The ballerinas take a tea break.
Who needs toys? Give me a spatula.
2.16.2011
2.14.2011
Valentine's Day Cookies
I realized at the end of the previous post that it was Valentine's Day (maybe you noticed the somewhat cursory Valentine's wishes at the end...), which proves that having an anniversary right before Valentine's day renders it a little overlooked every year.
So we made cookies (substituting chocolate buttercream for the pomegranate stuff- who would choose fruit frosting over chocolate??) to make the day a little special.
Soon enough, David, soon enough. And did I say it was in the 50's today? Since then we reached 70 degrees! Glorious.
Hints of Spring
(Tired of winter.)
Still too early to get excited, but it's in the 50's today! In our frenzy we decided to shed coats and brave the chill with just sweaters.
Grandmommy and Frankie planted a seed bed of tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and squash. We have high hopes for our vegetable garden this summer now that our back yard is construction-free.
Oh, and happy St. Valentine's Day!
1.31.2011
Power outage
"Hey, can someone get this fire going?"
Wendy's, pears, candles and a hot bath in the dark... once in a lifetime.
After a couple hours of heavy snow, the power went off Wednesday around dinnertime. We broke out our candles (thank goodness for my candle fetish- we had a stockpile), our flashlights and waited expectantly for the heat to come back on. It didn't. We bundled up in hats, mittens and sweaters, and went to bed. We got up Thursday morning to a chilly house (50's) and immediately got a fire going. At first there's something exhilarating about no heat; having to snap into survival mode meant skillet fried eggs, toasted english muffins, hot chocolate and coffee over an open fire. Fun! Right?
It started to be not so fun around 3 pm. My romantic vision of a pioneer's life (yes, we pioneers with hot running water) disintegrated as a hollow, sick feeling developed in the pit of my chest from breathing in smoke. The temperature was dipping lower as the day wore on, so hanging out in cold rooms away from the fire became less of an option. We wimped out. Thank goodness for family with power nearby. We hopped into our wagon, err, Lexus, and headed to hotel Farr for two lovely nights (thanks Mom and Dad!). Our power came back on Friday night (at midnight). By that point our house was in the 40's. I found out when we got home that other neighbors had to brave the cold with children; a reminder what a gift it is to have family nearby.
1.17.2011
Musings
Doing a sounding-it-out exercise.
Me: "What's that word?"
Frankie: "f.... a.... t..... Fff-aaa-ttt."
Me: "What does that word mean?"
Frankie: "Daddy. Daddy's fat."
On another note, today I experienced a feeling I've never had. Frankie saw a few neighborhood girls across the street playing together, one of whom she knows from a few brief interactions. They're all about 10 years old. Upon seeing them, Frankie said, "Mom, I want to go outside and play with Daniella!" Not sure how this would proceed, I said ok, provided she bundle up and not go near the street. I watched her walk outside and stand in the front yard, looking at the girls, who were pretty oblivious to the three year old peering at them. No real interaction followed, besides Frankie looking at them and wandering around the front yard. I didn't exactly want her bounding over to our neighbor's yard to play with these older girls I didn't know, but I did feel a pang realizing that every child, mine included, is bound to feel the awkwardness of being left out at some point in their lives. On paper it doesn't seem like a big deal; children need to learn to deal with disappointments, shyness, and unkind peers in a healthy way. That's life. However, seeing my own child, someone I think I know inside-out, looking somewhat bewildered because she wants to play with children who are ignoring her, gave me a sense of sadness and foreboding. Would she grow to be sociable, friendly, confident and able to make friends? How will she respond to unkind children? It struck me at that moment how beautiful it is to have multiple siblings. If life with peers outside the home isn't sunny (which happens to the best of us), what a gift to have siblings to confide in and affirm us at home.
She sauntered back inside eventually, her cheerful self, oblivious to any disappointment, much less awkwardness, that an older child might have felt (though admittedly I'd probably let an older child go across the street to introduce herself...). That's just Frankie; seldom gloomy with a quick bounce-back from all ills. She's got a good dose of sanguine, and that will always be a mystery and a joy to her melancholic mother.
Me: "What's that word?"
Frankie: "f.... a.... t..... Fff-aaa-ttt."
Me: "What does that word mean?"
Frankie: "Daddy. Daddy's fat."
On another note, today I experienced a feeling I've never had. Frankie saw a few neighborhood girls across the street playing together, one of whom she knows from a few brief interactions. They're all about 10 years old. Upon seeing them, Frankie said, "Mom, I want to go outside and play with Daniella!" Not sure how this would proceed, I said ok, provided she bundle up and not go near the street. I watched her walk outside and stand in the front yard, looking at the girls, who were pretty oblivious to the three year old peering at them. No real interaction followed, besides Frankie looking at them and wandering around the front yard. I didn't exactly want her bounding over to our neighbor's yard to play with these older girls I didn't know, but I did feel a pang realizing that every child, mine included, is bound to feel the awkwardness of being left out at some point in their lives. On paper it doesn't seem like a big deal; children need to learn to deal with disappointments, shyness, and unkind peers in a healthy way. That's life. However, seeing my own child, someone I think I know inside-out, looking somewhat bewildered because she wants to play with children who are ignoring her, gave me a sense of sadness and foreboding. Would she grow to be sociable, friendly, confident and able to make friends? How will she respond to unkind children? It struck me at that moment how beautiful it is to have multiple siblings. If life with peers outside the home isn't sunny (which happens to the best of us), what a gift to have siblings to confide in and affirm us at home.
She sauntered back inside eventually, her cheerful self, oblivious to any disappointment, much less awkwardness, that an older child might have felt (though admittedly I'd probably let an older child go across the street to introduce herself...). That's just Frankie; seldom gloomy with a quick bounce-back from all ills. She's got a good dose of sanguine, and that will always be a mystery and a joy to her melancholic mother.
1.16.2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
