Cold Front

Today we saw a rainbow - it might have been the first one I've ever seen in December. It was an unusual day with dark, heavy clouds hanging low in the sky, racing across the horizon as the temperature plunged downward. In our neighborhood, all the trash cans left out for the garbage truck - now without their ballast - all blew over like dominoes down the street. Our poor Nativity set was ravaged by winds - who knew such hurricane force winds would sweep down on poor Bethlehem?

Today Madison and Mommy visited once more. Mommy helped Daddy assemble a large amount of costumes for tonight's KidPak service, where we had a lot of kids dressed up as various characters from the Nativity scene. Madison in the meantime was busy on the computers - she goes straight to "Angry Birds" and the Apple's photo booth program. She loves that one, and uses it to take lots of movies and pictures of herself. Here's one below with Daddy, where she has this blurry filter on:

Don't ask me why we're in this pose. Perhaps we were completely shocked by the change in weather outside. Currently, it's around 36 degrees, which I know is nothing compared to the folks up in the Northeast. And what temperatures they're going through are nothing compared to the temps in Nome, Alaska. Or even Attu Island! But for us, with this sharp wind slicing through the air, it is a bitter, unfriendly cold that drives you inside.

The bright side of it is that it is starting to at least feel like Christmas, temperature-wise.

Madison had a good day at school today. She spent some time drawing this afternoon - Mommy told a story about Madison and a drawing she did. It was of herself, a self portrait.

As you can see above, lines were drawn down a face, coming from the eyes: they were tears, Madison told Mommy.

"Why are you crying in the drawing?" Mommy asked.

"I'm in China," Madison replied. "I was waiting for you."

After hearing that, we're all crying now. Tears of happiness, of course. And no matter the temperature outside, we're all warm inside.

Sweet Dreams!

Tonight, we gingerbread architects went to work, assembling our annual masterpiece! This year, we we got our ginger construction hats on and got busy making a sweet memory.

Boy did we overdo it. This is a dentist's nightmare, an epic splattering of sugar, candy canes, sugar plums, sweet tarts, M&Ms, snowman peeps, christmas peeps, peppermint pieces, and at least fifteen gallons of icing. We had so much icing on this thing, there wasn't a square millimeter of gingerbread visible: everything was covered in white. Lots of white. Lots and lots and lots of dripping white, everywhere.

We all had a really fun time putting this one together, despite the fact that nobody would ever attempt to eat this house. We covered it with icing, and then let Madison smother it with candy canes and other childhood delights. In the end, it sort of came out looking like a piece of uber-sweet folk art - but we're proud of it. Quite different than our usual effort, but still pretty fun!

Sweet dreams!

Mt. St. Leaf

After a tough weekend, we got back to the business of taking care of the house, which included the three metric tons of leaves in the front yard. I don't remember that many leaves actually on our trees in the front yard, and yet there they were, spread all across the yard like some sort of vaguely interesting carpet. Daddy approached the mass of brown and orange with his blower, holding the stance of a Ghostbuster ready for action. And yes, there was action! As Mommy was blowing, Madison dashed out to battle the leaf monster, rolling and throwing herself at the swirling vortex of fallen leaves. I wish we could have gotten photos of it - the stack of leaves was bigger than most pieces of furniture! It was that perfect pile of leaves to take a flying leap into, and Mommy was not going to stop Madison, who was sorely tempted to do just that.

Daddy finally finished painting the deck a bit today - the weather was actually pretty nice outside for working. Too bad we had an appointment in Forsyth at 2:00, or we'd be getting a whole lot more done today.

Our appointment was at Doc Williams' place for an adjustment. Madison had a great time as always, squealing loudly and giggling as the chiropractor did his work. Mommy and Daddy didn't exactly squeal. We more or less just got tired. That sort of relaxes you, and then you're ready for a snooze.

Only we didn't snooze. We made a quick trip to Goodwill to drop some items off - a few bags, actually. We also shopped a bit: Mommy got a new shirt, and Daddy picked up some books for Madison. Also, a record from a musical about Sherlock Holmes. I'll have to look that one up - I had no idea!

Madison had a good, long bath tonight, as the rolling in leaves sort of left her a little dirty. Tonight we'll probably all go to bed early, as each one of us is somewhat exhausted from the long weekend. Tomorrow, I imagine we'll start to catch up on sleep, work and Christmas season activities. It's amazing how much we do each Christmas: there are photos to pick up, cards to send, gifts to buy, wreaths to hang up, and a Nativity set to put in the front yard. It's a good thing we already got our tree up and decorated, or else I fear we'd be somewhat overwhelmed!

MADISON'S BOOK CLUB

We read this book tonight - and if you didn't notice already, we're fans of William Joyce in books and movies. Rolie Olie is a series of books that Madison likes reading, and it is also a series she likes to watch on television. There's a Christmas special, and a Christmas book as well called "Snowie Rolie." The artwork in this book is friendly and familiar, and quite colorful too. Rolie and Zowie have to take their snowman to Chillsville before he melts, and when they're there they meet a legend: Klanky Klaus! He's a robotic version of Santa, who welcomes everyone to Chillsville with open arms - along with his snowman army. This was a fun seasonal read - we're doing different Christmas stories each night this month, and each one after we take a link off of the advent chain. Right now it says just nineteen days to go!

A Christmas Carol

Here's the cast for week one of "Humbug!" We spent a very late night getting it all ready - Madison in tow. But everything turned out fantastic! There's a cast of over twenty currently, and Mommy has them looking very nice. It was a lot of work for everyone, and when it was done we all breathed a sigh of relief: it was perfect. It was great to throw in a little culture, and of course teach some valuable lessons along the way. Madison may make a cameo on stage in the future - we'll keep this blog updated.

When we got home, we had barely enough energy to get lunch together, and then there was a serious crash: we hit the bed, all three of us. Under the covers, and out like a light. Two and a half hours later, we began to stir a bit - can you believe we slept that long? I can, because we were up pretty late the last few nights. This series was a bigger endeavor than others have been traditionally, and we were pretty zapped.

We made the long and arduous journey down the stairs... and to the couch. That's when Daddy came up with the brilliant plan to have a "Miser Marathon."

Madison, Mommy and Daddy settled down on the couch, wrapped up in blankets, and watched "A Year Without a Santa Claus," and then the modern sequel, "A Miser Brother's Christmas." Madison enjoyed them both, and the end result was everyone singing that addictive song...

"I'm Mr. Heat Miser, I'm Mr. Sun..."

We Can Make a Snowman

Today was a gargantuan effort to get our new series off the ground. In fact, we're all here still at the office, plugging away at costumes and props and set pieces and videos and music and... well, you get the general idea.

Still, we found time to do something fun with Madison amidst it all. This morning, Daddy sped away to Home Depot to get Madison a snowman napkin holder kit!

Madison actually used a Felipe (a Philip's Head Screwdriver), and a bit of glue to stick in the right places. Then, once it was fixed together, she painted the body white - and the top hat black. After letting the paint dry, next it was time to put on some snowman stickers!

Madison is proud of her snowman napkin holder - a great craft we all worked on together, but mostly she herself. Good job, princess!

Ye-Ye is meanwhile doing a bit of carpentry himself: I can write about it here because Madison won't see it until Christmas. BUT, he's creating a puppet theater for her - and we know that is going to be something special for her. Sure, the electronics are great at Christmas time: games, movies, and so forth. But this project is going to be a wonderful surprise. Daddy's nearly as excited now as Madison will be in just a few weeks!

One project we did today was a video we made about the Twelve Days of Christmas. A host steps in and tells everyone just how much each of those items costs - and in the background you hear carolers singing the tune. See if you can recognize any of the happy singers below:

That's Madison in the front row, joining her first Christmas caroling expedition! This was a cute little video we did, all pretty much based on a fantastic website Daddy has been following for the past several years: The PNC Christmas Price Index. This is an awesome site that measures the cost of each item mentioned in the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Not only does it list each item and price, it also keeps track of what it cost in years past, dating back to 1984. This year's price tag for every item mentioned in the song: $24,263.18. You can blame it on those seven swans a swimming. Can you believe these swans will cost you $6,300!? That's more than the five golden rings! And more than the ten lords-a-leapin' too! Those guys $4,766!

Okay, stop for a moment. You're telling me it will cost me $4,766 to have ten guys come over and jump around? Are they NBA players? I suppose that would make sense, as the NBA folks aren't doing much these days. No, they aren't NBA players. They're lords. And they leap. But how high to they leap? Or how far? Or for how long? For $4,766, they'd better do a lot of leaping, is all I'm saying.

Anyway, the price index is pretty fascinating. In 1984, all of the items added together cost $12,673.56. That's quite a jump in 28 years. But don't blame the lords-a-leaping. Blame the swans.

Madison loves this song, by the way. She was singing along with the Muppets on the way to Nana and Ye-Ye's house tonight. We heard them singing, and Madison couldn't help but sing along - especially when Miss Piggy belts out "Five Golden Rings!"

Here's a few more photos of Madison about to sing along:

Mullet

Well, it's going to be a busy day today. This morning, Madison continued the advent calendar - we opened the door and saw a donkey. And the other door had more chocolate. Madison also got a present from under the tree - one just magically appeared there this morning!

She got a Minnie Mouse brush/mirror. It's a neat little toy that Madison was looking at when we were in Disney World just a few weeks ago. She was holding it in the souvenir store, and we could tell she just really wanted that. What an amazing coincidence that she found it under the tree this morning!

We've got a lot of work to do towards our new series, so after dropping Madison off at school again, it was time to return to the office. First things first though: it was time to check on the Gävle Goat!

Looks like it didn't make it:

The Goat was set on fire

The Gavle Goat was set on fire, a few hours ago. At 02.54 PM someone could not let him stay alive. He was happy to celibrate his birthday yesterday, but of course very sad that he did'nt survive Christmas this year.

We will not replace him with a new goat, but wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Bye for now...

I'll have more to post in a bit. I just wanted to update you on the annual Christmas battle in Sweden, and that poor festive goat.

As mentioned earlier, we were pretty busy today getting things together for our new series, "Humbug!" Madison was here for quite some time, long enough to try out a new hairstyle:

YES! It's a mullet! I don't know why we didn't think of this earlier. In fact, we never thought of it at all. Madison just found the tub of wigs, and pulled out a mullet. She was drawn to it, much like the rednecks of the 90's, who were irresistibly pulled towards this magnificent hairstyle in all it's splendor. Madison proudly wore her mullet around for all to see, getting lots of laughs of course. It's not every day you see a small Asian child with a mullet.

"Call me Mullet. Business in the front, party in the back."

- Mullet Head

Get Your Advent Calendars Going!

Today is the day to get your advent calendars going! Madison has two this year - one tells the Christmas story, and another is a gift from Nana that has chocolate inside!

Madison had a good day today, one that included a return to ballet class. It's a small class, but a fun one: today's class featured ice skating in an imaginary rink, balancing snowflakes on her head, dancing to "Frosty the Snowman," and singing "Jingle Bells." Madison had a great time.

After class, we rode down Green Street here in Gainesville to see the beautiful houses and their seasonal decorations. As usual, it was a nice little detour. Madison was in awe at how so many houses were decorated - and as a surprise, the subdivision we're in is decorated now as well: the entrance has some nice lights on it, and garland too.

Before bed, Madison trimmed one link off the "Advent Chain," so now she knows there are twenty-three sleeps 'til Christmas. Before bed, we tried the new "Ice Age Christmas Special," which Daddy found on DVD for a pretty cheap price. Our verdict: eh. It was all right. Good to see the characters back together again, but the plot was so-so. Still, it was new and harmlesss, so we had a good time watching it together by the tree.

Madison helped Daddy put out the nutcrackers today - on the way to ballet we even listened to the soundtrack to the "Nutcracker." As we were putting them up, Daddy was using one to bite Madison's nose - but she turned to me and said, "Don't! Don't bite your friends!"