Happy Birthday Seth

On Saturday, we wound down our holiday season by celebrating Seth's third birthday. Seth's birthday arrives right when I am ready to be done with festivities, so the poor guy gets a bit of a short shrift. However, we did manage to make some birthday cupcakes, light some candles and throw together a bit of a party. It all turned out and he was pleased to finally be three, an age to which he has been aspiring since Corin had his birthday in September.

After two weeks of vacation, festivities, Christmas, New Years, birthday, sledding, and snow, I awoke this morning with one thought in my mind: routine! Monday morning, I salute you. Peanut butter and jelly packed in a dinosaur lunch sack, I salute you. Hats and coats and mittens and snowpants, I salute you. School drop-off, I salute you. I am always glad to see the holidays come and always glad to watch them go. I love feeling my days and weeks restored to their normal course, like a river regaining its banks. And so, not without gratitude for the past few weeks of holiday-time, I was pleased to take my children each to their respective schools this morning, and come home for a few hours of work. For everything, there is a season.

On another note, I received a bird book for Christmas that is filled with recorded bird calls. Seth loves the call of the Willow Ptarmigan and won't let us turn the page or play any other call. Over dinner this evening, we found ourselves trying to imitate the call with varying degrees of success. Tim was the unqualified winner, though Seth also does a creditable job. I highly recommend that you listen to the sound of the willow ptarmigan at this link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Willow_Ptarmigan.html

If you listen to the link, you'll have some idea of what our dinner table sounded like this evening. You are welcome to join us for dinner any evening, price of admission: one Willow Ptarmigan imitation.

Happy New Year to each of you.