My Friday

OK, last post of the week. What did we do Friday? Toby had preschool and I took Norah for a run. She cried for the first 10 minutes, which is something new. I kept saying, "Five more minutes, Norah." She settled down until I had about 5 minutes left and then she turned to me and said, "Home? Daddy?" We compromised with home and Elmo's world. :o)
A sitter came over after the kids ate lunch and I went out for lunch with my neighbor and her friend. It was nice to get out and be social. When my neighbor's friend said (about her favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird), "We should all re-read it and watch the movie!" I almost hugged her. I've been looking for some people to start a book club with, and hopefully we can get something going in the new year....
We played outside in the afternoon. More of the same for dinner.
The kids went to bed without too much fuss and I ended my week with a glass of Merlot and a few new episodes of Scrubs.

My Thursday

Thursday seems so far gone and I can't really remember what we did. Maybe laundry?
Actually, I do remember that I took the kids to the submarine museum in the afternoon. The museum closes at 4 in the winter so we squeezed it in from 3 to 4. I should have allowed more time. Toby ran through the whole thing (with his friend: another kid whose family happened to enter the museum the same time we did) saying, "This is awesome!" and "Wow! This is so cool!"
We went on the tour through the Nautilus, a decommissioned sub-turned-museum that is set up mostly underwater. They have mannequins propped in the various rooms of the sub: cooking in the galley or talking on the radio in the control room. Every time we turned a corner and saw a new one I could feel Norah jump a little in my arms. I think they kind of scared her. Toby ran through most of it, but I could tell he thought it was really cool. The challenge for me was trying to hold Norah while chasing Toby through the tunnels of the sub. Luckily we were the only two families on board so I wasn't too worried about losing him. The next time someone comes to visit we'll have to go there. It's free and really interesting.
Thursday night Toby tucked himself into bed, again, but this time it was right after dinner. He was asleep by 6:45. The last time he fell asleep at 6:45 was probably when he was 9 months old. I hope he's not coming down with something. Norah was in bed by 8:15, so I spent a quiet night home alone.

My Wednesday

I promise I won't be posting every day in the future. This is just an experiment for me to write down funny things the kids are doing this week since there's no one here to share it with. Besides, if I'm keeping up with my Scrubs-themed titles what would I post next Monday? "My Monday after last Monday"? No thank you.

On Wednesday I took Toby to preschool and Norah to the nursery so I could teach my little group of home schoolers. I haven't mentioned this little group very often, but it's a fun group that I teach once a week while their moms are in a women's Bible study. It's held at the church where Toby attends preschool. Norah loves being able to stay at the church while Toby's in school because the teacher in the nursery has bubbles. Without fail Norah will walk into the toddlers' playroom on Wednesday mornings and say, "Bubble?" to the teacher. Well, it's either that or "cracker?" which is what she gets for snack on Sunday mornings. I like how she associates time apart from me by what the child care workers give her. I can just imagine her thinking, "OK, I'll come in here and play with you, but what's in it for me? Bubbles? Yes, I like those. Crackers? Good, I was getting hungry." She's easy to please and for that I will be forever grateful.
Toby's preschool class will be putting on a Christmas program but we will miss it because we'll be in Colorado. I am bummed about this, but I can't quite tell if he understands that he'll be missing the program and whether or not he cares. He is going to be a shepherd. I am going to watch his class practice next Wednesday. Maybe we'll get all the cousins together in Colorado to put on a Christmas play for the grandparents.
In the evening on Wednesday a sitter came over to put the kids to bed so I could have some "sanity time," as one friend put it. I went out and did a little Christmas shopping. I had the sitter come for two hours: I went to two stores, spent what seemed like a really long time in each store, and I went to Starbucks for coffee. Here's the weird thing: I came home with 20 minutes to "spare." I didn't know what else to do, so I sat in the car for a while and then snuck into my own house while the sitter was reading Toby stories. How pathetic is that?
Here's a few pictures from the other day. Norah wanted to draw on the chalkboard, so I put her up on the counter to draw while I did the dishes: this is further evidence that the sanest possible parenting happens when two parents are present. Looking back, I should have taken the chalkboard off the wall instead of putting Norah on the counter. Maybe my rationale was that she would be contained and therefore more manageable, but after looking at the picture I'm not sure what (or if) I was thinking.

My Tuesday

By the end of this week you're really going to get some good insights into how mundane life can be around here without BJ to liven things up. My heart goes out to those deployed overseas and their family members waiting in the wings. This week's entries are merely a snapshot of what fills our days. I couldn't imagine what we'd do if his trip was a deployment of 6 or 9 or 12 months.

The sun was out today! It has been a challenge to find things to occupy Toby's energy when it's rainy. Luckily, much of his energy was spent raking leaves today. A tip gleaned from our neighbors: use a snow shovel. For leaves? Really? Yep--it worked great and was the perfect tool for Toby to wield. Norah spent time outside with us as well, but since she was holding her donkey the entire time she was only helpful in pointing out when people came by walking their dogs. Later this afternoon she busied herself slapping a long stick in our puddle (a lake, really) in the driveway and getting really wet. But she thought it was hilarious, especially when I had to chase her around the puddle to bring her inside.
Soup again for dinner (I know--I'm terrible! My personal chef is gone and all I know how to cook is spaghetti and soup!), ice cream for dessert, and a Bert and Ernie movie before bed. Toby and I read "The 12 days of Christmas" for our bedtime story.
My favorite word from the Sharon Creech novel: "mishmasheroni." :o) The narrator of the book is losing a few things in translation (the novel is set in Switzerland near Italy) and this was a perfect way to explain the flea-market display she was describing in the book. Can't you just picture something that is a "mishmasheroni?" I think of my attic. And my basement. Maybe we'll tackle one of those later this week....

My Monday

Today was just another day.
Norah and I dropped Toby off at preschool and then went to the library. I discovered a new book by Sharon Creech called "The Unfinished Angel." She is one of my favorite authors for kids, and this story seems to fit her usual style. Norah had fun picking out books and movies at the library. She is especially excited about a movie that had Bert and Ernie on the cover. I don't remember the name of it, but you can't go wrong with Sesame Street!
In the evening we went to a friend's house for dinner. On the way (it was dark) Toby pointed out a water tower (he's always finding them). I asked if he could see the tower because it was lit up and he said "No, I saw it with my carrot eyes!"
For the second night in a row Toby climbed into his bed and fell asleep while I was reading to Norah. He has even left his bedtime snack uneaten on the dresser next to the bed. I guess we're tiring him out. I know I'm tired!

I forgot to mention this on Thanksgiving, but Norah was as cute as ever with her antics. We took a couple of videos: in one she's talking on the phone (to no one) and in the other she climbed into her high chair to sit at the table and eat dessert all by herself. Toby, meanwhile, zonked out in a chair in the living room.

My Sunday

While BJ is overseas at a conference I'm here at home where it's business as usual.
This morning we went to church. Then the kids played in the sandbox.
We came home and ate a lunch of leftovers and soup. Norah spilled her soup all over the floor.
Then Toby colored while Norah took a nap. I watched some football, halfheartedly.
We played checkers and memory. We re-arranged Toby's room. (Norah was really excited to wash things -- a good thing, too, because his room was really dusty!) We took some pictures and Toby gave a tour to BJ (via the camera).
We made pizza and calzones for dinner.
I got kicked in the head while trying to watch the evening news. Toby was trying to wrestle me.
I gave the kids a bath.
Toby put himself to bed. Norah and I sang "Baa Baa Black Sheep" for a bedtime song.
The end.

My Silly Turkey Day Run

I went to the Mystic YMCA on Thursday morning to do a 3 mile run with a bunch of other people. That pretty much sums it up. I have no pictures because I ran all by myself (not whining about that, by the way). My headphones didn't work (pretty ironic considering my last post was about how I love running to music) so I eavesdropped on all the other runners instead.
It felt good to get out an run and then head home to indulge in the day's feast. Next year I'm going to do a run on Thanksgiving (location: pending) and I'm going to include the whole family, no matter how early we have to go.
Although I do have to admit that next year (if I run the Turkey Trot here) we're just showing up, not paying $15. I have yet to figure out what that fee was for, since the brown t-shirt I got couldn't have cost more than $3.

My Playlist

I went on a great jog this morning, and the thing that made it fun was the music I listened to on my ipod. To get motivated for running as it's getting colder I've put Christmas music on my shuffle. For my last mile I ran to an old version of Bebo Norman's "Joy to the World," then the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get it Started," followed by the Bare Naked Ladies' "God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen" with Sarah McLachlan. This is why I enjoy jogging: I can get outside and listen to a completely random mix of songs that keep my feet moving and make me want to go farther and listen longer.
While BJ and I were at the 5K race in September we saw one of his former students, a mom of two who was also running her first race. She said she enjoyed running because it got her away from her kids. It was a good break for her. While I agree with this sentiment I also enjoy running because I get to actually listen to songs that I like. I can hear the words and think about them. Not that there's much to think about with the lyrics to a song like "Let's Get it Started," but you know what I mean. I also have Collective Soul songs (what do you think about this line: "Jesus didn't speak English but I do think I understand the rhyme and the reason of a goody-good gentleman"), and a lot of Snow Patrol and Coldplay. I like experimenting with what I listen to on a run, and if you have any suggestions of songs you like to work out to then send them my way.
And now I have to go because Toby just brought me the door knob to our attic door. "It just came off" was his excuse. (We live in an old house. It's possible; in fact, it's happened before.) Since BJ's upstairs in his office working I hope, for his sake, he's not locked up there now.

My Favorite Fall Mornings

Today we're sipping coffee, listening to NPR, and watching the kids make something out of nothing (well, they have a cardboard box and some tape). The sun is shining in on us, I hear the heat kicking on, and there are remains of color on the trees peeking in through the windows. These are my favorite types of mornings. Thursdays tend to be a pajama morning at our house since it's the morning after BJ has finished teaching for the week and before he dives into paper writing and other school work. Thursdays are also my favorite edition of the New York Times because both of my favorite columns run: Gail Collins' opinion and Michelle Slatalla's "wife/mother/worker/spy." If I only get to read the paper one morning a week I'd pick Thursdays over any other day just to read those two pieces, which are far cleverer than anything I'd ever write. So maybe you should close this blog and go read their articles instead.

This morning I am delaying the inevitable topic of the month: we spent a good deal of time raking leaves this week (not my favorite fall activity), and it's not encouraging to see how many leaves are still covering our yard. But Toby's been a big help this year (a little more than last year). I know I whine a lot about raking leaves, but it's like whining about getting out the door and going on a run. I'll be doing it either way, and I'd much rather rake a half an acre of leaves with a four year old than write a term paper on realism-imitating counterfactuals or something on human rights.** I value these mornings more than almost any other time during the week and I just thought I'd share them with you. Now I'm off to crack open the NYT and check out a better column than this one. (However, neither of them have adorable pictures of children, so keep coming back if you want to see them.)

**These are papers that BJ has to finish in the next two weeks before he heads to Spain to present on "institutional accounts of correlative duties" at a human rights conference. I'm so glad he's getting his PhD instead of me, aren't you? :)

My Might

Toby's favorite thing when we cook a whole chicken is to break the wishbone with someone. Lately it seems we've been cooking a chicken a week and he gets pretty excited when he sees what we're cooking. He says: Is that a whole chicken? "Yes." Can I do the wishbone? (Usually this conversation takes place before the chicken is even in the oven.)
We just broke the wishbone from a chicken we had on Tuesday. I got the bigger piece. If this had happened a few weeks ago Toby would have crumpled to the floor and cried. But today he says "You won because I used all my might and you used all your might." I'm not debating the accuracy of that statement (truly, I try to let him win), but it did get me thinking when do I use all my might? And, more extrinsically, what use does a four year old have for the word might?

My Good Days

Good days are usually measured by what we can get done. When we can run multiple errands without the children breaking down or do several loads of laundry without leaving one in the washer overnight by mistake... you get the idea.
But on other good days I get to take a step back and see how my kids are growing and getting along and just bask in the fact that I am doing what I love.
Yesterday was a good day from the latter category. Honestly, I didn't even get out of my sweats (gotta love the new trend to wear yoga pants everywhere), but I took the kids to the Aquarium and we had one of the best visits since we started going there in January.
We got rock star parking--a good sign of things to come--and cruised right in. We went right to Toby's favorite exhibit, where he gets to touch sting rays. There were no other guests at the pool, so Toby could maneuver around the whole thing to get the best spot. While we were standing there with our hands in the water two rays and a small shark just swam by and rubbed up against our hands. So all three of us got to touch them! Norah was a little overwhelmed, but when we were leaving the tent she said "Bye!" to all the rays and sharks. Toby, as always, said it was his favorite part of the day.
We went inside and had the place to ourselves. We took our time through the exhibits and I didn't have to worry about losing the kids. We went to the Discovery lab area where Toby held a sea star, several crabs, and even got the volunteer to bring up a horseshoe crab for us to touch. So cool!
As we cruised around the place it was so fun to watch both kids enjoy all the colorful fish and other sea life. Outside we watched a little bit of the beluga whale feeding and then moved on to the sea lion and penguin areas. All five female sea lions were actively swimming and playing, which is something I haven't seen in all my visits there (except when we see the sea lion show, which we skipped this time). The humongous male sea lion was sun bathing in his enclosure so we got to see him close up, another first. Almost all of the penguins were out of the water and it was so cute to hear Norah try to say penguin. We also saw turtles, frogs, and fish along the boardwalk between the main building and the penguin exhibit.
I have to admit, I had low expectations for both the aquarium and my kids for this visit, mostly because it's the off season and because I wasn't sure how long the kids would last. I was pleasantly surprised on both accounts, and we ended up having a very good day.

My Phobias

You already know how I feel about spiders, clowns, and gorillas (and monkeys).
I am so glad I was nowhere near Denver this Halloween.
I read about this through a blog that I follow: See here.

(Sorry, if I knew how to put the video in this post I would. There's a video of it on youtube, too.)

My Tired Tiger

More photos to come from Halloween, but I just loved this one. Norah just snuggled into my shoulder as we were leaving the last house. I think she knew it was her bedtime!

My Son and Symmetrical Pirates

I just want to highlight an interesting thing Toby did during one of his quiet times. He played in his room for about an hour and then came out to tell me that his pirates were having a battle. He asked me to take a picture of their battle. Check out the mummies (which he calls "mommies") on the left. He arranged all these toys all by himself, and I've got to say that I'm pretty proud of the symmetry I see there. (That's the former math teacher in me!)

My Cowgirl

Norah loves taking baths. I pulled these pink cowboy boots out of the attic and she immediately wanted to try them on. They're a little too tight but made for some adorable pictures!

My Cool Tree

OK, it's not my tree, but we found it while picking apples at the local farm. Half of the tree is growing green apples and the other half is red. How cool is that?

My October Pictures

I've skipped September's photos and gone straight to October's crop for the slideshow. Enjoy!

My Running Partner

My running partner gets so excited when I say we're going to go for a run, which helps to get me motivated. She doesn't care what the weather's like because she knows that she gets to bring Donkey and a blanket to stay warm. She points things out along the way that I might have missed like pumpkins, birds, cars or buses. She tells me "Go!" when she thinks I'm slowing down and she says "No!" when I say we're heading home. I never thought I'd enjoy jogging as much as I do, and currently I credit my running partner for keeping me motivated to get out there and get moving.

On Thursday we bundled up like this because it was about 40 degrees out at 11:30 am. I decided that that's the lower limit of temperature for Norah. It was cold! But she stayed toasty warm. Today (when we took these pictures) it was so much warmer--almost 45! And so sunny! I still bundled her up because I wasn't sure about how windy it was going to be on the Point (I ran down to Jupiter Point and then along Eastern Point Beach--both get pretty breezy). Maybe by next summer Toby will be good enough on his bike to be able to go with us.

My Night Job

One of the few ways I can support BJ in his school work is by proof reading his papers. I've read papers so far on human rights, political philosophy, metaphysics, and many other related topics. When I say "read" I really meant that I've tried to decipher words that I've never heard of and mostly looked for commas that are out of place or sentences missing capitals. :)

As I finished reading this most recent paper (completed three days early--yay you!) I reflected yet again how happy I am to not have any paper-writing in my future. My days of attending class and doing homework are long gone. I am perfectly content being the "master editor," as BJ calls me. (See me smile and happily turn computer over to husband to fix edits while I revel in the Bronco's win against the Patriots.....No other win of the season tastes so sweet!)

On an update/note: Our desktop computer has gone completely mad (since it has a personality of its own) and will not turn on. All our pictures were backed up the day this started happening, but I have no way of showing you all the cute pictures I took last month. So stay tuned for more pictures, but you'll just have to wait a little while until we get a computer up and running again (the laptop is no place to store our pictures, so they're sitting on our camera). But here's a cute picture off the camera just to show you that our kids still exist (and are also enjoying the Bronco's victory in their sleep).

P.S. No offense to the person pictured here, but I hate clowns. About as much as I hate monkeys. (Two things Toby will not ever be for Halloween if I can help it.)

My Weekend with Marj!

Our wonderful friend Marj came out for a quick visit this weekend. We had so much fun that I'm wondering: why haven't more of you come to visit us yet??? Is it the spiders? The rain? Well, we tried to clear out all the spiders for Marj's visit, but we couldn't do much about the rain, although it only rained once while she was here.

We bought the kids new shoes on Thursday before picking Marj up in Hartford, then came home to a wonderful dinner made by BJ. Friday we explored around Mystic and the area here, going for a "hike" at a state park a few minutes away from where we live. Considering you can see the top of the hill from the car and that we had Toby with us, the hike was more like a stroll in the woods, with a little bit of beach on the side. We also went apple-picking at the orchard I went to with the kids last year. We made a gluten-free apple cobbler with the apples we picked!

On Saturday (rain, rain go away) we got a sitter so Marj and I could get coffee and go to a movie ("Whip It"). Then we had another lovely (gluten-free) meal. BJ was away all day working a photo booth at a wedding, so we just kept it low-key with the kids.

Sunday we spent the day in Boston. We walked all over Boston Common, along the Freedom Trail (including how many Starbucks? Four?), and into Quincy Market. We ate lunch at a pub and walked through the Holocaust Memorial nearby. In Quincy square the kids got balloon hats from this crazy clown. The hats entertained them

--and us-- back to the car where we drove over to see the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"). That is really cool. We had never been there before. Toby liked the cannons, and Norah just wanted to pick up the cannon balls.

We ate dinner at a pizza place in Providence and called it a night early since Marj had to leave early in the morning to head to her family's house in Branford. We couldn't leave out a trip to Kitchen Little, so BJ took her there on Monday morning before they left.

We want more visits like this, although it really made us miss all of our friends and family that aren't nearby. Come see us soon!

My (Our) Race Day

We did it!

It was raining the entire time but we did it!

I am really proud of both BJ and I for setting out to do something that's out of both of our comfort zones and getting it done!

We got to the race with plenty of time (thanks to our friends for being available to watch Toby and Norah at 7:45--before their own kid was up!), got our "bibs" (our numbers: 609 and 610), and then milled around until we had to walk (1/4 of a mile) to where the start was.

The beginning was crowded and BJ and I got separated at first; we only got to run together for about 90 seconds of the entire race!

There were about 250 people running the 5K and another 700 or so running the Half Marathon. BJ and I got passed up by almost every marathoner during the course of our race, which wasn't great for our mindsets, but we persevered and eventually we each found our pace.

I had time to think about lots of things while on my race, but mostly I just tried to enjoy myself. The rain, while annoying to be so wet so quickly, helped keep us cool and the temperature was just about right.

I'm looking forward to finding some more 5K's to do in the future. I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm glad BJ was able to run it too!

My Weekend Forecast

Today: sunny and 60's. Beautiful Indian Summer day. We ate breakfast out on the porch (I'll get a video of the kids). Our desktop has decided to stop turning on, so we're going to spend the day coaxing it back to life. (And BJ will be working on another paper.)

Tomorrow: 5K race day! Rainy in the morning.... I haven't run in the rain yet, although I've wondered whether it would be nice or just crappy to be soggy. We'll see tomorrow. The kids are going to a friend's house near the park where the race is. I'm looking forward to it, and Toby is very excited to go play with Weston and their dog, Joe.

My Birthday Flower

I went out to get the mail today and was greeted by a surprise flower in our yard. I happened to have my camera in my purse and so I snapped a picture of it.

We have pink and fuchsia roses in another part of our yard but this rose--which I didn't notice any other day this week while getting the mail--is up next to our house. There aren't any rose bushes in that part of the yard. But, truthfully, our yard is a mystery to me and what is growing in it is beyond my skill of identification--let alone gardening. (I've decided to treat everything green as poison ivy to avoid any future problems.)

I'm considering the rose my birthday flower--a special treat to an already wonderful day. BJ surprised me with gifts this morning and the kids have been super sweet all day. :)

My Son's Perspective

Toby drew a picture today that I found pretty funny--for its accurate representation of our life from a 4 year old's perspective. The purple is what he said when describing the picture to me.
(The CUBS shirt was a gift from my brother-in-law and he's wearing it today. BJ, Toby says, doesn't have a sad face. It's a "Hmmmm" face.)

My "Friend" in my Shower

I am legally blind without glasses or contacts, and as evidence I'd like to show you what I just took a shower with:

Now I have to wait for one of my resident spider-killers to take care of that before I go back in the bathroom. It gives me the creeps thinking that thing was hanging from the ceiling while I was in there. Yuck.

3:15 pm EDIT: The stupid thing is still there, on the ceiling. I'm wondering how long I'll have to wait for the spider killer to come home.

My Next Read (or two)

Catch up with me and read these books--
OR, better yet, get them for the twelve-year-old in your life!

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Yes, I read books written for twelve-year-olds and I enjoy them very much. When I get breaks from the kids it's pretty difficult for me to fully digest much in the way of important literature. Hence, the light reading material.

But I did get a short break today in which I read this fascinating article by Andrew Sullivan. Read it now (if you haven't already) and pass it on.

My Preschooler

Toby enjoyed his first week of preschool. These are pictures from his first day. He loves hamming it up for the camera, and I don't have much patience to get a decent shot (for his album and all that). So here you go.

























































He likes his teachers, has fun building things, and comes home every day with a painting or drawing. He had his first Show and Tell yesterday and brought Little Dog (of course) and some leaves that we found that had changed color and fallen (already!).

My New Feature

I'm going to try something new...
At the right of the blog you'll notice the slideshow gadget. At the end of each month I'm going to upload a bunch of pictures to our account with Picasa. Then I'll link the folder to the blog. That way you can see what the kids are up to. Now showing: pictures from August of 2009, including a trip to the Mystic Seaport, our 10th anniversary wine, and trips to the farm and a carnival.
We'll see how it works!

My Diet

The fact is, I don't diet. I'm not skinny. I don't have high metabolism. I don't starve myself. And I don't deny my sweet tooth--hardly ever.
I have told two people in the last few weeks that I've been running and signed up for a 5K, after which they respond with "yeah, you look great." Truthfully, I'm not jogging to lose weight. And I haven't lost anything (but I don't have a scale, so there's really no way to know for sure). But it just seems like the culture of the day is to convince people they look good and to encourage people who are on diets no matter what, even if it's the most ludicrous thing you've ever heard. {Note, I'm not confusing this with one's need for encouragement with exercise or eating healthily. These are the temporary fixes I'm talking about.} For example, two of the skinniest people I know were talking about their success on the South Beach Diet. Come on, people. They were both thin to begin with. Who on earth is telling them that they need to lose weight? "I've lost three pounds in two days already!" Great, good job!
Meanwhile I am harboring this inner fear of passing judgment on to my daughter about the need to be thin. I am going to be her first glimpse at what "healthy" means, but I'm sure she'll quickly pick things up from her peers when she gets to school. So I have to have the right attitude now, while she's young, in order to help her learn about herself and what it means to be healthy. I love her so much and I don't want her to turn to diets and fads and the praise of others to feel good about herself.
We have our share of diet books here at the house. Don't get me wrong, and I want to avoid any air of hypocrisy. We want to exercise and eat right and be healthy. But it's born out of a desire to be able to keep up with our kids and enjoy the benefits of a long life, not to be skinny or lose weight to fit into my old jeans (which, yes, I have and, yes, I hope to fit into someday. There's honesty!).
I know Norah's only 18 months old and I'm probably over thinking this, but the idea of skinny people seeing benefits from the South Beach Diet really tugged a chord in my heart. I'm guessing I'm not the only one with these thoughts, either.

My Kids on the Farm

Labor Day weekend is here. Hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday we were headed to my cousin's wedding in May!
Here's a picture of Toby feeding some chickens at a local farm. Right now they just have a stand of vegetables, but in a few more weeks we'll be able to go back and pick berries and apples. The kids seemed to get a kick out of feeding the chickens, although I didn't let Norah get too close to the fence for fear of bites from the hens. One small chicken was outside the fence and enjoyed Toby's handouts.

My Solo Weekend

BJ went to Seattle for the weekend. I'm home alone with both kids. It's raining here and it's nice in Seattle (I think). Ironic. It's actually been very manageable here, despite the weather this weekend. Toby's been saying some funny things and I thought I'd share one with you.
On Thursday we were headed to the doctor for Norah's 18 month check up (she's in the 75th percentile across the board at 25 pounds). Out of the blue he says, "One day will I marry someone and will they grow a baby and will I be a daddy?"
....Silence in the car.....
"Yep, Toby, that's how it works for people." I can only imagine what he was thinking about that led him to say that!

We've moved the coffee table out of the way to have dancing competitions (something to occupy the slow hours of the evening). Norah absolutely loves to dance. And Toby is always making up new moves. We take turns being the judge (which is really just taking a break on the couch), and Norah just dances to anything.

(As a bright spot for me, our local library notified me on Wednesday that Catching Fire was available for pick up, even though I knew it wasn't available in stores until the 1st. Score one for being the first one on the waitlist! And it was great, by the way. Every bit as good as the first, and I paced myself so I wouldn't stay up until 2am reading this one--although I was tempted!)

My Quick Pick

Just an FYI--if you haven't read A Prayer for Owen Meany I'd highly suggest you put it on your "To Read" list. I took a break from my typical YA lit list to read from the adult section at our local library. (Toby always enjoys trying to hide from me in the stacks.) Great read!

It's by John Irving (it's one of his older books--written in the late 80's). I don't know how I've gone this long without reading anything by John Irving. He wrote Cider House Rules, The World According to Garp and a bunch of other books.

I read a few other books that weren't so great before this one (to wit: the last line of one of the books was "Who the f*** cares?"), and now-- I'm hesitant to venture into something new. Maybe I'll just take a break from reading for a bit and "gear up" for the release of Catching Fire?

[I ran 3 miles this morning, after taking 6 days off because I hurt my knee. And I made it back home before anyone was up. That's the longest I've ever run. Some friends that we had over on Friday are training for the Marine Corps Marathon. They said they "got hooked" running 5K's and that soon they decided 5K wasn't far enough. I don't see myself going that way, but it's good to know that I'm at least able to run 3 miles. We'll see how I feel tomorrow!]

My Crazy Local Beach (Eastern Point)

I took the kiddos over to our local beach this afternoon for a few hours. We go there several times a week, varying in time and duration. Sometimes I've taken Toby there for an hour while BJ stays home during Norah's naptime. We like catching hermit crabs and Norah is getting more used to the water, even venturing up to her waist (my knees)--while she's clutching my hands in a death grip, of course.

This is a great little beach. It's eight tenths of a mile from our house. It cost $30 for a season parking pass. (Seniors get one for $10.) People who want to pay for just a day are charged $20 on the weekend or $10 on a weekday. It's never extremely crowded; we've always gotten good parking and a great spot on the beach. I've seen a lot of mothers with their little kids, but haven't gotten the courage to strike up a conversation with any of them. This beach also has its fair share of old, orange, wrinked women who do nothing but sit in their chairs and gossip or sleep all day. I've seen them on several occasions. There are also a lot of grandmas or "aunties" that are similar shades of burnt-orange who sit in chairs by the water and yell at the various kids (grandkids and what have you) they've brought along with them.

Toby always seems to find some kids his age or a little bit older that are looking for hermit crabs or building a great sand castle or hole in the sand. So he occupies himself pretty quickly, and then I busy myself keeping Norah amused.

Today Norah found two small balls near the water and immediately claimed them as hers. (This happens a lot with the smaller kids, of course; every toy they see is theirs for the taking. We always seem to come home with one toy missing and a new toy acquired with each beach visit.) This grandma/auntie lady in the chair closest to said balls sees Norah pick them up and says "Oh, she can have those. I just got them today at the dump!" I turn to see Norah chomping on one of these balls like it's a huge piece of candy. I try to be polite to the lady "Gee, thank you, um, we'll get them back to you..." while trying to pry them from Norah's mouth. This lady continues on, "The Groton dump is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I guess for people having garage sales. You just go grab whatever you want. I got myself a nice lawn furniture set, you know, we're always having company..." At this point I had to just smile and walk away because Norah was heading down the shore in the opposite direction. I just couldn't get it out of my head that this lady had said she got these toys at the dump! And that Norah was putting them in her mouth!

These are the types of people that I see at our local beach. They just leave me laughing and wondering: would my mom end up like one of the grandmas if she lived out here? Would I want to end up like one of these little old orange ladies? (They are this burnt-orange color from sitting outside all day every day; it's kind of creepy looking.)

My Ice Cream Headache

I like to curl up on the couch and enjoy a scoop of ice cream from time to time. It's a treat I don't indulge in often, but I do try and enjoy it when I can. I have learned that I can't have ice cream to myself when the kids are around, however. They flock to me like ants and then proceed to beg with wide-open mouths for a share, while saying "ahhhhh" like they're at the doctor's office.
Yesterday we went to a carnival at my aunt's church. The kids each got a scoop of ice cream of their own, and for once there wasn't anyone trying to steal bites of my ice cream.

At the carnival they also got to go on a mechanical elephant and lion. These things were pretty fun, and I think Toby really enjoyed riding them with his cousin Tova.

My "Kermit" Crab-Catcher

Toby and I discovered that hermit crabs are very easy to acquire at our local beach. Toby called them "kermit" crabs for a little while. We even brought a bucket full home one time. They didn't last through the night, sadly.
But we've spent our last two trips to the beach searching the shallows for these little guys. Then we put them in a bucket at the shoreline and Toby tells all the passersby about them. All I have to do is stand in the water and feel them crawl across my toes and reach down and grab them. Kinda creepy, but it keeps Toby occupied.

My Neighborhood

I was out jogging yesterday afternoon and -- for the second time in a month -- was stopped by a passerby asking for directions. It felt kind of nice to be able to help out these people (one was a cab driver looking for the airport and yesterday a woman was looking for a building on campus--about a half mile away from campus). It's a little bit freaky to be jogging along (slowly, of course) with my headphones on and then get flagged down by an oncoming car, but it made me proud to be able to point these drivers in the right direction. It was also lucky that they asked me about places I knew around here because there are easily as many streets that are unknown to me as those that are familiar. That's why I am enjoying jogging around the neighborhood. It's helping me to learn about back routes and streets that I never would have driven down. For example, I found an old school the other day while mapping out a new route. It was all weeded over and closed, but it looked like it was a nice school back in the day.

My First Tomato

Toby picked the first red tomato of the season yesterday. He then proceeded to launch it across the yard like a golf ball, oblivious to the fact that this was a momentous occasion for me, the novice gardener. It shows that despite my utter lack in skill, weeding, and overall attention, our garden has actually produced an edible vegetable. Well, I guess that fact remains to be seen because our first visibly-edible vegetable is now rotting somewhere near the neighbor's fence, or has been devoured by a local rodent. (Which we have several; have I mentioned Toby's attempt at petting a skunk, thinking it was a cat?)

We have five or six blooming tomato plants and three or four peppers (on six pepper plants). We've used the basil we planted in several dishes, but it now looks like it's been eaten away by bugs. We'll see if we can salvage any more of it to coincide with the fothcoming tomato harvest--a summer Caprice Salad was our original goal when we started the garden back in April.

My Morning Paper

Today was kind of weird because Norah actually got up before Toby and so I got to spend some time with just my daughter. That doesn't happen often because usually Toby is up first and goes to bed later. So we made a blueberry pie. I think she learned a lot, but specifically that she likes blueberries that have been tossed with sugar.
Toby and I spent time reading the paper after Norah went down for a nap. But since Toby doesn't read (yet) and certainly has little to no interest in the New York Times I made it into a game. I got a pen and put circles all around the letters in his name that we found on the front half of the Business Day section (above the fold). We spelled his name four times over and then he wanted to find the letters to spell zoo. We did (thanks to an article that mentioned "Amazon") and then we tried finding all the letters in the alphabet. We did it very quickly with the letters in the headlines and thanks to a blurb about the Red Sox and an article about the flu vaccine (influenza). We had a lot of fun and it makes me appreciate the fact that we subscribe to a paper that can occupy me and Toby with a simple "find the alphabet" game, while enabling me to read up on the news too.

My Kids and the Big City

Here are two pictures I got off of BJ's phone yesterday, even though they were taken weeks ago when we went to New York City. Norah and I are smiling from the enclosed children's play area inside Central Park. We also grabbed a picture walking down part of 5th Avenue after leaving the Park (Toby's tongue is blue from the ice cream treat he just finished). It'll be fun to look back on these pictures some day and see what we were able to do with the kids.

(Update: BJ and I have officially signed up for the 5K race in September. I am excited to see our progress, though I feel like 3.2 miles is still a long way off from what I'm able to accomplish right now. Hopefully our knees will keep up with the training--from nothing to 3.2 miles is a lot--and our kids will cooperate for us to fit the workouts in while our runs are getting longer.)

My Sleepy Head

Toby fell asleep yesterday while snacking on pretzels in the car. We snapped a picture with BJ's iPhone.

My Little Counter

This video was taken almost exactly a year ago. We were looking at old videos and I thought I'd post this one of Toby counting (to eight). I don't know why the video is sideways. And we have since made a rule that he can't jump on the bed.....

My Dancing Kids

The kids love to dance. Yesterday we sat around making movies while we waited for BJ to get home. Here you can see Norah and Toby being cute dancing to some Chris Isaak. At the end BJ walks in the door. In another video Toby and Norah work on some dancing.

My New Friend's Beach

We got to the beach again, and this time with the camera! My new friend invited me to the beach she goes to in Old Lyme. It was a little overcast, but perfectly warm. My friend's son is 3 weeks younger than Norah and totally reminds me of my nephew, Lincoln. He's like the Energizer Bunny-never stops moving! But we got a lot of time to chat while the kids dug holes in the sand, ate the sand, and played in the water. Toby found some kids his age just as we were leaving and ended up avoiding me by going out in the water--a little too deep for my liking since he doesn't know how to swim yet. But besides that little bit of defiance they both did really well!