9 January 2014

G, over breakfast: Mama?  Maybe you can be the girl I'm going to marry.  Then it could be you and me forever and ever.  All. Alone.

H: Hey! Mama's already married!  You can't change the people you're married to.

L: That's right, Mama is married to Papa, but you may find someone special to marry when you get older.  And you can stay with us as long as you want.  We have lots of good years left before you grow up.  And I'll always love you.

G: And we can play games!

. . .

Our favorite family game right now is HedBanz.  So nice for pre-readers.  And hilarious:

L: Now, G, don't tell Henry what's on his headband.  He's trying to guess.

G: Okay.

(Two minutes later.  The excitement builds.)

H: Am I a food?

B&L: Yes

H: Am I an apple? A pear? A banana?

B&L: No, no, no.

G:  YOU'RE A CHEESE! A CHEESE! A CHEESE! (Huge, triumphant smile and maniacal laughter. Repeat, on almost every turn.)

Same idea, but way more wonderful fun than a drunken college game of Indian.

15 February 2013

On a hike at the Rye Marshlands Conservancy, with the Jay House in the background.  (Probably need to choose a less wide-open lens on these bright snowy days, but I kind of like the feel and colors anyway!)

Looking out over Long Island Sound.

17 January 2013

Saturday was a mud pie kind of day.  I'm so thankful that my kids love to play outside.  This series of photos reminds me of that Amish proverb:  "Put the swing where the children want it.  The grass will grow back."  At the rate these boys are growing, that grass will grow back all too soon.  Feeling happy these days.  Settling in to winter days.

15 December

Yesterday was a big deal if you are a Sumner kid.  First, both boys got haircuts.  This was George's first-ever cut.

Before: 

After: 

Then, we rode the train into the city to see both Papa's office and Santa, at Macy's Herald Square.

The train photos are so precious.

They were so excited about that train.  And the train after that one, and even the final train, on the way home (although one of them fell asleep, lounging across my lap, while the baby chirruped and giggled all the way back to our stop).  They also loved Papa's office.  They stood on the air return in the glass corner of his floor and exclaimed over the Christmas lights below, completely unfazed by the height.

And Santa, well let's just say that they were less happy about Santa.  H was a deer in the headlights until the end of our two minutes with the big guy, when he told what he wanted and what G wanted.  G had already been whisked off of Santa's lap and into my arms.  Too traumatic.  Here it is:

And this is officially the most mommy-bloggy post I've ever written.  Can't help myself sometimes.

Our Sandy

As the storm was gearing up, we saw white egrets walking across our lawn, hunched into their bodies against the wind.  The light was definitely hurricane light, gold but dark.  There was a bit of anxiousness on my part-- I hate it when I know something is going to happen, but not when it will happen.  In the end, the winds were fierce, but we didn't get that much rain, and the whole thing had passed by the time we woke up Tuesday morning.

We were only without power for six and a half days.  I spent much of the time looking for light: firewood, batteries, flashlights and candles, and (strangely) my iPad.  My husband spent much of his time keeping us warm, setting fires and tending them.  It's no surprise that all of my photos from that week are of different fires.

I loved sitting with my children and watching the flames, and I even mostly loved having them camp out on their mattresses in our room.  Everything felt very slow and comfortable until my husband had to go away on business and it got cold, both on the same day.  And then the kids and I skipped town, headed south to Virginia.  Of course, four hours into the five hour drive the neighbors called to say that the power had been restored.  Sigh.  I know we had it easy, compared to those who were severely affected in the city and in New Jersey.  I am grateful, and I think of those folks often.  But I will remember Sandy as a dark and quiet time with some warm points of light.

Little lamb, who made thee?

After Sandy, they postponed Halloween.  The rescheduled festivities were Sunday night, but it didn't seem like many families were participating.  Just as well, as none of us needs the extra sugar.  We took a nice Martinmas lantern walk with the children in costume instead.  They were entranced by their lanterns, and the fact that they got to carry real candles!  Ravelry notes on the lamb costume.  (The Gaydee the flying dog costume deserves a post and explanation of its own!)

"Mowing"

Working hard at the farm.

Jump!

This year's strawberries

We did our annual strawberry picking on Friday. (Last year, two years ago)  It rained, and the actual picking only took about half an hour, before the thunder.  The kids were great sports.

Since bringing the berries home, we've made strawberry kefir pancakes (which became strawberry shortcake for dessert after dinner), strawberries and whipped cream (probably my kids' favorite-ever dessert), and have of course eaten many many berries out of hand.  I've decided not to do jam this year.  My kids prefer honey over jam in most situations, so I still have strawberry jam left over from last year.

I've been reading Tamar Adler's book An Everlasting Meal  over the past couple of weeks, and it has been inspiring.  I am a good cook, but in the past I have learned recipes, for soups and sauces, for example, and then extrapolated on them, instead of cooking individual ingredients well and then combining them into good meals.  This book has inspired me to use whatever herbs I have in the crisper with whichever vegetables are also there-- to cook what's in season and to use all of it: rinds and skins, shells and bones.

And somehow her book has let me admit that while I like to think of myself as the sort of person who makes strawberry jam each year, I'm not really the kind of person whose family eats a whole batch of strawberry jam in a year.  So we're using them as they come to us, and freezing the rest for the now-daily smoothie ritual.  Can't wait for the blackberries and raspberries to come in.

Ottobre camp shirt

 H has a new shirt.  He wanted to model it with the "bonnet" he made for his preschool's spring hat parade.  This is the "Little Fella" shirt from Ottobre issue 3/2009.  It's my first fully-fashioned button-down.  I did get lazy at the end and employ my snap press instead of the buttonhole foot, but he likes to rip it open Incredible Hulk-style, so that turned out to be a win.  The fabric is tiny trees and car campers from the Beach Mod line by Birch Fabrics.

I had a little trouble with the collar, and had to guess my way through on that a little, but I think the little details, like the bias tape-covered collar seam, are ace.  I also forgot to add seam allowances when I cut this out since I've also been busy lately sewing from big four patterns for myself.  So it turned out to be slightly smaller than I'd hoped.  All in, definitely a learning experience.  He chooses it often, though, so that makes me happy.

I have cut out another button-down style for H, the "Henry" shirt from Sewing for Boys (in some nice Kokka airplanes, no less).  Maybe I'll get that one sewn together before the end of the summer.

Sunday observations

1. He's a very smiley baby ever since he learned to walk. Often I will look over my shoulder and catch his eye and he will lower his chin and smile a conspiratorial smile, like we have an inside joke that no one else will ever understand.
2. His drawings are always about a story he wants to tell, and not about the finished masterpiece (although some of them are also masterpieces, says his proud mama). Today it was a story about a little fish named Flash who lives in an underwater barn with water bugs and worms. There was lots of straw for all of the animals to eat. Oh, and it's always mixed media and collage, which I love.

Wild Wednesday

I used to write here about my foxhunting adventures, but now, with my horse gone and the two little ones, there's not any foxhunting going on. But there is still country time. Every Wednesday, we pack up and head out and spend a couple of hours meandering, rain or shine, usually along the old trails where I used to ride (and where H reminds me, we will ride again). I'd like to document some of our trips because they are just so magical.

Yesterday we walked the happy hack, and H pretended to be a "putt-a putt-a Jeep" for most of the walk up the hill. We walked through the old dairy barn and then he was a cow, interested in all the old farm equipment we passed, balers and rakes overcome with weeds and Russian olive. G alternated between sucking his thumb, leaning against me in the carrier and pointing at vultures and hawks, throwing his head back and laughing at our good fortune to be alive.

Joan, a whip from Loudoun West, came through as we were going down the back side to the creek. We heard the horn and hound voices and one hound came to visit us at the creek before heading back to the pack, which we saw waaay on the other side of the farm while we were on top of the mountain. The cows had heard the horn, too, and they all gathered around the creek just where we had to cross. This was probably G's favorite part, walking through those cows and squealing at the babies running back to the others.

When we got to the creek, H wanted to go "waiting" and so we all did, up to the tops of our boots. G wore his new rain boots and was so excited to stomp his feet around. H fell in and cried, but then the moment he was safely on the bank, he wanted to go wading again, "just a lil bit more, Mama". On the way back to the gate, H found two big feathers near the burn pile and then he was a bird, with the wind in his feathers. He told me the wind would help him fly. So sweet.

This entry is really just for me, to help me remember these days, and of course I've left out the minor squabbles that happened along the way. I may end up password protecting these entries in the future, since I doubt they're interesting to anyone but me and maybe close family. On to Thursday.