twas the week before halloween....

The weather has been unseasonably warm lately. That means that every afternoon when Ana gets home from school we go outside for an hour, doing stuff like this:

Spending that time after school means we have been eating a lot of french toast and grilled cheese and soup for dinner. I love soup.

Last week was a little crazy. I spent a lot of it reading Dracula for book club. I really liked it, and I like book club that gets me reading books I would never choose for myself.  And of course there is the typical Halloween preparations. Something about this time of year gets me all crafty and ambitious.

Last Saturday, in between the med school Halloween party and the trunk or treat at the church,  I took the kids outside for our annual Halloween photo shoot. (Previous years HERE and HERE)

What I love: everything about Jack's costume this year. I made the helmet and the jet pack, and then he's wearing a pair of Old Navy Jammies over snow pants. Best Costume Ever. Also, I love that Ana came up with the idea to be a pioneer all on her own after she pulled that dress out of my goodwill bag. It is an adult size. I made her apron and I like how it turned out, too. I also love Katie's alien costume. Easy, fast, and adorable. Especially with Jack as a partner.

Today Ana was home for Hurricane Sandy. We luckily were spared any damage or flooding or power outages, and the weather was actually quite nice. Dave was also home with strep throat, but he was feeling pretty good, so we carved our pumpkins. (I always thought it was weird in movies when people carved pumpkins the day before or on Halloween. But now I understand why you do that .... they mold so fast.) The kids were the designers and Dave and I were the executors.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween.

when the sun shines....

When the sun shines on a New England fall day, you take advantage of it. Last Thursday was bright and sunny and with Ana home from school, it was the perfect opportunity to head up to the pumpkin patch and corn maze.

Saturday was also a beautiful day, so we headed down to Middlebury to the Robert Frost interpretive trail. It is a trail about 2 miles from Frost's home and the woods were likely the inspiration for many of his poems. The trail is lined with some of his most famous poems, including my favorite, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening."

By the time we got there, it had clouded over and the woods were actually quite dark.  It was a lovely, "yellow wood" and we had a great time walking through the woods on cloudy afternoon. The leaves left on the tress and those covering the path shimmered so much they looked gold- and copper- plated. Many trees were bare, and in some places the woods almost looked desolate, but there was beauty in the desolation. It was a lovely, peaceful walk. It began to rain near the end, so we ended our little walk and headed back to the car.

(Ana running down the slope)

(Jack tripping down the path)

On the way home we stopped by a cute little candy shoppe near Middlebury.  It reminded me of the times when my cousin and I used to go to the local candy shoppe and by penny candies and then head home to gamble them in a rousing game of black jack in the bed of her dad's semi. (We were 12.)

They also had milk shakes, which are hard to come by in Ben & Jerry's home state. We bought the kids ice cream and candy sticks for dinner.

We headed home after the sun set, and tucked the kids into bed.

There is nothing quite like New England in the fall.

jammie jam

Nothin' like a morning dance party to get the day rolling.

I love that Jack thinks that Garth Brooks is "cool music" by the way.

Happy Wednesday!

little crazies

My kids are awesome.

Amidst the whining and the school struggles and the job battles and the crazy-toddler antics, sometimes I forget just how much I love my kids.

But this last week I've really felt it. Sure there are still crazy moments, but some how I managed to stay calm and see the good-ness in them all.

I love Ana's big ideas that she has. She has a hard time finishing her work at school, but by golly she'll work all afternoon building a violin out of popsicle sticks. She is passionate about everything (like her mama) and this can be frustrating and exciting at the same time.

I love how Jack is still talking about the Empire State Building and anything Space related and loves to draw and color and do projects.  He is my boy. He loves preschool and playing games and just hanging out with mom.

I also love this picture of Mickey Mouse and Clubhouse he drew last week.

And Katie. Oh, boy is she a little ball of fire. She is climbing on tables and railings and couches and everything else. She is talking a bit, but prefers to yell. She wants to be a big kid and she is super silly.  She is adorable and super irresistible.

She also loves to read this animal book that I scored for 50 cents at the library. (And she has Daddy wrapped around her finger.)

So even though they are crazy, and they make me crazy half the time, I love my little kids. They are so much fun and bring me so much happiness.

1:10.28

In September 2004 I ran a half marathon. That is a story in it's own right.

Over the last eight years, my enthusiasm for running hasn't waned, but my actually running totally has. I ran (or rather, jogged) a 5k here or there, but haven't really been "a runner" like I once was.

Last fall a bunch of my friends ran a 10k not far from here. I was barely two months postpartum and didn't think I could work my way up to 6 miles. But I said I would run it this year. (Again, it was more like jogging.)

I trained. But I have to admit, it is hard to figure out when to run when you have three kids. I ran twice a week, never for very long, and then one day I realized that the race was in 3 weeks and I could barely run 2.5 miles. I kicked it up a notch, but it seemed the world was against me. I would plan on running and then it would be blustering outside and I couldn't take Jack and Katie in the stroller. Or I would plan on switching off with a friend and Jack would wake up puking. I think the farthest I went was 4 miles.

Then it was race day. On Saturday morning, amid the rain and mist and wind, and beautiful fall foliage, me and three other friends ran a 10k. And I did it! I jogged the entire way. About mile 5 my knees started killing me. But I kept going and I actually finished in better time than I thought I would.

I still came in last. There might have been one walker behind me. I'm not sure. Either way, I finished.

Right after we got done it started raining really hard. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again.

Then I came home, took a shower, and sat down to watch General Conference and put my feet up. 

i am a femininist

In the hallway by Ana's old kindergarten classroom is the statement, "To live is to grow and change."  This year has been a "living" experience for me in many ways. I've been growing and changing in my views of so many things. What I once saw as black and white I now see so differently.

One of those topics is the role of women and how the world views womanhood. In my younger, more "black and white" days, I would say that a woman's place is in the home. That seeking work outside the home is short-sighted. Please don't strike me down for that view.  I still believe that the most important thing that we do as woman is be a mother. That has not changed. I still am committed to being a stay-at-home mom and to be proud of that. But I see now that there are many ways to mother successfully and that women have so many gifts and talents that can be shared with the world.

I find it interesting that so many women who receive the praise of the world are usually not praised for the things that are womanly. Instead they are praised for being rough and "making it in a man's world." I want to see more praise for femininity, instead of praise despite femininity. Women have natural gifts that can bring so much goodness to the world.  Women see beauty. Women look beyond themselves and serve others. Women nurture. Women are naturally spiritually in tune. Women see problems differently.

Woman have a desire to contribute meaningfully to their families. We don't have to churn butter and sew our own clothes and smoke our own meat or wash our laundry by hand. But we should be "anxiously engaged" in doing good things. For some that means teaching art classes to children or doing photography. (Both incredibly talented friends of mine.) For others that means working in an office. And still for others it means letting their kids be involved in ballet and music and soccer and whatever else. (This is an absolutely wonderful talk on this very subject.)

So let's start a new movement. A "femininist" movement. Not a movement where we burn bras or demand equal rights. That has been done. A movement where we celebrate strength in femininity. A movement that we look for ways in which women contribute in womanly ways to the betterment of society. A movement that finds joy and contentment in what we are as women. We are mothers. We are also nurses and teachers and CEOs and city planners and dental hygenists and writers and a million other good things. And we are all women.