how to make a holiday card

First, you realize that even a really nice camera is going to have trouble in the dark.

Then, you think, let's go out in the front yard and build a wall out of firewood rounds to sit on.

Next, you try to get the toddler to smile, but she won't, and someone has their eyes closed in every picture.

You might get kind of annoyed.

Several adults make asses of themselves trying to make the kid smile, it threatens to rain, and you promise they can have hot chocolate later if everyone will just hang in there for a few more shots...

And then a couple of lovely pictures emerge from Mark's magical camera.

This will be the first year in memory that we have managed to get our holiday cards designed and ordered before December 1. We hope you'll like what you see in your mailbox in the next couple of weeks. We worked hard for that picture!

Thank you Mark - the Davises love you!

silver lining

I've been traveling a lot this month. A lot. I have two projects that require me to drive to Salem a few days each week (about an hour away). For two weeks in a row I was on overnight trips Wednesday through Saturday.

The kids (and Joel) suffer for it a little bit. Our family life is not a totally well-oiled machine. We really do require two parents for the many pick ups and drop offs, soccer games, sleepovers, and preschool snack responsibilities - not to mention all the filling of lunchboxes, washing of soccer uniforms, managing of homework, etc. that has to happen throughout each day.

So, yes, it's been a little crazy (and, yikes, the holidays are on the not-too-distant horizon...).

But a recent silver lining was a visit from our dear friend Kirsten. We work together at Public Knowledge, and last week my trip was to Portland for our company retreat at McMenamins Edgefield Lodge. She came home with me for the weekend. The kids love Kirsten. She has known the boys since they were one and three - we met in graduate school in Austin. It's fun to have a visitor that's here as much for the kids as for the adults - and out of town guests always inspire us to do things we normally avoid - like the Saturday Market. We ended the weekend with a walk to the park before she had to fly home to Bozeman. We miss her already.

halloween

They were a motley crew, my children.

Liam, an evil scarecrow. We found some overalls at the Goodwill, and used rafia for the straw so it wouldn't be itchy.

Milo, a white ninja. Enough said.

Lucy, a ladybug. I had a lion costume for her, a hand-me-down from her friend Jun. But she insisted on being a ladybug and another friend came to our rescue the day before Halloween with a costume from last year. Lucy got to be her ladybug and she loved it.

Lucy also loved trick or treating. She was less interested in the candy than in walking right on into people's houses when they opened the door for her.

The boys complained about Halloween being on a school night - and I agree. I have a feeling that 25 fourth or fifth graders with sugar hangovers aren't exactly productive students the day after Halloween!

nine

Joel and I went to the boys' parent-teacher conferences the week of Milo's birthday. His teacher told us that when Milo told his class he was turning nine, no one believed him. They all guessed eleven. She was quick to say that it wasn't just because he's 5'1" and 110 pounds, but also because he's well-spoken and sure of himself. He's the youngest in his class (he started Kindergarten a couple of months before his 5th birthday), but he's also at the top of his class. He is in the accelerated math group, and was just designated TAG.

Superlatives are required to describe Milo because he stands out - and his fourth grade smarts are only on piece of that. He's also known by his friends as being fun, fair, and good at foosball. He's goofy and sweet. He's a good athlete, but doesn't get emotionally attached to winning or losing, and chooses sports experiences based on how much fun he'll be able to have.

Sometimes in our family Milo gets caught in that "middle child" no-mans-land between baby and big kid. But in many ways he's also the glue that holds us all together. He reminds us to play board games and Uno in the evenings. He takes Lucy out to the trampoline or to the couch with a stack of books when she's grumpy and dinner needs to be made. He's our good natured, sweet, smart boy, and he makes us all better people.

Joel made an ice cream cake for Milo's sleepover birthday party.

Nine boys played capture the flag and watched two movies

before finally falling asleep at midnight...