a life beyond running shoes.

artistic photo by my husband.... me and peanut walking down the lane...g'ma, cousin, and peanut. g'pa and little bit - who enjoyed each other fully!!! and here is my absolute favorite.

four days, 2200 miles, 12 states, 9 movies, and turkey day at cracker barrel. leaving flordia..... on monday just after the lakeland memorial service. green valley, illinois walking across the corn fields. great-great-grandparents house in the midst of the trees. barn and road to houses. our family in front of house where great-g'parents friends lived. my mother-in-law's g'parents lived down the road. my husband a pallbearer....as we bury his great-grandpa. all celebrating a life well lived!

Go Down, Death Weep not, weep not, She is not dead; She's resting in the bosom of Jesus. Heart-broken husband--weep no more; Grief-stricken son--weep no more; Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more; She only just gone home. .... And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears, And he smoothed the furrows from her face, And the angels sang a little song, And Jesus rocked her in his arms And kept a-saying: Take your rest, Take your rest. Weep not--weep not, She is not dead; She's resting in the bosom of Jesus. by James Weldon Johnson emailed by my sister-in-law (i skipped a few verses) my husband lost his grandfather this week. it is not like losing a distant member of the family that you saw once every couple of years.... for his family it is the patriarch of a close-knit family. they lost the man that was part of the daily fabric of their childhood. it is the passing of the man who shaped the structure of a family i am more than blessed to have jo...

five seasons took us two years.... on netflix since we don't have hbo. we watched the final episode on monday night and watch some of the extras last night. we are officially done. i'm a bit sad and relieved. it was one of the best shows we got into. if you have missed it..... it is a cop drama about baltimore, maryland. of course, like most things, it is never just that. here is the re-cap: season 1 - the drug war season 2 - the docks season 3 - politics season 4 - education season 5 - media you hate the cops, like the drug dealers, despise the politicians, feel for the unions, hate the system. it gets complicated and tries to deal with the reality of what city politics look like. it is never simple nor or the characters. it is a show about the blight of our culture... those who have been overlooked, those who profit, those who twist & shape the news, what truth really is, etc. a lot to deal with in a television show... which is why it was on cable. but one thing a...

but don't let that fool you into thinking i had a ton of time or that it was all that compelling. it was more that my train got stuck, i gave my midterm, and was more desperate for resolution that led me to finish so quickly. it wasn't that it was a bad read, it was interesting. i like the parts of the story focusing on the woman that raised phoebe - the daughter given away because she had downs syndrome. it was more that the impact of the dad's lie that disturb me in such a way that i needed resolution at the end. i didn't hate the dad but it was a close emotion because of his ignorance, his lack of faith in his wife, and his impact on the lives around him for that lie. argh! i am glad to be finished. i think i am glad i read it, but i think i would enjoy the lifetime movie more. less engaging and shorter. now, i can get back to something less light and quick. and one last thought, i didn't get the relevance of the title. if caroline was the memory keepe...

in church yesterday, our oldest was singing along with the songs that he thought he was singing. we were visiting a neighborhood church that had a 6 person choir. this doubled the number of people in the actual sanctuary....we tripled the number. here are some of the song highlights: real words: sing hosanna, sing hosanna, hosanna in the highest. his words: so hannah, so hannah, hannah lives on a rock [hannah was our babysitter last spring before she deserted us for college] real words: there is none like you god, god there is none like you. his words: god does not like you, god does not like you. of course the PA system was so loud that no one was able to hear any of the mistakes.

i promise. this picture, of course, is just going to fuel my brother's impression that i forced my child into the mouse costume. NO, i didn't not. i was voting for a ninja or pirate. the mouse was our compromise. he loves it and fought to wear it almost everyday!!! i promise. he could have just as easily been grumpy the dwarf with that face. i mean the jack-o-lantern looks happier. he could not understand why we had to "march" in the parade before we got treats..... ah.... three years old. and of course little bit had no idea he was in a hand-me-down costume. i promise, lu, i won't always make him wear what his big brother wore the year before!!! once we found a friend and "hit some houses" (exact words ) we finally got a smile. we ended up having a great time and even stopped by some of the houses on our own block....which we found out is not really a trick-or-treat kind of a street. maybe some more kids might change that - or maybe just my really ...

it has been about 15 years since i have read jane eyre . after having read the eyre affair , my book group thought it would be fun to go back and read the original even though we were breaking one of our rules: we try to read things no one has read yet. while i missed the discussion, i just read along anyway. i found myself, once again, terribly upset when i reached my stop on the subway and had to put my book away. i was enraptured with jane and rochester, devastated about bertha, and perterbed by st. john. but i was engrossed in the book like i don't remember being when i read it in high school. i loved it. it is funny how many people i have talked to about this book and how many really love it or how many reread it every couple of years. perhaps, it will become that for me. anyway....I LOVED IT!

my husband was out of town last week for a few nights. then, we had a crazy weekend...really crazy. think wedding with indian food and zytego music reception ... SO FUN.... pumpkin carving.... preaching (twice)...and jet lag. and none of that was counting the boys. well, we decided to escape to the catskills for a night away as a family. it rained the whole time but two kid movies, some books, and a woodburning stove made it a nice trip. here we are throwing rocks in the creek...the only time we were outside. when we woke on tuesday morning it was snowing. it was actually raining slush but it looked like snow. it was nice not to be plagued with how much laundry and sweeping there was to do from last week's survival mode... and just nice to have family time. AND i wish we had video of the boy's dance party..... at 22 weeks, baby girl is kicking up a storm.

fall has come upon us here in the northeast.... and i love it! we took the family apple picking yesterday and had a ball. just about an hour outside of the city are apple orchards. this happens to be one of the oldest in the area... 1860s. wow! the weather was spectacular! temperatures right at 60 degrees, sun shining, yummy ripe apples. i think husband had as much fun picking as the boys did eating. we also learned a valuable lesson.....don't start baking apple pie at 6:00 at night. it turns out very badly when it is not finished and little boys have to go to bed. let's say tantrums were flying....tears everywhere.... and that was just the husband (just kidding!). needless to say, we had apple pie for breakfast this morning. peanut has decided now that he doesn't really like apple pie - just the crust.... after all that... really?!

that is what he is saying, "ready, set, go." i have two boys..... all they want to do is run, jump, tackle, and play. okay, it's not entirely true. they both love books, music, play dough, paint, and markers. little bit would choose the playground over almost any activity. well, maybe his scooter or if he was taller - his brother's bike. they love to go, go, go.... it is hard for me that i have had to so significantly had to slow down.

so, i guess we will find out! it is a girl... what on earth am i going to do with a girl? the parenting adventure continues..... i felt like it was a girl based on the difference of the pregnancy (still throwing up), but i think i assumed it would be another boy. we are thrilled and completely stumped on the idea of coming up with a girl name. completely!! don't get any ideas that she will have a name soon.

last night for dinner i thought i had a grand slam kid-friendly, budget-friendly perfect dinner. roasted a whole chicken for dinner on friday night. sunday night, made bbq chicken pizza with home-made pizza dough, caramelized red onion and smoked cheddar cheese (on the adult side not the kid side - allergy factor). here was the vote: parents - major hit! kids - major failure. THEY HATED IT!!!! what?! tonight, i made pork chops, couscous, and green beans. they cleaned their plates.... so strange. they both asked for more green beans..... just plain weird!

this is a great article to read. one of my respected reading endeavors ... michael pollan.... wrote in today's new york times magazine, " farmer in chief: what the next president can and should do to remake the way we grow and eat food." addressed to the president elect - who ever that might be. of course, i find this all very interesting - especially since it is my dream to have my own vegetable, herb garden & compost pile in my backyard - but it is a good summation of his political/ethical agenda.... and for those not wanting to read his book the omnivore's dilemma (which you should read anyway but it has taken me a year to get through) it gets to the heart of some of his arguments. anyway, just thought i would pass that along. especially since i have not figured out how to get two kids and a pregnant belly to the farmer's markets.... i just read about it now.

than just finger paint. i guess with a 21 month old i should expect this but it still catches me off guard sometimes. it was everywhere!!!! i managed to get some off before the bath as to avoid them getting bluer from the water but failed to get it all out of his hair . but, they had fun!

it is a strange phenom to be pregnant all over again. it is not like i crave anything weird... or at least not anything that i didn't like before. for example, i have always loved pickles... i just like them more now. but i don't do the crazy crave pickles and ice cream. no. not me. i am 19 weeks tomorrow. we get to find out gender in a week. i am still throwing up. if past experience tells anything this should have stopped about 7 weeks ago. it has to be a girl... right?! two things that seem to make my stomach and soul happy..... avocados. not sure why. but i love them and have to limit myself to one a day. crazy. root beer floats. husband has willingly been recruited to be the king float maker. we have actually started comparing types of ice creams with types of root beer. so far, we have concluded that boylans root beer and breyers ice cream make a winning combination. YUM.....

our church community gave us a house warming party on sunday. this was great incentive to finish up all the major projects.... floors, walls, bedroom, ceiling, etc. my hubbie worked so hard.... what a trooper! we had 51 adults, 18 kids, and one neighbor..... what an outpouring of of support & love. here is one table of food: christian and mary made all the food - grilled flank steak, grilled figs with blue cheese and prosciutto, artichoke dip, homemade bread sticks, hummus, corn salsa, roasted peppers, tomatoes & goat cheese with olives, crab cakes, and that really is just the tip of the ice berg. it was amazing!!!! here are some pics of the house: we even painted the stairs from poop brown to black: we have an entry way: our kids area in the dining room: (ikea rocks!) our bedroom: showcasing our new bed (our first headboard in seven years of marriage. we can actually read in bed and not roll away from the wall). here are the floors & baseboards. what is just not communi...

over the last month, i started teaching again.... well, the semester started. this means, i get to ride the subway and read. i finished one book that i started this summer, another that i started over labor day, and two that are young adult. here is the recap: peeled by joan bauer (who goes to our church...how fun is that). a quick read on the subway, but i actually stayed up past my 10 o'clock bedtime to finish. i really enjoyed it. for young adult fiction, i was engaged..... even with the ghost story premise. hope was here by joan bauer (her newbery honor book). i too finished quickly but enjoyed. i was sad when my stop on the train came and it was time to walk with my nose out of the book. my life in france by julia child. so i love her. i can't cook french but i really enjoyed her story of falling in love with cooking...and not until she was past 30! she really is a fascinating lady. i even ordered her mastering the art of french cooking because i was just im...

my baby is getting big....not the baby in my tummy (that is a whole other post). little bit's personality & vocabulary are exploding. he is trying so hard to keep up with his big brother. he loves the guitar & singing..... and mary poppins ...well, the song parts. he is a pro at the scooter and adds new words to his lexicon every day.

i think it has officially been a month since i have posted. wow. times flies when you feel as if you are under water... but emerge i shall. last saturday was our inaugural trip to the ER. little bit feel down some friends stairs and busted his lip. it ended up not being as bad as we thought it might have been. they glued it up, gave us an antibiotic and sent us home....three hours later. here is the patient.... it was hard to capture the true essence of the incident. it looked worse on the inside of his mouth. he is fine now.... no worse for the wear.