Rock To Wind A String Around

Even if I didn’t want to blog today, TMBGs have forced my hand.  Honestly, how many bands name songs after presidents?

It was a mirth-filled weekend from start to finish.  Our guests couldn’t make it at the last minute which caused much sadness but we’ll see them soon soon, we hope.  In the meantime, we had a Happy Family Day to celebrate on Friday.  We left Cowtown and visited the Dayton Art Institute–it’s one of our very favorite art museums.  Intimate in scope with great architecture and an impressive collection, and a truly inspired family experience room–we all managed to enjoy ourselves.  We zipped home in time to have our annual Happy Family Day dinner–hoagies and curly fries.  We picked up dinner on the way home from meeting Elliott 9 years ago, and we’ve eaten the same menu on February 15th ever since.  We actually offer Elliott a bottle of formula, since that was his first February 15th dinner, but he opts for curly fries every time.

On Saturday, we went to Cowtown’s main library so that I could pick up a shelf full of fund raising books.  Elliott loves being able to do his own thing in the children’s room, so the adult not searching for adult titles is free to keep up with the toddling tot.   While I was in with the kids, we met two little girls who could not keep their hands off Astrid Meklit.  They were so eager to ‘help’ her climb, or read, or sit.  Astrid was less excited by the help but enjoyed the attentions of the girls who laughed at every little thing she did and I really enjoyed the time talking to someone else’s kids.  They took advantage of my captive state and chattered on and on about school and brothers and babies and the Disn@y Channel.  It was great fun!  We left the library after more than two hours of browsing and crafting (on Elliott’s end) and went to an OSU gymnastics meet.  We used to go two years ago and loved it.  The arena is small enough to guarantee good seating, it’s inexpensive and Astrid could walk all over the place when she was tired of the flashing scoreboard.  We warned Elliott that we might not be able to stay for the entire meet but everyone was still in good spirits two hours after the rotations began so we lasted until the final, “O-H”    “I-O” was chanted.  We’ve agreed to go again next weekend–we want to become groupies!

Happy President’s Day!

Day number 435 of our confinement. Supplies are running low, I fear that the mission will remain unaccomplished…

Okay, seriously. I’m sure we’ve stayed home for a greater number of days in a row since Astrid came home, but our togetherness feels ceaseless. Maybe it’s because Albert isn’t swinging through the door at the end of the workday (usually with necessary groceries in hand) or it’s the weather (snow, snow, everywhere snow) or maybe it’s Elliott’s cage-rattling cough (which seems to be less frequent than yesterday?) but wow, I really want to be O-U-T for a bit (without the tots would be most divine, but really, even a trip to the market seems palatable at this point).

In the meantime, we soldier on with holiday plans. Elliott wanted to make marshmallows to take to homeschool gym tomorrow, but he’s really too contagious to touch anyone else’s foodstuffs, so I was roped into marshmallow concocting. I fear I will also be marshmallow dipping (in dark chocolate) marshmallow rolling (in nuts or toasted coconut) and marshmallow arranging in little white candy wrappers into the lovely silver box (N@rdstroms) reserved for such confectionery.  I still need to mat and frame Albert’s gift, and I thought I might make tapas for our late-night supper, but a trip to the market is necessary if that is going to happen.  Really, it’s a  regular pink and red fiesta around here.

We’re also getting ready for last-minute guests.  After a late-night phone call that lasted more than 2 hours (yea me–who knew I could still  be so social after midnight?) it was determined that our nearest and dearest in Chi-town will be coming for the weekend.  We are delighted and also popping zinc and echinacea laden bombs so that we don’t share the love with them.  Maybe cleaning the dark recesses of our half-bath will make missing  ‘not here’ less cumbersome.  Only time, and a little scrubbing will tell.

Took a trip to the dentist on wednesday. She confirmed that indeed, both children do have teeth. She also confirmed that Elliott is in need of orthodontia and that Astrid is the world’s loudest baby when she is unhappy. Darling Astrid Meklit demonstrated a distinct lack of enthusiasm for tooth-counting, even after she witnessed Elliott and Mommy’s fine demonstration of the activity. No matter–the pearly whites are there, they are healthy, and the dentist made no sounds of disapproval when she heard that Astrid still enjoys a hearty bottle (or four) each day.

During Albert’s first full week away since we moved to Cowtown,  his absence was palpable. He’s the quietest of the four of us, so his silence shouldn’t seem so loud, but there’s definitely a gaping hole with him gone. It’s hard to think that this will be the rhythm of our lives from this point forward. We’ve done this before–Albert has often worked out of town for weeks or months on end, but there was always the promise of a new temporary relocation. Now? We’ve got nothing but Mary P (ok, that’s a lot, but I still miss having Albert home everyday).   Most weekends are a mini-celebration when he works away.  A little work, a lot of family time and usually a fun outing or three.  This first weekend was a whole lot of nothing though.  Elliott decided to follow Astrid’s 10-day stomach ennui with a head cold that arrived on Friday, and by Saturday, Astrid appeared determined to join in the fun.  Other than a brief trip to the market on Friday, we were all home–ALL THE TIME.   It’s terribly cold today, so I really don’t mind (much) but on Saturday it was almost balmy and we didn’t do a thing about it.

Yesterday was the anniversary of ‘Annunciation Day.’  It was this day, nine years ago that we first heard about Mr. Excitement.  For the first time ever, Elliott wanted to hear every detail–from the initial call, to a description of me on the acupuncture table covered with needles when Albert rang.  I think he loved being the center of a story but not the main character.  He laughed when I told him I tried to get dressed (to rush out the door) before the needles were removed and he was impressed that we remember the weather for those few days with such clarity.  For a boy who asks scads of questions about every facet of our day, he is relatively mum on the subject of his adoption, despite my frequent mentions of the topic.  It was nice to see him embrace part of his story. I hope this is just the beginning…