Turkey Time

As tempted as I was to start talking Christmas once we put the Halloween decorations away, this year, I am determined to not let Thanksgiving be overshadowed.  It really is an important holiday and I would like to teach Amelia about "thankfulness" early on.

Easier said than done.  We sat down to make a Thankful Turkey and talk about things we are thankful for.  She obviously did not understand what I was talking about, so I tried a different approach.  I asked her what things make her happy and we also talked about the best part of her day in an effort to come up with something more concrete.  I didn't get much, but the two things she mentioned were Truman (our dog) and Daddy.  Ouch.  I added that I was thankful for our health (since we've all been sick in the past month and we are currently all well). 

Making the turkey was the fun part.  After a recent visit from my PAT educator, I realized the importance of allowing Amelia to tear things--something I usually avoid letting her do at all costs!  We tore up brown paper for the body, added a face with googly eyes, and some scrawny turkey legs.  I cut out lots of extra feathers so that we can add more things we are thankful for daily.  Since the pictures were taken, Amelia's added "books" and her friends "Nate and Grace" who had us over for a great playdate on Friday.  I added "Amelia" for obvious reasons and also "grandparents" since they treated us to a child-free night on Saturday so that Jason and I could go to dinner and a movie.  True, we ended up deciding to rent a movie instead of seeing one at the theatre so that we could come home and build a fire.  But, Amelia spent the night with grandma and papa so we got to sleep in and get some things done around the house before she rejoined us mid-morning.

I'm on the lookout for some more Thanksgiving projects before its time to dive into Christmas.  I'll be sure to post of picture of our fully feathered Thankful Turkey!

Just a Few More Words....

I don't want to go into too much detail, as I like to keep this blog light, but suffice it to say that Tuesday's election results made me feel extremely joyful and proud of our country.  I will spare you a never-ending blog entry on this topic (that's what my journal is for), I have only a few observations to make on the topic and then I think I will return the blog to its non-partisan self--at least for the next 8 years or so.

1.  This is the third election that I have been able to vote in and it was great to finally vote for the winning candidate!

2. Its a little scary having your candidate win because if you are unhappy with what he does, you have no one to blame but yourself (I do not think this will happen, however).

3.  It was an incredible to vote in such a historic election.  I have fantasies of telling my grandchildren down the road about it.

4. I thought McCain's concession speech was well thought out and it seemed genuine.  

5.  I also enjoyed Obama's acceptance speech, although it brought me great sadness when I learned the next day that he gave it behind bullet proof glass. I also learned that he called off a fireworks display his aides had planned and wanted to keep things simple instead of gloating about his victory.

6.  I looked up Obama's polling place and my old polling place when we lived in Chicago to see if they were the same.  They were not, but they were only 2 blocks apart.  I wonder if his entourage drove by our old apartment on the way there.

7.  I missed living in Chicago briefly when I saw the celebration at Grant Park.  Although, the more I thought about it, I was pretty sure there is no way we would have drug Amelia down to the craziness that was his victory party.

8.  Unlike myself, Amelia will get to vote when she is 18 because she will become of age shortly before the 2024 election.  I missed the 1996 cut off by 2 months and wasn't able to vote until I was almost 22. I guess 2006 was a great year to have a child (given that the child was born before November).

9.  The talk of moving to Canada/Europe/Antarctica that I did when Bush was elected (and re-elected) probably sounded just as ridiculous as it does today.

10.  To borrow a quote from an incredible man who made a great speech on Tuesday, "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer".

Sound Safari

Within minutes of getting home from work on Tuesday, Amelia had earned herself a timeout.  It had been a long day for me and she decided not to nap while visiting her great-grandparents that day.  We desperately needed a new activity to try quick!  I thought this idea sounded fun and since the forecast looked like Tuesday was going to be one of the last nice days, we decided to get out and give it a try.

I copied the chart from THIS BLOG almost exactly changing out a few sounds that I thought were unlikely for us to encounter on our walk with ones I was almost sure we'd hear. Much like she did, I also started out the walk by closing the garage door, which worked like a charm to get Amelia interested in the game.

She loved being able to mark off the sounds she heard by putting a star sticker in the box next to it.  Surprisingly, we heard nearly every sound on the chart (although some of the stickers fell off during our walk).  I think next time I will add lawn mower since 3 different neighbors were also taking advantage of the nice weather by cutting the grass.

We took a fairly long walk (I wanted to waste enough time so that Daddy would be home to help me corral this crabby toddler) and Amelia became disinterested after about 15 minutes.  This was probably because she heard nearly all of the sounds so quickly at the beginning of our walk.  Just as we were arriving back home, she heard another dog bark and wanted to add a second star to the "dog" box.  

I posted the chart on the refrigerator when we got home and she has already asked to play that "game" again.  I think it would be really fun to do a "Sight Safari" too, sort of like an outside "I Spy"!

"Wine" About the Other Guy

Finally. Election Day.

I have been looking forward to this day for, I don't know, the last 8 years or so.  But, I have a busy night of election returns to watch and just wanted to (quickly) share some pictures from our election party on Saturday.

In an effort to keep it light, we thought we would combine politics with wine-tasting hoping to keep the passionate political conversations in check. Similar to the 2004 version of this party, we titled it a "Wine About the Other Guy" party.

Given the already hectic schedule of the weekend, I didn't get a chance to do all of the politically-themed activities I had envisioned, but I did have time to come up with a few.

John McCain greeted people at the door.

Sarah Palin welcomes guests at the kitchen window.

When everyone arrived, they received a ballot and upon filling it in and returning it to the official ballot box, they received an "I Voted" sticker.  The votes were counted after everyone had a chance to participate and Barack Obama won by a landslide.  (Interestingly enough, Hillary and "John" Obama also received a tally mark).

Both candidates platforms were posted for friends and family to do some last minute cramming prior to Tuesday.

Fun facts were posted around the house about both Obama and McCain (like because Barack Obama worked at Baskin Robbins as a teen, he no longer likes ice cream and while in law school at Harvard he applied to be in a black pin-up calendar and was immediately refused).

We also played "Pin the Glasses on Sarah Palin" in which many party goers were taunted by my (somewhat intoxicated) self to play.  (Sorry about that everyone!).

There was tons of great food and drinks, some of which were election themed.  One friend even made Obama's "change" logo out of a circle pan of brownies and mini red and blue m&m's.  I failed to snag many pictures once people started to arrive, but I did get one of the super cute cookies that another friend brought (picture is at the top of this entry).  There was also star-shaped cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels with patriotic sprinkles, and even apple pie!  In addition to the great food, many people decided to support their candidate by wearing shirts and pins (including Amelia and I).  

I am sure I would get some slack if I didn't mention the fact that my own two-year old daughter outlasted me at the party.  Apparently no dinner + a few glasses of wine = a whole lot of trouble by 10:30 pm (and all the way through 5:30 the next evening).

Let's just say it was a fun party, or so I've been told....  

Halloween Extravaganza '08

I would have appreciated an entire week to celebrate Halloween this year--or at least an entire weekend, given all we tried to do to celebrate the holiday in one day.

Jason took the day off work and after we were all up and dressed, we headed over to Amelia's great grandparent's house as they were eager to see her in costume. It was a tad chilly, so she had the full ensemble at this point including turtleneck and tights. She scored an entire box of Belle fruit snacks and a ziploc bag filled with all kind of premium candy.

We goofed around inside for awhile checking out all of great grandma's Halloween decorations before deciding it was time to head outdoors and hunt around for some more.

Amelia was bribed with a treat to stand so still for this picture with everything on. In fact, this was the only time all day she actually wore the crown (which was fine with me since Belle doesn't actually have a crown in the movie and I'm about authenticity).

After lunch at every toddlers favorite spot, we headed home to rest. Unfortunately, Amelia was the only one who chose NOT to use that time to nap. At 2:30, we dressed again and headed down to Main Street in St. Charles to trick-or-treat along the stores. By this time, it was 75 degrees so we ditched the turtleneck and tights. Unfortunately, I didn't really have any other shoes for her to wear, so we had to make do with her sparkly tennies. (So much for authenticity).

We met up with Amelia's friend, Natalie and her two cousins. The girls were so cute holding hands walking down the street! It wasn't too crowded at the beginning, but as time went on it became nearly impossible to move on the sidewalk. We had quite the entourage as Amelia's godmother, Michelle, GG, Grandma, and Great-Grandma met us to join in on the fun.

After a meltdown or three, we decided it was time to head home.

Did I mention that I was the only family member who followed through on their assigned costume? Perhaps you remember me saying that when Amelia decided she was going to be Belle, she also decided to give roles to myself, Jason, her Uncle Dave, GG, and Truman. I started to feel a little guilty about it since she was so excited, that in my spare time last week (ha!), I concocted a Chip costume (it doesn't get sexier than that!).

As you can see, it looks much cuter on Amelia than it did on me. (She loved trying it on). I was pleasantly surprised, though, at how many people knew what I was supposed to be. Several people thought I was Mrs. Potts--which was close enough for me!

GG, Papa, and Grandma joined us back at the house for dinner. We normally make a big batch of chili every Halloween, but since it was 75 degrees, we opted for Italian Beef sandwiches instead and some scary cookies. Jason made Amelia a special "mummy dog" that I had seen in a magazine. She had about half of it finished, when she the first trick-or-treaters rang the doorbell.

At that point, Amelia got dressed for the third time in her Belle costume and Jason, Grandma, and I decided to take her out trick-or-treating while GG and Papa handed out candy. It was so warm that Amelia didn't have to wear her turtleneck or tights! She was none too thrilled at first saying it was "too scary", but soon after seeing other kids on the street, she quickly caught on and could be heard saying, "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" all the way down the driveway. On occasion, she would throw in a "not me, no sir". What? You don't know that line? It isa line from Beauty and the Beast, of course. Belle says it ONE TIME when she is singing about not wanting to marry Gaston and for whatever reason, Amelia says that when she wants people to know she is Belle--silly girl! I should really try to get that on tape because its pretty funny!

After visiting the neighbors, Amelia requested "me go more houses", so we ended up visiting about 15 more before calling it a night. She had tons of candy from her two trick-or-treating adventures, including two giant pixie sticks and some play doh.

Once we were home, Amelia stayed up for a bit and handed out candy before crashing around 8:30. It was really a fun filled day!

On an interesting note, Halloween will be quite different for her next year. Amelia's godmother, Michelle, has chosen Halloween 2009 as her wedding date and since Amelia is the flower girl, there may not be a lot of time for trick-or-treating! I am trying to talk Michelle into letting Amelia wear a witch costume while going down the aisle so we can immediately head to Main Street post ceremony! Needless to say, we are still in negotiating all of the details.

Third time's a charm

You may remember my ramblings a few months ago about the lovely pillowcase dresses my mom has been making for Amelia and my desire to make one myself.  Back in July when I was discussing this, I thought a Halloween version of this beloved dress was a safe bet.  

I bought the fabric in late August giving me 2 full months to complete said dress.  Little did I know that in the meantime, Amelia would decide on being Belle for Halloween and my mom and I would come up with the brilliant idea to make the costume ourselves.  Needless to say, the pillowcase dress was put on the back burner in favor of finishing Miss Amelia's Halloween attire.

Late one night, after working on the costume for several hours, my mom convinced me into starting the pillowcase dress as well.  It was basically my last chance since Halloween was quickly approaching.  Much to my surprise, I finished the majority of the dress in about an hour and a half.  This, of course, includes the two parts I had to tear out and redo.  

While my mom put the finishing touches on the costume, she also added the ribbon straps and the ric rac along the bottom of the pillow case dress.  And, despite only having poor pictures of the dress due to a toddler that refused to slow down so her mom could snap a picture, it is the cutest pillow case dress yet!  Of course, I could be biased since I actually made the majority of it!

(As a side note to Carrie:  I feel terrible that we didn't get together to make these dresses.  The decision was made late one night to start the dress and one night is really all it took.  Shall we plan to try out a winter/Christmas one?) 

Carve, Baby, Carve

Jason and I spent lots of time and effort figuring out which night we would be able to carve our pumpkins as a family since we missed our opportunity over the weekend, given our drugged up state around here. Between a business dinner, volunteer meeting, and softball game, things were a little tight last week. We both wanted to be home to carve them with Amelia since we were so sure she was going to love it.

Yeah, not so much.

We decided Wednesday was our best bet, so Jason came home from work a little early and I made a quick dinner. Because I had a meeting that night at 7 pm, we ate quickly and got right to work.

Amelia LOVED the washing part.

Then, she used the spoon once to get the seeds out.

After that, she was done and off reading a book while Jason and I finished up gutting the pumpkins. She rejoined us when it was time to carve the face and told us what kind of eyes, nose, and mouth we should make. She also helped Jason pick out a shape to carve on his pumpkin. She picked a ghost, but was sure to tell us it was a "happy" ghost, not a scary one.

Interestingly, Amelia was pretty ho-hum about the whole experience. The peak for her was definitely the washing part!

Finger Lickin' Good

Another Halloween favorite of mine! These fingers are fun and actually taste good too! Of course, they are certainly not good for you. I guess two out of three ain't bad.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

green food coloring

red decorating gel

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease baking sheet.

Beat together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Slowly beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Add green food coloring to dough until deep green.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Cover and refrigerate 30 mins. Remove from the refrigerator and work with only one portion of dough at a time.

Break off one heading teaspoonful and roll into finger shape. Squeeze in around the middle of the finger to create knuckle shape. Then, using butter knife, make indents in several places to resemble a finger. Repeat with rest of dough.

Place cookies on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 mins. Loosen and let cool on baking sheet.

Squeeze red decorating gel onto tip of each finger and gently press almond sliver on top so gel oozes out from underneath. Let set.

Someone's Watching Me!

I swear I do more "baking" at Halloween time than at Christmas time. I use the word baking quite loosely, since two of the three cookies I made for Halloween this year are more assembling and less baking (actually, no baking at all).

I love these eyeball cookies! I've made them every Halloween since Amelia was born (that makes 3!). They are always a hit around here and it's tradition to take a picture with the cookies covering her eyes (which I will have to post later since I haven't actually let her have any of the cookies yet).

I realize it is probably a little late to make for this year, but I am going to post the recipe anyway. If nothing else, it will keep me from having to search through all of my recipes next year to find the one I need to make these (a task that takes a minimum of 20 minutes), I can just click on the ol' blog instead.

Scary Eyeball Cookies:

about 3 oz. of vanilla almond bark

50 Nilla wafers

50 chocolate chips

blue food coloring

red food coloring

toothpick

Melt 2 oz. of the almond bark in microwave for 90 seconds followed by 15 second intervals until it is completely melted and free of lumps. Dip each wafer into almond bark (I just covered the top) and set aside on waxed paper or a plate.

Melt remaining ounce of almond bark following above directions. When fully melted, tint with blue food coloring. Put into ziploc bag and snip off a tiny corner. Put a small blue dot in the center of the wafer (pupil). After the blue has cooled, but before it has hardened completely, place one chocolate chip into the center of the blue dot.

Lastly, put a few drops of red food coloring into a bowl. Dip a toothpick into the food coloring and draw "veins" onto the eyeballs. You will have to re-dip the toothpick several times.

Yields approximately 50 cookies.

It's the Little Things..

For nearly an entire summer while home from college one year, I lived with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.  My parents had decided to build a house and were prepared to wait awhile for their old house to sell.  However, two days after putting it on the market, the house had two offers and my parents (and myself!) were homeless.  They moved in with a single friend of theirs that had a spare bedroom and I was shuffled off to live with my extended family.

Aside from having my own phone line (my bedroom was in the office that they used on occasion to work from home), the thing I remember most about my time living with them is something that happened each night at the dinner table.  Not only would they all sit down together to a home cooked meal each night, but during the meal, each member of the family would go around the table and talk about the best thing that happened that day.  Since I often joined them for dinner, I would participate too.  It was a great exercise to force me to stop and think about my day (regardless of my current mood) and find something good that happened.  Some days it was easy and I wanted to mention two or three things.  But, some days it was very, very hard and my "thing" might be, "the soda machine gave me an extra quarter back".  

Since we've been taking it super easy this week (in the hopes of recovering by Halloween), I have been able to sit back and absorb all of the wonderful things going on in my life.  We've slowed down quite a bit and because most of my time with Amelia has been spent playing on the floor and reading ridiculous amounts of books, I've noticed some very interesting things coming from Amelia's mouth.  

Case in point:

(While trying on one of the way too many pairs of winter boots Amelia owns):

Me: Are those too tight?

A: No

Me: Are they too loose?

A: No, me like them.

Me: Can you walk in them okay?

A: Yes, Mommy!  They are just fine!

(While doctoring "sick" GG--one of Amelia's favorite pastimes):

A: GG very sick. Me take temperature.  GG have fever.

GG:  Do I need to go to the doctor?

A:  No, that not necessary.

(While playing with Amelia's farm animals, a goat comes trotting very quickly in my direction):

Me:  AHHHH, please don't get me goat!  Slow down!

A: Its only pretend, mommy.  This goat no hurt you.  Just pretend.

Me: Oh, okay.

A:  See mommy?  This goat be nice to you. 

(At this point the goat is stroking my face and hair very gently and this is gives me a "smoocher").

But, my "best thing that happened today" for Monday occured when Amelia was drawing on the counter near where I was preparing dinner.  She was on her third sheet of paper and chatting away about all of the things she was drawing.  A long squiggly line was a snake.  A jagged line with a few loops was her name, then my name, then "dad's name", then Truman's name.  Then, I said, why don't you draw the Winking Guy.  

(Note: this is the term we use to refer to a smiley face of any sort.  Mostly, this term came from the gigantic "winking guy" that is painted on a shed near our house---Zumbehl and highway 94 for you locals--that Amelia loves to point out each time we drive by.  The "winking guy" phenomenon has also been intensified during our Costco visits.  Amelia is always in charge of the receipt that gets checked at the door and without fail, every time the receipt checker draws a smiley face before handing it back to her).

So anyway, I turned my back for a few minutes to start sauteing some vegetables and next thing I know, Amelia is squealing with delight over her creation.  When, I turned around, this is what I saw:

"winking guy" through the eyes of Amelia Ward

It may not look like much to you, but I was so proud of my little girl and she was awfully proud of herself too! She pointed out his hair and he even has teeth (located about 1/2 inch under his chin).

Oh yes, life is good.