Jacoblog

How To Make 4 Delicious Meals by Jacob Newman

2012-01-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

Jacob brought home a book he made in school called How to make 4 delicious meals. He included his from memory recipes for pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and rice krispy snacks. Here is the recipe for rice krispy snacks, with pictures!

First, you buy the ingredients and bring it home. Next, you mix the ingredients in the mixer. Then, you let it settle. Last, you eat it. Then thay [sic] are all gone.

One of the most curious things about each recipe is that the first step is always buying the ingredients from the store! The other fact of note is that Jacob always spells ingredient correctly!

Casey's words

2011-12-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

Casey often makes up words that are nonetheless very expressive and right on. Just the other day, she was remembering when she dislocated her elbow while swinging from my arm. She said that her arm was "woozy and waggy" when it was "located" :)

Halloween!

2011-11-01T13:27:00.001-07:00

You might remember that I overdid it last year on Halloween. In fact, it's entirely possible that this year I was STILL burned out from last year's festivities.

Jacob wanted to be Mario, and I looked at a lot of home made costumes and none of them looked as much like Mario as the store bought one, so I bought it! Casey wanted to be a kitty cat. She and I picked out some regular black clothes, and then we got ears, a tail, some black gloves, and I made her a kitty cat trick-or-treat bag.

Fall has been beautiful here, and we've had a lot of wonderful family adventures out of doors. I'll try to post a few more pictures from our beautiful fall when I get a chance. Happy Halloween, y'all!

Gregson Family Reunion

2011-10-16T05:39:00.001-07:00

Last month we surprised Josh's dad, Lloyce "Bogie" Gregson, with a visit for his 60th birthday. The trip was organized by Josh's sister, Jessica, and all of Josh's siblings were there: Michael, Joe, James and Jessica! Michael, James and Jessica flew all the way from LA! Also in attendance was Jame's girlfriend Dorothy and Jessica's husband Felix, and a dear friend of the family, Joe W.

What a great weekend! We played Monopoly, Horseshoes, Croquet, and Football! We made fires and drank beer! Felix and Jessica made everone a gourmet 5 star meal that was DIVINE! Everyone feasted on Kat's wonderful biscuits, pancakes, soups, stews and barbeques! The children watched Uncle Joe play video games! We ate Birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday!

It was a seriously fun trip to Alabama, and I can't wait to see the whole family together again. LOVE YOU GREGSONS!

Coach Kathy

2011-09-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Ask my mom: I was not an athletic kid. My mom tried to get me into ballet, horse back riding, soccer, swim team....it didn't matter. No matter what sport my parents tried to get me into I didn't like it. So imagine my surprise earlier this fall when I decided to become a volunteer coach for Casey's U5 soccer team. Yah, I didn't believe it either.

It turns out that you don't need to know very much about soccer to coach this age group. Mostly you just need to know about coaching, and that information is viral and mostly free on the internet. I was surprised to learn that it's actually counter-productive to teach kids this age about passing, or about boundaries, or goal kicks, or positions---or anything else that sounds like "real" soccer. So here is what I have been doing instead: having the kids play tag, having the kids pretend the ball is a puppy, do the bunny hop, learn each others' names, learn how to say "good game" at the end, and try to not to celebrate too much when they score and score and score.

Because do you know what is even stranger than me coaching soccer? Having a winning team. In two of the last three games our team has absolutely devastated the opposition. Like 20 to 1. I'm not exaggerating.

The final thing that is surprising me more than anything else is that I am having a blast. Most of the kids and the other parents are, too. Casey, well, I'm not so sure about her. She spent the first game using the cones as clothing accessories, and the second game she almost fell asleep on the sidelines. But she likes playing games with me and the other kids at practice, and I think she's proud that I am her coach.

And, to tell you the truth, so am I!

The Mystique of Chincoteague

2011-07-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

This was the 22nd annual Assateague "Sacrifice Your Body" massive group camping trip, organized by a tribe of friends for at least one generation. This year there were rumored to be 200 campers occupying about 5 camp sites.

Do You Ever Get That Sinking Feeling?

2011-06-19T19:38:00.001-07:00

To celebrate Father's Day today we drove an hour north to Moraine State Park, where a large man-made lake adds some recreational possibilities to a massive wetland. Our plan was to go on a group kayaking trip organized by Venture Outdoors. It was a humid, hottish, overcast day, with some sun breaks. Casey worried a lot in the car on the way up that the boat wouldn't be safe, and that something bad would happen that would land her unceremoniously in the water. She also asked about sharks and other creatures that might attack her. We reassured her that she would be safe. Over and over and over again.

We met the group, put on our sunscreen, got on our life jackets and then had our life jackets checked by the group leaders. I pushed out into the water in a single kayak, and Josh got into a tandem kayak with three seats: One for him in the back, one for Casey in the middle, and one for Jacob up front. Suddenly, we were seaborn; Jacob trailed his hands in the water and looked over at me. Shouting at the top of his lungs, he declared: "Mom, it's so peaceful." As Josh and the kids passed in front of me I noticed that the back of their kayak looked like it was laying very low in the water.

Then Casey beamed from her middle seat: "I'm not scared anymore mom! I'm not scared!" We saw a blue heron glide across the lake. We saw lily pads in bloom. We saw dragon flies and people fishing. We stopped after about 10 minutes and listened to one of the park rangers tell us a few facts about wetlands; as she finished her spiel I paddled after her and asked her how the State Park wetlands have been affected by all the natural gas drilling in PA (called fracking) and she said, "That's a good question, I'm not really allowed to talk about it." I paddled after her with a few more questions, and then I looked behind me and I realized I couldn't see the rest of my family!

With some squinting and craning I realized that behind me about 200 yards, I could see Josh's kayak. It was the only one with three people in it. Up ahead I could see our next destination: three dead trees near the far shore. I thought about paddling ahead, but instead I decided to wait for Josh. I looked around at the beauty and I felt all of the stress melt out of my body. I thought about how my parents liked to go sailing when I was a teenager and how much I hated that sailboat, and how ungrateful I was, and how much I liked the feeling now, of being on the water, almost in the water. I turned my boat around again and I saw that Josh and the kids were heading back to the beach.

What was wrong?

As I started to paddle towards them one of the group members said, "Your family's boat is leaking! They are headed back to shore."

I pointed my kayak towards the beach and tried to paddle quickly. I imagined myself suddenly in a spy thriller, and tried to go as fast as I could. I soon could see both of my children and Josh, safe, on a small dock, ecstatic. Jacob cried out: "Mom, our boat got a hole in it. We were sinking!" Casey seemed very happy. "And Mom, I sneaked into our snack bag and got a snack!" She was eating sliced pears from a small tupperware container. At first I was a bit stunned that our Father's Day Eco Tour was over, since there weren't anymore seaworthy tandem kayaks, but Josh pulled me aside and confessed that right before the trip leaders noticed how much water his boat was taking on that Casey had declared that she was ready to pack it in.

The Venture Outdoor leaders were very apologetic, and offered to give us trip credits for another venture. We piled everyone back in the car and headed for Amon's birthday party back in the city. We drove the back roads through Zelienople to avoid a bad traffic jam on 79, and Jacob and Casey played a funny role playing game in which Jacob was the dad and Casey's lovey was the baby.

After Amon's birthday party I gave Casey a bath and put her to bed. Josh played a few games of Mario Cart with Jacob and then went to see the movie The Green Lantern with some of his pals. Jacob and I decided to play a board game. I don't think they make these commercials any more, but if you are old enough to remember the tag line "You sunk my battleship," then you can appreciate the delicious irony that Jacob and I ended our day, after the Father's Day kayaking near-sinking almost-disaster, with a game of old school Battleship. Jacob won, though just barely, and with some pretty big hints. And we both agreed: it had been a great Father's Day!

Family Fun is....well....FUN!

2011-06-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

I love Family Fun magazine. It's a Disney product, so of course I'm a bit worried about that, but this magazine has the BEST ideas for kid crafts, travel ideas, food/snack ideas, teacher gift ideas, summer fun ideas....anyway, IT'S AWESOME!

Last night I had no teacher's gift for Ms. Piesik, Jacob's first grade teacher. By this morning at 8:45 Jacob and I had made this "P" out of crayons for her. Above is the original photo of the idea, and our version, complete with Jacob and his teacher. What do you think?

Summer, ho!

2011-06-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Am I the only kid on the planet that sort of dreaded summer? I remember feeling sad on the last day of class. It wasn't that I hated summer...I just LOVED school! I also remember going to the library, checking out dozens of books, and reading them outside (sometimes under a blanket, because this was Seattle, after all) and eating chocolate chips and lemon drops! And, of course, we swam every day in the lake! So what did I have to be mopey about?

Now I look forward to summer a lot more because summer means going to see family in Alabama, Seattle, and friends in New England! And, hopefully, our kids look forward to it, too.

Today I told the kids that they had a box from Nana waiting for them at home. "I think it's clothes," said Casey. And Casey was right! Here are Jacob and Casey's cool new summer swim outfits. Thanks, Nana!

CSI Pittsburgh

2011-05-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon I was folding clothes in the master bedroom when I heard Jacob bounding up the stairs.

“Mom, I have a bug bite!”

He turned around and I could see a big welt on his back, right above his tailbone. It was reddish orange in the middle with a ring of white skin, and then more red skin around the white skin. It looked like a bite all right. A SPIDER BITE. Josh thought so too. He got some first aid items from the bathroom.

I started Googling “brown recluse spider bite” and “images.” The pictures that came up on my phone were pictures of rotted flesh—bites that had festered and become black in the middle. Pictures out of a horror movie.

Jacob screamed out in pain. I looked over and Josh was dabbing rubbing alcohol on his bite. Obviously, it hurt.

I Googled “home remedies for insect bites.” I saw references to honey, baking soda, meat tenderizer (which we didn’t have) and vinegar. I ran downstairs and made up a little batch of home remedy, and I used Cream of Tartar for the meat tenderizer. Josh and I applied some to Jacob’s back. “Ouch,” Jacob cried. The bite was getting worse by the minute.

But then I thought: I’ve never seen a brown recluse spider in our house. Or anywhere in Pittsburgh. Or anywhere in my life. On the other hand, we were suffering from a bit of a STINK BUG invasion. So I Googled “Stink bug bite” and “images.” One site said “orange-reddish bites are made by the stink bug.” It sure looked orangish-red to me and Josh.

I called Poison Control.

“I think my son has been bitten by a STINK BUG."

“No ma’am,” replied my Poison Control operator. “Stink bugs are members of the (gobbledygook scientific word here) family, and those insects don’t bite.”

So it was back to the hypothesis that it was a BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER bite. Or maybe it was a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER. Or maybe just a wasp, or a bee.

I decided to ask Jacob a few questions:

“Jacob, do you remember getting the bite? Did it feel like you were pricked, or pinched?”

“No.”

“Do you remember seeing any bugs around when it happened?”

“No.”

“Do you remember hearing the sound of bugs flying? Like a bee?”

“No.”

Finally, I did what any mom would do. I called a very skilled dermatologist who lives in Seattle. And who is my sister. And I described Jacob’s very large, swollen spider bite to her.

“Hmmmm…..” she said. “Send me some pictures.”

I took some pictures of Jacob’s giant bug bite on the front porch, where we could get some natural light. I transferred the pictures to the computer. I Googled a few more species of spider bites images. Yuck. I attached my photographs to an email for my sister and clicked “Send.”

Then some friends came over and Jacob seemed better and I forgot all about the pictures and my sister and my phone. About an hour later I found my phone and checked my messages. There was one from my sister.

“Call me,” she said. It sounded serious. So I called her back.

“I don’t think it’s an insect bite,” Brenda said.

“You don’t?”

“I think it’s a rug burn.” Brenda used very precise medical language to explain her reasoning. We talked a bit more about how to care for the wound, and then we hung up. I found Jacob.

“Jacob, Aunt Brenda thinks your bug bite might be a rug burn. Is that possible?”

“Sure," he said. I was playing on the rug out here earlier tonight.” Jacob got down on the front porch rug to demonstrate. He laid down on his back and kicked his feet up into the air. “And I felt something on my back, above my shorts.”

“Did it feel like a rug burn?”

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "It felt kind of like something was burning me on my back. Right here." He pointed to his back, where the wound was.

IT WAS A RUG BURN. THE MYSTERY WAS SOLVED!!!!!

As I went to bed Sunday night I thought about how lucky I was to have a dermatologist for a sister! Thanks Brenda, for solving the mystery of the DEADLY BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER BITE that was JUST A RUG BURN!

Are You Afraid of the Nose Goblin? You Should Be!

2011-05-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

My sister, the real Dr. Newman, sent this missive from the Northwest about a new trick she invented to scare her kids into not picking their noses!

-------------------------------

So. It was getting late and I was trying to get the kids settled into bed. Ayar (pronounced A-yah) was picking her nose and innocently rubbing boogers all over the bed/parents.

Thoughtlessly, I said:

"Ayar, you better stop picking your nose or the nose goblin will come"...But then of course i had to explain what the nose goblin was.

So I said:

"Didn't you know that the nose goblin (who is very tiny) sits on the window sill looking for children who are picking their noses? If he finds them, he waits till they fall asleep and then he crawls inside their noses and eats the boogers?"

Ayar did not say anything for a long time. Her dad said her face shrunk down to the size of a pea. Then she said.....very quietly:

"Mom...I will never pick my nose again".

But nor will she ever fall asleep for fear of the nose goblin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job mom!

PS: I blame Kathy for the image of the Belly Popper which was embedded deep in my psyche!!!

PPS: Zarni seemed to enjoy this image-- even weirder!!

Going Overboard on Birthdays: Guilty as Charged

2011-05-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

If you know me you have heard me complain about the modern child's birthday party. I am often overwhelmed by what I call the "potlatch" birthday, in which all the kids in a class are invited, plus all siblings and parents. Often these are held at a large indoor venue, like a play space, or a shopping mall bounce house arena. While I always enjoy attending these birthday parties---nothing like taking my kids to a giant bouncer on a rainy Saturday afternoon and chowing down on cake and pizza, it often seems to be that the birthday child gets a bit overshadowed in the mayhem. Of course I have hosted a potlatch birthday (for Jacob's 4th birthday, in Nashville), and I know where the impetus comes from; it comes from not wanting to exclude anyone---and from no wanting to have one's child navigate the complicated terrain of hurt feelings around inviting, not-inviting, etc. It also comes from just wanting to go all out. It can be cool to host a party like this!

But as much as I am a critic of how birthdays get celebrated, it appears that I am also a perpetrator of overdoing it. For Casey's birthday this year we started with a celebration on the day itself that involved birthday waffles, opening birthday presents, and about 2 hours of self-imposed purgatory a Chuck E. Cheese.

But Josh couldn't be there a Chuck E. Cheese, so the day after Casey's birthday we participated in the Cyert tradition of the "birthday walk." This is a cool tradition. Casey chooses a "birthday committee." Those kids find out the destination of her walk, and then make a map of the walk, with stops that might be important to the Birthday child. Then the whole class goes on the walk, with the child's parents usually in tow.

Josh's office is a very walkable distance from Cyert center, so Casey's birthday committee charted a path to and from Josh's office. Jacob was off for spring break, so he came along with us.

We left about 10:00 AM and walked down a very busy Fifth avenue, past the Mr. Rogers dinosaur, and to Josh's office in Webster Hall. I brought some cookies that I remembered having as a kid; they are a "no bake" cookie made of oatmeal, butter, milk, cocoa, peanut butter, etc., whipped up on the stove top, because our bake element burned out last month (a long term consequence of what I am now calling the Curse of the Meatloaf Mummy, which you can read about here).

The walk was cold and windy, but the kids spirits were high, and it was adorable to see about 20 kids file into Josh's conference room.

There I read a book called A Flock of Shoes, which is about what happens to your favorite seasonal shoes when you are not wearing them (apparently they fly about and take trains and send you postcards). The kids loved the cookies and the story, and then we headed back to Cyert.

On SATURDAY we had Casey's official birthday party, which was a princess themed party. I'm actually the one who pushed the princess theme because I found this adorable doll castle made of cardboard that I thought would make a great party centerpiece. The 4 girls who were coming to the party NOT ONLY had princess garb to wear to the princess party; many of them had MORE THAN ONE princess dress to choose from. The girls looked adorable.

We also had an Easter egg hunt with plastic eggs decorated with princess themed images (from Oriental Trading) and a cake from Josh's favorite french bakery in Millvale.

The party went off pretty well, though there was some in-fighting amongst the princesses over wands and eggs filled with candy.

Casey acted a bit spoiled and bossy, which is understandable, but perhaps also the result of this being the third or fourth celebration of her birthday in just under a week.

THEN after the party was over Josh took Casey shopping for her birthday wish, which was a pair of Sketcher tennis shoes. She also picked out some clothes which are beyond cute.

At the end of it all we were all pretty tired. And especially Casey. I don't know what to make of this week of over-celebration; it was brought on, in part, by the fact that I had the week off from work, so I had extra energy to devote to the party. But I guess I have to admit that I am part and parcel of my demographic. I am just as prone to spending too much money and energy on a child's party....with the great likelihood of this being a party that Casey won't even remember!

I think this over celebrating comes from a genuine desire to celebrate our children, and to show our love and admiration. But am I also trying to show off? I'm not sure. What do you remember about celebrating your birthday as a child?

Slot Machines for the Elementary School Set

2011-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

I hate Chuck E. Cheese. It's a dark, dirty soulless casino for young children. If you have never been there, let me explain. You buy tokens for the price of about a quarter a piece. Every video game at Chuck E. Cheese costs one token. You and your children can easily blow through $20.00 worth of tokens in 45 minutes.

Then, when you play the video games you get a string of tickets, depending on how well you do at the games. And at the end of your gambling time at Chuck E. Cheese, you and your children turn in your tickets for the cheapest, lamest, tiniest toys you can imagine. 200 tickets will get you two tiny tooky plastic tops, an orange plastic spider, and 3 Smarties. Whoopee. All of that for maybe $15.00 or $20.00 spent in tokens. And the children act like Santa Claus just brought them a brand new bike.

Oh, and let me go on about how much I hate Chuck E. Cheese. The one I went to recently only played Justin Bieber the whole time I was there. If you don't know who Justin Bieber is then there is nothing I can do for you. And there are TV screens everywhere you look, in every corner, playing a stultifying mix of music videos and Nickelodeon TV shows. And have I mentioned the food? The pizza is overpriced and is greasy enough to pollute the Gulf.

Jacob and Casey have been begging us, and I mean BEGGING us for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for the last year. After Jacob's AWESOME inner tube birthday party I asked him, wasn't that better than Chuck E. Cheese? And he answered, in a word, "no."

So my compromise was to take Jacob and Jacob’s friend Conner and Casey and Casey’s friend Julia to Chuck E. Cheese for a few hours on Casey's birthday. And that would be, I hoped, the last I would hear of the Chuck E. Cheese wailing, screaming, and begging.

It was a good strategy, for all of us. Casey and Julia needed the most help and supervision; they needed a boost up on the lamest carousel of all time, and help with the toddler "video games." Jacob and Conner disappeared into the older kid area. Occasionally I would find one of them, glassy eyed, trying to beat their own record on a video game.

I had two incredibly low moments at Chuck E. Cheese. The first was when Chuck E. Cheese, in the flesh, came out and asked us to "Follow Me for Tickets." He threw about 300 tickets up into the air, and the smaller children were supposed to get on the floor and pick them up. Casey and Julia got tired of picking them up, and so I found myself on my hands and knees, picking up tickets each worth about 1/100 of some horrible plastic nothing made by child slaves in China. Inches away from my face was the furry, fuzzy knee of Chuck E. Cheese. I picked myself up off the floor, shot Chuck a wry smile, and followed Casey and Julia back into the toddler section of my own personal Hades.

Next, I watched Casey playing a game in which you whack the heads of hammerhead sharks, similar to Whack-A-Mole. Casey gets 19. I see that the “record” for whacks to the heads of the sharks is 54. And so I wonder: Can I beat the record set by what I can only assume must have been another adult? I put in my token and I’m off! I get to 32 whacks. What is worse? Trying to beat the record of a toddler’s game at Chuck E. Cheese or FAILING to beat that record? By the way, I’ve since heard that the key to getting a high score on this game is use your hands, and not the mallet provided!

In the end it was a good trip. I pretty much hated every minute of it, but I could see how happy the children were. And that’s what matters, right?

Birthday and Easter Pics Coming, but in the Meantime...

2011-04-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest threat from an angry, sleep deprived, over-sweet-fed Casey, who didn't want to put on her raggedy clothes to help us garden:

"I'm going to cut the house, take all your money, and then we'll have to sleep on the streets."

As I always say: Don't mess with the Gregsons!

Playing and Gender Roles

2011-04-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've been glued to my computer this afternoon, trying to find the right combination of furniture from which to construct a home office that can close up and make my mess go out of sight! (Josh's brilliant idea for me). As I am sitting here I heard Casey say to Jacob, as they worked out the rules of some elaborate play, "Maybe I can die and then come back as a bad guy?"

Meanwhile, last night I wanted to watch Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It's really not suitable for young children, but we watched it anyway. It's monstrously feminist, and, in the final scene (spoiler alert) Alice slays a giant dragon creature (the Jabberwocky) with a sword. She is in a full suit of armor, and looks like Joan of Arc. The film was scripted by a fierce woman writer, Linda Woolverton.

I decided to test Jacob's gender sensitivity after the film.

Me: Do you think it was kind of weird that a girl killed the Jabberwocky? Isn't that normally done by boys, that sort of thing?

Jacob: No, not really. I don't think it was weird. Maybe it was a girl who made up the story?

Me: Oh, well, it was made up by a girl. That's very perceptive of you! So what if you made up the story, who would you have kill the Jabberwocky? Would it be a girl or a boy.

Jacob: It would be a girl AND a boy.

Me: Oh really?

Jacob: Yah, first they would get married, and then they would kill the Jabberwocky. together.

____________

I came away from this conversation with admiration for my son! I'm glad he is open minded about gender and dragon slaying, and I like his idea that men and women can work together to slay the obstacles that challenge us!

Judge Not Lest Ye.....Become King of the Red Light Violators!

2011-04-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

About two months ago I went out for a drink with my good friend and colleague, A.R. We went to a South Hills suburban hot spot---a place so crowded on a Saturday night that we had to wait 20 minutes just to sit at the bar. We finally elbowed our way into some seats and had two glasses of wine apiece, over the course of about 2.5 hours. We talked about our kids, our jobs, and how wonderful it was to finally be out on the town after eleven years of working together.

At some point I realized I had to pee, but as we were leaving I thought, oh well, I'll just hold it. I dropped A.R. off to her house of sleeping children/husband and made my way back to the main drag, in order to head home.

By the way, I hated this part of town even before I ran into trouble there. It's slog to get there; the roads are narrow and crowded with cars; driving through this one part of town there are about a dozen traffic lights that cover less than a mile of road, and each light has it's own rules about which lane you have to be in to go straight. If you don't remember which lane you have to be in it's easy to be forced into a turn lane. Anyway.

I saw a light that was about to turn red. I figured I could make it through the yellow and so I stepped on the gas. As I whizzed through what must have been a red light I saw a cop sitting at the intersection that I had just violated with my reckless driving. His lights came on immediately, and I pulled over to the curb.

The cop came up to my car and asked "where were you going in such a hurry?" I told him I was going home. But then I thought about that question while he was running my license and I realized that I still had to pee. Like crazy.

He came back to my window and told me that for running a red light I would be penalized with points on my license. But he also told me that I had been very nice and polite about the whole thing. He told me to pay the ticket and plead "not guilty." He then told me that if I did this I would get a court date, and that I could get the points off my license by coming to court.

I came home and peed like a race horse and then I got online paid the ticket; about two weeks later I received my court summons. The fated day was last Tuesday; I slept poorly and had bad dreams about mean judges. A friend had told me the night before that I should "admit nothing" and that I should try to fight the ticket. I was pretty sure that I would be offered a plea deal in order to get the points off my license, since that is what the cop had told me, but I really wasn't sure.

I found the court, which was very close to where I committed my traffic infraction, 15 minutes early, at 7:00 AM. It was in the basement of an old building---there were no windows, and it looked like the waiting room in a dentist's office. There were even copies of People Magazine for me to read. There was a guy standing in front of me with a cup of diner coffee and what was probably his one good tie. He looked around nervously.

I checked in and sat down. Names started to get called, and as people opened the door to the court room I started to hear peals of laughter. Each person took a very short time, between 90 seconds and 3 minutes. I started to relax. This is going to be easy, I realized.

The judge dispensed with about 17 people in 30 minutes. Finally my name was called. The cop playing the role of bailiff was shaped like teddy bear with a beach ball tied around his waist---his belly bulged out in front of him almost as if he were pregnant. His police belt was loaded with weapons---guns, a giant metal flashlight, and a night stick. I made a mental note not to piss him off.

The judge was in his late fifties/early sixties. He had white hair flecked with dark grey, and he looked trim and healthy. He wore a pair of glasses that can only be described as spectacles. He peered down at my citation and then gave me a quick once over.

He asked, "Would you like to get the points off your license or would you like to contest the ticket?" I answered "I was hoping to get the points off my license." He said, "very well," and started scribbling something on a piece of paper.

Then he looked up at me with a big smile and said, "You know, I'm king of the red-light violators." That didn't sound right, I thought. I was expecting, and maybe even hoping, for a proper scolding. He continued.

"You know, the other night I was out with my wife and I stopped at a yellow light. She said 'why did you do that?' I said, 'I have too many tickets, something like $200 or $300 worth. I can't afford to get any more.' So that's it. No more red light violations for me. If I get rear-ended I get rear-ended."

This whole time I just stood there, knowing that he wanted me to laugh, or join in, but I just felt dumbfounded. Why was he telling me this? Was it even true? Even the torpedo-bellied bailiff looked uncomfortable. Was this a political strategy? Was this how the judge won votes come re-election time?

The judge waived my $7.00 court fee and I was free to go. It only took me 45 minutes to drive the 7 miles back to Squirrel Hill, through horrible suburban AM rush hour traffic.

On my way home I made sure to obey all the traffic laws. Because for all I knew, Judge B. might be out there, ready to plow through the next red light he came to.

The City of Pittsburgh and the Perigee Moon

2011-03-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

On Friday I learned that on Saturday night we would be able to see the Perigee moon, or "super moon" in Pittsburgh. This one night---and not again for 18 years---the moon would be closer to the earth, and would thus appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter. I also read that the sunset would be at 7:31 PM and the moon would rise at 7:52 PM, in the Eastern sky. I pictured driving up to a nearby lookout spot, called Schenley Oval, where we could see a wide view of the city, but then I realized that Schenley park faces due West, and that the moon would rise in the East. I remembered that we might have a great view of the moon from Mount Washington, and so I planned for us to drive up there as a family to see the moon.

We got the kids dressed in their jammies and threw some shoes and their coats in the car. We drove up to Mount Washington in record time. We saw clusters of couples holding hands, and about a half-dozen professional photographers with cameras as big as telescopes pointed towards the Eastern horizon. At 7:52 we started looking for the moon, even a bit frantically. No moon. I took about 12 shots of the horizon, because Pittsburgh was laid out below us in a blue-black shimmery wonder, tinged with pink-orange-lavender in the West.

Jacob was not having a good time. "Mom, I'm cold. I wanna go home." He started fidgeting and squirming. I thought to myself, "great, this is probably just what I was like at his age." I remember complaining about being wet and cold the whole time we went into the snowy woods to cut our own Christmas tree, for example. But then I saw something that looked like a red-pink-orange hat on the edge of the horizon.

"Jacob, it's the moon!"

It really did look great. We ran down to a view finder at a lookout area but we realized we'd left our money in the car. By some great stroke of luck my English department business manager, Margaret, was there with her husband. They said it was their "date night." Margaret gave Jacob a quarter. Through the view finder the moon looked resplendent, like a giant peach with craters, lit as if from within.

I took a lot of pictures, but none of them came close to capturing the wonder of that moment. The moon really did look bigger, and it was such a glorious almost edible color, reflecting the pastel colored winter sunset. And Pittsburgh was so decidedly shimmery, with the sunset and the moon bouncing off the water and the bridges all below us.

When the moon had crept significantly up from the horizon we piled back in the car and headed home. I tried to take some more photos but I couldn't really get any good shots. We bundled the kids quickly into bed. Josh went to a birthday party for a friend of his and I watched the Pitt Panthers lose a heartbreaking NCAA tournament basketball game to the Butler Bulldogs. I fell asleep about 11:00 PM.

This morning when I was looking through the pictures I took last night I saw that I captured the moon rising over the horizon without realizing that the moon was in the picture (the first picture in the series, below). It made me realize that however prepared we are to see wonder, we can miss it even when it is right in front of our eyes! I hope some of you got to see the Perigee moon from your vantage point last night!

When Did You Forget?

2011-03-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

We have an odd alarm system in our house left over from our previous owner. It's not connected to any central system that can notify the police, but every time any of the outer doors is breached a brief "beep beep beep" sounds, and a mechanical voice controlled by the alarm says which door has been opened.

I heard the front door alarm sound on Sunday morning and I went downstairs to investigate. Here is what happened next:

Me: Who went outside?

Jacob: Casey

Casey: I went very quietly, and then I heard someone say "Casey….Casey.”

Me: Who was it?

Casey: Maybe it was the birds who can talk?

Casey said it very matter-of-factly, and it was so lovely and trusting. It reminded me of the passage in Mary Poppins, which is written from the point of a starling who converses with all of the babies in the story:

Mrs. Banks had another child, Annabel Banks. She was a very cute baby who, like all other babies, could talk to birds and the sunlight. She told the Starling of her journey into the earth, but within a week, had forgotten all about it. That made the Starling upset, because he loved to talk to babies and they always forgot how to so soon.

For some reason this passage has always stuck with me, long into adulthood, and I thought about it a lot when Jacob and Casey were babies. It always struck me as probably quite true. Perhaps Casey can still hear them!

Definitely a Contender

2011-03-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

If there's a contest, Jacob wants to win it. Whether it's barging ahead of his sister on the way down the stairs, or being the first one to spot a live animal on an Arizona mountain trail for the privilege of getting the first bite of dessert (thanks, Nana), Jacob will do his darndest to win.

Perhaps the school officials at Linden Elementary know this about Jacob, because this week kicked of the "read-a-thon" in which kids compete to see who can read the most minutes over a several week period. On Friday, when Jacob came home with all the information about the "read-a-thon" in his folder, Jacob insisted that he read to me. And read to me. And read to me.

He read to me on the couch, at the dining room table, and standing up in the kitchen while I made dinner. He read Oh the Places You'll Go (a really hard book, by the way), Go Dog Go, and 3 of the stories in Mercer Mayer's Little Critter Series. He wanted to put the number of minutes he read down on each individual slip of paper, but I suggested we keep a log of his minutes and turn in a slip of paper ever few days. Here you can see how many minutes he logged the first day.

My mom taught first grade for 16 years, and if I remember correctly one reason she liked to teach this age is that it was amazing to see kids learn to read. I've been thinking about this as I watch Jacob. Suddenly he sees words all around him, and he tries to read them, like the "latch" directions on Casey's car seat, and the PARKING sign we passed in the car the other day, and the PNC Bank sign, which he tried to read phonetically. It's more like alchemy than learning, and maybe that's what my mom loved about it all those years.

One last note about reading; watching Jacob learn to read I often joke that I am very glad I don't have to learn how to read as an adult, because the whole process looks really hard. I was reading in Parade magazine last week about journalist Bob Woodruff's war wound recovery process (in an article written by his wife), and how difficult, in fact, it was for him to learn to read as an adult recovering from serious brain trauma. I guess my joking isn't really all that funny. It turns out learning to read is exactly as hard as a looks.

Photogenic pair in Madera Canyon, Arizona

2011-03-05T18:41:00.001-08:00

The blogger is on vacation in Arizona! Actually, I've made some pretty big changes this week. Josh and I are giving up cable, I've given up facebook, and Josh is giving up video football. We'll assess again in the fall when it's football season again. In the meantime we are visiting Nana and Papa in their new "snowbird" home in Green Valley, Arizona. They gave us tickets out here as our xmas present, and we were GLAD to get out of Pittsburgh's cold and snow for Spring Break. This picture was taken on a hike we took on Friday; My Aunt Susie and Cecil were there as well!

I'll post more pictures from Arizona, but for now these photogenic cuties will have to do!

The Key To Having Kids is Having Friends Who are AWOKS (Adults Without Kids)

2011-02-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

I've just come back from a weekend at Hidden Valley Ski resort in Sommerset, PA. Our good friend J. found an amazing vacation rental: cathedral ceilings, gorgeous bedrooms, a well appointed kitchen, a spacious living room, and gorgeous views of snowy woods. In attendance were two married couples with no kids (J and M, and V and A), bachelor D.B., D and E with their kids, A and C, and me, Josh, Jacob and Casey. I was a little worried before the trip, because I can only imagine that if you are a person without children, and you are on vacation, that you do not want to get up at 5/6/7 AM in the morning. In fact, speaking as a person with children on most vacation days I do not enjoy getting up at 5/6/7 in the morning.

But I must praise my friends without kids for not only putting up with my kids and their terrible early rising habits, but, also, for playing board games with them, playing air hockey with them, playing "monkey in the middle" with them, tickling them, listening to them, laughing at their jokes, pushing them around the living room and pretending they were snow plows, taking pictures of them, sledding with them, and being all around awesome with them. The time you spent with my children gave me time to relax, hang out, read the newspaper, drink coffee, cook, clean, hike, admire my children from a short distance, and catch my breath.

Two days before the snow weekend my good friend Andy B. crashed at our place for two nights while he networked with his colleagues at CMU. He was a major celebrity guest for Jacob and Casey; they worked intently on a WELCOME ANDY banner, and Andy was kind enough to bring a really cool present for the kids---a set of "tell me a story" story telling cards. Andy has kids of his own, but on this trip they weren't with him. And so Andy was able to play with Jacob and Casey in such a way that they felt like the coolest kids in the world.

This weekend got me to thinking: isn't 3 to 1 a pretty good adult-to-child ratio? Shouldn't we be in these sorts of communal arrangements more often? It wasn't just that having adults without kids (AWOKs) around made my life easier (which they did) but they also helped me to see my kids a new way. I realized how much my kids JUST WANT TO PLAY, and how much it means to them to be taken seriously and listened to by adults.

During the communal weekend I also enjoyed squeezing and holding baby C-lion and Monx, and getting to support mom-of-newborn E in the way that I so wanted to be supported when I had a newborn. The weekend was over too quickly. I'm grateful to my new extended network of AWOKs, and I look forward to our next gathering!

The Farm

2011-02-19T05:07:00.001-08:00

I was reading my favorite blog the other day and I found myself laughing so hard at what I was reading that little chunks of the carrot I was eating came flying out of my mouth. Tears started to stream out of my eyes, and I had to wipe my eyes in order to keep reading the post. The post was about a mom who was trying to take a shower, and how her frustrations with her children during the shower led her to threaten to take her youngest to "The Farm." The Farm is a work camp for naughty children, where they work all day and only get cold mush to eat. As I read Lindsay's post I regretted that I had not thought of a similar threat for my children. But Lindsay assured me that it was not too late to introduce The Farm into my parenting bag of tricks. She suggested I make a flyer about The Farm and leave it around for my seven year old, a new reader, to find.

I started to make a flyer about The Farm, but I couldn't find any clip art that showed cute children engaged in grueling, back breading labor. So I decided to introduce The Farm this morning, verbally, around the breakfast table. Here is how it went:

Me: Have you guys ever heard of The Farm?

Jacob and Casey shake their heads.

Me: The Farm is a place where kids work all the time, like washing windows and scrubbing floors.

Casey: Ooohhh, I love to clean! Can we go there?

Me. The problem is, the kids don’t get to leave the farm.

Jacob: Oh.

Casey: Are their parent’s there?

Me: No, it’s kids only.

Jacob: Who invented The Farm?

Me: I think The Farm was invented by a frustrated mom, who had naughty children.

Jacob: Oh.

Me: Also, all they have to eat is cold mush.

Jacob: After all of that work that they do? That doesn't seem fair!

Casey: I’m going to bring them some sweet yogurt, so they don’t have to taste the mush.

Jacob: Mom, please don’t ever send us to The Farm.

I think the seed has been planted. Don't you?

Happy Valentine's Day to All Our Lovey Friends and Family!

2011-02-13T19:43:00.001-08:00

I went to write a Valentine's Day post tonight and I realized, in someways for the first time, that is was Valentine's Day that (sort of) brought me and Josh together. My friend Jennifer had given me a book for my 35th birthday on 101 Ways To Flirt, which, by the way, I found ever so slightly insulting, because if there was anything I knew how to do it was HOW TO FLIRT. Nevertheless, I read the book, and in it there was a suggestion to throw a singles only Valentine's Day party. I started planning the party in early January of 2002, and on January 18th I went to a party (also with Jennifer!) armed with a stack of party invitations.

The theme of my Valentine's Day party was "Black Friday." The date was February 15th, and my idea was a kind of "pity party" for all of us grieving, miserable singles. The invitation instructed attendees to wear all black, and I promised black food and black drinks. On one side of the invitation I had altered a bunch of Valentine's Day sweet hearts to say things like LUV SUX and GO AWAY and YOU WISH.

I met Josh at the party on January 18th, and even though we had a very cool conversation, I freaked out when Josh joked that he was "in process." I had told my therapist that very morning that I was done with guys who were, to quote myself exactly, "in process." So I got spooked, and ran away from the cool conversation. Later that night I tracked Josh down again and gave him a copy of the invitation. He seemed pleased.

A few days later I decided that in a man-poor town like Pittsburgh, Josh could easily be dating someone by Valentine's Day, and so I emailed him and asked him out for a date. He agreed, and the rest is, um history, right?

Anyway, by the time of the infamous singles only party Josh and I were pretty seriously not-single! The party had worked its magic and it hadn't even started yet!

In honor of this bizarre holiday, which I have definitely felt conflicted about over the years, I post this year's offering----cinnamon rolls made with red-dyed sugar, and shaped into hearts. I made them this morning for an impromptu brunch at Dan and Erica's house. Oh, and the secret to photographing food? Never use a flash! The secret to a happy marriage? Let your spouse sleep in if he/she must, go on lots of dates, and let your spouse watch whatever he/she wants on TV if he/she is willing to rub your back. Ha ha. Seriously, I don't have any secrets. But I think the rolls turned out pretty nicely.

Heart rolls rising....

Heart rolls baked!

Thank you Gramma and Nana!

2011-02-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

The kids were blessed this week with wonderful Valentine's Day Packages from Nana Panush and Gramma Gregson! Here you can see Casey and Jacob dressed in their v-day pjs, and the beautiful hand made cards that Gramma sent. You can't see the candy, though, because they ate it already! Thanks to our awesome moms for their thoughtful care packages! You really help to make the holidays special!

Fear of a Teen Planet

2011-02-09T19:06:00.000-08:00

The first time I had a newborn the world became a difficult, hostile place. My back ached, my nipples were constantly in pain from nursing, I slept in short 1-2 hour fits, interrupted by a baby's angry squall. I was constantly cleaning up poo and pee and vomit. I was like a new mom zombie---something closer to the walking dead than a human being.

Sometimes I would look to the future with anticipation. I would think, "I can't wait until my baby can walk." Or, "I can't wait until my baby can say 'Mama.'" I was careful not to say these things out loud, because more experienced parents would scold me: "Oh, these are the good years, my friend. Don't wish them away!" Or, this chestnut: "Ah, time flies, my dear! Your children grow up so fast. You'll be wishing these years back soon enough."

Later, I finally found an experienced parent who agreed with me. "The diaper years," he said, "go slowly....then everything speeds up."

The second time I had a newborn I began to experience the time warp that everyone talked about. My first born was finally out of diapers, and my newborn's diapers and nursing habits didn't seem like much of an imposition. I learned to nurse lying down, and I watched a lot of Top Chef and Project Runway. (One of my second born's first words was "remote"---or, actually "kemote"). With my second born, who I figured was probably my last, every vestige of babyhood seemed precious----something to be cherished. I nursed her longer, babied her longer, spoiled her longer.

My first born is now seven, and my second born is almost four. I feel like I have arrived at the sweet spot of parenting. They still need me---but not so much to wipe their butts. They need me for snack time, and play time, but they can dress themselves, shoe themselves, bath themselves (with some help drawing the bath, of course) and entertain themselves for much longer stretches of time. Tonight my children played together, without fighting, for twenty minutes.

But now that I am finally enjoying parenting, something new is happening: I am gripped with fear as I think about my kids becoming teenagers. I poke around on the internet and see stories about teens shaving their pubic hair, driving drunk, getting pregnant, flunking out of school, etc. I watch my favorite TV drama, Parenthood, where teens run away to live with their boyfriends, sneak out of their rooms at night, and go on long bus trips by themselves. The teenagers in real life and in fictional TV say the most hurtful, hateful things to their parents. Also, they slam the door a lot. I am afraid.

I've been thinking about starting a little time capsule full of things that remind me how much I love my kids, and how much they enjoy expressing their love for me---while they are still young enough to show it. Here's the Valentine that my first born son Jacob made for his family (me, his dad and his littler sister) for Valentines Day. I pretty much cry every time I look at it. It's the first thing I'm putting in my "I'm scared of my teenager" time capsule.

Some of Jacob's Bday Presents!

2011-02-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

2011-02-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

2011-02-05T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hello?

2011-02-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sledding at Frick Park

2011-02-05T05:19:00.000-08:00

Adult's New Years

2011-02-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Kids' New Year

2011-02-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

Breaking the Piñata

2011-02-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

Making the Piñata

2011-02-05T04:47:00.001-08:00

Growing up, my family had the most amazing way to celebrate New Year's Eve. On the day after Christmas we drove with our friends the Frosts about two hours north to the port city of Anacordes. From there we would take a 4 hour ferry to Friday Harbor, the queen city of the San Juan islands. From there we would drive to the Friday Harbor Labs and stay in these quaint, knotty-pine little cabins until January 1st or 2nd.

The four of us kids would play with our toys and eat our Christmas candy. The adults would read, relax, make meals drink wine and try to get an antenna rigged to the roof of the cabin to watch football. Usually unsuccessfully!

On New Year's Eve we would play card games (M'n'M poker), board games, etc., until midnight, at which point we would break open a piñata. As I got older I started to make the pinata myself, using paper maché and tissue paper. One year I made a piñata in the shape of our toy poodle. One year I made a dragon.

This year I decided to start passing down the New Year's Eve home made piñata tradition to Jacob and Casey. (Last year we broke open a store-bought one). We made a clock piñata using the Blizzard Maker box! I had some yellow streamers, so it sort of became a Steelers colored piñata. The kids enjoyed getting their hands dirty! And I had fun thinking about auld lang syne!

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

I didn't make any New Years Resolutions this year, thought Josh and I have resolved to give up cable TV for 6 months after the Superbowl. This is a big deal. For some reason I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog since the Halloween blowout of 2010. But, here, I resolve to do better!

Tonight I want to write a few of the things that the kids have been doing lately.

1) Casey still substitutes "f" for "th." She says, "Mom, I'm really firsty." It is so cute! I absolutely do not correct her!

2) Jacob is a blast to watch football with. He doesn't always get the playoff system, but he can follow the game really well. He yells, shouts, jumps and claps. It's the one environment in which his loud voice and enthusiasm are very welcome!

3) This weekend Casey called a poached egg a "boached" egg.

4) I still haven't taken down the Christmas stockings, and this morning I came upon Jacob and Casey playing "Santa." Jacob pretended to be Santa while Casey pretended to sleep. Jacob put her lovey in the stocking.

5) Casey wears her pajamas to school almost every day. When it's the cute poodle jammies she got for Christmas I don't mind that much.

6) Jacob says "You've got to be kidding me" almost every other sentence.

7) Jacob loves the Shepard Pie I made with the beef we got at the Turkey Farm we visited in October. Casey has been calling the Shepard's Pie the "cake."

8) Going to pick Jacob up from aftercare tonight it was dark and wet. Fortunately, Casey was wearing her new princess shoes that light up!

The Most Convoluted Rice Krispy Treats Ever!

2011-01-11T14:54:00.001-08:00

Casey and Jacob and I walked home in a giant snow storm tonight. The snow has been falling in Pittsburgh at the rate of about 1/2" per hour! For some reason this made me want to make Rice Krispy treats. There was just one problem: we didn't have any marshmallows! But we did have sugar, corn syrup and gelatin....which was all we needed to make marshmallows! So we used this recipe here, and I burned the first batch of sugar and corn syrup. So then we tried again! This time it worked. We whipped up a beautiful batch of marshmallow fluff, and I went to get the Rice Krispies and realized we didn't have enough Rice Krispies! So now I was making Rice Krispy treats without marshmallow AND without Rice Krispies?

Jacob and I looked through the cupboards and found some rice crackers. We blended these up in the blended and they had exactly the right look and feel!

So then I combined the newly minted marshmallow fluff with our Rice Krispy/rice cracker mixture....and I realized it wasn't going to work! The marshmallow fluff needed to be re-melted! So I tossed the mixture in my biggest stock pan and melted the mixture with some butter. I left the kitchen for a minute and the mixture started to smoke! It smelled like burned marshmallows on an outdoor fire! I realized there was too much marshmallow mixture to Rice Krispy/rice cake mixture, so I crushed another 8 rice crackers and tossed it in the pan.

Whew. I mixed the mixture a bit longer and added butter, too. Finally it started looking like proper Rice Krispy treats! I poured it into the pan and voilé!

They look and taste pretty much exactly like they are supposed to. That said, I cannot recommend this method of making Rice Krispy treats to anyone!

Dining Room Transformation

2011-01-11T14:45:00.001-08:00

Day After Christmas Swim!

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Christmas Concert!

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Christmas Eve!

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Christmas Morning!

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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

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Great at This Age

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More Holiday Baking

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Happy Channukah

2011-01-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Holiday Sing at the Carnegie

2011-01-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

Angels and Cocoa

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First Snow, First Frost

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Thanksgiving in Alabama!

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Dining Room Transformation

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I Think I'm Ready for Halloween to be Over...

2010-10-31T19:51:00.002-07:00

And here's why. Our week began, you may remember, with my perhaps ill-conceived, or poorly executed, but still pretty fun Halloween party last week. You can read more about this brave? foolish? undertaking here:. Tonight, as I write this, it's one week later, and we have participated in six separate Halloween related events since the party (and not including the party!). I am tired. But if you have any energy left from your own holiday labors, please, keep reading.

The day before our Halloween party we went to O'Reilly's Summer Farm to get our pumpkins. The visit was stop #1 on a crazed, five stop outing with the kids. We had about 40 minutes to get the pumpkins before we traveled to Jacob's flag football practice, during which Casey and I did some drive-by shopping at Gap Kids. After our shopping spree we took a traffic-icky drive to IKEA to get some furniture for our upcoming guests (we can't wait, Nana/Papa!). After our trip to IKEA we sped back to Pittsburgh to get the kids to their 4:00 PM haircut appointment. Wow, I'm tired just recounting that day. And that was the day BEFORE our Halloween party!

In any case, we got some cute pictures at the pumpkin farm. We had wanted to go on a proper hay ride, to pick our pumpkins from the field. But with our truncated time frame the only ride Casey got was in the bottom of the shopping cart!

Jacob kept his humor up---and shows here that he's learned how to wink!

Here is what a real hay ride looks like.

Oh, well, as you are about to see, it's not like we gave Halloween short shrift this year!

Casey's Halloween Dance Class!

2010-10-31T19:51:00.001-07:00

Over the summer Jacob participated in a summer school program at a near-by school called Carriage House. Jacob's gym was on the third floor, and Casey and I often trekked up the stairs to find him there at the end of the day. As we made our way to the gym we passed by a dance school called Dance Space 304, run by a lovely, older, European woman named Dena. Casey watched the girls in their pink tights and black leotards and started begging me to enroll her!

This fall I finally got around to enrolling Casey in her class, and so for the last three Mondays Casey, Jacob and I have been going to Dance Space 304 at 4:00 PM. Last Monday the kids were supposed to make a mask and bring it to class. I forgot all about this, until about 10 minutes before the dance class started! As a result, our mask was pretty basic!

At the end of class all the girls posed with their masks.

And, then, after that I asked Casey to do one of her dance positions for me. I think my favorite thing about dance class so far is the adorable pink and black leotards!

Carving Pumpkins!

2010-10-31T19:50:00.002-07:00

By Monday night, after our mega-shopping trip on Saturday, the Steelers game on Sunday (during which we entertained 6 or 7 guests), the Halloween party on Sunday, and Casey's dance class earlier that day, I was exhausted. But Josh got a second wind and took over the hardest part of the always highly anticipated pumpkin carving, which is scraping out the insides of the pumpkin. Casey sat on the table and scooped out large clumps of pumpkin innards with her bare hands. She kept calling it "gloop." Which is exactly what it is! Jacob got really upset because he was trying to make his pumpkin look like the face of Ang, from Avatar. When he couldn't get it exactly right he let Josh help out a bit. But the design is definitely Jacob's!

Casey chose a small pumpkin that was exceedingly difficult to carve. For some reason this pumpkin's rind was like concrete!

Josh arranged the pumpkins on the front porch and lit them with candles.

Jacob's pumpkin is on the far left (the one with the arrow in his head), next is Josh's ghoulish grin; next is "C" for Casey, and finally there is my pumpkin, the die-hard Democrat Donkey. I just can't help getting political with my pumpkins!

Halloween Parade at Linden Elementary!

2010-10-31T19:50:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were relatively quiet on the Halloween front. I did work a bit on my own costume (more on this later) but I didn't have to supervise anyone else's Halloween fun. Until Friday, when I arrived at the Linden Halloween parade just in time to help Jacob change into his costume.

The Linden Halloween parade is a time honored tradition, dating back quite a few years. Most of the Pittsburgh public schools do them, as far as I can tell from talking to me friends. Earlier this year, the Linden Halloween parade was canceled. Immediately, parents took action. I received this email about three weeks ago:

"I tried to speak with [the principal] today about the Halloween parade. She had someone else inform me that it was canceled. She said that the Board of Ed felt that it was not a constructive use of the students' time.

Someone has forgotten what it's like to be a kid! This has been a tradition at Linden since before we were kids. Please call the number above and/or email. They are working our kids quite hard these days and seem to have forgotten that the kids need to enjoy school in order to keep doing so well on the PSSA's."

In short order, the parade was back on.

For Jacob the parade was the cherry on top of a field trip to a pumpkin farm during which he got to go on an actual hay ride and play in a corn maze. When his class got back to Linden they started to get ready for the parade. The parade consists of each grade walking outside while parents and younger siblings look on proudly and take pictures.

Jacob's costume this year is pretty involved. It started out simple enough. I wanted to imitate the live-action costume worn by "Ang" in this summer's adaptation of the Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Here is the picture I used for my reference.

I found someone on Craiglist to sell me their son's karate gi for $10.00. Jacob and I dyed it yellow and brown. We also wanted ivory colored socks and arm sleeves, but we couldn't find any that were off-white, so we bought some white ones and dyed them. Then I bought some Burgandy colored ribbon to make the leg ties, arm ties, and belt, and we found some boys' slippers at Target that looked just like Ang's shoes.

The day of the Halloween party Jacob and I figured out that tying the leg ties and arm ties was going to be tricky. I thought if I just tied them tighter that they would stay up. WRONG! They fell down during the entire length of the parade.

Worse still, I forgot the face paint to make the blue arrow that Ang has on his forehead. At the last minute Jacob and I raided his art teacher's classroom and got some blue duct tape. It worked pretty well, though not great. Jacob was able to smile through his tears for this picture.

And here is his new good buddy, Connor, who was a super hero of some kind but I can't remember exactly which one.

Trick-or-Treating at the CMU Fraternities and Sororities!!

2010-10-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

After the Linden parade Jacob and I headed over to Casey's school with her costume. About three months ago Casey told me she wanted to dress as "Lady Bug Girl" for Halloween. Lady Bug Girl is this awesome character in a series of kids' books. Her real name is Lulu, and she has an older brother. She is brave and funny and fierce and adorable! Here is the cover of the first book in the series.

On this Friday before Halloween it was wintery cold, somewhere in the lower 40s. So earlier that day I bought some warm black tights, some leg warmers, and a sweater to go with Casey's costume. Jacob and I helped Casey get dressed, and then we walked across the street from Casey's school to the Greek quad, where about a dozen frats and sororities were each throwing their own private Halloween party just for kids.

At the first house Jacob became the star four square player. The fraternity brothers lined up to play him and he got a lot of them out legitimately. It was the happiest I have seen Jacob in a long time.

To solve the leg tie problem, after the debacle at Linden, we just took them off. We also stopped by the house to paint the Ang arrow on Jacob's forehead. And, because all the fraternity guys grew up watching the Nickelodeon Avatar series, they knew just who Jacob was dressed as!

Casey admired the spooky spider webs.

She also looked just like Lady Bug Girl!

A very nice sorority sister helped Casey make a Halloween cat!

During the two hours that we spent in the Greek quad the kids netted a ton of candy, played games, made crafts, and generally had a blast! Though I've never been a huge fan of the Greek system, on this Friday afternoon they made everyone in my family very happy!

Adult Halloween Party---Very Adult Costumes!

2010-10-31T19:47:00.001-07:00

Unsurprisingly, with all this activity on behalf of the kids' costumes, Josh and I did not have a lot of time to work on our own costumes. We had plans to go to the first "grown up" Halloween party as a couple since Jacob was a baby. Josh used the opportunity to think of something very practical that he needed, around which he would build a costume. He thought of a trench coat, and then he thought of some costumes that might work well with a trench coat (I'll let you use your imagination for a moment).

I had a different process. For most of my adult life my Halloween costumes have been political and/or abstract. I thought I might go as one of this year's stand out disasters, like the BP oil spill. I started looking around on the web only to discover that this is a commercially produced costume this year! Only $30.00, before the rush shipping and handling!

I decided to make my own much less expensive version. I got a pair of painter's coverall from Home Depot, printed out some BP decals, got one of the kids' construction hats, and some green tape to make my rain boots BP green. I got some spray paint, because it would dry more quickly, and voile! Here is the back of the costume.

We started our evening at David and Heather's. They were dressed as Don Draper and Joan Hathaway from Mad Men. Don't they look great? Josh is dressed as, you guessed it, a flasher. The old man's hat, creepy sunglasses and black socks really make the costume.

Here we are having our before-party cocktails!

The party was intense---it was full of adults who were mostly over 40, and everyone was in full costume. There was a Minnie and Mickey Mouse, an adult (sexy) Lady Bug Girl, an astronaut, Sonny and Cher, Boris and Natasha (cross dressing), several doctors and nurses, and a pair of Coneheads (from the old SNL skits). But we were definitely some of the most original costumes at the party!

Morning of October 31st

2010-10-31T19:46:00.002-07:00

The night of the adult Halloween party Jacob spent the night at Travis's house. The next morning David and Heather took Travis and Jacob to Sunday School back in our neck of the woods---something that Jacob has been asking to do for awhile. (Obviously---a subject for a longer post!). We then all met up at our favorite Pittsburgh bistro, Point Bruegge, where we ate poached eggs and feta in puffed pastry over salad, pumpkin french toast, REAL Belgian waffles, and Eggs Benedict with crab cakes. Then the kids posed in a nearby alley and pretended they were in jail!

Halloween Night

2010-10-31T19:46:00.001-07:00

It could be said that by the time we finally got to Halloween night that the holiday had lost a bit of its novelty---we had been celebrating non-stop for more than a week. But the kids were just as excited as ever, I spent the day perfecting their costumes.

For one, I finally got Jacob's straps to stay up. I won't bore you with the details, but VELCRO was involved.

I also made bags to match each costume. Casey had a bag covered in yellow ribbon with lady bugs on the ribbon. Jacob's bag has the air bender's nation's symbol on it.

We trick or treated in our new neighborhood, one street over, and got to satisfy our curiosity about how the other half lives. There were lots of nice houses and lots of families out trick or treating. Casey got tuckered out after the first 40 minutes, but Josh and Jacob stayed out about twice as long. Then we put the kids to bed and watched the Steelers game (boo hoo), and then I worked on this epic series of blog posts! I think I am officially done with Halloween!

Casey's List of Things to Do

2010-10-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

Tonight I helped Jacob finish his homework. It is already 2 days late! As Jacob and I sat at the table and worked together Casey made some "writing" like scribbles on a piece of paper.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"This is my list," Casey replied.

"What's on it?"

"All these things:

Get a trap.
Catch a bunny.
It's so cute.
Do some gymkhana stuff.
Look at a leaf.
Play in a leaf pile.
All morning."

Halloween Party Dos and Don'ts

2010-10-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

This post is a letter to my future self---things to remember for when I prepare a kids' only Halloween party in the future!

DOs

1) DO buy a party pack of plates, napkins and silverware. For $10.00 I was able to get place setting for 12, and it added instant festive atmosphere to our dining room!

2) DO get lots of ideas from the internet about food and games. I found some wonderful websites that had awesome food and game ideas. I printed them all out and used them to make my shopping list. Up until Sunday morning, the day of the party, I was pretty well prepared.

3) DO invite kids that know each other. One of the great challenges of our modern era is that between magnet schools, public schools and private schools, many of the children that we know go to different schools and/or participate in different after school and other activities. For this party I chose a mix of Jacob and Casey's school mates and neighbors. It worked well---the kids played well together and had a lot in common outside of the party experience.

4) DO keep most of the parents out of it. This was the first time we deliberately shooed parents away from the event, and it was a good choice. In the olden days, parents and siblings were never invited to a child's party, right? Of course having fewer adults created a more "Lord of the Flies" atmosphere at times (six 6-8 year old boys, in costume, anyone?), but it was nice not to worry about entertaining the adults when I wanted the focus to be on the kids. At the same time, the parents who did stay behind, were a huge help.

5) DO get my kids involved in the planning and decorating. Jacob and Casey helped me make the sugar cookies and Jacob washed all the miniature pumpkins for the party. He would have done a lot more if I had let him. Jacob's friend Ani also had some cool ideas (tying balloons to the tree in the front yard, for example) and Casey wanted to help more than I was able to let her, too.

6) DO make food that's easy to make ahead. The best success of the night was my dish called "monster toes." It was veggie sausage with a bit of crescent roll at the end, and then a "toenail" made out of a sliver almond and secured with a dab of cream cheese. They looked disgusting, but they were easy to prepare ahead of time and the kids gobbled them up

7) DO use a label maker. I marked each child's candy bag with his/her name, and it made it easy to identify a specific child's candy bag before he/she went home! It also helped me to make sure that kids with special diet needs (no dairy, for example) got the right candy mixture!

My list of "dont's" is a lot longer, because, let's face it---there was a lot of room for improvement in the party itself.

1) DON'T run out of coffee the day of the party. This is self-explanatory.

2) DON'T make food that seems utterly gross to me as I am making it. I don't eat meat, but I decided to try the mummy meatloaf from this year's Family Fun magazine.. The problem is, as Josh pointed out, a lot of kids don't like meatloaf. Even worse, I used store bought prepared meatloaf, and as it was cooking I could tell it was fatty hamburger and/or low quality meat. It smelled terrible as it was cooking. I would have been much better off adapting the mummy meatloaf technique to hot dogs, or even veggie dogs, and then I would have been so grossed out.

3) DON'T invite more kids than I want to come. I was shooting for 12, so I invited 16. Every child I invited came. 16 was A LOT of kids to entertain for 2.5 hours. Lesson learned.

4) DON'T yell at husband 30 minutes before the party. Sorry Josh! I'll do better next year.

5) DON'T plan too many food dishes and/or activities. In some ways this party was over planned. I had SO MANY ideas for things we should eat or do that I was overwhelmed and didn't get to finish most of them.

6) DON'T spend the day of the party working on Jacob and Casey's Halloween costumes. This was a costume party, and I hadn't finished Jacob's costume, so I spent a lot of the day sewing and tweaking Jacob's Avatar costume. Jacob's costume looked great for the party, but I didn't have time to prepare some of the games and activities I wanted to do!

7) DON'T leave Jacob and Casey out of the loop when it comes to thinking about hosting. I didn't talk to Jacob and Casey about how to be good hosts. Some of the most stressful moments of the party happened when Jacob needed my attention and I needed to do something for the group. If I had talked to him ahead of time I think he would have been able to handle his needs better. Also, Casey might have been willing to wear her costume! (She spent the night in her red leotard only, because, she said, it was "more comfortable.")

8) DON'T try to serve 16 children dinner at the same time with no help and no game plan. Yeah, really, don't do that again. Have more finger food, more help, and a game plan!

9) DON'T forget to take pictures! I was so overwhelmed during much of the party I forgot to take pictures! Big mistake!

OK---I think that's all....for now! Happy Halloween!

Talking Turkey

2010-10-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we drove out to a turkey farm in order to take some pictures for the calendar. I also thought the kids might be grossed out by what Josh called the "turkey concentration camp." The worst part was the smell---I won't describe it in detail, but you can imagine that 1800 turkeys all crapping in one place was pretty rank. The biggest surprise was that the turkeys were white, and that female turkeys had pink heads and male turkeys had blue heads! At the end of the tour we bought some meat. So, yeah, I guess my hope that my family would be turned off by the turkey farm kind of back fired!

This Weekend Brought to You by Home Depot

2010-10-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the intimate relationship between my children and corporations only continued this weekend when I announced that we were going to have a family yard-work day. Jacob dashed into the basement and unearthed the Home Depot kids' aprons that some nice Home Depot worker gave us when Casey and Jacob were having an in-store melt down the last time we were there.

Casey and Jacob also fought over the only pair of garden clippers. Casey called the clippers "the twigger." When Casey and Jacob got tired of fighting over the twigger they found other ways to amuse themselves outside.

Meanwhile, I used the Home Depot leaf blower that Ann and Larry got Josh for his birthday to clean up the leaves in the back. And Josh sculpted our front yard with a Home Depot electric hedge trimmer. He did a fantastic job---very professional. The only gaffe was when he accidentally cut through one of the extension chords with the trimmer. Whoops!

We can see our address number for the first time since we moved in! Nice job, family! And you, too, Home Depot.

Hey You Guys!!!!!!!

2010-10-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Do you remember The Electric Company? The kids show from the 1970s? That show was AWESOME. Morgan Freeman was on it!!!! Well, there's a new Electric Company and it comes on at 5:00 PM on weekdays. We've been watching it almost every day. It has some of the old cool stuff with letters and words, and some mostly dorky kids who have a running dramatic theme of some kind. It's filmed in New York, like the old one was, and there is some very hip cool culture/music/dance, etc. I thought I heard 50 cent (the rapper) on there today, but I could be wrong.

We were driving to a turkey farm last weekend (a subject for another post) and Jacob was playing with the Halloween card he got from his cool Aunt Cindy.

Suddenly, from the back seat I heard, "The Electric Company, The Electric Company!!!"

"Where?" I asked, craning my neck around to the back seat.

"Right here," he said, pointing to the tiny rose logo on the back of the greeting card. And then it hit me: The Electric Company is sponsored by American Greetings. They have a 30 second graphic commercial (tastefully done, of course) at the beginning of each show.

Rewind back to two weeks ago, when Jacob finally got to buy the "Pillow Pet" he had been trying to earn with stickers. As we rung up the "Pillow Pet" at the register, Jacob squeezed the Pillow Pet and said, "It's extra soft and machine washable!" Jacob had memorized the commercial EXACTLY.

(Here's the Pillow Pet Casey chose when she earned hers. She got a sticker for every night she slept through the night. She had to get 20 stickers to get the Pillow Pet!!!)

It gets worse. Last week we did some speed shopping for some tennis shoes for Jacob. He went wild for a pair of Sketchers. "Mom, the Z strap locks into place, every time!"

Ummmmm....I think it's safe to say that Jacob has been watching a little too much TV lately. He is a walking robot of consumer information! I hope the advertising industry is happy. Hey you guys, you are doing a great job!

Good Neighbors

2010-10-11T06:40:00.001-07:00

When we first settled on Beeler Street we knew we had moved into what is, in effect, a college student haven. We watched from our front porch as middle aged landlords mowed lawns and stopped by to check on their tenants. We furrowed our brows at the odd bits of trash and equipment in one of our neighbor's back yard, and shuddered in horror when we saw the number of beer and alcohol bottles that piled up on Beeler Street on recycling mornings.

Our fears were not relieved when I attended a meeting of the Beeler Street Association hosted by CMU---at which I was treated to an explanation of solutions the neighborhood might think about for slowing the traffic and quieting the students on our street. The police reported that they had made a deliberate show of force during the first few weekends of the year with the goal of quelling the partying that happens more arduously before the semester workload reality has set it.

So far, though, knocking on wood and crossing our fingers, we have had a very pleasant fall on Beeler Street. Most of the student parties that have taken place on either side of us have not been that loud, and the occasional drunks that wander by our windows, shouting, have not been overwhelming enough to constitute critical mass. We actually like the student presence---they are active, interesting, and not nearly as obnoxious as we had feared.

Last week was the first time we have had to ask anyone to pipe down. At about 2:00 AM I had been awakened several times by loud conversations on the porch to one side of us, and so I donned my bathrobe and ventured out.

"Hey, my name is Kathy Newman and I'm your neighbor. We're trying to sleep and you guys are being too loud."

A few heads turned. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'll go turn down the music."

"It's not the music," I explained. "It's actually the voices on the porch. There's our bedroom windows." I pointed upwards. The porch denizens nodded. They even looked a bit embarrassed.

"We're sorry," one said.

"It's OK," I replied, and trudged off to bed. The noise abated and I fell asleep.

A few days later I came downstairs where Casey was reading in the living room.

"Look, Mama. Someone left us something."

On the porch was a large bag of oranges and two boxes of tea---Jasmine and Green Tea There was a post-it with an apology on it: "Sorry for the noise last weekend. From your neighbors."

I was truly surprised. And delighted. The apology was unexpected and the gifts were a nice touch. Over the years I have complained many times to my neighbors about noise. And never anything like this!

So, I have to say, so far Beeler Street has been one of the more welcoming neighborhoods we have lived in. Thanks, CMU students!

Fall Time

2010-10-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Fall time in Pittsburgh is one of the best times of the year. In September, when Josh was at a conference in DC, Casey and Jacob and I returned to the Blue Slide park in some new fall clothes!

Our dishwasher is broken

2010-10-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

But Casey is working just fine!

We are definitely experiencing some new house hiccups. Our bathtub has been backed up twice, and the seal on the toilet had to be replaced. Now our dishwasher is leaking. Our house was insured by the previous owner, so it's not too hard to get these things fixed---but it does involve a lot of waiting around for repairmen!

In the meantime, Casey has been volunteering to help wash the dishes. Here she is in her bathing suit so she won't get her clothes wet! See more about Casey's cleaning enthusiasm below!

Maybe it skips a generation?

2010-10-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers: if you know me, you know I don't like to clean. Oddly, however, my children do! Casey has been volunteering to clean anything I can think of to let her clean. And then Jacob has to do whatever Casey is doing, so he gets into it too! Here they are with squirt bottles cleaning windows and the side of the house!

More about First Grade

2010-10-02T05:15:00.000-07:00

First grade is a still a bit of a mystery. And, as Lindsay pointed out (in the post below), 28 is a WHOLE LOT of kids for one class. It feels criminal to me. But if my choices are private school, public schools in the suburbs, or where we are now, I gotta say, I'm OK with where we are now.

This is partly because Jacob seems to thrive at Linden. I've been in New York since Thursday morning, but Josh reports that on Friday morning, before he and Casey got up, Jacob worked on his homework (instead of watching cartoons!), all by himself, for 45 minutes!

First grade home work is voluminous. Once a week we get a fat packet of 10-15 double sided stapled pages, and we are supposed to do certain pages on certain days. But I find it easier to let Jacob choose the pages he wants to work (always math first, which he knocks off in about 90 seconds).

Jacob also brings home school work every day. I love this drawing he made about "what he did on his summer vacation!"

Here is what we know about First Grade

2010-09-17T20:40:00.001-07:00

1) Jacob's teacher is Ms. Piesik.
2) Jacob's best friend from Cyert, Ani, is in his class.
3) Jacob has a new friend, named Conner, who also has a Wii and who likes to play Super Mario. Conner hasn't made it past the sixth world in Super Mario, poor guy.
4) Every day the kids are evaluated as "Satisfactory, Needs Improvement or Outstanding." So far over 10 days of class this year Jacob has 5 Outstandings and 5 Satisfactories. The last 4 days have all been Outstanding. He is in the zone.
5) There are 28 kids in Jacob's class.
6) Jacob has 12 pages of homework to finish with considerable input from Mom and Dad. It's due next Tuesday.
7) When Nana asked Jacob: "What is the first thing you do every day when you get to school?" Jacob replied: "I get off the bus."
8) In art class Jacob made a silly hat and belt with a kind of paper he called "licking sticks."

OK, you two. Your after school snack wasn't THAT BAD.

Stay Home Day

2010-09-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked Jacob up from the bus and he climbed in the car. He was tired. But then he perked up:

Mom, there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow!

Really? I think there is school tomorrow.

NO THERE ISN'T. You can CALL MS. PIESEK. SHE WILL TELL YOU.

Well, it turns out Jacob was right. It's Rosh Ha Shannah, the Jewish New Year. I had not recorded it in my Master Calender. So, after Josh got home last night I went back to work and cleared my desk so I could take the day off with the kids.

We spent the morning strolling around the CMU campus and the giant park right next to the university. We ate snacks from home and snacks that we bought on our travels. We ran in the grass. We drew pictures. Now we're home, where I'm ignoring the fact that Casey isn't napping, and I'm ready to eat my lunch. Later on, we'll make home made alphabet soup, with Grandma Gregson's special recipe!

First order of business on stay home day: use the paints that Casey "gifted" to Josh for his birthday!

Jacob painted, and I quote: "A robot pooping!"

Onto the cafe at CMU's library, where we terrorized the undergraduates. All I can say, Beeler Street partiers, is that turn about is fair play!

We got this cool colored paper from the Administrative Assistants in the English department!

In the late afternoon we worked on a project I have been planning for some time: making our own alphabet pasta. Trader Joe's used to make a really cool one, but they don't anymore, so we made our own using little cake fondant alphabet cutters. My thought about how to make this project more effective? Use larger cutters next time! It was hard to find the letters in the soup after they cooked!

Here's the finished product!

First Day of Linden Elementary!

2010-09-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Jacob's first day of school was pretty ho hum compared to the first day of kindergarten last year. But it was still an exciting morning. We ate biscuits with honey and butter and sausage on the front porch, and then Jacob and I walked down to where Jacob thought he remembered seeing the bus stop last year (about 2 blocks from our house). When we saw the bus turn the corner to come onto Beeler we started screaming and jumping up and down. The bus driver probably thought we were crazy!

The bus (and the bus driver) are the same ones we had last year----Jacob is just further along on the route. I snapped a quick picture and Jacob was off! I forgot to give him his back pack for the first day, but oh well. We'll remember tomorrow!

Then I dashed across the street in time to catch Casey and Josh on their walk to Cyert (and then Josh's work). Here is Casey riding her bike to school, dappled by September morning sun!

Aunt Cindy's Xmas Present Realized

2010-09-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have sometimes wondered what sort of influence I might be having on my kids when it comes to photographs. As most of you know, every year I ask, nay, force, Jacob and Casey to dress up in sometimes silly costumes representing each month of the year. I started the tradition 5 years ago when Jacob was a baby, and now I have virtually the entire family involved in the process. Last year I started telling Jacob and Casey that they were "super models" and that "super models" got paid "supermodel pay," which, in their case, is usually Skittles.

After a photo shoot over the weekend for a month that will remain a surprise until you receive your calendar Casey remembered getting a rock star costume from Aunt Cindy for Christmas. We rooted around in a few boxes and finally we found it. Here is Casey posing on the front porch, looking ready for the big time. She seems very comfortable in her pop star attire!

God's Coconuts

2010-08-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

I made play dough this AM for the kids to play with, and Jacob told me about his sculpture:

"Some hunters used the coconuts and the leaves. Did you know God makes coconuts? They grow into round balls on the tree and then when God touches them, when she touches them, they turn into coconuts!"

I'm not sure I believe in God, but if God does exist, I'm glad God is a "she"!

Notes on our new routine

2010-08-26T07:43:00.001-07:00

Photo caption: This is Casey riding a trike in Port Hadlock, but you get the picture....

Well, things are different around these here parts, and one of the biggest changes is the fact that Casey has her own wheels! Today is the 4th day of the new semester, and this week the day has worked like this:

6:30 The kids wake us up
6:45 I make Josh coffee
7:00 The kids and Josh watch Avatar while Josh wakes up
7:15 I go to work!
7:30 Josh feeds and dresses the kids!
8:30 Josh takes Jacob to his school at Carriage House
9:00 Josh walks Casey to Cyert, while Casey RIDES HER OWN BIKE!
9 - 3:30 Josh and Kathy work hard!!!! Casey and Jacob play hard!
3:45 Kathy picks Casey up at school. It takes a LONG time for us to get home, b/c Casey has to ride her bike .5 miles uphill! She rides on the sidewalk next to a busy street, so I have my heart in my mouth the whole time! Casey keeps saying: "It's OK, mom. I CAN DO IT!"
4:15 Casey and I walk to pick up Jacob
5:00 Josh walks home to meet us for dinner!
6:00 We eat dinner on the porch!
6:30 We play outside and take care of the yard!
8-8:30 The kids go to bed!
9:00 Josh and I collapse with exhaustion!

We started this new routine as a way to give Jacob and Casey shorter days at school and daycare. Starting next Thursday (when Jacob starts 1st grade), Jacob will take leave for Linden from a bus stop close to our house around 8:45 AM, and I will meet him at the bus stop at the end of the day, around 3:40 PM everyday! Then we'll pick up Casey and play until Josh comes home!

I love getting to work early every day, and I've had more time to cook and hang out with the kids before dinner. I hope we can keep it up!

Kid talk

2010-08-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

There are so many funny things being said right now by our two children that it's hard to keep track of them all. I'll try to jot a few of them down.

1) "The hotter." This is the name Jacob has given to the meal thermos I bought for his bagged lunches at Carriage House. The truth is it's not exactly a thermos---it's a container designed to keep food (as opposed to beverages) hot for a few hours before lunch. So, really, I think calling it the "hotter" isn't too off the mark.

2) Chest. This is what Jacob calls the game of chess. I know he'll get it right eventually, but it cracks me up. He also calls a cliff a "clift." I don't know where that "t" comes from.

3) Casey has an odd habit of reversing word order in a two word phrase. So for a while she called toilet paper "paper toilet." She called her new night gown a "gown night." I'm trying to think of other examples, but for now I can't.

4) Casey likes the Eagles of Death Metal song called "Cherry Cola." At our family meeting tonight we all went around said what we wanted more of. Casey said she wanted more music in the car, and especially "Ch Ch Ch Ch Cola." It was very cute.

5) When Jacob was 3 years old and we were living in Nashville we got a vacation rental on the river in Chattanooga. Grandma Gregson taught Jacob how to fish, and she also bought him a bathing suit on that trip. As a result, Jacob started to confuse "bathing suit" with "bait." He still calls his bathing suit his "bait," and his use of the word is so persistent that even Casey will sometimes call her swim suit a "bait." It still cracks me up!

6) I got the kids Pez toys when we were in Seattle to use as travel toys. Casey got one in the shape of a Princess. She started calling it her "Princess Pezzer." I hear from Brenda that the name caught on, and that now Zarni is calling his Pez toy a "Pezzer." Go Casey!

7) When we were on Cape Cod we showed Casey some lobsters in a lobster tank at a fish store. Casey began to get very afraid that she might step on a lobster when we were walking in the ocean. When we were on a nature walk sponsored by a Cape Cod kid's nature museum Casey asked me: "Mom, am I going to find a lobster under a rock?"

Creative Pronunciation

2010-08-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Brief conversation after watching 101 Dalmations...

Casey: "Why did gorilla the vill want those puppies?

Me: Who is gorilla the vill?

Jacob: Mom, she means Cruella De Ville!

Cracklin Rosie Makes Casey Smile Too!

2010-08-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

Last week I was driving with Jacob, Casey, Brenda, Thihan, Zarni and Ayar in Seattle. Thihan's CD compilation with Neil Diamond's "Cracklin Rosie Make Me Smile" came on. I started talking about how this song was one of my first musical memories, but how I was so young when I first heard it that I didn't really understand what the song meant. As I was blathering on Brenda started cracking up. "Um," she said, "I think Casey understands what the song means." See for yourself!

More to come

2010-08-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Casey and I had a wonderful time in Port Hadlock and in Seattle. We were there for almost 2 weeks. I have many more pictures to post, but for now, here is a darling picture of Jacob on the beach in Port Townsend, and Casey showing off a night gown ("night down") that Nana bought her on Nana's trip to Italy. I promise there will be more to come!

Monkey Ears and Circus Tortilla Bites (by Brenda Newman)

2010-08-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

My sister has a lot of energy. In preparation for our visit today she prepared "monkey ears"---hot dogs serrated and curved into a "U" shape with ketchup and mustard for face and features. Also tortillas with cheese and cut into circus animal shapes. The kids LOVED their food. I stood by and, well, took the pictures. Someone's gotta record it.

Four "benders" at Fort Flagler

2010-08-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

OK, so I'm not going to go into the whole Nickelodeon cartoon series "Avatar The Last Air Bender" thing in too much detail, but let me just say this: it is awesome. Three seasons have been made, and each season has 18 episodes. They are nicely drawn, complicated, multi-layered stories with an anti-war theme, and still plenty of action. The main characters are learning how to "bend" or control the four elements, earth, air, water and fire, and they are children. I love this show and so do my children and my niece and nephew.

The process of "bending" is like a series of Tai Chi movements and so when Ann and Larry took the kids to Fort Flagler this week Ann commanded them to show off their "bending" skills.

Don't they look great?

Fatty

2010-07-28T23:18:00.000-07:00

Brenda and Thihan have a dog named Fatty. When Jacob was a baby, and when we still thought Fatty was part Pitbull (instead of purebred Sharpe, which she is), and when Fatty was regularly running around Brenda and Thihan's property in Cleveland and leaving presents of dead small game in their back yard, I used to feel afraid of Fatty---afraid that one day Jacob would pull her tail and that Fatty would get mad, and, well, anyway. I was afraid.

It turns out Fatty is awfully good with the children in her life. When Zarni was a baby he used to pull her tail and do all sorts of mean things to her and Fatty never snapped. She's more patient than I am most of the time.

And besides, these days Fatty mostly just seems old. And so I'm not really afraid of her anymore. But today I came into the kitchen and Fatty was growling a very low, almost imperceptible growl at Casey, and Casey was afraid. I said "Fatty, Casey's OK. She won't hurt you." And I picked up Casey and we walked to the bathroom. Here's how the conversation went down while Casey was going potty:

Casey: Why did Fatty growl at me?

Me: Well, you might have scared her. Also, she's old and she can't hear very well.

Casey: Why?

Me: Well, when dogs get old they can't hear very well and they can't see very well and they can't walk very well. Kind of like people when they get old.

Casey: I don't want to be an old dog. [Long pause]. But that's OK, because I don't eat dog food.

Happiness, Thy Name is LG Washer and Dryer!

2010-07-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm actually as happy as the woman in this ad!

Even the stuffed animals need a bath!

The delivery guys were prompt and cheerful...and, though their commitment to quality installment procedures was minimal, Josh, the family laundry laborer, is currently washing clothes. For the first time in more than two weeks!

Hung Out to Dry

2010-07-21T12:45:00.001-07:00

It's hard to shop in the modern era. Josh and I faced this dilemma as our moving date got closer and we realized we didn't want to take our 10 year old washer/dryer from the Avondale house to our new Beeler Street house. So Josh did the thorough research that makes me appreciate him so much, and he settled on an LG 2050 Washer and matching Dryer. After calling around to see who had them in stock, Josh found that BestBuy online promised both items, with a delivery date of July 20.

We agreed that even though we were moving July 8th it was worth the wait for the right brand. Consumer Reports gave this LG model an 89% overall approval rating! Pretty cool.

A few hours after Josh ordered the matched set he realized that he had ordered an electric dryer, when what we need was gas. I was able to call BestBuy and get one order canceled, and a new one put in it's place. Now all we had to do was wait.

Last week I set foot in a laundromat for the first time in more than 20 years. I used to drag a 40 pound bad of college duds to the skeezy laundromat near my rooming house in Berkeley, CA, in the mid 1980s. This one, "The Laundry Factory", in Pittsburgh, was highly rated by its customers. The loads seemed expensive, but I was able to wash, dry and fold virtually all of the family's cloths in 3 hours. I was depressed by the environment---strangers jockeying for the position, managers scowling at people, wanting to know who left the mysterious pile of wood shavings in the corner. (Uh, that was me, shaking out Josh's jeans from his camping trip, not realizing how much of the woods he had brought back with him).

Over the weekend I got the magic automated call saying my order would be delivered on Tuesday. I got the phone number of the warehouse, and on Monday I started calling the warehouse in 15 minute intervals, hoping to find out what my 2 hour "window" was the following day, since I had scheduled a few meetings for washer/dryer Tuesday by mistake. I got the same answering machine every time I called.

Finally, around 3PM, a woman whose voice matched the voice on the answering machine called me to tell me my "window" was from 3-5. Perfect! I could still make my meetings, and be there when our dream appliances were delivered.

On Tuesday I asked the kids: Do you know what today is? IT IS WASHER/DRYER DELIVERY DAY! Everyone cheered. I went to my meetings and hiked the short route to our new house. 3:00 PM came. Then 3:30. Then 4:00 PM. I called the warehouse. No human answer. Then 4:30. Then 5:00 PM. I called the warehouse. No answer. I stood outside, hopeful, expectant. At 5:12 PM I saw a large truck pull up slowly. I smiled and waved.

A big guy with curly black hair got out of the truck.

I said, "I'm so glad to see you! We have a lot of dirty laundry!"

He said: "What are we doing for you today?"

I said, "Delivering a washer and a dryer." He shook his head gravely. "No, just a dryer. I don't know anything about a washer."

I felt sure that the warehouse had somehow merely missed our washer order, and that they would blithely deliver it the next day. I allowed the burly duo in the big truck to put a beautiful brand new LG dryer in our basement, and this morning I called BestBuy, hoping to get to the bottom of the missing washer.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, ma'm," said the BestBuy representative, "but your washer has been back-ordered and we don't show a date when it's going to be filled."

I got Josh in on the call, and we canceled our order with BestBuy, and made a time for those warehouse guys to come back for the lonesome dryer.

We then drove to Home Depot and talked to "Stan," who promised us that he could have the same washer/dryer delivered to our house on Saturday. And for less money.

As we negotiated with Stan, I found myself wandering listlessly around the appliance area. Somehow, my spirit had been wrung out of me. I've tried to hold it together through this move, but somehow the missing washer and dryer had broken my spirit. I could hardly look at the new washers and dryers in the face. "Will you betray me too?" I wondered.

In the meantime, as Stan was drawing up the paperwork, Josh and I opened the doors on the fridges Home Depot had in stock. And here, at last, we discovered the silver lining in our appliance debacle. Not one of them was as nice as the fridge that the Murphys had left behind for us at 5353 Beeler---a giant double doored fridge with the freezer on the bottom, a deli drawer, shelves big enough for milk on both doors, an ice maker, and a filtered water spigot. Not one of those Home Depot fridges was as nice as the one we already had.

The superiority of our fridge confirmed, now all we have to do is wait. Until Saturday. For our own, perfect LG 2050 washer/dryer, that will wash all of our clothes and solve all of our problems.

Men in Blue

2010-07-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Casey are enjoying our new yard. This morning they made beautiful chalk drawings on the driveway and then started playing with water cans. They took turns filling up watering cans and pouring water on the driveway. At one point Casey lost her temper and did something that made Jacob angry. Here's what happened next:

Jacob: If you do that again I'm going to call the police!

Casey: No you're not!

Jacob: Uh huh I am! I know their phone number. It's 911. They're going to come and take you to jail.

Casey: You are poopy!

As quickly as this confrontation flared up it subsided again. By the end of the morning Casey and Jacob had stripped naked and were ready to watch Avatar in daddy's room!

More Interesting Conversations with Jacob and Casey

2010-07-13T08:48:00.001-07:00

Scene: Front porch of new home
Time: Before 7:30 AM
Activity: Eating oatmeal ("ate meal" as Casey calls it), for breakfast

Casey: What planet do we live on?

Me: Earth

Casey: Do aliens live....?

Jacob: Aliens are not real!

Casey: Do aliens live on Jupiter?

Jacob: Aliens are not real!

Casey: No, I guess dragons live on Jupiter....

Jacob: Dragons are not real. They are FICTION!

Me: Casey, where do the aliens live?

Casey: With their moms and dads.

Jacob: We can not live in outer space, naked, I mean. WE WOULD DIE. We wouldn't have any oxygen. (This is accompanied by confident hand gesture, in which Jacob slices the air horizontally, indicating the direness of the situation for humans in outer space.)

Me: Are aliens going to invade our earth?

Jacob: NO! They will die here. Earth air is poison for them. Really, you gotta believe me.

Casey: I will scare the aliens, by going "AHHHHHHHHHHHH."

Me: I think the aliens would be scared by that.

Casey: I'm not scared on planes any more. When I was a baby I was scared on planes. But now they go fast on the white lines and I'm not scared anymore!

Jacob: I'm never afraid of planes.

Casey: Yah, me neither.

World Saved Before 9AM

2010-07-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

Morning dialogue, after the kids watched an episode of Nickleodean's AVATAR: THE LAST AIR BENDER

Jacob: I bend fire! And water!

Josh: Casey, what do you bend?

Casey: I bend...shoes. And earth.

Josh: (laughing) OK, y'all ready to go?

Jacob: Yah...I already saved the world. Where's my lunch?

Buying, Selling and Renting

2010-07-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's like the Triple Crown of Real Estate. Last week we sold the first house I ever owned, and, in the same week we bought a new one that we both love. In the meantime we found someone to take over our apartment lease with our rental company, only to have them back out at the last minute. So now we're showing our apartment as we figure out ways to entertain the kids over the long weekend and pack and clean.

Needless to say I'm starting to lose it. The first thing that seems to be going is my ability to sleep. I can't get to sleep, and I can't stay asleep. And when I do manage a little shut eye all I dream about are boxes.

Moving is always traumatic for me because of how much I've saved over the years. Oh, I've gotten rid of most of my "stuff," but what I can't bear to part with is the printed word. Especially words that I have personally printed, or typed, or scrawled. I spend a lot of time (for my job) going through the archives of others. And when I move I become re-acquainted with my own.

I asked Casey tonight what she was going to miss most about our current home. "My doll house!" she said brightly. "We're taking that with us!" I explained. "Oh! OK!" She replied. "How about you, Jacob?" "I'll miss the light. There's a lot of light in this apartment." "Yah, me too. We'll try to get some more light into our new house, OK? And, plus, over there we'll have a YARD that we can play in!"

As with all of our big transitions, I think my kids deal better with change than I do. Change is hard for me. But I'm also really excited to be moving into the first house that Josh and I picked out together. Going through my personal archive I found a napkin that I wrote on the night Josh and I got engaged (24 January 2003). Moving to our new house feels a little bit like getting engaged---the excitement, the fear, and, especially, the not being able to sleep.

It's Official! Here's our new house!

2010-07-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Jacob's last Kindergarten report card

2010-06-28T20:06:00.001-07:00

Jacob got his last report card, on which he made all P's (proficient, higher than the other rating I="Improving") and O's (outstanding, highest of O, S=satisfactory, N=needs improvement)...except for "Attends school regularly and on time," which was only satisfactory. (His bad, bad parents took him out of school on several occasions this year to travel to family.)

Some highlights of his teacher's comments are:

"Jacob's math skills are great. On the Math Spring Standards-Based Assessment, he scored 100%!..."

"Jacob's enthusiasm for learning is nothing short of delightful! He never has to be reminded to pay attention, and is engaged in every class discussion. He is eager to share his thoughts and experiences. He gets along well with his classmates, and has developed many friendships this year. It has been a pleasure having Jacob in Kindergarten!"

I'm glad his class behavior is more like his mom's than his dad's was!!

I'm Still Laughing Over This One

2010-06-24T20:12:00.001-07:00

A friend shared this with me and I can't stop thinking about it!

http://www.suburbansnapshots.com/2010/06/10-reasons-having-toddler-is-like-being.html

Lady Gaga Gloves

2010-06-21T13:11:00.001-07:00

If Lady Gaga had to do her own dishes, don't you think she would wear gloves like these? I saw these in an issue of Oprah magazine and I tore out the page and put it on Josh's desk, along with some pictures of jewelry and other things I would like. Being a true romantic, Josh got me two pairs of the gloves! I LOVE THEM! And they will come in very handy with the upcoming mysterious event that I keep mentioning but which I haven't "gone public" with.

Here I am modeling the gloves, and doing test shots for our own horror home movies!

Why Toys Are Unecassary

2010-06-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

You have all heard the cliché, "the kid played longer with the box than the toy." Well, this maxim was proven to me in a different form last month when Casey peeled off the plastic sheaths that guard the remote controls to the Wii and used them as shoes. Ironically, of course, the Wii IS a toy, so perhaps Casey could merely be accused of re-purposing. And maybe there is another message here: maybe Casey is showing us what she thinks of video games (from which she is, by nature of her age and level of coordination, excluded). In any case the "Wii Remote Shoes" made for a good chuckle. I had to go into the other room so Casey couldn't see how hard I was laughing, and, then, once I had regained my composure, I asked her to return the remote covers to their proper owners.

First official "Hiking with Kids" on Memorial Day, 2010

2010-06-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Our hike was planned to begin around 8:30 AM at the pond at the Beechwood Farms nature reserve. As we waited a bit for everyone to assemble, Paul Eiss and Elena showed us some dragon fly larvae which they caught with little nets. Thank you Paul for coming prepared! In the picture below Paul and Elena are in the background, while Jacob and Casey look at fish and other wild life from the edge of the dock.

Here's the dragon fly larvae! Click on the picture for a closer view!

Paul realized we had missed a turnoff when we hadn't yet come to the large stump which is home to several grumpy trolls! We doubled back, found the correct turnoff, and found the stump! Here are a few of the trolls who greeted us with grins and sneers!

We caught up with the Cato family and Mark was kind enough to offer the all important "dad shoulders" to Casey. (Casey's dad was in NYC and could not attend the hike!) Casey looks tired in this picture! Mark doesn't!

At the end of the hike the kids cooled off at a fountain they found in the plant store area of the Beechwood reserve. From right to left the kids pictured are: Casey, Elena, Devlin, Max and Jacob! Though the kids were a bit worn out (they hiked about 1.5 miles, and some of it was uphill!) I hope their smiling faces are testament to the fun we all had! Thanks to all who could make it, and I look forward to the next hike!

Beauty and the Beasts

2010-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Lately Josh and I have been taking turns doing "special outings" with each of the kids. I don't remember what Josh and Jacob were doing on this particular Sunday morning, but last month Casey and I checked out the "Gargoyle in the Garden" exhibit at Phipps Conservatory on our own.

The butterfly exhibit is always a summer highlight at the Phipps. The small, orchid-filled room boasts so many different kinds and colors of butterflies that it can almost be overwhelming. I caught this orange monarch butterfly after he landed. He looks a bit odd because I used a flash.

I learned a lot about gargoyles at the exhibit. According to the Tribune review of the show, gargoyles originated as decorative down spouts:

"A true gargoyle is actually a working rain spout. Anything that's not a rain spout is called a grotesque," Melino said. "But through the years, (the word) gargoyles is all-encompassing."

During the Middle Ages, these stone figures, as well as pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses defined Gothic architecture. The gargoyles were purposely posed on cathedrals, churches, castles, palaces or dwellings to protect the buildings or the people inside by scaring off evil or harmful spirits.

The Gargoyles at the Phipps were both beautiful and ugly, while Casey was just, well, beautiful. Above she is posed outside in the children's garden, which is finally operational now that the weather is great!

Mother's Day, Yo!

2010-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last month we were lucky enough to have Josh's mom here for the celebration of Mothers' Day. I planned an activity I had been wanting to do for a long time---a duck boat tour! Duck boats were made during WWII as military vehicles that could travel on land or on water.

We huddled together at the plaza at Station Square before the tour. As bundled up as we look in these pictures we were still freezing! We probably should have found some where warmer to wait for the tour to start. It was unseasonably cold for early May---about 30 degrees with the windchill!

But Pittsburgh looks good in grey. And Jacob looks good in the warm vest his Nana bought him in Seattle!

After the ducky tour we warmed up at Joe's Crab Shack. It was a bit disappointing, as chain restaurants so often are, but it was a casual, kid-friendly space to celebrate Mothers' Day---and it was still more fun than cooking...at least for me! I had a big pot of steamed crab!

The Littlest Duck

2010-06-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

During the water portion of the trip the captain asked if anyone wanted to drive the boat. At his first request both Casey and Jacob were too shy to try. But then a little girl about 8 years old took the helm. The captain of the boat asked the 8 year old to do the ducky boat call, which we had been performing throughout the tour. She did as she was asked, pronouncing: "Quack Quack Quack" into the captain's microphone for all to hear. Something about her presence at the front of the boat seemed to embolden Casey. So when the 8 year old gave up the helm, Casey asked to try her hand at steering.

When Casey was driving the boat the captain put the microphone out towards her and said, "What's your name, little lady?" Casey replied, "Quack Quack Quack." I think it might have been an honest mistake on Casey's part---she was remembering what the other girl had been asked to do. But the comic timing of it was pure genius. The entire tour burst into genuine, uproarious laughter. We had been fed so many corny lines, and so many bad jokes, that Casey's innocent quack-in-place-of-name was one of the more genuinely funny things we had heard yet on the tour.

Life-ier

2010-05-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago Jacob and I strolled (I pushed the stroller while Jacob sat in the stroller!) through the deep dark woods of Fricke Park to get to his Saturday AM baseball practice. We got a late start, but I thought the trip through the forest would only take about 20 minutes. It was cool and damp in the woods. Lush green ferns lined the path, and we could hear water running from multiples streams. There were giant boulders, and a thick tree canopy that blocked out the sky.

We wound our way through trails, went up hills and down them, and it started to seem like the map I had printed out from home was not up to the task. I started to ask runners when I saw them: "Where's Braddock field?" Finally we arrived for Jacob's 8:00 AM practice at...8:50 AM!

"Uh oh, Jacob, I think we're pretty late."

"That's OK mom. That was a nice walk."

"It was nice, wasn't it? Better than taking the surface roads."

"Yeah, it was life-ier. More oxygen, from all the trees and stuff."

"Life-ier! Yes, it was."

So now "life-ier" is my favorite new word!

Pomp and Circumstance Baby!

2010-05-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Two Kats On Tour in the Strip District

2010-05-08T17:37:00.001-07:00

Gramma's here!

2010-05-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

Jacob has a Wii. If you know anything about Wii, then you know that you can make avatars to represent anyone you please. Over Christmas, we even made an avatar to represent Barak Obama! Once you make an avatar that avatar can appear as a minor character in your sports story, or you can compete against that avatar directly.

Over Christmas break Jacob created an avatar for his Nana and Papa Panush (on their wii), and for his Gramma Gregson and his Papa Gregson (on his wii)! Here's Gramma Gregson's avatar!

We're happy that this week Gramma Gregson is here in real life! And as for you, Papa Gregson, if you would be so kind as to comment on Jacob's blog, maybe we'll post your avatar! Hint hint! We miss you! Thanks for lending us your lovely Kat!