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Summertime
08.25.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Summertime
Toddler toes, toddler feet…
In a toddler sized creek.
A perfect way to spend a day.
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The Blackberry Days of Summer
08.24.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on The Blackberry Days of SummerA few days ago Jude woke up with the wish, NO, make that the NEED to go blackberry picking so we could make a blackberry pie. We are all for getting that kid to eat fruits, vegetables and to try new things, so we loaded up the kids, washed the pails, and set out to find a blackberry patch that would make Briar Fox teem with jealousy.
Finding the patch was more difficult than we expected. We don’t have very many patches in our hood, so we actually had to drive quite a bit to find some. Most blackberries around here seem to be on private property, and while I’m sure most homeowners wouldn’t mind us picking them, it feels weird to wander uninvited in someone else’s yard! We finally found one near my school, under some power lines. We unloaded and headed out, picking berries for an hour or so until we had PLENTY of berries to make pies AND milkshakes!
Jude chirped and talked all day long about the delicious blackberry pie we were going to make. It was going to be so yummy and “dewisis”, we would cut it up ‘like a pizza’ and eat it all up, all gone. When the time came to make the pies, Jude had difficulty following directions (he added enough flour to the crust that we had to make three pie crusts instead and kept poking holes in the crust as I rolled it out). It wasn’t his fault, really, as we had neglected to give him a nap, but rest assured each of those pies has that special three year old ingredient that many call love. I call it spit. From licking his fingers so much. Gigi had the job of pinching the top crust to the bottom crust, and she did a lovely job with her sweet little second grade fingers.
Finally the pies were done. We placated ourselves with the milkshakes while we waited for the pie to cool and we could try it. Jude was busily dancing around the pies, still talking about how delicious it would be and how he would eat it all up.
He took a bite and promptly spat it back onto his plate. He looked at Bradley with a sour look and said, “I don yike backberry pie!” Then he was off and running. We made two pies that nobody wants to eat now. Even still, we had a super fun day, playing outside, baking, rolling dough. I might even say it was perfect.
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Cake Pops: A Review
08.20.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Cake Pops: A Review
So, I did it. You know, what all suburban moms who have blogs are required to do this summer – I made cake pops.
I am not an outsider to mulitstepped, overly cute, overly intensive baking adventures. In fact, when it comes to baking, I like a challenge. I like to make things cute and fancy. But these? These little beauties? Sheesh. I’ll probably never make them again, hence all the pictures of my one and only cake pop making adventure.
Not including bake time, they easily took three hours for me to complete. I THOUGHT that they would be a fun little thing to do with Gigi, but as we dipped our pops into the candy coating, the cake would fall off the stick, the coating would glob up on one side and harden while the other side would get nothing, just difficult for a seven year old. She gave up after three, which left me with the other 62 (yes, one package of cake makes about 65 pops, in case you are wondering) to decorate. And while I like looking at the pops, I am not a big fan of the way they taste. So, to spend that much time making something that I like to see but not eat just seems a bit silly to me.
So, my darlings, ENJOY them now, because once they’re gone, they won’t be back in the LJ house anytime soon. Unless they come from Starbucks! (wink)
*Gigi and Jude will get to enjoy them for several weeks. I bagged most of them up and put them in the freezer for school and zoo lunches.
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SLEEPOVER!
08.19.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on SLEEPOVER!Gigi has had a great summer. I’m not going to candy coat it – Disneyland, camping, playing, late nights, later mornings and neighborhood playdates. But what she has really wanted are schoolmate playdates. She wanted to have her girls over this summer for dress up, tea parties, barbies, babies, make believe, sprinklers and more. While we have always started out our summers with the best of intentions – playdates every week! – it is actually a lot harder to get her pals over here than I ever expected. As we have been calling around, and most people are busy, going here, visiting with others, camps and lessons keep most kids fairly occupied during the summer months. So when I called to ask if Peyton could come spend a night and a day and the answer was YES, Gigi was over the moon with joy.
Something about Peyton just clicks with Gigi. Peyton is strong willed, opinionated and fiery – in all the best ways. She is a great counterbalance to Gigi who has a tendency to walk the line like its a balance beam. Peyton encourages Gigi to try new things, to take risks in her play. Peyton is the kind of kid who makes things seem possible. It also helps that Peyton has no qualms about putting Jude into his place and can hold her own against him. They are very well matched!
As soon as Peyton arrived, the girls dashed upstairs to dress in their finest. I don’t think Peyton took the dress off again, except to sleep. Lipstick was worn for the entire visit, dress shopping in Gigi’s room actually happened, and a prom was thrown in Peyton’s honor. The princesses played outside with babies and in the play structure with the dollies AND a Star Wars helmet, light sabers and guns. I’m not sure what it is that they were playing, but some kind of game was fused together with those components.
I overheard Gigi saying that the night Peyton came over was the best part of summer, which means that this is definitely something we will have to repeat!
The Dress Store
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Calydalyrymple
08.18.11 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Calydalyrymple
Yesterday I took the pets to the vet on a hunch that something was amiss. Calvin has been breathing weird for a little while, he has been getting skinny even though he eats a ton and he’s been pottying inside the house for a little while now when we leave him inside overnight. It was an informative visit, but did not end with me feeling light and relieved, rather we had to hear some hard news about our little Calvin. Nine year old Martha, of course, is as healthy as a six year old pup, in case you were wondering.
Turns out he has hyperthyroidism, in fact he is at the end stages of hyperthyroidism. From what I could understand, his metabolism kicked into overdrive from his overactive thyroid (hence the increase in appetite but lack of weight gain), his heart started beating faster with the increased metabolism, and aging sped up. With the advance in age and faster heartbeat, his heart became stressed and he started retaining water. The fluid gathered around his heart and began to fill his lungs (thus the weird breathing), and it filled his lungs to the point where only a small portion of one lung is functioning, and that lung, that portion is vastly deformed now. He is on Lasix, a diuretic (hence the peeing inside), for now, while we await his blood results. But it did offer him some relief when he woke up today, his breathing is less labored. So now, we wait and watch, as our older cat, our first baby, crosses the bridge from middle age to old age and the end game begins.
To me, he’ll always be my little boy, out in the back yard in Bellingham, leaping four feet in the air to catch a crane fly. He’ll always be the boy who left me treasure in the form of dead rats on my bedroom floor during hot summer nights. My boy who curled himself around me when I was sick, sad or happy. For now, we offer him love, kindness and compassion, and hope that when the time does come for him to leave us, that he is filled with the love we have had for him for 11 years.
***And bonus for you if you noticed that our color scheme in our living room matches our cat. It is actually based on his coloring.
