Month: October 2009

Pumpkin Day!

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Halloween 2009 kiss

It’s been so dark in the mornings lately that Eleanor couldn’t understand why she couldn’t go Trick-or-Treating the moment she woke up today. 

“You can go trick-or-treating after dinner tonight,” I explained. 

“But it’s dark now,” she patiently explained, pointing out the window.

When dawn broke shortly after breakfast, she became quite Put Out.

“Why is the sun rising?!?” she wailed.  “The sun is not supposed to shine on Halloween!  It’s supposed to be all spooky and scary outside!”

Absolutely nothing I said could console her.  She just stood by the picture window in our front room and pointed at the rising sun, her face puckered with indignation. 

“THE SUN CAN’T COME UP!  THIS IS CHEATING!!” 

Ah, my daughter: constantly upset that she can’t literally control the universe.

Needless to say, she perked up once the day got going.  I managed to scrounge up orange striped shirts for the kids, and even found a black-and-orange hairbow for her hair.  She loved posing with the pumpkins Grandma & Grandpa helped carve this afternoon.  

Halloween 2009 Ella & pumpkins

The grandparents were even kind enough to bring supplies for making Jack ‘o Lantern pita pizzas so I wouldn’t have to cook today.  My contribution to the meal was to get a box of Halloween donuts from the Banbury Cross bakery.  They make darling holiday donuts in the shapes of cats, bats, pumpkins, and ghosts.  Adorably delicious, and the kids loved going to pick them up with me, especially since we got to sample a still-warm-from-the fryer fresh batch of chocolate glazed.  Mmmm.

Here they are in their costumes, just seconds before heading off to get treats.  Brian’s been out of town all week for a conference, and just got back this afternoon.  The kids were really excited to do this with him.  I was really excited to have some time to myself. 

Halloween 2009 whole gang

Eleanor is Snow White, Jeffrey is Robin Hood, and Wimmy is one cute tiger.  Brian wore the tiger costume when he was a little kid, and his mom was thrilled to see it in action once more.  The Robin Hood costume is one my mother made for my little brother years ago, and she helped me make Eleanor’s costume this year as well.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  But of course, I thought Wimmy stole the show.

Halloween 2009 brian & wimmy

Halloween 2009 wimmy

The kids finished Trick-or-Treating quite early but still brought home a nice haul of goodies.  Other kids were still coming to our door, though, so Jeff, Ella & Wim had the exciting fun of handing out candy themselves.  They scampered to the front door in nightgowns and pajamas, eager to hand over our big orange treat bowl.  Jeffrey even bestowed a glow stick from his own treats on a boy he knows from church.  “Take this to light you on your way,” Jeff said, all solemn.

When we began to run low on candy, the kids became very concerned.  “We’re running out!” cried Jeffrey, counting the last few fun-size bars in the bowl.  “Let’s put in some of the candy from our treat bags!”  It was sweet that he was ready to give away his own goods, but I told them that all we had to do was turn off our front porch light, and the problem would be solved.  This they did with gusto.

Good News

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footballToday my mother had a cyst removed from her ovaries that was roughly the size of a football.  This was a surprise, since we were all under the impression that it was more the size of a softball.  Ew either way, although Brian says he’s heard of a case involving a cyst the size of a MEDICINE ball. 

Doctors always win gross-out story contests.

But the best news, of course, is that Mom’s cyst was benign.  All previous tests had pointed to this, but it was a relief to get the confirmation.  Our good friend and next-door neighbor in Pittsburgh died from ovarian cancer just a few weeks after we moved to Utah, and it was difficult not to think about her slow decline when thinking about my mom’s case. 

I couldn’t think about my dad being left alone.  So I didn’t — strangely, although I am something of a worrywart, I’m good about putting stress aside when it’s something I can’t do anything about.  And now I don’t have to think about it at all.  Hooray!

Sick Week

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Last Saturday was the fall book sale at the Salt Lake City Public Library.  I love, love, love this sale; hardbacks are $1 a piece, and there are many books that have been discarded with no or little wear. 

I came home with 61 books, all of them children’s books — picture books, novels, non-fiction.  I won’t gush too much over my finds, because most of my friends would simply roll their eyes and scratch their heads over the squeals of glee I emitted when I found the Opie/Sendak collaboration I Saw Esau, or American Folk Songs for Children, edited by Ruth Seeger and illustrated by Barbara Cooney.

Or Gloria Whelan’s Listening for Lions.  Or Brock Cole’s Buttons.  Or a hardly-read copy of NBA winner What I Saw and How I Lied.  (For those rare nerds who know these books: see?  The book sale is AWESOME!)

And it was a good thing I had those books to read, because shortly after the sale ALL THREE OF MY CHILDREN CAME DOWN WITH THE FLU. 

Oh, yes.  The good, old-fashioned wasting fever kind of flu.  I didn’t leave the house for days, didn’t talk to any other adults except Brian and the few people who called me on the phone.  Ack.

Jeffrey was the last to get it, which was a good thing, because he’s the most high-maintenance of my kids when sick.  Ella and Wimmy spend their sick days taking 4+ hour naps, but Jeffrey follows me from room to room, drapes himself over any available furniture, and moans, moans, moans, asking for me to play games and read stories.

Which, really, isn’t that daunting of a task.  I fished out my old CD-ROM of King’s Quest VI and played it through (which I have already done half a dozen times since I first played it sixteen years ago.  Love that Prince Alexander).  Jeffrey loved helping me solve the puzzles, find the magic map, answer the riddles, cast the magic spells and rescue the princess.  He covered his head with a blanket when Prince Alex travels to the Land of the Dead and challenges Lord Death.  And he laughed like silly when Alexander finds the genie’s lamp at the very end.

But beyond that fun stuff, I went more than a little stir-crazy.  Now the children’s fevers have gone, but Jeffrey and Eleanor have developed nasty coughs — the kind that lasts all night.  When they are in the same room, the coughing is frequent and loud enough that they sound like a pan of popping corn.  Poor kiddos.

Career Paths

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Tonight at bedtime I read stories to Jeffrey while Brian read stories to William.  (Eleanor was already down in bed with the flu.)  For some reason, William was not keen on the idea of stories from Brian tonight, and kicked up a great big noisy fuss.

Jeffrey, on hearing the various screams coming from William’s room, simply shook his head.

“You know what?  Daddy should have been a dentist instead of a doctor.”

Oh?  Why was that?

“If he was a dentist, then he would be able to help Wimmy with his screaming.” 

Pressed for details, Jeffrey furrowed his brow in concentration, and tried to explain.  “Daddy should be a dentist because the screams are coming from William’s mouth.”

Well.  That’s simply logic, that is.  If only I had known before now that a toddler’s screams could be mollified by a dentist!

“Yeah, Daddy should have gone down the dentist trail instead of the doctor trail,” he concluded with the kind of sage nod of the head that is wonderfully hilarious on a person wearing Spider Man pajamas.

Apple Fritters

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applesWhen Brian and I moved into Retro Acres, we discovered an apple tree in the backyard and an electric cast-iron skillet in the kitchen.

Although I wasn’t very thrilled by either prospect — our house in Pittsburgh had a crabapple tree that caused us no end of rotten-fruit annoyance, and the skillet seemed like just one more appliance to clutter the kitchen — my mother convinced me otherwise.

Come October, she said, the hard green bumps in the tree would morph into sweet deep-red lumps of awesome, and the skillet is an excellent device for deep frying foods — no splatters, constant temperature.

What better circumstances for cooking apple fritters?  They’re golden brown nuggets of sugary goodness, they are.  I’ve had a couple of friends request that I post good recipes on this blog, so here’s my first. 

My recipe is adapted from Martha W. Murphy’s excellent The Bed & Breakfast Cookbook, which I highly recommend picking up.

Apple Fritters

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 6 Tbs. sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups peeled, cored apples, chopped fine (about two big apples)
  • cinnamon and sugar, for rolling

In a big bowl, mix together flour, powder, salt, and sugar.  Measure the milk in a big liquid measuring cup or small bowl, add the eggs, and whisk together.  Gradually pour liquid ingredients into dry, mixing well to prevent lumps.  Use a rubber spatula to stir in the apples.

In a skillet, heat up 1″ of oil to approximately 340 degrees F.  Drop a little bit of batter in the oil while it preheats — when it begins to bubble, puff up, and brown, then the oil is ready for cooking.

Have a paper-towel-lined plate and a shallow bowl of cinnamon sugar ready.  Drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes per side.  When cooked, they should be about 4-5″ across, and a deep golden-brown.  You may have to experiment to get them right; I find that making them on the small side prevents a doughy center.  If made correctly, the outside should be brown and crisp, and the inside soft, fluffy, and studded with apples.

Drain the fritters on the paper towels for a moment, then roll in the cinnamon sugar.  This makes roughly 1 1/2 dozen hot ‘n’ tasty fritters.  Mmmm.

Eleanor says that I am “the best mom ever ever ever” (pounding fist on the table for each “ever”) “who makes fritters.”  Brian calls apple fritters “the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack of champions.”  William screamed when we thought he was finished and tried to take his plate away.  Jeffrey didn’t say anything, but has learned to snatch up fritters with cat-like reflexes.  I think my diet’s ruined, but that’s nothing new (I am down 12 pounds, if I do say so myself.

Arches and Canyonlands in October

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Hooray for the Utah Educator’s Association!

They schedule their annual conference for the first weekend in October, giving all the schoolchildren in the state a four day weekend.  Brian and I decided to take one last camping trip for the season and head down to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in southern Utah.

Arches 2009 moon2

The only downside to our plan is that the first big cold front of the year swept into town the day before we were supposed to leave.  We had a 1/4 inch of snow on the ground the morning we were packing!  Not very encouraging.  But despite the sleepless nights (for me; I can’t sleep when there’s a draft anywhere around) and very cold mornings (William started screaming when his hands turned purple, so we ended up going to a diner for breakfast two of the mornings we were there) the trip was just lovely.  The high temperatures were in the 70s — it was like hiking through an air conditioned room!

Day One: Arches

William loved the Windows area of Arches.  He kept pointing at them and happily cried “Big Wok!  Big Wok!” (big rock!) over and over.  Later, he saw a group of pointed sandstone fins on the horizon and exclaimed “Mountain!” while holding his hands over his head in a little mountain-shape.

 Arches 2009 north window

Our big hike in Arches was to the Double O Arch — two round arches stacked on top of each other.  We had to scramble up a series of sandstone boulders to get to the main part of the trail, which the children loved (in fact, they were the only kids we saw on that part of the trail).  One part of the hike requires walking on the edge of a tall narrow fin.  There were ledges on either side of us, so it was safe, but it still induced a good sense of virtigo.  Eleanor, on the other hand, found it exhilirating.  “I’m flying high like a bird in the air!” she exclaimed.

 Arches 2009 double o 1

When we got to the Double O, Jeffrey climbed on a boulder and sang a song about how a double O makes an “oo” sound, like in “book.”  Cute.

Arches 2009 double o 2

Arches 2009 double o 3

We had a camp stove, which allowed us to cook our dinner at a picnic table in the park and watch the sunset at the same time.  Hot dogs always taste better when you get to watch this while eating them:

 Arches 2009 balanced rock

Day Two: Canyonlands

Canyonlands is about 30 miles away from Arches, and is divided into three different districts, each more rugged than the last.  We spent our time in the most accessible district, Island in the Sky.  It is named as such because it is an enormous mesa that climbs above the canyons to an elevation of 6,ooo feet.  Looking out at the seemingly endless mazes of rocks and ravines really does give the feeling of being on top of the world.

Canyonlands 2009 grand view point

Our most challenging hike in Canyonlands was called Aztec Butte, which scrambles up a sandstone hill to a series of ancestral Puebloan ruins dating from about 1200 A.D.  Archaeologists believe they were used as granaries.  In retrospect, we probably shouldn’t have taken the kids on this hike, because the climb down was kind of scary. 

Canyonlands 2009 aztec butte2Canyonlands 2009 aztec butte1

But Jeffrey, who has a fascination with ancient cultures, thought it was wonderful (and bombarded us with questions about the Puebloans for the rest of the trip). 

Canyonlands 2009 aztec butte4

Canyonlands 2009 aztec butte3

We all had a big adrenaline rush when we came back down from the butte.  Eleanor skipped down the last ten yards of the hike, singing “Stay on the trail, stay on the trail!  Do what the ranger sayyyyyys . . .

Again, we used our camp stove to cook up some dinner (barbecue sandwiches!  Mmmm!) in the park at sunset.  We sat near the edge of an overlook (there was a ledge underneath, don’t worry) and saw this spectacular view:

 Canyonlands 2009 sunset4

It really did feel like we were floating miles above everyone else.  I love Island in the Sky.

 

Day Three: Sand Dune Arch

We had a sprinkling of rain on Sunday morning, so we quickly struck our camp and headed back to Arches for one last visit before saying goodbye.  I wanted to take the children to Sand Dune Arch, one of my favorite places in the park.  It’s an arch that is nestled between a group of sandstone fins, but what makes it fun is the enormous piles of fine sand that have collected around the base of the fins.  It’s like a giant sandbox, with lots of boulders, nooks and crannies for exploring.  Whenever I’ve been there before, the place is usually packed with people, but for some reason it was deserted for about 45 mintues after we arrived.

Arches 2009 sand dune1

The light rain had left the top layer of sand wet, which made it perfect for building sandcastles.  The kids were of the opinion that this was the best place ever.  Don’t worry, they knocked the castle over before we left. 

Arches 2009 sand dune2

The big rainstorm hit just as we drove out of the park.  The kids were a bit sad to go, which made me happy — I’m so pleased that they are developing a love for the outdoors.  It was a wonderful trip, and I can’t wait for another visit!

Arches 2009 wimmy     Arches 2009 jeff&ella

Pre-Snooze Chat

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The only times that Eleanor ever gets out of bed after lights-out is when she needs to complain about how Brian and I are making too much noise and that we need to keep it down.

Hmm . . . today in the car she also complained that my music was too loud, and I wasn’t turning it down low enough.  Kids these days.

Jeffrey, on the other hand, NEVER seems to go to sleep in a prompt fashion.  We put him down, and he usually ends up talking to himself, running in and out of his room, begging for water, and essentially driving me nuts for well over an hour before conking out.

SOMETIMES it helps to have a bedside talk with him at tuck-in time.  He calls these our “chats” and looks forward to them.  It’s his chance to gab about whatever’s on his mind, and because this is Jeffrey we’re talking about, that usually means something odd.

Once he told me that the stripes on his stuffed tiger were really the letters to a “tiger alphabet” that he could use to translate tiger roars.  Then he pointed out how he had recently cut the stuffed tiger’s whiskers off.  Yes, he is turning into a real-life personification of Calvin & Hobbes.

Tonight he spent time telling me how he wanted to build a “family airplane” — “For real Mom.  We can use the engine from our car to build it.”

Then how would we drive to the grocery store? 

“Can’t we please buy a second car?”

He went on:

“It would have two floors.  The top floor for you and Daddy, and the bottom floor for the kids.”   A ladder would be used to access both levels.  I tried to get him to describe what he wanted on the kids’ floor — comfy seats?  A big snack bar, a television?  Those are the kind of things I would have fantasized about as a child.  But Jeff wasn’t interested in that.

“A snack bar is fine, but no TV, Mom.  The kids will have a big glass window and binoculars to let you and Daddy know how high in the air we are, and how fast we’re going.”

Oh, so the parents are the pilots?

“You are the one flying the plane, Mom.”

Well, bad news, kiddo.  I have intense flying sickness.  My tummy gets upset whenever I fly.

Jeffrey was indignant.  “Mommy, you need to teach your tummy a LESSON.”

Later:  “Couldn’t you please go to flight school, Mom?   Then we can fly to Grandma Newey’s house.  Pleeease?”  He repeated this plea over and over again until the chat was finished.

 

Why can’t I have a kid who begs for a Wii like everyone else?!? 

(Aw, shucks: because I wouldn’t have it any other way.)