We set up the Christmas tree on 12/8. Blaine’s favorite part is vacuuming up the needles:
On 12/16 we went to the Westchester Children’s Museum and the kids made some neat mobiles and other crafts.
On 12/22 we made some more chocolate ginger cookies and a batch of sugar cookies with lemon icing to take with us for Christmas.
Sarah made a menorah at her preschool and we enjoyed lighting it for the eight nights of Hanukkah.
Some artwork from her classroom.
We hosted a parents gathering for Sarah’s class during Hanukkah, and Sarah helped me make some chocolate ginger cookies for the occasion.
Here we are at the Hanukkah celebration at Sarah’s school:
Jumping ahead, here is the menorah all lit up on the final night.
Not Hanukkah related, but here’s one more of the kids at a pottery-painting birthday party.
On 12/1 we went to Tony’s to get our Christmas tree in the morning.
In the afternoon I took the kids to the “Light up Larchmont” event in the center of town. The kids decided they did not want to meet Santa, but they did color some ornaments, and they wrote some letters to Santa and dropped them into the special mailbox.
We took a break from the cold and got hot chocolates at Cocoa, then we headed back just in time for the official tree lighting.
After that we met up with Daddy for dinner at Sherwood’s.
I signed Sarah up for swim lessons at the “Swim Tank” in Mamaroneck after hearing good things from a lot of local parents (not the least of which was that the pool is really warm!). It’s hard to get timeslots so I had to sign Sarah up first, and then try to switch to a time that worked for both kids.
Anyway, here’s a pic of Sarah on the day of her second lesson, when she earned her very first badge! Starfish level. She was thrilled.
We drove to Great Falls on Wednesday, 11/21, to celebrate Thanksgiving. The traffic wasn’t bad, and no one threw up! Here’s Blaine admiring the persimmons after we arrived (soon to be enjoyed in Gram’s persimmon pudding).
Sarah got to work watercolor painting the place cards for the big meal. Place cards included: our four, Gram, Grand-dad, Aunt Jody and John and his father Win, Cam and Megan and Marcella, Aunt Jill and Uncle Jack.
Sarah also helped Gram in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning.
The kids watched some of the Macy’s parade on tv with Grand-dad.
John helped Blaine make a “phone” with two cups and a piece of string.
They also made this “microphone and speaker” since Blaine wanted to make a big speech for Thanksgiving.
Here’s a pic of the famed persimmon pudding, en flambe.
After dessert was the grand finale, the smashing of the chocolate turkey.
On Friday, 11/23, we drove to Charlottesville to have lunch with Great Grandmother Dorothy. We also got to visit with Great Aunt Jody and Uncle Dennis.
Sarah finished off her multi-sports class with a section on lacrosse.
The final class was track and field, which Sarah declared to be her favorite. Here is a short video of her running the hurdles:
In November I also started trying to get a good Christmas card picture.
We went to an event called “introduction to the strings” put on by the Larchmont Music Academy at the library.
Sarah and I also went on an art walk to unveil a new set of murals around Larchmont representing historic figures. I believe the one below is about Lucretia Mott, who lived in Larchmont before she moved to Philadelphia.
The murals were done by international street artists brought in by a non-profit called Street Art for Mankind. It was a really cool event and I love seeing the murals around town!
Here are the kids showing off their matching lion shirts from Mom-Mom!
One day we went into Brooklyn for some barbecue at Fette Sau, followed by some liquid nitrogen ice cream. Yum!
Then we went into the city to check out the NYC Fire Museum, which the kids have wanted to visit for awhile now.
Some more Christmas card attempts, at the Rye Nature Center.
And here is the winner!
We had some snow, so we built a snow baby.
Just before Thanksgiving I volunteered to help at Sarah’s school for a pie-baking day.
On Sunday, 10/28, we carved our pumpkin. The kids wanted to make it scary, like a vampire, and subsequently named it, “Monster.”
Sarah did not have school on Halloween, so she decided to wear her costume all day. We did some errands in town and played for awhile at the fire truck playground.
We also observed an artist painting this mural, getting ready for a mural exhibition starting on Nov 4.
At 2pm we went to see the Chatsworth Halloween parade.
After school we were invited to a “pre-trick-or-treat” Halloween party nearby. We trick or treated on the walk home, and then did some more on our own street.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
On 10/20 the kids put on their costumes and we walked in Larchmont’s Ragamuffin parade.
One day the kids asked Daddy to do an experiment involving baking soda, vinegar, and a balloon.
Sarah went to an awesome birthday party with dinosaur bone replicas.
I got to volunteer at Blaine’s school to help out when his class learned about composting and cover crops at the school garden.
I was also able to chaperone Blaine’s class field trip to the Sheldrake river walk.
Sarah’s multisports class moved on to lacrosse!
She also enjoyed playing with her new Spirograph Jr. set.
And she has been riding her tricycle all around town. She is really ready for a bicycle, we think… maybe for Christmas…
Sarah turned four on Wednesday, October 10th. Daddy made a batch of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream for her celebration at school. I got to join the class for cupcakes and to read a book (Sarah chose Gram’s original story, the Panda Who Went for a Spin, for the second year in a row).
After school I took Sarah to Polpettina for a birthday lunch.
After dinner we had another delicious Daddy-baked cake!
Sarah was very excited about this panda-unicorn she’d asked for.
On Friday Sarah’s multisports class moved on to t-ball!
Then on Saturday, Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly arrived for a weekend visit. We went out to lunch at the Larchmont Tavern.
On Sunday morning Daddy made his final batch of cupcakes for the birthday season, and Sarah helped to decorate. All told there were 5 batches of cupcakes and one 3-layer cake, and a whole bunch of buttercream frosting.
We had Sarah’s birthday party on 10/14 at Creative Corner, a children’s art space here in Larchmont. There was face painting, and the kids got to choose a wooden item to paint. Sarah and Blaine both chose a mini fire truck.
There was also a game of hot potato!
Happy Birthday, Sarah! We love you!
We kicked off the birthday week with Blaine’s birthday party on Saturday, October 6th. In preparation for that event, we taste tested some smores (delicious!), and the kids helped put together goody bags.
The birthday party didn’t start until 2pm, so we spent the morning at Memorial Park.
Blaine’s party was at the Rye Nature Center (same as last year), and started out with an “animal extravaganza” show, featuring a bearded lizard, turtle, corn snake, guinea pig, and a pigeon.
Then the kids burned off some energy with a nature hike.
We came back inside for some snack, and then headed out to the campfire for (homemade by Andrew) cupcakes and smores.
Blaine turned six on Monday, the 8th, and had off from school for Columbus Day. So, we headed to the Bronx Zoo to make up for our last visit and enjoy the Nature Trek.
The zoo was pretty crowded with Halloween events, but we got to see this neat pumpkin carving exhibition.
We also rode the monorail again, of course!
That night Blaine switched things up by requesting an ice cream cake from Longford’s.
The next day, 10/9, Blaine celebrated his birthday at school. Daddy made chocolate cupcakes for the occasion with plain and chocolate buttercream frosting.
That day was also Blaine’s first official day with homework! He did a great job.
Happy birthday to our sweet six-year-old!