there was an incident involving two little boys that resulted in an all things star wars (humming theme songs included)/light saber/nerf gun ban for the foreseeable future. sweet relief.

some quick errands provided plenty of “teachable moments” to the point that by the time we got to the grocery store we were all getting tired of the fussing and correcting thus everyone was a bit on the mellow side. cue well-intentioned shopper who bestowed upon me the parental kiss of death, “oh my, i have never seen such well-behaved children at a grocery store ever!”  i gripped the shopping cart with white knuckles and braced myself for the almost absolute certainty that a full-on meltdown was about to erupt from one of them as a result of such hyperbole. but then the boys actually looked right up at me and giggled. the boys and i shared a knowing laugh, i winked at them, and (thankfully) everything was fine.

we came home. and the talking continued and got louder and louder. and there was a girl who flirted with a tantrum because her mama refused to put the rio theme song on repeat, a boy who just couldn’t sit semi-still and eat, and another boy who was a bottomless pit and kept asking for me to get up and get him more food. and as i was about to hit that point where i just wanted to put my head down and sleep for a bit, he said, “it’s ok, mom, i’ll make my own sandwich.” and he did. things got quieter and less hazy, and he was beyond proud and looked quite a bit older over there smearing pb and jelly on his bread. i smiled and told him that i thought he should take over making dinners from now on.  “sure!” he said happily.

what does one do when they are emerging from a blurry weekend of migraines?  they watch things:

1. Bill Cunningham New York.  80 year old New York Times fashion photographer pedals around manhattan on a trusty bike wearing his blue jacket while taking photos of street fashion.  to me the most intriguing aspect of the documentary was the focus on the simplicity of his life and his refusal to be swayed by the money and power that could so easily have been his for the taking.

2. The Bark Side VW commercial.  for the past few weeks there is someone, at all times, humming various songs from Star Wars.  i am going mad from it.  but this just makes me laugh. very hard.

3. Buck Denver Asks…What’s in the Bible?.  we’ve only watched one episode, but omar and i laughed, the boys laughed, and we all got to learn about Catherine of Siena, Saint Jerome, the septuagint, and what the overarching story of the bible is telling us.  not bad for 30 minutes.

4. The War on Kids.  documentary #2 of the weekend (you can watch the whole thing here).  thought provoking film that aims to show how many (please note: i am completely aware that not all schools are like the schools profiled here) public schools are moving/have moved in a direction that denies students’ civil rights and seeks to control and instill fear in kids. the best parts are about the policy of zero-tolerance, drugs in schools, and the unfortunate results of much of the medication used to calm children.  what bothers me about the documentary is how it fails to offer any ideas on how to change the state of much of public schooling. what are some possible answers? it doesn’t give any.  where is the call for parents to step in and refuse to be bullied themselves? there is none.  many friends of mine who send their kids to public school are deeply committed to their children’s education and refuse to sit on the sidelines and tolerate much of the absolute crap you see here.  i felt i watched this more from the perspective of a former public school student than i did a teaching mother. much of it resonated with my experience.  i attended public schools from kindergarten through my undergraduate years. i would say i got an ok education and had 4 teachers (from elementary through high school) that i clearly remember as being excellent and many, many, many who were abysmal. and then there were some who were downright strange and wacky (like my 11th grade AP english teacher who accused me of doodling while taking notes (guilty) and tried to force me to put my head down for the rest of class). metal detectors weren’t at my high school by the time i graduated but we did have the equivalent of barney fife as our school police officer who truly made us nervous, except he actually carried a loaded weapon.

while there are some definite weaknesses here, i recommend it.

but since much of my life at the moment is spent in the kitchen i usually take the food resolutions a bit more seriously.  usually.  remember my culinary resolution last year to cook and bake with more whole grains?  full disclosure: i tossed the bag of remaining buckwheat flour 11 months later and thought surely it hadn’t been 11 months since i used it last. it was actually closer to 12 months.  (side note: i notice that one of my 2011 resolutions was to try a new cheese each month.  how did i forget to follow through on that one?)

my eye caught the bag of spelt flour on the shelf the other day and i figured i’d give the 2011 resolution another go.  one spelt recipe down – carrot muffins from Good to the Grain.  delicious and downed by all the children.  next up: huckle buckle coffee cake.

this weekend lenna continued her playtime with her new tea set.  there is a lot of, “ooh! it’s so cute!” coming from the boys and me when we see her play with it. and soon she’ll get her replacement xylophone so there can be a little music during teatime, too. xylophone #1 came to us with the addition of some termites. i had a momentary freakout thinking that the innocent looking yet tainted xylophone would lead to a tenting repeat.  here’s hoping it doesn’t.

i think one of the last things you’d find on donald trump’s new 757 airplane is a wood tea set.  i drove by the airport the other day and saw his rather large private jet and wondered, “hmm…what’s that look like inside?” a couple of clicks and here you go.  it has gold plated seat belts, a movie room, and a gold sink.  of course it does.

on the humbler end of the spectrum – deathbed music.  npr had an interesting story on Deathbed Music: The Final Works of Famous Composers.  the whole story is good but i loved the part about bach and his chorale prelude “Before Thy Throne I Stand.” i’m now on a hunt for the sheet music. just gorgeous.

the pbs-obsessed are all abuzz with the debut of the second season of Downton Abbey. last night my dad wondered how it is that british period soap operas are so interesting.  i feigned offense for a moment, but it’s true. it’s a soap opera. a good, british one. and while i wouldn’t dream of taking a “which Days of Our Lives character are you?” quiz, you know i’ll sign right up to take a “which Downton Abbey character are you?” quiz (thanks, bethany!).  i am proudly robert, earl of grantham.

it is finished.  the dress i started for lenna for her first birthday was finally slipped over her little head just in time for her 20 month birthday.  and its snug-factor is telling me it won’t last until her 2nd birthday.

i wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out once i decided to finish the skirt with fabric, but i really like it. i was also pretty certain that it would be a long, long time before i picked up knitting needles again, but the combination of seeing it on her, seeing yet another cute pattern on tora frøseth’s site, and the fact that i’m currently sitting in front of the fire wrapped in a blanket is making the desire to knit rather strong.

go to the zoo more
grow more food
learn about herbal remedies
memorize all european and african countries AND their capitals
memorize the book of philippians
take a photo per day
read 48 books
sew clothes for myself (this dress/tunic is high on my list – everything she sews is great)
start (note i don’t say finish) Bible Reading Program for Shirkers and Slackers (thanks, margie!)
bake more (2011 was kind of a no-bake year)

january  ::  when i think of last january the first thing that pops into my mind is a photo i took right after all the decorations came down.  it’s clean and simple and the flowers made everything seem new.  there was a lot about last january that made me excited to start the year off fresh.  i decided at the last minute to start the 365 photo project and am so i glad i’ve (mostly) stuck with it.

february  ::  if there was a hardest month, february wins hands down.  this was the month a friend lived with us and then had to leave us suddenly. but there was so much growing and learning that i’m thankful for it.

march  ::  a good month. we visited friends in jacksonville. we got a piano. i turned 31, and omar and my mom made the best, most unhealthy meal. it was perfect.

april  ::  it was omar’s turn for a birthday meal this month. poor asher succumbed to pneumonia resulting in the saddest picture of the year. our wonderful neighbor boys surprised the kids with the most thoughtful easter egg hunt easter morning. and i have to mention the bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos because omar and i have talked about them with almost everyone this year.

may ::  lenna turned one.  elisha turned five. termites were destroyed, and we made our way north to north carolina.

june ::  in june i developed and nurtured my cold-brewed coffee addiction. i wrote my favorite post of the year. i think it is because i remember that day so well for some reason. omar and i made a spontaneous date night trip to miami for dinner. we started heading to the beach every friday afternoon. my brother and his family headed south for a visit.

july  ::  omar and i went to ft. myers for 3(!) nights. we did nothing. we read. we were positively boring. it was perfect. in july i also experienced the attack of pine mouth, and i’ve yet to taste another pine nut.

august  ::  we said goodbye to the car i’d had since college.  lenna started walking. homeschooling commenced.

september  ::  we started our garden. and it was good. september was also the month that kicked off a 6 week stretch of migraine upon migraine. much of the month is a blur.

october  ::  csa season started.  asher turned four.  the west palm green market started up again leaving the kids happy and full of doughnuts and popcorn. the first scarf of the season is worn when omar, lenna, and i made our way to north carolina for a wedding. both of the boys dressed up as darth vader for halloween.

november  ::  the boys started reading, bit by bit. i got to be the most spontaneous i’ve been all year when i agreed to head to atlanta with omar for a few nights with only a couple of hours notice. we headed north to st. augustine and deland for thanksgiving with family, making it my third trip in one month! scrabble reentered our lives.

december  ::  christmas and clementines. advent readings and candles.  a friend’s sweet girl was born. trips to the park. omar praised me for not complaining about the winter heat this year. after 7+ years of marriage we decided to finally turn our attention to our bedroom and move it away from the dorm-inspired look to a peaceful, actually decorated retreat. i love it.

the littlest one had quite the party dress for christmas eve and christmas day.  christmas morning she found a stroller for her baby.

and then promptly finished up santa’s crumbs.

there has been a lot of eating, a lot of family, a lot of gifts, and a lot of sweets.  omar’s ipad dreams came true, and i loved keeping all the scheming under wraps.