It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We've been reading a lot of Christmas stories, dancing to carols, sitting under our Christmas tree and enjoying the snow. I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit!

My Christmas Gift To You

Well I was going to send this to my friends who did the pass it on promise but I decided to make it available to any of my friends who might like it. But Mandi, Mindi, Joanna, and Maria these are for you! We have a really fun tradition at our house of reading this Christmas story and then I have all of the symbols of Christmas in a bag. We learn the true meaning of each symbol so that we can appreciate the holiday season more. I've always loved it. We read it tonight and Red Fish just went crazy over it. She would ooh and aah over every symbol as we read the story. So here is the story and some coloring pages I made to make ornaments to go along with it. I'm not crazy about coloring pages but I really love this story so I think it makes a nice little project. You can download the pdf at the link at the bottom of the post.

I'm not great with web stuff so this link will only work for the next 7 days. I can email anyone the pdf after that. If I find a good way to post the pdf that won't expire I will fix it.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/MVNlb2VJQTZVbTkzZUE9PQ

Blessing Day

New Fish wore my blessing dress, booties made by my great aunt, and had blankets made by my great grandmother and my sister in law. She needed two because it was freezing today! She was so sweet all day and enjoyed having everyone around to hold her and dote on her. Red Fish was in heaven having so many fun people in church and then over to our house. It was a really nice blessing and Two Fish did a great job. It's so nice to have so much family nearby to come and celebrate with us.

Two Fish's side of the family.One Fish's side of the family.Great grandparents

Just Sweet

A cute picture by Lovely N. Aren't I lucky to have such talented friends?

2 years & 2 months

Do you like their matching outfits? Red Fish wants to wear them everyday. I've already washed them several times and we haven't even had them a week. We may have to get more matching outfits. Red Fish loves to help me dress New Fish. Red Fish insists on picking out what the two of them will wear. She usually only picks one outfit out per day for New Fish but she is into dressing herself several times a day now. If I try and help her put her clothes on without being asked to help I get an evil eye.

We had our first double pediatrician appointment Wednesday for the girl's well checks. They are both healthy, happy little girls. They are growing up so fast.

Red Fish is 35.5 inches tall and in the 90th percentile for height. She is 28.25 lbs. and in the 70th percentile for weight. Her head is 48.25 centimeters and in the 75th percentile. She is an active crazy little monkey. She is smart and very sensitive. She is a sweetheart, espcially to her sister, but she can also be incredibly stubborn. She loves bubble baths, art projects, dancing, tea parties, dress ups, and puzzles right now.

New Fish is 22 inches tall and in the 30th percentile for height. SHe is 9lbs. 9 ounces and in the 25th percentile for weight. Her head is 38.25 centimeters and in the 48th percentile. She is a very smiley happy baby. She babbles like crazy and she has the cutest little giggle. She wants to be held all day long right now and snuggle. She does not nap on a regular basis for more than a few minutes which makes me a little crazy but we are working on a routine.

We're so lucky to have these sweet little girls in our family!

What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

What the Dog Saw is a collection of Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker columns written during the same time period as his first three books. I have a bit of love/hate relationship with books made up of newspaper or magazine columns. I always end up bored and enthralled even by the best writers. The first three chapters of this book nearly bored me to tears but then there were chapters I found absolutely fascinating. The chapter on hair dye and its impact on feminism was great. The chapter on the cost of homelessness in America was witty and intriguing. I also enjoyed the chapters on the inventor of birth control and the fall of Enron. The whole last section of the book is great.

Overall, I did not like the book as much as I loved The Tipping Point, but I'm still a fan of Gladwell's writing style and I'm intrigued by his point of view. "Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." Gladwell always seems to do that for me. I love how he hears some little tidbit or learns some strange new fact that launches him into an investigation of things I never even think about. I have a copy of Blink in my pile and I plan to checkout Outliers.

$100 Bag Of M&Ms

Things have been feeling dramatic around here. It's gotten sort of ridiculous.

I'm not really a chocolate person. In fact, I don't like chocolate in general. Two Fish is indifferent to chocolate and Red Fish doesn't know what it is. But, I have a deep love for Christmas mint M&Ms. It's really the only time we buy chocolate in our house.

I was feeding the baby and I could hear Blue Fish (the dog) fiddling with a wrapper in the other room. I assumed he had gotten the last of Red Fish's veggie straws off the table. I kept calling him to come but he wouldn't so I finally put the baby down and went to find Blue Fish. Of course he had a whole large bag of previously unopened M&Ms and he had devoured them. All I could say was "seriously? Seriously? The one time I buy chocolate and you really used my kitchen stool that I left out to reach them off the back corner of the counter?"

I called the vet and told them how big he was and how much he ate. I was expecting them to say it really wasn't that big of a deal but instead they said that if I couldn't get him to the animal hospital in the next few minutes there was a good chance he might die. So I immediately burst into tears and started grabbing the babies to put them in the car. (Of course we were all in pajamas except Red Fish who wasn't wearing much in preparation for her bath.) I threw pants and a coat on Red Fish and stuffed them into their carseats.

I was so panicked I threw the dog in the back of the car on top of the stroller with no leash and away we went. I grabbed him by the collar and ran him straight in and they were waiting for him. Oh the drama. Then I went back to the car (don't worry I could see them the whole time) for the babies. They pumped his puppy tummy and made him gag up the rest and gave him charcoal to absorb any residual chocolate. He's fine. I however, am not. Red Fish was very upset (because I cried) and New Fish thought it was hilarious to be rushing around.

After we sat in the waiting room (clad in pjs) for a good long time they sent Blue Fish out and we went home for a quick shower before our pediatrician appointments. That was another whole drama because Red Fish was a total maniac and kept busting out of the exam room and running into other people's rooms. I can't even think straight enough to give their stats right now. It will have to wait.

All I've got to say is: I'm tired. These three maniacs are going to put me in an early grave. On the upside I've discovered that I can leave the house with both children and my third doggie child in quite a hurry when properly motivated.

Salt Dough Failure

Well my playdough recipe may be fabulous for playing with but apparently it's terrible when you try and bake it. Red Fish and I made ornaments and handprints tonight and then baked them. It was a disaster. They got huge and puffy and the middle oozed out. Bizarre. I need a new recipe so we can try again. At least Red Fish still enjoyed herself. She loved using the rollling pin and cookie cutters. I even let her try out the potato masher while I was putting things in the oven. We planned to paint the ornaments tomorrow but I guess we will have to find a new project. My first attempt at being festive didn't work out so well. I guess it's more about doing things together and having fun in the end.

T is for Towell and Tree

Red Fish is wearing a dress my Mom made me when I was little.

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

My biggest regret about this book is knowing the main points of the story ahead of time. I would have really loved to read it without knowing the ending. The plot is timeless and Stevenson is a master storyteller. I was surprised that the story is actually told mostly from the point of view of one of Jeckyll's friends. Only the end is written from Jeckyll's point of view.

The story is a classic tale of good and evil and inner struggle. The most fascinating part was that when Jeckyll transforms into Hyde he is 100% evil but when he is himself he still has a balance of good and evil that he must continue to struggle with. He is never 100% good. The separation is complete one way, but not the other. Jeckyll's evil alter ego (Hyde) is shorter in stature and appears deformed. Jekyll surmises that this is because he has spent much more of his life trying to rise above his inner demons and perfect his good character. The longer Jeckyll allows his alter ego to run amok, the more Mr. Hyde grows physically and morally within the doctor's character. Eventually Jeckyll begins to transform without the aide of his potion and he loses control of his inner demon. A fascinating commentary on the supposed "freedom" offered by the darker things in life.

This was a great short read. I kind of can't believe I never thought to read it before seeing it reviewed on my friend Cari's blog. I really enjoyed it.

P is for playdough

I picked up some little cookie cutters for $1 the other day. I've been meaning to stop by the dollar store and get Red Fish some more tools for her playdough but these are a good start. I love homemade playdough. We made this batch a year ago and it's still good. I just keep it in a plastic bag and knead it every once in awhile. I need to make her some new colors.

Here is our playdough recipe that we use-

• 5 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups salt
• Food coloring
• 3 Tablespoons cream of tartar
• 10 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 5 cups flour

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Heat on low and stir regularly. Add oil and flour. Stir until playdough is no longer sticky. Knead thoroughly after the dough cools.

A few little giggles