7:00 x 4

7:00 a.m. Thursday. I cuddle and play with Meera. Thursdays are my long day and I cry when I leave her a little bit later.
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7:00 p.m. Thursday. I arrive home from work. Just in time for the boys to jump out of their bath to run outside to show me the beautiful full-arc rainbow that is sitting in the sky right outside of our house.
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7:00 a.m. Friday. It is raining and the boys ride bikes in the puddles before school.
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7:00 a.m. Friday. I'm reading books with Meera in the playroom.
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Life is moving very quickly these days. The pace is very fast for me as I try to keep the center of gravity in place. Everyone is happy. Everyone is thriving. I'm exhausted. I'm taking a blog break for the next few days.

Top 5 Outtakes from Tree Photo 2009

#1 I love this one, only problem is, Meera's not in it. But the boys look absolutely stunningly drop-dead GORGEOUS (at least to me... I mean, I know I'm their mother and all, but really, I think they are GOR-GEOUS!... imagine them at 18? somehow this photo gives me a scary flash forward). [click photo to enlarge it and see what I mean...]
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#2 Meera's here now, but she is definitely not o.k. with this whole thing. "Mamaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
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#3 She's got a mind of her own, and she's outta there. Kyle tries hard to maintain the smile (obedient little child). Owen is concerned.
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#4 O.k., we're back at it. "Say Cheese!!!" ... "O.k., maybe not that much cheese."
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#5 She is so done. They are so done. Forget about it. There's gotta be one good picture in the bunch. Sweet relief when Mama yells, "O.k.! All done!!!!!!!!!"

1st Day of School

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Kyle and Owen are back at River Valley Waldorf School for their third year. This is their second year of kindergarten (in Waldorf schools kids go to mixed-age kindergarten for two years-- ages 4/5/6, and stay with the same teacher for both years). They are again in separate classrooms this year. Separate classrooms is a choice for them that we made very carefully, and one that we have been very pleased with. Kyle and Owen are thriving!--and loving school!--- and we truly believe that we owe a large part of that to their school and their amazing teachers. It is fun that we've kept the blog for a good long time now, so that we can, for example, easily compare their "First Day" picture from today to last year's "First Day" (click here), and the year before's too (click here). It was with mixed emotions that we watched them ride off on the bus this morning. Man, oh man, do we ever love those little dudes (and oh, heaven help us, pleeeeease, how is it possible that they went from being those tiny-8-month-old-babies that we brought home from Haiti, to this---5-year-old's-riding-a-school-bus---, so ridiculously quickly?????). And boy, oh boy, were they ever thrilled to ride that bus. They cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and do it all again. Baby Sister, however, as predicted, had it rough this morning. Shortly after the boys had gone off to school we found her, toddling around wandering aimlessly, carrying a photo of her, Kyle, and Owen, pointing to her brothers in the picture, and endlessly repeating her favorite word: "Brothers." "brothers"-"brothers"-"brothers"-"brothers"-- it was heartwrenching and heartwarming all at once. And then, when she started repeatedly kissing the photo, and then rubbing it all over her face, it became kind of pathetic and sad (and yet, somehow amazing and beautiful too). All is well that ends well, though-- reports from Margie were that Meera was overflowing with joy (even happier than her usual happy self) all afternoon once her brothers were home. Anyway... they are all sleeping soundly now. The day is done. And I, for one, am utterly exhausted, totally wiped out, and completely emotionally drained.

K & O's Back to School Dinner 2009

Menu

Creamy Pesto, with chicken and penne pasta
Farm Stand Tomatoes, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Garlic Bread, made with 3 cheese semolina loaf and fresh herbs

And for Dessert~ a rare treat~ (rare because Mama rarely bakes)~
Lemon Cake, with fresh raspberries

(6 lemons zested and juiced for that treat;

and a seriously spectacularly delicious treat it was!)

Tomorrow it is back to school for the big boys. And the big deal this year: they'll be riding the bus for the first time! And they have "tie shoes" (a.k.a. sneakers with real laces)! They are so excited they can barely stand it.
They cannot wait for the morning to arrive!


Late edit:
crazy how this whole internet thing works - the blogosphere is a crazy thing folks - within less than an hour of posting this post I received a flood of email asking me about the recipe for the lemon cake. FYI: I got the recipe from the cookbook Barefoot Contessa Parties. Except that in the original recipe it actually makes two "loafs" (made in loaf pans) and I substituted one bunt pan instead, to make it more "cake-ish" and celebratory for my bambinos (note: I cooked it for exactly 60 minutes and it turned out perfectly moist).

Tree Photo 2009

1st Family Bike Ride

We're trying to savor every little last bit of summer that we can over this designated "Family Weekend" Labor Day Weekend.

Today was a big day for Braydon and I. For years and years now we've both been dreaming of the day we'd start doing Family Bike Rides. We've done lots of outings with some of us on bikes or on scooters or in strollers or in backpacks, but we've never all been on bikes at the same time. Today was the day. A dream come true. Here is our crew:


We found a new trail that turned out to be spectacular and is now our new-favorite place for outings. Meera did a--okay in her brand new baby bicycle seat!
Along our route we found the perfect spot for our leisurely picnic snack, with a great view of the river, and plenty of passers-by for Meera to wave to saying, "Hi!" "HI!!" "Hi!!!" at the top of her lungs while Owen dug for huge worms in the dirt and Kyle told us stories with many twists and turns that never seemed to have endings (a specialty of his).
We had a nice long ride. Long enough to completely exhaust our Wild Boys (not an easy task, and something which, when we achieve it, Braydon and I relish in self-pride over).
On the way home we picked up pizza for the 3 bambinos so that we could feed them early and get them off for a nice early bedtime (so that take-out and a movie and, most importantly, margaritas could begin as early in the evening as possible for the truly exhausted parents).

(Meera's baby bicycle seat arrived via "box truck!," shipped safely within two big boxes. The boys spent much of their day on Friday playing and playing and playing with those two big boxes...)

A Day at the Zoo

We spent yesterday at the Philadelphia Zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. When we first arrived we split up for the first hour. This is something we're doing more and more lately; it changes the whole dynamic; and it is really fun to experience different combinations of us five. So, for the first hour, while Braydon and Kyle were off doing their own thing, I had Owen and Meera all to myself. Owen was so happy to push Meera in the stroller, all over the zoo. His attention span for each exhibit was about 2 minutes max, which worked out perfectly because that was about Meera's attention span for each exhibit too. I let them lead the way. But when we got to the gorilla exhibit our pace suddenly slowed waaaaaaay down. Owen (and Meera too, but especially Owen) was absolutely enthralled with one gorilla who happened to be sitting very close to the glass wall. For about 20 minutes Owen just stayed there, as close to the wall as he could get. For a period of that time the gorilla was making eye contact with Owen, and then actually playing peek-a-boo with him. Owen was completely enamored. And Meera was just bewildered.
Later, after the five of us re-grouped and had lunch, Owen wanted to bring Kyle back to the gorilla so that he could see him too. Unfortunately, the exhibit was much more crowded then, and the big gorilla that Owen had befriended was lying down asleep.
Although the boys both said that the giraffes were the "high" of the zoo for them (photo at top), I'm pretty sure that his 'alone time' with that gorilla was actually Owen's high -- I know, for sure, that just watching Owen and the gorilla was my high. Meera's "high" was definitely the 'Children's Zoo' section (which is basically a petting zoo). In typical fashion, Kyle was sort of mystified as to why anyone would want to touch potentially dirty animals who lie on dirt and pee and poo right there on the ground. His biggest concern was where he could wash his hands after feeding them (his version of "feeding" them was throwing the food up and watching the animals try to catch it in their mouths--- actually letting the animals' mouths touch his hand was not an option as far as he was concerned). Owen, also in typical Owen-fashion, was all over the goats and sheep-- petting them, rubbing them, lying down next to them, wrapping his whole body around them, letting them lick his hands so that they could get the final crumbs from the food, etc., etc., etc. And Meera was just beside herself with sheer thrill and delight to be so close to such real, big animals. She loved it.



We had a very nice day at the zoo!

And Little Miss was sound asleep as soon as we got on the highway to head home.


déjà vu ~~ The last time we went to the Philadelphia Zoo as a family the boys were almost exactly Meera's age.

Lonely Days Ahead for Little Miss

Here is Meera today, during Kyle and Owen's swimming lesson with Calvin. They were out in the pool, she was stuck in the house with Braydon and I making dinner. She played a bit, but mostly she kept going back and forth to the screen door, begging us to let her out to be with her bros. For a long time now she's been saying the word "Brothers" -- and saying it often (definitely her most used, most favorite word... we hear it at least 100 times a day, no kidding). But today, as she stood there at the screen door while K & O were having their swimming lessons, Meera said, very clearly, and repeatedly, and pointing toward the pool, and very pathetically sadly, "brothers outside." They are her best buds, her peeps, her greatest love and joy. And this summer, they have been her constant companions. Now that she's mobile she follows them everywhere they go (that is, unless there is no screen door or other such impossible obstacle in her way). They are way too fast for her, and often don't even have the time of day for her, but there you'll find her-- toddling toward them, determined to be with them. Even though she's usually just trailing along in their dusty path, she always laughs hysterically at their stupid jokes, and she thinks they're the greatest. When they do slow down enough to lay some love on her (which is, fortunately for everyone, every-once-in-a-while with some regularity), Owen will tickle her 'till she seems ready to burst, and Kyle will patiently "read" baby books to her 'till her attention span maxes out. Don't get me wrong, she's had her fair share of falls because they've knocked her over without even thinking twice about her, and crying fits because they've grabbed something from her and then taken off faster than she could ever chase them, and they have definitely doled out their fair share of "bad behavior" toward her in all sorts of ways... but overall, the three of them do really well together, all things considered. She's always the third wheel, for sure (an unavoidable reality of the single sibling of twin-sets). But the thing is, she seems happy to be that. And she rarely complains. At least for now. And so, as the summer draws to a close, and we look to next week with the boys' first day of school... I worry about how my sweet little darling girlie will fare as her brothers go off to school for a large chunk of each day. The saddest part is that she doesn't even know it is coming. But I do predict that the adjustment to 'Back to School' will be hardest on the youngest member of the J-M Party. There are lonely days ahead for Little Miss.

The End of Another Summer of "Calvin Days"

I've posted before about K & O's Swimming Teacher, Calvin (click here). Well, today was the last swim lesson of the summer for 2009. Sad, but true. Calvin has been coming once a week since June and I can say without any doubt that "Calvin Days" (as the boys came to call them) were a major highlight of this summer for K & O (I'd say "Calvin Days" have ranked right up there-- probably tying for first place with "Lawn Mower Days" as their favorite weekly day/activity of the summer). Kyle and Owen truly adore Calvin. On 'Calvin Days' they'd start waiting at the end of the driveway long in advance of his arrival (sometimes literally hours in advance of his arrival). I took this picture on one of many 'Calvin Days' this summer--
Off to the pool they'd go for an hour of Swim Lessons (which, in addition to actual swimming-education always included much 'extra-curricular'-activities too --- i.e., Calvin throwing them wildly into the pool, Calvin showing them his underwater swimming prowess, Calvin "racing" them from one end of the pool to the other, etc., etc., etc.). Their swimming got better by the week, and their bond with Calvin grew stronger by the week too.

For their last lesson of the season we planned for the swimming lesson to start late in the day today so that Calvin could stay for dinner afterward. It was a real special night, and K & O were in heaven. After presenting Calvin with a special gift (framed pictures the boys made for him --- pictures of "Calvin in the water," of course, with "big splashes, bubbles, and huge waves!"), we had a lovely late-summer dinner together. The evening ended with a drumming performance put on especially for Calvin (always an experience).
I just have to reiterate-- the boys adore Calvin. And he is really just about the most perfect Swim Teacher/Role Model that I can imagine for my boys.

P.S. Just because I can't help but brag on him a little... (come on, indulge me, Calvin was my student, after all!), the choice of framed "artwork" as a gift was deliberate because our Calvin needs things for his new apartment in Harlem where he is currently beginning his first semester in the PhD program in Sociology at CUNY. That's right. PhD. Sociology. CUNY. So, uh, yeah, like I said, pretty dang good Role Model (capital 'R' 'M') for my boys. ;)

Medika Mamba

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Farmers' Market Dinners

There is a Farmers' Market every Wednesday that is right along my drive home from work. So, since mid-June, we've been having "Farmers' Market Dinner" every Wednesday night. We will really miss this when the season ends, but we've got until the end of October to enjoy it, and enjoying it we are. Right now the Farmers' Market is bursting with such bountiful harvests. It is hard for me to choose on the Wednesdays of late because there is just so much to choose from. Tonight I brought home huge, gorgeous, plump, dark blackberries...

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...green beans and heirloom cherry tomatoes...

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...our current favorite (crusty on the outside, so soft on the inside) whole wheat/flax/sunflower bread, containers of roasted lemon-pepper chicken, and a bag of snickerdoodle cookies for dessert...

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And I can't come home without a tub of Tabora Farm pesto (or K & O will be forlorn). It is so different from the pesto that I make that the boys count the two as two distinctly different foods altogether (both of which they love). Tonight we cooked some farfalle pasta and tossed it with the pesto and tons of grated parmesan cheese (of course).

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These Wednesday night Farmers' Market Dinners are such a treat.

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I wish every night was this perfect.

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But, then again, if every night was this perfect we might not savor the ones that are so sweetly.

"Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." --Nathaniel Hawthorne