Day Twenty-Five: Christmas is Here!

There were filled stockings and presents by the fireplace. The cookies were eaten, the carrots and celery were clearly nibbled on, and the chocolate milk was gone. The letters were answered, and everyone was merry.

After opening the stockings and the Santa presents, we took a break for a big breakfast of eggs and bacon and two kinds of sweet breads.

And then we tackled the huge stack of presents under the tree.

More Legos.

Animal hats for all.

And make your own snowman kits.

 Dinner.

The boys never even made it out of the pajamas all day, and Otto fell asleep in front of the fire, exhausted from the big day. 

Merry Christmas!

Day Twenty Four: Santa Letters and Night Before Christmas

The boys and I finished up some final wrapping.

We all wrote our letters to Santa. Grandpa dictated his letter, and Max wrote it out for him. They thought this was great fun and also wanted to make a few adjustments to some of the dictation. Then the boys decided it was only fair if Grandpa wrote Lilli's letter, which Otto dictated on behalf of Lilli.

The boys made up a plate of cookies for Santa and some vegetables for the reindeer. Oh, and a big mug of chocolate milk.

Max read "The Night Before Christmas" to us, and then we all headed up to bed.

The boys were so very excited that it took about an hour and a half for them to fall asleep. I think this is a record for Christmas Eve. It was mostly Otto who couldn't sleep, and Max was getting annoyed with him. I rubbed Otto's back, stroked his hair, we read two chapters of Quest (which almost always does the trick but was completely ineffective tonight), we tried talking, and not talking, counting and not counting, we switched spots in the bed, we closed our eyes and laid there in silence, and still Otto could not sleep. But finally, finally he did.

Day Twenty-Three: More Cookies

Oh, and Papa arrived!

Day Twenty-Two: Winter Solstice Celebration

The atmosphere at my parents' house already feels like a solstice celebration, it's always cozy and softly lit, there's usually a fire going, there are often candles flickering. We spent almost every evening playing cards by the fire, which is what I usually associate with solstice celebrations. This night, we played Uno. To make it feel like an extra celebratory evening, we had a flaming coffee/hot chocolate for dessert.

First, Grandpa makes a sugared rim by dipping the sugared edges into the flame.

Otto was a big fan of the sugared rim. He may request that all future drinks have this feature.

The pouring of the flames...

Day Twenty-One: Bake Cookies

These are Russian Tea Cakes (they have many different names, but that's what we call them). Butter and pecan balls rolled in powdered sugar. Both boys loved them.

My mom also made at least four dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and has gingerbread and marzipan cookies mixed up and ready to go for another day.

Day Twenty: To Tennessee!

We wrapped one final present, but decided to leave this one home (since the car was too full for such a big present). It's for Papa, and we will open it when we get home. It's a painting. Shhhhh.....

By the way, I am actually posting this in January (with the help of back-dating), so don't worry about spoiling the surprise.

Day Nineteen: Pack/Presents

I spent the day doing laundry and preparing for our trip to Tennessee, but the boys decorated a few more presents and their wrapping paper.

Day Eighteen: Downtown Chicago

We made a return visit to the Christkindlmarket with Papa, so the boys could show him the nutcrackers and smokers they liked.

Then we looked at the windows at Macy's.

The best window display was spotted as we were on our way to the bus. It did not have a Red Ryder Air Rifle, but it did have a bunny suit.

We took the bus to the MCA and saw the Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller soundscape exhibit, or the sonic arboretum, as they have called it. It was the very best thing at the MCA, and I only wish they would make it a permanent exhibit. It was so lovely to walk into the atrium and hear the lovely and familiar sounds of Andrew Bird and see the gorgeous speakers, some spinning.

 

We can always use this reminder to be a little more present:

Day Seventeen: Christmas Shopping

We went to Lincoln Square to do some shopping (along with half the city, it seemed). The boys each picked out a present for the other. And we all collapsed at Sel Marie, where we had coffee and cake and cookies and then we ate dinner (mostly because they weren't serving dinner yet when we arrived, but also because it's fun to do it in that order).

Day Sixteen: Make a Snowman Kit

I got this idea from another blog, Make It Do, and thought this was a great one to add to our activities calendar. I have a big jar full of antique buttons, and we had fun going through it and picking out various buttons to be snowman eyes and other accessories.

I ended up making a whole bunch of these as gifts for my family.

Day Fifteen: The Nutcracker

We went with one of our homeschool groups to the Nutcracker at the Joffrey. I had never seen it before. There was much anticipation as we sat down. Just being in the Auditorium Theatre was an experience. We were amazed at all the lights, and we spent some time trying to figure out how they must change the light bulbs, as they are really high in an arch. We finally decided that there must be hallways/stairways within the ceiling and access points in some of the decorative globes that are situated between the bulbs.

We watched the stage hands setting the stage. They received an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience.

After the show, the boys and I went to the Christkindlmarket. There's a stand there from Stuttgart, so of course, we had to take a picture with it. It sells candied nuts, the kind that Martin also sold in some of the fests he worked in when he was younger.

It was the day of the Nutcracker. The boys found some nutcrackers they loved at one of the stands. Max said he will add it to his Christmas wish list. They were pretty nice, I have to say. The nutcrackers we have bought in the past have come from JoAnn's and absolutely can't crack a nut. Apparently this is the difference between a real German-made nutcracker and one that is made in China.

And then we found a giant nutcracker. I like how our day had a theme to it. I hadn't even planned it, which made it even more fun.

Day Fourteen: Winter Wonderfest

The day actually didn't start out very well. It was crazy crowded (we usually go the first week it opens, which I will have to remember for next year). There were long lines for everything. We decided to go ice skating first, knowing the crowds would thin out after lunch. But before we even got the skates on, there was an incident. Max dropped his skate on Otto's toe. Big cut. Crying. Blood. Luckily, I had a first aid kit in my backpack. I've been carrying it around since we got it for the Alaska trip. I think this is the first time I've used it. We decided to skip the skating, since Otto was limping and in pain. (And there was the added problem that you were not allowed to take your bag on the ice, and there is no place to check the bags. While we were tending to Otto's foot, the people behind us came off the ice to find the bags they had left on the bench were gone. Not at all worth the risk.)

The boys love the blow up slides, but they were even more excited to sit in a 2012 Fiat.

The lines continued to be long, and we decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch at Riva's. It's a seafood restaurant with a view of the pier. The boys declared it super fancy. Max was excited to have calamari. I was excited to have salmon and sauteed vegetables. Otto got a burger, which is almost always exciting for him.

And then there was the tiramisu.

It was a delicious lunch. The only sad part is that I had to revisit the lunch after a particularly spinning swirling ride...that is how the day ended. So we began and ended with an incident. I remained nauseous the rest of the night. But we still declared the day a success. The boys were so sympathetic, and when we got home, I laid down on the couch and took a nap while the boys watched Avatar. I think this is a perfect way to recover from Winter Wonderfest.