Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

The tree has been up and lit for over a week and finally - finally! the Wily Jeneric family found time to decorate. As is tradition, the girls put their new ornaments on the tree first: a lion for Jeneric and an elephant for Toddler Wily.

Rules of the road

This Thanksgiving brought our first long-haul car trip. A whopping 9 hours of driving (2.5 hours of stopping/eating/playing). To say we were nervous as we pushed off is an understatement. Here is what we learned this weekend:

1. Leaving at 4 am just means the children will wake up earlier. And want to color in the dark.
2. If you fail to bring a roll of paper towels and a plastic bag, one of the children will throw up.
3. Old magazines are the best toy - especially if you're cool with the ripping and folding that will ensue.
4. Upstate New York has no place decent to eat. No - it doesn't.
5. You will go hoarse after the 78th round of Jingle Bells.
6. You will not tire of your daughter taking pretend pictures of all the Christmas decorations (and she will take quite a few).
7. And in the end, you will have a grand Thanksgiving, complete will all the trimmings. You will also learn just how hard it is to photograph 8 children.
   

Fluffing the tree

The title about says it all, don't you think?

The world of make believe just gained a new resident

Jeneric's imagination is increasing at warp speed.

Exhibit A: Skate boarding.


Exhibit B: Fishing.


And Sunday night, she was a cat. Which meant using the litter box - not the potty.

Silver Bells in the City

We may have mentioned this, but around here, we start celebrating the winter holidays early. On Friday, the season officially opened with Silver Bells in the City, which includes an electric light parade. With the balmy weather, the city streets were packed. We arrived a bit later than planned and found ourselves several rows back. Never fear - Eric is tall and we brought the back pack carrier.



Toddler Wily wasn't quite sure what to make of all the lights, the marching bands and the crowd. Jeneric, however, was quite thrilled with the whole procession - especially the marching bands.



And as the evening wore on we discovered that, in a pinch, even Jenni is tall enough!



The floats were quite entertaining. Jeneric, as you might predict, loved the 'rainbow float.'



Tough to get a good picture of the floats, but you get the idea - take a truck or bus and cover it creatively (or not) with lights.

C is for Cookie!

Eric, Jeneric and friends whipped up some no-bake cookies. The recipe called for quick oats - which we don't have - so they substituted regular oats. The resulting cookies were edible, if a little chewy. Toddler Wily, however, found them quite delicious.



More, please!


Jeneric and friend felt that while technically these were cookies, there are better examples on the market.

Fort Jeneric

At a recent play-date, Jeneric and a friend constructed a fort (aka Toddler Trap).



While the older girls reveled in their construction prowess, one Toddler was eying up the joint for a take-down.



The get-away vehicle was fast, if a little incredulous at the ease of the heist.



Figuring the criminal was too far gone with the loot, the girls regrouped and closed construction once again.



Here, the accused pleads her innocence.