Tag Archives: fun with a toddler

Planting a Rainbow

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Yahoo, we got the last of our bulbs in the ground before our new little birdie arrived! It was one of those post-baby jobs that seemed almost Herculean as I pictured holding an infant while helping Wren dig, place and bury without flailing wet dirt all over her new little birdie friend. Whew. Done.

We were especially inspired this fall by one of our favorite books: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. We read it every week, at all times of the year. It seemed to really make a lot of sense to Wren this fall, however, since the beginning is about a child planting bulbs with her mother and then waiting all winter long for spring’s warmth and sunshine to sprout the rainbow.

Wren quickly developed some fairly particular “rules” about planting bulbs, which I had a difficult time following. God forbid I kneel on HER knee pad or get any dirt on it, the bulbs cannot stay in their “sleeping bags,” which meant she HAD to remove the papery husks (?) from the orange tulips and azure allium, and the hardy cyclamen bulbs HAD to stay snuggled up together as a family, which meant that ideally there were three or four cyclamen bulbs all piled up together. I had to do some fairly tricky “hey, look at that over there!” maneuvering to separate them before hiding them with a little bit of dirt. I was caught a couple times… it wasn’t pretty.

We said “good night” to the bulbs as we covered them up with some more dirt, put our tools away for a while and went back inside, feeling hopeful and relieved. Whew. OK, baby you can come now!

a visit to sand mountain

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So apparently we live a hop, skip and a jump from America’s “most beautiful place,” according to Good Morning America. That’s right, the Sleeping Bear Dunes are just a short drive away, but it’s a funny thing when you live somewhere that people plan a trip across the country (or world) to experience and it’s right in your backyard. Daily life gets in the way of playing tourist and you don’t make time for these magical places. It’s not that we take it for granted, well maybe we do, but often we just don’t take the time to get in the car to explore when we can walk down to West Bay and play in the surf and sand. So we decided to take the little birdie to climb the “sand mountain,” or more officially known as The Dune Climb. She had a blast! Well, of course she did, because really now, who wouldn’t? It’s 150 feet of sand, sand, sand. Blue skies, crisp air, Mama and Papa all to herself, running and jumping. Bliss. First thing Wren said when she woke up the next morning was, “Mama, I want to go back to sand mountain again today.” Yeah, me too.

It made us thankful for where we are able to live and for this precious time just the three of us have left together before another little birdie joins our nest. Next fall we’ll have a baby crawling around with sand-filled thigh rolls. Oh my! Life sure is crazy.

she dances

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Seems like just yesterday the little birdie started walking and now she’s dancing her (big) heart out in head-to-toe pink in her first “creative movement” class. As I was looking through the windows of studio 3, I had one of those “how did I get here?” moments. In a good way. Cue the Talking Heads music…

I had mixed feelings about going down this pink and frilly rabbit hole, but Wren couldn’t be more thrilled about it. So I am too. Plus, I just don’t think I’ve ever seen anything cuter than a bunch of chubby toddlers in pink leotards and tights, skipping around a dance studio. Have you?

 

back to school granola bars

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Whenever we need a change of attitude around our nest, I try to get the little birdie involved in a cooking, baking or gardening project. Yesterday was a no-nap (read: edgy) day so we made another big batch of our new favorite granola bars and a huge batch of guacamole for dinner. We also picked a bunch of cherry tomatoes as well as all the rest of the leaves off a basil plant to make pesto today. Whew. It got us through the sleepless afternoon without any major meltdowns, yesssss. How do you manage those no-nap days, lovelies?

Since I’ve made several successful batches of these granola bars now, I thought I would share them with you. They are based on a recipe I found here. One great thing about them is that they are pretty versatile. Have some dried fruit or nuts? Sure, throw it in. Don’t have vanilla, but want to throw in some cardamom? Sure. They’re simple and delicious. And great to have a healthy-ish, portable snack on hand.

Back to School Granola Bars

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C. quick oats
1/2 C. crisp rice cereal
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips
1/2 C. dried cherries
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. canola oil
1/4 C. honey (or maple syrup or even brown rice syrup)
1/2 tsp. vanilla or some other kind of spice (we like cinnamon or cardamom)
* optional: ground flax seed and/or wheat germ (we use 3 heaping Tbs. or so of each).

Directions:
Mix all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips and dried cherries – keep those out for now) really well. If your mixture seems dry after mixing then you may need to add a little more honey – a bit at a time – until it starts to clump up a little.

When your granola mixture gets to this point–not too wet, not too dry–then stir in the chocolate chips and dried cherries.

Line a 9X13 (or so) glass or metal pan with parchment or waxed paper and let some of it hang over the edges so you can use them as handles to lift out. Pour in granola mixture and spread evenly. Ready to bake!

Baking:
350 degrees for 17-22 minutes.
They are ready to remove from oven when the tops are golden.  If they don’t cook long enough they may not hold their shape. If they cook too long they will get too dry.

Cooling:
Important! Let them cool in the pan for a day or overnight. Really! Then lift out of the pan, flip over onto a cutting board and slice into pieces. I then wrap them in waxed paper and keep them in a sealed container.

ENJOY!

topatoes and beets, oh my

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I think the little birdie just might trade in her dancing shoes for farming “topatoes.” And I might just join her. I had no idea growing potatoes would be so fun. Maybe it’s so gratifying because we had no idea what was happening down in the dirt. It’s not like other vegetables that you can easily monitor every day to see how things are shaping up (or not). With the potatoes, we just decided one day we ought to dig down and find out. Crossing fingers, we dug and easily upturned some beautiful little guys. “Topatoes!!!”

Some of the tigger melons (or delicata squash?) from across the garden were starting to crowd out the beets so we harvested a bunch of those too. I can smell some roasted veggies in our very near future. Autumn, we are happy you’re here! Do any of you like to do anything in particular with your beet greens? Treat them like kale or chard? Any ideas?

Licking our lips in northern Michigan…

soaking up summer

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Even though the calendar says that summer will still be here for another month, I don’t trust it to stick around much longer. I’ve learned my lesson in the past. Sometimes we are blessed with a beautiful September, filled with water warm enough to welcome us until the leaves begin to cover the lawn. Other years, Labor Day hits, local stores begin to shorten their hours and boom, Lake Michigan turns frigid and summer is OVER. Sigh. Summer’s not even my favorite season, but it sure is fun to play at the water’s edge with the little birdie. And a husband who will swim no matter what the water brings. And the big belly. Swimming is one of the only times I feel a bit weightless; what a relief!

So we’re soaking it up while we can and enjoying the sand in our sheets for a little while longer.

Wrenegade

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Toddlers. Just like the old adage warning you not to trust a skinny cook, do not trust anyone who says that they don’t remember their toddler being defiant, irrational and insane. They are probably insane themselves. Or have clearly selectively forgotten those harrowing minutes | days | years. Most likely a bit of both. It’s survival, lovelies!

It’s a funny thing with these feisty, chubby-wristed people. On the one hand, I admire how reckless and free-spirited they are. How they don’t give a f*** what you say, think or feel most of the time. How their raw, unpredictable emotions seemingly live on the surface of their perfect skin. How much energy they have and can easily wield at you when you feel like you’re just catching a break. How they can give you the wettest kisses and the tightest hugs. And mean it. How they’re completely uninhibited and will say anything, wear anything, and express themselves with complete wild abandon. It’s actually refreshing to be around this kind of chaotic energy after spending most of my adult life around inhibited adults in various work and social settings.

But sometimes after the third frustration tantrum in one morning because I started to peel the orange too much or didn’t serve the cereal in the correct bowl or had to wrestle the little birdie to yank the poopy panties off, well, I do it self, Mama!!! isn’t really all that charming anymore.

I know, I know. You say I will be grateful for this feisty independence and confidence when she’s older and I do agree with you, but I can’t help to wish for a bit more compliance from time to time. I wish someone had told me to relish the days when it was easy to get the little birdie dressed and out the door–in under 90 minutes of dawdling, negotiations and shenanigans. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but babies are EASY. I know this sentiment will come back to haunt me in a few months when I’m whining about never sleeping and how the world’s a blur of yellow diapers and lots of crying. Please just don’t say I told you so… I’ll probably say it myself.

Actually, today has been wonderful so far. I warned her that we had to leave the playground in a few minutes and when it was time to go, she actually followed my directions. No flailing tantrums, no running away, no screaming like it was the absolute end of the world. I’m not sure what created this or even what might have encouraged her more compliant behavior because I don’t think I did anything differently than the last time we went to the park and I ran into Meltdown City. Oh Wrenegade, how you baffle me. And inspire me too. XO

Happy weekend, lovelies. May you do something with reckless abandon like your inner two-year-old!

tomatoes, finally!

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It seems that for the last couple of months our garden just kept getting greener, wilder and more overgrown, but wasn’t producing much of anything. I wondered if we would ever harvest anything but herbs, salad greens and peas. And then seemingly overnight we are giving away big ole brandywine tomatoes to friends, neighbors, even the appraiser who came by this morning. I noticed that we’ll have a head or two of broccoli this week and it got me wondering about the fingerling potatoes in the ground… The dark, leafy greens we planted last week are sprouting too. Pretty soon I’ll be complaining that we have too much to keep up with – be careful what you wish for, right? Make haste and get the canning jars out, lovelies! It’s tomato season. Finally!

What are you harvesting from your patches of green, lovelies? Any fun farmer’s market finds lately? Cheers!