Bringing it all together

For many years I have resisted merging my home life and my art life, but it does appear that they are inseparable. After all they both require my two hands and one mind to tend them, and I try to maintain a balance between them--lately that balance has slipped. I have spent more physical time in my home life and more head time in my art life. I find myself planning artworks when I am cooking, cleaning, folding laundry, walking the kids to school--but the ideas only get a rough sketch in the sketchbook and then I am back to mundane housey stuff.
Part of the art time is maintaining my art blog and my Etsy shop--which until now I have mentioned only in passing. It is really difficult for me to maintain two blogs--it requires twice the wit and four times the editing. I am hoping that the new schedule I have set for myself will allow me more time to share the craziness that is our home life with you and time to share my art life over there. The other art time is at work, where the slow season has settled in and we are drawing and painting to keep our art muscles flexed.
As it stands, I may be completely obsessed with one thing over another--as the winter approaches there is a good chance that I will retreat into my art cave--so if you are looking for me here I may be over at the art blog: http://karapaints.blogspot.com/
Do drop in and say hi. It's pretty informal over there, as I usually have clay under my nails or paint on my nose.

Good morning!

Hello to all, old friends and new!

I seem to have acquired some new readers--hi there (yes, you and you)! And I DO read all of your comments, and thank you so much for responding. Don't think I am ignoring you, I am just sort of surprised that you are out there, reading MY thoughts.

When I started this blog, 7 years ago, I was grossly pregnant and living far away from both my family and my husband's. The intention was to keep from repeating the same stories over and over, as well as provide them with a steady stream of cute baby photos.

As time has marched on, I have had less and less free time so updates have become sparse. Right now my children are entertaining themselves by measuring things with a 16 foot tape measure and making monster noises.

We are gearing up for Halloween. The children have costumes (store bought, and totally cop-out I know), and I just discovered I no longer FIT in my costume. (I knew all that chocolate would catch up with me) So this week I am mixing & matching & sewing something new. The best part of making my own costume is that I can make alterations with safety pins and it doesn't matter because I won't be wearing it but once. I am not so much on hidden seams and perfection, which makes my Grandma sad because she is a seamstress of the First Order.

Now, a complete change of subject.

I decided that in this year of "more, better", I was going to be more expressive of my gratitude. To that end, I have started composing thank you letters to people who have inspired me. I don't expect letters in return, but I figured that they would never know that their actions have caused good things if nobody tells them.

Your mission for this week: Go out and tell somebody you appreciate them.

The oven repair guy cometh

On Thursday the oven repair man is coming to FIX MY OVEN. I am so excited I can barely sit still. Our oven ceased working in JUNE and we have managed to do without until now. But I am hosting Thanksgiving for 15 people and I don't think they would be amused by microwave dinners, even if I wrapped myself in foil and declared it "Thanksgiving From The Future". Aaron won't care so long as he gets his traditional Thanksgiving Burrito. (But that is a story for another time)

So, YES! Oven Repair Guy! I thought about drafting an open letter declaring my love for him, but then I realized it's not just oven repair guys. It's plumbers and mechanics and handymen everywhere.

I LOVE Men Who Can Fix Things.

Growing up, my Dad was fairly handy. As it turns out, his Dad was handy too (mechanic in WWII kind of handy). I always thought: one day, I'll be able to fix stuff like that.

As it turns out, I can handle basic repairs.(woo! go me!) I fixed a leaky sink, unclogged a bathtub, patched holes in walls, that sort of thing.
But anything requiring sheer muscle is beyond me. I am 5'3" on a good day and leverage only works so far.

Enter Men Who Can Fix Things! (They are like Superman, minus the muscles and wearing their underwear on the outside. And really, that should have been a clue that he was from another planet...or mentally unstable.) For a fee they can unstick the stuck, rewire the frazzled, and help me BAKE again.

By this time next week I expect to be up to my elbows in cookies, muffins, sweet and savory breads. I will make lasagna and calzones and roasted veg. I can stuff my face full of homemade deliciousness and it's all thanks to the OVEN REPAIR GUY.

Things you should know

Before having kids, consider the following:

It is very probable that you will be at the house of someone you greatly admire and one of your children will put a hole in their wall.

If you can survive deathly levels of embarrassment, then you are very nearly ready to procreate.

Sublimating my sorrow.

Today is a day of mixed emotions. I call these "mixed bag days".

On the one hand, I am glad to be home after a week-long, 2,000 mile road trip with the kids. I am glad to see our pets and our friends again. I am glad that Nature got the message and is behaving like Fall.

On the other hand, I am sad to once again be 700 miles away from family. I am sad to say good bye to dear friends of ours who are moving South in hopes of a more rural, easier life.

So to deal with the way I feel, I am cooking. I have made a large pot of red meat sauce with onions and garlic and carrots and bay and marjoram. Tomorrow, I will make gingerbread waffles and fill the house with the smells of fall. I will make Spanish Braised Spinach and White bean soup and fill our bellies with seasonal foods.

Until the children are in bed and I can get up to my elbows in paint and clay, I will be in the kitchen. Food and art are how I process, how I cope, and how I commemorate the joys and sorrows that make up our days.

The whirring hum

OF DOOM.

Our computer is slowly, but surely, dying.

Which means that instead of uploading pictures, I am backing up 3 years worth of files and photos.

The last time our computer died, I promised myself that next time I would stay on top of the backing up. It would totally happen every month.

Turns out, if I don't write stuff down I forget to do it.

So while I limp this little machine along, we will be posting picture-free for a while. Sorry 'bout that.

The kids are back in school and oh my silence! 2 hours every day where I can do nothing. I have been up to my eyeballs in Getting Shit Done, but I at some point I plan on doing some champion style butt-sitting.

Last week, I read 2 books, worked 4 days at the shop, cleaned out Adrian's room (2 bags of trash and 2 bags of donate-ables), cleaned out Fiona's room (1 bag of each), cleaned out the basement (2 bags of trash--dried out markers/used up pipe cleaners/tiny scraps of paper/broken toys), did my homework (taking an online class on surface design on fabric), and taught a class on making floral jewelry with polymer clay.

This week my mom is coming for a visit, I am working 3 days, and getting the kids ready for our crazy ass road trip. When we return home from our 10 days of travel we will have gone 1935 miles. I am planning games and activities and hoping I don't have to sit wedged in between the 2 of them in the back seat. Because we travel old school: no individual DVD players. No namby-pamby living room on wheels. My mother loves to tell the stories of her childhood family trips from Alabama to Wisconsin with 2 adults and 5 kids wedged into a station wagon with no A/C. I figure if Grandma could do it with 5 and no air I can do it with 2 and no DVD player.
Besides how else can they enjoy the change of the terrain if they never look out the window? How can we make up stories about travelling circuses and cloud farmers if they are tied up in a movie of someone else's making?

Pray for me, ok? If I survive there will be photos and epic posts.
We leave in 11 days.

the Earth moved

We in North America seem to be getting a bit of seismic activity these days. Yesterday's earthquake prompted my friend Kym to say: Be nice! We only have 15 months left!

But instead of looking forward, the earthquake had me looking backwards. I was thinking of the last time the East Coast shook and the phone lines were down and I couldn't get in touch with my parents*. That was September 11, 2001.

It was the events of September 11 that led me to reconnect with Aaron. We had fallen out of touch when we had both started dating people who were geographically closer. He was at school in New York and I was at school in Roanoke, VA. That's a distance of 500 miles, which is a long way to travel without a car and without money for trains/buses/airplanes.

It was our mutual friend who suggested that I send him an email because at that time he was stationed in Kuwait. A lengthy correspondence between us followed, along with visits once he returned stateside. I made the decision to get a job in the state where he was stationed so that we could be closer and see if this relationship was going to be forever or just for now. (Side note: my dad thought I was crazy, but still drove 1,230 miles in two days in a moving van to get me where I had to go) That was in October of 2002. This October will mark our 8th year as a married couple.

Maybe that's why I love hearing how married people met. Maybe that's why I see tragedy as a catalyst for change.


*My parents are fine, by the way. My dad got a half day off work and was pretty pleased.

Back from Bama

I came home.
I have to say that travel by oneself is a horse of a different color. On the way there, I kept having brief moments where I would frantically look for the children before remembering that they were at their grandparents house.
I got to visit with family, drive around the city, go to the Birmingham Museum of Art (twice), and sleep in EVERY SINGLE DAY. There was a lot of good food, a lot of good memories, and a lot of fun. It was hard to come home--I wanted to call Aaron and have him just pack the house & the kids up and move on down. Here are my cousin and my Aunt--this is the cousin that came to visit back in June.

This is my great grandmother's house (technically it's somebody else's house now). My Nana's brother built it for his mother. (His house is on one side and Nana's sister's house is on the other).

Kelsey took me to Orr Park in Montevallo to show me the trees that had been carved by a local artisan. They are all along the foot path: faces, dragons, unicorns, llamas, wizards. It was fun to scout them out.

This is Aunt Carmela, myself, and my other cousin Andrea. We were waiting on a table at Joe's Italian. The food was yummy and I loved that the propritors know Aunt Carmela because she eats there so frequently.

And on our way to the airport we made a stop by the Peanut Depot--where you can get 'em roasted or boiled.

That's the abbreviated version of my adventure. I thought I should fill you in before I got distracted and moved on to something else.

THREE MORE DAYS

Three more days until I am on a plane bound south for a solo long weekend. I am so excited I could spit.
Relax, I have a no spitting in the house rule. (add THAT to the long list of things I never thought I'd have to make rules about. It should go between putting peanut butter on the dog and testing your gag reflex)

The kids will be on Holiday at the in-laws (thanks, guys!) starting Thursday--or tomorrow's tomorrow as we have dubbed it. Adrian informed me that holiday at Nana and Papa's is "out of control" and that it has "changed a lot since the last time you went, Mom". It's always so funny to hear these little old man phrases come out of his scrawny 6 year old frame.

This afternoon Adrian was playing with his Star Wars Lego set, which provided Fiona ample opportunities to use my favorite mispronunciation OF ALL TIME. Are you familiar with C3PO? Do you recall his little blue and white beeping buddy? According to Fiona, this guy's name is:
R- TootyToot.
It gets me EVERY TIME.

But back to me! Because really, I can talk about me all day (if by all day you mean for 15 minutes).

I will be flying to Birmingham, AL to stay with Aunt Carmela (one of my favorite people of all time in the whole universe). While there I get to see my cousins Kelsey and Katherine (man, what is it with this family and names that start with K?). I imagine food and wine and sleeping in past sunrise.

And I am going to try very very hard not to think about how "out of control" the kids holiday could possibly be.

At last

It rained today. A beautiful drenching rain that lasted a good 45 minutes and dropped the temperature to a lovely, bearable 80 degrees.

If you live in the United States, you'll know about how hideously, unbearably hot the past week has been. We keep our air conditioning at 78 degrees and it has felt like an ice box.

When we turn the air on you can be assured of 2 things: the outdoor temps are above 90 degrees, and we have turned it on to keep the children's brains from cooking in their skulls. I don't know if it is just my children or if it is ALL children, but the heat makes them grumpy and genuinely unpleasant to be around.

My patience has been wearing thin as we are on week 7 of summer break, and I simply will not put up with the bickering that comes from bored children. I banish them to the back yard or to their rooms. It's either banishment for them or a cocktail for me...

I'm not opposed to cocktails, but I do believe getting soused at noon would hinder my ability to make it to work on time...or even at all, really.

I keep telling myself that absolutely I will hit my second wind of the summer and have the drive to take the kids places (like hiking in the forest preserve! or to the water park!). But my new routine has me staying in my pajamas until I shower for work...at 2 pm. I have lost my will to GET THINGS DONE (beyond the basic necessary housekeeping duties).

Yesterday we went to Toys R Us (to spend gift cards from Christmastime) and then to Trader Joe's. I felt like we had been to the moon and back. Tomorrow is the farmer's market. I LOVE the farmer's market, but we haven't been in weeks due to my new pajama habit.

Maybe the break in the weather will be the motivation for me...that and my FAILED squash.

I was all excited for the teeny tiny baby squash that were appearing in the vine in the garden. When I went to check them this morning, they were yellowed and shrivelled.

Dear Squash,

Due to the unsatisfactory nature of our relationship, I believe it is past high time we gave up the charade. In short, it is not me. It is you.

I quit you.

Thanks,

Kara

i'm a bit, what's the word?

forgetful!
I am forgetful. Or perhaps it's just that I have eschewed my list-making for the summer. Without lists I have discovered the sieve-like qualities of my own brain. Tell me all your secrets now, because I can guarantee them forgotten by next week.

(for those of you who just come for the photos, skip to the end)

So a few posts back I mentioned going for an MRI.
I did go for one, and I felt ridiculous laying on a table with my breasts in a hole. Then I got the results of my MRI: your cyst is benign! We don't know what's causing your symptoms. Here's our bill!

I personally feel like I shouldn't have to pay my bills until I get a proper diagnosis. "Sometimes that just happens" is not a diagnosis. Western medicine can be a little silly at times.

I have been out in the garden every morning, talking to the plants, begging the plants, PLEADING with them to produce food. The bush beans are awesome and happy to oblige. The strawberries are coming around to my charms. The squash remain resolute and will give me only blossoms.

I am counting down the days until my next big adventure. There are nine. The kids will be going to the in-laws for their annual summer holiday and I will be going to Birmingham to visit with my Aunt & cousin, and get Nana's house prepped for the estate sale. Do you know what this means?! Do you?! FIVE WHOLE DAYS of adult company. FIVE WHOLE DAYS without refereeing fights, reminding people to wash hands, and preparing balanced meals. I plan to subsist on beef jerky and red wine. Not really. But I could if I wanted to.

And now I have to get ready for work.

Adrian and Rhianna

Fiona with her birthday cake and princess dress.
That's pretty much what I look like every time I try to dress up.

So far behind...

Hello all!
We have returned from our trip to Washington DC to visit my parents (and brother and friends). One night at dinner Fiona turned to my dad and said: Papa D, you're a funny old goat. (I very nearly shot tabbouleh out of my nose)
As I left my camera sitting at home I do not have a single picture. Half depressing, half oh well.
We saw museums (LOVE LOVE LOVE The National Museum of The American Indian), fireworks, and splashed in the pool.
My mom and I dreamed up a farmy future in the wilds of Maryland with bees and chickens and sheep. (Somewhere in there I'll have time for tattooing, too)
I have brought the laid-back flow of vacation home with me, which is both good and bad.
It has resulted in bypassing trips for groceries for time spent in the garden* and laying around with iced tea for time spent making art.
I suppose I could start anew next week...it is Friday already, after all.

I hope that July is treating you well!

*there is a disturbing lack of insects of all kinds, from bees to lady bugs to butterflies. It makes me want to track down whomever is using pesticides and tell them to KNOCK IT OFF. I have resorted to pollinating my squash plants with a paintbrush.
Suburbia is quickly losing it's charm.

6 days until Security Theater!

Six days until the mini humans & I board an airplane in Chicago and touch down in Washington, D.C.
I am STOKED. I love the East Coast. In a wholly non-sexual, but totally high-school-crush kind of a way. I have found that I naturally orient myself to large bodies of water (see? part bird), and the few years I spent living in Oklahoma I was known to get hopelessly lost DESPITE the fact that all the streets there run North-South and East-West. Being near the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay and oh yes The Atlantic Ocean makes me a happy girl deep in my bones. Also, it's hard not to geek out about a place that has a million and one different ethnicities and restaurants and super creative people who also happen to be friends of mine.

Also, I will get to visit the lovely Nessa and her new bairn.

The kids are split in their enthusiasm. Adrian LOVES travel and adventure (just don't ask him to try any new foods). Fiona craves routine and familiarity, but she does pretty well as long as Adrian is there. She keeps telling me she is NOT getting on an airplane. I plan to bribe her with foodstuffs and Sesame Street pod casts. (who knew monsters were so tech savvy?)

On Monday I had my MRI. Since it was for my breasts, I had to lay on my stomach for an hour with my boobs in a hole. It was really difficult not to laugh about the absurdity of the arrangement. Now I wait (more waiting--awesome) to hear from the surgeon and see what the next step is.

I have 4 days of work, a BBQ, watching some neighbor kids, and I am supposed to try & get into the city to see a friend who is there for a conference.

Clarification

So my last post does indeed look like I was sitting on my keyboard.
It was in actuality a rant about having to be in the basement for 5 hours with a wet/dry vac as the torrential rain was pushing water up the standpipe. (SERIOUSLY, how are we ever going to sell this house?!)

But it was sent from my phone, which translated the whole thing into a Yosemite Sam style rant. And after I talked to my neighbor, who came home to 2 FEET of water in his basement, I am just going to sit down & shut up. He has lived in that house for 21 years and has NEVER had that problem before. But in the past 3 years we have experienced 2 50-year flood events and 1 100-year flood event. (But the weather is fine. There's no global warming*)

Back to selling the house: Not this year, or even in the next 5 years. In all likelihood, not until Fiona graduates high school (2025). Because I really like Tinley Park, and the schools, and the proximity to Chicago. However the winters here turn me into the saddest panda in the bamboo forest.

Last week my cousin was here from Birmingham (Alabama) and we went into the city to the Art Institute. It was glorious and magnificent and I had forgotten how much I love the city. All cities, really. They have this wonderful character & life of their own. And Chicago has so much that I haven't seen, so there's no way we can move away just yet.

*just another bee in my bonnet. I won't go into detail here, suffice it to say that I work in an environment where a lot of people come through clinging to their ignorance as though it was a shield.

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Answers to questions!

Question 1: Why are you having an MRI?

Answer: Because I have a cyst in my right breast. Before the biopsy, the surgeon wants to make sure there is only the one cyst in the one area. I will take an MRI over exploratory surgery any day. Providing the nurse can properly install an IV line.

Question 2: Why do you love June so much?

Answer: Because it is the start of summer! The farmer's market re-opens, the peonies bloom (and they are my absolute favorite flower of all time, ever), the plants that I have set in the garden begin to grow with an alarming speed. The butterflies and birds are returned and about their business. The weather warms and we can again hang up our coats and slip on summer shoes. We can go swimming outside!FIONA'S BIRTHDAY IS IN JUNE. And she is an amazing person. She is a joy to be around and watching her grow is wonderful. And this June in particular is awesome because I will be visited by my cousin, my little sister, and the kids and I are FLYING TO DC to see my parents (and the 4th of July fireworks).

Question 3: where have you been?

Answer: In the real world, away from the computer. I may return more regularly, I may not. I haven't decided yet. My next MRI is scheduled for June 13.

Things at which I am bad

1. Sports. I am uncoordinated and have the attention span of a mildly concussed kitten.

2. Houseplants. Seriously, they cry when they hear me coming. I can't keep plants alive indoors for very long. Although my mushrooms are doing really well! (So i can grow fungus, but not plants...)

3. Getting IVs. Yesterday I had to go for an MRI but never made it to the actual MRI because I passed out while the nurse was trying to get the IV in. I have sneaky veins, and she was rolling the needle around under my skin and I checked out. I don't know what it's like for you when you faint, but for me it's a trip to instant dreamland. Then when I came to there were all these strange faces around me....and I threw up for 2 hours. It was no good.
They sent me home and I have to reschedule the procedure.

So yesterday was a bust. How was your Wednesday?

Adrian: I'm a corn snake! Fiona: I'm a corn dog snake!

Hi everybodee

Well, operation clean out is going slower than I anticipated. I probably should have started in January when I was trapped in the house with not much else to do.
I have delivered 2 trunk loads of stuff to Goodwill and 1 to a friend (who has a friend expecting a baby). I have thrown things away! I am compiling another trunk load of unused toys and clothes I no longer wear.

But in the midst of that frenzy, the weather turned nice. It stopped raining (after 16 consecutive days), and I started prepping for outside time. Weeding, turning over compost, starting seeds, watching my bees (they are doing great!), ordering LOTS of dirt...

And I have been working more, in anticipation of the month of June (which is going to be full of awesome) when I am going to take a huge chunk of time off for house guests and vacation. And lounging poolside...anybody got a pool they want to loan me?

How was your Mothers Day? Mine was pretty awesome. Aaron got some stuff done for me in the yard (yay!) and I got a new (slightly intimidating) sewing machine. Thus far I have opened the box and read the manual.

Art has taken a bit of a backseat--it's hard to sit in the basement studio when I know the weather outside is full of gorgeous.

And that's all the news that's fit to print.

Stay fabulous!

LESS IS MORE!

So after returning home from Birmingham, I had a small bee in my bonnet. We are surrounded, nay overwhelmed, by all of the things in this house.
And then I read this blog post over at Clean.

It's easy enough to stand in the midst of a messy child's room and yell "I've had enough!"
And have your husband yell "me too!" and formulate a plan to lessen the stuff burden, but then I started to look at MY stuff.

I have a lot of stuff. Books, Art supplies, clothes, shoes, movies...

So last week, I sorted out my cookbooks. I asked myself: If the house burned down & I lost everything, which of these would I replace?
I kept those & ditched the rest.
Next week will be the bedroom closet. Out will go the too small, too big, unfinished, and things that make me go "enh".

Wish me luck.

Some thoughts

I have not been posting because I am trying to come to terms with the death of my grandmother, whom we called Nana. She lived a life that spanned nearly a century. Woodrow Wilson was President when she was born in Morgan City, Louisiana. Barack Obama was President when she died in Birmingham, Alabama. She was a pioneer in her time, running the accounting for 2 businesses when most women were expected to be only wives and mothers. She was strong-willed, courageous, and possessed a perseverence that seems mind-boggling by today's standards. She survived and thrived despite all that life through at her. And she left an amazing legacy: us. Her family.

March 25, the morning she passed, I woke at 5:00 am knowing that I would be receiving a phone call that morning. At 7 am my father called to let me know she had gone.

When Aaron arrived home from work we began the task of planning our departure for Birmingham, a 680 mile journey from where we currently live. I packed bags, called pet & house sitters, I called off work, and made sure that neighbors kept an eye on the house. I baked a batch of Nana's tea biscuits for Dad.

Aaron drove the whole way down while the kids & I slept in the car. We arrived in Birmingham at 6:30 AM and ate breakfast.

We arrived at Nana's house at 7AM where my parents & brother were staying. The next 3 days were filled with family and mourning and laughter. My kids got to meet their cousins for the first time. We filled Nana's house with the things she loved most: family and friends.

I think it was a fitting tribute to a woman who listed "parties" at the top of her "Things I like" list. Now I am still coming to terms with the Nana-shaped hole in my universe. She was a puzzle that I don't think I will ever entirely understand--and that is what makes me saddest above all.

We visited in 2002, and she said something to me that I have written down, repeated, and carried with me:

Never forget who you are.

Never forget that you are loved.

Thank you, Nana.

Taste of Spring

The sturdy leaves of bulbs are poking through the grass, the compost is thawing, and the birds are flitting around building nests.
It's 66 degrees outside! The windows are open and EVERYTHING is blowing around b/c the wind is moving at 21 miles per hour. That's enough to make a creaky moan when it gusts through the window.
Tomorrow is set to be rainy and 52 degrees. I will be baking cookies (to celebrate getting over the headcold that laid me low) and tattooing for 8 hours. Whoop!

It's nice to have a job that makes you smile.

There comes a time...

In every parent's life when you have to put your foot down.

I might as well never take them off the floor, I have so many strong opinons on so many things--it's hard to get all my baggage up in the morning.

But this post is about TELEVISON (If TV is your best friend & you can't imagine life without it, turn away now) and the crazy crap it brings into our homes.
Serial killers? on at least 4 different channels. More if you have cable.
Mysogynistic music videos? Plenty of those.
General cruelties that only humans can inflict upon each other because animals aren't that imaginative? In SPADES.

So I have limited the "appropriate" TV channels to 2. PBS and Disney.
And do you know what I have learned?
I don't like Disney.

I liked the movies growing up, but viewed from this angle they seem to have some pretty heavy ideas regarding gender roles and occupations.
I don't know about you, but last time I scoured the want ads nobody was looking to hire a "Princess". (Actual EMPLOYMENT, not partners in kinky sex escapades)

From watching the line up of Disney shows, it is clear that the scripts aren't written by people with impressionable children in their homes. Many of the plotlines involve hiding things from Mom and Dad. Awesome. Let's implant THAT idea into the heads of America's youth. How about we focus on the virtues of resourcefulness & honesty & creativity?

Maybe this is why my parents house only had 1 TV and no cable.

Well done, Mom & Dad.

We have blocked a number of "kid" channels, and have set timers on how long the TV can be on. I know it's winter & it's cold outside, but eeesh. Adrian asks for new toys all the time & I am not inclined to get him any if he's not going to use the ones he's got. We have art supplies, a dress-up bin to kill for, toys, and books. He has more than enough to keep him occupied.

Spring Break is the last week of March. And it's going to be very nearly TV free.

A confession

I don't know if this makes me a closet hippie, or if it's just an outward manifestation of my own personal religious beliefs, but every time I hear Joel Salatin speak I find myself yelling "yeah!" and "that's right!". And then I take my hypocritical bottom to the store and buy whatever produce is on sale.
I don't know if you've noticed, but it's February. Which means that the produce is mostly from last season, has been sitting in a chill chest and is quite frankly disappointing beyond words.

To that end, I have decided to sign us up for a CSA. That's Community Supported Agriculture, friends.

I have researched my options (thanks, interwebs!) and I have narrowed it down to a CSA that delivers to a place about 10 minutes from my front door. This particular CSA allows you to buy SEASONAL shares, so I will be signing up for spring & fall, and still enjoying my local farmer's market in the summer. They also have eggs. From chickens raised like chickens and not like robots. I am really excited to be partaking in a system that supports local business people, heals the earth, and puts healthy food on my table.
(But I am still shaving my armpits, which should disqualify me from full hippie status)

It's 18 degrees.

While walking to school this morning, Adrian says: wow! It's so warm out, I can smell spring coming!

last week

Last week it snowed a bit. The official total was 20 inches, but with the drifts (and my aversion to the cold) I didn't venture out to measure.
Adrian was able to go out and tromp around a bit, thanks to his snowshoes. I made snowshoes for Fiona but she didn't grasp the marching-instead-of-walking aspect and wound up tangled & frustrated. She tried to navigate the snow, but it was nearly waist-deep and gave up.

We baked and made valentines. On Blizzard Night we lost power for 6 hours. The house was remarkable at staying warm. I suspect if the wind had not been blowing at 45 MPH it would have stayed warm for quite a while.

The dog was baffled, but has since overcome her distaste and is using Adrian's snowshoe trails to circumnavigate the yard.

And Fiona helped in the kitchen. I love the enthusiasm of little people when it comes to preparing foodstuffs.

To get around in the snowy blizzard, Fiona says we need a giant squirrel wearing snow shoes to ride on.

It's nearly February...

It's that time of year again...when Old Man Winter throws his worst at us and tries to make us believe that Spring will never, ever come.
In true fashion the weather service is predicting that we will get at least 18 inches of snow, with wind at 35 mph. Say it with me boys and girls: BLIZZARD WATCH.

So tomorrow, I will trek to the grocers while the kids are in school & pick up extra foodstuffs and extra art supplies. If they call off school (unlikely) then I will have 2 extra sets of hands to help with holiday decorating. While the rest of the neighborhood is festooning their house with pink and red in anticipation of Valentine's Day, we will be decorating with chocolate browns, pale greens and yellows. We are preparing to celebrate Imbolc!

Imbolc is the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. We celebrate the lengthening days, the seeds beginning their slow unfolding, the return of the migratory birds. We celebrate the end of the long darkness of Winter, and welcome the slow return of Spring.

This holiday I like to share with the kids the secret of the earth under Winter's thick blanket of white--we eat foods with surprises inside: pigs in blankets, small fruit pies, crescents with chocolate inside. We look through seed catalogues and talk about how gorgeous the yard will be in Spring. We make birdseed treats for our feathered friends...and our squirrel family that resides in the maple tree out our front door.

Pictures to come....

Checking in...

Hello!

This is for my Dad, who said "post a blog, already, would ya?!"
Hi Dad!

I am not ignoring you, honest to honesty!
It's just that this year has decided to grab me by the scruff and start running. The past four weekends, in review:
January 1: Mrs P's birthday bash. It was a big party for a big year that ends in zero. And like any big party populated with middle-aged adults, it teetered between rowdy and silly. There were jello shots and there was wii dancing and that's all you need to know.
January 7 & 8: Kyle Cassidy was here, photographing veterans for his book, War Paint.
January 15 & 16: Took the kids to a Children's production of Cinderella on Saturday, had scouts on Sunday.
January 22 & 23: I worked Saturday and spent Sunday in my jammies.

Not to mention that I am now working at the tattoo shop Tuesday-Friday and 2 Saturdays a month, volunteering in Adrian's classroom on Tuesdays, arranging a group art show, and still trying to do the art-a-day challenge.
The next 3 weekends look equally busy and I think my next weekend off is the 2nd weekend in March.

The kids are good...Fiona is recovering from her first ever ear infection. Adrian is in need of warm weather and wide open spaces--all that boy wants to do is run & jump & climb.

BEST PHRASE EVER

No one can ruin your day without your permission.

Translates into:

I do not give you permission to __________ (use that tone of voice/pinch your brother/yell at your sister). Go to your room until you are ready to apologize.

(So much LESS yelling on my part. So much MORE listening on theirs.)

It's like magic.

Happy (almost) new year!

You know what I've noticed?
When I stop making lists that include "update blog", updating doesn't happen.
Sorry about that, interwebs.
I resolve to become more obsessive about blogging in the new year.*

To tide you over:
Christmas eve I am trying to get Fion to GO TO BED. Mostly because we are rapidly approaching MY bedtime (yes, grown woman with a bedtime--oh the glamour) and I had endured a hair-raising drive home on icy/sleetly/snowy roads and had not yet had the opportunity to yell expletives into my pillow.
So I explain to Fiona: It is Christmas eve. Santa is coming! With presents! But he cannot come if you are still awake so laydownandgotosleepNOW.
And she responds: Oh! I have to get some sleep so Santa and Batman can come.

Santa and Batman: partners in law enforcement and gift delivery....

*This is not true.
I will blog when the blogging spirit moves me.

And now I'm off to the other blog to talk about the rediculousness of life.

where did the year go?

Hello--
did you know that it's December? I looked at the calendar and nearly fell off my seat. This year got away from me, that's for sure.

The kids are anxious for the arrival of Santa Claus.
Fiona wants a polar bear. (PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME A LIVE BEAR. I will not love you back.)
Adrian wants all kinds of stuff, but we are having a BATTERY-FREE CHRISTMAS.
(SOAPBOX: Batteries are bad for the environment, bad for my wallet, and stunt a child's opportunity to use their god-given talents:i.e. their imaginations!)
Either he understands my reasons or has come to terms with the fact that his mom is a fun-killing crazy lady, but has suggested that legos would be a good alternative to battery operated crap...er, I mean, toys.

And I want....nothing, really. All kinds of things would be nice, but what I REALLY want I already have.

No wait. That's not true. What I really want you can't box up. (Hoping, wishing, praying to avoid all nasty viruses brought home by my beloved school-aged children)

This past year started with 8 weeks of pneumonia. 2010 set the bar low for 2011. I hope 2010 gets a high-five on his way out the door.

A week...

A week is all it takes, really, for your life to change.

For the better: I got to spend time with the Lovely Karlee (whom I have known for 12 years). I have been instrumental in getting a book-writing photographer to come (in January) to where I live and photograph veterans of the Korean War & WWII. My boss is in Ethiopia in the process of adopting 2 children, doubling the number of children in his home that he will teach, and love, and guide.

For the worst: A dear friend's mother passed away after years of illness. And so there will be a wake, a funeral, and a luncheon. My kids are at their grandparents, so they will miss out on this opportunity to see the celebration of an amazing woman's life.

This week is when we as Americans are supposed to stop and take stock of all that we are thankful for.
I am thankful for a family (both through blood & marriage) that fills my children's lives with love and joy.
I am thankful for friends who pull together through good times and bad.
I am thankful for my job, which I love, and my boss who has given me the opportunity to pursue this dream.
I am thankful for strangers who open doors and smile at me on the street.
I am thankful for a full pantry.

What about you?

HELLO 6!

So, I am only 3 weeks late, which is better than never, right?
This guy I know just turned 6.... And in the annals of birthdays, it was another one for the record books. He got a party with his friends at the pet store and a party with his family at home. Both had cake and presents, so I say they are equal.

So far, I am liking six. He seems like a pretty cool number. Not too cool to hold my hand while crossing the street, but cool enough to rock the air guitar while listening to head phones. Still curious about his world, but the questions are deeper and more in search of explanation of social customs and our role on the planet. Six understands that whining doesn't get you anything (though he still tries), and Six understands that little sisters can totally play along. (It helps that little sisters like to pretend to fight bad guys, I guess)
Six is no longer a baby, but will still accept hugs and kisses (and even give them out). Six can read! Six can spell a few words, but hasn't quite mastered grammar.
Six draws pictures for his friends, cuts out hearts for me, and dreams of being all kinds of awesome when he gets big.
But you know what?
Six is pretty awesome right now.

Adrian: Hey Mom! Check out this slug I found! It totally pooped in my hand!

It's times like these that make me wish I lived closer to my family. Jono is out of hospital (hurrah!), diagnosis: he's no longer in remission (boo).

PHOTO RAMA

Because my brain is slow & not feeling in a narrative mood, I give you photos!
Make your own story....

It's been awhile...

And for that, I apologize. When life gets ahead of me the blog is usually the first thing to get bumped off the to-do list.
Since I saw you last, we have been reading A LOT. The kids each have their own library card and enjoy weilding its awesome power. As far as I can tell there is no check-out limit at our library. (sweet!)

Back in September, Adrian had his first day of school. Once Fiona realized she wasn't going to school she was no longer interested in dropping him off or picking him up....

But then came October (and toilet training!) and Fiona is now a school-going girl too. It's the quietest 3 hours of my day. And instead of blogging, I am walking the dog, painting, sewing, listening to music, and generally enjoying my grown up time.

I am thinking that once I have caught up on my unfinished art projects, there will be more blogging.

reading...

"When we deny our children nature, we deny them beauty"
Richard Louv
Last Child in the Woods

My blog, my rules!

Hey. I realize I didn't post last week, but the week went faster than I expected. It's like time is speeding up in anticipation of SCHOOL.
So last week, we painted, got school supplies, Fiona went to the doctor (for a check up), had friends over for dinner, went to friend's houses for dinner, went for a walk in the woods, stayed up late and made the most of the last week of summer. And I can't seem to remember to bring my camera along for much of it.

Adrian was in my studio & found my color wheel & wanted to make one of his own. Grand idea!

Fiona just likes to paint.

At her doctor's appointment we learned that she is 37 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. (no wonder my back hurts at the end of the day!) 3 more inches & 5 more pounds and she'll be out of the baby car seat (and I will be dancing in the street). I plan on updating you on the first day of school...

This week...

On Sunday last we went to the Brookfield Zoo. It was hot. We saw all kinds of animals, including the super awesome new bear exhibit (complete with Bison!) which will only get better as the seasons roll on. I am looking forward to our annual freeze-yr-buns-off day at the zoo which we take the week before Christmas.
As a result of this jaunt Adrian is quite sure that he wants to be a zoologist. I was 5 when I decided I was going to be an artist, so I figure this could stick. He's been saying he wants to be a scientist and has been pleading for a microscope (but if he can't keep from using a magnifying glass as a hammer I don't think he's quite ready), a telescope, and an incubator. I keep pointing out the survival rate of baby birds in a house with 2 cats, but in his rosy view of the world the cats would know better. (Also, what do you do when you are up to your elbows in adolescent birds?)
And Fiona's take on the whole affair? She has been a variety of animals through the week: a seagull, a wolf, a tiger, a lemur. She's really into the whole pretending aspect of play and I am really enjoying it. Especially when she tells me that she is a tiger and would like tiger food. (What's tiger food? Orange ice pops)
As for me...I had a birthday. It was low key...I worked, Aaron worked. Adrian gave me 10 hugs & 10 kisses. Fiona said "Happy birthday! I'm 3!"

Tomorrow we (the kids & I) are going to the Bristol Renaissance Faire for 2 reasons: 1. It is scouts day 2. Adrian is going to receive the badges he has earned in Spiral Scouts this year (Geology, Cooking, Photography, Swimming, Hospitality) and Fiona is going to receive her Gold Club Pin (for learning scouty things. It's the pre-req for earning the other badges). As I am going to be single-parenting it I am NERVOUS. Adrian rarely leaves my side in public places, but Fiona will take off like a monkey with his tail on fire. And I can't imagine he'll have a whole lot of fun chasing his sister when there are scout-type activities at every turn. In all, I am just hoping that nobody gets lost and nobody gets hurt. Having fun will have to wait until next year.

As we wind down...

As summer draws to a close, I have been trying to do a project a week with the kids. Something different, something that draws them outdoors and gets them to really LOOK at the world, not just move through it. My greatest ally in this crafty nature parade has been a website. It's a collection of craft projects for kids and goes faaaaar beyond pine-cone-peanut-butter bird feeders & popsicle stick picture frames.
And that is where I nabbed this idea:

Flowers AS paintbrushes.

We paint regularly around here, using a variety of paints: watercolor, acrylic, finger paint. We have learned the character and limitations of each. It was fun to watch the kids explore a familiar media with an unfamiliar tool. We used black-eyed susans and queen anne's lace as that was what was in the vase at the table. This will be interesting to try again next year, with a wider variety of flowers.

The worst part

about having kids is that it turns you into a broken record.

My soundtrack for the past 2 hours: Bed. Now.

Fiona is a jack in the box and it is CRAZY MAKING to level hereby reserved only for ex boyfriends and late pizza delivery guys.

She's lucky she's so dang cute or she'd be on the first train to Birmingham.

Easy Peasy Apple Sauce

I was in the midst of trying to create a new & exciting dinner from leftovers when I realized that we had no veg dishes the kids would eat...so I decided to make applesauce. But the easy way--in the microwave!
You'll need 2-4 apples, peeled & cut into chunks. Throw that in a 4 cup-ish microwave-safe bowl.
Add 1/4 cup water (trust me you NEED this). Microwave for about 7 minutes (or until the apples are squishy when poked with a fork). Remove from microwave & mash the bejesus out of the apples. We add a teaspoon of honey and a half teaspoon of cinnamon to ours. Let it cool a bit, and then chow down....Ours never sits long enough to get cold!

Goodbye, July!

There was playing outside after dinner.... Trips to the library...

A trip to the beach (Kemil Beach, Lake Michigan)...

Fresh sugar snap peas from the garden--a green vegetable ADRIAN WILL EAT!

And a 12 week art project that I started. I am closing up week 2. There was also work, and play and hiking at Lake Katherine.

We are gearing up for August--and August 1 celebrates the first harvest. We will be celebrating with friends and food.

blurt

hey!
i have started a 12-week art challenge.
i was going to sit & tell you about it at length, but it sounds as though the children are bent on global destruction....
so, i'll be back later.

(kiss kiss)

So....really...

I haven't been blogging out of sheer laziness. Yes indeed, I have a case of SUMMER. We have been taking it easy, filling our days with outdoor play, library trips, and cookouts with friends.
And talking to friends who live really far away....

And Fiona is THREE. She is enjoying herself & the summer days. We've been swimming, out to catch lightening bugs, making home made ice cream & stopping by the farmers market.

Our own garden is SLOW GOING. We have had plenty of rain, but not too much heat...so the plants are taking their sweet time.

And now I have to go fold laundry before I head to work.

today's lesson: you should always have mayonaisse on hand for removing pine sap from little boy's hair.

TODAY FIONA IS 3!
And what did she want for birthday breakfast? Popcorn.

Aint that the way?

I am out of the habit of doing anything after the kidlets are in bed, so I find myself aimlessly shuffling through the house picking up discarded toys, mate-less socks, and wishing I had the energy to force myself downstairs into my lovely cozy studio.

The wee ones are off on separate adventures this weekend, so maybe I'll find some time to spend getting covered in paint, sewing, soldering...
That is in between the house-chore list, work, 2 meetings and a trip to the vet.

I forsee a lot of peanut butter sandwiches eaten off of papertowels in the coming days....

pickin a good one

A lot has happened in a week-ish. My brother, his girlfriend, former roommate & his girlfriend came to visit for 3 full days (2 travel days). The kids loved the extra audience, I loved having adult-type-peoples to talk to.

Adrian has 2 weeks left in school...and I am trying to figure out how to keep him just busy enough. He will be spending his first 5 days of vacation in DC with grandparents. After that we have camping, birthday parties (fiona turns 3!), and a tentative trip to the beach. Who knows.
I think we'll just roll with it. That's a good life skill, too--right?

fiona's new favorite activity: glue & glitter.
my house is sparkly!

Happy Monday After

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all!

Mine was good, how was yours?

Top 10 things about Mother's Day 2010

1. Foxgloves!

2. Hydrangea (hopefully this one will survive)

3. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (FYI: this wins over chocolate)

4. BBQ!

5. Tball meets volleyball in a bizarre combination game

6. Somebody I know & love is pregnant & I was finally allowed to share the news (it's been trying to slip out for WEEKS)

7. Handmade presents from little kids. Awesome. Every. Time.

8. Fiona getting over her fever and sleeping in!

9. Glueing & glittering with enthusiastic kids.

10. Mrs Plummers Chocolate-Pudding cake. (I think I'll invite her to EVERYTHING. That cake rocked my socks)

can anybody explain to me why a 5 year old would have 46 shirts shoved into one drawer?
(and have 10 more hanging in the closet?)

me: fiona, i am mad.
fiona: you not mad. you spicy!

Hooray for May!

We are 2 weeks from our last frost date. And my gardening pants are getting antsy!

The windows are open, and the house is filled with the smell of fresh-cut grass, spring blossoms, and vanilla crepes (our latest breakfast of choice).

I am slowly introducing the kids to french cuisine, so that when we take our trip to Paris they will be able to order food with comfort. Although I can tell you now that lapin is going to be a hard sell.

I am struggling with my own dilemma. I watched Food, Inc. and then I watched This American Life season 1, episode 6. And now I can't buy meat from the grocery store. I was in the meat aisle yesterday and I just couldn't do it. It's about more than the treatment of animals. It's about all of the chemicals that go into raising quick-sell meat. It's about the fact that homes around industrial pig farms have water that is undrinkable because it's contaminated with pig feces. It's about unethical treatment of employees by industrial food companies. So, I am in search of a halal butcher or a farmer who does it the way it has been done for centuries.

me: fiona, did you draw all over you?
fiona: yes. i've got skills!

Workin Hard

Working harder this week to keep Adrian busy enough that terrorizing his sister doesn't seem like a good way to spend his time. So far we have finger painted, dug in the dirt, and observed local wildlife (bunnies! birds!bugs!)

Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

today was the kind of day that makes you want to call all your single friends & tell them not to have kids.

It's April!

And I am so FAR BEHIND on yard work it might as well be November. Also, I need a rain barrel (or 4) and it turns out the easter bunny doesn't deliver those.

The kids and I dug many many many dandelions out of the backyard this afternoon...and we still have many many to go. I just got tired of looking out the window & seeing dandelions where other things are supposed to grow. But I did notice hostas peeking up through the ground AND the daffodils have started to open. I think I am going to plant a million of them in the fall.

Also, I need to dig out last years worm bin & set up a for real compost pile.
And direct-sow my cold-weather crops. And pre-order my strawberries.

So much to do! You would thin with the kids getting up at 6, I'd be all over it.

Pictures at some point in the future.
Now bed is calling.

Updates

Fiona: got to pet a Uromastyx today. (It's a lizard from somewhere very very hot & very very dry) At one of the local pet shops there is a wall of amphibians & reptiles. We go there frequently to admire all the animals. I took Fion today while Adrian was at school. We didnt see the lizard who is usually doing all kinds of attempting to escape, so we figured he was gone. But no! The friendly pet-store-lady fished him out of his hiding place & let Fiona pet him. And then there were introductions: Hi uromastyx, I'm Fiona and this is my brother Mommy. (Everyone is Fiona's brother. Her actual brother, the cats, the dog, the birds that nest in our yard)

Adrian: has been spending A LOT of time in the time out spot. I can't decide if he's just not listening, or if he is listening and choosing to ignore me. Either way it's infuriating. When he is behaving he's a regular Prince Charming. He starts T Ball on Thursday. And they are required to wear protective gear. Where am I supposed to find a cup for a 40 pound 5 year old? I already told Aaron he has to be the one to explain how to put the thing on.

Me: The antibiotics seem to have worked (hurrah!). I have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting the go-ahead to resume regular activity so I can get out into the garden and walk the dog.

Round 2 of antibiotics for pneumonia, as round 1 didn't work. I feel like a science experiment.

fuuuuuh.

It's kinda like being hit in the face with a porcupine...

I got a call from the doctor's office today. The radiologist finally got around to looking at my chest x-rays and hey! I have pneumonia. Back to the doctors on Monday. With another co-pay.

Aaron found out that his gracious employers might be cutting his salary by 15%. If that happens, we'll have to sell the house...

but we can't do that because the upstairs bathtub has drainage problems that include water running down the wall of the bathroom below. And our newly installed roof in the upstairs bath seems to be leaking.

The glory of antibiotics!

Hello!

I am back (mostly) to the land of the living. The past 15 days, I have been brewing a nasty case of bronchitis! I saw the doctor! I had to have chest x rays! (And who doesn't love a big ol' dose of radiation when they are ill?) The good news: It's not pneumonia! The bad news: It's bronchitis!
I exit with a steroid-based inhaler, a prescription for antibiotics, and the desire for a nap.

I am on the mend, and don't sound so much like a phlegm factory. In my downtime, I haven't really kept up with the laundry (just doing enough to get by--underwear? who needs it?!). And wouldn't ya know it? The snow has melted, the weather is warming, and my yard & garden beds need some serious tending to. And the dog needs to be walked. And my mom is coming for a visit in 5 days.

I am trying not to fret over that and instead enjoy getting better.
With that may come more blogging, but I promise nothing!

Good times...mostly

A Fiona update!
Anybody who knows me well knows I have a million nicknames for my kids. Lately, Fiona has taken objection to all of them. It goes like this:
Me: Good Morning, sunshine!
Fiona: I'm not Sunshine, I'm Fiona!
or
Me: Hello, my love!
Fiona: I'm not a wove, I'm Fiona!
(repeat, ad nauseum)
But she's always so cheerful about it, I don't mind much....
The other one, however, has been carrying around his own cloud of doom & gloom. Last week he was off sick and sprang a wicked case of hives one night. And in the midst of his sickness, he completely forgot his manners, or how to talk to people.
He wasn't poor, pitiful Adrian, he was mean & ugly Adrian. It didn't endear me much to him, and put a damper on any sympathy we had for his hideous cough.
Today he is no longer sick, but the nastiness remains. In the course of this morning he has been banished to solitude twice for being awful.
Aaron keeps reminding me that he will be going to school this afternoon, but all I can do is worry about sending the beast into a classroom of 4 & 5 year olds....
Is this just a phase? Or is this hideous behavior Adrian-specific?

The strangest girl

I thought that I would forever be the strangest girl wherever I lived...however my beloved Fiona is making strides to best me even before she turns 3.

Tonight we were waiting for our potatoes to finish baking so we could sit down to dinner and I asked her if she wanted some bread or some chicken.
Her reply?
"No thanks. I want broccoli!"

How you know...

How you know when the sick day is over:

Adrian: I want to watch Dirty Jobs!

Me: Ok. But first you're going to eat some chicken soup.

Adrian: What? Why?!

(note that all of adrian's communications are at MAXIMUM VOLUME. Sore throat? I think not.)

it is negative 7 degrees with the wind chill. without the wind it is a balmy 9 degrees. ferenheit.
I HATE YOU, OLD MAN WINTER!

Busy little bees are we...

So I missed posting last week. Could have been that every time I went to sit at the computer I had 2 kids at my side with a whole list of "Mom can I...", could have been that I needed a week to recover from a VERY LONG 4 day weekend. Could just have been that I forgot.
I honestly don't remember much these days....
But I do know that our time has been filled with dress-up, art projects, books, and as much silliness as a body can handle. Because if you are going to get a little cabin fever, it's best to get the silly kind. The best-loved silliness here goes like this:
Me: (sneeze!)
(look around until I catch eye contact from one of the kids)
Was that you?!

That is the funniest thing EVER, according to our resident 5 year old.

Anywho, I'm off to do my 1 hour of art for the day. Enjoy the pics.

This was 2 weeks ago. Today we hit 43 degrees and are currently enjoying a light drizzle. I am considering breaking out the short sleeves & having a hula party.

Turning a corner

Maybe it was just openly admitting a case of the blahs, or maybe it's that Adrian craves to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING but I have gone and decided to make the best of the next 10 weeks of winter. (10 weeks--gag!)
Thus far we have

1. Created a question box. In it, we put questions he has that I don't have answers to. (Currently I need someone who knows about porcupines and someone who knows about bees--Nessa I'm looking at you)

2. Caught snowflakes on black paper & examined them w/a magnifying glass. (EVERY household should have a magnifying glass)

3. Tonight we are timing how long it takes for ice to form outside (it's 22 degrees). We also put animal-shaped cookie cutters into the tray of water--I'll let you know how that pans out.

4. Looked up craft projects for later. I reeeeally need to restock the kids craft bin. We are all out of pipe cleaners, pom poms, and googly eyes. I learned that with wax paperas a non-stick surface you can make a whole mess of stuff out of stuff from your kitchen.

5. This coming weekend is a 4 day weekend for Adrian. I thought we could get crafty, get cozy, and learn a little bit about Martin Luther King, Jr. And if I can get Fiona into snowpants (or newspaper bags) we can go out into the yard and make some snow sculptures. Our current accumulation is about 6 inches (measuring will come later)

Fried polenta cakes for breakfast. Heaven!

Unh hunh unh hunh

I have been busy trying not to be "ogre mom". It is tough work, let me tell you. I think its just the season...I've said it before, I'll say it every year until I shuffle off this mortal coil: I HATE WINTER.
I feel no joy in a snowy landscape. I don't look forward to first frosts, wool sweaters, thermal underwear, and all that heavily layered stuff.

So, I am trying to overcome the tiny black cloud that follows me like a balloon & not take it out on the kids. (After all, they can't even tie their shoes--it would be highly unlikely they could build a weather-changing device out of legos & shiny gum wrappers for me)
And as winter draaaags on, I have less patience, less time for fun & frolic. Today, it was pretty sunny out so I made a point to sit in a sunbeam for as long as I could.

And its becoming harder to live up to the goal for 2010: don't forget to have a good time.
Blah!
Winter is a roller coaster of blah!
I'm going to drink some hot chocolate and read something funny. All this stewing is no good.
More later.

Happy New Year!
My resolution is as follows: Don't Forget To Have A Good Time.
What's yours?

Fiscal responsibility, lesson 1

This morning Adrian woke up at 6:30, turned on the TV to PBS (now that the remote is lost, we set it and he CANT change it--haha!) and played with Fiona's Animal Hospital (what she got for Christmas) until I rolled out of bed at 8. (I KNOW)
I stumbled towards the bathroom & he called out to me: wait! I have something important to ask you!
(I am squinting at him with one good eye and standing on one leg b/c I REALLY have to pee) yes? (raspy morning voice)
Can we get a kitten? An orange one? Please? I love cats!
My response: I'm going to the bathroom. Then we'll talk.

The short answer: no.
The long answer: We have 2 cats & a dog already. And having a pet is also a financial responsibility and right now we just don't have the money for extra vet bills.

This evolved into a talk about our current animals' vet schedules (cats in the spring, dog in the fall) and eventually led to him asking "when will we have the money to get another cat?"

Maybe he should be saving for THAT instead of a computer.
What do you think?

Last night Fiona slept in her toddler bed ALL NIGHT and woke up sunny at 8:30. At which point she came downstairs and said "goodmorning, mama!"
I just love that girl.

So...it's winter

I know that I havent really said hi in a while b/c I was looking for pictures to post and the most recent ones are from November. Ah-ha-ha, yeees. I have been busy & distracted. Busy with work, busy with the kids, busy trying to keep myself from hibernating like I feel I should do every winter. The good news is that all my hard work at work has paid off and I am now a money-making tattooist, the bad news is our mortgage company misfigured our taxes by $5,000 and now wants to raise our monthly payment to half of Aaron's take-home pay. We joke that it's a good thing our kids like white rice & ramen so much.
Thanksgiving was super good--my parents & brother flew out to us and we ate all the traditional stuff, plus a few things that I have made my own: wild rice w/cranberries & pears and a corn casserole. We were all glad to be together, and once again Uncle Jono was the hit of the party. I remember my uncles being fun-in-human-form, and I think that's how the kids see Jono.

And I made Nana's Tea Biscuits for Papa D. He and Adrian frosted and sprinkled them, and had a jolly good time at it. Mom and Dad drove up from VA, and brought a car load of boxes that they had packed away when I left home. Toys, books, and my very first pair of doc marten boots. I have asked Aaron to give them a polish for me for Christmas, because nobody shines shoes quite like a military man.

adrian has declared that he is saving his money to buy his OWN computer. as i can figure, he's 10% of the way there.
you have to admire his ambition.

6:15 AM is too early for the harmonica. I'm just saying.

In review

Adrian & Aaron are looking at Good Guys magazine. It's a magazine completely devoted to classic cars. They are really into it. It sounds like this:
Aaron: whoa! check that out.
Adrian: Awesome.
(page turns)
Adrian: Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
(page turns)
Adrian: Not awesome. Awesome! Awesome!
(page turns)
Adrian: Awesome!
Aaron: You don't have to say awesome after every car.
(page turns)
Adrian: hot-cha-cha!

fiona & i looked through the grocery store's sale flyer this afternoon. when we were done, she told me 'that was a good story'.

adrian: can we go to the north pole so i can give my letter to santa?
me: no, you have a birthday party to go to after school.

As predicted by my highschool biology teacher...

I am delinquent in nearly everything i do. Here are some photos from the Pirate birthday party...

Pirates demand cake!

Pirates get cake!

And my mom was here! For 4 days, which is not nearly enough time but we'll take what we can get. We cooked, we carved pumpkins, we partied, we trick-or-treated, we crammed in as much as we could AND I remembered to take pictures.