Sylvia, Reese & Co.

Sylvia and I had a chance to go for trolley ride and sing-a-long with Mr. McFeely yesterday.  Yes, the Mr. McFeely from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.  While Sylvia hasn’t seen Mr. Rogers yet, it was fun for me to see him.  Mr. McFeely brought out all the old puppets from the show including Daniel the Lion, King Friday, X the Owl, and a few others.  Our friend Danny is the Coordinator for the Children’s Playlab at The Field Museum and invited us along for the sing-a-long trolley ride.  We joined in singing Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and a few other songs.  Afterward, we played in the museum and joined Mr. McFeely for story time.

The experience was featured in the Chicago Tribune.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-mcfeelydec31,0,2602266.story

Mr. Rogers was taken off the air a few years ago and with all our efforts, maybe Sylvia’s generation will get to experience his insights.  http://savemisterrogers.com/

Mr. McFeely with King Friday

Storytime with Mr. McFeely

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We just returned from a week in warm Mississippi visiting family for Christmas. This year we made the 12-hour drive instead of flying, and it was a fun family adventure. Trip highlights included meeting cousin Edward for the first time, meeting Adrian’s baby Cal for the first time, riding horses, fishing, cooking, eating, and of course opening presents. We took about 300 photos, but have whittled them down to 50. Take a look:

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Almost there.

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Tomorrow, pending the ice and snowstorm through the midwest, we will attempt our first (of many) road trips to Mississippi.  Chris and I are have put Sylvia to bed, are about to watch the forecast, and deal with any travel anxieties with our various tendancies – mine is to clean, organize, and clean some more while Chris tries to keep me from cleaning and organizing every last thing.

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The past week has been busy, so we haven’t had much chance to make posts. Baby Quin, Nathan and Sabrina’s son was baptized, and Cindy is in town visiting. Also it’s been snowing a lot. Well, it’s bathtime, so just check out the photos:

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Since a few weeks ago, when we all made the trek to Macy’s to introduce Sylvia to St. Nick, there have been several conversations in our home about this mysterious figure.  We have an assortment of Christmas books with tales of Santa, his elves, reindeer, and even a story about Santa saving the environment (thanks to Dede and Papa).

Anyway, this mysterious person has created a range of emotions in our house, a sort of dichotomy between fear and happiness.  This morning, Sylvia was convinced Santa was coming and kept saying, “Santa, coming.  Scary, Mommy pick me up.”  So, I spent the morning trying to explain that Santa was not coming just yet and that while he may seem scary, he is actually pretty nice to children.  How do you really explain the large man behind the beard with the small beady eyes and glasses?

We’ve been trying to ease this fear by talking about things Santa may do for other people.  Here is Sylvia’s list: Christmas water (not sure what this is), oranges, fried rice, kitty cat water, a new cage for Charlie, a blanket, a doll, and more oranges.  We’ll see what he has in mind.

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Untouched Snow

Tracks

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Last night we braved the frigid weather and got a Christmas tree. We picked out a tree that would be size-appropriate for Sylvia (and our condo). We also wanted somthing that wwas potted so we could have it for a while and possibly plant it outside after the holidays. Here we are getting ready for the holidays – and Santa of course:

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