A Very Victorian Christmas

The kids were supposed to go see Santa at our school Christmas party, but it was cancelled thanks to a healthy dose of ice and snow. They don’t know who this Santa character is, but they see pictures of him everywhere, and people keep talking to them about him. Because they don’t like strangers, and because our friend Bill, who the kids know, was going to be Santa, we thought we were golden. No such luck. We may still try to pay way too much and take them to see mall Santa. Slim chance. Just in case, I PhotoShopped our kids’ heads on the bodies of twins sitting on Santa’s lap. The result is odd.

Fake Keillor and Emaline with Santa.

I am working on creating silhouettes of the kids. In sketching them out, I noticed the Keillor is starting to look a little older than Emaline. I wonder if this trend will continue.

Guess Who?

I am very excited that my children have chosen a favorite book. I know it is their favorite because we have to have two copies of it and we have to hide it from them so they don't destroy it. In 1977, my aunt bought me a book that became one of my all-time favorites. Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen features a naked Mickey saving breakfast by flying to the Milky Way and pouring milk into the batter of the bakers who bake until dawn. The Schmookies love it as much as I did. When we get to the part where Mickey cries, "Cock a Doodle Doo," Keillor tries to mimic him. They love to find the moon on every page, and we must read the book at least twice before bedtime. Once I do the narration and Aimee does the voices; next we switch. Wrapped in the favorite blankets, each on a different lap, they know when to turn the pages and when the story is sadly over.