Barbra was here

Barb came out from Oakland for a visit. She arrived last Thursday night and the kids and I oohed and aahed at the nighttime Halloween displays we saw as we drove out of town to pick her up at the airport.

That night, Kinder was thrilled to have First back in bed with him again. First was completely better from his illness (during which time he had slept in the big bed) and Barb was getting the big bed for the duration of her stay.


(The futons were booted from the livingroom when we upgraded to the Ikea couch-bed and dumped the broken futon frames. With no where else to put them, we had them in the kids' room, the only place they fit, the middle of the floor. This proved to be popular as they then could jump off the top bunk onto a soft surface. Within a week or so, they started sleeping on the piled futons and began reading together by the light of flashlights after lights out. After weeks of this set up, I finally cleaned and reorganized their room so that now the futons are against a wall and there is a cleared play space in the center of the room again.)

It took me pretty much the whole day to get that room in shape. The night before, Cap had moved my brother's old desk into our room and now the sewing machine is on it and I'll eventually turn it into a craft table. I moved their dresser and then the two futons. I was amazed at how well my back held up and, again, chalk it up to traditional Chinese medicine.

This is what the kids did while I worked:





Barbra and I went into the city Friday and met Cara and Rachael for a late lunch at my now reliable café in the Village where I had the yummy vanilla rooibos tea. We shared middle eastern food and caught up with each other before sharing an unsatisfying chocolate dessert and setting back out into the rain.

It was such a freakin' cliché, but I felt "young" again being with them. The images and rushes back to college memories made me aware of the passage of time.

I love walking through Penn station. I have felt it every single time I get off the train and do my trot-meander through the sights and sounds and warmth of that particular slice of humanity as I head to the connecting subway line.

On Saturday, I worked on Kinder's costume (he thankfully switched over to a mummy in order for me to manage to get it done by the party he was going to Sunday morning) and Barb went over to Cass and Bob's. It rained heavily for most of the day and soccer was canceled. That night B and I went to a Turkish-Mediterranean place in town for dinner and then up to the university theater to see Bill T. Jones. The performance was pretty stunning. I apreciate how his art is just accessible enough for me to feel like I "get" it while my imagination and wonder are being tweaked in delightful and devastating ways.

Sunday, Cap took the boys to the party at Felicia's and Anna and the kids came over. Anna drove down alone and we had a few hours together before André brought the kids over via bus form the city. It was great to see all of them, it was even okay to see André. It still makes me sad to think of how much I adored and felt a connection to him and have it be obliterated.

Yesterday Barb, the kids and I went to my favorite local diner which was fun. B grew up around here and they really don't make diners like this out on the west coast. We stopped into Whole Foods and Staples on the way home for some supplies: prosciutto for me, white paper for the kids (we make them reuse the back sides of paper for their drawing, but their output is huge).

We only took a few pics during our visit...it happens when there's so much fun and activity. The pic of B and me was shot by Kinder.



Woven throughout the last week plus has been increasing sleep deprivation as the Red Sox advanced to the World Series and then won it, Sunday night. Many of the games kept me up till 1:00 am and I am tired! Go Sox :-)

This morning, I finally sat down with the kids to play The Secret Door, B's gift to them. It was a fun cooperative game. The kids are fed (latke sandwiches, the de rigeur leftover breakfast after a dinner of latkes---they're not just for Chanukah around here :-), Danielle just dropped off a crucial piece for First's costume that she found for us in Sear's yesterday (thank you thank you), and Cap is about to sit with the kids for some table time.

I need to get dressed and face the music. First's costume needs to be tackled and if we're getting a pumpkin for him, it needs to be today (or tomorrow, I guess). As it is, Kinder's pumpkin has yet to be carved.

Big sigh, back to reality, serenity now!

The spirit of Dora lives

Kinder and I just had a surreal experience that made us laugh.

It is warm and wet today so all the windows are open. We were in the front room which faces the street that the high school is also located on, two blocks away. Beginning around 10:30 on weekdays, there is a fairly steady stream of foot traffic on our street. Students walking past our house on their way to or from getting something for lunch. We have a few bagel and pizza places a stone's throw from here.

Well, a few minutes ago, we were serenaded by a bunch of teenaged boys singing the Dora the Explorer theme song at the top of their lungs as they walked back to school. We didn't recognize the song immediately, but it dawned on us at the same time what the increasingly familiar tune was.

Sigh. It was both hilarious and lingeringly poignant.

Tagged

Tagged by Holly, here are eight things about me...maybe there will be some surprises.

1. I've played air guitar in the last 48 hours (to Matt Pond PA in the kitchen).

2. The first conversation I remember having with Cap was on his freshman hall (right under mine). He commented on my True West t-shirt. I was a big fan of Sam Shepard's in high school and the shirt was bought when I saw an off-Broadway production of his play, True West, starring Dennis and Randy Quaid as brothers. Cap and I were probably nineteen and eighteen. We were friends through our four years of college and didn't begin "dating" until two years after graduating.

3. I've baked two GFCF apple cakes in the last 24 hours. It's a great recipe from "Living Without" magazine. We have apples coming out of our ears. The second one came out particularly delectable.

4. I used to have a recurring nightmare as a kid. It involved a white picket fence, but was tense, suspenseful and kind of scary. I was being followed, but perhaps not pursued. It was never clear. There was also a big, fleshy, thing, that looked like the insides of a human and I always associated with a heart. But, the white picket fence would always, eventually appear and I would walk along next to it. The dream stayed with me for years, but I stopped having it sometime during adolescence.

5. The kids and I watched an Iron Chef episode the other day. They now know what arctic char is. I love that show. I really like the Food Network channel in general, especially Alton Brown. I also like other reality-based shows. I love The Amazing Race, and am currently hooked on America's Next Top Model (the contestant with Asperger's Syndrome drew me in initially) and Survivor: China. Wouldn't be happening without the dvr, but there you have it.

6. As a young girl, I loved the books: A Little Princess, the series of All-Of-A-Kind Family books and the series of Little House books. I was an avid reader until I had kids.

7. I love the ocean in winter. I imagine retiring to a home by the sea and I think a big draw for me is to be able to spend time sea-side year-round. I also love the wind and being amongst towering trees.

8. Something else I used to do more of before having kids is travel. Travel for pleasure is now something inconceivable (because of cost), but I hope that in five years or so this will change. I'd like to travel with them, but I guess I'd also like to travel on my own, and with Cap, too.

Now, how does this work, am I supposed to tag someone else?

Check out "tagged"

You can find it below...it was dated Sunday from when I started the draft.

The best medicine

Day trip

Yesterday the kids and I took a day trip north and west and met the Fiber Arts crew for apple and pumpkin picking. Our goal was for First to pick a pumpkin from a patch. The drive was beautiful, the foliage finally reminiscent of my memories. We drove just over an hour.

The pictures were taken before it all went wrong... I failed to pack enough to drink and it turned into a hot afternoon. There was little shade and the kids' cheeks turned pink early as they ran through the corn maze with their comrades.

I had thought about hats and figured it was late enough in the season and they wouldn't need them. I was wrong. But, that's what happens when I'm clutching various items and slinging a few bags and fiddling with my keys to get doors locked. The kids take off once they've gotten their shoes on and dash down to the swings out back.

So, they were hot and thirsty when we finally began the climb into the orchard. The kids and I were all exercising patience at this point because we were not there to pick apples. Of course, we enjoyed nibbles here and there (I had a scrumptious Fuji).

Then, Kinder started freaking out, no, FREAKING OUT, saying that something was hurting him as he jumped about, screaming in terror, grabbing at his pants. All I could think was that there was a bee in there getting more and more pissed at all the commotion, trapped and stinging away.

Luckily, it wasn't a bee. It was a bunch of prickles that he must have picked up as he tromped through the trees with Malik and his friends. Malik is a wonderful boy we've met through Fiber Arts who Kinder adores.

Nathalie, a new mom I met, helped me pluck out every offending fiber from the inside of Kinder's sweatpants. He was so traumatized that he wanted me to pick him up and carry him out of the orchard which I simply could not do. He is rapidly approaching 50 lbs. By this point, both my guys were grumpy and I led them out of the stand of trees.

As soon as we were back to the open field next to the orchard, First literally collapsed onto the ground. He was tired and thirsty. I wanted to go get our car which I had left by the farm market and bring it over to the orchard to drive it up to the pumpkin patch which was up and beyoned the apples.

I should have known when First said he'd rather wait for me there, alone, that something was wrong with him. But, I was somewhat harried by then... I called Kelly on her cell and told her that I was leaving First at the edge of the orchard and she said they were starting to walk back out to have a picnic, so I left him there, after directing him into a patch of shade, telling him the rest of the group would be there in a few minutes.

Kinder and I hiked back to our car. I went to the bathroom and then we bought some water and cider. We drove back to the group and I was glad to see First up and with the kids who were kicking a soccer ball around.

But then, Kinder said he wanted to stay in the car and First climbed in through an open window because he couldn't get into the car fast enough. They ensconced themselves in their car seats. I wanted to sit and eat with the group so I left them in the car with snacks and all the windows down. The cars were parked right on the grass of the field where we were picnicking.

After about fifteen mintues, Kinder called out for me and when I got to the car, First was nearly in tears saying he wanted to go home. I immediately realized that he was feeling awful. So, we abandoned our plans of pumpkin picking and decided to go home.

We drove back up to the market to use the bathroom and then took off. First threw up twice during the ride back, the poor guy. He took it all in stride and after the first time, I covered him in a blanket. He'd leaned over enough to throw up on the floor of the car instead of all over himself. There was barely any vomit on his clothes when we got home. This was a pleasant surprise for me.

Once home he threw up three or four more times even though there was nothing left in his system by then. I set up a plastic tub and some towels in the big bed and he slept fitfully until about ten when he finally stopped throwing up.

Cap and Kinder slept in the kids' room and I slept with First. He was burning up around 3 am and I got up and tended to him with a cold washcloth to his forehead for about 30 minutes. This seemed to help as he fell back into a deeper sleep. I remembered my mom doing the same for me...

I was up for a couple of hours because Kinder came in before I fell back asleep and it is hard for me to fall asleep once I'm sandwiched between the two kids. I finally crawled to the foot of the bed and curled up and slept there.

This morning, First is keeping his water and banana down. He doesn't feel feverish anymore and is quietly and alertly resting in the big bed. I managed to get the kids appointments with Vinny for this afternoon which I'm happy about.

Saturday 7:30 am

Out of one of the front windows I can see a tree across the street starting to turn red around the edges. So beautiful.

It was rainy and windy last night 'round midnight. I crept about the apartment closing windows wending my way around a new arrangement of furniture. Cap moved the computer out into the front room which is our living/dining room.

The kids use the computer every day, they have a 15 minute time limit which works out well for now. They have favorite websites bookmarked (they are not allowed to surf) and a kitchen timer they know how to use so are pretty independent. They mostly spend their time at Ben 10 sites, Noggin, Nick Jr. and PBS Kids. Occasionally they'll check out the money sites (the presidential dollars and state quarters) or Magic Treehouse site.

The front room has clearly become our daytime domain and it made a lot of sense to move the computer out here. I think eventually it will become more of a learning resource and proximity to our work space (the dining table) will be beneficial.

Taking the computer (and its little table and printer and printer stand, our old night table) out of the big bedroom will also facilitate the further transformation of that room into more of a haven for Cap and me.

It's his primary work/reading space and now there will be enough room for us to stretch in there.

We also decided to try out using the apartment door that opens into the front room as our main entry and exit. We have two apartment doors, one at each end of the apartment (I like to call our place doughnut shaped---our four rooms are arranged in a circle and you can, actually you have to, literally travel from one room to another in a circle, no hallways. The front room and the back room---the kitchen---are connected by doors which open into the common second floor hallway which is the landing between the first and third floors of the house. When we have people over, especially if there's food involved, we open both doors and use the common hallway as our own personal hallway between the kitchen and dining table in the front room, it's a straight shot, rather than going around through our bedroom (the big bedroom called that because our bed is the big bed). As in front room, our room, kitchen. If you went the other way it would be front room, kids' room, bathroom, kitchen.

So, we moved our shoe shelves into the vestibule space in the front room which has much better access to the coat closet (our bedroom closet) and the chest containing our winter hats, scarves, gloves, etc.

Where the shoe shelves were before, a cd shelf and book shelf now reside. That door will now be used only when we have groceries to pop right into the kitchen. The back door is the one you come to first as you come up the stairs from the first floor, so now our trip into the apartment will be a bit longer. It may feel counterintuitive for awhile.

I woke up this morning with some mild stomach burning for the first time in about a week. I was a bit chagrined, I like waking up free of that. But, last night I could feel some tightness. Yesterday had some stressful moments and the half an eggplant sub for dinner probably didn't help things (Friday night is pizza/sushi/family movie night.)

I have noticed that my portions continue to remain much smaller. I often feel full after the smaller amount of food and I am more often feeling hungry, which still fills me with wonder because it's such a new experience for me. Yesterday, with the summer-like humidity, I impulsively pulled on my orange pants and was surprised that I could actually close them. This means I've lost about an inch off my waistline the past few weeks.

I got Cap to come to bed to talk to me while I fell asleep last night and the happy by-product was that he ended up falling asleep before me. Our sleep schedules have always been different. For a long time, my work schedule meant that I was asleep by ten and up by six. Nowadays, things aren't much different, but I still do better with eight hours of sleep and try to be in bed by eleven.

Cap is a night owl. Once he started having a more traditional work schedule, in Sacramento, he started working on going to be earlier, but for him this meant by midnight rather than one or two or three.

So, we've never had the kind of night time routines I see people have on tv (and I imagine they do in "real" life). Brushing your teeth together already in your pajamas, climbing into bed together, reading side by side in bed, talking about your days in the dark, whispering, giggling, snuggling playfully...

The air wafting in from outside feels cool, almost cold right now. The sun is lighting up patches of trees and I feel good!

Today Kinder has soccer in a couple of hours, we have Anna's birthday party in the afternoon and then we're off to Manhattan to see my family. Jiji (my dad) is in town for less than 24 hours and we love to see him when we can. Sandy (my sister) is working in Flushing today (the Chinatown of Queens) and will be bringing over shumai and pork buns, mmmmmmm. Cap's baking an apple pie if he has time (if not I'll bake an apple cake) with some of the apples we picked last week.

And tomorrow, Norb (Danielle's husband) has graciously agreed to babysit the kids so that we can go out. I'm taking my hubby out to a movie and a meal. Probably The Darjeeling Limited (there's a special place in my heart for Owen Wilson circa Bottle Rocket and I'm a fan of Wes Anderson's work) and the vegetarian Indian place downtown. That was unintentional, Indian food paired with a movie set and shot in India.

Finnish delight

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/16/parentchild-dancing.html

Check it out, from the folks who brought us Moomintroll and Cap :-)

Inspiration

Some of the things I am drawing inspiration from this week:

• Last Light, Matt Pond PA's new cd.

• This blog written by a homeschooling mom who has spent much of the past few years healing her family through "everything-free" food:

http://everythingfreeeating.blogspot.com/

• Brotherhood, a series on Showitme which is a cross between The Wire and The Sopranos.

• Shortcomings, the new graphic novel by Adrian Tomine.

• Holly's blogs.

• A mug of decaf organic earl grey in the morning, a mug of fresh ginger and lemon at night, both hot, both with the amazing and expensive local honey. (I am thinking I need to cut out the middle man if possible...)

Some things I want to be more inspired by/be inspirational in doing:

• my relationship with my man

• my relationship with homeschooling

• cooking with the farm vegetables

Stuck in the middle with me

Maybe it's the humidity. After some fall crispness a warm and humid front has descended. I need to remember to talk to the Chinese docs about this persistent relationship between humidity and my disappearing energy.

Confession: my kids have become ardent fans of "AFV" (America's Funniest Home Videos).

The Choice organic decaf earl grey tea I sip in the morning with a dollop of my fave local honey soothes and awakens. Bergamot suits me, I think.

My regimen of Chinese herbs have improved my energy and I'm having a peach of a period. (No pms, a wild cleansing of my GI tract, sleepiness and sleep, no honkin' clots.) It's been about three months since I started.

But, after the busy-ness of last week, this week I feel sluggish. I knit, I play with the kids, I cook, but then in between, I'm a lump.

Maybe it's the rebooting of my cycle.

Maybe it's the downside of actually feeling better in some ways.

Maybe it's the humidity.

Apple picking

We went upstate to go apple picking this weekend. Last year's outing was fun, but not familiar. This year, I wanted the drive up to the Catskills and soak in the fall foliage, the stuff of my childhood.

My sister, Mike and my mom met us at a great orchard. Nothing fancy (no HAY RIDES! no CORN MAZES! no TONS of STUFF to BUY!) and in fact when we got there, it was cloudy, chilly, and so quiet and dilapidated in appearance that I wondered if we were wandering into a Stephen King story :-)



We picked Cortlands, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and are pretty sure we got some Winesaps in there, too. I had no idea that Red Delicious apples, picked fresh off a tree taste almost like a completely different apple. Absolutely...delicious! This orchard used to be organic, but is now a low spray one. I think they might be amongst the cadre of small farmers who are fed up with/can't economically deal with the increasing cost and bureaucracy of being certified organic.


We met this fuzzy critter on our way out of the orchard. The kids and I could have spent the rest of the afternoon with him. He was very interested in moving along, not interested in half eaten apple cores...



We drove to a nearby college town to a park that Sandy and Mike knew about. They love this region and come up often to hike, lunch and stroll. We had a typical family picnic with tons of yummy food: various onigiri (rice balls), a cold rice pasta with zucchini and tomato, chicken hotdogs, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, tamagoyaki (Kinder's favorite kind of eggs), and chips.

The kids played with various permutations of adults, it was a gorgeous autumn afternoon.

And the cherry on top was getting to see Ben after nearly ten years of not. He is now teaching at this univerity and he joined us for lunch and play. He took us on a tour of campus and we spent a few hours catching up and soaking each other in again.

Lovely.

Soccer

So, amongst the flurry of activities, Kinder announced that he did not want to ice skate this fall (my idea---Cap's uni has a rink with homeschooler classes), but wanted to play soccer instead. It was the first time he had ever expressed an interest and I was surprised, to say the least.

On Saturday morning, we drove around the south end of town looking for the field. It's weird, but lately, I've been winging it more when going to new places. For some reason, the days of printing out the Mapquest/Google maps directions are becoming more and more infrequent. Maybe it's passing the year mark of living here.

We finally found it and Kinder ran right out to join Silke and Roger's group (this program for 4-6 year olds is coached entirely by volunteers). I ended up hanging out with First, Kelly, Lila and Pippa (Cap joined the soccer players when Silke and Roger called out for parent helpers) at the playground on the edge of the field and watching Kinder from afar.

After about the half hour mark, I kept glancing over not knowing when the class was over. It turned out ot be an hour long and my historically stamina-less child, the one who lets out long and loud complaints whenever having to walk more than ten minutes, the one who last winter in the midst of the best snow play ever in the backyard with Elsa and Tobias plopped himself down into a snow bank after ten minutes and watched for the next twenty, the one who has, on occasion, felt chest pain and shortness of breath after bursts of running---he played soccer for an hour, running, kicking, dribbling, listening and following to directions successfully---and was fine!

Big, big surprise. A happy one. Things are starting to change in him as he approaches his sixth birthday.

Draft to post

Just learned that when a draft becomes a post, it is posted under the date of the original draft. So, don't miss the new post on "Superheroes" which comes before the knitting post even though I finished it after....

A return to knitting

The swift arrival of chilly and damp weather has brought with it a return to knitting.


After my haircut the other day I had a rare few mintes to myself while out and so went to the fair trade tea and gift shop across the street from the hair salon. I picked up some local honey, one of my must-have culinary and health items, and found a birthday gift for Danielle which was perfect: a whimsical marriage of form and function that I thought she would really appreciate (she did). I wish I had taken a picture, it was a wooden stand in the shape of a nose and mouth designed so that when you rest your eyeglasses on them, they complete the "face".

I noticed that the yarn shop a few doors down was having a retirement sale and was lured in. I'd been thinking I wanted to knit Cap a scarf and so needed some new yarn. I found some great wool skeins, for him, and for me or someone else. I had forgotten how expensive yarn is...I hadn't bought any since a few seasons ago in Sac when I knitted a bunch of wonderful Christmas scarves for the children in our life.

It's been wonderful knitting again. Time for myself where I am zen. I've noticed that I am more relaxed while knitting than I used to be. Despite this, some may notice that the scarf is tightening as I go along, a habit which I'd like to break at some point.

I'm trying a new stitch, the seed stitch. As it turns out, the yarn I am using is not ideal to showcase the stitch because it changes color and texture (the yarn is not uniform in thickness) and it's difficult to see the pattern of the stitch. But, it knits a flat piece, which I wanted, and I don't like the garter on both sides look.

I was delighted when First said he wanted to help make the second ball of yarn (he had watched me do the first ball out of the corner of his eye a couple of days earlier). He wound the yarn around the back of a chair as I unwound the skein and then he rolled the yarn into a ball. For anyone keeping track, great fine motor and eye-hand coordinating exercises. A practical art building up to his first knitting project which will probably begin this winter.




These pics were taken by Kinder.

Superheroes

The boys went to a homeschool day at our local art museum yesterday.

Comic books and super hero lore have been a vivid facet of Kinder and First's lives for the better part of a year. They were in Cap's childhood and adolescence, too, and it was serendipitous that he could take them to this one off session centered on the museum's current "Superheroes and Superheroines" exhibit.

They did a gallery walk and then worked on art projects creating and developing their own super heroes/heroines. They worked on cover art (the piece at the top done by Kinder, a picture that spans what would be the front and back covers of a book) and capes with painted logos (below, photographed by Kinder).

Their superhero charcaters were: Writeman (First) and Superdraw (Kinder).



Superdraw's power is the power to draw things in the air which than take actual form and matter thwarting the plans of villains.

Writeman's power is that when he looks into someone's eyes they know what they want to write, if they want to write something.

New 'do

My hair guy came through today. It's not quite as short as I'd envisioned, but I think his advice/instinct was good and I'm happy with the cut. (It was hard to get a good shot of the whole 'do with Kinder vying for frame space :-)

Our high elevation walker

First likes to walk at the highest points in a room. He much prefers solid, hard surfaces to soft, cushy ones. Chairs, tables, desks, stools, headboards, footboards (is that what they're called?), dressers...

I actually like this about him. It's unique. His agility seems so natural, such an animal state, and is beautiful to watch. And for a kid who is "in his head" much of the time, it's a welcome break for this mom to see him in a "zone", where he is not thinking so much. It looks kind of therapeutic.

I guess I thought he would grow out of it, but he hasn't, at all. At seven, his body has become long and pre-gangly. I wish I could build him bars and ledges, taking full advantage of our high ceilings. Because, not surprisingly, he doesn't do this high places walking anywhere other than in our home.

Introvert

Some strands coming together.

Jamie began things by talking to me about some books she'd read about introverts (months ago). From these conversations, I started to think about my introvert tendencies, as well as, First's.

Then there was Fiber Arts on Monday and our co-op meal last night.

FA felt, for the most part, chaotic to me. The kids were having a blast and were very energetic running in, out and around the house. Kelly's house is fantastic for this. It's an old, roomy house where all the rooms have two ways to exit and enter (great for running through). Their yard is a masterpiece, really, with three levels, two slides, an in-ground dipping pool, nooks and crannies, sloping and flat surfaces, and lots of green.

My kids were happy to play, like last week, but I could feel my energy, which was low to start with post-weekend, begin to drain almost immediately. It may have unfolded differently had I had a project to plunge into, but with all the busy-ness lately, I haven't gotten anything organized. (The kids' Halloween costumes and a knitting project are on my mental radar.)

The co-op meal felt very different to me last night, in large part, I think, because I was a guest and not a host. There were times during the meal that I could feel a familiar "freezing up" feeling followed by a detaching of my mind from my body. Exactly the kind of thing I would feel at parties back when I used to go to parties.

I struggled to stay put, there were six of us around a table and I wanted to just "be" with them. I forced myself to interject comments and even found myself telling some stories, but awkwardly, almost blundering, not fluid.

I realize that hosting gatherings, which I love to do, provides me with a way to be social without having to be "extroverted". All the cooking, fussing about, keeping an eye on things, keep me involved and cuts down on the amount of time I need to "small talk".

There's a down side, too, which is when I am hosting people with who I'm already close to. Then I often feel I've been cheated out of "quality" time because all I was able to do was make the equivalent of "small talk". I often feel this way when I get together with family.

Then this morning, on one of my Yahoo groups, I read some posts about introvert parents who are homeschooling, and their tips, stories, insights. It was an interesting and timely conversation.

And all of this has kind of settled into my head, reminding me that I'm an introvert.

I forget this because I am also very interpersonal. Once I connect with someone and become friends with them (which requires some one-on-one time...usually not a lot, I am quick to fall in love), I place a high value on spending time with them. Because we've moved so much in the last half dozen years, I've had to forego a lot of this because there simply isn't enough time in my days to talk to everyone I'd like to on the phone.

What I have found is that this doesn't matter in maintaining my friendships. More often than not, I will see someone who I haven't seen in a year or more and we can just fall into the intimate and warm communion that I remember. Literally, it's like we've jumped the space and time continuum.

We've been quite busy the past few weeks. Kinder is an extrovert and he has been showing me this fall that he is ready and wanting to do more outside of the house, outside of our core.

Fiber Arts, art class, co-op dinner, drum and movement, soccer, swimming, our schedule now includes planned activity every day of the week except Thursdays and Sundays.

Every weekend between now and Christmas has a planned activity.

Something else to keep in mind as autumn deepens. In order to create and maintain a good energy for myself, I need to be more vigilant about protecting my time alone... doing something other than watching tv!

Massachusetts

Another trip to MA under our belt. Part of me feels like I have an internal countdown, noting that each trip we take there is taking us closer and closer to being back there. Particularly when we go to Boston, something knocks around in my soul as we make the approach on the Pike, and Newton and then Brighton comes into view.

On our way up to MA, we stopped in to see Anna and got a tour of her new place in CT. I was surprised by the tinge of longing I got for single family home living. It's a great space.

We spent a few hours Friday in JP meeting our new nephew, Theo, and hanging out. We took the kids to a playground behind El's house in the hopes of catching her as she got out of school (she couldn't meet up, but we ended up seeing her Sunday). It was a summery day.


Then we drove down to Karen and Brent's. Cap went on to his dad's to get some work done, the poor guy was seriously behind the eight ball on a particular project. The boys spent a lot of time digging and building with Will on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They worked on a cinderblock fort way in the back of the yard and in the dirt circle closer to the house.

Here's a pic First took of the trench shortly before we left on Sunday morning (originally three holoes dug individually, which were subsequently connected).


And here are the happy diggers in their trench.


If I could bottle the feeling I had, bursting joy, peace and wonder, as I watched Kinder and Will at 7 am Sunday morning, them down by their holes, me on the deck, the wind blowing vigorously, the giant pines and their comrades swaying and rocking, the sky gray, the air full of early sutumn chill and microscopic droplets of moisture... oh, oh, oh, my kind of moment.

We spent part of Saturday at Jake and Evie's. Nancy, Alexandra and Cecilia (Cap's aunt, cousin, and Kinder and First's second cousin) stopped by on their way back from an outing down the road to ride the trains. The hens were out, Pops plucked loads of raspberries off the bush which the kids could not gulp down fast enough and then we all took a tromp through the woods that stand at the back of their property.




After saying our good-byes to Karen and crew (always bittersweet) we drove back to Boston on Sunday. We stopped into a Finnish bakery near Jay and Aim's and Cap chose a blueberry-walnut coffeecake to bring over.

We had a nice visit with Amy's parents who were also there. I got to hold Theo again and the kids played nicely together. Cap got to watch the Pats, it was a nice Sunday afternoon with family.

Jay and I took the kids to the playground and El was able to meet us, which was nice (Eleanor is a friend who I met when we taught together in an inclusion program for kids on the autism spectrum, she was the general ed teacher, I was the special ed teacher---a twist of fate which has resulted in a close and beloved friendship). Jay and I spent some time amusing ourselves creating the story of a very athletic looking woman who was there with her four sons...juvenile, but fun :-)

We headed out of town around 5 pm and ate dinner over at Mike and Julie's after picking up provisions at their local Whole Foods in CT (Mike is Cap's best friend from teenhood). Cam, their son, is such a cool kid, and the kids had a blast playing. Mike and Cap watched the Red Sox highlights and Julie and I looked at the portfolios of the current cast of America's Next Top Model on the CW website, followed by Nathan Fillion's recent appearance on Ellen on YouTube. Fun was had by all.

I wish I had more pics, but the memory stick filled up fast because there was a bunch of old stuff on there (our desktop is SO slow these days I just avoid it at all costs and that's where we store our photos).

Fedora

I walked in on Kinder playing by himself the other day and this is what he looked like.

I just added a group pic to "Flowing".

Little nemo in slumberland

When we moved here last year, Cap took the kids to a local art museum to see a comic book exhibit. He fell in love with an original sized bound edition of "Little Nemo in Slumberland". I gave it to him (he never would have bought it for himself, good Yankee that he is). Me, I'm with Oscar Wilde, who said, "anyone who lives within their means, suffers from a serious lack of imagination".

Here they are on a recent evening before Kinder and First went off to slumberland themselves.

Video uploaded

It messed a bit with the formatting of the post, but I uploaded a video into "Flowing". Check it out.

First co-op meal

The co-op meal last night was a smashing success. There were six adults and seven kids. The food was devoured, very satisfying for this cook. The kids played harmoniously (at one point the air was full of their voices chanting, "stop the war!") and the grown ups chatted amiably about various topics. There was a balance of getting to know each other and simply hanging out.

Interestingly, First had thought it would be a "homeschoolers" dinner and was surprised there would be schooling families coming over. It wasn't an issue anymore than that, just made him go hmmm :-)

I did end up spending the bulk of the day in the kitchen. My pace is manatee like when cooking. The kids helped make the apple cake which burned ever so slightly on the outside, but on the inside brought me back completely to my mom's apple cake which I loved growing up. The red Thai curry was ridiculously simple. I had forgotten that Cap uses the recipe off the red curry paste jar---love that! The tzatziki was good, but I don't think the yogurt agreed with my stomach. I woke up this morning feeling it. I also made carrot tofu scramble, one of First's favorites, which was a hit with the others, as well.

We did check out the ice arena because we ended up running a book up to Cap that he needed for class. The arena is right on campus. We saw Lucy and it was very invigorating in the cold air watching kids and their grown ups skating. I plan on taking the kids skating next week. Roger said that he may bring Lukas and Anna, as well, which would be nice.

Also, discovered that the little Y has some better family swim times, including an earlier time on Saturdays.

Today will be a stay-at-home day. We're all still in our pajamas. The kids are drawing and I'm about to do some qigong exercises. I'll be doing laundry and packing and getting ready for our weekend in MA. We may see Danielle and the kids this afternoon, but otherwise, should be a very quiet day.

Flowing

Friday

Holly and Lucia, Kelly, Lila and Pippa, Silke, Anna and Lukas, all came
over for lunch. It was phase one of welcoming Holly and Lucia back for
their brief trip stateside to deal with visa stuff (they are in the
midst of a six month stint in Paris). It was a warm, gentle and
wonderful time. The cold sesame noodles were yummy :-)



Kinder's drumming and movement class went smoothly. No issues, no tears, it was
as if last week had never happened. The second class is challenging for
him. He seemed to be off rhythmn for nearly 50% of the time. But, he
just kept sticking to it and sticking to it, his self-esteem untouched.

When Yayah, the teacher, asked if there were any questions about
halfway through class, taking care to check in with the new kids,
Kinder's hand went right up and he said it was really confusing to have
more than one rhythmn going at the same time. (They had been practicing
"Kuku" with three different interweaving rhythmns.) I learned something
about patience and perseverance watching him that day.

Saturday

We trekked into the city and met Lisa, Takai, Ellie, Akihiko and his
mom for lunch at my mom's place. My mom had to work, but had left us a
feast that I just had to warm up. Everyone had a nice time catching up.

I particularly enjoyed watching the kids. Ellie loves the boys and
can't get enough of them. Kinder played peek-a-boo with her for awhile
and First played with her for a long time in that silent, but loving
way he has with young ones. Watching him with babies reminds me of
something Erica told me, oh god, nearly 20 years ago, that for her it
was easier being with animals than it was with people a lot of the
time.



After lunch, the kids and Cap and I went to a puppet show of "Comet in
Moominland" which was fantastic. I was really impressed by the
staging/set. The kids liked it much more than they thought they would
and Kinder asked a lot of questions afterwards when the audience was
invited to check out the sets, each manned by a member of the
production crew available to answer questions.

We met Sandy back at my mom's and then hopped in the car to head home.
And we sat in fracking traffic for a looooong time. It took us two
hours, me on the hump in between the boys in back. (The video was shot by Kinder in the car.)



Once home, Cap fed the kids quickly (I was queasy from car sickness for awhile) and put them to bed. The grownups had take-out from our favorite bbq/southern food place and then Cap and I took off for Matt Pond PA.

Having lived and learned from the Gob Iron show (the one where we left
after Jay's solo set, me unable to bear another minute of standing), we
skipped the opening band, walked right up to the stage when we arrived
(second row of people, there was a guy who looked just like Ricky
Schroeder from his Silver Spoon days in front of me, yes, the place was
full of twenty year olds, some amusingly drunk), and the show started
about fifteen minutes later.

The band was great (Cap thought the bass was too pumped, I loved it),
the lead singer funny and good at bantering, there's nothing like a
fantastic song that you've only whirled around to in your living room
washing over you and vibrating in your cells, completely becoming one
with you as you are in touching distance to the very big amps and the
band jamming intensely, literally, right in front of your eyes.

Sunday

We all slept in (my kids seem to have graduated from waking with the
sun, which is what they have done their whole lives), I made
mini-pancakes (First's new favorite, he's asked for them every
morning for the last week-plus) and then Sandy and I rushed out to get
her to the train station a few towns over (our train line doesn't
operate on the weekends).

We were thwarted by a 5k road race shutting down some streets and ended
up back home. I walked her to the bus instead and we had a nice time
sitting on a bench for a half hour just chatting.

The kids and I went to Lucia's birthday party, phase two of spending
time with them. It was a wonderful gathering. Kids were having fun,
grown ups were having fun, it was a beautiful day, and Lucia's
grandparents hosted in a space perfect for the occasion.
Nick was giving kids ride on the pedicab, there were games where kids
were getting toys and prizes throughout the party keeping them very
happy, I had the chance to talk to friends and meet some new people, it
was really nice.

First had an accidental ingestion of dairy and it was an interesting
opportunity to see that the few hives he got around his mouth were
going down by the time I was giving him Benadryl (about 15 minutes
later). It looked like his body was able to absorb the reaction
smoothly and well. I gave him the Benadryl anyway, but it did make me
go "hmmm".

Saying good-bye was hard. I really like Lucia and Holly has a special
place in my heart as the first friend I made here. But, adventures will
continue to be had and they'll be back in the spring.

Monday

We went to Fiber Arts at Kate's and, drumroll please, the kids had a
good time! It took a year, but they finally feel comfortable with the
kids they've gotten to know and had a great time with a new friend,
Malik. I felt strangely (but in a pleasant way) unmoored as the kids
weren't clinging to me and asking me every ten minutes if it was time
to go. Holly and Mary are absent (Mary and her girls are due back from
Ireland in a couple of weeks), and Felicia and Shannon have joined in.
I actually think I'll be able to get some handwork time in!

Tidbits

Our new nephew was born Sunday night, no name yet. Everyone is doing
well and we're heading up to Beantown on Friday to go see the little
guy. Can't wait.

Kinder starts French class today. If he absolutely hates it, we won't
do it, but I'm hoping that it might help inspire me to do some Japanese at home with them.

I'll be cooking today for our common meals that start tomorrow. Silke
and Roger have started up a small co-op meal group. We'll meet for
dinner on Wednesdays rotating through each family's home. We're up
first. Unfortunately, the schedule didn't mesh with Cap's so he won't
be involved. I'm making Thai curry, rice, tzatziki and an apple cake.

The Red Sox are in the playoffs, they start against the Angels
tomorrow.

Going to Vinny today for a tune-up. My energy has been good, I just
keep corrupting my healing with crap food, though my portions are
getting better. The qigong exercises are pretty impressive in the
results they produce. Even if it's just five minutes that I do in the
morning, there's a difference to the quality of the day.

Seasonal table

Yesterday, at the playground, First picked up the season's first blood red leaf. It was smudged with yellow and green and was a beaut. It passed through many hands and in the end, he plucked it from Kelly's fingers, wanting definitive ownership.

This afternoon I remembered the leaf, and inspired, announced I'd be deconstructing the summer seasonal tableau. First, who was watching the Wonder Pets Save The Three Little Pigs (quite funny), bobbed up above the top of the couch to say he wanted to create the fall table. TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) rocks. I am so grateful and moved at how much more connected he's been.

He began by placing items at each corner. Then he constructed the middle. He had other ideas and was reassured that he/we would be able to add things as the days pass and we find treasures in nature. (He was thinking about resorting to use pencils to make something because he didn't have twigs.)

The leaf, incidentally, had dried up considerably during the night and First no longer desired it.

First's first seasonal table. Enjoy.

Harvest moon

I love hearing the train blowing its horn...especially early in the morning or late at night. The trains we see here aren't as majestic as the ones we'd see in Sac, but the sounds are just as good.

I got some bodywork done by Vinny on Tuesday which was wonderful. Afterwards I felt like my body had become a giant magnet, the pressure of my weight on the table felt incredible and grounding. I wish I had been able to sleep there for an hour.

I'm at that place where I know I have to "release" dairy from my diet again. A month of traditional Chinese medicine had healed my system to a point where I could digest dairy again, but it's been too much too soon. My emotional ties to pizza and chocolate are strong!

The start of the fall tv season, with dvr for the first time ever, has brought on a lot of tv watching once the kids are in bed. I watched America's Next Top Model, drawn by the contestant with Asperger's and had my heart broken a bit last night.

I finished the first season of Deadwood and am taking a break with some movies. I have Catch and Release in the tv basket, Year of the Dog is next on my queue.

Yesterday I opted not to go into Manhattan to see Akihiko and his mom and my family. The kids were both running low grade temps. I was able to reschedule with Akihiko for Saturday. It'll be good to see him, it's been a couple of years.

Serendipity stepped in and we ended up meeting Kelly and the girls at a great playground that was new for us. It was in nearly complete shade (crucial with a day that warmed up to 85+º) and the structure was wooden and had a lot of unusual and interesting components.

I wish I had brought my camera. Kinder and Lila are like two peas in a pod, very comfortable with each other whether walking, climbing, or building a fairy forest. First spent a lot of time with Pippa (who turned one in August). I don't think he said a word to her the whole time, but he was saying a lot with his eyes, body language and proximity. It was really cool watching them in their wordless, yet very connected play.

Later in the day we went over to Danielle's. Our four kids are just crazy about Ben 10 and whenever they get together, the first few minutes are a bedlam of excited talking updating each other on the new Ben 10 goings on in their lives (new drawings, comics, toys, etc.) Their friendship preceded the Ben 10 craze, but it seems so much a part of it now that I wonder what it will look and feel like for them when the inevitable (it is inevitable, right?) decline in interest in things Ben 10 begins.

My session with Vinny helped stopped the closing in on myself that I was feeling for about a week. Kelly and Vinny both spoke of the harvest moon, it was full last night or will be tonight. Apparently it's a tough one for many to get through.

It's going to be a busy few days:

Today - Silke and kids this afternoon

Friday - Holly and Lucia (who are back from Paris for a long weekend to deal with visa stuff) and Kelly, Lila and Pippa at lunch time, drum and movement in afternoon

Saturday - lunch in the city with Akihiko and his mom, puppet show of Comet in Moominland in the afternoon, Sandy and Mike come over to baby-sit and Cap and I go to see Matt Pond PA at night

Sunday - Lucia's birthday party, family swim at the Y

In between the social engagements and voracious tv watching I'll be planning some structure for our mornings next week (home learning time), cooking and cleaning, and eagerly awaiting news of the baby we're waiting for up in Boston :-)

Up at 4:16

Kinder needed some early morning care. Arnica for his aching foot, sting stop for his mosquito bites from yesterday's "unconventional baseball" game (the Pink Scarves won the game shortened by Kinder's being bit multiple times being the only one in shorts---the usual order of skeeter preference is me, then First, then Kinder...if I'm amply exposed, they don't get touched), and the last dregs of tylenol for his feeling crappy (my word, not his :-)

I actually went to bed at 10 last night and so could not fall back asleep. My body had six hours of sleep in it and would not settle down. So after snuggling with Kinder till he fell back asleep, I got out of bed.

I checked and read e-mail, checked the weather (highs in the mid-80s today and tomorrow---huh?!?), read the local newsy blog and though I thought about getting back into bed, realized I would not fall back asleep, or probably even relax much. With three other bodies in the bed, it just wasn't going to happen...

I saw that it was 5:50 and thought if I were to go to the Y class for "morning people", I'd be leaving my house NOW to walk down to the Y. And I thought, now that's crazy. I'm hoping to start going to the Y next week. This month my Tuesday and Thursday mornings (my child-free times) have been devoted to appointments ad errands.

October is the new September in our household. I guess that's what happens when you lose August.

Black and blue

I lay in bed last night, past 11:00 pm tossing and turning. I realized I was feeling black (dark, self-annoyed) and blue (depressed). Not horribly, but enough that in the past few days I've been more out of my body and in my head than is good for me.

This morning I did some stretches as I had decided I should do as I was finally falling asleep (nothing like Kinder coming into bed at midnight asking to be snuggled to get me back in my body :-) I was shocked at how tight some parts of me were because I don't feel it during the course of a day.

Kinder just handed me his sketch of the Upgrade costume he wants me to sew him for Halloween. Sweet. To see Upgrade, go to this link, click on the drop down menu for "characters" and click on Upgrade. Plus, you'll get to hear the catchy Ben 10 theme song :-)

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/ben10/index.html

Today is Fiber Arts day. First is snuffling and a bit drippy. He may not be up for it, we'll see.

Ah, I watched Stranger Than Fiction Sat night and enjoyed it (watched The Forty Year Old Virgin for the second time Fri night and loved that). It was so good to see Emma Thompson again, I love her. Both these movies, in retrospect, helped soothe these feelings I have inside of me.

As did Ainori last night. It's been on and off a local channel that carries Japanese programming, and I found it relocated to a higher-than-100 cable channel for "Asian American" tv. My mom introduced it to us a few years ago and we love it. Now that we have higher-than-100 cable, we can watch it even if we're not at her house (where, incidentally, she no longer gets it because she has bare bones cable). This site describes it much better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainori

Consignment shop

I finally made it over to our local children's consignment shop and struck gold. I so should have gone there before trekking out to the mall where I had been utterly (and unsurprisingly) let down.

Almost done with fall/winter kid clothing gathering. I'm checking out the local Marshalls for the first time today. The Target stuff I've bought and they've worn in the last year did not hold up well. The Land's End shoes haven't either. I miss the days of having so many hand-me-downs we didn't have to buy clothes for the kids.

It was with relief and a smile that I saw Cap's first paycheck of the fall had been direct deposited into the account yesterday. After months of waiting for our tax refunds, I recently discovered that I had had them direct deposited. $700 came and went without my comprehension (frack!)---no wonder I felt like I could spend some money on myself earlier this summer (a summer nightgown, a pink and red muumuu, deluxe slippers from the Vermont Country Store).

Yes, now I'm paying closer attention to lines other than the balance when I check on our funds online.

Most honorable son

I watched this doc about a Japanese-American fighter pilot the other night and learned some things.

http://www.pbs.org/mosthonorableson/

Growing up

Sometimes growing up is hard to do.

Kinder went back to drumming and movement class yesterday after a summer away. He was resistant, cried, said he didn't want to go, that he didn't want to do any "classes". He cried at home and he cried once we were there. Once he saw Donovan arrive, a boy who was in the class last year and who is a special connection because he was in Lukas' Kindergarten class last year, he calmed down. We chatted with him and Kinder settled right in.

A number of kids, including Kinder, were invited to join in the second class. They are "tweens" now and straddle level one and two. He resisted this, too, but hung in there with my firm encouragement and enjoyed class with Kevin (the first class is led by Maya) for about 45 minutes. We ducked out early, 90 minutes of class was long for him!

Change of season, change of routines, approaching his sixth birthday, it's a lot for my second born, the one who seemingly has no filters, who feels everything so intensely and becomes one with those feelings, whether it feels good or not.

Apple cookie jar

This is my apple cookie jar. It is part of a set of apple ceramicware that Mummu (before she was Mummu :-) and Auntie Carol made for me for Christmas one year. I love this set. This afternoon I finally baked the batch of cookies Cap was unable to because of the faulty old oven (we have a brand spanking new oven which I am thrilled about). As I transferred them into the cookie jar, I felt quite blessed.

Still feels like summer

Just came in from the third game of the season. The Aliens won again---14 to 8. Our legs are itchy from mosquito bites, the backyard was in humid shade.

Vinny's body work did wonders for First. He has a sparkle in his eye and a spring in his step. He has said, "I'm happy today" out loud. My heart was flipping over and over as he hung out with me as I made meatloaf and pesto. He asked questions, helped, and we played around after he noticed that I sounded as if I were on a cooking show with how I was talking about what I was doing. I can't remember the last time he relaxed with me in the kitchen.

Kinder is having bursts of intensity (ie. crying, hitting, screaming). I think he may be fighting a cold/virus. It may be hard to believe, but he pitched a pretty big fit about not wanting to go outside about 15 minutes before this picture was taken. It was so unfair that I was forcing him to go out....

I offered oatmeal or quinoa for breakfast. They chose oatmeal. First loved it, Kinder did not.

I'm doing some laundry. I'd taken a long hiatus due to my back/shoulder issues, but with Cap not feeling well and in the midst of his late nights at work (Wed and Thu), and, being on call to go up to Boston this weekend if the baby comes, I figured better to get it out of the way. The load felt pretty heavy going downstairs. I'm going to have to bring it up in waves.

Still haven't gotten to what I wanted to do today, go through the kids' clothes, change over summer to fall/winter, etc. Not stressed, just noticing.

A little pooped

We left Friday at 6:30 am for a long weekend in Massachusetts, returned at 10:30 pm Sunday night. It was a great few days full of time with family and, well, family, since that's what Karen, Brent and the kids are to us. I'm too pooped to blog about the details about the trip right now.

Yesterday I cleaned and did some pre-emptive cooking in the morning using the veggies from Evie and Jake's garden and then the kids and I spent the day with Anna and Lukas. Silke and Roger (their parents) joined us for dinner. It was a nice, long, full day.

I had a rare hour and a half alone this morning as I managed to slip out of bed without the kids waking. Got the dishes from the drying rack and dishwasher put away, sipped on my ginger-lemon-honey tonic tea, steamed/roasted some beets from Evie and Jake's garden with garlic, lemon and dill, and ate some oatmeal. (Brent cooked some Irish (therefore safely GF) quick oats for breakfast Sunday morning which reminded me I had bought some awhile back. They were fast and yummy, I'm looking forward to making some for the kids next time.)

I walked down to B. Avenue to get my haircut (not wild about it, an "in between" cut). On the walk home I stopped at the Y to get my pic taken and get an ID card, at the eye doc's to get my glasses adjusted, and at Danielle's, who wasn't home.

After lunch the kids and I drove Cap up to school and stopped at M. Park to play a game of wiffle ball (much more spacious than our yard). Yet another great gift from Mummu. There was someone playing their bagpipe the whole time we played, the sun was shining, the breeze alternated between balmy and cool, frolicking on a "Little House" type of hilly lawn, it was fantastic. (The Aliens, First and Kinder's team, won today's game 14-13. The Pink Scarves, my team, won yesterday's 1-0.)

Then we skedoodled over to the kids' first appointment with Dr.Vinny (Dr. Lu's assisting doc). Kinder turned into Massively Silly Boy and was relentless in his antics for the hour we were there. It was so unexpected, I was thrown for a loop. Vinny was unfazed, I kind of retreated in embarrassment and flummoxment. It didn't feel good since I couldn't really fully retreat being the only parent there.

First, after some initial trepidation, was practially drooling while getting his back massaged and worked on. Kinder could barely stay still during his treatment. He was much more into climbing on Vinny, spinning around in his chair, or, no joke, tipping the garbage can over spilling its contents onto the carpet.

When I asked him about it tonight as I lay down with him in the dark (my third attempt to talk to him about it), he said he was nervous and just couldn't stay still. But, he was not nervous about going back, which was good to hear.

After dinner, Kinder took a bath (I've begun having them alternate bath nights again so that they can stretch out in the tub and relax more) and First continued picking up (they are doing really well with this these days). They watched an episode of Blue's Room off a Netflix dvd (it still freaks me out to see Blue talk) and then we read "The Dancing Cow" chapter of Mary Poppins which was a lot of fun.

Cap's got a cold which is no fun, hopefully, his won't last as long as mine did. Hmmm...I look a bit pale in this pic. I think it may be due to the clots I dropped last night. I've been having a different (better in most ways) period this cycle with Dr. Lu's treatment. I was surprised to see the clots again, the likes of which I haven't seen since Sac.

Field trip

Ahhhh the weather has shifted and we're now in a trend of dry, sunny and a high of 70º.

The kids and I took the train into the city yesterday to spend the day with my parents. It almost didn't happen as First was reluctant to go. But, he changed his mind on his own (with some debate and conversation, but no coercion which felt really good).

I packed some lunch stuff, extra layers for all, grabbed my Metrocard and we were off. We walked up to the train station, it took 15 minutes, Kinder complaining semi-loudly for about the last 5.

Once we were on the train, the kids were delighted and commented on how they had forgotten how much fun it is to ride the train. They're still at an age where most conductors don't charge me for them and I scoot them under the turnstiles in the subway. So, the total cost for transportation yesterday was $13.75.

At one point we did a little lesson on directionality as First correctly figured out which way was west, north and south after discovering we were headed east. Kinder jumped in by working on left and right and I agreed with them that although left and right aren't included in the traditional foursome of north-south-east-west, that they do often denote directions.

Once at Baba and Jiji's, I made lunch for everyone. Chicken apple sausage, sautéed peppers, steamed carrots, and slices of heirloom tomato all from our farm, challah sandwich bread that Baba picked up at her farmer's market, grilled munster cheese sandwiches for Kinder, Baba and Jiji, rice with sesame seeds and Bragg's for First, and slices of Gala apples.

After lunch the kids, Jiji and I took off for Central Park. We carefully avoided a building facade that scares Kinder (the Jekyll and Hyde restaurant) and enjoyed a walk around a pond where we saw turtles sunbathing on a rock, ducks wading about, lots of interesting grasses including some that looked like giant chives, and the grand event, a beautiful and fierce hawk that swooped over our heads in pursuit of lunch (pigeon---yuck) and landed in a tree ten feet away from where we stood.

The kids had decided that they wanted to go to the zoo, something we hadn't done in over a year. It was cash only which astounded me, but luckily I was with someone with cash :-) We watched the sea lions for a long time. I got as much of a kick watching my dad with his new digital slr camera, as I did the kids following the graceful moves of the animals in the water and the rocks.

We saw the penguins being fed, the polar bear snoozing in a cool corner of his "habitat" and were treated to unusually active red pandas assiduously marking their territories by rubbing their bottoms on spots.

The kids had a snack of ices on a park bench right outside the zoo entrance and I noticed Gwyneth Paltrow strolling by with one of her kids.

Once we got back to my parents', they showed us some of their pics from their safari which were amazing. There was something incredibly majestic and powerful about how the animals looked in the wild...or their protected wild as the case may be.

Sandy came by after work and we were all treated to sushi and other yummy Japanese fare at a restaurant owned by the family of one of my mom's tea ceremony friends. Everything was delicious, but I nearly overdid it with my unassuming plate of toro, uni and ikura. So, so rich.

The kids were droopy on the ride home, but stayed awake and Cap met us at the station when we climbed off the train at 8:30. It was our second late night in a row, but felt utterly satisfying. We walked in the door and one of the kids said, "it feels so good to be home". You know that feeling that you get after a full and wonderful and not routine day? That was it.

Odds and ends

• Jamie told me her aunt (in MA) had a cold that ended with a 3 week long cough. This was my cold. The cough has been hanging around though at this point it only rears its ugly head at night and feebly at that. There's something impressive to me about stories like this...cold bugs are so cool. Another aspect of nature, really.

• Someone messed up and my parents' trip was cut short. When they arrived to Brazil from somewhere in Africa they were denied entry into the country because they did not have visas. I think their tour company assumed they were American citizens and hence the unfortunate event. So now they are back and we will see them today, all of us babysitting Ellie, and I'm going to take the kids in to the city tomorrow to see them again (before my dad leaves for Japan on Thursday).

• I switched our dishwasher soap from liquid to powder recently. An environmental move. Well, we're having problems with the powder caking up in its little receptacle before it gets released into the machine. I'm trying to dry out the soap space completely with a tissue before putting the soap in, but it doesn't always seem to help.

• I cannot wait for this wave of humidity to pass. It's been days and it really affects me by draining my energy. Today it is supposed to rain on and off throughout the day. It is somewhat cooler, around 70º, but I long for that autumn crispness that I know will be here soon.

• Having said that, I can feel that my system is tuning up thanks to Dr.Lu's work. I am stressing less about things, I am less bloated, I feel a current of energy going through me on better days, and I am able to digest dairy better (though the 2 slices of pizza with fresh garlic at 9 o'clock last night was probably not the best choice to make...but it was damn good at the time :-)

• The oven and stove are on the fritz. The landlord came by yesterday evening to check it out and I think we may be getting a new one.

• I defrosted one of our slabs of salmon that my brother brought back from Alaska to cook for dinner tonight (at his place). It looks SO good.

• I have started using a timer to help the kids and me with cleaning up. It takes my repeating myself to them out of the picture (and my frustration) and it seems to help them by making time, and the process, more concrete, less amorphous. The continuing decluttering is helping, too, I think. Also, that they are getting older.

• The fall schedule is slowly starting to come together.

Fiber Arts will be on Mondays. The kids are still very lukewarm on this...we'll see how it goes. We missed yesterday because First had a dentist appt and then we ran a bunch of errands.

We're going to try a French class for homeschoolers through a local language school on Tuesdays with Kinder.

It looks like we'll be able to have a regular time with Silke, Anna and Lukas on Wednesdays.

On Fridays, I'm going to try to make it to the homeschool park days, but also plan on doing field trip type outings. And, Kinder has drumming and movement.

Generally, we'll do our "school" like activity in the morning and go out in the afternoons.

I discovered a woodworking class at the Y that I thought First would like, but he is reluctant, wait, who am I kidding, adamant that he doesn't want to take a class. Even knowing that Owen might be interested in taking the same class, he doesn't want to do it. I've pulled off "Carpentry For Kids" from a shelf to see if he'll pick a project from it that we can do at home.

• First's appt at the dentist went very well yesterday. Dr. M talked him down like a pro (First was like a monkey hanging onto me when we got there) and smoothly walked and talked First through the procedure of getting a cavity drilled and filled getting all the tools of the trade into his little mouth along the way. We return in a couple of weeks for the real deal. He has a cavity in a baby tooth and cavities in two molars...

• Loved The Closer. Thanks to the dvr I was able to catch up on all the eps of this season when they had a marathon a couple of weeks ago.

matt pond PA

I just got us tix to go see them later on this month. When I learned we were moving back to the east coast, I was determined to see Girlyman, Matt Pond PA and Dar Williams live. One down, one soon-to-be down and that leaves Dar.

Through any window

Here's the video I was watching....

Mortal Kombat - Ben 10 Style

I was watching a video on Jenna Fischer's mySpace page (Pam form the American version of The Office) when Kinder asked if we could search "Ben 10" on YouTube.

This is one of the videos we found.

Relaxing

A quiet moment alone for First (while Professor Kinder was hard at work in his water lab).

Water, water, everywhere

Kinder loves water. This afternoon, during a bath, he filled and emptied containers, especially the big, plastic cranapple juice one, over and over again. I could see him watching, listening, feeling, as he worked a material while partially submerged in it, as intent, curious, and completely open as, I imagine, the most bright and creative scientists to be.

Earlier today, on our hike, it was throwing rocks of various sizes and weights into the deepest part of the stream. Yesterday, it was creating "tattoos" on his t-shirt as his and Lila's stop at the water fountain in the park became less about quenching thirst, and more about quenching endless hydro-possibility.

It's important to me that he, and all kids, have the chance to pursue their interests, whatever happens to be rocking their world at the moment, as much as possible. What they are learning in each moment cannot necessarily be quantified, categorized, assessed or labeled. But, the quality of this type of learning, unrushed, self-created and utterly meaningful, is something that, if you have the chance to see it, is unmistakable in its zen-ness and its profound potential for the future.

Tattoo

It seems like not so long ago when First and Kinder used to ask me to put their baby in a sling so they could carry it around while they played.

Second saturday hikes

We went on our first "second saturday hike" today. We went solo, none of the other invited families were able to join us. It was a great way for me to slow down and get back into my body. And a nice way for us to mark, as a family, our "back to school".

It was hot and sunny, but in the deeper part of the woods, the skeets were a bit of a terror. We were eventually able to find the trail that leads to the stream that Silke and Roger had told us about.

It was quiet. We saw one chipmunk and one frog. And a lot of broken glass and garbage...certain areas we came across were clearly fun hangout and cookout spots for the less ecologically conscious.

First was in his element. He loves to climb and is especially fond of clambering onto big, big rocks. He was impressed by the exposed roots of a large overturned tree and asked for this picture to be taken.


Kinder enjoyed holding Baxter's leash. He held up pretty well with the hiking (he still does not enjoy walking for any length of time) and had opportunities to stroll at his own pace, thinking his thoughts and taking in his impressions.