January 12, Clara's cast came off. It was pretty traumatic for her. The saw cut (shallowly) into the side of her foot, barely missing a small pressure sore.

A few days later, it snowed a little bit. The kids bundled up and raced outside. Clara stood in the garage and cried the whole time. She had to be ignored, as the snow was melting before our very eyes. As it was, we did what we could with what we had:




A few days after that, Sydney turned four. She was really excited to be four. "I'm so excited!" she'd exclaim, over and over in the days leading up to it.

She had a special morning breakfast and enjoyed opening a few presents from G&GB.





The next day she and a few friends went to an indoor playground. Rules of the place prohibited birthday celebrations, so midway through we (me and two friends who thankfully saw the silliness of me trying to do this alone and decided to stay) shuttled the kids out into the lobby, where they (the kids, not the mommies) sat on the cold tile and ate chocolate cupcakes and spread frosting all over tarnation.

It was pretty ghetto. But I guess the girls had fun and that's what really counts. When Talmage turned four, since I didn't know any better, I stayed up 'til the wee hours making that Radiator Springs racetrack cake. We hosted a birthday party here with a few of his friends, who we tried to entertain with mediocre games. One kid threw up. It was a very stressful experience (the entertaining part, not the throw-up part) and I don't know as if the benefit was any greater than the good time Sydney had with her friends at the playground where we just let them run amuck. So, I think, given it is not "my thing", that birthday parties around here will generally continue to follow the same grain I grew up with, i.e. benign neglect. "It's good for your character!"

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

Clara gets her cast off tomorrow. Having a cast has meant minimal bathing. A couple days ago, the Kids Club at the gym called me back to change a supposedly poopy diaper. Was she poopy? Nope.

When the cast comes off, gone will be the rhythmic "clunk, clunk, clunk" when Clara walks around the house. She's been like a pirate with a peg-leg. That's been kind of funny.

With the cast gone, I won't have to answer the question, "What happened to her leg?" Usually I just say, "She broke it" - as if that solves any mystery.

While Clara has had the cast, we've wondered, "What does Clara think about it???" For all she knows, she's going to have this thing on her leg for the rest of her life. She's accepted this supposed fact and moved on without complaint. That's a pretty admirable quality.

Another good thing about the cast is she learned a new word that I haven't seen in any Priddy Books. "'Ast, 'ast" she says as she slaps her cast. Pretty good for a 22-month old. Although, it reminds me of a sad story from nursing school. During a pediatric rotation, a 3 year-old (or so) kid told me, "Heparin burns." And I thought, "You shouldn't even know that word."

The background music would be better if it were something more pirate-y.

Christmas Morning

Christmas on Sunday. It was the best. Kids got up and got dressed for church without the usual fuss. It was best behavior all around. Maybe we'll have a stack of presents waiting at home every Sunday from here on out.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful: great talks, beautiful music. It gave Christmas morning the spiritual impact that is usually missing when we just open presents willy nilly. And then we got to go home after only an hour. That was a really good present.

The annual Lego set:

Clara found this doll a couple months ago. I got it at a consignment sale for two bucks and was saving it for Christmas. She's been dragging her "baby" around since then. To sweeten the deal on Christmas morning, she got a baby bottle to feed her with. She really liked that.

Talmage has been asking for a "scripture case like Tate's." I didn't know what Tate's scripture case looked like, but blogland instructed me on the one below. It has a magnetic snap, which is the coolest feature, I think. And also, it was free to make except for the purchase of those snaps.

Also in the pic below, Sydney is playing with a castle Talmage made for her. A few weeks before Christmas he said he wanted to make Sydney a castle for her present. So we'd work on it after she left for preschool or when she was napping (ok. and 15 minutes before bed on Christmas Eve). I don't have a good picture of it because Clara already smashed it (It's a cardboard box and foam board). But it was cool while it lasted -- especially the creation process. The concept and interior decor were all directed and mostly made by Talmage: paint color, fabric wallpaper, room dimensions, and a ladder going between floors.

Richard Scarry's "Busy, Busy Airport" game was a hit:


Ah.

Syd loved her unicorn from G&G Barker. She strapped her toolbelt on and went to town.

So that's some of the loot. It was a really relaxed, lazy week. Now, it's back to the grindstone.

The last thing I wanted to say, though, was that I ran 940 miles in 2011 from February 12-November 26 (then I stopped recording. And then I stopped running because I'm too busy eating milkshakes).

Christmas Traditions in the Making

The Bruno's.

The kids had a great time dancing around to carols.
(And spying on the cat)

Clara's wearing a candy-cane stripped legging to match her cast. I love Emily's dance moves and crazy hair. And Heather's piano playing.


My alto miraculously and instantly improves whenever I sing with Heather (and Grant).


You can see the Bruno's fun Christmas season (and then stalk the blog). I also include it here so you can notice our pictures from our 2010 and 2011 version of Sleigh Bells. It's about half-way down. Also, I want you to notice how fat my face was in 2010 compared to 2011. Now that I'm eating treats again, that 2010 face is coming right back. It only took 4 days. And six truffles. And a Burgerville Chocolate Hazelnut milkshake. And a ...


The Grotto.
The kids are looking at the nativity. This was a very powerful moment. I think you can get a sense for it by Syd's expression.

True to a stable-style, The Grotto also features animals. Above: a very, very patient rabbit.

And popcorn after the puppet show.

Gingerbread Houses.
The kids double-teamed on the houses. ... except for Clara who did not go through the charade of decorating a house to get to the candy.

Talmage and Joseph's forested abode.

Sydney and Isaac's .... Contemporary Modern Vintage Classic abode.

Pittock Mansion.
Christmas Eve morning courteous of the Cultural Pass. But first, a look at our living room - I finally finished the holiday decorating. In the NICK of time!

Briton had a fun time with the kids at the Pittock Mansion while I scurried around town finishing up shopping for our "12 Days" family. In retrospect, I could have been a lot more organized about Christmas.

A fancy bathroom, dressed in holiday style.

"Clara, say bidet."


Sydney making an "owl face" (intuitively).

Mt Hood.


Then they went to the park.

Cleaning up on Christmas Eve eve:

Caught on candid camera.

That's all for now.

Spun by silver light and shadow.

"It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get." --- Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, 15

Brit spied this spidey-web one frosty night. One of the perks of taking out the garbage.

Miss Jo's Music Class

This time the kids learned songs from Fall to Winter: Halloweeen, Thanksgiving, Christmas. The above clip is a song about "Albuquerque is my Turkey." I think everyone who lives in Albuquerque and automatically knows how to spell it is lucky.

Albuquerque is a turkey,
And he's feathered and he's fine.
And he wobbles, and he gobbles,
And he's absolutely mine.

He's the best pet that you can get,
Better than a dog or cat.
Albuquerque, he's my turkey,
And I'm awfully glad of that.

Albuquerque, he's my turkey,
He's so cozy in his bed,
Because for our Thanksgiving dinner,
We had scrambled eggs instead.





Up on the Housetop





Although you can't see it in the video, you can imagine Jo flipping through the cue cards. Lightning fast.


Thanks, Miss Jo!

We Went to Fetch Our Tree

This farm is selling their trees for $10 each, any size. Clara chose this one:


The farmer also let us glean the organic apple trees. Clara added to the organic-ness by dropping her apple in the mud between bites. I got several jars of applesauce out of the apples I picked (scratch that: Jo picked).


Here she stands, before she was felled. It's a beautiful tree. The farmer said his neighbor sells his Christmas trees to Las Vegas for a ton of money - they resale in LV for $100 a piece. Suckers.

We didn't notice that the tree didn't smell very pine-y until we got home. ... who are the suckers now?

Look at Jo, below, helping to get the lighting just right.



It was a gorgeous, blue-sky day. The kids loved running around the farm. Check out Joseph's block to Isaac. And notice how Clara is hollering off in the farm somewhere. That's the beauty of a farm. The kids can run wild and holler at the top of their lungs and the parents can ignore them with peace of mind. And also, you can grow your own Christmas trees.

Thanksgiving aux Barkers

Had an action-packed week in Farmington, culminating in the grand Turkey fest, er, family photos. The kids love going to their grandparent's house and this year had the added treat of a new cousin. Clara was enchanted by 'Tilda. She still talks about her. Matilda is one adorable newborn.

Documentation of the week can be found here. Thanks for sharing your photos, GB.

Great Grandma Kartchner

Clara gets to know Great Grandma Kartchner. They both have blue eyes. GGK was born in March 1917. Clara was born February 2010.

I don't know if my kids will remember GGK once they're grown since their time with her is so few and far between. I wanted these photos so they would know they had spent some time with her. I like how Sydney Ruth, who shares her name, is cozying up in her arm. Like she knows people who are name buddies have a special relationship.

OK. So this is a slightly posed shot. But the happy joy on those little faces is HEARTFELT!

We love when the Morgans come to play!
Please move back here. Please, please, please, please, please.

Richmond and Outer Banks

Marathons. Boy. I sure like them. Remember how after the Seattle Rock n' Roll, Heather suggested we come run Richmond with her and Rick? She didn't have to twist my arm too hard. With Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner on board to keep the kids alive while we were gone, Briton and I embarked on another training schedule.

And so it came to fruition. A few days before the race, we saw cool places suggested by our adept local guide: for example, the Confederacy White House, Hollywood Cemetery ("she always said her feet were killing her but nobody believed her"), stained-glass glass store, beautiful fall leaves along the James River, and the Poe Museum (stinky). Nothing beats a civil war site - Petersburg was no exception. The Blandford Church -- the Tiffany windows were nearly outshone by the charismatic, yet supersitious docent giving the tour who was convinced the church was haunted. And I'm sure the grammar in that last sentence is atrocious.

Then the race. This was our only shot:

Waiting for the starting gun. It was very cold.
What happens if one of the party has to use the potty, I ask you???

"How was your race?" people ask. How does one answer that question? So much happens. And so little ("I ran for a long, long time"). There's something about that marathon distance that I just really, really like. Like, crossing the finish line, p'haps.

Moving on.

Recovering from the race provided ample excuse to do nothing the rest of our time there. I was really excited to see Heather and Rick's beach house in the Outer Banks. Wish I had photos of the interior for you. Very beautifully decor'ed.

We lazed around. I mean, "recovered", from the race. This included benign activities like finishing The Help on a deck swing overlooking the Sound while the warm sun shone on my face and the blue sky reached to the eternities,

and catching tiny crabs,


making stained-glass stars ....

idea stolen from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kurtknudsen

Heather, who has created several amazing (I had no idea 'til I saw them in person), Tiffany-worthy creations, suggested we make some while we were in the OBX. So we (she) did! There it is, up there, used as a curtain tie-back in our family room. I really like how they turned out. Heather also whipped together a 3-D starish contraption that we will use for our Christmas Tree star. Thanks, Hed.

Brit and I took in some OBX sites of ...


nothing ...
and shadows ...
and rekindled our steamy romance ...

and shuffled for our lives from mosquitoes the size of golf-balls, all swarming and amassed around this lighthouse and nowhere else on the OBX:

Oh. And hobbled, stiff-legged, around Ye Historic Landmark. Cameron! We should have taken your National Parks passport and gotten a stamp for you!


As you know, walking hurts the day after a marathon. Walking down stairs KILLS for a few days. I dared Briton to run down this sand dune. It was hilarious:



Ow. That hurts.

We'd call home every now and then and hear the chaos in the background and just smile up at that warm sun in that blue sky. I jest, though. The kids got to have quality time with their grandparents who they don't get to see very often. Grandma read Mother Goose until she wished she'd never brought the book; she tutored Talmage with his school work and piano as only an expert educator can ("It's fun!"); gave Sydney endless attention; and got to know Clara. Grandpa played his part, too: with a steering wheel in one hand and a power tool in the other. Besides chauffeuring kids around, he whipped this house into shape with all manner of projects. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making Richmond possible; and Heather and Rick, for your pre-eminent hosting (including all things related to The Cat).