Christmas Highlights

Sing-along with our musical friends. This is one of my favorite holiday festivities EVER! We sang mostly duets from this fabulous book, drank hot chocolate, and ate yummy treats.

The Joy School Nativity program. Henry got to be an innkeeper AND a shepherd! These kids performed their show at a nursing home, and they were so amazing that they got to do the show again for parents and charge $5 for tickets. Yes, they were that sensational!

Christmas piano recital -- for my four beginner students. It was at our house and was very cozy and magical.

I love these kids!

Christmas morning was pretty exciting around here! Henry LOVED the race track Santa brought him. That was the major highlight of the day. Don't believe me? Watch the video clip below.

Henry's first experience with the great disappointment in the toe of the stocking. "An orange? Why did Santa give me an orange?" He sat there bewildered for several minutes, and then finally asked, "What should I do with it?"

Racetrack from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

Balloon Birthday Party

Since Henry missed out on his birthday celebration with cousins (his birthday was over Flu-kesgiving weekend), we decided to throw a spur-of-the-moment friend birthday party for him. He made it easy on me (and our budget) by choosing a "Balloon Birthday Party." I've decided this is the perfect theme for a 4th birthday. What 4-year-old kid doesn't absolutely LOVE balloons? And besides the half-hour Ben spent feeling a little faint from blowing up so many balloons, it really didn't require much prep at all. We just bought a bunch of balloons and did some brainstorming the night before!

The cupcake cake, inspired by Family Fun and The Small Object (so simple!)

My mom sent some fun balloon-themed party goods just for the party.

The punching balls were a hit! We had the kids play with their balloons while dancing to "Move Your Arms Like Henry" by the Wiggles (thanks, Kati!). Other exhilarating games included:

• Pop the balloon and see what's inside (candy and the next game!)
• Pass the balloon relay
• Shooting rocket balloons
• Shake your sillies out
• How far can you throw it?
• Keep it up!
• Balloon movie

My favorite activity was writing letters to Santa and sending them to the North Pole on a magic helium balloon.

The kids really went for it and loved seeing the balloon take off!

I'm pretty sure this is the fastest way to get letters to the North Pole.

Here's the happy bunch!

And here's the 4-year-old himself! I've decided 4 is a really good age. I can already see so much change in him since 3. He's turning into a big kid, and the wheels in his head are really starting to spin. It's so fun to hear the ideas he comes up with. More on that in a future post. For now, I'll just say that I love this boy, and it's going to be a good year.

Flu-kesgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we were originally planning on taking a trip down to Virginia to visit Ben's sisters for the weekend, leaving Tuesday night and returning Sunday. We thought it would be nice to spend the holiday with family, enjoying the company of some of our favorite people. Henry was thrilled about the chance to play with cousins and even celebrate his birthday with them!

But then we had a better idea. It would probably be a lot more fun to wait until Wednesday, late afternoon, when Thanksgiving traffic reached its peak of festivity, and then take a five-hour drive to Connecticut (normally a two-hour drive). When we got to Connecticut, we could stop at Friendly's for a delicious dinner, then sleep over in a hotel. Then, on the morning of Thanksgiving, we could eat a lovely Dunkin' Donuts breakfast (the only place open on Thanksgiving) before braving the traffic for our 3 1/2 hour return trip. Then we could get home around 2:00 on Thanksgiving day and sit around for the rest of the day.

Some of you may say this Plan B doesn't sound quite as great as Plan A. Some of you may argue that we could go to Friendly's and Dunkin' Donuts here in Massachusetts, without the added "hassle" of 8 1/2 hours of driving. Well, you obviously don't know how much fun it can be to stay in a Comfort Inn.

Okay, so that is what we did for Thanksgiving. But it's probably not quite how we would have planned it had we had our heads on straight. On Sunday I came down with what we think was Swine Flu, which Henry had suffered through the previous week. By Tuesday I was feeling nowhere near ready to pack for a trip to VA, so we called off our plans for the time being. By Wednesday afternoon, we were feeling so sorry for ourselves, knowing that we were going to miss Thanksgiving completely, so we decided to stock up on hand sanitizer and medical masks - so as not to infect our entire family - and we packed in an hour and got out the door. Well, as I mentioned above, we got to CT in 5 hours -- which was supposed to be 2 hours -- 1/4 of our entire drive. Worst traffic day of the year, apparently. When we stopped at Friendly's for dinner, I took Ellis out of his car seat and he was roasting. I checked his temperature, and he was a steamy 101.6 degrees. Knowing what Ellis was in for if he was only beginning his bout with the flu, and seeing the gloomy foreshadowing of horrible traffic to come, we knew we could never go the rest of the way to Virginia. Rather than suffer through traffic for another 5 hours home, we got a hotel, tried to make a party of it, and watched movies in our room until we fell asleep.

The next day when we made it home, a few friends saved the day by bringing over two plates of Thanksgiving food. We were pretty bummed about missing our trip, but the turkey and mashed potatoes helped ease the pain. I was still in serious recovery mode, and Ellis was pretty sick, so we didn't do anything major with the rest of our weekend, but we did try to make it fun, mostly for poor Henry's sake. We got a Christmas tree, made a paper chain for Christmas, and celebrated Henry's birthday with just the four of us. His birthday was on Saturday, and by that day Ellis was pretty miserable (with a double ear infection on top of the flu symptoms), so I took him to the doctor while Henry and Dad had a little one-on-one at the science museum. I actually think that was the perfect treat for Henry. Ben is his absolute favorite, and the science museum is like paradise for his curious little mind.

I am thankful for pretty paper.

And for this little 4-year-old who was very patient and understanding.

Henry is thankful that Ellis knows exactly what to get him -- yet another "Car Show" car.

Ben is thankful for Tinkertoys and mouthwash. Did you know that Ben is the only one in our family who swishes with mouthwash, and he's the only one that didn't get sick? I've heard that swishing with mouthwash regularly can prevent Swine Flu. Anyone want to argue with me on that one?

Ridin' the Wave!

Jenn and I are cool enough to have in our hands 20 coveted invitations to Google Wave. If you haven't heard of Wave, it's Google's attempt to recreate email in a more conversation-like way. Basically, it combines email and chat together in one, and adds some other little bells and whistles on the side. If you'd like to see it in action, Google has a 10 minute video of how it works here. The first 20 people to respond (either in the comments or by email) with your email address get the invites! The race is on!

Photo Shoot

I am SO happy with JoDee's latest photo shoot of our family! I feel like it accurately captures our love for each other and for Boston. If you want to see more, go here (and for more details on her photography business, go here). Thanks again, JoDee! It was so fun to have you, Olivia, and Ben come for a visit!

Angels in the Airport

We took a little jaunt to Utah last week to say goodbye to Ben's parents, and Ben came back a few days earlier than me. It was my first time flying solo with two kids. Let's just say that it's an experience I'm not eager to repeat! I took zero pictures of our trip (darn!). But let me tell you about all of the angels I met in the airport:

1. Ticket agent who made me take 2 lbs. out of my suitcase to get down to 50 lbs., then quickly looked from side to side and told me to put the 2 lbs. of stuff back in the suitcase.

2. Lady behind me in security line that insisted on pushing my items through the detector for me.

3. Lady at our gate who noticed Ellis kept walking away from me while I was diligently waiting with our bags. She positioned herself and her suitcase at the end of the aisle of seats so Ellis couldn't escape, and both boys stayed in my sight while getting their wiggles out.

4. Lady who offered to hold Ellis while I buckled the car seat in (not sure how on earth I would have done that alone), and then later unfolded my stroller for me.

5. Man next to us on plane #1 who kindly pretended to sleep through Ellis' shrill screaming, and then happily carried our car seat off the plane.

6. Man across the aisle who made faces at Ellis, in spite of his constant shrieks, and found humor in our situation (told me I NEED to watch Bill Cosby's "Himself," and laugh at this situation later). He also told Henry he was the best 3 1/2 year old he's ever seen.

7. Henry. He really was an angel too. When Ellis finally fell asleep in my arms, and Henry wanted a book/drink/toy, I told him I couldn't get anything for him or Ellis would wake up, and he tearfully said, "okay" and then didn't say another word. I love that boy.

8. A true heavenly angel who hushed Ellis to sleep. He slept for 90 minutes on the first flight. It was a miracle for him.

9. Woman who saw us walking around the airport during our layover who asked sincerely, "Is there ANYTHING I can POSSIBLY do to help you?" (I must have looked pretty pathetic)

10. Gate agent who moved the 3 of us to a row where we could sit together, and went out of her way to find us a row with an empty seat (Ellis got a seat on the second flight, which was a miracle).

11. Man who carried our car seat on plane #2.

I honestly don't think I would have made it home without these angels. Thank Heaven for sending people to help us when we need it the most! I didn't ask a single favor of anyone. They just seemed to be placed in my path, and they all unabashedly offered to help, each one knowing exactly what I needed at that moment. If you're out there angels (or if you've ever been one to someone else), THANK YOU. You made my day.

Go Real Salt Lake!

Hey sports fans: I just wanted to get the word out that Real Salt Lake has made it to the Major League Soccer final! If you're saying to yourself, "Salt Lake has a professional soccer team?" (and I know some of you are!), that's okay! Now would be a great time to tune in to see if you're a soccer fan at heart! And, their opponent is the L.A. Galaxy, who have one David Beckham on their team, so everyone will have heard of at least one player on the field.

Really, though, soccer in the U.S. is getting a lot better, and it's only going to get bigger as time goes on. The U.S. National team has qualified for the World Cup, which will take place next summer in South Africa, and MLS is attracting more and more foreign talent to come play in America while more and more U.S. players are playing in the top European leagues as well. Why not give it a try? The big game is next Sunday, Nov. 22nd, at 8:30 EST (6:30 Mountain Time) on ESPN.

Also, for all of you who live in or visit Utah, I would highly recommend going to a game at Real's new stadium in Sandy. Jenn and I went this summer with her siblings and we had a great time (thanks for the tickets Mom and Dad!). Even Jenn liked it! Give it a try...

Halloween Festivities

Ask me this year, and I'll tell you I like Halloween. This is what I like about it:

• Getting to do whatever festive fall things I want to do.
• Pretending the inflatable jack-o-lanterns and purple-light-cobwebs do not exist.
• Instead, drinking in the height of the season and making a holiday of it!
• 70 degree weather (just cool enough to call it crisp).
• Trick-or-treating with friends. It's fun to be the group of parents watching the kids get so excited running from door to door. It's fun to hear all the people tell your kids how cute they look and then reward them with candy. And I got a kick out of Romney telling the kids, "At this house you have to do a dance to get the treats!" They really did it!

Here's what else I liked about Halloween this year:

guitar and donut night with Jonathan and Eliza

(mostly the donut part) Our raised donuts turned out great (here is the recipe)!

We also made pumpkin spice donuts -- a must try recipe! Mmmm hmmm!

Finally introducing Henry to his half-namesake: Henry David Thoreau. He was so excited to finally meet him! (we're still working on introducing him to Henry B. Eyring)

Watching Henry dance at "the Walden Pond"

Love that clear clear water

Walking around Walden Pond

Crunching all of the leaves

Managing to get lost while walking around the pond and taking a train track detour

You know, living deliberately.

The Great Pumpkin's Visit!

Well, the Great Pumpkin made it to our house this year with a bundle of Halloween surprises! It turned out to be a successful way to come to a decision about the costumes (okay, let's be honest: it was a successful way for me to choose the costumes I wanted, perhaps for the last time!).

I think Henry was pretty happy about the whole idea though. He acted really excited for several minutes, and then he got all wistful and said, "Maybe next year the Great Pumpkin will bring me a boxer costume!" I didn't even know boxer was his top choice in costumes! Maybe next year . . . Anyway, the Great Pumpkin also had this great idea of sending Henry a toy UPS truck in the mail, which made up for any disappointment Henry might have had. Who can complain when there's a new truck involved?

I may be biased, but I think these two boys are the cutest UPS guys I've ever seen!

Ben's great idea: Henry put his candy inside the Amazon box!

The truck turned out to be the perfect prop! Ellis just needed a little help keeping steady as we went trick-or-treating. It was so cute to see him pushing his deliveries along!

Henry's official induction into the world of blushing

Approximately 4 weeks after the final weaning of Ellis, something new showed up in our bathroom. It was something exciting. Something that Henry couldn't remember ever seeing, since he hadn't seen it for nearly 2 years, and his memory probably only goes back 6-8 months. It was in a special blue bag, and each little piece looked like a mysterious surprise -- perhaps a new kind of toy? Perhaps some kind of candy? Each one was wrapped in brightly colored paper -- green, purple, and yellow. Wow, this was bound to be a special day in the Iverson household!

Henry made the discovery while getting ready for bed, and he had something magical in his voice when he announced, "Mom, I see something new in the bathroom! Something I haven't seen before!" "Great!" I replied, staying as far away as possible so as to avoid his gaze. Ben was nearby, so Henry went on to question him about what this special new treat was all about. Ben evaded his questions pretty well, told him he would have to ask Mom about it in the morning, and changed the subject to bedtime stories.

So I had all night to come up with some sort of explanation. It's not that I think everything related to the female body needs to be kept as some embarrassing secret that will forever make the men and boys in my family blush (as both of our dads already do, and probably are right now as they read this post). Perhaps it is better if we let feminine products become part of our everyday vernacular. There's nothing about them that is really embarrassing, unless we make it that way, right?

Then, on the other hand, knowing Henry, this discussion would only lead into further prodding, delving into subjects of female anatomy and babies and how they get into bellies. I wasn't sure I wanted to go there with my 3-year-old. So I tried to think of some kind of fairy-like explanation for Henry's bathroom discovery -- something akin to Santa Claus, the stork, or the Great Pumpkin. Does anybody have an explanation of this sort? I couldn't think of anything! Needless to say, I had a full night to prepare for the morning's conversation, but I woke up completely unrehearsed. I tried hiding the little blue bag (we don't have any cupboard space in our bathroom, and I haven't found a good solution yet), but I didn't take a lot of care concealing my mysteries in the garbage can. Thus, the conversation happened. Imagine me giving each response and then whisking off into another room to try ending the conversation (his curiosity compelled him to follow me).

Hey mom, what are these things that I see in the garbage? These things in the yellow wrappers?

Oh, those things? They're called tampons.

But what are they for?

Um, they're kind of like diapers for mommies.

Diapers for mommies!?! But why do mommies need diapers . . . do they have accidents?

Uh, yeah. Sometimes mommies have accidents. Just little accidents.

But why do mommies have accidents if they're already potty trained?

Uh, just because they are mommies. They just do.

But how do you put them on?

Um, just kind of like diapers.

(he didn't buy that answer)

But I want to see them. I want to open them and see you put them on.

Nah. No. Probably not.

But I really want to see them!

Probably not.

When will I get to see them? When can I open them?

Probably not. You probably won't get to.

But why?

Uh, because. Just because.

I know! Maybe I could look at pictures of them on the computer!

Ooh, probably not.

[Here enters the elusiveness that leads to male embarrassment about feminine products forever more. He is officially scarred for life and will blush at every mention of the word "Always."]

So I know I botched it up, but I still can't think of what I should have said. Any ideas?

Update: In my attempt at a non-offensive picture to use on this post, I came across this gem of a website: http://www.tamponcrafts.com/. This would definitely help break the ice in a fun activity for the whole family! What do you think? Ben, are you in?

Su Trampoline es Mi Trampoline

Check out what our neighbors got! Lucky for us, when you share a house, you share a yard. When one of you takes up half the yard with a trampoline, the other one can't help but jump. I guess that's what happens when su casa es mi casa!

Henry and Ellis are excited, but Ben is in heaven!

Public Service Announcement

Yesterday we had Joy School at our house, and we learned about taking care of the earth. Afterwards, while Henry was playing in the living room, he called out urgently, "Mom, I need you to get the camera and make a show of me and put it on the computer for everyone to see it!" My curiosity compelled me to comply with his request. I dutifully ran to the living room, started the camera, and this is what I got:

Willie Winkie Went a Walking from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

The whole thing was his idea, including the dramatic pose and the positioning in front of the Joy School calendar. I really think he intended for it to be a public service announcement about littering. So all you litterbugs out there, consider yourselves reprimanded!

Sneeze-off

Something I love about babies is that they can get so much joy out of things that to us seem mundane. Like a sneeze for example. Ellis thinks they are hilarious! In fact, he thinks they're so funny, that he's started faking them so that we can laugh too:

Sneeze-off from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

If that wasn't enough to satisfy your craving for baby tricks, here is another:

Untitled from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.

A few similes

A few weeks ago, Henry got on a simile kick and we saved some of his best ones. Here you go:

"I feel as sick as bug."

"Ellis is as stinky as a lynx."

"Dad, you're the funnest! You're as fun as a toy! Mom, you're as fun as a ladder."

"You are as tall as a bug that flies, Mom."

"Gnocchi tastes like dead watermelon."

"Dad, get out of bed as quick as a mosquito rubs its wings together."

"10 exclamation points is as excited as when you're going to the store!"

"That meeting was as long as a trailer truck trailer."

Robbie, after getting his hair cut by Jenn: "How do I look?"

Henry: "You look as darn as a bumblebee bam!"

It's about that time

Time to start keeping the bathroom door closed AT ALL TIMES. Last week I also found him standing at the toilet, scooping up water in his hand and trying to drink it -- twice! If you could zoom in on the picture, you would see that he was wearing a shirt that says "Grandpa's Little Sidekick." I'll blame you, Dad. I'm sure this was your idea . . .

Columbus Day

For Columbus Day, we decided to have our annual apple picking day. We started the tradition with Jess & Cindy back in New Jersey and have had to do it every year since! This year we wanted a calm, simple, non-commercial experience, and we were in the mood for a long drive, so we opted for Vermont. It really was the perfect day. 2 boys strapped in car seats for 5 hours can lead to a few minutes of uninterrupted adult conversation, which we don't get a lot of these days. Add to that some irresistible New England scenery, and we'll take it!

This was the drive (pics through the windshield -- not the best, I know):

This was the farm: Green Mountain Orchards in Putney, VT. There was hardly anyone else there, and the apples were plentiful and amazing. We loved hiking around the green hills, stealing views of changing leaves, and tasting all of the apples. It was fairly chilly . . . just enough for the hot cider and donuts to hit the perfect spot when we finally filled up our 1/2 bushel bag.

Now how to use the 1/2 bushel of apples? This is one of my favorite yearly dilemmas. It's not that I don't know what to make. The problem is more a matter of who is going to eat it all. Anyone want to come over for pie, dumpling, apple crisp, cake, caramel apple dip, or applesauce?