First harvest

We planted a garden this year. Just a small one—some tomato and pepper plants, pumpkins, and a few experimental watermelons, corn, and carrots for Little Omi to tend. So far the tomatoes seem to be very happy in their little sunny patch. We thought these were going to be smaller grape tomatoes, but they are more like mini-Romas. Tasty, though, especially when they're still warm from the sun.

Sno-cones

We just experienced a typical Oklahoma weather event—"winter mix." This starts out as freezing rain, which usually lays down a good layer of ice on all the roads, and then turns into sleet, which in this case, put a heavy layer of ball-bearing ice pellets on top of the ice. We're on day 2 of school closings, the day when school really could've been open because the sun is shining and the roads are mostly fine, but the kids can finally play outside so everyone's happy.

Since Little Omi hasn't had a good snow experience yet, I really wanted to make snow ice cream with her. But this white stuff on the ground wasn't technically snow, and therefore would make horrible snow ice cream. As it turns out, though, the tiny pellets of ice made perfect snow cones. We poured some simple syrup and food coloring over the ice, and presto! We each had two. After all, snow cone ice doesn't fall from the sky every day.

Trees & squirrels

Little Omi is learning about fall. The leaves are changing and starting to fall off the trees, which inspired the artwork above. It was our first family art project, something we plan to do lots more of now that we've been reading and enjoying Amanda Blake Soule's The Creative Family. The other day, Omi was admiring the large silver maple tree in our front yard, and said, "I want to climb it! I need to be a squirrel." So, we made a little squirrel tail. Needless to say, the disappointment was apparent when she approached the tree wearing the tail and realized she hadn't gained any new tree-climbing abilities.

Bread and Board

Little Omi received a cook book from Aunt Sassy and it is already coming in handy. We made these cheesy bread rolls and it was so much fun. Omi really enjoyed putting flour on our work surface and spreading it around, but she was good at kneading the dough as well. She also loved sprinkling the sunflower seeds and poppy seeds on the rolls just before they went into the oven. While they were baking, they made the house smell so wonderful; it reminded me of my own childhood and the times my mom baked bread.

The recipe, in case you'd like to give it a try, is from The Toddler Cookbook by Annabel Karmel.

We also have a new board game for our collection, the very first for Little Omi, called Cranium Cariboo. She absolutely loves this game, mostly because there's a key that unlocks doors and bouncy treasure balls. The other day at dinner she kept saying "Omi play Cariboo" but it sounded to us like, "Omi Kabul." Finally, exasperated by our inablity to understand her simple request, she said, "Treasure-ball game!"

I'll deal with my procrastination problem later

This week I had a lot of chores to do, like taking all our income tax information to the accountant, making an appointment for a haircut, calling a tree trimmer to remove a branch left over from the ice storm, and packing for our upcoming trip to visit Aunt Sassy. So of course I decided it would be a good week to build Little Omi a cardboard kitchen. Needless to say, the kitchen was completed long before the chores (in fact right now I'm still not packed and we're leaving tomorrow).

I used these instructions, which cost a very reasonable $7, although I see the price has gone up to $8 recently. We were lucky enough to find a really huge double-walled box behind the new Circuit City and all of the pieces came from it. I had to make some minor adjustments so that we could fit Little Omi's new stove top on the stove side, but it worked out pretty well. I'm waiting to add the sink. Right now the counter space seems too valuable; Little Omi likes to make omelets and bake muffins and she needs room to crack eggs and fill muffin tins.

Of course no new kitchen would be complete without a nice oven mitt. This photo shows the sweet Amy Butler fabric that was also used for the curtain above. (Thanks so much to L for introducing me to Quiltworks, my new favorite local fabric shop!)

While we were at it, we may as well make some little napkins to go with the tea set. Grandma had the bright idea of fringing the edges, which gave them that little something extra, I think.

eBay + imagination = LOVE

I've been on the hunt for a nice tea set for Little Omi for quite some time now, ever since she started to bring Big Omi and I imaginary bits of food she had plucked off the furniture or walls. I didn't think my criteria would be too difficult to meet; after all, I just wanted something simple, that adhered to the basic principles of good design, didn't require batteries, wouldn't break if mishandled by an almost 2-year-old, and, if possible, wasn't pink. It turns out that most tea sets on the market these days fail to meet any of my standards. The tin set at Magic Cabin is passable, but the design is a little busy... and pink. There's also a Curious George set, but Little Omi doesn't even know who Curious George is yet. Moolka.com has a couple of nice wooden tea sets, but neither one comes with more than 2 cups, and while you'd have to check with Martha on this one, in my opinion one cannot hold a proper tea party with only 2 cups.



Eventually I realized I was searching for the tea set of my own childhood: a Fisher-Price white plastic set with yellow flowers on the tea pot, yellow lids for the tea pot and sugar cup, 4 tea cups and saucers, and 4 fat little yellow spoons, all nestled in their own little divided sections of a sky blue tray. Enter Grandma and eBay, and today we held our very first little tea party with the newly-procured tea set of my childhood (sans tray, but perhaps that will show up some time, too). Little Omi was ready for it. She seemed completely stunned and excited by the idea that we could all pretend to be drinking tea, stirring in sugar and cream and refilling our cups frequently.

Here's the rest of the happy gathering. While Miffy and Baby Doll were perfect guests, Paddington Bear was quite rude, demanding spoonful after spoonful of sugar in his cup, and making very loud slurping noises when he drank. Perhaps it was because he wanted a cookie; he was never offered one and eventually they were all eaten by Okasan and Grandma.

Little sprouts

Little Omi's pea plants have sprouted and are growing fast. The other day I pulled 2 of the 3 plants to make room for the biggest one to grow, and we studied the different parts of the plant. Eric Carle's book The Tiny Seed helped out a lot, too.

Is it Spring yet?

Little Omi was feeling much better today, so we ventured out of the house for the first time in days. We went to Sonic (of course) to see Omi-chan's friend Angel, who has taught her to blow kisses, something she finally started to do after months of Angel blowing unreciprocated kisses to Little Omi. Sadly, the flu must have sidetracked Little Omi's kiss-blowing skills, and today she just flashed her usual coy smile.

Feeling bold, I decided we could check out the hardware store to research a possible DIY water table project I've been mulling over, and we stopped in the new seed display to shake packets for quite some time. Little Omi finally picked out a nice packet of peas, and we brought them home and planted a few.

Simple pleasures

Little Omi loves to play with dry rice, dry beans, and water (not together—yet!). She also loves to play in the big box we picked up to make her a cardboard kitchen. We're not sure when the kitchen will get made, since the box is currently so beloved.

If you're looking for your own simple pleasure, try this.

You light up my life

Hooray for estate sales! And, hooray for my sharp-eyed mom who pointed out this $5 lamp after I had completely walked past without seeing it!

The littlest snowman

We received the tiniest of snowfalls yesterday, but it was just enough to make a very short snowman. Little Omi did not like to put her feet on the snow, so we had to clear away what little snow there was so she could stand on the grass to admire Aunt Sassy's handiwork.

Tonight we got together with our good friends B & L for some home-smoked pork ribs. Mmm! B smoked the ribs, and Aunt Sassy made mashed potatoes and cole slaw. And to top it all off, she and Little Omi baked ginger snaps, which we enjoyed with some delicious home-canned peaches from B's mom.

After dinner, B entertained us with some great guitar playing and taught me the chords to Wilco's "California Stars," one of my all-time favorite songs. Little Omi accompanied us by playing the harmonica and scratching the walls.

And since we've no place to go

Things are falling into place around here. I finally finished decorating for Christmas. I put up the wreath we bought at Ikea and found a lovely branch of deciduous holly covered with stunning red berries in the local Methodist church parking lot (it had been a casualty of the recent ice storm). I am lucky enough to have 2 blooming amaryllis plants. Even the closed pine cones I picked up outside have started to open and are looking beautiful.

We're so excited that we actually got some snow yesterday! Aunt Sassy arrived safe and sound and we managed to cram in a Sonic run before it got too crazy out there. Then we spent the rest of the day snuggled up inside, watching the great big snowflakes falling. There was even a tiny bit of accumulation, and here's what we had outside this morning:

Of course, the sun came out and by noon it was over 50°F and the snow had pretty much disappeared. But it's probably the closest we'll come to a white Christmas, so I'm taking what I can get.

Oh, and, thanks, Aunt Sassy, for bringing this to our attention. The British really do advertising much better than we do.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We finally went out and got a Christmas tree last Sunday. It's the first live tree we've had, which kind of amazes me because I am such a fan of the live tree. Little Omi greets it every morning with a cheer, and loves to visit it and all the ornaments throughout her day (especially when the lights come on). And, yes, for those who are wondering, those are pool noodles wrapped around our coffee table. Got to protect the wee noggin, now, don't we?


And here's our darling tree-top angel. She was our tree-topper when I was growing up (I'm sure you're not surprised, considering her dress is orange calico). When Little Omi sees her, she points and says, "Baby-doll!" which is her newest word. She got a book about babies from a friend recently and now she's all about the babies and her baby doll (who can be seen on the sofa in the above photo).

I've been playing Christmas music non-stop, in an effort to catch up before the day actually arrives. While usually I am nuts for Charlie Brown's Christmas music, this year I'm afraid it has been a bit overplayed, and so I've opted for Ella Fitzgerald and some other classics like Dean Martin, Andy Williams, the Jackson 5, and Elvis. And in the car, it's all Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas all the time.

Ice storm update

Well, we made it through Ice Storm '07 mostly intact. We sat mesmerized at our window all day Monday watching branches fall all over our street. We were very lucky to have our electricity on throughout the whole ordeal. Over 600,000 Oklahoma households were not so lucky, and many are still without power.

The pansies and violets I bought to plant way back before I injured my knee held up remarkably well, even though they are still not in the ground:

Unfortunately, the fun ended for us on Monday evening, when we heard a crack and a bang that seemed to shake the house:

The top of a pine tree had snapped off and landed on the hood of our car. Wah! Oh, well. After some initial panic, we discovered that we do have insurance coverage for such accidents, so soon the whole thing will hopefully be a memory. We feel pretty lucky that this was the only damage we had.

Fabric addiction, meet bowl addiction

Before I developed my fabric addiction, I already had an unhealthy addiction to dinnerware, especially bowls. I just love bowls, and most of my favorite foods tend to be things that are eaten out of bowls (soup, cereal, and especially i c e c r e a m ). I just picked up four little bowls and matching teacups for Little Omi (only 2 made it into the photo because some little imp was busy stacking the others on the floor nearby). We are drinking from cups these days, but it is difficult to find just the right size cup for little hands. I like these squat little teacups because they fit right in her hands and they also don't hold too much liquid (in case of spills).

Thinking inside the box: Four items

item 1. Little Omi loves to climb into this little soft storage cube. Sometimes she'll just sit there, other times she'll get out and then get back in again over and over. The other day she discovered she could also fit a bunch of blocks in with her, which was quite amusing. Last night I had a flash of an idea, inspired by this post at craftlog, to cover these boxes with this fabric. Another project to put on the ever-growing list...

item 2. This evening has been filled with organizing, paying bills, setting up online accounts so more bills can be paid online, and re-organizing Firefox bookmarks. So many blogs to read, so much fabric to look at, so little time to do this when you can't even find the things you want to look at in the jumbled mess of hundreds of bookmarks. Unfortunately, everything is now very tidy on my computer's desktop, but the actual desk the computer sits on is still a total mess, so from across the room it looks like nothing was accomplished.

item 3. Today we made these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins from angry chicken. Oh, dear, they are too delicious! If asked, I will categorically deny that I ate 4 of them for lunch.

item 4. In football news, we are quite depressed over the Sooners' upset today. It seems like this happens every year. They are woefully underrated by all the pre-season polls, then shine in opening games, making us think, "Maybe this is the year we go all the way and don't choke in the bowl game!" and then we lose in a horrible, gut-wrenching nail-biter, usually involving bad calls or trick plays. On the way to pick up Big Omi from work after the game, we noticed someone had put out a small, hand-written yard sign that read: "F you CU! And the Ref's, too!" It made me feel a little better.

That's how easy love can be

I'm totally in love with these stainless steel ABC magnets from Pottery Barn. I hate a cluttered fridge, even though ours tends to get papered with items important and not-so-important pretty often. (A current inventory shows there are 2 drawings by Little Omi—the first of many, I'm sure—plus a paper towel we tie-dyed left over from Easter, a hand turkey from last Thanksgiving, various papers, an award certificate for Big Omi, and a list of all the U.S. presidents.)

I am really looking forward to the alphabet-magnets-on-the-fridge era of Little Omi's childhood. Plus, she has the added advantage of being able to spell her first name without needing 2 of the same letter. Not that we planned it that way. :-)

Dance contest

I've been rummaging through my old CDs lately and playing lots of music for Little Omi. She will wiggle to just about any tune and can really cut a rug. On Tuesday we were all about Carole King's Tapestry. Wednesday found us rocking to Simon & Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park. Today I noticed a couple of albums I haven't listened to in ages, both by The Squirrel Nut Zippers. Remember them, from the late 90s swing-craze days? They had one huge hit ("Hot"), then faded into obscurity as the retro-swing style dwindled.

Well, let me tell you, this is music you can't help but boogie to; Omi-chan was even dancing in her booster seat through lunch. So, if you own these CDs, but just haven't dragged them out in forever because you initially listened them to death or they remind you of that one bad boyfriend you had in the 90s (or the guy you dated while you and said boyfriend were "on a break"), fear not! You can create new memories with your little ones while dancing like crazy fiends in your living room. Oatmeal-container drum & wooden spoon drumstick: optional.

A banner day for the postal service

Pretty much everything I ever wanted arrived in the mail today. That stack of fat quarters came from Keepsake Quilting, courtesy of a birthday gift certificate from Dad (Thank you, Dad!). There are 14 1930s prints and 14 1860s reproductions in there. What a nice birthday present! Wouldn't some of those make perfect sunbonnets? The books and T-shirt came in a box from the lovely and thoughtful H. There are some very adorable and not-too-intimidating costumes in the aptly-titled Baby Costumes. Can you believe that Halloween is just around the corner? You probably can, if you've ventured into any retail store since they cleared out the back-to-school supplies and replaced them with Halloween stuff.

We love the Cotton Ginny T-shirt, of course. Here's a view of the back:
Little Omi has taken a particular liking to the shirt and has been carrying it around all day. It was actually quite difficult to get these photos, as evidenced in this failed shot:
(Insert shirt-swiping sound effect here.)

Onward and upward

Before I begin, I must send out some thank-yous to everyone who shared such kind and supportive comments on my last post. I realized that was the first time I really shared some of that internal dialogue stuff that Anne Lamott calls "Radio Station KFKD." Reading your comments made me joyful, and a little bit sheepish, because they reminded me that there are actually people out there reading these ramblings. Thank you, dear friends.

OK! This week has already been a bit crazy with getting ready for the JBF Children's Clothing Sale in our area. This is my second time to consign clothing and there's so much to do to get everything just perfect so that it will be accepted into the sale, and, hopefully, sell. Last spring I waited until the last minute and then discovered that it takes more than one afternoon to iron and tag a big pile of baby clothes. So what did I do this time? Waited until the last minute. This time, though, I had fewer clothes to iron and the rest I just tossed into the dryer with a couple of wet washrags and everything came out just dandy. I still didn't make it to the drop-off on Sunday evening like I had planned (even after cutting out tags with a napping Little Omi in my lap), but got everything in on Monday morning. Thanks, Mom & Big Omi, for all your help with this!

On Monday evening the big payoff came: shopping the sale! I was able to pick up a very tall stack of winter clothes for Little Omi for a very small amount of do-re-mi. And the biggest get was an adorable raincoat that I had actually seen for sale last fall, but decided not to purchase at the time because it was so big and I couldn't do the math on what size Little Omi would be so far in the future. But there it was, in the same spot on the rack as it had been a year before, and I snatched it up without hesitation. This is exactly what's wonderful about this sale. As far as I know, I am the third owner of this raincoat, and it is still in such great shape it might as well be brand new. I love that all of these clothes are getting cycled back into children's wardrobes for 2, 3, and probably even 4 or 5 times. Even the buying and selling of it all is really just a way to trade in items you don't need or use anymore for ones you will. (Of course, the woman who runs the whole thing makes out like a bandit, but I think she deserves it, don't you?)

So, I also picked up a used green turtle sandbox for Little Omi. Whoa, boy! If we thought the kiddie pool was a hit, we hadn't seen the sandbox yet. Today she spent the better part of an hour sitting in the sand, scooping and digging and sifting. By the end, she was up on her knees and bent over with both hands just sunk in the sand. Lovely. I see some stellar mud-pies in this girl's future.