Election Day

This just in:  Dash has cast his first ballot in a presidential race (over breakfast, at our house, and only verbally, but still, a kid has to practice voting, right?) and he told me that he threw his support behind "Barack O'Mommy".

Day 5 of gratitude

In honor of my mom's birthday, today I am grateful that my mom and dad made the bold decision to leave the town they'd lived in for many decades to start anew close to me and my growing family.  Ever since they moved to Chapel Hill when Ella was 3 months old, I've loved having them close by.  My mom takes care of my kids regularly so I can work, and I am just so grateful that her relationship with Ella and Dash is so rich and loving.

Halloween

I have to admit that Halloween is not so much my favorite holiday.  I like a mini Snickers bar (or ten) as much as the next gal, but I've never been a big costume fan.  And since every day pretty much is dress-up day at our house, adding to the bursting dress-up bins with new Halloween costumes doesn't exactly get me fired up.  But this year, our nanny showed up with a chicken costume for Dash which was so stinking cute, even I, the Halloween Grinch, had to get a little bit excited.  Then Ella decided to be a chicken farmer to go along with Dash's chicken, and well, I finally started looking forward to October 31.  Kids in coordinating costumes?  Yes, please.  The icing on the cake (candy coating on the M&Ms?) came when Ella's best friend invited us to her house for a Halloween dinner party followed by trick-or-treating with a group of pals.  This was the first year Ella really seemed interested in the trick-or-treating part of the evening, and we did have fun roaming the streets as the sun went down, enjoying the company of our friends and watching the kids trick-or-treat together.  So far, we've even managed to limit the amount of candy that has been consumed just by putting it away in a cabinet.  I'm going to call it a successful Halloween.  Bonus?  Ella has worn the overalls and plaid shirt to school constantly, and as soon as she outgrows them, they go right into the 'To Grow Into' pile for Dash.  Fun and thrifty!

The chicken farmer and her chicken.
 

Silliness with their best pals Leia and Miles.

 

Halloween gang takes to the streets.

 

Me and my little chicks

 

Trick or treat.

 

And now for a walk down Memory Lane....

Halloween 2008.  Bald beauty. 

 Halloween 2008 as a non-plussed chili pepper.

 

Halloween 2009 as Ella the Elephant. 

Halloween 2009.  She didn't know there was candy inside but she sure had

fun lining up all the candy on the front porch rug. 

Halloween 2010.  Year Deux as Ella the Elephant.  This year Mama

went as the lady who ate too much Halloween candy. 

Halloween 2010 Elephant. 

Halloween 2011.  Ladybug and Dragon guarding the family pumpkins. 

Day 4 of gratitude

I could be grateful every single day to my parents for something, but for today, it is something small and silly but very meaningful to me.  I am grateful that when I was a child, my parents recognized the difficulty for a small kid in waiting a whole year between birthdays so they implemented the half birthday celebration.  My kids have embraced this custom with gusto (what's not to like about half a cake?), and I am grateful for a special day to allow me to reflect on the blessing of my happy, healthy children and to celebrate them.  Today Ella and I went out for lunch and to the bookstore to pick out a few new books and she proudly told the clerk that it was her half birthday.  Then we came home and decorated a cake, half for Mimi's 66th birthday, and half for Ella's 4.5 birthday.

Blowing out the candles with Mimi on the

66 and 4 1/2 birthday cake.

 

Day 3 of gratitude

Today I am grateful for all the new technologies that allow us to stay in touch with our loved ones.  Texting, Facebook, Skype, Blogs - I'm grateful for the relationships that are maintained and enriched over the many miles with friends and family thanks to these technologies.

An aside: this post is a day late because, ironically, I was having major technical difficulties with my new computer yesterday.  Go figure.

Beezra

Dash is remarkably articulate for a little boy not even two years old.  He has a big vocabulary and he says most words quite clearly.  But there is one that he says obviously incorrectly in what we think is the cutest way ever.  Instead of zebra, he says beezra.  He says it clear as day, and he says it a lot since he is rather fascinated with jungle animals.  He is becoming widely known for this unique pronunciation.  At his parent-teacher conference this week, his teachers commented specifically on that word and said they often hand him the various zebra toys in hopes of hearing him say beezra because it's so cute.  And the dad of one his classmates is apparently trying to teach his son to say beezra since he thinks it is such a great word.  I know the time will come when he starts saying zebra correctly, and I can already tell that I will miss the good ole beezra days.

30 days of gratitude: Days 1 and 2

I've seen many variations on the 30 days of gratitude exercise, and it always speaks to me because whenever I complain about the wrong-du-jour in my life, there is always a voice in the back of my head reminding me that I have SO very much for which to be grateful.  So in the month of Thanksgiving, I love the idea of reflecting on one of those many gifts each day.

Nov 1:  I am grateful that I've spent my entire life living in safe, warm environments.  There are so many people in the northeast without power and with huge losses of home and belongings after Hurricane Sandy this week.

Nov 2:  I am grateful my children to go a preschool where they are loved and nurtured, and I am grateful for the community of parents there.   I am grateful for the friendships I have forged there when I didn't even know I was looking for new friends.  Today the kids and I walked to school with one of those friends, and after our brisk fall walk (heavy on the way there with 4 kids in the double strollers, light on the way home with only a few discarded jackets and art projects from their going-home drawers), I felt refreshed and energized and happy.