Getting Along

There's a series of books on child development, one for each year, that I recall my pediatrician recommending for the early years. The one for four-year-olds is subtitled "Wild and Wonderful," and I'm happy to report that we are seeing more of the "wonderful" side of our four-year-old. At the least, we are seeing a more reasonable side of her!

Before Danny left for school, they played "Santa."

One of my favorite developments of late is the relationship between Danny and Laura. Make no mistake: She still pushes his buttons. A lot. However, she has also learned how to make him laugh, and I find them collaborating on silly games with increasing frequency.

She continues to really enjoy her friend Meghan, planning play dates with gusto - and managing to enjoy them with fewer and fewer meltdowns. This gives me some much-needed breathing room, as she still is glued to my hip more often than not. It's pleasant, as she offers to "help me with my work" or "go with ya!" - but sometimes I really don't need any help!

That said, it's not terrible to have someone who enjoys your company so whole-heartedly...especially when the feeling is increasingly mutual.

Snow Flurries

Unlike the Northeast, we have had nothing in the way of snow this year. (Yes, I realize I probably just jinxed us.) We did have one snow day this week, thanks to the threat of icy conditions which never materialized. Compared to last year, that's nothing. This does not mean the kids haven't wished for snow: They are already eagerly anticipating Christmas in Buffalo next year, despite my dire warnings that they often do not have white Christmases.

Note Frozen Crocs on her feet. She has finally deigned to wear them.

So when I was washing up the lunch dishes yesterday and noticed snow flurries whirling around the air, I called Laura over to come see them. She quickly put on jacket and shoes and scurried outside, trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue and generally running around jubilantly. For about five minutes...it's not snowy, but it's darn cold!

A Tale of Three Valentines III

I suspect this will be the last entry in this particular series of posts. Not that I plan to end Clare's receipt of valentines from us, but I do believe this will be the final year for distributing them to her entire class. Middle school...a lot fewer fun and games! Which explains her basic, dare we say boring entry: packs of M&Ms. I'm not thrilled with resorting to handing out candy, but it's very difficult to find age-appropriate valentines for 11- and 12-year-olds, especially when you have to give them to boys as well as girls. Bags of chocolate? Easy!

Danny was hoping to find Lord of the Rings or Hobbit valentines, but no such luck. Sports-themed valentines with magnets, making them perfect for lockers (which they happen to have in second grade) were an acceptable substitute. Phew.

And in a far-from-shocking turn of events, Laura opted for Frozen valentines. I am delighted to say that we found them at the dollar store - as well as the pack of pencils to go with them. They have been working hard at tracing their letters in her class ever since the Christmas break, so I think the pencils may come in quite handy!

On our end, I made the selection for all three kids' valentine gifts fairly early. After seeing how enamored both Clare and Danny were of Laura's scooter from her birthday, I knew just what to order them - their own scooters. Meanwhile, Laura has been talking about princess Crocs for a while, and has nearly outgrown hers, so a pair of Frozen Crocs seemed just the right choice. Or so I thought. Instead, once she opened them, she burst into tears and declared, "This is the worst present ever!" Um, okay. Tim thought it was pretty obvious, after watching her siblings open toys. In my defense, a) they opened toys that she already has, and b) anything with princesses has typically been a big win. Oh well, chalk this one up to experience.

Clare and Danny did make a very sweet (literally) addition to our holiday: a cake baked from scratch! Yes, they had to ask for assistance from time to time (props to the visiting Aunt Cat for much guidance), but ultimately it was definitely their labor of love. We are lucky to have such sweethearts!

Gold Seekers

A big project for the Second Grade at CKS is their "Georgia Museum," in which each student researches an important person, event or landmark for the state and they all present them at an afternoon gathering. Danny chose the topic of the discovery of gold in Dahlonega. Since it's merely an hour away, we decided we needed to make a trip there for authenticity's sake. Plus, it was a great excuse for a Mommy-Danny date (especially since Tim and Clare were off to the 6th grade girls' basketball play-offs - meaning a sitter for Laura).

We had a beautiful, sunny Saturday for our outing. Our first stop was the Consolidated Mining Company, which promised both a tour of a gold mine and the chance to pan for our own gold. They delivered on both counts, much to our delight. Danny was quite pleased with our haul of five pieces (miniscule, might I add) of gold, and even more so with the gemstones we mined afterwards.

Our tour took us down into the no-longer-active mine, where we saw railways and carts, drills, pumps, and even bats. Danny's eager mind absorbed it all enthusiastically.

After the mine, we decided to head to downtown Dahlonega and visit the Gold Museum. Danny won over the employee behind the counter when he informed her we were researching a school project, so we came away with helpful literature and a decent understanding of the gold rush. Which meant we were ready for lunch.

While the downtown area had several charming-looking eateries, we were both set on a spot we passed when heading into town: Danny's Restaurant! It turned out to be, as Danny said, "Quite a Southern place," filled with folks not in a hurry, cammo-wearing men, and down-home food. His bacon burger hit the spot, so he easily awarded it five stars. I was only so-so on the food, but the company was worth it!

Someday Her Prince Better Come

Laura often proclaims that she is not afraid of anything (except when stalling at bedtime and feigning an occasional fear of the dark). Last night at dinner, Danny seized this challenge by firing several potential objects of fear at her, from poisonous, constrictive snakes to losing mommy in a huge crowd (??). Finally exasperated, Laura cocked her head and said, "Listen, Danny: A prince will save me!"


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Three Times 4

I have come to the conclusion that January 2 is a pretty lousy birth date. By that point, we are simultaneously over the holidays and yet depressed that they have ended for another year. I will forever need to muster the enthusiasm to make Laura's day feel special. This year, we managed to celebrate her three times (actually, once Grandma and Grandpa arrive next week bearing her gift the tally will grow to four), so I think we covered it this year.

We even managed to celebrate in two different countries! We first toasted her on New Year's Day in the U.K., where she thoroughly enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake as well as gifts:

Making a wish.

Listening to Uncle John read her new story.

I specifically mention the cake, because for her "real" birthday she insisted on a strawberry cake, with Elsa in frosting. We suggested that as she doesn't generally seem to like frosting, perhaps she would want something else? But she insisted. She also requested that the entire house be decorated with princesses. She originally felt this should extend to everyone's rooms, including Danny's, but we managed to talk her off of that particular ledge.

Above all else, she required balloons:

Note princess decor taped to the mantle. There was more around the house, I promise, but I think she wasn't overly impressed.

Her new Frozen scooter, which I think has turned out to be her favorite gift, judging by how much she scooters around the house:

Here we have the cake. She professed to like it, but in reality she ate about two bites, and since then has consistently opted for just about anything else for dessert. Chocolate cake next year, please!!

Finally, today we celebrated her birthday at school. She was very excited about this event, even though I knew it would amount to about 10 minutes of her day. If only she were always so easy to please. For the treat, she wanted a purple popsicle. Turned out today was frigid, but that didn't affect her enjoyment of it one iota!

And now she is really and truly four years old! I admit, I am not one bit sorry to say goodbye to age three - but I am very glad she joined our family four years ago!

Final Scenes

We've been home for a little over 24 hours now, and I think in many ways we are still processing our trip. It was incredible. Exhausting, for sure, but definitely a trip of a lifetime!

Here's a picture from the fun Sunday Roast we attended at The Hare & Hounds pub in Claygate. "Fun Uncle John" was a big hit!

On New Year's Eve, while the guys plus Katy & Nicki went to see the latest Hobbit movie, the rest of us attended Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. This was Laura's highlight of the trip: it was a giant winter carnival.

On our final day, New Year's Day, we ladies went to tea, and later in the day we celebrated Laura's 4th birthday. A fun way to wrap up our British holiday!

While serving Laura's cake, Danny sported his new Arsenal jersey, a high priority that Tim and John fulfilled for him.