'Twas the night before Christmas

To add some festivity to our lives, we spent last night celebrating the Christmas holidays with some friends.  Black bean soup, tortillas, spinach salad, vino, gooey butter cake.  To prep the pad for guests, Jas decided to try out being a chimney sweeper. 

Seemed like a natural thing to do.  You know, take pictures of Jas with a chimney brush. Come on, don't you want to sing some Mary Poppins?  Maybe jump in the air a bit?  I know we did.  And man. Was it FUN.

Sol also got to open one present before bed- to keep with the Graf family tradition, it was from his godmother.  Cam, we love you.

Once he got that box open, watch out!  Sol ripped off his Halloween rendition of a firefighter hat, plopped the brand new one on his head, and became the happiest little boy ever.  EVER.

We also got to hear Sol do some reading of The Night Before Christmas.  This kid.  I mean, man.  He's something else.

Unfortunately, we were slow on the taping and didn't manage to get Sol's version.  BUT.  Here's a quick little ditti from the day of slimme.  Ooey, gooey, sliiimme.

The week before Christmas

It's been a busy week or so...!  We certainly wish we lived closer so we could be with all of our family this Christmas season- know that we miss you all!

Sol got his first pair of skis from a friend- teeny tiny little things that make him look cuter than a button (not that he needed any help in that department, but all the same- cuter than a button!).  Jason heard from some folks that one of the best ways to get a little one used to wearing skis is to tromp around the house whenever possible.  Sol hasn't done much tromping, but he certainly knows how to outfit himself for a day on the slopes.  

Skis?  Check.

Jack-o-lantern helmet?  Check.

Elmo slippers?  Check.

To keep things on the up and up this past week, Sol and I decided to become a pair of ooey-gooey craft makers.  Or maybe just mess makers.

The painting was fun.  The markers were fun.  But the slime?  That was the BEST.

And have I mentioned there was bowling?  Cus' there was!

Course, there's also been some magic happening over here.  And that stuff?  It feels pretty dang good.

Merry Christmas!

I am Darth

A few weeks ago Sol came home, emptied out his bag of mega blocks, covered his head with said bag, and declared himself Darth Vader.  He then proceeded to take deep, loud breaths.

We told Darth that he's welcome to stay as long as he likes, but he'll have to share a bedroom with the 'Power Rangers' that moved in a couple of weeks ago...

(PS...our resident pacifist insists we give all of the credit to his daycare buddies with older brothers)

Candy makes everything better

Once I handed the candy cane to Santa and begged him to pass it along to the wee one, things got a whole lot better.

Sucker!

Suckers are awesome. 

Trying to choose a hero

A few days ago Solomon wanted to know what a firefighter does.  Since we're smack dab in the middle of making connections, learning how to treat people with kindness, using manners, being gentle with cats, so on and so forth, I decided to use this opportunity to help make my son -the hopeful firefighter- a young boy of virtue.

"Why, Solomon, a firefighter does all kinds of wonderful things.  They help save kitties when they're stuck in trees!  They help people in car accidents.  They help put out fires, both in buildings and the woods.  Also?  They share their toys with people. And they say hello to their friends in Target.  They always use good manners and take turns."

Solomon, well... he looked at me for a moment, cocked his head a bit to the left and asked, "What do monsters do?"

Baking with Papa

In the midst of a cold and snowy day Jason decided to make some cookies with Solomon.  Almost immediately Solomon declared that he had made a mess with the baking soda- a perfect pile of powdery white goodness.  He got a bowl, some utensils, and went to work.

Take me to the river

Solomon's need to throw rocks has shown a steady decline since mid-August, but.  But.  When given the chance, he still goes right for it.  Well, that and some rock climbing.

I'm a firefighter!

Yes, indeed.  Solomon was a firefighter.  And a fierce one at that.  One of my favorite parts of the day was when his toddler class marched through my classroom for their parade- quite serious, holding tightly onto his rope, pausing briefly to give me a kiss, then moving on to the next room.  I heard from several people throughout the building that he was happy to let them know what he was with a loud, hearty "I'M A FIREFIGHTER!"

In the evening we went to a gathering full of friends and food- mummy hot dogs, cookies, bone shaped breadsticks, pumpkin soup, fruits, veggies.  After some eating and group pics, the kids took off for their loot.  Well, almost all the kids.  Solomon and his one of buddies from school took their time, often stopping to dig around in their bags to check out what had been offered.  We moved slow, but had a great time.  Solomon did a wonderful job with shouting out "Trick or Treat!  Thank you!  Have a Happy Halloween!" at most every single stop.

Needless to say, he was dang cute.  We're just so lucky to have this beautiful boy in our lives....

Getting older

I think Solomon looks like he's aging.  Future contractor anyone?