The Purple Cow(l)

I am making good progress on my latest knitting project. It is going to be a cowl/neckwarmer thing from this pattern. I have never worn such a thing, so we'll see. It's possible it will drive me crazy to have something like this around my neck, but I reckon if it's cold enough, I won't care.

Plans for naptime:

• Blog
• Mix up some herbed bread dough
• Empty the dishwasher
• Answer email
• Read my new Food Network magazine
• Knit the purple cowl

I don't know if I'll get it all done, but I'm gonna try.

Last night, we had pancakes for dinner, inspired by this episode of Tyler's Ultimate. I don't like ricotta cheese, so I just used my Kerbey Lane pancake mix, but I tried a new trick: I whipped the egg whites separately to stiff peaks and gently incorporated them into the rest of the batter. This made the pancakes REALLY fluffy. I made the proscuitto just like the recipe, and to the apples, I added some cinnamon and brown sugar. They were good, but next time, I will probably cut them up smaller so they get a little mushier. As I had hoped, this "breakfast for dinner" was well-received by a certain little Peanut, who said, "This is the life of my dreams!" as she ate. Yeah. Any life featuring maple syrup is the life of this kid's dreams.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the delightful smell of a neighborhood skunk who had recently been startled by something. It was HORRIBLE. I can still sort of smell it when I go into the living room. For a while, I was worried it had attached itself to me, but none of the other preschool mommies seemed to try to get away from me today, so I think I'm all clear. I'll never forget the time Albert the dog got skunked and it attached itself to my mom. I arrived at her house, and she greeted me with a distraught "Smell my head!"

OK. Time to get going on the rest of my list. Try the pancake trick, though! You'll have the life of your dreams!

Happy Monday

This loaf of cheddar bread was the best thing about our weekend. It was a rough one. There were many tears and battles and time-outs. Now, I'm just ready to forget about it and move on. But the bread was really good. You MUST get the book and make some! Your family will thank you.

Things are going better today. Daphne got fancy this morning and twirled around the house in anticipation of ballet class.

Here she is, ready to go. She had a great time, and wore herself out, so I am hopeful she will take a nice long nap today.

She has become obsessed with watching cooking shows after her nap while I cook dinner. She likes Giada and Barefoot Contessa. Not my favorites, but that's OK. She really pays attention, especially when they make desserts. She sits and makes yummy noises and rubs her belly and says, "MOM! You HAVE to make this!" The other day, I asked her what was her favorite flavor of something (I can't remember...lollipops, cupcakes, something...Kev, what was it?), and she said "Vanilla extract." She's funny. Anyway, this is so much better than Wonderpets. And maybe soon she'll be ready to take over for me in the kitchen. Or at least be my sous chef.

Tonight, I'm making Kerbey Lane panckes with a roasted apple topping I saw on Tyler Florence. I am hoping this will elicit some real life yummy noises. I'll let you know...

There is Hope!

On the third try, I got my new project going.

I may not get to use it until next year, but that's OK.

Look! A patch of grass in my yard!

We still have all THIS to contend with, but it's no match for the sun.
Go Sun!

My house is clean upstairs.
Most of my house is clean downstairs.
Daphne is sleeping, so now I can watch last night's Project Runway.
If my pan sauce turns out OK tonight, I reckon I might actually be getting my groove back.

I'm MELTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Video from the most recent class performance...

You Can't Go Wrong with Cheese

So, Kev's sister sent me this recipe recently for Beer and Cheese soup. It happens to be a Rachael Ray recipe, and she knows how I feel about Rachael Ray, but sent it anyway. This told me she must have a LOT of confidence in this recipe, so last night, I made it. And it was GOOD. The perfect thing for a cold and windy winter evening. I stuck to the recipe with three exceptions: I used about half an onion instead of leeks, I used some Worcestershire sauce instead of Kryptonite (uh, I mean mustard), and I added some minced garlic with the vegetables, because that's what I do. I used Trader Joe's Vienna Lager for the beer, and I made some croutons to go with it. Very tasty. I think next time, I will probably make some bacon bits to go on top too. Please tilt your head to the right to see the picture as it's meant to be. (I don't know why Blogger sometimes rotates my photos the wrong way. Frustrating.) Anyway, even with the carrots and tons of calcium, there is no way to spin this and try to make it seem at ALL healthy. It's pretty bad for you. But one bowl won't kill you, so give it a try. Like I said, you can't go wrong with cheese. Tonight, we're having a salad.

My mom finished the picnic quilt she was making for me. I love it. All the fabrics are really cute. Now, if only we could actually have a picnic. Snow, snow, go away. In Texas, snow is almost magical every time it happens. It's special because it's rare. Here, it's really only magical the first time. Then, it's just a pain. At least this year it is. Everything is covered in it, and most of it is now a very ugly dirty brownish color. I did see a little patch of grass near Daphne's school this morning. It was brown too, but it was grass. Spring cannot come soon enough for me.

Today, Daphne's class finally had their Valentine party. It was a little disorganized, but fun. The kids performed as usual, which is my favorite thing. Tonight, I'm joining another mom from Daphne's class at a crochet group. She said I could come and knit. I'm looking forward to the night out. Yesterday, I started a new knitting project, but messed it up twice. This wasted a couple hours of my day and put me in a really bad mood, and now I'm debating whether I should start it over a third time. I need to start SOMEthing or I won't have anything to work on at the group. Now, though, I am going to take a brain break and watch last night's American Idol. If they kick off the cool Mexican guy who sang the Paula Abdul song during Hollywood week, I'm gonna be MAD. I heard they might put Howard Stern on there when Simon leaves. If that happens, I'll never watch it again.

OK...To the couch!

PS. Please check out the Artwork of the Week today. My dad painted a picture of our old house. It's awesome.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Daphne is finally going back to school today. As soon as I drop her off, I am coming back home, turning on some loud adult music and tidying up a little. Then I'm turning OFF the loud adult music and sitting here in my chair in the quiet with some chai, some yarn, a fire and my Valentine flower from Kev until it's time to go back to get her. Serenity now!

What Day Is It, Anyway?

These days, I have to stop and think a minute to figure out what day it is. It feels like we are in some sort of weird time warp. Daphne hasn't been in school forever, and Kevin has been working from home. The routine we had going has been completely thrown out of whack, which isn't good for people like me. I need a certain amount of predictibility in order to function properly.

It's snowing again. Actually, it WAS snowing, but I think it's just raining now. I think they already said that school tomorrow is delayed an hour. At least it isn't closed. Yet.

We took advantage of the break from blizzards over the weekend. I took Daphne to spend the night with G-Ma and G-Pa on Saturday, so Kev and I got a nice little chunk of quiet time. We went antique shopping (looking, not buying), played rock band, and went to Valentine's Day brunch at La Lou, which was delicious as usual.

When Daphne came home Sunday afternoon, she brought us this cake (above), which she decorated and was very proud of. Below, she is sporting a Valentine tattoo that she got at our play date last week. She is making Tough Tattoo Face, even though the tattoo is of a cute little purple teddy bear.

Over the weekend, I mixed up more dough and made two loaves of cheddar bread (can you believe I didn't take pictures?!), which was really good, although I think I prefer the plain loaves I made last week. Pumpernickle is coming soon, but it requires special ingredients that I don't have on hand. I also made some chocolate chip cookies and finished my dad's very late birthday scarf:

And now it's Monday. The only reason I know that is because I've been counting the days until the kids go back to school. I guess I may have to keep counting.

Today is also President's Day. I don't usually like to get mixed up in political debates, but at the moment, I am really really mad at President Obama. In case you haven't heard, he is taking steps to cancel NASA's Constellation program, which is the program that would replace the shuttle and take our astronauts to the moon and possibly beyond. I am personally affected by this terrible decision because Kev is working on that program. Specifically, he is designing the autopilot for the abort system, which takes the crew module to safety if there is a catastrophic event on lift-off. But even if Kev wasn't on the program, I'd still be mad. I love the space program. I still get excited watching PBS documentaries about the Apollo missions. Can you imagine the day an American walks on Mars? Well, now you'll HAVE to imagine it, because it will probably never actually happen. Instead, the future seems to hold space joy-rides on commercially made rockets for the super-rich, like Oprah or Trump or "Lance" from N'Sync, while American astronauts have to hitch a ride up to the space station with the Russians. Anyway, I'm writing my congressman, but not getting my hopes up that it will do any good. If you are so inclined, you can write some letters too. Just google Save NASA, and you will find sample letters and more information about the Administration's intentions. And don't worry about us...Kev thinks his job is pretty secure. He'll probably just get moved to some other project, but it won't be nearly as cool. OK. Political Rant complete.

Now, off to calm down and figure out what to make for dinner. Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...

Meltdown

The sun is out and the snow is melting. I can see the pavement on the street out front. Still, Kev just spent the last two hours shoveling us out of the driveway (again) because we were blocked by drifts and snow from the plow. He didn't look so good when he came in.

Meanwhile, Daphne and I need a break from each other. You would think this kid has no toys. "Mo-oooo-oooo-om, I have nothing to dooooooo." This is what I've heard for the last two days. So, I finally resorted to getting out a bin full of some of her old baby toys. Why didn't I think of this sooner?! She loved it. She wallowed around in this pile for at least an hour.


At lunch today, I used up the last of Batch Number One of my bread dough. I rolled it out, layered on some pasta sauce that I needed to use, some prosciutto, some spinach, and some shredded mozzerella cheese. Then I rolled it up like a log and baked it. Voila! Pizza roll! It's not the prettiest looking bread, but it tasted good.

Now, I can move on to another recipe from the book. I'm leaning toward pumpernickle if I can get to the store in the next couple of days. Shouldn't be a problem the way things are going. We may even be able to go to yoga tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Hey Blaire!

I almost forgot to tell you I got this picture of Tula's chicks a couple weeks ago. Looks like they're doing well. I could use a nice coat like theirs right about now!

Aaaaaaaaaah Yes.

Riding the Storm Out

First of all, I can't believe I have resorted to using an REO Speedwagon song to title this post. I'm sorry. These are desperate times, I guess. Second of all, I took a picture of my breakfast this morning. Another sign of Blizzard Fatigue Syndrome. My new favorite breakfast, above, is Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Yogurt ("Chocolate Underground") with Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Granola and dried cranberries, also from Trader Joe's. I apologize that this is about the most interesting thing I have to report this afternoon. But it tastes really good if you want to try it.

Here is what we woke up to today (press play):



The noise is trees hitting my kitchen window.

It is still snowing a little, and the wind is still blowing, but not quite as hard as it was this morning. Cabin Fever has hit. I want to go to the mall. Or the coffee shop. Or ANYwhere. I want to see grass. Or anything that isn't white. Daphne is asleep at the moment, but she is going a little House Crazy too. She wants us to call her Mowgli (from the Jungle Book), and she refuses to play by herself. I have another loaf of bread resting and waiting to be baked, and I have about three inches to go on my dad's scarf. The mailman didn't come today. The plow is coming down the cul de sac but seems to be fighting a losing battle. There is nowhere to put any more snow.

Yesterday was better. Before the storm started, Daphne and I went to a friend's house for brunch and a play-date. It was really nice to get out of the house and visit with a couple other mom's from Daphne's school. Daphne had a great time, and I did as well. The food and company were both good, and I scored a new recipe for possibly the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. The roads were terrible, though, and now they will be worse. I think it will be a while before things seem normal. I am counting the days until spring.

We're trying to make the best of it, though. It could be SO much worse, so I shouldn't complain. My family is all home and safe, and we haven't had any power outages. We have plenty of food to get us through the next few days, and we have good neighbors who look out for each other at times like this. My favorite part of the blizzard is the quiet. It is usually so noisy on our street, but it has been so peaceful (except for this wind) during the past few days. I think I will make some chai and knit a little and enjoy the silence for a while. I hope you are all safe and warm wherever you are.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

They called off school for the rest of the week! Official word is, they can't dig out the buses and get them trip-worthy until Sunday.

I'm in for it.

Get ready for more pictures of bread and snow.

"Sledding" on the Cul de Sac

The Storm

So, this is what it looked like out my back door on Saturday morning. The official Leesburg totals I heard ranged from 32.5"- 34" but there were drifts even higher. Friday morning, Daphne and I took one last walk to get craft supplies and last minute grocery items. When we left Safeway, the snow was just starting to fall, and it didn't stop until about 6:00 Saturday. My parents got about the same amount of snow, but they unfortunately lost power for several hours. Luckily, they got their fireplace going, and power was back on by the time they went to bed.

We were housebound all weekend, but we kept very busy. Kev did a lot of shoveling. I helped a little and it was not fun. The snow was very heavy this time.

Daphne tried to play in the snow, but it was really too deep to be much fun. She enjoyed eating this icicle, though. She's standing on our sidewalk out front in the picture...you can see Kev's awesome shoveling work. Our next door neighbor has a snowblower which pretty much immediately broke, but our little Ben Franklin shovel was up to the job.

While we've been stuck in the house, we've done a lot. Daphne and I made this shirt (using a sponge stamp and fabric paint) for her Valentine's Day party at school, which is supposed to be Thursday IF they don't cancel school (a few more inches of snow are predicted for tomorrow).

I also took advantage of the time by cleaning the house, playing a little Rock Band, and FINALLY baking bread with the method from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book.
You should have smelled my house on Friday when I had bread baking and a big pot of sauce going on the stove for chicken parmesan. The loaf in the picture is the second one I made...it turned out much better than the first, probably due to the dough being easier to work with after a couple days in the fridge, and the fact that I used an egg wash to make the crust prettier. I HIGHLY recommend this book/method if you like fresh-baked bread but you are baking-impaired, too busy for such things, or just lazy. It's really easy and fast and you get a lot of bang for your buck. I can't wait to make some of the fancier breads in the book. Cheddar bread is probably next, or maybe herb bread or pumpernickle. Yum.

What I did NOT do was knit. But that's on the agenda for today. No ballet today and no school tomorrow, and with more snow coming, who knows when we'll get back to normal. At some point, I'm gonna need more groceries. Maybe I'll venture out tomorrow morning. For now, I'm off to play with Daphne. She is going a little stir crazy. She keeps calling me "Mickey Mouse" and making me talk with a high-pitched cartoon mouse voice. Please oh PLEASE let there be school Thursday.

Channeling Elaine

Daphne, digging some Cream and doing her rock and roll moves. I love my funny kid.

The Calm

Yesterday, we had about 5 inches of really great packing snow, so we made this nice snowman. He is pretty much gone now, his arms and nose eaten by the neighborhood critters.

Now, the weather people say more snow is coming tomorrow, and it will likely be at least a foot and probably more. The state - excuse me, Commonwealth - of Virginia has already declared a state of emergeny (or would it be a commonwealth of emergency?) and nothing has even happened yet. Everyone in town, including me, was at Wegman's this morning buying up milk and bread as if it was Y2k all over again. Oh well, better to be prepared than not prepared. I have enough food to get us through to at least Monday, and I have already checked to make sure Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is on PPV so we can have Movie Night. I have bread-baking supplies and lots of yarn. And a very dirty house that needs attention. And, we have Rock Band. I am almost excited at the idea of being house-bound for a few days. Maybe I'll actually get something DONE. Bring it on, Snow Miser. By Sunday night, I'll have a clean house, fresh homemade bread, a new scarf FINISHED for my dad, and improved drummer skills. And I will be ready to get back to normal on Monday. Unfortunately, I think it's supposed to snow again next week.

Wish us luck digging out. And have a good weekend, wherever you are.

Ballet: Day 1

Today was Daphne's first of six ballet classes at the Rec. Center. There is not much cuter than a group of little girls twirling around in leotards and tights and little ballet shoes. Unfortunately, one of the girls (can you guess who?) was twirling around in sock monkey slippers instead, because her mommy waited until the last minute to buy ballet shoes, had to get them on line, and they didn't arrive in time for the class. Oh well. The good news is, Daphne had a blast, and we were both excited that one of her friends from school was also in the class. The moms had to wait outside, but we get to go in during the last class in March. I can't wait for that. In the meantime, Daphne showed me a couple things she learned today, and you can see too if you press play above and below.

We spent the weekend in NY at Kev's parents' house. We had a good visit, and on Saturday we all took Daphne to see the Princess and the Frog. Great movie, but it has some pretty scary parts, so be prepared if you take little kids to see it. Daphne was great, very brave. I think for her, it's mostly about the popcorn.

It was REALLY cold in NY, and although we returned home yesterday to 4 inches of snow, it was about 20 degrees warmer. More snow is supposedly coming tomorrow night, and then again this weekend. We'll see. If it comes, I hope it's at least packing snow. The powdery stuff isn't much fun to play in. AND I hope they don't have to cancel any school. Oh PLEASE don't let them cancel any school.

OK. Off to take advantage of nap time. Hope you all had a good weekend, and your February is off to a good start. Coming soon: Home-baked bread.

Story Time

Parker Charlie's Walks

(As far as we know, Daphne has never heard of Charlie Parker. She said she named her guy Parker Charlie because he likes to go to the park.)
By Daphne Claire Holt
(She hasn't quite figured out that you aren't supposed to separate words like that.)

There Parker Charlie goes to the park with his nephew to play! He's a mighty funny fellow!

(She didn't want to draw the nephew. She said the green things are the handlebars to his unicycle (which has two wheels and is going backwards), the purple things are pockets, and his belt came unfastened. I like his hat.)


Parker Charlie is going to the park with his dog named Bob. He likes to get pets on his head. He also really really likes to go up on his up and down board.
(Bob is a pug. And according to Daphne, an "up and down board" goes up and down like an elevator, not like a see-saw, and it does not have wheels).

On the way, Bob and Parker Charlie saw some bird and bug rectangles. "Hey! I don't know what those birds and bugs are doing!," said Parker Charlie. "Woof woof," said Bob.

(Don't ask me).

Here they go to the hot dog stand! They're going to have some hot dogs and lemonade.

(This looks a lot like Lesher's Hot Dog shop down the street, where we have eaten a few times. Now every time I drive by, it's closed. I don't know how it stays in business. The whole menu has only 4 items: Hot Dog #1, Hot Dog #2, and Hot Dog #3, and Hamburger. Don't bother asking for cheese. They don't have it.)

Parker Charlie and Bob are playing Hide 'n' Seek. Parker Charlie hit his hat into the sky. Can you find Parker Charlie? THE END

(Hint: Those are hands sticking out from behind the slide).

This is the "About the Author" section on the back. She was a little hesitant about giving her daddy credit for his help. I think that's the most fun Kev has had in a long time (besides playing Rock Band with me, of course).

So, there's Daphne's story. I really like it. It makes me laugh. I hope she will make more. If you have a kid who likes to make up stories, there is a place on line called Bare Books where you can get blank story books for kids to write/draw in. Maybe we'll get her some for her birthday.

THE END

Frog with Blue Spots and Purple Stripes

By Daphne.

I think I may embroider this on something.

A Blog to Get Things Going

I am blogging, but I'll admit my heart's not really in it. I've been putting it off. It's been a tough month, and I'm not in the mood. But I'm hoping that once I start, I'll get over the hump and post with better consistency. So here goes.

One good thing is that I'm knitting again. I'm working on this scarf (above) for my dad's birthday, which was yesterday. Needless to say, I didn't get it done in time. But I hope to finish it before too much longer, because winter should be back any day now. Yesterday, it was 63 degrees, but today when I picked up Daphne from school, there were snow flurries.

We celebrated my dad's birthday on Sunday, and there was pie:


My mom made it, and it was GOOD. Chocolate cream pie with meringue. I, on the other hand, did NOT make a pie, which is very disappointing because Saturday was National Pie Day and I had big plans. Unfortunately, Daphne had a bad cold over the weekend, and pie just didn't happen. In fact, dinner may not have happened, except Kev stepped up and made Guinness Beef Stew on Saturday and saved the day. Also GOOD. Anyway, I WILL make pie, but it will be late. Like the scarf. I never used to be late. Ever. I am diagnosing myself with adult onset ADD (most definitely without the "H"). I just can't seem to get organized or complete tasks efficiently anymore.

BUT, what I CAN do is play the drums on Rock Band. And, according to the game (which I am now very suspicious of), I can suddenly SING too. I got 100% on medium singing Fleetwood Mac "Go Your Own Way," and I KNOW I wasn't hitting those Lindsey Buckingham high notes. No wonder that poor girl who tried out for American Idol after practicing and getting high praise from Fake Simon on the A.I. video game thought she could sing. It's totally bogus. The drums, however, you can't really fake your way through. You either hit the beats or you don't. Man oh man, I love playing the drums on Rock Band. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes you have to play along with really horrible songs by bands like Motorhead and System of a Down and so forth. I can't sing, but at least I'm better than Lemmy. Good grief. Who LIKES that crap?


Pictured above are some of my Christmas gifts from Kev. The pot has gotten a LOT of use. The pannier is awesome, but I won't get to use it until spring. See those little hooks? It hooks right on my bike, and I'll be able to fill it with things like snacks and my camera and my new picnic quilt that my mom is making me and small knitting projects and whatever else one might take along on a bike ride. I can't wait. And last but not least, the fabulous daisy-printed thing, in case you can't tell, is a market cart. It's on wheels, so I can pull it all around town to the farmer's market or the grocery store and use it to carry things home. Yesterday, I got to use it for the first time. I promise you I had more style than anyone else at Safeway. OK, that's really not saying a whole lot, I guess. Safeway isn't really a very stylish place. But still. I love my market cart, and intend to use it regularly.

So, that's some of what's been going on around here. A couple funny Daphne notes: This morning, I went upstairs to get dressed, and I heard Daphne calling, MOM, with great urgency. So I called back down the steps, WHAT? And she hollered, "What are golashes?" Me: They're like rainboots. Her: When do you wear 'em? Me: Uh...when it rains. Long pause. Her: Do dogs wear 'em? Me: No. Her: OK. And that was that.

Then, she asked if she could make a Christmas list for next year. I said let's wait until after school, but she said, "Well, it's not a very long list." So I said OK and she dictated it to me:

1. A BBBBIIIIGGGG wall with ropes for climbing and a helmet.
2. A banana shirt.
3. Balloons.
4. The rest of the guys from Meet the Robinsons. (She already has the "Wilbur." And she already broke off one of his legs.)

I would like to visit Daphne's imagination for a while and see what goes on in there. She's so dang funny. The other morning, I went into her room when she woke up, and the first thing she said to me was not "Good morning Mommy," but, "I have a super large head." And she is making up a story that she's dictating to Kev about a guy named Parker Charlie (!) who has a pug named Bob, and who rides backwards through town on a two wheeled unicycle and always forgets to zip up his pants. So, I am very lucky and happy to get to spend time with my funny little kid. I need to remember this when she is having a meltdown or a moment (or two) of stubborness like she did today after school. There are times when we consider having her spend the teenage years in bootcamp. If she is this stubborn now, she will either outgrow it, or we're REALLY in for it. Let's hope she outgrows it. I don't think they let you bring your mommy with you to bootcamp.

OK, well, I feel sorta all nice and bloggy again, so I shall try to post again soon. Off to work on the scarf for a while. Or maybe practice my drumming skills. Sweet.

Chicken and Biscuits

Some food is very photogenic. This, well, not so much. However, MAN OH MAN was it tasty. Kev received this recipe from his sister, Kim, as part of his birthday gift, and yesterday it made it's Leesburg debut. I do not think the biscuits are supposed to sink. I would imagine that ideally, they sort of hover atop the creamy chicken goodness in the pot. But it was still really really good, and Daphne even liked it, so it is for sure going into the rotation. The best part is that we get to have the leftovers tomorrow night. Thanks, Aunt Kimmy.

In other food news, today is National Popcorn Day, so we'll probably have some tonight for a snack.

And as mentioned before, Saturday is National Pie Day. I still haven't decided what pie to make, but I've got time.

Today is like spring. I think it's in the very high 50s, so after school we went to the park with some of Daphne's classmates. It was good to be outside. Without a hat. It's been a long time. Winter is far from over, so this was a real treat.

OK...off to be productive. Or maybe I'll just take a nap.

GNO

Things have gotten almost back to normal around here, and Christmas is sort of a distant memory. Even so, I've managed to stay pretty busy. Last Wednesday night, I went to dinner with some of the other mommies from Daphne's preschool. It was a fun night out and I hope we do it again sometime. I ordered some tapas, and the food was pretty good, but not great. It made me miss Cafe Madrid. Oh man. I REALLY miss Cafe Madrid. And La Duni. And Gloria's. And Legal Gounds. And barbeque.

I really shouldn't complain so much about missing the restaurants in Dallas. Leesburg has some great places. Friday night, Daphne spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's, so Kev and I walked right down the street to the coffee shop (Shoes) which now has an evening menu. I got some polenta with mushroom cream sauce and it was GREAT, and Kev really liked his beef stew (although it can't have been as good as the Guinness one). Then we came home and played Rock Band until way past our usual bedtime. Good times. Thanks, Mom and Dad and Jeff, for babysitting. I have moved up to "medium" on drums, and still usually get in the 90s (except on that dang Pinball Wizard...it's baffling!). And since we won the plane, we get to play Europe.

Daphne and I have been going to Parent and Child yoga class on Fridays at the rec center. It is pretty fun, and Daphne's really good at it. She is a good listener and tries really hard. Next month, she starts a little 6 week ballet class. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday, Kev and I (finally) unpacked a bunch of pictures that have been sitting in the dining room in huge cardboard boxes for a year. We hung up a few which made quite a difference. But the biggest improvement is having a box-free dining room. I wish there was a way to make money playing Rock Band so we could make all the home improvements we want to make. But that's OK. One step at a time. We're going to live here forever, after all.

And I finally managed to start knitting again after a long dry spell. Hooray. In fact, I think that's what I will do now.

PS. Project Runway and American Idol are back! Yes!

Crafty New Year

I am excited to tell you that everyone in the family is getting all arts-and-crafty. Daphne pretty much ONLY wants to do arts and crafts. She got lots of craft supplies for Christmas and is speedily using them up. She took a picture of some of her creations (above). I may have to snag the ROCK necklace to wear to the Loons gigs during Rock Band. (We are getting good. We won a plane!)

Kev is also getting into the act. He got a linoleum block carving/printing starter kit for Christmas, and below is his first print:

Pretty cool, huh? I love it. I have all kinds of ideas for his future carvings. Birds, owls, a silhouette of Daphne maybe. Limitless possibilities. I'm glad he likes doing it.

Meanwhile, my dad has started oil painting. He just started last week, and he's already knocked out four paintings! Here is one with some people you might recognize:

Isn't that great?! I have requested one of our old house in Texas when he has time. I also think he should paint a picture of the Zesto. The best thing is that he really seems to enjoy painting. I wish I could paint. I think I would be terrible at it. I don't have the patience.

Finally, my mom has started quilting. She started a couple months before the move, and I think she has finished almost four. She made Daphne a nice warm fleece snowman quilt, and a smaller one that matches for Daphne's "guys":

She's working on one for me but I haven't gotten to see it yet. I think I get to help pick out the backing this week sometime. She also made me this apron for Christmas:

She gave it to me along with this book. It's a perfect pie-baking apron, and just in time too because January 23 is National Pie Day. I told Kev I want to make one pie each month this year, and then make a pie calendar at the end of the year. He said we will gain 20 pounds if I do that. But I still might. It's not like we have to eat the whole pies by ourselves. I'm sure we could find people to help us. Who doesn't like pie?

So, anyway, everyone is making things! It's so great! I suppose Jeff will be next. I wonder what he will do. Macrame, perhaps? Needlepoint?

Everyone is making things except for me. Ugh. I have a really bad case of knitter's block at the moment. I think I just need to pick up my needles and do SOMETHING to get back in the groove. Maybe a washcloth or something simple.

First though, chores. Better get going.

Chicken Littles

School was closed on the last day before the holiday break due to Blizzard '09, so today, Daphne's preschool class had its make-up Christmas party. Actually, they aren't allowed to call it a Christmas party. It's a winter party. In any case, I love the little parties they have at school, because they let the parents come for the last hour of class for a craft (see the antler hats) and a snack, and then the kids put on a little show. It is the cutest thing ever to watch. All the kids are so different. Some just sort of stand there like deer (or in this case reindeer) in headlights. Some cry. Some get really into it and have a blast. Daphne is always very serious. Today's grand finale was the Chicken Dance. I am pleased the school is getting an early start in preparing our children for all the future company picnics, wedding receptions, and polka festivals they will be attending in their lives. Very practical. They also sang Five Little Monkeys and recited a few poems. Party day is so great. The next one is the Valentine's Day party, which they are allowed to call a Valentine's Day party. I hope they learn the Electric Slide!

Before the party, I went to Shoes for coffee with a couple of other mommies from Daphne's class. What a nice treat. I feel like I have been going non-stop for so long, and it was nice to sit still and have adult conversation for a couple hours.

Yesterday, I took down Christmas, which was exhausting. I still need to take down the lights and disassemble the tree, but the hardest part is over. The worst thing about taking down Christmas is having to repeatedly go into the basement. Our basement is functional but creepy. And due to recent incedents, I am a little paranoid about the possibility of meeting up with some sort of nasty critter while I'm down there.

OK...off to enjoy a little Tara Time while Daphne sleeps off the party. Perhaps I'll knit!

Bowling Slowly

Yesterday we went bowling. Bowling with Daphne requires a great deal of patience. It generally takes about 90 seconds for her ball to mosey down the lane. You can hear the guy in the next lane comment, "It's amazing it knocks any over." She watches it very intently as it makes its way to the pins. She beat me in the second game, but I think the scoring machine made some errors. Plus, my "Drummer's Arm" was acting up.

Yesterday was fun. We went out to breakfast, then there was bowling, reading, a nap (for me!), Rock Band, arts and crafts, and leftover jambalaya. I am glad we aren't a football family.

A Few Things Worth Mentioning Before Moving On...

So, for Christmas, Kev conspired with my parents and Jeff to get us a Wii with Rock Band 2 and the Beatles Rock Band game. This has already provided hours of fun for our whole family, including Daphne. The whole gift thing is such a Christmas conundrum. While each year I hope to downsize all the gift-giving, I must admit that I got really excited about getting Rock Band and all the other great gifts I received this year. It's just FUN to get nice gifts. And it's fun to GIVE them, too. But really, I think next year we all have to find a way to cut back. Christmas isn't about the presents, and I don't want Daphne to think it is.

Anyway, there she is, singing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. She does well with the really repetative songs. I think she got like 29% on this one! We told her to just be loud, and if she doesn't know the words, to sing "watermelon watermelon watermelon..." It's pretty fun to watch her. (And a note to my friend Emily, we most definitely will not be letting her do "Happiness is a Warm Gun." I don't even let her watch Phineas and Ferb!) I like playing drums best. And Kev is getting really good at guitar. We formed a band called The Loons and are currently on tour. We have already won a van and a bus and made enough money for my character to buy some cool orange western boots. Then, I had to stop playing for a couple days because I got "Drummer's Arm." I'm pretty sure real musicians don't have to use Bengay after one afternoon of rock. It's pretty embarrassing.

During our trip to New York, Kev and I got a chance to go out to the movies with some good friends while his parents babysat the Peanut. We saw Up in the Air and I highly recommend it based on the following:

• (Ridiculously long and loud) car chases -0.
• Senseless violence - 0.
• Aliens/monsters - 0.
• Silly Hollywood convenient plot devices and predictable sappy endings -0.
• Cameos by the great Young MC singing Bust a Move (OK smawdy, go to a pawdy) - 1
• Clooney is just good.

If you like good music, check out the Kings of Convenience if you haven't already. Simon and Garfunkle meets Belle and Sebastian. Good stuff.

A note about Althea's hat. People are now saying she bought it from a street vendor in NYC, where these hats are all the rage on the subway. So disappointing, Althea. We thought you were one of us. I still want to knit one, though. And also one like Jovie has at the end of Elf when she sings Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

I am reading The Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne. So far, it's very good. In fact, I am going to go read it now...

Tomorrow, we bowl.

LEON

It's not Christmas until somebody moves the window angels around. This year it was more difficult. They were taped down. But someone was determined.

And so, we start another year. That's good. I'm ready. The last month of 2009 was crazy and stressful and fun. There was a blizzard. There were several different Christmas celebrations. There was travel, but not on a plane! There was family, friends, and food. There were movies and restaurants. There were gifts. And gifts. And gifts. So much for down-sizing Christmas. There were birthdays. There was family game time. There was snow on Christmas day. And there was one very excited little Peanut. But now, I'm ready for some normal. I don't even think I am going to have the usual post-Christmas let-down this year.

If you'd like to see pictures from the past few weeks, there are plenty on Flickr. And Daphne got a camera for Christmas, so she now has her own flickr page here. (She took the LEON picture above). I love her pictures. Many of them are blurry and strange, but they give you an idea of how she sees the world.

I hope you all had a good Christmas, too.

OK. On with 2010.

That seems so Sci-Fi.

I Got Got Got Got No Time

Well, you know I've been busy if the first snow of the year came and went without a peep from me. I honestly can't even tell you when it happened, just that it was sometime between the last post and now. Christmas is in full swing around here, and there is just no time to blog. The tree is up, the house is decorated, and as of a few minutes ago, most of the gifts are wrapped. I still have to wrap all of Kev's stuff (Christmas AND birthday!) and a couple of unfinished items. I am pretty sure that I will not be able to do everything I need to do by the time it needs to be done. Christmas cards may go out in January again this year.

But if that's the case, so be it. The world is not going to end.

This is the year I was going to give everyone handmade Christmas gifts. I was going to have everything done by Thanksgiving so I could just enjoy Christmas, all stress-free. Well, I am sad to say that pretty much nobody is getting any handmade anythings this year. And I didn't even start on Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Oh well. My intentions were good. And although the season has hardly been stress-free, I AM enjoying Christmas very much. Daphne is at the perfect age. She helped with the tree and the Christmas cards and a few other things. The town had a parade and a festival, which she loved. I have managed to avoid malls, and so I haven't had to deal much with cranky shoppers and bad traffic. We had some nice snow. There has been eggnog and Elf and hot chocolate and fires in the fireplace and even a few nights out with friends and with Kev.

So, if I don't get to write again until after the holidays, which I probably won't unless it's pure procrastination, I hope you all have a really great Christmas. Try to make yourself stop to enjoy it. It'll be over soon.

The Very Most Important Job of All

This angel is the tree topper from my childhood. It's the only one I ever remember having. My parents gave it to me when I moved out and started getting my own tree. This is Daphne's first time putting her up on top. Good job, Little Peanut!

Somebody Tooted...

Boomboowa...

Here is a short video of Daphne's class performance. I should probably take it down after a couple of days since there are other kids in it. But for now, have fun watching the mild chaos...

Little Sacagawea

Today when we picked up Daphne from school, we were treated to a performance by the class. They just finished their unit on Native Americans, so they did a little Indian dance for us. It was so dang cute.

One time, we had a Cinco De Mayo party in the neighborhood, and my neighbor thought sopapillas were called "sacagaweas." We all thought that was pretty funny. But you probably had to be there.

Notice, Daphne chose an orange feather for her hat. She is so cool.

Not a Creature was Stirring...or WAS There?

Normally, I don't mind laundry day. On laundry day, I usually do all the laundry in the morning, then after Daphne goes down for her nap, I take it all into the TV room to fold while I watch old episodes of Project Runway or some sort of cooking show. It's very peaceful and relaxing, and I actually look forward to it.

Last week, laundry day was not what I was hoping for. I read Daphne her naptime story and headed downstairs. When I got to the bottom, I thought I saw something scurry under the TV room couch. I froze. It appeared to be bigger than a Texas waterbug roach, but smaller than a mouse, it was blackish, and if it had a tail, I didn't see it. I had no idea what it was. When I started to move again, I saw it on the opposite side of the couch, and again it ran for cover. Ugh. I emailed Kev, "Something just ran under the couch. It might be a mouse. I am freaking out." Then, I sadly took the laundry into the living room, where I folded it in fear, and without TV. Kev replied to my email, "Um...OK. Never a dull moment." Then he called, and offered as much help as he could from his office, which was not much. There were no more sightings and I forgot all about it.

Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I spent naptime in the kitchen making my apple pie and some biscuit dough. By the time I was done and cleaned up the huge mess, Daphne was awake and I was exhausted. I stuck some baked potatoes in the oven and collapsed on the couch. After a while, I got up to check the potatoes. I stuck a fork in them, and they were done. I opened the dishwasher to put in the fork, and there, near the silverware caddy, staring up at me with his beady little eyes, was the cutest, tiniest, most horrifying little gray field mouse you ever saw. Imagine my reaction. There was a scream. There was a slam. There was handflapping and dance of panic. Thank God Kev was home. I spent the better part of the rest of the evening up on a chair while my poor nice brave husband completely disassembled the dishwasher, only to be thwarted by the crafty little critter. We had just about given up hope, and I (still on the chair) was about to start to cry, when Kev saw him run under the fridge. AHA! Cleverly using strips cut from a cardboard box and some packing tape, Kev trapped the little monster under the fridge. I got down from the chair, and we all ate some very well-done baked potatoes for dinner, after which Kev went to the store and bought a trap.

That night, I didn't get much sleep. I woke up at about 3:00 with a really bad case of the heebie-jeebies, imagining all the possible escape routes we might not know were behind the fridge. The next morning, there was nothing in the trap. Doom.

I went to Thanksgiving dinner vowing to forget about the mouse, which I did. Until we were about 15 minutes from getting back home. Then the panic started to return. But, awaiting us was a Thanksgiving Miracle! The mouse was in the trap! Poor disgusting little guy. He must have been really scared. So, our little family of three marched down the street at once, Daphne with the flashlight, Kev with the trap, and me with a giant weight off my mind, and we ceremoniously set him free by the creek. I slept really well that night.

I really hope there aren't more where he came from. I will never ever get that dishwasher scene out of my mind. Never. Ever.