New beginnings

The new school year has begun. Summer just flew by. Zoe started fourth grade at a brand new school. We're working with her to get on track with her homework and staying on schedule. She is trying her best, but some days are tough.

Here’s a photo of Zoe on her first day of school. My sister Leesa sent her a box full of new clothes from Old Navy. Thanks, Leesa!

Owen started Pre-K this year. It's a dual-language program with half the day in English, and half in Spanish. I hope he absorbs the Spanish like a sponge. I think its essential to know Spanish, and that it is much easier to learn it when you are young.

We've been struggling to stay on schedule. We are not morning people and Zoe’s school bus is at 7:05! Due to first the Olympics, and now the Presidential party politics we’ve been sleep deprived. As responsible parents, we have to make things work. You do what it takes.


Bob was in Denver visiting his sister Amy just days before the DNC. He snagged me a few Democratic momentos. I'm a proud Democrat and I am hopeful for a new administration next year. Just think of the new beginnings we can celebrate together.

Silly Owen

Yesterday I stayed home with my kids all day on our staycation. Actually, they played together while I worked from my home office.

Owen and Zoe had fun hanging out together. They did things that they haven't done for a while like playing with Playdoh.

They ate Popsicle (orange mustache!).

They got a hold of my camera. The footage is classic silly Owen.

They have been playing their Nintendo DS games.

Now, it's time to play outside.

Ice skating in the heat wave

Early June has been very hot. We've had four days over 100 degrees Celsius, and more over 90 degrees. Our tempers are flaring along with the temps outside. So, on Sunday, we were very happy when the Brownies field trip was scheduled for the local ice rink.

Owen had his first time on skates. He had lots of help and was very brave. Ms. Katie was a trouper and helped Owen around the rink twice.

Soccer warm up

Owen is learning to love soccer. His coach is a such nice guy. I have to try hard not to laugh at the kids. Coaching four year olds is like hearding cats.

Soccer Mom

Owen and Zoe have joined the local soccer team. They have caught on pretty well with the basics of the game.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Well, I am now officially a Soccer Mom. We have the house in the suburbs. We have the mini-van. We have the two soccer playing kids.

Zoe cuts Owen's birthday cake

Here's some footage of Owen after he blew out his candles. There are days when Zoe is such a little kid, and others when she shows her maturity. I think this shows how grown up she is becoming. Fittingly, this was at her little brother's party.

The kids had their faces painted at the Purim celebration at our temple. It was a nice way to celebrate Owen's birthday.

Since he was sick the previous week, and Bob became and continues to be very sick with pneumonia, it's been a tough couple weeks. Bob is still quite sick now. As a result, we could not plan a big birthday party for Owen.

When I was about six or seven, I remember the entire family was sick for my mid-January birthday more than once. I remember my mom pulling out a frozen cherry pie for one birthday. That was a big huge disappointment. It was certainly not what I wanted.

Another year when I turned ten my birthday was missed again. I brattishly insisted that my name be added to my sister Leesa's cake. Her birthday is a month after mine in February. We had the bakery lady to pipe in pink frosting: "Happy Birthday Sue-Lee!" The bakery lady asked us if the recipient was Chinese.

Our recent visit to Boston

A few weeks ago, I took my kids to Boston to visit my family. My dad's health is not doing well, so it was nice to see him.

My sister Marianne was very generous to buy us all tickets. We spent time with her and her boyfriend. My kids were very excited about the snow and her dogs.

We went to the aquarium together. It was hard to manage Owen there. My sister doesn't have kids, and she was surprised by my two. She offered to bring them to an orphanage. They are a handful to say the least.

We went to Tricia and Mick's house next. It was great to see them and their amazing baby Ian. Zoe had a great time playing mommy with Ian.



I left the kids with family for a night on the town. Four of us went out to the theater. It was very nice to do something adult for a change.

We took the kids on the subway. Owen loves trains so it was a special treat for him. It's amusing to me that my kids are such country bumpkins. I grew up in the city and my mom didn't drive until I was 10. She used to take us "downtown" on the bus and subway.

We went to have lunch at my friend Christine's place. She lives in the finacial district near the waterfront. Owen climbed on their sofa, tried to jump out the window, licked their windows, and nearly broke their blinds. Luckily, my kids didn't break anything. It wasn't for lack of trying. We walked to the Children's Museum. My kids were pretty rotten, and my friend who also has no kids was very tollerant. Very.

We had a family birthday party with cake and candles. The cake was amazing, from my favorite Boston bakery.

It was nice to see everyone and have a few days back home.

Owen's Diner

 

There's a little cute diner in Chapel Hill called Owen's 501 Diner. It's located on the 501 highway. We point it out to our Owen as we drive by. And, a few weeks ago we all went there for lunch. Now our Owen calls it "my diner." Every time we pass by it he says, "Mom, I want to go to my diner."

Some people think diners are greasy spoons. As America evolves into a place with a Subway franchise (28678 Restaurants In 86 Countries) in every strip mall, unique places like diners are few and far between. Give me a diner any day over the usual sprawl. To me, a diner is a welcome sight. You don't know what you miss until they're gone.

Recently, I was surprised to see the Englewood Diner in a movie scene. The diner used to be located in my neighborhood in Dorchester, Mass. When I worked at a local community newspaper, I used to sell ads to the owner of the diner. It was adorable. I used to visit it a couple times a year. The movie was featured in The Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks, Jude Law, and Paul Newman. While listening to the director's commentary, I was interested to learn that the Englewood Diner had been purchased on EBay for $20,000.

So, when I get a bit homesick, I can pop in the Perdition DVD and remember my favorite diner. It is nice to see the Englewood Diner forever captured on film, but I'd rather be able to have their home-made corn beef hash and poached eggs.

Happy New Year

 

New Hope Valley Railway & Bob's wrist

Last weekend we all went on a New Hope Valley Railway Train ride. It was a blast for Owen. We all were glad we went, but Owen was thrilled. He wanted to go back the next day.
I've always been a fan of trains and train travel. Over the years, I've read a several of Paul Theroux's train travel books. It is amazing how noisy, messy, smelly and slow steam trains are. Reading about it is much nicer than actually doing it.

On a different note, Bob had surgery on his wrist today. He had a nasty rebuild of his bones and tendons due to a bad Ganglion cyst. It went pretty well, but it was more involved than they expected. This is the second surgery for this condition, so we're hoping it works this time. He's not supposed to work or drive for 10 days. Right, like that's going to happen. And, He'll need a cast for 6 weeks. Mercy, it's going to be a tough ten days. He's pretty loopy on the pain meds. He keeps asking me the same questions over and over again. The most frequent questions are about whether or not the surgeon was confident, or did he get it all? Go to sleep now, Bob. Thank you, Percosets.

Licking the spoon

Owen loves chocolate. He is absolutely, definitely, 100% positively my son.

BIG boys and their BIG toys

 

Owen is delirious with joy. And, he has a new summer haircut that when wet is spikey. He looks so grown up. He is also moving into the danger zone for toys:



He recently received this big present. It's a big hit. These sort of things are very popular in our neighborhood. I'm pretty sure that they are not a good thing. I think this is where the moms and the dads part company.

I see trips to the emergency room. My husband sees his childhood. And, I know, I know, they should be wearing helmets.

On a side note, we had amazing weather for the past couple days. It is notable how much the weather affects my mood. I'm going to have to pay more attention to this.

Carrboro Elementary School Fair

Zoe and Owen became tigers at the school fair. We had a fun time, but the weather was not good.

Owen is difficult to manage at things like this. He runs off and gets lost in the crowd. We lost him at least eight times.

We spent the whole day and a lot of money to support our school. I took pictures for the school newsletter, The Carrboro Chalkboard. You can download a PDF from the school website. I'm pretty happy with the results.

T.V. time

 

There is an ongoing struggle between the parents and the kids in our home. The struggle can get pretty ugly at times. They want more T.V. time, and we want them to have less. As you can see from these pictures, they are transfixed by T.V.

We do place strict limits on T.V. time because these kids would watch T.V. all day if we let them. We try to limit them to a half an hour a day on school nights. In fact, there's lots of nights with none because we run out of time.

It's a bit of a struggle with the adults too. I enjoy many programs. Bob doesn't watch ANY. So, I'm the bad influence on the kids. Lately we've been watching a stunning series on the Discovery channel. Planet Earth show. For years, I've enjoyed watching the PBS Nature show. As he passes by, Bob just groans, "Oh, no, more sea otters!"

On the weekends, I have started a tradition of Saturday movie night. I enjoy movies and want to have some fun traditions with my kids. Since most of the movies are animation or other mind-numbing, rated-G ilk, I get in some reading or take up my knitting.

We've recently started using REDBOX $1 per night DVD rentals. So easy, cheap and good, I dropped Netflicks. As we say in Boston, they are wicked pissa.

So, we rent a movie, we make popcorn, and we have some T.V. time.

Don't be angry. Don't be busy. Don't be sad.

Owen is learning language at a gallop. And, he now carefully studies facial expressions to get a sense of your mood.

On Saturday, he was begging for my attention while I was trying to read. I was not responsive enough for him. He tugged on my shirt and said,"Help me now." When I didn't respond he said, "Don't be angry, don't be busy, don't be sad." Now those are words to live by.

Carrboro Farmers' Market

Today we visited the Carrboro Farmer's Market.

We bought garden plants, cut flowers, cheese, eggs and pork. Zoe and Owen were thrilled with the pussy willows. We just had to buy a bunch of them. I remember loving pussy willows when I was a kid. I remember stroking their fuzzy tips. They grew in a neighbor's yard. We were always excited when they bloomed in the early spring.

I grew up a city kid. We used to take drives to the country to pick apples or buy pumpkins. We didn't know or understand about locally-raised produce or local farms. Our food came from the supermarket in plastic bags.

Now, I appreciate local produce and crafts. I try to visit the market with my kids at least once a month. And, we go on the farm tour, and try to grow some herbs and vegetables. It's all a part of why we moved here to improve the quality of our life.

Don't open that cage!

Owen is in love with Zoe's hamster. He thinks that the hamster is a mouse.

"the mouse"

Owen loves Zoe's hamster. He calls him the mouse.

He drags his step stool from the bathroom up to Zoe's bureau to see the hamster. He tries to open the cage and pokes his fingers in.

Don't open that cage, Owen!

Here's some footage on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/v/vBw79qEZ33M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmu81t78Zks

Kalil's 8th birthday party

Yesterday was Kalil's birthday party. We had a wonderful time. The weather was amazing, and the party was perfect.

There was a Pokemon theme to the party. The kids all had a great time. I brought Owen who played beautifully with Kalil's baby sister.

After the party, we took Kalil home for a playdate. That gave his family some time to tidy up and hopefully kick back for a few minutes.