Holiday vacation time

Christmas Lego set...a novel open on the table...cookie dough smears...yes, it is that time of year.

UN Day

Juniper marching for South Korea in her school's annual UN Day parade. The UN Day celebration is a wonderful opportunity to highlight one of the International Community School's greatest strengths--its diverse student body.

Do not enter

Juniper, Hazel, Violet, Henry, and Luke were up to some important, no grown-ups allowed business. You may need to zoom in to see it, but one of those boxes is covered with "No" signs.

The walls came down later that evening. I can't remember why we thought it was a good idea for everyone to get ready for bed at our house, but I believe at one point all five kids were in the bath together. Chaos!

Bowling Birthday Party

This is how you want a kid to feel at her 4th birthday party!

After the bowling alley, we came back to the house a dinner of Hazel's choosing: hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cupcakes.

Hazel's 4th Birthday

Hazel began the day with a present from Juniper.

 Henry skipped preschool and spent the morning at Leapin' Lizards with Hazel.

Chocolate ice cream sundaes--Hazel's requested birthday dessert.

Opening presents...

...a light-up morning star!

Hazel loves weapons. I'm so glad it is our second child who has an interest in weapons, warriors, and warfare. If it had been Juniper, I think I would have fretted about What It Means and worried that her interest may suggest some dark tendency toward violence or aggression. Instead, I've been able to watch other parents deal with those worries and realize what it means is that kids like powerful stuff.

Happy birthday, little warrior.


[At the risk of being overly pedantic, I was checking to see whether it's morning star or morningstar, and I learned that this particular weapon is actually a one-handed flail. The morning star is a club-like weapon with no chain.]

Thank you, Farmer Joe

Apparently, the best way to get my children to eat carrots is to serve them still attached to their tops. Juniper and Hazel started devouring these carrots the moment we got them. The carrots were gloriously celebrated as the The Most Delicious Carrots Ever. The few carrots that made it home were eventually cut up into carrot sticks, which the girls dismissed as nothing special.