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Yesterday was Lehigh’s Spring Fling. This is a huge event for the local community (you can read about this annual event here). We had never been before (to tell you the truth, I never even ever knew about it before we lived on campus). So when Carolina Hernandez, the Director of Lehigh’s Community Service Office, invited our family to attend, I didn’t quite know what to expect. But I know Carolina, and I know she’s the real deal, so I wanted to both support her and her office — and check out what it was all about — so we went. Little did we know that we were in for such a treat.

It was amazing. It takes a lot to blow me away. And this thing blew me away. I was just totally impressed with every single aspect of the whole entire event. All five of us — as well as the 1,100+ community folks in attendance — had an absolute blast! Highlights for Meera: crafts! & she got to have 2 — yes 2! — pink cotton candy! Highlights for Kyle and Owen: pony rides! & finding a few of their friends from their Little League team and having an impromptu playdate with them on campus! Highlights for Braydon and me: a gorgeous sunny spring day & feeling genuinely good about this institution at which we live. THANK YOU CAROLINA! You are a sincere blessing to this place.

We go to a lot of sports events here at Lehigh. We have not been going to as many music events – particularly “classical” music events.  It’s in no small part that western art music is so darn white. Dead white (mostly male) composers, living white (mostly male) composers, white performers, conductors and audiences. It’s a bit of a bummer since there is so much awesome classical music – much of which completely informs the way we all hear music in the US today.

So, when one of Heather’s students, who is also a Gryphon (aka RA) in Sayre, and who is also black, let us know her senior recital of 20th century art song was today, there was no way we were going to miss it.

Frankly, I was concerned that our kids wouldn’t last.  I’ve tried classical/art songs with them in the car with very limited success.  And the audience expectations for live art music are absurd (and as a historical side note – sitting there, quietly dressed up with rules abou when you clap, is a pretty recent occurrence – and in my opinion one of the major reasons classical concerts are dying…but I digress), the lyrics often in foreign languages, the music in a “musical language” that  can also be a bit foreign to our ears.

But Arielle Leacock did an amazing job tonight.  Her diction in French and Italian was gentle but precise. After loosening up on the first song cycle, her pitch was spot on and her soprano filigree was executed  beautifully. Her voice is not large, but she makes good use of that characteristic and doesn’t push it – she makes you lean in, listen, pay attention and grab each word.

And our kids did just that.  Though Meera said a few times to Heather “…what did she really say?!?!” when it was in French (and those around us chuckled at that), the boys sat enraptured through the entire thing.

To see this beautiful young black woman in a gorgeous pink dress pull off a senior recital of 20th century Spanish, French, Italian and American art music with nothing but piano accompaniment.  That was really amazing.

In my first few years of teaching I had a bunch of students who had a profound impact on me. They taught me that I love to teach, and I will always be grateful to them for that. A handful of them hold a very special place — near and dear — deep down in my heart. I’ve always had favorites; students who have captured my heart and inspired me to go the extra mile; students who become unforgettable for one reason or another. But those first few ‘special students’ of mine are irreplaceable– they really do stand out as extraordinarily instrumental in shaping who I am, as a professor, today. To say I have a permanent soft spot for them is an understatement. At the tippy top of that list is my old student Oscar Guerrero.

During his Lehigh days, everyone on campus called Oscar “The Big O.” He was the biggest and sweetest guy I’d ever met. I was this tiny, brand new, professor. He was this huge, extremely popular, football player. We bonded over the sociology of race and class and education and inequality. By the time he graduated I knew him, and his girlfriend Jessica (now wife; due next month with their first baby!), and many of their friends, very well. During Oscar’s senior year Braydon and I were in the process of adopting Kyle and Owen. And then they came home, and Oscar got to know K & O a bit when he’d come back to Lehigh to visit Jessica (she was still a senior). That became another thing we bonded over: Oscar, like many of my students over the years, had a soft spot for my sons. And they shared the island of Hispaniola in common (Oscar is Dominican).

When we were choosing names for K & O, we chose “Owen” with Oscar in mind. In the photos we’d receive from Haiti, Owen always looked bigger than Kyle. Long before we got K & O home we always knew we’d call Owen “The Big O,” and this conjured up all sorts of warm and fuzzy and good feelings for me… my special student’s namesake.

Today Oscar came for a visit. I won’t go on and on and on about all the incredible things that he’s doing with his life, and how incredibly proud I am of this guy. Just trust me, it is awe-inspiring. Just a short visit with the original ‘Big O’ reminded me of just why I developed that soft spot for him in the first place. And it also reminded me that I have the best job in the world: To get people to think, and then to be able to watch all the incredible things they go and do with that?! What could possibly be better?

{Sidenote: We have this picture of Oscar holding Kyle when the boys were about 16 months old. Today I made sure we re-did it with a now smiling (and much bigger!) Ky Ky!}

Meera has had one too many bad experiences in the kitchen with pungent ingredients making her eyes sting and tear up. As a result she’s developed a full-fledged 4-year-old-phobia of cooking with (or even being around the kitchen during the cooking of) certain eye-tearing-up-root vegetable/spices — namely onion, garlic, and ginger. Last night she desperately wanted to help me cook dinner, but she knew the recipe (one of our favorites: you can find it here), involved lots of chopped fresh garlic and ginger. Dilemma! To cook or not to cook? Oh how she wanted to cook! But oh how scared she is of those dreaded eye-tearing vapors! Suddenly she had the most brilliant idea! Her swimming goggles! Yes! Problem solved. She cooked that dish right up — (and did a very good job of it, by the way!) — and then ate every bite on her plate. Cooking with goggles! Perfect!

The bambinos stayed home from school today, playing hooky to recover and re-acclimate after our pretty exhausting 5-day trip to New England. So… lucky, lucky, lucky them: the boys got to watch the first game of the season for the Red Sox. And… !!!…. it was an opening day win for the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium!! The game involved them sitting on the couch, chatting, eating, and generally acting like super serious Red Sox fanatics (while Meera played in her room and I worked at my computer in the kitchen). I think there were about 20 phone calls back-and-forth between these two Red Sox loving boys and their MorFar. And there were many exciting moments, complete with jumping up and down, fist pumping, extreme cheering, and intensive yelling at the t.v. Oh my word. Are they 8 or 18? And so another season in Red Sox Nation begins.

Owen, Meera, Kyle before church this morning, in the parking lot of Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester Massachusetts

We just got home from a 5-day whirlwind trip through New England with major stops in Boston, Maine, New Hampshire, and Worcester. The highlight (and main point of the trip) was meeting our new cousin/nephew (post on that someday soon). Right now it is 10:32, the bambinos are asleep, the car is unpacked, 3 easter baskets full of goodies are sprawled out on the table, there is a mountain of laundry to do, Braydon and I are deliriously exhausted from a long Easter Day, and I am so grateful for so many things.

One of the many things I’m grateful for today is our Easter Sunday tradition. I have gone to Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester, Massachusetts for church on Easter Sunday morning every Easter that I can remember of my entire life with only two exceptions (my junior year of college, when I was in Chile, on study abroad; and the year Braydon and I lived in Charleston, SC and I couldn’t afford to fly home). I think there were a couple of Easter Sundays early in my childhood that we spent at my mom’s parents’, but I don’t actually remember those. My dad grew up going to Trinity Worcester. Kyle, Owen, and Meera have never missed an Easter Sunday there any single year of their lives. And ever since he met me, in 1993, Braydon has only missed going to Trinity that one Easter in Charleston.

Singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and listening to the Hallelujah Chorus sung from the balcony of that grand place, knowing that this is what my dad did, what my grandparents did, what I remember doing as a child, and what my children are now doing, makes the work and annoyances and aggravations that sometimes come with keeping up with a tradition feel completely worth it. Hugging my grandfather today, seeing my cousins, seeing my kids hug their great-grandfather, seeing my kids play with my cousins’ kids… that’s the stuff right in the middle of the worth-it-ness of the whole thing. Because, honestly, keeping up a tradition like that takes a lot of commitment. But today, despite having been up since 5am, despite a total of 9 hours in a minivan on the highway, despite several near-misses with “bad backseat behavior” in the car, despite 3 stops at Dunkin Donuts, despite a couple of melt-downs from the youngest member of our 5-person-crew, despite a bunch of sugar-and-cumulative-exhaustion-induced-patience-trying-moments… not to mention the planning and packing and strategizing that go into a trip like this… despite all that fluff/nonsense/superficiality/detail… it is all so, so, so worth it.

At least until we can’t do it anymore, or until it truly doesn’t make sense to keep the tradition going any longer, until then– it will be Easter in Worcester.

We’re in Boston. I had to give a talk today in Cambridge. So we’re making a whole trip of it.

While I was off giving my talk, Braydon and the bambinos swam in the hotel pool. Then we all met up for dinner in Harvard Square at Border Cafe. Oh my gosh. What a surreal moment: to be there with our bambinos.

While we were in graduate school Braydon and I spent many-a-night at The Border with many-a-friend eating many-a-chip-and-queso-dip and drinking many-a-marg. To be there again, 12 years (or 13/14/15/16 years… who’s counting?!), with our kids… wowzas, what a trip that was!

Boston peeps, dear old friends from those grad school years: it was quite something. (Imagine: ordering margs and milk — oh, and root beer — at The Border, with your bambinos?!!?!!!!)

The queso dip was just the same– the best dang queso dip in the whole darn world. All three bambinos agreed.

Now they are fast asleep in the hotel, high above Boston, on the 12th floor, overlooking the Charles river, with full bellies, after a full day. Yay for new trips to old places.

(Tomorrow we’re off to Maine to meet our new nephew/cousin!!!)

The Annual Great Easter Egg Decorating Event. It is always an event. And this year was no exception.

This year, however, it was shockingly tame. And, for the first time ever, no eggs broke! Times they are a’changing!

After the whole thing was cleaned up Braydon and I reminisced about the good old days when I’d have to buy double the eggs because at least half would be smashed, egg yolk was flying all over the place, and egg dye was splattering everywhere. On some level we miss those crazy days with the tiny twinny tornados who were so impossible to contain in their excitement over every single thing in the whole wide world. But on most levels… we’re glad those days are in the past. We like these days that we have happening right here and right now.

This year, we could actually enjoy the Great Easter Egg Decorating Event without fear of a tremendous egg-dye-accident or some other tragedy. This year, we’re truly grateful for a new season (literally, and figuratively).

Lastly… as is now becoming tradition… I am re-linking to this Easter Haiku from 2011 (click here!!!). Two years later and this still perfectly expresses how I am feeling right about now. Ah yes, the more things change, the more things stay the same. (!!!!!!!)

Last week was spring break for the bambinos.

It is always difficult to juggle the school breaks. But this year’s spring break seemed the easiest (and therefore, truly, best) ever. Maybe because we’re living on campus? (That makes Mama working during the bambinos’ spring break so much more fluid in so many ways.) Or maybe it is because they are getting older? (They are so much more self-sufficient; they can play for long stretches on their own; they don’t need as much structured time.) Or maybe it is just a fluke? (Who knows?)… but it was a great and relatively easy/painless week for all involved. Don’t get me wrong: there were some ‘moments’ (i.e., close-to-the-brink-of-insanity while hoping-a-video-keeps-them-quiet-during-a-meeting and/or one or another parent almost loses their mind while trying to make the work-at-home-kids-at-home thing work and/or one child or another almost loses their mind from intense unstructured time with their siblings for days on end…. yes, it is all in there. The good, the bad, as always, all wrapped up together.

Anyhow… we put together a great week full of unstructured down-time and change-in-routine, balanced with some fun outings that made the week feel really special. The key (for us, at least) is having a plan! And then implementing it. Our plan was good. And it went off with very few fumbles.

The highlights were the bookends of the week: at the start, a day trip to NYC (to see Annie on Broadway!!!), and at the end, a day trip to the beach (the Jersey shore! not our favorite beach, but a beach nonetheless, and sometimes a beach is all you really need).

Of course, a trip to NYC is not complete for us without soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai! And a trip to the beach in March is not complete for us without all three kids in their parkas up to their knees in the frigid ocean. In between all this we had lots of fun with other things too. Including– K & O got Meera much much closer to mastering the art of the cartwheel; a few fun chunks of time with awesome babysitters; the rare experience of three of us sitting still at one time and reading together quietly in the family room (when I say ‘rare’ I mean very rare… particularly for us particular three); a family slumber party (a sleep over in the family room complete with pizza, a movie, and a big breakfast the next morning)!; and lots of other things too that were not captured in photos.

The campus is about to burst into bloom. The bambinos’ school has Spring Break this week, so we’re juggling working and having them home. Not easy. But knowing that spring is here makes everything seem easier. The February Funk and the January Blues are behind us. Hello Spring!!!

The bambinos have taken to being on the look-out for green stems pushing through the ground, buds about to pop open on tree branches, and fresh sprouts everywhere we are. This year we all seem especially mindful that spring is in the air. Today there was screaming and shouting from the back seat of the car as K, O, and M spotted some bright blooms alongside Sayre Drive. We stopped and got out so that they could get a close look. They found bright yellow crocuses blooming– the official first blooms of spring!

And today we went to Lehigh Baseball’s home opener! I had to get to a meeting, and it was pretty cold out, so we only stayed for the first three innings. But for Kyle and Owen nothing quite says “Spring” like the first baseball game of the season! (A new season, a new sport. And so life goes with K & O.)

We’ve had lots of great outings in the past few weeks. At the very top of the list was a trip to the Allentown Art Museum to see their current Haitian Art exhibit. For anyone local, especially those with any Haitian connection, this is a Must-See!

We went on a Sunday afternoon, expecting to just make a quick trip of it (assuming it would be a very small exhibit). It turned out to be one of the major current exhibitions at the museum, and Haiti and the Caribbean was the current theme of the entire Children and Family Gallery and Art Education Center. We spent the bulk of the afternoon at the museum and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was such a pleasure to just soak in the Haitian art.

We invited Karl and Ralph, two of our Haitian friends, to come with us. Karl is a Lehigh alum (he was one of my favorite students, and now works at Lehigh in Communications). Ralph is a Lehigh sophomore — one of my current favorites. These guys are good friends of our family and it was a joy to spend a Sunday afternoon with them. We had them over for lunch and then we all took in the Haitian Art Exhibit together. It was a good and uplifting and memorable outing. We are so fortunate to have such great role models so actively involved in the lives of our sons.

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Last week was Lehigh’s Spring Break. Which meant (among other things), that I could chaperone a school field trip for Kyle’s class. Kyle is such a sweet boy and it is truly a pleasure to be around him. It is an extra pleasure to have the chance to see him with his friends. I borrowed Braydon’s minivan so that I could take six kids in my car! (I sure do hate all that the dang minivan represents, but I sure do love what the minivan can do!)

We went to an Indian Market about 45 minutes from the school. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire field trip, including the car trips to-and-from, and especially listening to those six kids in the backseat. I am so grateful for these glimpses into the lives of my kids. In that day I could see what a good friend Kyle is to his friends, and it made me so very proud of my boy.

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Meera has been doing serious time on the Turning-5-Years-Old Birthday Party Circuit in recent weeks. She’s gone to half a dozen birthday parties just since Christmas. Braydon has been putting in his time on the Socializing-With-Meera’s-Friends’-Parents Circuit. He’s taken her to every single one of those parties, and has done it well.

The birthday parties of middle-upper and upper-class little kids really needs to be the topic of serious sociological scrutiny. I really hope that someone out there is doing their dissertation on this because it is just chock full of stuff to be analyzed. Lucky for us all, I am not doing that research. It is better left to Braydon to represent us on that party circuit. (Speaking of sociology… and things that are better left un-analyzed by me… note that Meera’s favorite color, by far, is still pink pink pink pink pink.)

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While Meera and Braydon have been on the Birthday Party Circuit, the boys and I have been left to our own devices. Which has meant for some very nice mother-son time for us. One of K & O’s favorite outings is to go out for hibachi lunch at Kome. Owen eats his weight in teriyaki salmon. Kyle gets the steak.

They laugh hysterically at all the jokes, and ooooh and aaaaah at all the tricks, of the hibachi chefs. The hibachi performance just never gets old for these two bambinos. The luxury of being out with just the two of them is such a gift to me. When it is just the three of us I can thoroughly enjoy, and appreciate, the fun and soulful boys that they are. These two drive me absolutely nuts — and I often feel like they are pushing me to the brink of sanity — but there is nothing in the world I love and appreciate more than them. And there is nothing I’d rather do than be on an outing with K & O, watching them enjoy life to the max. And enjoy life to the max they do. They excel at that.

Over the past three weeks, we’ve posted a lot on the topics of downsizing and moving to campus. I feel like we’ve barely scraped the surface of it! But we’re ready to move on. So, that concludes our thoughts at the 6-Months-In mark! Now… onward!

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Over the next several posts, Braydon and I are going to be trying to express some of our thoughts and feelings about the big move that we made six months ago. We really shifted our life in a drastic way, and it has been an incredibly interesting journey. At this — our six months in mark — we are going to try to write a bit about what this experience has been like for us so far.

So, check in for posts in the coming days! And if you have specific questions about this experience (either our radical downsizing from a big home to a tiny apartment, or our change in lifestyle from our prior “normal” life to living on campus as a family of five), comment here. We’ll try to answer as many questions as we can.