Merry Christmas!

What could be more fun than being spoiled rotten by grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends? The Weinberg Three had a blast playing with new toys today.

Because of the rainy weather we did not end up taking a hike in the woods as previously planned. Instead we took a long walk around our neighborhood, which ended up being just as much fun.

Finally, the boys capped off the day watching a video about volcanoes. Hot molten lava baby!

Happy Hanukkah!

It has a busy week here with the Weinberg Three. Thus far we've spent our winter break decorating sugar cookies, playing at EdVenture, catching the flick "Bolt" at the movies with our friend and neighbor Carroll, and hanging out at Leapin' Lizards with our friends Jack and Alex.

And, since Sunday night, we've been lighting the menorah to celebrate Hanukkah. The boys have been taking turns lighting the candles and have been speculating whether Zola will be old enough to have a turn next year.

Third Annual Cookie Decorating Party

Today we held our third annual cookie decorating party. It was a blast. That is, it was wonderful those few moments when not one of the eleven children in my house was crying. Those moments were fleeting and most of the crying emanated from my children. Anyhoo, at least a general hush fell over the crowd of children when they first started decorating/eating the cookies.

As in the past, the night before our party I baked dozens of sugar cookies in various shapes and sizes, and prepared royal icing in various colors. The children were then left to the creative part of the enterprise: icing and sprinkling the cookies with various decorations.

It's always interesting to see which children are into the decorating and which are into the eating of the cookies. In every picture of Calder from the decorating part of the party, he is eating. Not decorating, but eating the cookies or the candy that was to be used for decorating the cookies. He's a funny guy that Calder.

In contrast Milo, like his friend Gracen, was very focused on decorating cookies. Nary a word except "pass those sprinkles" or "I'd like the orange icing" exited Milo's mouth during the half hour or more that he sat decorating cookies.

In all we had a lot of fun. The grown-ups got to decorate cookies too, which is always a nice creative outlet. And Zola got to hang out with her friend Chloe, which brought smiles to both of their cute little faces. More pictures from the afternoon of cookie madness are here.

Eleven Months Old

Wow, time flies. This past Wednesday Zola turned eleven months old. Our little princess is so much fun. At eleven months old she is a social butterfly. Zola loves to crawl around during "Mother Goose" storytime at the library, visiting with the librarian up close, as well as with the other babies. Zola also loves her playgroup, especially crawling around en masse with her buddies Chloe, Quentin, Cooper, and Blyth, and generally getting into mischief. Now that Zola is a pro at crawling and pulling up, we've even seen her standing without holding on a couple of times. Walking's probably just around the corner. And Zola's on to new adventures.

Nuttycrackers

The tree decorators take a break and re-enact a classic ballet:

A Happy and A Merry Christmakah To You III!

Today, in keeping with our tradition since we've lived in Columbia, we drove out to Sumter to the newly renamed Old Congaree Run Tree Farm to chop down a tree to decorate for the holidays. Although it wasn't the 70 degree weather we had last year, it was still a lovely day for a hayride and a walk in the field with the family. The boys had a grand time choosing our tree and helping Daddy use the saw to chop down the tree.



Later in the day the boys decorated the tree. Milo was very dedicated to this process, using a step stool to reach different parts of the tree and spending quite a bit of time arranging all the ornaments. We placed our two menorahs on a table next to the tree. Calder, unlike his brother, was less interested in the decorating and more interested in playing with our nutcrackers. After we finished decorating the tree, the boys danced to the "Nutcracker Suite," pretending to be the Nutcracker and the toy soldiers fighting the Rat King (i.e., Mommy) and his henchmen. Oh what fun, especially when they vanquished the Rat King and dissolved into giggles.

Winter Fun

Tonight my (three) boys assembled a gingerbread train, complete with frosting and candy. They had a lot of fun eating and decorating. Thank you Target for placing these things at a child's eye level. Calder drove a hard bargain in order to get that item home. Another shopper who overheard our conversation concerning the gingerbread project noted with a big smile: "He's going to grow up to be a lawyer someday!" Ha ha. That just warms my heart.

And for a couple days earlier in the week (when it was not almost 70 degrees--yes, you Northern readers, weep) we had a fire lit. The boys love to eat before the fireplace and cozy up to some books there too. Zola thankfully did not get too close to the fireplace. She generally preferred to play with the log detritus strewn about the hearth (our log toting boys are messy), because if you're not risking a splinter, you're not having fun.

And The Boys Played Hookie

Today Zola stayed with a babysitter for the first time during her waking hours. She didn't cry until I returned and she realized I'd been gone. Funny, huh?



Meanwhile, the boys played hookie from school for a little holiday treat. My friend Lauren and I took Milo and Calder and their buddy Jack to see "The Nutcracker" performed by the Columbia Classical Ballet. It was a sweet performance that the three sweet little boys seemed to enjoy.

"I'm Getting Into Buttons"

Said Milo the other night as he donned his pajamas: "When I outgrow my size 5 pajammies can I get more pajammies with buttons? 'Cause I'm getting into buttons. And after buttons, I'll probably get into snaps, and then maybe zippers." Ha ha ha ha. I'm getting into buttons. I wonder what style trend will be next with the five-year old set.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Weinberg Three had lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday. In Milo's words: "his fort" (i.e., the jungle gym in our backyard). Calder told everyone at school he was thankful for "his Mama and I like Dadda too." Zola's probably pretty thankful for her super big brothers. And frankly, they ought to be pretty thankful for such a sweet, easygoing little sister.

This Thanksgiving the Weinberg Three were especially thankful for having had all of their grandparents, as well as their Uncle Justin, here in Columbia to spoil them. The Thanksgiving holiday was a whirlwind of fun and good food, including Lego building with Uncle Justin, a scooter ride with Oom-Poppa to Five Points (and a hot cocoa stop), copious cookies courtesy of Gramma, riding Uncle Justin like a pony, arts and crafts with Grammy (she made little books for everyone), playing with Oom-Poppa's iPhone light saber, storytime with Gramma and Grandpa, walking our dogs with Grandpa, and trips to the zoo (with Calder's first pony ride!) and the State Museum.

We had so much non-stop fun that this afternoon, after all our company had started their homeward travels, the Weinberg Three all took three hour naps. Woohoo!

Why Are You Turning Around?

Today we took a family road trip out in the South Carolina countryside. Because of the poorly marked country roads and Google Maps' less than ideal directions, we made a number of U-turns on our trip, prompting Milo to ask repeatedly "Why are you turning around?" You might not think so, but this grates on one's patience after a while, especially when there's also a screaming baby in the car (missing her morning nap makes Zola very angry).

Almost forty minutes later than we'd planned we arrived at Grits and Groceries, our first stop of the day. Our brunch was highly worth getting lost for, as well as the half-hour wait once we arrived. While we waited we visited with the goats across the street and the boys sipped hot chocolate and munched french fries compliments of the chef. Our brunch was delicious and before long we were on our way to Split Creek Farm, a goat dairy.

Today Split Creek Farm held a holiday festival. The boys enjoyed watching a blacksmith make an old fashioned nail (which Milo got to keep!), sampling fresh goat cheese and goat's milk yogurt, throwing sticks in a campfire, chasing chickens around the farm, and especially petting and playing with the adorable baby goats, who licked Milo's fingers and nibbled on Daddy's pants and Calder's coat.

Finally, because no Weinberg family outing seems complete without frozen confections (thanks, Justin), we visited the '55 Exchange at Clemson University. The boys (all three) loved the university's creamy ice cream. Yum!

It was a lovely day despite the chilly weather. Spending an entire day together amidst or perhaps despite of all the normal day-to-day craziness, especially right before Thanksgiving, is a nice way to remember all those things you are thankful for.

Ten Months Old

Today Zola is ten months old! So far Zola has spent her day doing some of her favorite things: eating carbohydrates (bagels, ciabatta bread, orzo pasta, and Baby Mum Mum crackers), sharing said carbs with her favorite dog Beacon (at least she didn't try to eat Beacon's food today), crawling around the house (still ever so dainty and deliberate), pulling up to standing on the stairs, practicing two of her favorite words (brother and dog), trying to play with her brothers' toys (read anything tiny), cracking into cackling laughter thanks to her brothers, and giving Mommy, Daddy, and her baby doll big squeezy hugs and open-mouthed kisses. Yum!

She Talks

For about a month and a half now we've been wondering if Zola's really been meaning the words we think we've been hearing come out of her mouth. Well, now we've gotten confirmation that she's probably been saying words such as "Mama," "Daddy," "brother," and "hi." The other day I was feeding Zola in my room with the door shut. All of a sudden I heard the jingle-jangle of our dog Beacon's tags and her pawing at the door to come in. Zola stopped nursing, turned her head, pointed to the door, and said, "dog." Okay, it sounded more like "daw," but I think she's on the right track! Who knows what other things she's been saying that we just can't yet understand. And seeing how early she's starting to talk, that might be a good thing. If she's anything like her brothers I can expect to have my ears talked off regularly, now by three little peanuts.

End of the Soccer Season

On Saturday the boys had their last soccer games of the fall soccer season. Both boys also had parties with their teams to celebrate. Here are the top five highlights from the games and parties:



5. Calder actually playing (part) of his last game, chasing the ball and running along with his teammates, and, get this, even making contact with the ball. He got to do two corner kicks!

4. Milo and Calder snuggling under our picnic blanket in order to both keep warm and hide the fact that they were gorging themselves on snacks during Milo's game while Milo was "on a break" from playing.



3. Milo running over to me on the sideline, during the game mind you when he was not "taking a break," to tell me that the excessive amounts of Pirate's Booty that he scarfed down were enabling him to "keep up with Maggie," his team's star player.

2. Not one but TWO broken soccer trophies. Yes, that's right folks. They didn't last more than a day in either case. Thanks to Milo, on Saturday, Calder's trophy took an unfortunate trip through the air causing the decapitation of the little soccer player statue. And, again, thanks to Milo's general klutziness, today he dropped his trophy immediately upon receipt while trying to high-five his coaches, sending his trophy into multiple pieces. Well, then.

1. Smiles from the boys and a general sense that they'd like to play soccer again in the Spring.

Nature In Our Garden IV

Leapin' Lizards! We've spied these cute little lizards all over our garden before, but today one was sitting right in the middle of our front stoop when we opened the door to go outside. Certainly before you could shout "Leapin' lizards!" Calder had deftly snatched the little critter from the side of the house (yes they--both the lizards and Calder--move quickly) and the boys had a little friend to keep them company. For about an hour the boys took turns holding (probably more like torturing from the lizard's point of view) the poor lizard, whom they named "Leif the lizard," until Stockholm syndrome set in. Before we had them let Leif go, Milo was walking around with Leif on his hand or arm, without the lizard making any attempts to escape. Ah, those charming Weinberg Boys.

Scaling New Heights

Sort of. Just now Zola climbed her first step on our staircase! I watched from a few feet away as she pulled herself up on the first two stairs, going from her knees to her feet and then, once she started lifting up her legs, I scooted over to spot her from behind. And there she went, gracefully, deliberately, and oh-so-daintily as ever. I didn’t wait to see if she was going to attempt a second step. I swooped her up right away, as I noticed that she smelled pretty bad. Knowing how much my girl hates a poopy diaper, I guess Zola was trying to get upstairs to the changing table.

Zoo Fun

Public school is off today and tomorrow for Election Day, and so today we headed to the zoo with our good friends Maya, Gracen, Cooper, Evan and Juliana. The kids had a blast. Once we go to the zoo, that is. Getting them to put on their own shoes and jackets so that we could actually leave the house was painful, for all parties involved.

Anyhoo, once we were at the zoo we fed the lorikeets, twice! Those birds were hungry.

We watched the five new baby lion cubs wrestling and tackling each other. It was super cute and reminded us of how much we like to tackle and hug and kiss one another. We saw the new baby flamingos too, which were so gray and fluffy. We also rode the train up to the botanical gardens and back, saw the bird show, spotted "Nemo" and "Dorie" in the reptile house, and climbed all over the animal statues strewn throughout the zoo.

And, Zola rode the carousel for the first time and loved it!

Hello Florida!

We've got a future grandfather in training here. After I took the photo, Milo went inside and put on some white socks with black shoes. Please note the pen dangling from the pocket of his travel vest. Yeah baby--you're already sporting both of your grandfathers' style!

May The Force Be With You

Yes, for about a month now, every time I've turned on my car, Calder has requested Darth Vader's theme music (from Episode IV of "Star Wars"). I believe he's been getting into character. And both boys have been practicing beating the crap out of each other with their light sabers, so here we are, with two method actors in training. Zola, however, hasn't needed much practice in looking regal or giving her brothers funny looks. All that might just come naturally to her. Anyhoo, it was a Star Wars Halloween this year. Milo's already informed me that he gets to be Darth Vader next year.

Funny thing, although Calder's been wearing his Darth Vader mask off and on for the better part of the past two weeks, today he did not want to wear it. Oh well. That sure didn't stop him from swatting his brother with his light saber.

World's tiniest Darth Vader

Dashing Luke Skywalker

Cutest little Princess Leia

We started out our afternoon with a birthday party for our friend Juliana and then, as the sun went down, headed out into the Elmwood Park neighborhood to trick or treat with many of our friends. The folks in Elmwood Park really get excited about Halloween, decorating their lovely old homes as haunted houses and dressing up in costume. It was delightfully spooky!

Happy Halloween!

The kids carved our jack-o-lantern last night with Daddy. Calder, our brave child, actually helped Daddy scoop out the pumpkin guts, despite Milo's shrieks of disgust. And here's the finished product, sitting with the pumpkins the boys painted earlier this month.

We wish you all a fabulous time trick-or-treating!!!

It Could Always Be Worse

WARNING: THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS OR DISDAIN FOR POTTY HUMOR SHOULD AVOID READING THIS POST, AS IT MIGHT BE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH.



One of my husband's favorite children's books is "It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale" by Margot Zemach, which tells the story of a poor peasant who seeks advice from his rabbi on how to make his overcrowded, crazy hut more livable. On the advice of the rabbi, the peasant successively brings all his livestock into the hut and then, after a series of weeks of increasing misery, removes all the livestock, making his household seem absolutely wonderful.

I thought that things were bad enough this past weekend, when I contracted the stomach virus that had been making the rounds with the preschool set, and still had to attend soccer games, worry about what was for dinner, catch up on laundry, and, among other things, you know, "mother." But, of course, things could always be worse. My stomach problems lingered just long enough to depart right before Calder presented with symptoms of the same bug.

Not long after bedtime on Wednesday Calder's bouts of vomiting and then diarrhea commenced. The poor guy barely slept all night and when home from school on Thursday spent the day resting and ordering me around like a little dictator. When sick, Calder is completely different from his older brother Milo, who is a perfect darling, wanting only to be held, cuddled, and maybe read to. In contrast, Calder is cranky and demanding. He is perhaps a bit like his father when sick, but I get ahead of myself. Calder stated it plainly at one point, growling "I'M GRUMPY!!!!" at me as I tried to juggle entertaining Zola and making sure that Calder's flask of Pedialyte was full, he had all the trains and cars needed by his side, and the correct video was being shown in the screening . . . , I mean the family room. Yes, someday Calder will make a terrific CEO or dictator of a small country. Thankfully Calder was completely well today and could go to school because I was absolutely ready for him to go back to school.

Today my husband arrived home at lunchtime unannounced. His face a pale ashen color, he plodded in the door and up the stairs to bed. Yes, things could always be worse.

When I picked up Milo from school this afternoon he looked quite glum and immediately said, "I feel like I'm going to throw up." Yes, things could always be worse. I suppose I should be proud of Milo--he's a pro at vomiting into a ziploc bag while seated in a moving vehicle without any drips or spills. Anyhoo, four hours later and Milo was still vomiting, poor guy.

And now that all the bathrooms in my house reek something awful and two out of five of us are actively ill, one of the dogs decided to use the playroom carpet as a bathroom. Why? Did I really need to know definitively that things could always be worse?

I suppose all of us could have been sick simultaneously. I keep waiting, almost holding my breath, for Zola's cries. It's probably only a question of when, not if, my baby will get sick. Yes, things could always be worse, but maybe by the end of the weekend my hut will be empty (relatively), clean, and free of illness. One can hope. In fact, I'd even settle for just a healthy husband with whom to share parenting duties.

Pumpkin Patch

This year we took the busy family's way out of actually taking a trip to a farm for a real pumpkin patch. We traveled just a few blocks away to the pumpkin patch concocted on the lawn of a local church. Regardless of the shoddy nature of this family venture, our trip to the patch was a success. We procured a large pumpkin to sit along with the mini-pumpkins (painted by the boys earlier in the month) on our stoop and Zola got her first chance to sit amongst the pumpkins.

Thankfully Zola's first trip to the pumpkin patch was not as traumatizing as Milo's first such experience. He screamed bloody murder the moment we plopped him down beside the towering orange behemoths. No smiley photo-ops that day. And I will never forget Calder's first trip to the pumpkin patch. That was the year we lived in Williamsburg, VA, and the farm we visited was picaresque and just a short ride from our home. The pumpkins were still attached to their lovely curling vines and they were the most beautiful heirloom variety pumpkins I'd ever seen, some striped and of varying shades of my favorite color orange. The warm, bright sun shone down on us and for a while, no one was throwing a tantrum or crying. Just wonderful.

Anyhoo, this trip was short and painless. No pumpkins were harmed during the duration of our visit and only one of our three children was punished on the way home from the patch.