Drums, Josie & Rick, and a tick!

For almost a year now, little Ruby has had a strong desire to be a drummer. She loves listening for the drums in any song that she hears, she loves to air-drum, and she wants to be like Animal from the Muppets. She loves that her Uncle Drew was a drummer, and feels a connection to him because of it. For months she has been in the habit of getting pots and similar items to make pretend drum sets. It has been so adorable. She has also put in several requests for a drum set for her birthday. And while the idea of a pres-schooler getting a drum set was cute, I didn’t think it would happen. I actually purchased a plastic toy drum at the store about a month ago, and I figured that would be the end of it. But as I watched her drum and dream and hope for a real drum set, I began looking at craigslist.com for a cheap used set. Lo and behold, there was one for sale – a child-sized actual drum set, and it was cheap! It was a bargain I couldn’t refuse to make my daughter’s dream come true. We bought it and brought it home and hid it under a blanket in a storage room where the girls never play. ….almost never.  Here is what happened, from their own mouths (see photos – I made them write about it in their journals!):

So my little drummer girl went from this:

To this:

So for family night that evening we had an impromptu family dance/jam session with me on the piano, Adam on guitar, and the girls on drums. Happy early birthday to Ruby!

The rest of the week was filled with pretty average play and adventure for the girls. Viv started school again, and the younger girls enjoyed story time at the library. 

This is the view from our bedroom window. GORGEOUS!

 This is Noma at the library story time. They have so much fun!

 Hopscotch and chalk fun in our driveway.

On our way to the bus stop we noticed what we thought was a giant spider nest, but a closer look helped us discover that there were baby moving caterpillars inside of it! So fun : )

Adam participated in a beach clean-up sponsored by Viridian, one of Advent’s biggest clients. We wanted to go with him, but it didn’t work out. It looks like fun though! We wanted to do something special to celebrate Earth Day last Sunday, but we didn’t have a chance to do it justice. We’d like to think that we celebrate and honor the Earth all year, but I know we can always do better. 

 On Friday, my sister Josie and her husband Rick come to visit! We are thrilled to have them here. We sincerely love having visitors.  Our girls had been counting the days down to their arrival. They (and we) are so happy to reconnect with them. YEA!

Here they are playing "Red Rover" at Comp beach.

PS - Adam had a tick in his calf. He is taking standard medication to stop the chances of Lyme's disease. It only took one month for one of us to get a tick. Ticks to date: one and counting...






Recipe of the week: (this one is also thanks to our healthy friends, Josh and Amy Choate)


Sprouted Kamut Apple Salad


4 apples, diced
2-3 celery stalks, diced
1 c sprouted kamut, spelt or wheat
1 c raw coconut pieces or shavings
1 c raw chopped pecan or walnut pieces (preferably soaked first)
1 c raisins or chopped dates
2 (ish) tsp cinnamon


Dressing: pour maple syrup over it and stir to lightly cover. You can also add a little yogurt to it.


Just mix it together and enjoy!

Spring Break!!!

So, yeah, it was Spring Break. Before the break, I had lofty ideas about taking the kids to the Bronx Zoo and going to a museum and a bunch of other outings that were going to be well-planned, memorable, and awesome. Money is tight, so I was really going to have to plan (Bronx Zoo is free on Wednesdays, by the way), but I was determined to do it. But then... I didn't. I didn't go through with any of it, actually. The good news is that Spring Break was memorable and awesome. The kids had a blast everyday, and I didn't have to go to all the trouble of planning or spend any money. The truth is, my kids don't need lavish Spring break trips or events or outings to keep themselves happy (thank goodness!). They were thrilled to just stay up late, sleep in, play together all day, and do things like write letters, make crackers, run in the sprinklers, color in coloring books, have dance parties, watch movies, go to the library, and even do homework. It was glorious, and I was thrilled to let them play and not teach them that having fun always has to equal going out and spending money. 

 

One of the things the girls and I did venture out to do this week was go to Topstone Park with a lady and her kids that we met at the library story times. It was really nice. We packed a picnic, went on a 1.5 mile hike, and played at the small playground there. The kids all got along really well, and the weather was beautiful. I was excited to go check it our because it's still free (like many other things right now) as we are still "off season", but that will all end in a couple of weeks. 

Another activity that kept us busy this week has been clearing an area in our backyard for a playground. This process starts with Adam clearing a section of weeds during his morning workout. Later on the girls and I go to the wood chip pile in the brush, fill up a bucket, and bring it over to the clearing. We also look around for rocks to be a border and a buffer between the grass and the wood chips. I love that we are working together as a family on a project that they will use, appreciate, and be proud of. They have worked hard on it. They have also been really helpful in collecting sticks around the yard (there were tons of them) to be burned. And with helping get our garden started. It is so fun to be outside working together! By the way, our garden is a bunch of pots on our balcony. We decided not to fight the animals here and just play it safe by keeping the garden out of their reach. Pots and dirt were easier and cheaper to get than clearing a section of grass, fencing it, and starting from there.

Okay, I've decided that this is the week for honesty. I'm talking about the ticks and bugs out here. You have the right to know... I've been talking this place up quite a bit, because it is awesome, but it's not all sunshine and bliss. The reality is this: I can’t express how many times we have been warned about the ticks out here from a ton of different people. I have talked to the girls about how to do tick checks, and we have checked them every night and before baths. I have tried to not stress about it, and the kids have been playing outside and such, but then when we went to the YMCA for a family swim a couple of days ago, we found bright pink dots on all three girls on their upper necks, right by the hair line. Yikes. I didn’t see a tick or a ring around the spot (sign of a tick bite), but still, what is it?? It’s been a few days, I’ve asked a few people and looked online, but I still have no idea. They are not painful for the girls or anything, but I am uneasy about the whole thing. At this point they are fine, and they weren't ticks, but araaarg.  Do I douse them in chemical-ridden, deet-filled bug repellent every time they go outside? Is there a natural repellent to ticks that I don’t know about? Ugh. It all gives me anxiety. 

Now, for those of you you are coming to visit, we are figuring it all out so you don't have to stress about ticks to the same degree as I have. You spray the kids on their ankles and back of neck when they go out to play, then do a thorough tick check before bed. That's it. So far, so good, eh? 

Back to pleasantries: We are enjoying getting to know the good people of Redding. This morning we had some neighbors over for a brunch. We made a variety of foods - most of them containing wheat, only to find that the guy is gluten intolerant (doh!). He hadn't eaten anything yet, and he was hungry. He a lot of fruit. We couldn't even give him the cup of coffee that he asked for. I think we made a great first impression! (Ahem) It turns out that this guy is a writer for NBC and he once rode his bike across the US. While doing so he met Ezra Taft Benson, the LDS prophet in Utah who told him that he was brave, but perhaps not very wise for doing it. They are a really great family, and we hope they will give us another chance!

We have also gotten to know the people who lived in this house before us. They are fabulous and very kind and generous. They have helped us out quite a bit with so many things. We had dinner at their place the other night, and our kids played well together. We may even inherit a cat from them that has been hanging around their property. I'm a wimp, but I'm scared to have a pet.

This week we successfully made Wheat Thin-like crackers from scratch! This was thanks to Amy Choate's recipe. They were really good!

Wheat Crackers

2 cups whole wheat flour (best if it's sprouted and dried first - but not necessary), and kamut or spelt is s good option as well)
1 T honey (or brown sugar)
1 t salt
3/4 cup milk (almond, rice, or regular)
1 T melted butter (better yet, sesame oil or coconut oil)
optional: add dried basil, thyme, parsley, etc. to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together. Take half of the dough and roll flat - as thin as possible. Then place rolled dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter or knife to gently cut the excess dough off of the edge of the pan. Use a brush to put a thin layer of butter or oil onto the dough, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Finish by rolling the pizza cutter along the dough to make small squares, then bake for about 15 minutes (until the the crackers around the edges are browning). Then do the same with the other half of the dough. *You can also use small cookie cutters to make fun shapes, or cut triangles, etc.


We hope to get back to our old tradition of adding a new recipe to each blog post ... in case you too like to eat healthy food (aka: bark and mulch!).

Forests, Fire Safety & Shelters

(CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS)

As the weather is warming up, we thought it would be fun adventure for the kids to go on a walk in the woods. So, we walked down our driveway and then literally stepped into the woods. Throwing tick-caution to the wind, we started off on a 1 mile walk through the fairyland magical forest. It was so fun! The girls were enchanted with nature (finding walking sticks, looking at streams, finding leaves and pinecones, climbing on rocks, etc). Sonoma was only slightly difficult. She insisted that I carry her (NOT Adam, for some reason) for a large portion of the way, and she gets heavy fast!

The next day we decided to have a family fire safety night. We live in an old house where we will use the fireplace and we want to be prepared. They apparently don’t have laws here about landlords providing smoke detectors or anything like that, and we live primarily on the 2^nd floor of this house, so there are a lot of safety issues to be aware of. After purchasing smoke detectors and a couple of window ladders, we sat down with our children and taught them the basics. We introduced them to “stop, drop, and roll”, and to the fact that smoke rises, so you need to stay low to the ground if there is a fire. We had them listen to the smoke alarm that we installed in their bedroom, and then we had them practice opening the window and climbing out with the ladder in their closet. The windows are pretty hard for them to open, but we are hoping they never have to do it! Also, because they are not teenagers, there is no chance of them using the ladder to sneak out at night J

It is a requirement in 1^st grade here to make a shoebox-sized shelter of some sort.  Olivia made a house on stilts. We worked on it for days. In her planning portion of the project, she wrote about things like hammocks, a rainbow room, and colorful blankets, etc. It turns out we had to make all of those things. Lots of work. In any case she was happy with the results. Ruby decided to make a shelter as well. Hers was a tent. I was proud of them, and I’m so glad that the project is over. It was consuming our lives and dining room table for about a week.

Cute kids…

Olivia: She calls lip balm “lip blam”. She read it wrong a while back, but it stuck in her head.

Ruby, Our 4 year old (who is almost 5) has begun writing and leaving notes for us periodically. It is so cute! Her latest one was left on Adam’s desk and it said: “FRum Ruby I [heart] U DAD i CLED YR OFIS” (From Ruby. I [heart] you, dad. I cleared your office). She had straightened his work area. Adorable!!

Also, after picking a flowering weed the other day, she came inside and asked, “Where’s that flower tank?” I was confused, but guessed, “You mean vase?” Her reply, “Yeah.”

Sonoma: She calls rabbits “Wabbuts”, Olivia “Alivala”, sticker “sigee”, monkey “muhgee”, blanket “banget”

The New House and Town ... and the Easter Egg Hunt

 VIEW ALL WEEK'S PHOTOS HERE <---

We thoroughly enjoyed the last few days that my mom was visiting with us. We cleaned and organized the house some more, and my children soaked up every minute of grandma-fun that they could. On they night before she left, we made a fire in the backyard and had s'mores for dessert (it was finally warm enough to do that!). The girls - mostly the oldest - cried as they went to bed, knowing that it meant good bye to "Grandma Cozy". She left with Adam to the JFK airport (La Guardia is a little closer, for future reference) at 4am, and it was just not the same without her after that. We are so grateful for her visit and all of her help!

I am oh-so-slowly orienting myself on these winding, narrow, name-changing, and tree-tunneled roads. I can find the elementary school, the library, the post office, and the recycling center all by myself (no GPS), and that is a pretty big deal. By the way, those locations pretty much sum up this little town. There is not much here. Just about everything is a town over, but we are surrounded by several other towns, and I have yet to figure out which ones are where and what the good destinations in each one are. Let the discovery begin. 

As it turns out, Good Friday is a holiday that merits canceling school in CT, so the girls and I had Friday all to ourselves. We decided to take advantage of the free passes that our library offers to nearby museums and zoos and such. We decided to try the Beardsly Zoo in Bridgeport, a city about 45 min from our house. I packed lunches, and off we went. The long drive was helped by a book on CD, also from the library - what a great place. The zoo was not huge, but just right. The girls loved every minute of the 3 hours that we spent there.

After that, I headed to Norwalk - where Adam often works - to get a membership to Costco and do some bulk shopping. This is important because we live relatively far from some of the big stores, so it makes it feel hardly worth shopping for things that come in small packages each week. Costco was a bit of a zoo. The kids loved all of the samples of food there. I'm pretty sure there were enough that they got a full meal out of it. The whole experience was complete with a tantrum from my youngest clinging to me as she was trying to wriggle out of the shopping cart, a race to the hidden and hard-to-get-to restrooms for another child, and an uncomfortable diaper change in the backseat of the car. Oh, the joys of mothering.

It was during that excursion that I learned we had been invited to dye Easter eggs at a friend's house - Awesome. We went there directly from the store. We had a great time visiting. The girls get along well with their two children, who are a couple of years older than my children. We had a BBQ and then proceeded to be muy creative with eggs, dye, and decorations. Good times all around!

On Saturday we decided to have an early Easter celebration in our yard. We put out the Easter baskets, hid candy-filled eggs in the massive yard, and got our cameras ready for inevitable cuteness. It was perfect, despite a nip in the air. The girls loved the treats, the search, the anticipation of finding and eating candy. The yard was picturesque and happiness was all around! Yea!

Later we decided to go to an animal shelter in the hopes of getting a couple of cats. Yes, I said cats, even though we are dog people, and I am allergic to cats. We were told that we should get cats if we live in this house to help keep the mouse population down. It is pointless to try to exterminate them as we live along 160 acres of natural reserve space (and we are uncomfortable with the extermination idea anyway). So cats, it seemed, were the answer. However, after spending time there, filling out paperwork, letting the children see and pet a number of animals, and letting my nose and throat begin to tickle, we were talked out of the whole thing. Because of my allergies, the cats would have to be outdoor cats (who would be let into the garage at night), but we were told that we would only be bringing the cats to an early death and providing a tasty lunch for a nearby coyote or fox in the woods. It made me worry about my almost 2 year old, to be honest. Yikes! ...Anyway, so now what? Any suggestions? We don't want a mouse infested house come the fall, but we don't want to endanger the lives of cats in our yard, and I don't want to be suffering from allergies all the time. Are there any solutions that we are not thinking about? Lions? 

After that we headed to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium for a birthday party (of one of the same girls from the Easter egg dying). The party was so fun for the girls! They watched a shark IMAX movie, got a tour of the Aquarium, played games, ate pizza and ice cream cake, and got princess barbie-like party favors after a full 4 hours of party. Sheesh! I am concerned that the party expectations of  my girls got set a bit high right before their summer birthdays. We were told that going all out on birthdays is just what people do out here (just one of the things that will set us apart, I guess!) I will need to get creative. Ideas are welcome.

We came home to relax and have a family movie night. We cuddled up on our bed, set up the projector, popped popcorn, and watched the movie: Hop - a decidedly awful movie. The product placement was absurd, but the worst part - the most offensive - was that this children's movie would allow Playboy to be one of those placements. It was pathetic, in my opinion. Seriously? They are getting their logo out to the children in a cool and funny way - that is disturbing to me. Aside from that, the girls seemed to love it ... and it was a fun themed weekend!

May your Easter be a happy one, may Springtime bloom warm and sunny, and may all of your seasonal allergies be quick and mild, as I hope mine plan to be... AAACHOOOOO!