Highlights:

• It snowed a few days before Christmas and it was on a day that we could bundle up and play outside. The girls basically just like to eat the snow. And then we wash it down with hot chocolate.
• Mary Eleanor was born a couple of weeks before Christmas. She is a beautiful little baby – she came over with her siblings on her one-week birthday for pizza and a Christmas movie. Jane was really traumatized we didn’t have a place set for her at the table. Maybe next year Jane.
• Aunt Eleanor is here! Uncle Nate & Aunt Claire and baby Nolan (who I managed *not* to get a picture) of were here too.
• We made what felt like a lightening trip to Richland for two days and enjoyed Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day with my family. Baby Judah is delightful – I love these two almost-one-year-old nephews – they are both such boys…
• We ditched the traditional Christmas Eve service and had a little home service in my parent’s living room. It was such a sweet time.
• My Dad bought White Christmas to watch on Christmas Eve and it was just so great and Christmassy and it felt like the longest amount of time I have sat down in weeks. In the very best possible way.
• And now we are home. Telfer worked the day after Christmas and I worked a bit on Friday. We are still having little Christmassy gatherings and Telfer and I are headed to the theater this afternoon to see American Hustle. The girls are enjoying their Christmas presents – it’s so fun to hear them playing with their new flashlights while dressed as Cinderella crossed with Little Red Riding Hood. Awesome.

Behind the game here but we had a good few weeks leading up to Christmas. The chickens needed to have their wings clipped to keep them in the backyard. We watched a youtube video on how to do it – a charming New Zealand chicken lady – and then proceeded to DYI.  Telfer clipped and I held. The girls and I baked and Nutcrackered and Christmas crafted – all that good stuff. Cate asked Santa for a doll with rainbow hair while Jane asked for a pink sea otter just like sis’. Santa came through.

How was Thanksgiving ten days ago? Somehow it was and now it seems like Christmas is basically here. Which isn’t really true but it feels that way. We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Telfer and I love cooking Thanksgiving together but we have learned after 12.5 years of marriage that it is, perhaps, better to work on separate projects. I have a flurry approach to cooking while Telfer is more composed. I think you can imagine. The company was so wonderful: the Duerre clan, Maresa, Nana and Chris and Mendy. The adults barely, barely outnumbered the children. Jane ate a whole can of olives by herself. I am not kidding. It was just a good day. The one horrible moment was when I thought one of my chickens (Pip) had been killed by a neighbor dog. I had a total freakout moment – running outside with just socks, with the stovetop on, literally crying over my chicken. She’s fine. Another thing to be thankful for! And of course I am thankful for my girls, and Telfer and our family and friends too.

And now we are hurtling through the Christmas season. We watched Elf for the first time with the girls. I love that movie. It makes me laugh. However, watching Elf with the girls was so interesting. They watched with no sense of disbelief or irony or cynicism. They did not think it was funny and kept looking up at me when I laughed. Buddy the Elf’s adventures in New York. Yes, of course. 

And now, Ryan the Elf is back from the North Pole. My girls really love Ryan. I will spare you pictures of his every move but here’s his first four days back at our house. Jane was telling me and Cate how she needed to ask Santa Claus to bring her a pink sea otter for Christmas and Cate says “NO JANE, first you have to tell Ryan that you want a pink sea otter and then HE tells Santa what you want.” Cate clearly has a finely honed sense of how this all works.

I saw this print on a blog and loved it. I did not love the fact it was being sold for $45. So Luke Duerre freeformed it for me on good paper and I framed and now it’s hanging above our television. Fitting, no?

I know I have said this before but I just love the Penguin Drop Caps series. Penguin has published up to P now – Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way. I saw on Powell’s that they are 30% off. Perfect Christmas presents… 

This week has been kind of a killer. What kept me going was this: Thursday night. Ann Patchett and Nancy Pearl. Town Hall. Seattle. Telfer. We had the best time. We were able to get up there in time for dinner. La Bete was as good as we had hoped and we kind of went there accidentally but in the very best way. I had most divine gnocchi I have ever had in my life and now I am plotting how to make gnocchi and dreaming of a homey little scene where the girls and I are making homemade gnocchi and then Cate eats it like a normal person. We shall see. But! Last night! Ann Patchett and Nancy Pearl are a fabulous combination – funny, gracious and opinionated. I have book lists galore and I am so enjoying This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (personal essays). Also, one of the best parts of last night was walking. I miss wearing my big black coat and walking around in a cold city at night with Telfer. I think it’s one of my most favorite things. 

And finally, I must, must get started reading The Lowland for our first book club in December. It’s been sitting on my nightstand so patiently. Oh, and for those of you that are riveted by our Harry Potter Homework, we are now on Half-Blood Prince. And I must admit, I was relieved to leave behind Order of the Phoenix. Angry Harry is my least favorite Harry.

Last Friday we did our usual Seattle run: Top Pot, Aquarium, Market but instead of going home we got on the ferryboat to Bainbridge and then drove down to Shelton to stay one night at the Lake House. The girls loved the ferryboat although Jane had a hard time figuring out the whole concept of driving your car onto a boat. She kept asking, “but where is the boat?” We’re on the boat Jane. “But where is the boat?” 

Telfer’s parents have owned the Lake House for many years and Telfer and I have stayed out there quite a few times – when we were first married and semi-homeless, during the summer in medical school and we stored our car out there when we were in New York. But this is the first time we went out and stayed as a family. So fun. Telfer unfortunately overdid it at work the night before and got a fever but he is the sweetest and best sick person ever. He built a roaring fire and we just hung out. It was just a wonderful little getaway for all of us. The girls and I went for a Fall-ish walk on Friday afternoon, I ate a lot (I mean a lot) of cheese and bread and smoked salmon then ran around the lake twice to make up for it. The girls and I did some crafts together and they watched a movie while I finished Possession. It made our weekend feel so long and together-y. 

And then this week has gone by in an absolute blur. A good blur. There were some amazing crab cakes Telfer made for dinner last night. Cate even tried a bite. She hated it, but she tried it. And now somehow it’s Friday again. The same things have been piled on the guest room bed for days. I am conquering email and starting to contemplate Christmas cards while deciding what to cook this weekend. Thinking about Thanksgiving. I love having a busy, productive week but then space at the end to regroup and think things through. Just now I am thinking that Thursday nights should always be a celebratory, end-of-week dinner for our family. Preferably with Telfer cooking. And champagne like there was last night. Yes.