Week 46: "Mommas Owies"

What's new?

Well, well, well, Week 46. You made this momma spit coffee through her nose and smile until that smile hurt. I am as proud as I am completely and totally surprised. I didn't see this one coming for a couple more years. And why not? I have encouraged my son to be observant and cognizant of the world around him; to map the beauty and the differences of his surroundings. And, regardless of my encouragement, he does these things better than I ever hoped to. For my skills as a true scientist, will always fall short of my preschooler.

The other day, as I was getting out of the shower, Henry pointed to me and said, quite in earnest: "momma's owies?" The look on his little face - The genuine concern for my well-being, priceless. Thinking that he was most likely talking about the large tattoo covering my entire back, or the medium-sized one covering my hip, or my large birthmark on my backside, I say, "no buddy, that's not an owie, that's just momma's painting." "No," he continues, "momma's OWIES." Hmmm, I think. "Come show me, little love," I say. "Show me where is owie." So over he marches, finger outstretched. And there he points. THERE. Right about at his height. "OH!" I say, "Well...(think fast), no that's not an owies, buddy, that's just momma's pee-pee." "Momma's pee-pee," he repeats, several times. He is satisfied with this. And apparently, somewhat relieved. After a time (he is playing with his trains in my room), he points again, "Momma's other owies!" This time, it's my boobs he is pointing to. "No, those are just momma's boobies." Okay. That one was easier. Either that, or he lost interest. 

Thomas and Percy and a cup full of goldfish crackers are much more interesting than my body parts. 

Just wait until Daddy comes home. Wouldn't I like to be a fly on the wall when they get to talkin':)

Week 45: Quality Time

Keeping it short and sweet this week. 

Plenty of Week 45 Newness to report, hailing from the great Pacific Northwest, 

of which I am not ready to leave...

• New local tea shop: Ruby Sue's Tea Shop (La Connor, WA) on a momma-daughter date with my Momma! Cute, local tea shoppe with a legitimate variety of really nice teas (which they seemed really knowledgeable of),  rather than posing as a tea shop and mostly selling over-priced, kitschy gift shop items like many do. 

• New Beer: Interurban IPA (Fremont Brewing Co). Shared a big bottle of this with my little brother to celebrate the arrival of his first baby and his amazing construction work on the restoration of his old house, just in time :) His sweet little baby, #7 of the nephews-only clan, has some of the longest fingers on a baby that I have ever seen, and he is already a self-soother and a seemingly patient little fellow, much like his mom and dad. Oh yeah, and the beer - Well, I am not much for IPAs because all I can taste is a bottle of perfume, but this one was well-received, sipped while watching a sleeping baby. Next time I have an IPA, I have decided there must also be a sleeping baby in the room.

• Old movies (with my Dad, of course): Stagecoach and Sargent York. Loved them both, especially Sargent York, which is a true and very sweet story of a hero who never had any intention of fulfilling such roles. Beautiful story. 

• New book - The Hit by David Baldacci: Gratuitous grocery store thriller of 2 snipers trying to outsmart each other and therefore kill each other. Entertaining...not necessarily award-winning literature, but the perfect book for 20 minute specks of reading time throughout the day :)  

Week 44: With and Without Time

What's new?

Week 44 was a memorable one, for so many reasons. I was racing against the clock, trying to get my Mom's blanket finished before we flew up to Washington. This project has been in the works for a while, evolving and growing with and without time, just like my Momma always did, in my eyes. I suppose it knew all along who it would be created for, which explains why it was such a cantankerous creature and why Amma's Grandson was suddenly so angelic all week long so I could finish it :) One morning, during the finishing process, I woke up at 4:30 and turned on AMC, and low and behold, The Grapes of Wrath was on! I had never seen this movie, and I was particularly excited to watch it because that is the next book on my pile. BEAUTIFUL story and well-done movie - I highly recommend seeing it, if you have not. Henry and I got up to my parents' house the day before Halloween, and I was so excited to take him trick-or-treating for the first time with some of the cousins. These little boys were so cute :) Henry dressed up as Curious George, and I was The Man With The Yellow Hat. However, we were still playing catch-up with the timezone change, and we passed out just as the festivities were getting underway! Next year...

The best treat of all was the arrival of my newest Nephew, baby Miles, on Halloween morning. My Sister-in-Law, Whitney was blessed with what was one of the easiest birthing stories I have ever heard (17 minutes of labor). It has been such an amazing feeling, seeing each of my 3 brothers bring sweet sons into the World, but seeing my babiest brother with his new youngling was a particularly memorable moment for this big sister.  

My Mom sent this blog to me a while back created by this writer who had collected a bunch of poems related to knitting and writing. The two for me are quite a similar process. I found this beautiful poem in her collection, though she did not have the complete piece on her blog, for some reason. At first, I read this and pictured an old woman, knitting because she had to knit as much as she had to breathe. Then you realize that she is not necessarily talking about her death, but Death as a facet of time. A memorable and inspirational find, and how appropriate as we celebrate new life, to reflect upon.

The Knitter 

By, Jackie Kay

I knit to keep death away

For hame will dae me.

On a day like this the fine mist

Is a dropped stitch across the sky.

I knit to hold a good yarn

For stories bide with me

On a night like this, by the peat fire;

I like a story with a herringbone twist.

But a yarn aye slips through your fingers.

And my small heart has shrunk with years.

I couldn’t measure the gravits, the gloves, the mittens,

The jerseys, the cuffs, the hose, the caps,

The cowls, the cravats, the cardigans,

The hems and facings over the years.

Beyond the sea wall, the waves unfurl.

I knitted through the wee stitched hours.

I knitted till my eyes filled with tears,

Till the dark sky filled with colour.

Every spare moment. Time was a ball of wool.

I knitted to keep my croft; knitted to save my life.

When my man was out at sea; I knitted the fishbone.

Three to the door, three to the fire.

The more I could knit; the more we could eat.

I knitted to mend my broken heart

When the sea took my man away, and by day

I knitted to keep the memories at bay.

I knitted my borders by the light of the fire

When the full moon in the sky was a fresh ball of yarn.

I knitted to begin again: Lay on, sweerie geng.

Takkin my makkin everywhere I gang.

Een and een. Twin pins. My good head.

A whole life of casting on, casting off

Like the North sea. I watch wave after wave,

plain and purl, casting on, casting off.

I watch the ferries coming back, going away.

Time is a loop stitch. I knit to keep death away.

Week 43: Being Fruitful

What's new?

I am MOMENTS away from completing a major crochet project. You know when you give a project a name, that it has taken over your life and spread its tendrils into the nerve center of your brain. Your children are eating toast for every meal (well, mine basically does anyway), you haven't cleaned or gone grocery shopping in 2 weeks. The house smells like pee and burned toast and you don't care. It. Must. Get. Finished. The reason, my creative fellows, is that you cannot be fruitful again until you have produced this thing. Being fruitful is important because that's how you get Joy. If you're not fruitful, you don't have Joy. And if you aren't producing, you can't be fruitful. I don't make the rules, people, but I do like to try new things. 

The newness of Week 43 was so awesome that I barely noticed the pee smell:

• First field trip. Henry's preschool class took a field trip to Lamborn Farm in Leavenworth, KS, and it was wonderful. A family-owned, small-farm who actually grows their own pumpkins (rather than have them shipped in, like all of the other farms with "pumpkin patches"), raises beef, sheep, and pigs and has a little hay maze for kids as well as a playground? Priceless. Plus, this farm has recently been put on the National Historic Register, which is very great for this family. This farm has been in existence since 1877! The kids had fun and were so adorable to hang out with for a couple of hours. It was also interesting to see Henry with his class for the first time. He is definitely that kid who they give jobs to, and I realized that is probably how they get him to transition from one activity to the next or to do anything, in general :) Give him a job. He takes it very seriously :) I keep saying that I need to do more of this, but I think that this needs to be more of a focus of our day now, rather than a cute little thing he does. You judgers out there who are thinking, "oh, but kids should play and have all play-based learning..." Meet my son. He likes working, this one. 

• New Children's Fiction. Steam Train, Dream Train (by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld), like it's predecessor, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, is ADORABLE, long-winded, and the perfect bedtime story, with lots of onomatopoeia and make-believe, as well as beautiful artwork. Henry gives this 5/5 stars. 

• New app!! Charity Miles - Have you heard of this wonderful fitness app? It is legitimate! A fairly new invention, you can run, bike, or walk for a number of fantastic charities of your choosing. The app lets you track via miles or time, and you start and stop the GPS when the workout is finished, which then reports the total on your behalf. I like it because it keeps track of your history, but I wish it would keep track of which charities you gave to as well (it only tracks distance or time). You can also create teams, which is how I found out about this (via the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Foundation). I was just telling Ted that I don't think I will ever be able to do a run again without using this app. Why would you?? It would be nice to know exactly how this works and how much money you are raising, but, I also believe in the Placebo Effect. In other words, even if this is totally bogus, when you dedicate something to a cause and meditate on it (your heart's intention), I believe that energy can only be used for good in the World. Like if you go around thinking, "I just ran 6 miles for Parkinson's research," and you keep doing stuff like that, at some point, that energy is going to be fruitful. And being fruitful creates Joy, which hopefully, eventually, generates awareness and healing and something tangible, though it may not help a person write actual, for real, grammatically correct sentences whilst blogging :)

• Fleece-lined running tights. Um. Are you serious? 100/5 stars for Sugoi running apparel. How I have lived in KS without these, ever, is beyond me. I recommend them for runs >30 degrees F, with wind or without. They are breathable, so you can't overheat. I basically want to marry them. They weren't cheap, but still less than a gym membership.

Week 42: A Jolly Good Time

What's new?

"Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living. For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish." 

-Louis P. De Gouy, "The Soup Book" (1949)

Thank you, to my friend Emily, for the wonderful butternut squash recipes AND for harping on me about getting a slow-cooker, in Week 42! I have used it twice already, and I just adore this kitchen gadget. I ended up getting the large one with the ceramic insert, which is cool because I can make big batches of freeze-ahead meals or a pot roast, if I choose. It's all dangerous and a huge timesaver. This one also came with a dip warmer insert, which Ted will love for his queso habit. Since I am deliberately meat-free 3 nights a week now ("deliberate" implies that I am talking about legitimate, nutritious vegetarian food, not chips and salsa because I was lazy), the first slow-cooker recipe I tried was the coconut-butternut crockpot soup recipe from Superhealthykids.com. I basically used this recipe as more of an inspirational springboard because I ended up using an acorn squash rather than a sweet potato, adding 2 cups of baby portabella mushrooms, an apple, garlic, 2 TBS more of cumin, cinnamon, lots of black pepper, and I omitted coconut flakes (though I did use lite coconut milk). The end product was extremely rich and earthy, with more of a cream-of-mushroom meets butternut squash and cumin flavor to it than anything. 5/5 stars from this mushroom fan, and if you've always wanted to be a mushroom lover but don't like the texture, I recommend them this way (crockpot + puree = soup). This made about 12 servings. 

Other Week 42 Newness:

• New beer! I haven't tried a new beer in so long! The sadness! And, to make matters even worse, my favorite kind of beer is a good porter, which I have not had in about 1.5 years. It's one of those things...I guess you could say "trigger food" although beer isn't really a food...But it's one of those things that used to be a larger part of my life when I was chubby, much like a lot of homemade yeast breads and pasta and rich cheeses :) mmmm....rich cheeses.....Cutthroat Porter from Odell Brewing Co out of Ft Collins (CO) was good! I thought it had a very strong coffee aftertaste, which I like, but it wasn't as sweet as some of the more chocolaty porters, if you happen to have a preference. I would have it again, though it is nowhere close to replacing my 1st favorite (Mac and Jacks Porter, Redmond, WA) or 2nd favorite (Black Butte Porter, Bend, OR). I forget how expensive some things like this are here in KS (craft brews). Pacific Northwesterners are spoiled. That's all there is to it.

• Wonderscope Children's Museum. I liked it okay, but it wasn't as neat as some of the other museums and discovery/learning centers we have been to in Kansas and Missouri. Henry had a GREAT time, but I think my bottom-line rating for this place is, I am glad we checked this off of our list, but we won't go back unless we are in the area of Shawnee, KS :) I am sure that if we lived there, we would love it. However, if I am going to drive that far, I would just as soon drive to the Kansas Children's Discovery Center out in Lawrence, KS or the Patee House Museum up in St Joseph, MO or the Overland Park Botanical Gardens or Ernie Miller Nature Center...We have been so spoiled with amazing learning opportunities in our midst, and I love exploring them all with Henry! 3/5 stars for Wonderscope :) 

Week 41: Some Fun Yummies

What's new?

In Week 41, Henry and I wanted to focus on re-building our immune systems with lots of warm, sticky vegetables and colorful foods, fish, nuts, and green smoothies. What a perfect opportunity, we thought, to try out a new recipe from Skinnytaste.com, Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls! We also decided to share some with our neighbors, after finding out our entire neighborhood had Strep. This was a delicious dish, and it was very easy to make (and inexpensive). I think I could eat this every day. Things I did differently than the recipe: Whole milk ricotta instead of lowfat; red onion instead of shallot; used about 1/3 more butternut squash; added cinnamon, oregano, and lots of black pepper to ricotta mixture; sprinkled a little cheddar cheese on top before serving :) Okay, so my version wasn't very skinny. But I don't believe in lowfat ricotta. It's against my religion. 5/5 stars.

In addition, we received Henry's Scholastic book order from school, and in that order was another Jane Yolen goodie, How Do Dinosaurs Say I'm Mad (by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague). We like books about emotions around here, and this was so much fun. I am definitely going to add this to my list of suggested deployment resources for children. We also got No More Hitting (by Maria Mayson), which also deals with the subject of acting out, but in a different way. Yolen accepts that Dinosaurs are going to be mad sometimes, and that's totally fine, but you need to go take a time out and a deep breath instead of throwing, hitting, yelling, etc. Mayson's book deals with acting out (in this case, hitting) by redirecting the anger entirely in a physical way: dancing. So anytime tiger cub wants to hit someone, he instead does a little dance, and pretty soon he feels better and doesn't want to hit anyone. I think both books are wonderful, and Henry LOVES all of Yolen's books. No More Hitting is super cute, just a teensy bit long-winded for the age-range of the audience. I usually shorten it up a bit when we read it, but I would recommend both to just about any youngling who needs a reminder to use their words :)  

Other Newness for Week 41:

• I received good news regarding the arrival of my Husband, which may or may not be a good chunk of days earlier than expected :) But I am not letting myself get TOO excited about it until the day I am actually seeing him with my own eyes.

• Began a new, scaled-back running routine, which incorporates equal parts yoga and running. The goal is to focus on moderation (for reals this time) and get myself out of that binge runner's mentality that I think I have had my entire life. I can't be approaching 37 and still in this mentality that I can run 18 miles and go eat like crap the entire weekend afterwards. And, approaching 37 means, for the first time, that weight isn't the issue anymore; it's stuff like blood pressure and arthritis and warding off dementia :)

Week 40: Tomatoes, Prayers, and a Love Story

Week 40 brought strep throat to Henry and I. He actually had it at the end of Week 39 and is over it already, whereas I am just now in the thick of it. Thus, Week 40 was spent mostly on the couch, usually cuddling, and frequently watching television. Not being able to talk to my son has been difficult, and I have been in excruciating pain. I wonder if he was in this much pain, or if my adult body is just no comparison to his amazing pre-school aged one? Do any of us truly realize how amazing kids of this age are until we become stewards of them? The other night, during our bedtime prayers, he thanked God for "falling down, getting up, and for kisses and for stars...". I have no idea where that came from except that earlier that day, he tripped and fell while we were outside, playing. What a beautiful prayer just for life in general. Orated by a 3-year old.

Newness for Week 40: 

• Henry has read all of his books to me. I had no idea he had that many books completely memorized. 

• We have officially moved the puzzle station to the dining room table, which we rarely use anyway.

• I watched an entire movie from beginning to end in one sitting that wasn't made by Pixar: Les Miserables. I have never seen this - Any version! Weird, right? What a story of true love, from beginning to end. I don't think a greater love story has ever existed.

• Tried a yummy new smoothie recipe from Green Smoothie Revolution (Victoria Boutenko's recipe): 1 bunch dandelion greens + 4 Roma tomatoes (I used 3 vine tomatoes since that's what was in my fridge) + 3 cups water. This was good. I also added garlic since I'm sick, so it ended up being like a room temperature soup. As weird as it sounds, it was extremely satisfying. And besides Cream of Wheat and canned peaches, the only thing that tastes good.