New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was full of ups and downs.
Up: eating long noodles on the eve of the new year.
Down: Margo pulling the placemat and an entire bowl of long, hot noodles onto the floor.
Up: Taking a nap with Harper at 9pm.
Down: Waking up from that nap at 10pm.
Up: Deciding at 10:30 to join in the Central Park midnight run.
Down: We got down with other runners and revelers after the race.
Up: Riding around in someone else's car to and from the race.
Down: Drunk woman thought it was acceptable to hit our car with her steel-tipped cane putting a hole in the windshield*.
*Up: Insurance covered the replacement of the windshield.
*Up: Someone even came to our house to do it.
*Up: And they vacuumed our car and washed all the windows, which we have been meaning to do since August. Happy New Year indeed.

The best part of any race is the free food they give out at the end.

Ashley Me Zahra Marvi Kettle Chips

ja ne! bye bye!

It has been 6+ years since we last saw Chitomi and Akane. It was so nice to be able to meet again. We loved having them in our home. Harper adored them. When they were hanging out in their bedroom Harper was too. She wanted to sleep with Akane. She prayed for them. She asked about them as soon as she woke up every morning. (And as I am finally publishing this post Harper said today, April 3rd, that she loves Akane and Chitomi. She still talks about them a lot.)

On the day they were schedule to arrive I drove out to JFK at the appointed hour and drove around in circles for a very long time, with two kids in the back seat, growing increasingly worried and getting not a little agitated. I finally parked and went inside to see if I could find them. And there they were. They had been standing outside just out of view as I came around to the terminal each time. What a relief. And surely I can get some mileage out of this in my next speaking assignment at church. There must be a gospel analogy in there somewhere.

Building Snowmen at Jeff Jackson Park

The morning after the storm we bundled up and went outside to check off "Build a Snowman" from our list of things to do. The snow wasn't even ready for snowmen but there were Burberry wallets to be got and Empire State Buildings to see. So build it we had to.

Our snowman looked more like that trash heap from Fraggle Rock. Or Jabba the Hutt. Or a blob.

It took some convincing for her to get down and do this for the camera. For posterity. For the blog.

Trust our Japanese friends to make the cute snowman. Everything really is cuter in Japan.

We Let it Snow and Ate Udon

We were lucky enough to get a blizzard and 24" of snow the day after Christmas for our Japanese visitors. We nearly blew away walking home from Target.

And Marc froze his face which is why he looks like that.

We stayed warm inside and took a trip down memory lane with a little Sanuki udon. Which we served piping hot when Marc finished shoveling.

We lost the little silica "DO NOT EAT" gel pack inside the pot of noodles.

Itadakimasu.

When we finished shoveling and eating we sat on the couch with the lights off and watched snow falling on trash cans.

Things to Do in the Neighborhood on a Cold Day

We took a walk along the East River one day. And then took pictures of a wire fence.

Akane getting into the fun of our kids' games. She was always very good at coming up with designs. I can never think of anything to do except what is already pictured on the box.

Chitomi and Akane go to Costco in Kobe but we decided to take them anyway. In fact, Marc and I both put it on our list of places to go when they came. And sure enough they couldn't stop saying "Ehhhh" when they saw how big everything was. Like these potatoes as big as their heads.

Put the Lights on the Tree

Since I figured out that colored lights are way better than white or red or any color all by itself I like Christmas trees so much more. And I didn't think that was possible.

It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!

Christmas came quickly this year. And we were not ready. I have until the 25th of January to finish Marc's present. And a New Year's resolution to start getting ready on January 1st for Christmas 2011. Even though we weren't entirely prepared we had a wonderful time and welcomed our old friends, Chitomi and Akane, who traveled long and far from Japan to spend the holidays with us.

For the second year we joined the crowd around the tree at Washington Square Park and sang Christmas carols in the cold on Christmas Eve.

It was freezing but Margo didn't seem to notice in her Snowy Day suit.

The shepherds' supper was kind of luxurious this year with the addition of pomegranate seeds and two kinds of cheese.

Of course.

Harper was so pleased to find this miniature blue "candy can" that we received in the advent calendar last year. With her it is always the little things that make a big difference. All she asked for this Christmas were Dora Band-Aids, princess stickers, and Bubble Yum bubble gum.

Testing out the new table from their dear old dad.

When presents were unwrapped we sat down to sing more Christmas carols (and eat some more stollen). The French-speaking carolers favored us with a lovely rendition of Douce Nuit, Sainte Nuit.

Akane and Chitomi sing out!

Carollers: Udval, Zula, Traore, Chitomi, Me, Pascal, Harper, Akane, Marc, Margo

Margo at 10 months

Margo is a high-fiving, head-butting, standing, signing, singing, dancing copycat. She doesn't sit still unless she wants someone to tickle her back. The trash can and refrigerator are still her favorite places to play. She is still the most adorable second child in the history of the universe. And she has six sharp teeth.

Playing House

Harper loves to gather all her favorite toys to one place and call it a house. Here she is welcoming Margo to her house. I hope this is a new stage in their play time together.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We decided to wait until the last minute this year to get a Christmas tree because we thought Margo would tear it apart. When no one could wait any longer we marched over to see our old French-Canadian friend at the tree stand down the street. He remembered us and sold us a fine tree.

Harper mid-gentle-sweep

Harper loved unwrapping ornaments and hanging them all in the same place. I wanted to leave them there but they would have been too tempting for Margo. I wanted to leave Marc's ornaments in the places he hung them but he didn't know that miniature stockings and snowmen go on the bottom half of the tree and the top is reserved for angels and stars and things that fly.

Too bad we didn't get our kids dressed up for the obligatory picture in front of the Christmas tree. We think this is a good picture anyway.

We were busy this year. Our busy life started on February 25th, to be precise. Some family members will have noticed by now that they haven't received a Christmas present yet. We are working on that. Marc barely had time to make a small batch of cheese stollen. I didn't have time to help him but I did have time to eat more than my share.

Spotting Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus around town was a big hit with Harper this year.

Dancing Class

Harper had her last dance class of the year last Wednesday. Parents could sit-in to watch their kids twirling and galloping. There is something pretty nice about watching your kid put her hands on her hips to gallop around. Because of this class (and because of Angelina Ballerina) Harper has taken dancing very seriously. Her best moves are twirls and gentle sweeping arms with her eyes closed. She even crosses her feet before she bows at the end of her dance.

Miss Heather's dancers

Happy Christmas!

I will get a jewel-toned shirt for the next family picture. And we will not make Margo sit in the cold for so long.

Photo by the great Marci Clark

The First Snowy Day

We woke up to an inch of snow and Harper needed to go outside and build snowmen. We made three. She stepped on all of them except this one that was up too high for stomping.

Clap

We will now add clapping to the long list of things Margo knows how to do. And we will document with no fewer than four pictures because this is a big deal.

To the World

Funny Faces in the Kitchen

Margo's usual open-mouth smile.

Lately Harper has turned on the silly face for pictures. Here is one in her rotation.

Baking

We spent the day baking cookies for the 2nd Annual Harlem 1st Ward Playgroup Cookie Exchange. Harper rolled and cut her own cookies this year. We are very proud parents.