Christmas tree

Christmas has come and gone. Oom Maarten is here. And this is the post I drafted weeks ago:

Well, we got it! Tramped out into the half-frozen, half-muddy forest of Christmas trees and found our perfect one.

I have to beat down the urge to try to arrange the lights and ornaments perfectly. At one point during the decorating, Alexander said, "Mommy, you need to stop moving all the ornaments."

So what if there are big bald patches with no lights? So what if the kids hang four ornaments on one tiny branch?

Alexander has put himself in charge of watering the tree. The other morning he came dancing into my room with this urgent look on his face. I thought he had to pee.

"Mom, the water's getting so so low. We have to water the tree now!"

Latest Craze

So, Annabel's latest thing is to sit underneath a blanket and read a book. She can sit like that longer than she can do any other thing.

This is how she spent a good twenty minutes this morning:

She calls it her tent and will declare things like: "Mama in tent with Ah-bell!" and "Ah-bell read books in tent!"

I've begun to use this latest craze to my advantage. If she's underfoot while I'm trying to cook dinner, I just throw a blanket over her and she's happy. :)

Bunk Beds!

Well, Annabel has made the transition from crib to bed. There's no turning back now.

The kids are loving their new beds. And even better, we've rigged up curtains for the bottom bunk so they can have their own little tent/cave. (Inspired by Michiel's and Maarten's childhood bunk beds.)