Thanksgiving's Small Moments

Dad creates a maze from blocks.
Here is a close up.
Lelo shares a swig of his special drink.
So nice to be together under one roof.
Nora kisses Lelo.
Nora and Lelo.

Julian has a very 'toxic candy'

Luke and dad decide to try it. Luke lasts 2 seconds.

Dad lasts quite a while.

Julian shares his ipod touch with Luke.....
Auntie Mirtha reads a story to Luke.
Plenty of cuddling time with Lela.
Nora showing off how she can now write 'mom' and 'dad' on her own.
Nora and Julian.
Tea time.
Nora's bird (3.5 years old)
Nora's snowman.
Nora's flower with roots and dirt.
Close up of tea time.
Nora's dog.
Nora's cat drawing.
Nora's monster.
Nora drawing on the sand.
Nora creating a sculpture in the sand with sticks.
Nora's finished stick sculpture in the sand.
Dad and I photographed each other's shadow.
Luke found a wide piece of wood. They used it to keep from getting wet each time the water came around.
Enjoyed photographing my mom's garden.
Photographed my sister's very adorable dog, Sadie.

Project we did at Lela's house

My mom had found this gem of a book in the thrift store. In the back the artist gives specific instruction on how to do cats on all sized boulders.

Here is Nora painting her own rock.
here is a page from the book. Aren't these cats just the cutest!!!?
I just fell in love with these fat kitties.
I ended up using coloring pencils instead of paint as advised in the book.
I did 2 rock kitties.

Two Days to a Bittersweet New Phase in Our Lives

2 more nights here in NY....my mom keeps hinting at being very upset over the fact that we are leaving her home. We've been living in an apartment below her house for 4 years now. All our 100+ boxes are packed and we are ready to move from here Tuesday night and start a new life. I suspect the first few nights will be hardest for my mom and step-dad who have been very intimately part of Luke's for 4 years now...and Nora has never known any life different than having the love of so many adults in our immediate family.

My sister and I set up a SKYPE account so that my mom and the kids could talk through online video for free. I suspect Nora will have it the hardest for she asks for my mom the minute she wakes in the morning and goes to the door, knocks on her door to wake Lela (grandma) in the mornings. Again, my stomach is in knots over the change....and I can't seem to feel better about it.

.

I know in my head that the change will do my family well. We need the space. Also, jobs are few and in between and I am lucky enough to get the job of my dreams (during such tough financial times )....I will be teaching art full time to kids AND to top that, get paid very well for doing it. The odds of that happening again are very few. In addition, my son (and later Nora) will go to a very good school with low teacher ratio and heavy parent involvement. But, the feeling that I am taking something wonderful and sacred away from both my mom and my kids that will not and cannot be replaced continues to haunt me?

I will have to live with this for a while and hope that it resolves itself in my heart in time. In Buddhism you are often asked to sit with the feelings and allow them to pass though you as if it were a ball of energy working itself through your body, like a sharp pain would. I am resolved not to fight this sadness, I will allow it to linger as long as it likes and and allow it to slowly pass through my body with the passage of time. I will trust what I have learned through these years, that it's often when we fight the uncomfortable feelings that we suffer even more. So I will continue to wake my husband nightly and share my worries, and my sadness.....

When Kyle, a dear dear friend took his life, it took me 2 years just to not cry over him every other day. Now I think of him and I can at least function. Knowing that even the worse of life's tragedies will be bearable with the passage of time helps me deal with my current tough issues and make me less fearful over change.