Everyday Life for Four Seasons

This was our Saturday.

Jeff went to make a deal on a new car, and I spent the morning playing with the girls. They played with some buckets for a while, then we went to Congress Park to see what there was to see.


I brought along some food for the ducks. It's not okay to feed them, according to the city officials, but if you ask me, it's not okay to let them starve and get run over in the parking lots around town as they go out looking for food.

We didn't see any ducks in the park, so we didn't feed any. 'H' however spilled her entire container of Cheerios on the ground, so I guess that counts.


At the end of our journey, we went to McDonald's to buy some hearts to support the Ronald McDonald House. Kathy and Jillian were selling them. Jillian did a great job of asking the customers if they would like to buy a heart. It's good for children to grow up with the expectation that everyone will donate time, money or other resources to support a cause. That's what life is all about.

'A' and 'H' really liked the french fries I bought for them. We never go there because most of the meals have dairy in them, so it's hard to find anything on the menu for 'A'. Except french fries, of course!


We rounded out the day with a birthday party for a little boy who just turned 4, and then came home for our weekly movie night with popcorn.

Check out the bird nests in these trees. Pretty big nests. Pretty cool.


I've been really proud of Jeff during his car buying process. He really gave some thought to what he wanted in a car and what he could live without, salted it with a heavy dose of reality (meaning that he stuck to our agreed upon budget figures) and he was able to make a decision and work through the process in a way that made him comfortable. He bought a 2009 Ford Fusion. He likes the way it works with all of his techie gadgets, and he also likes knowing that he's doing his part to stimulate our American economy. As much as we throw around the possibility of moving to Canada because we sometimes can't bear the way Americans think and act, we are very pro-American at heart.


The girls are delicious now! Jeff reminds me that they are just about at my favorite ages - 2 and 4 years old. I remember how our days would flow just before 'H' was born. 'A' was a month shy of 2, and we had the greatest time together. Everything was so easy, effortless, and enjoyable. And now that 'H' is having her turn at a month shy of 2, I'm back in that groove. 2 year olds are worker bees. Finally, they can do things with purpose, and out of that comes an awesome sense of pride. 'H' loves that she can take her shoes off by herself and put them by the door. She hangs up her purse and takes it down, over and over again, just because she can. She goes to the bookshelf to pick out a story and she loves that she can do it by herself. She is unbelievably yummy!

And 'A'.... goodness, she is fast approaching that magical age. I love 4 year olds. Suddenly all of those connections in their brains start working, and they really understand things in a way that they never did before. And they know that it's all new and exciting for them. For me, a 4 year old holds all the optimism and creativity in the world, and none of the selfishness, doubt, shame or anger. It's a beautiful age. Being with a 4 year old makes you want to live life to the fullest, because they won't have it any other way.

'A's favorite game right now is "Where is...?" We play it over and over again, all day, every day. There are two versions. One is where she hides and everyone has to find her (or she asks one of us to hide, but usually she is the one who hides). Version 2 is where she hides an object and will ask, "Where could it be?" (and she encourages me to ask, too...). I'm sure there is some sort of logical psychological explanation for these games that ties them to her development, but I have absolutely no idea what it is, and I am just happy knowing that she really seems to enjoy this activity!


Life here is Good, with a capital "G".

Enjoy your day. As you're reading this, I am most likely searching for a hidden toy. Where could it be?

It's cold here. But even in the chill, we still stop to admire the sunsets. This was taken at the library late yesterday afternoon.


'H' likes to wear the hat that Grandma Shelly made for 'A'. She even has a name for it, but I can't remember it right now.


Yesterday my neighbor Kathy, a kindergarten teacher, came to speak at our MOMS Club meeting about raising a reader. She had a lot of good things to say about making reading enjoyable and relevant, and teaching children that reading extends beyond books. She showed us several homemade books that she had made with her daughter. Just this afternoon, I thought of her book display when 'A' told 'H' that she was going to make a book out of all of their drawings from today. We're going to put all of the drawings together and watch the book emerge!


I caught a little stomach bug yesterday. Thank goodness it manifested itself after the girls went to bed and was gone by the time they woke up. I tried my Kool-aid trick right at the beginning to try to stave it off, but it didn't work. Maybe though, the Kool-aid is what kept it from getting worse. What does it say about Kool-aid that I only use it to get the hard water stains out of the dishwasher and as medicine when we get sick? Pretty funky stuff.

Anyway, I'm better now, just a little energy deficient.


Jeff picked up the most heavenly head of bok choy on Sunday and I just had to photograph it. Chris and Sue came over with their boys to watch the Superbowl. Sue made her famous wings, I made quesadillas, and we all scarfed down the bok choy salad because we needed something green to eat! Oh, and I DID make cookies for the Superbowl party, but only because I wanted to have something sweet to serve, not because I needed to make and eat them to heal my car-shopping emotions. Well, that's what I tell myself.

Speaking of the car, Jeff is still trying to make a decision about what to do. It takes time.


These boys are the closest thing to brothers that 'A' and 'H' will ever have.

Take a look at the photo below. Does it make you short of breath too? After Jeff cleaned up the kitchen Friday night I came down to see this scene in the dish rack. It's our heavy pizza stone right next to our delicate Riedels! I just had to take a photo.


Have a great night.

After I eat this candy, I'm going to want to make a cake.


Funny how some of us (me) don't get insight about ourselves until we find ourselves in a stressful situation and our destructive behavior is too strong to ignore. Today, I am seeing my food-stress connections more clearly. Jeff dropped off his car for scheduled service this morning. It's not an old car - 7 years old - and we planned on having it for another few years. It would be NICE to not have a car payment all the time.

While we were at the NY State Museum in Albany this morning, he got the call from the garage. The engine is about to die, and it will cost $4K to rebuild it. What to do? Fix it or get a new car?

So, while he's out looking at new cars this afternoon, taking constructive action and working on fixing his problem, I'm sitting here eating some newfound Halloween candy ('A' found it in the bread basket, how timely!) and thinking about all of the other sugary treats I would love to make right now.


I probably won't make the cake, or the cookies. And I did stop eating the candy. I've been so good these past few months at being mindful of what I eat, when I eat, and how much I eat. I haven't lost a ton of weight, but I am losing some slowly, and it feels like I'm doing the right thing.

All of this new insight is making me think back on the past year, or two, when I made cookies galore. I wonder: What was I making them for? What was I trying to cover up, or trying to heal all that time?


This information about me will help serve as a barometer in the future. If I find myself wanting to bake or eat a thousand cookies for "no apparent reason," I know that I have to dig a little deeper and ask myself what is really going on.


Anyway, we took a family trip to the State Museum. I like it there. There are so many different things to see. It's the perfect destination for Mr. Scientist and Mrs. Art & History to bring their children (that would be me and Jeff). I've been wanting to go during the week but our weekdays are so heavily scheduled and I can't find a nice block of morning time to go. I hate that it's so scheduled. I'm not making this mistake again. Once the music class and gymnastics is over, I think I might do more field trips for just our little family and less of the group activities with other toddlers.

Back to the museum. 'H' has been very interested in the art that hangs on the walls at the nursing home, so I thought it would be neat for her to see some of the paintings at the Rockwell Kent exhibit. She likes to point to different things in the paintings and ask what they are. I like his early stuff, he uses light very well. I don't think a lot of people understand how important light is in a painting. It takes on a lot of different hues and tones and if you look at a painting and only concentrate on the lighting, it can change the way you see the work.


The girls liked the carrousel the best (they call it a carousel at the museum, which is actually the British spelling of the word). Of course that was their favorite!


Have a great day.

I took a bunch of photos today, and here they are. I don't have a lot to say. I started out the day with a sad feeling in my heart and I just can't shake it.


'A' and I played outside today while 'H' took her nap. We had a good time. Today we had trouble walking around because the snow was heavy and icy on the top and deep and fluffy underneath, so as we walked around the yard, we sunk straight down! We spent a lot of time sitting down and building little houses.


Dinner last night was YUMMY! We had squash, black bean, spinach and goat cheese burritos. It was hearty and very tasty. Here is the recipe - straight from Martha Stewart:

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 package (10 ounces) frozen cooked winter squash, thawed
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package (10 ounces) frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 flour tortillas (10-inch)
5 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup store-bought salsa, plus more for serving

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, and cumin; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add squash, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in beans and spinach. Cook until warmed through, 4 to 6 minutes; season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Stack tortillas, and wrap in a double layer of damp paper towels; microwave until hot, about 2 minutes. Place tortillas on a work surface. Spoon goat cheese, then salsa in a line down center of each tortilla.

Spoon bean mixture on top of salsa. Fold side of tortilla closest to you over filling, then fold right and left sides in toward center; tightly roll up burrito. Cut burritos in half, and serve with more salsa.


I'm sad today because when I dropped 'A' off at preschool, the teacher was taking some time to sit down with each child and see if he or she could write their name. All of the children are 3, with the exception of one girl, who is 4. If any of those children were actually able to write their name in its entirety with no assistance (very few were able to, and 'A' was not one of them, I am happy to say), it was because their parents taught them how to do it. So, instead of testing these little kids and asking them to perform on the spot, why not just sit down with each parent and ask all of us if we teach our children how to write their name? Isn't that what this is really testing?


This was Phase 2 of the "evaluations." Phase 1 was last month, when the teacher sat down with each child and asked them to identify some colors. 'A' loves pointing out different colors - so far she's been introduced to little more than the basic rainbow colors, and for now it's enough. Over the past few months she's picked up on hues, so she can look at something that is dark pink and another that is light pink and see the difference. She learns this stuff by observing and then asking me about it. So, guess what happened when the teacher asked her about the colors? Her answers were either "I don't know" or she said the wrong color. Talk about an aversion to performing and being tested! This kid does what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. And I think that is a very natural thing for a child. WHO CARES if she's able to identify a bunch of colors? Don't you think that taking some time to watch her observe something and come up with her own conclusions is a better indicator of how her brain is functioning than quizzing her on color swatches?


Sorry to unload like this. It just makes me feel very sad and empty when I run into stuff like this.

Part of what makes me so crazy about how she's supposed to be educated is that I really want her to have a wonderful life experience, I want her to grow into a wise, mindful, giving, happy person, and I want her to always find joy in learning and growing. And I don't see how some of what is called "education" is going to help her on that life path. I'm not concerned about whether or not she learns enough to get into college or get a good job. She will learn enough, and then some. 'H' too. Both of my girls come from very intelligent families and I have no doubt that they will turn out to be well-read, learned, critical thinkers. I just want their path to be enjoyable.

And appropriate for their individual personalities.

We had snow today. Our morning music class was cancelled, and so was my gym time this afternoon. We stayed home and rolled around :)


'A' has shown a lot of interest in doing things for herself lately, as well as helping me out with "grown up" activities. I pretty much follow her lead and let her do what she wants, within reason. Last week, for some reason, I told her that we would make some time to make bread this week. Today was the perfect day to do it. We worked side by side with our own batches. I did all of the kneading. The recipe was a new one, and in the end, we felt it called for too much whole wheat flour and didn't produce the bread we wanted, but it was a good experiment. My mother always baked bread, and she believes that when you grow up in a home where you see bread being made, you're more likely to feel comfortable making it as an adult. Probably true. She had three of us to teach, and I'm not sure it "took" with my sisters. One out of three of us became a baker. If you go by those odds, I am more likely than not to raise two "non-bakers."

Remember how 'A' doesn't like to get dirty? While we were mixing the bread with our hands, she decided that she had to go and wash hers right away because she didn't want the dough to stick to them!

So, the results of my informal experiment are in. When I eat raw, dark, leafy greens for dinner, I spring out of bed the next morning, full of energy. When I eat them cooked or don't include them in my daily diet at all, I have significantly less energy and I feel like lounging in bed all morning.


Here is a recipe for raw greens in a salad. Last night I used turnip greens, which I would describe as heartier than romaine lettuce and more delicate than bok choy, and a little more bitter than most salad greens, but overall not bad. We actually mixed the greens with some other baby lettuces we had in the fridge. And lucky for me, the bundle I got was so big that I have enough for a few days worth of salad.

Mess o’ Greens Salad With Warm Dressing
If you don’t have pecans, it’s still delicious. You can also add goat cheese, raisins or pears for more flavor.

6 cups fresh mustard, turnip, and/or collard greens (about 1 pound)
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. honey
1 T Dijon mustard
2 tsp. vegetable oil
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped or broken

Wash greens well, dry thoroughly, then remove and discard the long stems. Tear the greens into salad-size pieces and place in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, honey and mustard. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a small skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the vinegar mixture and pecans and cook, stirring regularly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over the greens and serve at once.


'A' took the following photos today - yes, that's right, it's Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff!

I remember when we were tossing around names before 'H' was born and I was really excited about "Sydney" and my dad used the argument that Syd is an old man's name to try to sway me from using it. I still like that name, even after the "talking to" I received!


Snow tonight and tomorrow!

This is what was waiting for us when we woke up this morning. Two of the little strawberry seeds that we planted have sprouted!


After spending some time coloring this morning, 'A' ran over and handed me this drawing of a "flower growing in the soil." I love it!

Here are some photos that 'A' took of 'H' this morning:




This is a prayer that was read by Rev. Gene Robinson at Barack Obama's Inauguration. It was also read in our church by one of the members of the congregation who stood up and felt it needed to be shared. I like it.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears — for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger — at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort — at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience — and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility — open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance — replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity — remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.