Five Years Old!

Our baby is not such a baby anymore.

birthday party grin

Just us chickens

Anticipating an extra extroverted holiday season ahead we opted for a supremely low-key Thanksgiving. Keeping things simple created more flexibility in our schedule and time to enjoy play and preparation.

The Thanksgiving menu discussions have been underway for weeks. Topics include the difference between chicken and turkey, the ingredients in stuffing, the merits of pumpkin vs pecan pie, and the utter brilliance of marshmallows on yams. Since Cyrus has always had a keen interest in poultry the turkey salt bath was very exciting.

post brine turkey and poultry enthusiast
I look forward to the pre feast snack of shrimp cocktail and bloody marys almost as much as the main event.

salty, crunchy, spicy, sweet

children set a cheery & rustic table
The afternoon unfolded with Cj in the kitchen working his magic and the rest of us noodling around outside. We played volleyball, kickball, chased falling leaves, watched butterflies mate and built a fairy house.The weather changed from sunny and warm to windy and cold in a matter of a few hours which felt exhilarating.

playing in the street
dinner jacket and wheelbarrow
fairy house
butterfly love
After a satisfying feed we retired to the backyard to enjoy a crackling fire.

stoked

Baby Girl

Good news!!!! Ella and Cyrus have a new cousin! Naturally, we are over the moon about this little peach.

j jones
In other news...

A long weekend in California was very, very good to me. JUST ME, sans offspring or kindergartners. Still feeling the love Mom, Sis y Amigos!!!

me as an impressionist masterpiece from the musée d’orsay at the de young, san francisco

Grandma R's visit over Halloween and Wurstfest in October felt like a tradition in the making.

wurstfest grandma
wurstfest coaster
Hubby's test kitchen and food reviews made for many memorable bites.

backyard fryer smorgasbord

Cranks

Cyrus started PreK at our neighborhood public school this year. He is all smiles when we pick him up despite the song he composed the first week that goes "PreK is hot and boring... boring... hot and boring...." It is hard to compare his current situation to his previous preschool which boasted trampolines and a swimming pool. When we kept him home from school one day due to a cold, he told his teacher upon return that he "missed school because he had a special swimming lesson." The questioning look on her face as she told me the story lead me to believe that he can be pretty convincing when lying to his teacher.

The Napoleon complex has also gained momentum at home. He likes to lord around, grumbling orders. He also tries to work in conversations about wieners whenever possible. When left to his own devices he makes large-scale, trailing messes and then denies they are his when it comes time to clean up. Mookie gets blamed for much of his havoc. That leads me to the other crank in the Jones family right now, Mookie, or as Cyrus has taken to calling him at times, Dookie.

Mookie and Zito turn nine this month. Mookie is showing his age. He's lost much of his girth and his signature meow has changed from a resounding wail to a rusty whine that humors passersby but breaks my heart a little bit every time I hear it. He has not lost his swagger however. He must be let out of the house before 7 am or he'll start marking his territory indoors. He has the perimeter of our property thoroughly guarded from invaders with his scent. Our neighbor Herm, bought an enormous water gun to keep him away from his new kittens. I was wondering why Mookie sometimes returns home wet.

Zito on the other hand, who has maintained his girlish figure all these years and keeps away from potential confrontations at all times, looks and acts like a youngish cat. He has taken to riding around on Chris' shoulders whenever the opportunity presents itself. I've never met a cat more enamoured with a person. Zito sits near or on Chris as he works on his computer and stares at him with the most longing look you ever did see on a cat face. Perhaps they were lovers in a past life.

Both cats long to sleep on our bed and I have a hard time denying them the luxury. Cy likes nothing more than to find Mookie or Zito in a state of repose, so that he can establish a firm grasp for transport or give them a vigorous round of kisses. Mookie and Zito like nothing less. They often seek the peace and seclusion of Ella's bunk, where they are generally left alone or receive the gentlest pets from their mistress.

lovable crank #1
lovable crank #2

Sports

We've officially made the switch from gymnastics to pursuits more fitting a leggy competitor like Ella. She smiled through basketball camp last spring, reveling in her 'only girl' status and now she has embraced volleyball, despite their losing streak. With Big CJ assisting the coach and little CJ retrieving balls, it has become a family affair.

Activities involving a ball and a tangible score are so much more engaging for me than the performance variety, and truthfully I'm not the sort of mother that can sustain extracurricular activities that don't provide enjoyment for the family players too. Like every loving parent, I hope that my children find something that steals their hearts and brings them joy and success and a feeling of purpose -- and if all goes well it will be something that I like too.

joneses take to the gym

Blanco es bueno

Similar to the way Californians have ties to ski lodges and beach houses, most Texans have a ranch somewhere in the friends and family tree. An untold number are dedicated to hunting, but not this gorgeous stretch of ranch land on the Blanco River. This parcel is for peace and pleasure. The stair-stepped limestone ledges and shelves made for the perfect ascent into the warm, clear water. For shade we had Juniper, Oak, Mesquite, Cedar, Bald Cypress, Oak and Elm trees to thank. There were NO mosquitoes. I repeat NO mosquitoes -- and an actual breeze. I haven't felt a breeze since last May, so just sitting outside without sweating or swatting was a joy. Thanks P for sharing this little slice of heaven.

look a perch
hundreds of tiny frog friends

mesquite on the grill
+ breeze - bugs = : )

My new gig!!!

Teachers flock to the coveted Central Austin schools for jobs, so I feel blessed to be working at Gullett Elementary this fall with the beloved veteran teacher (Mrs B). She'll be retiring in December and I will take charge of our spirited kindergarten class.

Mrs B made the video below to welcome our ducklings to school. She was the first to discover Gully, the school cat, and incorporate him into the culture. I am sure Mookie minds sharing the spotlight. It is also posted on our class blog.

This post would not be complete without a shout out to all those that supported me through this career change. Namely....

CJ, my partner in most everything -- without whom this endeavour would have never been possible.

Grandaddy Ridley, who as legend has it, taught in a one-room schoolhouse at the age of 14 and instilled the importance of sharing knowledge and inspiration.

My Mom, for so much and this too.

My Dad, who always encouraged altruism for me and my career.

Marie, Roberta, Larry and Lisa, who said "why not" at just the right time and then treated me to something special to take the edge off.

Kim N., for leading the way and for reminding me to "put my big girl panties on" when things get rough.

Alyson, who made it look fun way back when.

gully the school cat w/ mrs b providing the voice over

West Texas

I didn't expect the soul soothing experience that goes along with traveling to remote and majestic locales on our humble family vacation to West Texas but that is exactly what happened. It was the snorkeling with catfish and turtles in cool spring water at Balmorhea, lunching in Marfa with sophisticates, hiking to sublime vistas and driving through ancient land formations in Big Bend, mud bathing in the Rio Grande, gazing at clouds by day and stars by night, drinking G&T's in a cave tavern in Terlingua, sighting javelinas, jack rabbits, deer, road runners, blue-winged crickets, swallows, bats, tiny toads, lizards and muskrats, playing with my kids, hubby and Bartlett crew, and being off the communications grid that did it.

mud baths, rio grande
un par de tortolitos
mountain guinea pig game
vista
in bloom
floaters & goggle pop, balmorhea
ella, high dive
cy, low dive
pop, real dive
vacation mama
the ballroom, marfa
5 miles from mexico
Not a bad way to close out the summer. Sigh...

Camp Life Adieu

The final day of Camp 1609 has come. One sweet camper innocently said to me the other day, "Ms Lynne, you look stronger." I think he is right. I am also a little weary and weepy but mostly content. I wanted to put down a few thoughts about the experience so that I remember how fun it was when it comes time to plan next summer.

On recipe Thursdays we started with a final discussion about food fixings, followed by a trip to Whole Foods for supplies. The "free" snacks and samples take the bite out of the price tag. I feel we owe a small admission for ogling the produce, fish, meat, chocolate fountain and cake display as well.

"free" snacks

samples

ogling

I was very proud of my campers street smarts. They filed in and out of the van with ease (mostly), fed parking meters, rode elevators, waited for traffic lights to turn, kept track of their partners in crowded city pools, museums, grocery stores, bathrooms, libraries, bowling alleys, restaurants, etc.

meter line

I was always moved by the campers response to beauty. They recognize the extraordinary and fantastic -- like when they got their first glimpses of the pennies at the Blanton Museum, and the blue and green water at Barton Springs, and the wide staircase at The Texas State Capital, and the beetle and gem displays at the Texas Memorial Museum.

texas state capital steps

on the capital grounds, crew with cannon

Most days we got wet. Our top hot (or rather cool) spots were Deep Eddy for the rejuvenating spring water and jims jims (Italian Ice), Northwest pool for the diving board, Ramsey pool for the privacy, pristine water and thrilling pre 1990 playground equipment, and finally, West Enfield pool, where we were likely to meet up with our buddies from the hood.

west enfield

that summer feeling

Snow Cone & Lemonade Sale

For the past few years our community in Austin has participated in Lemonade Day. This program is sponsored by an organization that aims to introduce kids to entrepreneurship. I'd say it has been a success because when Ella proposed the idea of a "sale" to buy a camp pet the campers had a pretty good idea about how a "sale" worked and diligently planned, marketed and enthusiastically set up and served their customers with little prompting and/or guidance.

In Ella's world more is always more and so selling just lemonade was far too simple -- very much like the Lemonade and Chrystal Sale of 2009. The snow cones really did set the sale apart from your average run-of-the-mill lemonade stand. The campers were super proud of themselves and spent their money on supplies for the donated (thanks Jackson) beta fish.

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little'er ones poor

bigger ones make the snow...

...and handle the coin
camp pet naming deliberations

lucy & rover