Photo Booth

Thanksgiving was really pleasant this year. Everyone was at Mom’s and Dad’s for dinner. Even Jeff’s girlfriend Lisa was with us all the way from Canada.

The food was really delicious, as always. We discovered that Turkey is superfluous to a good Thanksgiving meal. Is that a sacrilege? Maybe, but I didn’t miss it one bit. More room for the stuff I like so much more.

Not only did we stuff our bellies as per tradition, but we had a few other activities as well. Mom and Dad planned a fun treasure hunt for the grandkids. Mom wrote sweet notes to all the kids, telling them why they are her treasures. She’s thoughtful like that.

I planned a turkey coloring contest and a Thanksgiving trivia game. Did you know that the first Thanksgiving was really in October? The Canadians have it right on this one, as Lisa pointed out.

Mike even contributed to our activity agenda by bringing his “photo booth” equipment, along with a bag of costume props. The kids had the most fun with this and it was pretty entertaining too see the results as they were downloaded. Here’s a sampling…

And a blast from the past…MK in my mom’s homecoming dress from High School…

You could get away with wearing this dress to a dance today. Very cute.

It was a good day to celebrate with people that I am most thankful for.

The Big FOUR OOH!

 

This darling little one year old…

…turned 40 yesterday!

I think he’s even more darling now.

He’s still got that pleasant, happy look in his eyes, because that’s who he really is.

I’m happy to say that I’ve spent almost half my life with this good man and he’s everything to me. I think his forties are going to be his best years yet and I can’t wait to share them with him.

I love you Michael. So, so much.

Happy birthday!

I’ve got to hurry and squeeze in the obligatory Halloween post…

I know, I know…it’s way past Halloween and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I’ve got to post about Halloween. When my kids get bored, they sometimes will find their way to this blog and spend time scrolling through. When they do this they always glean such great delight from the Halloween posts, remembering all the fun from previous years. From the other room I can hear them discussing it…”Hey, remember when you were an Indian and I shot you with my cowboy cap gun?” or “We are so going to get back at mom for making us dress up like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. We look ridiculous!”

In this light, it would be a tragedy to leave out 2013!

As you may remember from last year, at the boys school there are strict rules about costumes. We have to choose a character from a book that’s on the approved “classics” list, or a character we admire from history. We have to really use our imaginations folks!

This is what we came up with…

Jeffrey decided he wanted to be Santa Claus. This costume fills both the categories…a character from a book (Polar Express), and a person from history. Double boo-yah!

He was perfectly delighted with this choice until he got around other kids and they made fun of him for dressing for the wrong holiday. Kids are so mean! It turned out okay though, we had a good discussion about irony. Everything can be turned into a learning experience.

Jonathan choose to be Harold from “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” a book that is celebrating 50 years in print. Jonathan always loved this story, and I was surprised by how many people had never heard of this book. I just thought everyone knew about Harold.

We thought is was a fun costume, but when Jonathan discovered how many people didn’t know about Harold he insisted on donning his old Star Wars costume for the trick-or-treating portion of the day. Maybe Santa Claus seems a little weird for Halloween, but at least everyone instantly recognize him!

I’m pretty sure Santa is smiling, but how would you know under all that beard?

Here Obi-Wan is using the force to play some piano tunes.

 

Although MK is banned from trick-or-treating on account of her age, she is not yet to cool to dress up for school. She and her friend Emily decided to work a little Dr. Suess magic with their own version of Thing One and Thing Two….

Somehow I don’t believe Thing One and Thing Two were into meditation, but what ever works.

As for me, I’m a party pooper about dressing up on Halloween and seldom do it… and Mike…his costume was too lame to photograph or mention.

He put on a rugby jersey, some shorts, cleats, and his trusty afro wig. See…not worth mentioning.

I think we are becoming fuddy-duddies in our old age.

Catch Up!

I’ve had a few far away friends and family wonder if I’m ever going to post on this blog again. I really has been a long, long time. I can’t seem to get to it anymore. Life is crazy busy; if it’s not one thing, it’s another. I don’t want this blog to go away forever though. It really is a good way to record life and keep in touch, even if just a little bit.

I thought I might do a quick catch up and record what we’ve been up to for the last few months.

In late August, Mike and a few members of his family (Mom, Dad, Laura and baby Lily), in a temporary fit of insanity, decided to join other slightly insane members of Mike’s extended family on a 40 mile back packing trip into the heart of Yellowstone National Park. It’s always been a dream of Lynette’s to take this trip. Her father, Blaylock, would do this same hike every year and he always claimed it was his favorite place on earth.

Mike was glad to be able to go and help make his mom’s dream come true. Lynette was amazing! She had trained hard and did the whole 40 some-odd miles without blinking an eye (except maybe the eye that swelled shut after the spider bit it).

Mike still hasn’t stopped talking about how amazingly beautiful this area of Yellowstone is. The only way for humans to see it is to back pack several days in. He keeps talking about the waterfalls and hot springs and miles of delicious wild raspberries. I’m just relieved that they didn’t get eaten by the mama bear and her three bear cubs that crossed their path. They all came back in one piece, thankfully.

While Mike was enjoying the wonders of nature, I was home getting the kids ready for their first day of school….

The boys started third grade. I put them both in the same class for the first time this year. I was a bit hesitant to do this for obvious reasons, but so far it’s turned out great. (Well…there was that one incident involving some stomach punching in class, but honestly I was expecting much worse).

The boys love their teacher! She is a beautiful lady with a super fun personality and she makes the classroom seem like a constant party. Who wouldn’t love her? So far school is going great for the boys. They even tried out for and made the cut for the school talent show. They both did a great job on their piano solos.

I’m still so happy with this charter school and glad to be involved there when I can. The boys awarded me the “cool-mom-of-the-year” award for being in charge of the book fair again this year. I think this may be the last year that they boys actually think it’s a cool thing that their mom is hanging at the school with them all day. I’m going to soak it up while it lasts!

MK is now in the 9th grade. She is a high school freshmen! This concept is very hard for me to wrap my brain around, but of course she is loving it. This girl is like a fish in water when it comes to school. She is happiest when she is immersed in the challenge of it all. Of course school means a very active social life for her. She doesn’t stay home much. Thanks goodness I can track her on her cell phone!

Trying out for and making the Shakespeare competition team has been the highlight of her year so far. She and the rest of the team really cleaned house down at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar city. PG Junior High won the over-all in their division. Kind of a big deal for them. Loud squeals of delight when she called me after the awards ceremony.

MK was part of an ensemble again this year. They did a hilarious scene from Much Ado About Nothing. These kids did a superb job with Shakespeare. It’s really impressive actually. I’m loving the educational aspect of this whole business.

 

Shakespeare is over, but this week are tryouts for the school musical so there could be much more thespian activity in the near future (at least she is hoping). This year they are doing “Once Upon and Island.” It looks fun, but I’ve never heard of it.

 

The kids have been working hard at the piano. They have some really great teachers and all three of them are progressing nicely. We decided it was time to break down and purchase a new piano. Our current piano (bless it’s beautiful heart) is plenty good enough for Tune a Fish and Riding on a Mule, but not so great for Chopin. We’ve done quite of bit of looking and our new, shiny, black baby will finally be delivered on Wednesday. This is a big deal for all of us and we are feeling very excited about it. Even Mike has decided he might want to take up piano again. (We’ll see if that really happens).

With busy kids comes busy parents and Mike and I don’t have much down time. Mike’s clinic is opening up a new office this week and that has kept him incredibly busy these last few months. He now runs all the IT for four pediatric offices around the valley and he does an amazing job of managing the stress of it all. He rarely brings his job home and I really appreciate that.

In an effort to spend more time with the boys, Mike has joined them at their Karate Dojo twice a week. It was only $25 dollars more a month for him to join so why not? The boys think it’s the best thing ever that he does Karate with them and Mike actually enjoys it. It’s entirely possible that at some point I will be married to a black belt. Hy-Ya!

As for myself, I’m getting pretty good at keeping all the balls spinning in the air…except when I’m not. This last week I got a terrible stomach bug from the dark side and I was in bed for 7 days. Being out of commission for that long is not so great for a busy mom and I got severely behind on everything. Luckily I have the best parents ever and they came down and helped me clean my house and get me back on track. The holidays are coming at us quickly and I’m gearing up for how crazy the next few months will be.

I’m actually really enjoying my life for the most part, despite the stresses. There is lots of good to be enjoyed. I’m loving my family and the opportunities I have to do what I do. Being sick helped me appreciate being healthy and active and I’m glad to be back at it.

I’ll leave you with one last picture I found on my camera that pretty sums it all up……

 

Jeffrey???????????

A Short Visit to NYC

There are few thing I love more than visiting New York City. What a place! After a lovely few days basking in the peace and serenity of Cape Cod I decided shake things up a bit and stay in the big city for a few days. Always a good choice.

In my next life I will live in NYC.

It poured buckets of rain a couple of the mornings I was there. I didn’t mind it at all. It was fun to walk through the city streets in wet shoes and do some window shopping under my umbrella. It was nice and cool with the cloud cover. Maybe I prefer the city in the rain.

While there, I stayed in Stephen’s wonderful little apartment (with his stuffed chicken) in the West Village. Lots for the eye to behold, and I loved the rumble of the building that happens in regular intervals as the subway crosses underneath. It was like tiny earth quakes, little reminders that you’re in the city.

 

Looking out into the courtyard one morning, I found a cat to have a staring contest with. (The cat won).

And look who I found hiding in the apartment…

…the famous Moon Man, in person!

He was watching over me in my sleep too…

We did some eating (Italian, Thai, French, Indian, lots of delectable treats), shopping (Soho, Park Ave) and sight seeing (I love NYC best at night).

My favorite was visiting with friends and family…

My most favorite New Yorkers: Meredith and Jordon, Emilie, John, Marc, Stephen…all delightful.

I love the energy of the city, the cacophony and mixture of everything. I love how the energy doesn’t fade a bit, even after the sun has been down for hours and hours. We enjoyed some after-dinner entertainment for free. Some skate boarding and biking tricksters and even a ballerina’s in a dress lit up with tiny lights were eager to perform for us in Columbus circle. We were an appreciative audience.

 

I hated to leave after only a couple of days. Now I’m spending all my time trying to figure out an excuse to visit there again. Do I need an excuse?

Highlight of the Summer

Last week I went down into my basement and discovered 17 kids (my two boys and 15 neighbors) running around, screaming, breaking things, basically raising the roof. You might say that this was an unusual day, but you would be wrong. It’s actually pretty typical. It’s been a crazy summer. I wouldn’t say it’s been relaxing in the least…so when I got to go on vacation to Cape Cod and NYC a few weeks ago, it was like a dream that I did not want to wake up from.

To my great delight, Stephen and John invited me to come visit them in Provincetown on the Cape. Truth be told, there may have been a few hints dropped in the past about how much I wanted to visit there. I will love those two forever for taking my (not so subtle) hints to heart and making the trip a reality. Provincetown was amazing…especially being there with some of my favorite people and staying in John beautiful house. 17 rowdy kids in a basement not to be found anywhere!

 
This was my bed during my stay. Yes, that’s a fresh bouquet of flowers on the nightstand. John knows how to pamper his guests. I don’t usually get pampered in such a manner so I’m still getting a little teary-eyed thinking about it. I really appreciate those kinds of details.

John’s house (just a small jaunt across the road from the ocean) was originally built in 1779 for a sea captain named Captain Small. John has taken great pains to preserve what is old and unique and beautiful about the house while adding his own amazing touches. I loved every single detail about it.

I spent the days exploring the house, the quaint town and it’s wonders, and of course, the beauties of the ocean. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I’m almost 40 years old and have never been swimming in the ocean. Doing so for the first time, even if it was in a rain storm (which made it even better in some ways), was a big deal for me. I loved it!

Some sights from the seaside…

 
John’s collection of vintage bikes was the perfect mode of transportation for exploring. The game was to maneuver through the crowded main streets without touching a foot to the ground even once. I employed my bike bell many times, but I still lost this challenge to the more experienced.

As always, the best part of any vacation, for me, is the company. of course Stephen and John and then a last minute surprise when I learned that Marc, Emilie, Xavier, and baby Colette would be joining us as well. More than perfect!

Colette’s favorite in the house was John’s 19 year old cat, Skip. “Sk” as she called him.

I slept in an airport one night, got incredibly sea-sick on the stormy ferry ride over, missed my flight in Dallas (due to a storm), there was a pile of laundry taller than my head when I returned home, and am still nursing some pretty crazy blisters on the bottoms of my toes from walking in the rough sand, but every second of all that was worth it. I’ve got a head full of beautiful memories to keep forever.

Highlights: swimming and floating in the ocean (salty), biking through the town, seeing all the old Cape Cod houses, shopping in John’s Provincetown store, delicious dinners by candlelight, trying sardines (love them!), best ice cream ever, breakfast on the patio, walking down Breakwater, running to the ocean in the rain, meeting new people, cooking dinner together in the cozy kitchen, great conversations, Stephen’s constant singing, Colette’s comedy at the pizza place, a smoother ferry ride back to Boston with John, and enjoying everything with family that I love.

Thanks Stephen and John for all of it, every detail. I love you forever! Thanks Marc, X, Em, and baby Colette for the good times. I’m so glad you came!

Provincetown…you’re beautiful!