Category Archives: Kids

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The Summer Slow

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There’s not a whole lot going on besides the usual craziness.  Paul bought yet another box truck so he wasn’t home this past weekend and I barely escaped Saturday and Sunday with my sanity intact.  The kids have been bugging me non stop to take them over to the community pool, but I just don’t have the energy to pay $25 and haul all of our  crap over there; especially when we are not allowed to have floaties (not cool when you have a toddler to wrangle) and there’s really only about 30 minutes of swimming per hour (they make everyone get out every 15 minutes for 15 minutes for these awful “rest breaks”.  Waste of money and makes for cranky kids.  We need our own pool.

The chickens continue to grow at an almost alarming rate.  They should be laying eggs by September sometime – we are looking forward to it!  We have also determined that the one we named Prudence is in fact the rooster, and Homer is a hen.  They’ve been re-christened “P-Roo” and “Homie-D-Hen”.  We also really really need to get our butts in gear and make them their movable run; they’ve picked the earth clean next to their coop.

The gardens look like crap thanks to the almost non-stop rain we’ve been experiencing (along with everyone else up and down the east coast).   The front vegetables seem to be faring the best of all of them, though the tomatoes are taking over and the Japanese beetles are eating my basil.

06.18.09 005

My hanging baskets look awful.  I can’t seem to keep them watered well enough – it’s that straw – like lining their planted in.

The front herb garden is choking in weeds and the herbs have been all but drowned to death.  I’ve decided that come fall when the tomatoes die out I’ll transfer all of the herbs to the raised beds and I can plant the tomatoes out back next year.  That way the herbs will be happy.  And speaking of the back garden – of the approximately 832,000 seeds I planted I have barely anything sprouting to speak of.  I think it was just too wet and cold for them (except the peas – they are doing gangbusters).  Out of frustration on Saturday I poked a few dozen zucchini and yellow squash seeds just barely into the soil and now they are all sprouting – thanks to it being sunny and hot for the last several days (finally!).  I think a trip to Lowe’s for more seeds is in order.

I also got me a new Le Creuset stock pot, courtesy of Paul getting a bonus from work for all of his hard work.  I fit about 8 corn cobs in it comfortably!

06.23.09a

Of course looking at this site made both Paul and I think of a good seafood boil.  You can really tell how different we are based on the fact that he was thinking “crawdads” and I was thinking “Lobsters”.  Alas I had neither so we simply had corn on the cob with our dinner and I made my famous blueberry gateau.  This has been a favorite seasonal recipe for at least 10 years now.  I can’t even remember where I got the recipe, but I make about a zillion and a half of them while blueberries are in season.  After that it’s just too expensive.

06.23.09c

See?  Two cups of fresh blueberries tossed with sugar and flour and tossed on top of a nice cakey batter before going in the oven.

Then it comes out like this:

06.23.09b

It’s Paul’s favorite dessert ever.

Anyhoo, now that I’ve made myself hungry……that’s all I’ve got.  It’s summer, and it’s slow.  Hopefully there’ll be more to regale you with soon!

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A Day In The Life

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12:30 am – off to bed finally.

1:30 am – Wake up to pititful cries of Juice!  Juice! from little Oona.  Administer sippy cup (full of water, not juice), briefly fall back to sleep before waking to DONE!!! and having said sippy cup smacked rudely into face.  Put sippy cup back on nightstand.

2:00 am -Wake up to whining and cries of Cuddle!! from a very restless Oona.  Attempts to cuddle are met with cries of Stop it!  Stop it!  Hey!! Wrestle for 20 minutes trying to get her into a happy and sleepy place.

2:30 am.  PACI!!!! Fumble around in the dark looking for paci in the sheets.  Check under pillows.  Roll over and squint through the darkness on the floor.  Give up and turn on light, ignoring increasingly louder screams for paci.  Pull apart bedsheets and blankets lookng for GD paci.  Concede defeat, grab Oona, go downstairs in search of paci.

2:45 am – back to bed.

7:00 am.  Aware that Oona is wide awake and crawling over to side of bed to get down.  Stop her.  Get rewarded with crying.

10:00 am – Unhappily roll out of bed after enduring 3 hours of restless baby crawling all over and pulling at hair and trying to go downstairs by herself.

10:05 – make coffee while holding Oona, who has begun to scream Oh-gook!!! Grab yogurt out of fridge, sit Oona on bar stool in kitchen with her yogurt, sit down and attempt to drink coffee.

10:10 – finished with her yogurt, Oona throws herself face first off of stool onto floor and cries.

10:15 – cuddling on couch with Oona.

10:20 – Oona throws her weight around and spills now cold cup of coffee all over lap and couch.  Grumble loudly and get up to clean self off and make new cup of coffee.  Neve begins whining campaign in attempt to get her oatmeal made for her.

11:00 am – pull small tick off of belly while getting into shower.  Shampoo while Oona chants Shake your Butt and destroys a roll of toilet paper.

12:00 pm – Oona is total mess 15 minutes after being cleaned and dressed.  Neve wants lunch.  Oona is screaming for apples.  Remind Neve she still has half full bowl of oatmeal to finish.  Watch her stomp and cry.  Manage to elude Oona long enough to get dog on leash and out the back door to relieve herself.  Dog stands still and woeful, unwilling to answer her clearly pressing need due to the rain.  Sigh, return to house, give Oona juice, turn on Spongebob, go to garage with Oona screaming and hot on heels.  Listen to Oona scream on other side of door while getting chicken feed ready.

12:20.  Fall face first into chicken coop while attempting to feed.  Feebly swat away flies with poop – covered hands.  Close up coop after finishing chicken duties.

2:00pm – Cleaned of poop, lunch made and eaten, dishes done, Oona cleaned up from her 4th or 5th meal of the day, relaxing on couch trying to knit.  Oona believes this is “jungle gym” time.  Become increasingly frustrated over arms and feet in face, elbows digging into belly, rancid poopie smell coming from her diaper.  Oona grabs at knitting needles and rips sock in progress away and throws it across room.

2:30 pm – after much wrestling finally manage to convince Oona her diaper needs to be changed.  She continues kicking while being cleanup up, and the dog is frantically asking to go back out.  Throw out diaper, wash hands and grab leash with Oona hanging off of left leg.  Take dog and Oona out in rain.  Dog refuses to budge again.  Walk out into wet and muddy yard with dog, wait full 10 minutes before dog finally does her business.  Go back inside.  EMily and Neve are screaming at each other.  Break up fight.  Emily stomps away in a fury.  Neve wants to know if it is lunch time yet.

3:00 pm.  Oona a total cranky mess,  clearly in need of a nap.  Oona pulls Neve’s hair and tries to rip keys off of laptop.  Stop her and she yells HEY!! and begins throwing tantrum, still holding firmly to Neve’s hair.  Emily yelling at Oona to stop and at Neve to stop.  Yell at Emily to mind her own business.  Emily stomps away in a fury.  Oona lets go of Neve’s hair and demands a marshmallow.

3:30 pm.  Oona still crying for marshmallow.  Opt instead to put her in car and drive around the block to put her to sleep.

3:45 pm  -Oona is asleep after a brief trip to the end of our road.  Put her in bed.  Neve asks for a snack.  Emily wants help with making her bracelet.  Neve can’t find her crayons.  Clean up mess from lunch.  Feed dog, finally.  Emily begs to have coffee.  Refuse.  Emily begs louder and Neve joins.  Give emphatic NO!  EMily stomps off in a fury.  Remark under breath that she will really get it if she wakes up the baby.  Neve begins rough housing with dog.  Give menacing look at both.

4:00 pm – Tidy up downstairs and water hanging flower baskets out front that are too sheltered to benefit from the rain.  Send Emily out with umbrella to check the mail.  Receive incorrect bill of $2,000.00 from insurance company.  Spend half an hour on phone with them while Neve hops around singing and dancing, making too much noise and begging for a marshmallow.  Emily still wants coffee.

5:00 pm Dog barks loudly at Fed-ex truck delivering our monthly coffee shipment.  Neve screams Someone’s here!! and runs for the door, despite being told 800 billion times to NEVER do that.  Emily comes down the stairs with a wide awake Oona in her arms, claiming the dog woke her up.  Neve wants to know what is for dinner.  Resist urge to throw box of coffee at her.

6:00 pm Finish cooking spaghetti while holding Oona.  Find that her diaper has leaked.  Change shirt and put new diaper and dress on Oona.  Serve dinner to kids.  Dog needs to go out again.

6:30 grab plate of food to eat.  Oona screams Cuddle and demands to be held in lap – this makes eating difficult and pretty much guarantees she will be sharing.  Find her juice cup and refill it for her.  Allow kids to play on the Wii while attempting to gain some nourishment.

6:45 pm – Emily and Neve are screaming at each other over game.  Refuse to listen to any instructions.  Turn off Wii.  Emily stomps off in a fury.  Neve wants dessert.  Dog still needs to go out.

7:15 – Clean pile of dog poop off of living room floor.

7:30 pm – clean up dinner mess while holding Oona.

8:00 pm – Sit down on couch, feet aching.  Oona screams for crackers.  Ask Emily to get Oona one graham cracker.  Emily gives her the whole box.

8:10 pm – Oona feeds entire box of graham crackers to the dog.

8:30 pm – fight Oona to change another poopie diaper.

9:00 pm – Yell at older kids to clean up their various messes all over the living and dining rooms.  Neve whines and claims it’s all Emily’s fault.  Put Oona in jammies.  Grab Liquid antibitoics and dropper and begin hunt for Jasper cat.  Put Oona on bed and ask her to stay put while Jasper gets his medicine.  Lock self and cat in bathroom while Oona pounds on door and screams.  Wrap cat in towel, jab dropper in his mouth, squirt meds.  Cat becomes angry but swallows anyway.  Feel bad for the best behaved member of the household and let him go.

9:10 pm.  Open door for Oona who is now naked and wants to sit on her potty.

9:15 pm – re – diaper and dress Oona while Emily and Neve fight over something downstairs.  Ignore it.  Sit on couch with Oona and knitting and try to relax and wait for Oona to go to sleep.

10:00 pm – Neve running around like a wild hooligan and screeching with Oona.  Every attempt to calm them down fails.  Finally scream at Neve to sit quietly and watch tv or go to her room.  Neve stomps away muttering under her breath but goes no further than the kitchen.  Resumes wild behavior 5 minutes later.

10:05 pm – Yell at Neve and repeat warning.  Neve argues she doesn’t want to go upstairs and wants to play with Oona.  Begin counting to three.  Neve stomps toward the stairs crying and screaming.  Oona laughs and demands more “oh-gook”.

10:30 pm – Neve sneaks back down and begins roughing around with the dog and Oona again.  Yell at her yet again and send her back upstairs.  Hear crash from up there.  Ignore it.  Oona continues to careen around wildly and jump on couch, tearing away yarn and making knitting impossible.  Dog begins barking wildly at thumping noises Neve is making upstairs.  Give up on knitting and pour glass of soda.  Bemoan inability to drink alcohol due to being sole adult in the house.  Neve returns and begins crying about wanting to open dvd cabinet to pick out a movie.  Oona immediately tries to get in the cabinet as well.  Yell at Neve to go back upstairs while she throws massive tantrum.  Oona demands soda while Emily tries to cuddle her, making her mad.  Yell at Emily to let her go.  Emily stomps off in a fury.

11:15 pm.  Laying in bed with Oona trying to convince her to go to sleep.  Dog is chasing the cat downstairs and Neve keeps wandering around, slamming doors as she goes.  Emily joins cat chase and makes plentiful noise doing so.  Both girls eventually settle into their bedroom and slam door.  Presumably they have the cat.  They begin lots of giggling and thumping around.

11:45 pm – Oona is finally asleep.  Carefully make way downstairs to let dog out one last time.  It’s pouring.  Come in, lock doors, clean up and go upstairs.  Tell girls to be quiet and go to sleep.  Go into bathroom and change into pajamas.  Wash face, brush teeth, give cats water and food.  Attempt to sneak into bed with a book.

12:15 am – peer over edge of book at spider gliding down from ceiling toward the bed.  Smoosh him between two books, waking up baby.

12:20 am – turn off lights, snuggle up next to baby, closes eyes, pray she falls back to sleep soon.

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Hi Ho Cherry – O!

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I meant to have this posted earlier. but certain people don’t really appreciate how selfish I can be.  And they’re right.  I mean really – a whole 5 minutes to myself every few weeks is an awful lot to ask.  Poor Oona.  She’s sleeping now after a nice evening ride in the car.  But this post isn’t about my sleepy Oona.  It’s all about cherries.

Yesterday my friend Veronica and I took our collective kids and drove an hour out into the country to a new cherry orchard.  It got kind of scary for the last 10 minutes or so of the drive as we ventured further and further into nowhere and the roads got increasingly bad (as in we left pavement, then left gravel, then practically left dirt as well).  There was a brief fun moment when we passed slowly by a large bull grazing in the road.  He was almost as big as my van.  Then the crater – filled “road” mercifully turned and we were there  (let’s not forget that as used to farms and country as I am, being from the upstate portion, Veronica and I are aat heart still New York gals).   The view was worth it.

06.08.09h

See the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance?

06.08.09g

The girls simply could not wait to get their bags and get down to some serious picking.  So we globbed on the sunscreen, got our bearings from the nice lady at the farm stand and headed into the trees.

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Oona squeaked along with Veronica and Natalie.

06.08.09b

And there they were – trees and trees of luscious cherries.  And nice wooden ladders to schlep around to each one (told you I was from NY.  Can’t have too many “y’alls” around these parts without the occasional “Oy” or “schmutz” or what have you).

06.08.09f

Oona kept Natalie and Amy busy, and I kept getting confused by Veronica talking to Amy.  No, I’m not tired.  No, I don’t need to pee…..oh wait you meant your kid.

06.08.09c

Neve was busy accusing me of “hogging the ladder”.  Not that she helped carry it from tree to tree or anything.

06.08.09d

She did enjoy sampling.

06.08.09e

My monkey Emily couldn’t tolerate me climbing higher than her.  It’s too bad she didn’t have a camera  – her view across the valley was much better than mine.

I think we stayed about 2 hours before the kids had had enough and were hot and hungry.  We had our haul weighed (Veronia bagged about 15 lbs, I bagged about 12 lbs), bought some cold drinks and headed home.  Oona was out like a light, the older girls sang cartoon theme songs all the way and Veronica and I admitted to liking The Nanny with Fran Drescher (hint: the handsome Englishman doesn’t hurt.)

Tomorrow I plan to make a pie and some muffins.  The rest we’ll eat as is.  If not for the hour drive I’d go back this week for more.  Cherry season is all too short.  But there’s light on the horizon – the peaches at the local orchard will be ready for picking the first week of July.  I am SO there!!!

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Summer Trash

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I’ve been amassing my trashy summer reading pile, and it has been waiting patiently on my night stand for me to break into it.  I discovered the virtues of buying used books on Amazon so I can satisfy my need to read.  Plus this fits the bill when I’m too tired to knit or sew but too awake to sleep.

06.05.09b

This is my idea of some good summer reading.  Some Stephen King (there is precious little left by him that I have not read), some Jeffrey Deaver (I like the Lincoln Rhyme series), some spooky New York and New England folklore, some Umberto Eco, and Amy Sedaris, who cracks me up.  I also have Davisd Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed in Flames on order as well.    What’s your summer trash look like?

There’s also the pile o’yarn that’s been growing all winter, waiting for me to make time to turn it into socks and such.  For now it just sits there and mocks me with its glorious presence.

06.06.09a

Yes, it’s all from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. They are my dealer of choice, after all.  However, don’t be fooled into thinking that I am no serious yarn horder.  Don’t for a second let yourself believe this is the extent of my stash.  Or even a fraction of it.  Oh wait.  I think Paul may be around here somewhere.  I take it back! This is my whole stash!  In its entirety!  I swear there is no other yarn anywhere, and certainly not stuffed into the dark recesses of the closet or hiding out in the piano room! ~Insert innocent smiley face here~

Ahem.  Moving on.

I realized recently I have neglected to mention Mr. Poppy, our new hot air popcorn popper.  My girls were consuming mass quantities (channeling Jane Curtain here…) of microwave popcorn and I kept thinking about how expensive it was and how there’s lord knows how many chemicals in it.  So I got to thinking about the popper my grandparents had when they owned the hotel and decided to procure one for us.  Then we set out to buy straight up kernels and wound up buying a 50 lb. bag of them from Sam’s Club.  It’s a sickness, I know.  But Mr. Poppy makes lovely fresh popcorn and fills my kitchen with a nostalgic and lovely aroma from my childhood and the girls love it, even plain.

05.04.09c

Believe it or not, in the 3 or 4 months since we got Mr. Poppy we’ve managed to plow through about a third of that 50 lb. bag, and considering there’s usually little to no salt or butter on it when we make it that means my kids are snacking healthier.  Between that and the spinach brownies I am feeling a tad less guilty about all the ice cream we’ve been snorting since summer began.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the cherry picking trip we went on today and all the fruit my children voluntarily ate!

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The Taj Ma-Cluck (Or is it Cluck Mahal?)

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Our overdone coop is complete and in place, waiting for the fencing to be put around it so the chicks will have a nice area to roam around when they’re not helping de-bug my garden.  We’ve situated it at the back side of the house where there clearly was supposed to have been a deck built (there is a door in our living room that opens onto a good 8 or 10 foot drop).   It’s a fairly sheltered spot weather – wise and I think as close to the house as it is it will help deter some of the predators a bit.

06.05.09d

There are advantages to having a big Bobcat.  Even though it hardly ever functions properly.  I’m just sayin’.  Paul built the coop in the garage and then hauled it into place via heavy machinery.  The red was my idea – I like it.

06.05.09e

Getting it into place was a tad tricky considering the slope of the land in the back.  We also scared away a bunch of blue – tailed skinks during this operation.  Having them around is a good thing – they’ll feast on any termites that might decide to set up residence in your home.

06.05.09c

Ta da!!!  Chicken palace!  (See the “door to nowhere up there between the two big windows and to the right of the hanging birdfeeder?)

06.05.09f

Why Yes!  Room service and maid are included in this luxury suite!  And look!  Snacks!  Those little ants that unwisely decided to converge on the food dish were dee-lish!

Finishing touches aside, this project is done! And speaking of dee-lish, check this out:

06.05.09g

I have been on a bit of a cooking and baking jag of late, and this was one of the successes.  The crust is from Smitten Kitchen, the pastry cream is from the Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and then I just sliced up some strawberries to top it.  We polished it off in no time!  I can’t wait to make more, but I am sure my waistline doesn’t really need it, considering I’ll end up eating more than my fair share of it.

The last gfew days have been slow in the kitchen though, due to it being abnormally busy around these parts for a rainy week.

Sunday we went to the ice park in town for a birthday party and the girls spent a good 2 hours skating and goofing around with their buddies who live just across the road from us.

6.05.09h

Let me tell you, I adore these girls (and their parents!).  They are so well behaved, and it really rubs off on my girls so that we can have easy play dates with no one fighting or whining or crying.  What a relief!  You know.  Until we get home and their evil streaks reappear.

Wednesday we went for a walk and picnic with them and Oona insisted on walking all the way down the trail rather than ride in her stroller, and since she has squeaky shoes (“Wee Squeaks”) all we heard was squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. She had so much fun, and really wore herself out.

6.05.09i

She fell right to sleep as soon as I put her in the car to go home.  As it turns out, we left just in time weather – wise.  Just after we got back to the house we had a nice bit of hail.  Fun fun!  It’s been chilly and raining ever since.  I’ve been working on getting all of my leftover fabric scraps in the green range together for a quilt that I hope to get to one day before I am old and senile (Senile may come first at this point, between the kids and the animals).

06.05.09a

Jasper’s not making it easy.  Mostly because he decided to have bloody diarrhea and need to be taken to the vet.  I had to leave him overnight (all night without my boy!!!!!) for tests and observation and he came home very happily today – all medicated and waiting for some lab results.  It’s always something in this house!!!!

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The Master Manipulator is 6

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05-30-03d

In the very wee hours of May 30, 2003 a 5.5 lb. bundle of stubborn came into the world.

08-21-03e

Well, she sure was sweet and cute – a tiny little peanut baby, on the very low end of the size spectrum.  At first she was much, much easier than Emily had been as an infant.  We should have known that meant we would pay during the toddler years.

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She was walking way earlier than I would’ve liked (10 months) and she was into everything. Like the huge wad of Feline Pine she choked on at around 8 months.  Or the time she was about 2o months and woke up in the middle of the night and wandered out of bed by herself and climbed the bookcase and made a mess of the books before emptying the contents of the dishwasher onto the kitchen floor.  We woke up to the sound of clanking silverware.

12-24-04f

She only grudgingly gave up her pacifier (paci) when she was about 3 and a half.  Until then it was her constant companion and plaything.  Occasionally she liked to throw them in the toilet to laugh at the splashy sound it made.  She also found it handy to stick her paci in the dog’s mouth when the dog was being too whiny for her taste.  At age 2 it became increasingly impossible to keep a diaper on her.  This is how I ended up with a pile of Neve poop on the coffee table in the living  room one fine afternoon.

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That’s not even the worst of what she managed to put me through at that age.  Once she had her hands on something it was hers, and I had no end of trouble removing bills, checkbooks, toilet bowl brushes and more from her tenacious grip.  Her favorite place to steal from was the bathroom – she knew my makeup was in there and she did her best every day to try to climb up to get it.  But that is not what she was getting into one day while I was preparing her lunch.  I turned my back for half a second and she was gone – into the bathroom, where I assumed she’d be after a mascara or lipstick.  Instead I found her humched over the garbage can, fist clenched tightly around………a used condom from the night before. I reflexively went to snatch it out of herhand straightaway, absolutely horrified.  So she pulled back even harder.  I yanked again and she let go.  The latex snapped back at me, splattering its contents all over my face.  She laughed.

09-08-06j

When we moved into our current house she was about 3 and her speech was rapidly advancing, and she was articulating the world around her in new and hilarious ways.  At night she wore her “Joe-Mamas” to bed.  But she wouldn’t sleep alone because she watched enough Scooby Doo to worry that there might be a “Grampire” living in her closet.

04-03-07i

Her “My way or the highway” attitude was noticeable early on.

02.12.08l

As was her unique sense of style, which we have dubbed “Baglady Chic”.

03.26.08m

With her we have weathered some of the most unbelievable messes of marker and paint (both on her and the white carpeting), make-up and bodily waste.

06.15.08n

Thanks to her fearless daredevil outlook she has experienced more than her fair share of trips to the ER (both for her AND for the time she fractured Emily’s finger by slamming the shower door on it).

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She excels in exasperating me on a daily basis with the constant criticisms and questioning of my every move.  Ane when I have heard “MAMA???” for the umpteenth time and I break and yell “WHAT??!!!” she knows how to break me down even more by pausing and responding “I love you.”

06.01.09a

She can be the prefect little princess; sweet, cuddly, polite.  She behaves marvelously at school and with family.  She can charm the pants off of strangers at the store (when she’s not screeching and throwing her usual tantrums that is).

06.01.09b

But deep down she’s always that stubborn, devil-may-care Neve, making funny faces,

06.01.09c

and turning herself blue by picking her nose with a frosting covered finger during her birthday photo shoot.

Happy birthday my little Schmoopie.  God help us all, you’re going to take this world by storm one day.

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I Said I Would, So I Did

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05.19.09c

I bought it.  It came today.  I have yet to crack it open, due to the absolute insanity that is my life the last few days, but I am looking forward to learning how to make my camera would like it is supposed to.  Maybe when Oona’s 30.

Yesterday was spent returning the craptacular tiller we rented from the local hardware store (I had to drive the box truck.  It was not a picnic.  Paul’s lucky I used to be a bus driver or there’s just no way I could have managed it. It was like driving a giant rattling metal lunch box that’s loose at all joints.  But I digress).  The tiller barely scratched the surface of what I really need done, even with the wet and soggy ground.  We pulled up some massive roots, though.

After the tiller return I spent a  good chunk of the afternoon at the doctor’s office having a biopsy done (don’t worry, it should be fine.  Oh, and Oona stayed here with my mother, who did my dishes for me!!!  Thank you!!!).   Then I had to fly back home for Neve’s Brownie ceremony.  She bridged from being a Daisy Scout and is now officially a Brownie Scout.

05.19.09b

Look at that wild hair.  She won’t let me near it.  She also insists on wearing the most outlandish creations to school.  I fought her all year, determined to make sure she dressed in an appropriate manner, both for the weather and the day’s activities.  Last week I gave up, since their last day is Friday.  Plus I talked to her teacher, and she knows I am not dressing Neve in the pink Hawaiian print cargo capris with green striped top, purple socks, fuschia crocs and cheetah print fur coat.  Apparently she’s seen much worse.

Today I eeked out a finished object – a handbag from the Oh Fransson! blog.

05.19.09d

This, my friends, is my one small victory for today.  Oona has been particularly out of sorts lately, and today was no exception.  She was so testy I put her in her car seat and drove around aimlessly for 45 minutes so she’d take a nap.  Even now she is wrapped around my ankles screaming.  I don’t know why – nothing I’ve tried makes her happy.  I think it’s just a case of the “WAY over – tireds” and she refuses to concede.  Mighty frustrating to watch.  Especially in light of the newest drama unfolding here in the house of woe.

05.19.09e

I took this picture an hour ago in my closet.  Looks like hamster poop – except both our hamsters are serving their time in their luxury condos in Emily and Neve’s room.  So why is there all this rodent poop all around the empty suitcases in my closet?  I tore through all the suitcases, shoes, and other miscellaneous junk all over the closet and found exactly zilch.  The cats have not seemed particularly interested in the closet, which is a good sign.  Last year for about 2 weeks before we discovered we had mice upstairs Sushi sat guard in the hallway, all day and all night.  And just this weekend Jasper alerted me to Sherbert the hamster’s escape by standing guard outside the girls’ bedroom closet all day.  Sure enough, there was a hamster roaming around the shoes in there.  It does then both comfort and confuse me that despite the presence of a fairly large quantity of droppings in my closet none of the cats has been poking around in there.  It does serve to remind me how incredibly badly I need to clean out the dark corners of this house.   Every free corner  has been stacked with stuff that needs to be put into storage and  I simply have not had a free hand to put any of it away.  Good thing I had my moment of baking Zen this weekend while making a strawberry – rhubarb pie.  It was yummy and gone (sorry Rachel!)!!

05.19.09a

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Cheep Chicks At My Place

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Today’s Thursday, so it’s time for the chicken update!

It’s been one week since we brought the chickies home.  Already they have grown considerably and their feathers are beginning to fill out.  We have yet to identify which one is the male (if any) but they girls are enjoying watching their funny little antics as they run about and try to establish their pecking order.  They have also taken quite well to eating those huge mosquito – hawk things that have been hanging around in massive numbers the past few weeks.

05.14.09b

Clementine here is the only one left that’s mostly fuzzy instead of feathers.  She’s also a different breed, though.

05.14.09a

Ruby (in front), Clementine, and HenRietta.

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Homer (the one who may be the boy…we’re not sure), Penelope, Prudence and HenRietta.

Other than keeping the chickens fed, watered and clean I have accomplished pretty much zero since Monday.  This is due to the granddaddy of all colds that has settled into my sinuses and staked out the territory seemingly for keeps.  I’ve been pretty miserable and the more days that go by the more frustrated I am with my lack of ability to do anything other than the bare minimum to keep my kids and pets alive.  Today has been slightly better, so I am hoping for that break in the clouds  (rather than that break in sanity that may be coming if I don’t get well soon!).

See you then.

Unknown's avatar

What I’m Like

by

With all of the changes and new developments around here I was feeling like I need to take some time to “shore up” my inner reserves, to reaffirm “me” as a person.  I”m not usually inclined to ask for help even when I am sorely in need, and I was feeling pretty down about things the last few weeks (and lonely, to be honest) when help found me in a few different forms.  New friends, new pets, new tasks and I am feeling more like myself again.  And it’s a great time for it – SPRING!  I couldn’t be more pleased with where I am right now, which is this:

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I am a gardener!

This is a new one for me, actually.  I’ve never had much of a green thumb, and over the years I am sure I’ve killed WAY more plants than I’ve grown.  The older I get the more I realize I should’ve been a farmer.  I’ve heard a lot of negative talk from people when I’ve said this before, along the lines of “That’s really hard work – it’d be way too much to handle!” or my favorite, “YOU?  Are you kidding??” Well, heck.  Do I really come off that lazy and incapable?  Just because I am no good at handling a typical office type 9 – 5 doesn’t mean I couldn’t hack farm life.  It has to do with what you find rewarding in life and what makes you happy.  Of course, I am not a farmer, and we have no plans to buy a farm anytime soon (I kind of married the wrong guy for that, I think – I doubt Paul would be too interested in owning a farm!) for now I am a gardener.

These front beds have been planted with several types of tomato and pepper, and basil.  I’m absolutely dying to get out back and get the squashes and beans planted.

The other front garden has plenty of flowers and herbs, including 2 types of thyme, rosemary, pineapple sage, cilantro, oregano, tarragon and lavender.  There’s going to be an abundance of fresh salsas and pestos this year!  Hooray!

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I forgot to mention the massive amounts of lemon balm, too.  It’s taking over.  Anyone want any?  Please?

Somewhere down the road a bit we’ll be putting in a small-ish greenhouse and I’d like to put one of those neat strawberry pyramids next to it.  That, however, will have to wait until the greenhouse goes in (for landscape planning purposes), and the greenhouse, well, that ain’t cheap, and as it happens, we’ll need a chicken tractor first, because guess what?  We have these:

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Need a closer look?

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There are 6 of them, 5 girls and one boy, and we are smitten.

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I am a chicken lady!

I got these babies from a local chicken farmer who helped me pick out the friendliest, most docile breeds.  In chicken speak, we have 3 Gold – Laced Wyandottes (1 of these is the roo), 1 blue Cochin, 1 gold Cochin, and 1 black Cochin.  I can’t even tell you how happy I am with them!  Which reminds me, I am also

A Bad Influence!

My friend and neighbor got some as well.  I think she couldn’t take listening to me go on and on about the impending chicken arrival any longer!  All of our kids are just over the moon with their new pets, and Emily has plans to keep a “chicken journal” to document their growth and development.  Insert wide smile here.

Really, for me, this is the life.  I love being domestic.  I love growing things and caring for creatures and my kids (even though certain days I might not say that – like when Oona decides she cannot be any more than 2 milimeters away from me).  I love old fashioned and vintage farm things – if I had the money and the space I’d collect antique tractors.  I love wearing dresses and skirts with giant rubber wellies to work in the garden, and I don’t care if it all gets dirty.  I love cooking and baking, especially giant fruit pies that are way too fattening but it doesn’t matter because they are yummy and good for your soul. (you know, until your soul starts gaining too much weight…..then it’s time to cut down on the pie)

I love sheep and their wool and knitting it.  I will knit just about anything given the time to do so, but my favorite thing to knit is socks, because let’s face it, sock yarn is way cool.

I love to sew clothes for my kids on my 2 vintage Singer sewing machines.

I love to paint with oils.  I also love taking pictures but I am still learning how to do that.  I need to get a copy of Digital Photography for Dummies. I was pretty good with my trusty old Canon A-1, but film cameras seems to have gone the way of the dodo, and it is so much easier to unload your instantly viewable digital photos.

I am all of these things and far more, and I am always adding and subtracting as I grow and change and age.  I think we should all strive to be like a good wine – getting better and more nuanced as we age.  Don’t you?

yellow-rose-051

Unknown's avatar

This, That, and The Other

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First let me start by wishing Maddie a Happy 14th Birthday today!!!!!!  Time flies, my little spud baby!  Next year she starts high school, and I feel old.

We got word that our trip to Mexico will be happening November 12 now, so I have 6 more months to make sure I can pull off a bikini.  Whew! Seriously, I am still rather mushy in the middle, and I was really just going to be “winging it” this week.

We managed a day out in Williamsburg without the kiddos (and Oona did fabulously with her grandma – she barely noticed we were gone).  There are some great outlet stores out that way – some are still way over priced, but we had fun looking around and having the luxury to be all casual and mosey about with no screeching and emergency potty trips.  For dinner we went to PF Chang’s, which is just this side of heaven, let me tell you.  I could eat their Mu Shu every day for the rest of my life and never complain (though my blood pressure might – it’s pretty sodium heavy).  The great thing is that the restaurant is at a really pretty outdoor style mall in Richmond and we spent some time after dinner at the Starbucks there watching people and their dogs go by (it’s a very dog friendly mall, despite -or maybe because – all of the very upscale stores there, like Louis Vuitton).  They had Louis Armstrong playing, it was overcast, the flowers were blooming, there were white lights strung in the trees,  I had my triple grande black and white mocha………..it was lovely and relaxing.

Now we are back to reality, however.  We’ve had rain for ages now, whch was great at first because the pollen has such a heavy presence on everything you could swear the world was going to be a gnarly greenish – yellow from now on.  Now that it has been raining for what seems like an eternity (actually I think it’s been like 4 days) it’s getting a bit tiresome, and this is coming from soemone who enjoys a good rainy jag.  I just want to get the kids outside and do some gardening without getting drenched.  And speaking of kids – they are done with school on May 22!  Time to get down to some serious mapping out of vacation plans and activities to keep them busy through the hot months!

I myself have been quite busy, though I do not have many pictures to show for it yet.  I finished the Summer Blouse from Weekend Sewing for myself yesterday, and since Paul cannot take a good picture of me to save his life (seriously – how do you make someone who’s a size 4 look obese?  Just ask Paul!) I had to take it myself.  So excuse the craptastic-ness.

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The photo might be awful, but I love the blouse.  I had to add some length and take it in on the sides to make it fit right – the pattern has it rather short and boxy – but I am happy with the results.

I also finished the Everything Tote from the same book.  It’s HUGE.  I knew it owuld be a rather “roomy” bag, but I didn’t realize it would be HUGE.  I also had a bit of trouble getting the binding strips and handles to turn out the way they are written in the book so I had to improvise a bit.  Either way I am still rather pleased.  It’s always good to have a nice tote when you need it, and I love the Joel Dewberry fabric I used.

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Other projects from the weekend include:

– dress and skirt for Oona

-dress for Emily

-strawberry layer cake from scratch.  The recipe is in this month’s Cooking Light.  It’s kind of old fashioned and perfect,  with pureed berries and a cream cheese frosting.

– got 2 new Japanese sewing books to drool over!

And finally, while Paul and I were relaxing at Starbucks we thought up a lovely plan for Neve’s birthday (which is at the end of this month) so as to avoid having to throw a big party again this year.  We thought it would be perfect to take her and Emily along with their best buds across the way (and their parents) out to Build A Bear Workshop for a bear – building party and then over to Cold Stone Creamery across the way and cap off the day at PF Chang’s for dinner.  But you know what?  That little booger said “no”.  She wants a big party at the house with the water slide set up.  And when Maddie chimed in that she couldn’t believe Neve wouldn’t want a day at Build A Bear and Cold Stone you know what Neve said?

If you like it so much you can have YOUR birthday there.

Booger.