Stranger Danger

E disappeared from the backyard this evening (don't worry she's fine). I was doing the dishes with my mom in the kitchen, and periodically checking on her while she was circling on her new bike outside my window. Well, of course my heart stopped when I peeked out the sliding glass door to see our gate opened and she wasn't within eyesight. This was especially troublesome because we had just discussed that she's not allowed to open the gate unless we're with her, and she needed to stay in the backyard! As I flew down the steps screaming her name, I pictured all the terrible fates that could befall my precious daughter. I caught site of her red mushroom shaped helmet out of the corner of my eye. She was on the other side of our chain link fence nibbling on the tomatoes from our vines. She immediately sensed my terror, and noted quickly that she was in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

As we ascended the stairs my heart was slowly returning to a regular pace, but she was blubbering. I asked her to meet me in her room then I took a long deep breath trying to gain my composure. I started off by asking her if she knew why she was having this Time-Out. She whimpered something about because she was eating tomatoes. Our conversation went back and forth about the possibilities of what could happen when I didn't know where she was. This, I think finally got through to her. My intentions were not to give her nightmares about being taken by big scary men (a personal nightmare) but to really increase her awareness of her actions and consequences. It was tricky to maneuver this conversation without frightening her too badly. But man, this stuff is scary any way you cut it: Dogs, people, cars - all can hurt her.

This conversation also led us down another vein in the Stranger Danger talk. Eating things without asking Mama. We did a bit of role play, and I think we laid a good foundation for continued discussion on the topic.

Whew! This is the part of parenting that really hits home of how important your job is!

Looks like I have a head start on my 5th goal for my New Years Resolutions.

PS Totally getting a lock for that fence...

Sandwich

My new favorite sandwich is an asiago bagel toasted with whipped cream cheese a handful of fresh basil leaves and a few slices of tomato sprinkled with salt & pepper. Yum. If you were so inclined you could add a slice or two of turkey and you'd have all 5 food groups!

New Year's Resolutions in September

When I was a kid the New Year started in September, so it seems like a good time to now re-evaluate my life and take steps to better my existence.

• Try and get some form of exercise every day
• Do chores while E is sleeping
• Listen to music everyday
• Read everyday
• Teach something new to E everyday
• Listen more talk less
• Keep the car clean
• Wash, dry, fold and put away laundry in the same day
• No snacking after 8:00pm
  
• Accumulate less (think Pioneers)
• Only give my opinion when asked
• Make connections with people I care about
• Make up a food/grocery calendar to avoid waste and increase diversity for dinners, lunches and breakfasts
• Get to know my neighbors better and invest in my community
  

Spider

It's that time of year. When the spiders start coming indoors. I was just sitting here at the computer, ready to turn in for the night when I heard a rustle. I quickly turned around to find a ginormous spider making it's way across the floor having just scurried over a plastic bag (yes I heard it!) Not knowing what to grab first I quickly pounded it with a box of checks. And then I caught my breath.

(the following is my thought process)
What to do now?
Call D, no answer.
It's been said that some arachnids attract more spiders with their pheromones once squished. I don't want that, but it's hard to bring myself to check and see if it's really dead.
Get some toilet paper, and flush it.
OK, check under the box again.
Nope!
Not dead, it sprang to attention when I removed the box!
Box again.
Geeze!
I don't want to deal with this, but D isn't here and I have 2 sleeping 3-year-olds next door (E's having a sleepover)
So glad it didn't go in there! What if there' s more?
Look and make sure it's not escaping
You can't leave it there until morning, it may get away.
OK, you have to do this now, if you leave it for tomorrow someone might kick it over in the morning.
You won't be able to sleep anyhow wondering all night if it's inching it's way between the box and carpet.
RIIING - D's advice is to get shoes on and just step on it, smash it into the carpet. At least it'll be dead.
.
.
.
.
.
.
OK it's done.

I lifted the box threw some toilet paper over that brown beast, stamped 3 times while letting out high pitched yelps, then sprayed the area many times over with lavender spray, and flushed it (also flushed the other toilet, and ran all the faucets for good measure - that thing is g-o-n-e).

I am the queen of this castle!

Another gal in the same boat...

Back on the Farm

It was nice to get back into the swing of things this morning. We've been quite busy the last few weeks, with weddings, camping, hosting a few friends here, E's birthday party, etc. Yesterday, D left on tour for the next 3 weeks, so it'll be just me and the kiddo. It rained crazy hard last night with lightning ripping across the sky and thunder that shook me awake! I had trouble sleeping for a while and peeked out the window to find our gutters spilling over, and our lawn accumulating puddles. Kind of a poetic way to end the summer for all the kids that started school in our neighborhood. Yes, the school buses have started their ongoing rumble.

I made my way around our neck of the woods with errands; Picking up Season 3 of The Office from Costco (so excited to watch the deleted scenes and all the extras, Dave and I practically have all the episodes memorized being the super-fans that we are...) I also picked up our veggie box, and I was so elated to unpack it's contents! Here is a pic, I just couldn't help it.


Contents: 1 Head of Romaine, 1 PT. of Raspberries, 4 Slicing Tomato's, 1 Crown of Broccoli, 4 ears of corn, 1 Bunch of Chives, 1 Bunch of Basil, 1 Sweet Onion, 2 Cucumbers, 1 Lb of Purple Potatoes, 1 Head of Garlic, and some beautiful Sunflowers!

Pirates of Jetty Island, The Movie

It's a bit long & pixely but fun, enjoy.

Yo-Ho-Ho

(ARGG..pre-party pirates)

E has been talking about her 3-year-old birthday party since, well, the day after her 2-year-old birthday party. She wanted a pirate party, and she got a pirate party! We celebrated a few weeks early in order to include the Walsh family that was visiting from Massachusetts! Our celebration included a ferry ride to Jetty Island, costumes, a treasure hunt, a pinata, picnic lunch, beach play, cupcakes, and lots of friends and family. She had a blast!

(August)

(E, Auntie Karlee, Kiran)

(Luke, Rich, Anna & Noah)

(Benjamin, E & Ezra)

(Lunch)

(fort)

(family)

(E & E)

(T & T)

Lake Chelan (Round 2)

It was a whirl-wind of a trip, but so nice to be together.
We filled our 2 night camping trip with:

beach play

go-karts

eating, campfires, a waterslide park, and just plain good old togetherness.

E was thrilled to finally have some buddies around to play with, and I was thrilled to share this beloved place with my beloved friends. It was kind of euphoric to have so many people that I love in one very special place.