Summer throwback

A few pics from the summer that I missed...

re-cap/end-cap/where have we been all fall?

This, the fall of 2010 has been a fabulously full time. So full that I am only now finally dragging my laptop to the "internet station" in our house (no wireless), plugging in, and uploading some goods from the past FOUR months. That's a long time, especially when the winter days start to crawl like sap dripping from a Christmas pine that has not yet lost its life to the "holiday season." I've never thought of myself as a tree-hugger, but that demise just seems so... final and anticlimactic.

So the fall was full, eh (I use that word for my Canadian friends)? A family cabin weekend with my side, a fun Halloween experience with good buddies (just tossed the remnant of that loot last week), lots of Thanksgiving crafts and Philip's family to share them with during a sweet time together.

The end-cap, the grand finale, of course, had to be the white Christmas morning that left us "stranded" for a couple days. This Christmas I was keen encourage the kids to savor the moments of advent and Christmas day, the traditions, the gifts, the hubub of it all as a celebration, a culmination of a certain Something much more than presents (which is what its all about for kids!). Something INFINITELY greater. But of course, Teya got that pervasive materialism bug that always afflicted me growing up, and she passed it to David before he should rightly be afflicted. They ripped open their presents, didn't even pause to breathe or think, and with flames in their eyes and saliva dripping from their greedy lips, demanded the next present. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but I was astonished at how they were transformed in a matter of mere moments from lovely, sweet children to little stuff monsters. So we are re-thinking Christmas. Is it really Jesus' birthday, or is it just an excuse to buy ourselves everything we never needed and didn't really want so that we can have some more stuff to stuff into a closet? Hmmmm... the jury's out on this one, but I do hope somewhere deep within that the Long family Christmas will look a little different next year.

Enough said, here's the recap of our fabulous fall!

Trick-or-treating with Evangeline. David refused to wear his cool homemade dog ears headband, which meant a confusing costume: poor child dressed in brown sporting a black eye.

Thumb-sucking is for sissies!

Leaves! And cousins!

"Boating" with Daddy. That's not quite what we had in mind when picturing the owner-described "canoe."
Our first (and probably last) trip on the Lookout Mountain Incline, which is the self-proclaimed "World's most amazing mile." We used up the last of our discount commuter tickets, which they don't sell anymore because people were scalping them. Crazy locals. Now we'd have to shell out $40 to once again live that dream :-)

Mission Accomplished. David fully potty-trained. Next task: decipher front from back.

Swinging HIGHER!

I was amazed at how much work these guys can do with the promise of some fun jumping time! Over the course of the fall months, Urban and Lyndon Tucker have spent quite a few mornings at our house (and David at theirs). Being the schemer that I am, we worked out games that involved collecting thousands of acorns, raking truckloads of leaves, and picking up pine cones by the gazillion. All work that needed to be done, but SO MUCH fun!

Happy to be alive! (and thankful for some sweet pearly whites)

Annual (because we did it last year, too) visit to the farm of Joan and Matt Vos, whose sheep just had babies! This was a good place to open up thoughts about where Jesus was born. Pretty stinky and cold.

Yes, Joy! But how did that lighted sign arrive in our yard one cold dark night? Aaron and Joy fessed up a few days later. Those sneaks!

Eight inches of snow on our mystery sign.

Great-grandma, the Gingerbread House forewoman looks on as David and Teya make their masterpiece.

Christmas morning. Happy Birthday, JESUS!

A few of his favorite things.

Notice, present in hand :-)

Sledding on Krupski Slope with the cousins.

What an amazing year this has been. We've all grown and changed, and we eagerly anticipate what God will do with and through us in the year ahead!

Keeping up with the Joneses...not literally, of course

Once again, I am ashamed by my half-hearted commitment to this blogging thing. We've been so busy and done so much in the past weeks that it makes sense, but still...lame excuses! I'm inspired by friends who have an exponentially greater number of children and are able to keep up with their blogs - for the sake of family and friends far away. And we, too, have plenty of those :-) So here's to "keeping up with the Joneses."

We've celebrated everything from the first day of Pre K, to a trip to St. Louie, apple picking, nose picking, playing with friends, and saying goodbye to the long hot days of summer (early bedtimes, welcome back!) Pictures trigger the memories, and that's all I need so I guess this post is for my lonesome self and anyone who might dislike the reading part of a blog, because its going to be nothing more than pictures this time round.

First day of Pre K. I was planning to homeschool Teya for pre-K, as if she really needs to be "schooled" at age 4. But, as I hope to homeschool in the future, I thought this would be a good trial run. A week before the first day of school at Lookout Mtn. Presbyterian Church, the director of the pre-school program called and said they had both an opening in Teya's age group and a scholarship for her. Guess that answers that question! She loves it and is thrilled to be in class with her "cousins" the Clark triplets, and I am thankful for God's provision for her and us.

APPLE SEASON is here. We were invited to pick apples in a friend's yard, and Noah enjoyed sneaking single bites from multiple apples while meandering the grounds and harassing the horses. Our house is flowing with applesauce. Now to deal with the two grocery bags of hard pears we picked last week....

Good buddies Teya and Noah taking a moment of respite after the hard work of harvesting apples.

LOVE the St. Louis zoo. Matt and Beth Kimbrell spent their entire Saturday afternoon wandering with us from giraffes to flamingos.
St. Louis with the Lindley Great-grandparents. Their neighbors loaned us a couple wheels for the weekend. It was such a fun, rich visit!
Picnic with John and Lindsey Perkins. John was Phil's best buddy from high school and college roommate. Eva and Shepherd making silly faces with D & T. Baby Clementine is not pictured, but she was very much present in all her newborn glory.

OK, I did write something, but I spent entirely too much time on this and need to go to bed!

The Kite Runners, or why you should buy a plastic kite from the dollar store.

Building and flying one's own kite is not all that its cracked up to be. Teya was inspired to build her own kite after reading a book about a boy who took some scraps of wood, a map and some old string and created a masterpiece of a kite that won a kite-flying competition. I would not recommend planting the "build your own kite" in your kids' bursting-with-creative-juices minds. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed painstakingly building a frame held in tension by string, covering it with paper, decorating, attaching balancing strings and tails and the lead string. Philip does not begrudge the sacrifice of his thumb, which he massacred with a knife while working on the frame. I was not completely disappointed when the end result looked more like a flattened tick than a perfectly balanced geometric shape. My heart did not sink when Teya only wanted to cover 1/16th of the kite in decoration (I had envisioned ice cream cones covering the entire surface of the gliding glory).

But when we tried to fly the albatross, that's when my heart sank. I ran frantically around the soccer field, trying to get a gust under the kite, only to slam it into the ground. Over. And over. And over. So much for that.

At least Teya was still smiling at the end of the life of the kite. Rest in peace, kite. Rest in peace.

Why David's birthday celebration came 70+days late...and other tall tales.

As you may know, David has some food issues. The cupcakes pictured below are one of the reasons I procrastinated 70+ days beyond his birthday of June 8 to throw a formal celebration for our second child's 2nd birthday. And in the end, I am ashamed to admit that I only went to the effort of throwing a shin-dig because of....well, shame. I walked in the living room one Saturday afternoon and my mom and Teya were wrapping a large box. As a cruised in, Mom stated somewhat defiantly that she was going to give D. his birthday present - party or no party - that evening. So I got on it. Whipped up some Mexicano "pile-on" (a Stanton family favorite) for dinner and these gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free cupcakes. Anyone wondering how it is possible to make such a allergen-free delight can find the recipe at http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/12/mexican-chocolate-cake-vegan-fabulous.html. Now I am even more ashamed that it took me so long to show D. how much he and his arrival into our life means to us. It was so much fun to see this kid, who has never eaten real cake or blown out candles EAT IT UP.

Cupcake heaven.

Mesmerized by candle light and dulcet tones of "Happy Birthday, " David focused, blew and poof, out went the candles.....

And in went the sweet little face!

Here's to MANY MORE gluten, dairy, egg-free birthday celebrations for this amazing child, who blesses our every day with his sense of humor, intensity and sugary sweetness. May I never again put off the recognition of such an important moment in this boy's life and in our life together as a family!

A moment for Davie

The past couple days have been ALL ABOUT David. After a few hours with Noah and his portable little potty seat, which travelled with us on our wildcrafting expedition (lay person's description: picking weeds in the woods to use medicinally while diffusing sibling rivalry and insect attacks and attending to potty needs), David began the adventure of potty training. Oh my. I have been eager for and avoiding this moment in a discordant harmony for the past few months. And here we are: trapped in the 15-minute cycle of potty stops, wet undies, dirty undies, multiple baths. In the midst of it all, we've had some high pitched cheering, high fives and potty treats to accompany a few victories. All in all, he's been a trooper (if not a potty pooper) and I trust that he'll be in the realm of the diaperless big boy within the next few weeks (intentionally ambiguous, but hopeful). So here's to Davie, and to the firsts of his past few weeks.
A first cupcake (blueberry-banana muffin with vegan carob icing -yuck) experience. Enjoyed thoroughly, even if the expression conveys a different story.
A first courageous "ride" on Dita's scooter, of which he's been terrified for the past year. Hold on, boy, hold on.
A first sweet nap in the stroller in Ashville, NC. Snoozies for nearly an hour while kids splashed in the nearby stream.
A first vacuum of the entire living room. This guy is my helper, especially when it comes to operating equipment. Unfortunately his interest has also expanded to operating the toilet bowl brush.

Our D-man rocks, and we love him very much, even if we failed to celebrate his 2nd birthday.

A Slice of Paradise - Pender Harbour 2010

Our annual family time at the Rawlston's in Pender Harbour, BC was phenomenal, to say the least. I never imagined that I'd feel so rested and at ease on vacation with a 2 and 4-year old. But it was wonderful - Phil and I were even able to have a picture taken of the two of us - thanks Emma!

David and Hazel saw eachother after months apart and said, "Hi, baby." Hazel is officially David's baby. He talks about her all the time, particularly about how his baby is bye-bye. Makes a mama want to cry.

Lily is a little fish (and a bird, apparently). She put my floatation device dependent little ones to shame. That's right, shame. Granted, she's older, but nontheless...shame.
A moment of respite. Looks like a good conversation (?)

Sisters. Emma (8 1/2) and Alli (12 1/2) are great hiking partners.

One of the amazing highlights of Pender is on-site access to the inlet and a whole slew of boats to choose from. This particular outing lasted all of 4 minutes and 22 seconds when Teya decided she likes the boat with the motor better. Taylor took Teya and Emma out on that boat to see some seals on a nearby island, which they loved. The following day, Popsey took a group out to see the seals, the engine died and they had to row back.
Evie Rawlston has created an amazing prayer garden above the complex, complete with little resting places, ponds and waterfalls, paths, and a prayer walk, based on the book My Heart, Christ's Home, by Robert Boyd Munger. I didn't get much farther than taking this picture, but one day when the little guys aren't so eager for my return, I hope to follow the story she's incorporated into the prayer garden.

The two Hazels