Woodland Antics

{The latest emails from Ryan} 3:43 AM To TRUDY ODEA Hey baby - just wanted to let you know that I'm catching the train in about 1 hr to start back home!  I can't wait to see you again - I MISS you so much.  :(  Give the munchkins a huge hug and kiss from their daddy.   to the north star and back again (all the way to my heart)       leaving on a jet plane...‏ 1:50 PM To TRUDY ODEA hey baby - just wanted to say I love you one more time before I hop on the flight to melbourne (via sunny china).  again, i'll meet you outside the international arrivals area tuesday morning.  can't wait to see you! to the north star and back to my heart Quickly, " How many more sleeps until Daddy gets home? "  turned into  " I really want Daddy to be here now !"   all I could say was... me too . An explanation for Ryan's closing:  Years ago it started as, I love you to the

After Disciplining Reed... Reed: Do you still love me mom? Me: Honey I will always love you from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. Fiona: You know what that means Reed?  When you get taller she'll love you even more. She's right. Everyday I love these little buggers more and more. {One of these days I'm going to burst}

Last month the kids started training.   "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants." -- Master Gichin Funakoshi Check out that mean face The weekest things in the world can overmatch the stongest things in the world. Nothing in the world can be compared to water for its weak and yielding nature; yet in attacking the hard and the strong nothing proves better than it. For there is no alternative to it. The weak can overcome the strong and the yielding can overcome the hard. This all the world knows but does not practice. ~ Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Ryan is in France for a couple of weeks.   So I'm using this space to keep him updated beyond our regular emails. Saturday Fiona had ballet.  I forgot to wash her tights and apparently she had spilled some hot chocolate on them.  She looked like a total ragga muffin.  I really wished you were here so you could have brought her in looking like that.  I really miss you, my scapegoat!  {big smiley face}  This is Fiona putting on a show after ballet. The big picnic Fiona had planned all week was rained out.  Instead we went to a cafe and enjoyed some hot chocolate and biscuits.  I had a spinach roll.  The girl asked me if I wanted sauce with that. I inquired about what kind of sauce they had.  "Just regular sauce" she said.  I'm thinking she was talking about tomato sauce. (which is what they call ketchup here) Reed really enjoyed shopping for his new kicks too.  They're Spiderman and light up! Instead of leaving them in the car he's been takin