'Tis the season to be crafty, Fa La La La La La La La La...

Quick! Do something fun! Mom's in the bathroom...

Hey! Nona! Got more blue? I'm runnin' low over here.

 

  Creations...

 And, in the spirit of crafting and in the spirit of, well, a pervasive feeling of late that if the holidays are NOT going to be about buying too much stuff and they're NOT going to be about an immaculate birth then they better BE about something. Especially with a five year old in the house. Turns out, five year olds LOVE those holidays...and their spirit is very contagious. But what? What are we celebrating? Neither Mike nor I is comfortable celebrating the religious Christmas, and the secular Christmas has been largely defined by copious levels of consumerism--which is unappealing at best. We like Solstice. We can get into the celebration of the season and the return of the light (the sun (son?) Ok, I won't start). The symbolism and traditions of the Winter Solstice resonate with us... and give us a fun, celebratory focus during this time of year when celebrations abound. We'll still open stockings on Christmas morn, and Winnie asked at bedtime tonight if she can go sit in Santa's lap ("Connor did it! I want to try!"). Sure, absolutely. It's all part of the fun. I'm looking forward to coming up with ways to make Solstice really fun...
and what our family looks forward to.

So, tonight I made our advent calendar for Solstice. We'll begin counting down tomorrow, and in 10 days--on the full moon--we will be there! At the shortest day and the longest night of the year...
At the peak event of the December celebrations at chez nous.

 Chappy Chanukkah!

 And Happy Winter! Today, after rearranging the living room to accomodate a Solschrisnakkah tree, we went to get it, brought it home and decorated it. I, Jez, checked out for a nap after getting the tree in the door, and left the hanging of lights and ornaments to the rest of the fam...

Because, I had to rest up for the annual Winter Lights Faire at the Waldorf School.

The Faire is a dreamy celebration of the season--with open fires, dreidel games, candle-making, silk-dying, wreath decorating, etc... fun happening throughout the Waldorf campus. Winona took in a puppet show, of which there are no pictures because someone, who shall remain unnamed, was not displaying her best puppet show audience behavior. We all made it through the (abbreviated) version of the Nutcracker, however. Winnie was rapt.

Came home, had dinner, watched the Wizard of Oz and fell fast asleep by 7:30.

There are definite bonuses to the shorter days, thinks mom. "Bedtime" can come mighty early. :) 

A typical scene at Chez Grossman.

I will scream a scream that will be heard by next Tuesday if you try to help me eat.

Or climb the stairs, Or turn the pages of the book. Try me.

I am Jezebel Alisa Dean Grossman, the Bold and Boisterous, and

I. Can. Do. It.

Thanks.

Sometimes a Great Notion... like this morning's
notion to get out of town or, more accurately, the house.
It's been a long (and fun!, but long) season of
homey celebrations and I was needing a change of scenery.
 My first inclination was to head to the mountains in
search of snow, but it was already 10 am and
it seemed like a gear-ambitious trek. So I filled a lunchbox
with grabbable snacks, threw a change of clothes, raincoats
 and a silly amount of fleece in the car and announced
that we were going to the coast.
An hour later, we were driving through the Ken Kesey novel
referenced (with an attempt at a visual of the landscape) above.

We started with a trek up to the Lighthouse.

"Mom. The Hat. It's not working for me."

"I'll help you, Jezzie. This is a long hill for your little legs."
(actual quote, unlike previous quote)

We got to the Lighthouse just as a tour
was heading up so we got to climb
the spiral staircase,
see the huge light up close and catch a
breathtaking view....

All of which adds up to a well-deserved snack.

If birds are your thing--meaning,
you can say the word "bird" and
like to follow it up with "tweet!tweet!,"
the coast can keep your attention for hours.

There are more birds out there. I know it.

Fun, damp, refreshing day.

With all this birthday hoopla, I've been a little
bit in the shadows. No more. I'm one and a half
and have a few things to share with you about
living life as Jezebel Alisa Dean Grossman.

I love to make people laugh. I wake mama up by blowing raspberries
on her belly or forehead. I do a silly back and forth dance with
my tongue hanging out and my arms flailing. I say "tick-tick-tick!" and
reach for your neck or feet to tickle. I have antics.
Lots of antics.

I can often--always--be found getting into stuff.
I'm curious and quick--a dazzling combination if
you see if from my perspective.
Mom and Dad don't always see it that way.

I am a Super Snuggler. Once I've packed all the
running, climbing, pushing, pulling, opening, distributing,
throwing, tasting, chasing and laughing I can into a day,
I really like to snuggle up with a good book.
I give kisses freely and unsolicited... and say
"Ah wuuuuv wooo" which when said by others sounds more like
 "I love you." 

Maybe it was all the talk in the air of being
thankful and giving thanks that inspired this.
Whatever it was, it melted me.

"Dear Mom, (although I'm rather partial to Dr. Mom, that's not how the narration went)
I love our family. I love you to the moon, with priates and gypsies."

Pirates and gypsies created a spelling challenge, apparently;
but that was how the narration went--all three times I asked her to read it to me.
Okay, maybe four. She got no help with this... it was a surpise to Daddy, too.

Yesterday was a good day by all measure:
Thanksgiving and my 5th birthday!



Here are a few shots from our day...



Ok, seriously. Enough with the presents. Let's go to the park!

One does not know true happiness until one has walked in these shoes.

WEEEEE!

Again. 38 more times.

Pumpkin Birthday Pie!

Nice job, Papa Bear!

Gma and KooKoo know my style.

Good night. We are all very thankful for the good, good life.

In honor of turning 5 this week, I hosted an Under the Sea
Tea Party. We wore fancy clothes (and lest we tire of any
one outfit, we were sure to swap dresses and consult the
dress up trunks...frequently.)

We conducted ourselves like true little ladies.

And engaged in stimulating conversation over cupcakes and fruit  kabobs.

At five, you really start to know what a good friend is all about.

They must enjoy a rousing game of musical chairs and be
somewhat capable of pinning the crown on the mermaid.

This is where I past the time.
Have cupcake, will travel.

Before. (Suburban Sprawl Gray).

After. (The Sun Always Shines in Oregon Yellow).

Jez here. In case you haven't yet heard the news, Winona turns

five in 12 days. We've been counting down for awhile,

but the excitement level has reached a hot simmer

over here. Trust me on this one.

 Winnie has decided on an Under The Sea Tea Party...

(We all agree that this is a huge improvement over her original Out Of This World theme).

She's inviting four friends.

Turning narration over to mom: My week started off with a vague awareness of "lots of things are coming up" which evolved into a To Do List that made me weak in the knees until I started checking things off of it. On today's list was "Invitations" which I printed off, put into envelopes and asked Winnie to decorate. I made dinner and the only peep I heard from her was, "How do you spell Nora?" When dinner was ready, I asked her to put them somewhere safe... and saw nothing more until tonight when I was straightening up before bed. I opened a drawer and found these (from L to R, top to bottom, I'll interpret the sketches:  octopus, pirate ship, mermaid and jelly fish).

 And then I flipped them over and found: Nora, Ruby,Maya and Ava; signed: ME, or EM

And then I popped.

She's so excited for this birthday. She is desperately trying to get

straight which day is the FRIEND party (this Saturday) and which day

is the FAMILY party (Thanksgiving Thursday). And, there are

games to plan (Pin the Fin on the Mermaid), menus to prepare (not quite there, yet),

decorations to imagine, and, as you can see, invitations to deliver.

(Invitations are miraculous. A couple of weeks ago, she got an invitation from Ava --referenced above--and she kept astoundingly close track of its whereabouts for a week, sleeping with it on two of the nights).

We have a date to go dress shopping this weekend.

I'm not sure who's more excited.