Apple Stamping

What do you do with ugly duckling apples that are a little mealy?

Back to school Apple Stamping

just apples, tempera, and a paper plate

Oh, and little hands to stamp with

 Ta da! Goodie bags for our teachers

Tomorrow we use the rest of those apples to fill our bags with Apple Spice Coffee Cake

peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6000734&prev_term=apple

East Coast Regrets

What could have been

To spite yesterday’s post, this summer was not only filled with carefree days soaking up sun and escaping from reality.  A good portion of our summer was filled with indecision and uncertainty.  In July, John was offered a career opportunity in Washington DC.   After weighing the pros and cons over and over into exhaustion, we ultimately decided against the move. 

I am happy to close the book on this stressful decision.  I am thrilled to continue to reside in such breathtakingly beautiful area.  I am relieved not to have to say goodbye to wonderful friends, family, and an amazing community.  As with most difficult decisions, there are still regrets.

I regret not having the chance to live closer to my East Coast family.  I regret that my children will not have the opportunity to see (2 sets of) their grandparents more frequently.  I regret that I will not see my 8 month-old niece and nephew grow and change month by month.  I regret that my husband will not pursue a job that seems to be tailor made for him.  I regret that we won’t have the chance to live in a place dripping with architectural and historical culture.  I regret that I will spend the rest of my days subjected to the torture of eating only west coast bagels.

As the family and I drove out of Annapolis, MD, I was sure that we were being sent a divine sign.  As we passed a strip mall ,  I noticed a sign that combine John’s life passion and mine “Naval Bagels”.  It turns out that the sign was not beaconing me to Annapolis. Instead, it was telling me something else.  If john could stay in Tacoma working on his passion, boats.  I could, make a bagel that was better then those found at Trader Joes.  If you haven’t had a Traders Joes bagel – don’t.  You could stick your thumb through the center of a dinner roll and get the same result.

So back to my kitchen I went, searching for the perfect bagel recipe.  Yesterday, I  tried a variation on one I found here:  www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2009/10/new-york-style-bagel-recipe/

The end result:


As Liam sees it....

Not much better...

I worked the dough, best I could, but still got lumps

Most importantly, how did they taste?  Not bad.  much better then TJ's.  They also tasted better then our grocery store options.  I chose this recipe because I had all of the ingredients on hand and didn't want to make a "starter" and extend the process.  Next week, I will try my hand at a more authentic recipe.  Until then, we have  20 bagels to finish!

Puppy Love

Ultimately, there are only 4 reasons why one finds themselves off to bed at just 8:55 PM:  a really good day, a really bad day, illness, or an early morning.  I am happy to report that last nights early turn down was the result of a super fabulous weekend.  I hope that wherever this finds you, you can share sigh and smile in reminiscence of a happy weekend .

We extended our weekend by playing hooky from Friday afternoon responsibilities.   In the clear, bright skies, we headed out to our cabin in the Olympic peninsula Friday afternoon.  That gave us a full two days to swim at Lake Cushman, hike at Dow Creak and play in the forest.  We also made good on a summer long promise to our children.  Well, we sort of made good on a promise.  The promise was to rent Kayaks.  With only one 2-person kayak left and 5 of us, we had to make do with a motorboat.

Beautiful Lake Cushman

Sunday afternoon is usually the time when the dread returns to our bellies.  Not this time!    Yesterday, as we packed up and closed down our Hoodsport home, we were excited to leave.  Why?  Because we were headed out to meet a new little of vizsla puppies!  After following pictures and videos of the anticipation, entrance, and early days of these 10 pups, we were finally going to meet them.  The result:  puppy love.

Amelia's Fav

Sleeping Puppies

 Which one looks like a "Cotter"?

I plan to ride this puppy bliss all the way to next weekend.  

The Bitter and Sweet of life

Yesterday was a typical "day in the life"for me.  It was all over the place.  I worked on my closet conversion (pictures to come), made a run to the airport, baked, cleaned, played, argued, and threatened (and administered) many a time out.  I missed yoga, but squeezed in a run.  I took my daughter and a friend to the pool and hosted a sleepover.  I cleaned up potty accidents (of both the dog and preschooler variety) as well as a gigantic kitchen spill.  Yet, at the end of the day, I still looked back and felt completely unaccomplished.  I "did" a lot (hooray!), but finished little (boo, hiss!).  Task completion  had alluded me for another day.


Just as my day lacked all sense of fluidity, so will this post.  On that note, I tried to break up my mid afternoon with a treat.  I suffered from the, Liam didn't nap and I need a second shower (I mentioned all of the accidents, right?), blahs.  This is the part of the day when I usually start rooting around for my french press.  It doesn't matter if it is at the peak of the sun in the peak of the summer.  I love my hot coffee mid afternoon.  The feeling isn't mutual, so I have been struggling to cut back.  Inspired to find another indulgence, I decided to try a new recipe.  Instead of torturing my stomach with coffee, I decided to love on it with lemon and mint.  Here was my starting point:

two trays of ice,  one pot of green tea, 2 lemons, mint and sugar to taste 

The Bitter:  Just as my iced lemon mint smoothing was reaching perfection, my blender started leaking.  The leak was more like a wild gushing of cold lemon juice all over my new countertops.  Granite countertops and lemon juice go together about as well as my nervous system and  the afternoon french press.  I frantically mopped up the mess.  All that was left was a watery hunk of lemon slushy.  So, I added more tea to the ice mound.  This was my final result:

The sweet:  It was actually pretty good.  Not as good as I imagine my wasted smoothy tasted, but super refreshing.

The Bitter:  Sacrificing myself for my daughter (..sigh..), I gave up my Thursday yoga class to save her play date.  It, indeed, needed saving from pesky, grumpy little brothers.  The Sweet:  The afternoon started to look up when I was relieved from duty at 5PM for a run.  By this point, the only person that needed a run as much as I did was my seven year old.  So, we walked over to the UPS campus for a jog on the super soft, amazingly wonderful track.  This was the first time that I have ever taken Jack with me on a "real" run.  The track there is pretty much fence contained, and I am trying to let go of my overprotectiveness.  With sun was shinning down and Mount Rainier smiling over our shoulders. it seamed like the right opportunity.

The Bitter:  At times like these, I realize just how much my children have grown.  They aren't babies anymore.  The years, while often slow, have passed and the time has slipped away  The Sweet: While I ran, paced by my breath, Jack jumped on and off of the track.  He barreled past me in total abandonment, and then walked when he ran out of steam.  He ran the wrong way to charge me with a huge shiny grin and then grabbed my hand to run with me.  When he lost interest, he sat on the bleachers are watched football practice.  By the end, I ran 3 miles.  Not the most impressive or vigorous run, but I still ran and got my sweat on.   Most importantly, I ran with my child present!  A day I thought would never come.  We are entering a new era, it is both bitter and sweet.

Closet Conversions

You may have noticed a theme in my last postings.  Schedules, school, and organization have captured my thoughts.  Accordingly, I am moving my preoccupations from the cerebral to the physical world.  I am armoring up for the school year and next Kindermusik session by organizing my physical space.  

With three kids in school this year, the paper work alone is dumbfounding.  Icalander can only help me so much when I have lost a permission slip, project directions or phone directory.  This has sparked my first conversion:  Hallway built-in to family central.  I spent yesterday morning rehoming tea supplies and wine glasses.  You may wonder: "what were your children doing?".  They were helping.  I must really be loosening up if I am allowing my 3 year old to help me move stemware.  Can you believe that we made it through with only one broken teapot?  Today, I can repurpose the closet.  Here is what I need this closet to do for me:

Charge phones, ipods and small electronics 
House mail that needs attention
Hold and sort each child's school and art work for the week 
Post important memos and reminders
Post weekly meal calendar
Post a weekly family activity schedule
Save my sanity

Before I start rearranging, I need some inspiration.  One of my favorite place to turn for home ideas is Sunset.com.  No Surprise, there I found a whole gallery of "creative offices".  Many of these ideas will be filled away from my next project:  closet to office conversion.  A lot of the inspirational photos are useful even for my small space.

Here are some ideas that am filing away:

(sunset)

Here are some others from various sources:

 

(decorator on a dime)

(sf gate)

So, off to work I go.  My own pictures are coming soon.

Do you have a place in your house set aside for family organization?  Have you ever converted a closet?

  

Back to School Time

There is no denying it.  It is the season of "Back to School".  With school starting on September 1, there are only 5 more weekdays left.  I'm sad about it.  Don't get me wrong, I love the quietness of the house on a Wednesday at 1PM when Liam and Cali dog are sleeping and I am free.   However, I will miss the closeness that we share over the summer.  In the past few months I have seen the friendship between my children grow.  There has been a lot of argruing, but a lot of comrodery too.  Here are some of the things that I will miss the most:


A flexible bedtime with nowhere to be in the morning
Lingering after a family breakfast in pajamas until 10AM
Messy morning art projects
Listening to epic sessions of imaginary play
Family bike rides to the library
Noontime swimming

I will keep this post short and upbeat by not listing all of the things that I will not miss.  This week, I will continue with all of our back to school preparations.  We have had school supplies and clothes for a while now.  So, I am going to focus my time on things that will set us up for success once the chaos begins.  More to come....


Are you excited to get back to school?  What will you miss about summertime?

Schedules, schedules, yuck!

Perhaps one of my favorite things about summer time is the taste of freedom from my families increasingly complicated schedule.  With fall rounding the corner, it is time to brace for the rush of activities and schedules that come with it.  My icalendar and I have a very special, codependent relationship.  Without my input, he has no purpose and doesn’t exist  Without him, I remember absolutely nothing.   If I do not have things written down, they don’t exist.  Hence, my life, intricate schedules and all, does not exist without my faithful ical.

Those who are close to me know that I am HORRIBLE when it comes to dates and times (also when it comes to directions, proper loading of the dishwasher and getting less then 9 hours of sleep ).  I must write things down or they are a jumbled mess.  So, my calendar and I will never part ways.  Thankfully, this means that we will both always exist.

My saving grace is that I am a super planner and idea organizer (note the insertion of the word “idea”).  But lately, I have noticed that I do not have mental clarity on my side.  As I gear up for the fall, I feel that I am falling apart at the seams a bit this year.  I turned to Ical for support.  I now have 7 sub calendars:

Home

Husband's Work

Meals

Activities

Minuet Studio  

Fitness

When ical had to start recycling color codes with the addition of my last calendar, I started to get a little worried. This will be a very, very, busy 15 years (when Liam goes to college) ahead of me.  Like working a budget, I have been over and over where cuts can be made.  Should I take out the kids piano lessons?  (I already teach them in the living room to save time.)  Do we need a family swim night?   Where can I add in time for the dog(s)?  Date night or family night? 

Here is where I would like to write down my master plan for my a perfectly balanced and efficient schedule.  Unfortunately, I am not there yet.  Perhaps this year, I will have to let the cards and activities fall where they may.

How do you keep your life organized?  Do you manage to keep a balanced schedule?

Summer's Bucket list

One of my favorite "to do's": a weekend with the ladies at Lake Cushman

Perhaps one of the reasons that summer feels so magical is that it always seems to be fleeting.  In Western Washington, the weather makes that especially true.  This year, the Summer didn't seem to arrive until late July.  I won't complain about it, I am sure that I have covered all angles of my frustration long ago.  But, it does present a challenge.  Yes, living in the Northwest means that you get used to camping in the rain and picnicking under cold gray skies.  Still, how do you fit all of the wonderful experiences of summer in the few short weeks between rain and the start of school?  Here was my original list of Summer "to do's"

• A Family Camping Trip
• East Coast Vacation/ family Reunion
• Go to each of the Tacoma Farmers Market's at least once
• Spend a week at Lake Cushman with the kids
• Go Berry Picking
• Can Berry Jam
• Teach Jack and Amelia weekly Piano Lessons
• Work with Jack on his handwriting
• Stain the Cabin
• Host a Ladies weekend away
• Go Kayaking
• A Backpacking Trip sans Kids

Most of my summer dreams deal with traveling.  Like you, I only have a limited number of weekends to turn those dreams into reality.  So, backpacking will have to wait.  Some of my "to do" should never have made the cut.  Stain the Cabin?  That was really more of a "honey do".  Now it is just an "undone".  Other then that I have actually completed quite a bit.  Still left and feasible:

Visit more of the Tacoma Farmers markets

squeezing in a few piano lessons

Kayaking...I hope

How about you?  Do you manage to experience all that you hoped for this summer?

Garage Sale Day #2

Wrapping up Day #1 of the Sale

Yesterday's sale didn't prove to be the money maker that Jack had hoped for it to be.  On the bright side, he may have gotten the lesson in the value of the dollar that John had wished for.  

On Thursday night, as we finished setting up for the big sale, the kids were very excited.  We let Jack and Amelia stay up late to help out.  With the threat of bedtime in the lurking shadows, the air was filled with the rare chants of "what else can I do to help?"  And they did help.  

That night as visions of dollar signs and a new lego set danced in his head, Jack tossed, turned and woke up excitedly at 6AM.  He then, apparently, ate a few cherries in the playroom, leaving the pits to decorate the carpet.  But, back to the sale.  Helpfulness continued well into the late morning.  John and the kids posted signs, got out the last few items and they were ready for the sale.  Ready for the sale.  Ready For The Sale.  READY FOR THE SALE.  Ahem! Ready for the sale.  Apparently, they were the only one's ready.  No customers.

We did have a few visitors and whittled away at our excessive amount of children's clothing and toys.  I was surprised to find how hard it was for me to let go of Amelia's 4th Christmas dress for $1.50.  Liam learned that he could, in fact, still fit into his infant swing.  Amelia and Jack discovered that hard work does not always yield big results.  By the end of the day, we managed to make about $75.  We will but away in to our families vizsla puppy fund.  Hopefully, the fund can grow a little more today.

I will not be here to count the cash box.  I will be away with good friends at Lake Cushman in 85 degree sunny loveliness.  My question for today:

What does it feel like to swim with out a child attached to your hip?

Happy Weekend!

Nostalgia, a Garage Sale and the Value of Money.

Have you ever had been full of both excitement and dread?

For the past week I have been counting down the days until Saturday.  Saturday is the golden day when 5 of my favorite ladies and I are set free and childless in the Olympic Peninsula.  More then 24 hours with no one to take care of but myself.  That is the, over the moon, excited side of me.  Now, on to the dread.  A few weeks back, my husband and children planned a garage sale for tomorrow and Saturday.  The screeching breaks to my happy side that already starting to stroll out the back door.

The idea for the sale is a great one.  Knowing that our family is very much full and complete (except for the baby vizsla pup that I am expecting in September), it is time finally get rid of some of our crap  gently loved baby and toddler gear, toys and games.  My very practical John saw this as an opportunity to teach the kids a lesson about the values of money as well.  To his credit, he and the kids have taken this on themselves.  They have been planning and preparing items for sale.  To my discredit, I can't keep my hands off.  Having spent years in retail merchandizing (yes, thats right I worked at the GAP for 7 years), I can't leave well enough alone.  Here in lies my dread.  One day and zero dollars to turn my slightly leaning garage into the Fall I line at the GAP (circa 2000 of course).

There are other hurdles aside from the set up.  One of the hardest part is that we really don't have all that much to sell.  We are saving some baby items for family and hoping to turn others into heirlooms.  My 3 year old is having a hard time parting with anything.  In fact, we are really keeping him out of the loop and hoping for a miracle at the sale.   Another problem is that my 7 year old is viewing this experience as a "get rich quick scheme".  He plans on selling broken toys, used erasers and stained clothing with a large price tag.  He also has plans to turn a horribly tacky gold painted 1970's wall decoration from our cabin for $8,000 by claiming that it is real gold.  This is exactly why the lessons in the value money (and apparently honesty) are needed. 


So off I go to create signs, hang clothes and empty closets.  I will try to keep my nostalgia in check and Jack will work on his greediness.


Have you ever had a successful garage sale.  What worked?  What didn't?

Free Blueberries!

Yesterday the kids and I ended our week long quarantine with a trip to ......................

 Charlotte's Blue Berry Park 

I am ashamed to say that after living in Tacoma for 5 years, this is our first visit to this beautiful 20 acre park in East Tacoma.  Located at 7402 East D St., Charlotte's Park offers FREE U-Pick blueberries.  With five varieties of blueberries, picking season runs from June to October.  Luckily, I was tipped by local berry scopers (my Mom and Stepdad) that the bushes were loaded and ready harvest.  I was also lucky enough to have them take me there, so I couldn't exactly tell you where it is outside of the above address.  So, if you venture out (and you should!), visit the Tacoma Parks Website here:  www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=649 for directions.

My Strawberry Ready to Pick Blueberries

If you haven't been to Blueberry Park yet as a family outing, this is a great week to give it a try.  The bushes along the outer edges have mostly green berries.  As you get just a little deeper into the park, especially along the backsides of the bushes, there are many more "blue" berries.

One of over 3300 blueberry bushes

Things to know for a successful picking experience:

As with all berry picking, sunscreen is a must. 

There is no restroom, only a "stinky potty" (as my kids call it) on site.

There are some thorny blackberries growing in some of the bushes.  Pants are a good idea.

The bushes can be a bit of a maze, come with a plan to keep kids close (my plan: 3 adults for my 3 kids)

A Beautiful Summer's Day 

I hope you can make a trip there this week, it is worth the short drive!  You can expect a blueberry recipe to dress these pages soon.  

Kindermusik Play Date Giveaway

FREE MUSIC

Summer is a wonderfully busy time.  We spend our days camping, swimming, and playing in the sun.  The downside, without school and activities to keep us connected, it is easy to lose touch during these warm and carefree months.  So, why not reunite with friends by entering to win a FREE Kindermusik play date?

To enter in the drawing, you simply need to post an adorable (and I’m sure you have many!) photo or video of your little one (ages 0-5) making music on our studio’s Facebook page.  Each entry will put your name for the grand prize:  One FREE 30 minute Kindermusik session at Minuet Studio.

Enter today: www.facebook.com/pages/MinuetStudio/130936326934283

Restrictions

Play date is for children ages 0-5 and their caregiver.

Play date to scheduled before September 7, 2011

Entries must be submitted by August  19, 2011

Limit of 12 children for session

Comfort Music

Enjoying the Sounds of Home

The biggest success that came out of my many hours of travel preparations was, hands down, making each child their own playlist.  Since the time that Jack, my middle child, turned 3, I have often used headphones and music to soothe him.  It started as a night time "PLEASE SLEEP!!!" tool and then grew branches into other areas of our lives.  Now I also use it with Jack for:

Anger management cool down
To beat car boredom
Early morning seclusion /(don't wake up the rest of us)

Having spent his 3 years in a musical household, Liam has always had a song in his heart.  He sings as he plays with cars, takes a bath, eats,  and goes to the bathroom, pretty much all of the time.  In fact, often, Liam chooses to sing in conversation rather then speak.   Jack and Liam even been heard arguing in song ("It ...  is....    mine"  "NO IT"S NOT"  "yes...   it...    is"   "NO IT"S NOT".  

It should have been no surprise that, while traveling, the best source of comfort (outside of Mom and Dad) for my children was music.  Why?  Music evokes emotion and memory.  It transports us, soothes us, calms us and gives a voice to emotions that we can not find the words for ourselves.   I was simply trying to find a way to keep my children from being bored and frustrated.  But, music gave them much more then entertainment.  It gave them comfort.

Liam's favorite music, a Kindermusik medley.  In particular, anything car themed and the song"Apples and Bananas".  Amelia escaped to her tween pop happy place while Jack rocked out to his pretween songs of angst.  I enjoyed my favorite sound of all, quite.

What is your child's favorite song or musical style?

Photo's: The Fantasy and Reality

Digital photography and selective sharing allow us to paint a pretty idyllic portrait or reality.  When I look back at pictures from important life events and vacations, I am always a little surprised to see how wonderful things look.  While it is fun to indulge in selective memory, it isn't exactly an honest portrayal.  That is not to say that there are not some blissful moments that can be captured, but their are a lot of ordinary moments that are important too.  Here is a photo journal of my families recent trip to the East Coast.  There were many fabulous, beautiful moments.  There were many struggles and ordinary ones too.

                   Gazing at the Washington Monument on a Summer  Evening

Reality:  Trying to keep Liam and my camera out of the Potomac.

Happy in the Summer Sun 

Dripping in Sweat and complaining about it every step of the way

Happy Family in Annapolis

Mutual Tantrum in Camden

John and I at the Chesapeake Bay

John and Liam at the Dock Street Restroom (AGAIN!)

Smiling with Dad and little sister in front of the Philly Skyline

and for my most flattering photo...

Struggling to keep Liam from exploring the Philly Streets Solo.

How do you care for your children when you are sick?

As of midnight, we are back from wonderful vacation and family reunion.  Not yet having adjusted from the time change, my children began waking up at 5AM.  As if that weren't enough of a rude awakening, I woke up with a summer cold and flu type grossness.  Having let the kids indulge in an obscene amount of screen time during out travels, I cannot bare to use that crutch today.  But, being low on energy and high on congestion has left me creatively barren.  My only option left was to plead with my older two to step up and help out.  And...it (so far) has worked!


Sometimes I forget how much my loving, considerate, and caring children want to help.  By "help" I am referring to occupying themselves, taking the dog out and feeding themselves.  They really enjoy caring for others and are quite capable.  Of course, they don't mind being asked to be in charge (boss around) their 3 yr. old brother either.  Don't feel bad for Liam, he gets to have his big brother and sister read to him and play with him.  


So, this has worked for me for today.   I am fortunate to have a capable pair of elementary schoolers to help out.  However, preschoolers and infants are very tough to care for when you are sick.   I remember some very long days.


Here is my question for you:  How do you care for you children when you are sick?  Or, how do you make it through the very long day until relief comes?