Winter has arrived…

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus

Ashlyn is many things to James:  sister, teacher, rule enforcer, and friend.  Sometimes she plays the role of entertainer.  This week she played the role by performing aerial stunts in the loft.  Luckily this was one of the few times that James didn’t try to immediately emulate her, but he definitely enjoyed the show.

Eager to return the favor the following morning, James dragged a guitar out and proceed to “play” it.  The cats did not come out from under the bed until later in the afternoon.

Winter came to Texas this week, and with it came winter clothes.  When Ashlyn wanted to help put on the foam covers for the faucets outside, Mom put her in a large coat and I handed her the wrench.  I tried to shout instructions through the window (it was really, really cold) but eventually I had to go outside to help.  James still won’t wear hats, so the only thing we can put on his head to keep his ears warm is the Yoda hat from Halloween.  I don’t care, I think it’s awesome.

When stuck indoors, the beauty of having small children is that you don’t need fancy toys or gadgets.  Anything can become a game, even feet.  The children were amused, but Mom was sore the next day.

Saturday was an exciting day for Ashlyn.  Nina picked her up and took her to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Musical at Bass Performance Hall.  By all accounts it was a great show.  Ashlyn’s favorite part was when the Grinch  made inappropriate noises out of his posterior region.  After the show, Papa and cousin Ben came over to play with the kids.  All slept well afterwards.

Parks, hugs, and cake…

"A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him."
-Pablo Neruda

Kids love cookies.  James likes watching Ashlyn eating cookies.  There’s not much else to say.

James enjoys giving hugs.  To demonstrate, Ashlyn started playing a game where she would go into the kitchen and then run as fast as she could into the living room where I would pick her up and pick her up into the air.  James’ way to get in on the game was to give “James hugs” to Ashlyn every time she went into the kitchen.  The pictures below are from three separate starts, but I have another 8 or so in addition to these.  These are the pictures we will look at when they go through the “I hate you!” stages later.

James has not stopped looking up to his big sister, and given that Ashlyn is a good kid, this is not a bad thing.  However, on occasion Ashlyn will do something that we would rather James ignore.  For example, Ashlyn loves jumping on her bean bag and James has not quite developed the coordination to do it himself.  Ashlyn was jumping far out but decided to pull the bean bag closer to the couch so James could join in.  James’ reaction to this was priceless, and we felt pretty good about him not following given the face palm after seeing Ashlyn plop into the bag.

We were wrong.  Graceful James, very graceful.

As a safer alternative to face planting, James learned that dragging cats around in bins is a great way to pass the time.  Nala, for her part, didn’t seem to mind.

Ashlyn’s best friend came over this weekend and our house turned into a princess runway as the girls kept coming in and out with new outfits on.  In between showings, the girls would lock themselves into the book room.  James, as a boy, was not allowed.  This upset him greatly.

The beauty of a Texas November is that we get at least one weekend where you can throw on the shorts and t-shirts and head to the park (thanks Global Warming™!).  James immediately ran off on his own after we got to the park.  When we finally made it to the playground area, he was up the climbing wall before we could even get the picnic blanket set up.  He’s crazy.  While James learned that he can continue to push boundaries without getting seriously injured, Ashlyn learned how to swing on her own.  She’s not big enough to go very high, but it’s a start!

We went to Wolfe’s on Sunday to celebrate Aunt Jasmine’s birthday.  James immediately started saying “outside” over and over until we caved in and let him loose in the backyard.  Ashlyn snuck olives away before dinner, and once the kids were fed and had their cake it was time for Heidi horsy rides.  Happy birthday Aunt Jasmine!

Birthdays, shrugs, and smiles…

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning do to do afterward.”
―Kurt Vonnegut

As Thanksgiving approaches it’s natural to look about and recognize those things that you are most thankful for.  For us, having a house filled with the laughter of children is easily at the top of the list.  Sure, there are the occasional frustrating moments where the kids will fight over who can push the barstool across the floor even though there are two perfectly good barstools sitting right next to the one they are arguing over and for some reason NEITHER ONE WILL LET GO AND MOVE TO ANOTH…  sorry, lost my train of thought there.  What was I saying , something about laughter right?

James has reached a new milestone this week:  shrugging.  If you ask him a question that he doesn’t know the answer to, which is basically 100% of the time, he does this goofy little shrug and grin routine.  It cracks us up every time.

Here’s some free advice to would be parents out there.  Young children, even when they have the best of intentions, are rarely helpful creatures.  However, if you want them to do anything useful around the house when they get older you’ll need to encourage them early.  Sure, it may actually take longer with their “help” and sometimes things get broken in the process, but at some point they will finally become useful and it’s good to encourage them along the way.

Friday was PePa’s birthday, and as we do every year we had folks over at the house to celebrate with a heart-healthy assortment of bacon, sausage, butter filled biscuits, and eggs.  While we cooked up the nutritious breakfast, the boys set the tone by eating cookies.  Happy birthday PePa!

Ashlyn is old enough to play card games now and she will happily play with anyone who will join her.  This could include cats or Moms that are being attached by marauding 16 month old boys.

Aunt Lynda hooked us up with some free tickets to a show at the Bass Performance Center on Sunday evening, so we rounded out the week by taking Ashlyn to see it.  She enjoyed the show and convinced me to buy a cupcake from a little shop right across from Bass Hall.  Needless to say it was a good night for Ashlyn.