Photo-a-Day: January 2014, Part Three.

 

Top to bottom:

 

Jan 13 Someone turned 37

Jan 14 Some birthday spoils

Jan 15 Looking at photo albums

Jan 16 Asian Scotch Eggs, yum

Jan 17 Afternoon screen time, Angry Birds

 

Catch up on part one and part two!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I'm going to blame The Polar Vortex for my lack in blogging. We had five school days cancelled in January, which I don't think has ever happened in our school district.

2. What saved us during The Polar Vortex was The Surprise Jar, which for us was this: an alarm rang every hour for the kids to report to and pick from the jar containing slips of paper. They had to do what was on the paper (such as hug mommy, do 10 jumping jacks, read page 12 of any book, go change their outfit, etc.), or the jar went away for the day.

3. After The Polar Vortex we got about 5 inches of snow. Combined with the snow we already had (remember ours doesn't melt, it's all been here since December), we've got about 4-5 feet at the corner of our yard. Great fort going on out there.

4. What keeps me warm during Polar Vortex weather: Acorn socks and fleece-lined leggings.

5. Something I bought during the peak of zucchini season, then put away after I just didn't get to it, thinking it would take a lot of instruction-manual reading: the spiralizer. No reading required, and super entertaining for the kids.

6. I made a list of all the books I want to read aloud to the kids. It's long.

7. Seems we might have seen our last monarch butterfly. So sad.

8. Super Bowl food at our house -  nachos.

9. Just finished The Invention of Wings. Very good read.

10. Go make these raw cookie dough bites. Now.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The family had a successful trip to Half Price Books on our Martin Luther King holiday. Successful in the year 2014 means that all four of us found a book. I am imagining that Success 50 and 60 years ago meant something else.

2. I believe I need to update my Photo-a-Day fun, but here's the last batch.

3. Alla starts an art class after school next week. She is delighted.

4. The family thoroughly enjoyed movie night at Daddy's work on Friday night. The movie of the month was Turbo, and the grown-ups were pleasantly surprised.

5. We are all about the Frozen soundtrack here. Goodness gracious.

6. We are sure hoping Idina Menzel will sing at the Oscar's.

7. We also love Pharrell's Happy but for us there is no contest, Frozen wins!

8. Yesterday Trader Joe's was out of shredded Brussels sprouts. Crisis.

9. I'm on book #5 so far in 2014 (I like to start out strong, I will surely meet a difficult or long book later in the year.), and 2 out of the 5 have been on my "Official 2014 To-Read List." Not sure if I should be proud of that or get myself back on track.

10. That said, the Newbery/Printz, etc awards are on Monday, which is a prime opportunity for me to add to my list!

Photo-a-Day: January 2014, Part Two.

Top to bottom:

Jan 6 Day one of cancelled school.
Jan 7 Day two of cancelled school.
Jan 8 Frozen eyelashes.
Jan 9 Citrus drink making.
Jan 10 Matching happy socks.
Jan 11 Tunneling.
Jan 12 This is a picture of an open window in January.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I had a marvelous birthday yesterday and have been informed that I've now entered my late 30s. Not sure I like the sound of that, but moving on.

2. Fisher made sure to take a picture of me (with his V-Reader camera) at my birth time of 12:25 just as I do of them. Glad to see I'm rubbing off.

3. It was balmy yesterday in the upper 20s with sunshine, so this made for a very lovely morning run.

4. I got lots of reading material. Very exciting!

5. My husband woke up early to decorate with banners and streamers.

6. I made the most amazing brownies! No refined sugar or grain, awesome.

7. We woke up to fresh snow today, 3-4 inches, very pretty fresh white everywhere.

8. Not as fun to drive in, but provides a good workout when the plows come around and plow you in.

9. Looking forward to our birthday date this weekend at Butcher and The Boar!

10. The vegetable I'm obsessed with this week is butternut squash, already cubed from Costco, thank you, roasted and then put into my lunch salad. Delish!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. My delightful friend Erin introduced me to Meatza. Um, yes. Last Friday was therefore Meatza Friday for me!

2. I can't seem to keep carrots around. We seem to go through a 5-pound bag in as many days.

3. Have you heard about the cold weather here? We had two days of school cancelled! This is unheard of here in Minnesota, and in the 7 1/2 years we have lived here, there has only been one other cancellation, for snow. So we treated these two days as rare gifts and used them well.

4. Cold weather activities: domino course (me), Legos (kids), movies (kids), reading (everyone), beef stew, book-making (kids), and more rounds of Speed than I could possibly keep track of.

5. One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a jump rope from my mom. Also coming in handy in this cold weather.

6. We started an "Awesome Jar" for 2014 and are filling it with small slips of paper that list awesome things for this year.

7. Fisher is all about Lorde.

8. Ron is all about Hall & Oates.

9. Our whole family loved seeing Frozen over the holiday break.

10. The highlight of our day was when the temperature reached one degree (above zero), and we suited up for a walk on the frozen creek. Yes it was cold, but goodness was it beautiful out there.

Photo-a-day: January 2014.

I'm doing it again! It's been a very long time since I've tackled a January Photo-a-Day project, but it felt like it was time.

 You know what's fun? Looking back on old Photo-a-Day Januaries. Go ahead. See what I mean.

Lists With Friends: Books to Read in 2014.

Goodreads is just about the best thing to happen to readers, as it keeps track of all the books I've read and want to read, but I tend to get carried away and have ended up with over 500 books on my virtual to-read shelf. So at times I have to narrow the focus, keeping in mind that new books will come up and some how I will have to try and make room for them this year.

 

These are the books I most want to read this year.

Of course there are probably at least ten others I am thinking of right this moment that I would like to add, but I'm restraining myself because it's not a wish list, but rather I have prioritized, and this is the list I will actually read in 2014, among others, I hope, when I've finished these!

This is the first list in a series, part of a project with other list-minded friends.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Hello twist on the beautiful Brussels sprouts salad!

2. FYI if you get the bag of preshredded Brussels sprouts from TJs, there are 4 cups in there.

3. I love bacon.

4. This is my 8th winter in Minnesota and yet there is still one thing that I can't figure out: how to keep our entryway clean. Yes our house is small, no we do not have a mudroom. You come in, your boots are filthy. The tile is now filthy. At the moment we're stepping on towels that I can wash everyday.

5. My new favorite wine - Edmeades Zinfandel.

6. Yesterday I finished Eleanor & Park, so good.

7. The kids have been having me cut paper for homemade Christmas cards everyday. The smart thing to do would be to put together a card making kit for next year so it's ready to go for my crafty offspring.

8. I'm thinking I can read 2-3 more books before year's end.

9. Three more days of school til Christmas vacation!

10. Here's hoping for a vacation filled with sledding, skating, reading, and good food:)

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The best thing I did in November was this plank challenge. Actually it was the best thing I did for my abs after carrying two fat babies and then having them cut out of my body.

 

2. Today I sat on the couch with the tree lights on and finished a book, Navigating Early. This felt luxurious, but it is a goal in our family in December. To carve out time for those simplest activities that elude us during the busy [school] months.

 

3. It's been chilly running lately! Single digit highs and wind chill advisories, but we're still out there getting our fresh air runs on, our feet happy to be running on snow instead of ice. That's the silver lining of frigid temperatures - too cold to melt and cause ice and slush.

 

4. Do you have a favorite, go-to side dish/vegetable for everyday dinners? I love slices of roasted sweet potato but don't want the family to tire of them!

 

5. My next book - the much talked about Eleanor & Park!

 

6. A few Sundays ago, the kids reading together.

7. This past weekend, Alla had a terrible cold. She's still getting over it, I can still see the cold in her eyes, but at least she's on the mend. Days like that force us to shut down and just read. Quiet.

8. Fisher is becoming quite the reader, too! He recently loved the Hey Jack book I got him.

9. It's been ages since we've been out to see a movie.

 

10. How are there only 15 days left til Christmas? Every year I wonder how it got to be this time of year again.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I had a little brunch here on Sunday and my favorite eat from the shindig were the bacon-wrapped dates. I've made them again since, and have plans for them tomorrow as well. Yum.

2. In other food goodness, I made bacon and brussels sprouts salad yesterday and it was amazing. I definitely did not use a mandolin, but rather the pre-shredded bag from TJs and cut the recipe in half.

3. Just finished Counting By 7s. Wonderful.

4. It's going to be a quiet Thanksgiving around here. I'm very much looking forward to doing lots of reading.

5. We got started on the cooking today. The kids and I made the [paleo] cranberry sauce. Yum!

6. The kids and I are reading Ramona Quimby.

7. They are reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe with Daddy.

8. We went to a workshop at the library on Saturday given by local author David Larochelle, who spoke of the importance of writing letters and showed dozens of creative ways to write and send them. The kids have since been on a letter writing kick and have each written 2-3 letters. I remember sending and receiving lots of letters as a kid, and it's a bummer that kids these days probably won't have quite the stash.

9. I am a sucker for end of the year book lists, and we are headed into that time of year. I will mostly likely add way too many of them to my to-read list for 2014.

10. I am guilty of forgetting all the other meals leading up to and following Thanksgiving. So tonight it was taco shells filled with refried beans and cheese, baked in the oven. Side of peas. Kids thought it was the best dinner ever.

10 Things: Fisher.

Fisher's turn!

1. You are kind to others.

2. Today you read me The Cat in the Hat.

3. You love to be outside. Running around with all the neighborhood friends, biking, playing Zombie Tag, football, tennis, baseball, Frisbee, soccer, swinging while screaming singing "Footloose."

4. Today's breakfast was a waffle-sausage sandwich.

5. You love Legos.

6. When you come out of school, you are always playing Rock Paper Scissors Shoe with your friend Colton. All the way to the car. This better change as the temperatures approach single digits, buddy.

7. You've started saying that awesome things are epic.

8. There's a 50-50 chance that you'll get your undies on the right way each night after shower. You just don't really give a hoot.

9. Holy bagumba, you have one heck of a duck (pouty) face.

10. You tell me I love you to infinity and beyond!

10 Things: Alla.

I am directly stealing this from Kristina's blog, because it is just such a great idea to do every now and then. Without further ado, 10 Things About Alla...

 

1. You are always humming or singing or whistling. I wonder if you do it in class!

2. You are still wearing that bracelet on your ankle, and this picture was taken almost a month ago.

3. You are 2/3 of the way through all of the Maud Hart Lovelace books.

4. You looked through both the Toys R Us and Target toy catalogs this weekend and declared that there was nothing in there you wanted. Except maybe a giant stuffed panda. Right.

5. You are going to be Star of the Week in your class next week, and you have been looking forward to this immensely.

6. You love granola, sugar snap peas, ice cream sundaes on Sunday, Pizza Friday, and pomegranates.

7. You sleep with Lily and White Bear, and, most recently, your "pocket bear."

8. It's been awhile since you've lost a tooth, but you did manage to chip one in gym a few weeks ago.

9. You come up with some crazy outfits, which I love.

10. Your heart is very very big.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Did you miss the Halloween post?

2. It's the most exciting time of the year! The Goodreads Best Books of the year voting has begun. I generally haven't read the majority of the books in any one category, but I do love to vote for something I did particularly enjoy reading, and also it's a great list of stuff to put on my to-read list. Go vote!

3. I am currently in the middle of a memoir about a girl growing up in a house with a father who hoarded. Wow.

4. The kids and I are in the middle of Flora and Ulysses, which is also Wow.

5. Snow is forecasted for later today, piling up a few inches on our green grass. We're not too worried.

6. When should it snow here in these northern parts, on average, though, you ask? Well typically we have a white Christmas (otherwise, BOO). And also typically, our family members like to guess the date of the first plowable snow. The littles have dates in November, and the more sensible grown-ups picked December dates. We shall see.

7. Alla saw our guest room all cleaned out and bed made extra prettily and made a wish that we'd have a Thanksgiving guest to sleep there. Any takers?

8. Our living room ceiling finally has lights, after almost seven and a half years in this house! It is my most favorite house upgrade ever.

9. Alla made her bean soup for dinner on Sunday and is so excited that she has a thermos now to take leftovers for lunch. Everyone is curious about what she has in there, and she had to bring two copies of her recipe today for people who thought it looked delicious yesterday!

10. I better get in a run this morning while the kids are at school and before the snow comes!

Halloween 2013.

I know you were wondering, so here it is. What the kids wore for Halloween this year. 

The one on the right. sure, he is wearing the same firefighter costume for the third year in a row. Score! The one on the left basically wanted something that involved a wig, so she created her own and called it Luna Lovegood. I love it. They lasted an hour or so with Daddy, then came home to sort their haul into safe/not safe piles. We ended the night with Charlie Brown!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Fall is here, and I know this because it was barely thirty degrees when I came back from my run this morning.

2. There are several good things about fall, such as soup. We made one of our favorites, Lentil Soup, over the weekend. Thankfully, there are enough leftovers for Fisher and I to eat for lunch.

3. Another good thing: books. Lots of new releases, and of course, they all came in for me at the library at the same time. The kids and I plowed through Neil Gaiman's new one, Fortunately the Milk, over the weekend, and I am refusing to return it to the library until I read it again. Delightful.

4. We are now onto The Year of Billy Miller, and are then moving onto Flora and Ulysses.

5. Might as well celebrate new releases in music, while we're at it - John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and The Avett Brothers, yay!

6. This past weekend was a 4-day for every student in the state of Minnesota, and we did it up right by having a child come down with a terrible cold, thus cancelling both a birthday party he was supposed to attend, and a date night his parents were supposed to attend.

7. We really enjoy date nights in, though, so we got ourselves some Chipotle and Redbox and made the best of it!

8. Since we had extra time this weekend, with gloomy cold weather, and more gloomy cold weather on tap for the week, we broke down and got out the winter clothes. Which is more or less how I spent my entire Sunday. And that was just for mine and the kids clothes. Still have the coat closet to do.

9. Saturday is Alla's half birthday, so that equals Date with Daddy. I think she wants to go to the Science Museum, but so far neither of our children has chosen for a date to go to a restaurant other than Red Robin.

10. Friday is the Fall Parade at the school. Should be mighty chilly.

Picture Day.

Back when it was still warm, oh, less than two weeks ago, the kids had picture day at school. Everything is significant this year, because it's the first "real" picture day for Fisher, at "real" school with big sister. I hope he didn't smile like this in his official picture, or it might be the first year we utilize the re-take day.

I realize that I am indeed a photographer, and therefore have a gazillion photos of my kiddos, but, yes, I do order school pictures. One goes in their School Days books, so they can easily flip through and see what they looked like each year, and I frame an 8x10 to display until next year's picture. There's just something traditional about having school pictures, like a rite of passage, and I'm nothing if not a sucker for traditions.

But I am indeed a photographer, so, yes, I do grab a few snapshots on their way out the door when they're all snazzed up, especially because I know the school photographers are not going to capture my daughter like this.

Reading in a box.

I'll bet there's a witty Dr. Seuss quote somewhere about all the places you can read! In a box, with a fox, while you have the chicken pox!

No?

Well, around here we read any chance we get. Reading outside in the fresh air is best, but if there's a slight chill, however too slight to warrant a blanket because the rest of the kids are wearing short sleeves, then just find a box big enough for your eight-year-old body and finish your book right there.

Here's to reading wherever, however, whenever you can!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Oh, happy day! A week from today we are getting our very own Trader Joe's!

2. Had our annual allergy appointment yesterday and skin-tested Fisher for almonds and pistachios, and what do you know, he just may be able to eat the latter (after a food challenge in November). Ron's mind went immediately to one of our all-time favorite desserts, Lime Squares with Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust. I immediately started considering how I could Paleo-ize it.

3. If you're local and haven't heard about The Chickadee, here's a link to the cozy boutique, and the gallery of images on the photo blog.

4. When we came home from The Chickadee on this past rainy Saturday, Alla made a soup she's been thinking about for a few weeks. It was delicious and fed us for three dinners! Tons of beans, ground beef, canned tomatoes, tons of vegetables, a spice mixture she whipped up herself, and two different kinds of broth. I'm so happy my family loves soup.

5. Especially because it appears to be Soup Week around here. Before Alla's soup, I had already planned for Tortilla Soup and Carrot Soup with the meatballs I am so thankful I froze back in August.

6. That girl has also, without my asking, taken on making her own lunches this year. I really cannot tell you how I managed that, only that I am so thankful, because making lunches is not one of my favorite things in life.

7. After a weekend of cool weather, we are back to 70s, which of course means shorts and t-shirts for Fisher.

8. Alla has made no secret of her dislike of sweet potatoes, except for maybe a whole baked sweet potato if she has free reign over the amount of honey she can pour on it. But somehow, chopping them into fries with oil and a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon has made them one of her favorite veggies. Prepared that way, of course.

9. Only three more weeks of our Farmer's Market.

10. I am eagerly waiting on several new chapter books for bedtime read-aloud time, most especially Kate DiCamillo's newest. Ron has gladly suffered through the A to Z Mysteries series for his nights to read to the kids, and they are up to N. I think a library trip is in order!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Yes, I'm aware it's Wednesday.

2. I must get my hands on some apple cider. I was reading an article yesterday about cooking with it - using it instead of water in your steel cut oats, or replacing half the water with cider in a pot of beans. Sounds delish.

3. We have been in the 70s for a long time now, even 85 last Friday. Consequently, Fisher has been in shorts and a t-shirt since about June, and I'm pretty sure that, due to him being 5 and therefore not having a ton of long-term memories, he figures he'll just go on with that uniform, as it's become.

4. According to our local paper, my son is in for a big shock when the rain and cold come dashing in this weekend.

5. I mentioned Fisher using all of my clips to give me a hairstyle at bedtime, so I thought proof was in order. All the great hairstylists had to start somewhere. You can all say you knew him when.

6. This past weekend, on the only cool rainy day in ages, a day sandwiched between two gorgeous warm days, the kids participated in the Kid Garage Sale at our community center. They sold books, toys they'd grown out of - basically all the stuff they cleared out of their room and toy boxes over the summer. It was a huge success and I would be surprised if they didn't do it again next year!

7. This is the stack of books we returned last week.

8. I am currently reading Golden Boy, which is about an albino boy being hunted in Tanzania. Fascinating.

 

9. Alla is reading all of the Maud Hart Lovelace books for school. Out of the three she's read so far, her favorite has been  Out of My Mind.

 

10. I have a package of chicken somewhat defrosted. Must think of a dinner recipe...

 

California...finally.

We are in the midst of September here, almost into fall already, so perhaps it is a perfect time to revisit our last summer vacation - California! We were there to celebrate the nuptials of the kids' Aunt Renee to her beloved Will, but we headed out a bit early to spend time with our old friends The Laughrey's.

The kids were very excited to be at the beach, to try and catch seagulls, and Alla in particular was in awe of the local flora and fauna.

 

That girl is convinced that she'll catch a bird one of these days.

I have always loved how her curls curl up at the shore.

Either I was a good vacationer or just lazy, because I didn't take my camera out too much. I did get a few shots of Fisher and Lorelei, but the other two of their girls never got their "bench portraits." Ah, well, another visit.

And then we were onto San Diego for the big wedding festivities, like getting our hair done. Here's Grandma and Aunt Ronna showing off their beauties.

Did I mention that all four of us were in the wedding? OK, so I didn't really take any photos that day, what with being a bridesmaid and mother of the "ringbear" and flower girl and counting carbs in Fisher's meal and all of that, but before things got underway I did catch just a couple of the all important getting ready moments.

What a fun day. What a beautiful bride.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. We are one full week into the school year, and starting to figure out those routines. I'm still quite stunned at the fact that I'm expected to pull up to the curb and let both kids out. And then drive off.

2. The kids and I just finished Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, which they loved. We may have to hit up the library for further Judy Blume/Fudge reading.

3. Before we sit down to read at night, Fisher likes to gather all my hair clips and brush. He gives my hair a good brushing, then proceeds to give me the world's greatest up 'do with every last clip. He's quite proud of himself.

4. While he's up 'do-ing away, Alla loves to give me hand and foot massages. I know! I'm the world's luckiest mom!!!

5. I personally am reading Me Before You, which is just great.

6. It was treat-making afternoon. Fisher and I made frozen salted chocolate banana bites, avocado pudding, and sunbutter bread.

7. Then we hit up the Farmer's Market. I got corn and carrots. I need a new veggie. Ideas?

8. I feel busy season approaching on the business front. If you're still in need of a fall session, shoot me an email! I currently have three October dates left.

9. Anyone have any ideas for good Friday night kid movies? The Sandlot was the last one I loved watching as a family:)

10. Fisher is all about the samples at the Farmer's Market. Today - a tiny Paula Red apple and a toothpicked summer sausage bite. Minnesota grows the best apples.

First days!

We, and by we I mean I, survived the first day of both kids in elementary school.

I felt quite emotional yesterday, and this morning, and walking into the school, but there was so much commotion, kiddos eager to get to their classrooms everywhere, that it just went too fast to be too sad.

I can't believe they both go to the same school, every day.

Daddy joined us for the celebration of school this morning, and saw them into their classrooms, too.

They both reported having good days, and are looking forward to going again tomorrow. What more can you ask for, huh? Here's to a great year!

The last night.

This is the last night of summer.

Tomorrow begins third grade and, sniff, kindergarten.

 

 

So the little boy got a big bed, finally, in celebration of this big step to elementary school.

 

Last night was his last night in that snug little crib, which I think he would have slept on right until his feet started pushing through the slats. He loved that bed, has been in it for five and a half years.

Tonight he sleeps in a big bed, well, a twin bed, the biggest bed that will fit in a small shared room.

And tomorrow he wakes up a kindergartener. Wow.