bethanyblog

not too cold

2009-12-11T08:31:00.005-05:00

its true! its been about 45F and overcast rainy since we arrived.. aside from getting used to the (sunrise at 8am! sunset at 4!) lack of daylight its been very comfortable, and we're riding our bikes around in all sorts of weather.

but ... everyone warned me about the famous dutch "coldness" .. they all said dont worry, theyre very nice people once you get to know them. but theyre hard to get to know. well, the same could be said of new englanders, so i thought i was ready for it

and our new neighbor has been SO friendly, and SO neighborly.. i thought to myself - "oh.. people and their stereotypes, sheesh!"

but then i took the kids to a neighborhood playgroup. we walked in, smiles a-blazin', and everyone looked up at us, and went right back to their business. no one said 'hi'.. after a few minutes, no one came over to welcome me, so i moved over to the nearest woman, and tried my best dutch: "ik hebbe ten dagen hier wonen" (who knows if its dutch actually? it might be a cross between german & dutch.. but i like to think she understood me :D) she basically told me she didnt speak english, had no curiosity about us, so i backed of and watched my kids play.

i really wasnt prepared for that. where in the world did we land? but as usual, im undeterred. these people are gonna like us , dammit.

later a woman was playing with her obviously-almost-one-year-old on the rug,, so i sat down and asked her if he was one yet.. and we had a nice conversation. turns out she is the group leader, and gave me all the info about the group, etc.. and she able to speak english with me. whew, success! she seemed like a genuinely nice person too.

so as we were filing out, the kids stopped to watch the seniors country and western dancing in the next room (cracking me UP!!! it was cute) i made small talk with a few other of the moms all getting coats and shoes on their kids, and then. like magic, i was 'one of them' and we're all saying "tot siens" (see you soon)

now im seeing these ladies everywhere! and we're getting waves and smiles all over the neighborhood streets now.

the next day we went to lucas new school and i was charmed by it all.. we stepped in his classroom to introduce him, she explained he speaks english & french, and they will be helping him learn dutch. and as we were leaving his class was already outside playing, so we stuck around a few minutes. after about 2 minutes there was a line of about 6 boys staring at him. lucas is feeling a bit nervous about not speaking dutch, so he ran over to me. after a few minutes he went back out to play, and then there were about 5 or 6 girls crowded around him, and he ran back to me. it was so cute.. and the girls kept coming over to listen to me speak with their teacher in english - so curious! so mysterious!!!

i think we'll get along fine here.

sinterklaas

2009-12-01T09:54:00.002-05:00

we arrived! and are now getting settled in the new time zone, finding out where to shop, meeting the neighbors, etc. one neighbor in particular is very nice and has come around for coffee twice now, has offered to bring me shopping with her car on tuesday mornings.. and generally is very fun to chat with, and she has three teenage boys. she was explaining "sinterklaas" (dec. 5th) to us and how to celebrate it. her youngest son (at 11 years old, and in the oldest grade in primary school) got to dress up as a "zwarte piet" and give "kruidnoten" (totally delicious, tiny crispy gingerbread cookies)to the smaller kids in school.

so today at 3pm our doorbell rang, and we got a special visit from "zwarte piet" himself! the kids loved it, and now we have a small bowlful of kriednoten for the afternoon snack!

we are already feeling so welcome, and having fun... even though our old friends are still very present in our memories. we're off to a great start!

one more time

2009-10-06T13:12:00.002-05:00

i have moved around my whole life.. so when i say "im OVER it!" i really really mean it. moving is interesting (fun?) when youre young & single or even a young married couple.. but moving with kids is a little more complicated. to give them the security & stability they need.

so this is IT! we are moving ONE MORE TIME.. to Utrecht, The Netherlands. and after that we will STAY PUT (god willin'!) until our kids finish school. ph has found himself a permanent position doing exactly what he wants to be doing, and with apparently a great set of people (both professionally & personally) at a national lab.. so, without all the natural change of university life. harvard has been wonderful to us, and we feel so blessed to have lived in such a neat town for this part of our lives.

so, i used to get excited about moving, but now the thrill rushes me when i think in terms of decades in the same place. we think this time since we're moving in the winter, we will get a furnished apartment for the first 6 months or so, just to get to know Utrecht a little, discover what neighborhoods we like and start learning Dutch to be able to read the labels at the grocery store. ive been told my kids will speak almost fluently after a few months in dutch schools.

and thats exciting enough.

punny ruby

2009-09-10T12:09:00.002-05:00

ruby is pretty good at languages, and playing with the sounds, etc.. this has been emerging for a long time, for example she would joke with me by speaking english in a french accent. okay, not terribly complicated humor, unless you're TWO!

but the other day philippe asked her "c'est qui la plus belle?" (who is the most beautiful girl?) and she replied grinning and laughing at herself "moi c'est la poubelle?" (me, i'm the trashcan?). we all fell out laughing.

~~~
dont get it?

she made a verbal pun. la plus belle is pronounced "la ploo bell" and sounds alot like la poubelle which is pronounced "la poo bell"

mad about the madsen giveaway

2009-08-27T07:46:00.002-05:00

okay fans.. all 3 of you, listen up.

i posted that madsen bike link on the right, because they just announced they are giving away one bike every week, and the only way im entered in the contest is if my button gets clicked once within that week. come on, lets get ol' bb some big bikey love!

thanks again for humoring me. i know who really loves me

lu rides his bike!

2009-08-23T16:06:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6_hhxVq20k&feature=channel_page

lucas has been riding his little wooden balance bike everywhere since early spring. recently, he began pretending to pedal it too, while balancing it a fairly high speeds,, and i said to myself: this kid is ready for a real bike!

but ph brought up the real pedal bike this last weekend, and took off the training wheels for him. he needed about 30 minutes and one good push before he was off like a shot! and he hasnt stopped since! ph even said he heard him say "velo" (bike, in french) talking in his sleep last night. :D

and so it is: he's officially a big boy now! let the record show it... 4 years and 3 months old, riding a real bona-fide pedal bike without training wheels. (gulp~ and he goes SO FAST! on it.

i still love love love his little wooden bike, as it makes getting around our town without a car so much easier. i even like that his bike wheels are the exact same size as our stroller tires. it makes going a similar speed easy, its lighter and easier for me to carry if needed, and he is technically still walking it, so his speeds are constrained to a certain extent (on the pedal bike he wants ~and, in fact, needs~ to go faster than me),, that it really is safer. so we will continue using it at least until he outgrows it. We'll let him take the big boy bike out to the playgrounds near our house until he has mastered it fully.

The long and winding road

2009-08-06T20:55:00.009-05:00

this year we couldnt afford to go to france (got 4Gs?), so we decided to try taking the kids out tent-camping in the white mountains of new hampshire for a few days, and then on to quebec city canada for another 3 days. A new england road trip! How fun!

Well, first and foremost, ruby is horribly, terribly, incurably carsick. She vomits within 5 minutes of almost any car trip, and i hate putting her through it, my sweet little button.. but we found these “magic bracelets” (pressure points armbands) so we thought we had solved the problem and optimistically set off on our fantastic voyage. and it worked for a while.. but once we got on those gorgeous winding rolling back roads it was all over. The first 2 hours on the freeway was smooth sailing, and nap time.. but once we exited the main freeway, she puked continuously until we reached our campsite 4 miles off the main road. We stopped several times for her, but there was not much we could do but hold her hair & bucket for her.

Whew! That was over... ready to enjoy the beautiful national forests! The campsite was awesome. It had a little babbling creek running along the length of it, a fire pit and a picnic table and (we brought the) hammock. We were a really short hike from Russell Pond that had many little fresh water tributaries running into it (one of which ran past our campsite), and a nice little sandy beach & swimming access..

a little canoe post, and even a big rope swing where the teenagers were having a blast jumping into the water. Ahh the woods! We spent two and a half days in utter bliss and perfect weather. We even had a little chipmunk that lived under a big tree stump on the other side of our creek. He came over and visited us every day, kind of fussing at us. He was so adorable! The kids fell in LOVE with our new little friend, and named him “chippy the chipmunk”.

On the third night we saw rain clouds a-brewing, and were planning on leaving the next morning anyway, so I went ahead and packed up camp, leaving just the tent to sleep in.. but when we returned to the campsite from getting the kids dressed in their pajamas (at the bath house) we were tucking them in for the night when we noticed our tent was taking in water at the seams! All the bedding was getting wet! So we quickly threw it all in the car, and headed off into the sunset ~ for a hotel!

Since the kids were asleep, we decided to drive on up to the canadian border, where we found a place to sleep (where we didnt sleep very well actually..)... got up the next morning had a rather chokable continental breakfast.. and discovered – the indoor POOL. Yes, and being 9am we had it all to ourselves. They even had some big styrofoam swim-noodles and the kids were sort-of dog-paddling around with help. Lucas was particularly pleased he could stand up on his tippy toes in the 3-ft water, and keep his face dry.

And we took off for quebec thinking we'd have most of their naptime to drive. WRONG! They slept for half-an-hour, and when we pulled in to the first canadian visitor information center to get a map ruby woke up and started vomiting again when we got back on the road. All the way to quebec city. Needless to say we were SO GLAD to get there, and park that car out of sight for 3 full days! I tend to dislike cars, and all the attendant hassle and expense of driving in the first place.. but add a puking child into the mix and my hatred for all things “car” becomes intensified!

But once we were in quebec city! Glorious quebec city, oh my! It was sooooo charming. And beautiful. And so FRENCH! We stayed at a little B&B (Couette-et-cafe, “le Jardin de Saint Anne”) inside the walled city. Mercifully, there was a coin-op laundry 2 block from our hotel because EVERY item of rubys clothing was barfed on by now..We loved our location, the room, the friendly staff, and the breakfasts, too. We enjoyed walking around being tourists again, and we even found a little stuffed toy chipmunk for lucas as a souvenir of our vacation.

Being in a city, I love it when theres a palpaple sense of art. You see it everywhere, the fountains, the flowers, the architecture, the wide sidewalks. Theres a real feeling that this place was created over a long period of time with a pleasant human experience in mind. Its built to human proportions, for human enjoyment and use. We even saw a beautiful water fountain with potable water in it, the perfect size and height for you to drop your water bottle under it for a refill.. this city wants me to stay hydrated hand healthy!

We found a nice little sidewalk cafe with excellent espresso, where we were having our mid-morning coffees and picking up a fresh baked baguette (bread) for the picnic lunches - hey, we gotta conserve money wherever we can! And how better than with a baguette and some fresh meats and cheeses from the deli? We added a tomato & a bottle of fizzy water leftover from the camping trip, et voila!

We were eating our suppers at the local restaurants. And there was only one really worth mentioning. It was called “Carthage” on Cote du Palais (off of Rue St-Jean). Delicious Tunisian fare for absurdly inexpensive prices, served at authentic and very ornate short tables and seats with a huge smile (the proprietor was genuinely happy, and you could just tell he loved what he did) [too bad they were out of couscous -ph]

in preparation of our return trip, we bought some real drugs for Ruby's carsickness at the pharmacy and packed up our picnic lunch to eat at the playground on our way out of town.. so the kids could take their nap on the first leg of the trip. But when we got to the playground, first on the list of things to do was to repair a flat tire! Zut-alors! (to my anglo-audience, this is something akin to “ well, shoot!”)

but at least we had our picnic ready, and a picnic table about 15 feet from our parking space, and it wasnt raining YET.. (we had had perfect weather up until the day we were leaving again, when dark clouds were looming large). And the kids were enjoying themselves at the playground. We managed to take the still wet bedding and tent and give them a brief airing-out on top of the cannons all around the park while ph dutifully changed the tire. Of course, this was sunday afternoon, and every tire-fixing place nearby was closed. So we spent the nap time driving around on our donut tire looking for the ONLY place in quebec city open on a sunday who could fix our tire. We found it, and the guy only had to replace the little valve for $24, lucas loved the part where we were waiting, watching our mechanic from the garage doors. Our tire was in otherwise perfect condition.. and thank goodness we were all fixed before for the big drive ahead, because it was rainy and winding little roads most of the way home through Maine.

The kids slept a little bit, and Rubys medicine worked for about 4 hours until she started vomiting again. So as soon as we saw a restaurant, we stopped for dinner and stayed another hour or so.. basically waiting until the kids were ready to sleep for the night so we could drive home.

We had a marvelous time, despite the bumps along the road. I really didnt miss the ordinary grind, computer, TV or news. We only brought pleasure reading, and it was like a fresh breeze running through my ears.

il fait bon vivre

2009-07-13T07:01:00.004-05:00

the family in this documentary is an aquaintance of ours (their daughter is the same age as lucas, and goes to preschool with him). they have an amazing story, really worth watching.

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1174469056

i saw a desire to live, and a family & community who would stop at nothing to help him. it is really striking to meet him today, to see him playing music up on stage as if nothing ever happened. to know what he and his family really went through, im incredulous, really... thought it was worth sharing.

to, two, whatever

2009-07-10T14:45:00.004-05:00

yesterday we had an appointment down in harvard sq. so afterwards we walked over to ph's lab to pick him up at the end of the day.

today ruby said "we have to go to papa's work"
i said, "but we went to his work yesterday, we don't go every day!"
R: "but we have to go to his OTHER work"
Me: "papa doesnt have another work"
R: "yes he does! papa has two works... 'papa is going two work'!"
(just like we say every morning when hes on his way out the door)

please oh pretty pretty please

2009-06-19T13:50:00.003-05:00

we need and want one of these.. you all know about my family biking dreams, ive been obsessively and quite seriously drooling and dreaming about this for about a year and a half now, and i almost leaped when i found this one , its just theyre so darn expensive (even though this one is one of the better priced ones on the market!!) help me win one by clicking here::

may

2009-06-03T13:50:00.008-05:00

the whole month of may snapped by quickly. i have over 800 photos we're going through, trying to sift out the worthy to share.

first off we had fabienne & xavier visiting for a week, and we always really enjoy their visits. the kids just love them to pieces, and lucas is still talking about how he will go to xaviers house next time, according to lucas its in paris and they have a yard & a bunny (hey at least he got the city right!).. we saw a bunch of art & walked plenty, and sadly didnt finish the bottle of fine whiskey they brought us. i mistakenly tried to save half the bottle for my dad's visit later in the month..

well better luck next time, i guess.. because during the 6 days in-between visitors our house was burglarized! at 4am, while we were sleeping upstairs, some rotten soul took the window off of our house, climbed in , turned on a lamp (!), picked up our laptop, ipod, half-bottle of fine whiskey(*400th anniversary black bush (10 year aged bushmills), a jar of quarters (probably about $30 worth) with ph's house/office/bike keys inside it. and walked out the front door.

having grampa davy and mimi here was just what the doctor ordered for me... just their presence gave me a sense of security, and i was able to move through the psychological impact of the invasion pretty quickly. and putting alarms on my windows and doors helped to that end as well.

my dad is so good with the kids, and you can tell he really savors the contact. this time he brought mimi too, and i really think she benefited from the visit too.. really getting to know her great grand-children. dad and i worked great as a team, he providing entertainment, and i providing meals.. it makes you understand very deeply how it "takes a village" and how family can really be a help to one another in caring for the young and old alike. mimi kept herself busy watching the kids out in the playground, drawing in her sketchbook and interacting with the kids... reading a book, making a pinwheel, showing ruby how to wear her beaded necklace, etc.

and lastly.. the birthday. lucas turned 4 last week, and in the same week, started writing his name by himself! he had a spiderman birthday cake, a spiderman scooter, and a big stuffed dino.. we had our neighbors over for a pizza party and everyone had a blast.

theres so many other fun things that happened this month that i didnt get a chance to write about while we had visitors, so i'll do my best in the photo captions once i get those up on the flickr page. ps. tomorrows my birthday, and ph has been having fun teasing me about my old age now at 35... ;D

dust & bunnies

2009-04-19T13:17:00.004-05:00

easter was fun, albeit rather cold.. we are still PATIENTLY WAITING for warmer weather. it has been often around 50F/10C, and either windy or rainy- but with a few beautiful days thrown in for sanity and promise of amazing weather to come. the hardest part is waiting to put any delicate plants outdoors. so we have started some seedlings in our windowsills to hold us until we can fill up our newly-installed window boxes. so far the brussels sprouts seedlings are doing VERY well, and im dreaming of eating up all those scrumptious little choux when they arrive.

well, this is the biggest news around our house - is mama's going nuts doing the spring cleaning around here. i just cant stop myself! sorting through clothes and toys, changing the art around, scrubbing and vacuuming everywhere, washing windows & the front door area, planting flower pots, bringing up & tuning the bikes (actually, thats ph's dept). and all the while trying to keep a vigorous pace on a certain crochet project.

makin' it

2009-03-14T14:02:00.005-05:00

lucas saw a roadway set up he liked in a book at the library, so we checked out the book with the agreement that we could make it together.. more specifically, that mama will not make it all by herself, that lucas will do everything he can, and mama will HELP when he needs it. i made him promise, because he has a tendency to want me to do everything for him. and i want him to spread his wings.

well, i just want to brag on him a bit, and point out to you that he painted all of the black, and all of the green by himself, and did a GREAT job staying in the lines i drew! he also helped hold the wood quarter-rounds while i was sawing them to make the caution blocks. he started to help me paint the blocks yellow, but lunch was almost ready, so he went to help set the table. hey - we all have our priorities!

and... the diorama i made for lucas school project.. i did this one by myself, and lucas supervised quite a bit. i really had fun doing it, and now all the other moms at the preschool know im nuts (hehe :

ps. neatnicks and perfectionists who are looking cockeyed at our creations: i say yes, but, i like it that way! i do "sloppy style" on purpose.

electric pants

2009-03-08T07:09:00.003-05:00

lucas is growing like a weed lately. his head is too big for all of his sweaters, so i made a special trip to the mall to find one with a zip front. it was a gorgeous day out, too. so philippe took the kids to the park and i went shopping ALONE! it is such a rare treat for me that i went and bought myself some pink pants. i really needed them too. ;D... well lets just say, i had fun.

so after dinner, we got to all sit in the living room and open the shopping bags. i also found some very cute pajamas for the kids. race car #33 for lucas, and rainbow polka dots for ruby. the kids instantly went nuts for their new PJs.. and insisted they wear them immediately. as soon as the new pajamas touch their tender skin, they're electrified! they start dancing around shaking their booties to the music, laughing and running races back and forth all over the place, falling into chair cushions.

i really wish i could have had the camera on me for the dancing part, before they got caught up in their own little independent scenarios... because little colorful wagging behinds just make mamas happy. philippe said "this is so much better than TV. in fact, what're we gonna do when they grow up and leave? then we'll be so bored we'll HAVE to watch TV."

the secret life of children

2009-02-23T13:45:00.003-05:00

im starting to realize now that my kids are real co-conspirators. every day at 1pm they both go upstairs for their nap, and they can sleep wherever they want upstairs.. i draw the shades, kiss them and their myriad stuffed animals and leave them with a book each.

alot of times it's 2 pillows on the floor of their room in front of their bookshelf, and they go through their books, staring, flipping pages, whispering, exchanging. and i feel like so long as they're quiet, and this represents "down time" i cannot complain.

but before i go downstairs, i tell them, "now is not time for play, its time for rest. and if i hear any playing around, im gonna come up and separate you two" (classic mom-style, cant you just hear it?).

very occasionally do i get to see this firsthand.. today i took a shower instead of going downstairs for my own quiet time. by the time i came out, i fully expected to see two kids asleep, drooling on the open books. but lucas had moved into my bed, and ruby was still set up on the floor, and running books back and forth from the bookshelf for lucas, and all in whispers. i heard their exchanges. okay, im done with this one, you take it your turn, ruby? okay, um you take this book, lucas? okay, thanks. i want the bear book ruby. okay. sock feet quietly thudding across the floor, back to the bookshelf.

and they noticed me. i thought it was funny they stayed in whispers and contimued their transaction. so i whispered 'go to sleep now' and they did, i could tell by the swagger in ruby's walk it was past time for her to sleep. really, these are the moments i feel proudest of them. having such a loving and sharing relationship, even when they dont know im watching. and i like that they have a secret life without me. this relationship they're building together will serve them well the rest of their lives.

random photo meme

2009-02-11T07:52:00.003-05:00

i was tagged by cake to do this meme.. its a fun proposition.

1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more bloggers.

march 2005 .. here's philippe in our little greek (halandri) kitchen humoring his 7-month-pregnant wife, by strapping on my weight gain for an afternoon.. he made it about an hour before he took it off. look at that sexy man!

i tag skotworld, disclexington, beeps & clicks, and the pool room

ruby two's day

2009-02-03T12:02:00.002-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!! ruby turned 2 yesterday (2-2) & we had her party on sunday. she had my very delicious homemade carrot cake and cream cheese icing, she got 2 pink gingham teasets and easel/markers/paints/paper from us. my mom gave her a really great baby doll, and made some matching outfits for the baby & ruby.. so cute!

im realizing now that she is 2 - im getting real glimpses of life without *babies*...

babies are adorable, dont get me wrong, but they are a LOT of work! within the past month ive had 2 work opportunities that presented themselves to me, and in the end i had to come to terms with the fact that i still only have about 5 hours per week to myself, quiet.

the one i had to turn down was doing the illustrations for a 32-pg childrens book. it could have been fun, but not if i couldnt give it the full attentions it deserved. its not exactly something you can do well in only 5 hours a week! "soon enough", i tell myself, "my kids will both be off in school" and i'll have a good chunk of the day to get back to work in the ways that i can.. theyre only little for such a short time. i dont mind, really because theyre delightful little kids, so - not that im checking my watch or anything, but 4 years down, 2 to go!

super lucky coffee pot

2009-01-19T12:38:00.002-05:00

when we moved here two & half years ago, we found most of our household contents at yard sales & craigslist... and we really hit the jackpot when we found a krups caffe duomo (espresso on left/coffee on right) for $5 .. the lady told us her neighbor gave it to her & she didnt even know how to use it! haha...

about a year ago i dropped something heavy on the espresso handle and broke it off.. and being the cheapskate i am, i just couldnt bring myself to pay $14.99 for a new replacement part.. and keeping one eye peeled at all times.

a week or so ago, i went to the goodwill store to buy my kids a replacement teapot and I FOUND ONE! and it fits perfectly. i got it for $1.. major thrill, and now we're back to our espresso ways.

happy 2009 everyone!

2009-01-01T20:41:00.002-05:00

we had a good long holiday with ph home from work, and nothing to do but play with each other. we have noticed a marked change recently in the maturity of lucas facial expressions, and his ability to communicate took a huge leap forward, too. we wish you happiness and luck during all of 2009.. please know that we're thinking of you all - acquaintances, friends and family alike- that follow us in our adventures.

getting ready for xmas!

2008-12-22T12:54:00.002-05:00

here in cambridge, mass. we had a massive snowstorm just in time for christmas!

Dear Santa letters

2008-12-11T16:07:00.002-05:00

i sat down and asked my kids what they wanted Santa to bring them this year, and wrote down their answers word for word... it will be my pleasure to get these things for them. they have been wonderful kids lately.

Dear Santa,
(me: "what do you want from Santa, Lucas?)
Me wants a racetrack and a tomato-drivin' schoolbus video.
(me: have you been a good boy this year?)
yes, and i didn't hit Ruby, no, no, no!
Love, Lucas

Dear Santa,
(me: "what do you want from Santa, Ruby?)
This one. (pointing at my sheet of paper)
a letter "L". me silly, mama.
(me: have you been a good girl this year?)
yeah.
Love, Ruby

orrszivo porszivo!

2008-12-09T18:13:00.003-05:00

we had some hungarian neighbors this summer, and she had one of her visitors bring me one of these for ten dollars. admittedly at first i thought it was strange, but i just HAD to have one since she offered it! (theyre apparently very common in hungary, its country of origin)... & i don't know how i ever lived without one of these things before! the kids do get a bit scared by the vacuum noise at first, but its so gentle and effective they get used to the idea pretty quickly.

its just so awesome!!!

ham & cheese

2008-12-05T09:24:00.002-05:00

here we are at the LAST BOX OF DIAPERS!

2008-11-22T09:06:00.006-05:00

ruby is now at 22 months old - completely - potty trained. its just amazing, really... she was so motivated and interested for a long time (started sitting on the potty at 11 months). but at some point about 2 weeks ago, she started removing her diaper every time she did something, and so i just went with it... into training pants, and she's been pretty much dry ever since. we're still putting her diaper on at night for now, but she has already had some dry diapers in the mornings and so.. i think this will be THE last box of diapers we ever buy!!!! hooray for us! and congratulations, ruby!

ps. for comparison's sake... lucas did it at 2 years & 10 months - and that was considered the early side of normal for boys... but even for girls i think this is early... she is not even 2 yet!

grampa dave visit

2008-11-09T08:13:00.003-05:00

we had great fun with grampa dave while he was here during halloween and the election.

major difference

2008-10-28T11:59:00.004-05:00

a week or so ago, we woke up one morning to discover our computer wouldnt start, truly kaputt. showing only "the ominous blue screen". so ph was able to restart in safe mode long enough to recover the previous months' files (we back up regularly). and we decided to take a plunge and convert to linux (ubuntu, if you're curious). we had been flirting with the idea for a long time, since neither of us like or need windows software... but we had no good reason to uninstall a working system. so when we were at the point where we would have to reload the system software ANYWAY, it just made sense.

and WOW - i love it! its so fast, its so easy to figure out.. almost like working on a mac again.

apple pickers

2008-10-11T12:18:00.003-05:00

we went apple picking this last weekend. up at Parlee Farms near the NH border. it was a beautiful day, the apples are good (we picked 20 lbs.!! (appx 10 kilos!)) and the kids got to choose one pumpkin each.

ps. THANKS to Masako for taking this very nice family picture for us!

visitit resistit admitit listentoit

2008-10-10T14:12:00.005-05:00

i accepted a challenge, i saw it on one of the blogs i watch.. (http://whistlingleafblower.blogspot.com/2008/09/visititresistitadmititlistentoit.html) but in formulating with my own answers, i couldnt help but answering these questions with a political tilt. probably because we are one month away from a presidential election.

ordinarily i stay off politics for my blog because my family (and some friends even!) are heavily divided in this department... but these are not ordinary times.

visit it: your polling place! and vote FOR obama!

resist it: oil products (gasoline, plastics...

admit it: i am terrified of governor palin & i loved the SNL parody

listen to it: (listen or watch or read) the Lorax by Dr. Seuss.. i saw its available in 6 parts on youtube

how i like it...

2008-10-06T14:44:00.002-05:00

i remember a time - not so long ago, i would pull out my heaviest winter coat for a 50F degree day. i have noticed this year with the change in seasons that i have become "one of those people"! this morning it was 50F (10C) degrees and i only needed a sweater and a thin silk scarf to walk down to harvard for a playgroup. granted the afternoon is 60F (15C), and is perfect sweater weather! coming from houston (by way of so-cal), and then greece, this is REALLY different for me.

during my walk this morning, i started reminiscing about how i developed a taste for spicy foods much in the same way. i remember my first year of college i was living with roommates, and one of them (allan) had ordered a pizza the night before, and at lunchtime the next day i asked if i could have a piece. he did not mention the fact that it had jalapenos on it, and they were under the cheese so i didnt notice them (maybe i thought the greenish lumps were bell peppers?) anyway.. next thing i know, i am literally laying down on the couch, asking for a glass of milk for my fiery mouth! (hehehe-!)

in the coming years after that, i became a full-fledged spice junky. it didnt happen immediately, but the next thing i know i am inhaling chips with those spicy pickled carrots, garlic & jalapenos mix on the table at the taquerias, and topping it off with their hot salsa - literally getting euphoric... and it continues today where i have a half-teaspoon of "el yucateca" habanero salsa* in almost anything i eat!

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Yucateco_Chile_Habanero

who knew autumn and jalapenos were a gateway drug?

craftin'

2008-10-02T13:51:00.002-05:00

i'm making lucas halloween costume. he wants to be "super lucas" so im just making a nice superman outfit. ruby will wear lucas costume from last year (homemade lightning mcqueen sweatshirt).. and she loves saying "ka-chow!" but instead of wheels, im thinking red sparkly shoes.

and im also crocheting up a couple of door sausages. apparently in ENGLISH, these things are called "draft excluders" well la-di-dah, folks. someone from here told me they were called door sausages, so thats what im sticking with! hehe. its a pillowy-roll you lay at the foot of your drafty doors to block the wind from coming in, and we have 2 doors that really need it.

sorting fever

2008-09-22T13:43:00.003-05:00

now that the seasons are starting to change, i got bit by the sorting and organizing bug.

last weekend i dumped ALL of the kids clothes out on to their bedroom floor (the pile was literally knee-deep in the middle!), and sorted through piece by piece for the right season & size.

and this weekend i did the toys. knee-deep in my living room. the categories: toss & give, rotate in & rotate out. toy rotation is what its all about. i put some toys upstairs so that by the time they come back down they seem new again.

my next project is to sort out the horrible mess that is our entry hallway: the eyesore trip-hazard "shoe rack" (canned laughter), and hang the midseason sweaters and windbreakers on the hooks.

no, i didnt take pictures, but maybe i should have. i am so good

lucas first day of preschool

2008-09-12T15:30:00.004-05:00

grandparents are fun

2008-09-09T12:51:00.005-05:00

my mom & jim came for a 10 day visit.. and we all had a very nice visit with them.. we did a little tourism with them, and they did lots of hanging out & playing with the kids.

it was a hot political week too, and we fall on completely opposite sides (to say the least!), so we did our best to keep it sane. i thought we did a pretty good job of it too.

...and then the reality

2008-08-27T12:15:00.002-05:00

i thought i would be able to tell many more stories than i did about our vacation to france but now the reality is that i didnt get the chance to really sit down an recapitulate all our experiences as fully as i would have liked to before other interesting and fun things started happening that also need blogging!

not least that my mom and jim are here for a visit! and we are having a blast.. going on a little bit of tourism, and lots of park visits & hanging out at the house.. eating out and enjoying our time together.

homemade goodies

2008-08-18T08:11:00.005-05:00

genevieve (a.k.a. mami genie) made all this great stuff for us!!
from left to right:
gray, black & white party scarf replete with fuzzy danglies. a bear bag for lucas. a bunny bag for ruby. brown & pink purse for me (my favorite af all! ps. genie, enfin j'ai decider a garde le frou frous). a couple of smiley monsters for the kids. and 2 knitted scarves.

tres bien

2008-08-15T12:32:00.002-05:00

our vacation was in a word - great. i almost wish i would have posted continuously while we were there, so as to retain the specialness of each passing moment better. now, as i sit and write from the great remove of one week, all the best parts seem to be washed into general happiness. so in the following posts will try and recapture some of these moments that they wont be lost forever. the pictures are up, but im having some technical difficulties loading the videos, so the only one up so far is a few seconds of looking out the train window.

well that was interesting, too. (see what i mean?) since i have to start somewhere, may as well be here on the train... the TGV -Train a Grande Vitesse, translated means train of great speed- goes so fast that when you enter a tunnel your ears pop! and as a bonus the interiors were updated since the last time we rode on it, so it was very swanky-stylin' and the kids enjoyed turning the reading lights on and off in between the chairs. we even lucked into first class passage on the way back. sooo comfy!

nerdy info excerpted from wikipedia: TGV holds the record for the fastest wheeled train, having reached 574.8 km/h (357 mph) on 3 April 2007,[1][2] and also holds the world's highest average speed for a regular passenger service.

vacance en france

2008-07-14T21:08:00.003-05:00

pardon my absence, but we're on vacation (YAY!!!)... 3 weeks in france will make a new woman of me!

ps. happy bastille day to all our frenchy friends - we cant wait to see you!
pps. happy birthday to mari tomorrow. i'll celebrate on the airplane.

the sixth fourth

2008-07-08T11:40:00.006-05:00

we met 9 years ago & got married 6 years ago - on the fourth of july... so its a pretty special holiday for us. this year we went to harrison's family bbq and then off to a party where we watched the jets fly over.. and after we put the kids into bed, we snuck out of our fire escape on top of the building next door (the curtain store) to see the fireworks from home.

chicago post-post

2008-06-27T14:09:00.002-05:00

a couple weekends ago, i took ruby on a quick 3 day trip to chicago. it was fun, if a tiny bit stressful. ruby finally started to feel adjusted to the new scenario just when it was time to leave, and on top of it, she suffered a bit of seasickness on the flight making things a bit, um... messy. all through the trip she kept asking for her papa, and we were grateful to have the skype connection to reassure her.

but we did have a nice time sticking around their house getting to spend time with baby clara, hanging out chatting, grilling, drinking beers & meeting their friends and neighbors...and there was an italian festival going on at the end of their block too! ya! ruby was all about their kitty cat... and we both scored some cute dresses.. we also saw our good friends sue & robert too... it wasnt nearly long enough, but it will have to do for now.

batch #37

2008-06-12T20:47:00.004-05:00

Pain is good (tm).

I decided to try this one, because it was on sale. And I found my new best friend. Boy category. So simple.

The bottle, shaped like a whisky flask, is pretty cool (understand: a welcome change from the usual jar), and it fits so nicely in your hand. Inside it's even better. Main ingredient: carrots! Right! With lots of Habanero peppers and garlic to make the three of a perfect pair. Lots of garlic. They call it "garlic style" for a reason, but not as garlicky as Mrs Renfro's Garlic Salsa, another favorite that we find too mild around here and to which we always add some habanero kick. So I would not have called it "garlic style" myself. (Talking about garlic head... I **really** need to do my own αλιάδα one of this day). Anyway, pain is good delivers a tasty and very hot (they mean it) hot sauce that I can only recommend. More about it here.

Oh! Yes, it is better to have a bottle of shiraz nearby.

Have some time to kill? Wonder what's hot? Visit the heat scale.

-----------
Soundtrack: nick cave, sue tissue, slint

Bientôt...

2008-06-08T21:24:00.006-05:00

...vous pourrez nous trouver a Paris (le 16 juillet, puis du 3 au 6 août) et en Bretagne (17 juillet-3 août)
O Paname!
O Bretagne!
We cant wait to see you again!

an early birthday present for me

2008-06-03T19:37:00.005-05:00

so beautiful! gonna move the baby seat onto the back of this one,, since it has 5 gears it'll be easier to go up hill with a kid on back, and philippe wont have to do so much waiting around for me ;D.. for you bike-geeks, its a vintage 70s ross eurotour 5-speed with shimano gears & brakes... with wheel generated head & tail lamps! the canary yellow and chrome fenders are exactly my style, too.

ps. the end of may pix & vid are up.

23 minutes

2008-05-24T22:43:00.002-05:00

we passed a milestone today.. yes, yes, we had lucas 3rd birthday party - and it was a great time. in th park with many neighborhood friends, my homemade home-decorated carrot cake, a dump truck, a helium ballon, singing the b-day song with party hats and the whole deal - was just super.. and it was beautiful outside too.

but the amazing thing was... about 630 pm the kids were just finished with dinner, and we had an hour to kill before bath. so i suggested a quick family bike ride to the river, and lucas said "truck few minutes" meaning he wanted to play with his truck for a few minutes, so i started to crochet. philippe sat down and checked his email ,and ruby was approaching lucas to play with him. lucas told her "i'm busy ruby" meaning buzz off ~~and i was SO proud of him using his big-boy-words instead of pushing her away~~ so i got her interested in the train set instead.. and then,

LIKE MAGIC, it was quiet in the house! for an outstanding 23 minutes everyone was busy doing their own thing, minding their own business, compelled by their own thoughts. it was a dream come true for me, and i hope we get many many more opportunities to explore this dimension of our household.

whats the hold-up?

2008-05-08T11:52:00.003-05:00

sorry for the big delay on the end-of month pictures and videos. i know i have some die-hard fans out there... so we'll be getting them up as soon as possible, thanks for your patience.

the weather continues to be very agreeable,. and we have visitors again! fabienne (ph sis) and xavier are here from paris.. we celebrated fabienne's birthday, by making a nice dinner at home, completed with champagne and some locally handmade sorbets. and its really great getting to spend some time with them, hanging out every evening.

the kids are having a blast with their "sevens" (lucas cant really pronounce xavier and fabienne, so he compromised on calling them both "seven"), and i am very happy to hear him speaking more french too. they went to NYC for 1 night, and lucas keeps asking when is "seven" comming back?,. so cute. and ruby fell in love with fabienne, we think because she looks so much like philippe. she rarely lets strangers hold her, but she practically jumped into fabienne's arms upon arrival.

blue skies

2008-04-21T07:14:00.007-05:00

if you're wondering why i've been so quiet - its because we are having a bout of beautiful weather! especially with granpa dave visiting, we just cant stay indoors! all week its been 60 degrees, clear & sunny. all the flowers are springing out and its such a joyous departure from our long cold winter here.

the star magnolia in my "backyard" park, and my dad says thats a b-52 flying overhead.. on a different picture we can see it better. it was huge and it had 4 jet streams coming off the back.

image # 20,222

2008-04-06T15:09:00.004-05:00

we got our current camera when lucas was just 2 months old... and just now have clocked 20,000 images taken with it! not bad for 2.5 years. i'm fond of saying we're the japanese tourists of parenthood..

counting the days

2008-04-01T12:45:00.004-05:00

ph just turned 40! and so we went out for a night on the town to celebrate. we for a very fancy dinner and a short walk to the oldest street in boston to a little out-of-the-way cozy bar, where there was happily a basketball game on tv, and slowly poured guinness. we had fun chatting with some locals & saw some fireworks - it seemed so random, and so lucky for us.. since fireworks seem to be a recurring theme in our relationship ;)

speaking of counting, lucas can now count to 9 by himself. im so proud. !!!

and he's now potty training. he took the initiative a few days ago by saying he wanted to wear big-boy underpants, so here we are, doing it. he's even gone one full day without an accident! as a way to keep his motivation up, he has a sticker chart with a picture of a particular truck or digger he's working toward. but with the first full day out of diapers i feel like we can officially say, "he's trained", and is now just working out the details of how to be consistently dry.

eggs & crochet

2008-03-20T13:40:00.002-05:00

i'm teaching myself how to crochet, now that ive got the hang of knitting. im not GOOD at either yet, mind you, but im catching on to the basics. its something ive always wanted to learn.

my weight is finally starting to drop off now that ruby is completely finished nursing. its a relief.. i dont know how much weight i was hanging on to since we dont have a scale here, but i FEEL better. i have no illusions that my tummy will ever be flat again, but its nice to feel like myself once more!

ive been pulling out the art supplies for the kids more often these days despite the fact that ruby is really not at an age yet to appreciate it.. i think she may have swallowed a small bit of green crayola this morning - oops. and we set up the kitchen table with the annual easter egg coloring project. i smartly (if i say so myself) taped some large white paper to the table to preserve the incidental artwork (you thought i was going to say "preserve the table??" hahaa! you dont know me very well.)
we are going to 2 community egg hunts this weekend, and its gonna be loads of cute. i'll post the pix.

new workspace

2008-03-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

now maybe i can get some of these craft projects out of the way so i can really paint again! we'll see.. but i just had to make space. for what precious little time i have to do anything - the table to do it on better be ready!

clotheslines

2008-02-22T12:41:00.001-05:00

during our two years in greece i loved hanging our laundry out on a clothesline. so ive started doing it here too. at first i didnt do it here because i thought our basement was too dark and humid.. and it is - in comparison to our 4th floor balcony in athens, where everything would be dry in 30 minutes or up to a few hours for the heavy stuff. but here, even though it takes a full day for the normal stuff and two solid days for the heavier stuff to dry out, i have started to appreciate line drying again. theres something about the feel of hung clothes.. maybe because theyre stiffer, and require less ironing (not that i ever do that, but its nice to not wear wrinkles!).. and theyre already half folded when you take them down.

i also started washing everything in cold too. now i keep a basket downstairs for HOT washes on things that really need it, in smaller loads. i did this in athens because i couldnt figure out the washing machine (haha... true confessions... but i later figured it out that the hot wash took like almost 2 hours and the cold was only 1/2 hour, so it was still easier)

so now im "going back to athens" in my laundering habits, and i feel great about it. its greener for the environment and my pocketbook too! especially if you factor in the extended life of the clothes themselves.

sentences

2008-02-13T11:24:00.002-05:00

ruby went to her 1 year checkup on monday. for those of you who love the stats... she's 78cm =31 inches tall, weighs 9.5 kilos =21 lbs. and her head is just over 46cm. that puts her in the 90th% for height and the 75th% for weight!

she has about 8 words that are identifiable (and a handful more that i cant quite understand yet!). so after we got home from the dr. i was putting her in her crib to see if she could put herself to sleep, she sat up, looked around and asked "woo-woo go?". (woo-woo is her word for all stuffed animals, borrowing it from the name of lucas favorite lovey).. and i was surprised, but really i thought, "nah, she's too young to be constructing sentences yet,... probably just babbled an extra consonant. no need to get excited, mama" and i ended up rocking her to sleep.

but later in the afternoon lucas left the room, and she turned and asked me "wuca go?" (where did "lucas go?") and i about fell over!

happy first bithday, ruby!

2008-02-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

today my sweet little girl isnt a baby anymore! all day today, as we slowly make all the preparations for her small party this afternoon.. i have been thinking back to this day last year that i spent in labor. it started at 2am, went to the hospital at 8am, and she was born at 8:33pm. its 12:20 now, so at this very moment last year i was about to get my epidural at 1pm. but enough about me, this is her day.

she is talking more and more, repeating words after us, and surprising us with a few of her own. yesterday we were at a friends house and she was pushing around a big car - and said so clear as day, "car!". she is walking more and more often, but still prefers crawling as her primary means. so for her birthday, i got her her first pair of real shoes. and they are cute! i wish they made them in my size.

everyone is taking a nap right now. but at 3pm, we will have two families come over for a mexican-themed bday party for ruby. mexican food is so perfect for feeding lots of people casually. we will just have a build your own burrito/taco setup, chips & salsa.. and margaritas for us! hey, really, the first birthday is really for the parents, right??

i told lucas he could "help" her blow her birthday candle. he's pretty excited about it and has been talking about it all week. he says "birfdy cake! bwoh!"(birthday cake! blow [out the candle]!) or sometimes he will ask me "wuby upenit pwesens, mama?" (will ruby open presents, mama?) and he's proud he helped me make the cake.

a KING day

2008-01-21T11:42:00.000-05:00

happy martin luther king day. this year he has a special place in our home & hearts. beyond what great works he did for society, but for the great works he continues to inspire in our children.

across the street from us is the dr. martin luther king open elementary school. recently, we have started attending a "structured" playgroup on thursday afternoons there... ruby & i come too, but its really for lucas to learn about how to listen and follow along in a structured learning environment. (free play, activity*, handwashing & snack, and circle time where we sing songs and say our names) its great for me to be able to see how he might respond when we ship him off to preschool 3 mornings a week this september (!) and also enables me to help guide him in the transition to more structure.

he is intellectually ready, to start learning his abc's 123's, colors and shapes.. and indeed has already started! in both languages - he counts to 3, knows circles from squares, and the color red. he knows about the alphabet, and often points out letters to me in the street, and asks which ones they are. he also understands that they go together to make the words we use, but hasnt learned any specific letters yet.

so, back to my story, for the day's activity, he colored a picture of MLK for me. and has been really proud of what he made. he points to it taped on the pantry door and says, "luh-ca made it self! king!" (lucas made it by himself! a dr. king picture!)

ruby's walking

2008-01-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

ruby started officially walking today. it all started the night before with a few steps here and there, but she is such a motivated little girl, she spent the better part of today getting up and down and off to the races!

of course, she's still falling quite a bit, and the crawling is still faster (read: warp speed) but she can now walk halfway across a room if she wants.

but this great achievement is shared today, we also have a brand new friend... its the sweeney's baby girl! but i will let them make the official announcements before i go on blabbing my big mouth.

cafe a la carte

2008-01-04T12:47:00.000-05:00

i have never been a *heavy* coffee drinker, despite the fact that i love it strong. since being either pregnant or breastfeeding for more than 3 years now, i have limited my coffee-drinking to a half cup on weekend mornings, and sometimes not even that.

but now that ruby is only taking a bedtime & good-morning boobies, i can drink coffee almost whenever i want! so i have. oops. im having it pretty much every day sometimes twice a day, and i think i'm developing a little addiction here (:D). this morning i had a tiny headache before my first cup!~ .. ooof. (:P) i really hate having an *obligation* like this. but for now, i am reveling in the honeymoon of sorts of new found freedom.

december pix are already up, but im still working on getting the videos loaded.

merry xmas 2007

2007-12-25T15:28:00.000-05:00

for our christmas we had a nice 4-course (aperitif, crudites, main course, dessert) dinner last night, with a tablecloth and candles!!! we opened one present each and watched the elmo video lucas got before bathtime and bed for the kids. then we cleaned up & prepared for the xmas morning blow-out. sat back and had a last glass of wine before bed ourselves.

but this morning we stayed in our pajamas, had pancakes, and opened all our gifts. lucas got a play kitchen and a train set. ruby got a nice winter coat set and a big push toy. i got a photo printer from ph and ph got a bunch of new clothes (what he asked for).

now we;re attempting to clean up this mornings affair and lunch and the kids are about to wake up from their naps. tomorrow we're invited to my friend masako's house for lunch!

'tis the season, indeed

2007-12-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

first of all, i want to just give lu some mad props for counting! he can count to 3 all by himself in english and french now!.. and we have some evidence that he actually understands those quantities, too. (aside: he can count by repeating after us up to 10). ph spends some time with him every evening while looking at his favorite books counting miscellaneous things in the books. but one particular night they spent almost the whole storytime counting, and the next day lucas brought 3 trucks into the kitchen and said "three trucks".. "one, two, (pause) two..." and in the pause i could see the thought bubble above his head saying "trois.." (pronounced twah for all you anglophones who want to hear it right in your heads)... but he knew that wasnt how mama says 3., so i said "oh! do you have three trucks?" and he said "ya, one two THREE! trucks"

now that ruby has it in her head she wants to walk, she spends a good bit more time crying for me to come over and hold her hands up so she can walk assisted. she is a motivated little girl, and i am starting to realize i only have a short time left of her babyhood! so now im freaking out a little, that i wnat her to stay a sweet little baby for a while longer. but she and i dont have the same agenda here, oh well.. growing up trumps sentimentality i suppose.

but with this growing sense of independence, she also wants to take fewer or shorter naps. she is just SO INTERESTED in trying her new-found body skills that she cant let herself get relaxed long enough to sleep. but this is precisely why she needs her rest! i had forgotten that lucas went through a phase like this right around the time he started walking too. but now i remember.. i had to strap him into his stroller and walk around the apartment. so im doing the same with ruby, and it works, too.

which brings me to my last tidbit. philippe and lucas broke my good single stroller with the big basket under it, while playing monster-trucks with it on our uneven sidewalks... or something like that. so as an early xmas gift, i got a new single buggy. and this time with proper snow tires! that's 12-inch/30cm wheels to get over big burly snow drifts. and in this part of the world - you really NEED it!

the day after i got my new stroller it snowed 10 inches/25cm.. the day after that it was just nice powdery snow.. but the 3rd day it was freezing rain and snow, another 10 inches/25cm, followed by 2 or 3 days of rest, and then another 3 inches/7.5cm on top of all the previous snow! it hasnt been above freezing (correction: one day it rose to 38F/4C) for two weeks now. so i guess we will have a white christmas this year.

gotta go, nap time is over.. merry christmas (its in 4 days i think)

new I

2007-12-13T07:50:00.001-05:00

no smiling. 4 once.

I couldn't resist, since this is the best cut I had in many many years!

back to the little ones,
cheers -Ph

oh wow!

2007-12-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

ruby has started saying her first words (except she already says mama & papa of course) she says "oh wow!".. and its so cute. she even used it in proper context once. we were walking down the street once and saw a train crossing the stret up ahead and i told lucas "hey look lucas, a train!!" and ruby said "OH WOW!"

she has also recently stood alone several times for a few seconds each. and will walk while holding only one hand. she has such a strong independent streak, i bet she'll be giving us a real headache when she's a teenager. but for now, its amazing and brilliant.

i hung our nontraditional christmas tree (a decorated door this year) and have just begun shopping and doing the christmas cards too. lucas is getting a kitchen, since its his new favorite thing to do. i was going to build one after being inspired by someone else's blog (nice work, cake!) but when i posted wanting a small cabinet for that purpose on our local freecycle, someone offered us a ready-made one. it's a big molded plastic thing and i wanted a wood one, so i was hesitant... but considered the recycling angle and decided it would be okay.

ps. november pix & videos are up. theres 2 videos in particular i love, worth mention: "letter i, letter b" and the one where the kids are playing "garbage truck"

family turkey

2007-11-24T10:43:00.000-05:00

thanksgiving prep

2007-11-20T11:12:00.000-05:00

ive been learning how to knit these days. i think its a wrist-warmer, haha. it was going to be a scarf, but i messed up too much by the time i got to about the 10th knitted row, that i decided to start fresh.

now that the weather is cold (its snowing right now, y'all!) i love to cook. i somehow cant seem to get inspired in the summer when the weather is warm, but something about daylight savings & nippy weather gets me in the kitchen rarin' to go. i just finished my thanksgiving shopping trip, and will start preparing some of the food this afternoon.

we have invited some friends from japan (one of philippe's coworkers, hiroshi, with his wife and their brand new baby, and masako & kana of the homemade japanese lunches fame). i am not doing a turkey this year, ive done that before and its really too much work, and too much leftovers. so i bopped on down to the mayflower freshly killed chicken place and picked up some chicken to put with the cornbread stuffing & also a small amount of turkey giblets for the gravy. but otherwise the menu is fairly traditional. we will have: chicken & cornbread stuffing with giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, baked eggplant tomato & basil parmesan, (the famous) yellow bell pepper soup, a salad, and a store bought pumpkin pie. (hey gimme a break! i'm makin' everything else from scratch) and philippe said he will stop tomorrow & pick up the requisite wine & cheese course.

only thing i am not sure is when i'll listen to alice's restaurant. you can get anything you want... well i want some old friends around, to have a little wine & sing out loud. maybe these new friends will be into it.. but probably not. oh well. but we'll see.

well, it was..

2007-11-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

lucas decided he's not quite ready now for the potty. but i'm glad he gave it a go, though.. i trust he'll try again when he's ready to handle all the attendant factors. he's usually successful if he doesnt have to deal with his pants,,, i think he got tired of getting wet at home, and he doesnt have the holding power muscles built up yet. because it is pretty cold already here (48F/6C today), and not the best season to run around nude. maybe he will try it out next summer. i hear it's the best time to train!

ruby news is that she's cruising now, and also just started pushing the walker toys around too. with ruby i am now starting to understand that we as parents dont have a whole lot to do with the way a kid's personality is.. i am merely an observer & a human safety cone. i guess what im sayin is that now that im a parent, i'm becoming a true believer in nature over nurture in the eternal argument.

cool

2007-11-07T09:03:00.000-05:00

i was impressed when we got back about how beautiful the fall foliage is.. cambridge is really handsome in autumn, and i've been enjoying the seasonal display. monday i saw the most gorgeous tree of all time, and didnt have my camera with me.. so i will try to go back one morning soon... wish me luck, a tree in its prime autumn colors doesnt last long! i've put a bunch of pictures up recently, and there are plenty pretty trees and leaves to see.

ruby has her third tooth in. oddly, it's one of her upper canines; not the usual top two center teeth that come in normally 3rd & 4th (the bottom center usually come in first, as hers did).. now i have to go google it to see if thats within the range of normal ??? i suspect it is, but i want references!

yesterday, lucas decided to start potty training. i had heard that if you wait long enough, they will tell you when they are ready (he will be 2.5 at the end of this month)... and here we are, i am so proud of him. so here i was wondering why all of a sudden two days ago why he was needing so many hugs and cuddle time - now i know.. it was the step backward for the forward leap.

ps. october pix & video up (including houston)

ye gud olden days

2007-10-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

we're back from houston now. it was fun.

i went out to dinner with tricia & mari to van loc. this was such a treasure.. to hang with my girls over a tofu clay pot! and now we all live elsewhere.. austin, chicago & boston, that this just wouldnt happen otherwise. so for a shining hour or two, the outside world just didnt exist as we sat around gabbing.. in person !

& then we trailed to the axiom reunion show at fitzgeralds and saw a bunch of people there. i felt fairly young again except i wasnt nearly as inebriated, and i heard myself and others continually saying "oh my it's been along time!!!" over and over again. to the point it was a bit annoying, but really it had been a long time. i was also very aware of how much i talked about my kids and our moves over the last 3 years. but after we "caught up" i began to feel a bit more relaxed and was happy to move to other topics.

back at my moms house, the kids were familiarizing themselves with the toys gran had found to borrow, when jim had to rush off to the hospital for a week out of our visit. we were all pretty scared, but he came through okay. it turned out to be some backlash from the chemo he had just finished up the week before our visit.

it was pretty lonely there for the days he was up at the hospital, being stuck in suburbia was not the way i envisioned our vacation. and it was 93F/35C, so it was hardly the kind of weather that begs you to be out-of-doors. everyone we know was at work during the day, and the kids go to bed too early to be dragging them out on dinner dates all week.. although i did it once.

everything changed after jim got out of the hospital & philippe arrived. we went out twice on a date! & that was really great. really nice to see the people we hadnt hung out with in years, go to rudz, and eat at the places we'd missed. and as a little bonus, we dropped in to cecils (the bar across the street from my old digs) just to see if anything had changed - and if you could have put your ear right up to my cold bottle of lone star beer, you could just barely hear the theme song to cheers.. "where everybody knows your naaa-ame" haha.

we also went to the old sixth ward historic home tour for a brief visit to catch up with some friends - and we spent an afternoon at the park with my dad playing with the kids, followed by dinner.. and we also went to hermann park to look at the quack-quacks & ride the kiddie train with betty & her grandson.

we didnt get to see a few people or visit a couple of certain restaurants (el rey, in particular).. but overall it was good to be back.

i'll be posting the new pictures next weekend, cuz right now i'm busy making lucas' halloween costume. he's going to be lightning mcqueen (from the "cars" movie).

hews ton

2007-10-09T19:39:00.000-05:00

houuuuuston, houston means that i'm-a one day closer to you!
i'm headed out to h-town for a spell!! i'll hopefully have some nice pictures to see & some good stories to tell when i get back.

i guess it will be interesting going back, it's only been 3 years, but it feels like a decade has passed since i had my former life there - i feel so different now.

finally - a ruby tuesday

2007-10-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

so here it is tuesday, and ruby is 8 months old today!

ps. the september photos & videos are up.

speaking of talking

2007-09-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

we're also seeing stronger evidence of lucas budding bilingualism. here's a good example... at dinner, lucas wants more milk, so

L: mama! a nilk! (mama, a milk)
B: can you say please?
L: peese. (please)
B: no, i'm busy eating, can you ask papa?
he turns
L: papa! un lait! (papa, a milk)
P: dire s'il tu plait! (say please!)
L: uh plai (please)

(i won't ordinarily ask for a please if i know i will turn him down, but i do ask him to say please all the time, so i inserted it to make the two conversations equal)

what i think is absolutely amazing is how he speaks a different language at the turn of his head. and he doesnt even think anything of it! that's me who's impressed.

awwww!

2007-09-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

ruby started crawling allright, and now i'm too busy to write - haha. and she's started pulling herself up to a standing position .. i'm telling you, this girl is on a mission!

lucas is talking more and more, i wish i could catch it on video to post it, but he's too shy & evasive... but he is really speaking in the appropriate language to the appropriate person, and is making 3-word sentences all the time now.

he hit a little bit of a rough spot this week and was very difficult at times, i think because i'm having to pay more attention to ruby, but it's not all about ruby... i think it is just his age, too . this (the terrible 2's, as it were) is the age of defiance & autonomy. but he is conflicted, because he knows he still needs me & wants to be my baby too. he even asked if he could try ruby's baby food.

here's our conversation,
L: want it? food?
B: what, you want some baby food?
L: yeah!
B: (me moving the spoon towards his mouth)
L: no!
B: oh, you want to do it yourself?
L: do it! (tastes it carefully)
B: you like it?
L: yeah, good.
B: it's called baby food
L: baby. food. good! (eats a little more) like it.

but then i realized he was just hungry, so i set him up with some real food.

he even started saying "i love you", but it doesnt quite sound like that.. he says "laithew".. and this morning he (as always) came into my bed and lay down next to me on my pillow said "luhca. laith. waby".. translation: lucas loves ruby. AWWW!!! thats mama's sweet boy. and in my heart, every time he has ever sat on her or pushed her over is forgiven. hehe. for now anyway.

firsts

2007-09-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

first things first.. the august pictures & videos are up now.

lucas fell and hit his head on the base of our rocking chair saturday morning.. and had to go to the emergency clinic to get 3 stitches (er,, staples) in his forehead. it was a bit scary, but he was fine.

ruby started to crawl!! on her 7 month birthday. its still a little uncoordinated yet.. but i can tell already, my days of 'relaxation' are numbered. i am so proud of her. and it has been fun dangling toys about 3 feet/1 meter in front of her to see if she'll come over. it has to be something good because it takes a lot of effort on her part.. it takes her a minute to warmup and organize all those different body parts moving simultaneously. oh, she's so young to crawl already! for those of you who dont know.. 6 months is about the earliest you ever hear of babies crawling.. but most commonly it's around 8 or 9 months.

oh look here's my crystal ball ~ i see loads and loads of laundry with dirty knees, mopping the kitchen floor every two days, and having to hide all of lucas small toys. gotta break out those baby gates again too. (sigh) this is fun.

road-tripping to NYC

2007-08-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

ph took friday off & we rented a car to go see our friends in brooklyn. we had a great time while there, and it was especially nice getting to meet their son for the first time. the weather didnt agree with us, or else we would have spent all day outdoors.. but alas, there was a heat advisory in effect.. 95F/35C but with 93% humidity, so it was very uncomfortable. of course now that we're back its a lovely 75F/25C.. but what can you do? we got ice cream.

the car trip there was brutal, though. it took us almost 10 hours (google maps says 4 hrs, figuring no traffic or stops). we left at 10am, drove an hour.. and made a planned detour to the local "ye olde quaker village" to see some farm animals & how people lived back then (called old sturbridge village, if youre curious - was very interesting and fun for the kids, so it ended up being a 2-hr detour including lunch)

so we got back on the road, but passing through new haven there was something going with the US open (tennis tournament) that we were stuck for almost 2 hours! we said.. "man, this is slow!,, lets take the next exit & jump over to that other freeway! and ~bonus~ it's a scenic route!". ugh. oh no.. just when it was too late to turn around, it's construction delays.. and then a 3-car accident blocking the (very beautiful, but) two-lanes-and-no-shoulder road. so, we were just stuck. we were going about 5 miles an hour stop and go for more than an hour.. so i got in the backseat & unbuckled the kids and let them play around until the accident cleared and we were moving again.

after that ordeal we stopped at next rest stop -for about an hour- to shake our legs out and recuperate. luckily we had some serious snacks on hand (fruit, sausage, cheese, crackers), so we didnt have to stop for a dinner break too.

so we then sat in 1 hour of NYC friday afternoon traffic (which was to be expected) trying to get over a bridge with a ZILLION OTHER FOLKS. and got to our friends house around 830pm.

the way back we took a slightly diffrent route, made two good rest stops, and were home in 6 hours. the kids were road weary and seemed to take turns complaining... which was so very nice of them, but extremely tiring for me.

but its okay. next time we'll take the train. its probably worth the extra money. at least the terrible trip didn't detract from the nice visit with good friends we hadnt seen in four years!

ouch!

2007-08-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

i have been limping around for a full week now.. and i dont even know how i messed up my foot! i finally went to the dr. on monday and foound out i have "extensor tendinitis" in my left foot. the remedy is simple: ibuprofen & ice packs three times a day.. even if its a little bit of a pain-in-the-FOOT! doc said it should be better in a few weeks. but im hoping for sooner.

anniversaries, of sorts

2007-08-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

in a couple of weeks i'll be hitting a new kind of milestone in life. i just realized (now that lucas is 2y3mo) that i have been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for 3 years non-stop. lucas gave up the booby at 14mo, when i was almost 3 months pg with ruby.

recently we had our one-year anniversary of arriving in boston.. and philippe started his job by august 9.

we left houston in july (or early august?) 3 years ago.. and i got pregnant about 3 weeks after we left, and we moved to greece about 2 weeks after that.

walkability score

2007-08-11T07:04:00.000-05:00

i found this really great website that measures how walkable your neighborhood is, and how easily you could do without a car. the answer will probably not surprise you, for example, our address rates a 91/100.. meaning: "90 - 100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car." but this is great if you're relocating.. or learning a new area.

http://www.walkscore.com/how-it-works.shtml

go type in your address!

beach

2007-08-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

this sunday we went to the beach. ph got the idea to go at 330pm .. so we rented a zipcar for 430, and picked up some subway sandwiches on the way & were having dinner on good harbor beach by 530 or 6pm. it was so beautiful and the weather was perfect, the water was temperate and lucas really had fun playing in the sand.. the real kicker was that the parking was free (not $20) for arriving so late in the day!.. definitely we will go again.

wierdboy theater

2007-08-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

there;s this kid who always plays in the park behind my house. he's kinda chubby with dark brown hair and probably about 13yo. he dresses with the requisite loose-fitting nylon sporty shorts & baggy black tshirt, so i suppose he kinda blends in among his peers, despite the fact that we never really see jim playing with any other kids. and he seems oblivious to the fact that we (and presumably others) can see what he does alone in the park. and we have a particularly advantageous viewpoint. our breakfast table window is in the far back corner of the park - behind some large bushes. so he does lots of play-acting right in front of our window, unknowingly making a little private wierdboy theatre for us.

the first time we saw him he was running around with a big plastic shield & sword acting out a bloody battle scene in which he was defeating ... himself? but ah, boys will be boys. the next time he had a plastic gun. once he had no props, but was using the lightpost as a secret command post.. entering digits on an imaginary 10-key and talking to co-conspirators. he also does a good deal of the secret-agent gymnastic tumbling. jumping out of the way of imaginary gunfire to rolling on the ground and quickly running in a crouch from tree to lightpost, evading detection. or so he thinks. the irony of this is what really cracks me up.

recently he has started hanging out with some friends more often, and even has a young recruit. they play on the flat roof next door to us above the curtain shop, leaning out from the building laying in wait for their enemies.. with plastic guns cocked and headbands fastened.. shouting reconnaisance to each other.

its all pretty humorous, but also a little creepy. we wonder if he'll grow up to be a good guy or a bad guy.

the MIT turkey

2007-08-01T07:24:00.000-05:00

this turkey is always wandering around near MIT ...

and there are new pictures and videos of us to see.

sleeping beauty!

2007-07-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

ruby slept from 8pm to 5.30am last night! god bless her sweet soul! this was my first full night in about 8 months!! she's only 5.5mo, but the last trimester of pregnancy i was up 3-5x per night to pee.. ive only been up with her once or twice a night for a long while now.

visitors

2007-07-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

for the past 2 weeks we've had visitors.. first my dad then the sweeneys, and so i dont really know what to talk about. we had fun - a really nice distraction from the routine. museums, markets & restaurants. we even went got a babysitter one night and went to dinner like adults!

oh here's some news: i left ruby on the rug in the living room for 5 minutes alone. when i came back she was halfway across the room! she pushes up on her hands, and slides backwards.. she's also working hard getting her legs to cooperate.. she will crawl soon - i know it. its like a train i can hear the whistle blowing from down the track.

ruby sits up, lu sings

2007-07-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

two days ago, ruby started really sitting up by herself! now it seems thats all she wants to do. i sat her up at the library sing-along today and she was totally getting into it,, smiling big, and bouncing around to the songs, trying to stand up in my lap.. very cute.

and lucas started singing.. "yai yai yo".. that's e-i-e-i-o, as in old macdonald.. it's his first song - awww!~

my dad came for a week to visit.. and its always such a treasure. he fixed some stuff around our house, and really enjoyed reading lucas his bedtime stories.. i also got "schooled" on how to handle a whiny kid. its like wow - this guy has some experience, and it worked! i have a reformed whiner.

city vs. suburbs -- what's your take?

2007-07-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

in our house we;re debating the merits of having a backyard versus the evils (and expenses!) of having to own a car.

heres (roughly) the 2 sides of the debate, forum link at bottom:

"(going to the suburbs) it's like, who sucked the life out of the air, and what did they do with the people??? Yards are nice, but a playground you can walk to -- not to mention some ethnic eats and a handful of bars -- makes life more entertaining for everybody, I think."

"If you stay in the city with kids, you graduate to a different phase -- more dinner parties and kid focussed activities, punctuated with the book readings and art openings (a few times a year in my case but still the presence of the possibility makes a diffference to me) that i always enjoyed."

or

"My husband and I both grew up with back yards to play in and the relative safety of a neighborhood full of kids. I would LOVE for Jillian to have that kind of wild and free childhood and not have to rely on "playdates" and structured play areas."

"You can always drive into the city, or stay with friends there. I would sorely miss the spur of the moment ability to go see a band-- but I dream of a yard with kiddie pool, barbecues, and beer......."

http://www.babble.com/CS/forums/1/982/ShowThread.aspx

gee whiz!

2007-07-02T14:43:00.000-05:00

i sorta guessed i would get this rating.. these posts are usually written with my family & friends in mind. that, let me tell you, is quite a range of people from all different walks of life, ages & inclinations.. quite the "general audience" if you ask me.

quick story

2007-06-30T16:03:00.000-05:00

i made a spice cake for lucas birthday.. but i put it in the oven too far back and it rose right up into our large oven thermometer. so when i took it out i had to decide whether to "patch" the hole and cover it with icing, or what... this was my solution, since lu just loves trucks..

theres new pictures up for june now, and im busy uploading 9 new videos right now.. and should all be up before the weekend is over.

the whole enchilada!

2007-06-29T14:59:00.000-05:00

i have been trying to make good enchiladas for years it seems and i finally found my recipe! i usually do ground beef & cheese inside the corn tortillas... here's the sauce:

butter & flour like you're doin' a roux
add garlic, a smashed up chicken bullion cube, cumin & chili powder (optional)
and a 6-oz can of tomato paste
plus ~2.5 cups water (to desired texture)
salt & pepper

random news items

2007-06-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

lucas learned how to pedal his trike this week!

ruby can now roll in both directions!

it's hotter'n blazes here now, we're going to install our window unit soon.

the swimming pool is finally open, but we're much more likely to be found at the spray fountains in the parks.

we're thinking about what kinds of short trips we'd like to take this summer.. new york to visit friends, the beach, cape cod, maine or vermont... ? we'll see.. but first,

we have visitors coming! my dad is coming next week, and then the following weekend our best friends the sweeneys are coming, too! lucky us!

walkin' yes indeed

2007-06-25T07:07:00.000-05:00

a few weeks ago i joined in a walking program and they sent me a free pedometer and whatever else. the reason i joined is because of the free pedometer, see, i've been wondering since we moved here how much walking i do on a daily basis.. since it is my primary form of transportation.

the preliminary results are: at minimum 2.5 miles per day, doing nothing special.. which includes going to the park and grocery store. but on "busy" days, when our playdates take us further afield, i'm averaging 4.5 miles per day.

i really like walking, and i REALLY like not having a car, with all its concerns & expenses.. i do recognize the benefits of having a car, especially with a family (we rent one whenever we have a need) - but, well, vive la pedestrianism!

ruby's makin' moves

2007-06-17T14:21:00.000-05:00

today, ruby started rolling over intentionally (back to front)!!

the most recent dr, visit was 4-months,, she weighs 7.03kg/15.5lbs. and is 64cm/25.25in tall. her head circumference is 41 cm. she holds her head up well and has pretty much mastered the sweeping grasp (and has good grip!)

and the brightest smile, too..

fyi, i keep forgetting to mention... we posted new videos at the same time as the may pics

long post about lu being 2

2007-06-14T13:43:00.000-05:00

lucas is starting to say more words, constructing "sentences" with words & gestures. for example, he might say; "oo" "water" and make a big arm gesture.. meaning he ran through the water and got his "oos" (shoes) all wet. and repeating after the words we say. i say, okay now step into your pants-leg. and he says "tep" (step)..

my best example is this: two days last week he threw sand in someone's face! once in mine and once at a little boy. not to be mean, just to be two.. my response was swift both times.. i picked him up saying "no, we dont throw sand at people" and strapped him in the stroller to go directly home. but he didnt cry either time or even seem disappointed. he was like "okay, where are we going now?" and i wasnt sure he quite understood.

but several days later we were at another park and i saw him coming across the park with a hand full of sand, so i raised my eyebrows and said "what're you gonna do with that?" he came over, big smiles and threw it on the ground right in front of my feet and said "(gesture: throw) mama... go (gesture: pointing to park gate)...(mumble, concerned look, tucked chin, shaking head no)... no!". and i was sooooo proud. not only is this probably his biggest sentence to date, but its a big concept to boot!

and he's terrified of flies, it's kinda cute actually. the other day he came into the office after quietly playing by himself in the living room for several minutes, crying, pointing to the living room saying "bvvvvv" "bee, bee" (because somehow they never put illustrations of common houseflies in the picture book, but bees are in every one.. more colorful i guess.) so i went in and did what anyone would have.. i opened the window and waited until the fly landed on the screen and then closed the window, trying not to think about how many days it might last in there, and telling myself it couldnt be too long since they have a lifespan of 3 days or something. he felt safe then, and still points to the window, saying "bvvvv".

back to the communication skills... he points what way we should turn down the street, and says "way", and looks for a "giddy" (kitty) in every window, grabs a snack and say's "one?" as in : can i have one? or "deux?" as in: can i have more? (thats the french word for two, y'all). "duce" for juice. "woo-woo" for hotDOG.. ehh,. hmmm, hard to explain THAT to him... and "bomme" (pomme) for apple. when i say "can you say 'please'?" he says, (batting his eyelashes) "ma-ma?"

and if we come home after spending ALL day out, he whines, crying big alligator tears at the front door, pointing down the driveway saying "go! go!" meaning: i want to stay outside, lets go to the park or grocery store or whatever! anything but going inside mama! but (depending on my mood) we go inside anyway and i say "look honey, we're going! we're going INSIDE!" ha ha .. occasionally we give in to his requests, after all he's 2 and needs his sense of autonomy.

summers here

2007-06-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

well school's out finally.. lots of red gowns in cambridge. many people we got to know moving away, specifically kathryn & john, and ilse. i have been the person moving away too many times, and for once i can say i'm glad we're staying here awhile.

happy birthday to me,,,,

2007-06-04T20:56:00.000-05:00

i slept in til 8am (that's LATE around here), had vietnamese lunch with philippe, my girlfriend & her 2 kids came for an afternoon coffee, then a portuguese dinner & ice cream bars! and philippe got me a subscription to dwell magazine. i'm set!

our birthday party

2007-06-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

was fun. we originally wanted to have it last week, but we all got sick.. sinus and sore throats - wasnt too serious, but no fun. so we did it this weekend instead. lucas turned 2 and i'm turning 33 on monday. there were a nice amount of people adults and kids mixed, some food, drinks (we bought too many - ha! only 18 beers consumed by 9 adults) 3 cakes (one for lucas, one for me, and one came as a potluck contribution) and a trip around to the playground to splash in the fountain there because it was sooo hot. lucas got 3 "guders" (trucks, in lu-speak), a wheelbarrow, a monster bowling set, two original pieces of art from his peers, 3 books, and a deck of animal flashcards.

hullabaloo at the zoo

2007-05-24T06:35:00.000-05:00

yesterday we went to the zoo. it was an hour to get there, and almost 2 to get back, so i wont be going there tooo often.. but while we were there an incredible thing happened.

we went inside the monkey house. and there was a huge gorilla sitting on the ledge of the window flirting with the children, almost posing with a smile on (her?) face. an opportunity we couldnt resist. since lucas is a shy boy, he couldnt just walk up to the glass and say howdya'do to this enormous gorilla, i had to very gently go sit next to her (on our side of the glass) and invite lucas to sit in my lap. so he did, and our friend remy came up to join the experience.. and everything was fine. i periodically made eye contact with the gorilla, smiling and making sure she was okay with this.. and she was. i guess she really likes the children. she even let my girlfriend kiki take our picture together.

but as soon as another woman came and offered to take our picture together, kiki came and tried to sit down too.. and WHAM!! the gorilla slammed her fist on the window by kiki, and with a huge gesture of displeasure turned and walked away mad.(apparently kiki didnt ask permission or maybe she moved too fast, who will ever know?) we were all quite shaken, so we went around to the next window. it was another view of the same gorilla exhibit. and we stood there marveling at them. one was basking in the sun taking a nap, a baby was toodling around having fun, and a papa was sitting sentry.

i was taking pictures of the napper (presumably mama) when kiki pointed to the papa and commented how she loved his face, so i turned to take a picture of him and he came charging, beating his chest! he didnt come to the window, but we jumped back just the same. and two minutes after he took his new position, the baby and mama came and sat down with her back to our window. we were just about to walk off when the baby climbed onto her mama's back and stretched up high to lean against our window, playing! i really felt like we were witness to something spectacular, i was so impressed. usually exhibits the zoo are so tame compared to that.

happenings

2007-05-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

this weekend we went to our neighbor's 50th birthday party. it was a big catered affair, and we had a great time.

it rained quite a bit this weekend, so it seemed lucas was constantly in need of fresh clothes. he really enjoyed splashing around (water splasher!!) in one particularly large puddle in our driveway.. we figured the wash/dry of those shoes was inevitable anyway, so we let him really get wet. it was pretty nice, standing in the rain, watching my son have a ball.

tomorrow we will go to the cambridge city trucks show.. designed for the 2-6 crowd to see some city utility trucks up close & personal.. guder guder guder!!!

gonna go to the zoo sometime this week, too. and then on saturday we will invite every person we know here to mine & lucas' potluck-style birthday party. whoo!

simultaneous milestones

2007-05-11T16:44:00.000-05:00

this week ruby discovered her hands. its been coming for a while, but now she can intentionally grab things! and so it begins... she also started laughing and thinks she wants to roll over soon.

and lucas started being bilingual. up to this point he has one word (whichever word of the two languages is easier for him to say) and the occasional two-word sentence (with mix-n-match-languages).. but now he says yes.. "yeah" to me and "ouai" to philippe.. and also says he rides a "bike" with me but calls it a "welo" with philippe.

this is really incredible to watch, y'all.. it's like springtime in my house and we're watching two buds start to slowly open up into flowers.

ps. new videos up

having had fun

2007-05-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

we had a marvelous time with claire, and i got to do some tourism in boston that i have been meaning to do since we arrived (namely the freedom trail) you know, the balcony where the declaration of independence was read from, paul revere;s house & the church where they hung the " one if by land two if by sea" lanterns, and a bunch of other stuff too. we were stopped on boston common by a group of greeks that wanted to take a picture of lucas.. i guess because he's blonde (that'as happened before to him), and once they found out he was born in athens - three other cameras came out, amid hollers of "einai ellenos!", and "na sou zisei" for ruby. it was fun to brush off myu modest greek. i felt pretty smart i have to admit, despite having only learned a few phrases in the two years we were there// haha.

ive been hanging out with some really nice girls & their kids lately. its always so easy and free and interesting to hang out with them, and the kids seem to enjoy each other too.. feels nice to have some local girlfriends finally, even if two of them are moving away soon.. "better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" you know...

ps. april photos are up on the "current pix" now.
pps. joyeux anniversaire a ma belle-soeur au jourd'hui!!! j'espere que tu as un an tres agreeable!

my sister is here for a week

2007-04-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

the song in my head

2007-04-22T19:15:00.000-05:00

is the theme from the "rubbadubbers"..
its pretty cute, you can look it up on youtube if yr curious.
and theres actual episodes posted once a week in a kids variety show by the australian broadcasting co. http://www.abc.net.au/children/watch/

here come the rubbadubbers, splish splash splish splosh
here come the rubbadubbers, splish splash splish splosh
splish splash splosh

here's tubb
rubbadubber -sploshy
rubbadubber -finbar
rubbadubber -splish splash splosh
terrence -rubbadubber
winona -rubbadubber
reg and ophelia

here come the rubbadubbers, splish splash splish splosh
splish splash splosh
here come the rubbadubbers, splish splash splish splosh
splish splash splooooosh

raindrops keep falling on my head...

2007-04-17T12:29:00.000-05:00

its been raining now for 3 days. it always makes me quiet and pensive.. i love the rain, but my kiddos need to get outside some. oh well, at least my kids arent too rowdy..

right now it is silent in my house, except the softly playing radio (btw. the MIT radio station is pretty good, y'all... http://wmbr.mit.edu/).. ruby is laying on my desk looking out the window, and lucas is on the floor pulling books off the bottom shelves and putting them in the stroller basket.

i love the way ruby's face just lights up whenever she sees her brother smurfing around near her.

art show

2007-04-09T12:44:00.000-05:00

we've got some art pieces hanging in this show on friday.. i shipped it off this morning. it's a collaborative work by family le sager. if you're in houston go see it!
if you take pictures of the opening, email them to me please?

☻☺☻☺☻☺

Friday April 13th at superhappyfunland
2610 Ashland Street (@ W27th Street in the Heights)
Houston TX 77008 - (713)880-2100

Cardboard Art Show Opening
7pm-9pm

http://www.disclexington.com/cardboard.htm

art frenzy

2007-04-05T15:35:00.000-05:00

in my kids naptimes, ive been decorating easter eggs, cutting out construction paper spring flowers (gonna have a few kids over to hunt eggs sunday),, working on my cardboard art for kilian's show at shfl(www.superhappyfunland.com). making progress on my two scrapbooks (one for ruby ~until shes a year old like lucas' was~, and one for the family).. and maybe im gonna do a photo project about being a mommy. i got inspired to go ahead with my ideas after tms sent me a link of some really intersting work she saw recently (http://www.edelmangallery.com/blackmon.htm#3)

maybe this spring i'll get down in my basement and do something like real art again.

end of march

2007-04-02T15:22:00.000-05:00

so , okay, the march pictures are really up now.. including philippe's birthday. we went out and had a great time... although it felt odd at first not having the kids with us. our friend nikki came over just as we were putting the kids in bed, and we set her up with a pizza, beer & a dvd to watch, so we could go 'paint the town'.. haha -dorky!.. we ate at a good thai resto and afterwards went out see robyn hitchcock & the venus3 play nearby. good times good times

ruby went today for her 2 month checkup. she's such a sweet baby, and big too! 60cm/23in tall; 5.65kilos/12lbs 7oz. she's pretty strong and holding up her head good.