Sometimes I get so busy living life that I forget to write about it, and sometimes I'm so preoccupied with the way I want to capture and write about life that I don't engage as deeply as I want to.
Last week the kids were home from school for a good long week of Thanksgiving break. I'm not a hashtagger but I'm sure I should say something like #privateschoolpaymoregoless. I've always loved spending time with my kids, but now that they are all gone at school, I love that time with them more. This season is more enjoyable for a few reasons. First of all, they are getting more and more fun to hang out with. The ratio of I need you to do every single thing for me to I might reward you with "thanks" or a hug is evening out. They can pretty much do most things for themselves (I still drive the car most of the time), and are becoming more and more aware of others' feelings and needs (mine). Also, with them at school, I am getting the recharge of quiet, solitude, and "me time" that most mothers of young children forgo for several years.
Sometimes I realize that I haven't made noise or spoken out loud from when they leave for school until I pick them up in the afternoon. For an organization loving introvert like me, having solitude to organize my linen cupboard and do something creative, and get dirty in my garden is just so wonderful.
Well, the week of home holiday was great and I'm going to bullet point the memorable things we did, because otherwise, I won't remember them next week.
-Playdate with new friends from church. No pictures to prove it but there was frog dissection, and bridge building with branches in a pond. As a side note, I have always avoided friendships with church leaders, and this family is one of the pastoral families at our church. As a kid, I saw the heavy demands on my parents' time as pastors, and I guess I want to steer clear of ever being that person who takes up pastors time...in this case Small Sun and the pastor's son are friends, and they asked us to hang out...so we did, and it was nice. It turns out we have about a zillion things in common.
-Playdate with friends at Houston Arboretum.
The Arboretum has such a great indoors learning area for children. Right now there are leaf rubbing supplies, and some monarch butterflies in all stages of the life cycle, in addition to the other cool stuff they have like animal skulls with charts to id them, and animal pelts from animals that actually live in the Arboretum area.
-Time in the Garden
Small Sun started harvesting cabbage leaves to make pansy wraps with shiso or mint. Also, I had a tree removed to let me light in the back. The tree crew cut stumps for seats for our fire circle, and the kids immediately set up a painting area there while we watched the tree work.
-Thanksgiving
We stayed in Houston this year, and celebrated with some friends from church. We divied up the menu and each prepped half. Isn't is amazing how you can prepare for days, and cook for endless hours, and then the food gets devoured in moments? I don't even care. It was SO GOOD.
The kids playing "Chest" while the food was being prepped.
Sprout made the cider. It was delicious hot, and we had it again, chilled, the next day.
Our menu included a massive turkey (so thankful my girlfriend took that on, as it is a bit beyond my vegetarian meat cooking repertoire), Parker House rolls, Butternut Squash with tarragon and rice vinegar, Parsnips with lemon pepper oil, Cranberry sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Farmer's Market goat cheese with cranberry and orange, and a Spinach salad with home candied pecans, amongst other delicious goodies.
After our feast we took an amble along the bayou with our friends.
After our walk we came back for dessert: apple pie, pumpkin roll, and fresh whipped cream.
- Playdate at Herman Park
We met up with friends from last year's school class. Herman Park in the city has a variety of playgrounds, a Japanese garden, a lake with paddle boats, and a train that circles the park. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a great time.
- Buffalo Bayou Walk, Downtown Houston
- Rice University Observatory
A new friend of ours works in Astronomy (or Astrophysics?) at Rice University. He invited us to an open house at the observatory.
The kids loved seeing Rice University campus at night. Other than Small Sun's field trip last year, this is the first time the kids have been on a college campus. It was really special to walk there with them, and talk about their hopes and dreams and what they want to do when they grow up.
From the observatory we saw the moon. It was SO COOL! We also saw a group of stars called "Double Double" and the Andromeda Galaxy.
- Getting the Tree and Christmas Decorations Begin
It was a great break. We all got the rest and recharge we needed. A break from homework, a break from schedules, a break from packing lunches, and hours upon hours of fresh air and exercise and time with friends.
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