Crafty Waxy

This is what we did on Wednesday afternoon. We had a bucket full of ruined crayons and I saw this project on Stephanie's blog. The problem was that these crayons were ruined from being left outside in the sun and to the wax had melted to the paper and was really hard to peel off. Lil'Bug lost interest very quickly.

Use 4 papers. 3 still allowed wax to drip through and that was no fun to clean up.

I didn't get a picture of the finished product BUT they were really cool. They were fun to color with- that Lil'Bug did gleefully!

Friday Morning, I wish I could drink coffee......

I miss coffee. I miss it bad. Decaf isn't going to cut it and I know that it's "OK" to drink a little while pregnant but I don't believe that one bit. There are lots of things that are OK and then later we find out they cause cancer or horrible mutations or ADD. Plus it makes me vomit. I vomit enough already, still. Tea, fine, tea has it's place and it is not in my mornings. Bah.

Lil'Bug is happily in the bathtub and I am planning our day. We are headed out to the other mall to a Motherhood store to find pants (online they said they have jeans for $19!!!!! We will see.) Then we will come home and bake bread. I've never done this on my own without a bread machine BUT I feel like doing this today. Nesting. Whatever. I want hot, crusty rolls.

I will post a series of photos later today. We've been crafty and I forgot to share. I also plan on getting packages ready (I know I've said this before.....). The Christmas presents I designed (sorta counts as handmade? No?) arrived and I am really excited.

Thurdsay Post 2

Thursday didn't go well at first. That's Ok. Parts of it were good.

Kitchen did not get clean, but got cleaner. Working on grocery list right now.

I fell on the ice outside and hit my back on a concrete step. Ouch. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be but I am sore. We went swimming and that was fun (likely helped with the potential for soreness factor too.) Then we went to Target to get snowboots BUT the women's selection is a)limited to sizes 9 & 11 and b)wimpy: would tear at the toe like all the other boots I have ever owned and c) $45! Agh. So I did not get boots. I did find some clearance shirts for Lil'Bug.

Then we met Dearest Husband and headed out to the mall to find real snow boots at the sporting goods store. This is my new favorite shoe store. They had awesome, comfortable, stylish, durable snowboots for women....in the clearance room! I got a pair for $30 IN MY SIZE. Black. Originally $100. (*remember Target? I paid $15 dollars less for better quality.) There were a pair of green suede Bjorns there too for $30 in my size but I passed only because I am cheap. ;) I tried on Gap Maternity jeans and the fit like a dream, even though they were not petite BUT again, I am cheap, and not paying $70 for a pair of jeans. I was happy enough to stomp around the mall in my new snowboots with my family.

Returned home and fell asleep. So, while I didn't get so much accomplished, the day was not a total write off.

Post on Thursday, part 1

I'm going to post twice today to make up for a Sunday I missed last week (how did that happen?). Also, today I woke up feeling good so I'd like to document a couple things and then compare it to the end of the day reflection. Good excuse for a random thoughts post, eh?

1) I am challenging myself to read at least 3 new blogs a day through the ring links I belong to or links from those I find (either comments or in their favorites). I did this when I first started blogging and found a couple good ones, then for some reason I quit. When I visit a new one I am trying to leave a comment. *If you want me to visit yours, leave a comment!

2) My plan for the day involves recovering the kitchen from last night's cookie making and start the laundry and make beds before we go swimming.

3) Create a two week meal plan and prepare a grocery list. We have dropped this habbit this month and it is costing us. When we do this we eat better and save about $200 in groceries or more. It has to include beef, pork, fish, and chicken plus a variety of veggies and fruit.

4) Prepare the garden raspberries for canning. ie: thaw them. I want to get this done!

5) There is still an inch of ice on everything. I hope to take more pictures today and tonight. It is magical.

Last night was my last in-person class for the next couple of years. There was something that really worked for me the last 2 years of teaching Wednesday night classes so I was really sad to let it go. I'll be teaching online only for a while, which is convenient and pays the bills but it is not the same thing. I came home to a tot who waited up for me like she has every Wednesday night since I started teaching and a grumpy husband grouching the way he has every Wednesday night since I started teaching and I was greeted with the reality of why teaching night classes was just was not working for my family. I changed my classes because of this pregnancy and my limited driving ability in the Spring semester but I am glad I did.

Grades are due Monday. My goal is to finish calculating (grading is done) the final scores and submitting them way before the deadline.

That's about it. Oh, and we are going swimming. Yay!

Pretty Pictures for Wordless Wednesday?

Party! (and some stuff)

We hosted our local all inclusive homeschooler group's monthly meeting at our home yesterday afternoon. We all had a blast. Great Grandma came too. I hope she had fun! We did a cookie exchange, the kids played and played, and the moms gathered to have tea in the kitchen. I so needed an afternoon just like this. It refreshed me and, though I went to bed with a pounding headache, my heart was not as heavy.


Of course I made the prediction that the weather weenies (our local meteorologists) were over reacting yet again and the coming storm would not be anything. I was soooooo wrong. Even my dearest husband's work was closed down (sort of) and that NEVER happens (though, the malls only closed early....). It's not the 3-5 inches of snow, it is that it rained first on top of the snow we already had making a fun layer of jagged ice, power outages, and then the 3-5 inches of wet heavy snow on top of that. It still doesn't feel like an old fashioned Iowa blizzard to me, but I will concede that it is dangerous to go out in these (beautiful) conditions.


Then, my husband also has earned some acknowledgement: on Sunday he finished my fireplace, went to band practice, grocery shopped for my shin dig, and then stayed up until midnight baking cookies for my part of the exchange. I played with Lil'Bug amidst concerns that I would not get the house "party" clean. Yup, I finished cleaning just as the first knock on the door greet us. ;) That's just how I roll. Here is his handiwork:

Before

AFTER!

Holiday Angst

This weekend has not been very good. I worked on grading finals, I fixed more computer-y bugs in my class software (ok, compensated for them), and basically stomped around full of anger.

I wish that this time of year I could zen my way out of these feelings and be the peaceful mama that I know I can be. The inner turmoil has been terrible this year. The Omaha mall shootings triggered it. Of the terrible things in my past, I can include surviving and witnessing a terrible crime- I know first hand that the survivors and witnesses will suffer more in the coming years than the gunman ever felt in his teenage angst. PTSD is an easier label but it is not so easy to live with. Pray for them and their families and then pray that you and your loved ones never suffer so.

Then this time of year always brings the recourse of the hard decision we made years ago: to cut off contact with my former abusers. They are family and many of the rest of my family call my very hard decision a feud and tell me to get over it, to grow up, to move on. That angers me. I have grown up and in growing up I choose not to allow people, regardless of some biological link, to treat me in such horrible ways, to allow the abuse to continue in any form or expose my children to such behaviors. That means for me that beloved cousins and aunts and uncles do not visit us when they come to town, they do not call anymore. For some it is easier not to believe me or to "put family" and loyalty first. What am I exactly, chopped liver? It is the last vestige of how the abusive people can wield their power of hurt. For some reason, it is only at the holidays that these feelings overwhelm me.

Right now I am extremely over sensitive and touchy. I am trying to find and inner peace and some sense of balance but it is so much harder than it sounds. So, for me it means cleaning house and baking cookies and just living life.

Piles

Piles of clean laundry waiting (wanting?) to be folded, piles of art supplies, piles of dishes, piles of cookies, piles of toys, piles of papers waiting to be graded in my virtual inbox (thank goodness for paperless classrooms or I'd have a fire hazard on my hands), piles of chaos.....

Pile of inconsolable tot: All of the above and Thursday's art co op got canceled. I should be grateful for the extra time, right? But for the fact that we were loading into the car when the cancel call came and he whole day had been about getting ready for it. Lil'Bug cried. Real tears. Then she was just sad the rest of the day and nothing could cheer her up. I tried really hard: hot cocoa, watching a movie, tickling....not a smile.

We got 4 inches of snow in four hours on Thursday. That's why the art day was canceled. I feel ok about driving when it rains or snows but some moms don't, I guess. I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry or liable, but that explanation didn't fly with a very sad tot. I think this cements my decision to do a regular craft/crazy day with friends here at my home. I am working on a schedule right now. Pile it on to the list of things I have to do.

Piles of snow: not much accumulation really and not the kind that's good for snow creatures either. Streets are cleared, ice is hidden, days are cold- that's Iowa.

Piles of crap: I have a super power (well, several really)- I generally can tell when people are lying. Whether it be about dog sitting or why a paper is late or anything. I guess I got this by teaching college freshmen or growing up in the environment that I did, but I wish I wasn't so blessed. It would be so much easier to just take what people say and be done with it. Sometimes it is just easier to pretend to.

Piles of art: this I can live with. I really love sitting down randomly and as time warrants and working on whatever it is: a card or two, a bead string, or a painting. This pile is welcomed.

School at School

We went to the Science Center today. Lil'Bug loves it- usually. Today there were one hundred first graders on a field trip. Couple things happened:

1) Chaos. Good chaos for the most part, but one group of these bigger kids did not respect the little kids and the areas for just and only babies and toddlers. They mowed over Lil'Bug over and over with or without me there (they mowed over me too). We moved on to a different space because we can. The next area had the other half of the field trip and they were being over disciplined for just being kids and touching things (in an interactive museum for kids, go figure). Some were humiliated to the point of crying. They were directed to play with Legos and then told what to build. ??? We moved on because we can.

Lil'Bug kept trying to play with them, to no avail. They would ignore her or make comments about not playing with babies. It was just so different from our experiences with the large, multi age, park day group we are used to. It was two different end of the school "socialization" spectrum that I find unacceptable: frantic chaos with no respect for others and the authoritarian hand preventing meaningful interaction. There is a middle ground.

2) While waiting for Polar Express in the Imax to begin seating we were witness to the other half of these beleaguered children's field trip. Three teachers stormed out of the IMAX: The Human Body. They were flushed, angry, and hysterical. "The movie was inappropriate for 7 year olds!" They hiss at the doorman and food concessions clerk, "We'll have to send notes home! The kids will be scarred! How can this be for children?! How embarrassing! I was embarrassed!"

Um, Lil'Bug and I saw the movie in November, twice. She's three. The movie is just fine. I racked my brain over what could have upset them so much? The shaving cut? The x-ray skeletons showing the motion of bones in crawling toddlers? Maybe the part about the pregnant aunt and the very non-graphic, yet, natural birth scene? LilBug's reaction was simply that the "mom" didn't chew her food very well. Since when are the normal functions of the human body embarrassing? It's not like they showed anyone naked (oh, maybe the newborn baby for a micro bit) and even if they had it was an IMAX documentary about the human body for goodness sake.

Ironic, while they raised fuss in the lobby, the 100+ kids were still watching the movie- in fact they finished it. Heh.

And I sat there observing this lobby show, not knowing what to say to Lil'Bug's loud questions about the situation. I tried to quietly explain, but Lil'Bug just got louder. Finally we got to find seats for our show. Which is also totally appropriate for children. :)

The school group BTW is from the local district that Lil'Bug would go to. Yike. It is experiences and such like this that remind me why I am blessed to live the life we do. Am I judging? Yup. Maybe I am simply choosing something different for us and using this judgment of the other as wrong for us, but I fail to see how what I saw today is good for the children involved either.

Updating my blogroll.......

I am working to update my blogroll. I read so many blogs everyday that I am struggling with who to list! I always list bloggers who have me listed but I have just found a few that I didn't know about (by looking at my stat counter recent came from feature). I know I am missing some. Please comment here if I've missed you.

I have added to my rolls a few (new) familes that really got me thinking lately about food, motherhood, people, religion, etc. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have lately. :)

Also, I didn't miss yesterday, I just forgot to hit publish on this one and the other was too angry. I will get that one worked on and send it into the world tonight.

Big Sigh

I am finally caught up with grading, have all the courses fixed from the "bug", and grades ready to submit (pending assignments due this week....) Now on the to do list is to finish up 2 big family presents, take Christmas photos, finish and mail cards (and packages....) AND then PAINT THE HALLWAY!!!!! Agh.

This week Lil'Bug and I went out and purchased pet food for the next month and stopped at the local art supply store and bought 12 bottles of tempera paint. I started to notice that all her paintings were green, yellow, and purple and upon investigation found that they were her only paint bottles that had anything left in them (and barely). So I more than replenished her supply. We even bought metallic gold, silver glitter, and evergreen glitter. I contemplated sticking it all under the tree with a Santa tag BUT decided no, these are things she uses everyday and needs in the course of her daily life. Yes, needs. She paints everyday. Soon we will upgrade to Acrylics, but I am waiting until she finishes the sucks on her hands and also paints her clothes/body/my floor phase. :)

I read on a blog once (I can't remember whose!) of a family, who lives much the way we do, that did not buy things like bikes and games and art supplies for Christmas and birthdays but saw them as educational expenses and necessities. That's how I feel about it- if it is something she needs to live her life more fully to her own direction then it is my responsibility to provide it for her.

She enjoys painting and the texture of paint, she relishes in each painting. The one I have pictured is her giraffe she painted for friend. She's gone from spider looking people to actual body shapes this month, she is also mixing colors thoughtfully and asked to buy a new plastic palate that would better serve how she paints (they are 99 cents) and new bigger brushes (hers are basically like the watercolor brushes that come with Crayola sets). The request just blew me away. I knew right then, standing in the supply isle at the art store that I had missed something critical at home and had a chance to fufill it right then. I let her pick them both out.

So those are my thoughts for the day. What are yours?

What is this and how did it happen?

If I had a prize to give, I would. Can anyone tell me what this is, how it happened, and any science behind it? We froze water. We pulled tray out once frozen. No fanciness involved. It is about an inch long/tall.

The Fairy Superhero Princess Saves the Day for a Ladybug

Once in a while Lil"Bug gets an idea in her head that she must save the world one ladybug/spider/earth worm at a time. This particular day she donned the uniform and went to work.
December in Iowa: no difficulty finding plenty of ladybugs indoors to "save".....


"I shall do the saving, Mama. The ladybug does not want her picture taken. No thank you."

And out the back door went the superhero princess with her bug box. She gently set the bug in her garden. The end.

A Day with Daddy

The title makes it sound like I wasn't around, but I was! I am just in the midst of a grading crunch so my dear Dearest Husband took the call whenever Lil'Bug had "an idea," and I took the pictures!


Here they are planting a baby pumpkin that she's had around for the last couple months (but it was starting to goo.) I told her throw it away or go plant it. She got on her boots and coat and out they went to "her garden"......


Then she wanted to make cripsy chocolate chip cookies....."DADDY!" They make quite the culinary team.


"Ta Da!" and "Yum....." These are by far the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.

UPDATE - it's now november of 2008. that pumpkin came up in august and we couldn't figure out where it came from. HA!

Card Craft Day at Chez Podkayne

I decided to host a craft day at our home. That does not seem like a big deal, but for that we are still doing renovations, it is approaching finals crunch, and I am crazy busy/tired. Our table seats 10-12 so I put an RSVP cap on the invitation posted on our local homeschool forum. I cleaned and cleaned and did laundry like there's no end in sight (well, it's laundry so there really isn't), I got Dearest Husband to put said laundry away, and I got out the craft supplies.

Did I mention our table seats 10-12? Well, sort off. It would if we had more than 3 chairs, which we don't. It was on my to do list to go thrift store shopping for chairs and I didn't. I did, however, realize my mistake the night before and sent out an SOS email, to which H. at minimemoirs responded and saved the day with 6 folding chairs. Whoo Hoo!


Other than that, we had an ultrasound rescheduled for the AM of that day, so when I got home I started vacuuming like a mad woman. Still vacuuming when mamas started arriving, but they were cool with that.

Then the artsy fun began. The mamas set up, the kids descended on the table, crafted it up old school with glitter, glue, and card stock, and then they were off again! The rest of the afternoon was spent kids playing all over the house and mamas crafting at the table. Very cool. I got lots of pictures- (I don't generally post others' kids on my blog without asking and I forgot to ask!) * edited to add wheelchairmama's adorable boys! Everyone agreed that my house is perfect for such a gathering and that we should do it on a regular basis. After the holidays I will decide, but I think I will do it. It's just the perfect thing for Lil'Bug (and me) to have some group time now that park days are on winter/cold hiatus.




The kids left me a cool mural with bath paints in the bathtub, some extra handmade ornaments on the tree, and very happy that we belong to such a cool community.

Girls Rock! (A Peek Into our Day)

We play a lot of music at our house. I play it on the radio, computer, and ipod BUT my Lil'Bug and Dearest Husband play all kinds of instruments. When Lil'Bug was born I hauled the drum set out of storage and set it up in the middle parlor. She's been playing since she could pull herself up to standing. She plays almost every day and especially when her friends come over. They all love to have access to it and once the rule was established: NO STABBING THE DRUM HEADS, everything is loud, but fine. We also have an array of other "real" instruments that they can play as long as they are treated with care (ie, not thrown, hit against the wall, etc).

"Girls rock, Mama!"

Banana Bread by Hand (um, elbow?)

Who needs a mixer when you have a willing tot?

Quick update and forthcoming

Remember the last post where my online classes were not working properly? Now all three are affected BUT tech support knows why and gave ME instructions on how to fix it. Gah. It involves re-grading about 190 freshman composition papers. I have back up records, but I give detailed breakdowns of lost points and those are wiped out. I have 65 left to do.

Forthcoming are 3 posts:
Card Craft day with friends
Banana bread made "by hand"
and...the fairy superhero princess Lil'Bug saves the day for a ladybug

As soon as I get burned out from grading I intend to download the pictures from the week and get typing. I also have Christmas presents to finish and get in the mail, cards to do the same with, and the never ending quest for a drawer (instead of a laundry basket) full of clean and matched up socks........

Couple of Random Things All This Week

Monday we met Wheelchair Mama and her boys at the Urbandale Library Chapters Cafe. They gave us free cookies, which was cool. What I didn't know was that they were clearing out edible inventory. It closed that night and has not re-opened. Still. Good time, good friends, yummy free cookies.

I felt the baby flutter today. I'd felt it before, but today it was really strong and repetitive. So very cool.

"I'm queen of the bumper mat!"

This week I had a major problem with my online classes, tried very hard to fix it myself, but ended up going in to see the tech support at home campus in person.....with tot in tow. She chanted that she hates the town that it is located all the way there. Once we got there there were no parking spaces and the building was surrounded by emergency vehicles, CNN trucks, satellite vehicles, and construction vehicles. No tape, so we went on in. So.....why the fuss? Hillary Clinton. Speaking to the students in the gym. Most of the students were not terribly interested and Hillary was 2 hours late, but still the place was packed with excited political participants, business people, and reporters with big bulk equipment. It took 32 minutes to walk through the building to tech support. Since we had to park so far away I had Lil'Bug in the emergency stroller that she is really too big for. 3 hours later, we repeated the same task escaping the chaos. Computer program problem unresolved, tot cranky, and then asleep.

"I hate your work Mama. Can we go home and have ice cream now?"

"What? Why are taking my picture? Go bother that cat."


Oh no. Maybe I am turning into one of those bloggers who takes lots of pictures of their cat.....

:)

12 Weeks, 2nd Trimester

Time for a baby update!

I am finally feeling less nauseous. That's good. Less tired too. When I really need to pee sometimes I can feel the baby squirm. That's uncomfortable but reassuring.

I inventoried what baby stuff we still have (re: didn't sell at garage sale in June or give away) and realized that we have all we need. We kept what we used, but for clothes. I might need to get another pack and play......maybe. I'd like a new sling and I have my eye on a website that does custom silk and Solarveil, a local mama at that. Those things will wait until May. My sister suggested that I just register for loads of diapers. That's funny because that's all Dearest Husband wanted to register for with Lil'Bug: diapers. It is funny how experience can dampen the effect of Pottery Barn ads, eh?

Lil'Bug is excited. She sometimes says she is worried about being a helper or a big sister/brother and now and then expresses anxiety about sharing. She also says she has a baby in her belly too. Cute. This does get varied reactions from people.....

I'm a bit nervous as to how our dynamic will change too. I know there is more of a difference between one and two children than any more after that. I am a little tired of hearing that Lil'Bug NEEDS a sibling. We are welcoming a baby, but she doesn't need one just as she doesn't not need one. I'm also tired of hearing people say snottily about moms of one, "Yes, BUT she only has one......" What does that mean? The best moms I know have one child, some of the other best moms have 2-3-4-+. I know the dynamic is different, but I fail to see how it makes one a better mom.

That's it. I had the monthly check up with my midwife today. All stats are fine, baby eluded the heartbeat Doppler for a bit, but we found the beat eventually: good and steady and fast! So far so good. :)

Confirmation that zero fibroids is such a wonderful thing. That means that so far, nothing stands in my way for having a healthy VBAC. We had quite a chat about the missing fibroids too, my research and theories- her research and theories. It really is quite an amazing thing that has happened.

I have decided to use doulas again. Since I won't have my choice of the doctor who attends the birth (of the 7 in the office I visit and that's my choice if I want to be under the care of this Midwife who I trust and feel comfortable with....) and my extended family are mostly far away- I am building our birth team. I plan on having Dearest Husband, 2 doulas, and maybe a mama friend. Lil'Bug if she wants to, but Nana and Grampa will be close by to help with her if she gets overwhelmed or scared. I have decided to have a note made in my chart to not offer me narcotics. I didn't do that last time and I tend to be a weenie in the hospital, if they'd offered to shave my head I would have nodded and said, "whatever you think is best..." Weenie. I have a selection of music for my Nano and I ma searching for a good book to read. Reading is the one and only thing that relaxes me.

What other things am I missing? I have plenty of time to think about it. If you don't mind sharing, what kinds of things did you do? Any other VBAC'ers read here?

Trimmin' the Synthetic Tree Substitution

We set up our fake tree last night. It was meant to be an all day event BUT we decided to put it in a corner that had no baseboard trim and so such had to be found in our architectural salvage pile, cut, and installed. Then cleaned. Then the tree and accoutrement's had to be located, cleaned, sorted, and THEN the lights didn't work and had to be spliced and repaired. Not the holly jolly time we had been looking forward to.

During the course of our search for our one little, tiny box of childhood ornaments the thought occurred: When did families, our families, go from decking the tree in kid made, collected, and personal ornaments to a Martha Stewart designer competition for the perfect home decor? When did our childhood art/fun ornaments get relegated to dump box in favor of plastic and glass perfection on a hook? So why am I inheriting that? I don't have to- it's a choice, not a tradition.

When did our lives get like that? How do we undo the damage of "look, don't touch/eat"?

Historically trees were trimmed with presents, food, and paper craft. Next year, when we have a new old house, we will have a real tree with real ornaments made by our very real family. This year we will enjoy what we have and add what we can. This year we added candy canes to offer guests and we will be adding more as the weeks go by. It will still be beautiful, but touchable.

Turkey Noodles

Turkey Tetrazzini

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 package uncooked spaghetti
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups seasoned chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup half & half
  
• 1 + 1/4 cups shredded Parmesan (Asiago and Romano blend, yum) cheese
• 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 2 coves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain, and place in the prepared baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion
   
4. Stir in flour. Mix in chicken broth and milk/cream. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir in about 1 cup Parmesan cheese, and remove from heat.
5. Mix chicken broth mixture and turkey with spaghetti. Top with remaining cheese. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until surface is lightly browned.

Even better and leftovers the next day, which is funny to me since I made it with leftovers......
I got the base recipe off of allrecipes but changed it a bit according to the reviews and what I had on hand. Enjoy!
* Note: Lil'Bug calls it Turkey Noodles.

Our Traditions for Turkey Day

Our traditions here are fairly new, as in about 11 years old. That's how long we've been together. We go to the in-law's, we don't cook, we try to help and end up getting in the way, we enjoy good food, my dearest picks a fight with his brother, everyone but brother has a good laugh. We pack up the leftovers and head home.

I think the food is the tradition. We always have turkey, sweet potato casserole laden with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, and a green Jell-o and nut "salad". This year grandma is in Texas for the holiday, we miss her.

This is Dearest Husband making the gravy. Gravy is very important to him.


This year we almost didn't have candied yams. Yikes. I am so glad we did. I love the marshmallow-y goodness. Nana is adding the marshmallows. Yummy.


Grampa carves the turkey breast. I don't have many pictures of Grampa. I got one today!


LIl'Bug waits hungrily at the table. This is her first year not in an elevated high chair. She was so excited!


Ah yes. This is Uncle J. Oh wait. Where is he? Dinner started 45 minutes late.....where could he be? No problem. He's still at home. We called to check. Don't worry, being late to holiday feasts is his tradition. :)


So, upon reflecting on this glorious day, (a day that started for me at 5AM with Lil'Bug's latest bout of "bad poopies".....) I asked my dearest if he realized that I, at age 30, have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner? That this year all my offers to help or cook something were refused? I then asked him if I am really that bad of a cook?

"Yup," he replied, barely looking up from his computer. Then, in response to my stunned silence, he offered, "You're just inexperienced and Nana doesn't need that stressing her out in the kitchen...." He blathered on for a bit but I decided to change the subject, as my heart, fueled by sleep deprivation and pregnancy hormones, was totally broken. Just know that despite the attempted change in subject I ended up in tears. He thought he was being funny, I was over sensitive about it.

You see, I burned myself last week re-heating cheese noodles. Not an, "Ouch, that hurt," burn....a full on, thumb blistered and bleeding burn that is still healing. Then yesterday I burned the same hand, re-scorched the thumb, added the next two fingers to the emergency. My tot now knows about 17 new swear words, hearing them spew from my mouth and I cried and screamed in pain. How did I do this, you might ask? Stupid. I am a walking accident in the kitchen. I always have been. I decided to wash the stove top, but first boiled water and made a cup of tea. The grate was hot, I forgot I had just boiled water using the front burner, and grabbed it to throw it in the sink to soak. Gah. It still hurts. Yay for ice packs.

So instead of being pissed off and really sad, I am grateful that my talents are acknowledged and that means, for one day, I don't have to cook food or clean my kitchen or maim myself in the process of either. This one day I got to take lots of pictures, take a nap, AND eat pumpkin pie. Cool.

The Weather Outside is Frightful......

....but let it snow!!!! Wednesday was our first snowfall in Iowa. It wasn't supposed to do much but flurry in the afternoon, but at sunrise (Lil'Bug's new found waking up time) she ran to the window and declared snow! No kidding. We got 3-4 inches. She watched it on and off all day.


She had no snow pants or boots and so soon after a cold there was no way she was going to get to go outside and play. I'm a mean mommy. I heard about it quite a few times. We went out and bought her both today (Thanksgiving at Walmart) but today was too busy and frantic to let her loose outside.


Ah yes. The haircut. This is the first time I got a good picture of it. She hated her long, beautiful hair. Maybe she hated having me fuss over it, brush it, wash it, whatever. She's asked to have her head shaved "like Daddy's" over and over again for the last month. I took her to get a hair cut and let her pick out the cut. She eventually settled on a short bob BUT the hairdresser had ideas of her own. At the end of it Lil'Bug was almost in tears because the lady didn't take enough hair away. The lady also did a crappy job putting in "layers" that I specifically said "no" to. Next week we will go get it fixed IF Lil'Bug decides she still hates it. So far she's gotten a lot of compliments and I haven't needed to coax out knots so she's pretty happy. The thing that really rattled me was how her self expression is so much different from what I would have chosen for her. I like long hair, she wants a shaved head. I like jeans and a T-shirt, she likes pretty spinning dresses. I don't know. It was really hard for me to let go and let her choose, but I am glad I did. Everyday I get to know her better.


This is the view of snowfall from one of our front parlor's picture windows. It's a pretty view.


This is the tree Lil'Bug was watching. There were her friend squirrels running up and down and a red cardinal family. It's a White Oak that is over 100 years old. It's the only tree left in our yard still holding on to its leaves. Which is funny. All of our other trees shed them during a wind storm, which means we did zero raking this year. Didn't need too. See that lovely house and yard across the street from us? Yeah. I think they got all of our leaves and then some.

Secret Shopping Tip

The Wednesday BEFORE Thanksgiving......all the sale signs for Black Friday are out and have to be honored, you have good selection, AND you pretty much have the stores to yourself. Run quick.

Better Blessings

I know people who are like this. I've been guilty of it a few times myself. Nearing Thanksgiving, a time to count out loud the things we give thanks for while gearing up for the gimme gimme's of Christmas, I think this situation gets exacerbated.

My challenge for myself this week is to not compare my blessings to others. To simply appreciate my own home, family, and health.

All She Wants For Christmas

She talked us into this at 11 am while at the mall getting a replacement Nano case (mine fell out of the car near Bethany, MO. Gah....) and she was so excited. She really was confused about asking Santa for presents though. It took her a while to think of something so he read her a book for a while. Very cool, not very busy.


So, all she wants for Christmas....are some Christmas Cookies (to share?) and a Christmas tree (ha ha Dearest Husband! We definitely get a tree this year!). She added at the last minute that all she has is a princess crown and would like a Queen hat since she is the Queen of Queens.


We do a traditional Christmas holiday. I still believe in Santa. When I had doubts as a child, I simply doubted that I was being good enough for him to visit. Now that I am older (I dare not say wiser), I fully believe that the spirit of this man lives on. His good deeds are exactly the kind of thing a good Christian would have done- he saw the needs of suffering children and worked hard to bring joy into their lives. What are you doing to bring joy into the lives of your loved ones and friends? I worry about the commercialism of Christmas and all of the holidays BUT we choose to celebrate the giving and the friendship. We are not piling the toys on the tot this year but focusing on others. She will have presents under the tree, but not so much that we have to make two trips home from Nana and Pawpaw's! This year we will share craft days and cookies with friends and offer refuge to those local mamas overwhelmed by their own stuff and chaos: just email me and come on over. Their will be a cup of tea waiting. :)

Happy Birthday (Great) Grandma!

Here are some memories and pictures from our recent trip to KC:

Happy 85th Birthday Grandma!

Grandma was one of the first women to train at Camp Dodge, IA to be an Army medic for WWII. Below are her graduation pictures, her dog tags, and her diploma.

Lil"Bug practiced and practiced Happy Birthday To You only to at the last minute add the "you live in a zoo" verse. Lucky for us, she was too excited when the time came to sing to remember the added verse! Her Great Grandma is one of our best supporters for our homeschooling decision- for that we are grateful. In the below picture, Nana (Lil'Bug's grandma) holds her while she squirms. Nana organized the whole birthday party in KC from at home in Iowa. She did an awesome job. I'd like to add here that my MIL is wonderful. I am so grateful not to have the adversarial relationship so many have with their in-laws. I feel so blessed that they welcomed me into their family!

The pinata. Lil'Bug tentatively handed back the big stick to Dearest Husband in exchange for a more appropriate sized one. Then she whacked at it with all her little might. Too cute. Later a big kid managed to bust it and it was a free for all for candy. Dearest husband gave the littles cups to aid their collection efforts and Lil'Bug got all the mints because the bigger kids hate mints. She thought she was getting a good deal, let me tell you!

I had the opportunity to meet people and family that knew Dearest Husband when he was a wee tot. I met his preschool Sunday School teacher. Her stories about him were so sweet and really capture the core of his personality. I can definitely see why he misses this particular church community.

This Weekend

Tot and I are in Kansas City for a birthday party this weekend. It's a family reunion of sorts, which is really cool. KC is where Dearest Husband is from and the party is at his childhood church. We'll post pictures later tonight.

Simple Tree

Several years ago I worked for a museum. It was a living history Victorian museum dedicated to celebrating the story of corn hybridization. Every year I worked there I was in charge of creating Christmas for tours. There were several criteria of authenticity: no electric light, firesafe, simple, under 25$ total.

I worried over these many weeks. People expect pretty twinkly lights. People expect elaborate schemes and themes. Ugh. Then a good friend brought me a box of ribbon, some wheat, pine cones, and old post cards. Ah ha! She grinned. We spent a good Saturday tying, twining, and stringing. We invited some neighborhood kids to help, we sat by the fireplace and chatted, we drank hot chocolate until we could burst!

The tree ornaments, tree trimmed by friends and children:

• Red glass balls, each with a ribbon tied at the top
• Wheat, wrapped in bunches with wire and tied with a ribbon
• Pine cones, looped with wire. Sometimes tied in bunches and garnished with ribbon or glass balls
• Postcards, hole punched and tied with ribbon or rafia
  
• Candy canes! Given as gifts to all who visited
  

Gearing Up for the Holidays

I love Christmas, oh let me count the ways.......

Growing up I had some pretty rotten Christmases. My family was not religious, but dragged us to church, the big Catholic Basilica, for midnight mass some years. Some years certain relatives spiked the punch or the turkey stuffing (thus my dislike for stuffing). One year, I was 16, no one in my family remembered to wrap or set out any gifts for me. They were there, but were not found until February when someone cleaned out a closet. Other years, the family dysfunction was at its prime. Tears were shed over the not perfectly trimmed Victorian tree, the family pictures, presents not wrapped in the right paper.

There were goods years/moments too. That's what I wrapped myself in. I was really good at wrapping presents. I was also pretty good at wrapping myself up in holiday spirit and reminding myself what the spirit of Christmas is/was all about. It's not about presents, it ia about celebration of faith, friends, and family. It's about giving not receiving. The good years were spent trimming a fun tree and baking cookies while watching the ABC family movie or helping my little sister write letters to Santa. Trips to the mall to find gifts, thoughtfully picked out, for everyone that I loved..... AND the best Christmas memory, a gift shared by my Dearest Husband and I, our first kiss: Christmas Eve 1996. We've been inseparable ever since.

Now that I am a mom, I get to make memories for my daughter. I get to share with her the gathering of friends and family and memories of holiday cheer. This year we are baking cookies and decorating a Nutcracker tree and hosting craft days, the monthly IHE meeting, the cookie exchange, and other things yet undecided too. I get to help her make cards, decorate boxes, and generally have a good time. I get to take pictures!

Sometimes I get a little haunted by Christmases past, but this year we have much to be thankful for. Our little family is happy and healthy, we will enjoy the company of friends and family again this year, and many other things too many to list. I will be posting our crafts, past fun crafts, and recipes in the following weeks. I'm so excited!

Life Lessons

I've been deeply concerned that I do not model friendship well for my daughter. Don't get me wrong, I am a good friend to people but I have never been able to recover a friendship from a disagreement or fight. This was not a big deal before I had a little one who looks to me for example and deeply bonds with people that I choose as my friends.

Recently such an incident occurred, it hurt us both very deeply and we've taken a long time to grieve the passing of the friendship. Today I met with a new friend who had a different perspective on the situation: I modeled for Lil'Bug a refusal to accept some behaviors by friends as acceptable, that people change and move on, and that we all grow as people. Not exactly her words, but certainly the point. This will certainly serve Lil'Bug well when she matures and encounters friends who will experiment with drinking and drug use and other such dangerous behaviours. She will encounter friends who are mean to her or influence her in negative ways. I hope to set an example by modeling action in the face of hard decisions, decisions that can bring immediate unhappiness but are the best for self and family.

If I continue to brood over it, that is what will set a bad example. So here's to new friends, a happy holiday season, and new beginnings.

Easy Peasy Turkey Dinner

We eat turkey all year, mostly because I found an easy recipe that makes enough for the three of us to eat one night and freeze enough for one more meal (so approximately 8 servings).

1 Turkey Breast
1 stick of salted sweet cream butter
Crockpot, low setting 8-10 hours
Cracked ground pepper

I make mashed potatoes and steamed peas on the stove top, but sometimes throw carrots in with the turkey.

So then we decide that it is cheaper to buy whole chickens and turkeys. Well, a whole turkey doesn't fit in the Crockpot. So it has been in the freezer since we bought it. I have an excellent recipe from a friend but I have to buy a roasting pan. I like the whole chickens, but I do like the simple turkey breast much better.