Happy Halloween!!

We awoke this morning to a spooky fog hanging over the neighborhood, a perfect start to Halloween.



Though the fog quickly lifted, we spent the day doing fun Halloween activities. The first order of business was teaching Eleanor when to use the ever useful phrase, "trick or treat". She picked up on it quite quickly.



Then came the pumpkin carving. I managed to get most of the owl carved while they were asleep and finished it while Henry watched from his play mat. The seeds from the owl pumpkin also made their way into the oven with a bit of olive oil and salt to become a tasty after nap snack for Eleanor. I must admit though, the owl was not my design. I do like to create my own pumpkins but this year there were just too many other things going on, so a pattern from Pumpkin Masters had to suffice.



When Eleanor woke up she helped me carve the second pumpkin. She said she wanted two eyes and a mouth with smooth teeth. This is what we came up with:



Then, after dinner, the kids donned their costumes and headed for Baby Anna's house with their momma in tow. Eleanor went as a giraffe and Henry (obviously) went as mashed potatoes. Upon arriving to Baby Anna's house we practiced "trick or treat" once before approaching the door and the moment Sarah arrived with the candy bowl Eleanor immediately started saying "Some, some, some." Oh well.



At any rate, we had a lovely Halloween. And, I'm exhausted!

Squeaks and Squeals

Henry is talking up a storm. Maybe not in words yet but his squeals, squeaks, screams and gurgles are as adorable as they are astounding. He really is trying to tell us something. And, Squeaker has turned out to be the absolute perfect name for him. The pitch is so high that I can't even imitate it back to him, but Eleanor sure can. They have some sort of kidspeak happening that is really amazing to watch. I was talking with Grandaddy about it and we decided that parents have to learn a second (or third, or fourth...) language when their kids are little because what they speak isn't yet English (or Spanish, or Dulegaya...). Parents then act as translators to the rest of the world. I wonder what kinds of linguistic research has been done on this? I'll have to do a bit of investigating -- it is so interesting to think about.



Which leads me to the fact that Grandaddy is in town! We have been having a great time, and of course eating considerably better than usual. Eleanor has already included "Gahdada" into the quotidian routine: Daddy funny, Momma funny, Henny funny, Gahdada funny, Enano funny. (That last one is "Eleanor".)

Couch Full of Cuties

Another Halloween extravaganza (thanks Sarah and Karl!) with a whole load of cute kids in costume.

Feeling Rather Self-Congratulatory

I did it. I sewed something. A Woodland Elf Hat for Eleanor! I have been reading the lovely blog Angry Chicken, which lead me to the blogger Amy Karol's wonderful new book Bend-the-Rules Sewing, which in turn lead me into a crafting frenzy. I can't tell you how excited I get when I look at the cool things that she and all of these other (primarily) crafty women are making. It seems that many of them are also mommas, approximately my age, with kids close in age to Eleanor and Henry -- it feels almost like an electronic connection to some long lost friends.



Anyway, back to the hat that I am ever so proud of. I had a bad time last week when I found that some sort of little worms were eating my sweaters. They even got to the cashmere sweater that Vince gave me for my birthday last year and it made me cry. So when I found that the pattern for the Woodland Elf Hat can be made with a sweater, I decided to turn my sorrow into joy. I got out the old sewing machine -- a hand-me-down from a childhood neighbor named Eleanor as well -- which wasn't working, and with sheer will and determination I read the manual, cleaned the lint, oiled the gears, and got it going.



Now our Eleanor's ears will be toasty with this soft and sweet little hat. I decided that I like sewing with a machine too, it is relatively fast (even for a beginner like me) and it can be quite precise. In fact, I like it so much that Eleanor, Henry and I went out in the pouring rain yesterday to get a few supplies for other projects at the fabric shop. It is probably a good thing I had the two of them demanding most of my attention, otherwise I might have spent a LOT of money!



By the way, I don't have any clue how photographers get child models to do what they want. Trying to get a shot of this darn hat was like trying to brush Eleanor's teeth -- nearly impossible!

Oh Goodyblog, What Have You Done?!

I was reading GoodyBlog today and came across this cool and incredibly addictive game: freerice.com. As you play the game, "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program," according to the FreeRice folks. Pretty cool. And addictive -- Vince and I have been playing all night.

Fall is the Perfect Time for Adventure Walks

Eleanor now gets all excited when we say we are going to go for an adventure walk. What is an adventure walk, you might ask? It could be a walk to the playground, a walk in the woods or simply a walk around the block. Over the weekend we took a couple of adventure walks and Eleanor slept in this morning until 7:15 am! Must be good for her (and for us). Here are some pictures.

Just starting out:


Eleanor finds her pockets useful too:


Definitely posed, but very cute:

Favorite (Baby) Things - Preggie and Parenting Books

I was thinking about another friend who I just found out is pregnant. It made me contemplate the books I read before Eleanor was born. There were a LOT of them. Knowing myself and how much I worry about things, I probably shouldn't have read quite as much as I did, but on the other hand, at least I felt well informed before she arrived. I did not read nearly as much before Henry came along, in part because I had already read it all and in part because I realized that I was slightly neurotic the first time. There were however, a couple of books I reread in part or as a whole. I figured I better make a small list of those books to add to my favorites. Then, if my friend (unnamed since she hasn't told many people yet), or any of my other friends who may become pregnant want to know they can just look here instead of me doleing out unsolicited information!


The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy was my go-to book for anything pregnancy related. I really liked how everything was laid out and the information seemed scientific but not above my head or overly scary. The symptoms section was especially useful because it gave an idea of what trimester you might expect to experience the various pregnancy induced maladies, as well as information on when to call the doctor. Good for a first time mom who probably called the doctors office more than necessary. Thank goodness for the wonderful doctors and midwives that put up with my first-time-momish behavior.


I liked the Birth Book, Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth by William and Martha Sears. It definitely encouraged a natural birth but did give information on all different types of births. It gave useful information about what to expect during labor and delivery, though I suspect that every woman has a different experience in that arena. At any rate, it was good to read a bit about what happens before actually going through the process, even though nothing can really prepare you for it. Skimming through it again before Henry was born was the perfect refresher.


For developmental and health related issues for the newborn/infant/toddler the American Academy of Pediatrics book Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, Revised Edition: Birth to Age 5 is helpful still. It is a hefty tome, but covers lots of different useful information. It is nice to have a book like that on hand when your baby has a fever and you can't remember at what point you are supposed to panic and call the doctor. (Yes, I realize I am not supposed to panic, but it turns out I do anyway!) We also have Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, which I remember my parents refering to when I was little. This is an updated version but contains much of the same information. I use it sometimes as well, mainly for the calm and reassuring tone.


As far as parenting books go, I haven't really read too many that have struck a chord with me. I have found parts of many books somewhat useful but on the whole, very few parenting books seem to hit the mark. I guess that is because all parents and kids are unique; what works for one family might not work at all for another. Good news is I didn't buy a ton of this genre of book, I mostly checked them out from the library. We did also get one book on baby sleep which has been useful, I wrote about it here.

That said, there is one book that I checked out twice from the library before finally buying a copy because I liked it so much. The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv actually made me cry the first time I read it. It discusses what he calls "nature deficit disorder", or the reprocussions that a lack of outdoor time and natural play have in kids lives today. I guess it isn't so much a parenting book as a call to parents to encourage their kids to have unstructured outdoor time. I completely agree with this. As I read, through his examples, I was whisked away to my own memories from childhood -- catching crayfish in Jackson Creek near Nana's house, searching for agates along the chilly Lake Superior shore, building a fort out at the farm, and on and on. What made me cry was the thought that Eleanor (this was before Henry was born) might never have these types of experiences. I realize that she (and Henry) will have these experiences though, because Vince and I feel that it is important to give them plenty of outdoor time. It does still sadden me though that there are other kids that will not experience these (or similar) small joys.

Anyway, that is my little bit for the day. I hope that my newly pregnant friend will enjoy her pregnancy and not worry quite as much as I did -- though I imagine some worry is inevitable when you are expecting a baby.

Train Book List

I decided to keep a list of all the train books we have checked out from the library or that we have in our own library at home. It seems that right around two years of age a train obsession develops in some children and I thought it might be handy to have this list available so I can remember what books are good when Henry is at this stage. Goodness knows, I'll never remember off the top of my head! I will continue to add to this as we find more good train books.

1. Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scary
(Has some trains, not entirely train focused.)

2. The Little Engine that Could -- Busy, Busy Day by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Cristina Ong
(This may have been the book that started Eleanor's train craze. My mom picked it up at a garage sale! Couldn't find a link with a picture at Amazon, sorry.)

3. Freight Train/Tren de Carga by Donald Crews
(I wrote about this book here.)

4. Train Song by Diane Siebert, paintings by Mike Wimmer
(I wrote about this book here.)

5. The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet
(I wrote about this book here.)

6. Trains by Anne Rockwell
(A good "about" book.)

7. Trains by Gail Gibbons
(Another good "about" book. Eleanor likes the signs and signals on the last page. Checked this one out a second time, it is still as much fun as the first time.)

8. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
(A Caldecott winning Christmas classic. Also extra cool because he is from Michigan.)

9. Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis, illustrated by Daniel Kirk
(Cute rhyming book following a toy train from morning to night.)

10. I Love Trains by Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Shari Halpern
(Nice board book.)

11. All Aboard!: A True Train Story by Susan Kuklin
(This one has some nice photos but didn't get as much read time as some others.)

12. Puff, Puff, Chugga-Chugga by Christopher Wormell
(This was one of the favorites from when we were in MI. A funny little story about a train with a heavy load of animals and groceries. Cute illustrations too.)

13. Inside Freight Train by Donald Crews
(Similar to Freight Train also by Donald Crews except that it is a board book and you can pull parts open to see what is inside. Kind of fun but Eleanor liked Freight Train better.)

14. Dinosaur Train by John Steven Gurney
(A book about a little boy who dreams about dinosaurs and trains. Eleanor liked this one, though I found it only so-so.)

15. Here Comes the Train by Charlotte Voake
(This one is about a girl, boy and their dad who go out on a bridge to watch the trains. Eleanor had this one practically memorized by the second time we read it.)

16. New Baby Train by Woodie Guthrie, illustrated by Marla Frazee
(About a train that brings new babies to their homes.)

17. My Freight Train by Michael Rex
(Cute book about a freight train and its contents. Educational and nice pictures.)

18. Trains by Byron Barton
(Talks about different varieties of trains. Bright colorful illustrations.)

19. Train (Take it Apart) by Chris Oxlade, illustrated by Mike Grey
(I wrote about this book here.)

Library Books - week of October 15, 2007

This week's theme, trains. I asked the librarian in the children's reading room to give us some suggestions for books about trains, and, boy, did she come through. We came home with about six train books, as well as a book on fire trucks and one about a garbage truck. Of course the garbage truck book is Eleanor's favorite, despite her recent fascination with trains! So, here are our reviews:


1. I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullan
This is the garbage truck book. We had checked out another book by the McMullan duo, I'm Dirty, about a backhoe a while back which Eleanor also really liked, so we decided to try this one too. The illustrations give a whole bunch of personality to these machines -- we'll have to see what other titles they have available. After reading I Stink a couple of times, Eleanor is able to read it to herself. She goes through the pages and picks out one or two words from the actual text and repeats them to herself or to the person she is reading to. She especially likes the page where the truck backs up to dump out the load -- she practically sings, "Hey beep beep beep, hey beep beep beep" and then "Plop!".


2. Train Song by Diane Siebert, paintings by Mike Wimmer
The paintings in this book are exquisite and the text is a simple poem/song that sounds lovely when read aloud. It might be a bit advanced for Eleanor at this point but I really like this book. And, she does like looking at the pictures.


3. The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet
This is the story of Katy caboose, a cute little red caboose, who is a bit sad to be all the way at the end of the train. She longs to live a quiet, calm little life with fresh air and be done with all noise, smoke and frightening things she encounters along the tracks. I won't spoil the ending, but this book is really sweet and definitely worth a read. It is long though, probably better for a child a bit older than Eleanor. We have been abbreviating the text on each page so that she enjoys it a bit more but we miss out on the nice rhymes that way. We will have to check it out again in a few months.

Henry Rolled Over!

I meant to get this up two days ago when it actually happened, but other things have been keeping me busy. So, the big news is -- Henry rolled over all by himself from back to front. I think he was rather proud of himself. Or, maybe not, but I sure was! He is growing so fast, he will be crawling and walking before we know it.

And here is the proof:

Almost Halloween

I know it isn't quite Halloween yet, but I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of Eleanor and Henry by the pumpkins. A HUGE thanks to Nonna for the giraffe costume, Eleanor loves her "giraffe pants"!

Fall Means Applesauce!

Eleanor and I made our first batch of applesauce the other day. Here is how we did it:

First, we got out my favorite kitchen utensil -- the applesauce squasher.



Then, Eleanor took all of the stickers off the apples. (Yes, we bought them at the store -- the apples from the orchard are long gone! They were Macintoshes, in case you were interested.)



Then, we (I) cut the apples and we (Eleanor mostly) put them in the pot.





Next, Eleanor added some water to the apples, I turned on the stove so they would cook, and she "washed" the dishes. It smelled wonderful in the whole house.





When the apples were soft, we squashed them through the colander, added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a spoonful of sugar. Eleanor helped a bit but this step was still a bit hard for her. Unfortunately, I added a bit too much water to the apples so I had to put the applesauce in the oven to thicken it up a bit.



Finally, Eleanor did a taste test. She said it turned out "pit goo" (pretty good).

Solar Houses on the Mall

I remember when I was young, first or second grade probably or maybe a bit older, my class went to see a place called Urban Options -- an environmentally conscious demonstration house. It was one of the moments in my life, possibly the first definitive moment, when I knew that I wanted to make a difference for the environment. The staff spoke to our class about using less water by replacing the shower head and recycling bottles and cans. I don't know if my parents noticed it at the time, but I remember feeling a terrible urgency to use less water and start recycling everything that we could possibly recycle. I still feel that way and ever time I read or hear about global warming, low water supply from draught, pollution, etc. I get all in a twit about what I am doing and what I could be doing. So, in the spirit of raising awareness and learning more about greener technologies, we went down to the Mall to see the solar houses participating in the Solar Decathlon.

The third Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the Department of Energy, is taking place on the National Mall in Washington until this Saturday. The incredible houses are designed, engineered and built by students at universities from around the world. Unfortunately, with a squirmy toddler and fussy three month old, it was hard to wait in the lines to see the interiors but the exteriors were fantastic. Henry and I were able to go into the University of Missouri Rolla house, partly because there was no line waiting outside and partly because my dad went there. It was quite beautiful inside; though it looks like, as of today, it ranks in last place overall in the competition. Imagine what the others must be like!

The participating houses are judged in ten categories such as architecture, engineering, market viability, comfort zone, energy balance, etc. The awards ceremony is not until this Friday, so we will have to wait and see who wins, but from the outside Vince and I each had our favorites. I thought the Team Montreal home with it's skin of plants and dark wood was very nice and the rain water collector and garden in front of the Carnegie Mellon house also caught my eye. Vince favored the University of Maryland's LEAF House, which I also liked very much. We were excited because any of those three houses could have easily fit into our neighborhood. It made us hope that someday when we buy a place we can incorporate some of the incredible green technology that is out there more closely into our home.

The lovely morning was finished off with an encounter with a forklift, a hot dog and pretzel from an especially nice street vendor, and the kids falling asleep on the way home.

Here are a few of our pictures from the excursion.

Team Montreal's house:


Carnegie Mellon's rain water collector:


The forklift:

The Need for Pockets

When you have a nearly two year old, you need to have pockets. Eleanor likes to accumulate little treasures in a way that would make any collector proud. She loves to pick up rocks, leaves, acorns and all matter of little bits along our adventure walks. Every time she squats to pick up a rock and asks me to hold it (hence the need for pockets), I just think of getting her up to Lake Superior. I wish that Gran was still here to tell Eleanor what different kinds of rocks she is picking up, it was always nice having a geologist for a grandmother.

Here are some photos from recent adventure walks:

Eleanor with a maple and oak leaf


My (rather old and wrinkly looking) hand holding Eleanor's finds -- an oak leaf, a crumpled up dogwood leaf, two acorns, an acorn "hat", a couple of rocks and a small wood chip

Library Books - week of October 8, 2007

Wow, I have been trying to write about this bunch of library books for a while now. We have had these books for over a week and there are a couple Eleanor and Henry really like.

1. Freight Train/Tren de Carga by Donald Crews
I saw this book on the Design Mom blog and given Eleanor's recent affection for trains, I decided to reserve it at the library and give it a try. What a hit! It is a simple book with bright colorful illustrations that any train loving kid will thoroughly enjoy. Eleanor especially likes the pages with just train tracks and the page that shows the train crossing trestles. Plus it is in English and Spanish.

2. Black on White by Tana Hoban
As the name implies, this is a book of black illustrations on white backgrounds, perfect for little eyes to enjoy. Eleanor picked this wordless book out for Henry and I would venture to say that he has really enjoyed looking at the illustrations of things such as a butterfly, a bib, and keys. Apparently, Tana Hoban also has a book called white on black, which I am sure would be equally entertaining for the younger crowd.

The other books we picked up are alright but pale in comparison to these two. So, I think I'll just leave it at that for today.

Yummy Hot Lunch on a Cool Fall Day

Well, the weather has finally made a turn towards fall. A couple of days ago Vince and Eleanor were raking the leaves from the silver maple and the sycamore in 85 degree weather wearing shorts! However, the past couple of days it has actually felt like fall with deliciously cold nights and lovely cool, windy days. Daylight hours are also getting noticeably shorter. I do love the fall and winter but always lament that the daylight is so short.



Since the weather is cooler, I have been craving warmer foods such as soups, chillies, and baked things. Today's lunch consisted of a fridge cleaning experiment that turned out much better than expected, so I thought I would share. Keep in mind I'm no super chef so the recipe is quite loose and probably isn't written just as it should be, but hopefully it will give you the idea.

5 brussel sprouts chopped
some cauliflower chopped
2 green onions sliced
1 big carrot chopped
***
about 1 cup quinoa
about 1/2 cup red lentils
about 2.5 cups boiling water (I think it would have been even better if I had chicken or vegetable broth on hand)
some grated cheese

Saute the veggies in a bit of olive oil with salt, pepper and a pinch of cumin for a couple of minutes. After rinsing the quinoa, mix with the red lentils and put in the water. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Then mix together the veggies and quinoa in an oven save dish and cover with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is nice and crispy on top.

Unsurprisingly, I liked the cheesy top part the best. Eleanor liked it as well and offered it to Henry several times, despite the fact that she knows he only drinks milk.

My Kids

Eleanor and Henry are both sleeping. What should I be doing? Sleeping. What am I doing? Writing about my kids. Why? Because I love them and I love writing about all the cute little things they do.

This morning, and just a couple of minutes ago as well, Henry was practicing his roll. He likes to go to the left and can make it all the way over until his left arm gets in the way. Then he just lies there on his side and gets frustrated. I wish I could tell him that he will master it soon, but at three months, I don't think he can be reasoned with.

Eleanor is very much into playing by herself and using her imagination with her toys lately. She likes to interact with her dolls by feeding them, making them "dance" to the Sandpiper song, or by taking their clothes off so they can be nudie. She also thoroughly enjoys it when Vince or I (but especially Vince) make Rosemary the doll or the teddy bear clap for her. She will talk directly to them with instructions on what she wants them to do. It is hilarious.

Here is Eleanor with some of her toys in her little hideaway spot behind the orange chair. She likes this private little space best to read and play.

Eleanor's Train Obsession

Recently, Eleanor has been really into trains. Although the whistle often scares her, at least on the miniature train at a nearby park, she could watch trains on YouTube indefinitely. And, as much as I hate to admit it, especially after being so strict with the TV, I find myself putting on trains so that I can have a couple of minutes to grab a snack for Eleanor or nurse Henry.

The video above is one of Eleanor's favorites. She likes seeing the engines over and over.

Here she is eating a snack and watching trains:

Crazy Halloween Costumes Thanks to Thingamababy

I wanted to share these funny posts from Thingamababy, another parenting blog that I often read. This blog is written by the dad of a little girl who he calls Little Miss. I was laughing so hard at these costumes and the author's commentaries I thought maybe some of you might enjoy them as well:
Demented Infant Costumes: Octobaby and Carriage Critter
Twelve Unfortunate Toddler Halloween Costumes
Twelve Embarrassing Halloween Baby Costumes

Charlie's Soap

This may be a random thing to write about, but I wanted to be sure to put it on my list of baby related favorites. I first came across Charlie's Soap when Eleanor was only a few months old and her cloth diapers were starting to smell -- even when they were supposedly clean. I thought I was doing everything right, using the "free and clear" type detergent, using slightly less than the recommended amount, using pleanty of water for the diapers to swish around in, hanging them out to bleach in the sun, but alas, the diapers still stunk. I emailed one of the companies I had purchased diapers from and they recommended using Charlie's Soap. So, I figured we would give it a try.


The bag came and I was so surprised. It was tiny. And then to see the scoop they sent for measuring -- a tablespoon -- I was pretty sure it wouldn't work at all. We gave it a try though and, yep you guessed it, the "soap" (it is actually a detergent) worked great. One little scoop for a whole load took the stink out of the diapers. We have been using it ever since, not only on diapers but also on regular clothes, towels, and almost everything that goes in the washing machine. (I say almost because other family members occasionally like the scent of regular detergent.)


I also like the fact that Charlie's Soap is a good environmental choice. They have several studies on their website about how it is biodegradable and non-toxic, important things for babies now and for the future.

Oh, Shenandoah

We made our first overnight family outing since Henry was born this past Friday. Vince took the day off and we all hopped in the mini van and headed to Shenandoah National Park. We left right before Eleanor's nap and she was all worked up because Vince was packing the car while I was trying to feed her lunch. We had been talking up "going to the mountains" so much that she had a bit of a meltdown as he loaded all of the baby gear into the car. Having not yet eaten and being rather tired, she started saying "metch" over and over again, until finally we realized she was saying "mountains" and likely feared we would leave without her.





Luckily, it is not that far to the park, so we were able to stop along the way and take a small hike along part of the Appalachian Trail. Eleanor found several little treasures (acorn, rock, oak leaf) and of course asked us to "ho" (hold) them. We even saw a hiker who jokingly offered to pack our kids down to Georgia -- needless to say we declined!





We stayed the night at Skyland Lodge between mile 41 and 42 of Skyline Drive. It was so beautiful, our room looked out to the west over the mountains. There was a lovely sunset, which Eleanor thought was the moon since she hadn't seen a sunset like that before. We brought all of the comforts of home to make the hotel room seem like a natural place to sleep; blankets, pillows, bed rail, and of course, blanket and giraffe. Eleanor enjoyed a few 'Jimmy the Skunk' stories and then settled in for the night without a problem. Henry likewise fell asleep almost as easily as if we were at home.





On Saturday as we wound our way along Skyline Drive, we came across a large group of bikers who were signalling us to slow down. We couldn't figure out why, we really weren't going very fast. As we turned the next corner, we saw why -- a young black bear at the side of the road. We were so excited and started pointing it out to Eleanor. She seemed somewhat less interested than her parents. I shot a few pictures but between all the excitement and shooting through the window (we were REALLY close), the shots turned out somewhat blurry.



I love taking the kids to National Parks. Even though they are young, I think that they will benefit from the beauty and wonder our country has to offer. Our family took several monumental and fantastic vacations to National Parks throughout the country when we were young and I still reminisce fondly and often about those trips. The thing I sort of realized but never fully understood is the amount of planning my dad and mom put into preparing for those trips. I have a new appreciation for traveling with kids; granted, my brother and sister and I were older on those trips, but nonetheless, it must have been a lot of work for my parents.

Brussel Sprouts

I used to be a picky eater. Vince will say I still am. One thing I used to think I didn't like, simply because they have a bad name, is brussel sprouts. Well, let me tell you they are delicious. After a brunch with Linda and Alec a few years ago, thanks to Linda's pan fried brussel sprouts, I realized that I love them. Whenever I find good sprouts at the supermarket, I am happy to bring them home and cook them up. My favorite way to eat them is as follows:

Cut the stems off and cut them in half (top to bottom).
Toss them in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Put them flat side down on a cookie sheet.
Bake them in the oven until they are somewhat soft and browned.
Pop them in the mouth until the baking sheet is clean. (Warning: they are HOT!)

I should take pictures and add them to this post. Maybe next time we have sprouts I will.

Etsy

I have to say I love the Etsy website. I have actually been slightly obsessed with it lately. It is a website "to buy and sell all things handmade." This includes everything from original artwork, to clothing, toys, jewelry, and just about anything else you can imagine. It is a great way for me to online shop -- except that I don't actually buy everything I like, I just save my favorites and enjoy looking at them! Saves a LOT of money.


Not only are the handmade items sold on the site (for the most part) beautiful, but the site itself is also really neat-o. When you want to shop, you can choose from several different ways to search through the items offered. You can search by category, by color, by location of the artist creating the work, by "time machine" -- or when the items were posted, and several other ways.


My personal favorite is the "suggestions" generator. As you are browsing through you can mark things as a favorite and then when you click on the suggestions generator, it produces a list of things you might like based on your saved favorites. Sometimes the list it produces contains things you might never even consider buying, but it is interesting nonetheless.


If you want to see an example, one cool "shop" (that is what the sellers are called) that I recently came across is Palumba. Coincidentally, they work out of Ann Arbor, MI. They also have a regular non-Etsy company website, which I visited after drooling over the stuff I was seeing in their Etsy shop. They have lovely, old fashioned-looking wooden toys and cloth dolls, such as this Skittles in a bag set:




Beware, if you haven't looked at Etsy before but you like unique arty things, it can be addictive!

Hurricane Eleanor

I often feel like Eleanor is a hurricane sweeping through the house and leaving utter and total destruction in her path. Sometimes it isn't just her either, I am often guilty of leaving a heap of dishes in the kitchen simply because I despise unloading the dishwasher. At any rate, I often feel frustrated with the state of affairs in our house, but when I see Eleanor peacefully reading a story to herself amidst the clutter and mess (see below), I realize that a clean house isn't really all that important. And, to Eleanor's credit, shortly after this picture was taken she helped me liberate the entire living room of the oppressive mess. At least the floor stays uncluttered for a few hours while she is asleep. I must say, I am eternally impressed with moms and dads who have it together and can maintain a tidy abode while rearing a small hurricane or two.