My Least Favorite Hairstyle

Toby got his haircut today, and so I thought I'd post a few pictures of what he looked like pre-haircut.  It was getting ridiculously long.

He dug a turtleneck out of his dresser the other day to wear to school, and at the end of the day when he was changing into his pj's he said, "That shirt kept my neck warm."  I'm glad that he has come to see the benefits of sensible winter clothing with only a month left of winter.

My Dressing Challenge

It seems that no matter how we dress Norah in the morning she's always in something different by the end of the day.  And even when we let her dress herself she seems ready to change outfits on a whim.  I don't mind this, although it does make laundry day come more frequently than I'd like.  Another challenge is having her stay fully dressed.  I just looked through my picture file for February and there is a serious deficiency in the amount of snapshots (and videos) of Norah with a shirt and pants on.  Alas, we're left with videos like this.  Take it for what it's worth.  (And please notice that we do try to drop hints about her lack of appropriate attire.)

My Baby Girl Turns 3!

From the day she arrived she has been filling this family with light.  Happy 3rd birthday to Norah!

2008

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My Book Bench

Some people at dinner last week asked me what I'm reading now, and I had a hard time narrowing it down to just one.  I actually have three or four books that I've started in the last month, and I can't seem to decide which one I want to finish first.  So I've been reading all of them sporadically, and it's been nice to have different books to suit the mood I'm in when I get the time to sit still and read.
I've been making my way through Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game books.  I like OSC, and his latest book that I read back around Thanksgiving, Pathfinder, was a very good story.  These types of books fit the "escapist" mood I'm in sometimes in which the only solution to a rainy, dreary winter day here in CT is to read about life among the stars.
I read a short review of the book The Devil and Sherlock Holmes in an email from our local independent bookstore so I put it on my queue at the library.  I then forgot about it, until I heard that it was on hold for me.  I have read three of the stories so far, and each one has been fascinating.  If you like a good mystery these are short true stories about "Murders, Madness, and Obsession" (the by line).
Lastly, I've been making my way through Hamlet.  And loving it.  This fits the melancholy moods I've been in recently--and today especially since my friends moved away today.  All week the moving trucks and cleaning vans have been next door, sometimes blocking us in our driveway.  This has forced me to dwell on the inevitable: my friend is leaving.  This makes me very very sad.  The kids don't understand why I started to cry every time I saw the movers this week.  But that's okay.  At night I curl up on the couch and read a bunch of "to be or not to be" and "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king" and all that.  Marvelous, I tell you.  BJ and I saw Hamlet in Creede on an anniversary trip, and based on that little bit of familiarity with the play I thought it would be a good first choice for reading Shakespeare.  I really am loving it.
Pretty soon I'm going to have to start reading happier subjects than murders and mysteries and science fiction (not that science fiction can't be happy), but for now the mood is somber and mellow and quiet.  Better days are ahead, though: Toby and I spotted a robin two mornings in a row while waiting for the bus.

My Lunch Dates

Sometimes BJ can come home for lunch (he has an office upstairs, as well as one a quarter mile away at Avery Point), and Norah loves showing off and entertaining while BJ eats lunch.
A few weeks ago I grabbed the camera while Norah was performing....

The words to the song (since she's eating a crouton while she's singing):
Be patient.  Be patient.
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember
That God is patient too.
And think of all the times
That someone's had to wait for you.

(I taught Norah this song one day because I was needing the reminder to be patient while she used the potty.  It stuck.  Roughly.)

My Sad Farewell

Our most fantastic neighbors and very close friends are about to head out across the pond for their next military assignment. We had a send-off dinner for them and a few of their friends last week, and we'll help them move out (which doesn't require much since the military does everything) next week. I have been procrastinating even thinking about their move, even though we knew this date was coming months ago.
We could not have asked for better neighbors, and we've been so thankful for their friendship these last few years here in CT.  We are excited for their new job in England and are looking forward to having someone to stay with if we ever make it over there! (Anyone want to start planning now for a trip to the 2012 Olympics?)

My R2 D2 List

As if you need another example of how often Toby has Star Wars on the brain....

This morning I asked Toby to grab me a piece of paper. I wanted his help to write down the things we needed at the grocery store. I said, "Let's write our to-do list." As he ran off to grab some paper for me he repeated what he thought I said: "R2 D2 list?"

My "Nonsense Meter"

I don't know what else to call it, but I've noticed recently that my "nonsense meter" has been a little off.  (I'm not confusing this with one's typical B.S. meter, because I think that part of my brain is working perfectly well.)

An example:  Last night BJ and I took turns doing some reading activities with each kid.  (I've been taking a parent class at Toby's school on linking parent involvement with emerging readers, and I had just gotten a bag full of easy reading books, magnetic letters and stuff for literacy activities at home.)  He and Toby would read a story together in the living room while Norah and I would play with the magnetic letters in the kitchen.  Then we'd switch.  This was a win-win activity on many levels: no one was fighting over materials or parental attention, they were both interested in the activities, and we were slowing them down for bed time.  No nonsense there.
However, this little comment BJ made slipped by my nonsense meter as we were getting the kids ready for bed a little later in the evening: (Handing me the bag of new books)  "Let's hide these somewhere."

Hours later (when transferring the bag of books from their "hiding place" to a more normal location.)...  Why on earth did I think it was completely normal to hide a bag of books???  At the time I know we were just focused on getting kids ready for bed, and this usually entails cutting off tantrums before they start.  I think that one or both of us was guessing that there might be a tantrum about who got to take the new books to bed.  The solution for this possible fight was to hide the books somewhere so no one would argue about them.

The comment and subsequent hiding of books is clearly an indication that there are some missing synapses occurring as a result of energy spent heading off tantrums.  At least I can take comfort in the fact that I'm not the only adult in the house whose nonsense meter isn't running on full power.

My Summary of January

January can be summed up in two words here at the Strawser house: Snow and Sickness.

With umpteen snow days, late starts and early dismissals Toby was barely in school for two weeks.  But he conveniently got sick over a weekend, which didn't detract from the few days that he was able to get to school last month.

Unfortunately the sickness that brought him down over a weekend caught up to BJ and me the following week.  Norah (AKA The Doctor) has yet to spend a day being sick, and I wouldn't wish it on her in a million years.

As a result of the snow and the sicknesses we accumulated precious little time looking picture-perfect and therefore have few quality pictures to share with you from the month of January.  But, they're posted above none the less.

My Miscommunication

Last night I got the kids together for "family movie night," like we sometimes do when BJ's working.  It just so happened that the DVD Secretariat had arrived in our mailbox that morning, so in celebration of Toby 's sixth snow day of the year we sat down with popcorn at three in the afternoon to watch "the horse movie," as I put it.
I know the story about Big Red (having read all about him as a horse-loving kid), and I know that Disney made the movie to be a family-friendly affair.  After struggling through the first 45 minutes of the film I decided that Disney spent too much of the story on death and taxes (literally) for it to be friendly to any family with kids under the age of 16.  But that's not what made us stop watching it.  There were some parts in the beginning, specifically when Secretariat was born and when he ran his first year's worth of races, that were entertaining for the kids.  But when the adults had long conversations about taxes and "breeding shares" the kids checked out.  (Thankfully--who wants to explain breeding shares to kids?)  I was trying narrate an edited version of the story but I had to pause it every few moments to hear Norah ask, "Where are the guys in the red shirts?" or "When are the guys in red going to be in the sky?"  I had no answer to these questions but Toby would roll his eyes and say, "Norah, this isn't a Star Wars movie, and they aren't going to fly!"**
After about the fourth time I had to stop the movie to hear Norah ask about red people flying around we gave up and decided to color instead.  Norah picked up a Disney book and started drawing, but when she turned to the next page she pointed to the guy on it and said, "Mommy, when are we going to watch these guys (click here) in the movie?"  Now all her questions about the flying people made a lot more sense.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how she got to thinking that the horse movie was also going to contain the Incredibles.

**We have spent quite a few family movie nights watching Star Wars-related media (do you know how many cartoons there are related to Star Wars???).  We needed a family movie selection that was not related to Star Wars.  What could be better than a horse movie?