The apple really doesn't fall far

I had a quick doctor's appointment this afternoon, and since there is no school today, I brought all the kids with me. Sarah brought a book and proceeded to get down to business. Gabriel did not, and when the receptionist offered him an issue of Highlights, he politely replied, "Do you have The New Yorker?"

why I love my children

One of my children's annoying habits is to remove their socks on a whim, all over the house, and leave them scattered about. Sacha cannot walk past a random, balled up sock, scrunch up his face, and say, "Smelly socks!"

and eats it

Oh, my dearest darlings!

I couldn't resist snapping this photo, two of my delicious ones having a snuggle, all bed-heady. As I snapped the shot though, this is what happened.

Perhaps there is a gene for this, because I could fill an album with similar shots.



Consider this. Notice Sarah's admirable, but futile, effort to remove the offending finger.

And my favorite, the after shot, where we examine our treasure. It's more interesting than television!

I will spare you the next shot. All I can say is that you don't need much imagination to figure out what happened next.

Happy Birthday, G

My man turns 40 today.

The Goldsteens had a late night Thursday (up til 11!), but an early morning; all the kids were up by 6. This is great for Sacha, but bad for Sarah and Gabriel, who usually wake much later. But I had a sitter coming, so I dragged myself to a yoga class, where I learned that today is also the birthday of Anusara Yoga. Anusara means flowing from the heart, or flowing with grace. This yoga has taught me a great deal about wisdom of the body, the power of the breath, and the ways in which our embodied selves reside in grace.

David is staying late in the city tonight to help his parents, who came to town yesterday so his mother could receive chemotherapy. We don't expect him home until after 9; too late for our usual birthday festivities. There is a sanskrit word, seva, which translates as selfless service. So although there will be no formal celebration tonight, I am reminded of just one of the many reasons why I love this man.
David and I have never paid too much attention to adult birthdays; quiet acknowledgment always suffices. So in that regard, this will be in the spirit of our celebrations. There's no getting around the milestone-ness of turning 40. Yet it is also just another day, which is as it should be, a gift in itself. There is always tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. May we continue to live every day this way, each a miracle.

Happy birthday G; te amo, te quiero.

Wonders will never cease

My friend Sharon was over yesterday (this in itself is not news, I refer to her as my common law wife), and noticed that I now have a blog, and was both curious and amused. She read over my shoulder, laughed, and during a (relatively) quiet interlude, said, "All the kids are quiet, why don't you go blog now?"

I explained that it doesn't work like that; I had nothing to blog about at the moment.

This is remarkable because when I send Sharon email, I have to call and tell her to check her email. She's that low-tech.

So this one's for her. Wonders never cease.

This amused me

I found this on http://www.notmartha.org/

I appreciated it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWWntYBqiT8


Just think about how many random, clever things are out there that you'll never be aware of, and marvel at the unending flow of human creativity.

bedtime scorecard

Friday nights are tough. It's all I can do to make it through Doctor Who. Now that the season's over, what's a tired hausfrau to do?

So last night I had the distinction of going to sleep before all of my children, and I was not sick.
My bedtime: 9.30.
Sacha: 10.30 (although he was in bed by 9.)
Sarah and Gabriel: 10.45.
David: 11.30.

Don't ask who woke up first; it defies logic.

she wants to rule the world

One day this week, driving somewhere, Sarah said,
"Mom, when the astronauts landed on the moon and put the American flag down, was that because we were there first, and so it's ours?"

Me: "Not exactly. It's more like leaving a message that you were there. We may have been there first, but someone who comes after you can leave their own flag to say 'I was here too.'"

Sarah: "But we were still first."

My manifesto

Why blog now? In no particular order:

To amuse myself.

To record the witty, perceptive things my children say that I've usually forgotten by the end of the day.

Because my life is as ordinary, tragicomic, and filled with grace as anyone's.

Because I have so much infinite free time.

Because I'm as clever as any of the other bloggers whose work I admire:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/
http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/bandonthediaperrun/
http://www.dooce.com

Because I hope this becomes so wildly successful that my husband can quit his job to manage it. (Delusions of grandeur, I have none.)