The Family Shield

Back when I was single and lived in Dallas, I volunteered for an organization that provided respite care for babies who were HIV positive. My usual job was to help the paid workers by rocking and feeding babies, but one day I got there and the wonderful lady who ran the organization (whose hands were gnarled with rheumatoid arthritis, and who, I discovered later, had lost a beloved son in a diving accident when he was 16) asked me if I would mind driving one of the kids to his orthopedic appointment at the nearby children's hospital. She handed me the gigantic, heavy, specially modified car seat, and the adorable 3 year old, who had lots of other issues in addition to his HIV status, and pushed us out the door. I managed to wrestle the car seat and the child into the back of my small car. My young charge had casts on both legs and it took me a good little while to get his wiggling, rather heavy body properly clicked in. We got to the hospital, and the parking was impossible--we circled round and round a parking garage looking for an open spot. I heard him suddenly start to giggle (he wasn't verbal but he made happy sounds aplenty) really loudly and I looked in my mirror and HE WAS GONE. GONE. Well, not actually gone. The car seat had come unhooked on one side and had TOPPLED OVER. WITH HIM STILL IN IT. (yes, now that I am married to an attorney, this entire story is even more terrifying. Thank goodness for the statute of limitations.) I somehow managed to exit the parking garage, park in a handicapped space, and get things back to right. I am certain we were late to his appointment. I am also certainly glad I did not break any other of his tiny bones with my negligent car seat installation, or as I carried him and his two leg casts through the miles of labyrinthine hallways to the ortho clinic.

Anyway, I had totally forgotten about this incident, and remembered it one night last week when I had trouble sleeping. I feel like I was better at hard stuff back then.

Which is my segue into Helena's latest project. In second grade at our school, the kids create a family shield to represent things about their family. I never posted Hudson's from last year, so let's do that first:



It was a handsome, heavy wooden buckler, that would actually provide some protection were he to bring it into battle. He painted some of our favorite things on the front, and was all set to present it to his class. That part did not go well. His buckler, nifty as it was, looked nothing like his classmates' shields. He decided this was somehow a bad thing, and went mute when it was his turn to talk about it. I spent several minutes at the back of the little auditorium trying to quietly convince him he really could do it. Alas, he thought otherwise. It was a hard and sad day. But never let it be said we don't learn from set-backs in this family! When the project arrived on Helena's assignment sheet in early November, I suggested a more traditional route. She enjoyed the process greatly, painted this beauty:

 and yet, AND YET, when her teacher called her name to present it, she was UNDONE. The interesting thing is that both kids have done a half dozen other presentations to their classes with no issues. I am not sure why this one is so tragic. Perhaps they are, like their mother, overly sensitive to The General Concept of Battle.

The good news is that everyone has moved on nicely, and we've had a pleasant Christmas break.

Also, I have been feeling more like writing lately, so let's hope that translates into more frequent posting here. Is there such a thing as a Proustian promise?

Random Picture Monday,Part VI: Thanksgiving

For the fourth day in a row, I have eaten dessert for breakfast. And now it is raining, so I am on the couch and not running. The antonym for Crossfit? ME. Speaking of me, I rarely talk to the dog on these days when the kids are at school, but when I do, I refer to myself as 'Mommy.' Which is ridiculous, primarily because I have realized that Sasha does not actually think she is a separate being from me. I'm not sure what goes on in her mind, but I suspect she thinks of us as 'me' and 'also me.' Or maybe it's like the Queen and we are the royal 'we.'  One of the nights she was so sick, I woke up and she had her eyes open and was watching me and breathing in a really labored way. She was probably wondering why Also Me was not dying with her, like Elliot when E.T. gets sick.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with my family. I love my mom's turkey and cornbread dressing and green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole. We brought dessert this year. Harper made an apple pie, and I made chocolate Italian cream cake. Harper tried to cut an elaborate design into the piecrust and it did not go very well. There were suggestions that we JUST THROW IT IN THE TRASH but I managed to convince her it would be just fine. It really was delicious. Especially for breakfast.



This is the kids, giddy with excitement to go over the river and through the oil refineries to Grandmother's house.


Me: Hudson, it is your turn to unload the dishwasher.
Hudson: As soon as I've finished touring on my luxury gondola!

 Mrs. Spivey's grandkids are a little older than my kids, and she always gives toys to my mom once her grandkids no longer play with them. These plastic cups are one of the favorites. HOURS of fun. We also discovered Skip Bo (which the cousins dubbed "Skip body odor!") and there were also multiple rounds of The Game of Life.

 A few months ago, my mom uncovered my childhood collection of Family Circus books in a bin in her attic. The kids can't get enough of Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and PJ. There were actually a few of my Dad's Dennis the Menace books too, and I chuckled when I found one published in 1956, when he was a sophomore at Baylor. I guess he enjoyed a little Dennis during study breaks.

The dog got sick and very nearly DIED

I realized I have missed two Mondays in a row. I should also confess that the Couch to 5K has been more couch than 5K. Let's blame it all on Sasha. After 6 years of good health, poor girl got really and very ILL. She got a high fever, was shivering nonstop, and basically quit eating and drinking for several days. She would barely move and even stopped barking (!) which is when I knew things were grave. She wouldn't even eat a scrambled egg, which is her number one favorite food. At one point, the husband had her in a wrestling hold and I was squirting pedialyte into her mouth with a syringe. Finally, on Tuesday, I decided we had to go to the vet. I generally avoid our vet, because they lecture me about things like flu vaccines and $800 teeth cleaning, and frankly, I get enough of that from my pediatrician and dentist re: my human children. So, instead of going to the $800 teeth cleaning vet, I decided to drive a little further to a vet some friends had recommended because he is a good, old-fashioned country vet, and also cheap. His office is in a strip center, and when we drove up, the kids were cutting their eyes at me, wondering if we were going to actually go in. There was plywood covering the entire entrance, and when we got in, there was yellow caution tape everywhere, walls near collapse, and 2x4s holding up the ceiling. Oh, and a live parrot! After a few minutes, I finally asked the ladies behind the desk, "Soooo, what happened here?" and it turns out, a couple of months ago, an 83 year old lady accidentally drove her car through the front of the office! And getting it fixed hasn't really been a priority? evidently.. Anyway, the actual vet was out tending to some horses, but one of the raspy voiced techs took Sasha's temperature (104.7!) proclaimed her affliction was probably viral, and gave her a shot. She was better within hours, I got no lectures about flu vaccines OR her nasty teeth, and the whole business cost a mere $45. While I was waiting to pay, we noticed  a lady in the waiting room with a crate of 4 tiny King Charles spaniel puppies. They were adorable,  and the kids were getting many ideas about adding to our general menagerie. A lady next to her asked how much they cost. Twenty-seven fifty, she answered in a quiet voice. Harper reported she definitely has enough in her piggy bank to buy one, or even two, of those puppies. Except the lady meant TWO THOUSAND,SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. Can you even imagine? The people who buy those dogs will gladly shell out $800 for a teeth cleaning.

We've had lots of school activities and projects. Hudson studied and did a presentation on Nikola Tesla. He was confident and magnificent. He was a little grumpy, when his classmate Mara, who was Thomas Edison, claimed Edison was granted over 2,000 patents, while Tesla only had around 300. Comparison is the thief of joy, Nikola. You have a cool car company named after you.


Helena was Wendy for the Peter Pan book party, which went off fairly smoothly, in spite of the fact that I have very poor managerial skills, and also my headdress craft was way too complicated to do in a dark gym with only Christmas lights to see by. Something funny I want to remember: there is a very sweet mom in Helena's grade who thinks my name is Paige. And she is a name caller. So she always greets me with a cheery,"Hi PAIGE!" and then uses it over and over in our conversations. I haven't corrected her because I actually always liked the name Paige, and kind of wished my parents had chosen it instead of Patti (it was their second choice), and also, it has been so long now, I know she would be really embarrassed if I corrected her. She has 5 children under the age of 7, and I think the fact that she is even close is impressive.

 On this same day, Harper had a big science project due, and I've realized I took no pictures of it. I will remedy that before next week, barring any canine illness.

One last thing. I got to hold dear baby Ephraim for a nice long while today, and also delight in the company of his dear mom, who, it is possible, I never would have met but for blogging. So, one of the many things to be thankful for this week. Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside!

Random Picture Monday, Part V: It's November!

When I printed out our lesson plans yesterday I realized we were starting week 12 of school. That is one third of the school year already gone. Well. That is startling.

The wooden blocks got hauled downstairs this week. Castles aplenty, castles galore.

The chrysalids seem to be in soul sleep. I thought I read they would immerge in 8-12 days. It's been longer than that. Perhaps they recognize their captivity and are refusing to play along.

We had Hudson's last soccer game on Saturday. It ended in a 1-1 tie. The actual most exciting part of the day happened when we drove up and witnessed a thief breaking into our friends' car. So, naturally, the husband took off in hot pursuit. In the minivan. Sadly, the criminal was not apprehended, largely because I insisted he let us out of the van before he careened off. With the sliding door wide open. He is a Crusader for Justice, I am an Impediment to Justice.

 Harper got some oil paints and spent a couple of hours out on the patio Saturday painting this sunset. I feel like Bob Ross would be proud of her efforts.

 I just found these pictures from 2, maybe 3 years ago. We had this frog in our backyard, and every morning, Helena would go out and play with it until it finally disappeared, probably to a yard less inhabited by children who wanted to hug him and squeeze him and call him George. Both Hudson and Helena are still wearing these pjs, and they are now at least 4 sizes too small. If we ever have to leave our house in a hurry in the middle of the night, I might be a little embarrassed for us.

Random Picture "Monday" part IV

Posting twice last week threw me off my routine. I think a list might be in order:

1. Hudson scored a goal at his soccer game last week!!! It was only the third goal the team has scored the entire season, which makes it even more spectacular. As seems to be the case with young kids and organized sports, just as they are figuring the whole business out, the season is over. Because we just can't get enough, we are moving on to basketball next. Yesterday, he went out and shot baskets in the
rain. He looks gigantic in these pictures.






2. My kids went trick-or-treating for the first time, with our dear friends. They found it all Most Wonderful, and have spent hours discussing their candy, sorting their candy, asking questions about their candy..."What is in 3 Muskateers? What is NOUGAT? What's in Baby Ruth? What are Reese's Pieces? Kit Kats? Gobstoppers? Can I have a piece of my candy? Can I have a piece of my candy NOW? How about NOW?"

 3. I am reading a new biography of Theodore Roosevelt that focuses on his contributions  to natural history. It's so interesting that ornithologists and naturalists used to kill so many birds and animals so they could study them, and then teach others about them. I happened to be flipping through my old college anthology of American literature yesterday, and read a short story titled "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett, who lived at the same time as Roosevelt (and her first name was actually Theodora!)  It's about a little girl who encounters a young ornithologist in the woods, and even though he offers friendship and much-needed money, she decides not to reveal the location of a white heron he seeks for his studies:"...she remembers how the white heron came flying through the golden air and how they watched the sea and the morning together, and Sylvia cannot speak; she cannot tell the heron's secret and give its life away."

4. That will have to be all. I need to go find some chalk board duct tape (what??) and feathers for the craft I signed up to contribute for Helena's upcoming book party. I actually think this particular craft is going to fall under the heading of Cultural Appropriation. I will just blame J.M. Barrie.

Rock the vote 2016

I voted today. At our library. The line was long, so I got the kids situated with some schoolwork, and then I waited. I was reading The Trojan War (Troilus and Cressida. Odysseus. Aeneas. Agamemnon. Hector.) and I would stop at the end of each chapter and pray for wisdom regarding whom I should vote for. I still had not decided.  I stopped reading for a few minutes (because the Trojan War was a MESS, and I did not need more MESS in my brain at this present moment) and observed my fellow citizens. The lady behind me, who was about my age, was dressed as a cheerleader. She explained, apologetically, to the poll workers, that she was a preschool teacher, dressed for a Halloween party. There was a tiny, fragile young lady bent almost completely over at the waist, and her dad was helping her vote on a modified portable screen from her wheel chair. The man in front of me had a deep, resonant voice, lots of jewelry and many tattoos. A big one on his forearm read "One Love," and I begin to have visions of bursting into song. Everyone would join in, in four part harmony;  maybe there would be choreography. But I realized I don't actually know most of the words to "One Love" because I never really listened to reggae. So I tried to think of another song that would somehow capture the beauty of the freedom we have, entangled with these excruciating choices presented to us. I couldn't decide what song would encompass that. We needed something anthemic. All I could think of was "I'll Fly Away" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". And I realized I only knew the first verses of each of them, and I might have to mumble through the part about trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, because I am not 100% sure that is even the first verse. So, there went my plan. Alas, I did not start an inspiring chorus. The Fall of the Republic will find its roots in this failure, I have no doubt.

We got back into the car after I voted, and we were listening to the Kenneth Branaugh version of The Magician's Nephew. We got to the part where the queen has wreaked minor havoc on the streets of London. Polly, Digory, the Queen, Uncle Andrew, the horse, and the Cabby have been transported to the empty world of dark nothing, and the Cabby says this:

"And if you ask me, I think the best thing we could do to pass the time would be to sing a 'ymn.'
And he did. He struck up at once a harvest thanksgiving hymn, all about crops being "safely gathered in." It was not very suitable to a place which felt as if nothing had ever grown there since the beginning of time, but it was the one he could remember best. He had a fine voice and the children joined in; it was very cheering."

Clearly, I need to be more like that Cabby, because after their hymn, this:

"In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them.. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it...Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by the other voices; more voices than you could possible count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingly, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars."

Random picture Monday, part III

I know things tend to go off the rails when I start getting braggy about any consistency here, but look at me go! And, since I am being braggy, I have also stayed on track for an entire week of the Couch to 5K business. It really isn't so bad, probably because the most I've had to run at a stretch is 90 seconds.

One day last week, I noticed all the leaves had fallen off our little oak tree in the back yard in a single day. I went out to investigate, and they had not actually fallen off, they had been EATEN. By 4 gigantic green caterpillars. We managed to get two of them into our butterfly habitat, where they ate, rather noisily, for another two days. We are now the proud guardians of 2 polyphemus moth chrysalises! Polyphemus, as you'll remember, was the giant son of Poseidon. He was also a cyclops, which means our moths are going to have a large creepy eye looking thing on each of their wings! When we went to capture the caterpillars, I noticed a tiny, dead black snake draped on the branch next to it. That is lots of interesting nature on one tiny oak tree!

Some guys at our church are doing a prison outreach at the prison near our house (that never gets old) and asked us to make cookies. We made peanut butter, and the kids were all concerned that some of the prisoners might have peanut allergies. I assured them that for reasons I don't entirely understand, their generation seems to have a monopoly on peanut allergies, and they aren't quite old enough to be imprisoned.

 Our neighbors had a costume party on Saturday. Hobbes (she made the entire costume by herself!), a stealthy ninja, and an Incredible all had a marvelous time

Random picture Monday, part II

This is becoming a thing!

Here are three books I read this week:

1. The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge (Harper is reading it for school)
2. His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg: Courage, Rescue, and Mystery During WWII by Louise Borden (I first learned about Wallenberg when I lived in Hungary. This is a beautiful homage, and everything a biography for kids ought to be.)
3. Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (Harper read this with her book club. It's a novel, based on real people, set during the Irish Potato Famine. It was devastating, but so wonderful. I haven't cried so much since I finished A Single Shard a few months ago.)

 Sasha kept photo bombing, so I took a few pictures of her. I have a little shadow who goes in and out with me. What can be the use of her is more than I can see.

 I don't know when this tea party happened--two years or so ago?? (this hurts my feelings) Helena went through a tea party phase, wherein every time we were home for any amount of time, a tea party was planned and executed. I loved that Hudson was always a willing participant. He's a good bear.

 One morning, Helena looked out the window, and this jeweled beauty was hanging from our little maple tree. Today, I saw that a new picture book biography of E.B. White has just been published! Title: Some Writer! A Story of E.B. White--isn't that perfect? I can't wait to read it.

Here we are in Colorado. I kind of wish we were back there right now. It is supposed to be 92 degrees here today. I started a Couch to 5K program this morning. My face got very red. I don't like to run, but the cross country team invites parents and siblings to run 5K races with them in the spring, and I decided it might be nice to at least TRY.

Random picture Monday

Last month, some friends from church had a big garage sale to raise money for their adoption. I decided to give them some of the baby things I had stored in a closet. This baby papasan held all three of my tiny babies. So, naturally, I made them all get in it and we gave it a grand send-off. This obviously a coping strategy for me, because what I really wanted to do was weep and weep and compose a Jeremiad about how quickly go the years.

We had another busy Saturday, and yet again my phone died right when I desperately needed directions. This time I actually had a charger, but the phone refused to charge. It was an utter blackout. For 40 minutes. Then finally, after I had TOTALLY lost my bearings and every last ounce of my cool, we miraculously found the park where the cross country race was held, found a parking place on a side street around a mile away, and as I was turning the car off, my phone suddenly made a little PING! and started charging. It was ridiculous. It was a test, and I failed miserably. I had to ask forgiveness from God, and Harper, and Helena. I even had a real map in the car this time, but the park was not on the map, and also I had forgotten my glasses. The husband is threatening to buy me a new phone, but I think it's not the phone, it is obviously The Ghost in the Machine. The Matrix has chosen me as Its Job.

I got a few pictures of Harper at her race. She tried a new configuration of the cooling towel this week:

On Saturday night, she had a murder mystery birthday party. Her character was Albia Tytis (that would be the Latin name for 'barn owl'), internationally renowned ornithologist and conservationist. She had a wonderful time, and I am in awe of my friend Natasha, who planned and executed such an amazing party. Although seeing these 5th grade girls all gussied up took my breath away. It was a glimpse into the not too distant future.

A few things to remember

I was getting some pictures printed off last week for my mother-in-law's birthday, and realized my memory card has thousands of pictures on it. I think I am just going to post a few random pictures. Some other things:

1. The kids and I had a really slow summer, and for the first time, I did not think this worked very well. I don't know what to do about that, I just don't want to forget.

2. We did go to see several kid movies at the theatre (a rare occurrence) and Harper enjoys this SO VERY MUCH. She has a very loud raucous laugh, and she has a ready response to silly humor. I did not really enjoy having to sit through kid movies, but watching and hearing her reactions is delightful. The other two enjoy themselves too, but their reactions are a bit more subdued. This is a random picture of her clearing the weed debris out of our poor, forsaken garden. She was covered in mud when she finished.



3. This last Saturday, I had a baby shower, Harper had her first race for cross country, and Hudson had a soccer gamer--ALL IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TOWN AT THE SAME TIME. I said yes to all the bests and put around 150 miles on the car criss-crossing the greater Houston metro area. Also my phone died right after I started off on my trek, and I did not have a functioning charger. (actually it turned out I DID have one, but did not realize it, which the husband was able to prove as soon as I arrived home). Driving to places you've never been before without your google maps is HARROWING. Anyway, Harper and I made it to the soccer game 5 minutes after it ended, and the husband and Hudson and Helena had just driven off. Which means I don't even get CREDIT.

4. Harper loves cross country. Our school lets the 5th graders run, and she is working so hard. The course on Saturday was hilly, which she was not used to, but she ran like a champ. I confess that I teared up when she loped past me with her goofy self-cooling towel wrapped around her head like Erykah Badu.

5. Hudson is also loving soccer. His team is now 0-3, and they've yet to even score a goal, but he
doesn't seem to mind.


6. Helena lost a tooth last week. She pulled it out herself one early morning before a campus day. She came into the kitchen weeping, because that is her go-to response to blood and/or unexpected events. In this picture she had lined up her babies, and they were labeled "3 months, 4 months, 5 months,6 months, 7 months,8 months."

7. I still haven't finished writing about our Colorado trip. I found this nifty picture I took of one of the many hummingbirds who loved the feeder on our porch:


8. And a few bird watercolors Harper has painted lately:

It was a good day.

We just finished up our fifth week of school, and yet it feels as though about 5 minutes have passed. I am going to document the details of yesterday, because in my brain, that will help me to stop time.

8:55-9:30--Drove Helena to her ballet class. We switched teachers this year, and it's twice as far away. However, this teacher is a mom from school who happens to be a former professional ballerina, AND all of the girls in the class are friends from school.

9:30-10:30--Helena danced, Harper worked on Latin, Hudson read Prince Caspian, and I did a little writing. I have this 5 year diary that I bought on my birthday last year, and I have mostly kept up with it.

10:30-12:30--We ran a couple of errands on the way home. I rarely go to Target anymore, and was reminded why. I was sore annoyed not being able to find things. We also ran into Joann's so Harper could get a birthday present for her friend Susannah, and some new knitting needles.

1-2:30--We ate lunch and the kids watched "Aladdin" (they'd never seen it before. I now have "A Whole New World" stuck in my head). I rested a little, and folded laundry.

2:20-4:00--Hudson's science assignment for this week was building molecules out of candy. We used Starbursts for atoms and toothpicks for bonds. It was sticky and fun. I looked up the chemical formula for TNT, and that was Hudson's piece de resistance.
Then he ate the dynamite.

Helena also made TNT,

 

and Harper made some less explosive molecules.

4-5:30--The Daddy got home, and Harper had to do HER science experiment. She had to test resting heart rate versus elevated heart rate on 3 different people, of 3 different ages, at 3 different intervals. She, Helena, and I went outside and rested and jogged in place, and rested and jogged in place, and rested and jogged in place. Helena's heart beats really fast. Mine and Harper's were almost the same.

5:30-6--Makeshift dinner. Cheese, crackers, and some apples with cookie butter. The Husband had already eaten right when he got home (he skipped lunch. COMMON OCCURENCE) and the kids all seemed indifferent and not really hungry (also COMMON OCCURENCE) Helena disappeared upstairs for an hour, and when she came down, she announced that it was time for me to go and do MY schoolwork.

6:15-7:15--She had been busy! I had to complete an entire hand-written math sheet, (in problem 1, she had spelled Lucy 'Loosy'--I fixed it, and immediately regretted not leaving it), copy a dictated spelling list, and do a Writing With Ease dictation based on a story she made up entitled Bob and His Dog. While it lacked narrative structure and any significant character development, Bob did have a high level of excitement and also silliness. I should also note, that Hobbes the parakeet was sitting on my shoulder, then my head, and also my glasses (not my favorite perching place) while I was trying to be an attentive student. A few weeks ago, we adopted 3 green parakeets from some friends. More on that in another post.

 7:30-8:15--The kids got showered and pajama-ed, and we all gathered on the couch to watch the first few minutes of the "MacGyver" reboot. Only the first few minutes because, disappointingly,  it is clearly not the fairly wholesome "MacGyver" of yore. So we went upstairs and read instead.  We finally finished Swallows and Amazons last week, and just started At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald.

It was a good day.