Halloween Advent?

We are preparing our hearts and home for All Hallow's Eve, to the best of our busy working abilities.

The Great Pumpkin Soundtrack is like an atmosphere around me right now. This is a good thing.

Some ordinary weekend adventures: there was shopping after dance class, and after shopping there was a trip to the playground. I don't get to snap as many pictures like this as I would like:

Adele is more and more decidedly independent, about every small thing. You know how it is. She's nearly 3, after all. 

Here, proof I still exist. 

The old caboose furnished some quality imaginative play. 

I may not take them to this playground alone for a bit, however. Neither wanted to leave, and both very nearly had to be carried out, kicking and screaming, one under each arm. Managed to execute the old "ok, then I'm leaving you here" deception successfully in this case, but it won't always work. Must come up with some other strategies for playground exit. 

We did our ritual pumpkin disemboweling that evening:

Each kid got to design the faces of their own this year, and name them. Adele's is Titum; Miles' is Laura.

Sunday afternoon was like our dress rehearsal for Halloween! BooDoo is a free party the First & Main Shopping Center throws for Blacksburg kids (and, you know, to drum up some business).

We got to give the ordered costumes a first wear:

Yes, I unapologetically ordered their costumes online. It was the right choice this year. No way could I have assembled a hobbit costume, not this October. And making an Elsa costume (as Adele insisted she would be only Elsa) is out of the question. Maybe one of these years I'll have that sewing machine, and a bit more time. Anyway, these two are happy, and we got them mighty cheap. :-)

I DID "make" those furry feet on Miles, out of some craft fur and flip-flops and tacky glue. I'm thinking about attempting a pipe. But that will be IT. Unless you count my efforts at Adele's braid as a craft.

For the first time, I went to the Blacksburg Children's Museum. This is because for that day only, it was free. I do free things.

But you know? It pleasantly surprised me. I may be back, a paying customer. 

Adele's dream come true: an interview, hug and photo with Real Elsa. 

She did the cake walk long after she'd already won and could not hope to win again, just for the sake of following Elsa around. 

There were probably about 10 Elsas at this massive party, that I saw. I wanted her to be Merida. But we are beyond the era of my Halloween autocracy. Too bad for me.

Soon we'll be lighting parading downtown with probably 16,098 other Elsas. We'll be lighting the pumpkin lanterns and feasting on our Trick or Treat spoils. And November, when we wake up, always has such a different, more contemplative flavor. We'll remember the saints who are with us still, and visit all the feelings that presence produces. We'll go to bed in black, silver and livid orange of flames, and awake in gold. All Saints Day. Whether I remember to light candles, or pray the collect of the day, we will walk through these mysteries regardless. Like so much of the profound graces of the stories we are living, we get to travel through enchanted territory just by virtue of the fact that we kept walking.

Instagramming October

I used to laugh at instagram. How absurd to communicate only by obsessive pictures of one's life!

Then I got an iphone. You can find me at http://instagram.com/lissaliveawakeaware. You can also laugh at me! I do it too.

I have been wild with delight over the gorgeousness of this October.

It takes everything in me not to pull over the car on my morning drive to Adele's daycare, which is situated just outside of downtown and across the street from a farm and a breathtaking view of the mountains, and take photos. Someday, if I am ever not late, I will do just that.

We passed a peaceful weekend. I love the long mornings at the dance studio. I gaze out the window when I'm not watching the closed circuit tv channel of the dancers, or (to be honest) play word games with Jon on my phone. Anyway. It's getting to the part of the year when gazing outside through a window is more pleasant than actually being outdoors. I love the coziness of fall.

Miles continues to make strong efforts in his class; he loves ballet & tap. 

Adele dreams of being a big girl dancer. 

They are proud in general these days:

Adele was so pleased at completing this puzzle (with help) she wanted a picture. 

Miles delighted us recently with this picture of a boat, seen from a bird's point of view. 

I have the pleasure of going through his schoolwork every week & sometimes find real gems. 

Sunday was Children's Sabbath, and for the first time, I was in charge of it. I have been teaching Children's Chapel at church for over a year now, but this was my first Children's Sabbath even in town. It went beautifully! Our priest ceded some sermon time to my children's homily, where we discussed the image of Caesar on a denarius, and the image of God on us all. The kids were, by turns, sweet, lively, compliant, hilarious. We sang the offertory: "Jacob's Ladder." There was a baptism, which was absolutely perfect, since during Children's Sabbath, the family could be all together as we welcomed another member. A glorious morning, followed by a sweet baptismal reception party. We were all tired of behaving ourselves afterwards, though. First thing the kids did after we left was to throw themselves onto the grass. One of these days I'll join them. It's just the sort of thing that people do who are Alive. 

It's the Pumpkin Patch, Miles!

We made up our minds a few weeks ago we wanted to make a family trip of Miles' class visit to the pumpkin patch. I have a one-quintessentially-Fall-experience-per-October rule, you see. 

It was an absolutely perfect day for it, too. Sunny & in the low 60s. Air you want to drink like liquid. And the mountains just shone.

This girl got her first bees sting not long after we arrived. Fortunately, Penelope the pig was able to make everything ok again. 

We all got a huge kick out of the animal array.

Turkeys are kind of intimidating up close, with bizarre, alien heads. They gobbled for us, though!

Best view of any pumpkin patch I've ever been to.

The trip included a hayride! Everyone was rejoiced by the speedy ride over the green hills. 

Each kid was very decided about which pumpkin was The One. 

Class pic: 

Miles' assigned "buddy " was a sweet little girl who wouldn't leave his side. He always does seem to befriend little girls. I was pleased just to see him social with his classmates.

What a perfect, golden morning this was! 

Reunited

Believe it or not, it has been 10 years since I graduated college. I had not been back to my Eastern University, my alma mater's campus since probably 2005, but it seemed to me that 10 years out is a good time to make the trip.

The mountains of SWVA were misty and colorful and wise-looking. 

We made the trip to Annapolis on Friday, got caught in the usually beastly DC traffic, and spent the night with Jon's family. Saturday morning, it was up and at em and depart at 7am for Pennsylvania. 

He was thrilled to cross the Bay Bridge from Annapolis to the Eastern Shore.

The grey and gloom of the weather did not much diminish the beauty of the campus. It's got such a different style from Virginia Tech, and is, of course, orders of magnitude smaller, but I'm not sure it's less lovely. 

Walton Pond, a familar view.

We started the day with at tour at the Bradstreet Observatory, where the kids each got to try a hand at controlling the telescopes. Jon and I both took cosmology and astronomy, though I took both as lab credits. This meant that I had to got to spend hours of two of my semesters at Eastern taking photos of celestial objects and preparing a binder of images for a grade. It was awesome to be back and see Dr. Bradstreet and Steve, his assistant, again! The kids are thrilled (well, mostly Miles) because they got to meet a real astronomy and to see a real, state-of-the-art telescope! Sadly, the weather did not cooperate enough to make star-gazing possible. 

We followed the tour with a planetarium show at the Julia Fowler Planetarium. I can't... emotionally contain or describe how it felt to hear one of my favorite professors describe the wonders of the universe again. To have my kids with me and see their wonder ignite, too... defies expression. I was totally high on nostalgia, science, and God. 

Next: to the homecoming tents!

It's so bizarre to watch one's child walk to one's old college dorm. 

Good old water-wheel. Same as ever.

One important landmark, at a park next to campus, is the little pond and park where Jon asked me to marry him, nearly 10 years ago. 

This little walk around a little pond found 18 and 19 year old us strolling in all seasons. This is where we went to blow off steam during stressful times in the semester, where we told each other our stories, and shared our aspirations and hopes.

It's possible, were such things possible to pin-point, that we fell in love on this path.
It's also possible we fell in love in a letter, but that's even harder to determine.

It was just as lovely a walk in April, when Jon proposed in 2005.

Here's the approximate spot where the magic happened:

 Jon had hidden champagne in a bush. and his friends, as photographers, across the pond. We have a whole album in print of the occasion, but alas, no scanner!

Sometimes I resent that so much of my life was in the pre-digital-revolution. 

Below, Miles perfects his portrait-taking:

I only wish he were as good at posing for pictures as he is at being in them. And then there's Adele... <3 br="">

After enjoying some EU homecoming soccer, field hockey and ultimate frisbee, and after Adele learned to make friends with the mascot, we watched the step team (a group I remember fondly from my Eastern days!) perform: 

They're so much fun.

Next, we had some hot drinks at my old workplace, the coffee shop and espresso bar, The Jammin' Java. 

So many late nights here... so many performances, meetings, meals, long talks, and regular nights at work, steaming milk and cleaning the floors at closing. I felt like the Ghost of Christmas Past was taking me on a personalized tour.

The evening found us at a wine and hors d'oeuvres event for graduates of the Templeton Honors College, to which Jon and I both belonged. We got to catch up with old professors, meet more recent alumni (I was a part of the second ever cohort of the THC), and see our old friends- and some of their offspring!

Our friends Tim & Karin have a son, Ben, who's just a few months older than Miles. 

Miles & Ben share a love for bow ties. 

These two have a history. They've played together at Tim and Karin's when we've visited before, and they met up last spring at the Baltimore Aquarium. Here, they meet for the very first time, ages 3 weeks and 7 months, respectively:

I got to meet some babies and toddlers for the very first time, though, and we stayed much, much longer than we'd anticipated. Bless the THC for arranging for a coloring table. 

We're back in Blacksburg, though, as of about 9 last night. The car is having its very first post-warranty repair. Not bad for a 5.5 year old vehicle, though. 

The car troubles meant I got to take Miles to the bus stop this morning. 

Will he look more sophisticated when he's a college student? I can't see how.

Art and Science

Another glorious fall weekend found the whole family in the dance studio for parents' day! Basically, we watched both kids' lessons, including a little number they'd been rehearsing. 

And I almost died from cuteness overload. 

I recovered, though.

I love seeing both my kids in dancing shoes. 

She likes tap best. 

 Little Miss wasn't feeling her best this weekend. She started strong, having announced to us just before class started, "I'm going to dance very good for you!" She kept up through warm-ups and did at least as well as the other (and older) girls in her class on each step. Passes and bourees are really coming along! But by the end, she was worn out and mainly stood there, making her movements in a languid, half-hearted way. I was proud of her sticking it out, however, as I'm told a lot of first time performers in her age group often run off the stage or refuse to dance while their parents are watching.

Her whole class, with teachers. 

 Then it was big  brother's turn:

 It's so funny to watch Miles; he's so much like me. When he thinks he's performing, he's all animation and life. When he thinks it's "just" exercises, he tunes in and out, dreamily, sometimes right on and sometimes using the wrong foot, going on the wrong cue, etc. Poor dreamy MiniMe. Concentration is a hard skill to master.

During the choreographed number, though...

 He was right on.

 After lessons, we hurried to eat so as not to miss a minute of the Virginia Science Festival!

We barely skimmed the surface in our almost four hours there. 

Miles pretends to be a veterinarian. 

The go-kart had some kind of traffic sensing device; he's always happy to help with research like this!

I love the windows in the new-built Moss Center

 Outside: some living creatures to learn from, on that Saint Francis day.

 Adele's favorite animals remain: sheep.

They are a bit stinky, though. 

 The drillfield hosted a variety of tents.

That's the NASA tent, next to Burruss. 

Where Miles got his picture taken with a Real Astronaut,

 ...And I learned that a trip to Mars takes 9 months, one way, Also, with the technology we have today, any humans making the trip would arrive, if alive, riddled with cancer from the radiation. We'll have to be content with Curiosity & such until such time as our technology improves.
If the next generation have the vision, it seems only a matter of time.

Miles in front of the green screen, shooting a video in which he gives a thorough weather report for the local news station. 

Miles had the "class pet" this weekend. We had to document some activities we did with Ollie the Owl, and do a journal entry for Ollie's travel scrapbook.

Ollie got an education in astronaut aspiration. 

Hard at work, copying his sentences into the class journal.

I was so proud of his dedication, even when it got hard. We had a talk about how important it is, when doing a long task, to take breaks and give yourself treats. There may have been some donut-related bribery, at one point. But it got. done. at. last. 

I close with a selfie, as I am convinced that the author of this article is right: parents do need to stay in the picture. I got a trim this weekend in anticipation of my 10 year college reunion next weekend! At least no one will be able to see I got sloppy hair in the interval since college.