Thursday, July 31, 2008

Neighbors

In early July we had the Kosars (former neighbors in East Point) over to celebrate Karla and Rob's birthdays, 29 and 28 respectively. That night we asked John and Karla to be godparents to Cecilia. They accepted! Here are some shots:

The next weekend we ventured OTP for the whole weekend. We hung with mom, dad, Glo and Scott on Friday for Rob's b-day dinner-thanks guys!

On Saturday we drove to Woodstock to meet up with our friends, the Roys.

Heidi and Phil RoyHeidi Roy and Rob worked together at All Saints' a few years ago, they moved to Florida, and now they are back. We had a blast eating and drinking at their beautiful place. About halfway into the evening, we were talking about their daughters, Sophie (11) and Taylor (14). Did I get the ages right- I hope so! They are both avid swimmers. I asked if they happened to know a girl named Julia Treible (our old next door neighbor that I babysat when she was 2) who is a fantastic swimmer as well. They freaked out when I mentioned her name because Taylor Roy and Julia Treible are best friends! A few phone calls and about 1 1/2 hours later, Julia and two other friends were at the Roy's house for a reunion!

Me and Julia Treible-now 16.


Photo of all of us, taken by Robert

Speaking of next-door neighbors, our current next door neighbor, Wilma Panter, popped in this morning to check on us and see how the school search was going. She was just returning from her morning walk. Our family loves Wilma and John Panter. We share fresh grown produce, stories and sometimes, wine. I hesitated to even tell them about our inevitable move because we will miss them greatly.

Wilma and CC:

Finally, we entertained our neighbors, the Cronins, on Saturday night. Tim and Veronica were among the very first people we met here in Jefferson Park. Robert was one month old when I walked to their house for my first play group. Good times with friends!Sophie, Esther, Addie and RobertSophie flashing her Cronin eyes, with CC

Allow me to wax analytical for a moment. Why is that neighbors can form such strong bonds? Does being in close proximity force people to care for each other? No, close proximity can easily divide people as well. I remember my parents making a concerted effort as we grew up to be good neighbors- getting to know the people around us, offering help if we could, dumping excessive loads of home-grown vegetables into their unsuspecting arms and my mother, talking to everyone. Guess what- I find myself doing the same things, including peddling dad's vegetables.

catching up

Quotes:
Upon seeing our clean and organized basement, "Hey, where did all the bugs go?"-Esther
"You are the best mom in the whole world."- Robert
"You are the best mom in the whole world."-Esther, same night as Robert, separately- really!
After I told him that I had to go to the dentist, "Shots??"- Robert
"Mom, I love your smell, but I don't like your breath."-Robert
At Hirsch Academy, "Mom, we don't have to look at any more schools. This is a great school!"- Robert
Here is a boring one, but very relevant in my world: "Treating a sensory issue behaviorally makes the issue worse, treating a sensory issue sensorally makes it better."-Leslie Cotton-Smith

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

uncles and aunties






The last few weeks have been a gut-wrenching whirlwind. With the help of MANY we are starting to emerge on the other side.


JP spent a long weekend with us and earned many many jewels for his crown. We had plenty of time to hang out (despite the bronchitis that descended on Rob, Esther and me). Did the green tea help JP? We put my brother in law to work- feeding the baby, playing cards with Robert, re-arranging furniture and, brace yourself, cleaning out and re-organizing the basement. We owe the man BIG TIME. Basement before: Basement after: JP built shelves in our dirt dug out basement and hauled plenty of random stuff to the curb. We placed a nice selection of unwanted items on the curb at 2:30pm. By 6:30pm, nothing remained. Ahh. Good times at Fritti with Glo and Scott :) Seriously, thank you JP , we love you!


On Monday, Gloria and I took the kids to the Buford Hwy. Farmers Market. Glo masterminded a scavenger hunt (complete with drawn pictures) of things for the kids to find there. Too bad live eel weren't on the list- we saw an entire school of them! I had stayed away from this market WAY TOO LONG. The produce is amazing and cheap and honey- I bought 2 gorgeous fresh pork tenderloins for $6.14. The piece de resistance title goes to the "Fujitronic" rice cooker I got on manager's special. It has a super cheesy floral exterior complete with the word 'flowery' printed around the perimeter. What? But the rice was awesome! Thanks Glo for making that entire trip possible. (One adult + three kids + supermarket = sure disaster.)


Onward- both kids are enrolled in new schools for the fall. Robert- at Hirsch Academy, a small school just for kids with sensory processing disorder complete with 2 OTs on staff. Esther- at Druid Hills United Methodists Preschool. She will be in a class with John Edward Kosar- hooray!


So, slowly things are starting to come back together for the Burlington family.


Maine- here we come!

p.s. basement related photos were taken with color accent feature on my camera. I have no idea how I did it, but the eerie black and white effect is totally unintentional.

Monday, July 21, 2008

What happened

This is definitely the longest I have gone without posting. Bummer for me.
On Monday I got some difficult news from the director of Robert and Esther's school. She informed me that they were not equipped to meet Robert's (sensory) needs next year. She called the day before they were going to start 3 weeks of camp there. Needless to say, they didn't go to camp and we find ourselves with no school plan for fall 2008. Her call was ill-timed to say the least. We would have been better served to learn this at the end of the school year!
Our school plan was the only thing keeping us in East Point in our house that we are rapidly outgrowing so. . . now we are going to find a school for Robert (special needs and all) and Esther. Then we will find a bigger house for us too. Our world feels upside down at the moment.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Stephie love



How did I survive Rob's 10-day trip to Greece? Stephanie.

My sister-in-law stayed with us through thick and thin. And things got pretty thick there at the end. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts Stephie. It takes a very special person to live with 4 Burlingtons and live to tell about it. We miss you and love you. See you in Maine!

Robert stayed with my parents for a whole week by himself and went to VBS at their church. (thank you mom and dad for your help while Rob was away!) Esther attended VBS here in our neighborhood the very same week.

Esther in her classroom after the VBS luau that Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church threw midweek:

CC and Esther, "just the girls."the light was beautiful that night.On Thursday night Steph and I escaped to Midtown for dinner at the Globe. The weather was stunning, we sat outside and the live music wasn't too loud. Stephie's food was better chosen than mine.

Scallops and couscous.The heirloom tomato salad with basil sorbet was particularly summery:

We spent several days at the Y together, swimming and exercising. Sunday night the Hoares had all of us for dinner. The kids played really well with Ruthie. :) Thank you for a lovely evening Geoffrey and Sage! I have never had ice cream drizzled with olive oil and salt- fabulous.

Monday I had the perfect day planned. We drove to Serenbe to putz around the farm. We had fun, but the children didn't frolic for hours among the plants feeding sheep and chickens as I had hoped (where do I come up with these expectations?) We did cut flowers and get really hot.

Find the butterfly Robert is looking at:Find another butterfly. We had lunch at the Blue Daisy, caught a rainstorm on the way home and got a visit from Steph's fiancee's parents. Thanks for coming by to meet CC Mr and Mrs Daniels. See you at the wedding! Stephie, Esther and the Daniels: We had a great evening making pizza with Tim, Beth and Paul Frilingos. See the tiny little peaches from their peachtree? Thanks Tim and Beth!

Rob returned to our open arms on Wed, June 25. He has just now fully recovered from jet lag. On Thursday we said goodbye to Steph. Have you recovered Steph? xxoo

p.s. The Greece pilgrimmage that Rob led with 19 All Saints' youth has a separate blog. Check it out:


http://allsaintsj2apilgrimage.blogspot.com/

Pool party at the Wells'

No fear.
Janis Overrocker, Lindsay Fritz, Lauren Kaufman and the Wells family hosted a youth reunion for Rob a few weeks ago. CC made her water dubut in a leapord print bikini with pink ruffles:
Daddy and Esther Esther Williams? Delaney (mid-air) and John Mitchell in action.Donna Mitchell and Della Wells, hostess with the mostess.

I didn't get wet.

During the party, Glo and Scott picked up Stephie at the airport and took her to dinner. Later, at our house, a ring photo was a must (both Glo and Steph are engaged.) Sparkles a plenty.