*Eloise

I hate to write this, but would rather just get it out there so you friends know... I haven't wanted to talk about it much. Last week Eloise was taken from her hutch by what was probably raccoons, though there were also coyote tracks. Matty had caught some checking her out the day before, and it just makes me sick and so sorry that I let this happen. She did spend that night inside, but then was out again during the day. I should have brought her in in the late afternoon, but just forgot and we think it happened in the early evening. Thankfully there was no trace of her and nothing to really clean up, except her destroyed cage.

We are all pretty devastated - this is the first family pet we've lost and I'm sure you know how incredibly special she was to Vera, and all of us. It's definitely been a teaching moment about life and death and grief, and we're thankful that this first experience was with "just" a pet. It is such a sad and horrible thing to have to break news like that to your child. It brought so many memories of my own bunnies who I loved dearly and who mostly died tragic deaths as well. I know it's not necessarily Biblical, but I don't mind telling Vera that Eloise is in bunny heaven hopping around with my Louie and Muffy. The whole thing really brought more understanding to her little soul about death, and she expressed herself that she wants heaven with Jesus "where there is no more dying or being sad." A combination of a genuine care for sweet, much-loved Eloise, hormones and a terrible cold have made me a mess too. Edie of course has no idea what it really means that Eloise died and talks about it with such bluntness - we just ignore her :)

 Anyway, that's our sad news.

*getting ready for Christmas

Some pictures from the last few weeks getting ready for Christmas...

A little shopping at Faneuil Hall the weekend after Thanksgiving:

Went to the local Christmas parade with some good friends. It was a really sweet parade with lots of fun old cars and bands, clydesdales, clowns and not too many advertisements.

the tree:

the little bag on the left is from Edie to Vera - 2 books right off our shelves :)

little hideout for snacks and UNO:

one of many catalogues they've gone through circling, love the note :)

making Christmas cookies with some of our favorite friends:

our sweet neighbors gave us some electric candles - 

a very New Englandy thing to do apparently :)

The girls met Santa for the first time at Ben's Christmas party!  It was so cute to watch their little faces.  Both were so excited to go to a party and were serious about dressing up. Edie even had me put her hair in a ponytail - something she has never ever asked for.  

Vera at her school performance - they sang "Jolly Old St. Nicholas," but Vera insisted it was Jolly Oats St. Nicholas :)

*el frio y la nieve

We haven't had the subzero temperatures yet like places in the West, but winter is definitely almost here!  So far the girls are totally embracing it. I don't mind so much now that we have a cozy home with a new boiler and a wood-burning stove as well!

This was the first inch we got earlier this week:

not much, but enough for snow angels:

this area on the playground was flooded a little and then froze - the first day was the best, so many kids out there after school - falling on their butts and laughing :)

We got a lot of snow last night and they went out for a while before bed.  I used to love going out at night while it was still snowing - the light in the sky is kind of pink and for some reason it doesn't feel that cold.

she's so cute all bundled up :)

*cotidiano

Just some daily life.  We sent Vera off to school with our across-the-street neighbors this morning as I've been doing a little more frequently.  A combination of using pregnancy as an excuse [I really could make the 8 minute walk], it being 24 degrees and the fact that I stayed up until 1am watching Love Actually last night [I knew I'd pay for it]. After watching just a little too much TV [Daniel Tiger and Strawberry Shortcake], Edie got busy playing. Here in the photo she said, "Bye!! Aftah wok I'm going to New Hampshah! I'll be back at thoty-nine!"  Earlier she told me a random story about a worm on the stairs, saying, "Dad hot the wom. He hot the wom because he didn't want it theyah." [Ben doesn't remember this story about hurting a worm.]  She spent the next hour riding to and fro on our mouse toy, spreading blankets and napkins around presumably making beds for puppy in New Hampshire. She also at one point went to visit Eloise and fill her already overflowing food.

Now she is hopefully going to fall asleep in quiet time while I sit here and finish a Christmas gift before we go get Vera.  Oatmeal bread is in the oven and will most likely be eaten all this afternoon [don't think I do this all the time, but I'm glad I did today!]

There's a day in our life!  My favorites are the quiet ones like this at home, with nowhere to rush off to.

*día de gracias 2013

wild turkey in our backyard!

 

Unfortunately, I barely took any pictures this Thanksgiving! My mom was here for two weeks, and my dad one. It was fun to have them here at the new house - they really helped catch us up with a few home and craft projects. I only got one picture of my dad as he and Ben sat watching Thanksgiving Day football.  No pictures of me either - Ben took some while my mom and I cooked, but I seriously looked like a lumpy cow and will not be posting them anywhere :)

   Here's my mom with her very first task - Puppy had been slightly mauled by a friend's dog the day before. So thankful my mom is so skilled at this kind of thing! You can't even see a scar.

 

I thought their little outfits were so cute - they didn't even put up a fight to wear them!  I just said it would make me realllly happy.

girls had a little tea party while they waited for dinner:

Edie helping herself to Dad's turkey:

The food was so good! We stuck to the basics, but everything was homemade: brined fresh turkey, pumpkin rolls, steamed green beans, good gravy, potatoes, cranberry and stuffing exactly how I like it. Pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. I was incredibly exhausted by the time we sat down to eat - it was actually more enjoyable the second day for me.

It was a lovely holiday and we were thankful to have my parents visit!  We also welcomed our first little cousin on Ben's side two days before, making this year extra special.

*handstands

Vera is showing a lot of improvement in her handstands lately!! I love when she can see how lots of practice pays off. The other night she was on a roll and had several really good ones where she could even balance there for a second or two. She said her boots must be magic :)

so pleased:

*colores de otoño

Last weekend we took advantage of a warm Saturday and went for a quick walk through the Harvard Arboretum [not near the campus, but run by the University]. I think it is the oldest of its kind in the country?  Anyway, it was really amazingly beautiful - I promise I didn't have to edit or enhance any of these pictures!

*treinta y cuatro

Not sure if I posted these pictures from my birthday last month. I let Vera skip school and we took the train up to Boston for the morning. I'd been wanting to try a certain bakery and visit a certain fabric store in a neighborhood I haven't explored yet. We had a fun time, though my idea of walking blocks and blocks through the city wasn't quite as appealing to them :)

I'm glad I at least had her bring the scooter so she didn't have to walk too much! Crazy to think how my girls are growing up so urban : )

Below is Edie helping me peel almonds for dinner. I made one of the first risottos I ever made - Jamie Oliver's with roasted garlic, thyme, marscapone and toasted almonds. It's amazing.

A sidenote: Edie is wearing this sweatshirt here that I bought her at H&M. I never buy her clothes because of so many hand-me-downs/gifts, but I thought she would especially like this one and so I did. Well she doesn't - and I think it's purely being stubborn because she knows I like it. Isn't that nice?  Anyway, she did show me how much she loves me by coming up with the idea to wear it on my birthday - you could tell she thought that was a big deal :)

Ben was very sweet and bought me gifts that show he really knows me [and knows I wouldn't want him to spend too much $] - fresh ground almond butter, fig jam + cheese and a bunch of those orange papery lantern flowers from whole foods ♥

*tortas de barro

Have I talked about how much Edie loves making mud pies?  She set up this little mud pie kitchen for herself pretty much right when we moved in. There were some really warm days last week and she was out there again making a "pumpkin mud pie party" for us two.  I love this kind of creative play so so much, it makes me so happy to see her out there adding together and mixing and talking to herself, coming to the door once in a while to refill the water jug.  Vera will play sometimes too but then gets mud on her arm and wants to come wash it off right away, sigh :)