Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

One Year's Difference!
Photos from this November and Last November




Monday, November 2, 2009

Run!





On Saturday, October 31, Princess Moxie ran in a large race for 4th and 5th graders in our area. It was fun for us to see her participate with a couple of hundred children and spectators. The run was billed as "cross country," but it was really only a quarter-mile, although it seemed much longer since it was raining!

Afterward, we went to the diner for pancakes, a kind of post-race-carb-loading frenzy. To top it off, Theo, the owner, invited our girls to go behind the counter to take some Halloween candy. Princess Moxie was digging through the bucket of candy, grabbing and eating everything she could and said loudly, "I am like a little mouse!" Theo quickly reprimanded her, saying, "Never say 'mouse' in a restaurant!"

Princesses Moxie, Sparky and Diva Darling went trick-or-treating with two neighbors in the early afternoon. My neighbor friend went with us, and we had a nice time watching the girls enjoy their first Halloween. (As a Christian, I have mixed feelings about Halloween. However, when I was a kid, I loved to dress up and go out trick-or-treating. Now, though, it seems that the adults have taken over and made it too scary and ridiculous with their grotesque "decorations.") After the trick-or-treating the girls took baths (it was still raining), and we watched Charlotte's Web and ate candy for dinner. Delicious.

On Sunday, November 1, the NYC Marathon was held. I wish I had thought to bring the girls to it. I've gone several times to cheer on the runners, and it's a thrill to be there. This year was especially exciting because Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia won the women's race and America's Meb (originally from Eritrea)won the men's race! I showed the girls the clip from youtube on Meb and will show them the video clip on Tulu when they get home from school. I did a little quick research and it turns out Tulu is from the Oromo tribe, so I don't know if our girls will be interested/impressed with her, as our princesses are Amhara; they have a lot of tribal pride and I've been told Amhara has long been the "aristocrats" and ruling group. At times when they speak about the other tribes it sounds like they don't even consider them Ethiopian. Interesting.

Regardless, next year we'll plan to go to NYC to watch, if the Lord is willing, and we'll cheer on our two home teams!!

Big hugs,
M.