No More Pig Flu! (as Nova calls it)

   H1N1 has come and (almost) gone... from this household, anyway.  Charlotte's fever was gone this morning, and we will be free and clear to be out in public starting tomorrow.  As a result of this 5+ day confinement I have learned;

1.  We are over scheduled and it is nice to have a few days "off"

2.  More than three days in the house is enough to drive me bats.

3.  Some very nice homeschooling can happen just reading out loud on the couch (followed up by a couple of trips to our maps in the basement).

4.  Artificial dyes and preservatives (such as those found in children's Tylenol) have a pronounced (negative) affect on Nova.  (We will be starting the Feingold diet as soon as the materials arrive).  

5.  There is a blog called The Happiness Project that looks intriguing.  Actually more than that.  I'm now a follower.    

6.  There is surprisingly little information on training your very own messenger pigeon online.

7. "The Name of the Wind" is a good book--at least up to page 482, which is all the further I've gotten.

8. "Harry Potter" is just as good the second time around.  

9. Babies really sleep best while they are being held (I guess I really already knew this one, but I wanted to explain to the rest of you why I spent so much time reading and online).

10. It is good to check up on your credit cards now and then even if you aren't using them--it saved us $2,000.00 this week.

11.  Sitting outside in a sunny spot in your yard feels great! (and is not technically breaking the quarantine).  

12.  Sitting in a parked car overlooking the Mississippi river valley is also not technically exposing other people, but provides all the sensations of "getting out" a bit.

13.  I like parenthetical statements.

14.  The flu is no fun!

15. Oh, and, last of all, being sick is always worse at night.   

  

Blend and Super Blend

I was asked not to write about this so as not to "give away"  the secret recipe, but it is one of those sweet childhood things I know that I will forget about sooner rather than later if I do not write it down.  

Several months ago when Charlotte was a very new baby,  Solomon was helping out by making very many peanut butter and jelly lunches.  One day a disagreement erupted between Nova and Solomon about her sandwich.  She wanted jelly first, then peanut butter, and he had  made it the other way round.  I was about to come down and break up the impending fight when they came up with the most childishly ingenious solution--flip it over!  From then on this type of sandwich has been known as the Super Blend.  Regular (unflipped) sandwiches are known as Blend.  For weeks, the question at lunchtime was "Blend or Super Blend?"  There was even much talk about a restaurant--which is why I was under strict instructions not to share the "secret" recipe.  

So, please enjoy your Blend and Super Blend, but don't tell anyone else!  

My facination with Cleopatra

When the kids and I were discussing what they wanted to learn about this year, I discovered that they felt we had never "finished " studying ancient Egypt because we had not had our "Egypt Meal" (a rough approximation of ancient Egyptian fare, eaten with much pomp and circumstance and created by all).   We last studied Egypt almost two years ago!!  

Ancient Egypt, Round Two

This time the kids wanted more than just mummies and pyramids and daily life.  They wanted history, and out of all ancient Egyptian history, most of all they wanted Cleopatra.  I do not even know where they heard about Cleopatra.  All I knew about her at the time was that she was supposedly very sexy, had an affair with Mark Antony, and was the last Queen of Egypt.  How to make this appropriate for an eight and five year old?  Luckily I found "Cleopatra" by Katie Daynes , published by Usborne.  I love Usborne books.  Still in the kids section I found the less discrete but oh so fascinating "Cleopatra; Ruler of Egypt" by Kerrily Sapet.  

Some highlights include

-Cleopatra was Greek!

-Cleopatra was a distant relative of Alexander the Great

-Cleopatra's parents were brother and sister, a common practice in her family

-Cleopatra was the first in the very long Ptolemaic dynasty to bother to learn Egyptian

-Cleopatra had a son with Julius Caesar

-Cleopatra was about as politically savvy as they come

-Oh, and she first met Caesar after she had been smuggled into her own palace (seized by her little brother/husband and his scheming advisers) wrapped up in a rug.  

Now, if you caught this part of ancient history in school, none of that will be a surprise, but if you didn't, go back and take a look, Cleopatra is fascinating. 

  

 

The Blog Avalanche; Or What We Did This Summer Part II

Fiddle camp was a blast!  I've never seen Solomon happier than he was at the finale performance!  Here we are dancing as the teachers fiddled on.  As you can tell, there was a lot of movement.  Hopefully we will have audio on here one of these days, so I can share the sounds too. 

A visit to Zumbrota!  We had lunch with GG John and GG Rose, then went on to the county fair with GG Rose showing us all the highlights.   It was a delightful afternoon. 

Camping...at least we still call it camping.  We opted for a cabin this year because of the wee babe.  Our original plan was to go to Glendalough State Park out in western Minnesota, and then perhaps on to Canada.  Due to a very unhappy little traveler, we opted for William O'Brian State Park, just 45 minutes from home.  We plan to go to Canada next June.  

A last hurrah of summer at Como Town, a pint sized amusement park that proved to be just right for our family.  

Charlotte and Dad at the amusement park.

Solomon 8, Nova 5 1/2, Charlotte Magdalen 6 months 3 weeks

If technology allows, there may be a video of Charlotte, pre and post crawling, posted here some day.  At present she is 8 months and has been crawling for six weeks.  She taught herself to stand two or three weeks ago and is extremely proud of herself.  She just looks ecstatic every time she stands without holding on to anything.  Her brother and sister clap and cheer wildly. It's a lot of fun.  

The Blog Avalanche; Or What We Did This Summer Part I

Hello All,

I know the idea with a blog is to post things bit by bit, even day by day, giving everyone following said blog a window into the author's thoughts and/or life.  It didn't work that way for me for this season.  Here comes a big long list of everything we've done since June.  In one night.  

Frog Dissecting!

Nova wanted to get the most out of this as possible (the whole endevor was her idea).  She insisted that we get at the brain.  There were no instructions for this, and the skull was harder to crack than a nut, but we got it.  Frog brains are VERY small.  

The Minnesota Zoo

 

The kids did see some animals too.  The Grizzly Coast exhibit was our favorite place to hang out.  We have fond memories of many trips to the zoo this summer.

Charlotte Finds her Feet!

Here is Charlotte at five months.  Grabbing her feet was one of her favorite activities.  She also liked sticking out her tongue at this age.

As it turns out there is too much for one night.   This takes us through about mid July.  Be on the lookout for a second installment.   

New Radio Story

I've got a new story up on KFAI's archive.  It is about Coldwater Spring, the last natural spring in Hennepin county.  I encourage you all to check it out (in person and via the news story).  It will be posted at www.kfai.org under Programs, KFAI Evening News, 8/20 for another week.   Or just click here.   If you go, be sure to gather water from inside the pump house (the stone arch structure in the background).  

Sure enough, tooth #2

In less than a week, Charlotte's second tooth appeared, right next to the first one.  Her first food, banana, has gotten mixed reviews.  She got her first taste on Solomon's birthday--at Nova's suggestion.   

Solomon Turns Eight!

On Monday, Solomon turned eight!  I can't quite believe it, though he certainly looks the part.  A recent growth spurt has put him level with my collar bone, and a few weeks go someone mistook my sandals for his (we don't actually were the same shoe size yet, but at a glance it is hard to tell).  

His birthday started with a leisurely breakfast and a bath, and then he was off to fiddle camp, which happened to start Monday as well.  I heard that everyone sang him happy birthday at lunch and that fiddle camp was "great!"  That was welcome news to Charles and me.  Solomon has been home schooled since first grade, and we found ourselves with a case of parents' first day of school jitters as we packed his lunch and stuck labels on his belongings.

While the birthday boy was at camp, Nova and I put the finishing touches on his present. 

Tonight we get to hear what he has been playing and even dance along at the camp's finale.    

Charlotte's First Tooth!

It is just a little white line, but it is there...a baby tooth.  I first felt it yesterday, and have yet to actually see it, though others have been privileged by a one-toothed grin.  (Solomon assures me my description is correct.)  There has been a little crying and fuss, but mostly lots of chewing and drooling.  Based on Charlotte's continued taste for washcloths and fingers (any fingers--hers, mine, or yours) more teeth are coming soon.  Pictures will be up as soon as she opens her mouth for the camera.  Nova can't wait to feed her, but, with her sore gums, Charlotte hasn't been up to any first tastes just yet.     

Results of the Nothing Diet

After more than a month the results are in!  No dairy, no chocolate, no WHEAT!  Everything else seems to be okay (thank goodness I can have eggs and nuts!).  On the up side, Charlotte now just spits up a normal amount, instead of every time you turn around.  I've found that most sandwiches can be converted to baked potato topping, and those that can't do well on rice cakes.  Bread-like foods are harder.  Here is our favorite wheat-free muffin recipe to date.  I made it up.  

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Mix

2 cups oat flour

3/8 tsp baking soda

dash of salt

Add 

3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

splash of vanilla

one banana, mashed

2-3 tbs softened butter (optional)

I usually taste test before adding eggs.

4 eggs

Bake in greased muffin tins at 350 for about half an hour, or until fork comes out clean.  

 

Nova's new bike riding skills

About three weeks ago, Nova decided she was going to ride her bike without training wheels.  The video below is from about day two.  She had it mastered in less than a week.  (Notice the social equivalent of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle taking place).

Imagine a video of Nova biking...it will be up when the technical difficulties are over.  

A Wedding in La Crosse

Two weeks ago, my cousin Caitlin and her new husband Doug got married on the beautiful shore of the Mississippi river.  

Caitie, as she was called as a little girl, and  I had been regular playmates during family get-togethers in the early years, despite our seven year age difference.  Our sisters were a year apart and paired off,  leaving us to find common ground.  Luckily it wasn't hard to do.  Caitie was smart and remarkably mature for her age (and still is).  When I got engaged at twenty and she was just thirteen, however, those seven years felt quite noticeable.  And now she is married.  It is funny how time leads and lags, making a difference in years feel bigger there and smaller here.  

The wedding was sky-blue, picture perfect.

The trip to La Crosse was also the first overnight we've done with our new baby Charlotte.  She slept beautifully at the hotel.  She was a delight during the wedding (even the ceremony).  And she cried heart wrenchingly in the car.   As a result our family camping trip will now be one hour away from home instead of three.  But we are glad we made it to La Crosse, and congratulations to Cait and Doug! 

 

    

                  

 

Charlotte likes...

Here are some things Charlotte likes.  For those who are keeping track, she just turned four months old.

  

-Grabbing the rings on her bouncy seat (she is getting quite good at this and can sometimes get them all the way off). 

- "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" (done on her).  This always gets a smile.  

-Her Bears.  These are the first toys she noticed.  They hang over her changing table. 

-Minuets II and III by Bach, played by her big brother.    

-Sucking her thumb and nursing AT THE SAME TIME!  She just started doing this last Wednesday.      

Picnic Perfect

First cousins, second cousins, first cousins once removed,  aunts and great aunts, sisters, moms and kiddos, friends.  However you say it, we had a lot of special people over a few weeks ago. I had plans of making pinwheels, but the sheer fun of outdoors on one of the first days of Summer was more than enough entertainment.  Running through the sprinkler and squirting each other with water pistols were enjoyed by the younger set (seven and under) and I think Katrina got wet too!  We wrapped up the afternoon with a picnic lunch and a lot of visiting. Thanks to all for coming, we hope to see you again soon!

Nova is reading (and she knows it!)

Nova has been working her way through the "Bob books" this year, a series of early readers.  Curled up on the couch next to Mom or Dad, sounding out the words (or occasionally guessing based on pictures), she has progressed from "Mat.  Mat sat." to "Suddenly, Joe drove his bike over a bump."  Still, Nova insisted she couldn't read--until last week.  In her words "I like reading!  I didn't before because I couldn't do it."

On Monday, she pushed through two Bob books in order to finish the fourth set.  Then she went on to A Fish Out of Water, which she read by herself.  The next day, I found her with one of A.A. Milne's original Winnie the Pooh stories, sounding out the names of the characters. (For those of you that only know the Disney Pooh, you should check out the originals.  They are charming and funny, even for parents.)  On a trip to the art museum this weekend she read "park" and "exit" at the parking ramp, then asked to play at the "park."  We have a reader!      

First Post-Charlotte News Story

I finished my first radio piece since Charlotte was born!  The subject is the annual Facing Race Ambassador Awards put on by the St Paul Foundation.   It aired on KFAI's evening news last night.  It is archived on their website for two weeks.

Favorites from the Nothing Diet

The nothing diet continues.  So far I have only managed to add chocolate to the list of prohibited foods--maybe by next week I'll have taken some foods off of it.  Eggs, nuts and wheat are in a three way tie for what I most hope to get back (aside from dairy and chocolate, which I know bother Charlotte).  But in the meantime, I have found some things to eat.  Here is one of my favorite meals.  I wrote the instructions more or less in the order that I do each thing, and color coded for each segment of the recipe.  Experienced cooks could probably just read the ingredients list and go from there.   

Chicken Catchatore (adapted from Buca  di Beppo)

Ingredients

Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts or thighs

about 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinaigrette

Sauce

1 onion chopped

olive oil, for sauteing the onion

1 can diced tomatoes

6-8 pitted kalamata olives, sliced

about 1 T fresh thyme

about 1 T fresh parsley 

about 1 t fresh oregano

Garlic mashed potatoes

8-10 red new potatoes

rice milk

olive oil 

salt 

pepper 

garlic powder

Put chicken and balsamic vinaigrette in a covered shallow dish or Ziploc bag in fridge.  Marinade for at least 1 hour or up to a day.  

Scrub and peel most of the potatoes (I left a few skins on for color and nutrition).  Cut into quarters or eighths, depending on size.  Boil until soft.

Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange chicken on a cookie sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes until done. I cut open the largest piece to check.  Clear juices (as opposed to bloody) is another sign to look for.   

While the chicken and potatoes are cooking, chop herbs, onion, and olives.  To strip thyme leaves from their woody stems, hold the stem from the tip and run  the fingers of your other hand up its length.  This should rub them the "wrong" way, making them drop right off.  

Saute onions in the bottom of a sauce pot with a bit of olive oil.  Add the diced canned tomatoes.  At this point my potatoes are usually done--check with fork and drain if done.  Set aside.  Add olives and herbs to sauce, let simmer.  Check chicken, let cool if done.  Mash potatoes.  Add a liberal amount of rice milk and a scant amount of olive oil (too much will make it taste like olives) to achieve the right consistency.  Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.  Taste sauce, adjust seasonings (if there was no salt in the tomatoes to begin with, it may need salt). 

Serve chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes, topped with the sauce.   Green beans make a good side dish.         

 

Spring Recital

Here we are at the kids' Spring studio recital.  Both Solomon and Nova chose to do their most recent (i.e. most challenging) pieces; Song of the Wind by Shinichi Suzuki for Nova, and Minuet III by Bach for Solomon.  Great job kids!  The week before was the group recital (Charlotte has had a lot of practice being an audience member--thankfully she seems to really like violin music).

After posting this I realize the audio is not coming though great on the blog--there is a distinct electronic buzz to the violins that wasn't there before--but you get the idea.

The Nothing Diet

No wheat, no eggs, no citrus, no nuts, no soy, no dairy, no corn, no shellfish.  When a friend of mine told me about the dietary restrictions she had imposed upon herself to deal with her baby's collic, I mentally dubbed it the Nothing Diet.  Little did I know I would soon be (not) eating the same things.  

 A couple of weeks  ago, we figured out that Charlotte spits up a lot when I have dairy.  Nova was the same way as a baby. I found the adjustment wasn't too hard.  I ate kalamata olives and almonds for snacks instead of cheese.   By 11 months she could handle dairy and hasn't has difficulty since.  However it seems that something else is bothering Charlotte's tummy as well, probably something I am having more of to compensate for the lack of cheese, milk, and yogurt.  

To get the to the root of the problem quickly, I've started the Nothing Diet (in other words, I've removed the top 6-8 allergens from my diet).  After two weeks of detox, I'll try adding things back in one at a time and see what causes problems.  Of course, I could just take them out one at a time, but then, on the off chance that my daughter is allergic to more than one other thing, I might never figure it out.

             

Sixty Days of Practice

Solomon and Nova recently finished their sixty days of practice challenge (I think our previous record for consecutive practice was about two weeks).  It was transformative. Certainly, their playing got better; but most importantly, their enjoyment of the instrument went way up, and griping about practice virtually disappeared.    They were playing on their own, making up songs together and playing duets!  The key (for me) was understanding how important it is to play something everyday.  Even a five minute practice maintained the continuity, reserving a place for violin in the day and in their minds.  I used the past tense because, sadly, an injury derailed us from our next goal--100 days--around day 75.  But we are ready to start again.       

GG Rose's 80th Birthday Party

Here we are with my grandparents, John and Rose, celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday.  But we were not the only ones there--far from it!  26 of the 28 family members were at the party.  We've finally reached the point where we split up for photos more often that doing the BIG group portrait.   GG Rose (as she is known in our household--Great Grandma seemed a bit of a mouthful early on, so she declared herself GG) was in good health and good spirits.  As far as I can tell, she has had quite a life to date, and shows no signs of stopping.  I couldn't wish for anything more for my 80th birthday (if I get there).  It was also the first time she met Charlotte.  As you can see, they hit it off.         

No Dictionary, No Problem!

I am so impressed with our seven year old, Solomon!  Unfortunatly, Solomon has inherited--perhaps even improved upon--my complete inability to spell.  I know no other person who can read (and comprehend) the original Swiss Family Robinson but still needs reminders on how to spell 'office.' 

When we moved last winter, our dictionary was packed up with many other rarely used books.   It still lies buried at the bottom of a box in our basement.   So I was quite surprised when almost all the words on Solomon's Private Eye sign were spelled correctly.  (He is starting a Private Eye business--if you know Solomon this will come as no surprise).  He looked them up in his copy of Calvin and Hobbes, based on his memory of the comic!  Everything he thought to look up was correct.  Time to dig out that dictionary.           

A Morning at Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Falls has always been one of our favorite spots. While trying to find a name for our youngest daughter, we hit upon a naming ceremony as a way to celebrate and confirm the name once we had chosen it.  So while our older kids played we had a short, private naming ceremony, more of a prayer than anything, for Charlotte Magdalen.          

The Charlotte Song

We've finally settled on a Charlotte Song!  Here's a little background for those of you who are not familiar with the kids' songs. 

When Nova was a baby, I was singing lullabies when Solomon, then two and a half, requested the Nova Song.  I didn't know the Nova Song, so we made one up.  We tried a few variations till we found one that stuck.  From there we went on to the Solomon Song (the melody of which, I pretty sure I swiped from some classical piece--not sure which one though).  

Once upon a time I thought I might make all of the songs work together to create harmony, but that has proven to be beyond my talents.   

As it turns out, adding audio is a little more complicated than photos, but hopefully we'll have recordings up soon.   

Charlotte!

For all of you who have not yet seen her, this is Charlotte, Charlotte Magdalen.  The photo was taken at five days old.  

Lillian Moller Gilbreth

The kids and I have been reading Cheaper by the Dozen.  As a result, Solomon is now the proud owner of an ancient typewriter.  

My current research project is the thoughts and life of Lillian Molller Gilbreth, known to the wider world as the mother in Cheaper by the Dozen and Bells on Their Toes.  She is a fascinating woman, but so far I have not been able to track down as much as I'd like about her.  Born in the Victorian era to a wealthy Californian family, she got a PhD in psychology and became an expert in motion study while raising a family of twelve children.  

I DO NOT recommend the book Making Time; a life beyond Cheaper by the Dozen, a rather poisonous biography aimed at reappropriating Lillian Gilbreth's history for second wave feminists (the woman who wrote it has no idea what it is like to be a mother--she acts like reading while nursing is a major chore!).  Right now I have several books by Lillian herself on request from several libraries around the state.  We'll see what they turn up!     

Hello

Hello all!  This is meant to be a better way to stay in touch, share thoughts with friends and family, and (hopefully) create a meaningful record of what we were up to way back when the winter of 2009 finally gave way to spring...or whenever we happen to be blogging.