A Few Words on Gratitude

I believe it's time to discard the pumpkins when they catch their first snow. But, a certain little man refused to go to bed last night, so before we move those pumpkins to the compost bin and ourselves onto the Christmas season, humor me as I take a few minutes to write what I meant to post last night.

During the Thanksgiving season, I can't help but notice all the preparations happening around me (or by me and the members of my own household): the stocked carts of groceries; the composing of wish lists and lines of souls, braver than I, lined up outside of stores on the eve of Black Friday; cars being serviced and prepped for snow (okay, I haven't seen this done at our house, but I have thought about it). Thanksgiving, at times, also allows us to delight in abundance as we stuff ourselves with too much turkey and multiple desserts that look too good to pass us, and give thanks for those "scrapbook moments" - the new baby, that award at work, or family traveling from far and wide to be in the same room at once.

But, last night, during our last few hours of November, I found myself curled up on the couch with a sleepless boy and and ball of yarn, thinking about pizza sauce. Yes, pizza sauce. Monday night, I had planned on making a dish we call Tamale Pie. But somewhere along the way, I got this crazy notion that I might take a shower. I took both kids and a small pile of toys into the bathroom and told them they could play while I showered. I thought things were going swimmingly. In fact, if I had the ability to whistle what-so-ever, I would have been, right out of the shower and across the bathroom floor until I opened the closet door. Where I found Audrey, sprawled out on a pile of clothes, as if she had just raked them up into a huge jumping pile. Every shelf on Jason's side of the closet was clear, knocked to the floor. Ties, hats, shorts, and out-grown baby clothes that I had organized by size (well, somewhat) amassed from one corner to another. I was still refolding and sorting the mess when Jason let me know he was on his way home and asked about my plans for dinner. I told him that I planned to start making it after I finished reordering the closet. He offered to stop off for pizza on his drive home.

By the time he got home, that side of the closet was more organized than it's been in months (or since I began using those shelves for baby clothes storage). Jason dropped the pizza box onto the counter and I opened it to start plating dinner. That's when I saw the container of pizza sauce. The pizza usually comes with a container of garlic sauce, which I don't like. But I do like to eat my crusts and breadsticks with pizza sauce. Jason prefers cheese sauce. But there it was in the corner of the box, the garlic sauce swapped out for pizza sauce - a little moment of thoughtfulness. You won't see a picture of pizza sauce in my scrapbook (if I ever got around to finishing or beginning a scrapbook, that is), but perhaps, you should. Those little containers, and the thoughtfulness they stand for, make me smile every time. It's not quite the same as the blessing of a new baby. I'll grant you that. When everyone goes around the Thanksgiving table saying what they're thankful for, you're not going to get the same reaction from "pizza sauce" as you would for saying, "Aunt Rita being able to travel 1000 miles to be with us." (That is, if you have an Aunt Rita, if not, you might be better off saying pizza sauce, the looks you get will be just as odd). But sometimes, while calming a restless baby or preparing to enter a season known for joyous chaos, it's just as good to remember the little blessings. After all, what is life but a sum of all its little parts? So here's to pizza sauce and a season of Thanks followed by one of Joy. And, here's to you, and those little things that make you smile (even if it's the garlic sauce).

Avocado Blessings

Lately, we find ourselves a bit of a mixed bag. Christmas lights in 65-degree weather. Christmas lights on before Thanksgiving (the four-year-old, and four-year-old in the rest of us, can't help herself). Contemplating carving pumpkins the week of Thanksgiving (we never managed to work in that family pumpkin carving night before Halloween this year). And, avocados in late fall. Yes, it's not really the time for avocados. But we've been hoarding a little avocado at our house. Actually, I've been told he or she may be closer to the size of a turnip now, but we tend to grow our babies small (and we discovered in California that Nate likes avocados) so we have our minds set on avocados. And spring, when this little turnip will be joining us. (Right now, some of you are remembering all those days I missed writing posts in the last few months and things are becoming a little more clear - see, I did have an excuse).

We have been spending the last several months with one foot planted firmly in the present and the season, scents, tastes, and joys around us and one foot stepping forward, dreaming of spring and our family to come. But both feet are wearing shoes of gratitude, for the blessings of today and those of tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'll be back in a couple days.

Yesterday

Yesterday, we walked out the front door to be hugged by the balmy weather and get down to business: the business of hanging Christmas lights, planting tulip and crocus bulbs, and, ahem, sledding pumpkins (our little girl is a bit between seasons, not that our activities aren't confusing her even more). It was an afternoon for getting our hands dirty, watching Audrey race down the sidewalk on her bike, and daydreaming of the season to come while enjoying what felt like remnants of the season past. Little hands, little bulbs, both bursting with big potential just waiting to bloom.

Happy Halloween!

We have been squeezing all we can into, and out of, October, wringing that towel for every pumpkin-spiced drop we can get. The week has been full: welcoming a childhood friend and her family into our neighborhood; putting the finishing touches on Halloween costumes; and making plans for a certain soon-to-be-four-year-old's (really!?) birthday. And while I have some catching up to do in this space, tonight I'm going to spend the last hours of October thinking of the weekend past and its sweetness, inside and outside of those candy bags.




You might recognize Audrey's costume. I made these wings from a pile of leftover felt back in March with plans of giving them to Audrey as part of a birthday gift. Then, a couple months ago, she informed me that she wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween this year. Not one to stand in the way of a Halloween wish, she received the gift early. Saturday morning, I covered a headband with felt matching the wings, and attached antennae by covering some thick floral wire with felt and twisting it around the band before sewing some pink circles (with light green circles inside the front pieces) on top. The costume made her sing, literally. She fluttered around the house Saturday morning sporting the wings and singing a made up tune. It may have been the before-bedtime sugar, but she woke up singing this morning, and those butterfly wings found themselves making a second appearance in, ahem, church.




Nathan spent his first Halloween buzzing about in this costume (actually he spent it sleeping in the little red wagon while his sister dashed through the neighborhood), made from a black fleece that once belonged to my sister. The fleece found its way into a pile intended for Goodwill a few months ago, where it sat, because, good as my intentions might be, I just can't seem to make it to Goodwill. Once I began brainstorming warm Halloween costumes for Nate, that fleece got pulled back out (sorry, Goodwill), which may be my best rationalization for procrastination yet. The fleece gained a few yellow felt stripes and a pair of wings fashioned from floral wire and a pair of my pantyhose that had a run in them (yep, he's going to love knowing that when he's older). One stinger and a hat made from the same fleece later, and he was ready for his close up (or at least, running away from it). Two sweet winged creatures zooming around your house? Precious. One full bag of Halloween candy for a preschooler ready to devour it? Frightening. Two memorable costumes without paying a dime? Priceless.

Fall in a Hot Pocket

The weather may be reading spring (complete with its crazy storms), but my appetite only sees fall. Fall with its emphasis on meals meant to warm, decadence that nourishes. As the leaves turn I begin to daydream about steam rising off soups and food stuffed in all manners of speaking. So when I ran across this recipe for Chicken Pocket Pies, they seemed like the perfect meal to kick off this last week of October. The crust comes together in the food processor. The filling is creamy and rich (we filled ours with roasted turkey leftover from a turkey breast Jason made over the weekend instead of chicken). I was a fan. Jason said he liked the idea, but something about the dish was a bit too tangy for him. He's requesting that the next time I make them, I fill them using my own recipe for chicken pot pie filling. Done.

Weekend

Fall makes me want to fill my shopping cart with the magazines lining the grocery checkout stand - the ones with spreads of fall tables decorated with fall foliage, grumpy-looking gourds, and desserts that quite frankly, deserve their own season. I want to pour over pages of handmade wreaths and garland strung from book-pressed leaves and imagine how I could turn the house into a pumpkin-spiced, gourd-and-foliage-filled wonderland of gingerbread house proportions (spirit-wise, not size). But something happens here around fall - things get busy. The days before important birthdays and holidays dwindle as quickly as chocolate on your tongue. We are forced to prioritize. We get down to the business of simplifying. And, just as often as I imagine myself taking the children for a scavenger hunt through the woods to collect the perfect materials for an all-out fall crafting extravaganza, I find myself doing a little bit of this, instead:



Scouring for a recipe for homemade play dough (this one using paprika to color the play dough orange from FamilyFun's October 2009 edition).




Scooping out pumpkins to be brought to life by tiny carving hands and glowing tea lights.




Roasting the saved insides.



And taking some time out to enjoy the rare warm weather, and chance to rest, right before the tickling match ensues.

Maybe we'll get around to that wreath and garland - next year.

A Little Catching Up

My little sister made an improptu visit from California last week. Like most good surprises, it had me leaving the dishes, the laundry, even the camera (except for one day trip to the orchard with all the cousins) be while we let the other parts of life seep in and rush over us. This morning, my sister and nephew caught a flight back to the setting of their everydays, while the rest of us began to get back to ours. I have some catching up to do, here as well as at home. But not tonight. Tonight, I'm catching up on a little something else. Sleep.

Flowers for Audrey...and Ducks

I'm still catching up on a bit of computer time this week, which means it's Wednesday and I'm still posting about the weekend. But it would be a bit remiss of me to not include a few pictures of a little stroll we took on Saturday, because, well just look at those flowers, would you? Saturday we found ourselves downtown returning some ill-fitting shoes. Like any parents of an outdoorsy almost-four-year-old (sheesh!) we decided to take advantage of our surroundings (and the ridiculous summery weather) and dawdle along the very oddly-hued Kool-Aid red canal. Audrey soon made friends with a stoic woolly mammoth and some much more expressive (or at least mobile) goldfish. But her real attachment came when she found a row of black-eyed susans. Faster than a mama can say, those flowers don't belong to us, a sprig was plucked and popped into her hair Daisy-Head Mayzie style. Where they stayed. Until some ducks came along and she tore her sprig in half and tried to share (you can just make out the head of the flower cupped in her hand in the last photo). I thought I'd pass them along to you, just in case you're having a flowers-in-your-hair sort of Wednesday.

(As for the shirt she's wearing, I remember seeing my little sister wearing it in photos taken some twenty-something years ago).

And Now For Pumpkins

After a week of promises, we finally made it to the pumpkin patch. Last Friday. I was hoping for a fun trip, one that would suffice Audrey's mounting hopes. What we found was a little bit of magic. A fall day turned summer. One daddy home earlier than expected and along for the ride. Patches popping with orange bulbs everywhere we looked. A field of fuzzy weeds for the taking and touching (and storing by mom as little fingers busied themselves with pumpkin hunting). The chance to lend a hand when someone came up one caramel apple short for their little man. Daddy's strong hands to haul our bounty back to the wagon (really, how would I have managed that on my own?). Five perfectly unique pumpkins, one for each of us (even the dog), home and huddled in the lawn. Fall festivities now in swing. A perfect surprise party sort of a day, when I didn't even realize I wanted a celebration. Fall's magic, already brewing.

Making Me Smile Today

This random blue bloom, the first one of the, um, summer?

Then, as to not be outdone, I looked down and found that the lavender has begun sprouting.

And looking out the window to find this impromptu game of catch and first soccer lesson.

Have I mentioned I love this man? I do. He makes me (and a couple of kids I know) smile. I hope you're smiling today, too.

To The Trees

Today we spent some time among the trees - in their shade, under their leaves, on top of their branches. I pulled the red wagon along the dusty tracks, footprints of pick-up trucks past. Audrey filled our bag one Golden Delicious or Jonagold at a time, lingering in the twisted branches. Nathan, ahem, tasted the earth as only a babe will. We took in the afternoon, each bite, apple, and drop of shade sweet to the touch. We left, our wagon heaped with produce and smiling babes, sweetened by the sunshine and gifts of Fall.

Neither Here, Nor There

I began posting these pictures yesterday before the day fractured into runaway tangents, before the sun fell, and before Nathan decided that weeknights make for the best slumber parties. By the time I set about packing up the preschool lunch bag and setting the trash can on the curb for the morning pick-up, I had forgotten that I had ever turned the computer on.

We have been chasing the days. These are the sort of days that call to be chased - sweater mornings and tank top afternoons. The crispness of fall with one last summer tease. We've been acting accordingly, mixing our seasons. Tuesday morning we made a summery lemon angel food cake before putting wheels to pavement and taking in the fall scenery en route to see all the grandparents. Yesterday, we took a morning walk along a gravel trail in a nature park, while the path was still shaded and the air still cool. We let nature entertain us with her show - a world in transition, one season slowly letting go and another about to become.

ABC's: Pipes, Swings, Leaves

We got a bit creative with the alphabet yesterday. Or, more accurately, I got a little creative with the alphabet. We met up with a few friends at the park with our cameras to look for letters hidden around us in nature and architecture. Audrey only recognizes a couple of letters, so I wasn't quite sure how this activity would go. It went something like this: we got to the park; Audrey discovered her first merry-go-round; I think it's true love. So while she busied herself running as fast as she could to propel the other kids on the merry-go-round (the other mothers laughing because she was the smallest child in the group of 4 or 5 and me missing my photo opportunity due to the sheer awe of watching her), I searched the park with my camera. Here are a few of my finds:

U

M

E

T

W

O

For those of you looking for a hidden message, all I can come up with for you is U + ME = TWO. If I could find enough letters, I think there are some fun teaching tools to be made and projects to be done. We might have to take our letter hunt downtown. In the meantime, here's to the all the things to be seen, if only we take a moment to look.