This old house-an update

 

 

Coming along, coming along.

 

a threshold

Just on my way, from here to there. And then this, a pause, a doorway. I picture someone carefully tearing their old hoodies into the perfect strips, knotting them together. To form this, a fringed threshold to somewhere else. An opening.

Slice up the fruitcake

 

It's become our custom to put up the tree and decorations the day after Thanksgiving. We have the day off, we are avoiding the mall at all costs, and the kids love it.

 

                             Papa hauls the tree out of the basement and then the rest of us get to work.

                              I like telling the stories of the ornaments, who made them and where they came
from. Most of them date back to my childhood or older, many are handmade. Unity and Brixton have
added a few "heirlooms" of their own creation, involving glitter and popsicle sticks.

 

I know it's early, but who can wait?

Thankful

 

Our Quakerly Co-housing potluck Thanksgiving went so well. There were about 50 of us, pretty much equally divided between adults and kids. There were people from our Quaker Meeting, and another nearby Meeting, people who live in the Co-housing space and assorted friends and neighbors. We had toddlers and teenagers and grandparents and everyone in between. And so much amazing great food that everyone had a full plate.

 

Even with so many people, we were able to go around and take turns giving thanks. Health, friends and family were popular ones but we also heard thanks that the election was over and one kid gave thanks for the human race.

 

But mostly we kept hearing this space. These people. This community.

 

So so thankful.

 

 

 

Before

 

One of the mixed blessings of living in a hundred year old (more or less) house is that something always needs attention. Right now it's our front porch stairs.

 

                                    Having carpenters at the house is the best entertainment.

                                               A tarp tent to keep out the rain.
                                                  

 

 

                                               Discoveries.....the people before us left their marks.

 

I like thinking of the other stories that have happened in this house, the other families who made it their home. I like knowing that this house has nourished and held other lives, and that we get to be a part of that too.

eating Ethiopian food

 

We are lucky to live in a very diverse urban neighborhood. Our particular place has a large amount of Ethiopian and Somali immigrants. One main street near our house has five Ethiopian restaurants in three blocks. The kids love that they get to eat with their hands, they love the sourdough tang of the injera, and the warm spicy lentils. I love that we get to live in a place where all these cultures are mixing and intermingling.

nature walk

 

We went for a nature walk with Baird. we are so lucky here, that "parks" are what I used to call "nature preserves" when I was growing up. Gravel paths running through a small forest, with a little stream running along the middle. Beautiful.

 

A  double stroller and no one wants to ride.

 

 

I woke up to this

and really, who could ask for anything more?


This Moment.

enough said

Jam Session

 

Ok Uncle Michael.....

 

 

I'm ready to jam.

 

Ok Brix. One...two...one two three four!

                                                

trick or treat

 

and, then we had our official costume night. with a couple of snags of course. as we were getting ready after dinner, Chris called to me from the other room. "Polly, come look at this." So I did, specifically at the goop coming out of Brixton's eye. Yup, pink eye. So the friendly monster went with Papa to the ER to trick-or-treat for antibiotics and Unity and I went out. (Don't worry she promised to share her candy with him and he was the hit of the not-at-all-busy ER.)

 

 

 

                             Our street is too busy for trick or treating so we went to our friend Lena's house.
                             Lena is in Unity's class and also attends Meeting with us. She's a fairy and
                             her friend Ali is a crocodile.

                                   Dancing in the streetlights......

                              Then we went to see Reuben. He was the Titanic.

                                       Wait, you need more of that costume don't you? I thought so.         
         

                                     amazing, I know.

 

Then Unity and Reuben performed a little song and dance routine for us, that I like to call

"Burning off the sugar."

 

and now, to bed.

 

Happy Halloween.

a sneak peak...

 

Every so often we attempt to have a family movie night. This is harder than you might think because we have the following rules: 1. the movie must be something that adults can sit through without wanting to scream. (Sorry Dora, you're out.) 2. the movie must be something that kids can watch without the plot being too "scary". (This eliminates almost everything- including Cinderella, the life of a sea turtle, and Wallace and Gromit.) Mostly we have been without success. On Friday we tried to watch the Land Before Time which is about cute and cuddly dinosaurs. Also, a T-Rex. Yeah so that wasn't the best but we actually made it through two-thirds of the movie which is a record for us.

 

                                Cuddling up for the movie. They always get so excited by the idea of it.....


                  We went to a pumpking carving party on Saturday which is a neat way of getting the job done while also socializing with friends and neighbors, all of us up to our elbows in pumpkin goop.

 

 

The faces on our porch.

 

 

The next party we went to was a costume party so you get an exclusive look

at our Halloween festivities this year.

 

                                            
                                            Confused? She's a butterfly driving a truck, concept inspired by a
                                            favorite Caspar Babypants song.

                                             
                                              and Brixton really wanted to be a monster,
                                              a "fwendly monster." Check and check.

 It's nice when your outfit also makes a great table.

                        and thankfully the party came equiped with a swing to burn off some of the sugar.


I can't believe we haven't even gotten to the real holiday yet. whew.