A wonderfully long weekend

It's Saturday night. I shouldn't be surprised by how quickly my 4 days went, yet here I sit, lamenting the fact that tomorrow is, indeed, Sunday. It's been a great 4 days, despite a couple of set backs.

Thursday we ate two massive meals in a span of 2 hours. While I don't recommend this, seeing family, and allowing all the cousins to get together, was well worth it.

First we went to Roy's uncle Robert's, where there was plenty of food and I had my first Shucky Beans. I have heard this family talk about Granny's (Roy's great grandma's) Shucky Beans the entire time I've known this family. I was glad to finally have them, despite the fact that I think they're somewhat of an acquired taste.



Then we went to Roy's sister, Beth Ann's. It's always a treat to get the cousins together!

Friday, Riley went riding in Red River Gorge with Pa. When he called us to tell us he had a "surprise" for us, we had every number of ideas of creature he was going to bring home for us to tend to. Alas, the surprise was that Bo, Riley's horse, had stepped on his foot leaving quite the bruise. I wish this picture accurately showed the swollen, black and blueness of it all.



It nicely matched the bruise on Sophie's eye from when she fell at the park earlier in the day.



Today we set up the tree. This is the second Christmas I will spend in Kentucky. While I will truly and dearly miss spending this holiday with my family, part of me is looking forward to creating our own tradition here. It's difficult when we have a 10 year old who lives an hour away, but we're talking about it and finding ways to keep the holiday special and inclusive for all of us. For now, though, decorating took priority.

Not surprisingly, the bottom 1/4 of our tree is VERY well decorated.


And Riley always has the honor of placing the topper on the tree. (This is what I get when I ask for a smile)

I love the Holiday season - always have - and am looking so forward to the next few weeks of settling into it all.

John Williams IS the man... and so is this guy.

I have watched this video a number of times over the past few weeks. Regardless of whether or not you love Star Wars, or if you agree that John Williams is the man, this is quite a remarkable video.

Enjoy.

Living with a 2 Year Old

"I like Peanuts." "Daddy Fart. Mommy Fart. Sophie Fart." "I like animals. Elephants! Giraffe's! Elephants!" and one that we are so happy to hear more and more often, "Potty!"

The lack of photos I have to accompany this post is evidence of her interest in the camera. It's nearly impossible these days to get a good picture that really captures the moment, but there are a few.
These last two weeks have seen a surge in Sophie's language development. Her Please and Thank You's come fast and furious, and she uses the "I" instead of "Sophie" now. The other day we were coming home after visiting a friend. It was after dark and we were enjoying the first real snow of the season and the beginning of Christmas lights. "I happy" we heard from the back seat.

She is also most definitely in the "NO" stage. When she doesn't want to go to school or wear her pants or eat her dinner, we hear it loud and clear. We're learning different ways to deal with this sudden burst of independence and it's getting better as we become better communicators.

I'm also learning the value of "No" and the importance of saying it to her (under reasonable circumstances.) Her tantrums have decreased and while she may whine for a minute, she's easily distracted. This has been a very, very important lesson for me.

She eats nearly everything, something I'm grateful for during this time of inflating grocery bills.

She loves her My Little Ponies and they seem to always be taking naps in various places around the house. She hates having her hair brushed and loves having her back scratched. She loves to climb into our laps and snuggle in deep. She takes our arms and wraps them around herself, pulls a blanket over her, and gives a sigh and shudder as she cuddles.

Clothes have become somewhat of an issue, so she has started picking out her own outfits. I don't argue unless it's 30 degrees and she chooses her lightest sun dress. I guess that means it's time to weed her closet a little bit.

We went to Light up Shelbyville a couple of weekends ago. Riley's school choir sang, and we went up for the event. Sophie would not sit still after they lit the trees. She just walked from tree to tree. This is a poor quality picture, taken with Roy's iPhone, but I love it.
So we're learning together how to be better parents, how to be better communicators, and what kind of limits are important to set. Roy and I are remembering the importance of getting a sitter for the night and going out for dinner and a movie. She's an amazing little girl and I can't wait to see what's next.

A Really Great Day

It is very, very rare that I have a day of doing nothing. My weekends are generally a flurry of laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, and sweeping/vacuuming mounds of dog hair. I love the caretaker roll (most of the time) and consider this to be a necessary, and fulfilling, part of my life.

But this morning I woke up with a terrible, terrible headache pounding behind my eyes. It wasn't long after I got up that I took two Advil, grabbed an icepack, and went back to bed. Roy and Sophie both have colds and up until this point, I had been spared.

After 15 minutes or so I had had enough self pity. We ate scrambled eggs with coffee, and orange juice, and braved the weather for a trip to the Library.

I work at the Central Library, so I almost never go as a patron. Sure, I'll run in to get a movie or something I have on hold, but I am not the library user I was before I started working there. Yes, I check out just as many books, but I'm no longer prone to loosing myself in the 600's.

This past September, Lexington opened their largest Branch, the Northside Branch. As the Assistant to the Director, I have seen this branch built from the very beginning stages almost 3 years ago. I was excited to take Sophie to the Children's Area, and to show Roy around.

I filled my mug with hot chocolate and coffee, we all bundled up, and took off. Sophie played with the Thomas the Train table and I could see her through the glass as I picked out books about the Moon, Knuffle Bunny, and about half a dozen others. I found an amazing cookbook to use as inspiration for Christmas Dinner and Roy disappeared for a rather significant amount of time.

An hour later, we walked back out into the rain and came home. I put on a pot of beef stew, we read Sophie her new books many, many times, and I picked up my knitting again. Sophie fell asleep on the couch and Roy and I just sat, enjoying the quiet. No TV. No Radio. Just the sounds of rain, bubbling stew, and Sophie's breath.

After lunch, I took a nap (joy!) and came back to the living room for Wallace and Grommit and lots of family snuggle time.

Tomorrow I will have piles of laundry and dog hair and we still have to go to the Grocery Store. But today was totally worth it.

This race

Last night, as the poll results were coming in, my friend Chad and I were talking about the election of Barack Obama as our president. We were discussing how awesome it is that Obama pulled in Ohio. How resoundingly he took Pennsylvania. How his campaign inspired young people to actually get out and VOTE this year. We were talking about the organization of his campaign, their ground game, the passion voters felt about Obama and this election.

Then, someone on TV brought up the historical significance of him being the first African American President of the United States.

Chad and I slapped our foreheads. That's right! He's black! Through all our conversations, we hadn't even touched on this historical moment.

"That is SO generational" said my dad, after I recounted to him this conversation. "You have no memory of white only restaurants and the segregation of this country. That's a good thing, but it changes your perspective." He recounted stories of white only restaurants, and the white people who left when their black friends were told to leave.

Stories like these are all too common in our culture. So common, in fact, that for someone like me - a privileged, white American who was born in 1979, a story is what it has been relegated to. I am ashamed that this fact didn't strike me sooner in the evening. Goodness, I consider myself to be progressive, to embrace diversity and instill that in my child!

My dad is right - it is great that so many of my generation did not see race in this election. It is wonderful that we have no memory of the segregation that was so prevalent in our society for so long.

But.

In this moment of victory, as we wash off the last, awful, 8 years, let us not forget the work is not over yet, and the history that was made as we elected President Obama.

A Little Sophie Update

I was going through pictures this morning and realized how many adorable shots of Sophie I got over the past couple of weeks.
We recently bought her a helmet so she can ride the horse trails with her Pa, Riley and her cousins. She loves her helmet.
She's also got a thing for lemons.
and has recently re-discovered her rocking horse, thanks to the Toys R Us catalog that came in the mail.
We had a house filled with family a couple of weekends ago, and Sophie got to spend some good, quality time with her second cousins Hannah and Olivia, and her Grandma Bixel. Sophie continues to love Opera and she and Grandma bonded over this commonality.We had originally intended to get some wings and dress Sophie up as a butterfly for Halloween, but we waited until the last minute and they were all out. Instead, Roy picked up a Cinderella dress. Sophie loved wearing it and I have no doubt it will be well worn when we go to Disney World this January. It was her first Halloween to trick or treat and while at first she was a little nervous, she realized pretty quickly that they GAVE HER CANDY when she knocked.
Sophie is definitely asserting her little 2 year old self in new and different ways, and it is sometimes a struggle, but she continues to be so sweet, so serious and silly, so loving.

And she really loves her bunny rabbit.