glad it's saturday and almost summertime

phew. what a week. adah endured her first big injury and we endured that, and a week of hysterical resistance to going to sleep at night. the head injury almost gave me a heart attack, and adah recovered more quickly than i did. i was at work when i got a text from grandma bonnie that said, "call now." i assumed a tetanus emergency among other things, but as it turns out, they were sitting in yard chairs watching the turtle when adah fell backwards and hit her head on a big rock. she told me the bleeding was minimal, but that she might need a couple of stitches. i left work immediately because it seemed that urgent care was necessary, and when i got there and saw the blood all over my little's shirt, i didn't know if i could get through an emergency room experience. but bug was actually in pretty good spirits and was entertained by the tank full of fish as we waited. in the room we had to hold a numbing agent over her head for a half an hour while bonnie read books so that she wouldn't feel any pain when they cleaned the wound and put the staple in. yes, i said the word "staple." the worst, but apparently she didn't feel a thing. afterwards, the kiddo skipped and sang through the kaiser parking lot and began talking about which kind of ice cream she would like to eat. she was in a fantastic mood for the rest of the day. until bedtime, of course. that was somethin' else. the picture above is a depiction of adah and bonnie in the garden, pre-staple. and here's the little bug looking like she's being treated for severe head trauma: :((((. poor thing.

in other news, i am feeling pretty weighed down by some news i received at work this week. i lost my cherished part-time status and don't know what to do. the likelihood of finding another part time teaching job in this economy is highly unlikely, but every part of me is rebelling and resisting and unaccepting of this information. one of the reasons we chose adah's preschool was because it's close to my work, and i reaaaaalllllly wanted the opportunity to pick her up from school each day. i want to see what's she been up to all morning, meet some of the other kids and parents, the whole shebang. i'm heartbroken. this doesn't even touch the politics of home stewardship, which i find to be such honorable and time-consuming work. i'll let harriet explain it best.

on a brighter note, it's been beautiful lately and we are fully ready for summertime. adah talks a lot about how she wants to spend her summer days and what she'd like to learn. specifically, she would like to learn how to draw more flowers, ride her bike, climb a tree and drink tea in it when she gets to the top, put on her own shirts, float on her back in swimming pools, and pick flowers down at the ends of them. she likes to have conversations called, "what don't i know how to do?" so she can add things to her list. i love seeing her so delighted by the world and eager to learn, and i hope it's something that school never squashes. she also asks, daily, "what don't YOU know how to do?," i suppose in an effort to confirm that everybody's learning, all of the time, not only the littles. she is also looking forward to every type of berry, eating meals outside, hiking, baking muffins, swimming, collecting acorns (?), and drinking hot chocolate (?). oh, and going "roller coasting." she did have her first amusement park rite of passage last weekend, and when face to face with the opportunity to "roller coast," she was pretty resistant. she did ride on a space ship ride, though, that had some kind of gun for a handle that she didn't quite know what to do with. i know what you're thinking: what's next? videos? yep. i'm becoming a more and more lenient mama each day, and it's actually sort of a relief. tomorrow i'm going to give her a quart of high fructose corn syrup for breakfast.

bug reads us a bedtime story

stay tuned for leg taco at the end.

mother's day weekend

it was a beautiful weekend in so many ways. i felt blessed beyond belief and full of gratitude for this life i have, and all the wonderful people in it.

margaret, one of adah's godmothers, was in town, and on friday we took her mom for a walk in washington park. it was sunny and it was the weekend, FINALLY. there, adah got to ride on some cement elephants, play in the sand, and make cinnamon ice cream for margaret and elizabeth, which she is pictured doing above. that night anne and i finally had our anniversary date night, which was postponed to due the stomach virus we passed around to each other last weekend. we had the whole evening to ourselves, and even got to drop bug off at my mom's for a slumber party. here's our girl, at drop-off:

it may look like she wasn't enthused, but let me tell you, she was. she loves getting to sleep over at grandma's. it's too bad that because of my mama separation anxiety or ecstatic attachment or whatever you want to call it, it has only happened twice so far, but every time it does i wonder why we don't do it more often. the biggest reason? sleeping in. i'm a big fan. also, i can't remember the last time i just got to wake up and read a cookbook in bed. that's some fun times, especially when the coffee is hand delivered, as well. we had a date with uninterrupted conversations and a nice stroll through the neighborhood. we also had fried goat cheese balls on top of some caramelized pears and lightly dressed greens, which was the other highlight.

bug was delivered back home early on saturday morning and after breakfast #2 and a dance party, we got packed up for swimming and rode our bikes to the local warm soaking pool. we go there a lot in the winter, and it was strange and lovely to see actual shadows and reflections on the water since it was actually sunny. for a minute i thought we in hawaii, but that's probably just because i was channeling alex, who was there swimming with sea turtles twice his size. we rode our bikes around the rest of the afternoon, stopping only for strawberry shortcake under a tree. after bug was sleeping, we actually got to go out again. that's right: twice in one weekend, people. we went to see the jefferson dancers--my favorite performance of the year. they're even better than all the best teenage dance movies combined. we were in happy awe.

really this was meant to be a post about mother's day. you know, the trials and tribulations, the longings and fears and heart wrenching joys, but i guess i decided, somewhere in the second paragraph, that i had to describe our weekend. i just couldn't help myself. i have to put all of this fun somewhere, especially because it's sunday night and i can't sleep.

this morning we had to say goodbye to margaret, but she brought us the best news: that she just might be moving back here, thank god. i just knew that her and bill weren't going to be able to handle california for too long. that place is just too much, and not nearly as green. she also happened to have with her a big box of rock salt and a pink ice cream maker. guess who was the most happy about this? the little person was quite amazed with the contraption. it's not just an ordinary ice cream maker-- it's a "play & freeze" ice cream maker that is apparently "great for camping, boating, picnics, parties, travel...anywhere!" it requires no electricity. after you fill the cylinder (which looks like one of those balls hamsters like to run around in) with ingredients, you close the lid and physically throw the ball back and forth to each other and it makes actual ice cream within 10 minutes, i kid you not. i'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

as if that was not enough fun, THERE IS NOW A FARMER'S MARKET RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOUSE. we got our weekly produce and an italian plum tree, and we spent the rest of the afternoon on the porch, in the garden, enjoying the sunday.

i'm gonna stop there and crawl in bed with my girls...

goodbye, ponytail!

we've been having little conversations here and there about a big ol' haircut because of the unending struggle to get the kid's bangs out of her eyes. it's pretty phenomenal that she's not a walking bruise from running into things since she hasn't been able to see for so many months, considering that the majority of time she will not let us touch her hair. unless your name is uncle ace, but he lives in vermont, and that's a little far for daily grooming.

so there was talk of a hair cutting party, and in the tradition of my family, adah wanted it to be on our kitchen floor, where all the haircuts happen. but my mom, the actual hairdresser in the family, was too nervous to do the deed, and apprehensive about the whole decision anyway, considering how patiently she waited for the past 3 years for the bangs to grow out so she could pull them back, and decorate them excessively.

i said i would do it, which caused alarm, so we headed to the mall, a.k.a. the anti-christ.

it was fun! bug was nervous at first, but came around. it helped that the stylist was the same lady who cut her buddy zanna's hair recently, and the animal cape was also a lure, not to mention the foot massage i gave her when i wasn't shoving my camera in her face. my mom was also there to hold her hand and cry through the rest.

afterwards she was truly giddy and a little proud of her courage, as was i.

the rest of the afternoon was just as joyful. we read a pile of books at the mall bookstore which i won't advertise here, went to SCRAP to make mother's day cards and get covered in glitter, and when we got home, baked earl grey cookies. actually, this was supposed to be a solo project, but once adah heard the mixer she came running into the kitchen all aglow. she can proudly handle the mixer on high all by herself, folks, so say goodbye to the days of butter and sugar flying everywhere. i'm going to miss that.

the cookies were aestethically wretched and would probably win an award on notmartha.com, but they were absolutely delicious.

all in all, a lovely day in the life of adah's mama. thanks, bug.

another thing i love about my co-captain

i want to remember the specifics of what i just witnessed, in my nauseous, grumpy state.

for the past few days we've been passing around some kind of disgusting stomach virus. last night was my turn, so i woke up feeling kind of disoriented and um... not at my best, shall we say. as i was getting out of the shower i noticed bug with a pencil and she commented that she was going to draw all over the walls. she hadn't done any damage yet, so i reminded her not to use the side with the ink, but it was okay if she wanted to use the other end to make music on the gravelly walls, which she seemed to enjoy doing.

i know. a saner person probably wouldn't have walked downstairs to eat bacon and leave kid unattended with a pencil and her intentions, but i did, out of haste. next thing i know, she came running downstairs and began actively scribbling on the walls. with the ink side. ugh. i gently reprimanded her and she broke down into tears. what did anne do? swept kid into her arms, consoled her, even went as far as to say she would've had the same inclination herself. what did i do? sat frustrated in my bathrobe, confirming that yes, she did know she wasn't supposed to do that. anne continued to offer solace and empathy, and in the next minute adah was magically motivated to begin erasing scribbles.

the little acts of not shaming go a long way, so thanks for the reminder annie, and for your endless patience. i love a woman who can put herself in kid shoes.