Music

Music class is the highlight of Brixton's week but I usually don't have picutres of it cause we're too busy rocking out. But the kids were all piled up together looking cute and then I remembered the camera in my purse. So here's some action shots of our musical tots.

Cookies

I had an early class at Meeting this week and Chris was trying to figure out what to do with the kids while I was gone. "There's always baking" I said. And so they did.

Haul out the holly

The dancer and the music man.

So the day after Thanksgiving, I go into the basement and drag up our boxes. Almost all of our Christmas decorations are things from my childhood, made or given to me by friends and family members. It makes setting up the tree extra fun since so many stories come with it. Unity and Brixton had to do some jingle bell dancing, and Unity loves how sparkly everything is and she loved looking at her tiny handprint ornament from when she was a baby. I have to confess, I am starting to really love Christmas. Maybe it's nostalgia for all the years I worked retail holidays selling books. I don't love the pressure and the commercialism but the traditions and the familiarity and passing some of these things on to my own kids, these I love.

Hanging out

Unity and Beatrix used to go to the same school. Now B is in kindergarten but they still find time to hang out and get crazy together. Unity says that when she gets older they are going to live together. Maybe so, maybe so.

Friday

I hope you had a great day cooking and eating with old friends and new. We did too.

a blast from the past

This post mostly goes out to the people who knew me when I was a kid. Because most of the time my kids are their own amazing new people that I am discovering. But every once in a while they do something that just makes me wonder- where does this come from? how does it happen? What is the interlacing of genes and upbringing that led to this moment? I spent a large portion of my childhood making my own paper dolls. I drew figures or cut them out of magazines, named them all and set them up in scenes from my imagination or from books. Yesterday I discovered Unity had drawn a set of people and umbrellas, cut them out and lined them up. It was kind of amazing.

And then books. We are always surrounded by piles of books, people are always reading in any spare minute they can grab in this house, so I guess this next scene was inevitable. Still, it reminds me of a photo of me reading to my brother at around the same ages....if I can, I'll scan it in for comparisons.
I guess I don't much care where it comes from when I love the results so much.

pumpkin muffins

Inspired by the freezer full of pureed pumpkin from our garden, and the season,  and other people's recipies, we made pumpkin muffins. Yum. I had a charming helper who was more than happy to mix and pour and especially happy to help eat. They were gone in less than 24 hours but hey, there's lots more pumpkin in the freezer.

starting to hibernate

I swear my kids are trying to put on an extra layer for winter. As soon as dinner is over they start asking for snacks. I think they're eating almost constantly these days. And these days are getting shorter and rainyier (Ok I know that's not a word, but Rainier is the mountain.) so I guess it makes sense that something in their bodies is responding to that. But I do wonder if bears have hibernation bands?

sometimes

Sometimes no matter what I do, it seems like there's another mess around the corner waiting to be cleaned up. Sometimes the kids are ravenously hungry all evening long and nothing I feed them seems to be enough. Sometimes I get so tired and frustrated with dragging the kids around on the bus and it seems like my drivers licence is more and more out of reach. Sometimes I look at the piles of toys that no one plays with and the piles of clothes that no one wears and I think about the holidays coming up and all the new things that are coming and I want to scream, or go live in a hut in the mountains somewhere. ( I am very aware that this is such a First World problem and that the people struggling to survive in the Horn of Africa can't even imagine this problem of clutter.) Sometimes I sit down to write at the end of the day and there's just nothing left. Sometimes I think about what my life was like before I had kids and it seems like a foreign country.

But you know, I am so thankful. For my beautiful amazing kids that crack me up every day. For my partner who's with me every step of the way. For coffee and words and friends. For Meeting for Worship and the silence and rest and insight that I gain. For my parent friends who have walked next to me on this long and winding road. For my family, who made me. This is good.

That Time of Year

That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou see'st the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the deathbed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

on the upswing

So we have spent the past week recovering from a fun little ditty called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  It's actually pretty mild and it sounds like almost all kids in preschool get it at some point so I guess it's good we're getting it out of the way.

But Brixton and I have been in the house all of last week, keeping his germs to ourselves. And that has a way of making a parent a little insane. Brixton can very confidently tell you that there are a lot of different kinds of familys, and  show which is his left foot and which is his right, and do the little Pookie dance  because those are the three books he's wanted to read all week long. By Friday I was almost delirious. But, his scabs are leaving and we are just about ready to reenter the world. Hallelujah!

Mega-wish

Ever since I was a kid my brother and I have wished on the clock at 11:11 In fact, every time my mom sees the clock at that moment she thinks of my brother. (Ok, so this was mostly his thing.) But today is the mega-wish day. 11/11/11 and now it's 11:11am. So close your eyes and ring some bells like we did and make your wish!

Wherein Christopher is Oblivious

Didn't I just tell you that?

The best way to distract your partner when you forget something so unbelievably obvious is to start taking pictures!

Robot Invasion!

Bzzzzt!

Whirr!!!

Clack clack!

Growing

We didn't get a chance to measure Brixton on his actual birthday, since we were in SF. But he probably hasn't grown that much in a month, right? Anyway, we've captured it now. He is slightly taller than his sister was at the same age....just a sign of things to come? I can vividly remember when my line on the wall stayed the same height, right when my little brother's was shooting up. And yeah, he's just a wee bit taller than me. Unity better get ready.