Thankful November

Today I am thankful for:

- our wonderful and talented friend Nancy who carved out time in our her schedule this afternoon to take our family pictures (below is a sampling of past photo sessions)

- an extra hour of sleep last night, we all needed it and the boys miraculously slept in too, huzzah!

- midnight ice cream runs -- only twice have I ever had a pregnancy craving I just couldn't shake and last night was the second time -- Cookies and Cream Ice Cream never tasted so good!

Thankful November

Today I'm thankful for:

- 5-year olds who read and 3 year olds who want to

- cinnamon rolls made from scratch by someone else

- broken parking meters, especially when the change compartment has been woefully neglected

- this blog's DIY under $5 feature, though so far just for future reference

Thankful November/ We Love Washington DC, #20

Today I am thankful for:

The National Museum of the American Indian;

 

and storytellers dressed in blue;

Chickasaw Nation dancers;

 and a red, plastic canoe.

Teepees you can stretch in;

 and building a life-size igloo.

Baskets meant for weaving;

 and a temporary tattoo.

 A buffalo hunter in bronze;

and an outing with my two.

Thankful November

Today I'm thankful for:

- babysitters who come at a moment's notice

- this blog THXTHXTHX which reminds me there is always something to be grateful for  

- the luxury of someone else to wash, dry, fold and put away my laundry

- high school marching bands who have no fields to practice on and therefore take to the streets -- an unexpected, but not unappreciated roadblock in the middle of my morning commute

Thankful November

Today I am thankful for:


A husband who is always in a good mood, always happy and able to make dinner, always willing to manage baths and bedtime by himself, and still at the ready to be my sounding board in the midst of being the solo caretaker of our children and home. 

A Month for Gratitude

Oh, hello dear neglected blog.  I wish I had time for you.  I have things to say and share.  Lots of things actually.  I even have pictures to post.  Lots of pictures and I know how you love pictures.  But, time is what I lack.  Lots of time.  

This semester that was supposed to be on the lighter side in terms of workload and homework demands is proving to be anything but.  I'm enjoying my classes, at least.  

But the homework is out of control.  And, I'm struggling to keep on top of things.  

Even as I type this I have a midterm hanging over my head.  Sure, I've got 12 more hours before its due, and that's plenty of time to finish it, but perhaps only if I don't also sleep.  And here's the thing about being nearly 7 months pregnant and not sleeping -- it's kind of an impossible combination.  And, despite the fact that everyone, literally EVERYONE, remarks on how I'm can't possibly be that far along because my stomach is just not big enough, whatever that means, I really am 30 weeks pregnant.  

Really.  

I really feel like it too -- from my aching hips to my endless visits to the bathroom to my increasingly limited wardrobe.  And this baby is a mover.  My others were pretty calm, at least before birth.  But, this one, well, it never seems to stop kicking and spinning and stamping on my bladder and exploring my ribcage and making the most of its very limited space.  Especially, it seems, when I am parked in front of the computer, drafting papers, writing essays and praying for inspiration.  In case you were wondering, it is hard to focus on anything academic when the baby inside you is doing calisthenics. 

But, despite my stress and filled to overflowing calendar and discomfort, I'm grateful for all of this.  I am happy knowing that in 10 weeks (wow, that's a long time from now!) we'll welcome another member into our family.  I'm happy being in school and daily edging one step closer to this degree that I am working so hard to earn.  I'm happy to have a busy calendar full of lots more than just assignment due dates (though, there are plenty of those).

I'm grateful for all these things and so many more.  I'm grateful for November and being reminded of the importance of giving thanks.  Maybe I'll try to be a little less neglectful of my blog this month in an effort to be a little more grateful for, well, everything.  Even my midterms...okay, that might be going overboard.     

Happy Halloween

We've had a very festive, busy, and fun Halloween.  We cut, frosted and gorged ourselves on ghost and goblin shaped cookies, we carved pumpkins and were up to our elbows in seeds and slime, we went to a community costume party, we trunk or treated and then trick or treated just for good measure.  And now, our costumes are off and ready to be cleaned and packed away, we've sorted the candy and other goodies, we've watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," and tomorrow we'll toss our pumpkins before they start to mold.  It was a good year.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Ghouling Around

It seems every blog I read these days is teeming with fun Halloween decor ideas.  I love Halloween, but since we are so transient and I don't have a permanent space to decorate, I have never managed to acquire any real decorations for this holiday...or any other, for that matter, except for Christmas.  I don't really like the creepy stuff, but smiling pumpkins and friendly ghosts are right up my alley.  Inspired most recently by this spider web and this garland, and especially this wreath, I decided we had to have something to honor this season.

So in between studying today I threw this together: 

I had all the materials (white and black ribbon, facial tissue, cotton balls, wreathe form, and a black marker) on hand, or, let's be real, this would not have even been attempted.  I made some modifications to the one I saw online and used a wire hanger instead of an actual wreath form and white ribbon to affix the ghouls instead of tape.  Because I used the hanger, it took a little while to figure out the best configuration for the little ghouls, but I am pleased with how it turned out, especially since it took very little time or skill to construct. 

This is probably the sum total of our Halloween inspired decor for this year -- too many papers to write and essays to read and presentations to give -- but it's more than we had and I made it all by my-not so crafty-self.

Happy Halloween

Dit FROMAGE

Since our first foray into the wonderful world of cheese, we have since had two more rounds of new cheese sampling.  In addition to our first three varieties, we have now tasted:

Blue Cheese

Goat Cheese

Manchego

Edam

Emmenthaler

Pepper Jack

Apart from the Blue Cheese, which Caleb did not like in the least (that's my boy!), the new varieties were received very well.  In terms of favorites, Kenny was on the fence between Manchego and Edam; Gouda still reigns supreme for me; Caleb selected Edam as his favorite; and Isaac was torn between Blue Cheese and Goat Cheese, but ultimately decided that he liked the Goat Cheese slightly more. 

One of the best aspects of this process has been selecting the different cheeses.  Apparently, there is a whole world of cheese out there I haven't even come close to experiencing, I had no idea.  Each time we head to the specialty cheese section, I find myself overcome with anticipation and excitement.  I have spent a ridiculous amount of time perusing websites devoted to cheese like this and this (despite having absolutely no time for such inane pursuits).  And, earlier this week I saw an ad for a free Wisconsin cheese guide and I ordered it, I couldn't help myself.  I am a little sad that I am pregnant right now and not able to eat soft cheese.  As I type, there is a gorgeous wedge of Brie in my refrigerator on deck for the next "new cheese night" and knowing I can't have any breaks my heart just a little.  But, I am 3 months from the promised land and then there will be Brie and Sushi and Club Sandwiches and all the other things I never eat when I am not pregnant, but crave endlessly when I am.

The boys are indescribably enthusiastic about all this cheese and we will likely keep this up until that wanes or we make ourselves sick.  I am determined my children will be adventurous eaters who will try anything (within reason of course, I will not force them to eat scorpion kebabs or dog livers in China, unless they want to) at least once.  Polite eating is a skill, and that doesn't mean just knowing which is the correct fork for each course.  Thanks to the efforts of my mother, there is almost nothing I won't or can't eat and that has served me well as we have traveled the world and was especially useful while I was working.  I cannot count the number of times I sat down at a dinner or breakfast meeting and found myself presented with an unexpected or undesired entree.  It would have been rude not to partake and even when served cantaloupe, which I detest, I happily ate, just like my mother taught me.

We love Washington, DC, #19

What do the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and Constitution of the United States have in common?
  
Give up?  

Among other things, collectively these documents are known as the Charters of Freedom and are all currently on display at the National Archives in Washington, DC, (not to be confused with locations in Alaska, Georgia, and Maryland).  Normally, the Magna Carta is available for viewing as well, but at present it is being restored 
and will be in its new display case and ready for prime 
time in March 2012.  

This weekend, we took a very quick trip to the Archives to view these documents and some of the other exhibits on display.  As you might imagine, it was a bit difficult to get our kids excited about seeing some faded pieces of parchment, but then they saw the signature of John Hancock and thanks to this book, we caught their interest, at least momentarily.  They really enjoyed the other exhibits, however, which were teeming with buttons to press, recordings to listen to via telephone receiver, and interactive computer displays.  We will likely go again in the spring to view the Magna Carta and to see more of the exhibits we didn't have time for this time around.  Photography is prohibited in the entire building, so you'll just have to take my word for it that we were there.

 

On our way back to the car we walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.  We stopped to get a view of the Archives through the fountains, make some wishes, and pose with a few of the sculptures that decorate the Garden's lawns.  In the summer they have Jazz concerts by the fountain and in the winter there is ice skating.  In the fall and spring, it is a pleasant place to pass a perfect Washington, DC, evening.

This is "Graft" by artist Roxy Paine, and Isaac's favorite of all the art we saw