Thursday, December 31, 2009

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMOOSE!

The Christmas train is still chugging along and I have tons of pictures to share, but here's just a few for the time being. The Wog's school held their annual Christmas party before we left town and, as usual, it was a wonderful time. The Wog performed beautifully, but The Doodle may have stolen the show. Here's a sequence of pictures DURING the concert:

#1. No Doodle:


#2. The Doodle enters from the left, wearing the green puffy coat which he refused to remove:


#3. The Doodle takes a seat near Miss Lucy to get a closer look at what's going on:


#4. The Doodle decides he'd rather participate than just watch:

Friday, December 11, 2009

THE WOG ON ICE

The Wog participated in her second ice show this weekend. She really got into it and asked the next morning when she could be in another show.

Here she is, watching the action:

The Wog and Brooke in a quiet moment before the show:


And in a more typical display of excited 5-year-oldness:

Watching and waiting:

The "Sleigh Ride" group takes to the stage!

The Wog was so excited that her friends Chloe and Jordan came to watch the show!




The whole gang:

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

WOGGY CHASTAIN

The Wog participated in "kindergarten soccer" this year. Although it mostly consisted of the kids running aimlessly around the field, she had a blast nonetheless. When we went to the community center for Pancakes with Santa over the weekend, I noticed her team picture hanging on the wall! I am supposed to get a copy of my own, but in the mean time here's a sneak peak.



(And no, The Wog did not whip off her tee shirt and run around the field after scoring any goals. It was just the first name I came up with!)

SANTA WOG IS COMING TO TOWN

Each year our church puts on a local "Children's Store" for kids under 12 to select presents for people on their lists. Parents designate a budget, and then an "elf" (a teen or senior citizen volunteer) accompanies them into the store to help with their selections. They then wrap the gifts so they are truly a surprise. The Wog went last year and it was one of our favorite holiday events. She was so proud of herself and her selections! So we headed back this year on our busiest day of the year (swimming lessons, followed by Pancakes with Santa, followed by the Children's Christmas Shop, followed by TWO birthday parties and culminating in the big ice show) because we just couldn't bring ourselves to miss it. This year, with the help of her new elf-friend, The Wog actually wrote the name of all the recipients on the gift cards herself. Later, when she entered our house dragging her bag of presents she proudly announced (and completely of her own invention), "Polly Wog is coming to town."

The Wog and her two friends, Arielle and Lily, hanging out in the church hall and having a snack. Picking all those presents is hard work!



FYI, The Wog waited about three minutes before deciding we had to open our presents NOW NOW NOW. Marc received a bird feeder; West received a toy telephone; I got a bracelet with flip-flop charms (because, she said, I love my flip-flops. Miriam, at the least, will recognize the irony of this. I worked HARD to love those flip-flops, and now I absolutely do), and for herself she chose a princess mug with various little princess knick-knacks in it. She also got to select a present for a 4-year-old girl in need, and she took the choosing of that one (a princess game) especially seriously.

Monday, December 07, 2009

WOGCAKES WITH SANTA

Saturday was jam-packed full of holiday activities, birthdays and the big ice show! We started out our morning with swimming lessons followed by our annual tradition of Pancakes with Santa at the local community center.

The Wog climbed right up on Santa's lap:



The Doodle, however, wasn't having any Santa:


"Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away."


He was, however, into the sausage and bacon:


Don't come between The Doodle and his "beef."


Later, Santa read "The Night Before Christmas..."


...and the kids did a craft:



And here is our favorite craft, which was abandoned there by an anonymous Pancakes with Santa attendee:

Friday, December 04, 2009

SNEAK PEAK

The Wog's "Holiday on Ice" show is tomorrow night, and she is so excited. Here's a sneak peak from yesterday's dress rehearsal!

Excited with her friend, Brooke:


Getting ready to hit the ice:


Happy little skaters!

DOODLEGRIMS AND WOGIANS

My hands were too full at Thanksgiving to take very many pictures, but here are the few I managed to get!

The Doodle met his adorable little cousin, Chris, who is just 15 days younger than he is.


The Wog and her father shared some quiet time:



And because it doesn't get better than this, a little reminder of last year's Thanksgiving photo:


(I didn't manage to get one this year...maybe because I knew this was untoppable!)

CATCH THAT TRAIN

The Doodle loves train, and our recent visit with Minnie and Pop-pop was particularly train-centric.

Here he is having his favorite beverage at a local restaurant which has not one, but TWO, trains circulating its perimeter all day long. The Doodle actually stays in his seat with the occasional shriek of excitement.


We also visited the local train museum and he got to take a ride!


We go past this little train on our way to The Wog's school every day, and every day he says, "Train? Train? On it? On it, Mama?" (And yes, Marc is holding a bloody rag to his face in these pictures--an unfortunate run-in with The Doodle's fingernail.)

The Wog enjoys trains, but she also enjoys meeting scarecrows.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINNIE!

We were delighted to help Minnie celebrate her birthday in advance while my parents were visiting in New Hampshire. But don't let The Doodle near your birthday cake if you want to blow the candles out yourself. He likes to "help" a little too much.

CATCH US IF YOU CAN!

The holidays are upon us, and once again I find myself playing catch-up. November was full of fun--visits from Minnie and Pop-Pop (including an early birthday celebration for Minnie!) and a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving. I'll get pics up from those visits shortly, but in the meantime here's a glimpse of what we've been up to in the interim.

The Wog has been a fish and can now swim the length of a (very short) pool on her front and on her back.

The Doodle "graduated" from Squeaky Sneakers and received a certificate of participation. Or, as he calls it, "muh letter!"

The Doodle's hair continues its glorious, golden reign:


I'm thinking Locks of Love. Any thoughts?

Meanwhile, The Wog channeled Gossip Girl's Blair in her favorite pink headband.


The Doodle "found" these balloons. They did not manage to fully consume him as this picture may imply.


Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Happy Early Christmas!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A WOG ON HER TOES!

The Wog started taking kindergarten "pre-ballet" and has been practicing her little heart out. I've caught her using both the sideboard and our wood stove as a barre.

Plie:


Sous-sus:



This former ballet dancer can't recall what this is called!

She is very proud of herself!

Second position!


A stroke of genius: the instructor put a little heart sticker on the inside of each of their shoes to help them remember to turn out:

Arabesque:

A great shot of the missing tooth!

Soldier marching with the teacher:

How they finished up the ballet class!