Always Prepared

I know Baby Sister is over-represented of late and I promise to update on the other people soon. But meanwhile, she is perpetually doing (and often wearing) something I want to make note of for a future slide show. Or letters to her at camp and college. I feel it is my duty as her mother to document, catalog and bust out laughing at her sassy ways.

She wore this the other day to build a fort in the backyard with her siblings. A SWAT helmet, princess gown and cowboy boots. Sure. This is how your contractor dresses, right?

The fort building was one of those all hands on deck projects that was best left to small hands. I helped source supplies when asked but otherwise let them to it. Best I could tell though, "making a fort" primarily involved excited gathering of lots and lots of things from inside the house and storage room and yard (blankets! string! tarps! flashlights! sticks! cones! and because they're my children, snacks!).

Initially, Baby Sister went out in an old red tutu of mine (circa 1975) and cowboy boots. (Sorry I didn't get that shot.) There seemed to be lots of animated negotiation regarding fort location and structural design. At some point there may have been two teams of forts being built. Lots of the team meetings were apparently held on the tailgate of my SUV over snacks.

I often wonder which of their current interests and activities (not to mention personality traits) they'll carry with them for a lifetime. So if years from now Baby Sister has a career in architecture, remind me to send her this on her first day of work. Also snacks.

We've Got Spirit!

Last week we had an all-day all-school "Faith Rally" which I'm sure I can't describe quite right to do it all justice. I'll try: imagine the best of a week of vacation bible school moments rolled into one day. With fantastic music. It is Nashville!

Uniforms were kept tucked in drawers and out came matching t-shirt and jeans. (Those are the outfits they wore in the photo above but as you might gather, that snap was from the fall. It is frosty here now.) While much of the day was filled with quiet worship, reflection and prayer, there was also great, noisy rejoicing, singing and dancing. More than a few times I had to turn away from hundreds of smiling little faces joining together in songs of praise - adorable hand motions and all. I kept my trusty red bandana in my back pocket. It is so moving being with happy, spirited children.

We were broken into groups with kids from all grades sprinkled in together. And everyone's favorite - the 8th graders paired with their kindergarten buddies and the 5th graders with theirs. So many times I saw students helping and modeling their best in a way that parents and teachers didn't have to do anything but stand back and watch them work together.

A theme of the day was "vocations" and we heard from a Dominican sister (their order is the heart of our school) and a priest about how they were called to their religious life. We also talked about how many ways people around us serve and do good work. It made my family think so much about the Sisters and how fortunate we are to be the beneficiaries of their devoted service. It is really awe inspiring. I recently heard Ann Patchett (a former Nashville Catholic school girl herself, I think) in an interesting discussion of the women who dedicate their lives to teaching as sisters and nuns. I'll try to find it someday. It was on NPR, of course. (I'm telling you, I'm in the car. A lot.)

It is often hard to slow down enough time to reflect and the Faith Rally was just that. A day to focus on what really matters. You'll love that even Baby Sister's tiny class was involved. When over 800 of us (students, faculty, staff, parent volunteers) were gathered to sing and dance in the gym at one point, the 14 of them were watching (and dancing - they'd learned the songs, too!) from a second story overlooking the crowd. They were fully part of it but not in the throng. A special part of the day was a dark and quiet prayer. Lights dimmed. Soft music. Kneeling. Baby Sister told me when all of the groups had gone, just her little class tip toed in and did their own devotion. I have to think the Holy Spirit shone a bit brighter after hearing those prayers.

The day was the culmination of a week of spirited activities. A bit high school homecoming week. My favorites being "Parent Appreciation Day" and "Student Appreciation Day." I love a theme.
So on the day we appreciated the students, mine awoke to their pig and various tigers on their breakfast bar. Of course.

Balloons, themed plates, fun treats packed in lunches. Pom poms, too. And would you know this all happened on the same week as Candlemas? Something we'd not celebrated until we moved to London and were treated to new and beautiful traditions. Also amazing crepes. So in all this reflecting, I think that as hard as coming and going and parachuting in and out of places has been, we are so fortunate. Blessed. Because in - and by - each place, we are greatly enriched by being able to share in traditions that we'll carry with us. Traditions that will become part of our family's journey, our narrative, soundtrack and snapshots. These things that will leave imprints on us.

The kids must think it is great fortune that their school mascot is a tiger and thus, Frosted Flakes for breakfast. But it seems to me like true providence that they get to go to school altogether again. That they share so many teachers and friends and that we've been again embraced by a loving community. It gives us a real strength of spirit.

And you would have felt it, too had you'd seen Biggest Brother getting his groove on in the gym!

That's So DEER!

Have you noticed animal heads just about everywhere lately (see also: shelter* magazines and blogs) or is it just my having moved to the American South where prey hangs about as wall decor?

As we're way more gatherers than hunters, taxidermy isn't terribly likely to appear on our walls. Not to mention that the kids are seriously spooked by a few of our larger stuffed animals. And, not judging if you've got a 6 point buck or two adhered to a pillar or post, but didn't you see "Bambi"?

But much like my bust (!) I still sort of wanted something like a deer head without the commitment.

This is not the Mister's (or my own Big Brother's) favorite of my design ideas, so it may not be a permanent fixture during our residency. Perhaps you can replicate it at your home so it will live on there.

You should know that my favorite antique shop has two enormous animal heads on display. One is a moose and The Mister would have to tell you the provenance of the other. I'm no zoologist, but it has large horns, a huge face and sort of a snout. Like the bull when Bugs Bunny was a matador. The Mister says you'd have to have a huge room for them to be yours. Almost as if you were bringing them home alive to traipse among LEGOs and furniture. And kids. That big. (Very "Mom always said, 'don't play ball in the house.'") That's surely not the only thing keeping us from pulling the trigger on either of those purchases. But a girl can dream about draping them with seasonal somethings or other. A giant moose in a lei? Draped in vintage Christmas ornaments? School scarf? A jaunty hat?

There's always our next house.

But meanwhile, here's how you can ensure no animals are harmed while providing whimsical walls. In a few easy steps.

Step 1. Purchase Foam Reindeer at 75% off Christmas sale. Are you doing the math? I'm not, but I can assure you it was a steal!

Step 2. Construct reindeer. It is cute already, right?!

Step 3. Spray paint the whole shebang white except the faux wood (faux bois, for you fancy pants). Oh, and see that giant fishbowl I used to hold it in place? I bought that on the Marylebone High Street with Big Sister one New Year's Eve and promptly broke it shortly after this shot. Argh.

Step 4. Hang in previously boring hallway. Step back and giggle. Await arrival of rest of family.

*Doesn't the term "shelter magazines" seem more than a bit silly in hugely understating the concept? Shelter? Shelter is a hut, not a glossy publication of wallpaper ads, absurdly expensive sofas and Viking stoves.  A bit like calling foodie blogs "sustenance" manuals. I digress.

Always.

xo

Me and My Shadow

Tops among the things Baby Sister said to me yesterday:

Q: Is this okay to wear out to lunch?
A: Flannel pajamas and ballet slippers? Absolutely. I wish I had the entire combo in my size. Our lunch date is going to think you look perfectly toasty and delicious.

Q: Will you still be my mom when I'm a teenager?
A: Of course.
Q: [MOVING CLOSE ENOUGH TO COUNT MY PORES] What will you look like then?
A: Heaven only knows, Lovey.

Q: [Actually this was a statement, but this is a good pattern so I'm sticking with it] I really like the days when it is just the two of us.
A: Me, too. [Glancing at tomorrow's calendar entry which says "Baby Sister's Kindergarten readiness conference"- EEGADS.] Me, too little dolly.

Does Ari Shapiro Need An Intern?

Are you following Ari Shapiro's dispatches from London on NPR?

When I am not seething with envy, I am really happy to hear all the somethings interesting he's discovered in a place I adore: Phone boxes are a national landmarks! King George's cookbook is up for auction! World War One diaries are going online! Ari doesn't speak in exclamations. His delivery is very NPR soothing. That's just my enthusiasm. It is also how I recount his stories at the dinner table for anyone not lucky enough to be in my giant car for the broadcasts.

I imagine Ari Shapiro sorting through piles of exciting press releases (are there piles of papers in offices anymore? Or is it just my desk? Am I the last one standing with a paper calendar?).

I envision he gets fantastic invitations to explore all sorts of fascinating goings on. Which really could be just to meander down Oxford Street. I suspect he's excited to accept London's endless offerings. Then he gets to recount the nooks and crannies for people like me who idle their cars in American driveways, hanging on his every word. I'm hooked on his travelogue and hear the enthusiasm of a newcomer — not a tourist, but someone hunkering down to a new life.

And I'm so incredibly jealous.

Not to mention he's probably eating in a pubs in his off hours. There's that, too.

I'm not saying I'd want to necessarily be new to London. In fact, while I'm dreaming, I'd specifically not like to be new, to have to learn the nuances of banking, grocery delivery and UK customer service and to feel hugely self-conscious. For the kids to attempt to discern when to use "our" and to print with serifs. But to pal around with my friends on the Marylebone High Street, laze about in Paddington Park Gardens, browse Daunt Books, play in Hyde Park, soak in culture and language and well, everything? Oh, and to buy wine nearly anywhere? I would jump at the chance to go back. And how. And with a few small people to boot.

I say that knowing full well we'd sure miss our new friends in Nashville, our church, school, budding committee assignments (Spirit Shop Co-Chair!) and our great big backyard. I'd miss the ease of taking a sick child in the car instead of a bus or cab. I'd miss Target. And my motorcade-ready car. I am reluctant to admit that I like the easy peasy of it all these days. But it is really true that we miss London and are grateful for these colorful snippets of news from the other side of the Atlantic.

Surely I might feel a bit that way, too if he were reporting from La Grange. We were at a dinner party over the weekend with folks new to Nashville after living 20 years in Chicago. They were delighted that we could fall in love with that area in less than 3 years. Love we did. The melancholy longing for places left behind always sings a little song in my heart. Thanks, terrifically sentimental Irish stock!

There is something about Ari's London reports that tug at me extra hard. Maybe that it is someone else's story now and we'll just be visitors. Even if (when!) I convince the kids and their cousins to study abroad.

But I'm exceedingly grateful for the audio postcards Ari Shapiro seems to be sending directly to my huge SUV on the school run. Here's hoping he needs an intern to sort through his inbox. I'll take payment in Waitrose mini pain au chocolate. Or we can just work out a barter system with Goo Goo Clusters. I've got it: I'll work for free and provide Tennessee's most sinful confection in exchange.

Also, I need housing for 6 and school spaces for 4. Three at Our Sweet School. Is that a deal breaker?

Sunshine Day

Everybody's smiling. (Are you singing that Brady Bunch tune now!? I hope so.)

I hear the Windy City is closed. Unsafe wind chills like we cannot imagine. But oh, the bragging rights they're earning! I have to admit a little jealousy.

People who told us we would be fine in Nashville with a few fleeces didn't see this winter coming. If even the sunny south has to endure days of single digits, at least we could get snowed in blizzard-style. But as it is, I can barely convince half of the smalls to drag a coat along as they dash the few feet from car to school door. They know they won't get outside this week. Indoor recess again!

There's one serious hold out on a coat. He wears a sweatshirt ("BUT it has a hood and it's lined with fuzzy stuff!") which will apparently keep frostbite at bay. Wasn't Captain Scott wearing a lined hoody  on his expedition? Harrumph. You know where that got him, right?

For anyone who thinks boys don't care about their clothes should try to find a few minutes alone in front of the mirror at my house. It is crowded there, what with two girls dancing, Baby Sister admiring how she managed to get both chocolate and magic markers on her face and the boys doing Who Knows What. Reflecting apparently.

But the frigid thaw broke for about 24 hours yesterday. We kept Baby Sister dressed. But just barely. She was at the park in a tank top, short shorts and her bare pigs. Because it was in the mid-50s. I shudder to think how she'd dress if we move somewhere hot. She arrived at the dinner table in a bikini and high heels. Her fashion sense is a little "Love Boat" to be honest.

The bracelet is a nice touch. And about those makers - what's so magic about them? Maybe that they work in subzero cold. If that's the case, we're all pretty well magic lately.

Secret Agent Girl

Baby Sister gave me strict instructions to not tinker with this outfit she'd carefully laid out before going to school. She says it is her Secret Agent uniform.

I confess to being inspired. If not a bit jealous of her afternoon plans. I've got to up my game. I don't have any secret things going on that would require a tie dye and short shorts. But the day is still young.

She is SUCH a character, that one. She had the entire car singing "We all live in a pink summerene. A pink summerene...!" on the school run. Purple ski-coated arms sweeping in direction. She would change the vehicle color on a whim ("a BLUE summerene") and delighted in her siblings following along.

But Baby Sister doesn't have a lock on whimsy. I'll show you more about it this weekend, but meanwhile, check out my fantastic new wall decor. No animals were harmed in the decoration of my hallway.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho!

It's back to school they go. Some more chipper than others and all chilly. The car doors were frozen shut!

Lucky Baby Sister, today's her "normaler" (her term) day off. It will surely be too quiet around here without these guys today. But they've left plenty of reminders behind. Trying to make order out of chaos should keep Baby Sister and me busy for a while. And there is still one last pile of Christmas things to put away.

A good day to shelter in place and play catch up.

Big Sister gets a gold star today! I feared we would say goodbye all too soon to her vacation persona (loose and silly, carefree and confident -- you can even see it in her body language - maybe you can see it in her funny glasses) when I went to wake her for school (all of us not so secretly hoping for at least a delay...) but she rallied and went out the door like a bright penny.

Whew. Turning the page. Starting fresh and excited about what it next!