Cowboy

Reuben asked me what sort of hat this was. I told him it was a cowboy hat. He asked what a cowboy was so I said it was a person that was good at chasing cows. Then I pulled up youtube and showed him some roping, bull riding, and calf wrestling. It reminded me how violent cowboys are but Reuben was impressed and has been wearing the hat around ever since.

When the real cowboy hat was misplaced, he was using a shoe box as a stand in. I say was because the other night I was looking for some kindling for a fire and tossed the shoe box in. Both kids erupted in to shrieks of despair and horror.  I tried to pull the box out but it went up in flames before our eyes. I have not been forgiven.

Miriam got a red balloon at a friend's birthday party last week. She keeps walking through the house chanting "A balloon! A balloon!" It makes me feel like I'm stuck in that french red balloon show.

 It's been very cold here. Snow came. Then ice. Then freezing fog. Ugly cold weather. We suited up and tried to go play in it but realized it was really just ice and there was no fun to be had. I have no pictures outside because my phone powered down right before we stepped out the door. I guess it doesn't like the cold weather either.

Here's R in his snow clothes.

 And Miri.

Another funny story. Reuben has grown tall again and I am amazed that all traces of his babyhood are fast disappearing. We were sitting at the table and I couldn't help but say aloud "Reuben, look at you! You've changed so much. You are such a big boy now!"

Reuben looked over with a concerned confused look and asked very somberly "Did I used to be a girl?"

We assured him he was born a boy and the only changing he's done is change from a baby to a child. I'm not sure if we are totally believed. He knows a lot of baby sisters and a lot of older brothers, since all of his cousins on his Dad's side have a boy then girl order. I think he may be expecting Miri to change into a boy any day now.

Day of No Rest

Our church time changed to the time the kids normally nap. They come home looking like this. 

Actually, they look like that if we are lucky.  They more often look like this.

They get it from me. In order to be a decent human being, I need to sleep and eat.

These pictures are from last Sunday. This Sunday Miri is the angry one and Reuben is snuggling lethargically in the couch pillows.

....And We Are Back

Some of you might be wondering what happened. We had Reuben's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. But not a peep on the blog. Why the black out?

Holidays are really not my thing.

 Add to that my work load was regularly hitting 50 hours a week and Aaron's was hovering around 100 hours. We were total zombies. Aaron was gone. Our child care situation for the kids changed in the middle of the craziness, and while we tried to make new arrangements, I found myself compensating by doing full time parenting by day and full time work at night. You didn't want to see it. It wasn't pretty. (Pray for the children)

We entered the New Year burning with what we thought was the warm glow of holiday cheer (thanks to wonderful times with family) but actually developed into the roasting heat of scarlet fever.  We've decided the 2012 can only get better.

This explanation is my justification for not putting together any sort of Holiday Greeting card.
If we had put one together, it would have said something like this.

Dear Friends and Family,

We love you. Thank you for your support, love, humor, and interest you have shown our little family this past year.

 

Reuben is now 3. He starts everyone's day, every day, with the sun rise and fills those days with his big smiles and clever mischief. He enjoys telling long stories. Most feature Miriam, his cousin Eliza and himself leading a band of resourceful cats through the varied terrain of all seven continents, though Africa is a particularly favored location. The cats are named Battle, Finnegan, Biscuit, Whiskers, and Fat Oscar. These stories last around 10 to 45 minutes when told and our often repeated. Last week, he had each character take their turn jumping a shark, and I thought yes, this story is definitely at that point, though I appreciate his creativity. Aside from the story telling, Reuben loves running, playing outside, digging in sand, building things, fast cars and furrowing his eye brows. He tells us he wants to grow up to be a veterinarian who is "a doctor who helps only animals NOT people." He has also developed a hatred for coats and the state of Ohio which he believes I travel to every day, in order to do my work. (In actuality I go downstairs to my basement office but this is not believed.)

 

Miriam is 17 months. She is a strong, determined person who fills our lives with joy. Little Miri loves to jump, read books, talk, run and roll around with her brother. I can hardly believe my tiny dark haired baby is already such a strong, golden haired girl. She was an early walker and early talker. When I say she likes to run, it means she will take the opportunity to sprint whenever she spies an open area. When I say she likes to jump, it means every day she climbs up on our couch then throws her little body off with a squeal of glee. The child is a dare devil. Her earliest words  were "mama" "dada" and "whatsthis?" Her curiosity is insatiable. We have been amazed at how quickly she has grown and developed. She is a wonder to know. She loves pandas, Roo her brother, dancing, drawing, talking with friends, singing, and being "tall!" - lifted somewhere high, like her dada's head. If you want to be her friend, read her a book. She's always looking for someone to read to her.


Aaron and I led fairly similar lives in 2011. We have no great achievements. No marathons. No vacations. We worked like automotans and felt very blessed to have the chance to keep our little family afloat financially. We look forward to a new year in which we hope to find more balance and quality of life. We each find great meaning and happiness for our lives in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the wonderful relationships we enjoy with you. Your emails, letters, calls, and visits were the highlight of our year.

Over the holidays, we were at the National Gallery together and managed to take a few pictures of our whole family together.

Kind of together, see the reflection? Though no one is looking.

Reuben where are you? This would have been gold!

Almost, but Miri kept reaching for my phone...

Only missing me. And Reuben isn't looking.

There I am. But Miri fell down and R is still not looking.

A family that draws together, stays together, right?

Miri with her Grandpa 

Who Do You Love?

Miri has started talking, talking so much we've started having baby conversations.

Tonight Aaron asked her, Miri who do you love?

Miri: Roo!

Aaron: Who else do you love?

Miri: Mama!

Aaron: Who else

Miri thinks then says: Books!

Aaron: Who else?

Miri: Walks

Aaron: Who else?

Miri: Hats

Aaron Miri, who else?

Miri Food!

Aaron: Miri, who else do you Love?

Miri: Kitty!

Aaron: WHO else do you love?

Miri: Roo!

Aaron: Who else?

Miri: Socks

Aaron: Who else?


Miri: DADA!

Aaron Yay!

Mountain Man

 Reuben climbed up the hill of boulders behind him in the pictures. I was impressed. And terrified. And impressed.  He's a brave kid.

He also has gained a great enthusiasm for helping his dad with the fireplace.

 Does this make us bad parents? Our three year old can light a match.

Festivities

Happy Halloween! We've been enjoying the dramatic fall weather. The crisp air has turned all the leaves to brilliant colors. A strong cold storm blew in yesterday and gave us some snow. It also took most of the leaves off the trees. Winter is fast approaching.

Here is a little bit of what we've been up to. 

Reuben showing off his glow in the dark spider shirt that he got from Oma.

Reuben and Miriam making ghost houses (like ginger bread houses but with dark chocolate icing) with supplies from Grammy.

 Miriam diligently picking off all the sprinkles and eating them.

 We went to boo at the zoo at the Baltimore Zoo with some friends. I got lost in Baltimore. That city is crazy. I had a couple times when I looked around and thought wow, this looks just like The Wire (the tv show) then I thought oh no! this looks just like The Wire! (If you haven't watched The Wire it's a TV show that takes place in Baltimore that can be a little scary) Thanks a lot to my gps directions for taking me on the scenic route through the city. While seeing crumbling and burned out row houses was kind of disturbing, I did like passing my MICA, the art college.

Anyway, back to Boo at the Zoo.
 This is classic Miri. If there are two ways to get to a place, a smooth evenly paved sidewalk vs a treacherous ditch of rocks, Miri will always Always choose the treacherous rocks. Then fall down two minutes into it. Then scream at you til you pick her up. Then yell at you for putting her on the smooth sidewalk. Then walk back into the rocks. Then fall down. Then repeat.

The child has nothing if not will power.

After a little trick or treating at the zoo we saw the animals. Here's a donkey angling for Miri's lollipop.

 Miriam didn't give in, despite the donkey's best attempts to win her over.

 Reuben had fun climbing on the saddles.

 Here's Reuben petting a goat with his friends who are triplets.

 Boo at the zoo was Friday. Saturday we went to the Smithsonian. My kids love the discovery room at the natural history museum. Miri had fun with a shell necklace she found and kept on for about 30 minutes. There were some serious tears when I made her leave it behind.

 Here's Reuben contentedly examining a box of beetles with a magnifying glass.

 Miriam makes me laugh. She wanted to draw and talk on the phone while she drew.

And here's the finale. We went to our church's family Halloween carnival and Reuben WON the cake walk. When we told him he won there was a look of pure triumph on his face. It was awesome. I wish I'd gotten a picture.

He picked out his cake himself. And since it was his cake I let him do what he wanted with it which was this:

 and this.

I was happy he shared with his sister.

 Funny story: The lady who made the cake stopped me while Reuben carried the cake ahead. She warned me that there were gobstoppers on top of the cake and they might be choking hazards for my little kids. I thanked her and went to confiscate the dangerous candy off the cake. But when I got to where Reuben and Miriam were huddled over their prize, there were no gobstoppers to be found and everyone was still breathing. Happy Day.

For the party, Reuben went as "NOTHING! I am Reuben." and Miriam went as the known universe. Her dress is navy blue with silver stars and she had a silver star necklace. Aaron was anti-matter (he couldn't get off work and wasn't there) aka The Invisible Man.

Battle of Ball's Bluff

On Saturday we attended the reenactment of The Battle of Ball's Bluff. If you are interested you can read more about it here

It was an amazing spectacle. I expected to only see a final charge, but the action went for a while with troop movement on all sides and multiple advances and retreats. It was fascinating to see what I've read about come to life in a very real way. 

Miriam was on my back in a back pack. Whenever the cannons were shot (which was pretty often) she'd kick her legs and yell Boom! Boom! then jabber away about it. Reuben was a little less certain about what was going on and demanded Aaron keep him on his shoulders to make sure no one got him. 

Reuben watching the Confederate troops assemble before the fight

Miriam in front of the union cannon line before the battle

Union line trying to hold the left ridge of the bluff

After the battle, they let spectators go onto the battlefield and talk to the re-enactors. Reuben demanded to talk to "the cannon men." His line of questioning went something like this:
How do you make the cannon go?
What do you press to turn it on?
What do you put in it?
How do you cut leaves?
Where are the ants from?

I think the joy of getting all his questions answered went to his head. The cannon guy did a wonderful job answering right up until the leaf question.

Confederates after the battle. The re-enactors were serious about authenticity. Even after the battle ended they tried to keep true to the period. I know this kid probably wished he was texting on his phone but instead I saw him pull out paper and a nub of a pencil to start writing a letter.

All the guys we talked to were really friendly and did a wonderful job explaining their outfits, weapons, views on history and so on. I was in heaven. It was a lot of fun.

Union troops after the battle

This guy was great. He was super friendly and let the kids touch his uniform, try to lift his sword, wear his hat etc. 

Here's Aaron and some young confederates teaching Reuben how to load a gun with powder.

 After the event we enjoyed walking in the perfect weather and beautiful countryside.

Reuben identified some artillery wagons from about 300 yards away and wanted to go check them out. Miriam and Reuben had fun climbing all over them and dancing on top. 

 It reminded me of this picture. A year ago in November we were at Antietam. They've sure grown up.

Next year in September we are going to Antietam for the 150th anniversary. There's going to be a reenactment held at that time which I really hope we can attend.