Eleven Years in the Blink of an Eye

My water broke a month early, as I was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes.  David was at his first day of his summer internship at a hospital across town, and I didn't even know his phone number yet.  When I finally tracked him down and told him what happened he said, "Are you sure?"  Um, yeah.  Pretty sure. 

Caleb was born three hours later.

I can hardly believe that morning was eleven years ago.  I already feel robbed.  I have less years with Caleb here in our home than I've already had, and that hardly seems like enough.

For his birthday, here are eleven things about my boy.

1.  My friends at work warned me several times that babies are ugly when they're first born, so not to be too disappointed.  When they handed him to me I had never seen anything more beautiful.

2.  He was a breech baby and so I had to have a c-section.  I think this may be the only time in his life he wasn't obedient.

3.  He's a voracious reader.

4.  He doesn't really like sandwiches.  Unless it's roast beef.  Or BLT's.

5.  He swims in an outdoor pool, four days a week, year round, no matter the water temperature, and is a brilliant breaststroker. 

6.  He is a very early riser. 

7.  He likes to eat ice cream first thing in the morning when no one can see him sneaking into the freezer.

8.  He loves to play games.  Of any kind.  At any time.  He drools over the word "strategy."

9.  He is very brave.  And started a new school this year just because he wanted to be challenged, despite all the changes and ribbing (from his neighborhood "friends") that would bring.

10.  He has a tender heart, and often checks up on me to make sure I'm okay.

11.  He wants to be a cook or a scientist when he grows up.  I'm trying to pretend this is not really going to happen.

I love you, Caleb.  You are indeed a "beloved,"  "faithful," "son of enthusiasm."

Word of the Week: Pettifog

pettifog  /vt. /   to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.  to argue over petty things.  to practice chicanery of any sort.  to raise unnecessary or trivial objections.  pick to pieces.  carp.  cavil.  niggle. nitpick.

pettifog  /vt./  1.  This week was the final week of swimming lessons (for Ethan) and diving lessons (for the other three).  I think we're all happy they're over.  Ethan is a great swimmer, but I put him in lessons anyway this year so that he could improve his strokes.  He did not enjoy his lessons (that's putting it mildly) and spent much of his time in the lessons crying and much of his time outside of his lessons begging not to go.  It was clear that he thought learning to "use his arms" and "kick his legs" was just pettifogging his own natural technique.  Plus there's no chicken fighting in swim lessons.

pettifog  /vt./  2.  One of my favorite things about my children is how much they enjoy being with each other.   Without much pettifogging, they can spend hours and hours playing together.  I snapped these two pictures, the first after a long day of swimming followed by warm baths, and the other on Sunday evening. 

I wish I could freeze my life right here.

pettifog  /vt./  3.  The girls had their dance recital this week, which meant a dress rehearsal as well, which really meant that they got to wear mascara and red lipstick twice in one week.  Their idea of heaven.  This past year has been a difficult one in my girls' dance "education," with a studio move and a change in studio ownership.  Throughout the year I had pettifogged my grievances to David, but all of that faded away as I watched my girls on stage last Friday night.  Beaming.  Dancing beautifully.  And so happy.  Savannah blew kisses as she lept offstage.  I blew them right back.

I snapped this picture after we did their hair...just waiting for the curlers to dry.  They are decorating David's Father's Day gifts...all I had was Christmas wrap, so we turned it wrong-side up and they made their own personalized wrapping paper.  Darling girls. 

pettifog  /vt./  4.  David took Caleb and four of his friends to the Diamondback's game on Saturday night to celebrate Caleb's 11th birthday.  We used to have a rule about parties only every four years [Marie, try not to die], but the kids (and especially David) have worn me down.  They all had a great time (Caleb's review:  "It was wonderful!") and the only thing they had to pettifog about was that the Diamondbacks got beaten badly.  Caleb acknowledged that they did get to see a lot of home runs though.  Too bad the Royals were the ones hitting them.

The ballpark was giving out free hats...the perfect party favor, I think. 

pettifog  /vt./  5.  I started yoga classes this week, and I'm completely hooked.  There is a moment in every class where I just about burst into tears though.  The teacher is so gentle and the invitation to relax and release all the tension I'm carrying around is so sweet, that I just about start bawling.  My favorite part is that there is no pettifogging.  My teacher doesn't even let us pettifog ourselves.  She encourages us to just observe, not judge.  So I accept and observe my tight hamstrings and the poses I can't do and (at least in this one area of my life) I don't judge.  It is unbelievably tender to be so kind to myself, and it feels so good that I am even considering practicing this outside of yoga class.  My husband would be thrilled.

Word of the Week: Esuriently

esuriently  /adv. /  having a naked, uncontrolled hunger for.  with the desire to possess more of something than one already has or in normal circumstances might be entitled to.  hungrily, greedily.  graspingly.  avidly.  covetously.  voraciously.  even avariciously or rapaciously.

esuriently  /adv./  1.  For those of you who have been esuriently waiting for this post...the wait is finally over.  We are in full-summer mode around here and somehow the days are gone as soon as they've begun.  My blogging time has been suffering because, not only do I now have three more computer users around here, but I have found I actually need a bit of "alone time" to generate enough coherent thoughts to write something.  And obviously that is in short supply these days.  A happy trade-off though.

This was supposed to be my SPT for yesterday (and the week before)...Something Borrowed and Something Blue...better post it here or it may never get posted.  We "borrow" my parents' gorgeous pool almost every day from May to September.

esuriently  /adv./  2.  Usually by this time of year I am already esuriently wishing for winter, but the weather around here has been absolutely phenomenal.  On the last day of school, always traditionally an absolute scorcher, it was rainy and chilly and I snapped this picture in my car at about 5 in the afternoon.  Incredible.  I've never seen such glorious weather in May.

esuriently  /adv./  3.  I have been esuriently waiting for summer break since last September, but my longing became particularly fervent after Christmas.  The school year is wearing on me in so many ways and I live for the carefree days of summer vacation.  My kids were just as happy to be done and we have been happily doing "whatever we want" for the last few days.  This has included hours and hours in my parents' pool, and we even got David to join us for the day on Monday.

esuriently  /adv./  4.  David has spent most of his career esuriently wishing he was older.  He's always telling me how he is the youngest one on the team, and somehow this translates into how much respect he receives and how much capital his projects get.  This last week he got just a part of that wish, when he turned one year older.  We went to dinner and a movie to celebrate (I, for one, am deliriously glad that he was born) and he got a much-coveted "Blackberry" for his 36th year.  The only downside of this particular gift is that he will soon be completely connected to the hospital 24/7.  I hope that this doesn't turn into a gift that I esuriently wish I hadn't given him. 

esuriently  /adv./  5.  Caleb is a brilliant student and somehow managed to take 10 classes this year, including three new classes in Mandarin, Spanish, and Suzuki.  He reads and studies esuriently, and this has really paid off for him.  He was invited to the end-of-the-year academic awards ceremony where he received the Presidential award for straight A's the entire year, and was also awarded "Student of the Year" by his Suzuki teacher.  He was beaming with pride, but (I secretly think) he was also esuriently hoping that there were even more awards to be won.  I have no doubt that he has his eye on the "Outstanding Student of the Year" for next year.  Maybe even more remarkably, I didn't have to ask him about his homework all year...he is completely self-motivated, self-sufficient, and self-assured.  It is so easy to be his mother.

esuriently  /adv./  6.  I have a couple of videos I wanted to add to this post, but no matter how esuriently I stare at the Google video upload bar, it remains on "Processing."  So it may be a bit.  And my children are wanting lunch, so I will have to add them later.  Blogging is an entirely different endeavor in the summertime.

My Life Passing As a Dream

Last night Caleb had his end-of-the-year violin concert. 

I picked him up from scouts and he changed into his concert clothes in the car.  When we arrived at the school I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that he was dressed and ready and had tied his own tie.  When did he learn to do that?

I told him I had gel for his hair, so we got out of the car and I gelled and combed his hair, much to his embarrassment and consternation.  He kept jerking around nervously, not wanting to be seen by anyone he knew.  When did he get too old for me to comb his hair?  I didn't even lick my hand.

When we walk together now, he's always three steps ahead of me.  To and from the concert I was chasing him.  I had to keep saying "What?" because I can't hear from back there and then I would have to run a bit to catch up.  When did he start go places on purpose?

At Suzuki concerts they play from the most difficult piece down to the easiest and you join in at your skill level.  I was so glad to see his lessons paying off, as he played all but the first piece.  I love the earnest way he plays the violin.  Here's a bit of Perpetual Motion:

My dictionary says:

perpetual motion:  the motion of a hypothetical device which, once set in motion, would operate indefinitely by creating its own energy in excess of that dissipated.

Oh, stab my mother-heart.  This is the joy and pain of my mothering.  My insides are nothing but hot and tender as I watch this child set in motion, with no way to undo his eventual going.

Note{s} to Self

I got a very nice card in the mail from Marie a couple of weeks ago.  She mentioned how she had just found and read my 52 Blessings posts.  One of the nicest notes I've received all year.  I love good Canadian mail.

I got this note from Caleb on Mother's Day.

I loved the "marvelous" and the "magnificent," but was a bit concerned about the "occupied."  It reminded me of my word of the year and my goal to "embrace the entropy so that I can embrace my children more."  Apparently I need to refocus.

 “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”  Anna Quindlen (Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Note to self:  I am tired of making this mistake.

An aside for Kelly:

It just started raining.

When I pointed this out to Ethan, he said, "That's impossible!"

Word of the Week: Wistfully

wistfully  /adv. /  characterized by longing or yearning.  to be reflective in a pensive or even melancholy way.  with musing.  suggestive of deep thoughtfulness.   

wistfully  /adv./  1.  I wistfully composed quite a few posts in my head this week while I was in the shower.  However they never actually made an appearance on my blog due to my workload outside of said shower.  I am now wistfully dreaming of a waterproof laptop.

wistfully  /adv./  2.  Olivia finished reading On the Banks of Plum Creek this week and so we headed for the bookstore on Thursday afternoon to get the next book in Wilder's series.  On the way home I overheard this conversation between the girls after Olivia extolled the virtues of all things Laura Ingalls Wilder:

Savannah:  Why are you talking "western"?

Olivia:  Maybe I am a western girl.  (and then very wistfully)  Someday I'm going to go out west, like to Kansas or Wisconsin and be a western girl.

We are almost as far west as you can get, but apparently geography is not Olivia's strong suit.  However, wistfulness definitely is.

wistful  /adj./  3.  There is just about nothing that makes me so happy as to see my children consumed by great literature.  I have nothing but wistful, sentimental feelings towards my own travels through the books of my childhood.  And so this scene brought me nothing but exquisite joy:

In my defense, I did do Olivia's hair this morning, but then what we laughingly refer to as "The Ranch Incident" happened at lunch...

We arrived home from the bookstore, but the girls were so engrossed in their new books they were completely unaware and uncaring that the car had stopped.  I finally fetched them out 10 minutes later when I was sure they would die of heat stroke.

wistfully  /adj./  4.  This weekend was our ward's Fathers and Sons Outing.  The boys had a great time camping and hiking with David, but especially loved shooting bb guns.  David reported that Caleb is a terrific shot and almost the first thing out of his mouth when they arrived home was that maybe we should get Caleb a gun for his birthday.  What in the world?  That was definitely on my list of sentences I never thought I would hear.  I immediately protested.  ("He'll shoot his eye out.")  Even more concerning, Ethan has already started wistfully campaigning for a bb gun of his own for his birthday.  Somehow I don't think this will end well.

My little warrior looks a little too comfortable with this Red Ryder bb gun.

wistfully  /adv./  5.  After wistfully longing for summer vacation since last September, we are down to single digits...only 9 days left.  I can hardly stand it.  I have big plans for nothing, and all of it spent together.  My idea of heaven.

wistfully  /adv./  6.  I spent much of the week sewing quilts for my five laurels who are graduating in less than two weeks.   This has meant quite a few hours in front of my sewing machine and, unfortunately, even a couple hours of one-on-one time with my handy dandy seam ripper.  I started the quilting on this one, but hated the design and ended up pulling it all out and trying something else.  I am thrilled with the final result, but wistfully wish I had those unpicking hours back.

The pattern is ridiculously simple (a must when you're mass-producing 5 quilts in a week), but aren't the fabrics just yum?

Word of the Week: Objurgate

objurgate  /vt. /  to express strong disapproval of, to criticize severely.  to reproach or denounce vehemently;  upbraid harshly.  berate.  chide.  scold.  reprove.  admonish sharply.  dress down.

objurgate  /vt./  1.  Most of the objurgating that goes in in my house goes on in my own head.  But these last two weeks I have gone running almost every day, not only exorcizing my exercise demons, but also,  surprisingly, clearing my head of my usual self-chastisement about anything and everything.  Perhaps CIM is appeased by endorphins.

objurgate  /vt./  2.  I am right in the middle of trying to quickly plan a ward youth conference.  Our stake youth conference was cancelled recently, but I could hardly bear to watch the date come and go without doing something with my young women.  I believe in the power of youth conference.  The young men's president and I came up with an idea that we thought would be fabulous, "Le Tour de Vida Eterna" (more details in a couple of weeks) but many others have objurgated almost every aspect of our plans.  Despite these objections we are pressing forward and now I'm only nervous that their criticisms will be validated in the end.  I've had a hard time figuring out which part is the "opposition in all things" and which part is the real and valuable, good counsel.  (Guess I was wrong about definition number 1 after all.  Apparently I can still find plenty to beat myself up about.)

objurgate  /vt./  3.  David and I took Greg and Becca (David's brother and his wife) and Beckie (David's sister) to dinner at Olive & Ivy on Friday night.  Our excuse was to show them the Scottsdale night-life, but my real motivation in going to this particular restaurant was the bruschetta.  Of course.  There is simply nothing to objurgate about this divine appetizer.  I am always tempted to go in there and order about five of these in lieu of my entree.  It's embarrassing how much I love this stuff.

objurgate  /vt./  4.  I rarely have necessity to really objurgate my children, but tonight as we were about to kneel for family prayers, Olivia made the offhand comment that Savannah probably would not do well on her tests in the morning because she wasn't going to bed early enough.  (Savannah's testing week begins tomorrow.  Why can't the school just do it all at once and get it over with?  We are seriously cracking under the pressure here.)  Savannah broke into sobs, completely devastated, and absolutely sure of her inevitable failure on the morrow.  I sternly objurgated Olivia, reminded her of her own anxiety only one week ago, and told her how disappointed I was in her complete lack of empathy.  Grrr.

I looked up from making dinner on Thursday night to find my girls outside in their towels.  Rather than objurgate them for their immodesty I simply pulled out my camera...they said it was an "emergency"...they had forgotten to bring the bunny back in after playing outside with her, and just remembered in the shower.  For heavens sake.

objurgate  /vt./  5.  Thankfully my girls are usually best friends, kind and accommodating and sweet.  They play really well together and usually their only requirement is that it be something "creative."  Their latest idea is "stop-motion" movies with their American Girl dolls.  Admittedly, I did a bit of objurgating when I found out they were using my camera, but was quickly won over when they showed me their creations.  Here is their first movie...entitled "BFF"...yeah Mom, that's "Best Friends Forever."  (In case you can't quite follow it, the story line goes:  two BFF's are walking their pets, then go to school, exchange BFF notes, which makes them so happy they do the splits and a back-flip.  Oh, I love these girls.)

objurgate  /vt./  6.  Though I usually do nothing but querulously objurgate when I talk about the monthly Cub Scout pack meeting, this week's (with all of its usual problems) was such a thrill for me as a mother.  Caleb received both his Webelos badge and his Arrow of Light.  With David's help, Caleb has made great personal progress in his scouting program.  I can hardly believe he's almost a full-fledged boy scout, and wonder how I made it through 34 pack meetings already.  In this case I am relieved and glad that all good things must come to an end.

 

Word of the Week: Assiduously

assiduously  /adv. /  constant in application or attention, completely.  comprehensively, from A to Z, from top to bottom.  fully.  in and out.  thoroughly, through and through.  backwards and forwards.  whole hog.

assiduously  /adv./  1.  My efforts to assiduously document and record my life, my thoughts and my feelings on this blog, have definitely been stymied this week by the demands of my ACTUAL life.  I noticed that I posted 22 times in March (not counting my blessing log) and only twice so far in April.  The truth is that from now until mid-June my life is not my own and my lists are longer than my days.

assiduously  /adv./  2.  I really tried this year to assiduously use the orange crop from the "mini-orchard" in our yard.  Despite my efforts to eat and drink and give away my citrusy goodness...my trees were still full.  Yesterday the "professional" orange pickers cleaned us out and left my trees nothing but green.  It leaves me with that same feeling as when I take the Christmas decorations down...a bit forlorn and a bit relieved all at the same time.

assiduously  /adv./  3.  This past week was testing week for my kids.  Caleb and Olivia both had AIMS tests all week and this created quite a bit of anxiety especially for Olivia.  Caleb was a bit worried until the  first day when he figured out that the tests were going to be very easy.  Olivia, however, assiduously maintained her nervousness throughout the week and even when David congratulated her on "it being over" she said, "Well, now I'm nervous about my scores."  I was in charge of making sure we all ate hot, healthy breakfasts with plenty of protein and "brain foods," which I assiduously performed, surprising even myself. 

assiduously  /adv./  4.  David gave me a "night away" for my birthday and so my sister, Emily, came and played all-around-wonder-aunt to my kids on Friday night.  On Saturday morning she took the kids down to the church building for our ward's "Pancake Games," which eventually dissolved into a pancake food fight, but also involved all kinds of pancake competition, including hanging from the "pancake gallows."  Ethan (who doesn't like to lose at anything) assiduously hung on for dear life, but in the end was bested by a three-year-old little girl.  Much to his consternation.  This disappointment has not prevented him from proudly wearing his pancake medal (think an actual schellacked pancake) around his neck full-time since then.

assiduously  /adv./  5.  Since Easter, my girls have devoted themselves assiduously to all things "craft."  This week they took up knitting on round looms.  Olivia is making a hat for a woman in our ward who has cancer and Savannah took the small loom and made a hat for her American Girl doll.  She was nothing but absolutely delighted with the result.  The girls informed me that they are going to knit all summer long, to which Caleb remarked, "That's just what people need.  Hats and scarves for summer."  Olivia superciliously replied that they were "stocking up for winter." 

assiduously  /adv./  6.  After being "at the breaking point" for some time, David and I assiduously applied ourselves to R&R this past weekend.  We spent a night and day at the Sanctuary resort in Paradise Valley (aptly named, by the way).  The resort was spectacular and the get-away was wonderful, even if it was only 28 hours long, not that I was counting.  This is my idea of the perfect birthday present.  Alone time with my one-and-only.  Just what I needed.

I know David will want me to post these pictures of our incredible room(s).  This is for you babe.

Word of the Week: Noodge

noodge  /vt. /  to keep urging, asking in an annoying way.  nag.  to annoy persistently, pester.  agitate.  beleaguer.  disturb.  harass.  plague.  bother.  henpeck.  bedevil.

noodge  /vt./  1.  My to-do's noodged me all week, dogging me night and day with thoughts of "Oh, I need to remember...", until I finally relented and actually wrote them down.  This proved to be a fantastic idea (making me significantly more efficient) until Friday afternoon when I misplaced my list.  An unfortunate turn of events, and yet, I muddled through with only a few moments of complete stupor.

noodge  /vt./  2.  Ethan complained all week that his ears hurt when he swallowed.  After days of noodging me to "go see Dr. James" I called the pediatrician and we showed up just before lunch on Thursday morning.  We waited to see him for about an hour and when we finally did, Ethan got a clean bill of health.  No ear infection.  No strep throat.  Somehow this didn't make me happy.  Dr. James suggested that Ethan stop swallowing (since that's the only time his ears hurt) to which Ethan replied, "When I don't swallow my tummy hurts."  Ethan, of course, giggled through the entire exam and Dr. James noted that he must be feeling "really bad" to be this cheerful, and I grudgingly played the part of the insane mother.  By the by, Ethan's ears are still noodging him when he swallows.  Grrr.

noodge  /vt./  3.  This week was the Pine Wood Derby.  My personal idea of the 7th circle of hell.  I noodged David all week to help Caleb with his car.  The weigh-in was Thursday night anytime from 7 til 9, (you had to have your car ready and weighed in by then to compete on Saturday).  My boys showed up with their car at ten minutes to 9.  Sounds about right.  Caleb won 4 out of 6 of his races, a decent showing for a boy whose dad does not own a saw of any kind.

(Here is one of his wins...his car is in the far lane...)

noodge  /vt./  4.   Friday night David and Olivia had date night.  Olivia's Achievement Days class had a daddy-daughter bowling and pizza night and, as you can imagine, she was in 7th heaven.  The event started at 5:30, but Olivia was so worried they would miss even one single moment of fun, she started her campaign early, calling David every five minutes starting at 4:30 and noodging him home. 

noodge  /vt./  5.  David's colorectal screening event went about like you'd expect.  Apparently it takes more noodging than a postcard (he sent 1200 out to the community) to get people to come in and get their colons screened.  David said, "It's a free service.  You'd think people would want a free test."  Um.  No.  People don't want their colons screened even for free.  Surprising.  Seriously though, despite a few technical problems, he was happy to say that the were able to give out 150 tests and maybe most importantly, David decided it was time to get his own examined.  I was happy to hear that my last 6 months of not-so-gentle noodging is finally going to pay off.

noodge  /vt./  6.  My list was long this week and so this spilled over a bit into David's life as well.  The yard was especially atrocious by Friday afternoon and we had about 40 people coming for dinner on Saturday afternoon, with no time or way to do anything about it.  I felt like I had noodged David all week about so many other things that I calmly accepted the state of my yard "as is" and prepared to just serve such good food that no one would care about the state of my weeds.  And then.  A friend in my ward quietly and secretly mowed my lawn and pulled my weeds while David and I were sleeping early Saturday morning.  When I discovered her, she simply shrugged and explained that no matter how much she noodged, I would never let her help me, so she just decided to do something without asking.  An angel with a lawn mower.

noodge  /vt./  7.  No matter how I try to resist it, the milestones in my darlings' lives noodge me to realize that time is passing and my babies are not actually babies anymore.  Savannah had her baptism preview tonight.  When they handed me the invitation I thought, "I don't have an eight-year-old."  And had to turn it over to see Savannah's name on it before I connected the dots.  This is a "noodging" I would prefer to avoid all-together.  Another accountable child.  It's a bit hard to swallow past the lump in my throat.

My tender feelings about Savannah reminded me of a poem I love.  Says it perfectly...

Sentimental Moment or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?

by Robert Hershon

Don't fill up on bread
I say absent-mindedly
The servings here are huge

My son, whose hair may be
receding a bit, says
Did you really just
say that to me?

What he doesn't know
is that when we're walking
together, when we get
to the curb
I sometimes start to reach
for his hand

Word of the Week: Tractable

tractable /adj. /  easily managed or controlled, docile.  yielding.  easily worked, shaped, or otherwise handled, malleable.  amenable.  willing.  compliant.

tractable  /adj./  1.  This week my sister, Rachel, proved to be extremely tractable when I proposed starting up some morning exercise.  For whatever reason I exercise more consistently (who am I kidding...it is the ONLY time I exercise) when I have to meet someone.  Apparently I have a hard time letting someone else down, but no problem letting myself down.  (Sounds about right.)  We're starting with just walking...she just had a baby and I am just so frighteningly out-of-shape that anything more would be dangerous.  I loved watching the sun come up and visiting with Rach as we rounded the track together. 

tractable  /adj./  2.  On Tuesday morning I took Caleb to the bus stop as usual, but he was wheezing so loudly, I could hear him breathing over the radio.   I suggested that I take him home and then to the doctor and I was shocked to hear his tractable agreement.  He doesn't like to miss school for anything, but he was so tight-chested and miserable he readily agreed.  After a trip to the doctor, who expressed dismay over his "soupy chest" and tractably gave us three prescriptions,  Caleb spent the rest of the day like this:

Ethan was thrilled to have a friend join him in a Star Wars marathon.

tractable  /adj./  3.  I got a surprise visit from my cousin Jennifer and her kids on Wednesday afternoon.  My kids had "early release" and all the kids were begging for some entertainment.  We ended up going to the movie, which as it turns out, is a very fun thing to do in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the week.  I loved having an excuse to "play" and even though neither of us wanted to see "College Road Trip" we ended up being very tractable, since that was the movie all the kids were begging for.  (Please note: I only recommend this "film" if you are trying to please 9 darlings and get completely out-voted.)

tractable  /adj./  4.  David lost his glasses last fall and has been completely reliant on his contacts since then.  This week his eyes were driving him crazy and by the end of the week he finally resolved to get a new pair of glasses.  On Friday night we skipped our usual "date" and went to get him fixed up...he could hardly stand it another minute.  He was cheerfully tractable as I made him try on pair after pair, but not quite as tractable when I tried to take a picture tonight of the pair he ended up with.  Here's his end of the conversation:

"Why?"

"Okay, but just my face."

"I have a good angle.  What's my good angle?"

"I said 'JUST MY FACE.'"

"This is not fair."

Bless his ever-tractable nature.

tractable  /adj./  5.  The Quilt Retreat countdown has begun and so tonight I enlisted my girls' help in making pincushions.  They are tractable to any activity involving fabric and had lots of fun stuffing these little fabric balls I made.  Happily, this proved to be the perfect task for their tractable little fingers.