Digging

By the way, the picture I posted of Britt with short hair is an old picture. Her hair is still long... I got alotta comments and needed to clarify... Here's one I really like of her at Grampa Ruhe's funeral a few years ago... Also, I went digging and found the email that Zia Saunders had sent me a while ago with his blog address so I added the link to the list. This is to the Saunders' website where they posted the most amazing images of their trip to Austria and other cool places last year. Check it out when you get a chance. Thanks again Zia and I hope we can see so more images of Dubai when you get a chance.

A good winter weekend

Another eventful weekend. We started out Saturday relieved that Ericka would live after having gone through a horrible night of hurling and dehydrating herself. She had a horrible 24 stomach bug but could sort of drink something by morning on her journey towards normality. I took Mason and Aman to the animal shelter to pet kittys and dogs that are up for adoption and need a little cuddle every once in a while. On the way there we discovered that Leverett pond is completely and wonderfully frozen over. We got cold within minutes but the discovery set us up for today’s adventure. We jumped back in the car and got some lunch and new sneakers for Aman. This morning we had a breakfast with the whole Baha’i school folks. Very nice and relaxed, lots of food and yittle ones running around. It has been amazing these past few days to watch Anika use her new found crawling abilities to join whatever activity is going on across the room. This breakfast is to get us prepared for the start of children’s classes next week. Everyone seemed very excited. After everyone left we packed the car and went back to Leverett pond. Britt and I skated and the boys either walked or were pulled along in the sleds while we explored the nooks and crannies of the lake/pond. It was wonderful. Here are a few pics and a quick vid (Skating ) of the romp. It ended with a huge meal out with lots of giggles.

Rapidito

At getting-ready-for-bed time (the adult version) Britt told me the funniest thing that happened to her yesterday. After the giggling had stopped my first question to her was..."can I post it?"... she agreed so here it is...

She had a scant few minutes to park the car on the street and run in to the library to drop of some books or pick up a new dvd series (something)... she didn't have alot of time so she sprinted in, did her thing and sprinted back out. She crossed the street and got into her car. As she got in and closed the door, she noticed a strange light on the dashboard she had never seen before and wondered why she hadn't ever noticed it before but continued in her hurried state... She went to put her purse on the passenger seat and noticed a pair of sneakers she didn't really recognize and wondered why Alfie's shoes were in our car... but turned to start the car when the intense smell of stale cigarrettes hit her nostrils...!!! She had gotten into the wrong car! There had been a line of cars parked and she was the last one and in the smidgen of time she was in the library someone had parked behind her in a car exactly like our other car (not even the one she had been driving!!!)... a serious moment Lise would have been proud of... needless to say she jumped out of the car, closed the door and quickly looked around and saw that nobody had noticed.... drove home giggling ...

I leave you with a few random pics...

Henry's Iceskating Party

Well, what can I say? I guess I should be slightly apologetic for for the heaviness (lo pesado) of that last entry. It was just something I had been pondering. I also was kind of hoping some sort of dialogue would happen... but somehow it doesn't ever really work out that way. It won't stop me from sharing but I guess that back-and-forth has to happen somewhere else...

We went to Isaiah's friend Henry's (see action shot below) bday party today. He is an amazing boy who we love to have over as often as possible. Henry and Isaiah were class mates in the shutesbury school and now don't see each other that often. They had the iceskating rink for an hour and it was great. It was Aman and Isaiah's first time on iceskates. Isaiah did well because of his familiarity with rollerblading. Aman did well with using a big 5 gallon bucket that he used for support. Here's a few pics from the event and some wishful pipecleaner thinking....

The Sillyness of Moral Pluralism

Moral Pluralism: That the definition of right or wrong depends on the person. You have your rules and I have mine and it’s cool what you do in your world with you’re your rules and same for mine. To say that this system will work, will allow us to live harmoniously, and allow us to reach our maximum potential as a group of individuals is plain silly … it makes no sense because we are not islands. The circle of my world overlaps with yours and theirs and hers and his… I have been thinking about this a lot lately because the words "moral pluralism" and "morals" keeps coming up everywhere and I have this weird feeling like that the writers think they are all talking about the same thing but they're not. So we are both spiritual and physical beings. Both realms governed by specific, inviolable laws. Here's a silly example of this pluralism as applied to the physical realm. Let's pretend that the physical laws that govern my realm are different than yours. In my world there is no gravity. I have overcome this by various technological methods that allow me to walk around, drive my car etc and I use special magneto-robo bolts to secure everything down (I am sure Isaiah and Aman could really help me here....). When our realms collide inevitably and I haven't told you about magneto-robo bolts yet, suddenly your the food you are eating starts floating away, the shower water isn't "coming down" and washing the soap from your face and the garbage can just floated up, flipped over and all the sticky, smelly trash got stuck in a tree in your front yard (which stays there once I leave and your "gravity" returns). This scenario will cause problems. End of story. Same holds true for spiritual laws. We all live on one world and we are going to have to come to terms with the fact that we must sit down and agree to live to the same set of spiritual laws just the way we have "agreed" to the physical realm in which we live in... Inviolable... consequences for violating laws of physics are obvious. Jump off a roof you will fall. Put too much pressure on that leg bone and it will snap, the pain will come and you will scream. The same is true for spiritual laws. We have just complicated things so much the consequences are less obviously visible though still immediate and present. The only real way for us to have a real conversation about morals and how to adhere to them (and really pinpoint “right and wrong”) is for us all to agree on “the absolute” set of rules by which to live by. Until this happens this conversation will always end in, “well, in my world, and in the way I choose to live, this is how it works…” And the only way for us to agree on one set rules to live by is to receive them from an authoritative source removed from ourselves, our opinions, likes, dislikes, hurts, feelings, attachments, "experiential" knowledge, moods, joys, etc. The child tends to get lost in the chaos of surface detail. The parent, whose job is to provide the safety and foster growth of the child, is not affected as much by all that chaos of surface detail. That parent sets rules for the child to ensure that safety and growth, enforces those rules, delivers consequences when the rules are broken and gives praise and rewards when they are obeyed. If 30 children in a classroom were allowed to operate in the class by their own rules, chaos would be the result and very little learning would take place… the goal of being in school. So if we want to create a system we can all live in that will allow us to maximize each of our potential as individuals and groups of individuals, it seems to me that working towards a common goal of "one set of moral laws" for all is key. In the meantime, if we are going to have a conversation about morals the first item of business before anythings else should be to clearly understand eachothers definition of that word.

Home Made Goo

Alright, here's something easy and without a doubt worth hours of fun... mix equal parts of regular all purpose glue with liquid starch and add a few drops of your favorite food coloring, stir vigorously for a few minutes and let it sit for another few... what do you get? GAK! Yummy, delicious, squishy, stretchy GAK! And this version doesn't stick to everything like others have... We made some at children's class a few weeks ago that looked like wonderful, fluffy scrambled eggs... you know the kind they serve you at McDonalds or on airplanes some times. Well the last night that Aria, James and Sasha were at the house we pulled a few different versions out from "the lab" (a section of the basement that Amán has so aptly named) for little Sasha and had hours of fun. We had GAK of course and we also had another version made with glue, water and borax powder that we called OOBLEK (or Dr. Zeus did). Here are some some fotos of our romp through icky-squishy land. Please visit the Pyburn's site for more photos of their visit. None of this or the pictures really capture the mellow-yellow but fantastic connection we all had/have. Thanks again guys for coming out to see us and for allowing me to meet my niece (you guys are great and all but she was the point on the compass I was centered on...)!!! We will be praying that God's Will aligns itself with ours (oh wait, I think it's the other way around... :) ) and you guys land here close somewhere. I dropped them off at the airport at 540 am on sat morning and kept driving to NY to Dad's house where I crashed on their couch for and hour or so, chatted with Dad for about 45 min, drove across the river to chat with Grandma and Doug a bit, picked up a computer I just bought from Shamsi (thanks again cuz... I am excited to set my little recording studio up) and then I drove back home the 2.5 hours... A bit grueling but worth it. I also include a pic of the other goody that Mom sent up... pinito the creamer we use in CR for our coffee (and it's wonderful on copoz [snow cones] on a hot summer day mmmmmmm...). We also found out what makes it so good compared to the stuff we bought here once. We can only get low or non fat powdered milk. Pinito is 100% whole milk in powder and hence the delicious creamy yumminess that doesn't cool down a good cuppa in the mornings....... Life's good... Today it was back to the grind. They pulled me back on to the high stress, high visibility program and everyone is loosing their minds over the schedule and deadline we are going to be very hard pressed to meet. More later.

and I finally got to meet her...

I finally got to meet my 1 year old niece Sasha and am so happy even though I make her cry cause she is shy. I did get to hold her momentarily when she was unawares in lifting her up to the window so she could watch Isaiah and Amán get on the school bus this morning.... Incredibly cute though she has made quick friends with the rest of the cousins as she has tooled around the house in search of stuff... James is considering grad school and there are some programs at Boston College and UMass Amherst that he is interested in.... And they all flew out to come talk to some of the professors and get a feel for the area. Aria and James thank you so much for making the trip out this way and atleast considering this area to live in... we would love you close. And along those lines, we have been SUPER (pero sobrepasado) helpful in hopes to facilitate the decision... (you know which one). Mom and Jere sent along a whole bunch of Volio coffee from CR AND some pinito which is basically powdered milk but we use it as cream in coffee in CR (mmmmmmmm what IS it about that stuff that makes the coffee soooo good???). They also sent some hanging baskets for fruit and such from the Puriscal area. Thanks so much for thinking of us. Anyway, I hear them pulling in now coming back from their drive to Boston today. I want to get as much of Sasha as possible before she goes down for the night.

Imaginary Play

Our windows and doors are open on this mid January day. Unbelieveable! Global warming/Climate change is real. Don't let anyone fool you. And it will affect all of us.

here's a pic of the boys eating an ecuadorian mango... dry but perfect...

On a lighter note. I hear the kids in their imaginary play all the time. They watch or listen to something and the way they process what they saw is by acting it out. And everytime I hear them I want to write down an example of it. I am sure some of you have heard it or done it your selves... it does bring back faint memories for me... But here's some of what the boys and Aiden were playing at a blindingly fast pace this afternoon in the 65 degree weather. (and remember that every movement no matter how small has some sound effect associated with it). 1 I am Darth Vader. 2 Yeah and I am Anakin, but a really young one. I race. 1 You can't be Anakin because I'm Anakin. 2 No but you said you are Darth Vader. 1 Anakin is Darth. 2 Oh yeah 1 So I am Darth Vader but good and I have rocket boots. 3 I want rocket boots 1 who are you? 3 obi wan 2 Obi wan doesn't have rocket boots 3 Dart doesn't either 1 right so we can both have rocket boots 3 yeah but I am bad. 1 & 2 ok GET HIM!!! 3 I switched to my rocket boots and fly over your heads 2 I try to hit you with my light saber but and fall in a hidden pit. 1 I threw a bomb at you 3 I grab it and throw it back to you. 1 I jump out of the way and chop your rocket boot off. 2 when I fell in the pit my head hit the wall, it broke and I found a little cave with some rocket boots and I put them on 3 you can't do that 2 why not? 3 why would somebody bury rocket boots? 1 they could, now we all have rocket boots... GET HIM!!! 3 if he has rocket boots then I am not playing. parent: c'mon now. everyone can have their own mind 3 ok GET HIM!! 1 wait who are you? 3 i am obi wan 1 not you. you. 2 I am general grevious but i have only two arms and I can use the force. 1 so can i 3 we all can. GET HIM!!! and so on and so forth... for hours and hours

Dos Mil Siete

Happy dos mil siete everyone! We ended the year with Ericka, Alfie and Irene slapped in the face by the first 4 episodes from season 5 of 24. What a crazy show!! Oh well. That's how we said hello to dos mil siete. This week a of vacation was nice. We had a successfull game night here with the Welbornes and friends, David Diehl, Steve Cotten and 315 Lincoln gang. Twister, spoons, wizard, a few youtube videos and lots of giggles... That morning I had come down with a serious sinus infection but made it through the festivities. The next morning, though still sick, we drove down to visit the NY Ruhes. We had the usual rocky start where we are getting used to one another and then a love fest with Dad and Janet. Several nice visits with Grandma and Doug. Finally got to see Shamsi. You are amazing Shams and I love you so much. And of course mellow madness with Jamal. Then it was back to Lincoln ave on saturday (Lise and Ann you must know that the aparatus you gave the boys for watching movies in the car is a life saver on these long drives!.. thank you again). Isaiah and I went to Feast at the Caban home and stayed up late praying, eating and chatting (well Isaiah was knocking over lamps while playing indoor tag and hiding from Juliana). Alf and I cleaned the garage on Sunday morning. Anika was in her jumpy and Mason was very excited that he had seen Anika's "two teeth" (see pic). Then while Aman was at his friend Tommy's house, Isaiah and played hockey in a UMass parking lot down the street with the neighbors from across the street. Alot of "streets" and run on sentences there but you get the picture. Today it was Hedgie's bday. This is Aman's favorite stuffed animal and they made a list of invitees. Hours of activity making cakes, invitations (to Mason and his favorite animals) and party hats. Nothing Bear even got one. Then Britt took the boys to see Charlotte's Web and I played with an effects pedal that Jamal gave me among other things. After all the clean up the night has ended watching Run Lola Run... I missed it when it came out and everyone raved about it... definitely worth the hype... Best wishes to all for good start to the new year!!