Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, Sarah and I slept in and potsed around the house for quite awhile.  We wound up heading over to Bob and Jenn's a little after noon, I think.  It was really nice to not be in a rush or have a bunch of obligations or anything, and we enjoyed our quiet time together.

Zhora was really into sneaking, so she and Sarah spent some time trying to creep up on Veneta.

But Veneta was awares and did some counter-sneaking surprising!

Remember this is NOT Christmas morning.  We'd gone over for dinner, so don't judge me for having a beer.  The face on the other hand, well, that's harder to explain.

Veneta loves her hat scarf from the "loom lady"!

And we love the aprons that Jenn made us.  They were the perfect gifts as we had no idea we were getting anything, let alone something so cool and hand made.  It's nice to know where you're clothing is made, and it doesn't get much more local than this!

The little ballerina.  Jennifer made the tutu.

Bob and Jenn are into sports, and Jenn was excited to get this jersey from Bob.  She was like a little kid and put it right on even before opening more gifts.

After opening gifts we did some sledding.  As you can see, there wasn't much snow, but we made it work.  Here, Bob does his best Slim Pickens impersonation.  Yeeeeeehaw!

Sarah was definitely the most skilled sledder on the hill.  She has a great understanding of her vehicle and a sensibility that keeps her from trying to run it through the woods.  These are gifts with which I am not endowed.  You'll have to wait for the videos.

We all got pretty banged up sledding on almost bare ground and worked up a good appetite, which worked out well as Jenn had cooked up a big batch of sauerbraten and noodles for everyone.  What a great day!

And then it felt like the season...

We were within .4 degrees (Fahrenheit, for our friends using other than the empirical system... I guess that would make the rest of the world colonial?) of setting a new record for warmth last week (cuz that's how we roll), but this week nature pulled itself back together and dumped some snow.

I rode in what felt more like spring weather than winter, last weekend.  Rambo and I had a lovely time looking for turkeys in spite of the soft drizzle.  Honestly, we enjoyed wearing our rain gear, and watching the water droplets drip off my hat brim brought a smile to my face.

Total label purchase.  The beer wasn't quite as good as the label, but how could it have been.  I'd definitely buy it again... in fact, I think I did.  I'll have to check the fridge.

Sarah's plan was to go ice skating on Christmas Eve day.

We had a lot of fun and all stayed pretty close to the wall!  Just like rollerskating, I've never learned to stop.

The snow started falling while we were at the skating rink and just kept coming down.  When we went into the rink, there was hardly any snow on the ground.  By the time we were driving home it looked like this.

Sarah started cooking right away.  I'm pretty proud of this shot.  I don't usually point my camera at people, but Sarah's not just any people, and this was a holiday.

Veneta and Zhora danced and danced.  There was a lot of christmas music, but it was a holiday, so I persevered.

It was so cool to see the girls all cooking together.  The house smelled incredible and rich.

This magnificent looking piece of decadence is an egg nog cornbread cake with accompanying pomegranate sauce to drizzle over the top.  Sarah busted out her blueberry sauce as well.

Veneta and Zhora continued to play!  I had to sit down and rest from watching them.

Everybody was in the clean plate club on Christmas eve.

After dinner, Z and I had to go look for reindeer.  She took the light saber and reindeer dissuader to keep them from biting.  I told her that they spit like llamas so she needed safety goggles, too. 

All ready to go look for Santa.

The Tiny Ballerina

Cleaning house and rocking out to some great olde timey music

Just thought I'd share.

This song surprised me on Pandora.  I love how dark it is.

Heard Aoife O'Donovan sing a version of this REALLY old song on Prairie Home Companion yesterday.  I liked her version better, but couldn't find it on youtube.  This version is plenty haunting, but there are too many non-rhyming lines for me.

 

Love the haunting characteristics of sacred harp singing.

Just love them murder ballads!  

I just realized there's a theme here.  At least amongst the three.  In this cold season, be careful with whom you do the Eskimo hop.

Mmmmmm, pancake breakfast!

Wintery Holiday Feelings

Eva and Jonas have been super cute and cuddly, lately.  This morning they waited for me to finish my coffee and soaked up some morning wood stove warmth. 

We had a lovely morning today so I thought I'd snap a couple shots of the outdoor decorations Sarah made. 

All the fixins were collected on our hike the other day (see post below). 

The sunrise was just lovely. I had to break from fillin bird feeders to take a few shots. Of course the pictures do it no justice, but perhaps you have a vivid imagination. 

A little hipstercam action. I miss the ole Polaroids. 

Tonight we decorated the tree. 

Some familiar favorites. 

Sarah did a marvelous job. It looks really classy and classic. 

Mom, believe it or not, I even helped with the lights!

One more shot from the end of the night

When we took Zhora home, Bob and Jen wanted to know if she'd been well behaved and pleasant. She tends to be shy and hide from me for quite awhile whenever we're all together, but I had noticed this time that she hadn't done that at all.  Turns out she asked Bob if he and Jen were coming and when he said that no, it would just be Sarah and I, Zhora said she'd have to be nice, even to me. She was, and we had a nice evening.  Sarah took this shot at the end of the night.

A Trip to the Ballet: The Nutcracker