Wordless Wednesday - movie night

Movie night = cuddle time

Choco-mouths

I have no idea why kids get a ring of chocolate around their mouth when eating chocolate ice cream.  Choco-mouth is a term of endearment in our house.

Today was a FULL day - we left the house at 8:30 this morning (thank goodness my sister is staying here this weekend and was able to help with the kids) to make it to Gaithersburg for a Girls on the Run 5K in which our niece and my brother were running, then my mom and I ventured to Toys R Us (with Andrew) while the rest of the crew went to my brother's house, then we went to the ice rink for our nephew's hockey game, then a pitstop for ice cream, then back to my brother's to watch the Raven's game, before making it home just before 7 pm.  E&A were exhausted, which resulted in a rather unpleasant bathtime experience.  Can't wait til Rich gets home!

putting my intention out there

Ack!  Earlier this week I checked on the ye good ole blog just to see how many posts I had done in July, since I am making such an effort to post and document more and- what the heck?  None?  Zero?  The entire month of July nearly gone and no posts?  This summer is flying by, far too quickly.

And now I have so much still to cover, from the end of the school/spring activities to the end of our vacation!  School ended June 20th, and stars again a mere 9 weeks later on Aug 22, and it's already the end of July, 5 weeks down so we only have 4 weeks left!  And, in my major news, I start a new, part-time job next week, so I have this sad feeling summer is over already.  I've been meaning forever to do a 'what do we want to do with our summer post,' a la Our Madill-Lowe, but the summer has just been speeding along.

As many of us do, I remember the summer of my childhood as stretching endlessly, with periods of boredom along with longer periods of just playing, without many cares, punctuated by 1-2 weeks of vacation and some fun day trips thrown in to change things up.  And I think, so far, that's what Elizabeth and Andrew have experienced, this summer.  Which isn't bad, all in all.  But we have to squeeze out what's left of summer and really make sure we haven't missed any of it.

Posts on vacation to come soon, but now, for the record, I've got to state my intention for the world, so that I can make it come true.  After last week's unstructured, small-town vacation, what I want - what I intend to make happen - is to be able to spend a month on the Shore, kids, cat, and dog, for many summers of Elizabeth and Andrew's childhood.   Or at least a couple of summers.  We'll spend some time at the beach, and hit a pool when we can, and do story time at the library, and shop at the small markets, and eat local, fresh produce, and ride bikes, and hike in the marsh, and get too many bug bites, and do a little fishin' and crabbin' and clammin', and spend some time being bored and driving each other crazy, and a lot of time out exploring the world.  Maybe I'd work some, and maybe Rich would have to commute back and forth a bit and perhaps spend long weekends, but in today's wireless world, we can make this happen.  Not next year, or likely the year after, but this is an achievable goal.  And right now, on my list of Dreams I Can Definitely Make Happen (as opposed to general dreams I'd like to happen, like winning the lottery, or moving for a year or two to a foreign country, or even the semi-possible biggie of actually buying a second home), it's the top one. 

Cause this?  Visiting a sandbar in the middle of Assateague Bay? Is how I want to remember summers. Yes, those small figures are us, taken with our co-vacationer Tricia's iphone.  Can't wait to get cds from both Ryan and Tricia to share more pics of our awesome vacation! 

The From Left to Write Book Club consists of over 100 bloggers who read books and then write posts inspired by the book (not a review of the book). This month's post was partially inspired by The Costume Trunk by Bob Fuller.  I type 'partially inspired' only because it's been so long since I've written a post and I while I started writing thinking I was going to write something else, somehow my fingers made this post about my dream (instead of the princess story I was trying to wrestle to fit into this post).  And I think the author might just encourage mommys and daddys to use their imaginations and have dreams, too.  In any case, Elizabeth and Andrew enjoyed coming home from vacation and finding this book waiting for them, but we have not had enough time with it to do more than read it twice.  They both like it.  As a book club member, I was given a free copy of the book.  

 

What's your dream?  Will you share an intention with me?  

Saudade

A couple of years ago I ran across a term that was new to me - a Portuguese word saudade. It's one of those "impossible to translate" words that doesn't have a clear or easy definition in English. It's close to nostalgia or melancholy, both of which have Portuguese equivalents, but there's another aspect to it that makes it uniquely Portuguese (though a few other languages have similar expressions). Of the many attempts at definitions on the wikipedia page, the one I like best is "a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist." Emphasis added - it's that last bit that I like best - the feeling of longing for something that no longer exists and yet could not exist, or maybe never really existed.

I've felt saudade several times over the past couple of years - most often in the summers on family vacations that bring up old memories and old echoes of family history. I feel it when I think of my tenuous connection to my Portuguese heritage, and how ever more fragile it is for my children. And I feel it when I think of the loosening connections to the eastern shore, and my mother's family and my old friends.

A couple of weeks ago for some reason I was thinking of how much we document of our modern lives. The blogs, the videos, the 10,000 photos on my computer. But the past is all just memories. If I close my eyes, I can remember the cadence of both my paternal grandparents' accented English. I have a vague feeling that I remember a little of my maternal grandmother's, but almost no memory of what my maternal grandfather sounded like - it's moved just beyond my memory. I do still hear the voice of my mother's sister in my head. Oh, honey, is what I always remember her saying.

A few years ago my parents sent me a self published memoir/recipe book written by a woman who knew my paternal, Portuguese grandparents when they lived in Brunswick, Georgia. My grandfather, who immigrated by himself at age 16 to this country, was a pillar of the Portuguese community there. He welcomed new immigrants, help run the social structure of the community, and it was he who raised the money and traveled to Portugal to bring back the statue of Our Lady of Fatima which is still used for the Blessing of the Fleet on Mother's Day.

My grandfather is the man on the far left in the front. We went to the Blessing of the Fleet once, when I was 10 or 11 and my grandparents were still alive and I don't actually remember much. It was hot. There was a lot of Portuguese spoken, which my brother, mother and I did not understand. It was just a little boring for me and my brother. My grandparents, who followed the shrimp and left Brunswick for Key West in the 1950s, were very proud to be there, and very popular among their old friends.

I believe there is a small plaque in the church that talks about how Our Lady was brought to the US. I believe it may mention my grandfather, but I'm not sure. I think maybe someday I'd like to at least stop by on some family trip, with Elizabeth and Andrew in tow. They will be bored. I will sit in the cool, dark church and light a candle for Our Lady and feel just a little saudade.

The From Left to Write Book Club consists of over 100 bloggers who read books and then write posts inspired by the book (not a review of the book). This month's post was inspired by Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English, by Natasha Solomons, a lovely book that was entirely about saudade. As a member of the book club, I was given a free copy of the book, and, because I quickly and eagerly accept free items and was one of the first 20 bloggers to sign up for the book, also a package of Walkers Shortbread. Thank you, publishers. I usually pass along these books to someone else, but I think I'd like to hold onto this one for a little bit. You can borrow it. Or visit your local library or Amazon or better yet a small, quaint local bookshop in the countryside and you won't be disappointed.


Tell me, when do you feel saudade?

stories

Like all families, my family has its share of stories that are told and retold, passed down for years. My favorite ones, of course, involve me.

So, 40 years ago, on December 12, 1970, my grandmother, my aunt, my mother and I were Christmas shopping in Salisbury. As I discuss endlessly, I am from Pocomoke, and you really need to get out of Pocomoke if you want to buy a variety of items. There's a walmart now, but people still head to the mall in Salisbury when they need to go shopping.

After a full day of shopping, my mother, who was 9 months pregnant, turned to my aunt and said, I think you should drop mother and me off at the hospital and take Susan home, please. Because I've been in labor all day and it's probably time I check in.

My aunt, who was childless at the time, was reportedly furious with my mom for shopping all day while in labor, but my mom was by all accounts fine and the plan went off. My dad was working in Australia at the time, and my mom and I were living with my grandparents, so my grandmother stayed with my mom and my aunt drove me back to Pocomoke.

I was 2 years and 4 months old. On the drive home, my aunt reportedly asked me if I wanted my mom to bring home a brother or sister from the hospital.

And my reply, repeated often to great laughter, was: "Well, what I really want is a kitten!"

And instead of a kitten, my brother Michael was born on December 13. So happy 40th birthday to my brother.

But back to the story. Here's the thing. I am in daily contact with a pretty chatty little guy who is 2 years and 1 month old. And it wasn't that long ago that I spent a lot of time with a highly verbal girl when she was 2.33 years old. It's not, exactly, that I doubt my aunt's veracity. Kids do say the darnedest things, and non sequitors are fairly routine. But, let's just say that I've wondered about this story for the past few years. Sadly, the other participants, besides my mom who was fairly occupied at the time, are no longer here to confirm details.

I like precision. Did my aunt ask, do you want a brother or sister? And I replied, no, a kitten? Or did she say something more vague, like what do you want your mother to bring home? And then I more logically replied a kitten? It's just that when you examine this story more closely, more details are required.

The truly happy ending part of the story is that my mother came home from the hospital with my brother, and then my father came home from Australia, and then we moved into the cutest little pink house (I was in heaven living in a pink house!) on Holiday Drive, and THEN we got a kitten. A very cute female Siamese kitten who was named Scooby Doo. And here again, I'm going to call foul. Because, the story has been that my brother and I named the kitten after our favorite show and of course my parents didn't plan to name our cat after the popular cartoon dog but we insisted. But look! I was just over 2.5 at the time, and my brother was a newborn!

Recently, we've started watching old Scooby Doo cartoons, which are shown on the Cartoon Network. Andrew calls it Dooby-doo, and he and Elizabeth loooove the show, even if (or maybe because) it's just ever so slightly scary and the dog talks.

So I've got all these threads here and no plan to tie them all together. I suppose the moral of the story is 40 year old family stories should be repeated, often, at the family table, preferably with aunts and uncles and cousins and generations gathered, rather than examined in detail in writing.

And second, happy 40th birthday Michael!

(And yes, there was another 40th birthday recently in the family, and there are some pictures that were planned to be added to the blog, but blah blah blah kidney infection camera cord....and we'll either get to it or not!).

Cousins

Whoever named them sleep overs wasn't really aware of the primary activity, were they? There is precious little sleep that happens - up past midnight Friday, and just after 11 Saturday. But still, how fun to have a cousin close in age! And sleepovers work pretty well if Mommy and Daddy and Andrew are just down the hall.

Thanks Uncle Marc, Aunt Jen, and cousin S!

more extended family

I realized after posting the last pic I should have put up some of the most recent extended family pics, just as a comparison.

My sister, brother, me, Andrew, and cousin E.

My mom and her two brothers.

And finally, I love this picture. My cousin D's youngest son, which means he and Elizabeth are second cousins. It's probably the blondish hair and blue eyes, but I see a family resemblance (the cheeks, the chins, the coloring....).

Time goes by

One of my uncles has, at 78, just acquired e-mail and learned to use a scanner, so we get near daily treats. Most often recycled jokes, but he sends gems too, old stories and photos, so you have to open the e-mails. Thought I would share this one, from the wedding of one of my cousins in 1996. There have been a number of additions (4 spouses and 10 more children), and sadly two losses, but this is the last time my mother's family gathered all together for fun.

Father's Day

So what do we do on Father's Day? Well, for the last three years, we've played mini-golf at the course at Hains Point, then we get burgers at the Potomac Grille, right by the putting practice green at the East Potomac Golf Course. It's a historic building with a wide front porch and picnic tables and usually a nice breeze. There are days I hate DC, and days I tolerate DC, and days I love DC, and this little gem of a golf course, historic atmosphere, and general laid-back attitude is a definite love DC thing. This year, we went for the trifecta* and went swimming at the East Potomac Pool before dinner, then golf after. Awesome.

That's Rich and Elizabeth in the pool. There's no kiddie pool, but we were only there an hour (after you factor in Andrew's nap plus weird umbrella removal, we didn't get there til 5).

Andrew loooved the pool and could not wait to get in. Luckily, he fairly happily acquiesced to getting out (and the chance to go through Mama's wallet kept him happy).

Mmm, burgers and beer

Walking toward the golf course, Rich said, it's too bad they don't let you play just a few holes. Yes, I replied, those meanies with the bullwhips who force you to stay and play even though you only have time for a little bit.....
We agreed we'd only play a few holes as it was getting late.
Turns out, even had we wanted, our children simply resist the idea of playing in any sort of organized fashion.

Still clutching ball, even after tripping over curb. Andrew refused to play at all - he just wanted to run around like a mad man, ball in hand. Absolutely refused any help or guidance in actually, you know, putting the ball down and attempting to hit it with the club.
Elizabeth tried, on and off, to play, sorta.

Who needs hazards when you have Andrew?

So has anyone noticed anything about Elizabeth's shoes? She has two sets of flip flops that are kinda similar (same height/thickness, basically), but one is pink and one is blue. She now refuses to wear the matching sets, instead insisting on one pink and one blue. Pick your battles is a mantra I try to live by. Plus, well, what can I say?

--
And a blast from the past - our trip in 2009:


And 2008? Well, that year will live always as the year of Dora - about halfway through the course, Elizabeth walked up to a water hazard fringed with tall grass, cackled "you'll never find it now" and threw her ball as hard as she could. We were laughing too hard to get pictures, but we did indeed find the ball and play, such as it was, resumed.
There are so many gems in DC - places off the beaten path, where we always have a lot of fun. Every year on this annual outing we say we should come back at another point during the summer, and every year we never have the chance. And there are 3 or 4 other favorite spots that are similar. I hope we make it back this year - want to come with us?

*I had to edit this in. Rich and I have always liked trifectas. When I was rereading this, another trifecta popped into my head. Years before kids, we would eat at Jaleo, then go play games at ESPN Zone, then head to Poly-Esters for late night 80s dance night. Ah, life before kids. We did this a handful of times with friends over the course of a year, and it was always a blast. Poly-Esters is long gone, but we could probably approximate this, with kids, with dinner and games. Or maybe this should just remain a fond memory.

Happy Birthday Grandma W!

A couple grandkids that are too cool for school. Especially since E hasn't gone to school at all this week.

So what do you get a Grandma for her birthday when she has 3 wonderful grandkids already (Cousin Sam not pictured)? If her birthday is in Feb, then a couple major snowstorms should do the trick!

Trying to dig out today. Hopefully we can all get out and about this weekend before we go completely stir crazy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Marc!

Birthday wishes to Uncle Marc from Chincoteague Island!


Getting this in under the wire. Had some trouble with the sign. A certain grabby 7-month old little boy kept trying to snatch it from big sister. He was moderately successful with the exception of this photo.

- Rich

3rd Aunt Jen is the Charm

Happy (belated) Birthday, Aunt Jen W!

Ok, we're not as on top of things as we need to be. Yesterday was E & A's Aunt Jen's birthday. Yes indeed, the Dynamic Duo has three, count them, three, Aunts Jen! What's even crazier is that their birthdays are all in a row - no other family members in between - over a 3 week period in May/June.

Aunt Jen is my brother's wife, and mother of my little niece, Samantha, who is exactly 9 months older than E. Out of respect for Jen, I will not reveal her age relative to the other Aunts Jen. ;)

Uhhh, I wasn't trying to eat the note. Honest!

Sweetpea being oh so cooperative.

We weren't entirely successful in getting the two of them together. Sometimes certain diminutive members of this household have other ideas of what they should do at a given moment in time. Regardless of how much Mommy & Daddy cajole/scold them.

And a Happy Anniversary today to my brother and Jen. Congrats on 9 yrs guys.

- Rich

My two aunt jens

OK, well, the best of intentions and all that. Turns out it was not our router that was the problem. No, it was the entire Verizon system - or at least one of their servers that serves our neighborhood. As I found out when I called Verizon throughout the day yesterday just to hear we are experiencing a significant outage in the (area code) neighborhood area. (What? When you're frustrated don't you call 7 or 8 times throughout the day just to hear the same message?)

E and A have actually three Aunt Jens (yes, confusing!). My sister and R's sister have birthdays two days apart, and we were determined to put up two different posts. But combined happy birthday photos for this year.

Elizabeth celebrated with a gigantic cupcake. Meanwhile, Andrew decided to bypass celebrating in favor of attempting to self feed broccoli with a spoon.

Success! Spoon in mouth! Cupcake icing inching closer and closer to face for second taste.

Can I just eat the rest of it now, please?
Hmmm, is the spoon itself edible?

Cupcake!
Mmm, spoon!

Speaking of broccoli, here's a recipe for an entertaining evening:
1. Steam fresh broccoli.
2. Serve spears to husband and pre-schooler.
3. Reserve a few spears for baby - using handheld blender and attachment, add a little water and whir to mush.
4. Gross out preschooler with mush. After much giggling and prompting, have her taste it and declare, well, it's just mushy broccoli!
5. Gross out husband with green mush.
6. Laugh + eyeroll when husband taste mushy broccoli and immediately gags and grabs for water.
7. Realize that no, the extreme reaction wasn't for effect - the exact same broccoli he had just eaten was rendered inedible by the water and the whirring!

Good times! I'm sure the two Aunt Jens were/are upset to miss out. Or, maybe not.

Happy birthday Papa!

A day late, but a very good excuse. See the glassy eyes? The flushed cheeks (on Andrew)? The pale brow (of the Sweetpea)? The sign balanced on the trashcan (vomit containment device)? Yes, we may be a day late, but we're doing ok considering I write from the house of pestilence. I'm currently downing Emergen-C like it's tequila shooters on Cinco de Mayo. With any luck we've turned the corner and are the end is in sight. Wouldn't want to be stuck inside on the beautiful weekend ahead.

Oh, and Elaine? Took Andrew to the doctor yesterday and, one day shy of 5 months, he clocked in at 19 pounds, 4 oz. That's a whole ounce more than 18-month-old Helen! I don't even know what to say.

Happy Birthday Grandma B!

A special bonus appearance from the cousins!

Happy Birthday Grandpa W!

PO PO uh oh uh oh

A few weeks ago, my high school basketball team played for the state championship, so of course we went. I called my brother in the morning, and of course he was going, so we planned to meet up. On the way there, we talked about who else we might see, and it occurred to me one of my cousins, whose boys are in high school now, might also be there.

So an impromptu mini-family reunion, and they got to meet Andrew for the first time.


A few other spottings:
- when we drove up I said to Rich, oh park here, next to Craig (my brother's best friend). Next to Craig, he asked, how to do you know that's Craig's truck (which I've never seen before)? Well, pretty obvious, even in a full parking lot - a Raven's sticker, a UNCW license plate holder, to see a Pocomoke basketball game? Either my brother bought a truck and didn't tell us, or it's Craig's.
- Without trying to hard, I saw three people from my class. Only one still lives in Pocomoke (and her son was a team manager), the other two are on this side of the Bay.
- I also said to Rich I bet Ryan's dad is here. You think? He wouldn't drive all this way. Sure enough, a dozen rows back, there he was. Pocomoke people turn out.

Nothing beats coming from a small town.

Sadly, the game didn't quite end the way we wanted, but the boys hung tough. Andrew enjoyed his first basketball game and meeting family and demonstrated his enthusiasm the way he knows best - by falling soundly asleep.

When I was in either 9th or 10th grade, a group of older field hockey players coined the P-O cheer. Which, as all good cheers go, is very catchy but makes no real sense whatsoever. I can say I was there when it started.

My very favorite story about Pocomoke? A little off topic, but I don't know when else I could write it and it makes me laugh to this day. The first time I brought Rich to Pocomoke to meet family and friends, we drove into town and past our old house on Second Street , when I pulled to the curb.

Me: What do you think?
Rich: (in all seriousness) I don't believe you are from here.
M: What?! What about Ryan?
R: him either, I can't see him coming from such a small town.
M: what about Michael? (Ryan, Michael and I were sharing a group house at the time)
R: Michael? Oh yeah, he's totally from here.

Talk Like Aunt Jen!

So I've been having a Facebook conversation with Aunt Jen B. about an "imitation" that E does of her. It's not so much an imitation as a tribute, I would say. This evening, Susan caught it on video. We also have some clips from a year ago where E did Aunt Jen laughing as well as a now famous quote about our dog, Aggie, and her reactions to major weather phenomena.



Ok, so it needs a little work. But, in E's defense, Aunt Jen has a tough voice to imitate. Maybe if we saw her more often, Elizabeth could capture it better. (Susan made me put that in.)

But E definitely has Aunt Jen's laugh nailed. The next couple of clips are from about a year ago. It is AMAZING at how much our little girl has changed!



And, last but not least, the quote that made E famous. "Aggie scared of thunderstorms!"



That's my girl.

- Rich

Happy Birthday Grandma W!

Happy birthday to my Mom. I won't reveal her age, but, suffice to say, I'll be 10 yrs older than her when Elizabeth is my age. Yikes. I feel old. And, no I had not been drinking when Elizabeth snapped my picture. I felt it was only fair that, if we were going to pose her, she should have the chance to pose me.

- Rich

Had to just jump in here to describe the taking of Rich's picture. First, yesterday was not a good day to be a sweetpea. It's hard to be three sometimes. So getting the picture of the two of them - let's just say lots of bribery and there are plenty of pics on the camera with not so pleasant expressions. As you can see, Andrew finally gave up and conked out. So after it was all over, Elizabeth was in a much better mood. She grabbed the camera and said, 'now it's daddy's turn.' (revenge is sweet.) And posed him, made him add the toy to his head, thought about it, grabbed the note and positioned it, said 'ok, now, let's see a pretty smile!' took the photo, said 'good job!' (in exactly Rich's tone and inflection) and then held out the camera for us to inspect the photo. I wish I had a video of how exactly she acted like us trying to take her picture. (and then she took a picture of the ceiling. And Aggie. And sleeping Andrew (or at least part of him). And then it was back to a rough day as the camera was put away and bath time began!)

The sick house

Instead of a touching and sentimental post about how great it was to have my parents here helping us and how sad we are they left today (who will do the laundry? hang with Elizabeth? empty the dishwasher? hold Andrew constantly?), I'm wishing I had hopped in the back of their car as they sped away from the sick house, driving toward 80 degree weather.

My dad got it first, and his developed into bronchitis. Then my mom went down, then Rich. And yesterday, Elizabeth. Andrew and I are hanging strong, but I'm not sure how long we'll hold out.

- Susan