Saturday Fun

The dog days of winter are here...the "February blahs," as my mom used to call them, are just around the corner. The rain. The temperatures that aren't really cold and aren't really warm. They just are.

Jason was motivated this morning to get outside, and so he and Rynn drove up to Mt. Hood for some snowy adventures. Eleanor and I chose a more laid back day by staying in Portland, eating some processed chemically induced MacDonald's chicken nuggets (the highlight of her day I might add) and catching a movie on the sofas of McMenamin's Kennedy School second run theater. We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs which not only completely ruined the creative children's book but also left both of us dizzy and with a headache for an hour.

After the movie we stopped by New Seasons, our very "local, sustainable, and organic" grocery store, to pick up some lettuce for a church potluck. Eleanor spoke with Jason on my phone from the bulk food isle exclaiming, "Daddy!! Guess where we ate lunch??? MacDonald's!." Needless to say, she turned a few heads. I ignored the shocked expressions on the faces of my fellow New Seasons shoppers. Yes, it is true. I poisoned my daughter this afternoon not only with chicken nuggets but with something probably more damaging to her mind...a bad movie. I don't mean bad in any kind of moral way, but bad in the way more and more children's movies are bad. They don't tell a good story. In fact, this one even took a good story and made it stupid and anemic. There is no mystery, no imagination, no interesting characters that fall outside the standard prototype box. In the place of a good story they throw images at you, colors, swirling action, and really loud noise in the hopes that somehow all this ADHD inducing stimuli will make up for the fact that there is not much of a story. I find it really irritating that the makers of children's movies so often assume that children are not smart enough nor do they have active imaginations enough to be engaged in a good story. Halfway through the film Eleanor leaned over to me and said, "This movie is making me tired. Why aren't the people in it nice to each other? And why do they have to shout so much?." The movie 'daze' took a good hour to wear off. If anyone has some good movie recommendations for some good stories I'd love your suggestions.

Eleanor looking not too phased by the movie and practicing her Swan Lake moves...

while Rynn and Roscoe guard the snow cave...

THree pipes

Tonight at dinner Eleanor asks, "Mommy, did God make us with three pipes at the top of our body and one pipe at the bottom? Like, we have one pipe for water, one for air, and one for my food? And then it all comes out at the bottom through one big pipe?."

To which I replied, "Eleanor, I think you have a better grasp on Anatomy & Physiology than I have after a term and a half." I'm starting to think we should trade places, and they should put me back with the playdough and circle time.

And perhaps our dog is also beginning to pass me by on the IQ scale. He has not only discovered the butter dish for a handy evening snack, but it seems that tonight he discovered the fruit bowl to satisfy his desire for the nighttime munchies. I walked out of the girls' room after story time only to find my very handsome, regal Weimeraner sitting proudly with a fresh apple in his mouth to which he had helped himself from the freshly stocked fruit bowl that was on the kitchen counter (at the BACK of the counter I might add). I'd say he is feeling at home with us. Good thing we are quite smitten with him.

And for you granmas and aunties out there that are thinking, "Caroline, we appreciate your little anecdotes, but really, can you just post some pictures of the kids?." Well, I'll get on that as soon as I can. This new fangled technology takes some figurin' you know.

technological difficulties

Technology is supposed to make things easier, faster, more convenient...right??? I'm beginning to wonder. The time Jason has spent this week on failed and crashed technology might have equaled sowing a small farm with seed and watching it grow. Alas...without computers in the Little household this week we have

a) read books by the fire

b) talked to one another at bedtime

c) been a bit behind on email,blogging, and such...oh well

Some shocking turning of events have occurred this week. I mean, who'd have thought we'd see Bush sitting on a sofa next to Clinton on national television? And who'd have thought Jason would have broken down and switched to an Apple laptop!!! Egads! Maybe it is the end of the world.

Haiti

I can't stop thinking about Haiti. I've wanted to sit and write for a few days, but I don't have any eloquent or insightful words about the tragedy. Today, at the checkout in the grocery store, the clerk asked, "Would you like to donate $5 to the relief mission in Haiti? Paper or plastic?." And all could think of was the photo I saw on CNN of a dump truck dumping precious bodies, bodies made in the image of God, in a mass grave...while I buy a loaf of organic bread and ponder tossing an extra charge on my debit card. How bitterly ironic life can feel sometimes. Living in a time of constant news feeds, of global images through Google earth, of instant messages from distant lands, I feel a strange disconnect between the life I'm living in the comfortable city of Portland and of those suffering RIGHT NOW even as I write. Part of me wishes I were already a nurse and could board a plane to go help with real help while another part of me is glad I have plenty of excuses to just turn my head and wonder if I'll make a yoga class this weekend. I'm sure everyone has read stories and individual accounts as they begin to arrive in the news. One that was in our paper was about a 22 year old recent grad of the University of Portland. She was taking a year after graduating and before going to graduate school to work with orphans in Port Au Prince. She kept an active blog at http://www.mollyinhaiti.blogspot.com/ . She is not living anymore. I don't know this girl or her family, but she could have been someone I knew or someone in my family. Somehow this particular story really hit me. These kind of events leave us helpless, scared, frustrated, and wondering why life seems so dangerous and unfair to some. As I pray for the people of Haiti I am glad that this is not where life ends, that this is not all there is, that our hope is higher and greater than this world.

Risotto with Beef, Rosemary, & Sage

Here are three things I love about Portland:
1. Today I saw a ten year old riding a unicycle on her way to school.
2. Our church. Hope is growing, people are coming, and my heart is encouraged.
3. Friends. One of the great things about having growing children is their growing friendships. Last year Rynn really hit it off with a little girl in her class named Frances. Their friendship has continued and with it I, too, have gained a new friend in Frances' mom, Heidi. Heidi is amazing. She is a naturopath physcian, teaches at the National College of Natural Medicine here in Portland, loves people, and is an amazing cook. Today she offered to cook with me and let me take home half of what we (well, really she) made. I learned a new recipe and some tips...all while our four girls played.

RISOTTO WITH BEEF, ROSEMARY, & SAGE
5 cups Beef Broth
3 Tbs butter
1/2 package of bacon chopped
1 1/2 tsp garlic chopped very fine
lots of fresh rosemary and sage chopped ("the more the merrier")
1 1lb ground beef
salt and pepper
1 1/3 cups red wine
2 cups Arborio or other good italian risotto
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring the broth to a slow simmer.
2. On med/med low heat brown the bacon.
3. Brown the meat.
4. Add garlic, herbs, s & p
5. Add wine, cooking it at a simmer until the wine bubbles away.
6. Add risotto, stirring quickly and thoroughly until the grains are coated well.
7. Slowly add 1/2 cup of broth at a time stirring continually (this is the tedious part...have to stir and add broth for about 25 minutes)....a good time to drink a glass of that cheap wine you put in the risotto.
8. Add grated Parm cheese....serve! Heidi said her kids loved to mix in frozen peas with the risotto for some kid friendly texture and color. yum. yum. kid friendly yumminess.

Super Underpants

While Jason made pancakes and I innocently glanced at the Saturday paper our children turned into superheroes. Watch out, "Super Underpants and Super Belly Button" and their faithful dogs too are out to rescue you.
The "Super Underpants" dogs...
ready to save the day..

with a little help from her new retainer to work on the "super" underbite. And yes, those are underpants on her head.

Back in the Groove

Eleanor's First Ever Ballet Lesson

She immediately went out and began twirling and dancing.








For 45 minutes Eleanor was at rapt attention hoping to learn to be a beautiful swan for Swan Lake.

Rynn's First Ice Skating Lesson

She Was AMAZING!!!

Rynn and her good buddy, Quinn

Rynn getting some tips from her friend Aya.

Bruised backside and skinned knees...and she was still asking for more!

Six days into January and the Little crew is back on a routine. How quickly the pace of life seems to go with the schedules of church, school, and life in general. Somehow, when I was mired down in diapers and the relentless demands of toddlers and babies, I looked ahead to these years imagining that when my children were almost five and seven that I'd be reading the New York Times every day while drinking a latte at the local coffee shop. And, there is some truth to that dream which has come to fruition. I might catch the front page of the NY Times over a quick cup of coffee maybe once every other week now that we are back "in the groove." The return of the quiet of January was written like bliss on the faces of mothers everywhere, and I, too, stole a morning away to drink a cup of coffee and play with my dog.

The thing I didn't realize when my girls were young was that, as they grew, their involvement in the world would grow too. As their little muscles, bones, and teeth stretch and expand so too do their relationships. They have lives now, friends, activities, and desires. I have shunned activities for many years trying to avoid busyness, but now they are asking in earnest to try things, to discover their world. And, thanks to Portland Parks and Recreation, dozens of options are available to them at really affordable prices.

But the thing Jason and I have noted as of late is that, while the worlds of our children continue to expand, their need for the security and stability of family is expanding to a greater depth. They need us in new ways. They ask for "Pajama days with just our family." They want to sit in my lap more now than when they were two. They imitate us in good and bad ways. I sometimes feel that being a parent is like going through the growing up process all over again. Just when I think I have a hold on things everything changes, new challenges arise, and the world presses in upon us. It is humbling to always feel a step behind, but exhilarating to watch the change unfold before my eyes. These days are so precious. These ages of four (almost five!) and six (almost seven!) are so much fun. I feel more alive myself as I live with these little lives and share in their imaginations, dreams, and learning. And, I am thankful.