The Anniversary Night

First off, let me say thank you for all of your anniversary wishes and your lovely comments about our picture. That was taken by a lovely couple with a small child who returned the favor for us in Brugge, Belgium. Buttons was supposed to be in the picture as well, but she just was not in the mood. And since there are so few pictures of Hubby and me I was satisfied.

Life is good and on this blog I mostly highlight those experiences. Oh, life is still good but sometimes there are blips and I feel I should post about those too. Perhaps by the title of the post you thought this would be X-rated. Let me assure you it won't be.

On the day of our anniversary, I went with Buttons to an inside playground with the grandchildren of our hosts and C, their grandma (boma -sp?)). I figured Buttons would enjoy it and she wouldn't have a nap but would be tired enough to go to sleep right after we came home from our lovely dinner.

Instead, I fell asleep while I was putting her to bed. Buttons woke me up around 10:30 by screaming, then she fell asleep again. Then she woke up inconsolable and hubby went in for at least 45 minutes to calm her down. After she settled down, Hubby was tired and went to bed.

At that point I was very awake and needed a bit of unwind time. I found "Minority Report" on the BBC: a decent movie in English! So, I watched until Buttons screamed, then settled after I went in, screamed again then settled after I went in and the next time she screamed I tried to wake her up a bit to talk and find out what was wrong.

"I miss my friends and I miss my cat." Yes, my girl is very homesick and it's showing up all over the place, but most prominently in her bed. So, I decide that for her sake I will sleep with her in the double bed. I also decide that while not the typical way to spend an anniversary night, Hubby may consider it a gift to get some sleep before he goes to work in the morning.

So on our anniversary night I slept next to my kicking daughter who shouted at me and did not appreciate what I thought to be a good thing. Hubby did appreciate the sleep and Buttons was in a good mood when she woke up in the morning so it did work as a bit of a gift. However we were all sleepy and so after taking a nap yesterday I thought Buttons would not be over-tired for bed time. Yeah, she wasn't even tired and didn't go to sleep until around 11pm.

So, the anniversary night didn't go as planned, but it did include all of us and I wouldn't change having the family I do.

By the way, C & J (our hosts) offered to watch Buttons for us so Hubby and I could go out and while I trust them completely, Buttons is just too anxious about being without us here for that to work.
Of course, as it turned out she didn't get much sleep anyway.

The good news is that in July, we're going to my step-brother's wedding in Michigan and Hubby and I will go to Stratford, Ontario for 2 nights while Buttons stays and plays with my mom, her partner, their two dogs and their new puppy! I'm going to miss Buttons very much, but I am looking forward to having a different sort of anniversary night.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

I'm back! The play has taken up a great deal of time and energy, but I'm having a great time. I'm sorry to have been away so long my bloggy friends. I'm a little under the weather today with a scratchy throat, but hopefully I'll feel better by Friday when we get to do it all over again. I thought I'd at least give you a few pictures of some friends from the show along with me and my "pineapple" wig. We're having fun and I think the audience is enjoying it too. Of course with live theater, there have been mishaps but that keeps it interesting.

Jan and I play husband and wife in a couple of scenes and we're having a great time. We're in the wedding scene and are basically background for the real action that's taking place. However, we came up with the idea that I could be a jealous wife while he played the letch who can't keep his eyes off the bride. It's fun to be on stage doing something instead of pretending and we keep saying crazier things to each other. So, just remember when you're seeing a show and there are some people "talking" in a crowd scene, there's probably some very interesting conversations happening.

Anyway, I'm having a great time but I'm sure I'll be away from the blog a bit for a while.
Miss you guys though!

Happy Blogiversary Marsha!

In celebration of year two of her blog, my friend Marsha has a contest running. She asks what 3 things would we bring onto a desert island with us. Here's where we run into a problem Marsha. I need more information. How long will I be there? Are there others? Is there food? Are you asking me for things I cherish most or what I believe to be the most practical solutions to this problem?

Yeah, contests like these I will never win.

However, I shall make my own parameters. I have decided that I will only be on this desert island for as long as I desire. Food and shelter will be easy to find and the weather will be nice. I have decided this is like a vacation so Hubby and Buttons will be with me. I don't know if our kitty would do well, so I may have our neighbors take care of her since they spoil her anyway. I would like to bring clothing, but I'm not going to waste one on that.

1. Knitting. As much as I can fit into one suitcase. I can knit and re-knit, make my own patterns and do things I wouldn't normally do with my knitting because sometimes it seems like I just hold my knitting too tightly. Maybe I'd loosen my grip.

2. Ok, my next instinct is some sort of electrical device, but I'm sure that's not allowed, but I'd like to at least bring a camera. I can't seem to go more than 2 days without taking a picture and capturing as many moments as possible. (Maybe I should rethink that clothing thing.)

3. Chocolate? Books? Maybe I could finally kick my chocolate insanity. So, books it is. Yes, books with an s. Maybe the Hobbit trilogy or (sorry Marsha) the Harry Potter books. I haven't read all of either, but the books are long, well-loved and Hubby would read them too.

Wait, do Buttons and Hubby get there own 3 items? If not, that changes my answers, but knitting would still be on the list.

So Marsha, there it is, my contest entry. Thankfully you had few rules, so I shouldn't be disqualified. Happy Blogiversary! Keep blogging!

The Vermont Wrap-up

I had a list of things to blog about in regards to our trip to Vermont. Here are 10 remnants that don't seem to be making the cut to a full post. These include things I learned, things I saw and things we did.

1. I get very anxious and crabby when I lose things. Doesn't matter what it is because it's more about my sanity than the actual item. I forget so many things in my head that when I lose something tangible it's like the last straw. During this trip it was a canvas bag from a book store with "To Kill a Mockingbird" on it with reusable grocery bags in it. I know, very precious and expensive. (I also get anxious and crabby when I'm hungry or when I need to go to the bathroom and there's none in sight.)

2. Seeing wild turkeys on the way home was wonderful along with chipmunks out our back door. However, my favorite sighting was of a doe nursing a fawn in a field with the sun dancing on the grass. Such a sweet moment on our way to yarn shopping. I do wish I could have seen it again with Buttons and while I wasn't driving.

3. One of the sweetest nights we had was when Hubby, Buttons, Beth's hubby, their oldest daughter and I sat around a fire making vegan s'mores. There was a man sitting on a dock a short distance from us playing his guitar and singing wonderful magical music. It was a chilly night and we bundled together with each other and we all enjoyed the evening and lived just in that moment. (Beth was upstairs putting her youngest to sleep and fell out.)

4. If you're going to share a cabin, make sure you know exactly how many rooms there will be with actual doors. Our upstairs was basically one large room with some partial walls, curtains and saloon doors. Howdy partner!

5. Another thing to remember if you're going to share a cabin. Make sure you're sharing with good friends. It's close quarters in there and I think that's the only way it works. (It worked very well for us, but we've all agreed that when we go on vacation again together we'll rent separate neighboring cabins or a larger cabin with at least 2 bedrooms with doors.)

6. I learned that 2 girls who want the same exact toy at 8 am every morning will make a great alarm clock for anyone. (Even friends staying in another cabin 100 yards from us.)

7. At various points on the trip the theme song to "Dukes of Hazard" played in my mind (or I actually sang it aloud) and I think it's kind of clever. Maybe it's because I had such a big crush on John Schneider at age 9. Can't believe I'm admitting either of those.

8. Naked children playing in a pond with the sun beaming down on them is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. The cuteness and innocence is unbearable.

9. Stowe, Vermont is the location of the Trapp Family Lodge. The hills were alive, but Buttons was asleep so we'll have to go back again someday to get the full experience.

10. Buttons will puke in the car for all or some of the following reasons: getting in her carseat too early in the morning, eating too many Goldfish or eggs, or reading "Strega Nona" while listening to it on cd. Not sure which one did it, but when she loses it, she does it very matter-of-factly and doesn't get too phased by it even though it rarely happens. I, on the other hand, will do just about anything to stop myself.

Yarn for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner*

While in Vermont, my vacation buds and I did a day of yarn shopping and general merriment. We visited Kaleidoscope Yarns and may I just say what a wonderful store. It was the perfect excursion. They had very little of the novelty yarns, lots of heartier yarns like Manos, Colinette, Lamb's Pride and wonderful local stuff nestled in a cozy former house on the street of a quaint town. The people who worked there were helpful, friendly and fun. (They have a great on-line store as well.) I purchased 3 skeins of Malabrigo (mynew favorite yarn), one skein of Cherry Tree Hill's Jumbo Loop along with one ball of Lang's Mille Colori. The Malabrigo skeins are destined for gifts, but Jumbo Loop will be a scarf for me with wristers to match made from the Mille Colori (free patterns with purchase). Gina and I couldn't believe the match in colors from the two different companies for my scarf and wristers. Do you see a color theme for my purchases?

With a recommendation from the ladies at Kaleidoscope Yarns, we made our way to the Chef's Corner for lunch. What a treat! I have this blog book entitled "No One Cares What You Ate for Lunch" but I have to tell you a few of the treats. Our lunch included black bean burritos, veggie quiche and vegetable panini with goat cheese. We took home desserts and were quite happy with those as well. Stop by if you're ever in or near Williston, VT.

Next, Marsha had found local spinner Joanne Littler of the Pine Ledge Fiber Studio and set up a meeting. Her yarns were beautiful, very thick and mostly out of my yarn budget at that point. I purchased some ends to make a two tone hat for myself and a little bit of roving for Buttons. Joanne also does weaving and kindly showed us how she does it. The set up for weaving is amazing and it certainly made me appreciate woven fabrics much more. Wow! I just received (Hubby just brought in the mail) a beautiful card from Joanne Littler thanking us for visiting her studio. Thanks Joanne!

Thanks go to Marsha for organizing the outing even with all the requests for when we would go, whether to do lunch, etc. When I grow up I'd like more patience and an ability to solve problems like my friend Marsha.

*The title refers to the fact that my yarn diet officially ended on this trip as I had planned. It felt good to be on a fiber fast and I think my next purchase will be some Green Mountain Spinnery yarn for Christmas stockings for Hubby and I and then no more yarn until I do some significant damage to my stash again.

Buttons in Vermont

Our girl is a character. On the way home from our recent trip to Vermont, Hubby and I decided to write down bullet points of the trip so I could blog about them later. Buttons gets her own post. Are you surprised?

The trip there. Marsha had a great idea to get kids books on cd's for the girls. Cool! I can't read in the car and maybe this would save us from the last resort...our portable DVD player. We started off pretty early, Buttons had only a small breakfast and proceeded to wolf down a gi-normous amount of "hearty grain" Goldfish (who are they kidding). We began listening to "Strega Nona" by Tomie De Paola while Buttons looked at the pictures. About halfway through the book, she hands it to me and says she doesn't want it and she wants to get out. Uh-oh. She barfs. She's much better natured than I am about it and we stop at a gas station to wash her, the seat and change her clothes. We also give the passersby a scene they didn't expect called "girl on yellow potty in the green grass at the Mobil Station chatting with her mother."

Buttons and our vacation mates. This was a first for us as we vacationed with 3 other families, including sharing a cabin with Beth, her hubby and her 2 girls. Buttons was in hog heaven to have friends staying in the same house. They ate together, played together and around 8 am every morning had a break down together. Marsha and her family heard the wailing in the next cabin, which was not so close. Part of the issue was the fact that Buttons is still learning to share and is ok with being assertive. In fact, the pond proved too mucky for Buttons' feet and she would ask anyone who was willing to fill her buckets with water and bring them to her. This game was played for a while and then my daughter had to learn to forget about the "gooky stuff in (her) toes" so she could make her delicious mud pies.

Ben & Jerry's. The girl knew she wanted Chunky Monkey before we even left. She fell asleep in the car for just a few minutes and when we arrived, Hubby and I wondered if we should wait in the car for her to take a little nap. Nah, there's ice cream. So, in a soft voice towards the backseat I barely spoke "Buttons, would you like to get some ice cream?" Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, her head popped up and from her mouth came the word "yes" followed by "I slept for a little while and then when I woke up, there was ice cream. I have energy now." We took the tour and went into a dark room where they show a little movie and she told me "this isn't spooky at all mom." After the movie she told everyone she saw that she wasn't scared.

Pictures I can't show here. The three girls in our cabin were all in stages of potty training and each one of them had their own potty. At one point two of the girls were sitting on identical potties next to each other and laughing and having a great time. It made for a fun picture, but not for the world. All 4 girls on the trip were able to go skinny dipping and let me tell you that was so fun I wanted to do it myself. If only we could all stay that shame free of our bodies forever.

Out of the mouths of babes. Beth is one of those people who finds great questions to ask. She had a conversation with Buttons that went a little something like this:

Beth: Buttons, who does the dishes in your house?
Buttons: My parents.
Beth: Who cooks in your house?
Buttons: My parents.
Beth: Who vacuums in your house?
Buttons My parents.
Beth: Who's really the boss in your house?
Buttons: My mom.

Of course, in retelling this to Marsha, I asked Buttons who was the boss in our house and she told her "our cat".

The way home. The girl listens to me when I talk about knitting. Here's proof...

Buttons: I'm gonna knit a piano out of yarn.
Me: Really? How will you do that?
Buttons: First I'll pick up stitches.
Me: Er...uh...what?
Buttons: I'll pick up stitches and use some yarn. Wanna see the yarn?
Me: Yes, of course.
Buttons: (Pretending) Here's the yarn I'll use for the blue and white sweatshirt I'm gonna make.
Me: Oh, it's lovely.
Buttons: And I'm going to make a matching hat too.
Me: Wow.

2nd Most Difficult Resolution for the New Year

I'm thinking of doing this from Wendy Knits. The bad part? I'm thinking of purchasing yarn for the Wonderful Wallaby pattern my friend Marsha ordered for me before the great stash shrink starts. Would you like to see a finished product? My friend Beth just finished one for her daughter T. (Although, the picture doesn't do it justice.)

This picture is almost all of my stash. Yes, there is quite a bit there. However, I believe probably 3/4 of it came to me free. My neighbor's mother had oodles of acrylic to donate to me shortly after I learned to knit. (Thanks M's mom!) Some of it's quite nice, but acrylic is not my favorite so I think some of this will go to charity this year. I also worked at a yarn store for a while and received a nice discount and free stuff, so that's a decent portion as well. I would also like to chalk up some of the yarn purchases to when I was a very new and inexperienced knitter. Yes, sometimes I need to rationalize and yes, I'm pretty good at it. So, while I'm thinking of doing the "Knit from Your Stash 2007" challenge, I would add two things to the rules/exceptions.

1. It's ok to give a percentage of your stash away to a worthy cause (including a friend who needs a skein to finish a project).

2. You may buy more yarn if you run out of stash. Heh. (I'm not really worried about this for myself, but I'd want it as an option in the contract.)

Are you now wondering about the number one most difficult resolution? I'm also thinking of joining up with Lotta and her gang for this. I'm going to go and enjoy a few more holiday cookies before the great waist shrink.

What She Said

As you can tell, the Christmas season is among us and I've been scurrying about getting things ready for the big days and I'm having trouble thinking of good posts right now. So, here are some things Buttons is spouting these days.

Sometimes, when we're laughing together, especially if all three of us are there. Buttons will stop everything and tell us:
"Buttons happy."

I get a little frantic when I lose something, especially when it's her stocking (which is all but done and I know you've been hearing that for a while). In the midst of the panic, Buttons comes over to me and pats me on the leg and says:
"Feel better mama." and "It be alright."

We have been playing Christmas music around the house and she enjoys it very much. She especially loves Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Whenever they come on she stops what she's doing and comes and tells us what great song is playing. We were in a large commercial toy store yesterday with Christmas music and she points to the speaker and excitedly states:
"Jingle Bells up dere."

My friend Beth has a wonderful way with children and Buttons adores her. We were all sitting together when Beth asked all the kids "what's your favorite song"? Buttons reply was:
"Edelweiss." (The song Hubby and I have been singing to her every night since those first days with her. Yeah, I was very teary.)

Yeah, I know this post is once again too sweet. Just so you know Buttons is working on her independence as well. When testing it out, she's often heard saying:
"Don't want to ANYMORE."

Good Times

Our friends had us over for a wonderful meal Sunday night. This feast had been in the works for a while and they made the evening so special. The tree was up, good music was playing, the candles were lit, the wine was a perfect match for the dinner. Our children played together and giggled. We even stayed until 8 pm! I felt very pampered and thankful for all the good friends I have in my life.

I know they say happiness doesn't make for good writing, but you'll have to forgive me on this. I get a bit gushy around Christmas. It's my favorite holiday and I'm having family come to our house for the first time. This has me thinking about what I love best about Christmas and what traditions I want to start. Of course, thinking about it all makes me happy, excited and thankful.

Do you celebrate any holidays in December and if so, what's your favorite tradition?

This picture makes me smile. It's festive and romantic and on closer look, you'll also see a sippy cup in the upper right hand corner.

Good Times and Assumptions

First off, read this post by my friend Marsha to find out how I spent last night. Oh, what fun! Above, you will find a picture of the delicious chocolates my Secret Pal sent me. Yummy. Also, the national election results today make me a very happy woman. See, good news and I am happy.

However, something happened at my local gym today that is giving me pause. I've been working out regularly for a few months now while Buttons stays in the "playroom". Buttons has had a bit of an adjustment, but is now pretty comfy there. Mostly. Today, when we walked into the playroom, our friend, 2 year-old"Helen" was already there and we said hello. One of the women who work there, "Monica", said "oh, you already know Helen. When she came in, I thought Buttons would be really happy to see her." Ok, Helen is Japanese, this was her first time in the nursery and what I assume Maureen was saying "hey, here is another Asian child, so they will have so much in common and maybe this will help Buttons be more comfy." At 2, I don't think kids have a sense of all this yet. I know my brother pointed out his buddy in pre-school by telling us he was the kid in the corner with the curly hair. His buddy also happened to be African-American. I don't know. I'm still working through why this chaps me and what to do about it, so I don't really have an ending for this post that ties it all together cause it's still messing around in my brain.

Tomorrow I hope to do a knitting post.

For the First Time, I See Wicked

I went to NYC with my friend "Pixie" and we had a blast. This trip was part of my Mother's Day present. My first Broadway play excursion included lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner where the wait staff sings. I wish we had something like this near us although I'd never leave.





These glasses were purchased at the Stardust Diner and worn with enthusiasm. Pixie and I have done some community theater together and we always have a good time together. This was her 3rd time seeing Wicked. Yes, it really is that good.

This picture was taken at The Gershwin Theater while I was waiting with the hoardes to powder my nose. It's a lovely theater and it was fun to read all the names of the actors on the wall who worked so hard to bring stories to life on the stage. Community theater is not Broadway, but I'd like to think I have some inkling about the work that's involved in putting a show together.

Now, you don't think I forgot about Buttons, did you? I brought home a green flying monkey just for her. Her comment? "Buttons no like it, Mama. No monkey." However, it seems to be growing on her.



(FYI: To keep up with the "Post Every Day in November", I'm going to be retro-dating this post.)

Congratulations Team Salsa!

I've been keeping up with "Do They Have Salsa in China" for quite some time. They are over in China right now meeting their daughters (twins!) Marie and Rose. Check out the first family picture here. Yeah!

Pittsburgh

Just a few pics from our trip to Pittsburgh. We caught up with some friends of ours and had a great time. If you're ever there with a small child, you owe it to yourself to go to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. More on this later. My eyes are closing. However, before I sleep, THANK YOU SECRET PAL for the great e-card (seriously funny) and the e-mail to let me know you've received something that could be for ME!!!

The Cow Says Twoo

Buttons celebrated her 2nd birthday today with 7 of her buddies and 11 of our buddies. Our friend Jan made this cake (YUM), our friend Marsha took pictures after our camera ran out of batteries, our friend Beth brought juice boxes and offered the services of her camera as well. It takes a village to throw a birthday party. We have such wonderful friends.

We had the party at a local creamery/farm and we had a blast! The kids visited with cows, ducks, sheep, pigs and chickens. We went on a hayride to pick out our "perfect pumpkin", and then came back for snacks, drinks, cake and ice cream sundaes. Buttons would want to tell you about the singing as well. She loves the "Happy Birthday" song and afterwards she even blew out her candle! We all clapped and she was so happy. This year we had practiced the song and blowing out the candle in advance and it worked.
At the end of the party, everyone pitched in to help clean up and said their goodbyes. We packed our stuff, loaded the car, watched the cows and ran around in a field of grass with the cloudless blue sky stretched out above us. Buttons, Baba and Mama laughing, running, falling and flying. All the rushing of the day floating away with just the three of us. I enjoy parties, but that may have been my favorite part of the day.