Warsaw, Baby

ch ch ch changes

Haven't moved the blog yet.  Duh.  Still a possibility.  Not even sure if anyone even checks this anymore.  Ummmm.

TEVA changed schools.  My dad moved to Washington (the state, not dc) from Pennsylvania.  My mom is shrinking (go mom!).  I was shrinking too, but now not so much.

I'd like to get back into a regular routine with pictures and posting.  The computer situation here is crazy - so I need to get things organized and cleaned up before things can flow. 

TEVA is still enjoying his trains and Thomas, but robots are consuming more and more time.  His tastes are changing and growing.  It's wonderful to witness.  Did I mention challenging?

Yes, the nature of changes are challenging - but the universe rewards action - doesn't it?

summer daze

Hey all.  Thinking about discontinuing the blog, since I never seem to have time to post.  Anyone have any input? 

Anyone know how to archive all this so it doesn't go into cyber neverland?

Keeping Up

Life has really been about keeping up this summer.  Trying to keep up with the weeds in the garden.  Keeping up with a busy almost 5 year old.  Keeping up with the people in my life (at which I am failing miserably for quite some time.  Matter of fact, I fear some irreparable damage to some friendships for my lack of contact and it makes me very very sad.)  Keeping up appearances as things get harder and harder around here.  Kryptic? yes.  Mostly dealing with the aging process, the amount of work that needs to be done and the amount of hours in a day, etc. 

I am sad to report that the computer was hacked and the hard drive wiped out about a week ago.  I am happy to report that even though I cleared the memory card off my camera, Little T was able to retrieve the pictures from my 3 week visit home to PA.  I was nearly a walking ulcer thinking that those pictures were gone forever.  Yes, they have now been saved to disc. 

So, I hope everyone is having a great summer thus far. 

Mud in the Tires

We're back from "out the crick".  It was, needless to say, very muddy after a month of rain.  The creek was high and from what I hear - cold.  Jack Jack Kerouac had a blast - played with the other dogs and swam a bit, too.  Today has been a catch up day - laundry, cleaning.  We even worked in the garden a bit.  It's our first 80 degree day in 200something days.  (Oct 21, 2007).   We'll be out back on the swing and might even get something on the grill tonight.  Cheers!

Rain rain go away

Just when I was getting better at typepad, they go and "update" and "upgrade".  Now I have more stuff to figure out.  Thinking about making the leap over to Blogger.  Anyone have any suggestions?

Here are the professional pics from violin recital day.  She really earned her money with my kid and the group shot!

Watched "The Painted Veil" last night.  Loved loved Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.  It's about a British doctor circa 1925 who drags his cheating wife into the interior of China to fight a cholera epidemic.   

Go - no run - click as fast as you can over to my friend's Etsy shop.  Not only is she a fantastic and creative sewing and knitting genius, she has a shop full of recycled bags!  Check her out.  (And she might even light a fire under my butt to get my own etsy thing going.)

 http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5847531

Happy EMS week.  (no kidding.)

Music by Harvey Schmidt, book and lyrics by Tom Jones

The very first show my mom ever took me to see was at the Ephrata Playhouse in the Park.  The show was The Fantasticks.  I had been to the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster with my grandparents before for children's theatre.  This was the first show I was going to see - at night.  I think I was 7 or so.  She prepared me by telling me the storyline and letting me listen to her LP of the original cast.  I remember being particularly disturbed by mom's friend Margurite Beck coming to visit. I was forced to sit thisclose to the record player and hold my ear right against the speaker to hear the music while they chatted.  I was excited to say the least.  Little did I know that it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the show.

Don't know the show?  Boy meets girl.  Boy loses girl.  Boy gets girl back.  Check out the website, www.thefantasticks.com .  It has a minimal set which requires the audience to use their imagination.  The music is backed by piano and harp.  Did I mention it was the longest running Off Broadway show EVER.  It opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse on May 3, 1960 and ran for 17,162 performances until it closed Jan 13, 2002. 

Fast forward in my life to 1995 when I move less than 1/2 block away from the Sullivan Street Playhouse in NYC's West Village.  I saw the show there many times while I was in the city - each time finding some new meaning and perspective.

My son was born on a Thursday afternoon after 24 hours labor, 2 epidurals that didn't "take", a spinal and an emergency c-section.  I sang this Fantasticks song to him that night countless times since.  And it remains his favorite bedtime song.  Obviously in the show it is the reconciliation of Boy and Girl.  For  me, it speaks perfectly to my love for him.  Happy Mother's Day everyone.      

When the moon was young,
When the month was May,
When the stage was hung for my holiday,
I saw shining lights
But I never knew:
They were you.
They were you.
They were you.

When the dance was done,
When I went my way,
When I tried to find rainbows far away,
All the lovely lights
Seemed to fade from view:
They were you.
They were you.
They were you.

Without you near me,
I can't see.
When you're near me,
Wonderful things come to be.

Every secret prayer,
Every fancy free,
Everything I dared for both you and me.
All my wildest dreams
Multiplied by two
They were you.
They were you.
They were you.

Debut

TEVA had his first violin recital last Friday night.  It went very well and I'm so proud of him!  Check out the self proclaimed "rock star" on youtube -

http://www.youtube.com/v/fYyiqfWKas4

Enjoy!

Garden drivel

While my boy was at school this morning I did some weeding.  See, I have my own yard to care for.  Then there is the bar's yard and flower beds.  (yes, our bar has flower beds.)  Then there is the empty rental property's yard.  And my in-laws yard.  Now, I don't have to do everything.  My FIL still mows the grass on a tractor that pre-dates me by at least 10 years.  The copious hedges are still trimmed by him (although less frequently than in years past.)  And my MIL cares for her own yard and some of the bar's. 

The side of the bar is pretty low maintenance with irises and mums.  And I think a few day lilies that need to be split soon.  I just did basic cleaning and weeding.

I tackled the peony bed today.  It's being over run by the yard, so I pulled a lot of weeds and grass today.  Anybody have any ideas about an effective border?  What to plant down the middle of this bed?  I have a butterfly bush in the center. 

How do you transplant poppies?  There's one at the rental and I want to put it somewhere in my yard. 

Mom, the celosia you gave me last fall - how tall does it grow?  Where should I put it?

The poor magnolia tree bit the dust in the hard frost last week.  Almost all of the petals are on the ground now.  I'm biased, but it's the prettiest one in town.  The dogwood is getting ready to bloom.  Due to poor trimming it has a horrible shape.  The ugly duckling of dogwoods. 

I have a "bridal veil" bush in my front yard.  Not sure of the real name.  It never blooms properly because it, too, has been trimmed to within an inch of it's life.  And five feet from that is a lone azalea that my MIL slapped in the front yard years ago.  In the middle of the yard, people.  Only God knows why.

Thanks for enduring the garden rant.  Have a great week.

Slime

Slime - 1 cup corn starch, 1/4 -1/2 cup water, food coloring.  Be terrifying monster.  Be drizzle man.  Play for more than an hour.  Robot apron optional.   

spring

There was a basket, but the big symbol of fertility couldn't fit the train into it.  So the train played "hide and seek".  What a happy face!

Here's our annual daffodil picture-  just like my annual pumpkin picture - it's been amazing to see him change each year.  We took this in a fairly heavy rain because I knew a killing frost was due that night.  Sure enough, they were toast the next day as well as the big beautiful magnolia tree out front. 

I love this.  Love it.  E with his cousin, who is about 6 weeks older.  This was the day of another cousin's first communion.  It is so THEM.  But I am surprised that E isn't holding his crotch as well.  The other cousin born that summer will be going to kindergarden in Sept, so these two will be together in school.  They are so different, and play very well.  We hope to see them more this summer.      

Lucky Aunt N and Uncle F - they have 8 grandchildren.  They were very kind to let E stay in the pictures since he's an only of 2 onlies.

The pink (12), yellow (8), and 2 greens (10 and 6) are sibs.  The communion girl (8) and the grumpy boy (7) are sibs.  The red and white (4) is the other cousin born the summer of '03.

I'm so honored to be included in this extended family.      

Indoor Bike Park or Local Bar?

TEVA is so happy that football season is over - the bar is all his on Sundays.  No cusomers = ride bike.  He can really get some speed up around the bar, although the corners around the pool tables are a little trickier.   Maybe I need to back up.  For those of you who don't know us, our family owns a local (dive) bar.  It's been in Little T's family for 3 generations.  The original bar was built in 1928. 

Sometimes he plays the jukebox while riding and reminds me of me; rollerskating in my grandparent's basement to my uncle's 45's. We are doing a lot of dreaming and talking about spring.  Our area is facing flooding, yet again.   I've got the garden plan percolating in my head. 

Something else I've been thinking a lot about recently is SCHOOL.  Teva misses the cut off for kindergarden by 4 days.  Currently he goes to a Catholic pre-school 3 days a week for 3 hours.  He's ahead of most of the others in vocab, reading, writing, etc.  Behind in motor skills.  I sent him mostly for the opportunity to make friends and "plays well with others."  His teacher adores him. (of course.)  This school is 6 miles each way, and offers a day care option from 11:30a - 2:30p at a cost of $2 per hour, and provides snacks and lunch if needed at a cost of $2.  The other school I'm considering is 3 miles each way, also a Catholic pre-school (T's family are Catholic), 2 1/2 hours with a choice of morning or afternoon, and NO day care option, snack must be packed, and exactly the same cost as school #1.  (If I had my way 100%, he would go to a Montessouri school, 5 days a week.  It's probably 12 miles each way and more than 3x's the cost.)   What about public school you ask?  OK, there's a Head Start program.  It's free, and it's in walking distance (on nice days.)  I think it's 3 days a week.  Free?  Walking distance? It should be a no brainer.  But I am held back by the kids I know from the neighborhood.  And moreover, the parents.  I know he'll be exposed to things I don't like, and will need to develop skills to deal with others, BUT most of these parents don't give a d**m about their kids, don't spend any time with them.  And as a result, these kids are totally freakin' out of control.  I don't think the Head Start will give him the best beginning.  I would like to keep him where he is - he'll get lots of one on one, with things to challenge him when he's ready.  Question internet - with gas reaching $4 a gallon - can I justify going twice as far to take him to school?  I'd love to hear your ideas.   

pot luck

Here's a picture of TEVA in the pool at a friend's bday party at the YMCA.  Nobody stress - my friend Rusty (a former lifeguard!) is just out of the frame.  That party was the day before I got the flu.

The second picture is yesterday afternoon.  Of course TEVA's preschool sent home the note saying that we could send "treats" in for Valentine's day.  Sticking to my guns about not adding extra plastic junk to other people's houses or extra sugar to the kids that they definitely don't need, we have made a treat for the birds.  Each child and teacher will be getting a pine cone bird feeder from us this year.  I've downloaded a bird template from which we will cut out little tags.  I was going to stay up late tonite to finish these, but I'm thinking the chances of school being closed tomorrow are pretty high, which gives me until Friday to do them WITH Teva. 

So there's my pot luck post.  And for dinner I made a sort of left over pot luck.  Since lots of bloggers are writing about food recently, here's one of my fav meals.  I got this "recipe" from Lisa Q many years ago in NYC. 

Chop LOTS of garlic and one onion (give or take).  Brown onion and garlic in large skillet or pot in olive oil.  Add two cans (organic) chick peas, which you have drained and rinsed.  "Toast" chick peas and start adding - curry, tumeric, chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon.  (you can vary the heat with various hot sauces.  Personally, I don't like it too spicy, but like the curry cinnamon combo.)  Then I add two cans organic diced tomatoes, drained.  Sometimes I just use one big can of whole peeled tomatoes.  Cook a long time covered, or just heat through.  Either way, it's great.  That much serves 4, and is really easy to adjust. 

I usually serve it with brown rice and goat cheese.  Tonight I had leftover mashed potatoes and Manchego cheese.  Also threw in some leftover corn and shredded chicken breast.  Would be good with a million different combos, but is great as a simple vegetarian meal, too.

Try it!

      

Monday blow by blow

A person is a success if they get up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. - Bob Dylan

(Thanks to Soulemama for the quote.) Mondays are hard for me - getting up early to get to school, which is always a struggle with TEVA.  Didn't help that I didn't sleep well and all I wanted to do was turn off the alarm and go back to sleep.  And then there was the temptation to drop him at school and then come back home and sleep some more.  But I pushed on and went to the gym - then went home and crashed.  No sooner had I settled in, ready to doze off, it's time to go back to school.  Then there's the agonizing time spent at the bar...for many reasons (another post, maybe).  Then the few hours before violin - too little time to really get into anything, too much time to just sit around.  Back in the car yet again to drive the horrible road to violin.  I dreaded this week because we had both been sick and the violin had not seen too much action.  But bribery saves the day and after a not too bad lesson we head up to one of our favorite places - Books A Million.  I was able to cruise through lots of the books I have on my wish list at Amazon.  Back home (or to the bar, rather) for a quick bite and then it's time to get the little man to bed!  So there it is.  I got up.  Breathed in and out.  Had some "had to's" and filled the rest of the day with "what I want" and made it safely back to my bed.  A good bad day by any standard.    

The Black Death

Ok, we didn't have the plague.  But it sure felt that way.  I came down with the flu last Sunday night and had a horrible week.  TEVA looked like he would escape the virus - until Saturday - when he gave in to it, too.  It's now Tuesday and we're finally starting to emerge from our sick room.  I hate that totally disoriented feeling you get when you've been really sick and out of it.  We've missed school, 2 Suzuki lessons, and countless other things I'm sure I'll remember in a week or so. 

Waiting for my energy to return and trying to return my house to "normal".  The kicker is that we both had flu shots this year - I guess they missed the mark.

Here's TEVA and MaMaw on Christmas eve inside the giant pop up fire truck he was given.  Don't ask me how she got in (or out) of this - I don't know.  When I try to get the story out of either of them, they both simply dissolve into hysterical laughter.      

 

Cousins

TEVA has many cousins.  Cousins are important when you are an only.  I'm an only, I know.  They are around in the summer to play in the creek.  They put puzzles together with you when your mom won't.  Cousins go to the drive-in with you, and when you've had enough you just say to Aunt 'C, "too many cousins. Can I go back to mommy's car now?"  Like borrowing a sibling for a little while.

TEVA had New Year's Eve with cousin C, who is six months younger.  They LOVE each other.  Always have.  Until this summer, they were around the same height!  She is the sweetest little thing and they have a blast together.  Oh, and note that no actual sleeping occurred in that sleeping bag.       

Happy New Year

Isn't this a great sweater?  The train wraps around to the back and has a caboose with a tree.  I'm on the computer at the bar and found some pictures downloaded off of my MIL's camera. 

We're sick again.  Or I should say, he's sick again and I will be sick in a matter of days. 

Can't wait to get the decorations down and the tree away.  I just feel like I can't BREATHE with all the extra stuff around. 

TEVA's new year's resolution was "to get a goldfish".  Maybe mine should be "make sure he doesn't have to stand around a pose for dorky pictures".   

 

Merry Christmas

  Pic 1:  I hate waiting.

Pic 2:  Coming down the stairs Xmas morning - all four years old and arms and legs and happy.

Pic 3:  New uses for a kazoo?  Xmas nite before dinner.

One more pic

If there were a grown up version of special ed (although I don't think it's pc to call it that anymore) for HTML, I'd be in it.  I am challenged. 

Here's your other pic from tonight.  We got a special dinner of KFC after the program.  The kid will not eat pizza, but he loves coleslaw.  Go figure.

Do you see it?  Pride in his accomplishment.  That excitement in his eyes for Christmas.  Mucus in nostrils.

 

Puppies? Kittens?

nah.  It doesn't get any cuter than this.  TEVA's school program was tonight.  Pre-school went first with their lovely rendition of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.  The boys were all dressed in brown with antlers made by the teachers and red paint on their noses.  The girls were dressed as elves with little green felt skirts with jingle bells.

TEVA is 7th in from the right, there's a girl on the right and a smaller boy on the left.  Don't forget, you can click on the picture to make it larger.  I got the entire thing on video, too.  The auditorium was dark and I'm surprised this picture turned out at all.

I'm also surprised at myself.  I was the ultimate cliche - holding the camera, pointing out to Aunt N where he was, ready for my heart to jump out of my chest with love and pride.  It was so worth singing Rudolf a minimum of 10 times each day for the past month. So worth it. 

Elf shoes

Here are the little elf shoes I made for TEVA's teacher, who is expecting her second baby this spring.  My plan was to make them for all my friends who had babies in '07 or are pregnant. 

The first pair I made from the pattern were WAY too big.  I'll use them for a gift - they won't hit the scrap bag.  But then I reduced the pattern by half and came up with these.  One fits in about the palm of my hand. 

The pair for new baby Jake were white with red stiches and a red heart shaped button holding down turquoise ribbon.  I'm really loving that color combination right now - red and pale blue or red and aqua.  I think I took a picture of them before giving them away.

Any ideas what I should charge for these at the craft fair?  I always seem to under-value my stuff.   This pair took one entire afternoon - I'm guessing around 4 hours, but I put alot into the embroidery.

Two down, three more (that I can think of) to go.

Santa makes a house call

Each year Aunt J (Little T's cousin's wife) and Santa stop by our house.  Tonight was the night!!!!  TEVA was happy, surprised, and kind of shy!  He had a hard time remembering all the things he wanted to ask for.  I just feel lucky that he was dressed in a holiday sweater and his face was (reasonably) clean.

We have almost finished the little bags for his classmates.  They are each getting an ice skate ornament, sewn by me and decorated by TEVA; a few pieces of chocolate, and a small wooden penguin ornament in honor of TEVA's love of "Pengu".  I'm hoping to scan a picture of Rudolf from his 1968 book and make little stickers to close the bags.  Did I mention his class is singing Rudolf in the show tomorrow?

We are sick.  Again.  The last head cold wasn't that bad and I missed that one completely.  But this one has included a sore throat, congestion, and a low grade fever.  Yuck.  The warm mist vaporizor I paid $15 for is getting a lot of action. 

Well, I don't have too many other decorations up.  TEVA's train table has cotton "snow" and the bathroom has holiday guest towels.  I used a small vintage tablecloth as a curtain in the kitchen.  And that's about it.

The clementines I got at Sam's club on Friday have gone bad already.  Major bummer to find them all gross this morning.  Too much info?  Too boring?  Too mundane?  Sorry.  If only Santa could bring us a better immune system for Christmas. 

 

Blink

Blink and the day is over.  Blink and the week is over.  I think if I blink again it's going to be Christmas morning - and my poor boy will be staring at dust bunnies and dog hair under the tree.

I have added some new responsibilities at the bar that seem to really be putting a crunch on my days.  I just need to restructure and re-prioritize.  On a good note, I have finished 50 (yes, that's not a typeo) ice skate felt ornaments.  Eleven are for the kids in his class and the rest are for friends and regular customers.  They only need TEVA to do his "thing" with fabric paint, glitter glue, and sequins.

I've also finished a pair of "elf shoes" that will make great gifts.  They are too cute.  I have 1/2 done for a friend with a new baby.  Each pair is taking about 2 hours, so I don't know how many more will get finished...

I had made a promise to myself to use up all wrapping paper and not buy any new this year.  But then I realized I needed one roll that was "unknown" to TEVA - for Santas gifts.  He's so sharp, that's one thing he would call me on.  And today I finally found Thomas the Tank Engine paper.  SOoooooo, I bought out the last four rolls.  Sigh. 

Well, the tree is up.  It's decorated.  There's no popcorn or cranberries on it. Yet.  And maybe even a string of paper chains on the list of activities tomorrow.  We're due for somewhere around 6" of snow on Fri/Sat.  That will be lots of good hot chocolate crafty time. 

PS I have not abandoned the Riot 4 Austerity.  I have a month of gas and electric numbers to crunch.  We are still very much participating.  After some negative slack from readers I thought I should get off my soapbox.  For a while. 

Advent...

Advent -ure.  Advent-itious.  It is the start of something.  With TEVA being 4 this year, I think now more than ever I want to create special memories and instill in him what is really at the core of this season (and we will be honoring Hannukah and the Solstice as well as celebrating Christmas).  Wow, what lip service that is!  Well, one of the ways I'm going to try is to keep my perfectionism in check.

I don't know about you, but I often end up not doing anything at all rather than doing something that could somehow be perceived as half assed.  It's a standard that I held myself to often in NYC.   It's time for me to try to let that part of me go.  (It's also recurring FLYLADY thing.  www.flylady.com)

Here was tonite's project - 24 envelopes each with an activity or idea.  Some are required - the school program; some are optional - the suzuki party;  some are just for fun - drive up to see the lights at the Park.   I'm hoping it will keep us full of ideas but not overwhelmed with the idea that if I don't do it "right" we won't do anything.  Normally I would have stressed over the envelopes and the font.  I would have designed clip art, had glue and glitter and a million other things for decorating.  But all I had were crayons - and they are just fine.  TEVA even told me in the middle that he was having "so much fun".

These envelopes (which were recycled from an unsolicited junk mailing) have taken up residence around the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.  And I'm feeling very ADVENTUROUS.  Our Advent this year is to be very kinetic.  Not to be confused with frantic.  The universe rewards action, and that is my Advent promise.            

Wish list, slightly used

Because I never get tired of baby pictures, here's my boy 4 years ago in late November '03. 

So here are my thoughts about Christmas presents. 

In trying to find ways to be a little more earth-friendly, I have been doing alot of thrift shopping and gently used exchanges.  TEVA LOVES books.  Is anyone interested in a book exchange?  Second hand books are perfectly welcome, and can be found on Amazon.com, on our wish list (search by my name).

I will also packing up TEVA's no-longer-loved toys and clothes and will give them up as gifts for other's kids instead of buying NEW things for them to ignore.

Thomas stuff is at the top of TEVA's list.  It's plastic (or wood) and made in China.  No getting around that.  But if you want to get him something, please just get ONE. One train or one destination.  Or one movie or one item.  As for clothes, his sizes are:  a 5T on top and a 4T on the bottom.   (I found some snow pants at the thrift store for $1, so that's covered for this winter.)  Jammies are preferably footed, at 5T.   

I would like something I can use - and not in a consumable kind of way (unless they are pears, hint hint Dad.)I'm thinking about a membership to either the Curves or the local gym.  NOT the one up in Wheeling, which is FANTASTIC, with a pool and daycare, etc, but also a long drive and a fantastic price. 

As for the whole second hand present thing, it's not a difficult task, but it is a difficult stigma that we all need to just get over, myself included. "New" is not synonymous with "better" and "used" does not necessarily mean "used up".

Even though I should (and do) feel really good about buying recycled gifts, I can't help but feel a little twinge of guilt about buying "hand-me-downs" instead of buying shiny NEW plastic crap for my kid. Insane, isn't it? Does my kid care? Not one bit. And in a year, when he tosses these toys in the corner, I will box them up and send them to other friends so their kids can enjoy them for a while.  At the risk of being preachy - why can't we get a handle on the American concept of excess as a "God given right"? 

So, if you receive a previously-loved gift from me, it's not because I don't care about you.

It's because I DO care.

"Sleep" over

I have some of the pictures from the other camera.  We're still working on the network, and where files go when the are downloaded on the computer over at the bar.

Here's TEVA the night I was doing the doula thing with B.  He was SO excited to have a bag packed for his big sleep over with MaMaw and Pop Pop.  He got the Thomas bed/sleeping bag for his birthday, as well as the Thomas lantern.  And do you see the two huge boxes of trains and tracks behind him??? The bear is from the time we were in LNS during Gpa S's surgery - she was from the gift shop and was named Abby Bear.

Funny how all my animals get a last name of sorts.  There was Max Rabbit.  Howard Dog.  Jeez, even the stuffed animals are not exempt.  OK, random tanget.

I just stayed up to watch the online episode of Men In Trees - I missed it last night.  Their writers had enough new episodes ready before the strike, so there will be new episodes all winter! Yeah!  T is playing music/camping this weekend and TEVA and I are enjoying the quiet house.  The Steelers are playing Monday nite this week, so we'll be closed tomorrow for a much needed day off.  Now if I could just be sure that TEVA would sleep in tomorrow morning.... 

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice day.  Far too much work.  My MIL made 4 kinds of meat - a turkey, a ham, pork chops and kielbasi.  I made stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green salad, asparagus, rolls, cornbread casserole, roasted chick peas with garlic and paprika, pumpkin pie, and pecan chocolate pie.  There were fewer leftovers than you'd imagine.

Here are most of the aunts, uncles, and cousins that came for dinner.  Two friends of the family had already left.  There are 9 cousins under 12 between the two branches of this family...and only one belongs to me!

TEVA was super handsome in his TJ Maxx outfit - a Marc Jacobs 3 piece outfit that was suppose to retail for, yes, sit down, $70 for a 4 year old!  I found it for around $20!  It's dark wash jeans, a striped cotton and linen shirt, and a SUEDE blazer!  When I find the rest of the pictures, I'll post one tomorrow. 

I hope your day was full of blessings.   I have rediscovered my Dar Williams "Moral City" cd recently.  Although it conjurs very specific memories from it's first rotation in my life, I am really enjoying becoming reaquainted with the songs.

The Blessings

If you're gonna get your heart broke, you better do it just right,
It's gotta be raining, and you gotta move your stuff that night,
And the only friend you can reach isn't a good friend at all,
And you know when he says "Now who dumped who?" that you never should have made that call.

I had the blessings, there's nobody there, there's nobody home,
Yeah the blessings, at the moment I was most alone
And aimless as a fulltime fool, the joke was on me,
I got all those birds flying off of that tree, and that's a blessing.

And the blessings were like poets that we never find time to know,
But when time stopped I found the place where the poets go.
And they said, "Here have some coffee, it's straight, black and very old,"
And they gave me sticks and rocks and stars and all that I could hold,

I had the blessings, a moment of peace even when the night ends,
Yeah the blessings, can we meet? Can we meet again,
At the crossroads of disaster and the imperfect smile,
With the angel in the streetlamp that blinks on as I walk on a mile, the blessings.

And the best ones were the ones I got to keep as I grew strong,
And the days that opened up until my whole life could belong,
And now I'm getting the answers, when I don't need them anymore,
I'm finding the pictures, and I finally know what I kept them for,
I remember, I can see them, see them smiling, see them stuck,
See them try, I wish them luck and all the blessings.

I was fast asleep at three in the morning when I got the payphone call,
And she said, "Did I wake you up," I said, "Hey, no, not at all."
And she said, "I got this suitcase and I don't know what to pack,"
And I said, "You can take anything you want, just wait and see,
It's not a release, not a reward, it's the blessings,
Its the gift of what you notice more,"
And I walked out and I watched her kick the big pile of the night,
And we sat down and we waited for that strange and empty light.
Yeah the blessings...

See them smiling, see them stuck,
See them try, I wish them luck and all the blessings.

Quick bedtime post

Ah, hospital childbirth.  CD player, stuff from the IV, antacids, hard candies, and scratchy washcloths. 

We're running full steam ahead.  Today was our day to purchase everything for Thanksgiving b/c the van is going in for a few things tomorrow.  They have a shuttle service, but what a pain in the neck.

Did I tell you the knot on my wrist is a calcified ganglion cyst?  Yuck.  Did I tell you my thyroid tests came back all wacked out?  Did I tell you my cholesterol was pretty good at 176?  Yeah.  All kinds of stuff, medically speaking.

Many of you are starting to ask about Christmas gifts.  While I would still really like to try to have a China free Christmas, Thomas the Tank Engine sort of screws that up.  I'll post a wish list soon.  One thing I have been drooling over is the 12-hole birthday ring at www.novanatural.com.  I'd love to use it for an advent wreath. Nova is an awesome company - everything made in the USA or fair trade from other countries.  Most toys are from the Waldorf philosophy.  Cool stuff.

Well, it's late and SOMEONE has gotten into the Pez. 

 

Blur

The past few days have been a blur!  TEVA and I made applesauce on Thursday (I think).  I have my Marcella's wooden masher and applesauce stuff.  It smelled wonderful and tasted even better!  TEVA ate 3 bowls still warm, with lots of cinnamon.

B called me Friday morning back from the OB.  I kinda thought it would be that day, so I had all our bags packed and things ready to go.  Indeed, it was the day.  I left at 9:30pm.  (TEVA and I got up at 7am, as usual on a school day and had an hour nap in the afternoon.)  B labored well until things stalled out around 4am.  The baby was finally born at 1:20pm on 11/17 (Saturday) and I got home around 3pm.  I was able to nap from 3-5pm, and then got TEVA to bed around 7:30.   I crashed around 9 and we both slept until 9am.  Whew.  I think I was up for something over 30 odd hours.  Congratulations to the new family!

R4A

Riot for Austerity = Heating and Cooking energy - gas, wood, and oil.

Our house uses natural gas for heating and we have a gas stove.  The US Average for Natural Gas is 1,000 therms PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR.  A 90% reduction would mean a reduction to 100 therms PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR.

(If you are tracking heating oil, which is only about 8% of us households, the average is 750 gallons PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR, so a 90% reduction would be 75 gallons.)

For the month of October we used 3 MCF (1,000 cubic feet) of gas.  That's how our bill reads, in MCF's.  A quick search online tells me that 1 MCF = 10 therms.  SO last month we used 30 therms.  That would put my average for a year at 360 therms. (Yes, we are already well under the national average, as we were in gasoline.  But I know we can do better.)  To reach a 90% reduction from the national average, we would need to save 260 therms per year or about 22 therms per month, or 2 MCF's.   That's a 2/3 reduction!

My plan is to keep the house set at 65 during the day.  That means that the first floor is cooler, but has little or no effect upstairs where it can get downright balmy in the winter.  At night I may turn it down ever lower.  I also do a substantial amount of weatherproofing each winter.  This is an old house, with little to no insulation.  It's a seive, really.  But I do put plastic over the windows and hang an extremely heavy velvet curtain over the back door.  I would put that curtain over the door to the kitchen, but that little hallway has my washer and dryer in it, over a porch crawl space.  I think the pipes would freeze.  I am also going to put a blanket on the hot water heater and insulate some of the ductwork in the basement. 

As for cooking, I plan on using the toaster oven more often.  And the crock pot - I got a great cookbook for my birthday and have already tried many of the recipes (Thanks, NL).  I'm going to attempt my first crockpot cake this weekend.  One of T's favorite snacks is cheap Tony's frozen pizza.  I'm going to encourage him to cook it in the toaster oven rather than heat the big oven, unless I have some other dish to go in.  I can also do something as simple as remembering to put a lid on water as it boils - it reduces cooking time and saves energy.  The crockpot is also a good source of radiant heat in the kitchen. 

65 degrees is not a hardship for us.   TEVA is not a baby anymore.  I can always put on another sweater.  I have throw blankets in the living room for watching tv.  During the spring 2007 sales I was able to buy a very good quality, very expensive down comforter for next to nothing.  I suppose I draw the line at wearing a hat inside (which I did while living in Maine!)  Last year the house was set at a steady 68 during the winter.  It was our first winter with the new furnace, and I was just fine.   

We also have a wonderfully snuggly, cuddly, and hot dog.

      

Riot for Austerity

I'm posting today under religion.  This is a religious/spritual issue for me.  We are stewards for the earth we live on.  We don't own it, we are children of the universe no less than the trees or bodies of water or stars.  Deep down I believe that what we do to the earth will be equal on "judgement day" as what we do to other people.  SO...I'll try.  And the next day I'll try again.  This morning I turned off the water while I washed my hair and used the soap, then turned it back on again to rinse.  I'll have to see how many gallons of water that will save.

Anyway, I was going to post today about the first thing in the R4A that I'm going to work on.  Gasoline.  The average American usage is 500 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR.  A 90% reduction would be 50 gallons PER PERSON, PER YEAR.  Public transportation and waste veggie oil fuel are deemed to get 100mpg, and calculated accordingly.

Since there's no public transportation here, and my main roads to groceries, etc. are not safe for a bike with a 4 year old in a trailer, I'm stuck in the car.  We recently got a new car that has been getting between 20-24mpg.  That doesn't sound so good, but for us, it's double what the old van got.  So, let's see if my math is correct.

The baseline to reduce by 90% is 500 gal/person/year.  I'm only counting TEVA and myself, so 1,000gal/year.  My guesstimate is this - my tank is about 20 gallons and I fill up about once per month.  So 20 x 12 is 240 gallons.  I'm already 760 gallons UNDER the national average for annual gas consumption.   Now, 240 gallons (current usage) -100 (90% annual for 2 people) = 140 gallons.

I figure we need to cut 140 gallons per year to reach 90% reduction.  (Anyone still reading?)  That's about 11.6 gallons per month or 2.9 gallons per week.  If I'm getting 22 mpg, I think that's about 64 miles per week that I would need to cut out.  I still need to figure mileage to school and suzuki, which are essential.  But my NON essential driving?  I can do better with combining trips.  I can do better with one weekly trip up to the fruit and veggie market.  Honestly, there isn't much joy riding around here.  And as people who don't drive to work, I can see how this would be very very hard for people who do commute.  But in the spirit of give and take, you average out all the work at homes/elderly etc. and I think we can all help each other.

My DREAM is to get a diesel vehicle and convert it to waste veggie oil fuel.  Now THAT would be a great Christmas present!  Did I get you thinking?  Crunch some of your own numbers and let me know where you're at.

What doesn't kill us

I ended up helping over at the bar quite a bit today.  First in the afternoon, then when we got home from violin lessons.  It was pretty empty, so TEVA was in the back room with MaMaw.  He ran out to me and said,

"I'm thirsty.  I had a sip of MaMaw's soda and now I'm going to get one of my own."  (He is NOT permitted to have soda at all, unless it's 7up for a special special treat.)

"Um, no.  I don't think so.  Have some water." 

"It's ok mommy.  It didn't kill me."

"TEVA!"

"OK, I'll get some water."

sad and pessimistic

November.  The trees are all but done here.  Everything has taken on a grayish brown.  This picture is from one of our walks, past the airfield and onto the county's bike/walking path. 

I watched "30 Days" last night, about the 2 city people who go to live on the eco-friendly commune, Dancing Rabbit.  30 Days is by the same guy who did the Supersize Me documentary.  He's originally from West Virginia.

One of my regular bloggers has been participating in something called the Riot for Austerity.  I think I will try to participate, too.  www.riot4austerity.org  I'll let you check it out.  I'm also going to try a China free Christmas - I'll post more about that later.  And in January I'm going to participate in "30 days of nothing" - that is, consuming nothing but the bare essentials for one month.

If every household in the US changed JUST ONE LIGHT BULB to a compact flourescent, we could save one entire oil tanker per day.     Try washing your clothes in cold water.  Or try your darks in cold and your whites in warm.  When you do dishes, fill up a small bowl with hot water and wash, then rinse in cold.  Every little bit helps. 

As the poster in TEVA's room says, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." 

The Library

TEVA has been asking me to go stop at the library for at least the past week.  Usually it's a day when there are too many other things on the list or I'm simply too tired to have the "no, we can't borrow a movie" fight.

We stopped tonight.  We had the "No, we can't borrow a movie fight".  We are reliving said fight every 30 minutes or so.  Is it bedtime yet?

Our library lends movies for 48 hours and the late fee is astronomical.  I am a gold medalist when it comes to late returns on movies.  And there's no amnesty on VHS', the way there is on books twice a year.  It is KILLING him that there are approximately 6 Thomas movie just sitting there.  Oh, the travesty.  The injustice.  The sheer senselessness of it all.  (Not that we don't either own them or have them memorized from Netflix.)

But MOMMY, it's THOMAS!!!!!  And it's just WAITING for us.

Philosophical custard

I switched the text to wrap to the right today.  Just keeping things fresh - it's a long month don'tchaknow.  Here's our wonderful maple custard!  Creamy, not too sweet.  I think it would be good with a creme brulee type caramalized sugar topping, too, but not necessary.  Here's the recipe:

from the original Moosewood Cookbook

Baked Custard, easy super comfort food.  Yield 6 custard cups.  Prep time 20 minutes, 45 to bake.

2 1/2 cups lowfat milk, 4 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup maple syrup, dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Oven set to 350F.  Place all ingredients in a blender.  Whip until frothy.  Divide batter into custard cups.  Place them into 9x13 baking dish, and half fill pan with water.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until the custards are solid in the center when shaken.  Carefully remove cups from baking pan.  Cool to room temp, then cover tightly and chill. 

It took 5 minutes top to make.  I made 4 and have about half the batter for another batch tomorrow for the peach maple variation.  There's also a chocolate variation.  I baked them for the full 45 minutes and we ate them still slightly warm.

I'm so excited that TEVA is getting into finding recipes.  He's always loved to help me cook.  It's taking on new fun since he's getting better with numbers and concepts like 1/2.   And he can be trusted to mix something and not have it all end up on him or the floor.  I also hope this encourages him to try more foods.  At the very least it opens the dialogue about where food comes from, how it grows, how it gets to us and a host of other (heart heavy) issues about the world we a living in.

I try to talk to my mom every day, and tonight she was feeling especially bummed out about the time change and early darkness.  I understand.  It is depressing.  But I for me the early darkness brings a sense of meditation; something that always comes with this time of the year.  A tacit permission from the earth to "check out" early from things and draw inward.  I have been working hard trying to clean out this pack-rat house.  As I work to simplify things it's very hard for me not to get caught up in the mechanics of it all.  Donate this.  Throw this away.  Pass this on.  Sometimes I just forget to breathe, I forget the means to the end and the process.  And that's just when I need to turn off the tv as "background", put on some music, and make one simple dish.  It's when I need to go to bed early.  It's when I realize that I spend way too much of my life living from event to event and crisis to crisis.  And I need to rejoice in the fantastic workings of a world where come December, we will honor LIGHT in Hannukah, Solstice and Christmas.  And know that the days will start getting longer again.  Long before us.  Long after us.  Alpha and Omega.  What an honor to be a witness to it all.

All this from making milk and eggs.

Actually

Here's TEVA last night.  He has discovered chicken noodle soup and has eaten it lunch and dinner for countless days.  I told you we were in our jammies early.

There's the chartruese kitchen set and the new flea market fall vintage tablecloth.  I think the basket came from my mom.  The gourds came from Ebberts and Miss Josie's garden.

TEVA's new favorite word is "actually".  It prefaces almost every sentence.  Overheard last night in our kitchen - "What if there was a giant tyrannosaurus rex and he said he was your friend but then he ate you anyway. (beat) Actually, then I'd teach him a lesson."  All this while holding his right hand to his chin and tapping his cheek with his forefinger. 

ACTUALLY, I love this kid so freakin' much.         

Bundle Up!

Here's my boy all bundled up - I think he must have been about 15 months...

There was frost on the ground this morning and I could not get the new car's remote starter to work.(Boo hoo, cry me a river, huh.)  Add that to the list of things to look at before the warranty runs out.

It's cold and raining.  I've made creamy wild rice soup and peppermint hot cocoa.  I was very tempted to come back from violin and put the jammies on immediately. 

I'll try to link to my friend's blog about their upcoming adoption.  They have a beautiful girl from Guatemala and are preparing for two more from Ethiopia.  They are doing a Longaberger Basket Raffle for the entire month of December.  If you are into the baskets, it would be a good thing to participate in.

I was drooling over TEVA Christmas outfits online last night.  I kept thinking that I had all the time in the world - that I hadn't turned the clock back yet.  HA.  T turned the clock and I ended up awake way past my bedtime.

Tomorrow's goal is to get the sewing machine set up in a permanent place from now until Christmas.  I have advent calendars to finish and of course, they need to be done by the 1st.  All that if I can get out from under Mt. Washmore.   

Since today was another no picture day, here's a walk down memory lane.  I mentioned we've been going to Ebbert's since '04.  Here is TEVA at 13 months.  He was just walking and was determined to pick up each and every pumpkin.

We're a little be wacky from the time change.  (All you smart alecs can just stuff it.)  I'm dreading the week - cold weather, rain and possible lake effect SNOW?????  It's going to be busy. 

The pot roast was successful.  We did some running around this afternoon.  I was able to do a little housecleaning.  Overall, a good day.   I haven't heard from B for a few days, so I'm off the doula hook for now.  I'm hoping to see her face to face this week to lend a little moral support for the bitter end.  She's SO ready. 

I think of so many things to blog about during the day, and then once I'm here I can never think of them.   I'll try to be more entertaining tomorrow.  Have a good week!

Happy Birthday mom!

I forgot to take the camera along today, so you get an old picture from our camping trip.   You can just see Jack the Dog's nose in the lower left corner.  Did I ever tell you that you can click on a picture to make it "full size"?  You can.

TEVA and I headed to a big craft fair at the local junior high this morning.  There were 85 vendors -  and maybe, um,  5 different items.  So sad.  This is why I hate craft fairs around here.  It's all the same stuff, over and over.  I bought some local honey* and a Christmas present for T's mom (which I may just keep for myself!).  We both needed haircuts but discovered that Miss Rosie isn't open on Saturday anymore.  Kicked around the strip mall for a bit and then headed home and TEVA took a major nap.  It's 8pm and we're in for the night.

As for the local honey - the vendor and I talked a little bit about CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder.  What the hell is wrong with a world that spends hours and hours a day on Britney Spears when honey bees are disappearing at an astonishing and SCARY rate.  Albert Einstein wrote that once the honey bee vanishes humankind has about 5 years to live.  Our local guy has lost nearly 50% of his hives in the past year.  He lost many in '95 which he contributed to the mite problem.  His take on the current situation was that the bees are getting disorientated by the profuse use of chemicals and pesticides.  So, for the love of an Earth that will be inhabitable by the time my son is 20 - please please please buy organic.  Please do what you can to reduce your CO2 footprint and PLEASE educate and inspire everyone you meet to do the same.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!

   

How tall in 2007?

Here's another picture from Ebberts.  I have a picture in front of this ruler each year since 2004 when he was 13 months old!

The bat sweatshirt is my first attempt at a freezer paper stencil.  Very easy and great results. 

Yes, that ruler says 42"!!!!

NaBloMo

Holy moly.  It's November and I forgot all about National Blog Month rolling around again.  I'm embarrassed to say that I'm no further in my HTML knowledge than last year.  At least I'm still posting (a little).  Yeah, my 1 year blog anniversary came and went without any fanfare at all.

Here's TEVA on our "nature" walk yesterday.  Hey Grampa - check out the shoes!  They are his FAVS - even over the Thomas ones. 

We both need a haircut.  Maybe this weekend.  After school today we had lunch at the church's monthly Fish Fry.  It's mid afternoon and I'm procrastinating on all the things I SHOULD be doing.  We are supposed to have another nice weekend and then rain and cold temps on Monday/Tuesday.

Everybody do a happy dance. It's Friday and that means - MEN IN TREES - on abc.  Don't forget, they moved to 8pm tonite.  Happy dance!

Mr. Robot-o EI-5A

My little robot, EI-5A, doing a robot dance.  Front panel is felt, glow in the dark paint, flourescent orange paint, silver metallic paint, buttons, and calculator parts.  Gears from "Gear Up" game sewn on the hat. 

The makeup is supposed to look like gears around his eyes and a rectangular robot mouth.

He told me about a week ago that he wanted to be something "cute" this year.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of years of scary/gory/disgusting.  He also informed me that the 2 pirates at school were not 2 pirates, but a pirate and and a buckaneer.  Excuse me.

He has also switched from mommy to mom.  In one day.  You know that Charlie Brown yell?  Can you hear me yelling it?  I've told him I'll shorten his name in some horrible way unless he switches back.  How very mature of me.   

back panel

fabric paint was metallic silver, irridescent white, green, and flouresent orange.

They're actually GIVING me candy!!!!

Here's my little man and his best "pal" at school.  Pre-school had a costume party, going around from classroom to classroom.  I was told that he saw his 1st grader cousin, but "couldn't talk to him". 

If you can't figure it out, he's supposed to be a robot.  I took a grey sweatpant and sweatshirt and velcro "panels" for easy on/off. His turtleneck even had robots on it!   The felt panels were achieved with the stiffest iron on sizing I could find.   The dials are a combination of felt, fabric paint, buttons, and a $1 store calculator (smashed up).  He also wore his light up sneakers.  I sewed some gears from a "Gear up" game onto a hat and painted the face on.  I've never been big on masks. 

Matter of fact, a boy last night was wearing a mask from Pirates of the Carribean and didn't see part of a lamp post as he cut across a yard.  I didn't stick around to see what happened, but he really clocked himself!!!

He got so much candy and treats at school I questioned even going out in the evening.  We did and had a great time.  Some people play music and there's a lively, fun feeling.  And a great big YAHOO to a late daylight savings.  We could SEE each other.  TEVA was still amazed that people were just GIVING him candy.  The new thing this year was asking me what each thing was - chocolate?  candy?  peanut butter?  nuts?  He pooped out about the same place as last year and skipped almost 2 blocks in order to get home.  We were back inside an hour, although the town whistle didn't blow for 30 more minutes. 

Today has been low key and mellow.  We took a nice walk down the walking trail.  Miss B is still feeling yucky, but not really in labor.  Amazing how much housework her impending delivery has inspired in me.  Tonite we'll make some applesauce.  TEVA has talked alot about "All Saints Day" and we'll try to do something nice tonight to honor Marcella the Great and Howard the Dog.  Tomorrow I have a nice pot roast for the crock pot.   Welcome, November. 

Annual trip to Ebbert's

We have a tradition (this being our 4th year) of heading over to Ebbert's pumpkin farm to pick a Halloween pumpkin.  The weather has been yucky for the past week or so, and I realized this morning that it was today or never!  We didn't really need to go since we grew 7 good pumpkins of our own.  Not wanting to miss the annual picture, we headed over and planned to also pick up a few things for the bar at Sam's club, since they are so close.

We had a great time - picked 3 $1 pumpkins, 3 gourds, 1 gallon of cider, 1 bag of yellow apples (TEVA's favorite), 1 special bottle of Birch Beer, and new to this year's trip - 1 package of wax vampire lips.   Whoo hoo! 

I'm hoping to make some applesauce on Thursday.  Why not tomorrow you ask?  Because we go to pre-school at 8:00am - in the robot costume for the school party, home at 11:30.  We carve one of 10 pumpkins in the afternoon and then go trick or treating as the "crazy man" at 6pm.   

All of this is contingent on me being on call as a doula for a very good friend.  If she goes to the hospital, so do I.  Hold that baby in, B - I really like going trick or treating with TEVA. 

Happy Halloween/All Saint's/Dia de los Muerdes/Samhain to everyone!

New Baby

Welcome to the World, Adam Tyler!  Born to friends far away - I so wish I could take a trip to see this new little one!  He weighed in at 7 lb 9oz and 19".   Congratulations!

crazy a** fall

Here's one of the pictures from our weekend over by Salt Fork Lake, OH.  A friend of a friend has an annual camping get together.  T has been there before, it was TEVA and my first time.  The property has been in his family for over 30 years, and the barn frame is over 100 years old.  Moved log by log, it was reconstructed here with new lumber exterior.  It has a great loft, two big doors, a makeshift kitchen and a small bedroom.  Here's TEVA and Jack Jack walking up from our tent.  It was a nice weekend.  Nice people.  Have I blogged about it before?

Made crock pot pork tenderloin chops today.  Only so so.  I'll have to mark it in my cookbook.  I like to make a note when I make something new - when I made it, what corrections or changes I made and how it tasted. 

Saturday nite we went up to the Bowman's Ridge Community Center so T could play bluegrass with the group that meets there.  Almost everyone was over 70.  OK, at least over 65.  It was real, honest, hard core mountain, traditional bluegrass.  I spent a long time talking to Mr. Gorby.  At 93, he has about 3 bits that he repeats over and over.  I still enjoyed him.  He really got a kick out of TEVA.  Another older lady bent my ear for quite a while.  She told me in detail where she lived and begged me to come out to visit her.  I HATE the road out there.  OK, I hate driving on any of the crazy mountain roads around here.  We were invited back for pot luck next week and the annual Halloween party for the kids. 

I was at once fascinated by this tiny vestage of a by-gone era (Folks sitting around listening to live music in the orginial one room schoolhouse from 1920, playing cards and sharing pot luck for their Saturday entertainment) and repulsed by the, for lack of a better word, the incestuous nature of the relationships and the amount of petty GOSSIP.  Ok, gossip by nature IS petty.  There was an underlying sense of tension, back biting.    We were welcomed warmly, but I got more than my share of suspicious looks and cold shoulders.  I think I'm too tired to formulate a clear entry for you about the nite.  T may go back to play music, but I don't think TEVA and I will go back for a while.

I started cutting out felt leaves for a fall garland.  The felt was just from my stash, and the leaf patterns came from (don't groan) Martha's archives.  As I was cutting the first few I started spinning ideas for their use - after this season's garland they could be appliqued to next year's napkins. 

We're finally getting over the most recent cold.  TEVA and I are both on antibiotics.  He's headed back to pre-school tomorrow after being out for an entire week.  And Monday is our suzuki day, too.  If he can keep the violin UP and not drop his chin and shoulder, maybe he can start putting his first finger down on the E string.  We did better this week with practicing.  As always, he's great at lessons and totally silly/crazy/horrible when it's time to play at home.  Soulemama's 4 year old boy is taking "fiddle" lessons right now, although from her description, I'm pretty sure it's not suzuki.  I love her.  Check out her blog.  I think it's on my sidebar. 

Tomorrow's list also includes getting rolling on TEVA's costume.  I'll try to get WIP (work in progress) pics up before trick or treat nite.  Monday, monday.  Sigh.  Oh well, I've had 4 whole years of not dreading that day.  A good run by any standard.