If you didn’t see it, this little NYTimes article from yesterday is worth checking out:
“I Have Taken on My Daughter’s Hair and Won” by Randal Archibold — click here.
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Tonight we dowloaded the photos Braydon has taken with his cell phone. I loved looking through them! Some date back to this past fall and some are from just the past couple of weeks. I think these pictures capture something totally different than the photos we take with the “real” camera. Here are just a few of them…
We have just a few patches of snow left. One of them is right outside the garage — where the snowplow pushed the snow into a shady spot. This afternoon the boys spent a long stretch of time playing on that little snow pile. At one point they were “cutting the snow” with their chainsaws. “Just like MorFar” they’d say. “And Bob the Builder” they’d say. Yup– “Just like MorFar and Bob the Builder” we’d say. And they were lovin’ every minute of it. 
Inside we got yet another after-dinner-“African Drumming”-Performance. We’re fortunate enough to be getting these performances multiple times a day ever since Braydon bought the djembe drums for the boys. They are waaaaaaaaaaay into it.
Kyle feels the spirit.
Owen feels the spirit.
And tonight… a brand new activity! Braydon dug out two of his old conducting batons. And now we’ve got two conductors. As you can see, we’ve got two very, very serious conductors. Somedays we’re just too tired to even blog.
Just had to mention that tonight my darling Owen ate 4 whole Pillsbury Crescent Rolls with his dinner. Yes, that is exactly one half of the entire package. And yes, that is in addition to the rest of his dinner which included (among other things) about 1/4 pound of cheddar cheese and about 1/2 a container of fresh cherry tomatoes. For dessert he had a yogurt. He asked for another yogurt after he finished one whole one, but alas, I had run out of them (since Kyle had eaten two for his dessert). Owen scraped the inside of the yogurt container clean and then when he couldn’t get any more out of it he licked it clean. I know I mention this a lot, but I just have to say it again: If they eat like this when they’re two, what on earth am I going to be feeding them when they’re sixteen????
I work really hard at limiting my work-related-travel. When we got the boys I vowed to myself to only commit to three away-events/speaking-engagements/work-travels per semester. So, I’ll agree to do three in the fall, three in the spring, and three in the summer. I force myself to say “no” to any other invitations/offers/requests that require me to travel away from home. This weekend I was away for two nights and three days on a “work trip” (when either Braydon or I go away for work-related-travel, we call it a “work trip” for K & O). I had to go to a conference, and as much as I hate leaving the boys overnight (all three of them!), it definitely has at least two major benefits (in addition to the obvious career benefits for me). ONE: I get a break (granted, going on a “work trip” is not really a real break, but it is a break from the cooking-cleaning-and-childcare part of my life). TWO: The boys (all three of them!), get a break from me — which does wonders for their male bonding. When I returned home yesterday the three of them were like three peas in a pod and the intensity of their without-mama-bond was clear as day. As hard as it is for me to go away (even just for very brief trips), it is always sooooo good for everyone involved when I do go away. “Work trips” are a good thing. This morning I downloaded the photos from the camera and I was curious to see what was on there… to see what Braydon had captured of their boys weekend. Here are some of Braydon’s photos…
We’ve had a virtually snow-less winter. And then Friday we got hit with our biggest storm yet. Very weird since just two days earlier we had 75 degree weather and were eating supper on the porch (click here to see Wednesday’s post). Now the porch is covered with snow.
When I called Braydon from my conference on Saturday night he told me that he and the boys had “pizza, grapes, and bananas” for supper. He reported that he had bought a medium pepperoni pizza thinking that would be enough for the three of them (a medium from our local pizzeria is really big), but that he “should have bought a large!” He said the boys ate 1/3 of the pizza each and that if there had been more they would have eaten it. When I saw this photo from the camera I laughed out loud because Braydon had not mentioned to me that the three of them ate the pizza sitting on the family room floor in their pajamas watching videos! 
I can just imagine the scene a few years into the future when I’m on work trips and the three of them are taking advantage of the situation — eating three medium pizzas and watching all the sci-fi videos that I can’t stand to watch with them!!!
Braydon had told me that the marching band obsession had continued on through the weekend (will it ever end???!!! this has been going on now since this past fall!!!), and that at one point the boys were playing their trumpets on the stairs pretending to be the marching band playing in the football stand. On the camera I found this photo which obviously captured that moment.
The other latest obsession (and really, I do mean obsession) is “African Drumming.” What the boys mean when they say “African Drumming” is specifically, drumming with a djembe drum (click here if unfamiliar) The boys are completely obsessed with this ever since we took them to the ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF AFRICAN CULTURES at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology last month (click here to read that post). Braydon has been researching djembe drums and has been considering buying the boys djembe drums. All it took was me going away for a weekend for the purchase to be made. !!!! He took the boys to an instrument store and bought each of them a djembe. The first thing K & O wanted to do when I got home was to show me their “African Drumming.” (and they have been “showing” me their “African Drumming” on and off since then!!!). The drums are too heavy for the boys to be able to hold them in the traditional way between their legs, so Braydon has taught them to lie the drums on the floor so that the bass reverberates loudly enough to satisfy them all (K, O, and Braydon). They also play the djembes upright on the floor. The boys slap the djembes like they have been playing them forever. It is really something to see it. Which I’m sure anyone who visits will see. And hear.
So, as you can see, the “work trip” was successful on all fronts. This morning Braydon got up early to get ready for work. Kyle woke up and found his way to me still sleeping, crawled into bed with me, and cuddled with me in the morning sun for about twenty minutes before we started our day. Lying there he looked at me and said, “Mama home from work trip?” I said, “Yes, my baby, I’m home. No more work trips for a long time.” He said, “O.k. Mama. You did good job on your work trip. Good job Mommy!” Later this morning before I brought them to daycare the boys were pretending that they were going on a work trip. They rode around on their wooden train set pretending it was “the white car” and waving and saying, “Bye Bye Mommy! We’re going on a work trip!” I’d say, “Bye Bye my babies!” and then they’d pretend to park “in the parking lot.” They’d get off the trains, and then hold hands with each other. As they’d walk off they’d call out over their shoulders to me “Don’t worry Mommy! We’re holding hands in the parking lot! We’re at the work trip!!” Then, in between re-doing this same scenario over and over and over they’d run over to their djembe drums, announce that they were doing “African Drumming” and instruct me to “Clap and say ‘yay!'” And I’d clap and say “YAY!”
Heather is at a conference in Philly this weekend – doing an “Author Meets Critic” session at ESS for her book (I know, shameless plug by me); and though it’s stressful for her, can you say super proud husband?
That also means it’s boys’-night-out-and-day-out-and-night-out here at casa de la J-M. Except that we have 7 inches of ice and snow, so it’s more like Boys’-night-making-sure-we-don’t-go-nuts. Which we didn’t.
After I got the call from the daycare that it was closing in 10 minutes (we live 20 minutes away on a good day), and I rushed over (it took me 30 minutes) and got them, we came home, got into snow suits and made the most of the freezing rain while we had light.
Got out the sled and the boys got a ride up the hill and down the hill. Then we got out the fast sled and they went flying down the hill – and loved it. ‘again!’ ‘again!’. What a riot. They also did a great job of helping me shovel, even with Owen insisting on using Papi’s shovel (since his full size one clearly was not good enough).
We ate supper (an awesome shrimp in pesto cream sauce over penne – left overs from dinner Heather made last night – can you believe we get to eat like that, and that she can do that as well as everything else?!?! You might, but it really amazes me.) and watched videos.
Got ready for bed (which by yourself is no mean feat), read books and said prayers. During prayers, K&O sat on either side of me and tried to peek around me to get the other one to laugh. Then Kyle kissed Elmo good night while Owen played with Thomas as I said good night to Kyle.
In my book that’s a good boys’ night out-ish.
Now I’m going to watch a movie and hope we don’t lose power.
There are a few blogs I read whenever I can. One is the blog Our Kind of Parenting written by “Mrs. J.” I hadn’t read her blog in a couple of weeks and wanted to check in on it and see what she had written lately. I’m sitting here with a few extra minutes to spare because the student I am supposed to be meeting with right now is late for our meeting. As soon as I logged onto Our Kind of Parenting I discovered this crazy coincidence— today “Mrs. J” and I both blogged about Disney’s First Black Princess (see my post below). Of course mine is just a little tiny announcement and hers is an articulate, well-crafted, thought-through essay. But still, that’s just all the more reason to read her post about it! Click here to read it.
Finally! Disney is announcing their first black princess! That’s right, FIRST BLACK PRINCESS! “Maddy” will be making her debut in 2009 — to read about it click here!. Now let’s just hope it is a good movie and a good representation of/for black women/girls/people/communities. In the meantime… Hallelujah!! It is about time!!!
Today it was 75 degrees here and we got to have our supper on the deck for the first time since last fall! It feels like spring is in the air!…
…cheers!
…cheers!
…CHEERS!!!
I try to not get too edgy or uptight about adoption talk and adoption lingo and adoption issues. I understand it is a sensitive subject for a lot of people, and I understand that the whole subject often gets people bent out of shape. So I’ve tried to develop a really thick skin and generally I try to just let stuff roll off of me. I usually succeed. But today I got an email from Adoptive Families magazine and I just can’t keep my mouth shut about it. We have been subscribers to Adoptive Families (click here) since we first decided to adopt in January 2004, and we’ll remain subscribers. But this email today really, really bugs me because it is reinforcing a stereotype that is so incredibly prevalent.
The email was a special supplement for subscribers — a “Guide” called “Talking to Your Three-to-Five Year Old About Adoption.” I was totally interested in what it would say; right now this is becoming a big topic with Kyle and Owen and I am anxious to learn as much as possible about how to do this (i.e., how to talk with them about adoption). Of course, we’ve been talking about adoption in our house almost daily since Day One. But, still, I’m always anxious to learn more.
The “Guide” is three pages long. It has a two paragraph introduction, then it lists questions your young child might ask with the answers that the experts at Adoptive Families magazine recommend you give. O.k. Sounds great! So, I eagerly start reading.
The very first #1 question, right at the top of the page: “Why wasn’t I born in your tummy?” Answer: “Your dad and I couldn’t make a baby but we wanted a baby to love and take care of very much. You were born from your birthmother’s tummy, and then Daddy and I adopted you. I wish you’d been born in my tummy too.”
Then, the “Guide” emphasizes, in talking with our young children about their own adoptions, we should “Say It Simply”… Specifically, the experts say, we should say this: “Sometimes a woman can’t grow a baby, so she adopts a baby.”
????? O.k., I get it that many couples adopt because of infertility… but *definitely* not ALL of us?! Get a clue Adoptive Families magazine, get a clue.
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