Puzzling!

 I was absolutely intrigued when my neighbor mentioned that her 18 year old sister had spent an entire Saturday putting together a 1000 piece puzzle from start to finish. I thought long and hard about that investment of time in such an activity. I've never done anything like that! I was so fascinated by that, that I picked up a 4 pack of 500 piece puzzles with very pretty scenes and decided to try it!

 We have an old card table set that I bought about 15 years ago and I put it up in an out of the way spot in the living room.

It didn't take me long to realize that doing a puzzle requires an abundance of natural light because the differences in color shading are so subtle. I moved it close to the window and gave myself permission to work on it all day! The kids helped for awhile but that wasn't as an idyllic scene as I had hoped!

 The main reason why we have never been able to do this kind of thing in the past is because of a steady stream of young children growing up in this family. Now that our own children are old enough to leave the pieces on the table, I decided to take a chance with my grandson by simply explaining to him that he shouldn't touch them. I had never thought of that with my own!

It also helped because he has been on a puzzle kick himself, both here and at his home. These wooden boxed puzzles by the Melissa and Doug toy company are so durable and a pleasure to put together. They each have 12 pieces and are of different transportation vehicles. 

The little guy can put them together with minimal guidance and has learned some puzzle vocabulary such as "edge piece" and "corner piece".

 I regretted not getting a picture of Tim and Kristy while they sat down for a long time to help on this puzzle. As crazy as it sounds, we decided to give up on finishing this one because after a solid hour, we just couldn't get these solid white pieces to fit! We simply opened up the next one and Kristy and Miss J assembled the entire frame for it.

Some of the oomph has left to work hard on puzzle number two but I am reluctant to put it away. Perhaps we will get a big snowstorm soon and then working a puzzle in the very bright reflected light will be just the thing to invest our time in!

Doll Salon

 I hope that I don't sound materialistic as I highlight some of the fun Christmas gifts that the kids received and have had so much fun with this year! Juby told me later that she had an idea what might be in this long box on Christmas morning...

 A real American Girl Doll with gorgeous blonde curls!

As my niece says, its not as much fun to own just one doll, because then they have no one to talk to! Luckily, Miss J already owned a Target brand doll, but her hair had gotten wildly shaggy! 

I was very proud when she thought to shampoo, condition and set the hair on sponge  rollers!

This was fun to watch and I wondered if it would make a difference.

 The burning woodstove put off a lot of heat and made for a great hairdryer.

This old doll had to keep up with her brand new friend with Goldilock's tresses.

The next morning, when the curlers came out, her old doll looked much better with hair more manageable and full of body. The two dolls look nice together and she is having fun playing with both of them.

Star Wars Legos

 As previously mentioned, John is a Star Wars fanatic. He also enjoys playing with small toys. It was very easy to please him this Christmas with sets of Star Wars Legos.

 I couldn't resist taking a picture of this wonderful arrangement that he made of all the different men, robots, guns and light sabers in his kits. C3PO and R2D2 are located at the top left.

 I underestimated the amount of play value that Legos have. I thought that the fun was in the building of the items but not so for John. He truly enjoys fighting battles with these figures and has long adventures with them.

 During the same few weeks, John created a film of sorts by taking still pictures of a lego scene with minute changes in each photo.

As a parent, it makes me very happy when my children use their imagination and really play with their toys. These Lego sets have been a good investment and so far have provided for many hours of fun.

Green Machine

 For many years now, Jeff has picked a different member of the family to esteem with a special Christmas gift. If he followed his usual pattern, we figured that this would be Sam's year.

It was hard to tell who was more excited, the giver or the receiver as Sam unwrapped a complete outfit, trimmed out in green, which  included a jersey, pants, a helmet and riding goggles from his older brother.

The last present opened on Christmas morning was in a tiny giftbag for Sam.
Inside it was the key to this ATV, already well broken in!

Sam looks great as he rides his new wheels and also this little minibike on the trails!

Winter Wonderland

 One evening in December, we attended Winter Wonderland which is a fantastic light display set up in an entire park.

 This beautiful, woodsy park has a large pond, or small lake if you will, which is surrounded by paved walking paths. The Parks and Rec Dept installs tens of thousands of Christmas lights every year around the park and charges a very modest price to stroll  through it.

 I love to go to this outdoor evening attraction which is open every night for almost a month. We could not believe how well attended this was on the night we went. The parking lot was full with many cars coming in and out but we didn't feel crowded in the park.

 At one point, the decorations are electronically synchronized to cheerful, loudly amplified Christmas music. They turn on and off again in time to the music which makes for a great light show.

Folks of all ages took in the cool evening air  from seniors to babies in strollers. It is definitely a family attraction but would also be a lot of fun for a group of friends or a romantic date!

 I have always wanted to go when it was lightly snowing! We are having such a mild winter so far (no complaints!), that it actually started to rain by the time that we were finished walking. This decoration is  "Seven Swans a' Swimming."

The proceeds gathered from this delightful winter walk are often given to different charities on specific nights.  I look forward to making this a tradition and hope that next year we can get a bigger group to join us for walking in a Winter Wonderland.

The Maryland Theater

Wanting to be supportive and also curious to see what Sam's classmates were like, I volunteered to be a chaperone for a field trip to the theater.

 It was a joy when Sam wanted to sit next to me on the bus. I really enjoyed the camaraderie as we traveled, and found his classmates to be funny and not quite as rowdy as I had expected!

 Our destination was to this very old downtown theater used for live performances, modernized for the times but leaving its old fashioned elegance and beauty intact.

 The place was spectacular with the very large stage, auditorium and elevated seating boxes along the walls. We were treated to about ten plays of famous short stories including  Edgar Alan Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" and "The Raven". We also saw "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Necklace" written by other authors. The acting was fantastic and I particularly noticed how the excellent special effects helped to keep the junior high students' attention. I was thoroughly entertained and thrilled to be reacquainted with these works of literature with which I was distantly familiar. The students had been studying them in school and this really must have augmented those lessons.

This theater is located in an old city and  I got an absolute kick out of the meandering path we walked at a rapid, no nonsense clip through the alleyways between old buildings. We arrived at the theater just in time and left promptly and purposefully after the show to the arriving buses. It reminded me of some kind of secret agent movie where there isn't a minute to spare. We were hauling....! It seemed to have kept the group focused and discouraged  foolishness.

I really enjoyed this outing and was so glad that I went. I saw some fantastic acting and had the pleasure of experiencing a beautiful old theater in a city that I had never really been in. I also made the acquaintance of  some of the young people that Sam goes to school with and can now put a face to the names he mentions.

The best part was spending an exciting day with my son and seeing him be his best self in a group of his peers.

George Washington's Office Museum

 We took advantage of the chance to visit the actual office building used by sixteen year old George Washington when he worked as a surveyor in what was then known as the Western Frontier.

 On this evening there was no admission cost and it was a nice treat to do something together as a family. We had gotten out of the habit of doing those kinds of things regularly and have realized how much we have been missing. It makes a difference in the dynamics to have Dad along no matter what we're doing but most especially when viewing an attraction  involving history which he loves! The kids behave better and I can be more relaxed. We can all get out of the house and have some fun, which isn't always my specialty!
This is one of the oldest buildings in town and is very small. It is filled with artifacts discovered near it from the time period and old surveying instruments like the ones George Washington might have used as a young man.

 This sculpture is of the young George Washington. I believe it is cast in bronze.

 On the same evening, we also visited Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters which was decorated for Christmas. We were escorted up the walkway by these Civil War soldier reenactors holding candle-lit lanterns. Women were dressed up in long gowns inside and gave a history presentation in each room of the house. The tiny gift shop there was filled with good books on the Civil War and  fun historical items for kids which made for some  good Christmas presents, if you like that sort of thing... Which I do!