Skating

Over winter vacation, the kids went skating at the town rink with their pal Rebekah. It has been years since I put on skates. The last time was over 10 years ago when Chuck and I lived in NY and we rented skates at Rockefeller Center. I had no idea how I would feel on blades. Like riding a bike, it came back and we all had fun.

It's in the bag, Christmas that is

Our Christmas day is low key compared to many. As a young child, I remember Christmas morning starting off with the frenzy of opening presents at our own home, treking up to Newburyport for a Perry family Christmas and then driving to Maine for a Wallace family Christmas all in one day. As a kid, what a great time but I would not want to be my parents getting that all accomplished and try to enjoy the holiday. I'll stick with the quieter version. Chuck is grounded home by his type of work and is exhausted and overworked by the time Christmas nears making a low key holiday another necessity. That said, there is always a price. We are unable to travel to California and give our kids that festive celebration shared with cousins and extended family. There is a pang of void shared by both Chuck and I, knowing they are missing out on that. But, we make the best of it and judging from the photos, I think they still have a magical memorable Christmas day. Our west Coast family close the distance with packages and phone calls and the gifts just don't stop, reminding us that we are part of it all dispite the miles. We have learned to embrace our own tradition of a relaxing day with no pressures, a rare gift in itself. The kids can play with the new stuff, I can serve dinner when the spirit moves, and Chuck can gear down from a crazied retail push.

Ok Mom, can't we open now?
Santa delivered a DSi for both



and games.

Jackie's a big fan of ICarly.

Zac gets a remote control car he begged for at the store.

The kids got a package that admits them to the black belt club at EFK.

Time out from opening presents to dress, eat and cuddle with last year's present.

Mimi and Papa join us for a quiet dinner.

On to round two, opening the packages from California.

Jackie and Zac look forward to spending some vacation time with their pal Rebekah.

Friendship is the best gift of all.

A Visit To Santa

Our Christmas season gets underway with our visit to Santa followed by a dinner out. The kids have grown too large to sit on Santa's lap but still young enough to show the anticipation of their annual visit to the big man. When they were toddlers, they believed that the trek to the Mall was going to the North Pole. Now, they can tell the difference from the Burlington mall and the North Pole as well as the many Santa imposters and the real Santa. Here's the Real Santa. Aren't we lucky to live so far North that the real Santa comes our way?

Great Brook Farm State Park

Most of the time I feel very blessed that my life is full. Every day is busy and full of life. It's to the point that there isn't enough time in the day to do all that I want to do. In one way, this is just a testimony that I have everything I want and I am truly thankful for it all. In another way, it can make it difficult to take a step back and just enjoy. Today was a day, that I just had to stop to enjoy a perfect fall day. The messy house can wait. I'm not going to worry about the lack of groceries in house and nothing planned for dinner. My camera is calling me to get outside and just enjoy my surroundings. I really wish I had more time to get out in mother nature and just observe nature with camera in hand. Someday, hopefully, I'll have the time for this, but too many obligations get in the way. For now, I'm just happy that it's saturday and we have a free day to go for a walk and I can play with my camera. We chose a new destination which turned out to be a stunning backdrop for some more photography. I'm driving my kids crazy with sitting them in front of my lens, but it's the price they have to pay for me taxi-ing them to all the afterschool activities, birthday parties and playdates that I sit through. Chuck works on Saturdays, so I typically have the kids to myself on these days. So many beautiful days and places, not enough time to capture them. The days are numbered before snow falls. The years are numbered before the kids just won't cooperate for twin shots, so today I took complete advantage.