Walking Through a Nursery Wonderland

Our adventures this weekend included a trip to the nursery where Audrey's Grammy works. While there, we found a few expected things to explore and some not so expected, like the crate of kittens! We didn't bring one home, but we did give them lots of love while we were there.

Audrey also found a watering can, as adept at holding a collection of rocks and fallen flower petals as water.

And the pond, good for dipping toes...

and hands.

Oh, and there were plants and flowers, too. But more on that tomorrow.

(Toes in the pond pic by Jason.)

For Posterity's Sake: Week in Review 23

Audrey taking a dancing break during a waffle-making session yesterday.



Please excuse my Week in Review tardiness this week. I have spent most of my Audrey-free/Audrey-happily-occupied-with-play-doh moments this weekend putting the finishing touches on a long-overdue gift (shocking, I know). The gift finished (more on that later this week), I'm ready to get down to some week-end reminiscing.



On Tuesday as I made dinner, Audrey went outside with her Dad to check on the garden. We have two small saplings planted in pots sitting on the back porch. Due to the recent rain, these pots are rather muddy, making them even more attractive to our outdoorsy girl. Audrey had already been sent inside once for not obeying her Daddy (who was attempting to keep her clean before dinner) when he told her to stay out of them. Just out the door with fingers reaching straight for one of the pots, Jason warned, "Audrey!" Straightening up quickly, she said, "No mud. Just looking."


Wednesday, Audrey came to sleep in our room during a thunderstorm. In the morning, I was checking messages on my phone before she got up. When she did wake up, her movements knocked my phone on the floor. Hearing a thud, she said, "Did you knock something over?" I said no. She looked at me again. "Did you throw a book?" (I have been wondering ever since just when she's seen me throw a book).


Wednesday night, Audrey began whining and spitting at the dinner table. We told her that until she stopped, she couldn't get out of her booster seat. She tried to appeal to Jason, who was clearly standing his ground. When she realized she wasn't getting anywhere with him, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, come on!"


Jason calls Audrey his "little pancake." Thursday morning as we were playing she said, "Are you my pancake?" I guess we all need to have our own little pancake.


When Audrey wants to do something and I tell her that we can't today, such as go to the zoo, she often replies, "zoo closed." This week, she has been going through a laundry list of people she wants to see: her Grammy, her Papaw, her Mamaw, her aunt, her Grammy's cat. On Friday, she was going through the list again, and as I told her that Grammy was at work or Papaw was out of town, she would say, "Grammy is closed. Papaw is closed. Mr. T (the cat) is closed." Luckily, everyone was open on Saturday.


Jason has been teaching Audrey that he is a man, Mama is a woman, and she is a little girl. While eating waffles yesterday morning, she looked at me and said, "Daddy is a little boy in a big man." Yes. Yes, he is, and we wouldn't have him any other way.


Thursday night we took a break from the kitchen and went out to eat. When we left the restaurant, I set my to-go cup on the hood of our car while I strapped Audrey in her car seat. As I buckled her in, Audrey said, "Mama, don't forget your cup, ok?" I must admit, even though Audrey hasn't witnessed it yet, I have been prone to forget things on the hood of my car. One incident in particular springs to mind. I was in high school, as was my older sister. We had just spent a rough morning together, as two teenage girls sharing a bathroom are prone to do from time to time. Running late, wrapping a fresh-from-the-toaster Pop-Tart in a napkin and grabbing my bag, I hurried outside, where we continued our morning fuming as I tossed my bag into the car. My sister backed out of the driveway, put the car in drive, and pushed down hard on the accelerator. A papery rectangle flew off the hood of the car to our right. "What was that?" my sister yelled. In the most dramatic voice I could muster, I yelled, "That was my breakfast!" And, that ended our morning argument, as flying Pop-Tarts are prone to do.


I find it amazing that little ones come into our lives with gifts that compliment our deficiencies. My little sister was born with this incredible internal GPS. My mother (or myself, for that matter) was not. I remember my little sister often directing her from the backseat of the car, once guiding her perfectly to a favorite restaurant forty minutes from our house. I think she was five or six. The running joke was the after my sister left for college, we were certain my mom would be left driving aimlessly about lost. In reality, she bought herself a GPS. I have a feeling that my little one will serve as a talking reminder list for her forgetful mama for years to come.


I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend, that the favorite people in your lives have all been open to see you, and that your lives have been filled by people whose gifts make you stronger and your days a little lighter. Off to the garden now, with my little boy in a big man and his little pancake...

Birthday Apron

We just got back from a birthday party. I, of course, just put the finishing touches on the gift last night. For her birthday last year, Audrey was given an adorable handmade apron and felt cookies to use with her play kitchen. She loves them and I appreciate the thought and work that went into a gift that is not only creative itself, but promotes creativity in my daughter as well. The apron never made it to the play kitchen, finding a spot in our real kitchen, instead. Every time I get ready to bake, Audrey grabs her apron and requests to lend a hand. I am happy to oblige.




Inspired by that gift, I got to work on a gift for our neighbor. I used Audrey's apron (the green one in the picture above) as my pattern by tucking in the ribbon ties, folding it in half, and pinning it to our chosen fabric (leftover lavender mix-matched fabric from curtains and other projects I made for Audrey's room when we moved into our house that seemed just right for the girly girl down the street). I measured an extra 1/2" around the apron to allot for seam allowances.




Here is Audrey trying on the finished project for me. I decided to add a pocket to the front, just because I liked one there. Then I decided to make it reversible. After all, it is a 3-year-old's prerogative to change her mind. And, any good apron should have the front side stained beyond recognition in no time, which means two fronts can't hurt. Making the apron reversible actually made it rather simple to sew and gave it a clean line.

I finished all the edges by serging them first. Then I ironed the pocket edges down 1/2" on all sides before top-sitching the top of the pocket. The pockets were sewn onto the apron "fronts" first. Then I matched up the apron pieces, right sides together. I sewed the fronts together, leaving a 3/4" space on each side (and the neck piece) open so I could slip my grosgrain ribbons ties through the openings. I turned the apron right-sides out using the open neck line. I slipped the ribbons into the side openings, turned and pressed the neckline down 1/2" around and attached one side of a length of ribbon at each side of the neck, creating a "U" shape, which the wearer can slip over her head. Then I top-stitched 1/4" all the way around the apron, going over the ribbons multiple times to reinforce them for some wear-and-tear. My finishing touch was serging the end of the ribbons before tucking them under and stitching them in place (something I didn't think to do until I saw the ribbon unraveling a bit).

Finally, it was off to the bookstore to find a kid-friendly cookbook to finish off our in-the-nick-of-time birthday gift. I have to say, I love it so much, I might just have to make another for Audrey. I think she needs one for the playroom and the kitchen.

Outside the Window

Two of these little guys seem to be rather drawn to our rosebushes. Audrey wants to "touch" them. Rationalizing with a two-year-old as to why this may not be the best course of action doesn't squelch her desire or lead her to believe that her goal is any less attainable. If only we could all remain so hopefully determined...

Let's Dish

Many of our meals are one-dish wonders: soups, chicken pot pies, pasta dishes, Mexican concoctions built in one big casserole dish, salads topped with grilled chicken - meals that we might serve with a loaf of bread if we're feeling energetic. When we venture away from our one-dish happy place, we tend to get a little side-dish redundant: mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, red potatoes baked in herbs and olive oil (yes, we'd get along quite nicely in Ireland or Idaho), corn on the cob.


I try to keep my eyes open for new side dishes that are simple and can appease a picky-eater "waiter, I'll take the potatoes" appetite. This week I ran across this Simple Cauliflower Recipe. So easy, with five variations, it was definitely worth a shot (we even had over half a head of cauliflower in the crisper leftover from a veggie tray). You prepare a skillet by heating a couple glubs of olive oil over medium heat. The cauliflower gets chopped into tiny bite-size "trees" that brown up beautifully in the olive oil. Once browned on both sides (a feat that takes a whole of six minutes) throw in the extras from the variation of your choice. We tried the garlic, lemon zest, sea salt, Parmesan cheese version (it also called for chives, but we didn't have those on hand). With a home-cooked smell that wafted into the backyard and brought Jason in for dinner without prompting, and done before I could set the table and say, "honey, can you check the chicken on the grill," this seemed like a winner out of the gate. And it was. Warm and nutty with a bit of a crunch, it won everyone over, except the two-year-old who has better things to do than eat, like play. I vaguely remember that feeling. It passed.

For Posterity's Sake: Week in Review 22

Daddy lending a hand helping Audrey decorate a bag at a kid's carnival over the weekend.

I had a sweet surprise this weekend. Jason had started to dance me around the kitchen when I remembered I hadn't blogged yet. "I'll do it," he said, and took a seat next to my laptop. As Jason blogged, I took a knitting break to work on a hat. I loved being able to read his perspective of the week for a change. Now here are just a few Audrey-isms from last week that I want to write down before I forget:

On Sunday we ran up to Jason's office so he could get a little work done. We decided to eat lunch while we were up there. I thought I remembered a particular restaurant, which sounded really good to me that day, being close by. Jason drove and we unsuccessfully searched for the restaurant while discussing other restaurants that we could eat at, instead. Audrey, sensing that things weren't going quite as I had planned, said, "Mama, you want to drive?"

On Tuesday we made a grocery store run. There were several items on my list and Audrey had been pretty patient during our search. I thought we had grabbed the last item and made the mistake of telling her we were headed home as I pushed the cart to the check-out. At the counter, I realized a package of cheese was torn open. I wheeled the cart around to get a new one and she began yelling, "No! No! Go home! Go home!" When we got back to the check-out with the new cheese, I realized I had forgotten to put an item on our list. I turned back around. Audrey changed from words to full-out horror-movie-audition screaming, at which point I turned into a Supermarket Sweep contestant racing through the aisles. Lesson learned: don't tell her we're headed home until we're in the parking lot.

Wednesday, she leaned into me and said, "You're beautiful." Of course, she had a vice grip on the necklace I was wearing (a gift from her father on the day she was born), which is very beautiful. So, I don't know to which one of us the comment was intended.

Later that day, after some typical toddler misbehaving, I was lecturing about the importance of obeying the rules. Trying to take a new approach, I used a favorite cartoon of hers as an analogy. In this cartoon, Buzby the Bee gets the entire garden in trouble when he doesn't obey the garden rules, letting a dangerous bull frog into the garden. I reminded her of the cartoon and how it was important for Buzby to follow the rules to keep everyone safe. I told her it was important for her to follow the rules, too, and that not following the rules would get her in trouble. When I finished she said, "I can't get in the movie. I'm too big."

Thursday, she was being her normal self. "Audrey, you're so cute," I couldn't help but say. She looked at me and said, "You're cute, too."

I hope you enjoyed hearing from my "guest blogger" on Friday, and I hope you spend your days with someone so willing to offer you a hand and take on your work every now and then. Here's to the start of a brand new week!

Animal noises, old flames, time together, and great bathroom reading!

Tonight we're going to switch things up... usually on Fridays Kristin sits at this laptop and thinks of all the great, fun, touching, and sometimes surprising things that happened during the week. Typically she ends the post wishing you the same kind of great week that she had... This week the husband gets a turn.

disclaimer:
I haven't kept track of the subtle little things that made this week great. I haven't kept notes on my iPhone of all the funny things Audrey did or said... or planned how to make my spouse's boring days at the office sound heroic. So please try to resist comparing my dribble to Kristin's Shakespeare.

This week Audrey and I picked out all the animals we saw playing on the ceiling. She would point one out and then we would make that animal's sound. At one point we saw a hippo. When I asked her what sound a hippo made she said, "Daddy, what sound does a hippo make?" Lesson learned. Don't ask her a question I don't know the answer to. For the record hippos roar... like lions... and anteaters... and fish... and dragons...

Thursday while pecking away at my computer, in my cold and boring cubical, I got a text message from Kristin. Someone, who she dated back in college, asked her to be his friend on Facebook. She wanted to make sure I was comfortable before she gave him permission. My cube, and my day, suddenly got a lot brighter. She likes me! She really likes me!!!

Tonight Audrey went to spend the night with her grandparents. Kristin decided that instead of going out on the town, she wanted to spend the night at home. Together. Laughing, snuggling, and just being... together. We have been best of friends for nearly 20 years, and we still enjoy spending time... together.

For many of you this blog is a nice break from the day. A place you can lose yourself in the new and exciting life of a two and a half year old. Or a place to go when you are looking for a new craft project. For me it is a glimpse into my incredible, beautiful, and blessed life... because I am sometimes too busy to see it the first time around.

So here is to wishing your week was filled with as much joy as mine!