Sunday, November 29, 2009

OK, now this is cool

That's broccoli. Grown in our own garden! I'm thrilled with how well it did. Turns out, broccoli is a very pretty plant- it's got these huge green-blue leaves that let water bead up on them any time it rains. I realize broccoli doesn't get most sane people all worked up, but we've really enjoyed an afternoon ritual of walking out to the garden, cutting off a big crown and munching on it as an appetizer while we're prepping dinner. (the health benefits are only slightly diminished by the full-fat ranch dressing it gets dunked into) The fancy lettuces I planted also grew like crazy, but they're trickier than head lettuce. Their leaves are fairly flimsy and wilty just about the same time they get large enough to eat. Hard to make presentable salads with wilty lettuce leaves. I'll just keep buying that at the store.

Here's one more random thing. My mother, the keeper-of-all-stuff, recently handed me this
Those are the gum-paste flowers that were on our wedding cake (not the bright pink ones- not quite sure why she added those silk beauties to her little arrangement). I had about four days worth of faux sentimental need to keep them after she gave them to me. Then I, the thrower-away-of-all-stuff, returned my china cabinet back to the 21st century.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Parental Rite of Passage #367...

...is surely having your kid puke at your in-laws' house. We've actually already crossed that bridge with Reese, but to a very minor extent. This weekend we had the pleasure of a very sick Makena at 1:30am. Poor thing, it stinks to be sick, but it really stinks to be sick when you're not even at home. It really stinks when you're a parent, you're not at home and your kid is sick.
It was actually a banner weekend for us at the lake. Willow, who usually observes the water from a snooty, been-there-done-that-don't-want-to-get-wet-today distance, decided to take a flying leap off the seawall into the cold water. None of us was expecting it and I was the only one who witnessed it. As luck would have it, I was all the way across the yard and had to holler to Brett's dad to grab her. The water is high now (typical for late fall) so there was no beach for her to walk out onto. Dogs with short, smushed-in noses aren't known for their swimming prowess. Dayton fished her out by her collar and she spent the remainder of the evening wrapped in a towel in my lap. Hmm. Maybe that was actually her master plan. Or maybe she's just losing it.
Reese, in typical three-year-old fashion, ignored our constant instructions not to rough house on the leather couch. What do you think you get when you put a wiggly three year old (wearing socks) on a leather couch? You get a three-year-old who is no longer on the couch. She managed to fall head first onto the hardest hardwood floors ever installed.
We're such good parents. One sick kid who gets every last bit of bedding messy. One dog who probably lost a vocal cord being yanked out of the water. One kid with a bright blue goose-egg on her forehead. All in one 12 hour time span!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dinner conversation 11/17/2009

italics are my thoughts

Me: girls- tell us what you did at school today
Reese: I-
Makena: NO! Me first.
Makena: Luke brought a book to school today. It was about a boy named Luke. Not the real Luke, a pretend Luke.
Brett: who was he?
Makena: he had a father who was black. He was dark, but at the end he had a white face and white hair. hmm...this is probably some version of Star Wars, but there's still an outside chance we're talking about Michael Jackson.
Brett: what was his father's name?
Makena: Dark.
Brett: Darth Vader?
Makena: Yeah, yeah- that was it. Dark Vader. He was black but he started white. this discussion could go south fast.
Brett: still not quite confident we're talking about the same plotline...were there any princesses in the story?
Makena: NO.
Brett: trying again....were there any girls in the story?
Makena: yes- Princess Leia. here we see what a princess is not in the eyes of a four-year-old. poor Carrie Fisher. she really drew the short straw on the whole princess deal. can't a girl get some tulle and a hair stylist?
Me: Reese, what did you do today?
Reese: I WAS LINE LEADER!!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

I come from a long line of artists

No really, I'm serious. My mother used to paint and needlepoint. My brother majored in studio art and has been competing in and winning art contests since he was in lower school. My grandmother paints, my aunt paints and teaches art classes, I've got an architect cousin, another aunt who needlepoints... Anyone who knows me, however, knows that absolutely zero of that familial talent got routed my direction. My branch of the family tree is flowered with accountants, builders and engineers.
Now, I'm not saying I can't do some creative things, I just do them in my own way. In terms of crafty things, if I see it, I can copy it. However, I will generally take the project's written instructions, Six-Sigma them to death, and simplify the entire procedure. Martha Stewart would be appalled.
So...this brings me to the point of my post. After six years of naked walls in our house, I finally bought a piece of artwork! A friend of ours (Janine Medlin) sold some of her works recently and I was thrilled to find this gorgeous painting of a cherry blossom branch! It's hanging proudly in our foyer. (this picture doesn't do the colors justice- you'll have to come visit and see it in person!)
Yesterday, actually, was a very intense left-brain exercise day for me. I also bought three other pieces at a show held by more of my creative friends. Two name canvasses to go in the girls' rooms and another one that's kind of a photographic representation of our last name. I'll have to post it when I get it- it's too hard to explain.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Happy Halloween! We got soaked, did you?

The end of the night consisted of one Snow White "shibbering" and one Belle who was so tired she could barely stand it. Let me take you back to the beginning.
Noon. We're in full regalia. Hair, shoes, everything.
We had a "spooky spa" party from 1-3 where the girls dressed up in their costumes and got their nails painted, faces painted and tattoos applied to any bare patches of skin.
After a quick stop at Grandmommy & Granddaddy's for a costume review, we had about 30 minutes to "sit still" before the neighborhood party. Woohoo! That was fun- we had cheerleaders, fairies, Batman, a flapper, football stars...you name it.
While the kids discussed....uh...whatever it is 3,4,5 and 6 year olds discuss, the prevailing theme of the parents' conversation was "if we all plan to leave here by 6:15, we can be done and home in time for ____" (in our case the ____ was the Texas routing of Oklahoma State (8pm start time)). So we all sauntered down the cul-de-sac a few minutes after 6:15. Approximately 1.5 houses down the street, the sky opened up and *whoosh* everyone was soaked. Golf umbrellas only go so far with families of four- two of whom want to walk at their own paces.
What's (semi) interesting is, in a non-scientific poll of friends and family the following day, no one could remember it ever raining on Halloween where they grew up. It must be a spooky weather anomaly that for the past 35-ish years it has never rained on the evening of October 31 in Texas, North Carolina, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina.....