Kimono Sunday

I know it means a lot to my mom when we wear kimono to celebrate the new year with her. She's gone through great lengths to procure kimono for everyone in the proper size. It's quite a process getting everyone dressed and ready in the morning, and then we go to church where we try to be as inconspicuous as possible. Ha!
Kimono are so uncomfortable to wear, though. I'm glad we only wear them for a couple hours! I can't imagine living during a time when this is what was worn. Give me my yoga pants any day!

Lawrence Heritage State Park

Mayumi recently finished a unit about the industrial revolution and labor strikes in her 5th grade class. She read books about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and even the Bread and Roses strike, so we thought it would be great to visit the Lawrence Heritage State Park and learn some more about the kids of things she was reading in her books.
Though I grew up here, I'd never been to this local museum. Going with Nana and Pops was especially enlightening; Pops has lived in this are his entire life and is the child of immigrants and has a special understanding about the rich history of this mill city. It was a very educational visit. Afterwards we headed to the New Balance outlet (in a former mill) and everyone got a new pair of sneakers at a great price. Which is a relief because these fast-growing, active children either outgrow or beat up their shoes so quickly! So thank you Nana and Pops for the generous gifts.

Road Trip to New England!

After stopping to spend the night at a Hilton Garden outside NYC (with a pool of course) we made it up to Massachusetts to spend some QT with our family. The highlight, of course, is spending time with the grandparents. The kids love all the attention and care that is lavished on them. A few extra Christmas gifts didn't hurt either!

Christmas Morning

We try not to overload the kids with gifts at Christmas, but it always looks like so much stuff! The kids don't really have a Christmas list (they have everything they need!) so Mike and I try to get them things that keep them active, encourage reading and curiosity and education and creativity. But my favorite thing is that the kids made lots of love notes, beaded math bracelets, embroidered bean bags... I love their homemade gifts! They stuffed them in each others' stockings, where they also found socks, toothbrushes, chocolate coins and nuts, candy canes, and an orange. Mike got the kids street hockey sticks, an indoor basketball hoop, portable soccer goal nets, and a vintage Fisher-Price record player with about 30 audiobooks on records that he found from a former school teacher on E-Bay. I made fabric baskets, aprons, and pajamas for each of the kids and got them TEGU magnetic blocks, books, games, flashcards and science kits. I think it was a successful booty stash for everyone!
After spending the morning talking to grandparents on the phone, eating apple pie for breakfast, testing out a few scientific gifts, and cleaning up the detritus from opening gifts, we packed up the van and started our road trip up north!