Hi Ellen,
Me again. How ya doing? Love the communal backyard thing you have going! Nothing better than seeing and hearing neighbor kids all hanging out. So anyway ...
H E L P . . . !!
What have I got myself in for?
Went to my first girl school leader training tonight. There is so much to know and learn and discover! And I bet I'll be learning and discovering as much about me and my world as Sophie will about her and her world.
Very exciting but overwhelming too.
Just realized how many resources there are both on line and in person. I'll be grateful for this over time, but it's still just overwhelming now.
And I daren't take my girls to the girl scout shop. Not yet anyway.
Loving it!
Fiona
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
And again
And today's menu ... again, completely cooked by Kara since they didn't have school today:
Breakfast: waffles (the frozen kind) with blueberries, strawberry sauce and a dollop of vanilla yogurt. I thought it was actually better than when I make them with blueberries and maple syrup!
Lunch: spinach & mushroom quesadilla again for me, this time with sweet chili sauce instead of blue cheese (the latter was an urge I had and Kara obliged); and cheese quesadillas for the girls.
Dinner: toasted cheese sandwiches for the girls and sautéed spinach with raisins & flaked almonds for me (I was hovering around her for this one as she insisted on making me what I wanted, and I really didn't want a sandwich ... but luckily sautéed spinach is quick so it suited Kara's shorter attention span tonight).
As nice as it was to not cook for 2 whole days ... it was kinda weird. I couldn't help myself by late afternoon and so I made some baked Thai tofu and a huge batch of granola. But this was also so nice, having extra time to make "other" things while someone sorted out mealtimes!
Breakfast: waffles (the frozen kind) with blueberries, strawberry sauce and a dollop of vanilla yogurt. I thought it was actually better than when I make them with blueberries and maple syrup!
Lunch: spinach & mushroom quesadilla again for me, this time with sweet chili sauce instead of blue cheese (the latter was an urge I had and Kara obliged); and cheese quesadillas for the girls.
Dinner: toasted cheese sandwiches for the girls and sautéed spinach with raisins & flaked almonds for me (I was hovering around her for this one as she insisted on making me what I wanted, and I really didn't want a sandwich ... but luckily sautéed spinach is quick so it suited Kara's shorter attention span tonight).
As nice as it was to not cook for 2 whole days ... it was kinda weird. I couldn't help myself by late afternoon and so I made some baked Thai tofu and a huge batch of granola. But this was also so nice, having extra time to make "other" things while someone sorted out mealtimes!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Finally, my own personal chef
Both girls love to help with cooking. But it was usually when something fun was being made ... pancakes, cookies, muffins and the like (and I rarely make any of these). Although Sophie does make the best scrambled eggs all on her own and Kara has mastered the toaster and the microwave.
Then Kara decided to write their own recipe book with the recipes they could make with little help from me. Step by step instructions. Very cute.
Kara just had to try out her new book and insisted on preparing ALL the meals today, completely by herself - yep, I was banned from the kitchen (although when I realized dinner involved boiled eggs, I did insist on hovering at the kitchen door while she was spooning the eggs out). Apart from me figuring out she was boiling eggs, the rest of the meals were a mystery until they were served. Kara also pretended she was waitressing at a fancy restaurant, where the head chef then let her cook the meals because her family were coming to the restaurant.
So what did we have the entire day?
Breakfast - wetabix (English cereal), granola & blueberries. Easy, sure, but she did remember to add ground flax to mine and not spill the milk. And mine was served in bed.
Lunch - for the girls she made a platter of cheese, pita & humus, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and left over pasta; and for me she made a cheese & spinach quesadilla (microwave version). Kara added dollops of blue cheese and it REALLY tasted good.
Dinner - boiled eggs (perfectly cooked to everyone's runniness liking ... she had taken them out at 7 mins for me, 8 for her and 10 for Soph), diced cucumber/chickpea/tomato salad, chopped carrots on the side ... then ice-cream with strawberry sauce and sprinkles (I had made the sauce previously, but she got it from the freezer and heated it up. I had forgotten I had it in there).
It was odd being banned from the kitchen for a day. Odd, but so so nice!
Then Kara decided to write their own recipe book with the recipes they could make with little help from me. Step by step instructions. Very cute.
Kara just had to try out her new book and insisted on preparing ALL the meals today, completely by herself - yep, I was banned from the kitchen (although when I realized dinner involved boiled eggs, I did insist on hovering at the kitchen door while she was spooning the eggs out). Apart from me figuring out she was boiling eggs, the rest of the meals were a mystery until they were served. Kara also pretended she was waitressing at a fancy restaurant, where the head chef then let her cook the meals because her family were coming to the restaurant.
So what did we have the entire day?
Breakfast - wetabix (English cereal), granola & blueberries. Easy, sure, but she did remember to add ground flax to mine and not spill the milk. And mine was served in bed.
Lunch - for the girls she made a platter of cheese, pita & humus, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and left over pasta; and for me she made a cheese & spinach quesadilla (microwave version). Kara added dollops of blue cheese and it REALLY tasted good.
Dinner - boiled eggs (perfectly cooked to everyone's runniness liking ... she had taken them out at 7 mins for me, 8 for her and 10 for Soph), diced cucumber/chickpea/tomato salad, chopped carrots on the side ... then ice-cream with strawberry sauce and sprinkles (I had made the sauce previously, but she got it from the freezer and heated it up. I had forgotten I had it in there).
It was odd being banned from the kitchen for a day. Odd, but so so nice!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Sophie's teeth
Another update from last year ... in you recall, Sophie lost 4 teeth last Sept in an accident and there is still no sign of her adult teeth coming down. In fact she still hasn't lost any other teeth (naturally!) either. Kara had lost at least 6 or 7 by this age.
We are all so used to Sophie without her top front teeth that it will be odd seeing her eventually with them. But more than anything I am wanting to know whether her speech will differ when her teeth come through. Since she hasn't any teeth for her tongue to push against, she does have trouble pronouncing a lot of words.
Sophie so desperately wants to lose a tooth naturally ... one of her bottom teeth started wiggling loose 3 months ago and she was so excited. But the darn thing is still in there and even appears to be settling back in again! She still has her 3 month old note to the tooth fairy ... waiting, just waiting ...
We are all so used to Sophie without her top front teeth that it will be odd seeing her eventually with them. But more than anything I am wanting to know whether her speech will differ when her teeth come through. Since she hasn't any teeth for her tongue to push against, she does have trouble pronouncing a lot of words.
Sophie so desperately wants to lose a tooth naturally ... one of her bottom teeth started wiggling loose 3 months ago and she was so excited. But the darn thing is still in there and even appears to be settling back in again! She still has her 3 month old note to the tooth fairy ... waiting, just waiting ...
Friday, November 8, 2013
The power of written words
Thumbing through posts from last year and I thought I'd give a few updates ... starting with my cravings for Ramen noodles.
Since putting those words on paper/blog, it would be another 10 and a half months before I would cave in and have my fix of 2 packets of oriental Ramen noodles and a half pound of cheese (only a slight exaggeration). The thought of eating this in the months leading up to my big race in Aug ... well, I decided I just couldn't do it to my system, that somehow it would sabotage all the good I was doing. So it wasn't until mid Sept that I next had them.
And I haven't had them since either (although I did hesitate at the store today). Not because I suddenly realized how unsatisfying they were (they still tasted good and homey to me!) but I guess the habit had passed.
Maybe I should now write about my habit of cutting off huge hunks of cheddar cheese as a snack (I'm talking big), in order to kick this habit too ...
Since putting those words on paper/blog, it would be another 10 and a half months before I would cave in and have my fix of 2 packets of oriental Ramen noodles and a half pound of cheese (only a slight exaggeration). The thought of eating this in the months leading up to my big race in Aug ... well, I decided I just couldn't do it to my system, that somehow it would sabotage all the good I was doing. So it wasn't until mid Sept that I next had them.
And I haven't had them since either (although I did hesitate at the store today). Not because I suddenly realized how unsatisfying they were (they still tasted good and homey to me!) but I guess the habit had passed.
Maybe I should now write about my habit of cutting off huge hunks of cheddar cheese as a snack (I'm talking big), in order to kick this habit too ...
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Rain, rain, go away
November is historically the start of the crappy weather here ... where we don't see the sun again until well into next year. Sure, there's a ton of snow in the mountains which is great for skiing and the like and sure, it's doesn't really ever bucket down with rain or get super cold ... but I am a sun lover.
We've had rain here and there, but then November came and boom, like clockwork, the rain is here to stay.
Blah!
Although nothing could be as bad as the first year I arrived in Seattle, 15 years ago. It rained for 92 days straight. That's right, 92 days. You wouldn't think that was even possible and thankfully it hasn't happened again since.
Funnily enough, the kids don't ever seem to notice. Should have seen one of Sophie's recent soccer games where it was actually bucketing down.
I still say blah!
We've had rain here and there, but then November came and boom, like clockwork, the rain is here to stay.
Blah!
Although nothing could be as bad as the first year I arrived in Seattle, 15 years ago. It rained for 92 days straight. That's right, 92 days. You wouldn't think that was even possible and thankfully it hasn't happened again since.
Funnily enough, the kids don't ever seem to notice. Should have seen one of Sophie's recent soccer games where it was actually bucketing down.
I still say blah!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Ellen ... this one is for you!
Ellen,
I've thought of you so often this week. Can you believe this? I am about to become a girl scout troop leader! (OK, a "Daisy" troop leader to be exact, but we'll work up to girl scouts soon enough). I'm not exactly sure when or from where this urge arose but it's real and it's happening.
I vaguely remember doing Brownies for a year or two but don't recall many details. Sophie expressed interest a while back in girl scouts, not that she really knew anything about it. So I registered her and waited to be informed that enough other girls of her age were interested.
I really wanted this for Sophie as I felt she needed something to call her own. She does soccer ... but mainly because Kara joined a soccer team first. She's in a running club at school ... but mainly because I am a volunteer, and Kara does it too. She does art class ... with Kara. Ditto with basketball (which she doesn't really like anyway because "the ball is bigger than my head").
And because Kara is the squeaky wheel, so to speak, she gets a lot of attention. It was time I found something special for Soph. I started reading up on girl scouts and began to realize how cool this would be for Sophie. Awesome in fact. I had no idea of what it all meant! Then I thought heck, why not actually be a co-leader for Sophie's troop - I could just envision her face when I told her!
So tonight I met with my co-leaders (there will be 3 of us) and next week I start my training. One of the co-leaders was like me and had done Brownies for about a year, but that was the extent of her knowledge. But oh my, the other lady had done the whole thing, including being a camp counselor when she finished school. She explained what it meant to her and how it had shaped her and her own beliefs. She is who she is today because of her experience. And she has been waiting for her daughter to be old enough to start her own troop and begin the experience all over again.
Listening to her, I finally got it, what girl scouts is all about. Sold!
Oh the things we have planned already (planned loosely ... as I know it will be the girls who work out the details). I gotta say that I am damn excited about this. We have a framework of what we want for this troop and it's amazing. I have to say that the Northwest will be an amazing setting for this too.
And Sophie's face tonight when I started telling her some activities that she will be doing with her new troop ... well, I'm bottling up that moment forever.
Fiona xx
PS: Of course I will HAVE to do this for Kara too (not co-lead her troop, but find a troop for her). But she understands that I am organizing this for Sophie first, that it was important for Soph to have something separate.
I've thought of you so often this week. Can you believe this? I am about to become a girl scout troop leader! (OK, a "Daisy" troop leader to be exact, but we'll work up to girl scouts soon enough). I'm not exactly sure when or from where this urge arose but it's real and it's happening.
I vaguely remember doing Brownies for a year or two but don't recall many details. Sophie expressed interest a while back in girl scouts, not that she really knew anything about it. So I registered her and waited to be informed that enough other girls of her age were interested.
I really wanted this for Sophie as I felt she needed something to call her own. She does soccer ... but mainly because Kara joined a soccer team first. She's in a running club at school ... but mainly because I am a volunteer, and Kara does it too. She does art class ... with Kara. Ditto with basketball (which she doesn't really like anyway because "the ball is bigger than my head").
And because Kara is the squeaky wheel, so to speak, she gets a lot of attention. It was time I found something special for Soph. I started reading up on girl scouts and began to realize how cool this would be for Sophie. Awesome in fact. I had no idea of what it all meant! Then I thought heck, why not actually be a co-leader for Sophie's troop - I could just envision her face when I told her!
So tonight I met with my co-leaders (there will be 3 of us) and next week I start my training. One of the co-leaders was like me and had done Brownies for about a year, but that was the extent of her knowledge. But oh my, the other lady had done the whole thing, including being a camp counselor when she finished school. She explained what it meant to her and how it had shaped her and her own beliefs. She is who she is today because of her experience. And she has been waiting for her daughter to be old enough to start her own troop and begin the experience all over again.
Listening to her, I finally got it, what girl scouts is all about. Sold!
Oh the things we have planned already (planned loosely ... as I know it will be the girls who work out the details). I gotta say that I am damn excited about this. We have a framework of what we want for this troop and it's amazing. I have to say that the Northwest will be an amazing setting for this too.
And Sophie's face tonight when I started telling her some activities that she will be doing with her new troop ... well, I'm bottling up that moment forever.
Fiona xx
PS: Of course I will HAVE to do this for Kara too (not co-lead her troop, but find a troop for her). But she understands that I am organizing this for Sophie first, that it was important for Soph to have something separate.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Nov 5
Today is the birthday of a close friend and colleague who passed away suddenly last year. He had only be married 3 months to another good friend and colleague.
I think of him fondly and often and I hope to always do so.
A Bloody Mary will be raised in your honor tonight Jason - Happy Birthday!
I think of him fondly and often and I hope to always do so.
A Bloody Mary will be raised in your honor tonight Jason - Happy Birthday!
Monday, November 4, 2013
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