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Hurts my head...

So. Was just reading some history lessons with the boys and discussing various medieval civilizations and such. Somehow, this led to a discussion about ancestry and ethnicity. We were talking about how a Viking named Rurik "started" Russia and how the Vikings he brought with him and the Slovenians already living there were all considered Russian after that because of where they all lived.

And now Noah would sincerely like to know why we still "classify" by where families lived generations ago. For instance, my dad's grandparents on both sides came to the US from (then) Yugoslavia. So, they were Yugoslavian. My dad's parents were both born in the US, as was my dad. So, Noah wants to know, why aren't they just American? Why do we still say they're Yugoslavian? At what point do we get to just have Americans, he says? (like when the Russians became Russians instead of Vikings and Slovenians) He can see that maybe my dad's parents could still be Yugoslavian since *their* parents were born and raised in Yugoslavia. But my dad was born and raised in the US...by parents who were born and raised in the US. 

To this end, at least my parents' families are fairly straightforward, having been first and second generation immigrants to the US. But, says Noah, what about Nathan's family history? His ancestors have lived in the US for generations upon generations. Why do we still get into the whole "what country" do they hail from thing when 1) they've all lived here for ages and 2) most people just say Caucasian or white anyhow? 

Added on top of this, of course, is the fact that I'm Korean...and was born in Korea. But was raised in America by American parents. Shouldn't this make me American instead of Korean, he wants to know?

Ah the inner workings of this boy's head...definitely food for thought, folks. And, for the record, he's declared himself simply American. So there. ;)

Ten to tell the tale...

...of the past two weeks (and a day) here. :)

Sorry. I've not been good about posting pictures. But. As of about 1:00 am this morning, I'm mostly caught up (finally) on my photo editing and figured I'd celebrate by sharing. So, let's start with Sunday, September 27. We headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park again, but this time with some friends. The boys had a blast as we picnicked near a stream and then meandered around Bear Lake. Here's Nathan looking out on Bear Lake:

After completing our circuit at Bear Lake, our friends had to head to a previous appointment but we continued on to Nymph Lake and then Dream Lake:

Yes, it was gorgeous (and cold!). Made me sad that I didn't have my "real" camera with me. These were taken with my little purse camera, as I wasn't feeling like lugging my camera bag on the hike. :)

(insert normal, busy week here)

The following weekend found me in Seattle visiting with my mom and sisters. I was kind enough to bring Colorado's plentiful sunshine with me to the overcast Pacific NW, lol! Sunday (10/4) we got pedicures and walked through Pike's Place Market. Here's Cassy (my youngest sister) clicking her heels as we walked from the pedicures to the market:

This, btw, was one of the times when pigeons were *not* attacking her, LOL! It was hilarious. At least twice that day pigeons literally swooped out of the sky and flew directly at her...resulting in much screaming like a girl. LOL! Wish I'd been quicker with the camera...hee hee. Anyhow. Here's a picture of all four of us at the market:

Yeah, I didn't realize that "organic fruit" sign was so big and obvious, lol. I'm thinking I'll photoshop the words out and put something else there but haven't decided what just yet. ;) That evening, Bekah (standing next to me) had to head home since she had work the next morning (she lives about 3.5 hours away but drove up to see me). Mom, Cassy and I, though, hit the Bob Dylan concert there in Seattle the next night (which was the motivation behind my trip). 

We went in remembrance of my dad, who was a life-long, die-hard Dylan fan. It was my mom's tenth Dylan concert and she's not really even a fan. (That, she says, shows true love, LOL!) Despite the "no cameras" dictate, here's my picture of Dylan:

(He's wearing the hat there in the center-ish.) Can I just say that Dylan concerts are excellent people-watching places? Seriously. The diversity of Dylan fans is crazy. Oh, and we ran into my uncle and cousins while we were there. What are the odds? ;) (And, no, I don't feel guilty about using my camera. I was so not the only one doing it and my phone camera would have yielded pretty much the same thing, and those weren't banned. ;) I can see that they'd not have wanted my "real" camera but my little point and shoot (which is the only camera I had with me in Seattle) doesn't really take great indoor shots regardless.)

So. That was my time in Seattle. I have plenty of other pictures but will save those for another day or a layout or both. ;)  

Came home to a clean house and healthy boys (can't ask for much better than that, right?) and then proceeded to try to catch up from the weekend. Thursday, we had our first snow. Yes, on October 8. It didn't stick, though, so the next day we kept our plans to visit a local farm with our homeschool group. The boys picked pumpkins: 

And then we ventured out into the massive corn maze:

 
It was amazing, really. Check out the aerial view here. Seriously. We only made it through the smallest of the three mazes (1.8 miles if you just do the maze and don't backtrack and get lost...the largest portion of the maze was 4+ miles). In all fairness, they do provide a map and all. But, lacking a tall enough focal point, it was tricky to maintain your orientation. I'd thought Noah would be able to lead us, and he did for parts, but it quickly became apparent why the sign indicated that all children under 11 should be accompanied by an adult, lol. He says next time we'll have to bring a compass. :) (To our credit, we did complete the maze, getting to all six checkpoints in order. Yay, us!)

In any case, it was a fun day and the sunshine was welcome.

The very next day, however, was not sunny. Here are my boys on Saturday...

 
This is Asher, after having soaked his snowball in the puddle in the street to create an ice pellet. Lovely. I'd have felt sorry for Nathan, but he was the one who started it, lol! Next is Micah:  

He was so happy to have inherited Asher's yellow coat from a year or two ago and loves that snowball maker. :) Mittens made it difficult to really grasp the snowballs, but it didn't dampen his spirits in the least. Finally, here's Noah:

Can you just see the mischief in his eyes? Notice, too, if you will, how very green that tree behind him still is. Poor trees are so confused around here. Most hadn't even started changing colors yet and now are bereft of leaves that fell with the snow. 

Needless to say, Saturday's soccer games were canceled. :) Sunday was spent staying indoors and keeping warm, watching football, editing photos, and just chilling. Whew. 

So, now I find myself almost at mid-October, having been through what feels like all the seasons in the past two weeks. Wonder what the rest of the month will bring... ;)

Taking a bow...

Dude. I'm brilliant. Seriously. The boys had been talking about being knights for Halloween. I was getting ready to order these inexpensive sets I'd found. I'd agreed to make them each a cape/cloak. I was going to order this "queen" costume for myself. Not really too much work, but still was going to cost a wee bit, kwim?

Then. I convinced all three boys today that they want to be something different for Halloween. Something totally free and without effort. Something utterly appropriate. 

Yes, they are all going as SOCCER PLAYERS for Halloween! How genius am I?! ;)

Thank you very much. :)

Five on Friday

1. Pretty sure my project will be going up over on the Prism blog today...here's a peek:

2. Don't forget about the Good Grief Blog challenge deadline tomorrow! Check out the current challenge here.

3. With only 77 more days till Christmas, starting to think about advent calendars and gift tags. Loving the new stuff in the Ormolu etsy shop!!

4. But. It's not Christmas yet and we're headed for a corn maze and pumpkin patch this afternoon (supposed to be a break in the snow just for us, lol...actually, we didn't get much of any accumulation of the fluffy white stuff, though it's supposed to happen again tomorrow). Will share pictures eventually. ;)

5. Hoping to update over the weekend about my trip to Seattle and other things that have gone un-blogged due to lack of time. ;)

Yeah, not so exciting, I know. But at least I shared... ;)