I am an orphan. (Please don't tell my Mother)

My little orphans...dirty faces, dirty clothes and shaggy hair, gathering fire wood.

Really the picture was taken on a family hike after dinner...
Why is it that every child imagines they were adopted or orphaned? I remember thinking I had to be adopted when I was little. No such "luck". I was cut directly from the Damon-Davis cloth and the proof is all over my face and body--stamped into my genetic material. So, why did I wish I was an orphan? My childhood was fine and my family was waaaaay better than Miss Hannigan. (Daddy Warbucks, however, might have had a million or so legs up on my family.) Needless to say, I fantasized about being adopted and finding my "real" parents. I think it is something most kids do. As proof (or payback?) last night Wyatt asked me: "Can we play 'Baby Bus Stop'?" Not knowing what exactly this game was all about I went along. I started to pretend to be a bus driver picking up babies for school. "No, Mom. You are just a lady waiting at a bus stop. " Lorien began to clarify "And your bus is not coming. So you start to look around for your bus and you see two little babies without a Mom or a Dad across the street. You come over to us and decide to take us home." She concluded. "Yhea, because we" (Wyatt makes a waving gesture between he and Lorien.) "are orphans."



So I played along--all the while remembering similar games I used to play as a kid. Why do we do this? Does any one know?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Will and I are all cozied up on the couch enjoying the quiet now that the kids are in bed and the left-overs are put away. He and I were just talking about Thanksgivings past and how this one stacked up for us. We both agreed, this years feast was one of the best we'd ever had. Usually, we have company or go to some one's house. We split food prep with company and sit down surrounded by friends and family. This year we didn't make arrangements in time to have friends over and our nearest relatives were driving to Montana for the holidays. So, for the first time ever, we had Thanksgiving all to ourselves. After weeks of working long-late hours Will decided to take Wednesday and Thursday off for Thanksgiving. It was such a treat to have all of his undivided attention. On Wednesday morning we all went out grocery shopping as a family. I loved the sail's pace we took on each errand. Normally, I go shopping with the kids and just try to make it out of the store alive. Both Will and I kept laughing at the funny things the kids were talking about. At one point Lorien and Wyatt were carrying on a conversation in earnest regarding the origin of certain words. Lorien responded to one of Wyatt's questions: "Ummmmm, that is Latin--from Latta." When we got home Will took the kids with him to wrestling practice so I could do some prep work for the next days feast. When they got home it was time for dinner and like most Americans, we ordered Chinese food. Will went out to pick up the ordered food and convincing Wyatt to come along said: "Come on Bud. We are the men and we have to go out and hunt the food...that's what the men do." At home we watched WALL-E while eating on a big blanket spread over the living room floor.

Lorien and Wyatt outside the movie theater after watching "Bolt" Clare, Daddy and Momma after the movie.
Thanksgiving morning brought a new Anderson family tradition: donuts for breakfast. The kids had been excited for this tradition and broke into the donuts before Will and I got out of bed. We spent the morning working on puzzles and doing a little meal prep. At 11:00 a friend of Will's from wrestling called. He works at the downtown movie theater and asked if our family wanted to come and see a movie, on the house! We couldn't say "no" and in fact were excited to take the kids to "Bolt" a move they had been clamoring to see for weeks. After the movie we started meal prep in earnest. Wyatt mashed the potatoes, Clare loaded vegetables onto their trays and Lorien worked on a mountain of Thanksgiving decorations. At about 5:30 we sat down to our modest table and tucked into the food we'd all been salivating over. It was such a relaxing meal and quiet day. Both Will and I are thankful for our spunky children and the time to slow down and really enjoy some quality family time. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Lorien's decorations Wyatt and Daddy in the kitchen Momma, Clare, Lorien and Wyatt at the table

Pomegranates...

"You're going to blog about pomegranates?" Will asks, reading over my shoulder. Sounds lame, I know but really the post is more about tradition than pomegranates, so, bear with me for a minute. Growing up, it was such a treat to get a pomegranate around the holidays. I remember thinking they had to be the weirdest fruit on the planet; leather-like skin wrapped around a maze of the most beautifully edible rubies nature could dream up. Pomegranates were cool to look at, fun to take apart and yummy to eat.

Last winter I cut open a pomegranate, eager to share this nifty treat with my kids. No dice, they wouldn't even taste it! Lorien examined one tiny seed between her fingers with her nose wrinkled. It did not help that I compared a pomegranates taste to cranberries--a fruit they never eat--not even in jelly form. I should have said "Oh, it tastes like ice cream!" and sat back while they gobbled up the fruit. Not a chance, they were not interested and I was disappointed.

Last week as I perused the produce isle I noted the bin of pomegranates and sighed for my loss. The store had the fruit on sale so at the last minute I decided to grab one, just for myself. At home, I peeled open my pomegranate and settled in for a personal walk down memory lane. All three kids were at the table with me and to my surprise, wanted to try some. "You guys already tried this and you do not like it." I replied. Undeterred, each grabbed a handful of plucked fruit and popped them in their mouths. Wonders of wonders, the kids thought the pomegranate was good--delicious even! So we sat at the table, passing around chunks of fruit and I told them about eating pomegranates as a kid. I don't know if pomegranates will be come a part of their annual holiday memories yet, but I am hopeful.

The Sound of Music...

It all started one evening in 2003. We were driving home and the sun was setting. Lorien, a curious toddler, asked why it was getting dark. We explained that it was time for the sun to go to bed. Dipping below the tree line, the sun was putting on its pajamas. Once it got dark we said: "Oh, the sun has gone to bed! Now it is time for Lorien to go to bed!" We started singing Gretel's line from the Sound of Music "The sun, has gone, to bed and so must I." Using the suns setting as a visual cue to hurry our kids to bed served our family well until day light savings of this year. Clare is adamant: "Momma!" she begins to shout (at 4:45 pm) "The sun has gone to bed and so must I!!!" She flops on the floor, cries for her pajamas and refuses to eat supper. Theeeee sun...haaaaas gone...to bed aaaaaand so MUST she. Now Cassie, say ye, what is the harm in snapping that little sucker right into her bed and calling it a night? Pick your battles, right? I'll tell you what the problem is, when she goes to bed at 5:00 pm, she is awake at 3:30 AM! Even if the sun has NOT gotten out of bed Clare will. Nothing ruins your day like having to get out of a warm bed at an unearthly hour. So, we fight...

Clare, listening to the "So Long, Farewell..." song from the Sound of Music soundtrack.

After a few nights of watching Clare listen to my iPod with the Sound of Music on it, Wyatt asked to listen. The Sound of Music was not what he wanted. "Momma, don't you have any Rock n' Roll?" He asked. "Why, yes. Yes I do." Here he is jamming out to Joan Jet, next up: Aerosmith.

The Birthday Rush...

Happy Birthday, happy birthday baby (babies--actually). Lorien and Wyatt share the same birthday, November 8th. I did not plan this--they did. So every year, right after Halloween, I start to loose my mind. We planned two parties again this year and I think everyone was happy.

Here are a few highlights:

Lorien had a Tinkerbell Movie party. She invited everyone in her first grade class--she wanted to invite all of her friends but I had to draw the line some where... Most of the girls came and it was crazy! To all my friends who only have boys, I want you to know that little girls are totally nuts. They laugh and scream at the most random things and once one little girl starts it spreads like poison ivy. Short of dousing them all in calamine lotion, there is no cure. Over all it was a fun party. Lorien loved all the attention and I loved sending all those little girls home.

Wyatt wanted to have a Halloween party but his Mother went to Maine the week before Halloween and was in no mood to party when she got back--lazy woman. So he had a video game party instead. He invited a few friends from preschool (we kept it small, small, small) and they had a great time making pizza and playing video games.