Category Archives: Family

Blueberries + smartwool + family = bliss

My sis and her new hubby journeyed from afar for Christmas.  They couldn’t stay long so we celebrated Christmas Eve last night (stockings) and Christmas this morning.  My sweet hubby planted a Sigg bottle  and TWO pairs of smartwool socks in my stocking.  Norah received playsilks and fruit leather but spent the entire evening brushing her teeth with her new electric toothbrush.  What can I say?  She believes in good oral hygiene. 

 christmas-021.jpg

This morning, we gathered in mom‘s kitchen at 7am.  Zach made blueberry muffins, mom made a pumpkin cheesecake roll, and I broiled grapefruits with sugared grapes, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  And of course, we had gallons of blueberry coffee.  Norah received a Furnis Spielwelt doll and more college funds from Grammy/Papa (Yay!).  Noelle and Zach gave her an adorable enamel tea set in a picnic basket.  She immediately hosted a tea party.  The family buried me in books including Sex God, Simply Christian, Spiritual Midwifery, Children at Play, Last Child in the Woods, and Seven Times the Sun.  Scott and I were most excited to receive three windows for our dining room!  Yippee-skippee!  Norah received much more (you know–that first grandchild thing and all) but there is too much to mention–like the play kitchen and giant giraffe tent.  Suffice it to say that the toothbrush is still Norah’s favorite.  Go figure.

It was a beautiful day relaxing with family, cleaning house, and staying far, far away from anything resembling a store!  I even ended it by eating fresh blueberries.  Ahhhh.

Cider and Scrooges

Yesterday was D-Day–our semi-annual “Daddy Day.”  In celebration of Scott’s birthday, we spent a beautiful Friday doing “Christmasy” things.  We started the day with my death-by-chocolate muffins.  Then we loaded up for a sojourn to NC to cut a tree.  I received the wife-of-the-year award for planting Scott’s birthday present in his truck–a TomTom already programmed with the address of the Christmas tree farm.  We ate at a sketchy sub shop in Cashiers where the strange and somewhat offensive owner gave Norah an ice cream cone.  So that was nice, I guess.  Then we wandered up to Highlands to buy a Christmas ornament–a ritual since high school.  We selected a woodsy acorn made out of leaves to honor our Leaf.  And we grabbed two wooden sea kayak ornaments.  We found our way home on a winding unpaved road (which impressively was recognized by the GPS) and commenced tree-decorating.  Scott and I have had some tense moments in our marriage decorating the tree.  Scott is a decorator at heart and I’m…well…more of a sloppy slinger of ornaments.  One year, I even tearfully boycotted the tree altogether.  Maybe it was the hot apple cider, but we found a sort of symbiosis (granted Scott may have rearranged the deco after I went to bed).  We ended the day curled on the couch with “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  Ahhh. 

new-030.jpg

Meanwhile, I found new information on Burger King’s scrooginess in my inbox today.  If you have two minutes to complete a form letter to send to the scroogy CEO’s…please check it out.

The purpose of this blog–wow, why am I doing this?  I suppose it is because I have benefitted from other mom’s blogs.  They have graciously given me a glimpse into their homes and lives; assuring me that it is normal for a baby not to sleep through the night, that it is ok to sometimes still wear your pj’s at 3pm, and that it is a good sign that your toddler “nurses” inanimate objects–she will be a great nurturer one day. 

So, here goes…I’m offering a gift in kind–a peak into our life in all its fantastic energy.  We are a work in progress.