Prickly pear

Some kind of sotol? or yucca?

Deer track in our campsite

Great Blue Heron, on the lake near Devil’s Waterhole

Camp kitchen

Cooking pouches of camp fire apples on New Year’s Eve!

Playing “sink or float?” in small pools of water in the gneiss rock

After dinner

Pencil cactus

White-tailed deer

Playing in our campsite while Nathan and I broke camp New Year’s Day

Happy New Year, friends and family.  Here’s to continuing the adventure in 2012.

We decorated our Christmas tree this afternoon, just the four of us.  Then we went out for dinner at a new Indian restaurant near our house.  Then we drove around looking at Christmas lights, while the children enjoyed the dum dums that the owner of the Indian restaurant kindly gave them when we left.

If I could bottle today and save it forever, I would.

Today we had a wonderful, if cold and windy, birthday celebration at the park.  Several of Maddie’s preschool classmates joined us, as well as my parents, Grandpa John and Grandma Sharon, Maddie’s Aunt Amber, Uncle Nick and cousins Andrew and Matthew, and other close family friends.

Grandma Sharon and Grandpa John:

Wendy and Lily:

Maddie’s owl hat was my birthday gift to her; I made it!

Nathan and Moti, the dad of one of Maddie’s preschool classmates:

Nathan and I made a chocolate cat-shaped birthday cake.  I joked that it was the coolest thing we’ve made together aside from the children.

GG & Pawpaw:

Andrew and Ben:

Uncle Nick and Aunt Amber:

Pawpaw helped Maddie blow bubbles, which we gave to guests as a party favor.

Maddie Roo in a patch o pumpkins:

(Who declined to wear a costume at all this year, sharing that she “might be a little bit scared.”)

Ben, post-trick-or-treating on Halloween night:

Willow didn’t come home with us until Nov 1, since solid black cats aren’t re-homed just before or on Halloween.  Then, after we brought her home, there were several days when we were concerned that she wouldn’t be able to stay, because Maddie showed signs of being allergic.  But since Nathan moved Willow’s litter box into the garage, Maddie has had no problems, and as she herself declared, “We’re Willow’s family.”

Willow is a great cat.  She’s interested in getting to know Ash dog better and wonderfully tolerant of the kids’ care and attention.  She’s sometimes playful and sometimes a lap cat.  We’re all quite smitten with the kitten.

Although Ben did initially decide that he likes dogs better than cats, “because dogs come when you call,”

he also shared that he likes Willow and really wants her to stay.  I’m sure she’ll train him in time.

Maddie went down the slide

Ben filled a discarded water bottle with pea gravel

And then Maddie sang an impassioned song about cats to this triceratops while Ben piled pea gravel on its back.

Lovin’ this weather.

“I see a airplane!”

playing with rocks under the live oaks:

Madeleine also joined the Co-op this year, as part of the Older 2s class.  She didn’t feel completely comfortable with me leaving today. She played outside, played with cars and playdough, but really spent most of her morning eating vanilla yogurt with new friends.

I’ve already been working hard for Co-op, serving as VP of Administration on the Board of Directors this year.  My main accomplishment so far is having successfully organized our community’s fall orientation for parents.  Nearly 70 families attended.  There was yummy food.  T-shirts were sold.  Tuition was collected.  Forms and handbooks were updated, copied and distributed.  Health and teaching staff talks were given, with slides, fulfilling part of our school’s state licensing requirements.  Folks were briefed about fundraising efforts coming up.  Whew.  I’m so happy and proud to have been trusted with the job of making it happen.

I’ll confess, though, that I’m looking forward to a little coasting time as a co-op board member now.  Organizing Orientation has been like a full-time job over the past couple of weeks, in addition to caring for the children and the house full time and doing a small amount of doula work.  As my good friend Holly turned fellow Co-opper observed, “It’s like you’re a project manager, only everyone’s a volunteer, so you can’t be a bitch.”  Indeed.

I’m hoping to do lots of cooking this fall, to spend more time in our garden and to go camping and hiking as a family, now that the temps are finally dropping.  I’m also hoping to attend a few more births before year’s end.  Aside from attending board meetings and parent coffees, my board member responsibilities won’t (in theory) ramp back up until the Spring, when the Co-op conducts its annual survey of participating families.

Fall is hands down my favorite time of year.  Have a happy one, dear readers.