snow play

More playtime in the flaky snow which was too cold for good packing...so we just made tiny little snowmen...although KC thinks it's a good snow to fall right over as you can see in the snow plunk video - falling forward like a tree - timber! Aiden goes after his dad with snow balls. KC puts his head in the snow in a modified downward dog.

snow plunk

thanks snaps

It's like a snap when we visit - The thanks are due to my folks for keeping the boys (and me and J!) so happy and occupied with tons of new toys and cuddles while the snow came down fast. J and I got a chance to sneak away for our first movie together in at least three years... The much anticipated Les Mis didn't disappoint. Thanks for everything! We will see you again soon! Miss ya! Here are some snaps from my phone - many more coming soon!

blizzard

Enjoying a day full of falling snow by playing outside and coming inside for some hot cocoa... My sister and I enjoyed knitting while the rosy cheek boys played with all their new toys. My mom made lotsa yummy comfort food - Mac and cheese pie! Thx!

more fun

Happy Boxing Day! As I reflect back on such a fun holiday season, I am thankful that I could spend time with so many loved ones. I always feel like time is too short, but I should just be grateful for the time we do have together...Thanks to everyone that makes it so special for the boys especially. Today there is a Blizzard Warning (upgraded from a Winter Storm Warning), so I guess we are stuck in this house full of new toys!

Here was some fun from the last few weeks - remembering the Brennan's holiday tidbits:
13. High fives for the blow up Polar Bear (that is sometimes mistaken for a Snow Man) off our front steps. This was KC's favorite all month long and it got him motivated to get out the door.

14. Gawking at mall christmas dec with KC's singing class buddies - while the moms 'worked out' by walking the mall - it's my kind of old woman workout ;) while KC flipped for their huge oversized nutcracker "guys" while cruising in the mall fire truck stroller.

15. Present wrapping
Aiden was a super helper this year especially tearing tape - too bad he can't help me wrap his own presents.

16. Pillow Pile-up This is one of the boys favorites - Find all the pillows on every couch and wrestle, hide, and jump...
17. Turkey lurky dinner at home with the Rudolph movie - big 19 pound turkey on sale after Thanksgiving lasted a while! Orange stuffed and peach juice basted --made the skin crisp and the house smelled so good!

18. Paper snowflakes - KC chanted cut, cut, cut and even got to use his own plastic kid scissors.

19. Sugar dipped ginger cookies - these were from Trader Joe's and were so tasty and chewy.

20. Packing paper elf body tracings - huge packing paper sheet was flattened out and both boys traced -- then it was time for belts, buttons, hats, and funny expressions.

21. Pomander Oranges and Cloves - this was the perfect activity for both boys (with our soft thin peel clementines) - smelled amazing and worked well until KC insisted they were balls!

22. Teacher tea sets and notecards - Aiden helped make tea sets with sugar rocks and loose tea mixes. The smily face tea pots on their cards were icing on the cake.

23. Shopping with my big boy for his family presents - this experience felt like a present to me. I just loved watching him wander with his checklist carefully selecting his somewhat random presents. They weren't all funny because he wanted them "to really like them!". But Uncle Woah's squishy rat was my favorite...

24. Lighting the luminaries on my old street during the winter wonderland - the Xmas magic is sometimes tempered by KC taking a spill into the snow, but it's still
pretty...

holiday vid

Merry Everything! Here is a holiday version of the rhythm masters at work:

holiday vidrhythm from LB on Vimeo.

take three

Here are three takes at our holiday card... So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, times three!

national children

They just opened the new National Children's Museum.  We decided to check it out since the weather has shifted around here.  It was a pretty simple place, but Aiden and KC seemed to really like it.  Keep it simple and kids will love it seems to be a trend in child development lately.  Aiden spent the most time loading suitcases based on descriptions of different vacation destinations.  Now if I could only get him to pack his own bag for Gran and Pop's house ;)  Although I'm worried he might bring books in place of underwear...

I liked the three crafts the museum offered - button making, paper beads, and hungry caterpillar stick puppets.  The only thing that threw me off a bit was this "emergency notification" system where the kids were supposed to report a faux fire they saw burning in the window above.  It essentially had Aiden jumping around screaming "Fire! Fire!" into the intercom in a public place - which I thought was something to discourage?!  And second mild complaint was the bunk beds they have in the home setup...um, dangerous with so many kids climbing all over the place for short mommies?!  It seems every children's museum I've ever been to has a pizza parlor set up - I wonder if this is true?!

hippo for Xmas

Aiden was a solid actor/director/producer for this year's edition of All I Want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus!  Little brother is enthusiastic about anything his brother is excited about, so here are the hippo lovers in the 2012 edition:

cousins

We continued our restaurant meetup to exchange presents. I love seeing these happy cousins in a four way hug!

trees and lights

The National Harbor at night hosts a fun light show on the big tree and a fountain light show in the hotel lobby. The boys picked a spot right in the fountain splash zone and KC got pretty wet - He loooooved it and danced around with the splashes coming down on his super excited face.

almost winter

Yep, no coats or even sweaters on December 19th! I can hardly believe the awesome mild winter seems like it will repeat this year... The boys kicked the ball around and played chase the monster in the long late day shadows. Aiden even asked to rehang the hammock. I loved Keaton's expression of disbelief when I would ask where's your coat?!

capitol

We ran up to visit the big tree in front of the Capitol Building, which was already set up for the Inauguration.  Aiden remembered that it was the building where the laws are made and that last year we made up our own laws (his at the time was that everyone should do their business in the potty).  Aiden's law this year was that we shouldn't cut down trees... But then he revised it to not playing with the rope in front of the tree. KC didn't have the words to describe his law, so he acted it out by trying to rip off his jacket - no coats on warm winter days when I want to run.  Aiden made a buddy and they were racing back and forth, with Keaton, the little guy, trying to keep up.

botanic

The train exhibit at the US Botanic Garden was covered with natural material elves, gremlins, and other creepy crawlies that were a hit with the boys (although not as charming as last year's critter houses, in my opinion).  Aiden's favorite was a huge troll laying on his back with a big tummy that looked like a rolling hill behind the train track.  The little peek holes seemed to be sleepy Keaton's favorite.  We then followed the trail to find all of the festive plants on their holiday scavenger hunt.  KC was making funny faces trying to sniff the flowers.

playgroup baby edition

A few members of the baby playgroup (who are not getting hit by this flu bug bouncing around) made it to the annual Christmas party.  It was fun to see how different it was from last year, where some were toddling, but most were sitting in a circle wobbling towards each other to grab a circle of toys.  This year the little roller coaster, climbing structure, and kitchen were hopping.  Keaton traded in his favorite vacuum for a cute toy guitar that he wanted to carry everywhere.  Aiden bounced around with his big buddy Max playing hide and seek and cars.

playgroup big kid edition

Aiden is on the younger side of this huge group of elementary age kiddos in our neighborhood.  The get togethers are always on the wild side, but I've met some great people from the mix.  The gift exchange was elaborately run through this internet site Elfster, so we knew exactly what to buy (a 7 year old wanted Zombie Dice - ug!? - guess kids like what they like).  It also meant that Aiden got exactly what he loves - a Star Wars lego set.  After receiving his Secret Santa present while gobbling the nutcracker present cake, Aiden declared "This is great mom, it already feels like Christmas!" (Even though you were out playing on a the teeter totter and swing set without your coat all afternoon!?)

beats

The most fun!  We giggled and made tons of these from this awesome iphone ap - Vidrhythm!
vidrhythm from LB on Vimeo.

sweeter

The first real choir concert of the year was entitled What Sweeter Music!  What sweeter than seeing your boy confidently march up onto stage with a little smile, put his hands in his pockets like some grown man with a smirk, and then shimmy shoulder to shoulder with his friends with some serious concentration. What sweeter than seeing your little boy smile and point with a squeal as he sees his brother up on stage, sipping his water bottle and munching through his crackers quicker than daddy expected, and lasting the full hour plus listening and then cheering yay! louder than the rest of the clapping crowd (but at least at the right time - phew!) What sweeter than your big boy belting out bitty bums and dormi dormis, and being the first one to take a bow every time. What sweeter than seeing your boy light up and say to hid friend "There's my mom!" when he sees you up on the lighting balcony (to take photos) with your hands high in the sky as you clap along with the thunderous standing ovation... What Sweeter?  Not a whole lot.

Getting ready for the Da Capo bow:

With all the choirs at the end for Hope for Resolution:

Look how tiny he looks down there third kid to the left of the flute:

I wish that I had the full Hope for Resolution song, because it is a truly uplifting song.  It seems necessary on this sad day - I'm heartbroken for the families of the young children in the Connecticut shooting and I hope they can find comfort.  Here is the song sung by another choir: http://youtu.be/XArsuRWApvY
Here is the link to all the photos I took (without flash) of all of the performances:

http://flickr.com/gp/brennans/tS81yg/

The general audience wasn't supposed to take photo or video (although I think they have video available later) But here are some snippets from the earlier warm up at the nursing home, the rehearsal, and Aiden's relaxed at home version of Bidi Bum.
choir from LB on Vimeo.

badth

This boy loves to take off all his pants and ask so sweetly for a bath - "badth pease mommy" while scrubbing his tum - first thing in the morning, after lunch, you name it... Today was a mid day solo bath.... It's pretty relaxing so I understand his inclination.

first 12 days

12 bits of fun in the first 12 of December:::
1. Gingerbread House!
I picked up the Trader Joe's A frame that Aiden loved last year thanks to the cool sugar people and dog/goat/cow unidentifyable animal. Aiden got the hang of sprinkling a little candy here and there and on his tongue... When I asked what he was doing he said, "Don't worry mom I shared with Keaton's tongue too!"

2. Stamp, Seal, and Deliver Christmas Cards
Aiden loves doing stuff like this all on his own - I handed him some addressed envelopes, stack of cards, and stamps and he took them straight to the table to work on all of them. A half hour later they were all set. He even ran around to deliver them to our neighbors all on his own.

3. Candy Cane pipe cleaner and baking Soda Ornaments
Both boys have two prelits in their room, so we made some ornaments just for their trees. The wrapped and beaded candy canes were a hit with both boys. The baking soda dough is really smooth and soft and dries nice and hard even without an oven in about a day.
BAKING SODA CLAY:1. Mix 1 cup corn starch, 2 cups baking soda, and 1.25 cups cold water in a non-stick pot, stir until smooth. 2. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture becomes somewhat "gunky" and thick.3. Remove from the heat and let cool while covered. Once dry, the clay stores well for a few days in sealed ziplock bags. 4. After you finish creating your ornaments, you can let them air dry to hardness at room temperature over 2-3 days OR speed up the process in a 350 degree oven with the heat turned off.

4. Cookies! with our sweet neighbors and their huge tree
Our older neighbors invited us in to see their great giant tree. The boys munched cookies and gawked at each ornament as she explained where they were all from. It was such a nice neighborhood moment.

5. Legos Advent Calendar
My folks gave Aiden this star wars edition for his birthday, and it's a hit - thanks! The little space ships and creatures are so neat even of you know nothing about Star Wars.

6. New friends at jingle library storytime
KC is beginning to recognize his buddies and he enjoys anything with jingle bells!

7. Chalkboard fabric
Aiden spotted this on our last trip to the fabric shop and wanted to create his own wall hanging. I look forward to changing it for every season.

8. Cutout Menorah
We did an easy color, cut, paste on a Menorah to recognize the start of Hanukkah.

9. Christmas Books
KC especially enjoys his Boynton book searching for Bob the Reindeer. The Grinch is Aiden's favorite.

10. Bike and scooter rides to look for Christmas decorations
Not your usual December activity, but in addition to "lights on the right/left!" games in the car, we scouted the neighborhood on our little wheels.

11. Choir Concerts
The best mommy treat was seeing Aiden beam while his brother clapped and cheered for him.

12. Christmas Jammies
New striped jammies for the whole family make for big smiles ;). More coming soon...