Sunday, December 30, 2012

Sled's Eye View

How cool is this rugged little video camera that Grammy and Grampy (with Willow's sage guidance) got me for Christmas?? SO cool.  It is tough as heck, can be attached to most anything, and can even go under water. This first outing, on the first real snowy day of the year, is a bit shaky. But I'm going to have a LOT of fun with this little fella...

We missed sledding entirely last year - no snow! So it wasn't a big surprise to get to the hill and find that a couple hundred or so other people had the same idea. The hill is long and fast, and so of course the biggest hazard was collisions... which happened more than once, including to Sylvie. Neither she nor any of the other kids swarming over the hill is any the worse for wear, though.

A great day, capped off by hot cocoa and then a Patriots win!











Saturday, December 29, 2012

Matching with the Bitty Baby

Never has Syl been so excited to get clothes for Christmas...



"Artists see things in their heads"

First, I will admit that I am a worse offender than most, perhaps, when it comes to the parental tendency to view everything our own little ones do as minor miracles. So maybe this isn't so impressive as I think...

 

Sylvie's Aunt Willow and Almost-Uncle John got her a Disney iPad stylus for Christmas. It is basically a digital marker that, interacting with a Disney app, allows her to color and draw within the app, which has a bunch of activities, a drawing lessons function that teaches her to draw basic Disney characters, and then a "free draw" function where she can just doodle.

 

Long story short, when she showed me this picture this morning, I assumed she'd traced a template or, at best, drawn it with the app's guidance. No, she insisted, she'd drawn it herself, in the free draw section. I assured her that it was very impressive if she'd drawn it with help, but she was adamant. "No, Daddy. I just saw it in my head and drawed it by myself. Artists see things in their heads."

 

Well, I checked the app - and there is no such template. There isn't even a picture she could have copied. She drew this Minnie herself, based on a picture in her head (which is in turn based on her Minnie doll, which is right now buried in her closet (I checked). I couldn't do as good a job.

 

 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Dance Party for One

With the Christmas addition of a Chauvet dual spotlight, I think Sylvie's personal dance party set-up is complete. I want to get a fogger, but Melissa has absolutely forbidden it...


Domesticity, previewed

During our Christmas Eve get-together with the O'Learys, Sylvie and Jake retired to the sweethearts table in the play room for some private dining. Their formal attire made this inevitable:


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas 2012

Another Christmas in the books...

Chilly sliding

Christmas Eve was a beautiful day to spend a little bit of time outside...









Merry Christmas!!!

First snow of the year - a little Christmas miracle.



Merry Christmas to family and friends near and far, and a special Christmas wish to Sylvie's Uncle Pat, who is far from home today, keeping all of us safe.

More photos to come...

Monday, December 24, 2012

...and all through the house...

After Christmas Eve Mass, the O'Learys had us over for drinks and some food. Such great friends we have...



"So dear, how was your day?"







Grampy was REALLY in to The Night Before Christmas...



All ready for the Big Guy


Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas Cookies


Sick or not, nobody lays out a Christmas cookie spread like Sylvie's mom!










Meanwhile, in the family room...


Something went terribly wrong with this one:




Always up for cookies...



Afterwards, Sylvie and Grampy settled in for a screening of A Charlie Brown Christmas.