Christmas Cookies

Sam thought that making sugar cookies was a great project.  He did really well with it, considering it's not instantly gratifying.  After making the dough there is an hour in which the dough has to chill.  Even without that hour of chilling dough, the project took over two hours, in which he was fully immersed (though about 15 minutes of it was racing matchbox cars through flour and handing them to me to "take to the car wash").

"Hello in there!"

Sammy and his cousin, Oden, looking in the window of Saint Anthony's church.

Fifi

Just before Thanksgiving we lost our grandmother, Sam's great-grandmother.  It was a relatively quick time, in which it was unclear as to whether she would bounce back, as she had in recent years.  Now, it seems surreal, since events and time moved so quickly, and trying to keep up with work, and then Thanksgiving being on top of us.
There are many things to say about her, and to miss.  For now, a few of my favorite photos of her in recent years.  One is of her at our wedding reception, taking a bow, as we were married on her wedding anniversary.  Fifi loved being the center of attention, so the picture is somewhat fitting, and she looks young and vibrant in it, which is how she lived her life.  The other is of her with Sam the day after he was born.  She seemed to find joy in him and I'm glad that he was able to visit her during her last days with us.  It's amazing that she lived to know some of her great-grandchildren.  I wish she had been around for a few more years so I know that Sam would remember her.

Election

Yesterday we were trying to juggle voting, long poll lines, work, and other obligations.  I thought it would be a good idea to vote before work (like many, many other people).  I actually left the house at quarter to 7 and instead of going to the polling center and waiting outside, I went to get a coffee.  So that when I arrived at just before 7, there was a long, long line.  I went to work instead, which meant I had to return to vote later with Sam, and hope that there was no line. 

En route to picking Sam up after work, I talked to Chris.  He had also been planning on voting before he dropped Sam at school, but also found a long line.

"Sorry Sam, no voting now.  We'll go to school, Daddy will vote later."

After Sam burst into tears and wouldn't stop wailing, Chris finally got to the bottom of it.  Sam had heard "voting" as "boating" and was VERY upset that he was no longer going on a boat.  It took about a half an hour of explanation to communicate that there was never a boat or water involved.

Still, when I got to the polls later that afternoon, Sam kept asking when they were, "going to move?"  I think he still thought there was some sort of adventure to be had (and not a grown up adventure in politics).  We made do with feeding the ballot into the electronic machine, which was pretty cool.
(I had a ten minute wait, unlike some voters who waited hours to cast their ballots.)

Sam also seems to have gotten in his head that politicians will help snow go away.  We're not clear on this one, but I guess indirectly they do.  I think it has more to do with him not liking the change in temperature, since up until about an hour ago, it hadn't snowed this year.

Now the voting/boating is over and everyone is a little tired from the late night results, except for of course those who were fast asleep in their cribs while their parents agonized over the results coming in and debated moving overseas.  We'll stay put for another four years at least.

Halloween 2012

Taking in the neighborhood sights from the porch and trying to figure out what was going on.  He was pretty excited to get his candy though and thoroughly enjoyed his lollipop afterward.