Dino art

The boys drew and sculpted in the dinosaur art room.

Dinosaur nest

The boys enjoyed pretending to be dinosaurs. Julien liked leading the pack. Sebastian loved putting on a dinosaur costume just like the big kids. Dinosaur is one of Sebastian's words, although he gets confused by the syllables. He says some variation of "dindidododo."

Digging for dinosaur bones

We took the boys to the Children's Museum (always a favorite). They enjoyed digging for dinosaur bones, although Sebastian and Benjamin had a hard time wearing the goggles. The paleontologist told them about the new dinosaur, Dracorex hogwartsia, named in honor of J.K. Rowling.

Playing at the party

There was lots to do and play at the party. Julien was very happy to play with Wade, who is also currently obsessed with Star wars.

The twins turn one

The twins had their first birthday party the day after Christmas. Richard had already left town for the MLA (all the more reason it was great to have Jessica and family in town), so Jessica and I took the kids to the party. It was a great scene, lots of young kids running around, adults hanging out in the kitchen with lots of good food, and, to Jessica's delight, several women talking about knitting projects.

Battlebots

Sebastian and Benjamin were not the best at sharing. Sebastian got very territorial, frequently pointing at Benjamin with a cry when Benjamin had something of Sebastian's in his grip. Although they did enjoy each others company, there was a lot of battling between them. Julien dubbed them the "battlebots."

Telescope

Jessica and Andy gave us a telescope. Christmas evening Andy set it up outside with Richard and Julien. Julien swears he saw some aliens on Mars. While Richard was reading a night time story, I took a moment to look at Mars and the craters on the moon.

Christmas crackers

After Christmas dinner we had traditional English Christmas crackers, complete with tissue paper crowns and incomprehensible jokes. My family first used Christmas crackers when we were in London during my eighth grade. I am always happy when I can find them in the United States.

Playing

After all the presents were opened the kids played furiously until Sebastian and Benjamin crashed out.

Opening frenzy

Presents, presents and more presents.

The calm before the storm

Stockings

The Stockings were opened quickly.

Santa and his elves

On Christmas Eve, after setting out cookies and milk for Santa, Julien hurried to bed, worrying that he would run into Santa. Santa and his elves were up very late wrapping presents and stuffing stockings.

Margot, Malia, Claude and Ella

On Christmas Eve Margot and Malia (Jessica's friends from college) and their two kids, Claude and Ella, came over in the late afternoon and evening. The kids got along wonderfully, creating x-rays with binoculars (diagnosis: broken ribs), dressing up as Darth Vader and rescuing Princess Leia, and generally freaking about. They were visiting from Ohio for a trip centered on the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. We were overjoyed to see them.

Christmas together

Jessica, Andy and Benjamin visited us for the week of Christmas. It was fun to have all the kids together. We hadn't seen each other since last Christmas! Benjamin and Sebastian had changed so much. Benjamin was overjoyed by all the toys and commotion. Sebastian was a bit wary of Benjamin and territorial of his belongings, but in all, enjoyed Benjamin's company.

Decorating the tree

We decorated the tree in preparation for Jessica, Andy and Ben's visit. Julien chose the cat head (that I once made with the intention of making a puppet) for the top of the tree. Sebastian had his first candy cane, a big, sticky mess.

Snowmen

I loved Julien's snowman on his classes bulletin board. He said it was covered with egyptian writing. His snow man is saying, "I'm going to throw a snow ball!"