Christmas with raisins, please.

Roxanne has been a lot of fun this Christmas season. She loves all the decorations and colorful lights, and every morning, she hurries me the living room to turn on the Christmas tree ("tippans twee"). By the way, what's funny about her pronunciation of "Christmas" is that she has lots and lots of very clear words -- just not this one.

She started to get the general idea about Santa this year. Here she is, leaving Santa some cookies (Dan handled the milk.)

On Christmas day, we drove up to visit my Aunt and cousins in the Philadelphia area, as we have for several years. On the way up, Roxanne was snacking on some raisins, when I heard:

"Raisin in nose?"

I replied, "No, Roxanne, don't put the raisin in your nose."

"Raisin in nose." (pointing to nose)

She had never put anything in her nose before, so I thought maybe she was just goofing around. I asked her to put her head back, and I peered into her nose, and could just barely see... a raisin.

Dan pulled over the car, I jumped into the back seat with my tweezers, and yanked it out after a couple of tries. It had swelled a little, being dried fruit and all. But all was well. As Fencergal said later, "It's just not Christmas until someone puts a raisin up their nose." I think I'll embroider that on a pillow.

In other News of the Cute:

Roxanne calls herself "the baby daughter," Dan's older daughter, "the big daughter" and Dan's son "the boy daughter."

The baby daughter is exhausted from all the excitement.

Welcome, Yule!

The Shortest Day

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the
Snow-white world,
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen.
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can year them
Echoing, behind us--listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight
This shortest day
As promise wakens in the sleeping land.

They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year, and every year.

Welcome, Yule!

--by Susan Cooper, 1977 http://www.thelostland.com/biography.htm
written for The Christmas Revels
http://www.revels.org/

Nice to see you, too.

Sorry I've been out of touch. What would you like to know?

"How was your Thanksgiving? The last time we heard from you was Halloween!"

Thanksgiving was great, thanks. Dan's sister (J) and neice (S) came to visit from Illinois, and we all had a good time together. Roxanne was in heaven because her Aunt J and Cousin S were so much fun! J excelled at playing with the dollhouse, and S made Roxanne laugh. See below for proof.



Dan's kids came over for Thanksgiving dinner, so we had a nice group for the meal. I like that.

"What's up with that show you are in?"

The show is The Christmas Revels - www.revelsdc.org. Right after Thanksgiving, we really kicked into high gear. From Sunday, November 30th to Friday, December 5th I was at the theater from 5:00pm to at least 10:00pm. We had two shows on Saturday, and two on Sunday. That's a full schedule, but not really much different than other shows I've participated in. The big difference? I used to be able to sleep in to recover. Now, not so much. And I didn't get to see Dan at all during tech week -- he got up before me and was asleep when I got home. It was rough all around, but worth it. The show is excellent, and I'm honored to be a part of it. If you're in the DC area, I encourage you to come see it this weekend! The theme is French Canadian, and I have a big poufy costume and a silly hat. Who could miss that?

"How is Roxanne doing with the patch and glasses?"

She's doing just great. She doesn't take them off until given permission, and seems to be seeing pretty well. She has a check-up with her eye doctor tomorrow.

"What's the latest in News of the Cute?"

*We've been working on "please" and "thank you" lately. When Roxanne doesn't want something, she sometimes says, "no, please."

*We got our Christmas tree tonight, and Roxanne wanted to know when we would put on the "ormanents."

*I wasn't able to tuck Roxanne in bed for over a week during dress rehearsals, and when I finally did last night, she kissed me on both cheeks (melt!). Tonight she sang along with her goodnight song -- yes, melt, but also good pitch matching!