inspired

I've been battling a bit of a cold the last few days, so I haven't been feeling one hundred percent. Brian drove us back home today, so I could kind of settle in and relax on the drive. But the fog rolled in, and I had to get the camera out.

meaningful silences

Everything changes. Some changes are momentous in the suddenness. The loss of a loved one, a health scare, a move. Some changes are slow and plodding.

This blog continues to change and evolve. I started out as mostly an observer. But I've gained courage. I've delved into the emotional life of my parenting. I've gone through times where I've probably said more than I should. I was eager to spill out all my stored up feelings of the day.

I'm in a different kind of phase now. There are things I deliberately don't hash through in this forum. Sometimes because it involves a friend's life, not mine. Simply my reaction to her life events doesn't seem like a fair claim. Sometimes it's an idea still too tender to be set out and left on her own. And sometimes, I think I stumble into a wise decision to be silent.

The past week has been full, emotionally. Wide fluctuations from joy to sympathy, giddiness, sorrow, with stops in places in between. And mostly I've been only a sideline observer of other people's journeys.

All this to say, the past week was full. But I'm not really going to go into most of it.

On to the pictures.

love these kiddos

One-year-old Isaiah.

One-year-old Ariana.

Big brother, David.

birthday babies

These kids are one-year-old?! Impossible to believe.

Isaiah was interested enough to pick up his cake and flip it over onto the table. He licked a few fingers of icing, but he didn't get too into it.

Ariana didn't care much for the feel of her icing, so she left her cake alone. Mommy helped her with it later, though I won't post the photo that proves it. :)

We're so lucky to have these one-year-olds in our family.

book binge

In the past few days, I was thinking how I needed to take the kids to the Friends of the Public Library warehouse to do a little shopping. We love book shopping, the prices are right, and it supports the library we love. To our happy surprise, this weekend was their big winter sale, so we all went out and spent more time (and maybe money) than we intended. I have trouble saying "no" to a good book at a great price.

Because I'm so proud of our finds, here's the breakdown of what we got. We told each kid he had $5 to pick out what he wanted (only we maybe exerted a little more control so their decision weren't entirely autonomous. Like, no to the Elmo dvd? Maybe?)

Here's what we picked up, as individuals.

Eli

Dogzilla, by Dav Pilkey ($2 -- hardcover)

The High-Rise Private Eyes: The Case of the Climbing Cat, by Cynthia Rylant ($0.50 -- paperback)

Sesame Street: I Want to Be a Pilot, by Teddy Slater ($0.50 -- paperback)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- The Holocron Heist ($0.50 -- paperback)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Children of the Force ($0.50 -- paperback)

Owen

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling ($2 -- paperback)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling ($2 -- paperback)

road map of Turkey ($0.10) (Owen's always loved a good map. They had a whole cart of them, from all over the world. And ten cents?! What?! He'll pour over that thing for hours.)

Brian

Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings, by Jorge Luis Borges ($2 -- paperback)

me

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson ($2 -- paperback)

Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann ($1 -- paperback)

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides ($2 -- paperback)

On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan ($2 -- hardcover)

All books I have read and liked.

Then, I picked up a bunch of kids' books. For all of us.

Hardcover

Big Plans, by Bob Shea and Lane Smith ($4)

Guji Guji, by Chih-Yuan Chen ($4) My review!

A Lion Named Shirley Williamson, by Bernard Waber ($2)

Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken, by Kate DiCamillo ($4) My review!

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein ($3) My review!

Mole Music, by David McPhail ($4) My review!

Willoughby and the Lion, by Greg Foley ($4)

Paperback

Babar's Mystery, by Laurent de Brunhoff ($1)

The Biggest Bear, by Lynd Ward ($2)

Cowardly Clyde, by Bill Peet ($1) My review!

Higglety Pigglety Pop! (or There Must Be More to Life), by Maurice Sendak ($1)

Jamberry, by Bruce Degen ($0.50)

Little Polar Bear Finds a Friend, by Hans de Beer ($1)

Mirette on the High Wire, by Emily Arnold McCully ($1)

The Story about Ping, by Marjorie Flack ($1)

The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant, by Jean de Brunhoff ($1)

Tacky and the Emperor, by Helen Lester ($1)

Christmas

Babar and Father Christmas, by Jean de Brunhoff ($2 -- paperback)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson ($0.50 -- paperback)

The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Ted Sieger ($4 -- hardcover)

Little Bear's Christmas, by Janice ($1 -- hardcover)

Little Mouse Meets Santa, by Claire Schumacher ($1 -- paperback)

Lyle at Christmas, by Bernard Waber ($2 -- hardcover)

Madeline's Christmas, by Ludwig Bemelmans ($2 -- paperback)

The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet, by Deborah Hautzig ($1 -- paperback)

I have read nearly all of these to the kids. Several are Caldecott winners. I put back the entire stack of Newbery winners I had picked out for myself. And I put back a bunch of others. Really. You wouldn't believe all the stuff I put back.

A couple of them, I couldn't find available on Amazon. I didn't really look too hard in other places.

Maybe you'll find a new one you enjoy!

week dumping

Lots of pictures, a few words about our week.

Brian opened an old trunk of mine in the storage unit that clearly had not been opened in over seven years. Inside was a trove of crafty stuff. The boys were wild for it. Brian's parents happened to be over on Monday, when it was opened, and the boys and Grandma had a ball sorting through it. Owen used these wreaths as frames for pictures he drew of yoga poses. (He loves his Friday yoga.)

Clockwise, from top left: donkey kick, tree, butterfly, and airplane poses. The boys got their own yoga mats this weekend. Eli isn't old enough yet to actually go to the classes, but if Owen got a mat, Eli had to have one as well. They want to have a family yoga session sometime.

Eli and I talked about staging a photo shoot with his favorite stuffed animals.

From left to right: Cheetah, Blackie, Stripes, Yoda, Greenie.

Tasha, Spots holding Catkins, Triple Marshmallow holding Phantom, Brownie, and Scarf. The names are fluid. They get changed frequently.

It snowed yesterday for about fifteen minutes. Great big giant beautiful flakes.

the morning unfolds

All of you may tire of seeing these sunrise city shots, but I never do. Without this wide expanse of sky, I imagine our humble abode would feel so much smaller.