Revelation

So we pick up Fiona from school...on the way home, Fiona says to me: "When Sophia and I grow up, there will be FOUR big people living in our house!"

I say, yes, I suppose so (mind not really grasping this concept, however).

She then says, "Man, that will be so crazy!"

Sock Sale

It's actually a huge event here in Northfield that takes place over a couple of weekends (last weekend and the next). The last thing I need in the world right now is socks (I mean, we went last year, and that should hold us for at least 5 years...), but we went because Fiona needs (make that needed) socks, and well, since we're here, let's get some more socks for the big folks...

For more information about the Cabot Hosiery Mills, click this link.

I love that something like a sock sale is headline news here. I really do.

Jack-o-lantern displays, sock sales, and quilt festivals. This is small town.

And the Mommy Award Goes to....

So Fiona takes another one of those late 2 hour naps (4-6 PM). I was trying to get Sophia down to sleep (she was acting tired but as soon as we hit the bed, she says, "Wheee!" (yes, she actually says this) and practices her standing skills. She likes the falling down part as well.) and I turn over to ask Fiona if we should just read a book and Fiona is snoring. Oh well.

She comes downstairs and I carry her over to Doug. She is thrilled to see her Daddy and he scoops her up. She asks me if she can have a marshmallow. I say ok. I'm a softie after a good nap. We go look at the marshmallows and she wants to hold both the large marshmallow bag and the small one. She then asks, "Can I have one of each?". Still as soft as a marshmallow here, I say yes. She says, "What a mommy I have!"

There is a Pile of Wood in the Driveway

Let this be a lesson...buy wood in the spring! Just do it! We have been trying to find a seller of wood to have on store for the winter...at the last minute, as usual, and a bit more urgently due to the forecasts of costly woe for the heating oil season...and what you would buy right now would be unseasoned wood, so it's not really for this winter, but nice to have nonetheless. We do have wood, but I am not sure it's enough for the entire winter. We have been very lucky with the weather and hardly even use the heater, but you never know how long that will last! We got one cord and it wasn't as expensive as I feared and the seller was actually a seemingly cool person.

He came up to the door and talked to Doug while I wrote out the check...Fiona, of course, was very talkative as usual (the man was wearing a measuring tape in some sort of pouch and she was admiring it--she loves measuring tape). The seller has 2 daughters himself and Doug said something like "Every man should have a daughter". The seller remarked that the world would be a better place if that were so. It seemed like a bonding moment to me.

Does this mean every woman should have a son? Possibly not, but I wonder....

Curse of the Walking Wasps...

The weather has been incredible. Sunny, not too cold, not too hot. It's been ideal. I guess because we have not had a hard freeze the flies and the wasps are still here, but very clumsy...the wasps walk around on the ground (EEEEKKK---not good for crawling babies!).

Last weekend was fabulous. We went out and shot off some model rockets and invited one of Fiona's friends and his family. He loves rockets and this was his first time to really see it. It was so much fun. Then I took Fiona to see Wallace and Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I was worried that it might be too violent, but it wasn't too bad. I loved the movie and Fiona had a great time!

It's about 3 weeks until Thanksgiving and I should start thinking about what to make. I know there must be the Very Big Apple Pie (15 inches). That is about all I have right now. Dry brining a turkey. I toyed with the idea of having just pie...but turkey. I need turkey. I need lots of vegetables. Biscuits. Some sort of cranberry relish or sauce. Potatoes. DRESSING! That isn't optional. Maybe the next day, but then we're off to a Single Pebble!

A close friend of mine is going to a Rick Bayless cooking demonstration tonight. Drool! I can't go (it's in California, after all), but she is having my Rick Bayless cookbooks signed for me. Nyah-nyah.

Sophia is now pulling herself up to stand...and letting go. She gets this triumphant look on her face (includes a big toothy smile) and then she goes down on her bum. She still looks quite pleased with herself.

Doug says that Sophia said "Fiona" (and pointed at her) the other day when they were at Claire's. Claire's is like a small diva shop. It was slow, so Fiona went in, tried on some tiaras and some stoles and some purses and strutted about the store. She put everything back just the way it was. She loves to chat up the sales clerk, too.

It figures that I would stay home all day and every day and she would say "Fiona" while I was not there.

Pomegranate and Pumpkins

Ahhh, nap time sanity. I ponder trying to eliminate the nap and achieve earlier bed time status for Fiona, but then real life happens...

Halloween was lots of fun. We took Fiona trick or treating for the first time. Sunday we dressed Fiona up in her frog queen costume and Sophia in her purple dragon costume. We took them to Shelburne Museum for the first round of T and Ting and we carved a pumpkin (that was THE pumpkin for the year, I'm afraid). Monday we went T and Ting in downtown Montpelier where we got the bulk of the candy stash. People are very very generous with candy. Even to the point of offering some up to the 1 year old Sophia. Please do not offer my 1 year old a gummy worm! She has 6 teeth. Then we went to Ellie's Farm Stand for the 28th? annual 1000 Jack o lanterns display! We usually just drive by due to the hellish location and traffic, but we got out this time. It's quite a sight! They must be very very good at carving by now.

Now what do I do with all the candy?

I also got Fiona a skeleton balloon from the grocery store that she had been coveting. She carries him everywhere and he is as big as she is. He was .99 -- I guess because I bought him on Halloween.

So the big favorite food around here right now is pomegranate. Sophia pants for the little seeds. She looks like she is shoving rubies into her mouth.

It has been unseasonably warm here--yesterday near 70 F! Today is cooler by 20 degrees, but I hope that means winter will be kind this year. OK, I know it means nothing, but I can hope! Unfortunately, that means the cluster flies and wasps are back. Shudder.

Fiona still has an intense interest in the body. We bought her a very detailed book of the body. By that, I mean the book is full of shrunk down posters full of labeled body parts--muscles, bones, organs, etc. I can't pronounce most of these words. She likes looking at them, so I do what I can. We also started this Mother Goose program for 3 Saturdays---all free---10 books. It's sort of an introduction to science through literature. This afternoon we are planting peas in different locations (inside, in clear plastic cups) and monitoring them. She is very excited about it; it was the first thing she said when she woke up this morning.

Some Menu Items from Hen of the Wood

I finally brought the menu upstairs, so here I go. I'm not posting the whole thing, but some selections so you all may drool...

Starters:

Roasted Winter Squash and Pear Soup
Pumpkin Seed Oil and Nutmeg

Crispy Fried Oysters and Salt Cod-(if I can resist the pork belly, I'm getting this next time)
Lemon, Parsley and Aioli

**Slow Roasted Niman Ranch Pork Belly**
Local Parsnips and Cider Jus

Braised Hen of the Wood Mushrooms
Country Bacon & Pinot Noir

Entrees:

**Smoked La Belle Farm Duck Breast**
Sweet Potato Puree, Vermont Cranberries, Toasted Hazelnuts

Niman Ranch Pork Shanks
Stone Ground Pumpkin Polenta & Pete's Farm Greens

Grilled Ledgend Farm Venison
Herb Roasted German Butterball Potatoes, Braised Pears & Sage

Baked Butternut Squash Lasagne
Chestnuts, Vermont Ricotta & Wild Mushrooms

______

So that's a "taste" of the menu...I left some things out like the Caesar salad with crispy capers and the Cavendish Farm Quail only because of time and space...the dessert menu has lovely sounding items like pumpkin pots de creme, pecan tart, apple and fig crisp...and of course there is the cheese menu with gems like Jasper Hill Farm's 'Bailey Hazen Blue'(raw ayrshire milk, aged 4-5 months, rich dry and crumbly) and Cobb Hill Farm 'Caerphilly' (raw cow's milk cheddar). The *** items are what Doug and I ordered.

Bitchin' in my Free Time

Today I was so productive that I actually wrote a letter to Applebee's to complain about our dinner last night. I know, I know, it's *Applebee's*, but we normally have good luck there bringing the kids. The food is edible and I will admit that I like a couple of the dishes. Last night the service was so horrendous and the food was, so, well, strange (all I will say is "Cilantro Pork Bowl"---only available in my area right now, luckily---'course I was the one who dared to order it...). You know you have too much time if you can bang out a complaint letter. Every time I do one of those, too, I think "If only I could write *positive* letters as well--that would make a difference, too, and make someone feel deservedly great". I guess I just like to bitch too much. In a nice, respectful way, of course.

Doug took the girls out for pizza. I think I'm going to read! It came to my attention that I have a copy of The Last Unicorn, which I have yet to read. I could at least start it tonight--in a nice hot bubbly bath!

I'll have leftover Pasta Bolognese for dinner...and some chocolate, of course...

We Have Two Cars Once Again!

It's not the timing belt. The engine was flooded. Whatever, the car is fine and Doug is picking it up now. I don't know how much it is, but it isn't much. Whew! I don't understand how the engine got flooded, and I thought that was something that went away after a while (I tried to start it again much later in the day and it still didn't work).

That's the last time I take the tow guy's prognosis seriously.

Today Fiona went in to school an hour late because the public school district was having kids come in two hours later. It did snow last night, but not much. If they regularly do this, for wimpy snow, it's going to be a real drag. So because of the one car and because we live 20 minutes away, Doug took Fiona into work for the first time (I mean during his working hours). He said it went as well as can be expected. No tantrums, though.

Beautiful Butter Baby

I don't know why I bother buying Hallowe'en candy early. I absolutely do not have the willpower to leave it alone. Neither does Doug when he discovers my stash.

Yes, CANDY. I know I should buy little boxes of organic raisins or spiced nuts or whatever, but this is the one time of year I actually buy whole bags of chocolate from companies I would normally boycott, I'm sure, if I looked more closely at the small print on the back.

I think we are supposed to get rather a bit of snow tonight, but it's started to snow already. I didn't even notice except I happened to look outside and it looked like a lot of white rain and way too quiet.

Fiona has an intense interest in this board game "Operation". You know the game. You try to take out little pieces from the body without setting off the buzzer. The game states that it is for ages 6+. So she understands it's too old for her right now, but she talks about it every time we go to the "little mall". (HAHAHA - this proves that everyone really does have a website. It even makes it look like a real mall. Those of you who know of Golden Triangle Mall in Denton...this mall makes that one look like--maybe not Mall of America, but like the Galleria or something).

Sophia still likes to eat. We went sledding in our introductory snow last weekend and while she had fun, when we stopped she noticed all that cool white stuff next to her and decided that it was time to eat. Right now big favorites are ice (thanks to Sobo! Sophia starts going UH UH UH frantically when you open the door...but there are other delights in there like blueberries and peas...) and butter. She l-o-v-e-s butter. She sees the golden stick in the dish and does her UH UH UH panting thing or her "THAT!!!" combined with pointing. Give her a piece of bread with butter and she picks off the butter and eats it. The toast is either eaten or tossed onto the floor.

A Pet Peeve

On our "Nature's Path" Organic Heritage Bites cereal it lists "evaporatied [sic] cane juice" as an ingredient. I have to admit the phrase "evaporated cane juice" annoys me anyway, but at least spell it right.

You know it's a real pet peeve when you somehow find the time to try and photograph the ingredient list of a cereal box. It wouldn't focus on the words, so it isn't here.

If you're like me, you will now be on high alert for typos in my blog...

I Foresee a Long Dark Cold Winter

We're trying to decide if we can get along with just one car...the Subaru. The Honda's timing belt is likely what went out. Doug thinks that will be at least 500 bucks. It is a 1994 car, with over 200 thousand miles on it. It has served us well. It is also pretty rusted.

Ugh.

When it Rains, it Snows

Ok, so far we have a garage door that Doug had to dismantle (it came off the track because we were using it manually due to a 3 hour planned power outage that we--I--thought was on a different day); so we have an open garage right before winter. Let the squirrels come on in! (One did that and got in our crawl space and lived under our downstairs bathtub. Nothing like taking a bath with a large creature scratching around under you!) Now Doug's car won't start. It was making a strange noise when I took Sobo to a Single Pebble, but then it stopped making Strange Noise.

Wonder what the third surprise will be?

Guess I Won't Be Mowing the Lawn After All

I woke up to SNOW! Not a little bit, either; I can't see any grass.

I thought it was just supposed to rain.

This Week in Review

Well, Sobo is gone :( and we already miss her. Her leaving coincides with Fiona's school having 3 days off so this has been a weird week. It's been nice having her home, though. We went to the library where she picked out some books and played with the Crayola "coloring book" on the computer. She goes up to the desk and asks for the disc herself and while she is there she notices a "body book" on the return shelf. This "body book" is one of a series--we have the one about the whole body courtesy of Sobo--the one on the shelf was a book about the brain. She was so excited she ran behind the desk and asked if she could check it out. She doesn't mind there are no kidneys in it.

Friday we got to go over to Gryffon's house and play and they both had a marvelous time. Sophia played with toys and Gryffon's brother Gabriel tried to play with the big kids (I think Gabriel is about 17 months old, Gryffon is the same age as Fiona). Sophia LOVED the baby swing outside. Then we got to eat Thai food with Doug and his work collegues. I love the food there but it is stressful because Sophia is always unhappy at that time of day and is tired.

Wednesday we had the parent teacher conference! Fiona is indeed doing very well in school. Colleen's first comment was that Fiona has a lot of energy. Fiona is doing better at using her words instead of screaming (she is at home, too, but OH she still screams) and better at using her words when people invade her personal space, which she is very protective of---interesting because she is not really aware of *other* people's personal space. So, ok, I know all that already. She says her fine motor skills are fantastic--she is doing embroidery shapes and drawing shapes with the metal inset shapes---stuff that Colleen normally does with the 4 and 5 year olds. Fiona is well liked and is very social---definitely more of a leader personality than a follower. Colleen likes that she stands up for herself instead of playing victim.

I wonder if these are characteristics that last or if 3 is too early to tell?

Hen of the Wood

I would provide a link, but their web site is not quite up yet.

Amazing!

We both started with slow roasted pork belly with a cider jus and pureed parsnips. Great combination of flavors.

We both had the smoked crispy duck with sweet potatoes, Vermont (!) cranberries, and toasted hazelnuts.

Instead of dessert, we had the cheese plate with some local cheese. I brought home a menu and I'll post more details later. I have Sophia on my lap.

They did not actually have hen of the wood mushroom (also known as maittake)---it has been too warm. There is a dish they serve (a starter) with hen of the wood and bacon.

All the menu choices sounded delicious. I could have happily left it to the chef to pick. It was all very local and seasonal.

It is a little sad to see Mist Grill go (they just closed and Hen of the Wood opened in its place) but at least another good restaurant is taking its place.

We had a 2001 Clos La Chance Zinfandel. It was a pretty good match, fruity but not at all cloying and with some vanilla and a great finish.

One Door Closes, Another Opens....

Doug and I are going to a new restaurant nearby called Hen of the Woods (like the mushroom). I don't remember if the chef or owner (or both) is from the restaurant Smokejacks but we love(d) Smokejacks, which is in Burlington--and therefore too far away. We often ate there pre-children and it's not the sort of place I'd take kids now. Tonight, my mom is watching the girls and we are going to eat dinner alone! Conversation will be had! I can look and talk to my man at the same time! So the restaurant has to be close and we are going early so it's easiest on Sobo and the critters...I am very excited.

Heck, I want to eat at 5 anyway because I could go to bed at 8 pm these days....

NECI is closing the NECI Commons restaurant in Burlington. I am sad because it's the school I went to, and that restaurant gets good exposure there. To be honest, though, the last few times we (tried) to go there, the service was abysmal. The first time we ate there, it wasn't bad. We felt neutral about it. The pastry case was very nice to look at! I never attended the Burlington campus, but it did look plenty, plenty busy.

Serenity

Thumbs up!

It was kind of depressing, though, it made me bawl (Yes, yes, you heard me, I cried during Serenity. You should see me with pregnancy hormones...). One part pissed me off.

We did like it, though, and got to see the preview for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. That looks exciting!

It's Farmer's Market Saturday

Unfortunately, it is also pouring rain and it likely to keep doing so. Rain never stopped me before, but trying to select produce with two small kids is hard enough on warm sunny days...

I'd definitely say we're at peak leaf now, and we are certainly at peak visitor capacity...picking up Fiona downtown ("downtown" makes me laugh given the size of Montpelier, but there you go...) at lunchtime is very interesting. Lots of people, no parking.

Only a week and a half or so of mom time left...I want to hyperventilate thinking about it...no more day time help and company!

I forgot that Doug leaves for Las Vegas next weekend, so no chance of a date then. Unless we go during the week, our one and only date is today. Well, until next time we have help ;) One date a year...could be worse.

Sophia's birthday is the 18th and since I am up at an unreasonable hour I have been rereading her birth story. We got her a fish puppet for her birthday (a puppet in the store she kept trying to...kiss? eat? lick? I gathered she liked it...) and decided that maybe she should "give" Fiona a small present since that is the day she became a big sister. Also, I think Fiona is having a hard time...she seems to get jealous of Sophia and with Sophia moving about more and more, communicating, expressing will, likes, dislikes, she seems more and more like a competitor than a helpless baby. I did go out with just Fiona for a sundae and I try to get her alone out on a trip once a week, but some weeks it is really hard. Fiona was "aggressive" at school today...er, yesterday...with some pushing involved. I have seen her do this, and it doesn't happen often. Usually she is tired or hungry or feeling under the weather. We had the discussion (again) about not being aggressive, not touching other people's bodies without asking, using your words....I wish I could have been there, though, to have a complete picture.

Sophia does say "mama" and "dadda"...but yesterday Sobo and I heard her clearly say "yogurt". Sophia LOVES food. You have to give her whatever you are eating. You can't hide it. She will take it. She grabs the yogurt spoon and stuffs it into her mouth. Sobo says it's like raw meat for a tiger. Sophia, no longer content to wistfully gaze at Fiona eating her after school snack in the car, will "ask" Fiona for a piece of her snack. Fiona--sometimes on her own, sometimes with encouragement--will share, but I try now to give Sophia an apple to graze on. Sophia loves apples. I found some just her size. She clutches them with the intensity of a security blanket.

And finally, an article about Vermont and delicious fabulous cheese...

In the Land of Leaves, Seeking Cheese

Jeepers, Peepers!

Ah, yes, it's that time of year in Vermont when the tall, tall tour buses come rolling into town. The license plates are a lot more colorful (Vermont license plates are just green. That's it. Green. With white numbers/letters.) and I think I have seen every state since living here. I should keep track. I've even seen Hawai'i!

Doug tells me "foliage is 10 days behind this year" which I am going to guess he heard on the radio as I'm pretty sure he's not making detailed observations on peak foliage year after year...it is pretty outside, but kind of muted. I wouldn't really call it vibrant, at least not yet. Sort of rusty, if that makes sense.

Ah, to be in the food industry at this time of year once again!

We have done our apple duty and picked half a bushel of apples which I am making into all sorts of things. I do have to make a freaking huge apple pie for Thanksgiving because I have the pan for it, so I must use it (thanks to my friend Ana's mom!!!). I have a recipe for a 12" pie...this is a whopping FIFTEEN inches. Wooo hoooo! My friends Kendra and Jeff will be here and we will be very happy. I wonder if we should just have a dinner of pie, actually. I mean like a pie buffet, of course, not just one pie even if it is disgracefully huge.

We still have wasps and now, yes, the cluster flies are here. Yuk.