Month of December: Hanukkah, Christmas, and Lots of Adventures!

On the plate:  Captain Crunch puppy chow, chopped salad with avocado cilantro dressing, and an amazing beer cocktail

Soundtrack to cook to:  Thong Song station on Pandora.  Incredible 1990s throwbacks!  Every jam will have you grooving and moving!

December was full of fun and lots of adventures!
Our first stop was the Museum of Science.  We were so delighted to see that the museum had a HUGE facelift and lots of exhibits had changed and gotten upgraded.  It was like experiencing a completely new museum!
The first exhibit that we saw was called "Photography of Modernist Cuisine."  It was an entire exhibit with extremely up close pictures of food, as well as pictures of food that were being cooked (it was like a dream come true for me!).  For anybody who appreciates food as much as I do, you definitely have to check out this exhibit.  I was like a kid in a candy store.

Some of the beautiful pictures

Alex and William with some GIANT blueberries!

A truly "deconstructed" sandwich.  Alex really liked this one.
Don't you want to just bathe in that cheese??!

Stir fry in a wok.

Alex said he wanted to take a big bite of this steak.
William was amazed at how large it was.

This exhibit also features foods being cooked
or manipulated in slow motion.  It was absolutely mesmerizing.

William taking a spin at the playground exhibit.

The boys having a "swinging" good time.

Or at least Alex was...William seemed unamused.

"Whoa, mommy!  Look at my big head!"
(Alex thought this was hilarious!)

Movie time!  I got tickets to see a 4D movie of the Polar Express.  It was absolutely amazing!  It's only a 15 minute movie (which is the perfect length for William), and it appeals to every single one of your senses.  The movie makes you feel like a train is actually entering the room in the beginning because the seats begin to rumble.  Then, in a scene that features hot chocolate, the room is filled with a chocolate smell (like you can almost taste it).  It was an incredible experience and the boys and I loved every minute of it.

William, ready to watch the movie.

Alex was totally jazzed about it!

The next day, I decided to drive the boys to Dedham to go to a store called Make Meaning.  We were on a mission that day to paint and decorate some pottery for gifts for family members.  We were the only ones there!  It was fantastic!  We had the staff's undivided attention which allowed me to work with William on his crafts and Alex worked with the manager.

Here's Alex decorating an ornament.  I also had the boys
decorate a picture frame.  They did a great job!

Woo hoo, woo hoo, woo hooooooo!!!!!  On December 3, Joseph found out some incredible news!  He found out that he had placed in the Partners Oncology Fellow program for next year.  This meant that we didn't have to move!!  Woo hoo!!  I'm so proud of him and this huge accomplishment!  He has worked so hard for this and I'm so glad that he got the recognition that he so deserved.  Plus, now we could finally make our house a home, since we didn't have to start packing things.

Joseph, Alex, and some Veuve...ready to celebrate!!!
So proud of you, my love!

Silly Alex

Our next adventure took us to the New England Aquarium.  It was great because it wasn't so crowded, and the boys were able to see each exhibit really well.

Alex and William admiring the jellyfish.

The boys checking out the penguins.

There's a fish in this exhibit that's about the size of William.
They were amazed.

The boys loved looking at the giant tank in the center
of the aquarium.

The boys, admiring the sea life in the giant central tank.

I know this picture is pretty grainy, but the boys
were blooowwwn away to see a blue lobster!
(You can kind of see it in the background.)

That afternoon, while Alex was at school, I took William to the indoor playground area at the Natick mall.  William had a blast!

Little William on a duck.

"Quatt, quatt, quatt!"  (He can't pronounce the "k" sound,
so it manifests itself as a "t" sound.)

Silly boy, ready to take a ride down the slide.

"Peet-a-boo!"

I love how he scrunches up his little nose.

William, running around the indoor playground.

Me and the boys, playing around.

I love Alex's face in this picture!  It cracks me up.

William Billiam

Time to get our Christmas tree!!  Even though the boys and Joseph are Jewish, I am not, and I still like to celebrate Christmas.  It's one of my absolute favorite holidays and it was always a big deal in my household when I was growing up.  It's been a lot of fun to share my traditions with our family and to be able to blend both Hanukkah and Christmas together for the boys.

Alex with our Christmas tree, getting ready to hang some ornaments.
(I saved the "unbreakable" ball ornaments for him to hang while William was napping.)

Joseph helped out, too!

Joseph helped Alex to space out the ornaments.

The tradition of the male of the house putting
the angel at the top of the tree is still alive.
Joseph, doing his manly duties.

Ta-daaaaaaa!!!!  (Lol!  Do you see Oscar
peeking in through the bottom right of the picture?)

Franses family Christmas tree 2014
(I personally loved all of the ball ornaments
at the bottom of the tree that Alex had put there.
I thought it was really cute, so I didn't change it.)

Alex was very proud to show off the tree to his
little brother when he woke up from his nap.

Our two little stinkers.

On the evening of December 16, we started the celebration of Hanukkah!!  I made a brisket, veggies, and latkes to celebrate.

Joseph and Alex lighting the menorah together.

My sister Kristen brought William over so he could see.

This year Alex was able to hold the shamash (lighting candle) in order
to light the first candle.

William and Joseph "lighting" the felt menorah.

Time for presents!  Kristen and Pete joined in on our celebration and brought some presents for the boys for the first night.

Pete and Kristen, handing out the presents.

William and Alex opening their presents (with Oscar's help, of course).

The boys got some beautiful clothes (things that they really need)
and Oscar got what he wanted - wrapping paper!
He loves to rip it to shreds.

Oscar tried to get the tissue paper from William's
box as well.

William willingly let him have it.

The boys with their sparkly dreidel headbands.
Happy Hanukkah 2014!!

I found two really awesome books while I was at the Brookline Booksmith
one day.  They highlighted both Hanukkah and Christmas in their stories!
I was so delighted to find books that were personal to our family, and
the boys enjoyed reading them as well.

Pete, Kristen, and the boys spinning the dreidel.

Pete is an expert dreidel spinner.

And he can rock the dreidel headbands pretty well, too!  :-p

Silly boy William

Hanukkah night #2!

Our boys, ready to light the candles on the menorah.

They got some books by Mo Willems (one of our favorite authors)
and a pirate playhouse from their Nono and Nai Nai!

Thanks so much, Nono and Nai Nai!  The boys
LOVE to play in their pirate playhouse.

"Mommy, take picture of me, peeeeeeas?"
What a ham!

Hanukkah night #8, the last night of the celebration.

Joseph and Alex saying the prayer.

Joseph and Alex lighting the candles on the menorah.  Look at that laser focus
that Alex has in his eyes.

William's turn to "light" the candles on the menorah.

Time for presents!

Alex with his ninja turtle toys and William with his Thomas the tank engine toys.
These gifts were from Tai Tai (the boys' great grandmother, Joseph's grandmother).
Thank you so much, Tai Tai!!  The boys absolutely love their presents!

William, the snuggly little Triceratops.

Here's the boys, hanging out in the basement watching
one of my favorite Christmas movies:  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
I was SO happy to share this with the boys.  I remember
watching it as a child and absolutely loving it.  I looked
forward to catching it on TV every year and it still gets me
all giddy inside when I see it.

On December 7, our little town hosted a park lighting ceremony.  Since Joseph had to work overnight, I bundled up the kids, packed them in the car, and we made it just in time for the countdown to the lighting.  It was absolutely perfect!  Right as we were walking up to the park, the town members were doing the countdown.  When the countdown finished, the lights went on in the park and there were fireworks flying in the air!!  It was so magical.  The boys had never seen fireworks live and up close like that before.  Their minds were blown.

Me and Alex at the park lighting

Giant Santa Claus

There was a random collection of characters at the park lighting ceremony.  The boys were so excited to see some of their favorite characters, and to be able to hug them, give them "high fives," and take pictures with them.

Alex and (especially) William were beyond thrilled to see Elmo.

Alex and Mike Wazowski from the movie Monsters Inc.

The boys at the park lighting.  It was really cold but
they were so excited that it didn't even matter.

Alex flexing his muscles for Leonardo, the teenage mutant ninja turtle.

Alex and William with Olaf from the movie Frozen.

Alex with Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen.

William admiring a Winnie the Pooh light.

Me and the boys at the park lighting.  It was a magical night
and it would have been that much better if Joseph would
have been able to be there with us.

There was Christmas music playing and the energy
was electric.

Loving the ambiance and listening to the holiday music.

Afterwards, we drove back home, and turned on the fire
to warm up.

The boys and I enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate
to warm up our insides.  They had such a great time
and I was so happy for them.

William had to get every last drop.

Oy!  This guy!  He's so lucky he's so stinking cute.
For some unknown reason, this little stinker got up
at 4:30 a.m.  Since I didn't want him to wake up his
brother, we tip-toed downstairs and enjoyed
some tea on the snuggle couch together.

Here's part one of making our home a home!!  We cancelled our gym memberships (because I only use it to run on the treadmill), and purchased a treadmill!

William had to break in the treadmill.

Big brother's turn!

Bath time fun!

Awwww!  Kisses and snuggles!  So sweet!

At breakfast one morning...

Alex decided that Mr. Crocodile needed to take a nap,
and have a napkin blanket to keep him warm.  :-p
I love this kid's imagination.

On December 12, 2014, Alex's class (Le Grand Jardin - he goes to a French speaking school), put on a little "show" for the families.  Before the show started, Alex took me around his classroom and showed me some of the neat things that he's working on.

His class studies a new country each month and each
student has their own passport that they get stamped
when they go to a new country.
This is Alex's passport.

He was so proud to show his passport to me.

Here's Alex at his classroom's daily "Le Calendrier".
He counted the days of the month and showed them
to me on the calendar.

His job that week was the "weather person" where he
told me that it was "Il fait froid et les nuages."
(It was very cold and cloudy outside.)
(He's going, "Brrrrr!" in the picture.)

While we were waiting for the show to start, we played
with some toys.

Alex and his classmates, ready to sing for the families.

Alex and his classmates singing their "Welcome" song.
He was SO beyond proud of himself!  I loved his
absolute enthusiasm that he had while singing.
I was one proud mommy.

"I built a little snowman..."

One of Alex's friends from his old school was moving away, so his family had a big going away party for the kiddos.  We met up at Watertown's indoor playground and had a great time!

Alex with his friend Kazuma, who also moved back to Japan
shortly after this.  Alex had known him since he was
one year old.  We made some really great friends
with the families in his old school.  It's just a shame that
our area is so transient (because most of the families
are grad students, etc.), so a lot of Alex's friends from
when he was younger have moved away.

Alex had a great get together with all of his old friends.

Oh my heavens!  I know that I normally long for the kids to get to their next developmental stage, but I definitely wasn't ready to get THIS one in the mail.  I got a little teary-eyed, for sure.

A Kindergarten census information form, asking
me to fill it out for Alex, since he will be going to Kindergarten
in the fall.  I can't believe he's old enough to be in Kindergarten soon!!
:-(

Each year, I like to make holiday treats and hand them out to the boys' teachers and our friends and neighbors (carrying on the tradition that my family used to do during the holidays when I was growing up).
This year, I wanted to change it up and chose some recipes that made bigger batches (therefore making my job a little bit easier).  One recipe that I was very excited to make was Captain Crunch puppy chow (or muddy buddies).  They were incredible and it was almost impossible to not scoop up a small handful every time I passed by the bowl.

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups peanut butter Captain Crunch cereal
• 4 1/2 cups regular Captain Crunch cereal
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup peanut butter chips (divided in half)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter chips and 1/2 cup chocolate chips together.
2. Stir the peanut butter into the melted butter mixture.
3. Pour the cereal into a large mixing bowl and drizzle the melted peanut butter mixture over the cereal, tossing lightly to coat each piece.
4. Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the cereal while stirring lightly (I used a rubber spatula).
5. Once the mixture is cooled, you can add the other 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips into the mixture and mix it together.
6. Enjoy!!!

Delicious chocolatey, peanut butter, crunchy goodness!!
I had to make another batch because we "snacked"
a little too much on this one.  :-)

Alex and William hanging out at Starbucks, waiting
to get coffee for the staff at their school.  I thought
it would be nice to make them some fresh monkey bread,
a fruit bowl, and get them some coffee as a nice treat before
the winter vacation.

The boys were out of school starting December 18, so I had a solid week of being able to take them to all of the usually crowded places so that we could have the run of the joint (because public school wasn't out yet).  It was absolutely wonderful!!  We didn't have to be anywhere else in the afternoon, which meant that we could spend a much longer time at each place we visited.

Our first trip took us to the Eric Carle museum in Amherst.  It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get there, so I definitely wanted to choose a day where we had no time constraints and could spend as much time there as possible (plus, I had to make it worth the schlep).

Alex in the Madeline cut out (from the children's book series).
Their visiting exhibit was the art of Ludwig Bemelman,
the author and illustrator of the Madeline series.

And now it's William's turn.

Alex and William hanging out in the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

No pictures are allowed to be taken in the galleries,
so here's my only picture that I took.  There were Madeline
books in the gallery for the kids to look through.
Our boys chose to look through the books and were
unamused by the actual paintings by Ludwig Bemelman.

The boys playing with a giant busy board at the gallery.

The gallery had two beautiful libraries filled with children's books.
Here's the boys, playing with some toys and just hanging out.

Here's William, reading to a bunny rabbit.

Alex with the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Part two of finally nesting:  Purchase the boys some new bedroom furniture!  Alex's furniture was starting to fall apart, and William was ready to move from his crib to a big boy bed.  So, we headed to our favorite place to go furniture shopping:  Bob's Discount furniture!  We love the prices, the furniture is nice, and we usually get it pretty quickly.  Plus....

They have endless candy, fresh baked cookies, ice cream
and coffee!!!!!  (That's one of the big reasons why Joseph
and I love this place.)

And now it's time for our yearly tradition!  Time to go ice skating!  It was a lot of fun this year, and William's first time being able to come with us!  We went to our normal place and enjoyed a yummy lunch at Za afterwards.

William, ready to put on his ice skates, while Joseph
helped Alex put his on.

Our little monkeys, ready to ice skate!

Me and our little superheroes, ready to get our skate on!

Joseph got on the ice with Alex.

There they go!

Wheeeeee!!!

I took William out on the rink.  He did a great job!!

Our cheeky little guy.

William on the ice.  He was much better when he was
going through the motions and not paying attention.
As soon as he started to realize what he was doing, was when
he started to panic a little.  Overall, he did a really great job
for his first time!

Alex was starting to fuss, so I switched kiddos with Joseph.  Joseph took William around the rink, and I took Alex.

Joseph with William.

After Alex got over his fear of falling, he gained some confidence and went around the rink two times with me without falling!  He was so proud of himself that he kept going back for more!

Alex, our little ice skater!

He was so proud of himself!

Joseph and William Billiam ice skating.

William wanted to take a break while Joseph and Alex hit the ice together.

I love his little skates!  What a cutie!

William, ready to go have some lunch after a morning of skating.

The next day, my parents came into town to spend some time with all of us during the holidays.

My mom, dad, and Alex at the Museum of Science.
We took them to see the Polar Express movie and they
loved it, too!

Alex, checking out the birds.

On December 23, William transformed from baby to big boy!  He spent his last night in his crib, and that morning, the furniture was delivered and assembled.  That afternoon, he spent his first nap as a big boy in his big boy bed!!

Our little William in his crib for the last time.
*sniff sniff*  :-(

Not a baby anymore.... :-(

Ta-daaaaa!!  Look at our little play boy in his big boy bed!!
He was sooooo excited and so proud to roll around on it.

We also got rid of Alex's bean bag chair (because it was
completely flattened), and got him a "weecliner".
He loves to sit in it and read books.

William also got his own "weecliner".

Our big boy William, ready to take a nap in his big boy bed!!

He gave Elmo a quick pep talk.

Since Joseph was at work in the morning, and my parents were staying at my sister and her husband's place, the boys and I decided to have a big Ninja Turtle battle on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Me and our ninjas, ready to battle some evil foot soldiers.

That afternoon, Alex and my mom made some Hanukkah sugar cookies together.

My mom and Alex making sugar cookies together.

My Dad and William, designing a very elaborate train track setup.

My mom and Alex with their finished products!

We had our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, because Joseph had that evening off (and had to work Christmas day).  It was actually really nice because I cooked all day during Christmas Eve and was able to enjoy Christmas Day (while not having to cook).

Franses/Waples/Lavelle Christmas Dinner 2014!

Alex set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

As soon as the boys went down, the little elves
went to work and the tree was ready for the next morning.

That next morning, I made monkey bread, and
the boys woke up to Santa's footprints and a note from him.

Merry Christmas 2014 from all of our boys (even Oscar)!

Time to open presents!

Alex, opening his remote controlled flying Batman
and Batman mittens from his Uncle Chris and Aunt Maeve!
Thanks so much, guys!!  The gifts for both boys were a huge hit!

The boys, opening presents.  Oscar is clearly wanting to help William
open his present.

There he goes!

After William opened up all of his presents,
he then lined them up on the floor of the kitchen.
Too funny, huh?  He loved the boxes of the presents
more than the actual presents.

Merry Christmas!

Time to check out the stockings!

Oscar has his own stocking, too.

Dad and Mom opening presents.

William, back to work!

The boys with some of their favorite presents.

Alex in his Batman pajamas and Ninja Turtle blimp from my mom and dad.
Thanks so much, Mom and Dad!  The boys had more than they ever could
have asked for and loved all of their presents.

Merry Christmas from my sister Kristen,
her husband Pete, William, Alex, my mom and dad!

Now it's my turn to join in!

I opened my stocking and got a little teary-eyed when
I reached the bottom of it.  Alex had put his cherished
chestnut in my stocking.  He loves this chestnut, and he
gave it to me for Christmas.  My heart was so full.  :-)

And now it's time to relax.

Alex, Pete, William, and Kristen hanging out.

Since we were going to have a big dinner, I wanted to make a lighter lunch.  I whipped up a salad and served it alongside a cheese tray that was surrounded by uncured turkey pepperoni (one of my favorite things to snack on).

Here's the recipe for this delicious chopped salad with creamy avocado and cilantro dressing:

Salad Ingredients:
Large head of romaine, chopped
15 oz. can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 small cucumbers, chopped
5 green onions, sliced

Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 avocado - this makes the salad nice and creamy without the guilt
1 lime, zest and juice
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Take all of the salad ingredients and put them in a large mixing bowl.
2. Put all of the dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix gently to coat the vegetables evenly.
4. You can serve it immediately, or let it sit for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

A delicious and nutritious chopped salad!

To balance out the rich cheese.  :-)
I put together a cheese flight of some of my favorite
cheeses, always going from more mild on the left
to the strongest on the right.  Like a little rainbow of delicious cheese.
I served it alongside some uncured turkey pepperoni, fig jam,
and hot pepper jelly.

And now for our holiday beertail (beer cocktail)!  Joseph and I went to this amazing restaurant called State Park and had ordered a cocktail.  When our drinks came, I was a little irritated because it came in a Miller High Life bottle and thought they had messed up our order.  Then, I took a sip and my mind was BLOWN!  You have GOT to make this beer cocktail right away!  It's incredible and was the drink that our family drank during Christmas.  Faaaaaantastic!!

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of Miller High Life
• 1/2 jigger of Amaro
• 1/2 jigger of Sweet Vermouth
• Orange peel

Directions:

1. Pour out 1 shot of Miller High Life beer into a shot glass.  Drink it.  ;-)
2. Pour 1/2 jigger of amaro, and 1/2 jigger of sweet vermouth into the Miller High Life bottle.
3. Rub the rim of the bottle with orange peel and put it inside the bottle.
4. Drink that beautiful beertail!!

Absolutely amazing!  So refreshing with a delicious
"je ne sais quoi" about it.

After hanging out in the morning, we stuffed ourselves into the car and walked around the park in our downtown area.

Alex with Rudolph!

The boys with the reindeer.

The kids took their turn at the reins.

Alex and William with the giant Santa Claus.

And now it's time for a nap.

William in his Spiderman bed, wearing his Spiderman pajamas.

Alex in his Batman bed with his Batman pajamas.

While William was sleeping, Alex decorated a gingerbread train with my mom.

Mom and Alex, setting up the body of the train.

And now it's time to decorate the train.

Alex and Mom with the decorated gingerbread train.

Me and Mom, enjoying the beertails!  So delish!

Time to get ready for bed!

Mom and William the shark, after bath.

Kristen and Alex the bear, drying off.

Time for milk in the weecliner!

Alex in his new and improved Batman bedroom!
William has a Spiderman just like this in his bedroom,
but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Our silly boys :-)

Oscar was really pooped after all of that excitement.

William and Alex, bouncing on top of me.

As you can tell, they loved the "Let's Smash Mommy!"
game.

What an awesome month filled with traditions, incredible food, and lots of family fun!  Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, y'all!  I love this time of year.  Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki