holiday treats and holiday stories

we began the day reading one of our favorite holiday stories: a christmas carol by charles dickens.

 we also had a delicious breakfast of buttered eggs and gingerbread with cream cheese and holiday spice tea.

 morgana helped prepare a model of a peg child for the homeschooling craft fair.

 i still need to get a set of lyra watercolor paints, woolen squares for capes, glue and a few marking pens in blue, green and brown for the faces.

in the evening we worked on knitting and school projects. greg has been late each night as his company has changed locales (in the city and in other states and countries) and he's in charge of setting up and troubleshooting all the computer equipment (including the huge data machines).

hugo . . again

we eschewed schoolwork and i allowed chanda to coerce me into seeing hugo again, this time at the ziegfeld theatre on 54th street. the show started at 12:30 and we arrived at the theatre, breathless from running, at 12:29. this time, she and morgana paid for their own tickets with their babysitting money. i think it was well spent at this theatre. the ziegfeld is beautiful. red velvet carpeting, sconces on the walls, plush seats, and a huge screen. it was empty at 12:30. everyone was doing their schoolwork! except us. we sat there with our 3D glasses on and watched 3D coming attractions. everything is being reissued in 3D! star wars and titanic! the adventures of tin tin is also coming out in 3D. it looks good. all these movies. we usually never go to the movies. it's always too loud and the coming attractions are violent and creepy. but i don't have a little one anymore, so i guess i don't mind as much. but it's expensive! there's lots to see but we'll have to be choosy. and i can't say, oh . . i'll just watch it at home on the computer. 3D at home on the computer is not as fun. teens and pre-teens . . they keep you busy and your pockets empty!

we also saw hugo's and isabelle's costumes at the ziegfeld. the jackets were a tweed, isabelle's skirt was plaid wool, and hugo's shorts were corduroy. and we studied the work on the sweaters. hugo's sweater was definitely handknit. and we wondered where they found the shoes! the shoes looked authentic to the time period, and very well-worn. it was fun to see the costumes, and of course i was itching and twitching to snap a few photos . . ha ha!

afterwards, we had soup at whole foods, and then morgana went to ballet at MYB on 60th street, and chanda and i took the train downtown to gelsey's. korrina was at another tech all day . . for act ii of a christmas carol.

the holiday books we read this evening were aunt eater's mystery christmas (! my choice), and the wee christmas cabin of carn-na-ween by ruth sawyer, with beautiful illustrations by max grafe. the night before last we read "the old woman who wanted a gnome in her home," from christmas roses, legends for advent.