Max and Esme

Peter and I were both able to attend the elementary school concert this morning. Each grade took their turn on the risers and the kids sang beautifully for a full house of proud parents, siblings and grandparents. Max's class got to stand in the first row of the 1st graders - '"cause weare the loudest class and so it's an honor." Many of the songs were about being Thankful - and I am every day for my beautiful children and our family.

We went into the city yesterday along with Peter's parents to visit an old friend of the family. To turn the trip into a bigger outing we decided to take the kids to a museum for an hour. Luckily for us, the Morgan Library was hosting an exhibit called "Drawing Babar" featuring watercolors and first editions from the beloved Babar the elephant books. It was a perfect introduction to an art museum for the kids. Each of the sketches and final plates were accompanied by the text from the story, so I was able to walk Esme through the exhibit and read her the book at the same time. Max was most intrigued by the interarctive monitors that let him turn digital pages of an original manuscript and then magnify sections of the page to look at more closely. We also wandered through J.P. Morgans foyer and study where Esme is convinced a prince must have lived. And through his library where Max was hugely impresed by the floor to ceiling book shelves.

For those of you who wouldn't otherwise see them, here are a couple recent pictures of my nephew in Colorado. Keaton is 8+ months old now - with winter coming on will we see him on skis before he begins to walk?

A few pictures with our new British friends: hanging out at home, on the train, and at the aquarium. The kids took to each other immediately and had a great time playing. Hopefully we'll be able to return the visit someday and take a family trip to London.

Despite last weeks election results, there are still some barriers of inequality to overcome. My mom asked Esme this weekend if she was going to be president someday. Esme looked back and her and responded, "No Grandma, I can't be president because I'm a girl." Wanna bet?

I've been home sick for most of the week with a truly nasty virus, but the family is taking very good care of me. Last night Esme snuggled with me in bed during story time and this morning she told Max to snuggle with me because "Mommy is cold and we will warm her up." Thanks, sweetie.

I shouldn't have been so nervous watching the returns last night. After all, the kids knew how to pick the winning side, and with all the political discussion in our home in recent months, both were favoring Obama. Max's shool held it's own election on Monday and Max voted for the school winner, Obama. Esme's preschool held an election on Monday and Esme also voted for the winner, Potato Chips (which beat out Cookies by 18 votes!) Yesterday morning our family went together to our local polling place to cast our votes. This was Esme's first Presidential election and Max's second. Esme went into the booth with me, and Max helped Peter pull the lever. While the kids were asleep long before the electoral counts were in, Peter and I went to bed more confident in our children's future than we had been feeling. I am so much prouder to be an American this morning than I was yesterday.