saturday sunshine

a thumb +
a coffee
comfort two of my favorite people.

cory’s own ‘duckling’ lineup.

sofia + betsy

‘i was here’

scoping for a water-balloon target.

his method of pushing the swing
involved spanking n’s rumpus,
to their squealyscandalized delight.

every time betsy swung back,
he’d kiss her.

c was teaching us
the surprising thing about pendulums;
it doesn’t matter
how heavy the object is
or how high its starting point,
they oscillate at the same frequency.

as he and nathan demonstrated using
caroline + henry.

i’m still pondering the theoretical bit
about if you built a pendulum-based train,
you could connect any two points on earth
and the transit time from any two locations
would be the same.
(if you could eliminate the resistance)

ex: a train from
california to new york
would take the same amt of time
as one from
new york to boston.

hmmmm.

olivia’s back today;
she sets up her little shoppe at the playground
giving mani/pedi’s to benefit
operation smile.

did i mention she’s
twelve years old?

i’m so impressed.

j thought her newly-purchased tripod
was, well, a tripod.

you know,
the stand-on-the-ground kind.

but she might’ve misread the box
as it’s 12″ tall.

i laughed.
i cried.
it was better than cats.

if music be the food of love

shakespeare class @ the delacorte theatre

see the grass on the left?
the ‘twelfth night’ set w/ anne hathaway.
(tomorrow’s the last night)

‘these people are crazy about shakespeare‘
-nathan, post-class

his favorite part was where they dared
the class to throw out all sorts
of real-life scenarios
(toilets clogged,
you’re in trouble with the principal,
life isn’t fair,
your brothers and sisters are getting on your nerves, etc)
and their troop would
recite appropriate shakespeare
for the situation.

his favorite was someone’s (theoretical) cat dying
and them responding with a myriad
of poetic suffering+death couplets,

‘cowards die many times before their deaths;
the valiant never taste of death but once.‘

he defined ’sonnets’,
and they rewarded him with
a copy of ‘twelfth night‘

meg, betsy, jandro, zoe, henry + ethan
play games for 3 cheery hrs
while we wait for
carin, nathan, elena, toby + abby s
to enjoy their class.

the diana ross playground,
in all of it’s july morning glory.

81st/central park west

a request + a prayer

on a superbly temperate july morning.

’satisfy us in the morning
with your unfailing love
that we may sing for joy
and be glad
all our days.’
-psalm 90:14

‘grant my prayer, O Lord,
and do not allow my soul
to wilt under the discipline you prescribe.

let me not tire of thanking you
for your mercy in
rescuing me from all my wicked ways,

so that you may be
sweeter to me than
all the joys
which used to tempt me;

so that i may love you most intensely
and clasp your hand
with all the power of my devotion;

so that you may save me
from all temptation
until the end of my days.’

-st. augustine, confessions

magnetic girls with amy
(yay, amy’s here)

a swim in the sky

the pool is at the top of the building;
staggering views.

post-swim rooftop play;
thanks, ava + co.

in the shadow of the san remo.

i thought we might need
jackets for dinner;
it’s in the 60’s, baby.

cory needs coffee

fellowship group dinner last night
in the backyard was
simply perfect.

amy a, whitney, conrad,
meghan, neil, lisa, cory,
joe, kim, amy b, emily,
sarah, bethany + kirk.

i turned into a pumpkin at 11pm
and they must’ve wrapped up
within the next hour,

so when the phone rang at 1:20am
and cory was up putting out
work fires until 4:45ish,
and then popped back out of bed
at 6:30 to head in for
a 7:30am mtg,
well,

we feel for you, hon.

caroline expressed it this way:
‘i’m so sorry you have
to make breakfast, mom.’

we’re so grateful for a cory
who spoils us with
hot breakfasts +
thoughtful scripture reading.

i’m definitely second-string
on the breakfast front.

(i read from proverbs,
twenty-one, i think,
and nathan laughed out loud at the
‘it’s better to live on the
corner of the roof
than in a house with a
quarrelsome wife’ bit.)

my breakfast skills include
‘do it yourself
snapcracklesurprise’:

strawberries,
blueberies,
cheerios,
rice krispies +
yogurt =

breakfastsnaptacular.

passthecoffee.

harlem or bust

the world of a beginning reader
means that context clues are everything.

she decided this ad was that
‘grandpas like to eat peanuts
when they’re surfing’.

make way for ducklings

i feel such camaraderie with
the mama duck in that cheery story;

our lives are really quite
similar.

schlepping little ones
hither and yon,
while keeping them safe from
in the city traffic.

boston

new york

yes, honey, it’s an inflatable rat;
don’t be scared.

sometimes employees get angry
at their employers and they
rent one of these inflatable rodents to
announce their displeasure
to the entire community.

a quiet morning in central park.

the closest restroom is in
tavern on the green.

caroline loves that pink-and-shiny bathroom
and when the pleasant attendant hands her
the paper towel at the end,
oooohhh, fancy.

busted.

i wondered what was taking so long
at the top of the slide.

someday we’d love to get a
bench plaque for cory;
i wonder what his should read.

summer normal

8:41am

8:43am
a quiet place to
re-enjoy yesterday’s lollipop
(discovered in a hidden location.)

right now, two children are chanting,
‘cen-tral-park cen-tral-park’
and the other two,
‘across-the-street  across-the-street’

ahhh, the nuance of
maternal tie-breaking.

(do i lean toward what my oldest is wanting +
win his favor for the day,
do we serve our younger siblings
by going with what they want,
do we (insert third wise option here)…)

sweatyhappypeople returning:
cory and the boys rode to
riverbank state park last night;
maybe 6.5 mi round trip.

yay for summer evenings.

where the bikes live
in real life.

a summer monday prayer

o God,
from whom all holy desires,
all good counsels,
and all just actions do proceed–
give us that peace
that the world cannot give,
that our hearts may be set
to obey your commandment,
and by your protection
we may live in peace,
through the merits of
Jesus Christ our Savior.
amen.

at breakfast, caroline asked cory
what ‘peace’ meant.

now that she knows the definition,
today will surely be full of it.

happy summer monday.

ps -
cory simply couldn’t take it.
he really needed us to go back
to the zoo again yesterday and
look for the elusive new
snow leopards.

three sightings.

whew.

pps -
we love any new zealand friends that
morv + jono send our way;
lovely to enjoy the Lord’s day with you,
vanessa + graham.

a monkey’s uncle

from this yellow line
to that yellow line (see it?)
is how far a snow leopard jumps.

and try as we might,
we didn’t see any actual snow leopards, either,
in the fancy new exhibit.

betterlucknexttime.

visiting henry’s relatives.

some things do change

hooray +
three cheers,

the kellers are all moved in upstairs.

(did you see the couch
being hoisted up the
front of the bldg +
into their open window?
score.)

our newest housemate
(and long-time friend), michael,
popped in this morning to make
a most-welcome, most-shocking
announcement:

did we hear that loud noise?
we did, but hadn’t thought twice about it.

had we looked outside yet?
um, no.

un.
be.
lie.
v.
able.

check it out.

i know, rub your eyes, right?
we can’t be seeing this.

they’re
removing
the parking lines.

and just like that,
we have our old street back.

we twisted lisa’s arm
to come straight from the hospital
and join us for eggs+toast+strawberries+coffee
before going to bed.

sleep well, little friend.

now, i need to say some
prayers of thanks + gratitude
and make some valentines
for the DOT staffers responsible.

wow.

i just can’t believe it.

i’ll never take the parallel parking
on our street for granted again.

or at least for the next week.

gettin’ grill-ready

my three post-bath helpers
did a brilliant job setting the
table for a late-evening dinner.

it took them no fewer
than ten trips in and out of the house
to set it all up.

i esp loved how one of them
painstakingly put the silverware
around each plate,
carefully tucking each cloth napkin
under each fork
(which was to the right
of the plate).

waytogo.

we so enjoyed you, j + b
+
a million thanks, em.

labor of love

betsy made our bed
this morning.

so proud,
she was so proud.

thanks, babe.

such flair.

i love the unkempt-yet-finished
artistic-y look of it all.

read my mind

henry was sitting by my side
reading joke after joke
aloud to betsy + i

and i actually let loose
when he read this one:

knock knock
who’s there
fanny
fanny who?

these jokes aren’t very fanny.

mom’s night out

caroline and i might’ve
yelped with delight
when we saw these funnylittledaisies
(non-daisies? daisy-ish?)
at the bodega this morning.

it was love.

kisses to my favorite cjl.

and thanks, ladies,
for the perfect evening of
under-the-star out-of-doors
(stars? – was there more than one star visible?
let’s be honest here.)
good cheer,
of sangria + faux-ijtos
(it’s like a mojito only not),
of angel food + devilish laughter.

ps -
this is how much i love
my mom friends:
enough to not feel the pressure
to clean off my desk before
they come.

it takes me 15 min to put things
out of sight + another 10 min to
sort them back out and
i know these ladies didn’t
even notice.

they’re so cool like that.

everything on there is in process.
in those stolen 5 minutes of time
where i piecemeal the work
i need to get done.

nice.

pps -
see the white ladder leaning
against the brick wall?

i’m cracking up that jordyn showed up
at my house this afternoon
lugging that thing
saying,
‘you totally need this for your backyard.
i rescued it from the trash.’

i love that people see trash
and think of me.

awwww, shucks, j.

(it still has the pottery barn
price tag on it. interesting.)

and also?

charis rescued a little tricycle
out of the trash in
denver today.

and emailed me because
she knew i’d be proud of her.
(i am.)

geeeeee, guys.

seriously,
cracking me up here.

i do love a good dumpster dive;
bebe taught me everything i know.

petition vs. fellowship

‘one of the most basic things that the gospel does
is change prayer from mere petition to
fellowship
and the praise of his glory.

galatians 4:6-7 teaches us that when we
believe the gospel, we not only become
God’s children legally,
but we receive the Spirit in order to
experience
our sonship.
the Spirit leads us to call out passionately
to God as our tender + loving Father.

the Spirit calls out ‘abba’ (4:7)
in the very next verse
paul refers to this experience as
‘knowing God’.

-tim

from petition to fellowship.
whew.

i left my heart in

…upstate new york.

nathan’s home away from home.

(his bunk is the bottom-right front one)

with jae, his counselor.

he’s a youth ministry major @ nyack
and is from brooklyn.

i like.

i can’t wait to hear the stories.

ps -
i loved the drive
there and back.

and hearing the four of them chat
and crack up and…

what great kids.

into the wild

-ish.

the wild-ish.
well,
wild compared to the city.

or maybe it’s the
city
that’s wild…

i digress.

friday night
6:58pm
after a long happy last day of school

can you see that speck of blue
in caroline’s hand?
when we were packing our
travel bags (books + dolls)
she somehow (unnoticed) chose a
big blue maraca
as her travel toy.

it’s a miracle we’re all still friends.

almost there

hooray

gentle visitor

thriller

it seems like every store we’ve
gone in and out of in the
past day+ is playing
mj on a continuous loop;

he will be sorely missed.

(i’d be happy if mj + vintage madonna
were on continuous loop
all of the time.
in real life.

add in a little bon jovi +
wang chung,
a sprinkle of chicago
and a dash of debbie gibson,

ahhhhh.
let the good times roll)

and as we were heading up
to the train station,
we passed the apollo
where the line was
around the block +
the news trucks were taking up
the entire road
in prep for some sort of
impromptu tribute
that night.

now, to dig out the best mj that
youtube has to offer
and answer henry’s question
about what moonwalking is.

squirty

last day of school
watergunapalooza
w/ nathan’s school buddies
in central park

jordyn and i can just
duck off for coffee now, right?

caroline + lydia,
nathan’s pushing the double;
they’ve got it covered.

whew.

remember the  kanakuk cheer,
‘ready?!
i was born ready!’

if you squint,
you can see the russian tea room +
carnegie hall
past that lamppost.

(not with this lens,
but you get the idea)

i’m just crazy about h’s buddy, edward.

right before i took his picture,
he declared
(in his cutest, most watergun-serious voice),
‘henry is my enemy.’

i promised i wouldn’t reveal
his location to said enemy.

‘i need to feel the rocks, mom.’
(read: please don’t make me
wear my shoes.)

and not-surprisingly-for-henry’s-track-record,
no scrapes or cuts
in 2.5 hrs of boulder-jumping
watergunning.

these bushes (what are they?)
surrounding the perimeter
were intoxicating.

deep breaths.
oy, the beauty.

nathan heads back to base
for a refill.

(i’m pinching myself that
both boys’ swimtrunks
fit for a second season;
lucky break.)

relaxing equation

an hour’s train ride spent watching the hudson river +
a family night swim +
a family morning swim +
psalm 116 +
alice waters’ ‘the art of simple food’ =

can you hear my
exhale
from there?

$14 icy pleasure

every day after school
the ice cream truck beckons.

and many of our sweet friends
respond to it’s sirens call.

but not the cates’ fam.

our mantra,
‘last day of school.
last day of school.’

so i can’t understate how
special these last day of
school ice cream cones are.

finally.

our fourth ever trip to the truck.

sugaryicyspectacular.

henry’s double red merlin

5th grade, here we come.
2nd grade, bring it on.
kindergarten, hooray! (and finally)

and betsy has an(other) exciting (?)
year to look forward to
with mommy.

ps -
this is what happens when i’m
not completely paying attention
when the girls dress themselves;
b’s wearing c’s dress,
and
vice versa.

nice.

strange markings interpreted

karen correctly interpreted
the strange markings
on the pavement
that had me puzzled.

i sincerely thought they
were blocking off my whole
street as a no-parking zone
out of concern for the school children.

‘head in’ parking  = we now live in a parking lot.

as the boys and i walked out for
a nighttime starbucks school run,
i confessed my prayer request
for the day to n:
to learn to like
the new parking situation.

ugh.
oy.
yuck.

the very first cars
pull into the new arrangement.

while renee + i were chatting
and taking it all in
we saw a man walk out and
claim a space this way.

hmmmm.

and we saw our hard-working neighbor,
mrs. j, get into a small altercation
with a man over something parking-related.
ouch.

this is going to be weird.

meanwhile, inside the house
was peaceful, snaky-fun.
(i still haven’t touched it)

while this video-shoot
was going on in the
living room.

yay, guys.

and meanwhile,
huge thanks to diane + karen
for taking this handsome crew
to the carousel.

caroline had the nicest time;
thanks, friends.

.  .  .

now, back to the issue at hand.

i am going to nudge against
this new parking thing.

thanks to the kind 311 lady
who transcribed my concerns.

(i esp loved when she said,
‘fumes, did you mention fumes?’
and, well, i hadn’t,
but now that you mention it,
yes, fumes could be a problem.
thanks.)

stress tears

reason no. 1084 that i
adore my cory:

he understands my
stress tears
and
listens calmly
without freaking out.

usually that’s all it takes;
he listens,
i talk through the day-with-children
(he said,
she fell,
10-too-many things going on simultaneously,
we ran here,
we schlepped there,
it’s usually always just the ordinary
tiredandteary stuff of the day +
the public nature of city life
boosts the pressure i feel,
i think?)
and
then
i’m fine.

thanks for the ear, buddy.
seriously,
thanks.

i feel muuuuuch better,
thankyouverymuch,
and i can get on
with the evening.

ps -
the similarities between
a tired mommy
and a
tired child
at the end of the day
aren’t so different,
eh?

a little sympathy,
a warm bath,
and a popsicle
make a world of difference.

to park or not to park

the scandal du jour
on w 70th street:

two men,
two big trucks,
one hot paint machine,
and street markings.

*insert deep, dramatic gasp*

the neighbors were clumping in
little groups expressing their
outrage at the no-parking-markings
as the girls and i
were walking the boys to school.

my favorite response was
a businessman, who looked to be
in his early 40’s, insisting
to my friend, becky, and i,
‘well,
i’ve lived here for
twenty.nine.years.’

and we nodded gravely.

i’m not sure what his point was,
now that i think of it.

?

but he won the
seniority status competition.

for reference,
they extend from
in front of the caine’s bldg
all of the way to west end.

my new view

ps – the slate is in.
and grouted.
yay.

the drain will eventually
be brass, but anyway.

yay, again.

my worker man

it was so nice to enjoy
an evening with
cory’s colleagues
last night.

i almost got out my
calculator to show off
my own mad math+business skills.

but alas,
i refrained,
and just enjoyed their
company and conversation
into the night.

jenny, love the tablecloth;
thanks, babe.

the clever fromager @ f’wy
suggested a ‘midnight moon’
that was heavenly.
heavenly.
heaven’s cheese.
it’ll totally be on the menu.
(’yes, please.’)

nothing says ’summer’ like
ina’s fresh corn salad + tabbouleh.

i knew i could be a ‘real mom’
when i found ms’s c-chip recipe;
it’s a never-fail.

my fearless cohost, ang;
thanks a million.

photo credits: my favorite njc

striking his
‘i lost 3 molars within 24 hrs’
and
‘the tooth fairy
so totally
ows me’
pose.

happy and wise

‘o Lord,
heavenly father,
make us
happy enough in you
to avoid sin
and
wise enough in you
to avoid danger,

that we may always do what is
right in your sight;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,

amen.’

the lovely ms. baer
preps the bongo drums
for henry’s class’
beatnik poetry reading.

get your snapping fingers ready.
(remember, no clapping)

h opted to wear my shades
instead of his own;
dark clothes, shades, a real microphone,
and funky edgy attitudes.

fabulous.

henry wrote 3 poems
for the occasion:

books
do they ever get tired
of sitting,
waiting,
sitting on a shelf,
until someone picks them up?

afraid of heights
when i was young
i could not climb an inch.
but now
i’m brave.
i can even climb
a foot.
being afraid of heights
is not a good feeling.

the perfect snowball
round as Pluto,
on the ground,
big as a capital O,
smooth as a rock.
your hands are crunching
and munching,
rolling the moist,
throwing
and stinging,
falling to the ground.

(the moist _____?
maybe he wanted to leave it
to our imagination.)

the ol’ snippy-snippy

c + b rounded the hallway corner
this morning with a
superdeluxe
guilty look

and
simultaneously exclaimed,
‘betsycutherhair!’ + ‘carolinecutmyhair!’

i’m just cracking up that
this is the first time
any of my kiddos
has taken the scissors
out for a haircutty spin.

remember the ‘asymmetrical’ haircut?

bringing the 80’s back
in a fierce way.

this is how we decided
to disguise it for the summer.

curly-bow-y-camouflage.

caroline was sure
daddy would want to
see it before we toss it.

gory.
cool.

ps -
some people paid
good money for this look.

watery love

henry helped me string up the gallery
while the girls were creating
bulk amounts of finger-painted papers.

i must pause to
give a shout out to my
spool of baker’s twine.

i bought it from the nice woman
behind the counter @
the hungarian pastry shoppe,
when we lived on 118th st,
so 6+ yrs ago,
and it’s like the widow’s oil,
the kids can use as
much as they’d like,
for years on end
and it hasn’t even made a
dent in the spool.

we’ve so totally gotten
our $8 worth.

30 day action plan, the slow roll-out version

i like what they said on saturday,
that when you have a plan, time is your ally,
and when you don’t have a plan, time is your enemy.

they encouraged us to create
30 day action plans for our children
to give us something practically
to do and to aim toward.

since we’re new at this,
cory and i decided to create
a full plan for nathan
and a
combined plan for the younger three.

that way we can figure it out a bit
as we go and then do more
individualized things later in the game.

so here’s what we’ve decided on
for this first month.

(it includes far more notes
for me than actual ‘plan’ for the kids;
my learning curve is slow and steep, i think.

and please advise
where i’ve missed the
point.)

a slow roll-out,
a rookie 30 day plan, as it were.

ps – when cory mentioned the
‘30 day action plan’ this morning,
nathan bounced up and said,
‘i like the sound of this!’

little did he know…

ps -
i’m trying to figure out
how to link the pdf-s.

hmmm.
?

pps -
here’s the nutshell
as i understand it.

the 5 components of the plan are:

. firmness: take action. repeatedly.
. prayer: prepare my heart + their heart for change. look for small changes.
. teaching: explain expectations. instruct. clarify + illustrate.
. vision: they need hope. tell how this change will benefit them. repeat often.
. coaching: encourage. persistence + patience on the part
of the parent move the child along the path toward change.

throwing down

7:52pm
saturday night

pretty sketch marks.

he’s got the rotozip
(grinder mode)
fired up out back
where he’s cutting the
corner pieces.

in the rain.

i don’t think he’s even noticed.

jiminy cricket and then some

the conscience plus the holy spirit
is what we’re looking for.

so grateful for the biblical parenting
seminar today on strengthening
the conscience so that children
become internally motivated;
whew.

our heads are spinning tonight,
in a good way.

much to digest,
to talk about + pray about
and
implement.

huge thanks to scott + joanne for speaking,
redeemer + to brent,
to trinity + to cindy,
to all of the dads that came
(props on a stellar male turnout)
and to the
amazing
moms.

we’re in this together.

i like being on the
welcoming committee.

big surprise there.

work it, betsy.

all photo credits: cindy p.

digestive

saturday feeding time
draws a curious crowd.

eeewww, gross.

ps – j was bummed when
she realized the ‘meal’
was already dead.

?

girl wanted a chase?

doublegross.

gourmet rodent

um,
there might be
one of those
in my freezer,
a ‘gourmet rodent’
according to the tidy little pkg.

have i mentioned that we
acquired a
snake?

i couldn’t bring myself to
talk about it
when we first inherited him
and i still haven’t gone
within 5 feet of him.

slick’s the name,
corn snake’s the game.

i must admit,
he’s quite cute.

for a snake.

see how itsybitsy he is?

a cherry-lifesaver kind of day

one of my clients
cracked me up with
this one:

‘you’re like a
cherry lifesaver
to me today;
my Very Favorite Thing in the
whole wide world!’

it’s an honor to be someone’s
cherry lifesaver,
certainly.

full disclaimer:
nathan is 1/2 of the lifesaver
since he was willing to
wait out front for her taxi
for an early-morning-in-the-pouring-rain
pen handoff from her to me
while i waited inside
(his idea).

yes, this is my life,

people hand me pens
in the pouring rain
so i can write in
exactly
the right
shade of orange.

i like it.

neighborly pie

angel lorraine had the
morgan + cates kiddos
up for a pie-making session.

crust from scratch, check.
strawberries hand-picked over the wknd, check.
their first exposure to rhubarb, check.
(‘it’s like red celery, mom.‘)

a watched croissant never…bakes?
but it did.

pie (and eggs + croissants) for breakfast;
the taste of summer.

thanks a million, L.

1:24pm

early dismissal +
the mildest weather =
mmmmm.

(yay for the concrete)

(see the kramer’s open umbrella
in the back-background?
we can hear e playing bball.
happy sounds.)

while the four big kids
enjoy the patio,
b asked to ‘take a nap’
in my room.

i wish i could oblige,
but she’ll never ever go to sleep
if that’s the case,
so she’s snuggled up on my bed,
under close surveillance,
reading books +
hugging buster bear.

hooray
for
monday.

babysitting concrete

that’s what cory + ted are doing now,
babysitting the fresh concrete
out front.

here’s what i came home to tonight:

(see henry’s head in his window?
soundly sleeping.
not.
watching daddy is much more fun.)

hello, front step.
looking smooth.

30 more minutes until he
can take off the wooden form
and let it finish drying overnight.

and then, later this week,
the pretty part begins;
think: slate.

earlier today…
caroline loves being his
right hand girl.

thankfully, her attention span
is super long +
she vacillates between
watching quietly and
telling funny stories,
a good work companion, i think.

top o’ the saturday morning to ya

8am
saturday morning

cory’s favorite way to spend
a saturday morning,
that’s for sure.

trophy time is always special,
but especially so when you’re
a first-year t-baller.

the six of us had
classic playground
all to ourselves
for an entire hour.

urban privacy,
an unexpected pleasure.

he would catch the girls mid-swing,
kiss them exaggeratedly,
and exclaim,
‘where have you been all my life?’
in a baritoneprinceharming voice.

i’m going to create an
‘indoor cleanliness ass’n’
for my apartment.

it’ll have six charter members.
membership required.

if only it were that easy.

something old, something new

three
cheers

for our sweet jen + david;

just two short months now
until they’re
.  mr. + mrs. keller  .

(i thought i’d take a photo
of the cake just in case
i fumbled it in transit
from my apt to roosevelt island;
then i’d have a back up that
i could show her,
’see this photo?
i made you a cake +
i love you.
and now it’s just a heap of sugarymess’

luckily, it traveled just fine
thanks to jonathan’s
mad driving skills.)

gracias, j.

four layers.
just for fun.

fab dress, j.

our charismatic jen at her
story-telling best.
(as her mom looks on proudly.
i love it.)

w/ kathy, david, jen, jen’s mom, dee + sara.
it was lovely being a part
of dee’s ‘tea team’;
any time, dee,
any time.

harry hinzman, birthday jedi

happy birthday,
harry sweetpea.

we can’t believe you’re
seven.

your parent’s wedding feels like
yesterday
(and what a party that was)
and then you came along
and
voila,
what a guy,
what a guy.

103rd + riverside drive

see the ‘HH’?
that clever sara.

7 layer cakes +
the legs are rice krispie treats
covered in fondant.
wowzers.

the happiness is strong with this one.

mia

mia’s baby sister, camille.
i could just eat her up.

rounding up the shoes.

pre-party pics;
henry can’t keep from chuckling.

ps -
here’s how we started the day:
busting out the tile
in the building entryway.

entryway rehab, phase 1,
begins.

ta-da.

birthday steaks

this is exactly what i was looking for;
an uber-relaxed
birthdayboycory,
enjoying a quiet evening
with friends.

thanks, j + a.

justin’s mad grilling skills.

girly girls

kathryn in the bucket
was cracking me up.

a magnatile stable for
their mylittleponies +
snapgirls + barbies =
serious work, amigos.
serious work.

really?
caroline and i had to get these;
we were just too curious.

let me shoot straight here,
if i want a chip,
i want it to be a potato.

a green bean chip?

it has the weirdest aftertaste.

(ps -
ask me for one
when you stop by,
i’m sure they’ll still be
in the pantry since
no one is asking for
seconds.)

all in a day’s work

i love the days
when the hardest choice
they have to make
is whether to play
‘fancy restaurant’
or
‘toy store’.

they went with
‘fancy restaurant’.

i was pleasantly surprised
when i got the bill,
$0.51,
‘deal of the day’
nathan had written beside it.

i knew she was
an angel.

i love that birthday boy

rice krispie treats fit for a…
well,
grown-up handsome man.

that’s right,
ang brought heaps of
sugar sweet sunshine
cupcakes.

seriously, guys,
are you thinking what i’m thinking?

it sounds scandalous,
but these are better
than mag____.

i can’t even bring myself to say it.
but it’s true.

ps -
now, this is more like it.
way to go, k;
fab cake for
fabulous elena.

poverty of attention

so many playground conversations
recently have been about
how consuming family paperwork
and information is.

emails, hard copies,
snail mail, and the
blackberries, cell phones, iphones,
and the like that
go with it.

the frustration centers around
how to live in this culture
without it overtaking + overwhelm us,
distracting us from the
living human beings close at hand,
and esp those in our care.

a. verghese’s article in the atlantic
this month touches on what
we’ve been wrestling with,
as he quotes the psychologist Herbert Simon,

‘the wealth of information means a
dearth of something else:
a scarcity of whatever it is that
information consumes.

what information consumes is rather obvious:
it consumes the attention of its recipients.

hence a wealth of information creates
a poverty of attention
and a need to allocate that attention efficiently
among the overabundance of sources
that might consume it.’

he’s applying his special ‘theory of attentivity’
to the medical profession in suggesting that
a = Ac + Ap,
where a is the total attention we give to a patient’s problem,
Ac is minutes we spend attending to the computer and
Ap is minutes at the patient’s bedside.

surely there’s a family-management theory
to be adapted out of this,
and surely i’ll think of it
in the quiet of the night
when my laptop is shut
and my cell phone is silently charging.

ps -
can i write that last line
with a straight face?

anyone who knows me
knows that i never know
where my phone is
and when i actually find it,
there’s no chance it’s
charged.

adios, ya’ll

or however they say it
in texas.

mapquest is not my friend today
as it confirmed my fear:
houston is a heckuva long way
from new york city.

oy vey.

i wonder how long it’d take
us on horseback.

we adore you,
todd + laran,
houston, hank + cash.

the city will be so much
less
without your spunky, loving selves.

our exuberant hostess, zoe.

six-eleven

one more sleep
until my favorite guy
turns 35.

ever since i met his terrific self
(we were 17),
i get this flipfloppy feeling
in my stomach every time i
see a 6-11.

6:11am,
6:11pm,
611 as a street address,
1 corinthians 6:11,
anything that reminds me
of that superb day
he was born.

(i was a whopping 2 months old
when the actual 6/11 occured,
so that’s kind of a blur for me)

loveyou,babe.

sunday night, 8:43pm,
@ the whitford’s

‘little balloon people’

as the program said,
and let me tell you,
caroline was thrilled to be a
‘little balloon person’
in her first-ever
ballet recital.

and she’s donned her
fancyshiny
(wonderfully hideous?)
costume
(or ‘disguise’ as henry
keeps calling it)
daily since then.

my wise friend, sandi,
tipped me off,
‘don’t blink or you’ll miss them.’

35 seconds of ballet glory.
okay, maybe 40 seconds,
but certainly not 41.

yay, abby.

the finale

caroline + charlotte;
let me tell you,
caroline had The Best Time.

she grinned through the entire thing,
so incredibly happy, she was.

oops – not pictured:
brennan + jane;
i was clapping so hard
i missed getting their pictures.
way to go, sweet girls.

her fan club
(photo credit: ed morgan)

thanks, friends +
congrats, c.