fourth day of christmas

we're at my mom and dad's on montauk and it's incredibly windy. m and c got hoops for christmas from my sister and my mom and they were going to run with them along the sand today (again). . but it's way too blustery. we couldn't even walk back along the water . . the sand was whipping right into our eyes. we had to go back by the road. we even had to take care opening the car doors and the trunk . . . . . . . . 

 . . . . . we're at the library right now. it's very cozy with the sun shining in. before we left the house this afternoon a pretty little grey and white kitty came by to say hello. the girls gave her some milk and chicken. i just don't want her to get too comfortable . . jack will be a lunatic when he sees her. she would actually come inside if we let her . . . . i'll try and take a picture of her. i'm sure she's still a kitten. 

 well, i noticed in the archives that we were on montauk last year for the fourth day of christmas, also. it's a nice place to be.

merry merry christmas . .

children's chorus concert

after the craft fair, c and i went up to the kaye playhouse for a dances patrelle, yorkville nutcracker tech rehearsal. m went to an nyu children's chorus concert rehearsal. c and i joined everyone at 6:30 pm for nyu's education department's holiday concert in which the children's chorus was singing. it's always a wonderful show, with performances by the school's madrigal singers, jazz chorus, and women's chorus. afterwards, we took grandma and grandpa to veniero's for espresso, cappucino, hot chocolate and some incredible cannolis! we were sad after our delicious dessert, as grandma and grandpa were catching a plane the next morning to return to florida and we had to say good-bye. it was a very special new york at christmas time visit with them.

the third day of christmas

when the bags are packed, jack is always ready to go.

the second day of christmas

the first day of christmas

Christmas Day or First Night

merry christmas . .

lillejulaften

for lillejulaften we visited little italy today. we had pastries and hot chocolate and a cafe mocha at ferrara's. little italy at christmastime is so fun and pretty. we popped into di paolo's but the line and the prices sent us off to east village cheese! but it was fun to poke our heads in anyway.
my brother-in-law is norwegian and ever since i was five his mom and dad would have my family over at christmastime for krumkake and tea and coffee. i miss those days . . his parents passed away a number of years ago . . the memories of sitting around their little dining room table and eating dessert are very strong. his mom played the piano beautifully and she would always play some carols for us. my sister always thought it was funny that both his mom and our mom were named doris and had a brick red rug lining the floor of their living room.
there's still some wrapping to be done tonight, and several items still to be baked. it remains to see if i can accomplish the tasks . . or fall asleep! i usually give my mom and g's mom a calendar with photographs as a christmas gift. but i haven't even begun to upload the photos i would like to use. i'm always too tired at night . . and that's really the only time i have to do the task. i also need to send my cousin in california a gift. we have hers for us under the tree. and i never sent out cards this year . . i love the thought of sending cards but finding time during the day is difficult to make happen . . ! happy lillejulaften!

holiday window

well, as you can see in the corner of the last picture, this window scene can be found at the indyke hair salon on 10th street. we pass it on mondays on our way to music lessons. i love these scenes and could stare at them for a much longer time if it wasn't so cold. there is a pharmacy on 8th avenue that also has these houses and villagers. however, they display more of the motor gadgets, the slide and carousel, etc. we like seeing more of the street and rural scenes, though there is a train track in this scene that runs right into several strolling villagers. if a train ever did come round that bend . .