a life beyond running shoes.

this is really the first year that the boys really got into christmas. of course, i have been playing christmas music since before thanksgiving. they really loved the songs.....mostly jingle bells. thankfully, they did learn a few others: little bit really does not like to sing alone which of course drives the older one crazy because little bit mumbles the words and screams more than sings. the older one is actually more concerned with the words than the younger one.... go figure.

here come the sweet boys. xmas morning - the presents from us..... of course, they got them monday since we were in florida for xmas morning. they could not wait to get home to play, but they really do pale in comparison to the backyard playground at g'pa's house. these replace the two broken ones that they have been playing with for about 2 months now. it was a great debate what kind to get... real versus toy. we went with toy. the idea being that if they really do want to love music, we'll get real ones when the jump in money seems more appropriate. apparently they can be tuned.... we'll need to work on that!!!

well, one of my goals was to finish a book (by michael pollan) i have been working through all year. i didn't do it. i guess it will make a great goal for next year....i just hope it does not actually take me all of 2009. here is what i did get to read as i finished up finals for one of my classes.... they wrote - i read. now i have to grade...yipee!!! sidewalks in the kingdom . a good read about why it is a good thing that christians live in cities. i loved how he talked about how we have to bump shoulders with our neighbors because of the culture of the city. i could relate to many of his examples as i have often gotten help on and off the subway, buses, out of the grocery store, etc. i did appreciate his discussion of how the american love of their automobiles has replaced our love of community and that sub-urban sparwl has evoked individualism at the cost of corporate identity within the church. at some point, i thought he was long winded but still found it to be an enc...

nope... as of tomorrow he is a big 'ole 2 year old. we had two two-year old friends come for a plyadate/party today.... tomorrow is a bit crazy with holiday stuff..... and since i am not an artist.... i can paint by numbers; thus, this cake that comes with pan, frosting dye, and a picture with what order to decorate in. i was up late, but i must say i am impressed with myself. peanut had a thomas the tank engine cake (created my a dear friend of mine) for his 2nd b-day and since i don't want to deprive the soon-to-be "middle child" of anything... i actually did this one myself. it looks good, but i have to admit that it looks better in the picture!!! one fun fact about our life here.... it is snowing!

i need to catch up my reading list as i have a couple of books that i am trying to finish by the end of the year. here is what i read in november: annie john by jamaica kincaid. now granted i read this for the class i am teaching.... but i still read it - twice actually. this was my first kincaid novel. it seems simplicistic on the surface but is full of fun stuff to get my english students to think and talk about. especially when you start looking at her anger towards colonization and all the funky places that comes out. i will probably teach it again, but might look for something a little more challenging... but why change it up too soon! okay...i succumbed and finished up the series just before the movie came out. man, have you ever seen such bad reviews for a movie with such hype? anyway.... the book. it was entertaining. i guess i need to fess up to the fact that i finished it at 4 o'clock in the morning but that had more to do with baby insomnia than a gripping story...

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!