Birthday Eve

Annabelle :: Today is the very last day that I am four!

Me :: That's true!

Annabelle :: Tomorrow is my birthday!

Me :: Yes!

Annabelle :: Guess how old I'll be?

(pause)

Annabelle :: (whispering) Don't say five, say another number!

Growing

There is this spot in the garden bed in front of my apartment that bothers me. I look at it every day with antipathy. It is dry. And cracked. And dead looking. I try to look the other way when I leave the house in the morning.

But it is finally Spring! And today I was ready to tackle a project...

First we stopped at a nursery on the way home from Annabelle's party.


Then I walked around shopping plants while Dave pushed the girls on the cart.


Here is the front of our house. Do you see the spot I'm talking about?


Have a closer look.


This should help! Then it dawned on me :: I don't have a hose.


Off to the store!


Isn't that adorable? She loves it and so do I!


Soil turned, amendment applied, ground watered, plants watered. Everything is ready for planting tomorrow!

The party

Today we celebrated Annabelle's upcoming fifth birthday with a bonafide party. Lots of children, lots of parents, lots of food, lots of fun!


Though she looks tired, you can see she's got her dad's eyes.


I can imagine requests for riding a bigger horse are eminent...


Complete with old time country music playing over the loudspeakers.


I found a very yummy grain-free, dairy-free cake. The best I've tasted. Dinosaurs by request!


Papa Frank had lots of hugs and smiles to share.


I thought two hours of unlimited pony rides would wear thin. But the children kept lining up over and over and over again. The bounce house couldn't compete and was a very distant second...


Annabelle is part bugling, didn't you know? (Dave and I are smiling, but we both know how tired we look... none of us slept well last night. Not sure if it was the anticipation or something else.)


Oma came ready to ride a pony too!


Vegetable sushi, pineapple, grapes, and mango rounded out the snack table.


This woman is my hero. AND she's super nice. AND she has a great sense of humor! She rolled twenty sushi rolls for the party, "Just because." She and I took a bunch of picture of each other just so we could laugh at ourselves... here she is laughing at how bad the previous picture was that I took of her.


The mango and the lemon meringues were favorites.


Unlimited train rides were a hit too.


I couldn't resist that tail!

Spring Rolls - the last Spring Break cooking adventure

**photos 2, 3, 4, 5 taken by Annabelle!!

Being a mom can feel so complicated sometimes

The tides of people in my life having babies are swelling a little bit and so baby memories and baby thoughts are coming up. I went perusing my catalog of baby pictures and found these to share...

17 days old... so, so small!

four months old... tired daddy, tired baby

four months...

five months...

And then one day it dawns on you that she's not like that any more. It really does feel very sudden, almost shocking. You wonder how it happened. Hopefully it will not happen to you at a flea market in San Jose.

I told her I would not buy her this thing she is loving in the picture and she pouted at me for a while. But look at the joy in that smile! And the stupid thing was only a dollar. Somehow I think if I had bought it I would have that smile longer, or impossibly make the joy even stronger. But I know it's a lie.

She is a jewel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edited to add :: Because it is time together that brings that joy, not having more toys. And there is nothing like turning over the dinosaur and realizing you know where the matching card is!

Another culinary experiment

In a few days my Spring Break will be over and my daily inspirations, fun field trips, and regular blog posts will all come to an end. But for now, I'll just pretend this is how it usually is :: lots of time, lots of sleep, a clean house, and good weather. I have even had moments when I actually forgot I was a teacher in my usual waking life... amazing to see how easy it has been to slip back into my SAHM mode.

Over the last couple months I have enjoyed having Tom Kha Gai, a popular Thai soup, at a variety of restaurants. I woke up this morning feeling inspired to try to make it myself.

Many of the ingredients are new to me - lemongrass, serrano chilies, galangal, fish sauce, straw mushrooms, coconut milk.

This is galangal, the primary flavor of Tom Kha Gai soup. Along with the lime juice added right before serving, it gives the soup that punch that makes everyone say, "Wow! Yum!"

This looks like a picture of the soup. But it is actually a picture of my PortMeirion soup tureen. This Tureen was given to me as a wedding present eight years ago and this is the first time I've used it. Reason enough to get up this morning and make this soup!

Of course, it was fun to go shopping for the ingredients, exploring a new part of town and trying out new markets. But in the end, I was too hungry to be taking on a new recipe that was pretty involved and also try to incorporate Annabelle into the cooking event. The galangal and lemongrass were impossible for her to chop, the chilies were too spicy, and so on. Sometimes Annabelle shocks me with her view of things...


Me :: I'm sorry for being grumpy. Sometimes when I cook I don't want to play, I just want to get it done.

(pause)

Me :: I don't want you to think I don't like to cook, because I do!

Annabelle :: Yes, I understand. My Self says, "I don't like to cook either."

Me :: Really?

Annabelle :: Yes. "But oh well!" says my body. And then it makes me do it anyway.

I think I was still dazed from thinking about how deep those words were as I got her in the shower, dressed for bed, and teeth brushed. Then we climbed into bed so I could sing her little bedtime prayer to her before Dave came in to read her a story.


Me :: I had a nice time with you today.

Annabelle :: (smiling, kisses me on the forehead) Yes, I was taking care of you!

Me :: (stunned and silent while I wonder to myself if that is actually true)

Annabelle :: Tomorrow we will go to the zoo, then the museum, then the park, and then the toy store. Goodnight!

Rodin

Annabelle has been to many museums and seen many different kinds of art. But I had never seen her interact with the art like she did today :: trying the different poses of the sculptures, offering words and thoughts that they might share if they could, touching and holding them, really having an relationship with them.

Maybe it was because there were no "Do Not Touch" signs. Maybe it was because it was outside. Maybe it was because they were oversized.

Maybe it was just because it was Rodin.

It takes all that strength just to let me hold your finger.


"It's even bigger than my daddy's!"


The basket you are carrying looks heavy. Here, this will help.


Orpheus with the Gates of Hell in the background.


I feel it too, Orpheus.


Believe me, I really do know how you feel.


Contemplation.


Ah, yes, I see now...


If only I had a colonnade of my own.


"I'm so, so tired."


"No feet. No arms. No head. WHAT HAPPENED?"


We've known each other forever.