The Petite Family

Christmas Day 2012

Today marked our ninth Christmas here in Maryland. We’ve enjoyed every year, watching the kids holiday wonderment and sharing this time together. This season, we hosted a fun holiday potluck for our vegetarian MeetUp group on the 23rd, and that launched us into a feeling of festiveness and holiday cheer.

On Christmas Eve, Flo got her wish, as a few inches of fluffy white snow fell just in time for a white Christmas. The downside was that church was cancelled. But, since Grandma and Tom were leaving Christmas morning for Myrtle Beach, they braved the snow and came down for a short visit to exchange gifts. They were VERY generous this year. They got Flo a pair of Beats headphones. She actually cried! LOL They got Joe a Nexus tablet, which he LOVES. And, Tom surprised us with a new HP LAPTOP! We gave them a bamboo fruit bowl and a candle. It's the thought that counts!

Christmas morning started around 9am, thought I managed to stay in bed until about 9:45, when Joe just couldn’t take it anymore. He woke up Zofia and Flo, and down we went to open gifts.

Santa was thoughtful, as always, this year. He brought Flo this awesome high-end recording mic, but failed to realize that it doesn't connect directly to the computer... you need an adapter or mixer to run it through to USB to the computer. Oops... So, Flo will be saving up for that and longingly looking at her pretty new mic in the meantime. Joe got huge Lego frigate project, so we haven't seen much of him today. And, for Zofia, Santa left a cuddly, orange teddy bear. She's been happily occupied most of the day with some of her new holiday art supplies.

Darren got a stocking full of Briscola and tarot cards, and he and the kids got me a cozy new pair of mittens from Ten Thousand Villages down the street. I walk a lot around the neighborhood in the evenings, and my old standby fuzzy red Canadian Olympics mittens have become quite tattered, so I’m happy to have a replacement. I enjoyed filling the kids stockings this year with tidbits from local vendors, through Valley Co-op. Fun stuff like soaps, lotions, incense, candles, lip balms, and other fun treats.

Darren and I enjoyed a restful day, with a little durian/banana combo for breakfast, after watching the kids open gifts. Then we watched some YouTube videos about Ecuador on our new laptop. Later in the afternoon, we made up a tasty veggie tray with some avo/tomato dip, and rounded out the day's feast with yummy berry fruit smoothies. The kids holiday treats consisted of gluten-free noodles, fruit smoothies, lemon-ginger tea, and a few goodies from their stockings. All in all, it was a low-stress, high-fun, happy-energy, relaxing day, and the spirit of Christmas was abound.

Holiday Greetings 2012

Season’s Greetings!  It’s Christmas Eve day, and we just headed outside to try to get a family picture, and it started to snow!  So, we all got a little silly, and this is as good as it gets!  Twenty years from now, there will be no regrets about not dressing up properly and heading to a photography studio, because I’ll remember this ridiculous scene, of us running around with silly hats, trying to get in front of the camera before the timer went off.  All the while, with bits of fresh snow clouding the lens of the camera, and lending to the comedic scene!

It’s been a busy year, and as 2012 comes to a close, we’re focusing on things we can do to slow down the pace of life a bit, so we feel like we have more time to savor the good stuff!  And, by good stuff, I mean, these fleeting moments with our kids, time together as a family, time for creative pursuits and just time to take a walk and look out at the sky.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our schedules (my Google calendar facilitates this well) that it doesn’t feel like there’s enough space in between to catch a breath and regroup.  But, as we step back and examine things, we realize much of this is our own making; our own choices; our own perceptions, our lack of consciousness.  So, once again, parenting, marriage and family life, offer a vast platform from which to foster personal growth.  And, as homeschoolers, we’re all on board for this ride!

Everyone here is well, and wishing you all the same!  Darren continues to work for the VA.  He’s had a rough year, struggling with an old back injury from the military, which has been causing considerable pain.  So, his focus has been trying to balance work, kids and rest enough to make it tolerable, while seeking out non-drug therapies that can help.  This past summer, he took a short trip to Ecuador with a friend of ours, and brought back some interesting stories and a well-rested demeanor.  Since September, he’s been coaching hockey again this year, for Joe’s team, the Hagerstown Bulldogs, and they’re busy, almost every weekend, trekking around the state for games.  They definitely love it!

Flo is now thirteen, and well ensconced in teen life.  Her academic focus this year is rivaled by her avid social life, but we do okay balancing things.  She loves reading, is working on writing projects and math independently, and takes Spanish and piano lessons, as well.  When she’s not engaged in some menial task we’ve delegated, we can usually find her with her headphones on, listening to music, on Facebook, chatting with her friends, doodling in her art journal, or dying her hair funky colors!

Joe, just turned ten this month.  We’re still astonished at how quickly ten years went by.  His first year tested our resolve, and it’s pretty much been smooth sailing since.  He’s a strong-willed, high-spirited, kid, but he’s kind (except, sometimes with his sisters) and inquisitive and keeps us engaged in thought-provoking conversations.  He’s all about hockey, Legos, and some of those on-line building games.  He’s progressing with learning, though he definitely needs a bit more prompting with reading, than his older sister.  However, if it’s something that interests him, it’s no problem.  He read all the Wimpy Kid series books this year, and thoroughly enjoyed the movies, as well.

That leaves Zofia, who turned five this past August. She generally tags along to her older siblings activities, and plays with other kids her age at our homeschool group gatherings. This Fall she tried her turn at ballet. It was a six week class hosted by the YMCA. We tried a gym class there a couple years ago, and it did not go well. Keeping Zofia in the room was impossible. So, we figured with almost a two year lapse, she was ready to try again. Remarkably, she did great, and paid attention to the teacher, but after every class, she declared, “I never want to come back here!” Nonetheless, she wasn’t too hard to convince to go every week, though, I don’t see a budding dance career ahead for her. But, one never does know! She’s a ball of energy, and keeps me busy most days, just entertaining her and helping to reassemble the fallout from her creative play. But, we are soaking in this time with her, as she’s our last “little” kid.

Lastly, I’m still happily filling my role as domestic goddess, creative facilitator, advocate of positive thinking and just all-around busy mom.  Outside of my kids, my main interests or projects are coordinating a local produce co-op, organizing events for our vegetarian lifestyle MeetUp.com group, helping to facilitate our local homeschooling support group, taking LOTS of pictures, writing as much as I can, and reading!  I’m enjoying all this experience has to offer, and looking forward to what unfolds in 2013.

Have a happy holiday and a great New Year!

Happy Holidays 2011

Look at that! Winter already! In fact, we're smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, racing towards the New Year! I always marvel at how fast time seems to be going these days, and wonder if it's simply a perceptive byproduct of an overly-busy life. Nonetheless, I'm along for the ride, on which, I try, though somewhat feebly, to slow down once and awhile, so we can enjoy the beautiful views on the way to where we're going.

And this year, those beautiful views have included cherished memories of our homeschooling journey with our kids. We're convinced they're teaching us more than we're imparting to them, but I do think we're rubbing off on them a bit.

Flo is twelve now, and has put to rest the stereotype of the unsocialized homeschooler. Her schedule is full of activities. Her best friend, Megan, just moved away, so she's missing her, but, of course, she's quite the computer savvy gal, fully adept in the whole social networking world, keeping in touch with friends all over the place.

Joe just turned nine, and is still an avid hockey player. His interests this year include utilizing his massive Lego collection to build all sorts of interesting creations. He's also into the whole Star Wars story now, too. We have been fairly prudent with the TV we let the kids watch, trying to minimize exposure to violent images and such while they're young. So, up until this week, Joe had never seen any of the Star Wars movies. We were surprised how much of the story he had already absorbed just as a byproduct of the culture he's in. So, we recently relented to let him watch the original movie, which of course, he thought was the BEST movie he's ever seen!

Zofia, now four, is keep us busy with answering tons of questions, like "Why is the sky blue?" and "Why does Daddy have hair on his face?" Surprisingly, the questions of a four year-old aren't always that easy to answer. Nonetheless, we give it our best shot.

Darren continues working for the Department of Veterans Affairs out of DC, but thankfully is still working at home, only commuting one day per week to update his casework. Working at home for the past few years has been a real gift. Of course, though it does come with some distractions, since his office right off our kitchen, Darren has really enjoyed having this time to spend with the kids while they're young.

And, as for me, I keep busy facilitating the whole family enterprise. Photographer, chef, seamstress, secretary, accountant, chauffer, computer operator, story teller, therapist, philosopher ... those are just some of the roles I fill in this venture, but best of all are the titles of Mother and Friend. I really am blessed.

So, as we celebrate the Winter Solstice this week and look forward to spending time with friends and family over the Christmas holiday, we hope you all are well and eager to greet the New Year with ambitious goals or simply gratitude for that which you've already achieved.

Happy Holiday Season 2010

Here in the United States, Thanksgiving has already come and gone. We bid it farewell on Thursday, after a quiet day at home and a simple meal together. We were just thankful to have a day off! But, I guess that means we've officially launched into the 2010 holiday season. Brace yourselves! Well, unless you're one of those people that just thrive on the busyness, and often daunting, holiday preparations. I'm generally not cynical, but the strongest current of this time of year often seems to be one of consumerism, which can threaten to wash away all the pleasantries and joys. Nonetheless, I can't say that the holiday decorations, festive gatherings, and chilly weather, don't spark nostalgic sentiments for me. So, I do my best to create happy memories and new traditions for my kids and our family, while trying to minimize over consumption and the incurrence of holiday debt. Fa la la la la!

That said, I'm looking forward to upcoming holiday get-togethers. And, the kids are already well-prepared with their lists for Santa and eagerness to set up the Christmas tree this weekend. Flo started months ago with a very detailed and organized list for "Santa." She is now privy to Santa's identity, but still enjoys the fun, and may be a little reluctant to let go of the illusion. The fact that she has two siblings looking forward to Santa's return, makes it easy for her to savor the fantasy a bit longer.

Since my last post at the end of the summer, we've all been busy with the activities of this new homeschool year. Flo has a full schedule with guitar, skating, art, and tutoring and a learning co-op. And, Joe is still busy several days a week with hockey practices and games, as well as, various other homeschool activities. His eighth birthday is coming up in a couple weeks, and he is excited about that. And finally, Zofia is now three and giving us a run for our money. She's so much fun, but the kids have lovingly nicknamed her "Destructo Baby." Joe had just gotten through that "dump everything on the floor" stage, and now Zofia is next in line. We spend a lot of time picking up stuff off the floor, but I love her creativity and watching her entertain herself with my pots and pans, or all of the books from the lower shelves of our bookcase. Someday, I'll stand in my tidy, organized home, missing the chaos and dishevelment. I remind myself of that daily.

Darren is still happily working at home. In January, he has to reapply for the work at home program, so hopefully, it will continue. There's always that fear that he'll have to return to the miserable daily commute, but we'll remain optimistic, and enjoy having so much time together right now.

As for me, I'm feeling busy as ever, and trying to balance all the parts of my life. Between parenting, homeschooling, being on the board at our church, helping organize a produce co-op, and trying to keep myself in good health, there doesn't often seem to be much time left to breathe. But, I'm working on that... just breathing... it does wonders!

So, I hope this season finds everyone doing well and looking forward to time with friends and family. As corny as it sounds, it is a magical time of year; especially if we focus on the spirit of the season, fostering friendships and family connections, and knowing that the greatest gift we can give is our own energy, focus and love. Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays 2009!

Happy Holidays! This is a great time of year. The one time where our individual faiths culminate into a collective spirit of celebration. Although it's often a commercial spirit, the undertow of kindness and holiday cheer tug us along through the season, and (hopefully) overshadow the stress of gift-giving, food preparations and traveling.

We enjoyed a nice couple day prelude to Christmas by taking a short ride up to Grandma's on Wednesday afternoon for a little holiday celebration and gifts for the kids. Then yesterday, Darren went to work in DC in the morning, and we went to the evening service at church before coming home and opening the gifts from Darren's parents and sister, with whom we have a tradition of exchanging every year.

Thankfully, the kids got to bed by 11, so Santa could make an early rounds, and they slept in until 9am! Bonus! So, we started off the day with opening Santa's gift and a few gifts from Mom and Dad, then a simple breakfast of fruit, tea, and cereal for the kids. We listened to some holiday music, I took a quick stroll on the treadmill while watching Oprah's holiday music special and Darren took to the task of helping Joe assemble his new Lego toy.

Later, we dug out the five pounds of organic broccoli we had left from our produce co-op, and made a steamed broccoli with garlic sauce and a raw broccoli salad with a creamy hemp dressing. We purposely didn't plan a holiday dinner, just to give ourselves a reprieve from meal planning. I made a huge batch of gluten-free vegan chocolate chip oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday for the kids, so they're covered for holiday sweets, along with all their stocking goodies, too!

We rounded out the day by watching The Polar Express and I'm now hoping Zofia will soon feel the weighty pull of fatigue. She's a handful these days! I'm looking forward to checking my email, catching up on some writing and hopefully relaxing a little with Darren before we're both too tired to communicate any further today. At least we have a full weekend with nothing on the calendar. That's a great holiday treat!

Farewell to 2008!

Darren and I just watched the ball drop on TV with the kids, and welcomed in our 20th New Year together! That country song "Don't Blink" comes to mind, because I swear, it was just yesterday that I had just met Darren, and we were celebrating our first New Year together.

We spent the evening with friends at church for their annual "Alternative New Year's Eve Celebration." Unfortunately, our kids were a bit challenging, and we spent more time wrangling them than actually socializing, but it was nice to be in good company for the last day of the year!

The onset of a new year brings to mind many resolutions, but I think I'll keep it simple this year and just work towards balance in all areas of my life. Simple... but not so simple, I guess. We continue to focus on our nutrition and exercise, but also, a big focus this year is to simplify our spending and start the year with a month-long “buy-nothing” challenge. This really is just a month of trying to stay out of stores, and not needlessly purchase things without some forethought. We will keep a journal of wants versus needs, and try to impart to the kids the importance of distinguishing between the two. So, we’ll see how it goes!

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

My last post left us just a few days prior to trick-or-treating, and now we’re on the last day of November, having cruised through Thanksgiving and being thrust into the hectic holiday season. Time sure does fly!

November was an eventful month. The energy surrounding the presidential election was exciting, and even the kids got into it. On that day, we went and voted, toted the kids around to an Earth Scouts meeting, and later yoga, then came home to watch the drama unfold on TV. Flo colored in a map of the electoral votes as they came in, and I went about our nightly activities with the television keeping tally in the background. It was definitely exciting to be part of such a historical election. Flo said she knew all along that Obama would win, and I said he had to win, just so I could hear Joe say his name… Bawak Abama!

This month also brought a new source of nourishment to us. We had been participating in a local organic produce co-op for a bit, and delivery was just down the street to our friend’s house. After a few weeks, it became apparent that her front porch would not accommodate the task of sorting produce at midnight in the cold of winter, so we decided to reroute delivery to our garage. I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now, and aside from the one very late night once a week, it’s been a treat having access to such great produce. It’s really helped our grocery bill, the time we have to spend going to the grocery store, and has got us eating a greater diversity of fruits and veggies.

We rounded out the month with a quiet Thanksgiving dinner at home. We made some nice stuffed squash, bean soup and a pumpkin pie. We just enjoyed some time to have nothing on our schedule and hang out together. In the evening we took a ride around town to see how many people already had their holiday decorations up. We were surprised to see people camping out in front of our local Best Buy store, apparently awaiting its opening the next morning. I’m not sure what it was that would inspire someone to do that. I speculate some new video game or gadget, or the promise of some exceedingly good discount.

To join in that consumer-induced, shopping energy, we decided to go out on Black Friday, to get a couple things for Joe for Christmas. My mom watched him for the afternoon, so it gave us an opportunity to just look around without Joe’s predictable commercially-induced anxiety attacks. Thankfully, we didn’t have much of a shopping list, so the crowds weren’t much of an obstacle.

Finally, as we say good-bye to November, and get in gear for the festivities of December, we joined a group of homeschooling mom’s for an evening of baking cookies and socializing. Flo came along to help with Zofia, but enjoyed playing with our host’s daughter more than wrangling her little sister. Social outings are definitely a little more challenging with a one-year old, but it was fun to see friends.

So, with just one month left in the year, we’ll try to soak in the spirit of the holidays and enjoy yet another season of anticipation and joy with our kids!

Behaving Badly

Father's Day Pizza

This month has proved to be a real challenge. For some reason, Joe is really acting up, and sibling rivalry between Flo and Joe is at its peak. We spent most of our time diverting Joe’s attention, and just trying to clean up the daily aftermath of having three kids. I was sick for a few days, and fell behind on housework, and then it just feels like climbing a mountain to catch back up. But, I’m sure I’m not alone in this challenge, so I’ll avoid complaining… too much!

Another good-parenting highlight surfaced this month when Flo blurted out the “F word”! I told her to let Joe go get the mail, and she ignored me and practically plowed Joe down trying to get out the door first. When I got mad at her, she said “I’ve been waiting all morning to get the “f*****n” mail!” It was one of those moments where my instinct was to laugh because it just sounded so out of character, but I promptly maintained my cool and sent her to her room to reflect. We didn’t get mad, but later sat down with her and pointed out that it’s not the most appealing language to use, and one should try hard to think of more descriptive adjectives!

Oh, here’s an additional little snapshot of our month thus far… Picture us standing in line at the Whole Foods Market store in Annapolis, Maryland. We had gone out for a daytrip, and had stopped for a late lunch. Joe is pestering Flo, Flo is whining because he’s pestering her, and Zofia is screaming in her stroller. We’re waiting patiently to check out, so we can feed the kids (and ourselves) and hopefully have a momentary break. Then, someone made the mistake of moving Zofia and her stroller a little too close to the shopping cart, and she promptly grabbed my cup of coffee (which thankfully was not hot), and dumped the whole thing (it was full) in her lap. She really didn’t mind that, but when I took the coffee cup away, she went into an all-out fit. Keep in mind, it’s Saturday, and the store is very crowded and rather small for the size of the area. We are totally blocking the flow of traffic as we scramble to clean up our mess, all the while, Joe is saying “Can I get a bagel, can I get a bagel, can I get a bagel?” That little voice in my head kept saying “Deep breaths!” The little voice was very helpful, because I got through that whole episode with minimal elevation of my blood pressure, and without yelling at anyone. Nonetheless, it just reinforced the challenge of taking three kids out and expecting to have a relaxing day. Probably not a realistic expectation. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll give it a try again sometime soon.

Still, even with the obvious stresses we encounter as parents, we’re really enjoying ourselves. Zofia is ten months old now, and just about walking. She’s not quite confident enough yet to take more than a step or two on her own, but she’s really curious and full of energy. We’re all enjoying watching her figure things out.

Darren did get to enjoy his eighth Father’s Day relaxing at home, while the kids and I made him pizza. My gift to him was to not roll my eyes or sigh too loudly when he played his Game Boy video game, and to let him relax as much as possible, despite the frequent conflicts between Flo and Joe, and general chaos that seems to engulf our house. Still, I think he had a fairly enjoyable day and got to reflect upon the joys of fatherhood.

So, we’re halfway through the month. I wonder what other exciting adventures the Petite Family will encounter as we head into Summer?