Easter 2011

Isabella woke up this morning to a little basket by her door. She stepped over it and continued on to our bedroom for her usual morning cuddle. This girl needs time to wake up, just like her parents - maybe even more so. Anyway, I had to walk her back to her room and point it out. Then, we went downstairs and the hunting began in earnest.

The Easter Bunny was pretty generous this year. Two little baskets, lots of hidden eggs, little toys, and just a silly amount of sweets and chocolate. When I brought out some of the Easter stuff this year, I found almost all of last year's candy! Luckily, she doesn't have a crazy sweet tooth - the marshmallow peeps will probably become dried little toys and the jelly beans are unlikely to be touched, only played with as she hides and rehides those eggs.

After finding all sorts of goodies inside the house, we discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden stuff out in the garden too! Such a crafty character, that bunny.

Later on today, we are headed over to some friends' for smoked beef brisket and more surprises. Happy Easter to all!

Thomas!

My friend and I took our girls to see Thomas the Tank Engine, for his limited visit on the Nene Valley Railway today. Early on, we really encouraged her to like Thomas - kids get into what you yourself get excited about, for the most part. Anyway, I wanted her to subtly know she could like a "boy" thing.

So this early encouragement probably explains why she loves taking the train - be it the underground (subway), trolly, or tram. In fact, our trip to the London aquarium was interrupted multiple times by requests to go back the "the track." As in, "Mama, when are we going back to the track?" 

She has already learned that the journey itself is just as good (maybe better) than the destination.

As she retold the tale of Thomas to Pedro this evening, she reminded him that Thomas is a "really useful engine." Of course, I had to tell her to stop causing "confusion and delay" this morning as we were trying to jet out of the house. She didn't get my joke.

It was a fun morning for all.

3rd Birthday!

 Isabella turned three last week! Look at her go on her new scooter! She also got a fish tank! We put it in her bedroom and she absolutely loves it. This is year she was showered with all kinds of cool toys from her friends and family - we are very fortunate for such generosity and thoughtfulness. She's got lots of new art supplies, books, and cute outfits and accessories to last her the next year.

A few days later, we had her Peppa Pig themed party at our village hall. It was a smallish affair, only eight kids (most kids parties we go to have up to 20!), but the decibel level was pretty high! I worried that the kids wouldn't have enough to do, but those worries were totally unfounded. They all went nuts. I am starting to think that Isabella may be an introvert, like me, because at one point she got into one of the tents with some stuffed animals and started playing by herself. If there is a lot going on, she does tend to withdraw from the action - I am hoping that she doesn't become super-shy like I was. 

Her party was also meant to be a dress-up party, as in re-use your Halloween costume - but Isabella didn't want to put hers on! And the rest of the kids abandoned theirs shortly after walking in the door. Isabella had a robot costume that was FUNNY! Hopefully, I can get a  photo of her in it before she can no longer squeeze into it - her legs are growing miles a day.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my Sweet!

November and December

We have been so busy lately, it's hard to keep up with everything. Ever since the vacation and cruise in Puerto Rico I have been playing a big game of catch-up. Catching up with projects, catching up with Christmas, with friends, with family...and someone is always inadvertently left out. I remember hearing my mom complain that there weren't enough hours in the day and I'm afraid that I'm saying the same things now. As a "stay-at-home mom", I feel this shouldn't be so. Most days, I feel like I'm working full-time with a 15 tasks going at once. And yet, when someone asks me what I do....I never know quite what to say.

So here I am, playing a bit of catch-up from the past few months.

Our trip to the Caribbean was wonderful. We were celebrating our ten-year anniversary and decided we wanted to include as much family as could be there. We did a cruise with my mom and her partner Steve, Pedro's parents, and my cousin Dennis and his fiancée. By day we relaxed, and by night we relaxed too - so I guess it's the universe piling all the stuff on me now to balance out all the relaxation I had then. The food, the sun, the people - everything went off without a hitch and we discovered that a cruise is a really great way to get together with family. After the cruise, my mom and Steve stayed four more days in PR since she had never visited the island before. So we did all the rounds to Pedro's family, introduced them to my favorite Puerto Rican dishes, and showed them some of our favorite beaches.

There are a lot of really great things to say about this trip, but since a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, I made you a video. Enjoy - and please leave a comment if you watch it - I'd love to hear what you think.




XO

April

Come On-A My House

Zoo Video

The Zoo

Today, I took my girl to the local wildlife center: the Hamerton Zoo.

We saw belligerent tortoises, a kookaburra, meerkats, maned wolves, a Bengal tiger, and operatic gibbons. 

 And she learned all of their names.

 

We were the only two visitors there during the first hour!

 We had the park to ourselves.

And it was wonderful.

Halloween

We are officially halloweened out. Three days straight of Halloween: a party, a carnival, trick-or-treating, and village bonfire night. We even opted out of two other things we had originally planned for Sunday! Anyway, Halloween was very fun this year. 

Isabella went as a garden gnome. I made her little skirt, the hat, and the beard. I threw in a black belt and her little boots and the look was complete. As for myself, one day I was Cyndi Lauper and the next I was a 50's teenager with a poodle skirt. Pedro was a swarthy viking.

For the first time in my five years living in England, I got trick-or-treaters at my house! I was unprepared and they ended up getting Isabella's candy from our special trick-or-treating on an American base the day before. But it was very exciting for me (and Isabella too).

Bonfire night was great too. November 5th is the official Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes holiday), but our village decided this year to combine it with Halloween. I had originally planned to enter Isabella in the costume contest, but was feeling particularly rotten with my cough and we only made it to the actual bonfire lighting and fireworks later on in the evening. Last year it was freezing outside so we were prepared this year with hats, mittens, down coats, blankets, hot water bottles, and hot toddies for the grown ups. And the weather ended up being....very pleasant! Of course, the day I'm over-prepared is the day I don't need to be.

Halloween plinko - her favorite from the carnival - she used almost all her tickets here!

All in all, it was all good, but I am ready to pack it up. And the next holiday will be spent with family! We're getting ready for another trip and mini-family reunion with both sides of the family in two more weeks. It's going to be a good Thanksgiving.

MORE Pumpkins? Yes, More Pumpkins.

We picked our own pumpkins at that same PYO farm we went to for berry picking this summer. They had a vast field full of lonely pumpkins, each of them begging to be taken home. The surrounding field also had more autumn vegetables like gourds and squash, so we picked a few of those as well.

It was cold! out on those fields, but the sky was clear and the early evening was beautiful. We went with some friends and all the kids were besides themselves with pumpkin joy. 

Once we chose our pumpkins, we dropped them into these holes for measurement. Isabella kept sticking her head into the holes saying, "Where's the ladybird?" (Ladybird is Britspeak for ladybug.) It was a random question, but one that demonstrates what is usually on her mind - she loves ladybugs.

Finally, on a rainy day, we decided to carve this pumpkin up into something "very scary," at Isabella's request. She helped me scoop out the seeds (which we toasted with salt and sage, of course), and carved it!

An awesome jack-o-lantern sure to scare the goblins away from our doorstep.

Onward to Halloween

candy-filled pumpkin parcels a la MarthaStewart

Isabella and I have spent an awful lot of time with Halloween decorations this year. I searched through every box in the shed and garage trying to find all five of my old Halloween decorations, but to no avail. So I invested in some cheap homemade versions instead. Halloween is fun and it's a pity that it's not celebrated  in the same over-the-top way we do it back home. So no trick-or-treating outside the American community over here, but I'm working on a deal with my neighbors...

The garden is beginning to go to seed - my runner beans that are still left on the vine have gotten hardened outer pods and the seeds inside have turned...magical! They're purple! We have serious plans to start a beanstalk. "Bella and the Beanstalk" - it has a nice ring to it.

And of course, it is again baking season - the time of year that I get stingy with the heater but very generous with running my oven. These spooky treats were inspired by my Creative Director, Isabella Aida, who really wanted a ghost with glasses and a happy face. The glasses wouldn't fit, but he is quite happy as you can see.

And lastly, I have been making a bigger effort to write down all the funny things Isabella says at this age. Unfortunately, most of them get missed, but here are a few (mind you, these are coming from a two-and-a-half-year-old with a cute little high-pitched elf voice, and just a tinge of baby accent left):

"I like my orange hair."

"This is AMAZING!" As said after taking her first bite of dinner, and a clue that my constant hyperbolic speech is rubbing off on her.

"That's a FINE pumpkin, Mama." Evidence of more accrued British culture and speech.

And my favorite from last week: I had gone into her room to get her out of bed and she looked to the window and said, "The sunshine is ready!" Beautifully put.

Hike to Harvest

Our neighbor's tree out front has just started turning yellow. Isabella is with her second cold  in two consecutive weeks. We are using our heater twice a day now. And dinner tonight is a hearty, hearth-y moussaka. Autumn is really upon us here in England. I feel we have to spend as much daylight hours outside as possible, before the sun goes down at 4pm by the end of December, and the days begin to wane dramatically by 2pm.

the donkeys and horses from down the road

So Isabella and I have begun to collect even more wild berries, apples and other edibles to use such efforts as an excuse to be outside. We have even started taking the dog down to the creek for regular baths, instead of a hosing.

footpath to Southwick and the giant crabapple tree

But today I'm definitely feeling the indoorsy vibe. My attention has turned from various scattered clothing and gifting projects to projects of the house: what do I really want to look at between these four walls for the next 6-7 months before spring beckons us out again? So I am putting together a few boxes of things we no longer use or need to sell in my first car boot sale - the equivalent of a garage sale, except various people in the village get together in a parking lot and sell their wares from the trunks of their cars.

last stop at The Swan from our recent hike

This weekend we are also planning a big family hike with some other friends and their kids. It will be a kid-friendly pub crawl from one village to another - with good food and drink at both ends - absolutely the best way to do it.

More Early Autumn Energy

"So you're not sleepy?" "No, it's just I hungry." And she's also eating like a teenager again. I got comments about it on her first day at playgroup. They marvelled at how much she ate at snack time. Parents get just as proud of how much their toddler eats as they do of their grades when they start school. I'm almost sure of it.

"Be careful, Isabella. There are a lot of pokies [thorns] around the blackberries." "The pokies tickle me." Then later after getting stuck, "Pokies, you don't have to hurt me." This was yesterday, when we took Spartacus for a swim down at the stream. This outing ended up being a hour and a half long hike, and by the time we made it home we were rosy cheeked and ready for hot chocolate! Isabella's first hot chocolate. It was a bit anti-climactic: I was expecting her to go bonkers over milk with loads of warm chocolate swirling around in it.

This week the days have been very full. It's not even 4p.m. but since we've been so active outside, it feels like it should be bedtime. Today we took a long bike ride to another village, then hiked up an old castle mound to see the panorama. I missed my camera every step of the way. Because she fell asleep on the bike on our way home, I missed out on a nap time break. But she has been letting her imagination run wild, and so has been entertaining herself very well.

behind her is the partially sanded table I hope to paint and stencil for her - yet another project

This week I also bought her a grab bag of toys at our Oxfam charity shop - only 99p. My investment in that cheap bag of Happy Meal cast offs and random bric-a-brac is turning out dividends in the amount of time she has spent playing with each new piece of junk. Sure, it makes for a huge mess but it buys me time to get other stuff done around here :).

Late Summer Happenings

that was my teddy as a kid!

Last month we finally decided to move Isabella into a toddler bed. It was just the right time. Now I can squeeze into her little bed for a book before bedtime or just lay by her side for a few minutes to cuddle when she needs it (or I need it - which is actually most of the time). Of course, she often plays in her room now when she should be sleeping, but the transition has made mornings much easier for me. Now she can show up at MY bedside to say "good morning to you!" instead of frantically screaming at me from her crib. It makes a big difference in my usually anti-social morning mood. 

With each passing day, Pedro and I swear that she is getting either clumsier or bolder - most likely the latter - but either way, she ends up with innumerable little bruises on her legs, bloody lips, and even a bruised nose. Last week was just terrible, and she fell badly twice in one day - once while playing around in her little plastic lawn chair (teeth to the coffee table), then she tripped on a new rug I bought and almost broke her nose on a dining chair.

                                         

We have put a strict stop to her cuddling with the dogs after Tracia clawed a deep gash in her cheek when Pedro's parents were here. But still, she tests the limits.

I plan to put her into playschool for one day a week this fall/winter. It will help me get errands done while she learns things from people other than me. When she turns three next February she will be entitled to school five days a week (half days), but I'm not sure how long I want her away. I do so like her company, and I have already learned how quickly these days pass. 

Strawberry Picking

pick your own

This post is a bit overdue. At the end of July, some of my friends and our little ones all went to a nearby farm and did some berry picking. This was a ritual my family performed almost every year where I grew up - my brothers and I would help pick gallons of berries and my mom would fill every free space of countertop preparing them for preserves or freezing. I did the same when I got home too. 

getting ready

 This, of course, wasn't Isabella's first foray into berry picking. We've been picking edible stuff around where we live since she was old enough to walk.  It was, however, her first time at a real vegetable farm. The kids were all so happy just to get together - we certainly didn't need a gimmick to get their attention. But once they saw the strawberry fields, and the rows upon rows of redcurrants, blackberries, tayberries, and raspberries, they began "working" in earnest. Isabella ate every single berry she laid hands on - and they were so candy-sweet, I couldn't blame her.

covering each other in hay 

The girls have been friends since Isabella was 6-months-old, so every time we see each other there is a lot of hugging involved - they're practically sisters. This time, when the two of them hugged goodbye - they embraced each other so hard that they both fell over, mid-hug. They got hurt and there were some tears, but it was so ridiculously cute my heart practically burst in an overwhelming sappy mom moment.  

While the parents took turns paying for the loot, the kids all took off to the park and burned what little energy was left. I hope to go back to the farm very soon to repeat the experience. I love the idea of making these sorts of traditions with her, and I hope that she looks back on these times with the same warm and fuzzy feeling I do.   

Impeccable Fashion Sense

As per usual.