Somebody is 8!

He sure looks happy, eh? It is a birthday year without a big party so we went en famille to a nearby smallish amusement park: go-carts, bumper boats, laser tag and the like.  Bumper boats were a big hit. I did not partake in the laser tag (crutches impeding my running, ahem) but the boys emerged sweaty and smiling. even Smith.

Then we returned home for his specially requested white chocolate ice cream cake. A first for me, but it worked okay.

Birthday Bash! Clash of the Dragon Slayers Apprentices

A birthday was celebrated last week with all the fanfare expected!



Nbear wanted to have a few friends over to play Capture the Flag (rules constantly renegotiated by all)




have a treasure hunt






have an appropriately themed cake



and slay the dragon.



and slay him some more.



and a little more.







you know, they don't make pinatas as flimsy as they used to...

Why

It has been an exciting week. There is something about a grand bit of ceremony that makes one feel proud and excited and yes, hopeful. I am usually wary of all that pomp and pageantry, but for some reason this year I was fully relishing it; even down to the little presidential seal flags on the trumpets.

I was explaining to the boys the events of the day on Tuesday - because I'm sure in their minds Obama has been the president forever by now. I was also explaining why so many people seemed excited about this new president.

"Not many people liked our previous president Bush." I started.

"Did you vote for president Bush?" Nbear asks.

"No, I didn't. I respect him because he is our president, but I don't really like him as a president."

"Why?" he responds.

and here I take a long breath. Where does one start here? And what can be digested appropriately by a newly minted 6 year old? I started some discussion about his environmental policy. That seemed to satisfy him, but it left me wondering a bit more. What exactly/specifically/precisely was it that bothered me the most about Bush?

One answer came to me on DAY TWO. President Obama reinstates our nations compliance with the Geneva Convention rules about torture. Our previous administration seemed to take the low road on this count. I can understand the anger and fear that followed September 11th, I really can. But that fear and that anger and that desire for revenge should not have seeped in to our dealings with other human beings. Terrorists? yes. But still human beings. I'm not saying we have to coddle them by any means, but there is a level of human decency that I had always hoped we as a race had evolved to. The policy of allowing torture just made me feel sad for all of us - it proved that we were no better than "them." And we should know better. But I am an idealist, I know. But it's a little like the parenting advice that comes from school - strive for perfection, know that you will not always get there and be perfection, but at least have in your sights what you are striving for.



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And now a birthday interlude! Complete with cocktails!







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In other notes, my hair passes muster with my mother. It was my intention to go to Houston last weekend and get the official "sniff-test." As a teenager in my house I could come down the stairs in the morning and my mom could take one sniff and ask "have you already worn that shirt? It's a bit stinky." Yes, I know as teenagers we are often stinky, but my mom's nose has always been very sharp. So I wanted to see if my shampoo-free hair was starting to reek. Because who else can honestly tell me? Smith, gawd love him, is cursed with a non-smelling nose, so he is no help. And most friends aren't going to pop up and say "gee, your hair smells less than terrific!" Close friends may count but, Sinda is on the same experimental hair ride so she's biased and Lisa (whose nose may rival my mothers) is far away in Colorado. (When WILL we get the smell-a-phone!?!)


"So what's up with you and not using shampoo?" my mom asks.

"Well, I'm using baking soda now, instead of shampoo."

"But WHY?" she wants to know.

and honestly, I have no good answer for it right off other than, "Why not?!" No better than my answers when I was a teenager. I suppose to most people my hair looks exactly the same. To me, it feels different. It feels better, but I can't say that based on anything. Perhaps I'm still in the throes of "my hair has so much more volume and shine since I started this new shampoo!" sort of honeymoon. But I like it. We'll see how long it lasts.







Lenny asks, "what's that smell?"

My Year So far....

I've given up using shampoo, going full-tilt dirty hippie.

(Sinda may have a pit-stick making party soon too. We're in this stink together. It's just a matter of time before Lisa succumbs. peer pressure baby!)


AND

I've bought myself a $50 toothbrush.

Because apparently I didn't get the memo. Everyone I encounter lately is using one.



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We also had a nice holiday with lots of snow at the mountains of Nana & Papa. Smith and Nbear worked diligently on a very elaborate, multi-leveled, tunneled, throned, snow fort. It even had a roof in places. I hear snowballs were tossed. We did get to ski a little bit, and not just down the driveway...




We hacked down our own tree and hauled it back down the hill (yeah. that looks like a hill...) on a sled. It was a perfect tree.



We watched the snowplow clear the driveway. Often.




Gingerbread houses were made (and picked at by little fingers.)




We were invaded by Christmas-themed bug boys.




Happy New Year Ya'll!


.

Boo Ya'll!

A little election diversion, posted while the rest of the world is literally glued to media outlets waiting for the news.



Trick or Treatin'
We had a full on police force for the night out, where we went door to door in a friend's grandparent's neighborhood where us anti-candy moms have planted Halloween "goodies" like granola bars! dried fruit! graham crackers! (when Nbear is old enough to read this, I'm SO busted!)




The full lineup. While Jbird seemed to have developed an oral fixation on those cuff-a-links, Nbear seems to be totally enamored with the snow white princess. aw.






and speaking of love, Smith and I also celebrated a stealth anniversary night out. He had free tickets to a book reading (lots of folks in town for the Texas Book Fair.) I didn't feel like forking over the big bucks for a sitter and offered that he should go with Sinda, because she would totally enjoy it and it would be a small token of thanks for the myriad cool things that Sinda does for us. Like this: She opted not to go because "um, isn't that ya'lls anniversary? and can I watch the kids for you while you guys go out?" see? isn't she the coolest ever? Without her, our anniversary may have come and gone unnoticed for our own self-absorption. So she did watch the kids and we saw (and heard) Peter Sagal and Scott Simon read from their latest books. AND! My bonus of the evening is we had a small, teeny tiny, brush with fame. Smith and I popped out for dessert post-reading and the waiter informed me that the person who had been sitting in my exact chair mere moments before we arrived was none other than Claire Danes.

Since We Last Spoke... (entry #2)

MOVED.

Yes. We MOVED! Like we didn't really have anything else going on this month. Let me also say that it's our goofiest move yet. This from the folks who are used to moving across several state lines when we up and decide to change our address.

We moved across the street.

Sometime last year we bought a house in our neighborhood, tore it down (sadly it had too many little things that needed updating that it was best to just start over), built a new house and put it up for sale. She's lovely, but she has some challenges in our neighborhood (size, cost and location being just a few.) We hemmed and hawed back and forth about what we should do. Did we want to live there?



So we made the list (we are big list makers in our marriage) and ended up wanting to stay put: our house has a lovely yard, great shade and we've spent the last 4+ years customizing it to how we live and want to live. I even had the perfect plan for the veggie garden and a fence. FINALLY.

As time wore on though, the money side of the list really started to overshadow the emotional side. So POOF we decided to move into the new house and sell our old one.

HUGE thanks to my mom who came and watched the boys while I loaded up the Honda, backed it out of our driveway and drove up into the new driveway to unload. I packed not a single box. I made do with laundry baskets and the ubiquitous Whole Food shopping bags. Load after load. We did rent a trailer a couple days to move the really big stuff. Sounds tedious, eh? The upside is that when I unloaded, I just put it away in the new house - pack and unpack all at once. In two short weeks, we said goodbye to this:


The house when we bought it, in all its 1950s splendor (classic car undercover not included.)



This is the house now.


This is Nbear (!) when we first moved in. He's enjoying one of the favorite features of the house: the mail slot. Favorite item #2? The ramp. Both went by the wayside when we added on.




This is the day they knocked down the wall between the old house and the new when we added on.




This is a hug from the beloved Miss Aimee (with Nbear) on the sidewalk where they used to draw... before it was ripped out for planting things.




This is our perfect red kitchen. Smith and I were in total agreement on the color. An absolute first. Smith made the cabinets, I sanded, we stained and wiped and polished and hung. I will not miss the cabinet that opened by itself with its small piece of paper wedged in to keep it closed just so.



Here you can see the small table next to the window where neighborhood cats, birds and squirrels could be watched with intensity. It's also a spot to show off the tools. And apparently the perfect spot to plop my purse.



This is one very small kitchen. But, Smith made the cabinets big. Can you believe all of this stuff was in one cabinet?! If you look closely, you will spot my oldest.



Jbird on the non-code passing heart attack steps. (but aren't the lovely?) And that shade of green - "halcyon green" ahhhh.




The concrete countertop that Smith made THE 5 days prior to our house being on the cool house tour. You can even see the impressions of the sycamore leaves from our yard.




We've have good holidays and get togethers here.











We will miss the yard with its incessant leaves and pure shade.










A glimpse of the foyer - one of my favorite spots in the house. It made me feel welcome with its shiny mirrors, egg shaped light and its umbrellas (and shoes. there were always a lot of shoes in here...)




And here's the namesake of this very blog... the front porch. It's huge, completely shaded with the perfect hint of a breeze.






It also had one of these: