Merry Christmas! 2013

Halloween 2013

charlotte.

jo and aunt julia

we won the costume contest!

sam is a winking Toto

we ran the school's 5k together!

birthday presents!

ears pierced!

lisa and sam on the field trip to the apple / pumpkin orchard

looking Wacky Tacky for school

The crew ready to trick or treat...

I can't believe how crazy/busy October was. We went to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, celebrated Jo's birthday and Titan's birthday, won a costume contest...

... and tragedy at the end, losing sweet Charlotte.

Sunday School Poem

Josephine and Sam contributed to this poem put together from a conversation with the kids at Sunday School!

Pumpkin Time

Josephine's Dream

Here was the dream she recounted having had last night:

There was a poor family. Not really poor, medium poor. Their house was leaking water, because it had holes in it, but they liked water, so it was okay.

They went to eat, and somebody stole one of their pizzas. It turned out it was the KING that stole the pizza. He was a bad guy. He had lots of gold. They got it from him, and they planted it in the fields, and the gold grew and grew. The family gave it to the REALLY poor families.

Then they opened up a restaurant. It served pizza, but other things, too. They named it after the children, a little boy and little girl.

And then the little boy and girl were dancing in the snow, trying to get people to come to the restaurant.

Happy 8th Birthday, Josephine!

What a year! She got glasses... and yesterday, earrings!

She's loving 2nd grade, making lots of friends, reading constantly, doing acrobatic moves constantly, and into learning about everything. She's got both a play and a book in the works. She wants to be a children's author, acrobat, and a cat breeder when she grows up. She is still a beautiful dancer and artist.

She is so excited about all the different projects she got for her birthday - she'd been wanting to learn how to knit, and bake, and make jewelry... she's thrilled with the kitchen science kit... and the lego house... and the book certificates... the story cube game... I can't remember it all right now... but it was lovely and she was thrilled.

It was Josephine's turn to have 'the bag' at church last week (you bring something in it to church that reminds you of God).

She chose to bring two snakes and two books - because both were about courage.

"Snakes, because you and Lisa are afraid of snakes," she explained. "And in these books, they are about horses who escape captivity and go into the wild, and they have to have courage."

Why does this remind her of God?

"Because God had to have courage," she explained.

We were so proud when she spoke so articulately and confidently - and loudly - in front of the church, making her presentation, with noisy brother beside her. She gave a synopsis of each story so well. Many commented on her poise, even saying "she makes us adults look bad!"

So proud of my little sweetheart.

Sam's graduation from Malcolm Cole

Sam's last day at Malcolm Cole was a beautiful event. He had a good time there, and he was so pleased. 

He hugged his teachers, Cynda and Ashley. They were both great and I hope he looks back on his time there with fondness. 

Holding up his certificate! Such a proud and happy little boy.

Proud mother with family! 

This is the last time we measured against the mermaid. Josephine just at four feet, Sam a bit below. This was a bittersweet moment for me because this shows how big both of them are getting. But, with another major milestone under our belt, I think the kids are having a great childhood. I can't speak for Amy, but I'm having the best time of my life being their father. 

Bizarre Kid Dialogue #74672282929

Sam: When I grow up, I'm never leaving Charlottesville. I'm staying right here, in this house, with you. (Pause) Or maybe I'll live in back... or I'll just move in with the guy next door. But I'm staying here, till I'm like... 65 or something. An old man.

Josephine: Not me! I'm going overseas! I want to live in England or California!

Sam: Nooo! You can't do that! You have to stay here! You have to live with me so I can have children! I need you to have my babies for me!

Josephine: You can get another girl for that. Anyway, we're brother and sister, Sam. We're not supposed to have babies together.

Sam: But I need a baby I can kiss! You have to stay!

Josephine: You don't even know what I'm talking about. But anyway... I could SEND you a baby.

Sam: Yeah, yeah...

Josephine: Like, if I have twins, I could send you one of those. I hope I have twins!

Sam: Yes! If it's a boy baby, would you send that one to me?

Josephine: Okay, yeah, I'll send you the boy one.

Sam: Mama, where's my heart? Right there? When I grow up, I'm going to get a tattoo over my heart that says "ka-chow" and "I love you" with a love poem, or a Star Wars love poem, if I can find one...

Sam's Poems

Sam "helping" Lisa unscrew the oven hood. 

Sam has started making up poems.

The other morning it was something like:

I run around at school
I think it's pretty cool
We have lots of fun
Now I'm going to drool

Last night's poem:

Cuddle in me
Cuddle in me
Tell me a story
Cuddle in me
Cuddle in me

He then explained to me: "It's 'cuddle IN' because it's like God, like you're IN my heart, inside me, cuddling my heart, AND you're cuddling me on the outside, too."

I don't know when he got so deep, but these two poems together - silly and sweet - demonstrate why this boy is just so special and why I love him so much.

Ballet Class, May 2013

You can watch a little of the dancing in this video: http://youtu.be/-_aG3Fm6oGY

Springing and Flouncing

Watch a short clip of skipping after her spring concert: Skipping & Flouncing

Adorable Josephine flounced up to me and announced, "I just shooted a booger out of my nose!"

Recently she invented a Fossil Fuel Salad - told us how we could make flat layers of spinach with marshmellows and strawberries in-between the layers and smash them down to imitate the formation of fossil fuels. Her smart imagination just wows me!

Meanwhile, it was Sam's turn to bring The Bag to church for the Children's Time - something that reminds him of God. He chose his stuffed animal Lion, AKA Mane, because "Mama gave this to me when I was a baby. And Mama is full of God."

Awwwww...!!

Kids On the News

If you want to see a couple cute kids in action... plus our church pastor... and yes, Mama, too...

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/Easter-In-Midst-of-Natl-Gay-Marriage-Debate-Changing-Religion-in-US-200811231.html

Easter 2013: Bunny, Ballet, Fancy Outfits

Happy Easter! A busy weekend Josephine in her first ballet class of the term! She was gorgeous, and Sam, Daddy, Lisa, and I were all there to cheer her on and witness her quiet focus. So graceful!

Earlier that day we went to the City's Easter Egg Hunt which was more like a locust field attack, and we climbed on a fire truck.

The kids then did a dance show on the back porch while friends gathered around a fire and grilled steak. At one point, I tried to join them dancing and Sam said, "No mommy, you go over there, not up here on the stage. But you can dance over there if you want." Hilarious.

While dancing, Josephine said to Sam, "You know, Sam, we could make money doing this."

They sang "Hallelu" with the Children's Choir at church this morning, holding hands except when they needed to clap/snap. We didn't realize until we put the outfits together that three of the four of us matched. We had our favorite reporter from CBS 19 there to cover Easter from an equality perspective and she got plenty of shots of Jo with the bunnies and Sam in his cool hat.