Happy Halloween

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mother!

 

Maren– a Bear’s Cheerleader. My Mom made this as a Christmas gift last year. I talked Maren into wearing it. She did so reluctantly I discovered. She explained that at school yesterday all the kids talked about their costumes, but she was too embarrassed to tell what she was going to be (being that we live in Packer country!) Daddy went out today and got her new white tennis shoes, the only part of her costume she really was insistent on.

Violet– Strawberry Shortcake. My Mom made the red dress for my sister over 20 years ago. I made the petticoat and added the embellishments. I was still working on it at 2:00 this afternoon. Nothing like cutting it to the last minute!

Kid Ears

Last Saturday I took 4 kids to the Farmer’s Market in Kenosha.

Many people looked at me with admiration and a few with looks of pity.

Mostly warm smiles. It made me want to have a big family.

We picked up a bag of apples from a farmer. The kids all taste tested and approved them.

Tonight I sliced one for Maren.

Maren: “Mom, these Vampire apples are delicious!”

Me: Vampire? What? Do you mean Empire?

Maren: No. I’m pretty sure I mean Vampire.

It took some convincing, but she finally agreed that maybe they were called Empire after all. But Vampire sounds so much cooler, so Vamprie it is.

My Maren listens. Is it normal for a 5 year old to remember the variety of the apple the farmer is selling to the mother at a Farmer’s Market 5 days earlier? I am sure she could tell you the town this man was from, what he was wearing, and probably his first name. Her attention to detail reminds me to bite my tongue, think before talking, and to do good to others. She is always, always watching.

 

Bye Niney.

I took Niney away tonight.

Violet was sick last week with croup. She was a hot mess. So, so miserable. We became much more hooked on Niney after being sick, and I was so damn tired from her being sick that I didn’t have the fight in me last week to keep Niney in her bed– for bedtime only.

Tonight I took it away, or to be accurate, I didn’t give it to her at bedtime. I told her we left it in Green Bay (on our weekend visit to see family and a friend,) and that cousin Julie is going to give it to a baby in Green Bay.

I think she will hate Julie now. Sorry Julie. Someone had to be the bad guy.

If you think your kid can throw a fit, Violet will challange that kid to a duel. She will destroy your child. Violet will smash her head into hard objects. She will scream until she gets hoarse and turns purple. She will punch and kick and throw things around the room. She will win. She will win good.

The crying went on for about 45 minutes. She screamed “I NEED NINEY FOR MY MOUTH!” about 300 times. Jim patted her back finally until she surrendered.

You all are thinking, well surely tomorrow night will be easier. I beg to differ. Tomorrow might even be worse, and even the night after that.

I am buying 2 bottles of wine tomorrow!

If you give a Violet a whole wheat waffle

She’ll throw it across the table and drink the syrup instead.

God help me. It might be a long day.

First Day

Today was Vi’s first day of nursery school.

She will go 1 day a week.

The day is 5 hours long.

I have not spent 5 hours in a row totally alone for over 5 years.

It was weird. And hard for me to leave her. It went against my instincts. I came home and cleaned drawers out and put away missing puzzle pieces and the house stayed clean. I worked out and nobody tried to jump on the elliptical trainer while I was on it. I thought about turning on the tv but I don’t know what to watch anymore during the day other than Noggin.

It was weird-o.

But it was also nice in a way.  I got a lot done and being alone is character building.

She took a nap without her pacifier. She only had a few tears when things got chaotic. She was cheerful and cooperative. It felt good to hold her when I picked her up. She fits well over my shoulder and I missed her warm little body.

(Maren went to after-care at her school today for the first time. When I picked her up she said, “At lunch I was really missing you a lot Mom. I am the new girl. All the kids stared and stared at me. I hid my face behind my Hello Kitty lunchbag until they stopped.”)

I took her to the chocolate shop for ice cream. I think that made it better. I hope.

Home from our first camping trip of the year.

It went well. Minus the whole tornado and high winds along with 5 inches of rain part.

I’m coming down now to a slower pace. The Eat Right Racine Food Tasting went very well. You can read about it here: www.eatrightracine.org. If you are local, there is a segment on CAR25. I hesitate to share that, because I have no idea how big of a bonehead I look and sound like.  We don’t get CAR25.

Both kids have summer colds.

The garden is finally coming, but if  could just get my hands on that rabbit that keeps eating my green bean plants to the ground we’d be having rabbit stew in the crock pot.

Tonight I am going to re-introduce myself to the eliptical trainer. Nice to meet you! Sorry about the dust. Let me clean you off a little. Then I’m going to go hang out with my sewing machine because it’s been months since I’ve seen my crafty side.

Happy weekend people!

2

Happy 2nd Birthday Violet.

Today you are two.

It’s so cliche, but it’s true. Time flies after the second child is born. I look you you today and I can hardly remember you as a newborn. Today I can hardly get you to sit with me. There are too many hairs on Maren’s head to pull, too many bugs to squash, and plenty of couches to jump off of. Stopping to sit is not something to have much time for.

Violet, you are the spice in my life. I think of our family as a home-cooked meal.  Comfort food. Easy to eat. When you were born, you were the dash of cayenne pepper that made the dish memorable and talked about.

I love that you are sassy, chatty, determined and silly. Everyday you do or say something that makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time.

You call yourself  “Vi-zee” and it fits. You love trains, planes and slides.

You are a gem Violet. Mom loves you and life is good because we have you.

Happy Birthday!

Homemade Face & Body Paint

2 tsp Cornstarch

1 tsp cold cream

1 tsp. water

3-4 drops food coloring.

Mix together in an egg carton or muffin tin, apply with paintbrushes.

Laugh hysterically as you make your Mom look like a deranged clown.

Fun times.

We went to the Doll Buggy Parade tonight. Apparently “doll buggy” is code for “bike” or “wagon” in Racine? After sending Maren to her playground program today with a decorated DOLL STROLLER I quickly realized I didn’t get the memo. We ripped the decorations off the stroller and put them on the bike in preparation for the big parade tonight.

Non-natives learn something new every day.

The local newspaper reports that over 500 kids and adults walked the short parade route. I love things like this. Racine, you are cool. Even if you pick incorrect and misleading names for parades.

So here we now head into the 4th of July weekend. My parents are coming to town, we’re going to do some bike riding around town on local trails, some campfires, farmer’s markets, maybe play some cards. No backyard fireworks. I’m not down with explosives. I was once told in high school by a popular (but really, really dumb) boy that I had the ugliest hands he’d ever seen on a girl.  If you stare at my hands next time I see you I’ll totally notice. They may be ugly but I have all 10 fingers and I’d like to keep it that way.

Hope you have a splendid Independence Day Weekend as well. God Bless America.

(I’d double God Bless America if we could just like Jacko die already. Ahem.)

Scamp to Camp

A few weeks ago a friend mentioned her desire to purchase a camper and the instant gratification desire she had to get it NOW.

I have now fallen down that same dangerous path.

For years I have periodically searched ebay and Craigslist for a used vintage Airstream. When I realized we’d have to sell a vehicle and upgrade to a pick up truck to pull it, I abandoned the idea. When I realized the really cute vintage ones in good condition cost more than my college education, I really abandoned the idea.

But then I discovered the cute, addicting world of fiberglass trailers. And I want one. Bad. Here is the cute little Scamp. Remove that dorky family with ours and here is what you get….

Light enough to pull with a standard vehicle, many come with toilets and showers. They are low-maintenance, easy to pull and require hardly any set up. We’ve outgrown the tent and to be honest, being in a tent with Violet is eerily similar to being trapped in a Porta-Potty with a swarm of hornets.

Did I mention I want one? Badly. Never mind we’d have to rip out the back fence in order to park it in the yard.(We have no driveway.)

So now I begin trying to craft a story that will convince Maren that the money we have been saving for months to go to Disney would be better spent on a camper. I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to go over super-awesome.  I can tell her about all my childhood camping stories, the promises of hikes, s’mores, State and National Parks, bird watching, Pudgie Pies and flashlight tag, but I know she’ll say something like “Is Micky Mouse at the campgrounds?”

Realistically I won’t have enough cash to purchase even a 20 year old model for another few years. But in the meantime, I can buy the fabric that I’ll make the patchwork curtains and throw pillows out of and I can talk about it incessantly and possibly wear Jim down and get him to contribute to the Scamp Fund. Wish me luck.