Eva carefully planned matching outfits and hairstyles.

Will likes jello!

In order to get pie, the kids had to perform. Eric and Kevin did an impressive rendition of Piano Man. I wish we had been organized enough to record it. Eva sang her Castle on a Cloud song and Who Will Buy (from the musical Oliver). I think Will played one of his Streabogg piano pieces. Fortunately, the adults, having made the rule, got to eat pie without having to do anything extra.

Lyra slept through the entire meal and woke up just in time for pie. We did manage to get her to eat two helpings of turkey and sweet potatoes before she got her own pie. She really dug in!

I love my Blackberry!

So I am here in the carpool line with nothing to do.

Eva wanted to know why barbershops always have that pole outside (we had passed a couple of barber shops on the way here). And I could use my blackberry to look it up! I knew it was from medieval times but that was all I knew. For those of you who want to know, the symbol dates back to when barbers also did tooth extractions and surgery. The brass basin on top is for the leeches, the one on the bottom is to catch the blood, the pole is the staff the patient gripped to encourage blood flow, and the stripes are bloody and clean bandages. Yuck. Bet you wish I hadn't told you!

I also got to look up "cornucopeia" in Eva's class this morning because I thought it meant horn of plenty and also an over abundance; someone else thought it was from mythology. We were both right!

It worked!!

I don't know how to get the text next to the picture though. All that white space is ugly. But I like this concept! Sometimes what keeps me from making a blog update is not wanting to sit down at my computer. Or not being home to do it.

No rest

This is an experiment. Supposedly I can update our blog from my phone. I don't have a great photo to use so I just took one of what's going on here. Lyra is interrupting KC's nap to give him some love.

Eva's First Singing Recital

Eva has been taking a class at the Little Theatre of Alexandria to learn to sing Broadway music. She loves to sing and has been wanting to learn how to sing in front of people. Her recital was last night. We did video it (well, Will did) and I don't have that file yet but here is her song. She sang Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables. Unfortunately, the piano is almost louder than Eva and I can't fix that. But you can still hear her if you listen carefully. I can't even sing that song because it is so sad. Little girls seem to like it anyway; another girl in her class sang it too.

There were 15 or 18 kids in the class. Songs had to be from musicals written before 1980 and the teacher worked with each student to ensure they were picking a song appropriate for their voice. Kids ranged from 7 to mid-teens. Songs came from the King and I, Oliver, the Lion King (I think that's not pre-1980) and Song of the South and a few other musicals. Some of the children, like Eva, had never done anything like this before; others clearly had experience. Everyone did reallly well and no one was rattled if they had to start over. Eva's instructor did a great job of creating a supportive environment where everyone could feel comfortable taking risks in front of the group.

There were a lot of people in that recital room, figure two parents per kid and many siblings. I do not think I could have sung by myself in front of all those people, at least not without some tequila.

Migis

This is a looooooong overdue post about our summer vacation. We spent the last week of August on the shores of Sebago Lake at Migis Lodge. This was a perfect family vacation because there were lots of outdoor activities that we could enjoy together (and that would tire the kids out), easily available babysitting, and very good food! I walked around the main lodge to the office to check in, saw the lake view, and immediately decided we had to go back next year. And our vacation hadn't even started yet!

Here's our cabin (Pinetop) and a view of the sunset over the lake.

What's Fun?

After we arrived and got settled into our cabin, we went to happy hour, and it was happy! See Eva and Lyra having a good time? Our cabin was very close to the lake and there were canoes, kayaks and small sailboats to take out. There were hiking trails populated with fungi in every color of the rainbow because the summer had been so rainy and wet. Lyra was especially fascinated with the mushrooms. There was also a game lodge and one very exciting bingo night! Will insisted on staying through the entire thing.

Will and Eva Discover Waterskiing

One of the greatest things about Migis was the ski boat that was at the dock every afternoon to take anyone who wanted to go skiing around the lake. Younger kids went on a boogie board behind the ski boat. More advanced skiers did the slalom ski. We stuck with plain old water skiing and it was lots of fun even when it was cold. (Notice that photos of Bill and me waterskiing are conspicuously absent!) Lyra was afraid of the ski boat for the longest time. However, she says next year that she wants to "tummy board."

Lyra-isms and Creepy Crawlies

Some of you may remember that Lyra spent many months in speech therapy over the last year. For some reason, she was not interested in talking. I know it is typical with children who have older siblings not to be able to get a word in edgewise or to have someone else always finishing their sentences for them. But I never quite bought that explanation for Lyra because Will and Eva spent so much time in school that she is, for much of the year, more like an only child than the youngest. She did make a lot of progress and stopped her sessions this fall. We can now better appreciate what is going on in her mind and all the funny things she says.

Lyra understands opposites and sometimes comes up with her own ways to express these. She asks us to "buckle me in my car seat" and then to "buckle me out." "Blow up the balloon" and then "Blow it down."

She Totally got the halloween concept and was excited to Trick or Treat for weeks and weeks before. Finally, on Halloween night, she us she was going trick or trating but that KC couldn't go. I asked her why just because I wanted to hear her answer. She said, "KC doesn't have a bag!" That cracked us up. It wasn't because KC is a cat or that he's not allowed outside; it was because of something that we could have easily fixed if it were the real reason. She probably chose that because neither Will nor Eva could find their usual and favorite trick or treat bags and were, at that moment, tearing up the house looking for them.

Lyra's articulation is still in development. She says "Cris-em" for Christmas, "base-em" for basement and, as Will and Eva did before her, "nack-em" for napkin. But these are easy enough to translate. Her most shining verbal moment recently was finding a centipede (eeeeeewwww!) and coming to tell me about it. "Mommy! There is a big bug next to Daddy's attic! It is BIG. There are lots of lines! Mommy come see!" Mommy was less than enthusiastic but Daddy wasn't home.

There was, in fact, a hideous intruder inside the doorway to the attic stairs (so it was work to find it). And you know what? It Was big and there Were lots of "lines," i.e., legs and long antennae. Some of you may have read on Facebook that I've been paying Will $5 to kill these things. We never had more than one a year until recently. Apparently they come indoors in the fall. I am hoping for a big ole cold snap because Will's services are getting expensive. He disposed of the creepy crawlie for a fee and Lyra got a $1 "finder's fee." She was so pleased!

SportRock Bouldering Competition

Eva competed today in the Youth D (10 and under) class in the American Bouldering Series at the SportRock climbing gym in Alexandria.  Eva is only 8, and we think she is the youngest competitor.  She is justifiably proud of her third place finish (in an admittedly small field of competitors).  I think the two girls ahead of her were 1 - 2 years older.

(To get a better idea of what bouldering is like, check out this video.  For context, today Eva finished four routes with point values in the 100s, with one 255 point route.)

Fancy Footwork

Actually, climbing requires fancy footwork AND handwork.  Before starting a route, the climber is supposed to study the available holds and 'sequence' the route, in other words decide on the specific order of hand and foot moves to use on the climb.  Eva is not always patient enough to plan out her route, but she is pretty good at improvising as she goes along.  Climbing is like gymnastics or autocross in the sense that managing weight transfer is critical - frequently getting to the next hold is all about momentum.  

Climbing on the Ceiling

At dinner this evening we were trying to explain to Eva's grandparents that often climbing requires working not on a vertical wall, but on an overhang that is almost horizontal.  The strength required to hold on is *much* greater than simply climbing up a vertical wall, and missed holds result in a quick drop to the mat below.

Coach Deren

This is Deren, Eva's climbing coach.  At the start of the season, I think Eva thought he was too focused on climbing competition, but now that Eva is competing herself I think she appreciates his perspective more.

Halloween!

We had really really really really wanted to carve pumpkins last weekend. But our weekends are always so jam-packed with kids' activities that we didn't get to it. Bill was out of town all week and I never could muster the energy to do pumpkin carving by myself with the kids on a school night. So here we are, right as we are all trying to get dressed and leave for a party frantically trying to carve one of our three pumpkins.

Bill sure is a good sport, isn't he? :)

Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell

Will didn't really want to but he stuck with the family theme. He is supposed to be Peter Pan. Eva is Wendy and Lyra is Tinkerbell.

We discovered as we was planning our costumes that the whole world has the Disney Peter in their head when they think of Peter Pan, but none of us have ever seen that version of the movie. Plus I am fairly certain there is no way in hell Will would have worn green tights (and I never would ask him to, cool mom that I am). The Peter Pan movie we watch is the one with Jason Isaacs as Mr. Darling and Hook. That is a good one!

We are taking suggestions for next year's theme. Will says it's his turn to pick. I am lobbying for Phantom of the Opera. Who has some fun and creative ideas? Halloween where we are is a Big Party and we love all the planning and building of costumes as much as the actual night.

I made this mask from posterboard, construction paper, staples, tape and a baseball cap. This was the best way to wear it but I couldn't see well so I spent the evening with the lower jaw up closer to the upper jaw (see below). But of course, we needed a dramatic photo!

Will made me a severed hand with a wrist watch out of construction paper and that is what is stapled to my shirt.

The Whole Cast

This is the best of the worst and will certainly not be appearing on this year's Christmas card so see it here and now!

Bill's/Captain Hook's hook is in Tinkerbell's/Lyra's trick-or-treat bag so he can hold his beer. My Tick Tock Crock mask is denting my forehead (hopefully not permanently) and pulling my eyebrow skin so I have a funny expression on my face. I don't know what Will/Peter Pan is doing. Eva/Wendy looks pretty good.

As expected, our costumes only made sense when we were together. On our way out to a pre-trick-or-treat party, a parking enforcement guy pulled up on the sidewalk in his little 3 wheeled car, jumped out, told us to hold still and took a photo on his cell phone! I've never been pulled over on foot before. As the night went on, it was difficult to stay together so we all had to do costume explanations after that.

Look at all that LOOT!

Even when trick-or-treating is done, there is still more fun to be had! I think Will and Eva (and now Lyra) think the big "candy sort" is the best part of the night. My running buddy, Tehan, comes to trick-or-treat with us each year and help with the candy sort-n-trade process. About half of Eva's candy is off limits every year due to her nut allergy so she trades the stuff she can't have away to Will and Lyra.

The grown ups sit and watch the chaos over a glass of wine. Every year, we wish we remembered to order a pizza or something but every year we forget and so there's not much in the way of a normal dinner.

So what camp are y'all in as far as letting the kids have their candy? I have friends who have their children trade their candy in for a toy or something else. Others ration it. I let the kids eat whatever they want on THE NIGHT (what the heck...then lots of it is gone and I brush their teeth ONCE). Then I hope to stick to one piece a day after that. They can have it whenever they want, for breakfast if they want but then they have to wait til the next day for another piece. This is a great way to teach the joys of delayed gratification!

Lyra looks drunk on candy, doesn't she? Here is our friend, Julie, with her new baby boy, Zach. This is Zach's first American halloween. Julie adopted him from Russia last spring. You can read Zach's story on Julie's blog. It is a great story with a happy ending. Anyone interested in international adoption should take a look.

Now Will isn't in any of the candy sorting pictures because he is very proprietary about his candy and so took it to the living room away from the distraction of others. He built a castle from it but then hid the whole thing so I don't have a photo of it.

ARRRRGH! Avast Ye Matey!

Bill is Captain Hook for halloween and his is the costume with the most purchased parts (though Eva did help him make a hook for his hand). We bought a cheapo pirate face painting kit at CVS and Will tried it out the other night. Isn't this gross? Will might have a career as a make up artist!

The Stock Market Crash

Will's school has a costume contest every halloween. This year, Will dressed as "the stock market crash." He built this cardboard car, spray painted it red and decorated it with the names and logos of failed companies. If you look closely, you can see the bumper hanging off the back and the STOCK MRKT license plate.

For our neighborhood halloween fun, we go out as a family and dress up in unison. This year's theme is Peter Pan. Stay tuned for photos....the kids haven't even gotten home from school yet. And I need to finish my costume!

Art Imitates Life...or is it the other way around?

Will took this photo of KC next to a cermic sculpture of KC he made this summer at Interlochen. The ceramic cat is actually a vase with a cat face on it. The face is kind of flat; it the shape of it all actually reminds me of Thomas the Tank Engine. But still, he has captured a likeness here!

First Bouldering Competition

Eva has been doing indoor climbing for over two years, but today was her first competition.  Competition involves climbing various marked routes up different man made boulders.  Each route defines where you are permitted to place your hands and feet, and is market by the colored tape.  The routes are each given a score based on difficulty.  The difficulty corresponds to a standard scale, V0 - V15 (actually I am not certain the top of the scale).  The competition lasts for 4 hours (in today's case) and you get points for the five hardest routes you climb during that time.  You get a 10% bonus for climbing a route without error on your first try (called 'flashing').  Eva's five hardest routes were two V3s, two V2s and a V1.  She flashed three of her hardest routes, including the hardest V3 she climbed.  

Overall Eva came in 4th in the 10 and under age group in the competition.  

As always, double click each photo for a larger version.

Upside Down

Well, not exactly upside down, but partially inverted ;-).  Most of the harder climbs involve going up a wall that is angled out, sometimes almost to the point of holding on to a ceiling.  In this case after Eva got past the overhang, the wall was a normal vertical.  Unfortunately in this case, Eva could not quite get past the transition from overhang to vertical.

Yeah, I Made It

This is Eva about to come off the wall after finishing a V3.   Each climb is 'judged' to make sure the climber does not use any illegal holds and in this picture you can see the judge in the lower right.

Stretch-omatic

This is Eva about to finish a V2 route.  Eva is tall for her age, but she is young in the overall competition and her reach is a handicap.  She makes up for her lack of reach (to an extent) through flexibility and strength.

Getting Ready for Competition

This was the competitor meeting before the competition (where they remind everyone about the rules).  EarthTrek in Rockville is a great climbing gym, and a lot of people came for the event.

Can you even see Eva up there???

Eva made a new friend on her climbing team this summer and the girls have started climbing together on Sundays. It is *excellent* because they can belay each other instead of having a parent belay to exhaustion.

Eva is climbing a route designed as 5.8 in terms of difficulty. I have no idea what that means specifically but I am sure I could not do it.

Spa Night

Every so often, we have spa night here. This was Lyra's first time in curlers and I think she looks like a little old lady! I wish I could have snapped a side view because she looked really funny With her hair all curly, she looks like Cherie did when she was little.