Of spooks and substitutes

Having a baby two weeks before Halloween tends to put a crimp in family activities--or at least require a bit of modification. I worried that the kids would be disappointed that some of our usual festivities (pumpkin patch, elaborate carvings, lots of community activities) were going to be severely curtailed this year. But I hadn't counted on a dedicated dad and the influx of helpful relatives who stepped in to fill my place and take my kids all over town.

Grandma braved the crowds to attend the school parade and took Carden and Seth to a performance of "Stellaluna" done by professional puppeteers. Uncle David and Aunt Julia lent artistic skills to help carve the jack o'lanterns. Aunt Marianne treated the boys to see "Where the Wild Things Are." Grandma took all three kids to join their cousins at the trick-or-treating event at This is the Place Pioneer Park. Tyler toted our giant pumpkin, a potluck dessert, a bowl full of candy, and three costumed children to the church trunk-or-treat evening. Great-granny Wilcox took everyone to dinner before Carden's Halloween piano recital.

The only downside to all this frivolity was the lack of photos. It was a bit more than I could ask to say, "Here's the jackets, snacks, diaper bag, costume accessories, and directions to where you're going. Oh, and take lots of pictures too!" But having so many people to share the fun with was well worth the small trade-off.

A new addition

She's finally here! Eleven days ago, to be precise, but the announcement was, as usual, held up by our inability to name the poor child. But with 90 minutes to spare before the state deadline, we settled on Claire Ellen Crockett. Claire because we all liked it (especially Charlotte, who accepted it as second choice once we said we weren't choosing "Billy"), Ellen because it's the middle name of one of my grandmothers, and Crockett because, at this point, it's expected.

She's a different look from any of our other kids, dark hair and a different face than we expected. She sleeps almost around the clock, except for that precious hour of awake time--at 3:00am. But we're working on that. The kids all love her in short spurts. Charlotte loves to hold her, but after about 30 seconds she starts shouting "Take it! Take it!" The hardest part was trying to protect her from the coughing and sneezing since she was born during the week that all of us had nasty colds.

For those interested in stats:

7 pounds, 9 ounces

20 inches long

2.5 hours of labor (60 minutes of which the epidural didn't work)

Born October 12, 2009

1:51 pm

Jam

We have made a lot of jam this year. Of all the harvest activities, I enjoy jam-making most. The kids love it, it tastes better than store-bought, and it can be done in 30-45 minutes with minimal cleanup. This year we made about 50 jars, which should carry us through the year: four boxes of apricot, raspberry, blackberry, mixed berry, plum, and plum berry now stacked in the basement.


I was making a batch last week while my nephew Isaiah was visiting. He and Seth brought in a bowl of blackberries they had picked and announced they wanted to make jam. I told them I was out of jars, so we wouldn't be able to do it. They went back outside and returned a few minutes later, not dissuaded.


"We're going to make jam by ourselves. Where's the smasher? (a small wooden tool for smashing the berries)"


I got distracted and didn't supply the requested smasher. They go back outside.


"Where's the sugar, Mom? We need sugar now."


"I thought you needed the smasher."


"No, we just used a rock." They proudly show me a bowl of smashed berries, plus a few extra bits of leaf, grass, twigs, etc.


"Oh. OK, here's the sugar." I dump a big scoop into their pot. They go back outside.


"We need some bread. Our jam is done."


Tastier than mud pies, I guess. Anyone else for jam?

Extreme nesting

The kids watched "Lady and the Tramp" last week and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" this week. In both films the scenes with the expectant mother depict her sitting placidly in a rocking chair knitting baby booties, blankets, or sweaters. She hums.

This makes me wonder where I went wrong. I am in the process of:

Freezing pesto. Seth is a champion basil picker.

Refinishing the kitchen table. The varnish had completely worn off, so every spill soaked into the wood, requiring a good scraping after every meal.

Dehydrating pears. Supposedly easier than canning. Definitely tastier.

Making jam. Apricot, raspberry, blackberry, mixed berry... And the plums are ripe this week.

Canning tomatoes and applesauce. Now I know the real reason we didn't send Seth to kindergarten--he's too helpful to lose.

Planting trees. The 50% off sale was too good to pass up. We added a linden, honey locust, tulip tree, and ash. A friend said perplexedly, "But I thought you already had trees in your yard. Any more and the Forest Service will be annexing your property."

Helping with the enrichment activity, PTA carnival fundraiser, and soaking all Charlotte's old baby clothes in vats of Oxi-Clean. I swear that stuff was clean when I put it away two years ago.

I am not humming.

School days again

Carden has been in class for almost three weeks now, but Seth began today. Both are excited for new teachers, new classrooms, and new adventures.

It does look like we've shipped Carden off to the gulag; the school is under construction this year to add 12 new classrooms, so hopefully next year they won't need these portable rooms in the back parking lot.

Here's his new backpack, loaded down with all the essential school supplies of a 2009 student: tissues, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, and hand wipes. Oh yes, and a small pencil box. Looks like we're more concerned about the germs he'll bring home than the grades.

Seth is getting one more year at home/preschool, and he's excited about being the "old man" in the classroom. I think he'll do great with a bit more time under his belt. Now, if we could just get a few more pounds under his belt, we'd really be doing well!

And Charlotte, Angus, and I will continue to hold down the fort. I have high hopes for our free time, but I won't say what, for fear someone will actually hold me to all my lofty goals.

11 hours and counting

Until that bell rings and Carden returns to school. Pity preschool doesn't begin for another three weeks. Yep, Seth, despite his fifth birthday, will stay at home and preschool for another year. The school cutoff is five weeks after his birthday, and we felt like he could really use another year before being thrown to the kindergarten wolves.

We squeezed out our last few days of summer vacation, although the weather feels like mid-September already. We really only got six weeks of summer weatherwise, so part of me feels like we never got warmed up (literally). But in the last 72 hours we hit the park, the snow-cone shack, the pool, the children's museum, and the Belgian waffle stand. We also spent four days cleaning and sorting the playroom, a Herculean task measured in the number of trash-can loads dumped.

With only seven weeks to this pregnancy left, I am torn between great memories of all the fun we did have, and regret for all the things we didn't do because I just didn't have the stamina for it. Lucky the kids are young enough that we can massage their memories to focus on the good times. So farewell summer, we hardly knew ya. But it was great while it lasted.

Seth survives to five

There have been many times, I hate to admit, during the last five years, when I would have happily flagged down a passing gypsy caravan and asked them to haul this child off. That Old Testament story of Joseph of Egypt? Well, maybe his brothers had just heard "the whiny voice" one too many times. Digging a pit and packing him off to the pyramids doesn't seem too extreme a reaction, really. Tyler says he's too much like me, which is why I have a lower tolerance for his moping. (And the first person who agrees that I whine or mope gets clobbered.)

To be fair, Seth has a lot of really great traits. He is a stellar worker. He loves to help, and will often go above and beyond his chore list. He is athletic and coordinated. He loves attention, especially linked to a camera, and his blue eyes and white-blond hair pop him out of any crowd. He plays with Charlotte and is always willing to do any little favor I ask (lately this means running up and down the stairs a lot to get/put away some item).

His birthday in July was a big day. We went through our usual birthday traditions: presents laid out at the breakfast table, his choice of meals, the outing he planned, and cake and ice cream. Bless this child who wanted an off-the-shelf cake from Costco. The best $15 I spent and 15 hours I saved all month.

Seth chose Liberty Land, a small local amusement park, for his outing. We played miniature golf, laser tag, rode the roller coaster, rides, bumper boats, over and over.


Showing off his Pokemon shirt, Spiderman sunglasses, and flip-flops. I hate flip-flops--and all sandals between my toes--so I've never bought them for the kids. So these had the aura of "forbidden fruit" since he's the only one in the family who has flip-flops.