iphone diaries

Dueling Cousins.  New York vs. Boston.  This will be a lifelong rivalry.  Owen is wearing his "Bib Papi" shirt we got him for Christmas and Luca is wearing his Yankee shirt. 



Let's just take a moment of silence to give proper respect to women in typically male dominated fields.  Here is my girl making things happen at the Children's Museum.  Something about seeing her in protective eye gear in a children's sized wood working workshop makes me endlessly proud. 

Naptime is serious business with these two.



Dressed as animals at the Children's Museum.  I must have a thing with kids dressed as animals.  Truly makes me happy. 



Merriment with a Martini

The secret to our merry Christmas this year was having no plans.  We lounged and layed, ate and lounged some more, and then decided to ice skate when we started going a bit stir crazy.  Nothing says apres skate like a martini and hot chocolates from the Brown.  Merry Merry Christmas indeed. 

Mia is wearing a new sweatshirt and carrying her new dog purse.  Both got new hats too.  Something about kids in animal hats is too cute.   

Santa brought Luca and Mia each a fish.  Luca's red beta is appropriately named "Blackie" and Mia's multi colored beta is named "Candy".  Of course.  They couldn't be more excited by their new friends.  And I am thrilled with the low expectations of these critters.  As the guy in the pet shop said, "Pets don't get more low maintanence.  Unless you put a bug in a jug." 

Even pouting children are downright adorable in animal hats.  (For the record...Mia was furious because we pulled her off of the ice to head to our next stop.  Need I remind you that a martini was awaiting me?)

Nothing gets between this kid and his hot chocolate. 

Admiring the beauty inside the hotel. 

 

Lunch Date with Old Friends

Always fun to have a lunch date with old friends! 

After we said goodbye, we hit the ice rink. 

And there happened to be a face painter on hand.  Luca was transformed into an elf. 

And Mia became a snow princess. 

A visit with Mom

 

My mother came to work with me the other day and it was such a treat.  I introduced her as "Mrs. Padden" but called her "Mom" throughout the morning.  The kids would giggle, because the notion of us teachers actually having parentage is just too much to conceive at seven. 

 

Having my mom at work, to watch me in action, provide support, and see what I do on a daily basis was really special.  She said that upon entering, my 23 students appeared to be 53.  It is initially shocking to walk into an elementary school classroom if you aren't used to it.  Tiny desks and pencil cases.  Bodies moving all around.  Voices in every corner.  There is so much going on and Mom handled it like an old pro.  (Did anyone expect otherwise??)

 

She brought them treat bags which they loved and they wrote her sweet thank you notes, asking for her return. 

 

We'll welcome you back anytime Mom!

Lazy Day

Double Dog kind of day.  We're babysitting my sister's dog for the week and he fits right in.  The two snuggle up wherever we are and create tiny little nests from pillows and blankets.   

I love lazy days.  They happen almost never so when I see an opportunity to tell everyone to hop into my bed, I do.  Mia read to Luca and he happily listened to Fancy Nancy.  How I love that kid. 

Nana taught Mia to sew and she's a bit of a maniac now.  She'll sew any two items together, literally.  She has made several napkin pillows and is always finding scraps of paper, fabric, or otherwise and asking where her sewing kit is.  You know what I find so endearing about all of this?  It is such a self directed interest.  She had been asking me to teach her and frankly, I just never did.  So, leave it to amazingNana, to pick up my slack.  Then, Mia trotted to the dollar store with her dollar from the tooth fairy.  She and Luca combed the aisles and it was Luca who found this teeny tiny sewing kit for, you guessed it, one dollar.  He walked over to Mia and said, "Mia, you are always talking about sewing, why don't you buy this?"  She did and the rest is history.  All of the sewing projects around the house stem from that little dollar kit.  She made her first dress tonight for a naked doll that I had from my childhood.  Mia found a bag of old scraps, traced a shape and set to work.   

Have you read the book, "Fanny"?  It's a favorite around here.  So so sweet.  As Mia worked in my bed, she said, "Mom, doesn't this remind you of Fanny?"  Fanny, the title character wants one of the hipest, coolest dolls around, a Connie doll.  Her mother won't buy it because it's tacky (think Bratz).  So, Fanny sets out to sew her own doll who she ends up loving even more than she could the Connie doll.  It's a story of empathy.  Confidence.  Self reliance.  Strength of character.  Mia stitched away and I told her that, indeed, this moment did remind me of that story. 

The finished dress.  And one proud kid. 

Take that Gingerbread

Amy had a gingerbread party the other day with her sister and myself, plus our respective dopplegangers.  Trying to rid myself of "shoulds" and "ought tos" this season, I knew I wouldn't be making any gingerbread to bring along.  Sure, I could have picked up a prebaked gingerbread house but, honestly, I didn't even know if I wanted to commit to going to pick that up.  So, the kids and I donned our holiday gear and brought along a box of graham crackers.  I have to say, a tradition has been born.  We plan to meet at Amy's next year (and hopefully many years to come) and while I can aim to bring along gingerbread, we're all pretty pleased with our little graham cracker houses! 

My crew. 

I took one look across the table at these chums and thought, "Oh boy.  We're never going to get this stuff hammered out."

They proved me wrong!  The beginning.... 

Coming along...

Pavement of peppermints.  (I loved it, because, well, I love alliteration.)

Viola!  Santa's house, Luca declared. 

Mia's abode.  Humble, sure, but so much character. 

Until next year Amy!  Cheers!

 

A bitter sweet day

Heavy hearts today as the news spread about Sandy Hook Elementary School in CT.  I just can't even wrap my mind around any of it.  I kept looking at Mia, a kindergartner, and thinking that it could have been her classroom, her school, her community.  It could have been my phone ringing with the news of a shooting, at an elementary school. 

I picked her up from school at the end of the day and shuttled her and her big backpack home.  As we were crossing at the crosswalk, the principal gave me a weak smile and a knowing nod.  Mia chattered about centers and lunch (cheeseburglar day - I hope she always calls it that), knowing nothing of what happened today.  You o.k.? the principal asked.  Hanging in there I responded.

We continued with our normal plans - after school cookie making with a school chum of Mia's, a visit to see Santa, and then on to Luca's school to watch him shine in his Christmas performance. 

But the normal was somehow different.  Harder.  Sweeter.  Stranger.  Sometimes normalcy is the only way to carry on though. 

Waiting to tell Santa what she wants, a fish.  Luca wants the same thing, naturally. 

Alight I love this.  He was gazing around a bit confused until he spotted us.  Here is his moment of recognition.  A giant wave and a small "whoop!" 

Looking only semi interested here in this shot.  The kid pulled out the songs though!  We were sent home the songs about a month ago to practice.  Luca never uttered a single word while here in the house.  I would ask, "Do you want to sing with Mommy?"  "No"  he would cooly reply.  On stage though, he even wiggled his hips during "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".  Bugger. 

My boy and his buddy comparing Santa hats. 

I've had closer proximity to celebrities than I had to my own son tonight at the performance.  You think the paparazzi are bad?  Just try to get anywhere near your kin on stage at the winter performance at this school!  I tried getting a shot of the parents crouching into enviable yoga squats in heels while balancing ipads to video and cameras to shoot.  Hilarious. 

Who said the 80s are dead?  This was my Christmas dress many many moons ago! I was Mia's age when I ran around a church alter in Texas in this little number.  Cheers to my mother for saving such treasures.  How's that for reduce, reuse, and recycle?

V's iphone

V was showing me pictures that he had taken on his phone over the past few months and it was so fun to see moments as seen through his eyes. 

A promise of a ride on the horse allows us to get through grocery shopping. 

Meatball making with Nonna during her last visit. 

Matching snow suits.  This will be Luca's first season!

The power went out the other night and Luca and I fell fast asleep.  Mia and V however stayed up later and Mia made a movie about her two bears with V's phone.  They directed the film in her bed instead of reading stories. 

Luca

My sister e-mailed to ask what Luca might like for Christmas.  The cousins have all chosen names and Emily is going to help Finn buy for Luca.  I hesitated when I wrote back, because, really, the kid is pretty happy with trees, rocks, sticks, and balls.  I gave her some suggestions and then reminded her that this little creature, this downy haired child, is ALL boy.  Pirates, dinosaurs, robots and cars.  Sports, dirt, worms, and rockets. 


 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We got a large fresh tree for inside and a tiny fresh tree for our front porch.  Here is Luca holding his special small tree, that he found. 

Snow...finally