December Weekend #2

Another nice December weekend...the kids saw Santa on Saturday--and put in their wish lists.   Ethan also had his first basketball game of the season.   I didn't go, but Jason said he was moving so much faster than he had been--so that is great.

Today, Jason took Ethan skiing--a raincheck for last week.   They got lucky with the weather as it snowed 12 inches overnight, so there was a lot of fresh powder.  Ethan apparently picked skiing back up quickly, and they managed to do 10 runs, and get home by 6pm!  (They did leave at 5am though!)

Meanwhile, Alaina and I enjoyed the sunshine at home.  We went to the park, had a friend over, and baked loads of Christmas cookies!

December Weekend #1

Well, the busy-ness this time of year continues for us....

Yesterday, we met up with our friends Ben and Sue on the peninsula.   Luckily the weather held up (we have been getting a LOT of rain), and we were able to take a very nice hike.  It was great to catch up.

We had two holiday parties on Saturday evening--one at a neighbor's house, and one in the city for Jason's work.   Jasons work party SEEMED great until he got home and came down with food poisoning from the ceviche that they served!   Thankfully my dislike of seafood kept me away from that particular choice, so there was at least one parent able to get out of bed on Sunday!

Jason had planned to take Ethan skiing on Sunday, and Ethan was DEVASTATED when he knocked on our door at 5am in his ski clothes and I had to tell him to go back to bed.

Meanwhile, Alaina and I had planned a girls day together--we went to the Nutcracker, which was put on by the Ballet company where she is currently taking lessons.   I was expecting a mediocre production, but was actually quite impressed by the dancers and the costumes.   All kids in the company can dance in the production--which is nice and inclusive.   Alaina wasn't ready to join this year...but maybe in the future.   She did enjoy seeing her teacher on stage!  Afterwards we had a girl scout holiday party and secret Santa, which was also a lot of fun.

So a nice day for the girls, but not so much for the boys!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, we have had a really nice Thanksgiving weekend.   On Thursday, we hosted--Jason's parents, 2 brothers, and Aunt joined us, as well as my dad.  Leticia also got to celebrate her first Thanksgiving.

Jason smoked the turkey on the green egg, and it turned out delicious!   We had all the typical fixings--quite a feast.   Not quite the same without Jason's Grandma though.

Over the weekend, we worked (Jason on Friday, and me on Saturday and Sunday), but we somehow squeezed in the time to get and decorate our Christmas tree, which we were anxious to do since it is already December!

On Sunday afternoon, the kids had a piano recital.   It was Alaina's first--and she did great, hardly seeming nervous at all.  She played Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Skyscraper.  Ethan played two pieces that challenged him--St.Louis Rag and Arabesque.   There were a lot of tears leading up to the recital, but he nailed the performance, and we were very proud!

                            

 Bring on December!

Remembering Ruth Cooper

This past week, Jason's Grandma passed away.   Almost 2 years ago, she was diagnosed with lung cancer.  She decided to forgo treatment, and actually was doing really well until about 6 weeks ago, when she developed some neck pain.   That was the beginning of a very quick end--she went from feeling a little under the weather for about a month, to very quickly losing her ability to walk, ultimately being bed bound for only a week before her death.   She just turned 94 on November 5.

She told us all that she was ready to die,  to reunite with her husband who had proceeded her in death by 5 years.  Her death was a peaceful one--she just stopped breathing last Monday afternoon.   We had all gone up to see her on Sunday, and I am glad we were able to make the trip.

This weekend, we had her burial--right next to Sid--and on Saturday night Eileen and Gary had a Shiva service at their home.   Many people came--including my dad, who rearranged his Thanksgiving ticket to make the trip.   It was a very nice tribute and chance for everyone to recollect and reflect on their memories of her.

When I remember Ruth, I think of someone who never wasted anything--just like my
Grandpa Harris, she always cleaned her plate.   She reused everything she could--bags and containers, yesterday's coffee,  and everything else you can imagine--a product of the depression for sure.    She even composted before it was "trendy".

Ruth accepted me warmly into her family, and always seemed genuinely delighted to see me and "the children", as she called them.   She had a dry sense of humor, and wore a visor around that said "One day at a time", which I always got a kick out of.  She took a lot of pride in her appearance and was always very well put together.  I will certainly miss her calm presence at all of our family gatherings, her smile, and her love.

Rest in Peace, Ruth.

Chicago was cold!

Last weekend, I travelled to Chicago for work.   I was able to extend my trip by a day to see Dad and Jeff.  I have been going to Chicago for this conference every year for at least the past five years--and this one was the coldest by far.   I only ran outside one day--I won't if the temperature is <30 and="" cold.="" it="" just="" mostly="" p="" too="" was="">

I spent Sunday night in Park Ridge, and work up to almost 5 inches of snow on Monday morning!  It was beautiful--but unusual almost all of the trees still had their fall leaves intact!

   

Also got to see my nephews--Gregory is still growing like a weed!

Unfortunately, the weather almost prevented me from getting home--over 1000 flights were cancelled at O'Hare, and though mine was not one of them, it took off almost 5 hours late.   That meant I had the pleasure of arriving home after 1am, with work the next day.   Not fun.

The kids and I will head back for Christmas--lets hope for better flight weather those days!

Good Bye Pri, Welcome Leticia!

Right before Halloween, we sat good-bye to our au pair, Pri.   Pri was with us for 2 years, but the program only allows the au pairs to stay for two years total.   So her time was up and she had to head back home.

It was hard to say good-bye, as we have grown very close to her over the past 2 years, and the kids really loved her.  She kept our household running like clockwork while Jason an I were at the hospital.  

So, as soon as she left we arranged for a new au pair, named Leticia, to join us.  It is always a tough transition period, but so far, it has worked out well.   Leticia is also from Brazil, and is 26 years old.   She seems very sweet and the kids seems to like her a lot too.   She coped with our power outage quite gracefully, which was an unfortunate welcome for her.  We look forward to getting to know her better and integrating her in our our family over the next year (or two!)

So, Welcome to Leticia!

Halloween Week

Well, it has been an interesting week.   Due to high fire danger, PG&E shut off our electricity last Saturday night.  It remained off until Tuesday night.   As we do not have a generator or any back up power source, that meant that our entire refrigerator and freezer had to be thrown away.   It also meant that our school district cancelled school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.   I remember having "snow days" in Chicago--it seems like our district now needs to have a bank of "fire days".

Anyhow, we limped through, charging phones and computers etc at work, and sent the kids to Sonoma where Gary and Eileen had power.

School opened up Thursday, just in time for Halloween.   That evening, Ethan told me, "We got to watch two movies in school today!".  Seriously, no school for 3 days and they go back and watch movies!?!?!??!

The kids enjoyed the holiday.   This year, Alaina was a Dalmatian, and Ethan was Thor.   Ethan went trick or treating with a friend (for almost 3 hours!) and came home with 515 pieces of candy.  Alaina also had a good haul.   Because we have so much, this year I told them to each pick 35 pieces and the rest would get donated to the military--they have candy drives after Halloween, which is a pretty cool idea.   We certainly do not need 600 pieces of candy sitting around this house!