Happy Birthday, Sylvan: 74 months

Posted by julie on Monday, 7 November 2011, 22:47

Dear Sylvan,

74 months old?! I remember figuring out how old I was in months when I was 80-something months old. Half a trip around the sun and you’ll be there. While I could count up all the months it’s been since I last wrote you a birthday letter, I’ll dismiss with the self-flagellation and just get to the point. You’re growing every day, and I want to write some of it down for you.

  • You come home from school each Thursday with a new library book. While other kids might be taking out picture books or chapter books or other fiction, you’ve brought home only non-fiction, mostly science-y books with plentiful photos. Two weeks ago, you brought home a book of science experiments, and last week it was a book of photographs of organisms that create compost. This week, it’s an Eyewitness Shells book, heavy on both the photos and the information. While your Dad and I think these books are wonderful, you only respect them. I think you find them interesting, but you’d much rather read the latest Captain Underpants installment. I’d be interested to see how you make your choices in the library.
  • You’ve made a friend in Tephra, a victory of which you can be proud. Through gentle movements, a quiet voice, and giving her water or an open door to the outside world whenever she asks, she’s grown to trust you. Tonight, she coaxed you into the living room, where she flopped down and asked you to rub her tummy. Daddy said, “It took me longer than six years for her to allow me to rub her tummy.”
  • I don’t know if you’ve read a whole book yet, but you did read this poem by Shel Silverstein—”Lazy Jane”—last night. We both giggled.
  • You LOVE playing video games. And talking about them, and drawing them, and watching Daddy play them, and probably dreaming about them.
  • We have a tentative date planned for Sunday. I’m planning to go up with the Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol to find out how to open the cabin, run the generator, etc. I invited you along, and you really want just the two of us to go. “You and Daddy get to go to the movies all the time” (or six or seven times a year; is that all the time?). But I do understand. Family dynamics change things, not always for the better. For instance, I wish I could encourage you to treat your sister as gently as you treat Tephra.

Good night for now, Sweets.

Love,
Mommy

Posted in the categories Birthday letters, Sylvan by julie on Monday, 7 November 2011, 22:47| 2 Comments »

Spencer Butte and a Skate Party

Posted by julie on Sunday, 6 November 2011, 22:01

We got off to a slow start, but the day picked up, with a hike in the afternoon followed by an evening birthday party at Skateworld!

Our forest fairy.

When we started off on the Spencer Butte trail—a one-mile trail to the top of a mountain south of Eugene with fantastic views of the city—a forest fairy played a panflute somewhere in the woods above us. We never saw our musician (perhaps because, as Chris noted, when forest fairies stand still, they camouflage themselves as trees), but her notes wafting through the yellow leaves added a general magic to our hike. Elena searched for forest fairies in any likely hollowed log or hole in the ground on the way up.

Both kids reached the top with no (very little?) whining. I’ve been avoiding taking both kids up here alone, because I didn’t want to have a whiney melt-down (or deal with the kids having one), but they were both troopers. Skittles helped (four each on the way up, two on the way down).

Smiles and yogurt-covered raisins (or raisin-covered raisins, if you're Elena).

Mr. S looks so tall and thin in this photo. He took the slippery rocks like a pro. He naturally got low to better balance and slide if necessary. Time to take this one rock climbing.

After a quick hike down, which included a troll under a bridge (Sylvan the troll chasing some college girls [wouldn’t you have thought I’d have at least another six years before that happened?]), a family of five hiking with seventeen dogs (okay, seven), and a feral chicken, it was on to Skateworld! Okay, Tecnu showers and then Skateworld!

Our addition to the 70s-themed potluck. This and tater tots. Did you know that Easy Cheese is actually mostly cheese? I didn't mean to disappoint you.

Yes, that's a My Little Unicorn with a disco ball atop Rachael's cake. And Jiffy Pop on the table.

Sylvan trying out the skates. Chris confident in his 70s shirt. Sylvan was actually way better on skates than he was last year. He was slow, but he didn't need a hand. He didn't skate long, but he tried it out. Kindergarten's changing this one, and all for the better!

Elena's frustrating game of air hockey. Did you know that air hockey's really hard when you can only reach eight inches onto the table?

Lots of skating fun! Rachael’s skate mix was superb, and included Stevie Wonder’s Superstitious, Summer Lovin’ from Grease, Barry Manilow’s Copacabana (which is somehow inexplicably linked to Carvel ice cream with rainbow sprinkles in my brain), the Gambler, and Take Me Home, Country Roads. Passing on roller skating to another generation! Sylvan’s going again on Friday with the other school-age children who don’t have school on account of my Mom’s birthday (don’t tell her it’s Veteran’s Day; she knows everything shuts down for her birthday).

Posted in the categories Eugene, Family, Friends, outdoors, Parents and Kids by julie on Sunday, 6 November 2011, 22:01| 2 Comments »

University of Oregon president reading to Elena’s preschool class

Posted by jonesey on Friday, 4 November 2011, 17:46

Here’s UO President Richard Lariviere reading to Elena’s preschool class.  Elena is sitting farthest from the camera, under the wooden table with the arch in it. You can sometimes see her hair and her sparkly pink shoes.

You can see a picture of him reading to Sylvan’s class as well. Sylvan is in the third (bottom) picture, wearing a green and off-white shirt with horizontal stripes. You can only see his back, hair, and one ear.

Both kids were suitably impressed.  Elena told us all about the story of the cat who had a bunch of different colored shoes, and Sylvan said that his story was a Berenstain Bears story about a bully.

Posted in the categories Elena, Oregon, School, Sylvan by jonesey on Friday, 4 November 2011, 17:46| Comments Off on University of Oregon president reading to Elena’s preschool class

Terpsichorean Thursday (with some karate thrown in)

Posted by julie on Thursday, 3 November 2011, 23:59

I’m hoping to limit my kids’ extracurricular activities to one at a time. I have no desire to ever be called a “soccer mom.” I dislike the term almost as much as “play date.” Ick. And I really don’t want to drive all over town, mini-van or not. But Elena started a dance class today (we arrived by bike), and it was also one of Sylvan’s two karate days a week. Here a few shots of them in action.

It was interesting to watch Elena respond to a class that a number of the other little girls have already taken. Those girls had seen a tap shuffle and ballet’s first position before, and neither of those things is particularly easy for someone who’s only been walking for two years and skipping for a few months. When she felt overwhelmed, Elena stepped out of class and came over to me. I’ve done the same myself in classes where I’m getting too much choreography in too little time; I step out of class and sit down, feeling like it will never permeate my brain to make it into my body. I told Elena she could stand with me but that she couldn’t sit on my lap. She went back and participated. Then, when she needed reassurance, she’d come get a hug and then return to the class.

Ready for battle, but all about defense

Posted in the categories Uncategorized by julie on Thursday, 3 November 2011, 23:59| 2 Comments »

A Halloweeny Saturday

Posted by julie on Saturday, 29 October 2011, 23:54

At noon, I said, “I should carve the pumpkins, or switch the silverware, or make some soup. But I don’t want to do anything.” Chris had just popped popcorn. I looked at him and said, “Hey, do you wanna watch a movie?” His reply: “I was going to ask you the same thing.” Well, the kids weren’t crazy about Gentleman Prefer Blondes, but that’s okay. Sylvan played a video game, Elena played with play-dough, both watched some musical numbers with Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe that just confused them. But we watched a whole movie. In the middle of the day!

Yay, Alder Bikeway! I wouldn't have attempted to take my new cyclist downtown before this. He impressed one group of football fans, who said they were twice his size before they biked on the road.

Then Sylvan and I headed downtown to see thousands of pumpkins. A few of my favorites:

Sylvan looked at more pumpkins just to humor me. He was patiently awaiting a doughnut.

Then on to the Porter Party! Halloween at the Porters is worth dressing up for: prizes, lots of other great costumes, praise. So, Elena was a princess, Sylvan a member of the Residential Unified Air Force (RUAF) in his shorts and a sweater, and I was finally Holly Golightly for Halloween. Boy, no more false eyelashes for me! What a hassle. For the folks who got my costume, I received high praise.

Sylvan is holding Cat the cat, which I carried all night.

Posted in the categories Art, Eugene, Family, Holidays, Movies by julie on Saturday, 29 October 2011, 23:54| 1 Comment »

What we did on October 23 in Eugene

Posted by jonesey on Sunday, 23 October 2011, 20:02

One of us, anyway. She was a little sandy after building four castles, so she decided to “wash the sand off.”

What do you mean it's 63 degrees?

She got all the sand off.

Posted in the categories Elena, Eugene by jonesey on Sunday, 23 October 2011, 20:02| Comments Off on What we did on October 23 in Eugene

Thought for a Thursday: Small Adventures Are Still Adventures

Posted by julie on Thursday, 13 October 2011, 19:12

This afternoon, with no preparation (in my household, that means with no snacks), Elena and I drove to the Dover Firehouse and parked, then walked up the sidewalk to the official Stone Church trailhead nearby.

This was translated from the original Korean at a sign-making facility in Greece. The cavern was killed by Mohawks? Who really knows how a comma should be used?

We walked down the new stone stairs to the freshly-mown path, lined by deciduous trees planted in just the past couple of years. Tufts of milkweed seeds sat in bright white clusters atop the dead, waist-high flowers and grasses. I took only a few, stuffing them into the memory card pocket of my camera case, the only thing I carried. When we walked through the older trees—certainly there and huge when I was a kid, over 30 years ago—peepers called from somewhere in the canopy above us.

My little rubber boot sprite

Elena and I walked upstream, chatting about what this trail was like 30 years ago, muddy boots, and where Daddy and I got married (legally, right here, it turns out). She powered on, not once asking me to carry her. It’s a short hike, maybe a mile round-trip; and we took it slowly, looking around. She posed for photos, asked about the downed tree that had been cut into rounds, and said, “Ooh, that’s pretty” when the stream steepened and turned to whitewater. She was surprised when I told her that the Stone Church is a cave. When we got there, I pointed out some names etched into the stone, one from 1860. It turns out 151 years is a bit too much for a 3-year-old to grasp.

Stone Church October 2011

One of my favorite places, and so easily shareable. I tend to turn outings into BIG EVENTS. Sometimes, it’s good to remember that all you need to do is step out the door. Would it be nice to have some peanuts in your pocket to stave off the grumpies? Sure. But, really, it doesn’t take much. We were back in the car in an hour, and we certainly hadn’t hurried.

Posted in the categories Elena, Julie, outdoors, Thought for a Thursday, Travel by julie on Thursday, 13 October 2011, 19:12| 1 Comment »

Good thing I wore a button-down shirt

Posted by jonesey on Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 22:12

So there I was, at work, pretending to edit a report, and this guy started filming me.  One thing led to another.

Guess I could have cleaned up my desk a bit...

And would you look at those sideburns? Groom yourself, man!

DVD Bonus Material: Here are closeups of the two items pinned directly above my phone:

Image stolen from Hyperbole and a Half.

Image stolen from Wire Inspire (some images NSFW, of course).

Posted in the categories Chris by jonesey on Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 22:12| 1 Comment »

Wild Wednesday: My Husband Fixed the Masthead

Posted by julie on Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 21:27

No, really, thank you.

Posted in the categories Chris, Julie by julie on Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 21:27| 2 Comments »

Family Friday: Welcome, Dominic Carter.

Posted by julie on Friday, 7 October 2011, 20:49

Although my sister might say that my (un)finest moment as a sister was when I told her that the mole on her back was actually a mole nose, that the rest of the mole was living inside her back, I might contend that missing my nephew’s birth by a mere four hours was in fact my biggest blunder.

Dominic Carter Calabro. Born 6 October 2011. 7 lb. 9 oz. Perfect.

D.C. couldn’t have chosen a more perfect day to be born – sunny and cloudless, in the 60s, the leaves just beginning to turn scarlet. His tough mama labored for a mere four hours and five minutes, the hardest of her life, she’d undoubtedly say right now (and she doesn’t yet believe that she really will forget that). She did it without drugs, much to her dismay. By the time they’d driven to the hospital and an I.V. had been inserted, it was simply too late. Natural childbirth, here we come!

Here’s to a life full of strong women and sunny Thursdays!

Posted in the categories Family by julie on Friday, 7 October 2011, 20:49| Comments Off on Family Friday: Welcome, Dominic Carter.

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