football highlights reel #2

and, here is finn's. the song choice is his.

football highlight reel #1

I put together a bunch of highlights from alex's football game last weekend. After his spectacular touchdown run, he spiked the ball (!!!) which resulted in a penalty and some stern words from his coach. He was acting silly about it at first, but now he's very embarrassed and would not let me include it in the video. Although I suggested he follow all of the rules of the game, I also told him that I appreciated the sentiment behind the spike -- he was proud of his touchdown and wanted to celebrate. Just maybe next time do it a little more low-key. Alex has a big football tourney this weekend. Can't wait - should be a FUN day.

Finn's football highlight reel will be forthcoming.

applesauce

well, dear reader(s), last Monday, the guys and I went apple picking (as referenced in a previous post). We picked the windfalls off of the ground.

We put them in the bags we brought from home.
A couple of days later, I started the applesauce process. Can you smell the apples simmering? I love that smell in our house.
And here we are! 23 1/2 quarts of applesauce, put up for winter. I don't think this will get us very far (we are big applesauce fans in this house), so we have plans to make more this weekend with some friends.

the funk is starting to lift

I've been in a funk for most of this month. I've decided that October is just a hard month for me, and THIS October, in particular, has been "wooper" (to quote Enzo) hard. I'm sure our lousy weather contributes to my blue mood. I hit bottom on Saturday and kind of fell apart. Bob swooped in and gently suggested I head out for some alone time, which I gratefully took him up on.

I spent a few hours of Saturday afternoon at Borders, which is such a luxury it's silly. I rarely buy books, but to leisurely browse thru a book store without a little person distracting me was just SO what I needed. I actually did buy a couple of books (primarily because I had some in-store credit to use up), but more importantly, I was able to re-center. I came back home in a much better frame of mind, and, fortunately, today my mood was better.

I suppose it's good to nurse old wounds. To find strength in broken places. To honor some old emotional scars. But it's also good to be in a sunnier place.

what a day...

This morning, I was leisurely talking with Mary Beth, my sis-in-law, about Christmas present ideas for my kids. Enzo was climbing around the couch, and I had half an eye on him while I was chatting. He opened the window. I turned my back and the next time I turned around, he was gone. Missing from the room. Evidently, he pressed against the screen and fell out. Fortunately it's a first floor window and the drop was only a few feet. He seemed more surprised and mad than truly hurt.

Then, about 20 minutes later, I was on the computer -- same room as Enzo, same room as the aforementioned incident. He was back up on the back of that couch, climbing around. I wasn't paying much attention to him, and then I heard him cry out in pain. He was holding something up to me. What? What IS that? Looks like a little tooth. But, why would Enzo be holding a little tooth in his hand? (these are the thoughts that ran through my head) As I rushed over to him while the blood was streaming out of his mouth, I realized, indeed, it was one of his teeth. I figured out from him that he wrapped the cord from the window coverings around his tooth (??) and fell down, thus ripping his tooth from his skull. Fortunately, it was a clean extraction -- root and all came out -- so no need to head into the dentist today (ironically, the guys all have dentist appts tomorrow). The bleeding stopped fairly quickly, and, after a dose of tylenol for pain relief, he seems perfectly fine. That is, until he smiles and you see his gap.

And the beat goes on...

apple picking

Yesterday was a GLORIOUS day. Finally, we had average temps and sunshine, so I decided it would be a perfect day to take the boys apple picking. It's one of my favorite activities of the year.

(I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures to this thing, so these are out of order)

Here is Enzo, barefoot, trying to plant a stick into the dirt. This is one of his favorite activities lately. Love.

Finn asked me to take a picture of the sheep on the hillside. The apple farmers also raise the sheep for their wool, which they spin into yarn and then sell in their shop. I think they may also sell the meat.

And, here are the boys, trucking up the big hill on the way to pick apples. We picked 4 bags, which will be transformed into apple sauce once I get a going in the kitchen.
I just love this orchard (Door Creek Orchard outside of Cottage Grove). It's my secret dream to own this place to live here and sell apples. It seems like such a sweet life. I was talking with the owner -- not disclosing my secret -- and he and his wife have owned it for 26 years. The house on grounds, which looks lovely from the outside, was built in 1860 and it used to be a Norweigian dairy farm with about 40 head of cattle. Sure seems like the good life.

(by the way, how does one spell "norweigian"?)

announcement

Ahem. CTTM has now two, that's TWO (NOT including me!) readers. Rome wasn't built in a day, folks.

The picture above doesn't relate to the post. I just wanted to see if I knew how to post a picture again. But, now that it's out there, I have been considering this picture for the christmas card. Opinions?

I wish to address a comment from my newest reader, "mark". "mark" asked about the name of this blog, suggesting that the moon wasn't a very desirable place and therefore, why would one want to crawl there. I look a the phrase in a different light -- one speaking of endurance and determination in reaching a goal, which I demonstrate on a regular basis as a mother. "I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl" is what Anthony Kiedes sings, and that line from that song often is in my head as I'm going through my day. I could have named the blog "waiting for the toaster" or "looking for lost shoes" (both of which I've done in the past 30 minutes AND everyday since becoming a mother) but those don't seem quite as poetic. So, "mark", I hope this answers your question. And I think "swimming to the mountaintop" would be a great name for a blog.

Hey, did you notice that? I bolded great.

Yesterday, also known as my 41st birthday, was very nice. Enzo and I visited Grandma O, and she was in good spirits and seemed a bit like her old self. She was wearing black nylon stockings with her shoes, and Enzo was a little concerned about her black feet, which caused Grandma to laugh heartily, which caused ME to laugh heartily. The moment was a bit bittersweet, because I kept listening for Pop's hearty laugh to join in, but those are moments in life. After Grandma, we did go shopping and I did buy 2 sweaters and 2 shirts (!!) and I considered a purse but did not buy one. After the guys came home from school, I built a fire in the fireplace and lazily sat with the doggie on my lap, reading my book (Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Aushlander, a memoir by a guy who is often on This American Life - good book). Mom and Dad stopped by with some birthday cheer, and Bob came home and prepared dinner for the kids. All in all, a lovely little day.

And this is where it goes south. I was getting ready to head out the door for bunko, and I lost my footing on the stairs and fell, twisting my ankle again. Same ankle I twisted on the walk to school the other day. Still hurts today, and I'm limping a bit. I suppose I will heal but this may put my olympic dreams off a bit. I went to bunko and had a nice time but did not win a thing. So, I'm pretty sure turning 41 is bad luck for me.

I"m going to try to post a picture below this text. Let's see if it works!

Hmm, they at the top of this posting. I don't understand... (on one of our last days at the pool this summer, Finn decided to try the 12 feet deep water. True Finn fashion, he jumped in, fearless, and loved the thrill. After a short time, he was going off the diving board - wowee!)

Time's up - off to Friday chores!

blah

It's a gloomy, rainy week around here. Not much happening out of the ordinary -- school for the guys, speech and Birch's class for Enzo, yahtzee at night, meals that the children like to varying degrees (but usually closer to the DISlike end of the spectrum - grr). So, I thought I'd recall a lovely summer evening from a couple of months ago. And then I realized that I don't really want to do that. Kind of a lot of effort for me on this lazy, rainy day.

Instead, I'll get on with my day -- taking Enzo to speech and volunteering in Finn's class for Math time (which I love love love - he cuddles in my lap like a little puppy), visiting Grandma O, maybe little bit of shopping (it's my birthday, so I kind of want to splurge on a new sweater or purse or something like that). Maybe Enzo and I will get a bite of lunch out somewhere together. This evening, I think Alex will have football practice in the rain (they are HARDCORE!) and I get to go to my bunco group, which is always a fun evening.

In completely trivial news, I'm a little bummed because I got my netflix queue a little out of order, and I was hoping for another installment of Weeds but instead got The Big Lebowski. But I'm a strong person. I can overcome this!

for ms. anon

tuesday afternoon update --

I twisted my ankle in my fancy new clogs while walking to school this afternoon.

I am listening to Bob Dylan "Blood on the Tracks" while typing this. I'm pretty much loving it. Kids are playing something outside with neighborhood kids.

Enzo participated in speech today (as opposed to running and screaming down the hall, as he did last week Friday), and afterwards we popped in to the Firefighter demonstration that was happening at the school. We saw a firefighter put on her gear, and we got a tour of the equipment on a firetruck. We were invited in to the gym in part because Enzo was wearing his firefighter coat.

Porketta is in the oven. Cookies are about to be made. PTO meeting tonight. More excitement than I can handle.

some days are harder than others

and it's only 8:40 am. Without getting into the nitty gritty details, this morning was a rough one. Lot's of emotions flying around. I'm pleased to note that we all left each other in a good spot -- with our secret hand squeezes goodbye and even a quick "I love you". Whew.

After successfully getting "the guys" off to their schools (technically, Alex to the bus stop, Finn to school), Enzo, Dash and I continued on our routine to check out the "worker guys" who have been working on a street a couple of blocks down from the school. The worker guys are almost done, and it will be a sad little day for us when we can no longer check their progress. Our "worker guy friend" told us their next project is way on the east side -- too far to check out on our walk back from school.

Oh! I forgot this part! The number 6 fire truck (our neighborhood station) was in front of school this morning! Zo and I saw it in front of Woodmans yesterday -- and now today! In front of school! I'm pretty sure they were there for some fire safety thing, as everyone seemed quite casual and relaxed. As we were standing outside talking about the truck, a firefighter rang the bell for us. So, worker guys AND fire fighters all in one morning! Life couldn't get sweeter than this!

This crisp, autumn air must be good for bunny smells because Dash was sure on some trail all the way to and from school. For the record, he's been a good little doggie lately. I think we finally have our routine down and he's getting it (meaning, not using the house as his toilet). Not the brightest dog in the world, that one.

Off to the rest of my day, which is not particularly exciting but that's ok too. I think I have enough excitement this morning already.

still alive

ok, so one thing I've learned here is that a blog is like a plant. If you ignore it, it just sort of dies a sad little death. I've ignored you, little blog. I thought with school resuming and life settling back down, I would spend more time with you. hmm, what happened? I will try to bring you back to life, little blog. I will!

So, let's recap the weekend, shall we? It was rather fun...

Friday night, I went out with a bunch of girlfriends. I have lots of groups of girlfriends, and I think (shhh, don't tell the others) that this is my favorite bunch of girlfriends. We celebrated a couple of birthdays -- ok, MINE -- at a great restaurant, and then we decided to take it to the next level. Live life on the edge. We went to a hookah bar and watched a belly dancer. And (shhh, don't tell my kids) we smoked a hookah. Anyway, it was a very fun night with a great group. Everyone needs great girlfriends, and I am the luckiest.

On Saturday it was freezing. Literally. Finn and Alex played flag football, and it was flurrying during Alex's game. Snow! On October 10! What is this??!! Brr. After I realized I just couldn't warm up after all of that outside time, I turned on the furnace at home. Bummer - I was planning to wait until November to turn it on, but then again, I was planning on average temps for October, also. Alex and I checked out the South Side Raiders tackle football team to think about next year's option. It was a bit intense, but Alex was not deterred by that. In fact, I think he was excited by all of the emotion. He surprises me, that one.

Sat night, we hired a babysitter (!!!) and had a date (!!!) with our good buddies Bill and Bob and Alan. We ate at Greenbush and went to a Baroque concert at Gates of Heaven. Just a wee bit different from the hookah/bellydancer experience from the night before, but I'm versatile, y'all!

Sunday was a nice and quiet day -- yahtzee (this will be known as the year of yahtzee for this family) topped off by family swim at the Princeton Club. Bob went to a book reading with a friend last night, while Enzo and I baked some cookies.

And here we are facing the week ahead. Looks like the cold is sticking around, so we'll be huddling inside. Playing Yahtzee.