Happy Birthday to  Trajan and Joshua.  Happy birthday, brothers!

I don't know how many kids were here for the DeBry party - I can't count that high - but the eight little kids who were here last night made just as much noise as dozens of kids.  I think that means there is some decibel level where kids' screaming just all sounds the same.  Nana calls it "screaming for joy," and that's just what it is.  The kids took about 30 seconds to remember each other and get right down to the business of racing around, following the rules of an exciting game adults will never understand!  Kids will probably never understand why adults like to sit around and talk, either, but it was fun.

 Lincoln

 Tolly had lots of help opening his present

 Tolly LOVED his toy!!

 Freestone got a set of Goosebumps books.  I noticed he got halfway through the first one before he went to bed last night.

 Sephora gift certificates from Alex.  Sarah can't believe the girls are old enough for make up!

 Ari loved her hat and matching shirt and the finger paints from Tricia.  Tricia is a good sport to be included in the kids' gift exchange to balance out the difference between Dopp and non-Dopp kids.

 Tricia and Sarah

 Tricia and Freestone.  I guess Jim was warming up the car and missed the pictures.  Sorry, Jim!

 Coco and Bill

 Scott and Roland

 Xanthe winding down at the end of the festivities

Scott, thanks for being willing to host so many parties.  You're good at making your wife happy!