sorry it has been so long

i couldn't find the camera until today.  it was in the pocket of my coat which i haven't worn since arkansas.

here were some of my favorite shots from our trip. 

 

 

 

 

we are ending a week long stretch of ford being sick.  at least we are hoping that it is ending soon, just in time for his birthday and debut as big baby Jesus in the african Christmas play at church next weekend.  will write more soon.  i promise.  the thoughts are brewin in my head.

a week's worth of stories

Me: "Frank, do you know why the garage doors are open?"

Frank: "no I don't.  But daddy did say that he saw a wroach in there.  It was a dead roach.  That's the kind of wwroach that you like, isn't it, mama?  The dead kind, that's the kind you like."

Me: "that's right, buddy."

*****

Family enrichment has been a great week.  I have loved having the television off.   Frank has done great without cartoons in the morning, and has instead spent every morning outside watching the men prepare to repave our street.  The actual repaving of the street took about 30 minutes, but the preparation took over 2 days and about 15 men who mostly stand around their big machines and talk to each other.  Frank stands on our sidewalk in front of the house putting on various "shows,"  i.e: acting like a super hero, singing songs, reciting, "Little Boy Blue" at the top of his lungs over and over again, and sneaking secret touches of the equipment when he thinks no one is looking.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him do this from secret viewing spots inside the house.

*****

Scene: Walking down the candy aisle at target (why were we there?  I don't even remember) Frank is walking slowly, with his hand tracing the bags of candy as he meanders down the aisle. Then he exclaims: 

"mama, LOOK AT THIS: GUM-GUMS AND ENIMENS!!!!"


He was referring to bags of Dum-Dums and M&M's that were next to each other.  I never correct him on his pronunciation of his two favorite candies because i like his version of their names better.

*****

Another family enrichment activity was watching the movie "UP" with frank.  Can I just tell you how much I loved that movie?  The elderly man, a cute boy, talking dogs and a pretty bird, it was awesome, I felt like someone made that movie just for me.  There were some pretty adult themes, but frank loved it, too.  At one point in the movie, Mr. Fredrickson is looking through a photo album of his life, and I start having some sort of cathartic cry while sandwiched on the couch between two of the men in my life.  Embarrassed and not wanting the boys to see me, I wipe my eyes and say something to frank, who looks at me with a sweet sentimental tear running down his cheek.  then I look at michael, and he had some wetness in his eyes, too.  that was a great moment in my week.  

*****

And I don't want to leave Ford out of this week's news.  He just rocks.  He is nothing but joy.    Now don't take this as sacrilegious, but sometimes I wonder if this is a little what Jesus was like as a little baby.  He is that sweet.  He is still not walking.  i am beginning to doubt the validity of Miss Ethel's claims.  His balance reminds me of someone who is on a small boat at sea.  He is also struggling with holding a spoon and putting it to his mouth, he just doesn't get the concept.  Yesterday, when I put the oatmeal on the tip of the spoon and set it on the tray in front of him, instead of picking it up and putting it to his mouth, he would lay his head on the tray and try to put his mouth around the spoon.  maybe he is special.  but I like special people. 

the week ahead

last week we focused on manners and healthy eating.  this week's focus is on family enrichment by not turning on the television.
except to watch a netflix or two...or three.  surprising how my netflix viewing increases when there is no more television.

any suggestions for family enrichment between now and thursday? 
sometimes i wish that i had an education degree instead of those gerontology and nursing degrees....they just aren't doing much for me these days.

a note on the stinkhorns:
amazing, some critter attacked them on that first night, and they are disintegrating almost as fast as they appeared... they remind me of gremlins.

Random facts

On November 12, 2009:

Ford took his first two steps!....at the YMCA....in the childcare room...with Miss Ethel...while mama was in pilates...what a turkey this boy is.  He knows i have been waiting for this...well, maybe he doesn't, but he is still a turkey.

This morning I was wearing a nightgown that I had purchased at a vintage store for the Mad Men photo.  It was yellow and fluffy with ruffles and a rose.

Frank said, "Mama, you look like a dancer."
I said, "thank you frank, I wore this because I thought it was pretty."
then he leaned his head on my shoulder and said, without even a hint of manipulation in his voice,"YOU are pretty." 

I wish I could keep them these ages forever.

This evening i made one of the best meals that I have made in a very long time.  lots of flavor and deliciousness.  I'm even proud of how well the meat went with the vegetable. (i usually struggle with food pairings, i.e.: things turn out monochromatic, or the side dish has all the same flavors as the main course. Top Chef I am not. )

Here are the recipes that made the dinner.  I so recommend them.  I think i am even taking the squash to thanksgiving - and if you do make it, you must make the sauce that goes with it.  As slow as I have been to liking cilantro, and believe me - i have been a hater - this sauce was really good.

chicken meatballs and curry roasted butternut squash and chickpeas.

On November 13, 2009:

I took the boys to the science museum.  ford crawled around on the floor of the entomology exhibit that has undoubtedly been heavily trafficked by hundreds of school children, and frank carried the butterfly chart around the butterfly house identifying all the ones he could find.  I was reprimanded by an elderly volunteer who told me my son should not step on the rocks or wave the big plastic chart around in the air because he could kill the butterflies.  then we had a picnic at the Sam Houston statue.  Later, we had a lovely time at a new park with some friends.  It was a good day.....DA DA DUM...until we found this:

and then we saw this:

who, you ask, put crab claws in the garden next to the sandbox?  That is precisely what I was wondering.  Until I realized that they were growing, and spreading, and coming up out of strange white eggs on the ground.  What the #&@*!?

And can you see the gross brown slime coming off the tops?  Now I am all about nature and beauty in strange things.  but these "plants" literally made my stomach turn.  I poked them with a stick and was afraid they would attack me.  After a little internet research, I found that they are a fungus known as the, "Stinkhorn."  Oh, that is right, i forgot to mention that they smell bad, too.  What the *&%@?!  How did this get in my backyard?

If you have a spare minute to look at this website on the stinkhorn, i think that you will not be disappointed.  I am thankful to have an opportunity to learn about freaks of nature in my very own backyard.  you can also check out the stinkhorn hall of fame, here, if you are a nerd like me.

Marilynn Jackson

Yesterday, a light that has brightened my days rose up to heaven.
Marilynn Jackson was 91 years young when she went to meet her savior.

I did not have the privilege of knowing Moo-Moo, as my husband introduced me to her, for long enough.  But in just a few short years - 13 to be exact - she made quite an impression.

Before I even met her, I had heard about her.  and not from michael, but from my brother-in-law who told me that Michael Calloway had a cool grandmother named "Moo-Moo."  And i thought, someone who goes by the name Moo-Moo does have to be pretty cool.


On my first visit to michael's parents' house, I had the opportunity to meet her.  And while I cannot remember the exact details of the encounter, here is what I felt and thought at that meeting and at all others like it, "Wow, she is beautiful... And she makes me feel beautiful just by talking to me."  I think I noticed that she was in a wheelchair for about 30 seconds, and then I never noticed it again.  She could make a wheelchair just seem to disappear.  The same was true even with my sons, who easily might have felt intimated or shy around that hardware that was unfamiliar to them.  Nope, instead they would just launch themselves right into her arms whenever they saw their "Mi-Mi," as she was known to them.


Marilynn was beautiful.  Her voice was beautiful when she spoke, and I have heard that it was even more beautiful when she sang.  With her smile, her mischievous eyes, and her sparkly sweater sets, she would literally light up the room.  She used words and phrases that I have never heard before, and I am afraid might die with her generation of southern ladies.  She said things like, "My stars above" and "Great land o' Goshen!"  It is expressions like these and her beautiful accent that likely led to her many on-air appearances on QVC.  Who wouldn't want to hear her on tv?

Marilynn was strong.  Her life was not easy, but she made it look that way to me.  In the years that I knew her, she always carried herself with dignity, even through the hardships of a body that was aging but a mind that was sharp as trap.  She would get knocked down physically, but her determination would push her to always rise back up again.  Her strength against adversity was inspirational.

She loved black licorice and olives.  She wrapped beautiful presents.  She had fine taste.  She loved her immense Santy Claus collection.  She was a great painter and appreciated the art work of others.  She was an encourager to her friends.  She smelled good.  She made delicious cornbread dressing, cheese straws, and date nut loaf at the holidays.  She was funny and not afraid to laugh at herself.  She was fun to sit next to.

I only got to her see her a few times a year, and I so wish it had been more.  There will never be another like her, and I am blessed to have been a part of her family for the last decade.

We love you, Moo-Moo. 

 

 

something that looks good

here is a recipe that i thought we all might want to try: salted brown butter crispy treats.

i think it is funny

... that frank slept with a real pumpkin in his bed and carried it around like a stuffed animal for over a week.

....that my screen saver rotates through pictures of the last year, and at least once every few days it shows ford's birth in too much detail - really large - filling the entire laptop screen.

....that frank runs EVERYWHERE that he goes in the house.  it appears to be impossible for him to walk anymore.  he told don and alex that his new shoes give him "running opportunities."

....that ford finishes the food off frank's plates on a daily basis

....and that Ford stood up, unassisted in the middle of the room today - about 20 times - it is amazing to watch.  his legs are so strong he can just rise up.