to buy a fat pig

we're driving off into the cold and blue for celebrations and other family whatnot. we've not yet traveled by daylight for such long distances with wee ones in tow. one can only hope for the best: long naps, early bedtime in carseats, and low energy for children, high energy for parents.



it's too bad we don't have a private jet that could zip us there and back in a fantastic flash of silver stream and wing. and it's too bad we don't have our own pouches of floo powder to snap us there in a dusty chim-chim-iny sort of way. and it's too bad that we don't have enough vacation days to take the trip in three days each way, stopping at hotels to swim early and breakfast late as we made our way southerly, northerly.



we are thankful, nonetheless! we've family who want to see us, reliable transportation, junky snacks for the ride, and, most importantly, the beautiful each otherness of we four.

happy thanksgiving, friends.

free tea for me (we'll see)

thanks, tulip girl! how exciting!

not only does this tea company sell tea, but they blog about it, too. note that i've added both links to my sidebar.

i'm hoping for some free chai. oooh.

"you and i are going to have one more fling"

we have our very own purchased copy today! fantastically, upon opening the thing, we discovered a delicious chocolate aroma emerging from within! a scratch-and-sniff variety chocolate, but fun and smile-supplicating nonetheless.

buy yours today!

dreadfully savage

i've discovered the deliciousness of half & half swirled cloudy in black tea!



"yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

good morning starshine, the earth says "hello!"

henry watches the newly released charlie and the chocolate factory. hooray for quick releases! the special features teach you how to dance like an oompah loompah. hilarious. i need to video henry following along.

henry has been regularly waking up at 5 a.m. blasted time change! he gets up and the chatter begins. too bad this early rising does not make for an early bedtime -- of course not! he will be the world-record holding sleep withstander. he will accomplish much because he does not care for "a little sleep, a little slumber."



jude whines and cries and is a regular crab. he has had the worst time welcoming the teeth. he doesn't see the use of them, methinks, having not yet experienced teriyaki beef jerky and sunflower seeds on long road trips. things are looking up, though, as he's sleeping more and spends this morning entertaining himself watching the birds and squirrels in the front garden.

we took a windy walk to the park this morning. the ground is covered with acorns and their lost caps, pinecones, the crunchy remainder of leaves. jude is learning about the ample storage of pockets as we walked and gathered.

the park was abandoned to my relief ("where are the kids!" henry mourns) save for a few hooded walkers, one with an ugly poodle, another with an interesting fringed poncho over swishy exercise pants. they were all elderly, walking their hearts into youthfulness.

to whom does one complain about the narrowness of the swing seats? surely they have replaced the old seats with something in which only skinny little girls and boys can sit! i jumped from the swing and seriously (not really) injured my apparently wide bum. how horrific to be too wide to swing without injury! who would have thought after one glance at my duff? not me, and i'm my bum's biggest critic. sigh. one would think that with the growing sadness of childhood obesity there would be complaints and petitions regarding the width of the swing seats. although, since most of these neglected children are obese due to prolonged stints in front of the television, remote or controller in one hand, greasy bag of popcorn in the other, perhaps they don't make it to the park to try and shove their seats into the seats enough to warrant a complaint, perhaps they don't even know that they are so discriminated against!

"mend your ways, everyone, and take your philosophy with a grain of salt."

silliness, etc.

first things first -- the first tag i've actually responded to (no offense, former taggers!)

Camille tagged me! The rules are:

1. Search your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (this is meant to say something about you).
4. Post that sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

well, my twenty-third post only had four sentences so i used the fourth. oddly, this post had a mystery comment, probably the only post in the archives with mystery, for what it's worth.

anyhow, this is what i said in sentence four:

even now as i type i can hear this wind up, over the roof and down the long channel of driveway, whipping and whistling between the trees and bushes and grapevines.

and this is who i'm tagging:

husband without twenty three posts (i guess you pick your last post?)
mother with new glasses
joy joy joy
mr. imagination
lady jenn

secondly, here's a fun quiz to take!

i took the quiz and was happy to be dubbed prince caspian:


"As Prince Caspian you are a noble, goodhearted but mischievous scallywag! Fun loving, you are admired for your easy going nature."

hmmm . . . not so sure if it's me or not, but i'll take it! we can't wait for the movie here. i'm a little concerned because the books are near and dear to my heart. peter jackson, don't let me down!

leafy leafy leafy leaf

Play leafy leaf leaf

tricks, treats

drizzling, gray, puddles for splashing on a dark walk for chocolate and others. boots for both zorro and rooster.





jude was sick and crabby but interested nonetheless. he snoozed before we went out in the cold and seemed to feel better. poor baby doesn't know how to blow his nose yet and, thus, has a terrible time with this cold.





henry honestly thinks that all who saw him believed him to be zorro. he stood, unsmiling, hands on hips, the stance of a hero. he unsheathed his sword and snarled. he was fabulous.



jude, molting, was annoyed by my dressing him up in a feathery jacket. henry wore the jacket two halloweens ago and jude will be the last to wear it as the thing is falling apart.

i am forgetting what henry's face looks like as he's sported a handsome moustache and black mask to two days straight. he looks cross eyed through the mask. his hair is flat and golden when he whips off his hat and rides into the sunset on scout.

we've a bag of candy in the kitchen that no one but mama has remembered. the cape is all that is thought about. the cape, the mask, the sword.

and, now, november is here. the trees still undress and leave their laundry on the grass for someone else to pick up after them. we've new flannel sheets and furry socks, cocoa and hot cider, green hoodies and variety corduroy, to bring us into winter.