The girls got a ton of wonderful presents this Christmas. Including several things we haven’t tried yet – like puzzles and games. Yesterday two of the three girls were too sick to take to Church, so we ended up with a quiet day at home. MG started to perk up in the afternoon, and wanted to try the Magic Science Wizard’s Kit my brother and his girlfriend had given her.

After some setup time and enforced “read the instructions” time, they were set to go. They had so much fun! They started by making a wand with magic purple crystals inside. Then moved on to invisible ink, a crystal ball, and the piece de resistance: explosions! OK, so they were really just test tubes bubbling over, but they loved that so much! I don’t think they could have been happier with this present unless there was fire involved!

They started to make a webshow out of the science fun, but unfortunately it kept getting interrupted. It was quite a good attempt, though MG thought they would be a “one hit wonder”, lol. MG looked great as a mad scientist in safety goggles paired with her purple robe, too.

Out of the three girls, MG is the most precise, which makes her perfect as a scientist and as a cook. She had to stay home from school today (can’t go to school until you’re fever-free for 24 hours), and spent an hour very careful following a cookie recipe. Personally, I prefer cookies to magic wands, so I’m happy to push her in that direction… I remember when she created the fluffernutter cookies three years ago! Wow, they grow up so fast.

My gave the girls a trip to the Aquarium and the IMAX theater for Christmas. However, between relatives from out of state and a stomach bug, he couldn’t take them. I rounded up the girls and one of their friends and took them into Boston. My brother stepped in to help out, and we had quite a fun outing!

The New England Aquarium has a giant center tank, and you walk round-and-round, looking at the coral reef dwellers at different depths. Along the outer edges of the aquarium are different exhibits about creatures in other habitats. The two types of exhibits that are my girls’ favorites, though, are the two penguin exhibits and the two seal exhibits.

The girls all loved to watch the African Penguins groom eachother and go for a swim. Watching the penguins groom made me think of sisters – helping each other out, but simultaneously picking on them. Just like the penguins (or penguinis, as MG calls them) are helping each other clean their feathers, the girls love to be helpful. BG was helping LG as she was reading a book yesterday, which really warmed my heart! I’m sure the penguins get annoyed by the nibbling sometimes, just as one of the girls will get fed up with the others and start yelling rude things at them.

Unlike the girls, I’ve never seen penguins argue. I don’t speak penguin, though, so when the African penguins bray at each other, so they could be arguing. The adorable Little Blue Penguins just sit around and look cute, kind of like what small children do when they aren’t being picked at by their siblings…

The other place in the aquarium where I really thought the kids and the animals were very similar is the seals. The girls love to swim underwater, splash, and play in the pool, just the way the harbor seals and fur seals do. Admittedly, my girls have no interest in swimming in an outdoor pool when the windchill is -8. They do look like seals and penguins when they tummy-slide down the hill at the park in the winter! I’m taking the girls to go swimming in the Y’s indoor pool tomorrow afternoon, and I’m sure they’ll remind me of seals and penguinis when they’re barreling down the new water slide!

As an aside to anyone who also has monocular vision, the 3D movies at the New England Aquarium IMAX theater don’t use 1 eye green, 1 eye red glasses, instead they use special sunglasses. This meant that I could actually see most of what was on the screen – there was just a shadow, and I ended up with a bit of a headache afterward.

From this:

To This:

took about a minute. I think the girls enjoyed smashing the gingerbread house as much as they enjoyed making it! Eating it on (or near) New Year’s Day helps the gluten-free gingerbread still taste delicious.

I’m so glad we finally made the gingerbread house this year! The girls had so much fun making it! It was a wonderful team effort – I made the dough, their grandmother made the template and the frosting glue, the girls decorated, and I took a bunch of pictures.

I highly recommend trying this project. It took time and effort, but it looked and tasted great. I wouldn’t suggest using canned frosting and graham crackers, though – it’s worth the extra time to bake this from scratch!

And now off to try to avoid eating little bits of gingerbread house while I am on a low-carb diet…

The Gaggle of Girls finished 2009 by needing to rehome our youngest dog, Ra the wonder-puppy.

We found him a wonderful home on a farm with horses, and we’re looking forward to driving out to visit him in the spring. It was a hard and heartbreaking decision, but after we accepted we didn’t know when we would be able to move into our own place (as I need to get a job first), we knew it was the right thing to do.

So, welcome 2010! We are hoping and praying for a prosperous and happy New Year! We couldn’t have gotten through 2009 without or friends, family, and Church, and we are so grateful to everyone for the love and support. Here’s hoping we are spend more of 2010 being supportive than being supported!

We aren’t sending out physical cards this year, so here’s some virtual holiday cheer from the Gaggle of Girls!

Sorry it’s been so long between posts – we’ve been busy with school, job hunting, playdates, and Church, plus I was reading Anna Karenina for book club last month – 800 pages!

We had a lovely November, filled with food, friends, and family. A party for my mother’s birthday had 9 kids 11 and under, plus a dozen or so adults. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with our cousins, and a similar adult:child ratio.

We got some snow last Sunday, which meant we had girls playing in the snow and making snowballs before Church, then sledding as soon as Church was over. After everyone was worn out from sledding we decorated the house and the tree. We put out my parents’ collections – carolers, smokers, Santas, and nutcrackers. Combine that with the tree and the wreath I made, the house is very, very Christmas-y! Watching everyone work together peacefully to get the house decorated. It was LG’s turn to put the star on the tree, but of course she needed to put the star on herself, first!

Last night the girls and I went to our Church’s Christmas party – so much fun with great food, lovely conversation, a talent show, and then Santa came! Much fun was enjoyed by all. LG had a great time sitting on Santa’s lap, and all the girls enjoyed one church member’s re-enactment of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
All this joy and fun, and still a week and a half before Christmas!

Last year, due to some forces beyond my control, we weren’t able to go to the Topsfield Fair. It’s the longest-running county fair in the country, and it’s a lot of fun. There’s so much to do and see – I have so many wonderful memories of going to the fair when I was a kid, and now the girls have memories of the fair from attending every year we lived in Ipswich.

• 
  This year was wonderful – we started the day just like every year, with a trip on the ferris wheel. From the ferris wheel you can see all of the midway spread out before you, before you explore the Fair.

• 
  The other reason to go on the ferris wheel is to see the foliage – all the trees spread out with their beautiful colors. It’s a gorgeous sight that I look forward to every year.

• 
  The girls like looking at the Fair from the top of the Ferris wheel, but seem to prefer the fun of the ride to the view of the foliage.

• Looking at the fair is only the first step at the fair – there’s so much more!

There are all the animals to look at, feed, and pet, the giant pumpkin, and all the rides to try.

Plus the food! Maple cotton candy, caramel apples, fudge, maple sugar candies, chocolate covered apples, fresh squeezed lemonade, and so much more. If only we didn’t have to wait until next October for the next time!

LG’s school is across the street from our house, and about a 5-10 minute walk from a local beach. Her teacher is truly wonderful, and planned a spontaneous trip to the beach. We packed up shovels & pails & tubs, and went down to collect shells and build sand castles!

We worked on matching skills (collecting 10 each of blue mussel, littorina, and lady slipper shells), and then worked on the physics of molecular bonding and surface tension by making sand castles. Apparently, as we determine how wet the sand needs to be to make the sand castle work, we are making many more connections than we realize consciously.

The class was divided into groups of three, and they set to work on their castles. Some kids worked on their own, some worked together with the group. It was very interesting to see how they worked, and the questions the teacher asked to help their thinking.

I’ve really enjoyed both field trips I’ve been on, and I’m loving learning the names and personalities of the other kids in LG’s class. They are all such sweet children, the teachers guide them gently, and the classroom is a very pleasant, welcoming place. I know I’ll be working soon, so I’m enjoying the field trips I can attend now!

Today was my girls’ first day of school. But it’s not just their first day for this school year, but their first day ever. They’ve been homeschooled until now, but with the separation and me looking for work, they needed to go to school this year. It was a very difficult decision to make, and one that has been the cause of much anxiety and much excitement for our family.

My parents were nice enough to take the girls school supply shopping one at a time. (I’m amazed at these lists – they’re so long! I know we never had to bring that much in when I was a kid.) When BG was out shopping, they ran into a friend I’ve known since preschool. She was shopping with her daughter, and when BG said she was going “back to school shopping”, my friend said, “but it’s ‘to school shopping’, since you’ve never been before!” We’ve been giggling about that – yes, today was “to school day”, not back to school day!

Yesterday’s Labor Day labor was to pack up the backpacks with all the stuff from the list of school supplies given by their teachers, lay out clothes for the first day, pack lunches, and generally get ready. Plus the older two needed to finish their summer reading, BG had to write a short book review, and both MG and LG wanted their hair in rollers so they’d have a curl. Finally, they needed to calm down enough to sleep. Phew!

This morning I woke up a few minutes later than I had planned (someone turned the volume off on my alarm clock!), so the girls were dressed when I walked up to get their breakfasts ready. After breakfast they got washed up, and then it was time to go!

Quick hugs and kisses with the older girls, and their Vovo took them to their schools. Why yes, they do start at the same time, and they are about 5 min apart… Everyone can be in two places at once, right? Well, I needed to be in 3 places at once, because LG’s school starts 5 min after BG & MG. I wonder how people do the first day with only 1 parent. Amelia’s school is across the street, so I can easily walk her over. Her teacher is lovely, and is fine with parents being in class for the first 15 min, but when the music starts, it’s time for parents to go.

The older girls quickly found friends they knew from other places, and LG was feeling OK about school when I left. I’m very curious what their reactions will be this afternoon when they are dismissed! Right now, I’m worried about them. I am certain they will be fine in time, but I worry about how long it will take for them to be comfortable being themselves in class.

I’ve been battling with a bug that’s had me dizzy, nauseated, headachy, and with a low grade fever. So, today is resting, recuperating, & resumé reworking day. There’s been a lot of excitement lately, so here’s hoping for a very peaceful day!

Happy Birthday to my LG, my youngest, who turns six today. I remember blogging and waiting impatiently for her to be born – she was born 12 days after her due date. Now she’s getting ready to go to Kindergarten! The cliché is true – they do grow up too fast!