Fuzzy Love

Closing

We closed on Mom's house today. I didn't mention it really here, but over the past few months my brother James ripped up the carpets, had the walls painted neutral colors, and did odd jobs to depersonalize the house in preparation for sale. He did it very well.

The house was for sale for only five days before we got an offer. The buyer is a young, single woman; this is her first house. Apparently families buy bigger houses now. But I guess the good news is that the house didn't hang on until we really wanted it sold.

But the real problem is that I picture this house with Mom's things in it, of course. Things that are now partially in self-storage, in friends and relatives' homes, and spread all over Hell's half acre thanks to Value Village. And with the house gone, the certain fact that Mom is NOT in her kitchen whipping up a batch of maple syrup muffins, she's NOT cuddled into bed under an ungodly high pile of blankets reading, and she's NOT fucking anywhere is very hard to ignore.

So that woman - I signed papers with her name on it, but I didn't read it - is moving in today. And I really hope she loves the house. I hope she adores it, and is thrilled about living there, and is full of plans for it.

I just wish this wasn't.

If I Were the XS Model...

I would be done now.

Alas, I am not. And so I will keep knitting until the top meets my pants.

Note: If you are wondering about the lovely expression, I will tell you that, after taking many many fuzzy pictures a person tends to forget what her face looks like and is just grateful to have a working picture of her sweater at all. If you are wondering about the hair, well, that's just the way the girls in our home are wearing their hair this morning.

Three Strikes at Dinner*

Lest you think my children are too easy (although I really doubt you think that), I bring to you a sample of family dinner menus this week.

Last Saturday we went to the Cherry Creak Farmers Market and bought more produce than we can possibly eat (it just all looks so good...). Mark did make up a lobster pot-sized batch of tomato sauce to freeze, but the rest of the fruit and veggies posed a bit of a challenge. Let's just say that we've had produce with EVERY SINGLE MEAL. For children who prefer their veggies in carrot stick, french fry, and heavily-salted edamame form, this week blew their sweet little minds. Observe.

Note: Mark brought me flowers so we have a centerpiece. That's something new that we've been doing; each night we put something beautiful in the middle of the table (with credit to Aunt Sue). It's usually something the kids have found around somewhere, like an acorn or a pine cone or a pebble, but today we have something a little more fancy. Also candles. I never use candles. I think those were bought at a candle party in 1999, so why the hell not? I think I thought the candles and flowers would distract them from what they were eating.

Monday: mac and cheese, green beans, roasted tomatoes.

We started slowly. Despite all efforts ambiance-wise, the kids utterly refused to eat the home-made, not-actually-from-a-blue-box mac and cheese because it had bread crumbs on top. Olivia loves mac and cheese, so this dinner was tearfully disappointing for her.

Bread crumbs are "Ucky."

So both kids ate nothing but green beans for dinner (green beans over mac and cheese? These are not my children), although Liam was careful to pick off anything - like the tiniest mince of onion - that might contaminate them. No child would touch a tomato. "Eeeeeewwww."

Tuesday: Italian sausage with spinach and beans (white beans; can't remember what they're called). I know this sounds ucky but it really isn't.

Please note that Olivia helped tear up the spinach, but first she stripped herself down and colored herself green when I wasn't looking. The salad spinner then kept her busy the entire time I finished dinner.

Olivia ate up this meal, and Liam discovered that he likes sausage after practically being force-fed (hmm...next time). The little white beans were found to be not poisonous, but, despite all our efforts (Mark even broke out the airplane game) the spinach remained untouched. I eventually slipped Liam some raw carrots because this produce must be used up.

Thursday: vegetarian tacos, which involves seven (seven!) different veggies.

Liam is in charge of selecting something beautiful for the middle of the table.

In case you are wondering, that stick with feathers on one end is a cat toy. Without a word, Mark got out a vase to put it in.

Liam would not eat ANYTHING until I put on the kitchen timer for three minutes and told him he'd have ice cream if his plate was clean before the beep. He made it. Olivia (thank god) loved it, although she shook off most of the vegetables. She got some ice cream too.

{Sigh}

Tonight, in true fifties-housewife fashion, we get to finish off all the leftovers. What fun we'll have!

*This post was inspired by, well, you know who you are.

Happiness on a September Afternoon

Today was the first chilly day of fall, so we got to break out the sweaters. Olivia wore this today and looked adorable (and, with her red Keds, patriotic). I'm so thrilled bring this sweater out again, as it was the first one I started (not finished) after my return to knitting. I've put aside Fifi (just briefly, I swear to you Fifi); even though I'm still loving that sweater, today seems to call out for fall knits. So I've dug out some long-term stash for two projects: a pair of Fetchings (in green Lush) and a So-Called Scarf (in Fleece Artist Country Mohair - sheds, itches, but must be used for something).

Also joining me this afternoon is a hot cup of Vanilla Chai, sent to me by my sweet friend Kelly (oh yes Kelly, you can be sweet) because she knows the special sort of comfort a hot cup of Chai tea can bring.

And where are the kids on my happy afternoon, you ask?

Liam is building an inchworm army.

And Olivia, dear Olivia, is napping. She's been a bit on the clingy side lately and I've been hearing, "Moma Mom Moma Mom Mom Mommy!" so much that I'm afraid I've thought of this guy.

But Olivia is sleeping now, Liam's inchworms are playing nicely ("What's your name?" "Inchworm." "Great name!"*), and that Chai isn't getting any hotter.

Hope you're having a happy afternoon too.

*Who's been watching Charlotte's Web, I wonder?

Potions

When Sue thinks up something fun to do with kids, all thoughts of inconvenience, mess, or trouble are put aside and she gets down to it. One day, after a trip to a local farmer's market (and oh my, the markets they have in London are so much more...abundant compared to the relatively-barren Colorado), Sue broke out the juicer and we made potions.

I highly recommend this activity for a day on which you are feeling particularly ambitious and have an abundance of fresh produce (and, you know, a juicer). We used two types of apples, a pear, a beet, carrots, grapes, and a peach. Juice 'em up, each in a separate bowl, and give each child a spoon and a glass to make his and her own potions. Ice is nice, honey is good, and Sue and I employed a little soda water to make our potions bubbly. If you're feeling really energetic, you can cut out food shapes and use them to keep track of your recipes.

We discovered that Liam loves pear juice, especially with a little dollop of honey, and that Olivia will eat an entire bowl of carrot juice without sharing (alas, carrot juice was not to be found at Safeway). And both kids tried beet juice (great for color). Honestly, almost every combo we made tasted very good, especially with a bit of that honey.

I think we need to get a juicer.

Visiting Sue

Feeling a little adrift in the world lately, I was pleased and grateful to accept an invitation to visit my aunt Sue and uncle Barry in London, Ontario (which has a river Thames running through it). It was initially scheduled for early July, but then circumstances dictated a change and the trip was finally squeezed in just before summer was gone. It was a wonderful trip. Sue is one of those people that children adore; I adored her when I was little, and those bonds we make when we're small last a long time. So I jumped at the chance to spend a week with her and my uncle, and to have the kiddos get to know them better.

It was a jam-packed but peaceful week, in many ways a child-led week, and certainly a rejuvenating week for the kids and me. Sue is a Waldorf teacher. Little or no screen time for children. Organic food that is recognizable as, well, food. Hell, she drives a Prius. And always ALWAYS has time to listen to a child. She reminds me of the kind of parent I want to be.

Isn't their garden like a park? It's bigger than our closest park, actually. And full of little surprises. Once home, Liam announced that he'd like to marry their statue of Alice in Wonderland.

Some of the things we did deserve their own posts, so I'll catch you up on those things over the next few days, but I'll tell you that there was dancing, many many songs, talks late into the night, and quite a lot of coffee. Sue might be crunchy, but she knows where her Starbucks is.

Even when a trip is going exceptionally well, we have to squeeze in some god-awful moments: after clearing immigration in Toronto I herded the kiddos into a family washroom. While I was...umm....busy, if you get what I mean, Liam decided he'd had enough and opened the washroom door nice and wide. A door that opened directly across from one of the terminal's moving sidewalk thingies.

If people weren't looking at first, they certainly must have been after I shrieked.

That Time of Year Again

...when both my children require entire new wardrobes. Usually we aren't quite this quick about it, seeing as it's still pretty hot in Colorado and will be for a while, but Liam has NO workable pants right now (I can handle the high waters, but not the bursting buttons) and one chilly day could be embarrassing, seeing as he attends preschool four mornings a week. Plus, we are off to London, Ontario tomorrow to visit some of my mother's family for a week (staying with my aunt Sue) and she mentioned you never know what the temperature might be there this time of  year. So we took advantage of Labor Day sales at the outlet stores and got a few things for each kid. And Good God it adds up. But then Liam got two pairs of his super-expensive-but-unfortunately-necessary extra-wide shoes (which is why he'll only ever have two pairs at once - sneakers and shoes - plus winter boots) and Olivia got some very cute and very red Keds.

Fortunately Liam was agreeable to trying on some clothes as we discovered he's wearing size five in most places and size six in some, which puts him firmly in the big kid section of most stores. He's left the toddler sizes behind, FOREVER (as he's been saying a lot lately, in all caps, such as, "Mommy! Come play with me FOREVER!").

In the meantime, Fifi and I have been on a break. She has been frogged, and will accompany me on the trip, although certainly not in my carry-on because have I mentioned that Mark is not coming? The poor, poor man is short on vacation days and honestly hasn't had a real vacation this year. So I'm traveling with Liam and Olivia in two seats. Pray for me.

I do have a secret weapon this time, however: my iPod contains episodes of the Little Einsteins, Caillou, The Backyardigans, and some freebie Sesame Street shorts. Don't judge (please): this is a four-hour flight on a full airplane with no guarantees of an extra seat, entertainment, or any sort of food. Of course Olivia doesn't have much interest in television yet, but my fingers are crossed that she'll spontaneously develop one while trapped on my lap tomorrow. Of course we're also stocked with crayons, paper, stickers, books, lunch, and smallish toys, but part of the fun of flying with toddlers is that you never know what will happen. (I also have episodes of Lime & Violet, Cast On, and Stash and Burn, by the way, although I can't imagine when I'll be able to listen to them.)

As I was saying, Fifi and I are on a break and, in anticipation of Fall, I've been entertaining other projects.

This is Sorbet, a Minnowknits pattern I bought on impulse a couple of weeks ago at A Knitted Peace, along with the Araucania Pomaire yarn I used because the colors were so beautiful and the yarn itself so soft and silky. And I loved knitting it too; the pattern is quick and fun to do, with top-down sleeves and those funky ties. Everything seemed so right.

Unfortunately, I am NOT happy with the end results. You are probably shuddering at the wonky purples, but really that part looks better in real life; it's the atomic green I can't stand. I swear it glows. I kept hoping it would all come together, but it didn't. Ah well. We can't all be the Kaffe Fassetts of the world. But I will make this pattern again. In solids.

Then I whipped this off, although the [unpublished, as far as I can tell] errata slowed me down a bit (it calls for casting on about half the stitches it should).

Olivia loves it.

It's the Flower Toggle Hat from Handknits for Kids. Very cute. I'll do it again, for sure. Probably before winter hits and I discover she's outgrown this one. Liam's dog sweater is resting under the end table in the living room because those tiny needles are killing me.

Olivia, by the way, is really getting in to imaginative play and it's so fun to watch, especially when she and Liam play together. She happily cooks away in her play kitchen, making cookies, which she brings to us on the little cookie sheets ("Hot! Hot"); one for her and one for Liam and I to share. But god help us if we try to take a pretend, not-really-there cookie from her pile because we'll set off a repeating track of, "Mine cookies, mine! Mine!"

See you in a week!