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A Birthday Feast
10.12.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on A Birthday Feast
You know your child is a vegetarian when…
The other day Gigi and I had a conversation that went something like this:
Me: Hey Gigi! Guess what? You get to decide what we’re having for dinner on the night of your birthday! We can even go to a restaurant! Any place you want!
Gigi: Really? I can choose anything? Whatever I want?
Me: Really, an-y-thing. (I, of course, am thinking she’ll opt for a restaurant and we can cash in one of her many free birthday dinner coupons and I won’t have to cook.)
Gigi: Mmmm… I want mashed potatoes! And Gravy!
Me: (Dangling the carrot hopefully) Really? You wouldn’t rather go to Red Robin for their milky mac and cheese?  That sounds pretty good!
Gigi: (Ignoring my suggestion) OH! And can we get that thing we get on Thanksgiving? The thing that looks like a CD?
Me: Looks like a CD?!? Is it food?
Gigi: You know, It is like meat but not meat. We eat it when everyone else eats a turkey. It is brown and like a ball with stuff inside that only you like?
Me: Tofurkey? Do you mean tofurkey? (The stuff inside is the stuffing)
Gigi: YEAH! Tofurkey! Oh, that sounds so good, Mama! Can we have that?
Me: Really? If that is what you really want…
Gigi: Yes! That is what I REALLY want! Mashed potatoes, gravy and Tofurkey! Oh! My birthday is going to be so good!
So that’s it. I was amazed that out of all the things she could choose, it was Thanksgiving dinner. When I mentioned that we would also have some broccoli to go with it she told me, “You can but I’m not. It’s my birthday after all.” On Sunday we drove all over Snohomish County and parts of King county in search of the elusive Tofurkey. When we finally found one at Central Market, we purchased two because, you know, Thanksgiving IS coming up.
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Raise the Roof
The house pre-roof trusses. The truck in front brings the trusses and has a fancy crane on it to place the roof trusses.
The first roof truss being placed.
Guiding the trusses into place.
The sticks now have a roof, the house is becoming real!
A day’s hard work.
A self portrait of one happy man building his house!
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A Wall is Raised
10.10.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on A Wall is Raised
Partially framed second story
Bradley checks over the framed wall
Gather the builders and begin to lift
It takes four men’s every muscle
Hold in place
Secure with nails
A wall is raised
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Jude’s First Black Eye
10.09.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Jude’s First Black EyeYes, that is right. I said first. I think that this boy will come home with more than one black eye.
Jude was standing on a book with a blanket on top of it near the coffee table. He must have turned just right, the book slipped out from underneath him and down he went, hitting the corner of his eye on the corner of the coffee table.
My mom was making lunch when it happened because she was tending to the babies that day, so when Bradley and I arrived home, we each got a full re-enactment from Jude. He hit the coffee table with his hand, lay down on the floor and then started whining. The whole time he told his story with gibberish and baby blather, but we understood every word. Poor baby with the black eye and poor Mimi who just happened to be the one in charge when it happened!
I think this is the first of many for our little daredevil. Lately he has added base jumping to his repoitoire, that is, he glances briefly at the nearest adult and leaps off of a surface. Bradley or I end up running and diving under the child to protect him from the fate of a cement belly flop or play bark nose dive. Black eyes, nose and fat lips, here we come!
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Pumpkins
10.08.09 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Pumpkins
When Mimi comes around she always leaves a little something extra. Lately she has been taking care of our kids a few days a week while I work and Bradley is building the house. Â My mom’s love is not only evident in her treatment of our children and willingness to spend her days here, but also in the gifts that she leaves behind.
The other day I walked in the door only to find another piece of her heart: one of her prize Cinderella Pumpkins that she tended in her garden all summer long.
If you know my mom then you know that her garden is important to her. ALl summer long she waters and fertalizes the plants. She picks blossoms off the vines and pollinates those that need it. She practices companion planting, putting two different plants together that create a symbiotic relationship. Knowing full well how many pumpkins she produced (not too many this year) made this pumpkin that much more valuable.
When my mom leaves a pumpkin or gourd, carrot, cucumber, tomato or sunflower in my house, she is not leaving just the gift from her garden, as much as it is a cliche, she is leaving a part of her heart and a bit of her love with you.
As I look at my pumpkin (and our happy little pumpkins around it) I feel that squeeze of love and kindness from my own mom. It all comes through.
