The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Flip Flop Flop

It was just me and Overly Serious Girl this morning.  After running a quick errand and watering the window boxes and buckets (well, the plants growing in them), we adjourned to the air-conditioned basement/work space to accomplish something.

Arrrrrgh

It’s been reading week at the elementary school, and yesterday was “Dress Like a Pirate Day” (because of the treasure in books, I believe), and because we are the Last Minute Family lately, Julia and I put her costume together about twenty minutes before she had to leave for school.

Not too bad, I think.

Rise and Shine

This morning.

Julia.

In my big fleece sweatshirt thingy.

Slugger

Yesterday was a weird day for me.  There’s a lot going on and I’m not writing about it, but suffice to say I feel stressed a good portion of my waking hours, and I don’t sleep, so there are more waking hours than I’d like.  Most of the stress is of the worry variety, one way or another, though there is, finally, some good stress in there too.  I’ll explain some of this eventually, maybe.

Anyway, late afternoon Bill took the kids to City Park for a little baseball practice.  The season is starting next month for Alex, and he’s got tryouts coming up.  The league he belongs to has all the kids his age tryout so it can be determined whether or not the are ready to progress to the Majors or need to stay in the Minors one more year.

Julia in Concert

 

Julia's got an on-again/off again love for her guitar. 

Lately, the love's been on. 

And so last night, during our leisurely dinner cooked in the fireplace, she unzipped her guitar case and set up her sheet music.

I love watching my kids play guitar. 

Their hands move confidently and with growing grace.

The look of concentration on their little faces is so like their father's....

The Most Important Ingredient

Julia seemed to need a little something extra in her oatmeal this morning.

As The Gap Widens

About two weeks ago, she looked like this.  Well, not every day.  But if you look at her mouth, you can see one of her front teeth is slightly askew. 

We waited.

Long-Awaited Gap

We were wondering when this tooth would finally depart Julia’s mouth.  The main hope was that it wouldn’t happen while she was wearing her flower girl dress.  Red wasn’t part of the color scheme that day.

Herbivores of the African Plains – Julia’s Cake 2011

Originally Julia said she wanted a giraffe cake. 

Because I’d done elephants before.

And Beluga whales last year.

The plan was to have a bunch of fondant giraffes all over a grassy cake.

But then, as is her womanly right, Julia changed her mind.

Making a Healthy Snack

You’ve met my daughter.

She asked for an egg sandwich the other morning, and while the egg was frying, she grabbed her camera and took a picture.

I’m thinking of starting a separate blog just for her, an offshoot of this one, maybe “Barefoot Kitchen Pixie” or something like that.

Anyway.

That same day (Julia was home from school, recovering from strep throat), later, after the egg sandwich, she was hungry.

A clear sign she was feeling a lot better….

Farmer Julia

We’re able to get free compost from the town.  Last week Bill nearly filled up the truck bed with gorgeous, dark compost.  Most of it is out, but there’s still some that needs to be removed.

Julia likes to help.

Welcome, Spring!

See this girl?

She’s been busy today.

Day 3 – Girls’ Day Out

After a day of lounging around on the couch, reading and napping, I was very happy to hit the road with Julia the following day.

Julia and Quilting

A couple of weeks ago I picked up some sewing equipment for Julia.  I got her a pair of scissors that are super sharp and much easier for her small hands to manage than my big, heavy Ginghers.  And I got her a little pin cushion (pink, of course) and a box of very pretty pins.

Once Upon a Time

Yesterday Julia sat in the kitchen and started reading Little House in the Big Woods to me.

So happy.

Both of us.

Dinner Prep

As sometimes happens, I take plenty of process pictures and then totally forget to take a picture of the final product.

A Visit with Auntie: Chickens and Haircuts

These are my cute, but rather shaggy children.

Or, rather, these were my cute, but rather shaggy children. 

Well, they still are my children.  And cute.  But the shagginess is no more.

And no, I have no idea why Julia is making that face.  She’s six.  That’s all the explanation I’ve got.

So yesterday, after Natalie and I baked the pound cake, we trekked down to my sister’s house to return Natalie and her share of pound cake, to bring snacks to the chickens, and to tame the crazy hair on my kids’ heads.

As always, it was entertaining.

Hungry Guests

They have some sort of radar.

Any time I toss out scraps of bread, stale cookies, or things like that, within minutes, a small flock of seagulls begins to circle our back yard, slowly spiraling down until one or two decide to land on the feeding platform and start grabbing at the day’s buffet.

With Julia’s Approval

On Wednesday we had yet another snow day.  No school for Bill or the kids.

Actually, snow day isn’t quite accurate.  More like sleet/freezing rain/yuck day.

Definitely not a day to frolic and play outdoors.

First Stitches By Hand

My friend Judith commented on this post that when she was taught to sew by hand, her mother gave her gingham to use, so she could use the little squares to space her stitches. 

What a great idea.

Julia’s First Quilt - Completed

Here’s Julia, “Slippers,” the kitten, and the quilt Julia made for Slippers.

We finished it last night. 

The Next Quilter in the Family

Yesterday Bill took Alex ice fishing.  It’s cold up here in the northeast right now, –1 F this morning, for example, so the ice on the local ponds is pretty thick.  The menfolk dressed warmly and brought an extra pair of gloves each, and off they went.  Julia and I wisely stayed home and, more importantly, indoors.

I started working on Bill’s quilt, and Julia wanted to help, but there wasn’t really anything she could do to help…so I asked her if she wanted to make a quilt of her own, maybe for her dolls, or her 25,769 Barbies….

Big Girl, Little Girl

I didn’t do the braids.

I need to learn how, or, rather, to practice so I can do them this nicely. 

Ho Ho Heave

Well, at least it didn’t strike while she was sitting, with Alex, on Mall Santa’s lap.

Or immediately after our “picnic” dinner of burgers and broccoli and really good homemade macaroni and cheese while sitting on a blanket on the floor in front of the tv watching endless episodes of “Billy the Exterminator.”  (We are big fans of Billy.)

No, it struck shortly after midnight.  I awoke to the miserable sound of Julia wailing my name.

Santa Julia

‘Twas weeks before Christmas

When all thru the house,

Not a creature was stirring.

Well, at least not the lizard.

Mommy was Wrong

* Warning:  This post contains a mildly graphic description of an incident involving Julia that took place today.  I am not, however, including any images.  If you are squeamish, perhaps you’d prefer to skip this post.

~~~

Julia got her ears pierced back in May, as a birthday gift.  She was a very brave girl when the earrings went in, and everything went fine with the healing process, and the daily cleaning around the site with alcohol or peroxide, and the twisting of the earrings to make sure they weren’t sticking to unhealed lobe.

The big day came in late July – the day Julia could change her earrings.  Or, rather, the day Mommy could change Julia’s earrings.

As Different As

I'm trying to remember what Alex was like when he went into first grade.  Did he have the same hard time adjusting to the big change from half-day kindergarten to all-day elementary school?  I don't think he did, really.  Or, if he did have any sort of adjustment issues, they manifested themselves differently than they are with his sister.

Maybe I'm remembering wrong.  I probably am.  I know, actually, that there were days he didn't WANT to do his homework, it was TOO HARD, there was TOO MUCH TO DO.  I remember alternately sympathizing and reprimanding, hugging and ignoring frustrated tears.  I do remember, after all.

But still.

Sunday Scraps

It's raining this morning, and I am glad.

Yes, we still need to finish sanding/priming/painting the garage, and painting the front of the house (it's primed), so a sunny day would enable us to get some more of that work done.

But....

Tri-Envious

 

 
 
Once upon a time I got married, and over the next several years, we had two kids.  A boy, Alex, and a girl, Julia.

We live in "The Ocean State" and so we felt it was important that our children learn to swim at an early age.  After wasting our time and money for a while at one place, we moved our kids to Envious Swimming's "Learn 2 Swim" program, and our kids have become fish. 

Fast, fearless fish.

Earlier this summer, we learned that Envious was organizing their first annual Kids Triathlon.  And we thought - "Hey, cool!"  And then we got busy with working on the house and sort of forgot about it.

And then, a little over a week ago, I was reminded at that week's swim class. 

Summer 'Do

Beluga Whale Cake for Julia

 
Before I begin, here's a link to Julia's cake last year.  Alex's cake is in that post as well, but I haven't done this year's cake yet - that'll be next month's production.

Anyway, up until a week or two ago, Julia wanted a cake very similar to last year's, only instead of the elephants wearing ballerina garb, she requested that they be gymnasts.  So I played with that idea in my mind for a while...what color costumes the elephants would wear, and which pieces of equipment they'd be performing on...Julia is partial to the uneven bars herself (or "unbeeven bars" as she used to say it), so I'd have to include those...maybe the balance beam and trampolene as well.  And the costumes kept appearing in red, white and blue in my mind, so that's where I was headed in that regard....

The Healthiest Cupcakes Ever

As I indicated in my last post, Julia had a birthday coming up.  In addition to a party at our house, I'd also planned to make something for her to bring in and share with her class.

When it was Alex's birthday in kindergarten, he asked me to make brownies.  I asked Julia what she wanted, and she said she'd like cupcakes.  White cupcakes with pink frosting.  I suggested we have a couple of colors of frosting (thinking of the boys in the class), and she agreed with that.  So all set.  A batch of cupcakes, some frosting and some food coloring and I'd be all set.

And then I happened to be talking to another mom with a daughter whose birthday is soon, and we moved onto the topic of bringing in goodies for the class.  I told her I was making cupcakes, and she said "Um, you might want to check on that." 

Pardon Me While I Get Melancholy For a Moment

I am a sucker.

I am a sucker for soppy Hallmark and Kodak commercials, violins playing, "Sunrise, Sunset," tiny handprints on laminated sheets of paper alongside poems that begin something like "I know right now my hands are small/and it drives you crazy when you see handprints on the wall/but one day soon I'll be big and tall/and you'll wish you'd driven me to the mall/when I asked nicely/when I was five." 

Big Girl

She can scramble eggs, and stir them around in the pan herself.  She can also fry them, and flip them pretty well.

She likes to stand on a chair at the stove and stir ramen noodles, too. 

Lately she has been making her own peanutbutter and jam sandwiches as well.

Rock Stahhhhhh

Julia brought Disembodied Barbie into the kitchen yesterday so she (DB) could inform me "I'm a rock star, that's why my hair is over one eye." 

Crazy Faces

I feel like for the past couple of days I've spent most of my time running around in circles doing something, only at the end of the days there haven't seemed to be any actual results lying around, you know, like PROOF that I have earned my keep around here.  You know how that is?  Yeah. 

So anyway, I ran around today some, and I must have been running with a purpose (not with scissors), or else, why run?  But I look around and there are still dishes to do and I didn't do laundry because of the threat of a downpour (which did arrive a little while ago, poured down, and has now moved on) (I hang my laundry out on the line), and oh who wants to hear more of this drivel?  No one.  Of course.  Me either.

Mystic Aquarium Again

Two years ago I went along as a chaperone with Alex's kindergarten class on their field trip to Mystic Aquarium, and yesterday I went with Julia's class.

Determination

This is my daughter, on a recent trout-fishing trip.

 

The Julia Way

This morning. 

Julia has finished her two fried eggs and a slice of toast and has asked for another piece of toast. 

I look at her plate.  There is a lot of gorgeous nearly orange yolk left, and the crusts from her first slice of toast rest on the edge of the plate.

"Why don't you scoop up the rest of the yolk with your toast?" I ask, fighting the urge to do it myself.

"No..." she said airily.  "That's not what Julia does."

Julia and Friends

Yesterday Julia gave me the task of doing all her Barbies' hair.  Julia chose their outfits (which basically means she matched up each doll with the outfit she came with originally) and I dressed and coiffed them all.

Girl in Blue...and Pink

This week Julia's been asking that I braid her hair for school.  Earlier in the week she wanted two braids.  Yesterday it was three.  Today she asked for two braids and a ponytail.  This is the result.

Some of Julia's Other Personalities

A little while ago, Julia came into the living room, pulled off her socks, dropped them on the floor, and kept going. 

I said "Um, Julia?  What are you doing?  Those don't belong there." 

Girly Girl

Julia had been looking forward to today for at least a week.  One of her classmates was having a birthday party AT A HAIR SALON. 

Oh, the excitement.  She's been telling everyone she sees about this upcoming party, and today, finally, was THE day.

Pretty Little Scarface

If you're not already familiar with my daughter's dramatic and horrifying facial history, you need to go to this post and read it first.  Or at least skim through the text and look at the pictures.  Okay?   

Go ahead.  I'm not going anywhere.

Done?

Okay.

Sometimes There's Sugar Mixed in With the Spice

 

Future Food Blogger

I was stirring risotto earlier this evening when I was joined by a small person in a gymnastics outfit.  She was lugging a dining room chair and had a camera hanging from a strap around her neck.

I Dare You Not to Smile

I think she wore this hat when she was a newborn.  Don't know where she found it, but this is how she was dressed first thing yesterday...

De-Cluttering the Laptop: A Girl and Her Noble Steed

I'm moving image files to an external hard drive, and I figured I'd share...

These were taken in May of this year.  Julia had requested and received a "brown horse head on a stick" for her birthday.

 

I think she's named it "Brown" or "Brownie" or maybe "White Spot."  Or something entirely different.  I've lost track.

Anyway, not only is the horse an accomplished steeplechase competitor, but it's also got a military background.

It WILL Grow Back. It WILL Grow Back. It WILL Grow Back. Right?

Alex came into the kitchen.

"Mom, I've got really good news, and I've got really bad news."

Or something to that effect.

It may have been more like "I've done a really good thing and a really bad thing."

I don't know.

All I heard was "really good" and - more importantly - "really bad."

De-Cluttering - Julia Playing Harmonica

These were taken on Easter this year...the Easter Bunny brought the kids each a harmonica (what was that wascally wabbit thinking???), and after we'd been to brunch at my cousin's and stuffed ourselves on all the food there (and the kids stuffed themselves on candy), here's Julia, playing a little concert.

Pictures didn't come out great, which is probably why they didn't get posted at the time.

But anyway...here she is.