corner view: autumn

Ahhhhhh… autumn….I love this season. Always have, the cool crisp air, the comfortableness of sweaters and fleece and scarves and mittens! The savory stews and delicious breads and pumpkin-everythings! Lovey, well he’s not much of a proponant for autumn. He’s really more of a winter and summer kind of guy. To him everything is dieing. But that’s just fine. It means it’s just my job to keep us looking at  the leaves and feeling snuggley! It’s nice that the temperatures here in South Carolina range from 40 and 70 degrees; perfect for perfectly crisp play dates and park dates and nature walks and baking and stewing. I grew up in much colder weather, where by now you would be waking to a daily morning frost, happily puffing out your breath in little clouds as you crunch through the fallen leaves and…snow! Now that we’ve moved south though I expected to bemoan not getting regular seasons. I thought they would all just fade into each other. Not true! The seasons actually match up to the calendar markings! It’s fall here from mid September through December. We finish raking our leaves by Christmastime and get treated to brief snow days in January! I will say it seems after living here for 7 years that the weather is a tad more geographical than seasonal. If we want snow we drive to the mountains. If we want sun and sand we head to the coast.

Well this season I’ve been able to play with a new camera with a much better macro-focus then in previous years. And what better way to practice, than looking up to capture the last leaves rainbowing before they make their descent to our little forest floors. Just be careful under the oaks. Either those acorns have a mind of their own, or those squirrels are taking matters into their own hands. Here’s a few from last months bounty of color that I was able to capture after dear Cyrena explained a few of the logistics of operating our new camera obscura!

See the seasons of the world:

jane ianbonniejoycekimkaytrinschritvafrancescastate of bliss cabrizetteisabellejaniskarijgylisecateotlidortebsophiemcgillicuttysunnymamadaanibbpienduzzkelleynninjasammitheresacherry bjulietteshokoofehcolegrey lemonlucylainelynnskywritingannadoritconnyl´atelierkamanaanne marierosamaríavictoriatikjewitjuniperannabelandreavaleriemerel soissesmlle paradiscacahuetewander chowbarbaraemilytallynadinematildadon flowtopssusannataniadanaingridmaryhinke

Zuzuday: The surprisingly patient patient…

This update is a bit overdue! The brief surgery to remove the tube from Zuzu’s ear went swimmingly! She still had one in from when they were inserted in 10/07. We had been warned last spring that if the one in her right ear didn’t come out on its own we would be removing it this fall. Sure enough it didn’t so off we went. The stisters arrived together bright in early in true solidarity- coordinated Dora jammies.

Zuzu was a little nervous I think. I’m guessing this because she was surprisingly stoic throughout the morning until we returned home. No tears, no tantrums. Just a little girl in her Dora Jammies quietly doing what she was told. She did tell me when they returned her from the OR that she didn’t want to speak to the nurser. Yes- nurser. Not nurse. Nurser. The same word for what she was up until a few months ago. I’m not quite sure how she understands the word exactly but it makes me smile everytime she says it.

 They put in a paper patch which should help to bridge the open hole and we were told to be extra careful about not getting water in her ear for the next 6 weeks or so.

Probably the best part of the day was finding The Cat in the Hat on PBS post surgery and getting to have it along with a little apple juice.

We were warned not to take a person who has been under anesthesia out in the wind and rain and not to let her jump and run today or tomorrow. Apparantly I should have bought a leash. Oh well.

Mommaday: Mountain Momma rises again.

Did I mention we got to go to Asheville, NC over Halloween weekend? Oh, I did already? Well I’ll mention it again because I really think Asheville is one of the happiest places on earth! BC we used to go fairly regularly. We would go to see live music shows in small clubs, eat wayyyyyy too much tasty food, walk around, snuggle in cabins, eat more food, buy tasty baked goods to take home and drink too much coffee. It’s just so darn pretty and the people are just so darn nice. AC, it’s become a bit more difficult to enjoy. Our kids are really more the, take me to Chuckee-Cheese or McDonald’s playland sort of rowdy bunch then the sit quietly in the adult restaurant while Mother and Father commence to fine dining. We do bring along what we fondly refer to as the “Fog Machine” though and let them zone out to Dora and Word Girl videos while they eat whatever they can identify as the Happy Meal equivilant from the menu. Hey- it’s an indulgence for all of us I guess.

We did manage to find some happy mediums this time though. The cabins we stay in are perfect for little people because the neighbors aren’t on the other side of the wall. The laid-back attitude of most of the employees we seem to run into also helps to make things easier. That drink in the last photo….well it was concocted by my new favorite waiter at the Lexington Avenue Brewery there. Seeing that Zuzu wasn’t tickled about the selection of juices offered he kindly suggested that she could have “The Zuzu” and went on to describe a blend of juices that ended with a cherry splash creating a pink ambience! Well he didn’t describe it quite that…um.. descriptively. But he did call it The Zuzu and made a fuss over how she would be the only person in the restaurant with it.

We also found a wave of new coffee shops that weren’t there the last time we ventured up! And I’ve decided a latte is a perfect stroller fare for a park trip. Mostly because the foam keeps the hot coffee from sloshing out over the rim and onto the baby below!

It was a happy trip for the most part. The girls while excited to be there were a little less then thrilled to not be headed home to their beds each night. The Quail also decided that weekend was prime time to perfect her pulling up skills. Each night after I laid her down to sleep in her pack-n-play I would lay down next to it and then see one pudgy little hand wrangle the rim, then the next and a little wobbly head slowly rise up over the edge. Even when I tried to keep a straight face and closed eyes I couldn’t when she would then start  giggling at her triumph.

It was a quick trip, but I figure better to leave wanting to come back then to overstay your welcome. We didn’t manage to make it to a number of our favorite restaurants. But we did try a few new ones and figured out that arriving on a friday night means a good plan includes ordering take out from one of said favorite restaurants and eating it snuggled in your cabin.

Gratitude Journal

1. short flu bugs

2. Synagis

3. smiley babies bouncing back

4. less smiley momma’s trying to bounce back

5. new gap pants

6. an office

7. sick leave

8. tylenol

9. the season to bring out the flannel comforter cover

10. macro-lenses

11. a cuddley cat

12. a sweet 4 year old telling me she’s going to come closer to see my face, but not too close to get my germies

13. a hot shower

14. Lovey

15. daycare

16. a little bird climbing on up

17. bouncing feet

18. way-up-high noodles

19. little hands and heads poking up over the pack-n-play edge

20. revisiting Asheville

21. a late afternoon nap

Quailday: Ladybug-Cheetah

 

The Quail had a mid-holiday costume change as well. She went to school as a ladybug stister to her mommy’s purple flower but unfortunately an untimely accident made a need for a costume change for the rest of the weekend.

Although contrary to rampant speculation, I don’t believe she felt “cheetahed” out of a princess costume! She was a happy little itty-cat all weekend long inspite of the ban on candy in her Elmo. She’s sweet enough without it!

corner view: famous

Well, we’re not. It’s fortunate for us that this topic fell in our holiday highlights week post-Halloween! We got to spend our holiday in the presence of Snow White! As I mentioned yesterday there were a number of costume changes before arriving on this one. My fashionista could not be hemmed in by the idea of being just one thing for Halloween. As sweet as this is, it does give me some envy of all the mommies enjoying the 1/2 off post Halloween costume sales around the country planting the seed in their little’s mind for next year. It didn’t work for me a month a head, so no way would it help us out a year ahead. 

 And Snow White ran into sweet Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz…

But really folks, that’s about all we have to say about the famous folks. For more famous ideas:

jane ianbonniejoycekimkaytrinschritvafrancescastate of bliss cabrizetteisabellejaniskarijgylisecateotlidortebsophiemcgillicuttysunnymamadaanibbpienduzzkelleynninjasammitheresacherry bjulietteshokoofehcolegrey lemonlucylainelynnskywritingannadoritconnyl´atelierkamanaanne marierosamaríavictoriatikjewitjuniperannabelandreavaleriemerel soissesmlle paradiscacahuetewander chowbarbaraemilytallynadinematildadon flowtopssusannataniadanaingridmaryhinke

Zuzuday: Halloween is a fashionista’s dream…

 

Oh dear Zuzu, this holiday was made for you! Our Gal Friday went as…well everything but Girl Friday! A lovely pink fairy costume was purchased at her request last month for the big day. Then somewhere along the line she insisted that we buy her Dora’s backpack so that she could complete her Dora get-up. Unfortunately that one is yet to be photographed as she is always busy exploring when she has it on. The week before the holiday she announced she was returning to last year’s Word Girl hit. Then the day of her school party she vascilated between being a “heart-pink” ballerina and a ladybug to match her sister. When I picked her up from school I noticed  a bee costume in her cubby. The final winner was Snow White for our trip to the mountains and on the big day itself when we told her we were going trick-or-treating with Sophie she jumped up and started chanting, ” Snow White… oh, yeahhhh…oh, yeahhhhh…. Snow White…oh, yeahhhhhh….oh yeahhhh….