8 Weeks

New Bike...

...Plus one tired six year old riding too fast equals this:

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve we go to Pai's grandmother's house just down the road from our house.

We have a big dinner with extended family followed by the first of three rounds of presents. We are usually the first to leave just passed midnight.

I haven't had a moment to get my photos organized, so I'll just share a few until I can get a proper post up.

Right after we arrived, Freddy asked to pose in front of the tree with Sebby.

I got the other two to join in for the only picture I got of the four of them in the passed two weeks.

We're headed to the Alentejo for a few days, and everyone starts school on the 3rd when I will finally have the chance to get our Christmas properly documented.

Boxing Day Bliss

We've just come back from a sunny warm picnic in the hills above Cascais. We've had a packed, but glorious few days. Many many updates and photos to come.

7 Weeks!

A Few More Signs of Christmas

 Zita set up this welcome tree in our entrance. Every child that comes through the door goes straight for those candy canes.

 After days of getting the train going, and many visits by different cousins, the kids finally settled on a track design that pleases everyone. This train is such a hit with our smaller visitors.

Rockin' the Cable Knit and Argyle

Sebby Smiles

Ferris Wheel

First thing Monday morning, we went to the ferris wheel on the waterfront in Cascais. Getting there bright and early (hours are 10am-10pm) was the right move since we were the only people there.

Freddy decided to keep me company with both feet planted firmly on the ground.

If you´re local, the ferris wheel is worth a visit if only for the great views from the top.

With my mom around, I'm actually going to appear in a picture or two. Photos until this point make it look like Sebby is being raised by his siblings in some sort of Boxcar Children type scenario.

From there we headed to the Visconde de Luz park where a small and stationary merry-go-round entertained the children for a while. Again, we were the only people there.

It was a great start to Christmas break!

6 Weeks

Christmas Break

I couldn't even think about blogging yesterday with such tragedy unfolding in the US. It's so hard to imagine the pain of the parents and community, and I intentionally didn't put on any TV to shield the little kids from what had happened. My mom arrived and we've just been cozied up in the house, gazing at Sebby and feeling grateful for everything we have in our lives.

Until this weekend, I was stressing that I had gotten so little done for Christmas and now it seems like just having the kids and the family together will make the best Christmas we could ask for.

We had a big last minute push to get all the teacher gifts assembled and bark made.

I positioned myself on a chair in the corner while the kids took over.

Moojie spreading the melted chocolate on wax paper

Zita decorated with chopped apricots, walnuts, cashews, and hazelnuts

We used crushed candy cane to make a peppermint version.

We put them in bundles of three with cupcake liners on the bottom.

Heading out the door for his last day of school before break.

Christmas Status Follow Up

Having the puppy last weekend was not conducive to getting everything on our Christmas prep list checked off. We didn't make the cookie trees, but we did make sugar cookies.

We also got a yet-to-be decorated Christmas tree. In theory, we put the lights on as soon as we get the tree and decorate on Christmas eve. We haven't actually gotten to the lights yet.   I also let the kids put candy canes up, but the candy canes got rerouted to a more edible purpose- peppermint chocolate bark.

 and hanging out of teachers' gift bags.

I am a huge fan of Nigella's fake fudge. It takes five minutes to make, and as I learned this week, it's very forgiving when the chocolate-condensed milk ratio is off. Can you tell that whenever I finish something in the kitchen, Zita always says "I think that needs sprinkles."

Mooji and Freddy got the garland up on the stairs. Every time I get to the bottom of the stairs, I switch the lights from blinking to constant, and someone keeps switching them back. My suspicion is that Freddy is behind it, but no one has fessed up yet.

 Did anyone actually trhink I would pull off the photo garland? I thought not. Next year...

The cork nativity scene is out 

and the feliz natal wreath is up

We're only missing the Christmas train, and then we're set for Christmas.

I can't go two days without a Sebby picture so here he is with his eyes wide open.

 (blogger randomly rotates pictures, and no matter what I do, it simply doesn't allow me to rotate them back.)

Blackberry Photo Dump

It's true that Blackberries still exist in this world. Pai is in possession of one of them and recently sent me his Blackberry photos in case I wanted to do a post about something other than Sebby or babies. I can't imagine what he meant by that, but here follows a baby free post.* 

Pai went to English school where bonfire night and Guy Fawkes celebrations are an annual tradition. Here is a photo of the bonfire followed by Zita in her official bonfire spectacles.

Here's Freddy racing out of the water with his best this water is freezing posture and expression. I think this was taken in October, so he was pretty crazy to go in in the first place. 

 That's Moojie swimming way out there, and Freddy's head just at the bottom of the picture. Or is that Zita swimming, and Moojie's head at the bottom of the picture?

Lastly, we have Moojie finishing up his cross-country race on the Friday after Sebby was born. He qualified for the county finals where all the schools send one person from each class to compete. He forgot about it until last night so we were once again scrambling around looking for shorts, socks, shirt, water bottle, snacks, etc. He'll be there all day today, and then tomorrow is a Christmas party day without classes so Moojie is done with classes until January 3rd. Relief!

 Pai went and discretely took this one picture on the far side of the field whereas I get home from these events and try to figure out which of the 107 pictures that I took should be uploaded to Shutterfly, and then get to work editing the video.

So there you have it- a Sebby free post, and a little update on the big kids. 

*even though I am dying to post a photo of Sebby in his new cute hat 

Slowing Down

It's funny how having a new (can I still say "new?") baby reframes what constitutes a busy day for me.

Today I get to meet a friend for morning coffee, buy clothes for a 1 year old baby for Banco do Bebe, get 3 teacher gifts, and then swing by the music school on my way home to pay for clarinet lessons since I'm now 4 days late in paying for December. This is all in addition to the daily cooking, cleaning, school pick-up, tennis, and homework routine.

Without a baby in tow, I could get that all done before lunch, and then use the extra time before pick-up to get the house in order and dinner organized. Now errands such as these are at the mercy of Sebby's mood and it can all feel so daunting. I can hope for a sleepy and not-so-hungry Sebby, but I'm willing to bet it will take all day, and a good chunk will be spent stopping to nurse Sebby in the car on the side of the road, or holding him in one arm and pushing the stroller with the other.

Not being able to fit everything in is why so many moms don't love this newborn phase. I've gotten around that problem by learning to unapologetically tell people "no" when things can't be done.

Having a baby has made our family do only those things that are absolutely essential, instead of getting lost in the fray of Christmas hustle and bustle. We are spending more time at home, just the six of us, which is just the way it should be at Christmas time. I think we could all use a little newborn mode during the holidays to slow down and be with those we love.