Mmm...hmmm

Even the NY Times is jumping on the bandwagon! This article seems fairly dumbed down, but the basic reality is clear.

My mom left tonight after a thrill-a-minute morning at Urgent Care. (oy!) Turns out she had vertigo brought on by altitude and dehydration. No big deal, so that was a relief!! My poor dad- he called me on my cell phone around 10, all chipper and perky, only to be told where we were. He took it well! I'm sure he'll be at the gate waiting for my mom when she rolls in tomorrow morning. Today aside, we had a great time! Next time, stay longer, Mom! We love you!

High Maintenance

This is funny. I think the key words are soy (hippie) and espresso (high maintenance)...all other drinks result in clueless. It's still hysterical, and even funnier, true! My inputed drink had an espresso shot in it, thus I am high maintenance. Wendy and Paul had soy and theirs is so funny. This is my favorite line: Everyone who drinks
grande half caf soy mocha at 140 degrees should be
forced to eat a McDonald's bacon cheeseburger. Mine isn't that funny, but you've got to try it!

Sam threw up in the car on the way to Kindergarten today. Blech. He had a restful day today with a bath, a nap and general sitting around. I think we'll keep him home tomorrow too. He sat on my mom's lap at TaeKwonDo today, which was pretty sweet. The CSA pickup was extra special today because they had peaches for sale too. Mmmm. Then I went to Parent's Night at the preschool and out for sushi with my mom. I LOVE the JCC. I just love the atmosphere and, of course, Jeanne. They are having the kids sign in, so they will have practice writing their names every day. Too cute!! (Ted could have benefited from that!) Today Ted seemed to have a great day and had written a bunch of letters (not sure why) that were remarkably legibile! I'll have to scan the sheet. And his triathalon pics came in the mail, so I want to get them into a fun frame (Wendy, help!) Mom's turn on the computer. She had been so helpful! It's really nice to have another person to deal with the other 2 kids while one is freaking out. Come anytime, Mom!!

busy busy

Today was busy. After Ted tortured Sam for an hour this morning, I decided he felt good enough to go to school, so off he went. He apparently had a great day. Sam stayed home sick today with a tummy bug...poor baby. My mom arrived around 10 and we hung out at home while the kids napped, then she got to see Ted's classroom when we picked him up. We went to ice cream with Brooke and Bailey (I think Bailey has a crush on Ted) and then pawned Sam and Mae off on Paul at 4:30 and headed back to school for a picnic for Ted's class. The kids all played together happily while the parents (and grandmother!) chatted. It went a little too late but it was fun. Now I think I have the tummy bug too. Grrr.
In bean news, I cooked my soaked beans this morning and came away with 10 2-cup ziplocks of beans, 9 of which I froze in the deep freeze. Tomorrow night I plan to use them for dinner...wonder if I'll be able to tell the difference. I also checked on my tomatoes today and was able to completely fill up a plastic bucket with cherry tomatoes! Hooray! This has been our 2nd official harvest of the summer. I sauteed them in some olive oil and garlic and served them over pasta with some homemade pesto. Mmm...

beans are a'cookin'

When you walk 50+ miles with someone, you talk about a lot of things. One of our topics was beans. Last year, Wendy bought dried beans rather than canned and found them tastier and, of course, cheaper. I've bought lentils in bulk for years but they don't need to be pre-soaked. I found a great "Guide to Cooking Beans" in my Vive! cookbook and found out (duh!) that cooked beans freeze beautifully. Since I use about 2 cans of black beans 2-3 times a week, this rocks! I'll let you know how they taste. My mom is coming into town tomorrow morning (not a bean lover, my mom) so I may not cook many beans in the next few days, but soon!

sickie

I got a call from school today around 1:45 that Ted wasn't feeling well. I had my doubts, but he is warm and low-energy. He got 13 hours of sleep last night too...hmm. His class went to the library today and he is very excited about the knight book he picked. (I feel sorry for his teachers - he is such a slow walker anyway; I can't imagine how slowly he walked back if he was feeling under the weather!) Elizabeth chatted with me briefly when I picked him up and informed me that Ted was starting to read (sight words) and that he is always looking at books, even during choice time. Kindergarten is so cool. My mom arrives tomorrow morning...hope Ted is feeling better so he can enjoy her! He's napping now...a sure sign he's really sick. Bummer.

Butterflies

Sam had his first day of Butterflies today! Jeanne was Ted's teacher for both Caterpillars and Butterflies, so we are all super excited to have another year with her. Can you see Sam's dimple? He's showing Jeanne his Power Rangers birthday card from Katrina. Paul drove Gabi too and the two of them and Jason went to work right away. I LOVE how comfortable he is here. And now I realize when he was saying "I'm in my OLD classroom" he actually meant that he was in Ted's old classroom. The Pre-Ks and Butterflies switched rooms and Sam is literally in Ted's old Pre-K wolf classroom. Pretty cool!

Mae had a haircut today in preparation for her 2-year portraits, coming soon. I think I'm going to let it grow for a while (just get bang trims) and see how it does. She has such pretty hair and she's such a pro at the whole haircut thing now.

Poor Ted tried to stop and ended up slicing the back of his leg on the bike ride to school today. I think the Freiker 'ding' helped cheer him up, plus a bandaid. He was a bit bloody and we were late. The kindergartens go to the computer lab today! How cool is that?!

Jason, Sam & Gabi.

the bounce has gone out of my bungee

That's what Wendy said when we woke up this morning. It was very hard to get up, but today was easy at only 10 miles. We walked really fast and came in #2 and #3 officially, although we walked in with #s 4-6 as well. MAN they were fast! This was an AWESOME event. Read all about it on the Walk Blog.

Tonight after everyone got up from naps we biked (ahhh...so different from walking) to Wahoo's/Noodles. Ted is fine with his hand brakes now, but can't shift so I had to help him with that. Luckily it's mostly all downhill (5) on the way there and mostly uphill (2) on the way home. He did great.

I'm tired and sore but really, just fine. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, but not any worse than that 22 mile walk day. Tomorrow is Sam's first day of Butterflies!

Thank you to EVERYONE who supported me in this walk process, both financially and emotionally. I really appreciate it, and so do those who will receive grants from the MS Society. THANK YOU!!!

better living through chemistry

Today was awesome. If anything, it was EASIER than yesterday. We have 2 theories as to why that is. #1-drugs. We took Ibuprofin at 4pm yesterday and an Allieve at bedtime and again in the morning. #2-the massage. I made sure to duplicate those factors again today, although 10 miles tomorrow should be pretty easy. We even RAN some today! Every now and then I would get so stiff I couldn't stand it, and a light jog actually seemed to lube everything up. Plus it was fun to get cheers from the rest stops when I'd jog in. I developed 2 blisters UNDER my callous on my baby toe. Waaa. It pinches a little so I'm glad tomorrow is short. In general though, I feel great! Tired and a bit sore, but really good. Hooray!

I utilized every single port-a-potty (every 1.5 miles), occasionally TWICE during a rest stop, except for one that I skipped and immediately regretted it. Wendy thought that was funny. For me, it's normal. I always pee clear! Here's my owie toe.

Check out the Walk Page for more details and pics.

the blister that wasn't

Today was great. We were well fed, well watered, well doctored and generally taken good care of. The 15 minute massage rocked too. 20 miles today, 20 tomorrow, then 10 on Sunday. Woo hoo!

I did develop 3 'hot spots' that we addressed right away. I call one of them 'the blister that wasn't.' It LOOKS like a blister. It FEELS like a blister. But when the med guys tried to drain it, it was empty. The pic is of the med guy draining, or trying valiantly to drain, my blister. Hmm. I also have lots of calluses on the sides of my toes that don't bother me at all; Wendy said that's from the training. When you don't train, you get blisters instead. Hooray for us! In general, I feel like that was a 12 mile walk day. I'm tired and sore but OK. Not exhausted.

Read the detailed version on the Walk Blog!

MS Walk Final Update

Wow! What can I say? I am touched and overwhelmed at the generosity of my dear friends and family! Thank you all!!!
We leave tonight for Fort Collins and begin walking at 5:30am or some ungodly hour on Friday. We'll finish up Sunday afternoon and have a 'post-walk party' and then be home Sunday night. We are ready! Bring it on!

20" Bike!

Ted and I have been biking to school this week to get him ready for the official launch of the Freiker program at his school on Sept. 4. This afternoon while I was loading his bike into the car (we don't have time to bike back to the rec center after school, so I drive all the way to school for pickup), Sam noticed a goat head stuck in Ted's rear tire. I pulled it out and heard the dreaded "ssssssss." After trying to take the wheel off at Wendy's after school (it was rusted), we took it to U Bikes. They told us that the bike was really a mess with the rust and that we should leave it with them and they would put used parts on it as they came in (otherwise replacing the rear of the bike plus the wheel and the chain would have cost more than the $10 I spent getting this bike from Craig's List!) So we left the 16" with them and should have it back in full repair way before Sam is ready for it. What was really exciting was that there was a used 20" Trek bike for sale. Trek and Specialized are the only brands of bike that I really know and I like them both. This bike must be a bit closer to the ground or he grew a TON over the summer, because when we tried out a 20" Specialized bike in June, he couldn't even touch his tiptoes to the ground and kept falling over. No problem now. The bike has 6 gears, hand brakes (!) and, according to Jack's dad, full suspension, whatever that is. Ted took to it just fine and rode all around U Bikes and then wanted to show Jack. So we descended on their family for dinner (Stacy is an awesome cook!) and the boys biked all around the neighborhood, including to an open space area that had a tree house that was SERIOUSLY high up. The boys shimmied up there easily but needed help getting down. I thought it was really sweet that Ted wanted to show Jack his bike-that was exactly the same scenario we went through when he got his very first bike.

Kindergarten was fine again today. He was fine going in, still needs a pretty long hug but I enjoy that. No tears or anything. There were 3 crying this morning and seriously, their poor moms are feeling so terrible. I am so grateful I don't have to deal with that...it's so sad! Ted informed me that I sent him to the wrong school. When he asked why he wasn't going to Rachel's school I explained that at her school there would be a lot of sitting down and writing and at his school there would be more running around outside. "All we do is sit and write, Mama!" he said. Hee. Tonight he was talking all about the sun's reflection and how we see colors and something about a bow and arrow in the body that makes the heart pump. Interesting stuff! He is so tired by the end of the day (look at those tired eyes!). I guess happy and tired are good things to be when you're 5.

Freiker

His bike looks so little next to the big kids'.

Day 2 Update. He emerged from his classroom with a big smile. According to Elizabeth, he did get in trouble (twice) today for hitting with a stick, but after talking with him (and the other offender), it turns out they were just playing swords, so no real fighting was taking place. Elizabeth couldn't get out of him if he was playing or was angry, so he must have gotten freaked out at being reprimanded. He informed me on the drive home that he can read now! (Mmm..hmm.) So they must be doing something! I so wish I was a fly on the wall. It will be fun to volunteer in the classroom, which I can start doing regularly in January. This morning Jaron read the morning instructions to Ted. There were some big words! "Find your self-portrait. Choose some crayons and take the time make your picture beautiful." Portrait and beautiful...and he just rattled them off like cat and bat. Cool. Ted told me that all he does at school is draw and he doesn't like to draw. Hee. Welcome to the world of paper and pen!

WOW crazy day

Where shall I start? Perhaps bullets are the answer. First, some highlights. I received two (2) phone calls from the school today. We lost all power from about 11am til about 7pm. Sam didn't nap. Both boys had meltdowns going to bed tonight. Everyone is snoozing at 7:30. OK, now the details.

• 9:30am. Got home from dropping Ted off. Sam and Mae played beautifully outside with the hose while I folded laundry and wrote thank you notes.
• 10:30am. Got a call from the school. "Ted is fine," Pam (the assistant) assured me right off the bat. "Did Ted wear shoes today? He doesn't remember and we can't find them." Got that cleared up (YES he wore shoes. Nut.)
• 11am. Got another call from the school. "Ted is fine," Tanya (the lice checker) assured me. "He has a really dry scalp so we had to take him to the office to have Hope (the nurse/everything else lady) check him. Just in case he talks about having to leave the classroom, that's why." Oy. So it looks like my kid is barefoot and possibly lice-infested. Nice first impression! (BTW, they were checking all the K/1 kids for lice; grades 2-8 were checked last week. It's not that someone saw Ted and started shrieking "Lice!" or something...)
  
• 11:15am. Power went off. We think the Starbucks construction may have had a hand in it.
• 11:30am. Wendy arrived. The boys played really well together; Mae and Ariel did well too. Ariel REALLY enjoyed the water rocket.
• 2:15pm. Wendy left and I woke Mae to go get Ted.
• 2:45pm. Arrived at school and talked to Hope about the Freiker program, which we'll try to get up and running by next Monday.
• 3pm. Joined the other moms for pick up. Had a nice chat with Holli again and the other moms.
  
• 3:10pm. Ted ran out the door and into my arms with a huge grin on his face. Oh the hug! It was as awesome as the one I got in the airport after my China trip.
  
• 3:40pm. FINALLY left school, after much playing by the kids and chatting with Elizabeth, his teacher, and the other moms.
  
• 4:15pm. TaeKwonDo. 4 of the kids had had their 1st day of school today. They were all exhausted and low-energy but very obedient. They were supposed to get a stripe today for form but not one of them could get through it. It was pretty humerous.
• 5:30pm. Got home to find the power was still out. Went to Walgreens to stock up on flashlight batteries and met Paul at Panera for dinner. No one wanted to eat so it wasn't pleasant for anyone.
  
• 7pm. Got everyone in bed. Phew. What a day! The pic is of his teacher, Elizabeth, and Holli (Seth & Jaron's mom) after school.
  

First day of Kindergarten

Today was Ted's first day of Kindergarten. The boys had a hard night last night, not sure what was going on there. But we got them up and out the door. Ted was apprehensive and nervous, but didn't cling or cry. Jaron and Seth were there, and Jaron in particular was SO sweet to Ted. He showed him where his seat was and got him all settled. I was really grateful! It was also nice to see Holli after such a long time! I can't wait to hear all about his very first day! More pics on moeltini.

Mmmm...peaches

We had a very busy but fun weekend. On Saturday I took Ted to his friend Lucie's birthday party, then the boys had Ninja Night at 6 while I met up with Wendy for our 8 mile walk. Ted began coughing on Saturday, the barky-croupy cough with no other symptoms, so I called the on-call doc. He said to go ahead and neb him and try to head it off, especially with school JUST starting this week. Today we had Jack's "turtle-y awesome" birthday party, where Ted perked right up and had a blast at the pool. Mae was very silly and happy today; what a delight! Sam was a nut and was in the pool more often than not. ALL the kids napped today (!!!!) and then the O'Brien's came over around 3 for an early dinner/play session. They brought along some amazing peaches from Morton's Orchards that they picked up at the Lafayette Peach Festival this weekend. I usually pass by their tent at Market because of the crazy long lines. No more! Next Wednesday I'll just step right up and buy a bunch! They were FABULOUS, probably the best I've ever eaten. Mmm... After his nap, Ted was good to go and didn't cough much at all. We ended the night early and the boys were asleep by 8. Ted's very first Kindergarten lunch is ready in the fridge and his clothes are laid out on his chair. I hope he can beat this thing and go all this week, just for the routine of it. I'm sure I'll try and take a few pics tomorrow...hopefully it will all go well. All his little buddies were talking a bit apprehensively about what tomorrow will bring. At least they're all in the same Sunday school class which starts in September. Yikes!!

a cow

Horizons K-8 has a school mascot. Are you ready? It's a cow. A Holstein, to be exact. Luckily, the website, while still under construction, looks good. And of course, the school itself rocks. I wonder, why a cow?

Assessment Day (& garage sale!)

Today was somewhat epic. We left the house at 8:15am and drove to the ice cream store in the Baseline shopping center. This was going to be our destination after Ted's Kindergarten assessment, at 9:30. Biking the 3 blocks to Horizons took about 45 minutes and included two accidents, one for each boy. After cajoling, threatening and pleading, I finally got everyone to school, got Ted's cut cleaned up and a bandaid applied by Hope, the school nurse/secretary/everything lady. Oy. Then we sat outside Elizabeth's classroom til Ted's turn. He was VERY shy but warmed up some by the end. She first read him an Arthur book and they talked about Magic Treehouse (he brought his passport for her to see.) She asked him questions like, "If I was going to start reading, where would I start?" I assume he knew where the start was; I was too busy corralling Sam and Mae (both had a major meltdown during the brief 30min time.) She asked him to write his name, then they did letters, all of which he identified for her, even X, so that was cool. She asked him a few things like, "What word starts with this letter?" One cute one was when she said, holding up a Z, "What starts with Zoo? Oops!" Ted laughed and said, "Zebra!" Then they did some counting. Ted rocks at counting and made sure to organize all the counting animals by color for her. At one point she put 4 counting animals in front of him and said, "Close your eyes." He did and she took one away. "How many are left?" "Three." How many did I take away?" "One!" No problem.
Then we had to bike back to the ice cream store, which involved lots of yelling on my part to keep them from getting hit by cars. The ice cream store itself was a drama too, believe it or not! All the kids wanted 'birthday cake' ice cream, which is vanilla ice cream with sprinkles mixed in. Sam wanted no part of that and pitched a fit. *sigh* We got him vanilla. Then Mae had a fit, not sure why, and Ted was able to calm her with a cup of water. Her fit was LONG and even though we were outside, still merited lots of disapproving looks from others. After all that drama, we loaded up and went home, stopping by a garage sale on our street that had a 20" bike that looked promising. It was trashed though, but we did find a Rescue Heroes Aquatic Rescue Command Center, a ukulele and a baby doll Princess high chair. Everyone was psyched about that. We came home for naps and I am going to get to the napping right now. I'm exhausted.

*yawn*

Paul is working too hard. After a night spent tickety-ticking on the computer, I feel obliged to stay up to chat when he's finally allowed himself to finish. The result last night was a way too late bedtime. That would have been OK if they kids had slept in, as they are prone to do lately, but Ted fell out of bed at 6am on the dot. Not only did he crash to the floor and wake Sam up, but he fell on the AC grate, cutting his leg. Much chaos ensued and we were all up. We ran errands and had swimming lessons (Mae had her 3rd week of actually enjoying herself!). Then Paul took the younger two home to nap and Ted and I went to Wendy's for lunch and chatting (and my new avatar pic! thanks!!), then on to TaeKwonDo, dinner, bike lock hunting, and finally, Rachel's "Cinderella" play. Brookie, Livvi and our neighbor Jacob were all in it too, so Ted had a blast. He's informed me that he wants to do this camp next year, if he can be the Prince. Hmm. In this production there were about 20 little girls and three boys. He might actually stand a chance! My son, the actor. Yikes!

a REAL market experience

Today we went to the Farmer's Market again. All I really wanted to get was sweetcorn. And pasta. We got there at 4:30 and after about 5 minutes it began to POUR. I mean DOWNPOUR. Luckily we were at Abbo and just huddled inside their tent with them, helping them fill their shares and nibbling on fresh carrots and cukes. It was NUTS! It must have poured for, I kid you not, 45 minutes. SHEETS of rain. After that settled down, we did our rounds and bought the following: sweetcorn, 2 huge (ugly) Heirloom tomatoes, a small bag of salad greens, 3-cheese tortellini, a small log of goat cheese, a pint of multicolored cherry tomatoes, a small watermelon and a cantaloupe. $24. The rain was a stitch but also a blast because it allowed us to hang out with the Abbo folks without looking too fake about it. They are just cool folks, you know? People who are doing what I wish I had the gumption to do. On the way out I chatted with a local egg lady and may be able to get on her "weekly list" for a half dozen or so a week. She was really nice. She said she started out with a house in Broomfield and 2 chickens in her backyard, yielding about 6 eggs PER DAY! Hmmm....

Earlier we went to Ted's classroom to help set up. All the boys had a blast running around in a little courtyard outside their classroom while the moms worked. He is so ready and excited to be there. I love this school!

Ted & Jack

pics

Pics!!! They are $16 a pop, but I am ordering one of each. In the meantime, I can't resist showing them off. They will look much better without the (multiple!!) water marks but, here they are!!! (As always, click for a larger view.) When the prints arrive in the mail I'll ask (pay!) Wendy to re-do the collage and make a nice print. Too fun!! What a great keepsake.

genius

Miss Holland (Ted's TaeKwonDo instructor) is a genius. He brought in his Finisher's Medal today, and his Good Deeds sheet. She gave him 2 red stars, only earned by competing in a tournament, and the blue star for his sheet. He just beamed. What a sweet and appropriate thing...she saw how upset he was yesterday and found a way to let him know that what he did instead of the tournament was just as important. She rocks.
My camera isn't doing very well at light, so here are 'flash on, flash off' pics of his Triathalon medal. Click for a larger view.

MS Walk Update

For those of you who may not eagerly click on my MS Blog, we are about 2 weeks from the big walk! My sponsors have been few but dear to my heart! A HUGE thank you to Sarah, Stacey B., Shari, and my parents for their donations!!! I have collected $200; only $550 to go. Yikes! The weekend long walks are getting reeeeally long and the day to day shorter walks are getting tiring. My feet hurt and I have blisters on the bottoms of my toes. But all in all, it's been a great experience and I hope I can make at least a small difference with the money I raise. If you haven't donated yet and wish to, you can donate securely on line HERE. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me, and especially to Paul, who has dealt with the kiddos FAR more than he cares to, while I walk ALL around Boulder and then come home and pass out. I love you!!

And just in case you need a cute pic (I always do!), this is why I walk.

Monday of the last week

...of summer, that is. After all, Ted starts Kindergarten next Monday. Today we had another Kindergarten playdate at Horizons. It was 110 degrees today. Nuts!! We stayed under a tree near the sandbox. Ted played with his buddy Max and a new friend, Will. I just cannot get over how NICE these kids are. After the playdate we went to the toystore. I secretly bought Sam his present from me (a K'Nex set) while the boys looked around. Then home for naps. We had a wildly dramatic TaeKwonDo day. There was a tournament this weekend. I talked with Ted and we both agreed he would do the Triathalon this time and a tournament next time. Well, one of the boys had a trophy from the tournament and Ted just couldn't handle it. He cried and cried and refused to do class. Sam had said he wanted to try class, but after warmups he didn't stay on the floor. So we left. I was incensed. But, after a mojito, I talked with Ted and we are OK now. Tomorrow he'll bring his Finisher's Medal to class and I've promised to take him to every tournament from now on. Sam...may not do TaeKwonDo til he's 5. We'll see. Tonight we played with our neighbor and rescued a morning dove that was sick. Tomorrow we'll take it to the Wild Bird Sanctuary in Boulder. The boys are in the bath now and will have an early bedtime.

Ted's Triathalon

Well, my camera died. Luckily, I have the satisfaction of knowing that Ted LOVED it. He was way into the 'hurry, hurry!' aspect of racing and went as fast as he could. The 'swim' was a joke-the kids just ran through the water. Kind of lame. But all in all, he had a blast, which is what matters. He got a finisher's medal, which I'll post a pic of soon. In the meantime, here are the only pics I got before the camera gave up the ghost.

100 degrees

Today was supposed to reach 100 degrees. I don't think it actually did, because the clouds, thunder, lightening and light rains moved in around noon. We were going to go Berry Picking today at a local farm but I thought the pool might be a better choice in the heat. We all had a blast, although we had 2 lightening episodes where we had to exit the pool for 20 minutes. Blah. Mae went down the slide on my lap a zillion times and both boys enjoyed diving to the bottom of the pool and trying to walk along the bottom with their hands.
Tonight we picked up Ted's race packet for his triathalon tomorrow. So cute. Everyone was melting down tonight so we put them down early. I plan to wake Ted at 5:30 and try to be at the Rez at 6:15. Should be fun!

still excited

Today at the CSA pickup we chatted about the book and the concepts. She assures me that there will be two varieties of black beans in the Winter "Keeper" share. Tonight I went to the Boulder Farmer's Market website and found lots of good info about the same topics. Listen to this:

After you've learned how to eat a seasonal diet, you are encouraged to find out why it's important to buy locally grown produce. Only about 10% of the fossil fuel energy used in the world's food system is used in production; the other 90% goes into packaging, transportation, and marketing.

Amazing. I mean, really, 90%?!? What are we DOING?!

Today while picking up vanilla beans (yes, I figured if we make our own soy milk why not made the vanilla syrup we add to it as well?) I found that Cyd's Nest Fresh Eggs are both cage free and local. It's been a real PITA trying to score farm fresh eggs from the three places near here. Of course, just today, one of the farms had eggs available. Grrr! I've done that triangle route so many times with nothing to show for it and we hadn't had eggs in weeks. So, I'll still try them, but at least I know I can pick up a dozen happy chicken eggs at Wild Oats when we need 'em!

I also came across the website for Buy Fresh, Buy Local, which has a great search engine that lets you find local farmers or products. I think I'm pretty much covered with the CSA, the seasonal Farmer's Market and some planning for winter. I think I can do this. How fun.

$20

Today I took the kids to the Farmer's Market. On Saturdays it is overwhelmingly crowded, so I tend to avoid it. The Market is open from 4-8 on Wednesdays. We got there about 4:15 and it was PACKED. Holy Cow. Next time I'll bring a stroller...partly for Mae and mostly to haul the food! I had decided to spend about $20, especially since our CSA Pickup is tomorrow. I spent $25. Not bad! I am going to cancel our Door to Door box til winter and take advantage of the Wednesday market. I am almost embarrassed at how little the vendors charge.

Corn, 5 HUGE ears for $2
1 lb tomatoes, $3
Cherry Jam, $5
Gnocchi, 1lb for $4
Abbo goodies: Red Chard, Collards, Green Beans & Basil, $11

Next week, without our box delivery, I can stand in the crazy long line for tree-ripened peaches, cherries, and the like. I think I'll buy another pound of pasta too, if for no other reason than to stand there listening to everyone speak Italian...I could listen to that all day long.

I had the exciting, Kingsolver-inspired idea to buy out the corn venders and shuck it myself. I also am going to ask at the CSA tomorrow if they have any black beans left. Black beans and corn are present in about 80% of my recipes, so if I ever want to try and adjust to more local eating, those would be 2 biggies. Nut butters, jams and bread are the others. I put a post on FreeCycle, looking for canning supplies and a dehydrator. Not the kind of thing I want to purchase, in case I wimp out of this, but something I'd love to try. My couch is up at FreeCycle too but so far not a lot of interest in it. I love the concept: I have something new...would you like my perfectly decent cast-off? You'd think with all the college students coming back, someone might want a beat-up but perfectly respectable couch?

Letter to Ted

Ted received this in the mail, from his Kindergarten teacher, Elizabeth:

Dear Ted,
We will have a lot of fun in school this year! Do you like pets? We have a mouse, a guinea pig, fish and hermit crabs. We like to sing and draw pictures. I can't wait to meet you at school.
Love, Elizabeth

I mean, how CUTE is that?!?! Next week will be very exciting. Monday there is a morning Kindergarten playdate at the school playground. Wednesday the school is open from 9-3 for kids to meet their teachers and help set up the classrooms. This is also the day we bring all the school supplies in. Then Friday at 9:30 is Ted's assessment. Then he starts for real the following Monday. I think he is genuinely excited and eager to start!

Doctor Day

Poor Mae. She had her 2-year appt today and had 2 shots. The boys brought her things to try and cheer her up. She actually asked for a nap today too. Hopefully she'll feel better soon. Our doc was, as usual, surprised and impressed with how well Mae is doing. She said her language skills are amazing. She is thinking of adopting from China herself. She is all caught up with immunizations now! Here are her official stats:

Head: 19" (75%)
Weight: 27# (50%)
Height: 35.5" (90%)

Tall and slim. Lucky girl!!

They're nuts!

catnip!

Our little catnip plant has taken off! Both kitties race out the door each morning and stagger back to the porch at lunchtime. I wonder if mint (i.e. mojito mint) would grow as well...

getting REALLY excited

This book is FABULOUS! I LOVE IT! Not only is it what I hoped it would be (a primer on how to eat locally), it is also beautifully written, just like her other books. It's also chock-full of recipes. I'm not completely finished with it, but it is terrific. Tonight we had a dinner that was all prepared from our CSA share. This happens a lot, but after reading this book, it made me extra excited and, perhaps, made it taste better too. Sauteed yellow zucchini with garlic salt, whole grain pasta with homemade pesto (from the CSA basil), topped with cherry tomatoes from our garden. I also baked two loaves of zucchini bread (one for the Krams family who so generously gave us their old couches....we LOVE them...so soft and cozy) and another for us. The boys helped me bake banana bread this morning because our bananas were getting frighteningly black. A very food-oriented day. I plan to bake a few more loaves of zucchini bread to freeze for winter. You know, I think that has been the most enlightening part of the book. The concept of 'putting up' for winter. My mom always stocked her cupboards with emergency supplies, as do I, but the thought of freezing fresh tomatoes in August for spaghetti sauce in February...how COOL. How self-sufficient. I love that we (still) make our own soymilk, for the same reason. I like not needing to run to the store for this staple. I am going to try the boys out on homemade bread this week. If they will just go for it, I might be on to something. I am also planning to shred and freeze any excess potatoes that come our way, for hashbrowns and latkes this winter. Can you FEEL my excitement? Woo hoo!

Pool Party

We beat the odds! With clouds looming and a thunderstorm in the forecast, we arrived at the pool at 3:30 to set up. Wendy arrived with "le gâteau extraordinaire" at 4 and the party began! All the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Adam and Sam (and Ariel) were particularly drawn to the big slide this time. Rachel and Molly, Henry and Ariel, Alex and Adam, and Mae the Birthday Girl made up the party. What FUN. As usual, a huge hug and thanks go to Wendy for both the fabulous cake and the wonderful pictures (many more on moeltini.) Lightening started at 6:30, at which time everyone was packing up to go anyway. We did have a balloon mishap, but replaced it with another at the store minutes later, which kept any meltdowns at bay.

Happy Birthday, sweetheart. We love you!

Happy Birthday, Mae!

This morning the boys woke Mae up, laden with presents. They *ahem* helped her open them too. Everyone is so excited for her pool party tonight. Let's just hope it doesn't pour, which it has for the last 5 afternoons! She requested Mac 'N Cheese for breakfast (in her new Princess bowl from Rachel & Eliot). And she ate it all too. I can't believe I have an official 2-year old now.

Samsung t409

There are times when being a nudge yields good things. My cell phone is possessed. It turns itself off randomly and then won't turn back on. It calls people without my asking it to. It's crazy. I went into the T-Mobile store a few days ago and their suggestion, after kindly giving me a free battery just in case that was the problem, was to buy a new one, or mail mine in for repairs. I called the service center and a nice rep told me about some nice, not too expensive phones I could get. Then I went to Target to see what super cheap ones I could get. Then today I called them back to order one of the phones and found it was out of stock! So, *drumroll please* I got a new phone for FREE. It even has Wi-Fi. I love when things like this happen.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I cannot WAIT to get my hands on this book. From the description at bordersbooks.com:

Hang on for the ride: With characteristic poetry and pluck, Barbara Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that's better for the neighborhood and also better on the table. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet.

"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."

So, so up my alley. Tonight we had another Kindergarten playdate. Ted, Aiden, Max and Tanish took off on their own again, this time climbing a lot of trees, besides the standard Power Rangers play. They are such good buddies already. Ted was really excited to go this time. We have another one on Monday morning (at the school) which may attract a different crowd. I get the sense that these evening ones are mostly attended by working parents, so we may see a different set on Monday. The boys are both on a waitlist for a Boulder Rec Center camp that is putting on Peter Pan. How cute?!?! They are #s 3 and 4 on the list, so I'm not holding my breath. I may put Ted in the Y camp, right down the road at Superior Elementary, on the other days. This morning the boys were fighting by 8:30am. Tuesday was even worse. I think everyone is ready for some structure. I love summer and I love the pool and the heat, but I don't love the squabbling!!
After the playdate, we went to pick up our CSA share and like last week, Ted wanted to play with his 'farm friends,' as he calls them. We were there for almost 2 hours while the boys played in the dirt, romped through the fields and generally had some good 'ole fun. WOW was he dirty though! He and his buddies also ate 3-4 carrots (not peeled nor even washed!) and 2 cucumbers, right out of the ground. I LOVE this CSA. I don't love all the zucchini though...lordy, I have a lot of zucchini. Any takers?

a special story

Today I had a counseling session to talk about Mae's current phase of 'emotional meltdowns.' I'm so glad I did; I got some excellent advice. One of the biggies was the suggestion of creating a 'story stem' for Mae (love these technical terms.) In other words, create her story in language she can understand, right now, at age 2. Her scrapbook is beautiful but more for an older child. I'm working on a shadow box for her China memorabilia now too, but again, I probably won't let her at that until she's old enough to really treat it with respect. In the meantime, how to let her learn who she is and where (and how?) she got here? The answer is a book. Make a book that tells her story. So off to Shutterfly I went and created this simple 8 page storybook. I'm not quite sure if I should order it from them or enlist the help of master photographer Wendy, but she will have this book soon. Another blog I read has also made me realize the importance of the child really owning her story; her 2.5 year old has said "Other children not go on airplane. G. so happy to go on airplane with Mommy and Daddy. G. come home." Two and a half years old. That child knows her story. I want that for Mae.
In the meantime, we soldier on.
Here is the link to the book.