November Highs and Lows

November. What can I say? It brings a sense of urgency with it. Too many birthdays to celebrate and not enough time to do them all up with due diligence, in my opinion. It also brings the shadow that could be Christmas hovering on the horizon; the appearance of too many store flyers showing us what we lack in our already full lives.

The rain has come and beat down what was left of the garden and wreaks havoc on the beautiful leaves that our trees have fleetingly bestowed upon the world. It plays with my moods, my plans my hair. November's moods have also affected those of the kids. Lucas has been unpredictable most of the month. (Not that predictability is much of a child's characteristic in general.) He seems to feel the emotional energy of those around him and not quite know what to make of it. He has been asking for Chola for a few days now; asking questions about heaven, children with no parents, and the origins of humanity. (Not quite in those words.) He is such a perceptive and pensive little fellow that my heart aches when I need to tell him the truth about something that hurts my own sensitivities. But with inspiring clarity he also reminds me of the goodness of all that surrounds us. Tonight we prayed, something he has never been taught to do, but through questioning and conversation we got around to the idea that he wanted to say hello to Chola, to thank "God" for the sunshine and a playdate today and to ask for stickers for tomorrow. I wasn't so sure about that last one; I think he just threw it in for good measure or perhaps as a testing stick for this new concept. He made my heart pound with joy as I put him to bed and my senses reel with confusion as I thought back on all the angst we've had over power struggles in the last few weeks. Growing up is hard. It's hard for him and it's also hard for me. I'm learning every day; to be more patient, to seek more moments of unblemished happiness in whatever it is that surrounds me, to listen without judgement and learn from everything that occurs, be it good or bad.

This week I'm trying to wait longer before I answer. They say the average response time is three seconds, but that we should give it seven. I encourage you to try it. I've been quite astounded at how much more I'm hearing and how much more is shared with me from both children and adults alike.

Enough musing. Here is my joy. The smiles, however dirty or crooked bring a smile to me which is returned with another smile which in turn receives a smile, a laugh, a hug, a kiss... the circle repeats itself and so it should... until somebody steals a toy... then watch out!

Thank you for moths on a cold,rainy day.

Halloween

Halloween was busy, of course. We had an extended sleep over at Aba's house and lots of costume changes.

Lucas made a ghouly vampire and Mia a busy little lady bug. There wasn't a lot of posing to be had.

Mia's first "cognizant" Halloween was pretty funny. Her cousin Logan taught her to sing the "smell my feet" chant, of which she really only took to the feet-smelling part. Little independent Mia walked, candy bag in firm tow, singing "smell my feet, smell my feet" for three blocks. She refused to close that candy bag when a treat was deposited but instead remained stalwart with big pleading eyes while her brother and cousin raced off. This often resulted in an extra treat, but mostly in me pleading from the bottom of the stairs for her to say thank you and come with mommy now. Near the end of the excursion she plopped her sweaty little monkey self down in the wet leaves and sang smell my feet, smell my feet. It brought tears to my eyes. That and the amount of candy those two have eaten the last three days, but those were different tears.

So Proud

Voya, the restaurant Rob has been working so passionately on for the last year, is up and running. Very smoothly, it would appear, as judged by this amazing first review in today's Westender. Congratulations Rob!

http://www.westender.com/articles/entry/five-star-voya-is-worth-the-long-wait/

Pre-Halloween Fun

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

"Oh? Did you say that's a Christmas song? I never knew, and evidently the kids don't either..."

There is lots of spooky energy spiriting its way around our house. Not surprising for two very spirited kids, of course.

Today was "Daddy Day" (Lord, that makes it sound like we're divorced not just that I'm a restaurant widow!) We went to the pumpkin patch for a whole lot of fun; warm donuts being one of them.

It did not disappoint. The weather was fantastic, the pumpkins were abundant, the mud was deep and the line ups were manageable.

Oh yeah, and the hay was dry and oh-so-throw-able!

Until Mia had had enough. It's going to be a busy week!

Turkey day

I must admit, I have always loved Thanksgiving. I love the turn of the season, the change in the local harvests, the return to the school year and the celebration of family. To me, an occasion in which we get together simply to be together and count our blessings is itself, a blessing. There are no grand expectations except of a moist turkey, heaps of stuffing, pickles (of course), pumpkin pie and a house full of love. This year was no disappointment. In fact it was one of the best we've had in years. The kids are finally old enough to entertain themselves and each other fairly harmoniously and so we were able to eat and chat in peace.

And so with this strange virtual genre of blogging, I thank each of you; family, friend, reader or passer-by for all that you are and all that you do. May your days be filled with joy and your soul rest contented while you sleep. Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to you all.

Happy 4th Lucas!

We celebrated Lucas' 4th Birthday in grand style as usual. We had 21 kids, many more adults and a whole bunch of laughs. Lucas' chosen theme of a bike party went over well. The kids and parents did a great job of decorating bikes, scooters and ride-ons and then had a wild, multi-speed parade down to the school where the kids rode around a pre-set course in happy delirium. Even better was that the parents got to watch the event while sipping hot coffee.

After a frenetic lunch the young ones whacked an unsuspecting Lightening McQueen pinata and were whisked away in a sugary blur. Aaahhhh.. another one hits the dust.

These two fantastic photos are taken by our good friend Jeff Ow, not me, as you may be able to tell. Any of you young enough to be getting married or lucky enough to be getting married again (hahaha!) should check out his really fantastic photography.

Isn't this an amazing shot?

Mia, Rob and Jeff relax at the park

The birthday boy and lots of cake fans.


There's nothing quite like waking up the next morning to new toys.

A pox

A pox on ye who told my son that one could make jelly out of quince. (Was it me?)

We, I mean I, spent a large part of today peeling, coring and boiling itty-bitty sour fruit. You can see how it turned out based on the look on Lucas' face. Yech.

A Kitchen Upgrade

We are in the midst of chaos. Voya, the restaurant Rob is helping to open, is just about at opening date, Lucas' birthday is around the corner, and we decided to re-do our kitchen. Yikes!

Rob has been fearlessly pioneering away; burning the candle at both ends.

I have been doing what I can, including a bit of plumbing; a secret talent.

Although not finished, I couldn't wait to show you how things are shaping up.

I kind of dig Rob in his safety glasses! Now bring on the floor!!!

Mia Ballerina

Mia and I have started Mommy and Me ballet. She loves it. I do too. Enough said.

Oops...

I read my last blog entry today... and was horrified at my writing and typos. I'm ashamed to admit, being the teacher I am, that I didn't edit before I posted. Ah well. My apologies to anyone offended or disgruntled by my lack of care. ;P

Today was the start of pirate week at school. Lucas, perhaps only slightly coerced by me, came fully outfitted in pirate gear. I experienced my first case of, "Oh my Lord, what have I done to my child... will he now be ostracized by the other children?" when I quickly realized that he was the only child in pirate garb. Har.

Lucas, my brave soul, was pretty much unshaken by it all and walked around proudly for almost a whole five minutes. He then took of the head-gear and continued with the day. I was happy to see that by the time I had come to pick him up there were several other children and teachers then sporting pirate-wear. Lucas also proudly showed me his telescope he had made. (Which we used to view the spectacular new moon tonight.)

Mia had her second Spanish and Art class today and I was thrilled to learn that she was LOVING it. Last week was success, but I wasn't sure if it was just a fluke. But this week... oh my... she was in finger paint heaven and completely bewitched by all the Spanish-speaking attention she was getting. She is so much fun right now. I can't wait to see how she does in her first ballet class tomorrow.

Happy sunny-days to all.

Savary Island - A Photo Tour

The end of the summer was a lovely break from work with lots of great family time at home and on Savary Island. Plans took their time to get together with Rob's unpredictable work situation, but at the last moment he was able to join us for the full week.



And Savary? It was amazing... the island was everything I had hoped. The cabin we rented was perfect; quiet, private, safe, close to and containing everything we needed. We spent our days zipping all over the island to explore beaches on the cabin's rusty, too-small bikes; Mia in the trailer and Lucas either riding his own bike our hitching a ride on my rat trap. The rain we received inspired giant forts and roasted marshmallows by the fireplace as well as slug hunting on soggy hikes. We ate oysters we harvested ourselves, built marvelous driftwood castles, collected hundreds of shells and sand dollars, watched incredulously as deer munched wild blueberries beside our porch, whispered quietly as the gigantic woodpeckers made their way through mottled trees, read our books while children slept, swung in trees, had candle-lit baths, found sand-snakes and became very creative with food rations. Lucas ate ice-cream for breakfast twice, we forgot our bike helmets and rode recklessly down bumpy roads, blew a tire, lost cash out of open pockets, and didn't care. Lucas and Rob rented a rickety scooter that cost a fortune, lost it's speedometer while driving and wouldn't start after it was stopped. Mia had baths in a bucket on the porch after the beach, played nude golf and slept in a nest on the bedroom floor. Lucas slept in a tent, played magnetic fishing by candlelight, whipped around on a hot-pink run-bike abandoned at the cabin, was buried alive, and perfected his throw of a tennis ball. It was great time to connect as a family, extended for a few days and then blissfully just us for the rest. No phones, no internet, no tv, no computer, no light. A very happy puppy and a super unwound family.

We can't wait for next year to do it all again.