My Kid is Awesome and We Should Never Have Gone to that Parade

Aleks getting ready for the parade downtown. He really likes those goggles for some reason. He looks like Number One Geek and I love it. It's soooo cute. His pants actually fit him, but sliding down the stairs made them rise up, which looks even geekier and cute. His custom-designed Chuck Taylors are too big though. They fit snug though.

Then we went to the parade, which he hated. I don't wanna talk about it.

Aleksander Tries Kiwi Fruit for the First Time

Bubble Faces

Aleks was quite insistent on having me take a photo of him with bubbles on his face. He used them to paint his face white so he could be a zombie. Note the raised arms and scary mouth, hungry for brains.

A day earlier, he'd decorated Bastian's face so he had white hair and giant bushy eyebrows, like some ancient elf.

Brownie's for a Magical Childhood

In order to give my children a perfect, magical childhood, like Soulemama or similar, I bought some organic brownie mix (though usually we make them from scratch, I figured this was easier for a quick chocolate fix) to eat while watching Wall-E. With much pushing and shoving on the chair over who got to do what, we finally got them in the oven. Then they asked a thousand times when they would be done. Cooling took just as much time.

The mix came with a star cut-out to put star shapes on top. Our stars were impressionistic. The brownies were delicious, however, and disappeared by lunch the next day.

Self-representation in Lego

The kids worked together to make this hilarious little Lego guy - a version of themselves or Mama or Papa at the dining table with the laptop. I love the smallness and the attention to detail. And the skeleton face.
Bastian and I saw this picture when doing a search about World Toilet Day (November 19th).
So while they were playing with their "guys," one of his needed to go potty. So they built one of their own:

Bubble Wrap Song

Just as I was harassing the kids for getting into my purse, Bastian claims the bubble wrap that held the moxabustion sticks they were wondering about. I say, "yeah! take the bubble wrap!" He runs off with it and sings... So hysterical.

Sick Days Tea Party

Since Aleks is near comatose and Bastian is on the way to having about as much phlegm as his brother, I needed to get some echinacea in these kids without trekking them out to the grocery for those gummy bear things. My kids don't really drink tea, but I got them to try it with lots of honey and the baby tea set. I also got a secondary tiny tea pot out because I just have those laying around. See that little pink thing there? I got that at the thrift store recently. It was so vintagey and cute, even though I had no idea what we would use it for. Jon objected to the purchase as he thought it was useless, but we have since discovered the perfect purpose. Voilà. Soggy tea bag holder.
Bastian did the pouring.
He thought Throat Comfort tea was quite tasty. It's particularly sweet but does comfort your throat quite well.
Aleks preferred the tea in the yellow cup to the tea in the blue cup, but I'm unsure which is which.
He has spent most of the day doing this, however:
He also took another long nap. I hope this doesn't mean more one a.m. shenanigans.

One a.m. Bathtime

When Aleks fell asleep at dinner time due to being sick, I assumed he'd just be in and out of it for the rest of the night, since he seemed so lethargic. He remained rather lethargic, but woke up and stayed up. At 1 a.m., he'd thought he'd take a bubble bath.
By 2, he was still having trouble sleeping and Bastian had woken up feeling miserable and thus screaming. Needless to say, no one got much sleep. Least of all Papa.

Apple Muffintops

While Aleks took a long nap due to a nasty cold, Bastian and I made apple muffins for friends who are in need of food and love and good thoughts at the moment. The last of the City Fresh apples were getting a bit mealy, so there was nothing for it but to bake them. I made a test batch the other day for our mother's group where we were throwing a modified and shortened Mother Blessing for our friend (and my doula client). Everyone loved them.

Bastian helped cut up the apples, as there were lots to cut.

I used a recipe from Joy of Cooking (my default), plus a half teaspoon of cinnamon. For Bastian and I's batch, we multiplied the whole recipe by 3 and added some oats and a splash of maple syrup to make sure there was enough moisture to cook the oats well. I could have added more oats, I think, but we ran out. I'll try that next time for sure.
This is our tippled recipe for 3 dozen apple-oat muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°.
Mix together:
5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (we used the last couple of cups of our whole wheat plus unbleached all-purposed white)
2-1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 teaspoons double-acting aluminum-free baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (could be more like 2 full or even 2-1/2 teaspoons though)
whole rolled oats - I think we used about a cup or 2, but you could do probably 3 or more and add liquid accordingly

Beat in separate bowl:
6 eggs (from Grandma & Grandpa's chickens - their rooster, Godfather, died on Sunday - rest in peace Godfather, we ate your the ovum of your hens, which I'm sure you fertilized first)

Add to the eggs:
6 to 12 tablespoons melted butter (we used 8)
2-1/4 cup milk
splash maple syrup - about a tablespoon or 2

Combine the liquid and the dry ingredients with a few swift strokes. Add fruit of choice. Fill well-greased muffin pans two-thirds full and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Greasing the muffin tins really made me want to get those silicone muffin cups. They would be awesome, I think. Plus that way I wouldn't feel as bad about my muffin tins being non-stick and I could actually use the aluminum hand-me-down tins from my Grandmother.

Aleks' First Sleepover

While Aleks and Bastian both just stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house last weekend alone without us, neither boy has really ever stayed the night at a friend's house without us. Aleks went to stay at Jonas' house on Friday. I'm not entirely certain it counts as Jon and I stuck around long after the boys were asleep (including Bastian who was coming home with us!), but he did it. Totally without us.

He was all set too. He packed his backpack (which he was confused about when I referred to it as a "bookbag" - he didn't know what that meant!), dressed himself, and asked us every few minutes how soon we were going over. He donned his jack-o-lantern Obama button, which I'd placed over the "Thomas and Friends" on his hand-me-down backpack (not bookbag).

I was worried about him being afraid during the night, but he refused to take any precautions. I was telling him that he could go sleep in the mommy's bed if he got scared, or that maybe he should take a pillow from home that smelled like him and us, and he was all, "I won't get scared mom. I'll just share Jonas' pillow. It's fine. We did it at camp!" He's all "duh, mom!" about it. lordisa. I guess I'm glad he's so freaking fearless.

He certainly didn't get much sleep. He fell asleep last, around one a.m. and woke up with Jonas and Lavinia at "the crack of dawn." I'm not sure what precise time "crack of dawn" refers to as Anna stayed up til the wee hours of the morning with Jon and I watching Jon's history of Rock n' Roll YouTube lesson, so anytime in the a.m. would have felt too early, necessitating such a description. Aleks therefor fell asleep on the ride back home...
I had big plans to take the whole family to the Join the Impact Protest of Proposition 8, but the weather was miserable. By miserable, I mean near-freezing horizontal rain flooding in from the lake on huge gusts of wind that turned many, many umbrellas inside out. Instead, Jon and Bastian dropped me off downtown while they went off to reclaim Aleks.
The only negative of me standing there alone was that my sign didn't make much sense.

Fish Out of Water

That's what Aleks thinks this building in Graz, Austria looks like:

Fall Fun

Jon and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary over the weekend while Bastian and Aleks had their very first overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Aleks had actually stayed once before while we went to a wedding with Baby Bastian in tow, but we had never had a night away from the both of them. It was the first time as parents that we were alone, without kids, together. It was not at all weird for anyone.

Everyone had a great time - Jon and I at a schmancy hotel eating super expensive and delicious food, and the kids at "the farm" (as Jon calls it though it's not quite five acres), playing Scrabble Jr. with Grandma Cat, Grandpa Jim, Papa Logan, and Aunt Natty.

We stayed in a hotel our friend Chris works at on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. Cincy isn't exactly the romantic destination I'd imagine, but we got a deal and it's close (and the grandparents are on the way, handy for the depositing of small children).



There were champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries awaiting us in our room. This is way fancier than I am accustomed to.



We also briefly visited Kentucky, looking to see a movie (and finding there were none worth seeing) and instead enjoying some Irish beer in the mid-afternoon without feeling at all guilty. The real luxury of the whole trip was the absence of pressure to do all the things we must normally do: dishes and laundry and the wiping of noses and tables and bottoms...



When we came back on Sunday to collect the kidlets, we spent some time in the big yard raking leaves into nice big piles for jumping.


Aleks deep in the pile.
Aleks deeper in the pile.
Aleks gone! Showered by an avalanche of leaves!


The video is the best...

Autumnal Garlands

I got this random idea to make a garland out of the gorgeous leaves all over our driveway. Aleks went out to collect the leaves.
Then we used my mound of cream acrylic yarn that I inherited to thread the leaves on.
We hung the strand on the porch.
It really highlights Aleks' Obama sign, which is still up. The nice thing about this project is that aside from the yarn - which can always be reused in a craft project depending on the condition - the whole thing is biodegradable and will likely just fall apart.

Election Day

Waiting for mama to come home to go vote.


On the way...



Bastian playing with an apple he found on the walk, underneath the polling booth.
Afterwards, we played at the Big Park. The day was gorgeous. As it's rained and snowed and sleeted every other election day we have lived here, we took it as a sign.

We stayed up late watching election results. The boys crashed out before the news called it. It has been rare that I have had the opportunity to feel proud of Americans. Having Barack Obama in the White House means that when we tell our children that anyone can be anything they strive to be, we can mean it.

My friend, Linda

The first time I met Linda, we were having an argument about hypnobirthing. I didn't think I liked her much, which was a gut reaction to being disagreed with. Admittedly, my internet style at the time was rather self-absorbed - not that I've improved much - and I didn't do a great job of talking about the issue in that particular disagreement.

Today, however, I love her words, even when I don't agree with them. She spends a lot of time, like me, sitting and reading and thinking. Then she writes it out thoughtfully and authentically. I quite admire her. On her blog this afternoon I read this lovely post, "thoughts on learning," which anyone interested in school and unschool and education should read. Excellent points, all around. Despite the fact that I have a secret prejudice against Gatto.

Aleks Votes for Change

Aleks picked Obama over McCain because he's "cooler" and "brown is a much prettier color." Um... yeah. He put up this sign today.

Halloween

Somehow I didn't get very many photos and none at all of the kids trick-or-treating (or Aleks for that matter). We were rushing out the door for beggar's night after cleaning and cooking all day in preparation for our Harry Potter Halloween Party (very small nowadays). The boys were waiting out front with Heather while I tried to get my Bellatrix costume on as quickly as possible. Bastian was Dobby the House Elf and Aleks was a Dementor. He's so pale that I just dusted him with a bit of powder (which didn't show up really at all) and put dark eye shadow all around his eyes. He wore a black robe (actually, his Slytherin robe from last year) over dark clothes.

We just went up our street a bit. The kids got plenty of candy, despite living on a street of duplexes with mostly college students. I'm glad we're limited in that regard, though. We walked all the way to Coventry and visited Ed and Joe at Vidstar, where they had candy (and a deal on horror movies, but I didn't bring my wallet). We passed by Phoenix, where Aleks went in only to find they weren't giving out candy. He tried to give the barista some of his, but she declined. Then we passed by a Christian group giving out candy but it came with the Word of the Lord. I tried to decline that and wanted to tell them we were heathens, but I restrained myself. They snuck their literature into Aleks' bag anyway.

Back at home, the neighbors were all readying themselves for varying parties. They came to our porch to hang with the boys who passed out candy to the remaining trick-or-treaters while I finished preparing for our party. The pumpkins Heather and I carved turned out quite well: This is her itty-bitty vampire pumpkin.
This was our screw-up-turned-moustachioed pumpkin. Apparently I missed photographing Heather's zombie pumpkin.
The Great Pumpkin, remade:
Our next door neighbor, Chris, got lots of help from Bastian and Aleks to create his Grapes of Wrath costume.
This year, Bastian actually wore his Dobby costume.
Heather dressed as Tonks, my (Bellatrix Lestrange) niece.
Heather's boyfriend, Chad, in from New York, came as a really excellent Remus Lupin. Which reminds me that I also completely missed getting a photo of the other Heather dressed as Nearly Headless Nick.
Anna threw together a Quirrell costume at the last minute. She much enjoyed Jon's cloverleaf rolls too.
Here, she poses with more poise.
The rolls, not quite ready with the Three Sister's Stew we always make, were an excellent snack during trivia.
Here everyone stares at our computer for Harry Potter trivia. Gryffindor beat Slytherin by one point.
Ian thought trivia was hilarious! He made it quite difficult to hear as well with all his screeching.
Leah, a friend of Joy's, guessed "Harry Potter" for every trivia question.
We had a great time, all in all. Everyone left for a little while so we could get the kids to bed, but some adults returned for late-night board games and beer drinking. Bastian fell into a sugar coma and nearly passed out right on the kitchen floor. There were far too many sweets! Between the trick-or-treating candy (which Aleks luckily disposed of by giving lots away), Tarantula cookies (an annual favorite we make with Heather), Cauldron Cakes, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, the kids were way jacked up. Their moods reflected it too!

I got sent a picture of myself!

This Seems Familiar...

To get the boys out of the house after their sugar coma and before a birthday party I had to go to, I took them to Shaker Lakes. The afternoon was beautiful and pretty warm considering the temperatures earlier in the week. No winter coats necessary. Aleks wanted to go to "the river." Immediately he started walking on rocks that were not much at all like stepping stones and which sat in a rather large pool of water. He made it out okay (with a couple of close calls), but Bastian of course then wanted to do the same. I convinced him to go over a bridge to a shoreline with a bit of rocky shore instead of the deep pool with island rocks, but he was intent on finding stepping stones. They found some, but neither son did very well at staying dry, particularly Bastian who almost instantly got deep enough to have water go inside his rain boots.

He then began walking down the center of the stream. Soon enough, he was waist deep. He discovered a large rock under the water and pointed out that he'd found a rock to stand on at last. He lacked any apparent concern for the fact that his rock required him standing uneasily several feet from me in a pool of freezing creek water at least 18 inches deep, wet to his navel. I got out the camera to snap the following picture just before he wandered off across the creek to a deeper pool, where he fell a bit, landing him neck deep in cold, cold water, which took his breath away. He managed to crawl/climb back to me where I dragged him out of the water and hurried both boys along the path (which we had to unfortunately backtrack to get to) back to the car. There I turned the heat on, stripped him down naked half in the car/half in the parking lot, dried him off with my keffiyeh, then dressed him with extra clothes I keep in the trunk.

It's all so familiar...