Farm Share, Week 3*

This week we received (from left):

lamb's quarters (yes, the common "weed", but also edible and nutritious, and somewhat like spinach), chard, kale, turnips, potatoes, 3 kinds of lettuce , and (center) radishes, beans, and parsley.

We made a sausage/potato/turnip/kale soup last night that was soooo good, we'll be using most of the greens for salads, I'm using the parsley in hummus, and the beans we'll steam for dinner tonight. I'm honestly not sure what in Sam Hill to do with chard, but I'll probably end up steaming it or something. Also? The lambs quarters? I'll try it, but it might end up liquefying before it's gone.

*we purchased a half-share, which is roughly half a bushel per week for 18 weeks. Coming this fall: me sobbing over piles upon piles of squash, while a semi waits outside to drop off more squash.

Finally, Teh Earings:

Pierced

I never thought I'd have a 6 year old daughter with pierced ears. Here's how it went down:

Kate (and Joan too) were horrified- HORRIFIED- at the thought of getting their ears pierced. They've had very few fears in their life, but shots and needles is one of them. They come by this honestly enough, for their own father- that guy that is an insulin-dependant diabetic and therefore injects himself numerous times daily- fainted the last time he received a flu shot. TRUE.

Also, I always thought that "when they could take care of it themselves" would be an appropriate age. This translated to somewhere between 8 and 10 years old. I got my ears pierced at the end of 4th grade, but I had already been begging for YEARS. (Am I the only one who has a dad that said "If God wanted holes in your ears he would have put them there!"?) So I didn't want to make them yearn for years and years (see also: walking uphill BOTH WAYS to school), but due to their fears I didn't put much more thought into it.

Then, one day, Kate came home from school and told me she wanted her ears pierced. "Hmmmm" was all I said. Then she mentioned it again. Next she brought me the phone book, cordless phone (old school land line, I KNOW!), and attempted to look up the number for our salon herself.

So I called our salon and asked if they pierced ears there. Yes. Could they do both at the same time? No. When could they get us in? Friday. Kate is hopping around me this whole time. So we made the appointment.

Joan was adamant that she did NOT want hers done. To be honest, I was more for it for this reason: if one has pierced ears and the other does not, it will be easier for people to tell them apart.

Friday came along (coincidentally the last day of school), and we head to our appointment. Kate picks out some earrings and is all smiles. Joan even picks some out too, thinking that if it goes well for Kate, she might change her mind.

They call us back. Kate bursts into tears and hides behind me. I pull her back to the salon chair, sit down, and pull her onto my lap. Her hands are covering her ears and she is quietly crying. The lady wants to clean her ear lobes, and Kate refuses to move her hands and cries harder.

We are going home, sans holes, I'm am certain.

I remind Kate that she does NOT have to do this, that we can leave and do it another time when she is more ready. NOOOooooooooo she sobs. She wants to do it today.

But we can't do it if you don't move your hands.

*more sobbing*

I look up and Joan is standing next to us, tears streaming down her face, and she whispers desperately to me "Mommy! Don't let them do it!"

We are FOR SURE going home without piercing, I'm POSITIVE now.

I tell Kate again that we'll just do this another day. That no one is making her do this, and I understand that it's a bit scary, and we'll come back another time and try again.

NOOOOOOOOOOO. I want it today!

An idea popped into my head and I ask the lady if we can have a sucker. While she goes to get one, I tell Kate that even babies who are getting shots think it hurts less if they have something sweet to suck on. The lady returns with the sucker and Kate grabs it, hands shaking, and rips the wrapper off. Faster than you can imagine, the lady pierces one ear and then the other. Kate didn't even cry or flinch or anything.

We pay and leave with Kate absolutely FLOATING on cloud nine, so proud of herself. So exhilarated for overcoming her fear.

(Joan still says NO WAY.)

BTW, she's done most of the care of them herself. She turns them a couple of times a day, and I apply the Bactine 2x a day (because our local drugstore only had the spray kind, and I don't want her spraying herself in the face on accident. Otherwise, she could and would do that herself too.)

So that is the story of how my 6 year old got her ears pierced.

Catch Up

So here's a few things that happened while I was on a blogging hiatus:

1) The big girls received the first MAJOR haircut of their young lives.

Before:

It was sooooo long!

And after:

The "after" picture is horrible of them (they both must have been between facial expressions or something??), but gives you the idea. They each donated 10 1/2 inches to Locks of Love.

It seems like these kids of mine grow in fits and starts. They will wear the same clothes for a couple of years in a row (NO LIE), but then all of a sudden- KA-POW- they are instantly about 7 years older than they were the day before. In the same time frame as these haircuts happened, Kate also lost her first 2 teeth, they both finished Kindergarten, and Kate got her ears pierced.

Hi! What are you trying to do to your poor mother? Must you suddenly be, what, THIRTEEN or something?

2) I learned that the reason I was napping my life away was not because I was simply Lazy, but I was (slash AM) pretty severely anemic. Oh, sweet validation! Oh, little red iron pills that make me dream of days of pooping gone by!

I've been taking some Serious Fucking Iron (or SFI) for almost 2 months now, and I can certainly see the difference. While it will likely take quite a bit longer for my iron stores to reach and STAY elevated, it sure is nice to have a bit more oomph each day. Just wondering though, how long do you think it's safe to play the "but Honey, I'm anemic" card?

3) We joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and have started receiving a weekly farm share. So far so good, but hot damn, it's a lot of lettuce to eat! (Sorry kids, no money for a vacation, but LOOK, we have LETTUCE!)

(I kid. I mean, while a share- or half share in our case- was a large chunk of our grocery budget, it evens out to be around what we would spend weekly of produce anyway, albeit not all at once.)

(Ha, ha, ha, I say that as if we have a budget! Have we EVER had a budget???? *mumblemumblemumblenomumblemumble*)

This is what we got this week:

That's rhubarb, lettuce, more lettuce, some other kind of lettuce, basil, kale, radishes, and cilantro (in the center). Theoretically, there is also some spearmint springs in there somewhere, but my sniffer can't find them. And I really wanted to use the mint for a recipe... Ah, well, CSA user hazard, I suppose: "Woman looses her mint in vat of other greenish garden-y type things." *SIGH*

(Do you think if I merely took a little lick of each bunch of greens, one would taste minty? I mean, do I have to bite into it to find the mint, or would a little lick do????)

Grandma; View

If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that my grandma is the coolest person I know. I have had a life-long love affair with this woman- she cracks me up, she makes me think, she's smart, wise, and honest. I know that if she is around I laugh until my cheeks hurt and come away with a better understanding of myself. And while plenty of time is spend just talking and enjoying each other, my grandma is not the "sit in a rocker" type- she dances and paints and raises dogs and gardens and cooks like a mo-fo and on and on and ON.

I know it's a little unconventional to absolutely *love* hanging out with someone who is 50 years older than ones self, but there you have it.

I don't get to see my grandma much, as she lives a distance away, and she winters in the south, and she's busy and we're busy ETC and on and on. But whenever I get the chance to spend time with her, sometimes just for a day or afternoon, I jump on it. I suppose one of the benefits of not living closer is that we really cherish the times we do spend together.

Since becoming a mother, seeing my children form a bond with my grandma is probably even more rewarding than spending time with her myself. It's funny but my girls are just as enamored with her as I am. The sit on her lap and loving yet absentmindedly rub her cheek while soaking up every word she says. Which is exactly how I used to spend my days with her as a girl.

Last Thursday Grandma was in MN visiting my aunt, so we shamelessly barged in on them and stayed all day, well into the evening. For a woman inching in on 80, I think she's still getting around pretty well. Here's some photographic proof:

Playing with sidewalk chalk:

And Ring-Around-The-Rosie:

And taking a break to cuddle with a couple of the puppies she's selling:

++++++++++++

Also, I don't feel as if I've ranted and raved about how awesome our campsite was. We had such a beautiful view of Lake Pepin that it took me by surprise every morning. I'm quite serious when I say that every time I emerged from our tent I would exclaim "[EXPLICATIVE]!!! Can you believe this view?????" And then I would chuckle/snort and accidentally inhale a little slosh of spit and have to revive myself before even taking my first pee of the day.

In any case, here's a few shots of what we were forced to view DAY IN and DAY OUT for 4 days:

Sailboats!

Off to the left in the campground beach that we frequented:

And the sunsets, man, they sucked:

She's Baaaa-ack

Hello, and so sorry to interrupt your scurrying out the door to back up your rented U-Haul to the local department store to fill with cases upon cases of sunscreen, popsicles, and band-aids (oh, wait, just me then?), but I thought perhaps it was time to swing by my own blog and say howdy.

(And SRSLY, what is with the band-aid consumption in the summer? And why are there only approx. 3 per box, none of which are big enough to cover anything bigger than a flea bite?)

We are all well here in Caza de Green. Our summer schedule is in full swing, and we are enjoying our small town living, which allows us to walk or bike to nearly everything.

This week the big girls are taking a theater class and are learning a small play to perform on the last day. They think this is TEH BOMB.

Over Father's Day weekend we went on our annual camping trip on Lake Pepin, and it was a rejuvenating trip in which I realized that HELLO, it's so much easier to camp without a baby! Not that we didn't have fun other years, but this year our kids were so big and capable of doing so much that it was truly relaxing for the adults.

Oh! Also, Marin seems to have starting growing hair now! She was such a baldie for so long that I am enjoying her curly-and-still-baby-fine locks.

I hope to be doing more blogging, so hopefully I'll see ya around!

Now, how about some pictures?

Last day of Kindergarten (SNIFF)

Marin and I at the campground beach.

Joan and Kate, upside down.

Reading in the tent before bed.

Bald Eagle that was just hanging out in a tree very close to the road leaving the campsite.

Fun Facts Friday... Copied From Erin, Who Stole It From Tess

* After a few weeks of warm(ish) weather- think around 38-40 degrees- because it's all relative yo- we are back to cold and snow. Yesterday, it was blizzarding AND thundering AND lightening (lightening-ing?).

* The snow is pretty. I am getting really sick of my fellow statesmen kvetching about "wanting it to be spring". Listen up folks- YOU LIVE IN MINNESOTA. IT IS FEBRUARY. WE DON'T HAVE SPRING IN FEBRUARY IN MINNESOTA. *Ahem* But srsly.... why bitch about it when it's the same every year, and we all know it's going to be the same every year?

* My 2 year old handed me her paci recently and declared "It's bad fow my teef" and that was the end of it. Trueeffingstory.

* She also decided to sleep in her "big bed" the next day. So we took down the crib. And she's sleeping fine- without her paci AND her crib.

* After a semi-rough night wherein I had Kate hogging my pillow from 2-4am and then Marin hollering incoherently at 4:30 am, and wherein I finally climbed into bed with Marin because she could not be quieted (dreaming perhaps? dunno) and besides my pillow was being hogged in my own bed, and wherein I then felt promptly and blissfully asleep, I was suddenly roused by the swish swish swish of someone entering the room wearing snow pants. It was Joan. She said "Mom, Charlie is here. We're leaving. Have a good day."

* This was immediately followed by David staggering in, OBV just waking up himself.

* Yes, that's right. My 2 kindergartners got themselves completely ready for school while David, Marin, and I all slept peacefully. They dressed, ate breakfast, put their gym shoes in their backpacks, and put their coats, hats, mittens, snow pants, and boots on, and they were standing ready when their carpool arrived.

* Besides being hilarious on many levels, I now see NO REASON WHATSOEVER to get up and get them ready.

* I have fallen off the Picture a Day wagon... dead batteries, too many days sitting around in my dreary house, lack of motivation, ETC. However, I'm getting back in the saddle. Because it's almost March. And even though March, for all intents and purposes is still winter in this climate, she does tend to throw us a bone or two, in the form of spring-ish days.

* Also, I happen to love March snowstorms. I mean, FU Mother Nature. SNOW ALL YOU WANT. It won't last long now! BWAH, HHAHAHAHAHAH. Also, March snow is almost always good "snowman snow".

* And YES there is such thing as "snowman snow". Not all snow is suitable for making snowmen. ONLY Snowman Snow is. In order to craft a snow object, the snow needs to be heavy, wet, and melting. Also: Sticky. Snow in Jan/Feb is usually fine, powdery, and not sticky.

* Wordtwist (a Facebook app) is very addicting.

Happy Weekend!

Spurts

Blog, blog, blog, blog.... long space.... blog, blog.... shorter space... blog, blog... space.... blog, blog, blog, blog.... ETC.

I've discovered I go in spurts with many of things, not just blogging. There are friends that we see 5 times in one month, and then not again for 3 months. There are meals that I fix weekly or more for several months, only to forget about until the following year. I will read, read, read, and then not pick up a book for 2 weeks. I'm not sure if this is a personality quirk, a personality disorder, or WHAT, but there is definitely a trend.

Some milestones, as of late, and in no particular order: Joan lost another little tiny tooth, the girls turned 6 (S. I. X.) years old!, David and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the day we met (our yearly tradition, instead of celebrating Valentine's Day), and ALL THREE girls stayed overnight at David's parents house.

I am still (trying) to take a photo every day. When I missed two days last week, the perfectionist-all-or-none side of me said Now you've ruined the project and you must quit but the rational, logical side said No way! Just post some older pictures that you've always loved.

So that's what I did, and that's my plan for any future missed days as well.

(Sometimes I really love that logical, rational voice.)

Hey, do you guys want a recipe for a Dee-VINE chocolate lava cake? You do? Ok:

Here it is.

My mom is visiting this weekend, and I'm planning on making it while she is here.

Also, would you like to see a picture of my sticky-faced kid? You do? Wow, you guys are too nice:

Oh! And I read Dave Ramey's Total Money Makeover, and now David is reading it, and then we are going to follow his plan. I loved the book, found it to be an easy read and a solid plan, and I'm excited to get out of debt. I don't usually like to talk about money, but I am really interested in what other people think of Davey. Any input?

So, Marin and I are off to the library, to further annoy the silently-crabby librarian. Good times...