Presents

Shhh, don't tell anyone.  We spent yesterday afternoon making Christmas gifts for Abby's friends.  I must admit that I need to relax a bit when we craft together.  Specifically, I have a tendency to say "stop, stop, stop!" because all I can see is the mess that is about to happen.  I really need to do a better job at letting go, this is just one example.  I am so proud of her creativity and her desire to make something for her friends, I hope that they can appreciate it.
Ralph laughed at me last night when he observed Abby's hands.  He told me that Shorty would not be pleased and so, I am expecting her to read this and is therefore prepared for the dye job on her hands for Thursday.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take the time to be thankful for what you have been given.

Ok, Ok...

I have been reminded that I have taken some time off recently; honestly I did not realize how long until just now. Well, as you can imagine, it has been a typical busy week in our home. Our house is still on the market and to be quite frank, I am tired of having an open house. At this stage all we can do is pray and leave it up to God; if he wants us to move then we will.

We put our Christmas tree up Sunday evening and decorated it last night, Abby loved it! This year we decided to keep it simple, I think there are 6 ornaments on the tree with the big old fashioned lights. The other special item we have is our Nativity scene and I hope you have one too. Abby was charged with setting it up and as you can imagine, it came to life for her. She spent about a ½ hour playing with the sheep, shepherds, magi and the Holy family.

If there is one thing that I pray she takes away from Christmas this year, it is what the true meaning of Christmas is. I worry that she will see Christmas as a celebration of Santa, not of Christ. So, we have told her that the Christmas tree is a big birthday candle for the baby Jesus. And, my mother always has a cake for Jesus and we sing Happy Birthday to him. What do you do for Christmas?

Go Fish...

Another fun filled day has passed and I am looking forward to today. Yesterday afternoon was filled with card games and Candy Land. We tried to introduce Candy Land months ago to no avail, but not this time, we hit pay dirt. This weekend involved the visit of a little friend that I hope will come again soon, the mom was great too!

It was pretty amazing that the girls along with the moms were able to play together for about 20 minutes. These games open up a whole new world; I think Chutes and Ladders will find a home under the Christmas tree. Board games, as I mentioned, are rather new to us but, we have been playing card games for few months now.

We spent a wonderful chilly Monday afternoon playing Go Fish, Old Maid and Crazy 8’s at our dining room table. There were snacks and giggles and a request for more games tomorrow…..it still amazes me how they change so quickly. I can guess that most of you with children feel the same way. Time is going so much more quickly than I ever imagined possible and so, I guess this is why I write this blog; selfishly for myself.

I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as I enjoy writing about them.

I have been very lax at posting lately; life has done what life does.  We had a great time together this past week.  Although we did not make it to the Westside Market, we did have plenty of adventures on Thursday and Friday of last week. 

I thought I would be brave and take Abby to story time at Barnes and Noble, we have never done this.  Wow!  Let’s just say that the people who there should be given hazard pay.  There had to be 30 kids plus moms and strollers in a rather small corner of the store. 

When the activity began there was singing was first followed by two stories.  Old MacDonald was the last song and the children were encouraged to suggest animals towards the end they seemed to run out of animals, not Abby though!  Her suggestion was a turkey!  This received claps and laughs from the woman leading story time and many of the parents, myself included.

 

Have I mentioned Abby’s affection for Trader Joe’s?  How could we be within a 5 mile radius and not go into her beloved store?  Thankfully, they purchased new children’s carts this year, they actually turn!  I was relieved that they store was relatively empty on our trip, this makes cart maneuvering much easier.  We purchased our usual items; hummus, kids cliff bars and snacks. 

The remainder of the day was spent with lunch, a nap and plenty of books, a great way to end a perfect week.

An Early Thanksgiving

The past two days have given me an opportunity to sit back and take stock. I have had to pleasure to be home with Abby and have her all to myself (sorry Ralph, we miss you!). With all of the craziness going on in the world today, I can no longer listen to the news or watch it, I realize how truly blessed we are. Today I decide to start a "Thankful List" and I hope to add to it over the weeks. I would love to hear what you all are thankful for....

1. Abby/Ralph
2. My Parents
3. Our friends
4. Our health
5. Our home
6. Our jobs
   

Trust me, there will plenty more to add as I think of them.

Aliens

At some point I believe that I mentioned putting some of Abby’s artwork here. Today I had some time and a scanner so you will be treated to a couple of her drawings from some weeks ago. As her mom, I think these are great. If time permits, I will attempt to add the chickens we are currently working on.

Drawing is one of her favorite activities, will she be an artist? Who knows and frankly, who cares at this stage. Exposure is what is important not how perfect the end result. I hope that you all value the seemingly small things your kids do because to them they are the big things!

Strategic Planning

Every now and then I have the opportunity to test the waters as a stay at home mom. Ideally, I would like this to be the norm but that is for another day. So today, I will take some time to finalize our plans for next 2.5 days where I have the starring role as temporary stay-at-home mom. Wednesday evening is working its way out, perhaps a friend or two to visit. Thursday is taken care of; we plan to spend the better part of the day at my parents followed by our weekly Little Gym class. Friday, is another story particularly with the weather forecast indicating rain.

I try to have at least one big activity per day for Abby as of late, cooking anything tops her list. As you know by now, we cook/ bake constantly in our home, Abby can thank my mother and grandmother for this. If there is one way I will remember both of them it will be of their cooking. As a child, I dined on delicious French foods as my mother learned to cook; my 5^th grade pictures thanks her for this. I occasionally attempt to reproduce her French onion soup, though I am sure it will not equal hers. There is however, one thing that I love to make my grandmother’s sauce. Now, if you are Italian, you understand sauce.

Writing this, I have decided that Abby and I will make grandma Ranieri’s sauce on Friday. The day will start with a trip to the Westside Market to purchase oxtails, followed by a stop at the pizza bagel stand. While we are there, we may as well pick up some vegetables and fruit. Did I mention that Abby adores the market? Really, she asks to go but I think it is for the pizza bagels (just like me). The recipe for her sauce is rather simple and I must warn you, this is for HUGE batch to freeze just as grandma did.

4 oxtails

4 48 oz cans pureed tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

2 tbs butter

Oregano

Salt

Sugar

6 hours low simmer

Why no measurements, well, I make it by taste. This is how I was taught and this is how I do it…..

If we are really adventurous, there may be fresh pasta and meat balls to follow. If you want those recipes, let me know, they are similar to the sauce recipe…taste!

Weekend Re-Cap

It snowed last night, technically, not a true Cleveland snow. However, it made me realize that soon there will be eighteen inches of snow on the ground and snowmen in the yard. Until that arrives we need to deal with the crummy weather that precedes it such as yesterdays. This also made me recognize that we need to find somewhere (fast) to take our little ball of energy when the weather is not cooperating.

Stop now, Spoiler Alert!!!

I guess we did the typical rainy weather activities, a movie (Madagascar 2) and baking cookies. We should have gone bowling again as we did on Friday; I think this is a back pocket activity for this type of day.

Anyway, Madagascar proved to be a big disappointment for us and Abby. Within ten minutes baby Alex was thrown into a box and taken away from his dad. Great, thanks for the heads up….This set the mood for the rest of the movie which was way too violent for our little one. She cried on the way home, afraid of the previously mentioned box incident. I wonder if the fifty other little ones had a similar reaction.

On a lighter note, Friday night was great. A little over twenty of our friends and their little ones joined us for an evening of bowling. This is one of our favorite family activities it is close to home, inexpensive and most importantly fun! Hopefully, we can make this a monthly event; the dad’s appear to be the most interested….

Sigh...

So, how do you feel? Is it relief, excitement, dreadfulness….I can say that I feel a bit of all three today. The anticipation of how our country will move forward given last evening’s results leaves me with these feelings. There is the feeling of relief that 1) the election is over and if you worked in my department you would feel the same 2) that Bushy is gone (with a 35% approval rating I do not think there will be too much hate mail). I guess there is a mix of excitement and dreadfulness because who knows what is next? The hope is that we leave this place better off for our children.

On a lighter note, this evening we are watching one of Abby’s little friends for a few hours. Due to this, we have moved tiny taco night to Wednesday for the entertainment value. We have had some other friends join us for tiny taco night and they enjoyed it so tonight should be a hit! The plan is to follow with some painting activities that I found here: http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/ I will let you all know how it goes…..

Get OUT!

…and vote. I hope that you have found the time to vote today, yesterday…This year, we decided to vote from home with the projection that this will be one of the largest voter turn outs for a presidential election. In the past, I have taken Abby with me to vote, allowing her to touch the screen or push the “chad” through, however, neither of us have 2-3 extra hours to spend in line. This morning I heard a report that 30% of voters voted this way!

We have taken the opportunity to discuss with her the election and what it means to all of us. Yes, yes three years is young to grasp the gory details yet, it is imperative to demonstrate the importance of one’s civic responsibility. So, I gathered my ballot and Abby and we sat on the recliner and voted. I explained to her why I was voting for a given person and an issue, we discussed how these issues/ people would affect our family and her friend’s families. One can only hope that this will leave an impression and impart to her the significance of making her voice heard through voting.

With that, I wonder when we will have a new president. Will it be tomorrow? Or Thursday? Or God forbid we run into another 2000 election!

We all have different view points on which we feel is the best for our situation. All I ask is that you vote!

I Stand Corrected

My dear mother informed me that I made a mistake in a previous post (Gooey on the inside). Apparently, the pumpkin in question was not a mere eleven pounds but sixty! Thank goodness we straightened that one out. I love you mom!

I hope that you all had a great weekend I know we did.....See you soon.