Posts from — December 2011

Hey! I hope everyone’s feeling ready for the holidays. I had a great, super-productive weekend and I’m totally on top of Christmas this year! Yay, me! I’ve got all of my major presents done, most of my little presents done, and I feel confident that Santa could at least half-fill all the stocking tonight if necessary. Lots of stuff already wrapped and under the tree. Plus, I’ve got tins full of chocolate-caramel cookies, walnut creams, and magic cookie bars (all recipes I’ve posted before). The next big task is our annual Crafty Girl Christmas Party tomorrow after school. The girls helped me wrap up about a million pigs in a blanket tonight, and I’ve got to rearrange my furniture in a desperate attempt to provide all the girls a seat while they’re crafting. Phew!

I’m not going to do a separate upcoming-weekend post this Thursday, since most people will be busy with their own family plans and many of our “fun” places are closed, anyway. Instead I might try to do a December break preview a bit early, since there’s plenty to do and I know everyone’s schedules are a a little nutty.

All Week:

• The Model trains continue at Schenectady Museum.
• The Polar Express continues.
• There are Capital Holiday Lights in Washington Park in Albany.
• Art Utopia is having a Holiday Open Studio for kids ages 5 and up. $20 per child.

Monday, December 19th:

• From 9 am ’til 1 pm, My Place to Play in Rotterdam is having a Drop-off Day for kids ages 1 and up. It costs $9/hour and includes games, lunch, crafts, and a snack. Wow, that’s a seriously good idea. I visited My Place to Play and wrote about it on KidsOutAndAbout.com. Then this made me wonder if other places do drop-offs, too, and Tumbling Tykes , Mimi’s Kids Club, and Candyland do them regularly as well. So, have any readers tried any of these places, or others? Any place to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down?
• The Colonie Town Band is performing a free concert from 7-8 pm at Cohoes Music Hall.
• From 6:30 to 8 pm, the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library is hosting a Seasonal Sing-Along for Kids. This event is designed for ages 3 to 8 and family, and they’re collecting cans.

First day of Chanukah: Tuesday, December 20th:

• Go on a Moreau Overlook Hike at noon at Moreau Lake State Park. Pre-register.
• At noon there’s a free Organ Concert at Proctors.
• The Albany High School Choir will perform a Holiday Serenade at the main Albany Library from 1:15-2 pm.
• There’s Seasonal Storytelling and Craft at Pine Hills Branch at 3:30 pm for kids in pre-K to 4th grade.
• At 5:30 pm, Albany Aqua Ducks are doing a Holly Trolley Tour that begins at Ten Broeck Mansion and through the Capital Lights in Washington Park. $25/adult, $20/kids 4 to 12.

Winter Solstice: Wednesday, December 21st:

• From 6:30-7:30, go on a Winter Solstice Hike at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person, $5/family.
• There’s a Friends of the Library Poetry Slam at 6:30 pm at the Arbor Hill/West Hill Branch Library.
• Young children can enjoy Bach Bedtime Stories at the Bach Branch Library at 7 pm.
• At 7 pm, it’s Pajamarama at Bethlehem Public Library.
• The Dominican Retreat and Conference Center is hosting their Annual Carol Night at 7:30 pm. It’s free, but they’ll collect donations for charity.

Thursday, December 22nd:

• Go on a Wetland Walk from 1-3 pm at Moreau Lake State Park. Pre-register.
• At 5:30 pm, there’s a Dreidels N Donuts Family Chanukah Celebration at the Clifton Park Center Mall.
• The Empire State Youth Orchestra Percussion Ensembles are performing holiday music in a free concert at 7 pm at the College of St. Rose.

Friday, December 23rd:

• It’s a GE Kids in Free Friday at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology.
• From 10-11:30 am, the East Greenbush Mom’s Group is meeting at the East Greenbush Public Library.
• There’s a Holiday Bounce Party from 2-8 pm at Afrim’s.  It’s for ages 3 to 7, and it’s $5 a child. Dress up in “holiday attire” and you’ll get a goody bag. I didn’t see this on the site, but they sent out an email.
• At 4:30 & 7 pm, they’re showing a film of the Bolshoi Ballet’s Nutcracker at Proctors. It’s about 2 hours, and tickets are $15/adult, $10/kids 17 and under.
• The Palace Theater is showing It’s a Wonderful Life at 7 pm. $5/adult, $3/kids 14 and under.

Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24th:

• SFC Coon’s Christmas Eve Road March begins at 9 am at the Glens Falls Civic Center. People are gathering to march to show support for US troops that can’t be home for the holidays.
• At 10 am, Five Rivers has a Family Fun program called Not A Creature Was Stirring. They want you to call and register by Wednesday.

I was tidying up my room last weekend, and I decided to make a clean sweep and clear away a mound of clutter.

And by clutter I mean precious gifts from my beloved daughters.

I know, I know: I’m a terrible person. But I’m going to say it, so just go ahead and judge me. My kids make some wonderful, crafty, thoughtful gifts, and I am so happy to receive them. They also scavenge their rooms for their own beloved treasures which they wrap for me, Cute W, and each other. It’s so sweet. It’s genuinely moving. And then the gifts stays there in my room or around the house on display. For years. And collect dust.

Here, for example, is a sampling of some of the items that were on my bureau:

Readers who attended our nursery school will recognize the two big keepsake boxes. Gorgeous works of art with tissue paper and pom-pom balls and 3-D felt flowers that periodically fall off or crumble. Try dusting these puppies. Yikes.

Two of the many scavenged items that I’ve received include this blown-out Chinese lantern firecracker and a half-filled plastic snow globe from a garage sale.

There’s also a photo of us in a frame from Marshalls that the girls picked out all by themselves.

This is a mere fraction of the items that are on display throughout the house. Even the cards they make are huge showpieces. Including this little beauty, which you have to read to truly appreciate:

It makes me a little nuts, because of course I keep these things. And putting them away feels wrong, like I don’t love my kids. But the stuff takes over my space. That little patch of bureau up there? It’s not serene. So I relocated all of the items above except for the framed picture.  I couldn’t even manage to box them, but I put them on a low, less prominent shelf for now, with storage in the plans for the future. What do other people do with these? Like, nursery-school parents, did you wrap your box in plastic so that it would stay intact and clean, or have been using it? And if you’ve been using it, will you use it forever and ever? Is it because you love your child more than I love mine?

Putting some empty space on my dresser made me feel like I could breathe easier. Ah, serenity:  I felt like the oxygen level in the room increased.

What makes me crazy is that you’ll see those magazine articles about clever things to do with your kids’ artwork, and they look so lovely, like the stuff’s been curated by a gallery owner. I swear, sometimes I feel like magazines are created expressly to make me feel like I suck. But that’s a little snapshot, and they usually don’t mention that there’s this other stuff that just got tossed in the trash. Right? I mean, someone who has this one corner of their house that looks that beautiful probably does not have any old exploded firecracker wrappings lying around at all, right? So why does it feel perfectly reasonable when the design-happy magazine people make the “tough choices,” but I feel like a mean ol’ Mommy if I put something away that my kids gave me four years ago that they’ve since forgotten about entirely?

Actually,  I have my own lovely little curated corner:

Right above my computer, this display is one of my favorite things in the house. But I feel a little guilty about it, too. The frames were super-cheap, from Ikea. I started with the four bottom paintings, but when the girls got wind of it, they wanted to choose more of their own art, and it drove me a little crazy. Because I wanted to pick my favorites.  I let them choose a few, but I’ve been gradually replacing the stuff they picked with new art, and now the only one to be replaced is that top yellow one: it’s in colored pencil instead of paint like the rest of them.  Of course I don’t say this to the artist. I just periodically suggest painting on standard copy paper so that hopefully an item will be produced that will fit in with my aesthetic vision. Then I can exclaim over it and ask if she’d mind terribly if I swap it in, not because I dislike the pencil, but because this one is so stunning!

I’ve received some lovely homemade jewelry, like this brooch and this necklace:

My mom tip? Church is the perfect place to wear the homemade jewelry. It’s formal enough that you’re not out-of-place wearing sequins, and you’re sure to get compliments from other mamas. But I don’t wear a lot of jewelry, ever, so months will go by between wearings.

I’d thought about writing this last weekend when I cleaned, and then I was reminded this morning when I saw that J’s started putting gifts under the tree, including a gift bag with–okay, I can’t tell, because it’s for Cute W, and it’s scavenged-but-thoughtful. You see the dilemma here? I love the care taken in choosing and/or making these gifts. I’m not going to suggest that we go out shopping. Well, luckily, I just tidied, so there’s plenty of fresh space on my dresser.

What about all of you? How long do you display your gifts? Do you feel guilty picking and choosing, or should I just get over it?

I made my first shortbread of the season and it was a tragic, crumbling mess. It was tasty, but it got stuck in the mold. I think I didn’t bake it long enough.  I’m having Mary over for tea tomorrow, and I wish my house were cleaner. But I don’t wish hard enough to actually spend time cleaning it tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

So, here’s what I’ve found. You can also check out this week’s KidsOutAndAbout.com Newsletter.

And as always, if you’ve got more fun to share, please comment!

All Weekend:

• The Model trains continue at Schenectady Museum.
• The Classic Theatre Guild presents Miracle on 34th Street at Proctors. Tickets are $17.50/adult, $14.50/students.
• It’s the Melodies of Christmas at Proctors . Mostly $25, limited $15 tickets.
• The Polar Express continues.
• There are Capital Holiday Lights in Washington Park in Albany.
• Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Water Park is having Spruce’s Sleepover Pajama Party Weekend. It’s $235 a night if you were to do both Friday & Saturday night.
• Snow White is playing at Steamer 10 Theatre on Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm. It’s $12 at the door or discounted if you purchase ahead or do the Steamer 10 pass.
• A live musical version of It’s aWonderful Life is playing at Cohoes Music Hall.
• The Lion, the Witch, and  the Wardrobe is playing at the Homemade Theater at Saratoga Spa State Park.

Evening of Friday, December 16th:

• It’s Art Night Schenectady from 5-9 pm.

Saturday, December 17th:

• Kids 8 and up can make Blue Brew at the Children’s Museum of Science & Technology. Pre-registration required, and it’s $2/non-member.
• From 10:30 am until noon, it’s a Children’s Story Hour at Ten Broeck Mansion. Free admission, recommended for ages 3 to 10.
•  There’s a Classical Harp performance by Dahr from 1:30-2:30 pm at the Pine Hills Branch Library.
• The Zucchini Brothers are performing at 2 pm at The Egg. Tickets are $10.
• It’s a Family Fun Weekend at the New York State Museum:  Furry Tales and Touchables at 11 am,  ART SMART and Family Fun Day at 1 pm, with plenty of activities with an International Holiday Celebrations theme, including family dancing.

Sunday, December 18th:

• They’re Making Menorahs from noon to 2 pm at the Halfmoon Home Depot.
• Kids 5 and up can Be a Scientist at 1 pm at the Children’s Museum of Science & Technology. Pre-registration required, and it’s $2/non-member.
• Handel’s Messiah at 1:30 pm by Octavo Singers-thanks Maggie.
• At the Schenectady JCC, it’s Fun Activities on Sundays at Two: the Chanukah Edition from 2-4 pm. Free for members, $10 for non-members.
• The Albany Berkshire Ballet is performing The Nutcracker at The Egg at 2:30 and 6:30 pm. Tickets are $35/adult, $25/child.
• At 4 pm, the The Capital District Youth Chorale is performing at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Albany.

Omigosh, omigosh!

I am super-excited because I have yet another giveaway, and it’s an excellent prize for somebody: a family 4-pack of tickets to see The Laurie Berkner Band!

They’re playing at Proctors on Saturday, January 7th at 11 am, and tickets are $25 to $35.

If you don’t know Laurie Berkner already, well: she’s awesome. She’s my favorite kid-friendly musician by far. I’ve even mentioned her in passing a few times, like when I talked about a favorite lullabye with J.  Maybe you’ve seen her on Nick, Jr. We haven’t: we don’t have cable.

But I totally agreed when People Magazine called her “The queen of kids’ music” and when Time Magazine said she was “a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow.” Okay, I actually didn’t read either of those things at the time, but if I’d seen the articles in the magazines, I totally would have read them, because I am a fan.  So when I read these lovely quotes from the nice lady who was kind enough to pass along the tickets, I said, “Heck, yeah!” And I’ll add my own endorsement: I have been known to listen and sing along to Laurie Berkner when absolutely no children are present! I think she’s awesome.

So, here’s the deal: this time, we’re sharing the giveaway with KidsOutAndAbout.com, which means that we’ll take entries from both sites, pool them together, and randomly pick one winner of the 4-pack of tickets.

To enter, comment below and tell me your favorite song to sing with kids and why. It doesn’t have to be a Laurie Berkner song, just any song and why (so your fellow readers might get ideas for new music). You’ll need to comment by Saturday, December 17th at 11:59 pm. I’ll announce the winner on Monday the 19th.

You can double your chances of winning by entering over at KidsOutAndAbout.com as well. Follow the instructions there (she always asks for contact info. in case she needs to mail a prize, but she won’t use it for anything else).  There’s also a spot on that page where you can enter your email address for the free weekly newsletter that I help write, if you haven’t done so already.

Hooray! I know we’re just coming off of the Disney on Ice Giveaway, but this one was too good to pass up.

Good luck everyone!

So, I’ve had a somewhat emotionally exhausting day with a teacher conference that I feared would be contentious scheduled for smack dab in the middle of my day. The conference actually turned out quite peaceful and cordial, but my jaw is still sore from night-time stress teeth-grinding for the past two nights. I’d told myself that I’d treat myself to the reward of actually making my dang wreath after the conference. It didn’t happen. Instead, I’d forgotten that I’d promised to proofread something for Cute W’s work, and then J came down with a killer case of writer’s block. She was only supposed to come up with a few spelling sentences, but she imposes excessive demands on herself and wants to come up with clever sentences that  incorporate 3 or 4 of her spelling words in a single sentence. After much moaning, hand-wringing, and (more!) teeth gnashing, I called it after two sentences and wrote the teacher a note instead. Meanwhile I was late for making dinner.

The rest of the evening has melted away in a similar fashion. So, sigh, I’m just not going to get a chance to tell you about another cool giveaway coming up (tomorrow!).

Instead, I’ll share two links with you

I liked this iVillage article with suggestions on how you can prove that Santa exists.

I also recently passed along a local holiday shopping list over on All Over Albany. Alas, Instead of using photographs of the lovely wares, like this one with cool stuff from Divinitea  . . .

Or some of these lovely little trinkets from Northeastern Fine Jewelry. . .

the editors chose to forgo them and instead publish an unbelievably enormous photograph of me. Wow. . . that’s big. Thanks to my friend who took the picture: I would have made sure that you got credit if I’d realized that the picture itself would be so big. And prominent. And also big. Not like it’s a bad picture. You know, it’s a good picture. But also, awfully big.

Click on over  if you want the details on these lovely items and other local holiday gift ideas. But you might want to squint a little bit so I don’t scare you.

So I mentioned that a couple of weekends ago I was helping out with some craftiness at my church. I had organized two crafts:  felt ornaments , which we’ve done before, and wire-wrapped ornaments. I got the idea for a wire-wrapped star from this Family Fun how-to, but it was not as easy as it appeared. Basically, I was supposed to wrap 18-gauge wire around a star cookie cutter, and then kids could use lighter-weight wire to wrap around the star and make it pretty. Wrapping the wire was a pain in the neck, especially since I wanted to make a bunch for lots of kids to do. Cute W helped by putting some nails into a board, which made wrapping a bit easier, but it was still labor-intensive, and the stars weren’t too pretty.  Of course, I was figuring all this out the night before the event. Ugh.

I decided to wing it and go a little bit more free-form with the craft. First, I Googled and found directions for making these awesome and pretty word ornaments.  Luckily I had a variety of wires to use for the craftiness. I ‘d bought the thick, sturdier 18-gauge wire, but I also had 22- and 24-gauge wire. If you’re looking for wire like this, you’ll usually find it near the jewelry-making section at craft stores. Basically, the lower the number, the thicker, sturdier, more difficult to bend, and  usually more expensive the wire will be. Here are some of the ornaments that we made:

For me, the 22-gauge wire was great for just tooling around with shapes, but it probably wouldn’t have been able to have another wire wrap around it–you’d need a thicker “base wire” for that.  It was fun to just play around with it. Like, that little silver shape next to the heart seemed like a pendant for a necklace that I might buy.

A grown-up added beads to make this Christmas-tree-shaped ornament in just a few minutes:

Cute, right?

I had some leftover wire, and since then, the girls have been delving into it some more.  In fact, I had all of my leftovers set aside, because I planned to make a couple of extra-nice ornaments for the blog. But I didn’t share this plan with girls, and before I knew it, they’d commandeered the leftovers for their own craftiness:

Here are a couple that they made all on their own:

M made the musical note with craft wire, and the bird and matryoshka dolls are made from cut-outs that I’d prepped for the crafting event. They came from this unbelievably adorable  book, Fa La La La Felt, which will make you yearn to craft immediately. Many of the crafts are ambitious, but luckily, they can be taken down a notch to accommodate the patience and skills of children. And/or this blogger.

In fact, I feel a bit guilty, because in the book there are these bee-you-tee-ful matryoshka ornaments that are sewn together with a little batting to give them body, and I did a modified version, and then my kids stole the pieces and modified them some more.  Same deal with the bird: in the book, it was a lovely dove with a coordinating floral-patterned wing piece that I’d planned to make, but one of the kids just had a rick-rack and button party all over it. So these are cute, but the ones in the book are gorgeous.  And absolutely do-able, just not do-able for me right now when I’m also working on Christmas shopping and helping kids with homework and  keeping up with the blog. I was sad that there wasn’t one of those “Look Inside!” options so that you could see the Many Splendid Crafts in the book, so I poked around a bit and located the author’s blog, which is going into my Google Reader.

The wire crafts are going to be part of this year’s Crafty Girl Party. The book is on my Christmas list (hint, hint).

Too tired for the patter, but here’s what I’ve found for this week:

All Week:

• The Model trains continue at Schenectady Museum.
• The Classic Theatre Guild presents Miracle on 34th Street at Proctors Thursday through Sunday. Tickets are $17.50/adult, $14.50/students.
• It’s the Melodies of Christmas at Proctors starting Thursday through Sunday. Mostly $25, limited $15 tickets.
• The Polar Express continues.
• There are Capital Holiday Lights in Washington Park in Albany.

 Monday, December 12th:

• Go on a Spring Overlook Hike at Moreau Lake State Park from 9 am to noon.
• There’s a Breastfeeding Cafe from 11 am to 1 pm at Orange Cat Cafe.
• At 5:30 pm, Albany Aqua Ducks are doing a Holly Trolley Tour that begins at Ten Broeck Mansion and through the Capital Lights in Washington Park. $25/adult, $20/kids 4 to 12.
•  At the Howe Branch Library, there’s a free jazz concert by the Nat Phipps Duo from 6-7 pm.

 Tuesday, December 13th:

• From 2-3 pm it’s a Preschool Naturalists Program at Saratoga Spa State Park. You must pre-register; it’s $3/person.
• They’re making Snow Globes from 4-5 pm at the Howe Branch Library.
• There’s a Breastfeeding Cafe from 6:30-8:30 pm at Virgil’s House in Saratoga.
• At 7 pm, it’s Pajamarama at Bethlehem Public Library.

Wednesday, December 14th:

• Take a Mud Pond Hike at 10 am at Moreau.
• It’s a Winter Wonderland Tea Party from 2-3 pm at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. Pre-register; it’s $6/non-member.
• There’s a free Latin jazz concert by Sensemaya from 4-5 pm at the Arbor Hill/West Hill Branch Library.
• They’re making Snow Globes from 4-5 pm at the Arbor Hill of the  Howe Branch Library.
• They’re making Snow Globes from 6:30-7:30 pm at the  Albamy Main Branch Library. They specify it’s for kids 6 and up and ask you to register.

Thursday, December 15th:

• Go on an Outdoor Scavenger Hunt from 11 am to 12:30 pm at Saratoga Spa State Park. Pre-register; it’s $3/person, $5/family.
• At 3:45 pm, it’s Spaghetti Sculptures for grades 6 to 10 at Duane Branch Library.
• From 7-8:30 pm at Albany’s Main Library, there’s a free  jazz guitar concert by Mark Capon and Joe Finn.

Friday, December 16th:

• Go on an Eagle Watch at 9:30 am at Moreau Lake.
• It’s a GE Kids in Free Friday at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology.
• There’s a free performance by the Albany Symphony Orchestra led by David Alan Miller from noon until 1 pm at Albany’s Main Library.
• It’s Art Night Schenectady from 5-9 pm.
• Six Flags Great Escape Loge & Indoor Water Park is having Spruce’s Sleepover Pajama Party Weekend. It’s $235 a night if you were to do both Friday & Saturday night.

We went to Disney on Ice last night. I took a few notes because at this point, I can’t help myself.

There were a lot of charming costumes, including adorable starfish and other sea creatures for the Little Mermaid portion, and all sorts of skates designed to look like other things, like high heels or footy pajamas. The Lion King portion seemed the shortest. We particularly enjoyed Pumba. J leaned over to me to ask how they were making Pumba skate like that, and when I explained that I thought it was one person hunched over, I asked, “What do you think of that?” She answered, “Uncomfortable.” All of the four stories (Lion King, Little Mermaid, Lilo & Stitch, and Peter Pan), were super-abbreviated, but it was more about the spectacle than the plot, anyway. Only Lilo & Stitch fell a little flat because so many of the costumes were jeans or shorts (also because we don’t know that story), but the skater who played Lilo made up for it with the biggest personality of all the performers. My girls have done enough skating to know how tough it is, so they were deeply impressed. The Peter Pan story was the longest, with fun special effects like fairy dust, flying, and a pretty awesome pirate ship.

A few parts were scary for easily-scared children, including a giant Ursula sea witch and a big alligator. But they looked more like parade float than anything, so it wasn’t bad. In fact, when Captain Hook’s eaten by the dragon, he basically jumps into the cushy alligator and then pulled ropes on the alligator to make the jaws bit, a move so obvious that J pointed it out to me. So I wouldn’t be concerned unless your child is at an extraordinarily fearful stage.

There’s an intermission during which pretty much everyone will purchase something for way too much money. My girls got $15 snow cones in souvenir cups, and another popular item was $10 cotton candy that included adorable Tinker Bell or Nemo-themed hats. It was pretty funny, actually, because there were a ton of big men wearing the lavender upside-down flower Tinker Bell caps. I chatted up a group of guys two rows ahead of us because they looked much more likely to be at a frat party than at this show. Turns out one of their younger sisters was in the show and he was seeing her for the first time: if you go she’s the fox-costumed lost boy among others, so cheer extra hard.

Last night there were plenty of seats, with the upper tiers of the TU center completely empty. I also noticed that the people who dropped serious cash for ringside seats were getting a lot of extra attention from the cast members, eye contact, high-fives and such. Since we’re just coming off of Disney World, it felt very much like a show that you might see there.

There’s a show tonight and two on Sunday, and you can buy tickets at Ticketmaster.com, call  1-800-745-3000 or visit the Times Union Box Office.  Ticket prices are $12, $22, $40 for VIP, and $55 for Rinkside. There’s still the coupon for tonight’s Saturday, December 10 at 7 pm. The code is MOM2011 to save $4 on the $22 or $12 tickets to these performances.

I can’t seem to post before 11:30 pm this week. I’ve got listings below, but if you’re looking for even more fun, you can also check out this week’s KidsOutAndAbout.com newsletter or click here for my Christmas fun page. And, of course, I love additions in the comments.

All Weekend:

• The Model trains begin at Schenectady Museum.
• The Theatre Institute at Sage is performing Peter Pan at 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  $10/adult, $8/students. This continues next weekend.
• Snow White is playing at Steamer 10 Theatre on Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm. It’s $12 at the door or discounted if you purchase ahead or do the Steamer 10 pass.
• The Classic Theatre Guild presents Miracle on 34th Street at Proctors.  Tickets are $17.50/adult, $14.50/students.
• It’s Northeast Ballet’s Annual Nutcracker at Proctors. Tickets $20 to $30.
• Adirondack Ballet Theatre is performing The Nutcracker at the Wood Theater in Glens Falls. Tickets are $16.
• You can have Breakfast with Santa at the Desmond. $20/adult and kids 12 and under free if you donated a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.
•  Disney on Ice’s Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey continues. You can buy tickets at Ticketmaster.com, call  1-800-745-3000 or visit the Times Union Box Office.  Remember that for the Saturday, December 10th show at 7 pm, we’ve got a coupon  code  MOM2011 to save $4 on the $22 or $12 tickets.

Evening of Friday, December 9th:

• From 5:30-9:30 pm, it’s a German-American Advent Celebration at Ten Broeck Mansion. It’s $20/adult, kids 12 and under free.

Saturday, December 10th:

• Learn about A Natural History of Christmas Trees at 10 am at Five Rivers.
• At 10:30 am there’s a Homemade Wrapping Paper Craft at Albany Pine Bush. Pre-register; it’s $3/person, $5/family.
• From 10-11 am, kids ages 6 to 10 can do  International Yoga at the  World Awareness Children’s Museum. Included with $5 museum admission.
• Make Homemade Snow Globes from 10 to 11:30 pm at Saratoga Spa State Park. It’s $5/person.
• Santa will be at Troy’s Winter Wonderland from 11 am to 3 pm.
• From noon until 3 pm there’s an Open House at Ten Broeck Mansion. It’s $5/adult, $1/child 12 and under.
• It’s Winter Wonderlark from noon until 5 pm.
• It’s a Candlelight Evening from 3-7 pm at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. It’s $12/adult, $6/kids 7-12, kids 5 and under free.
• Five Rivers. is having a Night Owls and Hot Dogs event at 4 pm, although you were supposed to have already pre-registered, so call first to see if they’ll let you in.
• From 6 until 8:30 pm, a Violin Duo from Empire State Youth Orchestra will be performing at Ten Broeck Mansion. It’s $10/person.
• Take a Moonlight Walk at 7 pm at Thacher. For adults and children over 14.
• There’s a camp-in for groups at the Children’s Museum of Science & Technology. It’s $30/child.

 Sunday, December 11th:

• Take a Tree Identification Hike at Saratoga Spa State Park from 11 am to 12:30 pm. $3/person, $5/family.
• Discover the Pine Bush at 1 pm at the Albany Pine Bush. Pre-register; it’s $3/person, $5/family.
• It’s a Family Day Festival at the Albany Institute of History & Art, with performances by the Catskill Puppet Theatre at 1 & 3 pm. Free with museum admission.
• At 1 pm it’s a Jr. Birder’s Holiday Votive making session at Thacher. $3/person.
• Santa Claus is coming to Saratoga Automobile Museum from 1 to 4 pm. Free!
• The Empire State Youth Orchestra is performing at 3 pm at the College of St. Rose. It’s $6/adult, $3/student.
• There’s a Family Dance from 4-5:15 pm in Delmar. Suggested donation $5/adult, $1/child.
• Take a Full Moon Hike from 4-6 pm at Moreau Lake State Park.
• The Glens Falls Symphony is performing at Glens Falls High School at 4 pm. Its $25/adult, $10/student.

M, who was shut out of Girl Scouts in kindergarten, has finally joined a troop. Actually, this marks the girls’ 3rd attempt at joining a troop (M tried one at another school for a bit, J tried this year, but it was way too huge a group for her). So much depends on the leaders, and that is hard work. Her leaders are awesome: welcoming to her, kind to me especially when I screw up and drop her off an hour late (don’t ask), and they do great stuff, including plenty of smarty-pants girl power and community service activities.

M started showing up in October, I think, and she’s already got 4 badges. And I only know this when she happened to bring her sash home after the last outing, because someone who is not me orders and attaches each badge after doing its required enrichment activities. I mean, how much does that rock?

Here’s a favorite tradition they do:  each girl takes a turn bringing Brownie home with her.

Along with Brownie, they get a journal, and each girl writes about what she and Brownie did together. At the beginning of the journal it’s all childish scrawls, and now that they’re 4th graders, it’s much more refined. I love documenting stuff. M made a chart of Brownie’s favorite things and drew an unbelievable portrait of Brownie which I was too unskilled to photograph for you.

At M’s last outing, they brought cookies and sang Christmas carols at the Schenectady City Mission.

With all the time I saved not attaching badges, I whipped up some of our yummiest cookies. M and I agreed that the folks at the mission probably don’t eat nearly enough super-yummy cookies. She was so excited and proud to be a part of it.