Snoodle: January 2012

... we're pretty sure that's the name that's sticking.

On Christmas morning, Nora found a little something under the tree that couldn't be wrapped. His name is Hawkins. The auditions of names was pretty extensive: Marshmallow and Cocoa were a couple of the first to be tried... then, Gabriel, because she was trying to be Christmas-y. But after hanging out with this adventurous rabbit, he was dubbed Hawkins after Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island. It's hard to believe that Nora would be excited about Treasure Island being so very sensitive, but watching the Muppet version softened the story a little- though, she quaked with fear and squished daddy's hand while watching it. She learned the story and started acting it out (and oh, the singing!) She's been pretending to be Jim ever since and finally started putting her hair up in a ponytail to look more like the cabin boy!

So, Hawkins he is and what a fun rabbit! He's got a fun personality and is fast- almost too fast to snap a photo as he lippity-lops from place to place. He also seems to like the camera and hops right up to the photographer leading to many photos of just his twitchy little triangular nose!

He's been thoroughly enjoying his "bunny castle" made out of a cardboard box which he has been treating as a gingerbread house. He likes chasing Nora around while she hops around on her knees pretending to be a bunny. We even caught him doing a "binky," the rabbit happy dance. He also likes nibbling on pine cones, timothy hay, the broom, celery leaves, pants jeans, chino, or jammies), kale, a leg of the kitchen counter, toilet paper tubes, and a little strawberry for dessert. We think he might be part beaver. But there's also a little evidence to the contrary.

Once again, I never typed a word here in December. Oh, I've composed posts in my mind, but until Typepad can upload that, you'll have to settle for a little rewind! The whole holiday season (yes, Thanksgiving through New Year) felt a bit ...strange. Vermont conjures up images of skiing, Snowflake Bentley, and the white-capped roofs of postcard towns. But we've had snowier Easters than this winter. Last night, we actually got some accumulation, and it is still here! Nora and David are out sledding right now. The computer is free so I thought I would start with a little rewind.

We had Thanksgiving at David's mother's house. David's sister brought one of her turkeys. Last year the turkey was 38 lbs. This year: 41 lbs.! It didn't have a chance of fitting into a roasting pan so an aluminum foil juice-funneling system was developed. It took three people to do this, but there was a lot of hard cider involved.

I made a scrumdiddlyuptious almond torte which was devoured long before dinner. Note for next year: Thanksgiving day requires lunch. There was no way that bird was going to be done by 2:00 which is, for some reason, the official time of Thanksgiving dinner.

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We got our Christmas tree from a fundraiser at Nora's school. David schlepped it home over his shoulder. The neighborhood children thought it was quite entertaining. I think this photo is quite entertaining:

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Somehow, our whole family was in the Nativity play at Nora's school this year. For the theater major and dramatic child, this is no surprise. However, this was a step waaaay out of David's comfort zone. So, what was his role? Why, Joseph, of course! As we say, "If you're gonna do it, do it to it!" He did it and was great. Mary helped him remember to face the audience, and he remembered all of his lines which was perfection for this performance which included a host of giggling angels and concluded with baby Jesus wailing during the last 15 minutes of the show. I wish there were more photos, but being on stage as the innkeeper's wife, I was unable to snap any. These were taken by Jon Hughes.

David as Joseph sleeping. He's been in training for this scene for years!

Nora as a shepherd (perfect!) She also did great with her lines.

I made these costumes.

I also made the sheep costumes. I think they're sleeping in this scene.

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Our church's Nativity event continued this year. We showed our family's nativities: Playmobile, our slowly-growing Ostheimer (Mary was added on Christmas), and the one that Nora made when she was in Kindergarten.

My mother has many Nativities and depictions of the Holy Family. I think the official baby Jesus count on Christmas day at Grandma's house was 42! Here she is at one table filled only with her Nativities:

My favorite, though, is the nativity that we had when I was a child. The original figures are long gone/ broken. Mom wistfully wishes she could have the same style again. I've been searching ebay. But the stable is the most nostalgic piece for us. During some lean times with three children and one (me) on the way, my father took at 2x4 and split it into thin slats to make the rustic outside. The base is a Tide box! For years, you could see the bright orange logo on the back, but feeling embarrassed about it, my mother since covered it with the sturdy paper of a grocery bag... I think I'm getting a sense of where my frugality came from!

The Nativities were blessed by our Monsignor. If you're Catholic, you'll recognize that this was Gaudete Sunday as he is wearing his rose-colored Chasuble.

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On an entirely different note, we say this display on the way to Nora's Christmas concert.

This is an SD Ireland tradition. They also entertain us with pink concrete mixers and a parade of their fleet on March 17... I wonder why?

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We had a fun time at my sister's house playing games (Awkward Famly Photos, Scategories, and Apples to Apples) on New Year's Eve. Some of us didn't make it for ringing in the New Year, but I'm glad you made it to the end of this post!