a little sojourn down south

One of the handful of good things about Nate's residency (I'll list the not-so-good sometime when I need sympathy) is his four weeks off every year. I've mentioned in an earlier post that I have dubbed them the "keep-me-sane weeks," which is exactly what they are.

This past one was spent on a meandering, spontaneous vacation through Virginia and down into Charlotte, North Carolina to see our great friends, Harland and Heather Hayes. Although we spent close to 24 hours in the car, it was so, so great to just be together as a family. We flew by the seat of our pants: no real set itinerary (right down to calling motel after motel in Roanoke to see if anyone had availability! Not exactly my uptight, control-freak style, but very refreshing...) no commitments, no obligations. It was bliss. Here's a few pics of our adventures.

good buddies: Grant and Cannon

the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va (a detour for Nate the history buff)

inside the Luray Caverns (amazing....)

our freezing hike in the leafless Shenandoah National Park (we'll be back in the fall!)


we couldn't resist the 1960's roadside feature: Dinosaur Land!

Jack conjuring up a scared face for that frightening papier-mache creature

if that's not authentic, I'll eat my foot

good times.

Bravo! Encore!

Friday was Grant's first piano recital. Way to go, Granter!

waxing sentimental

A wise woman reminded me this week how important it is to slow down and enjoy the moment: little ones won't be little for long. So often my gears are whirring like mad: get that load of laundry in, make that grocery list, call that student, pick up the sitter, plan YW, wash that floor, clean up those toys that have barely been out, get that dinner on, go, go, go. But this week, I've been trying a little harder to heed the profound advice.

I am a lucky girl. Today, a cozy, rainy Friday with no piano students to teach and no pressing commitments to occupy me, I got to experience the little world of my boys that sometimes passes by me as I zip around. I got to be an Allosaurus until my voice is hoarse. I had my hair brushed tenderly on several occasions by Jack. I got to give and receive backrubs, read about 25 library books, watch Sword in the Stone after dinner while eating ice cream (yes, this is the same day as my Cadbury post... I'm on a roll), and engage in animated discussions about knights, Star Wars, amphibians, egg-eating dinosaurs, and good Lamanites with my little people.

There are so many of you out there who I look up to as mothers. I only hope to learn from you and make more days like today, because I know that Grant and Jack won't always want me to be an audience and an active participant in their every moment forever.

a question

Why is it that it only takes me twenty minutes to go from doing this:

to nibbling this?

Darn that Canadian chocolate that appears only once a year! Why does it have to be so good?

Snow...at Last!

Many of you may think it strange that we are celebrating snow with such pompous, riotous glee. But when it's the first, and possibly ONLY snowstorm of the year, it's good reason! My friend Shari and I have been on the phone several times this winter with the Mt. Pocono Ski Resort (two hours away), inquiring in hopes that there was perhaps an inch or two up there for us to pretend to sled on! We were willing to go the distance, but so far, our hopes had been dashed. Not even the artificial stuff they stick on the ground for skiiers in the Poconos was doing it's thing.

But lo and behold: today, the snow gods smiled upon us! We hit the sledding slopes first thing in the morning. Schools here close immediately with even a whiff of snow, so we knew we could plan on a morning of glorious freedom. Grant sledded his guts out. Jack went from sledding to making dinosaur tracks to shoveling out the tunnel at the playground with his bare hands (and a plumber's crack to boot, as always!) Good times.

Now, will it stick so Nate's first day off in 17 days can be spent with his little dudes in the powder? I'm crossing my fingers...

{sorry about our sad, out-of-focus camera. it leaves much to the imagination...}

David McCullough for President

Now that Romney's out, I am exploring my options. I may be moving to Canada, folks. We'll wait and see. In the meantime, I think I've found a pretty good candidate of my own: Mr. David McCullough, the renowned historian and author. I had the opportunity last week to perform at a fundraising function at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan, where he was the speaker. He is such a cool guy! Hearing him speak about our country's history and founders made me feel so proud to be an American, as cliche as that sounds. He spoke of the desperate need to educate young people in the foundations of our country. He is promoting an organization called The Constitutional Sources Project, where all of the Founding Fathers' letters and documents can be viewed, for free, online. This is actually a really great idea. Check it out if you're interested: http://www.consource.org/. Living in Philadelphia has lit a fire for me and Nate: we want our boys to appreciate and love our country and recognize the sacrifices for our freedom. What better place to live and relive American History, and how awesome would it be to be able to pull up any and every letter that Washington, Adams, or Jefferson wrote, right on our computer, for free? Pretty cool stuff.

Anyway, any McCullough fans out there will be interested to know that he and Tom Hanks co-produced a mini-series coming out, based on his John Adams book. Mr. McCullough said he's never been so excited about anything! We'll be tuning in for sure, and I think I may consider this true patriot a great write-in on my ballot come November...

The "My Teacher is a Real Person" phenomenon

Pardon another entry about the Grantster, folks, but this one's funny...

Grant's been sick this week, but today he took a turn for the better and was teasing Jack, so I knew we were on the road to recovery. I thought I'd venture out big-time and run into the grocery store with the boys to get some milk and tortillas. (Turns out, I was halfway through making enchiladas when I realized that tortillas are kind of an essential ingredient...) I said, "Grant, just throw on your fleece and your dinosaur boots; it's okay if you're in your pajamas." He complied without any protests initially, but as we pulled into the parking lot, he became slightly anxious. "Mom, but people are going to think I look weird." "No, sweets, you just look like a cool army guy." But he insisted on laying on the floor of the backseat so the old couple unloading groceries into their car wouldn't see him.

We finally made it into the store, and he went in like a secret agent on a stealth mission, clearly hoping he was invisible to the general public. But alas, it was not to be. As we rounded the corner into the dairy aisle, we heard the following:

"Grant Richards! At the grocery store in your pajamas, after missing school this week? What a surprise!"

Grant literally froze in his tracks. I could see the color draining from his face, as he turned to meet....

his Teacher.

I tried so, so hard to keep a straight face. I carried on a pleasant little conversation, while Grant fought a multitude of emotions. I'll bet this was one of the most emotionally charged moments of his young life. He courageously managed to squeak out a farewell, and off we went, but as we left the store, it wasn't "How embarrasing!" or "I can't believe she saw me in my pajamas!" Oh no, the final thought was

"Mom, Mrs. DePaul goes to the GROCERY STORE?"

Grant, we love you. (Of course, didn't we all wonder that as kids?)