Bake-Off at the O.K. Corral

While the kids were preparing for their Christmas concerts, Bryant was enjoying his office holiday party (western-themed this year!).  After some hesitation (and a fair amount of ribbing from Elise), he decided to enter the annual staff bake-off.  That meant cooking until midnight and getting up at 5am to apply the finishing touches.  But the effort paid off: his chocolate framboise (a chocolate bomb covered in whipped cream and raspberries) won first place!  Bryant was very proud but a little annoyed that folks kept asking if his wife made the dessert.  You can keep up with Bryant’s culinary successes (and failures) at his new blog: Mercy Buckets—Adventures in (Mostly) French Cooking.  Check it out!

School Christmas Pageant

The kids have been practicing all month for their annual school Christmas pageant.  Vivian’s class opted for an Hawaiian theme: they made grass skirts out of grocery sacks and sang “Mele Kalikimaka.”  If you watch carefully, you can see Viv hula dancing in the video below.  She was the loudest singer, by far, in her class—a real show stopper.  (Viv loves to sing, especially in the car.  She does nice covers of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Part of Your World,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”  Just don’t try to sing along; she prefers to perform solo.  One morning, Bryant even heard her singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in her sleep!)  Henry’s class went for a more traditional line up: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “Little Drummer Boy.”  We heard reports that Henry was hamming it up during practice, but when the big day arrived, he seemed a tad embarrassed to have his parents watching him from the front row.  After the concerts, the kids enjoyed their class holiday parties.  Below are photos and video from the festivities.

 

Christmas Town 2012

We kicked off the holiday season with a quick trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.  Every year they decorate the park for Christmas Town.  We took the kids two years ago, but the weather was so bad (cold, driving rain), we didn’t stay more than an hour.  This year we got lucky.  It was a mild night and no rain.  Unfortunately, that also meant big crowds.  First stop was dinner with Santa and Ms. Claus (and a creepy little elf named "Jingles").  Then we explored the park, which is themed around different European countries (sort of a poor man’s Epcot).  Henry was disappointed to find there were no roller coasters he could ride, but the carousel, bumper cars and miniature airplanes kept him entertained.  We wanted to see the live penguins but not enough to wait 1.5 hours in line.  If we go again, we may try a Friday or Sunday night when the crowds are thinner.  Below are some photos from our night out.

 

  

 

  

Vici

Surprisingly, we’ve never posted about our cat, Vici.  He’s a Himalayan and former show/stud cat.  His name—frequently mispronounced “Vicky”—comes from the Latin saying veni, vidi, vici (“I came, I saw, I conquered”).  Vici was a gift from Mimi Pauline during Elise’s medical residency.  Bryant has something of a love/hate relationship with Vici, simultaneously plotting his removal from the house while slipping him treats from the dinner table.  The kids (especially Vivian) love Vici, but their rambunctious ways have shattered his nerves.  He’s now on a daily dose of Prozac to help keep it all together.  In younger days, Vici would bound around the house, chasing toys and nuzzling against your leg for attention.  Now he mostly sleeps—all day and a good part of the night and always at the head of Henry’s bed.  He lost his teeth a few years back and (as posted earlier) had his beautiful mane shaved for easier grooming.  He’s a shadow of the champion he once was (see vintage photo below), but still a winner in our book...at least until the next vet bill arrives.



Vici in younger days -- with hair, teeth and claws

Hair Cuts

We knew it would happen eventually.  Henry got creative and decided to cut several large chunks of hair (his own) to make “clouds” for a school art project (see picture below).  Fortunately, he was due for a haircut, so we were able to minimize the damage (the barber assured Bryant this sort of thing happens all the time). Concidentally, we decided to have Vici (our pet Himalayan) shaved.  In his old age, Vici has stopped grooming himself, so we opted for a “lion cut” to make life easier.  The result was one fairly ridiculous looking—but much cleaner—cat.

 

Thanksgiving 2012

One stubborn bird

 Mimi and Paw Paw drove up from Alabama to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  Mimi made her usual spread of family favorites: macaroni-and-cheese, rice casserole, lettuce salad, sausage balls and charlotte rouge (or, as Vivian calls it, “charlie rouge”).  We tried roasting a turkey for the first time this year (in the past, we’ve had HoneyBaked Ham or purchased a smoked turkey from Rocklands).  We’ll never know whether it was our oven (which has been acting up) or the bird (which may not have been fully thawed), but despite following Mimi Pauline’s instructions to the letter, our turkey would not cook.  Eventually, we decided to stop waiting (Paw Paw was getting anxious) and eat without it.  When it eventually finished cooking (hours later), it was actually quite tasty.  Ah well, better luck next time (with a better oven).  At least the stress of trying to cook the bird gave us a good excuse to have some extra wine at dinner.

Below are some pictures of Vivian's birthday trip to the American Girl Store in Tysons Corner on Black Friday (see Vivian's 3rd Birthday).

 

Vivian’s 3rd Birthday

Vivian had four (4!) separate birthday celebrations this year.  The first—her official birthday party--was at MoBu Kids, an indoor play facility in Falls Church.  Vivian’s birthday falls over Thanksgiving Day week, so we had to schedule the party several weeks in advance.  Vivian and her classmates (and special guest Sara Powell) enjoyed romping around the “play studio” and participating in the special party games (like bouncing plastic balls on a parachute).  Interestingly, the little boys in Vivian’s class were reluctant (at first) to enter the play studio—it was the girls who took the lead with running, jumping and climbing.  Afterward, we had cake  and snacks in the party room.  Vivian surprised us by requesting a “fairies” birthday cake (we were sure she would want Cinderella).  Henry seemed a little lost during the celebrations but kept himself occupied by climbing the rock wall.

Vivian’s second celebration was closer to her actual birthday and at school, when we brought cupcakes for her classmates and teachers.  Then there was the third celebration when Mimi and Paw Paw visited over Thanksgiving.  Elise, Mimi Joanne and Vivian went for lunch at the American Girl Bistro in Tyson’s Corner, and afterward, Vivian had her new Bitty Twin’s hair styled at the American Girl Salon and shopped for doll accessories.  Actually, Elise did most of the shopping.  Bryant has decided that the American Girl store is a very, very dangerous place.  Finally, we had our own private birthday celebration on the 24th, with just mommy, daddy and big brother Henry.  Vivian got so accustomed to having parties, she seemed a little sad and confused when we explained that there would be no more celebrations until next year.  Below are some pictures from the party at Mobu Kids.