This, My Life

Muddy Play

2011-05-26T09:45:00.000-04:00

This post was written a few weeks ago. Unfortunately Blogger has been problematic, and my timing has been bad. Every time I've tried to get this up, Blogger was down. Since then we've had lots more rain and some cold days that necessitated the heat being turned on again. Not very Spring-like. But we are so fortunate to have been spared any catastrophic weather like others around the south and midwest. My heart goes out to those living through the devastation and those who have lost loved ones.

It feels like we skipped over spring and jumped right into summer here in Ohio. We've had a few 80+ days in a row. When it's that hot the garden hose becomes a favorite thing. With all the cold and rain we've had the ground is totally saturated. What does that mean?

MUD!!!!!

Ellery was hesitant at first. Mud between her toes is a new sensation!

Cooper found a stick that quickly became a crocodile.

The croc is making a move on Ellery's mud puddle.

The croc prepares to dive into the mud

(and maybe eat Ellery's toes!).

When the kids get wet clothes tend to get discarded.

Here they are resting and soaking up some Vitamin D.

Ellery lovingly checked in on her resting brother.

She's stroking his head. The love they share makes my heart melt.

I hope Spring is treating you all well!!!

Together Again

2011-05-10T21:50:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago we had an incredible treat: two sets of visitors from our old home, Pittsburgh. For the three years Cooper lived in Pittsburgh we were a part of an amazing play group. The group of mothers became my closest friends, friends closer than any I've had since college. As children grew up and entered elementary school, the play group dissolved a bit. But three of the kids stuck together: Eleanor, Ryder and Cooper. Heather, mom to Eleanor, and Lee, mom to Ryder, lovingly gave me a beautiful shower before Ellery was born and are two of the best friends I could have ever hoped for. Without knowing it, Heather and Lee planned back-to-back trips to Columbus during their preschool spring break. Their visits were the warm rays of sunshine that have been missing from our spring.

First to arrive were Lee and her two boys Ryder (4) and Keller (2). Ryder and Cooper fell right back into playing as if it had been only a couple days, as opposed to almost 2 years, since they last saw each other. Keller joined in the play, and Ellery did her very best to tag right along with the big boys. While the volume in our house was decidedly louder than usual, it was so refreshing to see the boys cooperating and playing together, independent of the motherly interventions that were such a part of our playdates when the boys were toddlers in Pittsburgh. While the pictures are blurry (since I only have my iTouch camera and seem to have a great deal of difficulty holding still), you can get a taste of the fun had by all.

Cooper, Keller and Ryder

The crew reluctantly sits still long enough to snap a few pictures

Ellery and Keller run.

Next, Heather and Eleanor arrived, over-lapping their visit with the others for about half an hour. It was utterly surreal to see Cooper, Ryder, and Eleanor, along with Keller and Ellery all in our front yard. We sadly said good-bye to Lee, Ryder and Keller and Cooper and Eleanor quickly fell into step.

Eleanor and Cooper shared a special closeness when we lived in Pittsburgh. When Cooper was just 1, Eleanor used to feed him pretzels by hand. We saw Heather and Eleanor just about every week, and our friendship runs deep. After we moved, Eleanor still held a special place in Cooper's heart. The first Christmas after we moved here Cooper thought he spotted Eleanor at church, and tried desperately to catch up with her, only to have his heart break a little when he realized it wasn't her.

The pictures, though blurry, show how these two feel about each other. An amazing friendship indeed.

Don't you wish you could hear what they are talking about?!

Serious Lego builders

Cooper shared many hugs

I think you can see here that Eleanor didn't mind too much.

This is what Cooper looks like when he sees Eleanor.

Happy kids.

And then, before I knew it, it was time to say good-bye to Heather and Eleanor.

Saying good-bye was incredibly difficult for me. I loved the picture I got of what our friendships, and our kids' friendships, would have been like if we hadn't moved away from Pittsburgh.

When we moved from Pittsburgh to Ohio there were so many things to worry about. There was packing, cleaning, so many details, along with being a mom to a 3 year old and a 3 month old. I was also excited to be reunited with Erik, who had moved 6 weeks earlier. In retrospect, I didn't really let myself say good-bye to my friends, to really let it sink in what I was leaving behind.

When Lee and Heather left our home in Columbus to return to their homes in Pittsburgh, my heart cracked open and I said both the good-bye I never said when we moved along with the tough good-bye that seeing them again necessitated.

Thank you Lee and Heather for coming to visit. It was amazing to have you here.Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for sharing your incredible children with me and my children. We will have to do it again soon. Girls weekend?

Ellery is 2!!

2011-04-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy week with visits from much loved family and friends. Here is a small taste of Ellery's 2nd birthday. I can't get enough of this video. I hope that you enjoy it too.

Spring is FINALLY Here

2011-04-11T21:39:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed amazing weather yesterday. It was more like summer than spring, with temps reaching near 80. It was amazing, glorious, and so freeing to enjoy being outside without worrying about coats, hats, and other tools for staying warm.

In honor of the warmth, and to keep us all busy while Erik was being an amazing rockstar at The Midwest UX Conference (which he co-founded, organized, and presented at!) all weekend, the kids and I set out for the Columbus Zoo. We arrived close to opening, and the crowds weren't too bad. Can't say the same about when we finally left around 2pm. It was packed!

Here is Cooper planning our attack.

Both kids loved seeing the Komodo Dragon. For those of you who don't know, this is huge progress for Cooper, who up until yesterday would walk past the Komodo Dragon exhibit with his hands over his eyes. The giant lizard was amazing, walking around and "smelling" the glass right in front of the kids.

We left the zoo exhausted and just a little bit sunburned. Time to get back in the sunscreen habit!

Most of the rest of the day was spent outside too, doing some Spring cleaning yard work and playing soccer and tag.

Here are Ellery and Cooper, sun-kissed and tired after a full day of fun in the sun.

And here is where I ended my day, soaking up as much warm air as possible, enjoying my first Bell's Oberon of the year and strategizing on big things to come.

Where've You Been?

2011-04-07T14:28:00.000-04:00

You say I'm the one who went missing? True enough. Yes, I took a long, unintended but necessary break from this space, for a few reasons. But now I'm back. Did ya miss me?

It was a long and cold winter, but that didn't slow us down. There's been lots of art, picnics in front of the fire, a big birthday, learning, building, growing, and loving life.

It feels really wonderful to be in this space again. I also have some really exciting things in the works. Super exciting things. I can't wait to share them with you and bring you along on the next big journey in my life.

Hurray for Spring!!!!

Oh, October

2010-10-13T10:32:00.001-04:00

Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly

about the earth

seeking the successive autumns.

Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot)

Fall has arrived, though I'm not sure how that happened. Time has been flying away from me. I'm sure it has something to do with school five days per week and a husband traveling for work for 3 weeks in September. Now here I sit in mid-October. Wow.

When I come to my computer and indulge in my daily blog reading habit, I find myself going towards words to inspire and feed my soul. Like many, my reading of blogs (and writing) ebbs and flows, along with my feelings about this whole blog world. There have been times that reading blogs has actually made me feel less than, down on myself, like I don't do enough as a mother/woman/wife/etc.. I think that has something to do with the sincerity (or lack) of the blogs I was reading. These days I find myself savoring blogs that inspire and sooth and bring peace to my soul. One in particular is Threading the Light . I love what these women are offering up to the world...mindful reflection in the midst of the busy-ness that surrounds our days. I am especially drawn to their project, "Piece Together Peace".

Here, I join their mission. I do believe that Peace can come from each and every one of us, that if we bring Peace to ourselves, we will thereby bring it to others. As a mother, I think of this often. An image that I have tried to remind myself of is the instructions given on airplanes: if the cabin looses pressure, parents should put their oxygen masks on first, and then put masks on their children. If we deprive ourselves of oxygen, how will our children breathe?

So here is my small piece for October. I have taken the time to unsubscribe from every solicitor that enters my email box. How does this bring me Peace? Because it helps to eliminate the incessant and sometimes overwhelming wanting that advertisements can bring. I no longer have realtors emailing me housing listings (we aren't even looking to buy a house, but this made me long for something I couldn't have), William Sonoma doesn't beckon me to buy a panini press, and Boden will no longer tempt me with their clothing. By quieting the wanting, the desires, the wishes, I also eliminate the dissatisfaction with my current life and open myself to acceptance and appreciation for the joy and beauty in all that I do have. Sure sounds like a lot of Peace to me. And Peace that I hope to teach my children as well.

If you are moved, I encourage you to read and join the "Piece Together Peace" project. Let me know if you do.

Macy Gray - Beauty In The World

2010-09-20T12:49:00.000-04:00

A little inspiration for your day.

Back to School/Back to the Blog

2010-09-07T12:52:00.000-04:00

Cooper had his first day of Preschool for the year today.

He returned to First Community Church and will attend five days per week this year, plus stay for their Lunch and Play program two days per week. A new adventure for our growing boy. I'm hoping for another year of incredible growth, that he continues to learn to balance his big emotions, and that he makes some close friends.

I stepped away from this space for the last few months. Turns out I needed summer vacation too. I'm still not exactly sure where I want to go with this space, but sometimes it is best to figure things out as you go. At least that is my loose plan for now.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful summer and is ready for all the excitement that fall brings.

Welcome to Our Summer CSA!!!

2010-06-09T22:02:00.000-04:00

The Dahl family has joined the CSA revolution as new members of the 2 Silos meat and produce CSA. We picked up our first meat share a few weeks ago (2 cornish hens, 1 chicken, 4 mutton chops, 1lb ground mutton, and 1 rabbit). Last week we picked up our first produce and egg share, which included 4 quarts of strawberries and some lovely lettuce. And this week? Look at this beautiful bounty!!

Snow peas, strawberries, eggs, zucchini and golden zucchini, and green tomatoes. Yum!

The challenge? Keeping up with the bounty in the midst of moving craziness. We are moving on Saturday. Good thing the local, fresh produce lasts and my parents are coming in town to help eat it all.

I'm looking forward to sharing our CSA adventures in eating healthy, local, fresh, delicious food all summer long.

More On My Birthday

2010-06-08T22:53:00.000-04:00

I got a wonderful stack of books for my birthday, gifted by my much loved mother and husband. They know me well, and know to check my Amazon wishlist around birthday time.

What I like most about this stack of books is how well it sums up where I am right now, who I am, and who I am becoming every day, as a woman, a wife and a mother.

Here's the list, in case any titles aren't clear in the picture:

Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller

Circle of Stones: A Woman's Journey to Herself by Judith Duerk

Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children by Sarah Napthali

Sew Liberated: 20 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist by Meg McElwee

Pints and Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter by Karida Collins (my knitting class teacher!) and Libby Bruce (owner of my local knitting store)

A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences by Judith Pierce Rosenberg

Buddha at Bedtime: Tales of Love and Wisdom for You to Read with Your Child to Enchant, Enlighten and Inspire by Dharmachari Nagaraja

In Stitches: More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects by Amy Butler

Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee Mclean

Moody Cow Meditates by Kerry Lee Mclean

I would love to know if you have any of these books, and what you think about them. I may even provide some reviews in the future.

On Turning 36

2010-06-07T22:15:00.000-04:00

I'm a strong believer in how you start something is how you get to live it every day. With that in mind I chose to begin my 36th year achieving a new goal -- running a 10K.

The morning starting with a kids race with one very enthusiastic 4 year old participant.

The kids started with some serious stretching and a quick explanation of the course.

And they're off!!!!

Here they come, nearing the finish line.

Don't you love how he is looking straight at the camera?

After Cooper received his "first place medal" it was time for me to race. Things started a bit roughly as my iPod had some technical difficulties. I ended up having to fiddle with it for the first couple minutes, cursing technology and myself for not preparing everything perfectly.

Here I am fiddling and cursing.

I eventually got the iPod working and found my rhythm. I nearly made my goal time of finishing in under 1 hour, crossing the finish line at 1:00.33, wearing a big smile on my face, proud of my achievement and so grateful to see Erik, Cooper and Ellery waiting for me and cheering me on.

Here's to a strong, active, love filled, goal achieving, creative, hard working 36th year of being ME!

Ballantrae Park

2010-05-28T09:40:00.001-04:00

We had a glorious time yesterday at Ballantrae Park in Dublin, Ohio. Cooper lost himself in the water play. Every time I glanced at him he was talking to himself, his imagination taking him on all sorts of adventures. Ellery was more timid with the water than I would have guessed, but she too loved the park. We will definitely be heading back there this summer!

Being Creative

2010-05-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling quite pleased with a bit of creating I did last night. I wanted to make a little thank you gift for a wonderful woman who has cared for my baby girl on Monday mornings since September while I participated a parenting group. The group takes place at the church where Cooper attends preschool. This woman has been more of a friend to me than I'm sure she realizes, but most of all she has loved my Ellery. Any mother understands that those who love your babies are held closely your heart. So, a little handmade love was needed.

Three hand decorated Moleskine notebooks, for accomplishments, hopes and dreams, and creating, along with a set a Flair felt tip markers.

In gratitude.

{this moment}

2010-05-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Amanda Blake Soule

{this moment}

2010-05-07T18:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!

Try Something New Tuesday (a day late)

2010-05-05T10:07:00.000-04:00

I'm a day late getting this post up, seeing as it's now Wednesday. This is due in part to getting a much needed last minute therapeutic massage last night.

Here are all the new things we tried yesterday:

Classical music -- No, classical music isn't new. But what is new is I left the local public radio station on all day yesterday. They play nothing but classical music and have DJs with the calm, soothing voices distinct to classical music stations. It resulted in some impromptu "ice skating"/ballet dancing by Cooper and I. It also resulted in a calmer mood in our house. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but I'm going to continue with the music and observe the effects. Even if it just keeps me calmer, then it is a very good thing.
Bike riding -- Cooper very recently conquered riding his two wheeler. We purchase the Trek Float for him for his 4th birthday. This bike starts as a push bike with the cranks removed. Then, when the child is ready, the pedals are replaced. Cooper mastered balancing and "floating" quickly and took off when we put the pedals on last Friday. Yesterday I took Cooper and Ellery to Antrim Park in Columbus. This is a 1.2 mile loop around a pond. Cooper road his bike, I pushed Ellery in the stroller, and we enjoyed a glorious spring day. I'm working on putting together a movie of Cooper's biking skills. Stay tuned for that!
Massage -- While I've gotten massages in the past, this is the first time I've gone for a therapeutic massage. My primary care physician is part of an Integrative Medicine practice where they practice a variety of western and eastern medical modalities. The massage was very helpful for my chronic hip/back pain. I really wanted to get an assessment to learn whether the running I've been doing is a good idea or not. Looks like it is okay, for now. I just need to stretch and warm up more. I always love learning more about how my body works and what I can do to feel my best.

Have you tried anything new lately?

{this moment}

2010-04-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Try Something New Tuesday

2010-04-27T22:18:00.000-04:00

I am well aware that the date today is April 27 and spring is in the air. But my preoccupied mind has been craving something warm and comforting. The weather has also turned cooler, as it does in the spring, and we are back in long sleeves and light jackets. So baking was surely in order, and fall flavored baking at that.

I've had a can of pumpkin calling to me for weeks and I've been looking for some healthier cookie recipes. Today I put it all together.

Spring Time Pumpkin Cookies!

You can find the recipe here. They are super yummy, almost more like a muffin than a cookie, nice and light, not too sweet. Just what I was hoping for. I opted against the chocolate chips. Such an easy recipe that I will definitely make again. Maybe next time I'll wait until they are seasonably appropriate. But, maybe not. They are that good!

Here is Cooper trying something new on Tuesday:

I love how proud he was to open the can all by himself (almost).

I love helping Cooper learn to do something new. But, I must confess that this is not what usually happens when we bake "together". Let's just say I could improve my patience. There's a lot of "let me do it. Let Me Do It. JUST LET ME DO IT!"And that comes from me, not Cooper. I'm trying to let go more and just be with what happens, even if it isn't as planned or gets messed up. I'm trying to remember that the time is what is precious, being together and creating memories. The cookies? Well, they just add a little extra sweetness to our day.

Have you tried anything new lately?

Just put one foot in front of the other

2010-04-26T07:35:00.000-04:00

Back in January I wrote about my goals for the year, my resolution list of sorts. I'm happy to say that I've been reaching many of my goals. One of these is getting back into running.

I knew that running would be great for me...the health benefits, especially the mental health benefits. But I'm finding myself surprised at just how great it is making me feel.

I love the weekly rhythm of my runs (I run Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Sundays, at various times). I love the peace of having time for just me. I love the goal of training for an event, the Columbus 10K, which I will run on my 36th birthday. I love smiling and greeting all the people I pass on the road.

Yesterday, while running 4 miles, my current longest run, I had these words repeating with the rhythm of my feet: "Running makes me a better mom." And in my mind I had this picture of my heart growing with each step. Picture the Grinch, when his heart grows at the end of the movie, bursting out of the frame. That is how I feel about running. It makes my heart grow. It feeds my soul. It fills up my love bank so that I can be with my children and approach them from my heart first.

Like everything in life, running isn't easy. My body sometimes rebels with aches and pains, even at my very modest distances. It can be challenging to get myself going when I'm still waking at night with Elle. I get excited to not have to run (like this morning...just too tired and soar).

But I will return to the road, again and again. Because really, the rewards of simply putting one foot in front of the other are just too beautiful to miss.

{this moment}

2010-04-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

To Be Good Enough

2010-04-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

One of the best things about Cooper's preschool is a group offered to all parents called Parent Growth. It is a weekly meeting lead by the director of the preschool. We cover various topics related to raising young children. It is a cherished time to share ideas, commiserate, and gain wisdom from other parents.

A couple weeks ago we were given a copy of an article called The Good Enough Mother by Elaine Heffner, CSW, EdD. I finally read the article and loved it's conclusion.

"A good enough mother:

loves her child but not all of his behavior.
isn't always available to her child whenever he wants her.
can't possibly prevent all her child's frustrations and moods.
has needs of her own which may conflict with those of her child.
loses it sometimes.
is human and makes mistakes.
learns from her mistakes.
uses her own best judgment.

There are no perfect mothers and no perfect children. If we accept our own limitations, we are better able to accept those of our children and of life itself. In that way we become good enough mothers. And good enough mothers are real mothers."

I've been an over achiever my entire life. I'm beginning to realize that this is part of what makes motherhood so difficult. As I devour parenting books, attend parenting classes, and read parenting blogs I'm always thinking, "I could do this a little bit better". I see what others are capable of and I think that I can do that too, that I should be doing more, doing better.

Since moving to Columbus, which has also been the locus of becoming a parent to two children instead of one, I've had some of my worst, most detestable parenting moments. I have uttered repugnant words to my children and husband. I've behaved in ways that I'm ashamed of.

But maybe what is the worst thing of all is I never stop beating myself up for doing so.

Maybe instead I can just accept myself as I am, accept that I am achieving everything I can as a mother, as a wife, and as a woman. Maybe I am the good enough mother. And maybe, just maybe, that is the best place to be after all.

It is okay to be imperfect. It is okay to tell Cooper I just need a break from him and he needs to go play in his room for a while, even if he cries and screams his way up the stairs. It is okay for Ellery to fuss in her exersaucer while I put the finishing touches on dinner, throwing a few cheerios her way hoping they will make her a little happier. It is okay that sometimes I scream in frustration, slam doors, mutter exasperated words under my breath.

It is all okay because Cooper and Ellery and I are lucky enough to enjoy everyday moments together, every day. And there is so very much good in our days. So very much.

Please, take a moment and watch Gretchen Rubin's beautiful video The Years Are Short, which really captures how the everyday moments of being a parent lie at the heart of what is really important.

Tomorrow morning, when I spend five minutes helping Cooper decide what he wants for breakfast, when I wrestle Ellery's clothes onto her squirming body, I will remember that those are the moments, the moments I will never get back. The beautiful moments of being a parent. And I will cherish them and hope that they can last a little bit longer.

Try Something New Tuesday

2010-04-20T22:07:00.000-04:00

Our new thing today was a picnic in a new (to us) park! Checking out the parks around Columbus is a great way to get to know all the different neighborhoods. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed snacking on our lunch, playing with new friends, and soaking up the sun.

Ellery slept while Cooper and I ate.

The nap provided just the rest needed to work hard on learning to walk.

She took a record 15 or so steps!

We have so very much to be grateful for.

{this moment}

2010-04-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

Ellery is 1!!!!!

2010-04-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday my dear, sweet girl!

One Year Ago

2010-04-14T11:15:00.000-04:00

This is what I looked like.

That picture was actually taken around 4:30am on the 15th. I was at the Pittsburgh Midwife Center, hoping that labor was going to get moving after my water broke just before midnight on April 14th. Unfortunately that didn't happen and I ended up looking like this.

That picture is before the Pitocin kicked in and I drifted into the bizarre and focused world of a fast a furious labor.

Last year we were preparing to welcome our little girl. Now, we are busy preparing to celebrate Ellery's big day tomorrow. I'm going to be making this cake along with some matching cupcakes. My parents arrive tomorrow to join in the celebration. We have so much joy to share!

Try Something New Tuesday!

2010-04-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

This morning I was preparing to try a new cooking experiement and said to myself "it's Tuesday, I'll try something new!". Cheesey? Probably. But, I think it has a nice little ring to it. Tuesday is generally a pretty open day for us, so I'm going to make a go of "Try Something New Tuesday" and see where it goes. We might try a new food, a new activity, or go someplace new. Check back every Tuesday to see what new thing is we are embarking on.

Today I tried Kale Chips. This isn't really a recipe but more of a different way of cooking some Kale. I had heard of Kale Chips from my friend Emilie and then saw them on the beautiful food blog Smitten Kitchen and knew I had to try them.

Kale Chips are super easy to make. Just trim the kale leaves, removing the think stems, toss in some olive oil, arrange on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and bake at 300 for 20 minutes.

Before baking.

They are seriously delicious. Erik liked them too, and Cooper liked a couple and spit out a couple. Such are the eating habits of a 4 year old.

Overall, this new thing is destined to become a regular!

Mystery Egg Bread

2010-04-08T07:08:00.000-04:00

Easter morning baking included a tweaked rendition of a traditional Italian bread. My friend Kirsten shared the recipe with me. I was pretty skeptical, and it was the first time I've ever baked something that I thought could very well be a complete disaster. Fortunately, I was completely wrong.

Here is Kirsten's recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup warm milk (120 to 130 degrees F)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
7 eggs
1/2 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
vegetable oil
Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add milk and butter; beat 2 minutes on medium. Add 2 eggs and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes on high. Stir in fruit, nuts and aniseed; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. If desired, dye remaining eggs (leave them uncooked); lightly rub with oil. Punch dough down. Divide in half; roll each piece into a 24-in. rope. Loosely twist ropes and tuck eggs into openings. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Here's how I tweaked it: I added almost twice the sugar and lots of cinnamon, deleted the fruit, nuts, and aniseed. Also, per Kirsten's suggestion, I added a sugar glaze when the bread was finished baking. The result? Absolutely delicious, and what I'm pretty sure will be our Easter breakfast tradition.

Before baking

After baking

For those of you who are curious, the eggs cooked perfectly. I didn't eat one Easter morning. I just couldn't wrap my mind around eating a warm hard cooked egg. But, I did eat one a day later and it was just like eating a hard boiled egg.

Next year I hope to use natural egg dyes, because the dye does seep into the bread. I also just want to continue my move away from exposing my kids to potentially harmful substances.

Are wondering about the name, Mystery Egg Bread? I just made it up. Much more fun. You can use it too.

Easter Day in Columbus

2010-04-08T06:40:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely Easter. The weather was down right amazing. More summer like than spring like. Sunny and warm, the world greening. Truly the awakening of everything around us.

The Easter Bunny paid us a visit. Cooper was quite satisfied with the joy of the egg hunts and knowing that the Easter Bunny knows just what he likes: Hot Wheels, specifically two Mystery Hot Wheels (he had been begging for these weeks), Kit Kats, and stuffed animals. That Easter Bunny is pretty good!!

Ellery was her happy self and remained content to play with the empty Hot Wheel packages, since the actual cars kept getting scooped up before she could get her little hands on them. She is definitely much more interested in Cooper's things than her own. Being the little sister myself, I remember all too well how that will last a long time.

Here are some pictures of our morning.

The first peek down the stairs

Checking out the basket

The Mystery Hot Wheel revealed

Ellery with the package

Hunting eggs (can't you see a glimpse of Cooper as an Elementary School kid in this one?)

A happy boy

Cooper's Big Day

2010-03-31T20:56:00.000-04:00

Everyone with children knows that there is nothing linear about child development. For whatever reason kids grow in fits and bursts. Today was one of those days for Coop.

Today Cooper:

Zipped his coat all by himself
Jumped off the high jumping board at school (he has been very scared to do this all year)
Put his coat on all by himself at school
Realized, while doing it, that he knows how to skip

The pride in my boys eyes, inspiring. Leaps and bounds. The boy is growing fast.

Painted Rocks

2010-03-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

Cooper and I completed the wonderful Wishing Rocks activity in the Spring edition of Rhythm of the Home. What a fun activity!

We first carefully chose a number of rocks. Then I led Cooper in a conversation about what wishes we have. I don't think that Cooper completely understands what wishes are yet (is that weird since he's 4?). He kept talking about who he wanted to give his rocks to, which is sweet in its own right. I decided to just talk about all the things I want to do this spring and summer, which was a bit more concrete for Coop.

Cooper really enjoyed painting the rocks. We used my "good" acrylics to complete the project and I'm so glad we did. Cooper took his brush at one point and dragged it through all the colors. The effect was perfect, and gave us the swirly, almost marbled look on parts of the rocks. The best part of the entire project was Cooper singing to himself "I'm an artist! I'm an artist! I'm an artist!" This from my boy who used to avoid any sort of artsy activity. What a brilliant change!

A New Habit

2010-03-27T22:06:00.000-04:00

Warning to my mother. This post may cause you serious shock. Please relax, and yes, it is true, most days.

I am always on the quest for things to improve my current state of being. Sometimes they are found in big places, and sometimes in small. For the past several months I've been doing a pretty small thing that has truly made a difference to me.

I've been making our bed.

I know, this seems like nothing big. There have been moments in my life when I actually argued the ridiculousness of bed making...you're just going to mess it up, right? I've become a bed making convert.

Karen Maezen Miller was part of my inspiration to make our bed in her post on Shambhala Sun. I wish I could say my own mother, a very dedicated bed maker, was my inspiration. But instead, I will say this was mostly my own inspiration, in a quest for a small way to feel some control over my life, to have a space, however small, that is clean and neat and beckoning rest. Our bed, made neatly or hurriedly, gives me that. And I'll take any little peace that I can.

The stack of books on my headboard? Here they are, if you are interested.

Choices

2010-03-25T21:50:00.001-04:00

This post is a few days old. Sometimes they need to linger before hitting that "publish" button.

As I washed a big pile of dishes tonight, I thought about choices. We usually give the 'big' choices the credit as we move through life -- marriage, jobs, children, home. We have had a lot of those in the past year, and some still staring us down. They can be exhausting, overwhelming, consuming.

Tonight I was thinking, maybe it is actually the little choices that really set us on course, that set the tone for our life much more than those big ones. Today I think I made more right choices than wrong. Like...

going for a walk with the kids this morning instead of sitting in the house.

going to story time at Barnes and Noble and reading more books with Cooper, even though I said just one more.

making a real dinner for just me and the kids, which is something I rarely do when Erik travels.

calmly cleaning up the mess when Cooper spilled his milk all over his dinner instead of freaking out and yelling and huffing and puffing about it, like I do too often.

letting the kids stay up late to go see some live music at the library.

Maybe, if we just pay close attention to the little choices, if we move through the day mindfully, those big choices will all fall into place naturally.

And now I'm off to my last good decision of the day:

eating the rest of the apple pie.

Spring Nature Table

2010-03-24T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to create a nature table for some time now. I love the idea of celebrating the seasons with the kids, taking the time to reflect on the passage of time, and closely observing nature and all it offers every day. But, living in a seriously tiny house I just couldn't figure out where it could be. Then I read a suggestion to put it on top of a piano and thought...that I can do!

Our little spring nature table:

My favorite part of the nature table is being able to use some really special items. I have a number of beautiful embroidered napkins and tea towels that were my grandmothers. I will never forget the day my mom and I were going through some of her things and seeing all the exquisite linens. I could not bare to see them go. The reality is that I have never used any of them. But I love knowing that they are there. I knew they would be just perfect as the base for the spring nature table.

This one is Cooper's favorite. He said that it was perfect for Spring.

Such a sweet matching yellow and blue set.

Can you get over how adorable that little flower is?

The detail, the beauty...amazing.

I also used two figurines that were Erik's mother's. The Beatrix Potter bunnies are just perfect. They eventually will be displayed in Ellery's room, but with her so little and her dresser working as her changing table, they presently live on a display shelf safely inside her closet. But not now! It's so nice to be able to see them every day.

Cooper and I will be adding to the table throughout spring. Watch for updates!

How I like to Eat

2010-03-18T23:10:00.000-04:00

Simply.

Tuna salad. Fresh baked bread. Spinach salad with olive oil, a tiny bit of red wine vinegar, kosher salt and ground pepper. Lovely.

On Being Dairy Free

2010-03-14T22:12:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow marks a big day. I get to try reintroducing dairy to my diet. I haven't had an ounce of dairy in five months, and limited amounts the month before. I've spent a whole lot of time reading labels and being amazed at how hard it can be to find bread that doesn't contain milk.

It's ironic in some ways that I've been dairy free. I am a serious dairy lover. One of the first things I loved about Erik was that he loves cheese as much as I do. (Sorry Erik, it's true.) I've always had milk with dinner, even through college. Erik and I have been known to have cheese parties for dinner. When hearing of breastfeeding moms giving up dairy due to their baby's sensitivity or allergy I have exclaimed..."oh I could never do that!"

The further irony is that I'm not really very excited about bringing dairy back into my diet. Now, don't get me wrong. After we know Ellery has outgrown her sensitivity I will be all over an entire wheel of brie. And I will feel very lucky to not have to worry about everything that Ellery eats. I'm fairly certain she is going to do just fine. But, I have to admit that I have found some benefits of being off dairy. The biggest one is I feel lighter and can not remember the last time I had that "I can't eat another bite" feeling. I get full, but I don't have that heavy full feeling. There are times I feel like I can't even get full, which is frustrating since nursing an 11 month old burns a whole lot of calories. I feel like I have more energy, despite still being far from a full night's sleep. I feel healthy and vibrant. And, all that baby weight...gone and then some with no effort. Not bad.

I don't know if all the benefits are from eliminating dairy. But I do think that there is a connection. I am going to eat dairy tomorrow. I'm starting slow, with some yogurt every day and see how Ellery does. I am not going to give up dairy. I still love cheese even though I haven't had it in months. I am going to eat dairy in moderation though, probably for the rest of my life. It just feels good, and it just feels right. Sometimes what seems like the hardest thing ends up being a gift after all, a gift in different possibilities.

Oh, the plans I have for you

2010-03-11T21:42:00.000-05:00

Meet my new friend.

I'm slowly learning how she works. I have lots of plans for her. I'm ignoring the fact that Home Ec. was my lowest grade in middle school. (For the record, it was a B. I turned in an assignment late because I missed the last few days before Christmas break to go to California.)

Stay tuned for some greatness!

My Crocuses

2010-03-10T21:48:00.001-05:00

Remember my post the other day, all about spring coming? Well, the picture you saw, of the crocuses. It wasn't mine. Which I think is totally fine. A picture of crocuses was the perfect thing for the post. And there weren't any around. So I browsed Google Images.

Well, yesterday on our morning walk Cooper and I found these.

They are real, right down the street.

The world looks like an entirely different place. I like it.

I almost forgot

2010-03-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

When spring arrives I get an overwhelming feeling of survival....and hope. As much as I loath bundling by the end of winter, I can not imagine living in a place without the distinct separation of the seasons.

We had the kind of weekend here in Columbus that serves as a reminder of what is coming. Sun filled days riding bikes and air warm enough to enjoy a day at the zoo without shivering. What a treat. I know that we will soon be seeing green plants poking through the ground as the grass is now winning out to the snow.

Dar Williams expressed it so well in her song February:

"And February was so long that it lasted into March

And found us walking a path alone together

You stopped and pointed and you said, 'That's a crocus'

And I said, 'What's a crocus?', And you said 'It's a flower.'

I tried to remember, but I said, 'What's a flower?'

You said, 'I still love you.'"

I forgot, like I do every winter, how glorious the warm sun feels, how freeing it is to walk outside without bracing for the cold, how much lighter life itself can feel when the evenings are bathed in sunlight. And, as Cooper said at the zoo, how wonderful it is to have "a beautiful day for running".

Colored Ice

2010-03-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

Found this idea over at The Artful Parent. I actually just saw a picture of it and kind-of made the rest up.

All we did was fill a bowl of ice, pour some salt over it (Cooper really loved that part), and Cooper used an eye dropper to cover the ice with colored water. It looked super cool!

When finished we dumped it out in the front yard and then went inside to make some more colored water to make some more colored snow. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of that!

Fun with Flour

2010-03-04T22:22:00.000-05:00

So many cold cold days. We've been stuck inside, a whole lot. Here's what I came up with for some fun in the afternoon. A cookie sheet filled with flour!

He started with some letter writing practice (as prompted by me, the mother with the BA in Elementary Education).

And quickly evolved into car play. Of course.

Surprising to me Cooper was occupied for about an hour.

Sure it resulted in a big mess since there were requests for more flour to bury cars

but that led to another activity. Mopping the floor!

Great fun!!

Where Have We Been?

2010-02-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

Cooper has been turning four!

and getting a brand new bike.

I can't wait for warmer weather to get some action shots.

Ellery has been learning about the finer joys in life....

Meatballs!

She Loves them!!!

I've been creating

and writing

and exploring

through the amazing e-course Inside Out.

There will be more on all these subjects and more coming soon.

2010-01-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

At Cooper's school they talk a lot about writing notes for children. Children quickly learn that words have power, and if they are written down, they gain permanancy. Today, Cooper was frustrated that Erik's profile, and all the cars/trucks he unlocked, on his monster truck game got erased. So, we wrote a note asking Erik to basically get it all back. When I finished writing the note I handed Cooper the pen to write his name, something he has never done before. I don't push a lot of writing, especially since he gets easily frustrated if he can't do things 'perfectly'.

Here is the result.

Makes this mama so proud of her growing boy, as well as a bit tearful about the upcoming (gulp) 4th birthday.

Cooper felt "good and crazy" (and he insisted on typing this himself) about writing his name.

One Small Change

2010-01-19T23:07:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I found a wonderful blog, Hip Mountain Mama. Here, you will find an amazing challenge that has been presented for the new year....make one change to create a positive environmental impact. I've joined the challenge. The change I’m making in our household is a commitment to only buying meat and eggs that treat the animals in ethical ways…free range, grass fed, etc. This is inspired by recently watching Food, Inc., along with knowledge I've had for years, but have been ignoring in favor of convenience and frugality.

Part of the challenge includes blogging about the experience once per month. So far, things have been going quite easily, mostly because I haven't had reason to buy meat, until tonight. I faced the need to purchase cold-cuts for making Erik's lunches. I was skeptical that I would be able to do this in a way that goes along with my commitment. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I could get some turkey at the main-stream grocery store. It is so great to see that it is possible to make conscientious choices and not need specialty grocery stores to do so.

My biggest worry about my commitment is the cost. I know that it is much more expensive to purchase meat that is free of antibiotics, that respects the animals, etc. In order to offset some of the increased cost I plan to increase the amount of meatless meals we eat. We already eat meatless suppers at least once per week, but I'm thinking this will probably increase to 3 or so times per week. I see this as a positive side effect, since the environmental impact of eating vegetarian is so much less.

Are you up for this kind of challenge? Join in!!! Visit Hip Mountain Mama and read all about it and sign up.

Old Friend Doing Good Things

2010-01-16T21:14:00.001-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I've been listening to all the news of destruction and devastation in Haiti. My old Red Run Swimming friend Andrew Hutson has put together an easy way to donate to the relief efforts. I wholeheartedly trust his endorsement of Mercy Corp. Please take a minute and visit his site and give whatever you can.

I also feel the need to remind those of you with young children to be mindful of how much they are hearing and what news is reaching their young ears. If it is overwhelming for us adults, just imagine how difficult it is for young minds to make sense of any of it. Be mindful of how much of the news you can handle too. And, don't forget, visit Mercy Corp and help the people of Haiti, in any way that you can.

Bread Experiment

2010-01-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

We've been making bread for the past year or so using the amazing book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I had a hankering for a sweet breakfast bread, so I pulled off this bread experiment. I stretched out the dough, sprinkled on cinnamon, brown sugar, and sugar, on the dough, adding raisins on one. I rolled the dough and left it to rise a bit before baking. As an after thought, I added some butter (vegan soy margarine since I'm dairy free) by cutting slits in the dough and pushing the slivers in and trying to reseal. I baked the bread at a lower temp., and it turned out like this:

It was delish!! It disappeared very quickly, every morsel. I think I might be almost independently responsible for that. Thank goodness for the breastfeeding metabolism!!

Tiny Vignettes

2010-01-11T20:55:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of enjoying the corners of your home, a concept created by SouleMama on her amazing blog. Aren't the corners of your home where you really live? where your memories are made? or even, simply where you spend so much time thinking or not thinking or just gazing off into the past or future or somewhere in between?

As I washed the dishes I realized some corners can be improved upon, with simple ease. I was staring at this.

While there is nothing wrong here, it is just a tiny little mess that is tiring to stare at, and I stare at it a lot.

As I waited for a pot of water to boil, I transformed the space.

I quickly cleaned the window and sill and cleared the clutter. Then I created two simple candle holders using empty baby food jars filled with brown rice. I wanted to use the lovely beeswax birthday candles from Erik's celebration, so I stuck them in the rice. The purple rubber bands from the asparagus I was cooking added a nice little touch to the jars.

A little bowl to hold Ellery's pacifiers looks much better.

Now, the sill is neat and clean and has a simple loveliness. A much nicer vignette for my eyes to gaze upon while preparing a meal or washing dish after dish.

What little vignettes have you created around your home?

Happy Birthday 34 Year Old!!

2010-01-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Erik's day yesterday. Cooper and Erik enjoyed decadent chocolate chocolate cupcakes. They sure looked delicious!

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles

Synchronized eating

The cupcake lasted two days for Coop

Happy Birthday my wonderful husband!!!

Knitting, here I come!!

2010-01-07T22:12:00.001-05:00

I registered for a beginners knitting class today. Starts Monday evening. It is at a hip little knitting shop called Wonderknit in Clintonville, an area of Columbus bounded by the Ohio State University. I'm quite excited.

Moving along on my list already!!

2010, so far

2010-01-06T21:21:00.000-05:00

My favorite things about this New Year....so far....

Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid in Lemongrass & Clementine Zest -- Yes, it is dish soap, but it is so good it is worth blogging about. The smell....delish!!!
Lighting candles during the day -- Cooper likes to keep an eye on them for me and blows them out when "they are running out of energy". Not sure how he determines this, but that's okay.
Pulled pork in the slow cooker -- Nothing new about this one, but I made it for the first time tonight and had to apply serious restraint to keep from eating two sandwiches. I was inspired to make it by this lovely food blog, Smitten Kitchen.
Making coffee the night before and using the autobrew setting -- I used to do this all the time in my working full time before kids days. I'm not sure why I have neglected to do it again until now. Makes the morning so much better!
Ellery slept for 9 straight hours last night -- Be quiet about that last one. I don't want to jinx anything. New sleep tactics in place and so far so good. Again, please don't talk about it. I'm getting nervous even writing about it.

What good things have come your way in 2010?

Intentions

2010-01-02T22:41:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about this new year, 2010, and all the possibility it holds. I've never been a resolution maker, but this year I have this overwhelming desire to resolve, to make lists, to make small changes and reclaim my life in some way. The desire stems from a couple places. One is my liking for beginnings and fresh starts...seeded perhaps in my years teaching school and as a student. There is no better feeling than facing down a new school year in the end of August.

The second place the desire to resolve comes from is a bit harder to explain and revealing it is difficult. 2009 was an unexpectedly change filled year for our family, as you read about here. While there has been much good at the end of the turmoil, I have been living in what feels like a cloudy place for the past few months. It isn't too surprising, really, as anyone who has moved to a new place can understand. Through in economic uncertainty, a new baby, a three year old desperate for friends, and well, it's left me feeling overwhelmed, and, at times, the dreaded word, depressed. A baby who is not a fan of sleeping for long periods of time, who still wakes up several times every night (last night it was probably around six times between 7:30pm and 6:30am), only adds to the messiness inside my head. It is easy to see the very obvious reasons that I've been in a fog. Now, I am working very hard to emerge, and do feel like I can see the light again. Hence, the ability and desire to seize this new year and make it great.

So I'm not making resolutions, per se, but instead creating a list of things I'd like to see happen in 2010. I'm sure some will happen and some will not, but that is the beauty of the experience. In sharing this all with you I hope to get to an even better place of acceptance for myself as well as make my intentions that much more real. Thanks for sharing it all with me!

Join a CSA -- I'm starting to research and even found a meat CSA. Intriguing!
Take more walks without destinations
Run in a 5K race -- I'd also like to try for a 10K, but I'm not willing to make that commitment quite yet. Let's say it's half way on the list.
Take a knitting class
Get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep -- I know this isn't entirely within my control, but I'm hopeful
Start commenting on the blogs I read -- I spend most every night reading a variety of blogs and I would like to start letting the writers know how they inspire me. I'd like to be more of a participant, less of an observer, in this realm and everywhere else too.
Journal -- in a real pen and paper way, privately. I miss the reflection journaling provides.
Get a job
Knit while the kids play
Plant a container garden -- container in case we move
Get closer to being homeowners again
Go on lots of family day trip adventures -- this will be helped by two books we bought yesterday: Ohio Off the Beaten Path and Day Trips from Columbus
More reading, less TV -- This includes allowing the kids to see me reading. Cooper talks a lot about how Papa likes books, because Erik reads so much. He honestly thinks I don't like books. That has to change.
Be frugal
Make lots of wholesome, real, delicious food
Try as many flavors of Jeni's Ice Cream as possible -- This will necessitate Ellery outgrowing her dairy sensitivity. Jeni's ice cream seems a good way to get back into eating dairy
See live music
Go on some dates with my wonderful husband
Continue to create family traditions

A color intermediate between red and blue

2010-01-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

I made this for dinner tonight. Isn't she beautiful?!?

Cooked her simply, as described in one of the new wonderful cookbooks I received for Christmas. Sliced, sauteed in olive oil with Kosher salt. Erik and I ate almost the whole thing. I'm wondering what this delicious Curried Cauliflower soup would look like made with one of these?

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T10:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the New Year, the New Decade, 2010

Too fast...

2009-12-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

Tonight at dinner, when asked whether he wanted to take a bath or shower tonight, Cooper had this answer. "I take showers because I'm a big guy. You take showers (Erik), you take showers (me), I take showers. We all take showers because we are big guys".

When did he become a big guy? and why does it make me so very sad to think that he is finished taking baths?

It does truly all go by so quickly.

Merry Christmas to All!!

2009-12-26T21:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning highlights, in photos:

Anticipation

Ellery's delivery from Santa

Cooper's delivery from Santa

Checking out Super Mario Brothers

Playing with her new Taggies ball

Playing together

Hope everyone had a joyful holiday!!

Advent Day 21

2009-12-21T22:44:00.001-05:00

Solstice Celebration!

The big activity for our little Solstice Celebration was stringing popcorn, cranberries, and cheerios to put outside for the birds and squirrels. We talked about how the animals need extra help during the cold winter months, so we did our part to help. I thought this activity would be difficult for Cooper, but he surprised me once again. He was a natural using a needle and thread and took right to it. He also liked discussing all the different patterns we were making.

After we strung five strands, we hung them from one of the trees in the front yard. Hope the animals enjoy!

We read two books about the winter solstice: The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Jesse Reisch and The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Jan Davey Ellis.

No celebration is complete without a nice meal for dinner.

The Solstice miracle at dinner was watching my three year old eat brussels sprouts. Seriously. I must say they were delicious, or, as Cooper prefers to say, scrumptious!

Erik is officially on vacation today through Christmas. Hurray!!!

Busy times

2009-12-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

We are all busy getting ready for Christmas and still enjoying the Advent activities. But, I've been bad about taking pictures, and have had some big Advent failures. The worst failure was having shopping for Christmas gifts as an activity. What was I thinking? This is not fun for a 3 year old. Let's just say there were countless melt downs in front of the many displays geared towards him. I definitely set him up for failure on that one.

One day we walked up to the neighborhood coffee shop for hot chocolate. Cooper still remains unimpressed by hot chocolate and it remained mostly in his cup. He did like playing with the toys at the coffee shop though.

Cooper was thrilled with the minimal snow we got a few days ago and insisted on going out in his PJs.

We all had a great time building a ginger bread house, especially me, since Cooper did some and told me I could do the rest by myself. He is always complimentary when he loses interest, and tells me that I'm doing such a great job. So sweet. Cooper was right...I did do a good job this year, don't you think?

Advent Day 13

2009-12-15T21:57:00.000-05:00

Celebrate Sankta Lucia Day!!!!

We had our very first Lucia celebration. For those who don't know, it is a Swedish tradition, and you can learn more here. I'm definitely still learning about the holiday and figuring out how I would like to celebrate. So what did we do for Sankta Lucia Day?

We had a lovely breakfast and lit lots of candles. We had minimal traditional foods present, mostly because it is pretty dairy heavy. Since I can't eat dairy due to Ellery's sensitivities, I wasn't willing to make things that I couldn't taste. Selfish...maybe a little. The breakfast was delicious, if less than traditional. We ate pancakes with lingonberry jelly, raspberry danish, and bacon. I made the pancakes from a dairy free multigrain box mix using extra rice milk so the batter was thinner, more like Swedish pancakes. They were super delicious. All the candles gave the morning a magical feeling and Cooper was especially enchanted by it all. I think it was a successful start to a new tradition and I'm looking forward to adding to it next year.

Here's Erik lighting the candles. There is even a candle attached to each plate.

Cooper enjoying the lights

Later in the day we went to Cosi for the first time as a family. It was surprisingly empty...everyone must have been out doing Christmas shopping instead. A wonderful end to a three day family weekend that was pretty ideal. Lucky us!

And last, a couple rare photos of me.

Trying to capture the morning breakfast

Still in my pjs...and yes, I have had that shirt since high school

Riding a rocket with Cooper

Can you see how much I love that boy?

*Erik shared some of his pictures with me for this entry (which is showing off how not so great my pictures are. oh well).

Advent Day 12

2009-12-13T21:37:00.000-05:00

Another lesson in flexibility....

Today read Make Ginger Cookies. This was to prepare for Sankta Lucia Day, which is our Advent Day 13. However, we made last minute plans to drive to Dayton to spend the evening with our friends Jamie, Nilesh, William, Annie, and Graham. What a treat!!! There is nothing quite like spending time with good friends.

We did still manage to make cookies, with an idea shared by my friend Emilie. Reindeer cookies!

The kids had fun making them. I loved watching the individuality expressed by each.

William seemed to like lots of chocolate chips and thought it was super cool that his reindeer had many eyes.

Annie seemed more interested in consuming the decorations as well as the raw dough. She also practiced beautiful excess...I think the pile of red sprinkles on her plate exceeded the cookie dough.

Cooper worked diligently to create cookies that looked as close to my examples as possible, requesting help and support to do so, balanced on the edge of a break down when a step went a bit awry. Ah, the my son, the perfectionist.

I failed to take any after pictures. Suffice it to say that the kids and adults enjoyed eating them.

Advent Day 11

2009-12-11T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today was the day Cooper has been waiting for since we started the Advent calendar. I think just about every morning he has asked "does it say get a Christmas tree?" or "are we getting the Christmas tree tomorrow?" Box 11 finally came through for him. Here's the play-by-play:

And the goods:

Cooper's current favorite ornaments of 2009.

They aren't on the tree anymore. They are on the shelf next to his bed watching him sleep. Cooper even had a fairly long conversation with both Lightening and Sally before going to bed. I love the magic of Christmas.

I hope that it isn't all down hill from here. Oh box 12, can you be as sweet as 11?

Granola Recipe

2009-12-10T22:53:00.002-05:00

Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups oat bran
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container.

Advent Days 8, 9 and 10

2009-12-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

It's been a bit of a whirl-wind few days so here's an update covering all three.

Day 8, which was Tuesday, was all about making presents for Cooper's classmates and teachers. The salt dough ornaments from Day 7 were the gifts for his classmates, along with a chocolate ornament from Trader Joes. Cooper worked diligently to paint 19 (!) ornaments. I have been amazed by Cooper's willingness to partake in crafty activities with me. So much fun!!

I love these little fingers!

The finished ornaments

After the kids were in bed I set about making Holiday Granola for his teachers. I did a trial run over the weekend and was amazed by 1. how easy it was and 2. how amazingly delicious it is. I highly recommend making this, and will include the recipe for those interested.

Erik and I worked to package everything up so it was ready for delivery at school on Wednesday morning. This was Cooper's last day of school for Christmas break.

Day 9 was slated to be a day for making Christmas cards. Unfortunately I had a rough day and the activity got scrapped. I just couldn't get it together. I'm still plagued by a baby who has a couple nights per week of waking every two hours. Waking two times is a really great night for her. Good thing she is so darn cute! The sleep deprivation is a rough road at almost 8 months, along with hormonal shifts, the stresses of being a mom to little ones, etc. etc. etc.

So we moved on to Day 10, and shifted making Christmas cards to today. This activity went much how I imagined that the craft activities would go, with Cooper saying "no thanks...you can do that by yourself". I got him to do a couple, and then I worked alone. There are no pictures, because I don't want to spoil the surprise for those who will be receiving one.

Today I also started making more of an effort to get myself back on track by trying to stay healthy with a new vitamin and herbal regimen. Healthy mamas make for happy kids, and better Advent activities too!!

Advent Day 7

2009-12-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

We accomplished the salt dough ornaments today. The activity started with Cooper screaming "I don't want to do that with you!!!" I powered through that and he became really engaged in the activity.

Here he is rolling out the dough:

It was super easy and fun too. Truth be told, I did almost lose it a couple times. I had hoped that Ellery would nap the whole time, but she didn't, and cried a fussed and wanted to be held. That made the whole experience a bit more complicated. But after a short mama break I got Ellery in the Beco and we had a great time making the ornaments. Tomorrow we will paint them and they will be a little gift for each of Cooper's preschool classmates.

Here is the recipe we used:

What you'll need:

½ cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water
Rolling pin
Cookie sheet
Toothpick
Miniature cookie cutters: star and Christmas tree
Acrylic paints: green, yellow, and various colors of your choice for tree ornaments
Glitter glue or glitter paint
ribbon

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
Use cookie cutters to cut out as many trees and stars as you want.
Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want.
Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.
Bake for 2 hours.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Paint the trees green and the stars yellow.
Use the handle end of the paint brush to dot on ornaments by dipping into paint then dotting onto ornament.
When paint is dry, use glitter glue (we used green) or glitter paint (we used gold) to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.
When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back.
Tie onto package.

Advent Day 6

2009-12-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today marks the first fail at the advent calendar activities. We didn't do it all, ran out of time. It was a good day none-the-less.

We made it to the North Market fair, but didn't get to the salt dough ornaments. Guess what we're doing tomorrow? We were able to do some good holiday shopping though.

Since there are no photos from today's activity, and there has been so much focus on Cooper, I figured I could post some recent photos of Ellery instead.

And here's a picture of my new haircut. Short and I'm loving it!!!

Advent Days 4 and 5

2009-12-05T21:57:00.000-05:00

We had a very busy day yesterday with school, a haircut for me (and a babysitter for the kids) and then Erik's work holiday party. Hence, the double post for days 4 and 5.

Due to the busy-ness of the day Friday, we did a simple craft I got at Target. I was impressed by how Cooper was able to complete the project almost totally independently.

Cooper hung the door hanger on the front door

Here you can see the paper snowflakes we made.

Today Erik and Cooper hung some lights outside our house. Cooper picked out the ones that he liked...colorful icicles. Not what I would have picked but I've realized that it really isn't about me and what I think are nice decorations. He was thrilled to see them all lit up tonight. I know he is going to love walking around the neighborhood at night in the next few weeks to see all the lights.

Advent Day 3

2009-12-03T21:12:00.000-05:00

Cooper is so excited every morning when we open the advent box of the day. He is especially enjoying the addition of some chocolates in the box.

Since Cooper has been super interested in Rudolph this year we DVRed it and watched it during quiet time. Here he is all cuddled up on the couch ready to watch!

Unfortunately, the DVR somehow messed up so we were left with the first 6 minutes and the last 20 minutes only. What? I tried my best to fill him in on what had happened, but since most of what he watched were the scary parts I'm pretty sure that the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth.

We did have a great time making paper snowflakes earlier in the day, but I failed to take any pictures. I was pleasantly surprised by how much Cooper liked the project as he is typically not very into artsy craftsy activities. He especially liked unfolding the paper after making so many cuts to see what the snowflake looked like.

For those wondering how I made the advent calendar, it was incredibly easy. I bought the Countdown Calendar at a scrapbooking store, bought some scrapbooking paper, cut the paper to fit the boxes with the template provided, and adhered the paper to the box. The Countdown Calendar came with number stickers for each box. The most difficult part was picking out the papers I wanted. Super easy, super cute (I think) and it should last for several years. I love the fact that I can do whatever I want with the calendar and customize it to meet our needs.

Second Day of Advent

2009-12-02T21:35:00.005-05:00

Cooper has been ramping up for this activity for weeks, maybe even months. Every trip to Target includes a request to look in the toy section so he can see what he wants to add to his Christmas list.

Since Cooper is only 3 he dictated and I wrote. The letter read as follows:

Dear Santa,

I want plain Mario Brothers and Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics games on Wii. I like the Olympics so much and my heart beats. I love the presents that you give me that I ask for. I also want marbles. Bring Ellery a rattle she can share with Cooper. I like to run and play outside with my mom.

Love,

Cooper

My thoughts on this letter...I love how he says "my heart beats" which is his slightly mixed up way of saying how much he loves the game. He knows there is some connection between love and heart but the connection is slightly confused. I also like how he says "I love the presents that you give me that I ask for." I've talked with him about how Santa doesn't always bring everything you ask for, and sometimes he brings things you don't ask for and those presents are great too. Cooper is committing himself to love what he asks for but is not willing to love everything Santa brings. Very safe. I'm fairly certain through various lines of questioning that he has no idea what marbles are and have no idea how that made the letter, but he is very insistent that he wants marbles. And you just have to love how he responded to my suggestion to ask for something for Ellery since she can't write a letter. When asked if Ellery will be able to share his presents he said the obvious, "she is too little".

Cooper's favorite picture

My favorite picture

First Day of Advent

2009-12-01T21:15:00.005-05:00

I decided to make an advent calendar this year, inspired by ideas I found on Etsy. Cooper is getting old enough now to start creating holiday traditions and memories. With this calendar each day will have a holiday activity. As of now I have more ideas than days, which is a good position to be in. I will fill box with the activity the day before because I figure there are a lot of factors that will effect what activity comes when, so there is some built in flexibility. We'll see how it goes!

front

back

Day 1

Day 1 was a success. Cooper was very excited to get out some of the Christmas decorations. He was disappointed that we couldn't get the ornaments out since we don't have a tree yet, and was pretty insistent that we should get the tree tomorrow (not happening!).

mesmerized

Happy December to all!!

Problem Solver

2009-12-01T15:25:00.004-05:00

Ellery says:

I really want to play with my orange flower. It's so cool and great to suck on.

But, I'm not sure how I can keep my head up and get the flower in my mouth...
I will fall on my face (again) if I move my arms too much.

Ah, this works.

I'm so glad I figured that one out. What's next?

Happy Fall!!

2009-11-10T21:26:00.003-05:00

Go jump in some leaves before they are gone until spring.

Happy Halloween (a little late)

2009-11-10T21:21:00.004-05:00

Love,

Firefighter Cooper and his trusty dalmatian Ellery

She's a Whole Lotta Love

2009-10-22T21:44:00.004-04:00

Sweet Ellery turned 6 months old last week. We celebrated with some cupcakes.

A bit about Ellery....

she has serious love for her brother and laughs her biggest belly laughs when he is around

is a hard hitting pacifier girl (not sure what she was doing with it in the photo below)

has a very sweet little girly voice and also yells joyfully at volumes that are simply shocking

gives the best great big strong hugs

is possibly the loviest baby I have ever been around including trying to lay on big fat sloppy kisses all the time

is 20 pounds strong at six months (This last fact is especially shocking to me when I think that I've been growing her strong on mama's milk with the exception of a small handful of first solids.)

Happy half birthday to my baby girl!!!

COSI

2009-10-08T22:57:00.006-04:00

Our new science museum, COSI. Very cool!!!

Fun with gears

Big girl in the stoller

Driving robots

Miss Elle can sit up in this cool seat
The water area
Cooper loves to drive the ambulance

So maybe I shouldn't have done this, but I couldn't resist.

Does it make you think of Han Solo at the end of The Empire Strikes Back?
Don't you love the pacifier in her mouth?

And Cooper, in motion

More on our new city....

2009-10-08T22:21:00.006-04:00

Things I love....

walking to the farmers market on a Saturday morning with the kids

the Grandview Heights Ox Roast, which was a little carnival we could walk up to

Things I'm learning to get used to....

the craziness of living in Buckeye territory. Cooper actually got excited the other day when he saw Brutus...the OSU mascot. Good lord.

Things I could do without.....

lots of bugs, way more bugs than we had in Pittsburgh. Cooper seems to enjoy it though, but not the "siders" (spiders) because they are "not cool".

Our New City

2009-09-24T21:47:00.004-04:00

We went for a nice walk on the Olentangy River Trail a few weeks back (blog posts are majorly back-logged right now). Urban green spaces hold a certain magic for me, and this trail is just that. We walked the trail and also walked into the city, exploring our new home by foot, covering probably around 6 miles...a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

The kids ready to go in our new double stroller

Cooper calls this the pirate ship

So clean and pristine

Did you ever know Columbus, Ohio was so pretty?

Pretty cool to see a heron in the middle of the city.

Brave boy running down a trail that goes right through the heart of the OSU campus.

Entering Lego Land

2009-09-06T21:31:00.003-04:00

Today we took Cooper to the Lego store and purchased his first 'real' Legos. Tonight he was feeling a little "buildy". (Side note....Cooper is the master of turning anything into an adjective. He often feelings "watchy" when he wants to watch TV. He even felt "looky aty" when he wanted to look at the games at the Ohio State Fair) Coop and Erik worked diligently on building his new garbage truck.

I love how Cooper presses his little self into Erik's side.

Erik had Cooper compare what they built to the instructional pictures. Erik is such an amazing teacher...incredibly patient and the perfect combination of helpful and pushing Cooper to do things independently.

Little fingers working earnestly.

So many hours of fun to come!!!!

2009-08-05T22:08:00.004-04:00

One of the biggest reasons for choosing to live in Grandview Heights (our new city right outside Columbus, Ohio) was that is truely a walkable community. This afternoon Cooper, Ellery and I walked to the hardware store and then to Krema. I've been wanting to check out the Krema factory store, intrigued by their sign advertising peanut butter sandwiches and milkshakes. Here is what Cooper picked out for our afternoon treat: chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. The boy has good taste.

This is Cooper's:

And this is mine:

The ice cream is from Jeni's Ice Cream, which we must go to soon. Cooper's had vanilla ice cream, mine had Krema peanut butter ice cream. Delicious! and a bit dangerous that we are only a block and a half away!!!

The excited boy

Yum!

Giving thumbs up, which he only just learned how to do for this picture. How have I failed to teach him how to give thumbs up?

Blackmail vs. Giggles

2009-08-03T22:36:00.004-04:00

Because it is always good to have blackmail and embarrassment material for when your sweet babies become teenagers I now have this video:

And because I can't post a video of my beautiful, sweet daughter looking like a bit of a freak without one of her looking adorable:

We Have Arrived

2009-07-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

in Columbus! Well, we arrived on July 18, which I'm pretty sure was just over a week ago. We are still in the crazy unpacking zone, which seems to take longer with a 3 month old. Wonder why? But we're getting there. I was waiting to post with some pictures of the new house, but I honestly have no idea where my camera is. Those will come eventually.

First impressions of Columbus? I can honestly say that I think I'm going to really like living here. Just have to get used to all the Ohio State stuff everywhere. As a life long Michigan fan with two degrees from UofM it is a bit overwhelming at times.

Thumb

2009-07-15T08:09:00.002-04:00

Looks like we might have a thumb sucker on our hands. I would Love that!!

Zoboomafoo Dance

2009-07-13T21:53:00.004-04:00

Tensions are running high in the house with the big move date looming on the horizon. Cooper knows how to cut the tension with a little dancing to the theme song to one of his favorite shows, Zoboomafoo. I could learn something from his wild abandon and ability to let loose.

*note I only started video taping him after about 30 minutes of dancing

Lasts

2009-07-12T21:48:00.006-04:00

We are entering our last week in Pittsburgh. This is the time I hate before moving...all the final visits.

Here is Cooper's last visit to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum (and Ellery's first) with his buddy Eleanor.

Checking out the cool color projector

Eleanor and Cooper loved running around in front of the screen

Cooper gases up the Mini Cooper

This is what Ellery did for most of the visit

Eleanor is up

Cooper is up

Not sure drinking the water is such a good idea

Working together to get Soaked!

Cooper figured out how to spray everyone around him

These two are certainly going to miss each other.

Ellery wants to say hello

2009-07-09T10:11:00.002-04:00

Catching Up, By Dates

2009-07-09T07:31:00.003-04:00

I've been missing from this blog for quite some time. 12 weeks and 2 days, to be exact. Most everyone who ever reads this knows what has been occupying my time. But, I thought I would give a quick update. There have been some really hard things, and some wonderful things. Here are the big events:

March 16, 2009 -- Erik got laid off from MAYA Design, where he worked for 5 years. While we had an indication that business was bad, and who doesn't know about the global economic problems? it came as a huge shock.

March 30, 2009 -- Erik had surgery to remove a small carcinoma on his back.

April 14, 2009 -- 11:50pm My water broke and 37 weeks exactly, making me officially full term!!

April 15, 2009 -- 6:51pm Ellery Jane Peterson Dahl was born weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long. She is by far the best thing that has happened in 2009!!! She is beautiful and wonderful and I can't imagine our family without her.

May 5, 2009 -- I started tutoring again. Thankfully, Erik was around to help out. Working with a 3 week old is not something I recommend, but it wasn't so bad.

Now some sketchy dates. Immediately after getting laid off Erik jumped fully into an intense job search. This included traveling for interviews several times after Ellery was born, leaving me with the 2 kids alone. He also started doing some independent consulting work. I can not even express how incredible Erik was (and still is), working so hard to find a job. He is truly the most amazing man I have ever known!

May 15, 2009 -- Erik accepted a job with Lextant in Columbus, Ohio.

Week of May 18 we got a POD and started packing up our house to get ready to sell. We also got 3 rooms painted, painted one room ourselves, got new carpet, and did a whole lot of sprucing in hopes of selling fast. My dad came and was an enormous help.

May 29, 2009 -- The POD was picked up and took about 70% of our belongings to storage in Ohio.

May 30, 2009 -- We had a huge garage sale, eliminating much of what we would otherwise have had to pack.

May 31, 2009 -- Erik moved to Columbus, Ohio, leaving me behind as a single mom to a 3 year old and 6 week old. A very sad day.

June 1, 2009 -- Erik's first day at Lextant.

June 5, 2009 -- Our house officially went on the market. We had two showings that evening.

June 6, 2009 -- Another showing. By 10:00pm we had two offers, one above asking price!

June 7, 2009 -- We officially accepted an offer on our house above asking price!

June 30, 2009 -- All inspections complete and the house sale is official, except for closing which will happen on July 31, 2009.

July 1, 2009 -- We began renting a house in Grandview Heights, Ohio. Our new home! Note that we own and rent 3 properties right now. Woah. Also, I think it is worth mentioning that I have never seen this house or even been to Columbus, ever. So I will move to a house I have never seen in a city I have never seen. What an adventure! Good thing I trust Erik!!!

And future events:

July 18, 2009 -- The moving trucks arrive. We leave for our new home in Ohio. We are finally a family of four, all together in one home, after too much time apart.

July 19, 2009 -- The moving trucks will deliver all our goods and the fun of unpacking begins.

Yes, it has been a hectic few months. And now that everyone is officially caught up I can get back to blogging regularly, and you readers can share in all the fun, especially getting to know Ellery!

Getting Ready for the Big Arrival

2009-04-12T23:15:00.005-04:00

The count down is on...and we are doing our best to get everything as ready as possible for the arrival of the baby girl. We finally got some new bedding and the crib is all ready for her in what will soon be Cooper and baby sister's room.

Here's Cooper telling a story about baby sister's new crib. He starts all his stories the same way. For those who can't understand what he is saying, the subtitles will help.

"Once upon a time baby sister's crib looks nice."

Trying out Baby Sister's Hair Bows

2009-04-12T23:07:00.002-04:00

Cooper has been very interested in everything we are getting ready for baby sister. Here he is trying out her hair bows. I swear this was all done at his request!

As for the look on his face, that his newest camera pose. I don't quite understand it.

Polar Bear

2009-03-18T09:47:00.003-04:00

Cooper got up close and personal with a polar bear at the zoo a couple days ago. Yes, there is very thick glass separating the bear from the children. The bear was quite interested in one boy's stuffed penguin, even though we all know that polar bears don't eat penguins. It was super cool to be so close to such an amazing animal.

Cooper is in the orange jacket.

A Tiny Gift

2009-03-17T15:47:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago I received the following message in my Facebook inbox.

Not sure if you would like to be my friend,haha I thought it would be nice to let you know you were the best teacher ever .... Thanks for all your help... I hope all is well. Thank you Anthony S. Seaholm Summer school and Berkshire Middle School :)

To understand this student, you need to know that he was a boy just about every teacher in the school dreaded. He was a bundle of energy, not a real motivated learner, and many simply saw him as a pain in the butt. I gave him a chance. I first had him in summer school and then fought to get him in both my Social Studies and English classes for his 8th grade year. If I remember correctly I started and ended my day with him. While I think he probably averaged D's most of the year, I really felt like I at least gave him a voice and saw him as a fun student with potential to learn and succeed. Because I moved away and left that teaching job shortly after I never heard how his transition to high school went, never got the visits, and may not have even if I did stay. But like most teachers, I've wondered, not just specifically about him, but whether I had an impact, made any little difference, ignited even the smallest spark.

I've been carrying these words around with me every day. I have been out of the classroom for 8 years now, and often wonder why I ever left. This makes me ponder that once again, more deeply. But, if nothing else, it feels so good to be remembered and get such an unsolicited compliment and heartwarming thank you.

If only...

2009-02-12T22:08:00.003-05:00

Someone here is really ready for summer. We had a wonderful weather tease yesterday with 65 degrees and a joy filled trip to the park. Cooper was in heaven running around, climbing, sliding, swinging. Today when I brought him home from the babysitter's he insisted on going outside to play in his sandbox. Since it wasn't super cold I couldn't say no. Watching him play so happily in the sand made me wish summer was much closer than it actually is.

Happy Birthday My Dear Cooper

2009-02-09T18:12:00.005-05:00

Today Cooper is 3. It is simultaneously difficult to believe he is already 3 and also that he hasn't been here forever. We've had a great time celebrating over the past few days.

I made this to play Pin the Tail on the Elephant

at Cooper's party (which we never did)

Blowing out his birthday candles

Opening his new Cars on blu-ray. This is our 3rd copy,
having "worn out" 2 others

Tryceratops!!

So happy after opening all his presents this morning

Then, pouting that there are no more presents.

Cupcake for breakfast. Really, is it any
worse than a doughnut?

Checking out the trains at the Science Museum

Playing with the cloud machine

Rocket launching

Oh, Sun...

2009-02-01T10:33:00.004-05:00

how we all have missed you.

Thank you for paying us a visit today!

Science Museum

2009-01-25T09:34:00.004-05:00

Cooper and I had a great day at the Carnegie Science Center yesterday. We met his two best pals, Eleanor and Ryder there as well. Fun times!!!

Launching balls down the water table rivers

Helping balls take flight on a stream of air

Team work by Eleanor and Cooper

Mr. President

2009-01-20T13:38:00.004-05:00

Cooper enjoyed the excitement this morning. The enormity of it all is a bit overwhelming to me. To think that my children, my son and my daughter, will never know a world without a Black President. Amazing.

As President Obama was walking through the Capital:

When President Obama made his appearance on the platform:

Do you see the genuine excitement in little Cooper's face? Did you feel it emanating throughout our country?

From Erik's Blog

2009-01-12T15:56:00.003-05:00

Had to steal this from Erik's blog. One of my favorite recent Cooper stories that happened this weekend.

“I’m thinking in my brain”

by Erik

I was driving around with Cooper this weekend. We were running a few errands just the two of us and had a few funny conversations.

While we were driving, he said something to me that I didn’t fully understand. So I repeated back to him what I thought he was saying, to which he would reply, “NO!” until I nailed it. I don’t remember exactly what I tried, but here are a few things that give you the flavor of the things I tried: I’m sinking in the rain, I’m linking in the grain, I’m drinking in the drain. None of these really made sense, and Cooper was starting to get a bit frustrated.

As it turns out. He was saying: “I’m thinking in my brain.” Well, of course that’s what he was saying it makes perfect sense now. I tried, but failed to figure out how he had formulated this idea, so I did the next best thing and pursued the dialogue to its logical conclusions. I asked him, “What are you thinking about in your brain?” to which he replied, “trains!”

Here’s how the whole conversation went:

Cooper: I’m ——ing in my —-.

Me: You’re drinking in the rain?

Cooper: No, I’m ——ing in my —-.

Me: You’re stinking in the lane?

Cooper: No!, I’m ——ing in my —-.

Me: You’re blinking in the drain?

Cooper: NO!, I’m ——ing in my —-.

Me: Oh, you’re thinking in your brain.

Cooper: “Yeah. I’m thinking in my brain.”

<– I try in vain to get him to explain how/where he learned about thinking in his brain –>

Me: “What are you thinking about in your brain?”

Cooper: “Trains! What are you thinking about in your brain, Pa?”

<– we have a discussion about what each of us are thinking about –>

Me: “What are you thinking about in your brain now?”

Cooper: “I’m all finished.”

<– a couple seconds pass in silence –>

Cooper: “I can’t stop thinking in my brain!”

When a Tutoring Student Canceled....

2009-01-11T19:49:00.003-05:00

We got to build a ginger bread house! Obviously this is a bit out of date, and occurred back in December.

Cooper's rules for making a ginger bread house:

1. The candy is only for decorating the house. (he got VERY upset with me when I ate some)
2. You can only use the candy in the kit. Extras like M & Ms and chocolate chips are not allowed.
3. The house must look like the picture and Cooper is more than happy to sit back watch that happen.

Could we have a little perfectionist on our hands?

Cooper's New Bed

2009-01-11T19:41:00.003-05:00

We finally got Cooper a new bed, a bit over due. He is trilled with it and slept well his first night in.

We also got Coop a new book shelf. Unfortunately, a couple pieces were damaged so had to be returned today. More pictures of that later.

Friends

2008-12-06T17:43:00.003-05:00

Cooper and his best friends, Eleanor and Ryder.

Love this picture of Cooper and Eleanor,
though they look a bit too much like teenagers for my liking.

Thanks for the pictures Heather (Eleanor's mom)!!!

This Is My Son

2008-12-03T22:07:00.006-05:00

He put the cheese pieces in his mouth and announced "I'm a beaver!"

Then he ran around for about 10 minutes doing this:

You have to admire the creativity!

Simple Comforts

2008-12-02T21:46:00.002-05:00

I have just collapsed onto the couch after another busy day. I find these days that I spend a lot of time thinking about the things I didn't accomplish...I didn't make all the Thanksgiving left-overs casseroles I had planned, another day went by without cleaning off my desk, my work To Do list continues to grow, and the first snow came before I got around to preparing the garden for winter.

Tonight I'm taking a different approach. I'm enjoying a few simple things I did accomplish. After putting three bags of fresh turkey stock in the freezer I admired the dozen or so zucchini muffins, made from zucchinis I grew, along with several bags of tomatoes grown by me. And while I may not have made the casseroles, I have lots of stock for many bowls of soup some day in the future when I have the time. And the left-over turkey is in the freezer too, so those casseroles still have hopes for future meal satisfaction.

It's comforting to know I do accomplish a lot, with a little help from the freezer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T12:50:00.002-05:00

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and takes some time to reflect on all you are thankful for.

For those of you who enjoy interesting tidbits and trivia, I heard a fun story on NPR this morning about why we call turkeys, turkey. Apparently this bird, native only to North America, gets its name from far away. Don't you think it's time the turkey got an American name? I'd love to hear any ideas! To read or listen to the full story click here.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-14T22:21:00.004-05:00

Here are some late Halloween pictures. Cooper and I made a last minute trip to Michigan for the Halloween weekend. Cooper loved his costume (conceptualized by me, created by Erik. Check out Flickr for some better shots.). He made it to about 6 houses trick-or-treating before losing interest, preferring to watch the other kids in their costumes and blow bubbles. The weather was unseasonably warm which made for a great night for everyone.

Ready to go with Grampa

Heading down the driveway

The first stop was at the Sweeney's,

my parents' next-door neighbors.
They had quite a set up with a table, chairs,
firepit, and wine.
What a way to give out the candy!

Off to the next house!

Sampling the loot and blowing bubbles with Gramma.

Reilly (dressed at Mark Phelps) and Cooper

Reilly and Jack (dressed as a commando,

which he thought was a strange name for his
costume because it sounds like he isn't
wearing any underwear)

The three cousins (and one proud Grampa)