Holidays are for family photos

White Friday

Cole turned 3.5 three days ago. To celebrate, we had a White Friday (as opposed to the much maligned Black Friday).

We went to the Catskills for Keith and Cole's first run of the season. 

But before we went, we mapped out a plan of what and where we'd eat each meal. We gave ourselves a time frame of when we would leave the house and what we needed to get done without killing each other (because leaving the house with two children is always a production on a normal day, imagine what it must be like when going skiing!) We stopped at the Phoenicia Diner for a delicious breakfast (it was so good that Bevin ate their eggs and she usually throws eggs overboard!) Then we stopped at the Big Indian Deli and got some super duper sandwiches (totally too much food) so we wouldn't have to eat crappy cafeteria food (at fine dining prices) at Belleayre. On our way home we ate at this new Asian Mexican fusion fast food joint called Crazy Bowlz that was pretty decent. Whoever heard of Edamame and quesadillas on the same menu? If you've eaten at this place then you have. 

But back to the main event: Riding the white stuff. 

(Did you know that Keith starts itching for winter in June? True story. While I despise even an ounce of cold weather, Keith loves it.  Snowboarding is his all time favorite form of play.)

While Cole and Keith skied, I stayed with Bevin in the warm ski lodge with views of the rest of the Catskills on one side and skiers and snowboarders zooming down the trails on the other. It was some stimulating stuff. So stimulating that Bevin actually fell asleep without a fuss in the Boba while I walked around the lodge checking out all the other mommies and daddies sitting at tables with their newspapers, tablets or homework (I saw one mother grading papers!)

Keith went for a few runs by himself once he was done with Cole's run. We waited with baited breath for Keith to come zipping down the mountain, but every snowboarder with a red coat turned out to be someone else. Finally, I spotted someone at the corner of my eye zipping this way and that down the hill (would you believe I've never seen Keith snowboard in real life? -only ever on videos or pictures) and there he was! Daddy! Cole was so happy to see him he ran over to the door to greet and hug Keith. It was probably the most heartfelt greeting Keith has ever gotten after a run down the mountain. 

Looking off into the distance...

Keith holding on...

Ski lift selfie

Daddy's own run

Sssh.  Don't tell Bevin this isn't HER corner. Blurry photos rule when it's just you and your baby in a ski lodge. 

Cole insists he's going to take this gigantic snowball home. 

Conked out not even five minutes into our ride to Kingston. 

Cousins.

This is just one of the many reasons I love holidays. Cousins!

From her dinner table to Yours

"Happy Thanksgiving! Now get me out of this damn chair!"

It's the little things

The children are my saving grace. When I've had a lousy day and I pull into the garage to have Cole run to my car so excited that he can't wait to tell me in his sweet little voice "Mommy, I have a towel rack now!" it makes my worries disappear for the moment and makes me realize who and what is most important in life. Not the people I work with (students, teachers, and administrators) but the people I love. My little family brings me such joy. 

This morning at 2:30 for instance, Bevin woke up and was awake, though still clearly tired. I think she really wanted to be awake and hang out and play but was willing to be persuaded back to sleep. So I did just that. After trying to stand up and crawl around I laid her down next to me and rubbed her soft little face while she smiled in pleasure. She eventually closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.  It was a sweet mama -baby moment. 

This weekend we went food shopping at Adam's and on our way home we stopped at the Co-op for some quinoa in bulk and also rice milk, two things Adam's doesn't carry. Bevin was asleep in her car seat so Cole opted to come in with me. After we got the quinoa we stopped at the end cap of the two main aisles that exist in the small building. The end cap was full of teas and I wanted to see if they had the particular nursing tea I liked. Cole spotted a nighttime tea he wanted but it was clearly marked - not for children. I looked on the shelves and discovered that Traditional Medicinals actually made an organic night time tea for kids. We had hit the jack pot. We paid for it and Cole was so proud of his tea that he walked out of there with his head held high, the tea in the crook of his arm and his hand over the box waving happily. "I got a tea that's just for kids, Daddy," he reported to Keith when we arrived to the car. He was so proud of his find he held it in his hands the entire drive home and tore it open as soon as we reached the kitchen. And, he declared, it was "yummy!"

And have I told you the greeting I get from Bevin every afternoon when I get he? She squeezes her hands together in fists plunges them up and down and screams at the top of her lungs. 

This is what a scream looks like on her face....

Wherein we try to capture her standing

Instead I got this action shot. But I think it's pretty cool regardless! You can see it all- her strength, her determination, her balancing skills. In two days she 'll be 10 months old. Seriously. Time. It just keeps going. 

I hate report card weekend.

It never starts off well because I'm tired but goddamit report cards are due and they must get done. 

It was kind of a tough weekend wherein at the tail end of it I decided I'm sick and tired of spending my only two days off all week doing more work. So from now on I'm staying an hour extra after work each day and I'm gonna get shit done. I better. My sanity depends upon it. 

Here's the funniest picture from the weekend. Bevin was doing her usual sleep fighting antics and I was letting her. How could I resist that smile?

Currently down in the dumps

Today I'm feeling down in the dumps. I've had some annoyances at work which have gotten me down and of course I had to write last week about how great my students are (now it is seriously past tense). I'm paying for that big time. It's akin to telling the world your child slept through the night. You just feel so good about it that you want to share it with everyone. But it always backfires. What irks me is that it didn't come from a smug "I'm such a great teacher" place. It came from my heart. At least I thought it did.

I just want to cry. I travel so far to work every day and put in so much extra time every week to keep up and make my lessons that much better. But I STILL fall behind with my grading, and encounter people who are less than grateful and not very nice at all. 

The holidays can't come fast enough. I do have to remind myself that at least I don't have to encounter these people in my off time. There is something to be said for privacy.  My personal time is mine. They can't invade it. 

I have not minded one bit though getting some adorable pictures of my kiddos the past two days. Keith sent me these pics yesterday and today. 

Bevin awaiting her flu shot...

Cole right after he got his shot...

Did I mention that is a chocolate covered rice krispy treat on a stick?!

Wordless Wednesday

Just your average night....

This weekend's best pictures

Say a little prayer

Currently Mama is...

praying for my friend Heather who is scheduled for a double masectomy tomorrow. This 36-year-old mother of two has got cancer in both breasts and my prayers are that when they take off those boobies they take all of the cancer with them. Please join me in praying for this beautiful and sarcastic woman. While you're here, click on her name and check out her new blog. She started it as a way to share her message that if you can (not pregnant or breastfeeding) and haven't, please get a mammogram. But she's also been using it as a way to express herself through this clearly emotional time. Heather is a writer by profession (that's how I met her - at our famed "community" newspaper!) but even if she wasn't the blog would be awesome.  You'll be amazed at her ability to keep her sense of humor in tact while standing in the face of something so scary. My heart goes out to her and my thoughts and prayers will be with her tomorrow.

reading (listening to) In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan and it is changing my outlook once again on food. I've been eating too many cold cuts lately, and realize I'm probably slowly poisoning myself in the process, so we've switched to cooking a breast of poultry (chicken or turkey) on the weekends and eating it throughout the week. We've also resolved to grow a better garden next summer and really focus our energies on tending to it. We'd love to do a full share (we do a half share now) with our CSA and freeze the extra goodies (I mean it's an organic farm for crying out loud!) but it's super expensive and we are super broke right now! So this was what Keith came up with as a compromise when I came home from work having listened to his recommendations and was all "We've got to get a dedicated freezer and do a full share next year!" This is also in light of the sad news that there will no longer be a winter farm market at our community center this year.

proud of my husband for standing by his principles and not taking work from the aforementioned "community" newspaper we used to work for. This newspaper was recently bought out by a new company and they fired the entire photo staff a month later. Consequently, they are filling their pages with work done by freelancers so of course Keith was on their list. But Keith is not one to profit off of someone else's loss. These guys were (and two still are) friends of ours. One of them photographed our wedding. So when they called Keith he was all "Nah, not interested" and they got the point pretty quickly.

(was) going to complain about my commute and everything I hate about it, but what's the point? All I'll say is that when I finally drive into my beautiful town, I realize why it's worth driving so far. That and I don't ever have to have supermarket parent conferences. Nuff said.

grateful for my students this year. They have driven home my decision to transfer to the high school. They are awesome kids and, most of the time, they truly brighten my day. After my "magic" class from a few years ago, I didn't think I'd have that connection with students for quite some time. So imagine my surprise when it came this year with not one class but multiple classes. I keep trying to think "What's different about me?" And I think it is this: I am a different person than I was two years ago.  Having two children and being married for 7 years will do that to a person. I think I am a better version of myself.

Cole is…
way into block stacking, building houses, robots, cars and rocketships. He also tries his hand at sky scrapers.

Bevin is…. following in Cole's footsteps and is way into knocking his blocks down.

Cole is also way into coloring, drawing and making collages. He is on his second sketchbook at his pre-school. He colors in coloring books and practices free drawing in his sketchbooks. He can stay very focused on his art. He's truly living up to his namesake (Hudson River painter Thomas Cole)...

His first (discernible) monster...

Bevin is cruising along shelves and small table tops. Just last week during an open house at Cole's pre-school, she pulled herself up onto a stand with no help and balanced by herself for a few seconds before plopping back down. She was so proud of herself. Here's her "Just doin' my thang" bookshelf lean...

At home with Daddy

This past week it has not been easy to be a parent. Why? Because kids don't easily adjust to daylight savings time like adults do. Whereas, we can just roll with the punches and turn over and sleep another hour, kids simply do not.
We've had earlier wake up times, more afternoon and evening meltdowns and less time to play outside.

Both kids have had runny noses for a week and Keith is currently trying to keep his under control.  

Factor in that naptimes have been few and far between and you've got a recipe for some cranky times. 

Lately, Keith has to deal with two sleep fighters during the day. 

Bevin...

And Cole (who thinks naptime looks like this and lasts for no more than five seconds)...

Fortunately Cole can pretend play more and more on his own. Sometimes he just needs to get jump started by doing some living room "clean up."  I use quotes because that's the rule Keith has before Cole can watch his morning or afternoon show. Sometimes Cole will get so distracted by his toys that he'll forget his end goal. More play and less tv is fine in my book!

Cole has been eating up a storm these days and has grown at least three inches in the past 6 months.  I'll come home from work and Cole will claim he's hungry and will start begging for a snack. Keith's standard response lately has been: "He's been eating all day!!"

And here Bevin has found her nook on Daddy.

This is what Keith's typical mornings and afternoons look like in our living room...

Luckily, though, Cole doesn't always have to vie for Keith's time because they get one day a week for father and son time and those days are treasured.

Here are some more iPhone shots Keith sent me on a recent Thursday...

Our little reader

The other night, after a long day of birthday party hopping in New Jersey we stopped at a local diner for dinner. Cole had been such a sport all day, dealing with the hard part of the trip like a champ: Bevin's screams and our frustration with not being able to soothe her (pulling over and taking her out of the car seat to nurse her does not count). We walked into the diner without our usual arsenal of crayons, coloring books and toys. Instead we brought one book and a stuffed animal. It happens to be Cole's favorite book of the moment, one we've read to him countless times in the past few weeks. It's not one we would have chosen to be his favorite, but he likes it, he listens to the words and understands the story and that's what matters. So Keith opens the book and Cole declares that he will read the book to Daddy.

And then he did the most amazing thing, he read the entire book, almost word for word, to Keith (with me watching and listening from across the booth in complete awe). He has done this before on a smaller scale, but never to this degree where he remembered an entire book. I love his enthusiasm for reading and for once I felt a sense of pride in myself for reading to him every day

I can only hope his enthusiasm for reading, his excitement when I bring a book home from the library lasts well into his teenage years - when that zest for reading will come in handy if apathy ever tries to rear it's ugly head.

Cole's reorganized bookshelf…

Here's Keith's instagram photo that I totally stole off the internet. This is what our nights look like. Bevin dances (or nurses) while Cole and I read...

Our little eater

So glad we stuck with baby led weaning. It was really tough those first two months, but she has come so far and is becoming  such a good eater. 

She can chew apples and knows how to spit the skin out. 

Here she is eating cottage cheese from a (pre-loaded) spoon. Eating from a spoon! Priceless.