Flamenco!

Autumn brought back this sweet ladybug flamenco dress for Violet. She's been spending a fair amount of time wearing the dress and has worked on her Flamenco dance moves.

Way Up North

We took a trip to the Philadelphia/NJ area this past week while Jason attended the American Chemical Society annual conference with his students. Violet and Laurel stayed at the Hotel Ferguson and had a great time playing with Reagan and Jack! We went to Tenth on Sunday evening and met up with Autumn, Ray, and many of our Tenth friends whom we miss so very much. It was a great trip and we are now back home with laundry to do, suitcases to unpack, and great memories.

Churrascaria

Wow! We had the most delicious and unique dinner the other night. Jason flew back from a Chemistry conference, and we decided to try out a churrascaria in Richmond. This style of cooking is from Brazil and men dressed in gaucho clothing come around with chunks of rotisserie-cooked meat on swords and they shave off pieces for you. You have this little coaster that is red on one side and green on the other. If you have the green side up, the wandering swordsmen come and offer you cuts of meat. When it is time for a break, you flip the coaster to red and they don't offer. There is also a salad bar with all sorts of side items that you can have along with the meat, but we almost forgot about that option once they started piling meat on our plates. It was an amazing feast!

My Mom, the Midwife-In-Training

Laurel in labor with Violet 6/6/06 with Gretchen attending.

For those who don't know, my mom is pursuing certification as a direct-entry midwife. She is apprenticing with a midwife who serves the local Amish community in her area. The Amish go for home births with minimal medical interventions, though sometimes they do end up in the hospital if there are complications. She was called to her first birth just a few hours after she interviewed with her mentor, so she's off to a quick start! For some interesting information on birth in America, check out a new documentary called The Business of Being Born or a book called Pushed. You may be quite surprised at the statistics for our current medical model of birth.

Pink Sunset

Year of the Dog

Violet and Abby (dog) bonded well. Abby and her owner, Jason, came to visit us earlier this summer and she and Violet spent a lot of time together. As it turns out, Violet is fairly bossy when it comes to compliant dogs and Abby was constantly being directed "here, Abby" and "come, Abby" for most of her visit. She was a good sport...and quite photogenic!

Boogie

This week, Violet verbalized the answer to the age-old "Boogie Conundrum." All humans inherently know what to do in this situation, but it takes at least 2 years of experience to put it into words. Oma Gretchen was visiting and we were having lunch when Violet began "digging for gold", as it were. Oma G asked if she would like a tissue, to which Violet confidently replied, "I use my pointer." Don't worry, grown ups, this little girl knows just what to do.