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The kids were playing outside with sidewalk chalk yesterday (quietly, so I should have been suspicious).  Here's Ben joining us for dinner: 

Avatar Boy 

 Portrait of the Artist and Her Handiwork

Friday Mish-Mash

1) Underwear - I'd like to know why a boy who could usually could care less about what he wears, suddenly needs to take 5 minutes selecting his underwear.  (We're still in the beginning stages of potty training, alternating diaper days with underwear days depending on Ben's level of interest.)  Although Ben still doesn't care what he wears on the outside, he wants me to lay out all the clean pairs of superhero underwear on the floor, so he can pour over them at length to select which "good guy" he wants to wear for the day (still backwards so the good guy is in visible).  Frankly it doesn't really matter which good guy he picks since the reality of potty training is that he'll have the opportunity to wear at least two or three different good guys today.

2) Berries - The local farmer's market is up and running again, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until tasting the first batch of fresh veggies.  Ben and Caroline joined me yesterday, and while I was talking to the mushroom guy about how to make portabella burgers on the grill, Ben decided to browse the berries at the next stand.  Since he helped himself to some pesticide-free raspberries (great supervision, Mom!) I decided to buy two pints to take home.  Berry Boy ate the entire pint before we even got to the car, which earned us some "what-a-good-fruit-eating-boy" looks from the stand owners and shoppers. This was a very welcome change from the "why-can't-you-keep-your-child-quiet-and-still" looks I had been collecting at every other function lately. 

3) Quiet Part 1 -- Don't tell anyone, but the calendar is completely empty both today and tomorrow. There are no school activities, meetings, lacrosse games, birthday parties, kid's activities, doctor's appointments, or anything else. Completely and blissfully clear. Ahh... Unfortunately, I just found out that the neighbors and their children (who we normally play with for hours and hours on the weekends) are headed to the shore for the holiday (Nooooooooo!), so my thoughts of productive time at home have been at least halved. Still, no schlepping!

4) Quiet Part 2 - The robins on our porch light have finally hatched.  I'm (unsuccessfully) trying to limit the noise in the entryway since the parents flee in terror from the nest every time my kids pass through the room.  I was starting to wonder if the eggs weren't going to hatch since we had disrupted the incubation so many times, but I guess the robins are more resilient than I thought.  The nest is above eye level and away from the window, so we can't watch the feedlings like we did with the cardinals' nest, but it is still nice to hear the tiny peeps so close by.

Caroline's Discovery ("Is it really, really a bird's egg?")

Field Day

Field Day for Abby today -- How fun does this look?

Big Ball Race (Abby is 2nd from Left)

Obstacle Course

Acknowledging the Spectators

I LOVED field days in elementary school!  The epic battle of green vs. gold.  A full day of outdoor fun.  The day-long build-up to the ultimate event: class vs. class tug-of-war.  A chance to earn ribbons.  The highlight of field day for me:  tart lemon halves with sweet peppermint sticks.  The lowlight of the day:  the 1/4-mile race around the graveyard.  (No, I'm not making that part up!)

I'd like to note that while I'm typing this Caroline and Ben are listening to some music on CD.  This particular CD is scratched from rough handling (i.e., Ben).  The CD just got stuck on the "merrily merrily merrily merrily" part of Row Row Your Boat -- it's a little annoying,  but strangely hilarious....merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily..............I am going to turn that off now.........quickly (and merrily!).

Graduation Day

Caroline graduated from preschool this morning with a little bit of pomp and circumstance.  She and I made her cardboard graduation cap on Muffins with Mom day.   Although I thought I might get a bit teary during the big event, Ben's stellar behavior ensured that I did not.

Caroline's teacher took the time to say a few words about each of her 16 students.  Her characterization of Caroline was very accurate -- she loves music, learns (most) of the words to songs very, very quickly, she's a chatterbox, bright, confident, and social.  The teacher's predictions for Caroline's future:  1) Appearance on American Idol; 2) Broadway Star; or 3) Actress/Performer.  Ha!   (I should note that Caroline has been serenading her teachers all year with various rock and pop songs learned all year, most recently some songs from the TV show Glee. She's also been spending a lot of time singing/dancing in the mirrors around the house.)

Caroline and some of her classmates attended to Kindergarten orientation yesterday afternoon, which included meeting the teachers, visiting the classrooms, and riding the bus around the parking lot. Although I know that she is a bit sad about leaving this class behind, she is now very excited about Kindergarten.  Unfortunately she was under the impression that Kindergarten would be starting soon -- you can only imagine her reaction when I told her the first day of Kindergarten was over 90 days away!  That's an eternity to a 5-year old (and her mom).

The Secret (Slightly Overgrown) Garden

Tonight, Abby and I will be concluding The Secret Garden written by Frances Burnett. I never read this book as a child, at least that I can remember, so it had been on the list of books that I wanted to read to the kids.  What an amazing story!  Abby has been riveted throughout the entire book. I realize that I'm biased since I love almost anything related to gardens, but the book is about so much more than that.  Our particular edition is illustrated by Inga Moore, and the marvelously detailed pictures in this version make an already amazing story even more compelling. 

I heartily look forward to reading it again with Caroline in a few years. However, I will definitely need to polish my Yorkshire accent before then. Several of the key characters speak in "broad Yorkshire" and those characters' dialogs are written phonetically. Fortunately for me, Abby has no idea what that is supposed to sound like. I really butchered it -- badly!

I worked on our own Secret Garden for several hours this weekend at the house and made some real progress moving the mulch mountain from the driveway into the flower beds. As the trees finish leafing out, I was hoping to find a suitable place in the backyard to have a vegetable garden, but it is just too shady for tomatoes (great for summer play, though!). The sides of the house are also far too shady, so it's the front yard or nothing.  Although I briefly contemplated not planting tomatoes, I just can't do it.  I'm a garden tomato addict.  There....I've said it!  So, I ended up planting the tomatoes along the walkway to the house.  Maybe I'll put a few annuals in between so it doesn't look too bizarre.  Even if it does look weird...who cares.  The San Marzanos, Lemon Boys, and Big Boys will be mine!      

Lack of sun aside, I have decided my favorite part of the yard is the side passageway that seems like the entrance to our Secret Garden.  The bushes and trees planted by the first owner have grown tall and curve inward and the path is covered with aged wood chips. I've added a few hostas to the front of the path to make it seem even more lush.  It's perfect.

Lastly, I'm sad/irritated/exasperated to report that the interior of my house is not nearly as tranquil as the pathway above would suggest.  In the very short time that it took me to write the first paragraph of this blog entry, Caroline and Ben managed to scream at each other four separate times. For some reason, today's lunch and the Candyland game pieces are sources of extreme contention. I am so very tired of listening to all the screaming here.  And, it's only Monday!  Unfortunately, I clearly remember fighting with my own brother until I graduated from high school, and that is still a looooong way off.  I think I'm going to go outside and stand in the pathway and take a few deep breaths. I'm going avoid looking at the rest of the yard since I realized earlier today that I have only pruned 8 of the 50-ish shrubs around the perimeter of the yard.  One thing at a time, right?

Empty Nests

Yesterday, for the first time in many months I had 3.5 glorious hours of alone time that didn't involve a either a lacrosse game or a public meeting. It was 100% non-scheduled, child-free time and it was every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be. I accomplished more in 3.5 hours that I could have finished in a day if Ben were with me. In only 3.5 short hours, I pruned and bagged two bushes, weeded ten square feet of flower bed and applied mulch, showered and dressed, got a sorely needed haircut with blow dry, made and ate lunch, ran to the farmer's market and bought vegetables, and even read the paper for a few minutes. Absolutely delightful.

You know what I didn't do for those 3.5 hours? Change diapers, listen to Ben and/or Caroline screaming at each other or myself, open or close the refrigerator and/or pantry door 75 times, pick-up or put away any toys, explain "why" or say "no", buckle any car seats, manage any waste or hygiene activities, clean up any spills, or discipline any behavior. I do love my children, but they really are exhausting.

I enjoyed this lovely respite from todderdom because Ben went to the zoo with Grandad and Caroline stayed at preschool for Lunch and Play. This short break was just a tiny taste of the much anticipated bliss that awaits me next September when Ben, Caroline, and Abby will be simultaneously at school. Now the actual "empty nest" break will only occur on M-W-F from about 9:00 am (preschool drop-off) until 11:45 (Kindergarten pick-up). The 8.25 hour break does not include commuting time, so the actual productive time will be limited to 7.5 hours per week, but it's going to be wonderful. I fully realize that I won't be kicking back my heels and eating bon-bons for that time, but the real actual possibility exists that I might do some work (paid technical work!) for that period or maybe just go shopping without re-stocking the shelves along the way.

Yesterday's break came at an excellent time because, as I'm sure Scott can woefully attest, I have been a wee bit testy this week (gross understatement). I really can't explain why this week would bother me more than any other week. Perhaps it was the gloomy weather early in the week....or maybe because the lacrosse season is drawing to a close....or maybe the kids really were extra naughty....or maybe because there are so many extra end-of-year activities on the schedule that I just can't take it anymore....or the combination of all that....but for the moment, my mood is re-set to normal and it's sunny outside.

Speaking of outside, the cardinal nest outside our window was empty this morning. Initially I was afraid that the neighborhood cats made a snack out of the baby cardinals. But after the 100 decibel roar of the neighbor’s yard service came to a merciful halt, I heard the baby’s distinctive and shrill cries on the side of the house. The two little ones have fledged the nest! Today, I believe they are taking flying lessons in the backyard. I spied the mother and the father jumping from branch to branch and the little peeps are following behind, sort of. Apparently, flying is more of a learned behavior than I thought. While the adults glide and land quite gracefully, the other two are kind of crashing around. Their landings are so rough that the branches violently shake on landing – quite a feat when you think of the force it would require for a creature that is only a couple of ounces in weight to move a branch.

While these little ones are learning to fly (and land), we’ll turn our attention to a second nest that has been built near the house – actually on the house on top of the porch light. This is a robin’s nest with 2 or 3 bright blue eggs. We scare the poor robin out of the nest every time we open the front door, poor thing. I’ll be listening for some more little peeps soon.

Final note (for those of you interested in lacrosse updates...mom? dad?) Tuesday's playoff Round 1 game went very smoothly.  The carded coach was on extremely good behavior and even cordial.  He greeted me on the field by my first name (uh... I guess he remembers me...). Of course, it helped that his team won by a significant margin of goals.  However, the game went well enough that I got assigned a Round 2 playoff game yesterday!  My very first Round 2 game!  Cool, right??  No problems yesterday either, but that is probably the end of the season for me, except for the big District Rating Event later this summer.

Playoff Bound + Sitting on the Children

Tomorrow the lacrosse playoff season begins! Exciting stuff in the world of umpiring! I just got "the call", and I will be officiating a night game, so my playoff game will be extra exciting since it will likely be crowded (i.e., L-O-U-D) since the parents can attend the game after work. Unfortunately, there are always a few obnoxious fans, but for the most part, people are paying attention to the game and not to me. At least I hope so....

Depending on the wind and the seating arrangements at the fields, sometimes I can hear what the fans during are cheering during games. My personal favorites are the fans who don't have a clue and use terminology from other sports. "Let's win the face-off ladies." (There are no face-offs in girls lacrosse -- that's from ice hockey). But, my very, very favorites are the cheers containing hunting and/or fishing references. "Run her down!" "Fire away!" "Reel her in!"  "Shoot, shoot, shoot!"

It's funny....I looked at the playoff seedings in the paper this morning. There are 16 games in Round 1 Playoffs, and I would have gladly accepted 15 of the 16 games. The only game I didn't really want to take was the game that would feature the coach that I carded earlier this season. Wouldn't you know it, this is the game I was assigned??!!  Shoot. I spoke with the other officials on the game, and they seem to think that the coach will on his best behavior since it is playoffs and I've "set a good tone".  Fingers crossed!

In other news, we now have two baby cardinals in the nest in our front yard. I first noticed the babies on Mother's Day last weekend, and I have been watching the mother cardinals fly out on endless trips to feed her babies. Caroline has been watching the mother too and is fascinated. I wish she could be fascinated a little more quietly, though. The mother bird gets quite upset with loud noises or any time someone is in the general vicinity of the nest, which is problematic since the front door is so close to the nest. The baby birds make quite a racket when the mom comes back ready to feed them. The high-pitched baby cries are loud enough to hear inside the house.

When the mother cardinal is tired, she just sits back down in the nest, which doesn't seem quite large enough for both the mom and the children. It almost seems like she's sitting on the babies.  However, I've decided to take a cue from Mother Nature. When I'm tired and had enough of the children, I'm going to sit on them. (As it turns out, I'm not the first person to come up with this solution. Scott mentioned his grandma used to threaten to "sit on him" if he didn't behave. And, Scott turned out ok, right?)

Sneak Preview

The big ballet recital weekend (all recital, all the time) is only one month away.  Today, a preview:

Abby is showing off this year's ballet costume. She will be performing one ballet number and one jazz number this year.  The ballet costume is quite a precious in person, particularly the satin edging on the tutu.  Her jazz costume, on the other hand, is 100% red and, well, 100% horrible.  It's not the color that makes it sort of odd, but there is just too much of everything on it -- a weird hat with huge brim, sparkles, fuzzy trim, and these strange red side things that stick out.  It's a LOT of costume. 

Caroline is performing one tap number and her costume is cute too -- but we'll just let that one be a surprise.  Think Roaring 20s combined with Little Mermaid.

I clearly forgot to check out the background composition for the photo posted above.  Oops!  Our neighbor has all sorts of goodies lined up on the curb for the annual bulk trash pickup.  My favorite park of bulk trash day is bulk trash day "eve" when scores of people drive around the neighborhood with their trucks and vans and pick through your stuff. Although it is kind of odd, I actually do love when people do that, sincerely.  That practice keeps huge volumes of re-usable stuff out of landfills, which is great!  I do find it frustrating that so many people throw away perfectly good stuff rather than make an effort to donate it or recycle it or freecycle it.  Getting off the environmental soapbox... 

This year I decided to put a bunch of non-trash items out temporarily to see if anyone wanted them.  I figured if someone wants it, it would save me a trip to Goodwill or posting photos on freecycle. Sure enough, all those items were adopted by 5pm (e.g., rusty pink children's scooter with missing wheel covers -- snapped up!). 

Green Eggs and Ham

...is unfortunately too hard for me to read.  Yes, it is sadly true. 

As a fun Mother's Day gift this year, Scott and the kids picked out Huevos Verdes y Jamón for me to practice reading in Spanish. After four years of Spanish in school + 54 leccións on CD, you'd think I'd be able to fully able to translate Huevos Verdes y Jabón. Wrong again!!!  Not even close!

Believe it or not, this book is kind of hard!  Of course, I can get the gist of it since I have it practically memorized in English.  However, since it's a rhyme, some of the words have been added or changed to enable the rhyming and meter to work. Sam is Sam Ramón in this story (to rhyme with jamón). Also, it turns out that the whole book is written in some kind of future tense that I haven't gotten to yet (the future imperfect or something??  E.g., I would not like them in a car....etc.).  I checked on Wikipedia to see if I could even figure out what tense the book is written in, and it turns out that Spanish has 14 different tenses!  Shoot, I'm only on #4.  So....back to studying.

Lollipop Lollipop

Today:  A Plug.  How about some Lollipops?

Sue, my friend from PSU (my neighbor in the dorms, actually), decided to leave an unsatisfying job at a large software company and launch a candy-making company called This Charming Candy with one of her friends.  She was always a free spirited kind of gal, and I love her for it, so I was nervous and happy for her over this endeavor. 

Her company, This Charming Candy, specializes in gift-worthy lollipops.You're probably thinking, Lollipops???  I've tried the lollipops she makes and they are AMAZING.  They are definitely not the kind of tinted plastic lollipops you get at the bank -- they are sophisticated combinations of flavor.   I should note that I don't even like hard candy and I love these lollipops!  My favorite, so far, is Salted Caramel, but I'm going to try Pistachio-Marshmallow soon.  Other flavors include root beer float, vanilla-cardamom, and nutmeg creme....mmmm.

Believe it or not, but she just found out that her lollipops are appearing in Real Simple Magazine this month! I am so happy for her!!!!  So, in addition to the millions of readers that will see her product, I'd like to add my ten or so blog readers to the list.  :-) 

So, if you're hankering for a good lolly or need a nice housewarming gift or a nice present for a sick friend, consider my friend Sue, following her candy-making dreams out in Washington State.

Lollipops availalbe for purchase on Etsy:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThisCharmingCandy

Here's a link to her blog to learn more: http://www.thischarmingcandy.com/

NAMREDIPS

We've entered the exciting and messy world of potty training for Ben (we're going to skip photographing this topic).  He's been relentlessly begging me to buy him some Spiderman underpants to wear, after I mentioned that he could have them after he stopped wearing diapers.  He joined me at Target a week or so ago, and we picked out a nice 6-pk of superheroes underpants pack in size 2T/3T (which are clearly more on the 3T side and are HUGE on his little bottom, but at least they are super easy to pull up), including Spiderman, Captain America, Incredible Hulk, and some huge orange rock guy.

The big superhero picture is on the back of the underpants, so normal people would wear the picture on their bottom.  Alas, I don't have any normal dressers in the house, and Ben wants to see the superheroes each and every time he goes to the bathroom.  So, guess who insists upon wearing his underpants backwards??? 

I was hoping to start potty training after the school year ended and I could devote a few days to hanging out at home without having errands and pick-ups to work around, but if he wants to wear underpants, I will not quibble about schedule. Ben isn't quite 3 yet, so I don't know if this round of potty training will be "it" or not. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

 I would like to note that I am already sick of saying, "Ben, do you have to go ot the bathroom?"  If I accidentally answer the phone like this, just ignore me.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the very special moms out there.  I certainly did not fully appreciate all the things that my mother had done for me until I became a mother myself.  I think (at least I hope) I said "thank you" along the way sometimes. But, I've come to realize that the hardest part of the job is the day-to-day tasks like cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundering, cleaning, disciplining, driving, etc. which tends to go unnoticed since it sort of flows into the background of everyone elses lives, and yet lies so predominantly in the foreground of my own life right now.  So, Mom, I'd like to say a belated THANK YOU for doing all those things you did for so very long for me.  I certainly appreciate all those efforts now. 

Hodge Podge

1)  I would like to personally thank the good makers of Benadryl for their marvelous product.  I have awarded myself the 'Stupid Homeowner of the Week' award for last week, when I foolishly decided to weed the side of my yard without wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt.  Yes, I am still very allergic to poison ivy.  Check.

2) Since I wasn't driven to distraction by itching, I was able to fully enjoy one of the marquee events of the year at Caroline's preschool:  Muffins with Mom.  The build-up for this particular event is spectacular in the eyes of a 5-year old.  In addition to being served mini-muffins and iced tea, I received a lovely hand painted flower pot and was treated to a very cute presentation including a mother's poem and a very sweet rendition of "You are My Sunshine".  Extremely adorable!  It is really hard to believe that Caroline's time in preschool will draw to a close this month. 

3) Finally, not to dwell too much on Ben's sleeping habits this week....but last night I went into check on Ben and found him like this:

(Yes, Ben is sleeping while partially standing)

Now, really take a close look at the ribcage:  His ribcage is hooked on the bedrail -- and he's still sleeping?!

Totally Ew. And, kind of impressive.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm

(Yes, that is Ben asleep under his bed)

Adventures in the Kitchen - Chicken Marsala a la Oswald

Yesterday was a frustrating day from a to-do list standpoint.  For every baby step forward, I landed two large steps back.  For example, I finally collected all the winter outwear accessories (gloves, scarves, hats), and put it into the attic, an activity which took about 15 minutes in total.  Unfortunately, while that was happening, Ben spilled carrot juice all over the kitchen (sticky!) and Caroline pulled the screen door completely off its track in the kitchen (dramatic!).  By dinnertime, the house was trashed, I was officially over my limit, and I was facing bedtime by myself since Scott had a board meeting.

In order to salvage my day, I thought I'd try to make an extra delicious dinner (which coincidently required cooking with copious amounts of wine) in order to enjoy the 45 minutes Scott would be home for the day.  Fortunately, the neighbors came home from school and the kids played outside for a while, or else we would have been eating frozen chicken nuggets.

Last night's cooking goal was to make a Chicken Marsala dinner that rivaled our local Anthony's Italian Restaurant.  I consulted a few different sources for a recipe, but didn't hit upon anything that I liked or resembled Anthony's version.  So, I made up the following recipe on the fly. It was delicious.

Chicken Marsala a la Oswald

Ingredients:
Chicken breast - sliced thin and tenderized (I pounded with mallet)
1 to 1.5 cups Marsala wine (dry)
2T - 3T Olive oil
2T Butter
8 oz Mushrooms, halved
Bunch of asparagus, chopped into bite-sized pieces; tips left intact
Can of artichokes, drained
3T capers!! (or more if you love them)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic bread (optional)

1) Heat 2T of olive oil and 2T of butter to large skillet or dutch oven.
2) Salt and pepper chicken, then brown chicken for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Reserve chicken on side.
3) Saute mushrooms until soft; if mushrooms absorb all liquid add 1T more olive oil. 
4) After mushrooms are ready, add wine, artichokes, and capers.  Reduce wine by about half.  The goal is to have some remaining liquid to pour over chicken at end -- so don't cook it down completely.
5) Add chicken and asparagus to vegetables; saute for a few minutes per side until chicken is completely cooked.  If you don't like asparagus crisp, then put it in with artichokes in previous step.
6) Serve and enjoy with garlic bread!

Shhhh Please

The birdie is sleeping!!!  We have a cardinal's nest in a rhododendron bush only inches from the front window.  I was able to see two eggs, the one brief moment when the mother bird wasn't roosting on her nest.  I haven't show Ben or Caroline where the nest is yet because I'm afraid they'll scare the mother and cause her to abandon her nest.  But, after the babies are born and are a few days old, we'll take a look together.  I didn't know the nest was there, but I heard the distinctive cardinal chirp....chirp...chirp while I was weeding the flower bed.  Then I looked up and saw the nest (and moved elsewhere to weed).  So, now I have a legitimate excuse as to why the front bed is a weedy mess -- at least for a few weeks. 

In lieu of birds, Caroline and Abby have been taking turns discovering frogs.  Abby found one in our front yard earlier this week. Caroline discovered a bullfrog relaxing in a storm drain today (below), while I was staring at the magnificent tulips and foxgloves at Longwood.  I would have never thought to look down into a grate, but leave it to younger inquisitive eyes to make a discovery like this!

The flowers were lovely at Longwood too, but it was definitely too hot to visit for long. 

Sweaty Kids with Foxgloves

Sweaty Kids with Fountains

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Topiary Hide and Seek

The weather isn't the only thing that is hot.  At my lacrosse game yesterday (Saturday) I issued my first ever card to a coach for unsportsmanlike conduct (i.e., yelling at me continuously for duration of first half).  Needless to say, it was a super fun game, with the temperatures over 90 degrees on the turf and having the coach and some fans screaming (which, conduct aside, was ridiculous because the coach who got carded was winning by 9 goals).   I did have a little chuckle when some brave fans actually applauded the coach's card.  The lacrosse season will be winding down in another two weeks -- only 5 more scheduled days and maybe some playoffs.  It has mostly been fun, but I will admit it is a relief when the season ends too, although I'll certainly miss all my adult "alone" time.