November Album: Fall festivities continued

Because we needed a few more events squeezed into what I refer to as “birthday month”, we celebrated Dia de los Muertos.  I was chatting with a friend of mine who grew up with this tradition.  I didn’t, beyond the Catholic All-Saints Day.  I love the opportunity to celebrate a festive Mexican holiday and to give our children a chance to ask questions about family members who have passed away.  Lucky for us, my mom created two incredible cookbooks that feature photos of great-grandparents (along with fabulous recipes!).  So those were prominently displayed.  Matt and I were reflecting that we don’t have many old photos.  Why is that?  I remember one of my favorite rooms in my grandmother’s “house on Addax” in San Antonio was plastered with framed portraits, many of people I didn’t know – just knew we were related in some way.  Or maybe I did know them, but those photos were taken long before I met them, so I could only catch a faint resemblance.  (Fast forward to December, when I plastered my own stairwell with a gazillion framed portraits – as many generations as I could squeeze on that wall!)

   

I used the opportunity to dust off my favorite calacas from Oaxaca, where Matt and I visited during our three-month graduate program in Cuernavaca back in 2004.  I remember seeing these figurines all over Oaxaca .  It took me a little while to embrace them.  Maybe they were too unfamiliar in a country where so many rituals were quite familiar.  I grew up with many customs ala San Antonio, mainly centered on food and religion, with a splash of culture (e.g. cascarones), and I wonder why Dia de los Muertos didn’t make the cut?  Too Central/South Mexico?  Too pagan in origin?   Whatever the reason, I’m re-routing (can you hear the GPS lady? “Re-routing”…).  I love this holiday.

But the real holiday of November, of course, is sweet Fiona’s birthday.  And what an occasion it was!  We celebrated with a bike party, in which Matthew and I created a bicycle obstacle course, complete with hay bales, a forest, a crocodile pond with a bridge, a tunnel, and everyone’s favorite part: the “pop” (a roll of bubble wrap taped to the ground).  We took over the covered basketball court in our neighborhood park (in case it rained) and staged tables with bike decorations, snacks, coffee, and four dozen cupcakes (!) for all of her friends.  It was a blast.  There were so many kids!  We enjoyed watching them navigate the course. 

  

After all the cakes and cupcakes of birthday month, I opted for an apple pie to celebrate Fiona’s fourth, finished off with cut-out owls.  Fiona didn’t seem to mind the break from tradition.

What a beautiful month, squeezing in time to enjoy the outdoors before the winter’s rainy weather set in…

  

And a Thanksgiving with much to be thankful for!

Appreciate good health!

oh, man.  I've been in the midst of battling the flu for 2 weeks!  Hopefully this goes away soon!

In other news: I decided late last year (in keeping with my one-word resolution tradition) that my word for 2013 is: APPRECIATE.  So here's to not taking health for granted.

More to come.  I'm a bit behind in posts.

Pause.

Happy 2013.  A few weeks ago, a dear friend, mother, grandmother, and dear sweet woman whom I called Aunt Terri passed away.  A shock.  Grief and mourning.  And I take pause.   When Matthew and I moved to the Pacific Northwest ten years ago, she and Uncle Lou opened their homes and hearts to us unconditionally.  This life is so quick.  Her life teaches me that LOVE is the greatest gift.  Who are we, what is this life without LOVE?  Share it; spread it; give it openly. 

Her family, whom I claim as my own, celebrated her life in a funeral just days before Christmas.  They were so full of grace; in my grief I had to admire their peacefulness.  This song, “It is well with my soul” was comfort to me during the service. 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul

October Album: festivities galore!

I often refer to October as my “crazy time”… three birthdays that span from October 6 to November 5, with Halloween in between, not to mention this year’s election cycle, plus we decided to host all three birthday parties - large and small, an impromptu dinner party, and Oma and Papa came to visit.  Not to mention that Matt flew to Oklahoma and drove back in our new (!) pickup that we bought for a freakishly good deal from his parents before the whole dang “crazy time” even began.  It was out of control. 

I love this picture – in the middle of the craziness, right after Dean’s birthday party, we went to Sauvie Island to pick pumpkins with Fiona’s class. The day was beautiful, and if it weren’t for this pre-arranged event, I’m not sure we would’ve had time to pick a pumpkin for carving. Or three.

 

 

Leo got to practice saying “pumpkin” over and over and over and over.

And here they are, carved! Can you guess whose is whose? Dean drew his vampire face, Fiona wanted a silly pumpkin, and little Leo’s is the smiling one with hair that looks more like a crown.

So, here is our month in pictures…

Matthew came back at the beginning of October with our truck – and we surprised him with a crazy decorated house.

  

We went to Hood River for apple picking on Matt’s birthday and celebrated with cheesecake in the evening.

  

  

Matthew’s parents helped us celebrate Dean and Fiona when they came to visit, in a joint-pre-birthday party with two cakes, 10 candles (6+4) and presents.

Then, Dean’s actual birthday arrived!

   

We threw him a birthday party in our house which involved projecting “Madagascar 3” on our wall…

  

We went to the Pumpkin Patch the following morning…

We hosted a lively gathering that week…

I chaperoned Dean’s class field trip to Fazio Farms in the rain - thank goodness for the covered hay maze!

   

Fiona got an early birthday present as we were planning her bike birthday party for the first weekend in November…

Okay, now I must pause here.  A week before her fourth birthday, Fiona can pedal on two wheels.  She amazes me. 

  

And then at last, Halloween!  For Dean’s school, they had to dress up as storybook characters, which I think we all forgot about.  So the morning of, I quickly put together this Harry Potter get-up, adorned his forehead with a lightning bolt out of eyeliner, and, voila!  Though he makes a pretty good likeness, Dean doesn’t know anything about Harry Potter.  Yet.

    

Halloween night was a lovely and lucky break from the rain. Fiona, bless her heart, wanted to wear the exact same costume as last year, and she continues to be the prettiest Buzz Lightyear ever. Leo wore a hand-me-down bumble bee costume – the three word phrase that he still loves to say, and Dean, for crying out loud, wanted to be a robot, and wanted to make the costume… in the middle of everything! So I pulled together a box, dryer duct, electrical wire caps, and a paper plate, and a yogurt container for the helmet with fuses. Printed out some “flux capacitor” symbols and went crazy with some silver spray paint. Done.

I think I was wearing this wig to reflect the craziness of all that happened this month.

September Album: Indian Summer

We finished out our summer with a BANG.  The weather was incredible – I always forget what a fantastic month September is.  Entirely under-rated.  Nature’s best surprise. 

Some of our September events are worth remembering, especially as it has started raining non-stop (writing from the end of October): 

1.  We reveled in the outdoors!  We celebrated birthdays and the last days of preschool.  We rode bikes as often as possible.  We played in the park with friends.  AND we completely redid our back patio, took a leap of faith by deconstructing the too-small deck and replaced it with stones and grass joints. It worked! The grass grew in, and it really softens what is otherwise a pretty hardscaped patio.

 

2.  Dean started kindergarten!  He is one excited boy.  He couldn’t wait for this day, and he has hit the ground running!  Dean’s learning so much, his brain is tired by the end of the day!  He has never slept better.  Still up at the crack of dawn, but that’s another story…  Fiona was excited on his first day.  She wanted to ride her bike to school with me and Dean too.

  

 

3.  We returned to Lost Lake!  An end-of-summer  treat!  Our first tent-camping experience after a five-ish year hiatus.  We went with open eyes, having camped with a nine-month old before, and our eyes pretty much stayed open all night with three kids in the tent.   But going with friends made the sacrifice of sleep worth it.  And look at this stunning view!  The kids all truly enjoyed themselves.  So we will be back. 

August Album: holy mole

Wow, I really got behind on my posts.  Looking back, I can see why… So much has happened during these last few months – including this trip that I mentioned in my last post, where I took my three children to Texas by myself.  Yes, we all survived.  And the kids did as well as I could have expected or wanted.  But August was exhausting.  It didn’t really dawn on me until I started rummaging through these photos.  Here we are on the plane ride over.  Why I took this shot, I have no idea… to remember the moment?  This look probably says it all – bundle of nerves, ready to explode.

 

The trip was pretty darn fun, starting with day 2, when we (18 of us, which isn’t even all of my siblings, spouses, and kids – and I) bombarded my aunts during this get-together at a little San Antonio taqueria.  Breakfast tacos were incredible.  We’re a mob!  We completely took over this restaurant.  I think I’m related to everyone in this photo.  Seriously, I am.

Here’s my sister, Gina Marie with our Great Aunt Marie, plus Rita, baby Marianne, and me and Leo.

Here’s my mom, Fiona Josephine with her Great Aunt Josephine, plus Lydia.

I loved watching Leo play with Marianne!  He loved calling her name and following her everywhere.

Fiona and Sophia were to be my cousin Sabrina’s flower girls, so they got lots of bonding time and special attention.  I have to admit, the lead-in to the wedding was pretty stressful.  Fiona had only tried on her dress one time before the day of the wedding, and she totally hated it.  I’m understating it – she cried the entire time.  So I was doing a lot of coaxing and keeping her happy so that when the moment came, she would be ready…  I bought her a special watch and I kept lollypops with me at the wedding.  And… it went well. 

 

    

I loved that Mom and Aunt Mary were in charge of keeping these three in tact and ready to go before their moment arrived!  Unfortunately for them, that meant waiting for about 30 minutes for the wedding to begin…

  

Aren’t they angels? Fiona wasn’t as well-trained as her cousin to stand still during the ceremony, but she managed to come sit next to me, and for a three-year old, she was amazing. I was so relieved when her flower girl duties were finished! Commence vacation!

 

The day after my cousin’s wedding, we were in San Antonio, and it was my 12th anniversary!  No Matthew to celebrate with, so my family and I raised our glasses to him.  I really missed him.  No more separate vacations.  Really.

We spent the rest of our time in San Antonio on vacation mode – which meant going to Kiddie Park, the zoo, my grandparent’s ranch, and playing in the pool.  Lots of cousin time.

  

  

I started to relax some.

When we returned home, I was totally depleted.  And, against my better judgment, we hit the ground running.  I had signed up Dean and Fiona for their last swim lessons of the summer – every weeknight for two weeks.  I was determined to get Dean to finish his level!  But, still, this was probably overdoing it for me.  It all worked out in the end – he passed, finally (after three lessons this summer!!!)

  

At the same time, we were wrapping up their preschool classes with parties in the park, and lots of nostalgia, especially around Dean, who was about to start kindergarten.  Plus, Fiona had a minor health scare with her skin that involved seeing a doctor and drawing blood and/or getting a urine sample every week for four weeks.  It all subsided, but that was no fun for anyone.

  

For some reason, we were also trying to wean Leo off bottles and on to the sippy cup.  Why?  Partly because his bottles were taking up valuable kitchen cabinet real estate.

By the end of August, here’s that look again…  And I’m not sure why I keep taking this photo.