Building, Creating

Right now I've got high levels of building and creating going on at my jobs, so it's pure pleasure to sit back a bit and enjoy the creative output of these two. :)

Check out what happens at the kitchen table at Grandma & Grandpa Blackman's house. (Again--pictures from Christmas. I'm enjoying going through them all!) And thank you, Aunt Barbara, for the slinkies. They are still commanding attention, although, as you can see, not in traditional ways.

Did Rodin's Mother Find Things Like This?

It's not exactly "The Thinker," but Amelia definitely has some leanings toward sculpture. Her creations are almost always 3-D and require a lot of scotch tape. (Scotch tape, like chapstick and decent pens, is a scarcety in our home. Alan, I just gave you excellent ideas for stuffing my stocking.)

Last night on the back of a chair I found two washcloths scotch-taped together. Sometimes lines of scotch tape just show up by themselves on the steps, books, or furniture. Let's see where this artsy tendency takes her...

Speaking of art, tonight I went to the Messiah Sing-along with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, where I reveled in being surrounded by an entire auditorium of people who think it is FUN to tote their own scores and plow shamelessly through 2/3 of that work of musical mastery. I felt like a bona fide music nerd. I loved it (except for those two unintentional solos I took, coming in a couple bars early here and there.)

Tomorrow I will take the girls to their Concert for Kids. The girls have gone to a few "real" concerts (including my parents' church's concerts, which are always lovely), but this will be their first official kids' concert. Can't wait!

Picture Night

The annual Bisset Cousin Christmas Photos at The Picture People (who have moved to White Marsh Mall...silly me. I showed up at the wrong mall. Fortunately, they were running behind and we made it.)

Look at those matching outfits. Look at Mom holding court on the spinning stools. Look at those adorably-PJ-clad kids. Look at those lollipops. Mom always manages to have on them hand at the most opportune times.

My how time flies. It doesn't seem that long ago that three of these four were in diapers and crying their eyes out while we tried to keep...them...still....long...enough...to...snap...a...picture. (Not a stellar year for the Christmas pics, 2006!)

It will not be long until they will be too old to change into matching PJs during the picture sessions. I think I am going to cry.

Out of Uniform

A few weeks ago Evelyn's class won the boxtop-collection contest at school and earned an out-of-dress-code day. What did she choose to wear? A Christmas dress, complete with sparkly shoes. When I asked her sensitively if she thought anyone might tease her for wearing a Christmas dress in October, she replied confidently, "No!" Then, holding up her sleeve, she continued, "I'll just let them feel my fur!"

Then I took pictures of both girls heading out the door to school. These are days to cherish and remember!

The Trick-or-Treating Princesses

Evelyn's home-made costume was almost a bust. The hat would not stay on the right place on her head, and it took a while to figure out how to keep the sides of her dress (made from an old sheet) from flapping open (especially since I had no safety pins.)

It didn't help that we made the whole outfit just minutes before heading out the door. (Thank you, Mom, for your help!!)

Eventually, I ended up wearing the hat, and all was well. Amelia repeated last year's eat-the-poison-apple-and-die-on-the-porch performances at as many houses as would watch, and Mom and I were basically trotting after them as they ran from lit house to lit house.

I enjoy Halloween. It's fun walking around the neighborhood in the chill of fall, seeing neighbors and doing something so odd (when you stop to think about it.) I enjoyed it as a kid, and it's been fun to do it all over again with our children, often with Mom along, too!

We might be growing out the bangs.

But it will all depend on whether or not they can keep the clips/barrettes/headbands in their hair all day at school. Evelyn had to go to the nurse the other day "because my bangs were in my eyes." I think we may be heading to the Hair Cuttery.

So much has happened in two weeks! Deep Creek...a girls'weekend away w/Jen in upstate NY visiting friends Mindy & Raleigh (they nicknamed me Rip Van Winkle because I slept until 10:15 two mornings in a row!) and lots of goings-on for work.

Tonight is Halloween! Evelyn will be a "Swooning Princess" and Amelia wants to be Snow White again so she can bite an apple and "die" on everyone's porch like last year. Seems there'll be no lack of drama tonight!

If you have a Mac Laptop...

...you can make some extra cash setting up photo booths at street fairs & events. Last month when the girls and I went to a friend's neighborhood festival, a young woman had a backdrop, a few props/costume items, a printer & some photo paper, and voila--a line of people ready to shove cash in her jar to have adorable pictures like this taken.

Amelia and I had so much fun.

On another note, we came home from Deep Creek today--29 of us in our 26th year of gathering each fall to reconnect, hike, fish, eat, play games, watch baseball, and stay up way too late discussing all sorts of things (i.e. the effects of Facebook on our social culture and how to talk about sex with your children. Good stuff. Very good stuff.)

More Art

Each month kindergarteners in Amelia's class have to decorate a paper shape. I didn't even get a chance to read the directions to Amelia before she was telling me she was going to do this all by herself.

Scotch tape

Mr. Potato Head faces

Dora Band-aids

Refrigerator magnets

Well, good thing the directions said, "Be creative!"

Be Creative!

Is it a long monocle? A hands-free spyglass? Whatever it is, it makes me laugh...and reminds me that there's always something to play with if you're willing to be creative.

(Note: have caution. "Being creative" can require some supervision. Without such supervision, you can discover that creativity has the potential to run a little wild: like hand soap generously decorating all the bathroom mirrors or discovering that black rubber doorstops make satisfying--and frustratingly indelible--marks on walls. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Amelia Behind the Camera

What does she capture on film? Her sister. Her domino sculpture. Her own feet.

All works of art, of course.

Waiting for the Cousins

Look at those two--they're like puppies when it comes to their cousins! The day after Hurricane Irene Mom hosted an impromptu potluck.

The girls are waiting for Anna and Aidan to arrive.

I don't think we've even seen the sun since this day, come to think of it! We will all be happy to see the sun again--almost as happy as Evelyn and Amelia are when they see their cousins.

Sending Them Off

There they are. Our girls. Heading off to their first day of First Grade and Kindergarten this past Wednesday.

I can hardly believe it. I can hardly stand it.

And yet with every passing phase, I seem to enjoy them more and more and more.

Just LOOK at them, would you? This photo has launched itself into my current #1 favorite. How I love these girls.

Taking Evelyn's picture...

...is sometimes a challenge. I don't even remember now why I was trying to take it, but I had some fun during the chase.

Mulling it over

"For since the foundation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Rom. 1:20)

I wish you could have heard the message that our friend Tim spoke this morning. I love sermons that have weeks and weeks worth of mulling over packed into them.

The mulling has begun.

For the love of donut

Evelyn had already eaten her donut. But she has a distinct lack of self-control when it comes to sweets. It borders on obsession. Observe as Evelyn cannot take her eyes off Amelia's donut. In fact, Evelyn eventually succeeds in securing herself a bite. And some sister-to-sister fun.

Boy I loved the lighting in the kitchen this afternoon as the sun streamed in through the window. I'm no photographer (as evidenced by, among many other things, the grand expanse of kitchen counter top in half the pictures), but I think that lighting was just magical.

And boy I love these girls.

Grapes, anyone?

The Nala Walk

For a long time, when we'd go to the Walshes' house for Hamiltopia, Amelia would run upstairs to Maddie's room to play with a certain stuffed animal. It was once a tiger before its stripes were loved away. (Velveteen Rabbit, anyone?) Amelia LOVED that tiger. But she knew it was very special to Maddie, and she always had to ask permission to play with it.

Well, when Amelia turned 4 in May, Maddie gave her the ultimate gift--the treasured tiger. Amelia named it "Nala" and it continues to hold a special position. Yesterday Amelia & I went on a neighborhood walk, and she wanted to push Nala in the stroller. It couldn't have been more perfect. A late afternoon sun, a chill in the air, and my beautiful daughter reveling in her love for this very special stuffed animal. Thank you, Maddie, for giving a true gift--something of your own that you treasured that you willingly gave up because you knew how much it would mean to someone else.

I wish I was better at expressing how precious this is, and how it offers little flickers of light on our heavenly Father--sacrificial giving, unconditional love for something the world might consider worn and replaceable. Instead I'll just leave it at that. Nala is special to me, too, for a lot of reasons. :)

Sometimes...

...life is a bit like Amelia's hair. Crazy, hard to get all the tangles out of, but still really beautiful. :)

(And I'm always entertained by the pictures the girls take, even though they're not really supposed to handle the camera. They do a really good job of capturing the haphazard joys of life so much better than I do.)

The Princess and the Insect

Not unlike Last year, Amelia was Snow White and Evelyn was a ladybug. Again.

Earlier this week at AWANA's costume night, Evelyn wore her hoop dress and Amelia was a bumblebee. I was surprised Evelyn didn't wear the hoop dress tonight. I guess when the inspiration hits to be a bug, you fly with it.

As much as we love gatherings, it had been really busy lately & we decided to just trick-or-treat the 'hood (not unlike 2008.) Shelley came and we strolled leisurely along the rather quiet streets.

I must say, this was another check-plus in my "Lovin' the 'hood" series. You would not believe how much CHOCOLATE we scored. Regular sized bags of M&Ms, whole Snicker's Bars, and a myriad of the mini stuff. Alan and I will need a personal trainer for Christmas.

Amelia had wanted to bring an apple as a prop, but at the 4th house I suddenly gasped, "Oh, Amelia, we forgot your apple!" The woman of the house immediately went inside and produced the healthiest "treat" of the evening. Amelia took one bite and feigned "death" on the porch furniture, requiring Evelyn to kiss her awake. She repeated the performance at the next 10 houses, until she'd eaten most of the apple. Half the time she received applause, but at the house where the door was opened by a couple of 5-year-old-ish boys, Evelyn refused to give Amelia the kiss of love to awaken her ("I'm not going to do THAT in front of BOYS!") and I had to step in. And I must say, it was sweeter than chocolate to spend Halloween awakening Snow White with a kiss of true love.

It's a Hard Knock Life

If this is what happens every time Amelia watches "Annie," we're going to make it a regular feature. (How 'bout the state of the water in that bucket? That's the nice thing about letting a floor get so dirty: even a four-year-old can make a big dent.)