A Little Show and Tell

Daphne finally painted a picture of me (above), so now we have the whole family in water color. I will have to scan it in to get the color right, and then have Zazzle.com put it on a coffee cup or something. I love it.

Below is the frame that Daphne got to make at her Under the Sea class. I will admit I was jealous that I didn't get to make one too. Perhaps a trip to Michaels is in order.


Here is some stuff from the garden that I made into a face:

We didn't plant anything I like to eat, so I had to find something to do with it. We have more cukes and tomatoes than Kev and Daphne can possibly ever eat, so I am going to have to do some research into making DIY cucumber facial masks or something.

Someday, I would like to put this pannier on my bike:

And ride it around town while wearing this dress:

Today we went to the library. I am beginning to think that Daphne is incapable of walking anywhere like a normal person. She either has to hop, run ahead, or poke along behind picking up rocks or leaves or whatever looks interesting. It was not a relaxing trip to the library. The library is no place for hopping, and the librarians probably raised an eyebrow or two. But we managed to get some books to get us through the rest of the week, including a book about pugs for Quincy.

Every day after naptime, Daphne sings a song. It lasts until dinner time. I'm not kidding. She will make up the words and sing the same song for a couple hours straight. Jeff can tell you. The other day, she sang a song about balancing that rivaled in duration any Grateful Dead jam you could imagine. Right now she is singing, "Mom, you really need to play with me, yeah yeah, you should play with me, because it's fun and you should really do it..." and on and on and on. So, I am going to go play with Daphne now. Yeah yeah. Because it's fun. It really is.

Update: I just told Daphne I was done on the computer and she started a new verse to her song: "Hip hip hooray! Mom's gonna play! Yeah yeah yeah, with Quincy and me..." She's still singing. I better go.

Continued Goings-On

Daphne recently asked me to teach her to knit. Can you imagine how happy this made me? Unfortunately, I don't think I have the patience, and I don't think she has the coordination. Yet. But, the time will come. In the meantime, I decided to start simple and let her play around with some yarn and an embroidery needle. She LOVED it. I will probably turn the finished first project into a little pillow or something. I'll post a picture when I do.

The Under the Sea class wrapped up on Friday with a little fishing outside:


It was a cute class, and my only complaint is the smell of the building. Daphne got to make some really cute crafts, including, on the last day, a picture frame covered in grout and adorned with seashells and glass "jewels" and so forth. It will be perfect for a picture from our trip to the beach later this summer.

Over the weekend, we went with Jeff on a little mini-vacation to the mountains. We stayed at Brookside Cabins:

Went for a ride on Skyline Drive:

And visited Luray Caverns:

It was a nice little change of scenery, and Daphne especially had a great time. And I discovered that you only have to travel about an hour or so south of Leesburg to be in The South, where people sound like the people from home and there are grits and biscuits and gravy a'plenty. Yes.

Jeff heads back to Texas tomorrow, and things here will quiet down for a bit. Daphne has another class next week, but it's only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am still knitting along. The weather is still not unbearable, but the gnats and mosquitos stop us from spending as much time outside as we'd like. This week's Tally Ho kid movie is the Muppet Movie, so we'll be seeing that for sure. And the Loudoun County Fair is coming soon. Summer is continuing to fly by, and soon it will be fall. I can't wait. Bring on the pumpkin patches and apple pies.

So, What's Been Going On Around Here...

Well, I am knitting again and that is a good thing. My friend Emily brought me this cool pouch when she came to visit, and I decided to use it this week to carry a small knitting project to do while Daphne is at "school." By school, I mean a little one week class called Under the Sea. For 45 minutes each day this week, I get to sit by myself while Daphne paints pictures of fish and glues feathers on paper duckies and so forth. If the facility didn't smell quite so much like a nursing home, I would really be enjoying myself. Daphne doesn't care about the smell. She is having a great time, and hopefully this is helping prepare her for preschool, which is just around the corner. I am knitting a scarf. For me. I like it so far.

Meanwhile, Jeff is visiting from Texas. He brought Daphne's birthday gift:

He got her an athletic bag with a helmet and bat (pictured) as well as a glove and some wiffle balls to practice with. She got very excited, and it was hard to get her to stop wearing the helmet when it was time to go to dinner. Jeff is sort of using our house as a home base while he travels around the area. At the moment, I think he is in Gettysburg. He's coming back here tomorrow. I cannot even imagine being so footloose and fancy free. But I know that time will come again for me, and when it does I will miss these days of having my constant sidekick. She is a lot of work, but she sure is cute.

This is the time of year for roadside stands:

and fresh blueberries to use in cakes:

And I learned to make my mom's spaghetti:

What a treat. Just like home.

Daphne is supposed to be napping, but I don't think it's gonna happen today. I hear an awful lot of noise up there. I am off to try to settle her down so I can take a quick nap myself. Going to school just wears me out.

Give Bees a Chance

So, while my friend Emily was visiting last week, she told me about the theory that eating local honey (a little each day) helps allergies. Makes sense to me! So, while Daphne and I were out and about this morning, I picked up some honey made by monks in Berryville, VA, not far from here, so I can start experimenting. (Too bad allergy season is pretty much over...I guess I will build up my tolerance for next year!). Daphne picked cinnamon, but they also had plain, lemon, almond, and I think maybe raspberry. I just tried a little bit, and this stuff is DEEEElicious. If Daphne wasn't napping, and if I wasn't presently being advised to stay indoors due to a local manhunt, I would probably go down to Safeway immediately to buy some buttermilk and make hot fresh buscuits to spread it on.

PS. Teeheehee...Clever post title, huh? All I am saying...

Around Town

Today, it was nice and cool out, so Daphne and I took a little walk around town. We went to this place (above). No, we did not require the services of a cobbler. We went there because inside the old Shoes Repairing building is actually (cue the fanfare) a brand new coffee shop. Woo hoo! So exciting. We split a muffin and played checkers. This was just what the town needed. It's so cute inside. There is a shoe chandelier on the ceiling, games and magazines for the customers, as well as a stack of crosswords and sudokus-of-the-day and a can of pencils. I think it's going to be my new hang-out when Daphne starts preschool. Hey...you know what they need to do? Serve various kinds of cobblers! It seems like the right thing to do. I think I'll suggest it.

In other exciting news, we saw this sign. THE FAIR IS COMING! I know it won't be anything like the Great State Fair of Texas, or probably even as good as the Dutchess County Fair (no 4h milkshakes) or the Harvest Homecoming (no Redman's Club Chicken and Dumplings), but it is a fair, and I guess from now on, it is OUR fair. So, I can't wait. Really, about all it will take to make me happy is a Fun Slide. And who knows, maybe it will have it's own special little hidden treasure thing that's just as good as the shakes and the dumplings.

I Think It's Time for Me...

...to knit something.
...to make some kind of souffle.
...to show Daphne the joy of Shrinky Dinks.
...to start thinking about Christmas.
...to put up some pictures in our house.
...to fix the mandolin string.
...to bake a pie.
...to finish the Thank-You notes.
...to take a nap.
...to stop blogging and do one of the above.

Tally Ho!

So, today is Thursday, and our Thursday adventure is a walk with some neighbors to the Tally Ho to see Hotel for Dogs. I wish they would leave some lights on in the theater so I could read or knit, because I am pretty sure this is going to be a terrible movie for adults. But, it should be fun for the kids, and there will be popcorn, so it's all good. I think they're having the Muppet Movie in a couple weeks, and I'm really looking forward to that. Hooray for the Tally Ho for having these kid summer movies. It's a good cheap way to spend a morning.

On a completely different note: I am sure that all of you readers of this blog (and by all, I pretty much mean my mom and occasionally Kevin) have been on the edges of your proverbial seats wondering whatever happened in the hydrangea drying experiment. Well, here's your answer:


They are still pretty, but they shrivelled up to next to nothing. The ones on the internet were a lot bigger, so I'm not sure what I did wrong. Yesterday, I went out and cut another one from a different plant. These flowers are much larger to begin with, so we'll see what happens when they dry:

We had dinner on the porch last night on the new furniture. It was delightful. Until the Yard Guard wore off and the mosquitos found us. It's so nice in the mornings and evenings here, even when it's really hot during the day. If I could just find the magical mosquito solution, summer would no longer be on my list of Things I am Against.

Ok, time to pack Daphne's backpack for the movies. Would it be rude movie behavior to pack my Itty Bitty Book Light?

TaDa!

So, this is what was in those boxes. For my birthday, which isn't actually until August, Kev decided to help me make the porch a happy place. He finished the assembly this morning. Tonight, we'll be having dinner outside. Slowly but surely, the house is becoming a home. Thanks, Kev.

On a sorta related note, we are taunted each evening on this very porch by the ice cream truck. It never ever comes down our street or the cul de sac during the day, playing it's happy little song and spreading joy to the children (and some grown-ups) of the neighborhood. But every night at about 9:30, when Kevin and I are sitting on the porch after we put Daphne to bed, it drives by, lights and music off, probably on its way home from a day of spreading joy to OTHER people's neighborhoods. "No ice cream for YOU," it seems to say. We have considered setting up a road block. I need to figure out who I can call to remedy this terribly cruel situation.

Oh well, I may not be able to have a chocolate banana bomb pop on the porch, but at least I'll be lounging ice-cream-less in style.

Number Seven

The next Thing That Makes Me Happy is this painting of a sunflower from Daphne. She gave it to me and told me, "It's just for you, Mommy. You don't have to share it with anybody." It makes me happy every time I see it. I should probably stick copies all around the house. Especially by the dishwasher.

Monday Quick Hits

So, Kev's Father's Day gift from me was this cookbook. It has some really good recipes in it - at least they LOOK good. It reminds us of our favorite restaurant in Dallas, Cafe Madrid. Oh, how I miss Cafe Madrid. Anyway, yesterday, we decided to have tapas day and try out a few recipes from the book. We made spare ribs with paprika sauce, garlic mushrooms, and zucchini fritters with pine nut dip. It was all good, but we both liked the pine nut dip best. It was delicious. There it is, below, with the fried zucs. Don't know why Blogger rotated the photo the wrong way like that.

It was fun cooking together. Previous attempts at this have often caused family tension. Having a bigger kitchen definitely helps. Anyway, I am looking forward to the next tapas day. Maybe next weekend!

From the garden, some cucumbers and hydrangeas:

And, today, these boxes arrived:

Inside is an early birthday present from Kevin. When we get it all assembled, I will show you what it is. I am so excited. I wish we'd had this last week!

If anyone wants the pine nut dip recipe, comment or email me and I'll give it to you. It's GOOD.

TGIM?

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm almost glad it's Monday.There has been so much activity lately, that I am ready for a normal weekday with no big (or even small) adventures (except a long overdue trip to Trader Joe's, which we took earlier this morning). The weekend was good. Friday night was First Friday in town, so we walked down to see what we could see. There were a couple of bands playing, and one place was giving away free popcorn. Above, you can see Daphne desperately scanning the bottom of the bag for the last molecule. I didn't have any. Kevin said it was bad...bland. No salt or butter. Apparently, that didn't bother the Peanut.

Saturday morning was the big parade, so Daphne put on her fancy parade dress from Aunt Kathy and took a seat on the sidewalk to enjoy the festivities with her friends. There was a camel, a couple of llamas, some dogs, some sheep, a guy in a pizza suit, another guy dressed like a prune, and various marching bands and pageant winners and other parade staples.

During the parade, we found out from our neighbors that you can't really see the town's fireworks from the cul de sac, so I was very disappointed. I love fireworks and haven't seen them in many years. But it didn't seem worth it to drag the Peanut to the rec center way past her bedtime and sit in a crowded field with mosquitos. So, we stayed home. When the show started, we could hear them outside which made it worse that we couldn't see them. Finally, I put Daphne to bed. Then just for kicks, I went into the front yard and down to the sidewalk. Guess what. Fireworks. So I ran back up and got Daphne and brought her down just in time to see the last three or four. As she was squealing "This is SO awesome," it ended. Just like that. Oh well. At least we know for next year.

Yesterday, we tried to take it easy. We took Daphne up to the attic to sing on "Daddy's mike-a-phone." She sang the ABCs, the Daddy song, and I've Been Working on the Railroad. She was pretty excited to hear the playback.

When she took her nap, Kev and I cooked ourselves some tapas together and didn't get into one single argument. More on that later.

I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th. I am going to rest up now. Tomorrow, we are going to the National Zoo with our neighbors. Another adventure. I guess that's what summer is all about.

Every Day is Like, Um, Saturday

On Monday, my friend Emily and her kids, Violet and Fletcher arrived from Texas for a visit. They left this morning to go home. In between, there was almost non-stop activity, and it seemed almost like I was the one on vacation. Here are the highlights: Fireworks Pizza, Fractured Prune Donut Shop, Symington Water Park, shrimp and grits dinner with a visit from Emily's college roommate, a trip on the Metro to DC to ride the carousel and visit the American History Museum and the Museum of Natural History, dinner at Tuskies with Emily (thanks to Kev for watching the kids), Rocknocers at the mall with a ride on the carousel and the train, gas station Thai food on the porch with Emily's brother and his girlfriend followed by Nell's oreo ice cream cake and fireworks in the yard, and breakfast at Puccios.

It was exhausting but SO much fun. The kids were all great, Daphne had a blast playing with her friends, and I had a good visit with one of my very favorite people from home.

There are tons of pictures on flickr of our adventures if you are interested.

Every day this week has felt like Saturday, but tomorrow actually IS, and that means the 4th of July. We are gearing up for the town's big parade, which we are fortunate enough to be along the route of, so I am getting donuts and we're having a couple of neighbors over to watch it from our porch. We will probably grill out. Then we'll be up late for fireworks. Sunday is going to be a day of rest.

Setting Things on Fire

Yesterday, we went here...

...to get these:

We live in a town where you can actually do FIREWORKS at your HOUSE. So, last night we walked to the local shopping center where they have temporarily erected a fireworks stand so that we could stock up for next weekend. Then, after dinner, we went in the front yard so Daphne could experience her first sparkler:

And her first snake:

She really liked it, but I am pretty sure that I was even more excited than she was. I haven't done sparklers in a long long time, because any and all front yard fireworks were outlawed back home in Texas. I can't wait to do the cones and fountains that we bought.

The down side is that fireworks are kind of messy. Look what the snake did to our bricks:

I don't think it's gonna come off. I think we were probably supposed to put it ON something before we lit it. Speaking of burning things, look what I did to my pot last night:

I put the steam basket full of corn in there, but I forgot the water. I couldn't figure out why my corn was on fire. The corn was bad and the pot is ruined. And dinner, which was an attempt at pork chops with baked beans, wasn't very good either.

But, at least there were fireworks.

Hope your weekend was good. Visitors from Texas coming today. It's gonna be a fun week!

Thrift Shop Jackpot

Today, we decided to go to the local thrift shop, Twice is Nice. We both scored. Daphne found this patriotic heart for 50 cents, and I found these pillowcases for $1.00 each:

She is excited because the Fourth of July parade goes right past our house, so she wanted to get something to decorate the porch. I am excited because there are 4 new pillowcase dresses in Daphne's future, provided I can make them correctly.

Yesterday, we had lemonade, even though Daphne didn't really take a nap. Lemonade tastes better when you drink it on the porch steps with your favorite kid.

Itchy Trigger Finger

This video clip has nothing to do at all with this blog post, but I don't like having posts with no pictures, so enjoy. It is dedicated to my cousin's wife, Stefanie, because whenever she thinks of Daphne, she thinks of snorting. Long story, but not really blog-worthy. So, there you go.

Anyway, I have an itchy trigger finger. And when I say that, I mean I have an itchy pedal foot. And when I say that, I mean I want to sew something.

It's been a long time coming.

Here is what I want to sew:

• First, cloth napkins. We use way too much paper in this family. That is going to stop.
• Some sort of small pouch with a long skinny strap that I can sling over my shoulder for when I walk somewhere and don't want to carry my whole purse. Just big enough for money, keys, hand sanitizer, and lip balm. And possibly my evian refreshing mist spray bottle. The essentials.
• A pillowcase dress (or 2) for Daphne to wear when we go to the beach later this summer.
• A couple of market bags. My Central Market ones have seen better days. And they aren't very fashionable.
• Some sort of cool summery shirt for me.

The possiblity of ANY of this actually happening seems small. The only time I have to sew is naptime and night time. Night time is right out. There is no way. I fell asleep on the couch within 10 minutes after I put Daphne to bed last night. Naptime might work, but I fear naps are phasing out. I put Daphne down for her nap an hour ago, and she's still awake. She has called me upstairs three times. First, she had to potty. (She really did, so that's OK). Then she was thirsty. Then, she wanted a lullaby. Now, you know that if someone is requesting to hear ME sing, it is a stall tactic and nothing else. I just told her that we could make lemonade later if - and only if - she goes to sleep. I think that did the trick. All these trips up and down the steps are wearing me out. Anyway, if there is any progress at all on this list, it will be blogged. But don't hold your breath.

Now, I am going to look through some patterns I have in case the opportunity arises...

Hydrangea Experiment Day Two

Hydrangea Experiment Day Two
Originally uploaded by Tara H.

So, the hydrangeas wilted significantly since yesterday. They look kinda the way I feel. The walk TO the movie theater this morning to see Horton Hears a Who was pleasant, but the walk home was hot. And my pokey little sidekick made it take much longer than it should have.

It is naptime again, and it appears that in spite of sitting in the nice cool dark theater for almost 2 hours, Daphne is actually going to sleep today. The walk probably wore her out too.

The problem with going to kid movies is that the audience is a bunch of noisy kids. No, that's not true. The real problem is that the kids, who are just being kids, are accompanied by adults who either don't have the know-how or don't have the will to control them. It was pretty unruly in there at first, and as we navigated our way through the line of kids fresh off the bus on a day care center field trip, I thought it was going to be a real drag. But when the lights went down and the opening credits began to roll, I looked down at the Peanut with her bowl of popcorn and her blankie, and she looked up at me with a HUGE smile and said,"This is gonna be AWESOME! And you are one awesome Mommy," it was all good. And the kids (mostly) settled down and the movie was cute and I'd do it again.

So, thank you, Tally Ho, for your summer kid movie program and for having a working AC. We'll be back for the Muppet Movie.

The Hydrangea Experiment

Well, it's naptime so I tried to sit on the porch swing with my iced coffee and look the new PBKids catalog I just got in the mail. Alas, I was thwarted. First of all, Daphne was making all kinds of noise, which I heard over the monitor, because instead of napping, she was "having a campout." Plus, it's hot out there. And finally, although I didn't actually see any mosquitos, I felt their presence. So I quickly cut some hydrangeas and came back in the house. Kev's mom told me they are easy to dry, so I decided to try it. Most of the internet articles say to wait until the end of the season to cut them, but I thought I'd try it anyway. I don't know how they'll do, especially hanging right in the sunny window, but I couldn't figure out anywhere else to hang them, and they look sort of weirdly pretty hanging there. If this batch doesn't work, there's plenty more for later.

I can hear Daphne up there whispering to herself now. I don't think she's going to sleep. Dangit. We had a nice long playdate with the neighbors this morning, so she ought to be tired. I know I am. I guess my porch time will have to wait until the sun goes down.

Tomorrow morning we are going up the street to see Horton Hears a Who for $1.00 at the Tally Ho. They have a different kid movie each week all summer. It'll be nice and cool in the theater, and there will be popcorn. She probably won't take a nap after sitting in the dark all morning though. Maybe I'll make her jog all the way home...

Father's Day Blog

Father's Day weekend started with meatloaf. I SO did not want to make meatloaf on Friday, but I did and it was good and the best part was that Daphne liked it and ate it all up and dinnertime was very pleasant. Saturday morning, we drove to Herndon for breakfast at the Silver Diner, where you have your own personal jukebox and there are good pancakes. There are NOT good grits, so I didn't make the mistake of ordering them this time. When we got home, we gave Kev his father's day gifts, part of which was having Daphne "outfitted." She came downstairs with a new backpack, kid binoculars, a flashlight (which broke immediately - thanks, WalMart), Adventure S'Mores Goldfish Crackers, and a bow on her head. She announced that she was "Ready For Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and the plan was made to go on a hike the next day. To prepare for this, Kev and Daphne went to the attic to have a practice adventure in the teepee while I cleaned the house. Then, after naptime, we went bowling. After some initial fear and refusal to participate, Daphne really got into it:

She scored a 54. Not bad.

Dinner was meatloaf, part 2.

Sunday, we got up early, packed a lunch, and drove to Great Falls for Daphne's Father's Day Adventure Hike:

We saw a chipmunk, a hawk, several herons, some daddy long-legs, and a duck. Daphne was a real trooper and carried her backpack the whole time and didn't get cranky until the very end.

The falls were cool, the weather was pleasant, and all in all I'd say the adventure was a success. I look forward to the next one. Back at home, Daphne slept and Kev cut the grass. Dinner was grilled meat at the new Kabob place followed by Milwaukee frozen custard.

I am exhausted.

Today it is hot, and it is going to get hotter. It was nice this morning, so we took a short walk. But now it's hot and Daphne is upstairs NOT napping. I looked ahead in the forecast and saw 96 degrees on one of the upcoming days. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But I'm going to try not to complain too much, because we've had it pretty good so far. I mean, it's almost the end of June and I think it's only been in the 90s once or twice. I can handle that.

So, Happy Father's Day once again to Kev and my Dad and all the other good Dads out there. I hope you all had a nice day doing whatever it is you like doing. You deserve it.

I am now going to try to figure out the meal plan for the week, which may or may not include meatloaf. There is still some left...

Summer, Cont'd

Daphne got a popsicle making set for her birthday, so we made some. The first ones we made were OJ and vanilla ice cream mixed together, and they were really good...like a Dreamsicle. The next ones were lazy popsicles, just some peach-mango juice from a carton. I didn't try those. I don't like peaches or mangoes. The one above was the most work. It is made from watermelon, strawberries, sugar, and lime juice (recipe from Everyday Food). I haven't tasted one, but it looks like Daphne is enjoying hers. I need to ask the neighbors what we have to do to get an ice cream man to come to our street. I could really go for a bomb pop. For some reason, tonight's meal plan is "meatloaf." Oh, how I don't want to make a meatloaf tonight. I want ice cream. At least there will be leftovers for the weekend.

Yesterday, we did some arts and crafts. I let the Peanut use some of my supplies, and she made her first all-by-herself handmade cards:

Today was (finally!) the last day of school here in Loudoun County. I have noticed a much greater than usual number of teenagers walking up and down our street today. The ones that are smiling and carrying ice cream don't worry me, but the moody-looking others seem like they may be up to no good. There's not much scarier than a teenager with time on his hands.

Happy Father's Day to all you good dads out there. I hope you have a fun celebration that includes a nice juicy steak. I'm not sure what we're going to do. Various ideas (bowling, blueberry picking, brunch) have been thrown around, but we'll see what happens. I'm just hoping there are no fits and a reduced amount of whining. I can't take the whining.

Have a good weekend, everybody.