Fall Fun

It's been a while. This school year is kicking my butt. One of these days it's bound to get easier, but I haven't seen it happen yet. Here are some pictures of the fun we've been up to this fall when we can squeeze it in!

All four of us headed down to Blacksburg for a football game - we had a beautiful day, and a WIN! Claire showed off some very unique Hokie style.


We harvested lots of tomatoes from our garden, and have a freezer full of spaghetti sauce to show for it.

I went on a field trip to the C&O canal, where there were some beautiful views.

We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

The kids had international day at school.

And then Halloween - an adorable musketeer, and a beautiful princess showed up at our door!

Stay tuned for more. In the meantime, for those who are interested in some unique handmade jewelry check out the giveaway going on over here. Lisa Leonard's designs are lovely.

Early Morning Funnies

Me: I think you guys gave me your colds.

Ben: *sniffs experimentally* No, I still have mine!

Best Shot Monday - boat ride

Ben enjoying a boat ride on the weekend before Labor Day. Looks just about perfect to me!

Check out more great shots when you visit Tracey over at Best Shot Monday.

Ten on Tuesday - the back to school edition

1. Today was a busy day for most of the household. It was my first day of school with students, Ben's first day of Montessori, and Claire's -2nd day of kindergarten (kindergarteners don't start back at school until Thursday, but she went today to help her teacher show the new 3 year olds the classroom routines).

2. When Ben woke up he didn't even make it all the way down the stairs (he saw me in the hallway) before he ran back upstairs to put on his clothes for the first day.

3. He was most excited about his new "cool" shoes (sorry Uncle Brandon, they're not fancy anymore). So excited that after taking off his pajamas and running to the bathroom, he came back naked, and started putting his socks on. I did manage to talk him into putting on his clothes before his socks and shoes.

4. When I picked Ben up he told me he met lots of new friends. According to him, he met a girl named Christopher, a boy named Benjamin wearing the same shoes (Brian guesses he met him in a mirror), and a boy named traffic light. So pretty much everything he said is suspect.

5. Claire said she was very helpful, but that there were lots of people to help, so she got to spend some time doing her own work. She brought home two bracelets that she made, one sewn, and one beaded, and some coloring including a picture labeled "me and mi famle".

6. After school we went to get a "treat". Ben opted for the coffee shop and got some of "Nonni's favorite cookies", I got a pumpkin spice latte, and Claire chose ice cream from Cold Stone (I still can't believe that Ben chose the coffee shop over ice cream).

7. I was planning on asking Claire for a bite of her ice cream until she made her choices. Cotton candy ice cream (blue) with mini marshmallow mix-ins. No thanks.

8. Brian didn't have a special first day of anything, but he did a good job finishing packing the lunches (he was responsible for the PB&Js, and taking some pictures before they left.

9. He did, however, turn Ben's name tag in to the front office with the paperwork instead of actually putting it on our child.

10. All in all a good first day for everyone.

Ten on Tuesday

I've been thinking a lot lately about what my kids have added to my life. Here are some of the things I've been pondering lately:

1. Patience. Teaching middle schoolers I was pretty sure I had boundless stores of patience. Clearly I had a lot left to learn - as my kids quickly taught me. I am more patient than I imagined, but still, it runs out sometimes.

2. Humility. There is no choice when you have children, but to be humble. Like a few weeks ago at the post office when Ben told a man he had a big butt. That was most definitely a humbling experience.

3. Reflection. Sometimes when I watch and talk to Claire I see some of my traits reflected in her - particularly self-consciousness. I hope that I can help her outgrow that, as it is something that I have struggled with all my life. As I watch my children experience things, I spend a lot of time reliving my own memories of similar things.

4. Energy. There are days I feel like I have nothing left to give, but as a parent, that's just not an option, so I somehow manage to find enough extra stores of energy to make it through the day and keep up with two very active monkeys.

5. Laughter. I have never laughed as much as I have since Claire and Ben were born. Every day they do something goofy that makes me laugh.

6. Wonder. Having kids is an opportunity to look at the world again through fresh eyes. The wonder that they find in the smallest things is amazing to watch. The other day Claire said to me, "Look Mama, isn't this the most beautiful rock you've ever seen?" It was something that normally I would have walked right past without noticing, but to her the color and the shape were clearly noteworthy.

7. Fatigue. All nighters in college were nothing compared to the day-in day-out demands of taking care of two kids. Especially when one or the other (or both) are going through periods of not sleeping very much, or for very long at a time. Somehow we make it through. I can do a lot more, on a lot less sleep, than I ever thought possible. It definitely makes me forgetful, though. Sometimes I wander from the dining room into the kitchen, and by the time I've arrived I've forgotten what I was coming for.

8. Pride. There is nothing that makes my heart swell more than watching my kids accomplish something new. When people compliment them it makes me so proud of the little people that they are becoming. Also getting to see the pride that they take in their accomplishments - be it reading a new word, some artwork, or an outstanding physical feat - fills up my heart.

9. Gratitude. I feel as though since becoming a mother I stop more often to be thankful for all of the blessings I have. Clearly, Claire and Ben are two of my biggest blessings, but there is so much else to be thankful for. Every time that I take a moment to stop and think about it, I feel so incredibly lucky.

10. Love. I never imagined that I could feel so much love, and yet it continues to grow and grow. I am so lucky to have these two amazing children in my life. The love makes me happier than ever for the good things, but it also makes me hurt when they are hurting. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

Ten on Tuesday - the picture free edition

1. The power cord to my lovely MacBook is not working well. Tomorrow I will be visiting the Genius Bar. This is why there are no new pictures today.

2. Tomorrow I will also be celebrating my 9th wedding anniversary. Yippee!

3. Except we're not really going to celebrate until next week when the kids are at my parents' house for 3 days.

4. Also, to add to tomorrow's excitement, I need to register Claire for SACC (school aged child care) for the 2010-2011 school year. I have been told that if I don't get through tomorrow, I am likely to wind up on the waiting list, without a spot.

5. My kids crack me up all the time. Lately they frequently pretend to be mother and child, and so tonight I heard Claire telling Ben, "Honey? Honey, you're beautiful, but I just don't know. You're kind of odd." I have no idea where she came up with that, but I could not stop laughing.

6. In other funny kid stuff, Ben has started prefacing many statements with "I'm serious!" which just makes me laugh so hard. He really is trying to be serious a lot of the time, but I can not help cracking up.

7. We just got back from 5 days in northern California. We had a great trip including a trip to an aquarium, riding a cable car, seeing the giant Redwoods, a 98th birthday party, and a trip to the beach where both kids got to splash in the Pacific Ocean. It was fabulous.

8. My mom told me today that one of Claire and Ben's fourth-cousins-once-removed (got that?) who is between them in age, told her Nonni yesterday, "I want to go back to Auntie Popo's and play with those kids." When she was told that they flew home on the plane yesterday she then replied, "Well call them, and tell them to come back!" Apparently they were popular.

9. Ben liked playing with his fourth-cousins-once-removed, but preferred playing in their father's fire truck. I think if we lived in California Nick would be Ben's new best friend. He let them turn on the lights, talk over the loudspeaker, and try out the siren, as well as trying on his hat and coat.

10. Speaking of his coat, in a classic example of one hand not talking to the other, it was determined that all fire personnel at a traffic incident have to wear reflective vests. The reflective vests are not fireproof, so if there is a fire they can not wear them. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Ahh, bureaucracy.

And that's it for this Tuesday. Stay tuned - if I can get a new power cord, or they can make it work, hopefully I'll have pictures from our trip to share soon.

Best Shot Monday - buds

As a kid, being forced to get up early on Saturday mornings to go and weed the gardens, I never thought I would have gardens of my own, or get so much pleasure out of watching the flowers come up. My favorites are definitely my hydrangeas.

Please stop by Tracey's blog to check out some of the other fabulous pictures from Best Shot Monday.