A Few Fall Photos

We picked up Great Grandma Norma and took her to the park to play. The kids rode bikes and scooters and brightened GG's day.

Sadie's class made turkey tail hats during their Thanksgiving party. Mama got to help out!

Thanksgiving at the P-Pod. Shenanigans abound.

With all the wonderful things to do and see at the Safari Park, all the kids want to do is ride the carousel.

Grandma took Benji and Sadie to the Old Globe Theater to see The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It's now an annual tradition for the 5-and-older crew. Of course they had to dress up.

I grew up in a home where we always had real trees, and the smell of a live/cut/dying evergreen tree is a hallmark of my Christmas experience. And by golly I wanted to have that for my kids. But, man oh man, getting this artificial tree a few years ago has been one of the keys on the chain of holiday sanity for us.

So for now, this is how we do it.

Every now and then this occurs: peaceful playing by the fireplace, the whole lot of them.

PRICE. LESS. This was taken after the kids' (Benji and Sadie) Christmas concert. Sadie's not tired or punchy or anything...

Black Bean Burritos and Independence

THIS KID.

(I'm using these photos even though they have nothing to do with the story. At least they are recent shots of this kid.)

THIS KID.

So he got out from soccer practice and, of course, he was hungry. As I was driving him home, he asked about what he could eat.

More spaghetti? NO. 

Leftover chili-lime chicken and rice? *Wrinkled nose*

Salad? I'm going to have salad.  Ew, Mom. 

OK, I said. You can have whatever you want, but you have to make it. And clean it all up. Everything?  Yes. Everything you use. Spotless. Because Papa and I have already cooked and cleaned, and we are done for the evening.

He decided on a bean burrito. That meant he had to open a can of black beans. Find the colander. Rinse and season the beans. Roll them up with grated cheese in a tortilla. Microwave it. Not particularly hard, but he is a nine-year-old.

He did it. A few questions about where to find things like cumin and granulated onion and garlic powder...but he did it. AND he cleaned up!

After all was said and done, he came to me so proudly. I had two burritos and a side of beans, Mom! I did it all myself!

(I did not mention how TWO bean burritos AND a side of beans would probably not feel so good tomorrow.)

And now he's in bed reading a chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird, which I handed over to him two nights ago because he has read everything else that is remotely appropriate in our house, and we haven't had time to go to the library. AGAIN. And we have a lot of books in this house. Fat books. Entire series of fat books. He has read them all. Sometimes more than once.

One of the coolest things, I think, is watching your kids mature into the capable, interesting people you hope they'll be. THIS KID. He's totally getting there.

Blustery Beach Day

The kids had a couple of extra days off last week. They were dying to get to the beach, but another storm was supposed to roll in. Thanks to a little insight from a weather app, it looked like we could hit the beach in the morning, and the rain would not arrive until the evening.

It was perfect! 

A Scarecrow, a Ninja, a Rainbow, and an Astronaut Walked into a Yard

Happy Halloween from these yahoos! As usual, we raided the dress-up bin and the thrift store to create this bit of munchkin cuteness.

She busted out this scarecrow pose all on her own.

Of course we took about ten photos of all the fierce ninja poses. Because he knows so much about martial arts. (Insert laughing emoticon here.)

We had planned the rainbow facepaint and the hair, but this $3 thrift store leotard really made the whole thing!

This is the boy who wants to fly to the stars. Though this costume was a bit of a challenge when he needed to use the restroom.

Our tradition is to visit the neighbors we know before taking off to a Halloween party with friends...one of those gatherings where the adults get into dressing up and the kids run through the house at full speed. Yeah, all kinds of crazy fun. But we always check in on the neighbors first because they love these yahoos.

Ending on a shot with the kids who live across the street from us! Hope you had a fun night!

First Day: Elementary School Style

Watch out, World. Sadie Lou has officially joined the ranks of elementary school yahoos.

On Monday, these two started school - Sadie in kindergarten and Benjamin in third grade.

Yes, she donut rolls her socks. Totally her idea.

We are already hearing tall tales of what goes down at school. I have to dangle this out there for our wildly imaginative, drama-stirring-up girl: "I am going to email your teacher about that to see if she tells me it's true." Sadie will inevitably retract whatever story was told...the one about being sent to time-out for half a day, or watching movies in class (on Day 2?!), or about how another kid was already kicked out, or how her friends swapped food with her at lunch in order to trick their moms. (Seriously, whaaaaat?)

She comes by it honestly, though. Ever since watching the movie Big Fish, the Papa decided he needed to be that kind of figure in the kids' lives. Breakfasts are often spent discussing how he had a prodigious mustache when he was a mere infant. You can see where she might want to join the ranks of the grand  storytellers.

But things are off to a good start, barring the disappointing reality of homework. And long days. I try to make up for it with interesting after school snacks, however, three days in and I am already straining for ideas. The Papa and I are pretty excited that everyone crashes into bed by 7:00 and hardly a peep is heard after about 15 minutes. YES.

Looking back at Christmas 2015

I am finally getting around to sharing a slideshow of this past Christmas.

Here's what the slide show is NOT -- a complete picture of our Christmas. It does not show our attempts at advent readings and activities to still our pace and center our hearts, or how the kids picked out and sent gifts to impoverished families around the world through World Vision. It doesn't reflect our desire to make Christmas about Christ, though that was the focus.

It does show lots of presents which could appear to be all about consumerism. These were not ordinary presents, however; they were thoughtful gifts from so many family members near and far, biological and adoptive. Gifts from people who, in some cases, suffered a lot this past year, and they still made time to think of our kids. To send something from Ohio or New York or Florida to bless the kids.

This year there was much loss in our families -- our extended families, our kids' biological families -- deaths, financial struggles, cancer, dissolving marriages. The opening of these presents represents the giving hearts that continued despite all the grief.

I chose this somewhat odd song to accompany the slide show because there is always room for forgiveness, new starts, and ultimately the redemptive and transforming power found in Jesus -- God become man to connect with us, heal us, and change the trajectory of this fallen world and our broken lives.

The past two years (since Oli and Bella joined the family) have been so hard for us, but we are finally on the other side of the transition. This Christmas finally felt like that. Finally felt as if I had breath in my lungs again. (I am working on a couple of posts to let y'all into that part of the journey. Coming soon...) When the lyrics say, "So it's been a long year, every new day brings one more tear..." my heart sighs with the knowledge of that feeling. And yet the good news is what Christmas represents. God with us. Emmanuel.

A Boy and his Grandpa

We went bowling for Auntie Rosie's birthday and this is now one of my favorite shots. Benji used to call my dad "Gumpa." We are sad it didn't stick, but we still pull it out every now and then.

'Tis the Season for Birthdays

Benjamin turned 8

The transition from winter to spring is one that is jam-packed with birthdays in these here parts.

For the kids we kept things simple this year: just dessert with whichever family members could make it over.

Brent got further along in the 40-somethings

With a little more energy and money under our belts this year (as compared to the last two years), The Papa and I could actually pull off some grown-up time. I surprised him with an overnight stay on Shelter Island, where we got to eat at a nice restaurant, take in a live band, and tear up the dance floor. We spent the following day riding around on bikes and just having nothing to do. BLISS.

Sadie Lou turned 5

Oliver turned 4

For my birthday, I planned a wine tasting at the folks' cellar. Five dear friends and their husbands came over for a night of learning about the Garnacha grape, Spain, and various Spanish blends with Garnacha. While many great photos surfaced from the evening, this one makes me laugh loudest. Please enjoy the photobombs. A couple of our husbands are gremlins.

Jessica is now soundly 40-something

A Peek at Their Friendship

These two are such good friends. 

There may be three years between them, but they still bring out the best in each other.

Together their imaginations soar. Their voices sing. Their bellies giggle. They even sit in silence as the breeze passes around their shoulders and through their hair.

Back when Benji was a little guy, we knew he needed a sibling. We did not know how that would happen. Now he has three, but Sadie will always be that little bright-eyed bundle he held in his chubby dimpled fingers when we first brought her home. He was so curious, and so fleetingly gentle.

And she will teach him to dive fearlessly into other people's lives, because that's how she rolls. Taking turns leading, multiplying joy exponentially, and taking silly to a whole other level - these two. Sibling friendship at its best.

Breaking Fast

Christmas Quack-Along

This week I visited my grandma, and she tried to convince my sister and I to haul off and use all her old Christmas decorations. I am not much into red velvet bows, baskets of fake poinsettias, and bears wearing red plaid scarves, but the singing goose? Now that was a find.

When I unloaded all the stuff (most of which we will pass on to someone else), I set the goose on the stairs and turned it on. Then I stood behind a doorway to spy on the reactions. Of all the kids it was Sadie who arrived on the scene, eyes gleaming like she came upon a treasure. She looked around the room hesitantly, then picked it up and examined it - its moving beak, its floppy "wings." None of the other kids were into it (in fact Benjamin spent the afternoon attempting to avoid it).

So here we share a poorly lighted playtime from this evening when the goose brought some Christmas cheer. And, yes, I need to do something about that burned out strand of lights on the tree. I have already attempted to replace the fuse AND many of the individual lights. Poop.

Looking Back at Summer

It's cold enough here that no one would dream of playing in a kiddie pool right now, but I have a few moments to edit some photos from the end of summer. And even though I love bright colors, I thought I would do it in black and white so that the pictures reflect the kids' expressions more than their environment. There's not much to say except to mention that all the pouty images at the end are due to having to "take a break" for unacceptable behavior. Time out stinks, right?