Asking the important questions

Jeff showing off Dr. King's favorite meal

So, we've got the day off of school today. I'm rather impressed that both kids actually know WHY we have the day off (and it's not just for additional Wii time). They know that we are honoring Dr. King's birthday today. That he was a great man who preached peace and justice.  That intolerance was not to be withstood. On the way home from rehearsal last night Jeff asked the really important question...

"What was Martin Luther King's favorite meal? We should cook his favorite meal to celebrate his birthday tomorrow."

We hemmed and hawed. Dad joked that maybe it was chili, since chili was on the plan for dinner anyway. J didn't buy it. We tossed around the idea that it was probably traditional southern food (after we remembered that he was born and raised in Atlanta). J insisted we make sure by Google-ing it - because that's the only way to find any right answers. So the Google proved mom and dad right, his favorite foods were fried chicken, mac & cheese, greens etc...and pecan pie for dessert.

I told J that we'd make a special lunch out of Dr. King's favorite foods. Since I'm not really up on cooking southern food we stopped by our local small-town grocery store that sells some good fried chicken, mac & cheese in the back. No greens available so we grabbed green beans as a replacement. They didn't have mini pecan pies (and we eat pecan pie at the major holidays since it's my favorite) so we tried something labeled "Southern Coconut pie". It received a "meh" rating at the house as it was pretty sweet. I'm sure Dr. King had the real stuff.

I don't know if the kids remember our visit to the National Civil Right's Museum in Memphis. It's housed in the Lorraine Motel where King was shot. They were both pretty young (2 and 4 maybe) when we visited. I do remember the museum having some great displays for kids (though not as young as E and J). It's a pretty moving place. There's a burned out bus from the riots, and of course you can visit the balcony where King was shot.  Maybe they don't remember but it will always stick with me.

So we honor you today Dr. King.  We eat the humble and homey southern food. And we remember to "dream". Thanks Jeff for asking the important question and knowing why there's no school today.

Visiting Memphis in March 2008

Unplugged

Admittedly we all spend too much time plugged in. The kids both have iPods and DSs. They play on the computer and the Wii. And we feed the monster. Both kids received several Wii games for Christmas (I refuse to buy and more DS games since it takes them about a week to lose a $40 game). The weather this week has been extremely cold as we missed 2 days of school so there was quite a bit of extra electronics time around the house. At one point recently, when told it was time to unplug, I was informed that there was nothing to do in the house and that E was going to "bored herself to death." Amazingly she survived the next 2 hours.

So on Saturday the kids had a friend over.They headed straight for the Wii and plugged in, playing some Disney Infinity and mini Golf. And then I took the TV over.I wanted to watch a little figure skating combined with football (that's the way I roll).So the kids took to the toys.

Then next several hours encompassed some of the best imaginative play I've seen in a long, long time. An old toddler castle toy was broken out with all it's knights and dragons along with an army of Star Wars figures and Lego men.When they tired of that game the kids created a make-your-own angry birds style launching game. Little Dixie cups were turned into walls and towers and super balls were catapulted at them.

The fun of the evening continued to amaze me.  A huge indoor blanket tent was erected in the living room.The boys broke out the chess board.They dug out Battleship -- just plain old Battleship when electronic Battleship was sitting on the top of the pile.

 

What a blessing it was to watch them all play together. To explore their imaginations. To make their own little worlds. To pull out games that required some thinking. To abandon the electronics and just enjoy each other. To build. To simply play.

I'm not saying that we're going to become one of those unplugged families. We enjoy our video games, our apps, our music. But some days it's great to leave it all behind and break out those creative juices. Let's see what happens the next time. Thanks for coming to play C!  

Christmas Fun

Christmas was spent with Noni, Grandpa Donuts, Oma and Uncle Jonathan this year. It was great to get to spend several days together as we see each other often but it's rarely for more than a day or 2 at a time. We chose to chill together and take a few little excursions (one without the kids as they were in grumpy mode that day).

We continued our unintentional tradition of homemade pizza on Christmas Eve. I believe that for the last 3 or 4 years we've had homemade pizzas on Christmas Eve. We settled in at Noni's, unpacked our landslide of presents (and hung our stockings). Everyone managed to settle into bed by 10:30 or so.

Erin woke everyone up Christmas morning about 7:30. Our tradition is stockings followed by breakfast then presents under the tree. We take our time with presents and open one at a time. With 8 people in the house it took close to 2 1/2 hours to open presents but every second was worth it.

Lots of much desired gifts were received. A illuminating Hermione wand and sewing machine were the highlights for Erin. Jeff received Disney Infinity from his Noni and a new board game from Santa (as well as a collection of books from mom and dad). Tom continued his trend of consumable liquids (liquors and cooking oils) and I found a new Blueray player and Keurig machine under the tree.

Thursday was meant to be a family day at the museums but the kids woke up grumpy so we left them behind. Tom, my mom and I headed into the American History museum to check out this exhibit. There's a small section in the back of the exhibit that I had a hand in accessioning into the museum when I interned there in 1998. Definitely provided a sense of validation.  After the museum the three of us continued to walk the Mall and popped into a few other museums. It was a great adult day.

Friday the kids begged to go ice skating so we hit up a nearby outdoor rink.  Noni decided she wanted to try and skate for the first time. It was an absolute blast as everyone (except Uncle Jon) was together being silly. It was a small rink, and a little crowded but Noni made some great progress, and Erin and Jeff glided around the ice like little pros.

The rest of the time as Noni's was spent simply spending time together. Lots of games (Wii and table) were played. Baby dolls were enjoyed. A long time was also spent with Erin's new sewing machine. She and Noni made a beautiful blanket AND a skirt for Rebecca (Erin's doll). We can't wait to make more things here at home.

By Saturday afternoon we were gathering the presents and loading things into a car. Unfortunately as the saying goes "All good things must come to an end."

The End of a tradition

The end of a tradition

It was Jeffrey's turn to put the angel on the top of the tree this year.  Tradition has it that Tom pops the kid up onto his shoulders so he/she can reach the top of the tree to place the angel. Jeff tried this year to use a step ladder, but couldn't quite reach. I explained that was because he was breaking with the tradition. He needed daddy to lift him up. And up he went...and he whacked his head on the ceiling.The only place they could have stood to get Jeff up without the bonk was the landing on the stairs and Tom didn't really want to have to carry Jeff down the stairs on his shoulders.

It was a delicate process and the thump was gentle. Followed by lots and lots of giggles. But one thing is clear. This was the end of a tradition. Next year will be the girl's turn (if at 11 she's still willing to talk to daddy with his Dinosaur phone) and in 2 years I assume Jeff will be looking down at the top of the tree. He will be 10 and all, and the general assumption is that by 10 he will be looking down on me.

I was able to dig up the first picture I have of Jeff atop daddy's shoulder's adoring the tree with the angel. He was 2.  He's not quite so little any more.

Jeff at 2 putting on the angel

Now he's 8, and just barely fits.

Oh how they grow...

Who would imagine that this little girl, all ready for her first day of Kindergarten just came home with her 5th grade school picture.

And this little guy?  Now he's bringing home 3rd grade pictures.  I can't fathom how much they've grown and how much they've learned over the past years.

Both kids are doing great in school this year.  Erin is definitely enjoying 5th grade.  She LOVES her teachers and has really been excelling in both math and writing this year (both things she struggled with last year). She is still playing the trumpet although we're pretty sure it's not going to be her "thing". It can be a bit of a struggle getting her to practice around the house.

Jeff gets to spend some time in an extra class where he does some more exploratory learning.  Right now they are focusing on learning about the Titanic.  He's completely fascinated by it.  It's also finally time for the boy to enter the world of multiplication and he's loving that as well.

Both kids are involved in drama club at school.  This year's show is 101 Dalmations.  Erin is the mama dog and Jeffrey is one of the goofy thugs (typecast some -- the goofy not the thug). They also serve as "career kids" at the school.  Erin gets to help with morning announcements about once a month and Jeff is awaiting his turn as "library helper" where he'll get to spend a week of mornings helping out in the library.  They took group photos at school for the yearbook this week.  Erin said she had 3 photos (Drama, career kids and band).  Jeff claims 4 (drama, career kids, Horizons and a random other group he can't remember...)

So, pushing half way through the school year (3/8) we're still going strong.

Cousin Time

We haven't seen our RI family in over a year and the kids were definitely missing their cousins (as well as Tom and his brother missing each other). Back at the beginning of November we took a long weekend, packed up the van and headed up for a visit. So glad we finally were able to get it worked out as we had just an awesome time.

Our drive up was gorgeous as the leaves were still awesome colors. We took a more scenic route through PA rather than up 95 further east. We arrived at dinner and the kids quickly ran off as if they'd just been together last week. Erin pairs off with her Cousin Rylie who's about a year younger. Jeff and his younger cousin Avery are virtually inseparable. They LOVE to play the Wii together, play games, build with Legos.

Saturday was a beautiful day and we spent most of it outside at the girls' final soccer games of the season. They had also organized a canned food drive as well as a soccer gear drive that they were running - they are some great young ladies.

Hi Jeffrey!

Cousin Snack Time

Volleyball Lessons

Cousin Tower

Erin and Rylie spent the rest of the day looming on their Rainbow Looms. They even looked up some videos on YouTube on how to do some of the fancy patterns. They spent so much time looming we had to go out and buy them new bands.

Sunday was much colder but we went out and visited a local orchard that was running a cider press that day. We bought some fresh cider, visited some animals and hit a local brew pub for lunch. The rest of the day was spent watching some football and just chilling out.

Chilly Girls

Snuggling her Uncle Jeff

We had to leave early Monday morning. After a quick photo shoot with the kids we hit the road. We were sad to leave, but so glad we were able to spend such a great weekend with our family.

Miss You Guys!

Golden and Orange and Autumn

We had a fun-filled autumn weekend. With a teacher work day on Friday we took the opportunity to head to a local corn maze. The owners claim that this is the largest corn maze on the east coast. It's pretty awesome. This year's design is of a bunch of hot air balloons with Virginia historical and college logos on them. We decided to tackle the hour long maze which included finding 14 trivia stations and a puzzle at the end. After the maze the kids ran and climbed on a hay mountain and we caught a hay ride. Just a perfect afternoon.

 Later in the weekend we ended up at a local nursery to pick a couple of pumpkins for the kids to carve. They had a great selection and decent prices.  It didn't take them long to pick out some great ones. Since they were still in their church clothes I even got a few cute pictures of them finding just the right medium for carving. Jeff tends to wander towards the taller skinny pumpkins. Erin always likes the rounder ones for her jack-o-lanterns.My rule - you must be able to carry your own pumpkin. This is never an issue for the boy, but Miss Boo tends to be a little over zealous with the heavy ones. She got lucky this year that I wouldn't LET her carry her pumpkin in her church dress so that wasn't an issue.  The Boy, on the other hand did a great job lugging his selection around the store.




This year we made it through our carving night without losing power to a hurricane. Erin found a design online for a kitty and Jeff tried to copy a simple Angry Birds face. Both turned out really cute. I was especially proud of Erin as she did almost ALL the carving on her own as well as scooping the guts. She was asked to change out of her Sunday clothes at carving time, and she reappeared wearing a tank top, jean shorts and a kids cooking apron. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the difference in apparel.

While the kids carved, dad cleaned and separated the seeds for roasting. I even got the chance to carve my own night scape pumpkin with a moon and stars. Never too old to carve a pumpkin.