Rally to Restore Sanity

Ever since this summer, I've been trying to plan a quick trip up to DC to see my brother and take the kids to visit the museums, but it just hadn't happened yet. So when Jon Stewart announced on The Daily Show (our cable news source) that he was holding a Rally to Restore Sanity and Casey didn't have to work and the Friday before the rally was a teacher's workday for Coulson - well, it just seemed like a rational thing to do. Taking 3 kids to the rally? Well, perhaps not the most rational thing, but taking the boys to the museums was one of the main reasons for the trip, so they could tag along to the rally with us.
And actually, aside from a few small snafus, the kids were great. I brought some snacks for the kids to eat, planning to buy some food from a vendor at the Mall, but the crowds made any such plan impossible. So the boys cleaned me out of my snacks - next time, pack a lunch. And there was no cell phone service! If we pushed our way through the crowd out to the street, we could sometimes get a text message through, but phone calls were impossible. This was annoying at first because we had trouble finding some friends from our church, I was hoping to connect with a friend from college, and I couldn't post cool things on Facebook about being at the rally. But the cell phone coverage suddenly became more than just annoying when my brother and Coulson went to explore and couldn't get back to our spot because the crowd got too thick while they were gone. So we were separated for more than an hour, I started to freak out a small bit, not because I thought something bad had happened or would happen to Coulson, but it was just so crazy crowded and I wanted my son back, close to me. Eventually they made it back and I could enjoy the rally.
We made a few good decisions that turned out to be especially helpful. We splurged on a hotel in downtown DC, within walking distance from the Mall (about 7 blocks), so on rally day, we didn't have to deal with any transportation issues - the Metro was packed and it would have been impossible with strollers. We got there early and although we didn't get a super good spot, we found a nice place where we could see a TV screen, hear the speakers and even had a little space on the grass to move around. There were other places where the crowd was as dense as a wall (I had to push my way through these walls when I was out looking for Coulson, it was not fun) so we were blessed to have found a good space.
The boys did great. Coulson read a book most of the time and Charlie played games on my internet device thingy. Since Carter had spent most of Thursday in his car seat and most of Friday and Saturday morning either in his stroller or in my arms, he only wanted to sit and wiggle in the grass.

And of course the signs were great ---

And my favorite...

It's hard to read, but it says: "Protest signs are an ineffectual way of communicating nuanced views on issues that cannot and should not be reduced to simple pithy slogans"

Pictures from Denver

Here are some other pictures from our trip to Colorado.

Charlie sleeping during our layover at the Chicago airport. Our 3 1/2 hour layover in Chicago wasn't so bad thanks to the children's play area they have set up, sponsored by the Children's Museum of Chicago. The play area has an aviation theme: a play plane with a cockpit, cabin and storage area, large foam blocks for luggage, large storage crates for the kids to crawl through, a control tower with a phone that connects with the cockpit of the plane, and a play helicopter with propellers that move when someone pedals the stationary bike in the helicopter cockpit. Coulson had a blast!Coulson posing for a picture at the Denver Zoo. A pretty good zoo with a large variety of animals and several animals I had never seen before (okapis and tapirs and some others). I feel pretty spoiled by the NC Zoo and its vast habitats for the animals, so I have a high standard when it comes to zoos. Oh, and one of my favorite parts: In the bathroom, instead of piping in music through the speakers, they piped in weird facts about animal excrement, so I learned about termite flatulence and rhino dung.

Coulson and Charlie dressing up as firemen at the Children's Museum of Denver. I've been to 3 children's museums and I think this one is the best so far. They had a mini-sized basketball court (and of course Charlie loved that!) and a section to build things with tools and trash (Coulson made a helicopter) and puppets and an oversized tree where the kids can climb through and pretend they are the squirrels that live there.

Of course we had to go hiking too, we were in Colorado after all. Since we didn't bring along a backpack for Charlie to ride in (we are light travellers, often leaving things at home that would have been very helpful just because we don't want to lug it all over the country) so we had to find a place that was super easy. Alderfer/Three Sisters park in Evergreen was the recommendation that fit our family best from Fun Colorado Hikes and it was great. We went twice. The first day we did a super easy hike and found a large rock formation that was perfect for the boys to climb around on (i.e. not steep enough to make me freak out if they walked more than a few feet from me.) The second time we took a more adventurous hike to a beautiful scenic vista. Casey's brother and sister-in-law joined us for the second hike.


I wanted so badly to get a nice family photo at this scenic spot, but this was the best one we could get....Well, at least Casey looks good.

An important appointment

Fellow NPR junkies will totally know how cool this is, but for those who don't have their local NPR station as the 1st pre-set in all their radios, here's some background info.  StoryCorps is a national oral history project with a simple mission: "to honor and celebrate one another's lives through listening."  Basically they have a mobile recording booth that travels around the country and people can make appointments to bring in a loved one and interview them for an hour.  After the hour, they get a CD recording of the interview and the interview can be archived with StoryCorps and the Library of Congress.

Well StoryCorps has come to Winston-Salem and they started taking reservations for appointments a few weeks ago over the internet.  Now, whenever there is a limited number of spots available online, I am always too slow - even when I log on right when the tickets go on sale - so I wasn't surprised when all the appointments were already full by the time I tried, but they had a waiting list in case of a cancellation, and I added my name to the waiting list, thinking it would be futile anyway.

So imagine my surprise when I got a phone call this afternoon informing me that there is an opening tomorrow afternoon.  And it's not like tomorrow is busy enough since I am volunteering at a local ministry in the morning and going to the annual fundraiser for Women of Vision/World Vision in Charlotte in the evening.  Sure, let's throw in another thing to do!  Since having kids, I realize I don't like last minute changes in plans because the childcare arrangements can get so problematic.  But thankfully my kind-hearted, loving, generous husband doesn't have to work and doesn't have any meetings tomorrow (a rarity on days that I actually want to do something...)  So now I have to prepare for my hour of history.

The biggest decision is who to interview.  I know my dad would be great - He loves to tell stories from his childhood.  But I really want to interview my mom and talk with her about life from a women's perspective.  I guess I want to explore how being a woman has shaped her life and how that in turn has shaped my life and the decisions I make as a woman, a wife, a mother.  Of course, I'm not sure what direction the interview will actually go in, it's really more of a conversation than an interview, so I don't have concrete expectations of what information I plan to extract from my mom.  I just hope that we have fun doing this together and that I get a chance to know my mom a little bit better.

StoryCorps offeres suggestions of questions to ask, so I'll probably check out some of those.  (Also a great resource if you think this sounds like a great project and just want to grab a recording device and a friend)  I also asked my oldest brother, a professional historian, for some guidance too.  Now I have to go and pick some really good questions to get our conversation started. 

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I'm trying to get better about uploading photos of the boys, especially since my original intent with my blog is to update friends and family from far away about the boys as they grow up.  So here are some of the photos from Christmas.

I will sit down and write a real blog again soon, since one of my New Year's resolutions is to be a better blogger.  But right now my house is a complete wreck since I haven't been able to absorb all the extra stuff we got for Christmas.  The boys were thoroughly spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles from both sides, in addition to the gifts that we got for them, so I have toys scattered everywhere and I'm not sure where to put the new toys and which old toys will get the boot yet.  And I have gradually accumulated 6 loads of clean laundry sitting in a pile on my bedroom floor that I haven't been able to fold or put away since I've been so busy from hanging out with family between Christmas and New Years  (But let's give me some credit because the clothes are clean).  So to properly procrastinate from these arduous tasks, I need to sit on the couch and watch a lot of TV or play Mario Kart on the Wii and that just doesn't leave a lot of room for blogging.

The boys had a great Christmas, I mean, three days of Christmas.  On Thursday we celebrated Christmas with just the four of us.  Then Friday was Christmas with my parents and brothers and sister-in-law and nephews and nieces.  Then Saturday was Christmas with Casey's parents and brother and sister and sister-in-law and so-to-be-brother-in-law.  Then we spent the next few days with my family while my brother and nephew and niece were in town from NY. 

For New Year's Eve, we held a mini party for the boys and their cousins, complete with a countdown (to 8:00pm) and a ball drop (I stood on the bed and dropped a beach ball) and noisemakers (empty toilet paper rolls wrapped in tin foil).  They were a very enthusiastic crowd, and of course I forgot to take pictures.

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Cousin Fun

Last weekend, my brother and his family came for a quick visit.  They live overseas, so we don't get to see them often, about every other year.  They'll be moving back to the states next year, so we are looking forward to seeing them more frequently.  The last time that we had seen my nieces and sister-in-law was the week before Charlie was born, almost 2 years ago. 

When we first greeted everyone at my parents house, Coulson was very shy and secretly confided to me that he didn't remember them.  It didn't last long and by the end of their visit, he was lamenting and wishing that their daddy could work where his daddy worked so they could play together all the time.

(Bear with me on this - I try to respect my family and friends' privacy on my blog by not using their names, but I have 3 brothers, so just refering to them as "brother" can get confusing.  So brother #3 was visiting, brother #2 lives nearby and his 2 kids are included in all the cousin excitement happening, brother #1 doesn't live nearby so his family wasn't able to be part of the cousin fun this past weekend.)

We had everyone to our new home one night for dinner and it was a lot of fun to host a big crowd (and not have to cram our guests into 2 small rooms like our old house).  To Casey's credit, everyone had fun playing the Wii.  We were like those happy families in the commercials, laughing and interacting while playing video games together.  And it's especially fun because my parents can play alongside the grandkids and everyone has fun.  Sure the four-year-olds can beat grandma in bowling, but it's a pretty close game and they all have a great time.  You can't say that about most video games.

We took over 30 pictures trying to get a good group shot of all the cousins, thinking that we were bound to get at least one picture that would turn out good.  Here are the best ones:

 

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In sickness and ... in more sickness

February has been an ugly month for us as my family has tried to acquire as many illnesses as possible.  Let me list the ways:

• bad, gunky, snotty colds - all four of us, Casey is still getting over his
• chronic cough - all of us, but Coulson had this nasty hacking sound last weekend that had Casey and I cracking up!
• pink eye - Coulson, me, Charlie (who so generously shared it with my dad)
• severe headaches - Casey
• a stomach bug - me, Chester (oh, that was nasty!)
• skin infections - Charlie
• iritis (maybe)- me, I couldn't drive for a few days (well, I had to drive, but it wasn't a good idea)
• eczema - Coulson

But Charlie takes the cake with this:

Pox Face

Pox Back

Yes, he has the chicken pox!  Although I remember it as a childhood rite of passage, today in the medical community it's kinda rare since there's a vaccine for it - a vaccine that my dr's office didn't have in stock at his one year check-up, so they said, "Oh well, we'll just give it to him at his 18 month check up."  Ha!  That's one less shot he'll need now.  Conveniently these strange chicken-pox-like bumps started to appear a couple days before his 18 month check-up.  So when the Dr saw him and confirmed the pox diagnosis, she invited all the nurses to come in and see this strange disease for themselves, since many had never seen it before.  Then as we left, one of the nurses put a sign on the door that says not to use the room for 3 days.  And she asked me not to let him walk in the halls.  I felt like an untouchable.  I've had to keep him away from the public for the past 6 days and it's been driving me crazy!  I should add cabin fever to the list of illnesses above.

Thankfully, the pox doesn't seem to bother him.  He never itched or scratched at the spots.  He was just a bit extra clingy to me - almost like how Coulson was at this age - on a good day.  But now he's getting better.  The spots are scabbing and he's not contagious anymore, so we're going to the grocery store tomorrow (oh, my life is so exciting!)

I decided that February is the month for us to be sick, and all that sickness will end once March begins.  So we welcome March with open arms!

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The Curse of the Pirates' Treasure

Last Friday we bundled up the kids and went off in search of pirates' treasure.  It was an all day adventure as we had to first find the treasure map and collect all 8 of the clues to finish the map. Geocaching is fun because it takes you to places you might not ever know about otherwise.  The first half of our treasure hunt took us to the Gold Hill Mine Historical Park, where I learned that North Carolina was the main gold mining state until the California gold rush.  After lunch we found the rest of the clues at a Boys and Girls Club campground.  Once we had all the clues, we used the map and the clues to decipher the coordinates for the last cache - the treasure!  Coulson got a little toy police car and Charlie took a bouncy ball (of course).  And we left some of our own little toys for someone else to enjoy.

Going after some pirates' treasure!

We learned a lot about geocaching that day, especially that when the GPSr shows that the cache is still several hundred feet away, it helps to stick to the trail even when the arrow is pointing directly to your left or right.  Many times we headed directly into the woods with some difficult terrain, especially when hiking with kids, only to find that the original trail winded back around to a spot closer to the cache.  (And silly us, we're still learning this lesson, as we did a lot of extra hiking when we were out caching yesterday as well!) 

Then on Saturday, we visited my brother and his family.  We took them geocaching, too.  It was fun to share our new hobby with them and I think the kids had a lot of fun looking for the hidden box and then choosing a toy to keep.  Thankfully we found a cache that was full of toys (or McToys, as they're called, since the "treasures" are often a Happy Meal toy or something of similar value).  Some caches just have small grown-up stuff (keychains, etc.) so finding one full of toys added to the fun for the kids.  And of course I forgot to take pictures of the kids finding the box!  Maybe I'll remember next time. 

And then, as I said, we went caching again on Sunday.  The weather was just too beautiful and, as I noted in a previous post, Coulson's not crazy about playgrounds.  So geocaching is the perfect way to get outside.  We're hoping that this helps Coulson get more excited about being outdoors.  We haven't been able to go camping as much as we would have liked - Casey's residency schedule didn't give us much time for weekend getaways - so Coulson's not as accustomed to "roughing it" as we would like.  But we're hoping to do more camping in the future and it would be a big bummer if the boys didn't like it.

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An Update from Kenya

Many of you know that my parents are currently in Kenya on a 3 month mission trip, due to return the end of January (we miss you so much!).  I also have a brother who lives there with his wife and three daughters.  Another brother has gone to visit them over the Christmas holidays.  So over half of my family is there now.

Currently there is rioting in Kenya over recent elections.  If you want a quick overview of the situation, you can read an article or listen to reports.  My parents and visiting brother are basically stuck in their home and my brother emailed me his reflections on the situation, which I thought would help anyone with New Year's Resolutions to become better world citizens, so I'm posting his email below.

They are a little nervous about his return trip to the US on Jan 1.  His flight leaves at midnight and my parents don't drive there at night under normal circumstances, so they sure aren't looking forward to their drive to and from the airport in the middle of riots.  I'm sure they could use some prayer.  In their own words: "We are not afraid because we know God knew all about this when we signed up for this assignment and we are in His hands and care."

Anyway, my brother's email:

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Don't know if this is getting any attention in states.  But I'm basically in lockdown here.  The sham election has been declared and martial law imposed.  All broadcast media has been taken off the air.  The U.S. government appears to have confirmed the results. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
 
Here is something I wrote up about my experience (since there is nothing else to do but sit in our compound and play scrabble).
 
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 I can already see today's events written up in the newspaper I grew up reading. The High Point (NC) Enterprise reserves a small corner on the bottom of page 4 for international coverage. Each day, under the headline "Glimpses Around the World," readers are offered a small world map with six numbers pointing to different countries. These numbers, in turn, correspond to story blurbs of 40-50 words. Yes, the astute American can get the world in 60 seconds. On most days, we even get the neat symmetry of one story per continent.

 Today, Kenya was likely chosen to represent Africa in the Enterprise. The story may read: "Sporadic violence broke out throughout Nairobi today as opposition leaders formally disputed the anticipated results of Wednesday's presidential election. Incumbent president Nanu Kibeki called for calm while early leader Raina Odeki asked the electoral commission of Kenya to investigate results in districts dominated by the Kikuru tribe loyal to the governing party. International observers have noted irregularities in the voting and appear unlikely to validate the still delayed results."

 This story feels so much larger than any such blurb would imply. As I write, I am holed up in a house outside the city. The streets are eerily empty. Stores are closed. My week in Kenya has been dominated by the election and the drawn-out results. Any further sightseeing is unlikely.

 I was caught up in this drama yesterday. My parents and I left Nairobi early in the morning for a journey into the Rift Valley for a safari in a national park. It is difficult to imagine a disputed election out in the country. The vast valley dwarfs its human inhabitants. An extinct volcano and ancient lake remind me that I am in a land that precedes any human concerns. And on safari, the most interesting exhibit is human vulnerability.

 Our driver, Ignacio, was informed in the early afternoon of looting and fire near his home in the slum neighborhood known as Kabira (well documented in the Constant Gardner). We contacted my brother in the U.S . embassy and decided to head back to Nairobi before dark. En route, Ignacio continued to receive information--on phone and through conversations with other drivers. His explanations and translations from Swahili left me confused. But I could read the concern on his face and a speedometer that registered speeds much too fast for the pot-holed streets we journeyed through. At one point, Ignacio suggested that I may need to drive because he "was very very black" and that, in some places, thugs might not recognize his tribe.

 Ill-informed on all the tribal and political dimensions of the election, I was as concerned as I have ever been traveling. But the threat to my safety pales in comparison to the average Kenyan. Hopefully these safety concerns are temporary. But regardless of how the election pans out, Kenya will remain divided for the next five years.
And the readers of the Enterprise will have another blurb to fit into their grossly oversimplified narrative of Africa. Readers will easily conclude, in less than 60 seconds, that the vast continent of Africa is best understood as a corrupt place still unprepared for the responsibility of democracy.

 On this my first trip to Africa, I now realize how deep this narrative penetrates me. What surprises me about Kenya? And what does such surprise say about me? Why do I lack the imagination to see so many other stories in Africa? And what will it take U.S. news sources to treat Africa with fairness by developing such an imagination?
Yes, corruption is rampant. Decades of colonialism followed by post-colonial strongmen like Kenyatta and Moi have taken a toll on government structures. Such corruption explains why, amidst unprecedented economic growth, income disparity has widened under Kibeki. And the failure of real reform ensures that forty percent of Kenyans still subsist on less than $1 per day.

 But unfortunately, the closeness of the election and the ensuing violence obscures what could and should be a more optimistic story, one of democratic triumph. The failure of Kibeki to deliver on promised reforms (and the unanticipated backlash to his alliance with former president Daniel Arap Moi) explains why Kenyans ousted much of its Parliament on Wednesday. Most of Kenya wanted change. And record numbers of Kenyans stood in line for hours to ink their finger and register a resounding complaint.

 From Wednesday night until Friday afternoon, it was clear that Raila would be the new president. Kebeki refused to acknowledge defeat. Then the electoral commission, slowest in tallying votes from Kebeki strongholds, began adding returns favorable to the exisiting government. In ways suspicious to international observers, those latter votes have given Kebeki a small edge.

 An announcement looms this afternoon. The smell of suspicion is in the air. Violence has already broken out in neighborhoods like Kabira where locals feel they have been wronged yet again. A formal announcement suggesting a Kibeki victory will undoubtedly unleash another round of looting and thugery tonight.

"Glimpses Around the World" will have new blurbs in the coming weeks to reinforce our unimaginative narrative of Africa. And the ego of a few men, in a nation filled with such promise, will continue to define Africa.

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'Tis the season for sharing

My parents are in Kenya this winter serving as substitute missionaries for a few months.  They left in October and they'll return in January.  Part of their job is to minister to the people living in the slums.  (It sounds so un-PC to say slums, but I don't think there's another word to descibe these living condtions.)  If you're familiar with the movie The Constant Gardner, it's the same area where Rachel Weisz's character does her charity work.

My mom is volunteering in a school.  This is how she describes it:

On Tuesday's rather than witness, I have chosen to go to a school that has 120 very, poor children. 22 of them have both parents, 58 have only one parent due to abandonment or death by HIV, 40 of them are completely orphaned. They are too poor to have a uniform, many come barefoot and they are so dirty and ragged. But this school is doing a great job with 6 teachers who volunteer their time to teach. Then at noon all of the teachers are cooking rice, ugali, or slicing cabbage or greens for the childrens lunch while they play. I am so humbled by their ability juxtaposed to their love for the kids. I was looking at the science lesson on the blackboard and the sixth grade was studying perimeciums and amoebas. They are multiplying and dividing fractions. I was very impressed. The classrooms are the size of your computer play room and they will have 25 kids packed in there. I hardly have room to stand in front of them when I tell them the Bible story each week on flannelgraph. I am doing a 4 week series on Joseph.

I am planning to send a monetary Christmas gift to this school so the teachers can buy whatever they need most.  If anyone wants to help, email me by December 1 and tell me how much you want to contribute.  I don't think it's tax-deductible since I was just planning to send the money to my mom to give to the teachers, but I'll let you know if that changes.  Thanks!

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Whitewater Adventure

Last night Casey and I went whitewater rafting with my brother, sister-in-law and dad.  My mom had the enviable task of watching our 4 kids.  (Thanks Mom!)  I hadn't been rafting since my freshman year of college and we had a blast.  We rafted at the US National Whitewater Center and our guide Brent was a lot of fun.  The USNWC is the largest man-made whitewater site in the US and I think a lot of pros/Olympians go there to train.  The weather was great and the water was perfect - not the icy cold water I remember from the trips in my youth.  I had always been in natural rivers in my previous rafting trips and the man-made aspect felt different.  It didn't seem as scary since the conditions were controlled and we did the same rapids several times.  But also it was nicer because we didn't have to do a lot of boring rowing in-between rapids and there was a current to help us go in the direction we wanted to go, so we got to run through lot of rapids in a short time.  And when we did fall out (see below) we didn't have to worry about being swept all the way down the river or the dangers of getting our feet trapped under jagged rocks and stuff like that.

My sister-in-law Kristine attached her waterproof camera to her personal floatation device and just let it record when we went through rapids and then posted her best shots on YouTube.

In this video we intentionally head straight into a complete deluge.  It was great!   Casey and I are in the front.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXfrKj5QRSM

Although we were unwilling to go for a deliberate raft overturn, everyone thought the idea of falling out was somewhat appealing.  Everyone but Kristine, that is.  On our last run through the class IV rapid, we collided with another boat and everyone fell out.  Everyone but Kristine, that is.  So it worked out well for everyone. No, we didn't jump in intentionally - it happened so fast I didn't even know we crashed until I was already in the water.  And the accident had nothing to do with the fact that our lead rowers (Nathan and Kristine) were busy waving at their daughter Lauren on the side of the river mere seconds before the collision.  Anyway, falling out was a lot of fun.  This footage is a bit jumpy, it might make you dizzy or queasy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-c-nw46YDw

 

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