kids, be thankful

that has been the theme of our last two family nights. we're trying to get them to understand thanksgiving as much as they can. even more, i'm really trying to push the spontaneous (rather than prodded) "thank you." no major progress so far.

last week: thanksgiving jar

jar decorated with pieces of tissue cut mostly by eve and glued on by both girls (when i could get ruth to stop using the glue stick like chapstick). filled with strips of paper listing all the things we're thankful for. some of eve's: jungle book, "smashmallows," drawing on paper, princesses and all paraphenalia she owns or could think of relating to princesses. some of ruth's: eyes, clothes off and "didi boots" (dora and boots). once she thought of dora and boots she wouldn't say anything else, so that's in the jar about seven times.

the plan is to continue adding to the jar until thursday morning when we will read them all to each other and then put a candle in the jar for a "very bootiful" thanksgiving light.

yesterday: the first thanksgiving flannel board story

more felt pieces to tell the story of the pilgrims, mayflower, plymouth rock, the wompanoags, planting, harvesting, feasting and (naturally) being thankful.

i ran out of time for a few major pieces like a turkey and squash/pumpkin, but the rocks and fish i made for the oregon commemoration came in very handy in telling the story in crossing the ocean and plymouth rock, so it all evened out. not sure how much they got from the "we can help and be so thankful and happy for each other" lesson, but they haven't stopped playing with the pieces this morning. and i'm ridiculously happy to have more pieces for the flannel board. i really love the flannel board.

open house

this is our place during the renovation just over two years ago. scary. even scarier knowing it was gutted only two days after closing because i was pregnant and impatient. but completely without a contractor or plan. i'm smart like that.

for a more thourough look at our place, check out our friend's recently launched website; renovation voyeur. you can read chip's report of our renovation, see some before and after shots, and even rate and criticize.

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ours is the apartment labelled "chip and katie, brooklyn, ny" (just in case).

burn victim

one guess who and how.

yes, ruthie. and yes, she was trying to find something to get into. the resourceful little girl made her way onto the counter and turned a ring on the stove to the hottest setting. once the burner next to her (lucky for her little bum or tummy it was not the one she sat on) got nice and red, she set her three little fingers down just long enough for a nice second-degree burn. i heard the moaning cry ruth uses only when she is really hurt, rushed out and found her holding her left hand and moaning "owie."

next we had 25 minutes of soaking angry ruth's hand in cold water and squirting ibuprofen into her open mouth. then onto nap time which started out with me standing next to her crib, holding her hand in a cup of water and, 20 minutes later, turned into me laying on the couch, ruth on my chest with her hand in water while she slept the next 90 minutes. wake up time came, the ibuprofen had taken its full effect and the little angel played the rest of the day without any complaint.

today she is very interested in the giant blister that has formed on her middle finger, but not bothered. there has been plenty of drawing and playing away with the sad left hand, which she officially prefers far above her right.

so maybe now she's learned that climbing onto the counter is a very bad idea? because trying to never let her out of my sight isn't working.

new shoes. finally.

chip and i have been fairly careful about sticking to a budget the past several months. we are each given a certain sum of cash at the beginning of each month to spend on whatever we choose. once we're out of the cash, we have to wait until the next month to do any non-bill, non-essential-to-living spending. consequently i haven't been buying much lately. mixed feelings. on the one hand; in control, smart, thrilled to be consuming less and prone to making more. on the other; feeling more and more annoyed and a little bit sad each time i walk out the door feeling less hip than i would prefer.

so, i let my vanity take the best of me and did some shopping this past week. some shirts, a really cute coat, several tights and two pairs of shoes. the shoes, as always, are making me the happiest. if i have a decent pair of shoes on i feel good about the world.

first up, these lovelies:

i addition to feeling a little bit marmy (something i get a strange exhilaration from) these look great with tights and a pencil skirt and make a terrific, solid click while walking. and, for heels (something i haven't worn outside of church for four years) they are decently comfortable. thank you frye.

second, much needed black boots:

these are the best knock-off of the boots i was in love with all last fall and winter and came very very close to buying. happily, these steve madden versions are hundreds less. sadly, there are some real reasons why they are less. but, fake leather interior and all, i'm happy to have some simple basic boots to tuck my skinny jeans into. that is, if i get some new (bigger) jeans. or stop eating cupcakes for every meal. maybe i'll just stick with skirts and dresses. loose dresses.

as always happens when i begin to buy, i'm finding myself wanting more and more and thinking of all the other great things i can throw my money at. so i'm trying to tap into my responsible self and be happy with what i have. instead of thinking that if i just get this one other thing, then i'll be set.

happy birthday ruthie!

oh ruth. when i was pregnant with you i knew you'd be friendly. i had no idea how crazy and entertaining and mischievous you would be. i didn't know about that stompy, floppy run of yours, usually with mouth wide open in a crazed smile. i didn't know you would come programmed knowing exactly how to push every single one your sister's buttons and get wild joy from watching her react. i couldn't have imagined your almost annoying ability to charm your way out of any trouble. i did know that you would love people and they would love you, but had no idea how quickly you would capture people's adoration. i certainly didn't realize you would be so messy or have such a need to apply and spread anything and everything to every surface of your own skin. everyday. i didn't know about the smearing of the frosting or the hummus or the massaging of your own feet with that morning's cream-of-wheat. i didn't know the immense love affair you would have with food; the singing about it from your crib, the talking about being "hummy" at least every 20 minutes, and the immense amount of food you can shove into yor mouth without issue. i didn't realize the frequency of the kind hugs you would give to your sister and how quickly you could unite with her against all the world, including me. i didn't know how intense and determined you would be, nor did i have any clue that you would be able to mimic my voice and yoga positions almost perfectly, the first time. i didn't know how hard you would make us laugh and how so many of the things that i love the most in your father are the very same things i love in you. and i could never have known how much i really do love you, and how through you i would love eve, your dad and life even more than before. so, happy second birthday ruth. i love you and am secretly proud of you for testing me everyday. just as any good daughter should.

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while i was typing the last half of this, you got a chair from the dining table, pushed it over to the counter, climbed up and then ate/destroyed nearly all of the mini ganache-covered chocolate cupcakes waiting for tonight's celebraion. the uneaten/uncrumbled ones you smeared on your belly. all in three minutes.

halloween 2007

halloween came and went this year with its usual amount of stress (procrastination is my curse) and fun.

since we were having way too much fun with friends we skipped pumpkin carving this year (which is a good thing, ruthie is far too confident in grabbing and attempting to use knives as it is) and let the girls paint away on their special pumpkin. clearly, tempera paints aren't the best option for pumpkin painting, but it is washable. and when is ruth involved, that is all i care about.

halloween brunch. spiderweb and pumpkin shaped panckakes.

inspired by this post of jeanie's and sarah's comment on said post. i love my sisters. and the girls loved the pancakes which we ate with eggs and beautiful homemade applesauce. the pumpkin pancakes were made with the help of a copper cookie cutter to shape the batter. for the spiderweb pancakes i only had a spoon, although a squirt bottle of some kind would have been much much easier.

the costumes. alice in wonderland and the cheshire cat.

the stress that is a product of my own procrastination is something i'm used to and usually totally comfortable with, because i can always pull things off. not so much this time with ruthie's costume. i needed more time to make it more fantastic and less homemade (you know what i'm saying here, the homemade that looks kind of sad and neglected, not the homemade that we all adore). but, she had a costume and besides the occasional "it's piglet!" (which she totally looks like in these pictures although i swear not as much in real life) or "umm. . . stripey??" many people got it. and as always, together she and eve were a great pair.

the most gratifying part of the costume making process this year was that i did not buy one scrap of fabric, everything is from the very very large stash i already have around the house. for ruth, i made skin-tight pajamas from some knit and applied the stripes out of some wool felt i've had for years. there were plans to make a hat with ears which i think would have made a huge difference, but time and exhaustion got to me. so we went for little felt ears stuck to her head bobby pins. the alice dress was a compilation of two things i know how to pattern (i use that term very loosely) and make; bodice top and circle skirt, along with a peter pan collar, made using this tutorial which is so easy. yes, there are a lot of steps, but it is still so easy.

trick or treating.

or "treasure picking" as eve was calling it. the girls, along with pseudo-little-brother luke, all went together through park slope. another year and another great night. definitely beats having a friend's parent drive you nad your friends from house to house because they were too far apart to walk. eve showed the way at the first house and ruthie got the hang of it immediately. she could hardly be stopped from running full speed stoop to stoop, mountaineering up the stairs, holding her bag out, squeaking "chik a cheat," climbing down and running off to the next bowl of candy. i was not allowed to touch her and the few times i touched her candy bag i regretted it.

the girls were fast and determined for two solid blocks of beautiful brooklyn brownstone stoops (oh, brooklyn. . .) but then hopped into the stroller and crashed. perfect.

this morning i woke up to hearing the stove top beep- my clue that ruthie has climbed on top of the counter in an attempt to get last night's treasure. i shot out of bed, got ruthie off the stove top and amazingly convinced her and eve that yogurt was a better breakfast option than a mars bar.