our new place!

We have heard the requests-- well, demands really--and we're responding at last. Here are some photos of our new place. Oliver is talking to the ornaments and singing as he pulls them out of the box. Notice the ingenious location of the nativity!~
We very much appreciate all the light in our new place. And the kitchen open to the living area; people can hear me when I speak from the kitchen (I have to keep reminding myself). And there's the desk! Of course, all that light means that I can't actually see my computer screen for half the day; must borrow a tall ladder and put up curtains!

What would YOU wear to a holiday parade?

Oliver chose to wear this tiger costume that Gramme made. The theme for this year's holiday parade was "Fairytale fantasies" or some such. Before we went we talked about what might be there--reindeer, knights, Santa, etc. Up pipes our dear son, "Well, I'm going to wear my tiger costume. Maybe some people will think it's for Tigger, but I'm not going to be Tigger; I'm going to be a tiger." Suffice it to say our little tiger lit up the evening with his very unusual attire. He had at least 25 verbal greetings/appreciations, including the aforementioned Santa Claus, who called out, "Hey, tiger. Merry Christmas. Grrr!" Many more people simply smiled as they passed us. OP's choice turned out to be creative, joyful, and warm. Nice work, young man!

(whispered) "Papa, come back"

WARNING: There will not be a photo to accompany this story. Attempting to photograph this episode in the new Esham household would have totally ruined the moment. Read on and enjoy conjuring your own images of our budding dramatist/artistic director/composer.

Our family has been reading a wonderful and rather long chapter book called _Dragon Keeper_, by Carole Wilkinson. Two nights ago Oliver decided it was time to mount a show that would tell the story. What a felicitous moment! I told him I had just been thinking it would be cool to tell the story in the style of Peter and the Wolf, in which each character gets their own tune. Another felicitous moment, as Oliver had just that day rediscovered his penny whistle following our move. (Yes, it is a nice place; you should come visit!) So Oliver arranged us: he would play the music, papa would operate the puppets (imaginary), and I would stroll our hallway (we have a hallway!), remarking on a poster advertising a performance of DK.

This I did, and I ended up on our couch with the musician and player behind. Oliver directed papa for each scene, then played musical accompaniment as Philip raised his hands over his head, making the puppets do the appropriate movements. I was spectator and narrator, parroting back the scene Oliver had ordered. Oliver decided when these scenes were finished and called out, "Papa, come back" in a most excellent and effective stage whisper. I'm not sure how long this went on--10, 12 scenes on the first night. Yesterday morning we finished the book, so we had to have another show to finish up.

Oliver says he's ready for the next book, _Garden of the Purple Dragon_.