Sleepovers and Snow

Christmas Parade firefighters

This weekend marked two grand events: our first ever attempt at a full-family sleepover chez the Koller/Martin household, and our very first snowfall of the season.

Hanging with a stoic, yellow fisherman

The sleepover was, in some ways, a test -- is it possible to successfully have a fun family day with everyone, followed by a just-adults hang-out in the evening, capped off by everyone actually sleeping, and then also being functional the next morning? A tricky feat, indeed!  We chose a particularly fun day for this experiment: the Lunenburg Christmas parade/tree lighting.  The parade not only featured all the floats and marching bands that you would expect, but also a rather ridiculous amount of swag: firefighter hats, clown noses, and, I swear, more candy than they got on Hallowe'en.

Everyone (even Eva's doll!) got into the spirit

Then, after a delicious meal and some more play time, we all went down for the after-dark festivities.  These included marching a donkey down to the gazebo while singing Christmas Carols, listening to some readings, more carols, and then - the grand finalé - the lighting of the trees.

Ohhhhh!  Ahhhhh!

So how did it all turn out, you ask?  Definitely a partial success.  The day and the evening were super fun, of course.  It was a real treat to have a whole evening of laughter and board games and chilling just like we would have done - oh, 15 years ago, when we were all living together in a dingy little apartment with very few cares in the world. And besides a few hiccoughs (for instance, Juniper apparently "slept-walked" from the top bunk to the bottom, meaning all three girls were sardine-packed in for the night, and Linden was up at 5:30 am), a mostly-acceptable sleep was had by all.  Not me.  But that was not for lack of comfort or having to tend to anything - that is just my own weirdness in such situations.  I have confidence, however, that I can push past that if we just do it a few more times!

SNOW!

The next day, we didn't tarry long, as Zsofi and Will and family had another party to go to in the late morning (and we'd all been up for quite some time at that point, anyway). As we drove back, it started to SNOW!  I know this is old news for most of the rest of the country, but this was our very first snowfall of the season.  It was large, very wet flakes: the kind you know will not last long, but are fun to watch come down.  Linden could not wait to get home: he practically bounded out of the car and into his snowsuit the minute we pulled into the driveway, and proceeded to happily spend the next couple of hours (often all by himself), playing and doing all the snow-related things he could think of.  The end result was one very wet child, and one super-funky snowman.

Check him out! 100% hand-crafted by Linden

Seeing as everyone was plum-tuckered out (especially me - my head was literally swimming), the afternoon involved Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (still good after all these years!), followed by ordering out for pizza.  A pretty decadent but satisfying way to end an epic weekend, I'd say. This week, of course, marks the beginning of December (and all the ridiculousness that has come to entail - especially in this household), so my guess is that things will only get more epic from this point forward.  I'll keep you updated!

Quiet

Our first time to the Maritime Museum

I'm not sure why I entitled this post "quiet".  It is certainly quiet at this very moment, as it always is after the flurry of getting everyone packed and out the door. It is also something I have been longing for lately, perhaps as a temporary antidote to the ridiculousness of the last few months. I'm sure it is what my body needs (along with fluids and puffers and antibiotics), to finally rid itself of what turned out to be a good healthy dose of bronchitis.

Linden's go-to activity when he wants a little peace and quiet

And believe it or not, the kids (yes, even Linden!) will often seek out quiet time in the hustle and bustle of the everyday.  In between rolling around in the dirt (the only explanation for what they do when they are outside, based on the state of their clothes), climbing the walls (I literally caught Linden doing this yesterday - he made it half way to the top), and dancing like crazy people, I will sometimes find them silently absorbed in their own world.  For Juniper this almost always involves her nose in a book.  For Linden, it is drawing.  For instance, when I unceremoniously threw him into his room the other day for one transgression or another, he emerged about 20 minutes later, calm and quiet, having produced a book about his "feelings".  How cool is that?

Building a new, bigger home for Linden's pets (vermicompost from his aunt Theresa)

Even this past weekend, which included a visit from my parents, was relatively quiet.  Play-dough, board games, piano practice, popcorn and movies: a nice blend of exciting and chill.  It is a good balance to aim for. Perhaps we can all just take the next few months to hunker down, rejuvenate and breathe for a bit.  Quietly. Unlikely, I realize. But with a little solid intent - who knows?  

See you next week!

Making dinosaurs with Bob

Practising piano with Mary

Bob helps finish the worm house

soul balm

the nature explorers are back!

This has been a tough week, for reasons that I'm sure no one particularly needs me to explain or expound upon.  The world lost one of its greatest poet/musicians, and gained a living embodiment of hate, fear, ignorance, and intolerance.   It is difficult to figure out how to process this sort of week -- how to push past it all with positivity.  We decided the best way to accomplish this was to just be outside as much as possible - exploring trails, planting bulbs, and taking advantage of some pretty glorious mid-November weather.  I might have also made and then consumed quite a few cookies.  And listened to our extensive Leonard Cohen library on repeat. And made some art. I hope you all found your own soul balm as well. Big breaths, friends, and love from our little family to yours.

Linden plants his birthday garlic from his aunt Theresa 

Juniper waters her newly sown tulip, daffodil and iris bulbs

golden sun through the trees along Frog Pond

Luckily no tree inhabitants objected to Linden's exploration

More gorgeous light over the boulders and trunks

Linden watches the ducks

Close-up examination of dark, slimy slug

A rather glorious fungus (which looked, at first glance, to be devouring a bird.  Not so, I promise)

Bring only the essentials for woods exploration (especially of the truck variety)

Pausing in Shubie Park

We can appreciate and get along with squirrels and chipmunks in their natural habitat!

Hallowe'en photo shoot

The fairy and Dino-Man in their natural habitat

I know, I know.  Hallowe'en was SO last week.  But seeing as this is a Monday-morning blog post, sometimes things just need to be a week late.  Hopefully this cutting-edge photo shoot will make up for it.  I bring you this year's costumed wonders: Dino-Man and Fairy.

 Dino-Man:
When you are 5, how do you choose between being dinosaur, or a super hero? No need to compromise, friends - simply combine the two! Dino-Man is Linden's patented solution to the problem of too many good options.  A dinosaur body, plus a superhero cape and mask, means that this Dino-Man is ready for any situation.

Dino-Man!

With the flick of a hood, the caped avenger transforms! 

Check out those claws we added to his feet!

Rawr!! 

Fairy:
Strikingly similar to Juniper's thematic costume choice last year, I bring you: FAIRY! The costume itself is, of course, new and improved, with some homemade "ethereal head piece and cape"-action. My vision when making the cape was added warmth, and gauzy outer-layer that could double as wings if necessary.  It was a hit! Beautiful, magical and fancy: a winning Hallowe'en trio.

She even got to don her fanciest shoes for trick-or-treating

 And how about those pumpkins that everyone was working on so diligently last week? The seed-roaster outdid himself this year, if I do say so myself, with a batch of seeds that lasted a sadly short amount of time.  And the designers/carvers were both pleased with their respective creations:

Juniper's "scary-funny" pumpkin 

Linden's one-toothed wonder

This densely-populated neighbourhood led to a surprisingly large amount of loot in a short amount of time.  Each kid god to choose 10 pieces(!), and the rest went to the Hallowe'en Fairy (or switch witch), who delivered some highly-anticipated art supplies yet again this year.

I swear that sorting the candy was as much fun for Juniper as all the rest of the festivities.  She might have a little of her mother in her.

 And finally, in non-Hallowe'en news, we got to spend the day in Lunenburg yesterday, celebrating Will's birthday! Delicious brunch, lots of great play and catch-up time with Will's extended family, and some ridiculously delicious birthday cake.  What could be better?

The talented hostess/cake-maker, the birthday boy, and three eager girls ogle the chocolate masterpiece. The rest of us were waiting expectantly in the background

That's it for this week!