Caillou and Footessa

TV. I am a bit of a junkie. My hope for Buttons is that she will be selective in her viewing. We kept her away from the tube for pretty much her first 2 years. When she had bronchitis and needed a nebulizer we took advantage of a Barney DVD given to us by a friend. Yes. Barney. But you know what? Not so bad. Good lessons, pretty slow pace, certainly not flashy. We started enjoying Sesame Street on occasion and when hubby is not home, the TV is my best buddy when I need a shower. (She sits on our bed which is about 7 steps from the shower.)

Her favorite shows right now are Caillou and The Barefoot Contessa. Yes, that's right. My daughter likes to watch "Footessa" which is a (great) cooking show on the food network. How did my daughter find a love for Ina Garten? Well, it started several weeks ago at 5 pm whenI was jonesin' for some grown-up TV, but wanted Buttons to be able to stay in the room with me. I turned on the Food Network and there she was, a heavenly haven of adult conversation with no adult themes. No explosions, no French-kissing, no fighting. Just food and Ina. My girl loves to cook in her kitchen, so it's no surprise really. But when she asks if we can watch "Footessa" it still makes me laugh a little.

As for Caillou? I really like that show as well. It's animated but it has that Mr. Rogers feel. Slow-paced, good values like sharing and helping others and it's real. Oh, after only seeing Mr. Rogers Neighborhood a couple of times, she dubbed him Neighbor Rogers. I like that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head off to The Food Network's web-site to print a recipe for Footessa's coconut macaroons.

Recent Projects

Here are a few pictures of things I've been doing when I'm not blogging. The lavender yarn on the needles will be a boucle mohair moebius scarf. My friend P. showed a bunch of us at our knitting group how to do this and it's really a kick. The cast-on was kicking my but and I was quite frustrated by it, so perhaps I will post about that another time. The pumpkin colored hat was for hubby, but I think will find a good home with our nephew. The striped sweater has been a UFO for Buttons before I even saw a picture of her. The soup is the best homemade soup I've ever made. Chicken noodle with the right amount of seasoning. Yeah! My mom would be so proud. (She's a very good soup maker.) I also take so many pictures of Buttons that she recently gave me the "star" treatment.

Chili Cook-Off and Secret Pal

Ok, I would much rather give you a picture of Buttons from our local chili cook-off, but you'll have to settle for a pot of chili instead. I'm not a professional blogger and I can't seem to figure out how to turn my photos the right way sometimes. Oh well, the chili looks good, right?

The cook-off was fun and the day couldn't have been better. A slightly cool fall day with the sun beaming down, a flurry of people enjoying themselves, a band playing and all the chili you could eat.

Hubby helped out in one of the booths while Buttons and I strolled along the main street. Buttons took it all in and loved it. She danced to the big band as they played selections from "Chicago", she pointed out every dog she saw (there were many) and she enjoyed one of her favorite foods. Not chili, silly. ICE CREAM! Hubby joined us and we strolled some more and I was loving life.

This is a fairly small town, but I saw at least 3 adoptive families. In fact the picture I wanted to post was of Buttons and A., her new friend who was born in the Guangdong province of China 9 years ago. Buttons shrieked for joy playing hide and seek with A. Isn't it great how kids can just make friends like that (snap fingers)? It's a great gift. Speaking of new friends...

Secret Pal Update
I received my secret pal info for SP9 and promptly sent an e-mail to my spoilee. I won't say too much about him/her, so if she/he reads this, they won't figure out it's him/her.

I also received several e-mails from my spoiler. She sounds really fun and we've already sent e-mail back and forth a few times. She seems to share my love of music and I think she's kinda sassy. Rock on Secret Pal!

In other news, my hubby and I celebrated our 19 year dating anniversary yesterday. I'm the luckiest woman on the planet to be with this guy! (I'm also younger than you might think since we started dating very early.)