Reason for the Season- #8

Halloween!

It took having kids to appreciate Halloween again.
This year, Hannah was a butterfly and Jane was... well, just a cute little girl in a pink poodle skirt. It was so fun to watch them. They were so excited when we got outside, they could barely stay still for a photo, but we did manage to get a few. Oh, I forgot to mention that I made a silly, pregnant monkey of myself. It was Hannah's idea (Not shown are my monkey gloves and tail).
We went to Burns Street - essentially the same Burns Street we live on but in a private neighborhood called The Gardens. They love trick-or-treaters there, and they always know how to do Halloween right with great decor and plenty of chocolate candy bars. We had a good time but Hannah requested to go home before we did. We had no problem with that.
A short and very sweet Halloween evening.

The prep

For tonight, getting the hair ready...
and watching Ratatouille.

Hannah's balloons

We don't keep all the art Hannah makes or brings home from Joy School or Primary. On the contrary, we have tossed all of it thus far. However, if there is something she's made that we want to remember, we take a picture of it. Hannah's balloon art is one of those things. Balloons are the only things she draws consistently. In fact, it was the first recognizable thing she ever drew. I love the way she makes them. I suppose I should encourage her to expound on her artistic abilities but why rush her?

food any way

Jane loves food. Well, I should say she really loves the foods she loves. She could eat bananas, raisins, applesauce or yogurt All. Day. Long. The problem with that is that she doesn't really know how to eat, at least like a human being should. She doesn't like utensils, she stuffs her mouth until it overflows, she discards less desirables whenever and wherever she feels like it, she hoards food in her mouth for an unhealthy amount of time.

I don't ever remember this problem with Hannah when we were teaching her table-time etiquette so that's probably why I am at a loss as to why Jane is still eating like a one-year old when she is over 2. We will just have to continue to monitor her feeding habits until we have found a more effective way to teach her some civility.

Just so you know, I love this little monkey super duper amounts!

Hi and good-bye

For the last several months, we have noticed this "Hi!" sign peeking out from under a bush on our weekly walk to Trader Joe's.
It always brought a smile to my face and I'm sure to all those who noticed it.
Yesterday, as I came upon the friendly bush, I saw that the "Hi!" was no where to be found. It has always been in the same place, but still, I searched all around the bush in hopes to find it. Alas, it was gone. I laughed inwardly at my disappointment.
It kind of made me realize how important a simple "hi" is to us humans. When we moved to NYC, we noticed how people just don't say hello as you pass or even make eye contact. One day, Dan said hello to an unsuspecting elderly woman and it startled her speechless. Since then, I have thought that one day, I would say hello to everyone I passed along these busy streets of NYC. I haven't had the courage to do it yet, but maybe I can just say hi to one person. Maybe that person misses the "Hi!" sign and needs it.

Reason for the Season- #7

Soup!

I was having soup this season before the weather actually warranted it.
I don't really know what it is about soup that I love so much. It's just so satisfying to me. That and it warms my toes.

I love all kinds of soup:
•egg-drop soup,
•tortellini soup (no stranger to our menu),
•vegetable soups,
•tomato soups (try this one),
•New England clam chowder,
•chicken coconut curry soup,
•lentil soups...

The list goes on.
Tonight I made this:


Curried Apple Soup, perfect for the season. My friend Suzanne first introduced it to me, but it turns out I had the recipe all along, in an old Martha Stewart mag. You can get the recipe here, and you should.

Note: I substituted fat-free half and half for "cream or milk".

Pink or Blue?

That question will have to be answered in about 4.5 months.

Much to the disappointment of many, we decided months ago that we are not going to find out the sex of baby #3 until D-day . We will all have to wait.
We hear there is nothing like it - being surprised in the end. I'm all about "nothing like it".

Hannah keeps saying it's going to be a girl, and she thinks we should name her Hannah. It is a great name.

Reason for the Season- #6

Well, it's my birthday.



OK, so I'm 34, but I feel 28 and that's all that matters.

I don't know how it is for everyone else, but my birthday is less and less anticipated every year. Still, it's always good to celebrate if the opportunity arises.
Dan had another half day on Friday, so we started celebrating early. The great thing about having a birthday on Sunday is that it can last all weekend long, if you let it.

We left the girls with some friends and went to Manhattan. There, we went to,
• the temple
• sushi
• ChikaLicious - I write about ChikaLicious every time we go so I'll spare myself the typing. Besides, I already wrote a bit about it here.
• Pommes Frites, a place that only makes and sells french fries.

We had so much fun eating and walking through the city on our own. We're still talking about it.

e

Saturday, Dan gave me the gift of time. I got to,
• shop
• get a pedicure
• read
• rest

After pizza, I really wanted to make a caramel apple. I have eaten one before, years ago, but I have never made one that I can recall. Dan opted out of the whole-apple experience and cut his apples up for dipping. Here is the single caramel apple I made.

I used a crispy, sweet-tart Cortland apple and I enjoyed every messy bite of it.

We watched Young at Heart after the girls went to bed. If you haven't seen it, you should. We found it very entertaining.

e

Today was all about dessert. Dan dedicated the afternoon to making this amazingly rich and delicious chocolate peanut butter cake that we made from Smitten Kitchen. As he was making it, I would hear,
"Oh, man!" or
"Oh, my goodness!" and then I heard,
"This is dangerous!"


I couldn't help but go in and take a sampling myself. He was right- it is dangerous! It is the best birthday cake I have ever had. Thanks Dan (and sorry, mom).

We also had our friends over for an ice cream mix-in party. We made vanilla, chocolate and pumpkin ice creams and everyone brought a mix-in to mix in. Needless to say, we had more than enough sweet in our evening. I should say more than enough sweet for the weekend. At any rate, there were great memories made...
mostly about food.

••••••

Thanks to all for the kind birthday wishes, in various forms.

Who's the child here?

Hannah and I were having a battle of wills today. It started because Hannah wouldn't clean up a particularly messy toy when I specifically told her, "if you get that out you must put it all away yourself." She too easily agreed. I don't usually have problems with her - she's quite reasonable and well-behaved. That said...

We gave each other the silent treatment for about two hours. I was frustrated that she absolutely refused to clean up, even after she knew the consequences. She didn't care, and that bothered me the most. It shouldn't have. I should have been able to carry on as normal knowing that I would follow through with the consequences and the punishment would be hers. However, I felt like I was punishing both of us for making misery of an afternoon. I wasn't showing love and neither of us were feeling love.
I tried not to deliberately withhold love from her, but I was. I realized what I was doing when Jane woke up from her nap and Hannah couldn't stop hugging her. She even took Jane to the couch to hold her there. She then followed Jane around the house looking for attention. My heart sank.

Then, I started to pick up some of the books that had become de-shelved during the morning play date. I came across a book my mom-in-law gave me, A Creative Companion by Sark. I sat on the floor a moment and flipped through the pages. I stopped on a colorful page with the heading, "How to really love a child". I read. Here were some from the long list that I liked and more that I needed:

Say yes as often as possible
If they're crabby, put them in water
If they're unlovable, love yourself
Realize how important it is to be a child
Remember how really small they are
Surprise them
Make loving safe
Bake a cake and eat it with no hands
Keep the gleam in your eye
Stop yelling
Giggle a lot
Speak kindly
Express your love

My heart sank further. I felt humbled. My attitude changed and so did Hannah's. AMAZING! I never realized with such poignancy how much the mood and state of my children and home depend on me. That makes me more important than I'd like to admit.


Hannah, you teach me so much. I love you.

•

A less than manic Monday

Usually, Mondays are quite busy with shopping, cleaning, laundry... all the things we didn't do and need to catch up on from the weekend. Today was not one of those typical Mondays. This is how the girls and I spent our day:

• We took a 2 1/2 hour walk around town and through The Gardens neighborhood where we enjoyed the beautiful changing trees. The girls loved playing in the leaves and tried to catch them as they fell to the ground.

• We put sponge rollers in Hannah's hair just for fun.

I don't have any "after" shots because she soon grew tired of waiting for the curls to set. She really liked how they looked in her pony tails though.

• I crocheted for the length of an entire movie- a movie of my choice. That was a treat.

Not much on the list, but it pretty much took up the day until Dan got home for dinner. Tomorrow of course, I will be doing laundry and cleaning, but it was nice to take a day off.

Reason for the Season- #5

Hot Apple Cider á la Mode

Hot, spiced, apple cider is delicious, especially on a cold day, but have you ever tried it with vanilla ice cream?



I used to work at Trader Joe's as a chalkboard/sign artist. One morning, one of my managers watched me while I hung a chalkboard over the Spiced Cider display. After he read the bullet points for the product, he quoted, " 'try it hot with ice cream' ?"
He thought I was crazy. I asked him if he had ever tried it. "No," was his reply. I told him it tasted like a bit of apple pie a la mode.
It turns out, no one else working in the store that morning had tried it either. My manager felt compelled to heat up a batch of the cider in the kitchen (Trader Joe's has the really thick cider which is very good and much to my liking). He then shared a tray full of small-hot-spiced-cider-a-la-mode samples with all the team members. All agreed - the hot cider with ice cream was indeed a delicious treat.



To adapt one of Hannah's recent favorites...

You do not like it.
So you say.
Try it! Try it!
And you may.
Try it and you may, I say.

•

Cold Spring Harbor

Dan got home before 2:00 this afternoon, so we all took a drive. We didn't know where to go at first, but it was such a beautiful day, it was a shame to waste it indoors.
We ended up in Cold Springs Harbor, on the northern side of the Long Island peninsula. There lies a harbor, go figure,full of new shiny boats, a strip of charming overpriced gift shops and boutiques, and a park which slopes down to the water's edge. The latter is where we spent the rest of the afternoon. Jane had no fear as she got closer and closer to the water until she finally waded in. We gave her an inch, but...
She wanted to go further into the water, and eventually, she fell in good. Even her head was wet. After a few tears, she wanted her shirt off, just to throw it hard to the ground, and then she was happy again.
Hannah just watched everything at a distance from the rocks. Smart girl.

Jane's lucky we had a bag of old clothes for donation in the back of the car.

Jane

Jane just wanted to say hi.

Reason for the Season-#4

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies



I always look forward to making pumpkin chocolate cookies this time of year, and I only make them this time of year. For some reason, I don't feel right making them in another season, in April or July, for example.
I know there are some great recipes out there for these sweet treats, but here is how I make them:

3 eggs
3 c. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
2 c. pumpkin puree

Mix above.
Then add,

4 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. nutmeg

Combine then add,
12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Dough will be quite "wet". Scoop onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375˚ for 13-15 minutes.
Makes at least 4 dozen.

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Stocking up, finally

We have finally utilized our last empty wall and put up a shelf, as big as the wall itself, to store food. We realize this is long overdue. We also realize that when done, we will have about as much food as most people with larger homes have in their pantry, but we feel much better about having so much in our small apartment- a sense of peace and security in a place that has been called "a ticking time bomb". Moms and dads, we hope you feel more secure for us also. Just forget what I said about the time bomb.
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Reason for the Season-#3

New England

Ever since we have lived in NY, we have visited New England in the Fall. There is a reason we return every year- we always have so much fun.
We saw many things in our time there between our friends the Tadd and Julie Truscotts and the Jeromy and Carrie Dyers along with Carrie's parents. Here is a mostly visual representation of our jaunt north.

We'll start with the Arlington Ward Clam Bake.

I was diggin' the lobster but had to say no to the clams. They tend to make my skin crawl.

We went downtown on Sunday to meet up with Jeromy and Carrie and their family while they were visiting Carrie's parents. We spent a couple of days with them.

Dan flew back to NY Tuesday morning, and I spent the rest of the week with Julie.

On our last day together, Julie and I took the kids to Maine to shop at the outlets and to see the picturesque Nubble Lighthouse.

I'm pretty sure it's the first time I have seen it with a blue sky in the background.

We had such a great time with our friends, and we felt more than welcome.

Dan flew in Friday so we could spend a bit more time with his brother's family. We took a morning bike ride along the river with J & C in the brisk Fall air.
Dan drove home with us Saturday and we stayed put for a relaxing Conference weekend- another reason why I love the Fall!

Hannah in Boston

We have been in Boston for the last week, and we've been having a great time. Dan left for work in NYC on Tuesday morning, but he is joining us again tomorrow night. This picture is for you, Dan. We miss you!