Return to the Blog

Two months and one cross country move later, I return to my blog. If you are on facebook, you've probably already seen these, but I thought I'd share Pancake Day here, too, since it was such a wonderful morning. Nora had literally been dreaming of Jason making pancakes so she decided that he would become the pancake chef, and he did. His first batch was pretty great and I'm looking forward to future pancake days. Part of Nora's decree included wearing these Daughter and Daddy matching Steak and Shake hats. It's Nora's favorite restaurant, but really, there's not much for Jason there.




This is the pantry, or what Nora calls the Little Kitchen, and right now it' s my favorite part of the house. That could have something to do with there being no boxes there.

Jason's reptilian like pattern on his arm is from Nora playing tattoo parlor. We've tried to discourage this since it is difficult to wash off (Crayola lies about the washable nature of their washable crayons).



We are settling in okay. Nora is having the hardest time, since we just want to unpack boxes and run to Ikea and do other boring things. She's seen a lot of TV the past couple of weeks. We have tried to get across the street to the park everyday (we didn't make it today) or out someplace at least. Unfortunately, the Dinosaur Footprints park was not as exciting as we hyped it to be. Fossilized dino footprints aren't that obvious to the untrained eye and there was no dinosaur recreation which would have made her happy. I think we've got to spend a day this week, doing everything she wants to do to balance it out. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh have I mentioned that it's been hot here this week? 90+ degrees. And we have no AC.

Holiday Roundup

We survived the rush of Christmas week. Between Nora's Birthday and assorted family get-togethers it was a bit of a whirl. Here's a few photos to give you the gist:

Update

Saturday I had one of the most productive days of this fall. I managed to:
1. hem my jeans that have been waiting for over 2 months and I used this cool method I'd never heard of, but worked quite well.
2. make two pans of spanikopita for Thanksgiving.
3. Nora and I decorated hand turkeys and construction paper leaves to decorate the table on Thursday (I even traced real leaves - pin oak, tulip and maple - I feel so Martha)
4. sorted and resold a stack of Nora's clothes back to Kangaroo Kids where I got $30 in store credit, which I promptly spent. The rest of her old clothes went to Alana, my cousin's little girl.
5. We went to see Todd and Natascha and had a wonderful time catching up and planning for a crafty girls day.

I cannot believe I got that all done. Of course I've done nothing since then, although we did see my Aunt & Uncle and Nora went horseback riding again with Ellen. Maybe next time I'll get up on a horse too.

In other news, we took Nora to the allergist this morning. We got good news and bad news. On the good front, Nora was able to get a flu shot and it looks like she is non-reactive to peanuts, so we get to do an oral test with those. On the bad front, she is still very reactive and shows no progress towards outgrowing her egg and milk allergies. She is also allergic to almonds which sort of rules out all other tree nuts since they are usually processed together. We plan to do an oral test with her this weekend with peanut butter and I'm really hoping all goes well. It is very daunting to give your child something to eat that has the potential to make her very sick. Wish us luck.

It's been a rough week

We lost Karl, Jason was disappointed in a promising job prospect and Nora said her goodbyes to the Sunshine Room and has graduated to the Red Room. But we also had some goodtimes too. We celebrated Nora's 3 1/2 mark and the coming of summer at the Zoo, we sweated and rode pink elephants at the Marine Homecoming with Aunt Linda, Leah and Mete, Friday night, and Nora had her first horseback ride thanks to Aunt Lynn and Ellen yesterday. Oh and I burned my scalp in the sun at the pool Saturday, but luckily that was all. I don't have pics of Nora up on Shadow, (I'm hoping Ellen will e-mail them to me from her camera), but I do have some shots of Jason and Nora on the Pink Elephants. Webster Community Days begin this week, so maybe they will be riding more amusements together, but honestly, I wouldn't count on it. Jason is a big chicken when it comes to rides.


Okay, these are left from the Merry Wives of Windsor, but I love this picture of Natascha.
Jason is always telling Nora "Get Down, Get Funky". See, she sometimes listens.
One of the hottest days of the year at the zoo.



Last day at the sunshine room - Nora gets a cake that everyone (even she) can eat. Unfortunately it isn't as tasty as the ones we make at home. Damn that no baked goods from home rule.

Nora eagerly awaits the Triad Marching Band. Well, not really, they don't have candy. But everyone else does and Nora gets lots of it. We all have blue tongues by the end of the night.

Amazingly, my timid daughter has insisted on riding the pink elephants. She stood for a full 15 minutes transfixed by their big blue eyes and gaping mouths, while we waited for Jason and Aunt Linda to join us after taking the chairs back to the car. Fortunately, Jason is ready to be a Daddy-O and is willing to board the monster with her.

Oh, I forgot to tell him, the Elephants go airborn too. Did I mention that Jason hates rides?

New Album Post

More Nora pictures are in the album at the right. Most of these are from Easter and they include two short videos. Enjoy!

Rainy Days

It has been so wet this spring, but finally we have some bright sunny days to make up for it. Just in case you forgot what it was like though, I've got some Nora pictures:

Trip Pictures

A few sights from Texas:


Texas was really dry - no bluebonnets but this cactus was nice.


Jason's grandmother at the old tree

Nora and I with Bonnie

A little bit unhappy about waking up, but bluebonnets make it better.

Fire! In Goliad.

Nora and I on the beach

Sleigh Ride

We took some video during the snow days and here's one of Grammy and Nora going down the front yard. Unfortunately no footage exists of Dad pulling Nora and Mom around while Mom yells "slow down!".

Mad for Matryoshka

The past year there's been an increasing number of Matryoshka items appearing in the craft world, especially Etsy. I predict that this will soon overtake the owl/bird popularity, especially in kids market. I actually quite like the little dolls. Someone told me that they symbolize fertility, which makes sense in a way, but in any case I think they are cute without all the representational baggage. Nora is into little creatures lately (the fox family has been a great hit) and likes to carry little animals and people around and tell them stories. So I've had my eye on several Matryoshka stuffies for Valentines Day. But really I can't afford the ones I liked so much, and I really wanted a pair (either mama/baby or big sister/little sister). So I figured I could make one myself - it's not like there's a lack of fabric in this combined house - both Mom and I are fabric hoarders. So I found a couple of rough patterns on line yesterday and proceeded. Here's the pattern I used for the larger doll (I made a few changes - mainly felt for the face) and the smaller doll I just free handed the pattern. I'm not totally happy with the final - I wish I had used pink for her cheeks and lips and I wish the pocket weren't so tight, but all it all, I'm satisfied. Maybe I'll make some more if Nora loves these two.


That pink floral fabric has been in my mother's stash since I was a baby. In fact, there is a little dress cut out of the fabric that she never sewed up for me. I think Nora is too big for it now, but I might still might make it up, since it's already cut and everything, maybe she can wear it as a top. I'm glad that some of the fabric has actually gotten used after all this time, even if it is less than 3 inches square. I also found a whole bunch of patterns from my childhood - some of them mom had used for making my clothes, and some were never cut. I'm debating trying a few of them out on Nora (we certainly have enough fabric) but I'm also a little concerned about how they might turn out - several involve set in sleeves and pin-tucks, and I'm not really known for my patience and precision in sewing. Given how much she adores dresses, I really should give it a try.

Sewing Continued

This week I finally got around to dealing with the window in Nora's room. Here's the curtains I "made". Actually it's a shower curtain that I cut down the middle and hemmed up. I really like the way it turned out and it works in the room.
Here's the pattern close up - yeah it's toile-y but Nora really likes birds.
This morning Nora astounded us by telling my dad there was a woodpecker outside, he looked and sure enough, it was. My girl knows her birds! One of my favorite things in Nora's room is this quilt that my mom's aunt made in the 60s or 70s. I really love it so much.
On of the things that makes is so great (in addition to all the retro fabrics and crazy quilt strips) is the fabulous fabric backing it-

SHEEP! All the better for counting when you want to go to sleep. Someday I hope to make a quilt as fabulous. The rest of Nora's room is still a work in progress.
She's got way too many toys, but some of them are really mine - like that FP boat and farm and the doll house was my mom's, then mine, and now Nora's.
She's also got too many books, just like her parents. She's talking to the fox family here in these photos, but I have no idea what she's whispering in their ears.

It Might Be 15 Degrees Outside, but the KC Hall was on FIRE!

We had a blast last night at the Farewell Tour for the Starlighters, my Uncle Bill's dance/wedding band who's last gig was 20 years ago. We got there around 6:30, and the place was absolutely packed. Thankfully, Ted and Linda had saved us a seat and Ted, who'd been standing in the beer line for 10 minuets already ($4.50 for a PITCHER of Bud Light), took our beer orders, we went with the pitcher. After a close call with the fish plates (they had already run out of slaw, and we got fish right under the wire - not really a big problem since there is now a pretty good Mexican kiosk inside the KC hall too) we settled in for what turned out to be a really fun night. Lynn and Ellen had clued us in that the band had practiced only 3 times prior to this evening, and they were pretty nervous. You sure couldn't tell once they got started. Amazingly, it appeared that 80% of the hall, did I mention it was packed?, was here to see the band, including Bill's Psychology class from SWIC - they even had shirts! The Starlighter's repertoire includes a mix of oldies, country and polkas and this crowd, which ranged in age from under 3 to 93, was really into it.

Nora had a great time on the dance floor, but often had to make sure she kept out of the way of the the serious dancers who were on their feet through just about every song. It made me really wish I actually knew how to dance, even a polka. One of the neatest things about the evening was the multi-generational makeup of the dance floor. The older folks put us all to shame (except for one fabulously nimble-footed teen-aged pair) and it makes me think that the Starlighters really need to consider this as the beginning of a reunion tour instead of their final performance.

Here's some shots of the night:

I give you THE STARLIGHTERS

My Uncle Bill, obscured by mike. I understand that there was a plan for multiple changes of headgear, but that the person in charge of wardrobe "forgot" to bring them.
Fans Uncle Ted and Aunt Linda joined us for fish


And on the dance floor:

Aunt Lynn and Ellen partnered Nora throughout the evening on the dance floor, they agree that Nora needs to take lessons from someone other than Jason, who could use some lessons himself. The table behind us was in agreement.
Nora and Aunt Lynn take a break and admire the drums

Jason and Nora get down
Nora leads Aunt Lynn back to the dance floor after getting some coaching in moves from her both of her Aunts.

The evening finale (for us) Smoke on the Water, notice the addition of shades, which were thankfully not entrusted to Wardrobe. While we were busy dancing it was reported that Bill took the power stance and performed the windmill twice (he also removed the shades for the sax solo - but maybe it was because he needed his glasses to read the music), BTW, those two in the foreground - the aforementioned teen dancing duo:
Nora and Aunt Lynn are feeling the Purple Haze

New Years Resolutions

I don't have any. Nor do I have a five year plan or even a one year plan. This may have something to do with playing too much Civilization at the warlord level. Or maybe it just is what it is. If I made New Year's resolutions, I should probably include one about blogging more, especially since due to Facebook, I now have more readers stopping by, at least for the moment.

I still don't know what I think about Facebook. Sometimes it makes me super-happy. Just seeing the interconnectedness of the Hendrix diaspora. And I enjoy the silliness of it as well. And the strange disconnect but also connect between ourselves as highschoolers, as college students and whatever we are now, I guess that would be adults. But I also sort of resent the minute to minuteness of it all too, that our lives are measured by the continually updated news board of what we are doing right now. And then there is this weird sense that we are somehow staying in touch through cheerful notices about our fandom or tossing philosophers about.

Anyway, in an effort to keep you all apraised of our activities, here's what we've really been up to (when we're not making virtual buttons with My Pretty Pony Newborns on them):

This week, Jason went back to teaching classes, thus ending his long winter break. We broke down and subscribed to super duper soccer dish tv, so now there is even more soccer in our lives than before. And lots of Monk. And Dr Who - not that we watch these things, we just record them. There is only 5 hours left, we've got to get cracking. And he bought a new winter coat with a velvet collar (so very unexpected).

Nora went back to pre-school after taking a day off to finally purge the stomach virus that has been plaguing her. Now she is staying there later too and is (happily for her parents) seeming to really enjoy being there. Or is at least no longer really upset when we go. She is still touch and go on this potty learning thing. Some days are all about the big girl pants and other days we could care less. Since Christmas, we've been receiving phonecalls from Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus on Nora's red phone. They are all on at once, not sure if it's a conference call, three-way, or if everyone is just bunched up around the phone. This is my mother's doing, but I think I'm okay with it for right now.

I've been back at work for the past week, and while nothing new is happening, I did get to meet up with the group of women I've been working closely with for the past 4 years (some of them for longer). We all belong to different programs in the area and externally we couldn't be more different (we span at least 40 years in age, are various races and marital statuses, some of us wear suits and heels others (me) sloutch on by in cords and tees, some of us are moms, some are grandmoms and moms and some are moms to pets, etc) and we've been meeting monthly as a committee over this time and we've done some really amazing stuff around literacy and advocacy and student leadership and all sorts of things. I've realized that I've really come to appeciate our value on the process as well as the product and the complete lack of ego, turf, and grandstanding that too often happens in meetings that are supposed to be about getting something done. Over the years we've learned so much about our lives outside of work and the stresses that drain us at work and figured out how to keep ourselves and our little group going and moving and building. It's nice, and I just thought I'd share.

I started swimming again, and hopefully I'll keep with it since it's relaxing and exercise (amazing that it can be both) and those are both good things.

Karl remains the ever loyal dog he's always been, but is starting to show his age - which would be somewhere between 13 and 14 years. His eyes are starting to cloud over with cateracts and he's not hearing as well as he used to, but he still tries to give the squirrels a run for their money.

My parents are in Florida so the kitchen wars have stalled right now, but look for a return to the battle of the toaster oven when they get back. We are also strangly aware of the lottery right now.

This weekend is the farewell tour of the Starlighters at the Maryville KC Hall. I have to say I'm excited about going.

Hmmm, that sort of covers the updates.

Cakes, Cookies and Presents

For Nora's birthday we had some friends and family over and I made cakes. Two to be exact. I had planned on making cupcakes, but then I saw this star form pan on super-duper clearance and then there was the problem of locating the large cupcake tins (with the combined household, we have enough tins to make over 7 dozen mini-muffins without re-using a tin, but my regular sized muffin tins are packed and Mom can't find hers), so it turned out to be two, two layer star cakes. One was chocolate with pink icing and the other coconut with white coconut icing. I adapted Isa's chocolate cupcakes and "buttercream" icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and her Coconut Heaven cupcakes and icing from Vegan with a Vengeance. I even broke out the pastry bags and icing tips for my first ever attemp at cake decorating. It wasn't Martha Stewart, but Nora was really happy as was I. Here's a really bad picture of a partial coconut cake and the pink cake after a star point was cut off. (I have no idea why I don't have a picture of just the cakes).
She had a really great time and everyone brought her too many wonderful presents. One of the many downsides of having a birthday right before Christmas is that all of your loot comes in one fell swoop, and it's hard to not get overwhelmed. On the upside, Jason and I will probably always be off for her birthday and we'll do our best to make sure her day isn't lost in the big holiday hubbub.

The Saturday before, Nora, Laura, Grammy and I made cookies - here Nora and I are working on the gingerbread cutouts (we used a doctored up recipe from Vegan Lunchbox) she really loved decorating them BEFORE they went into the oven (so, yes, they are safe to eat despite a three year old's hands being on them). She also loved tasting the dough, sprinkles, red hots, and sanding sugars as well as the finished product. We also made the Lemony Cutout cookies from Vegan With A Vengeance, but we just dropped them, flattened them and added sprinkles.

Christmas meant even more presents to open, including the whole Santa mythology which continues in our house thanks to Dad and I (Mom and Jason are really not into it).
Santa, with the help of Elves, Todd and Natascha who made a trip to Ikea, brought this fabulous easel. It's been one of the most popular gifts this year:
Along with Steve, Barbie's dog who's been born with a plastic heart on his abdomen and came with a complete pink and purple vet kit (thanks Mom). I don't know why Nora named him Steve. Lastly, I have my Aunt to thank again for this:
This is Penny. And actually I belive my cousin Ellen might be the responsible party, because believe it or not, this is a My Pretty Pony Newborn. Yes, I know it's blue, its eyes are too big (this is a big selling point with Nora) and it's hair is rainbow colored and it has a pacifier, but nevertheless its a horse and now its also beloved and must sleep with us. Her ears are not very nice to roll over on, but I think Penny is here to stay.