Christmas Anticipation

Posted on December 31, 2014March 29, 2015 by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

We love Christmas around here. Yes, the actual holiday on December 25th is pretty great, but I may love the December festivities and lead-up to Christmas more than the holiday itself. This year both kids got it. They got that Christmas is a special day, they counted down the days to it on the advent calendar, they got excited about the Elf on the Shelf, they wrote letters to Santa, they got excited for Christmas lights, sang carols and really got the spirit of the holiday.

Christmas doesn’t begin at the Mac House without a trip to the Christmas tree farm. We headed up to a farm outside of town, saw reindeer, waved at Santa and trekked all over the farm looking for the perfect tree. The weather was oddly warm and the kids played and played all over while trying to convince us to bring home 15-foot high trees that wouldn’t fit through our front door.

We settled on a nice 6 foot tree and brought it home for some preschool decorating. Some people decorate their trees with a theme. They choose a couple of colors or decorate with all glass balls. Our theme this year was… Unbreakable Ornament Clump. I only pulled out ornaments that would be hard to break and let the kids have at it with the decorating. They had a ball. Our ornaments are mostly about 2 feet off the ground and are kind of clumped together. I spent the first week the tree was up artfully redecorating and then gave up. The ornaments are fun to play with and it’s more important to me that we have a tree that makes all of us happy rather than one that is perfectly arranged.

Another holiday ritual is the annual trip to see Santa. The kids dressed in their finest (in Clare’s case, her finest summer dress from two years ago) and we ventured out to see the big guy. Clare loved him. She perched herself on his lap and he told her that she looked like a summer garden. Sammy waved at him from afar and liked the big guy, but didn’t want to touch him, talk to him or make eye contact. So we ended up with the family picture, where Mom and Dad jumped in on the action.

The kids gave Santa their wish lists. Clare wanted a real kitten, a real puppy, Elsa and Anna’s Castle and red high heeled shoes. Uhhhh, no we’re not getting a cat or a dog. Elsa and Anna’s Castle is sold out and there ain’t no way I’m buying my five-year-old high heels. Sammy had one simple request – ducklings. Stay tuned for how well Santa Claus handled those requests.

A-Book A-Book A-Book (and some TV shows)

Posted on December 8, 2014March 29, 2015 by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

It’s been a while since we’ve done a book update. We still read a lot of books around here, though maybe less than in years past since we’re all on the go so much. Nap times and bed times are always reading times and the kids will pull books out during the day to look at.

It’s fun to see Sam’s taste in books develop. He loves books about animals, preferably books that have complex pictures. He isn’t always interested in story lines, but he loves to study pictures. His current favorite book is 1,001 Things to Spot in the Sea. We “read” it almost daily – and by read it, I mean we look at the pictures and talk about what the different animals are doing. I’m getting a bit tired of it, but Sam can’t get enough of it.

Before the 1,001 Things to Spot in the Sea, the favorite book was Animalia. Graeme Base’s books have beautiful illustrations that defy description. They are beautiful and complex with lots of details and things to explore. Sammy and J especially studied each picture, finding every little detail and picture-story within the picture.

We’ve long been fans of Mo Willems books (Knufflebunny is a perennial favorite). Sammy loves the Pigeon books – he laughs out loud at the obstinate pigeon and his buddy the duckling.

We’re starting to check out more Early Reader and Chapter books from the library for Clare. She’s ready for something a little more complex than a picture book and can follow a story over several nights. Mo Willems has a series called Elephant and Piggie, some of which Clare can read herself, which has his same humor with a little more complex stories. Sammy also loves this series.

Exploring chapter books has been really fun. Clare really liked the Catwings series from Ursula Le Guin and lately we’ve really, really liked the Toys Go Out series. So far we’ve checked them out from the library but I can see buying these series as she gets older and is able to read them herself.

Of course it’s not all books at our house. I set pretty strict limits on screen time for the kids, and we haven’t really introduced them to many apps on the iPad, but we do watch some favorite TV shows. I stick mostly to PBS Kids shows and my kids enjoy them. Curious George is always a favorite (the kids love his movies) and lately Clare has really gotten into the Cat in the Hat. Sammy loves Word World, but he likes Curious George and Daniel Tiger too. Some kids shows are just awful to watch and listen to (Dora and Cailou, I’m looking at you) but Cat in the Hat and Curious George are two of the least annoying shows out there.