Adventures in Living!

We Love Halloween!

I was not impressed with the hot, sticky weather we had, but Halloween at the Brandel household was  terrific !

Friday night, we carved three massive pumpkins...

 

 

 

 

RAAAAWR!!!  (Wren is so awesome...)

Noah says "Raawr!" too!

Halloween Night...spooky dinner...Mummy Hot Dogs....Monster Face salad...and a glass of sparkling green Monster Juice to drink!

Getting ready....everyone gets glow sticks and glow bracelets.

Going out....the bat, the Tinkerbell, and Professor McGonagal (from Harry Potter).

At the neighbor's house....."Trick or Treat!!"

The kids had a blast! It was unseasonably hot and humid, which reminded me of Halloween nights in Miami. Travis and I were sweating by the time we got done. The kids were great; polite, cooperative, and everyone had fun. There was one fantastic house that was totally done up with spooky decorations and a fog machine and a scream soundtrack. Wren was a little unsure, but Noah just marched right in with Kira. We have to spend more time decorating our yard next year. I definitely want at least one inflatable things, and to put some ghosts and some lights up in the trees. I think we might need a spooky graveyard, too. 

Kids are in bed now, lights are off, and I am trying to stay away from the unsupervised pumpkin buckets full of candy. We'd set a big bowl of candy on the porch before we left, only to come back home to find someone had stolen it! Low-rent jerks! Ah, well, it IS trick OR treat, right? I can get another bowl next year.

I think I will also avoid getting started on my yearly Halloween rant about the people who DRIVE their kids from house to house for trick or treating. I could understand it if the houses were a quarter-mile apart, but this is suburbia! Sigh...you walk, or you don't go. That's how it should be. (well, unless you're two, then you can ride in the wagon)

Anyway.

I love Halloween. We had a great time! Hope everyone got lots of candy, got scared if they wanted to, and had the best costume ever!

A little better today

Still sick, but with a better attitude today, at least. So that's something. Right?

I'm going to take this opportunity to remind everyone that my husband is in fact the BEST. So there.

Random pictures from our household....

MY adorable dog, Ruby. Newest member of the Brandel dogpack.

Wren completed her first session of gymnastics. She's going back for another session.

Kira completed a wonderful project on the Lewis and Clark expedition for her Honors Social Studies class.

And that's all I've got for today....more later, I promise.

Funk, and not the danceable kind

So we have all been taking turns getting sick. Actually, Noah and Travis and I have been taking turns. Wren and Kira seem relatively unscathed thus far. My head is pounding and my nose is dripping and I feel like crap. Exactly the way Travis felt last week. Yay. At least Noah seems well now, and the girls don't have this. Yet.

Optimism! I haz it!

The flu thing is sucky. I realize the flu is around all year, and the seasonal flu kills a zillion people every year itself, so the H1N1 flu is just another strain of the same thing, pretty much, BUT....the age groups that seem really more affected are the kids....and MINE. I never get a flu shot. Never. I have had the flu a few times in my life, but I have never bothered to get the vaccine before. Mostly, it seems I don't typically get the flu. I don't know if that is because I worked in health care for so long and washed my hands so constantly that I just didn't pick it up, or if my immune system is just so freakin' awesome that I am not always susceptible.

Either way, I get freaked out when I read about another kid dying of this virus. I cannot imagine the horror of that, but I get it stuck in my head and can't get it out. What if Wren gets sick? Or Kira? What if Noah, who had RSV as a newborn, gets it and can't overcome the respiratory issues that come along with the flu? It's too awful to contemplate.

And then, I started going to the gym again. The vision of myself in the gym mirrors is just frightening. I look like an overstuffed sofa. I cannot stand the roundness of shoulders, the back fat, the wiiiiide rear view. The past few years of childbearing and getting older and not exercising has resulted in an extra twenty pounds and I can't seem to get it off of me. I've gained almost ten pounds since I stopped nursing Noah, over a year ago, and no matter what I do, I can't get the weight off. It used to be easier, and clearly, my metabolism has quit on me. The worst part is that I get motivated, go work out, get exhausted, sore, hurt, sick, or huge amounts of other stress crops up, and all the motivation goes out the window.

I know I should cut myself some slack. I know I use food to manage my mood when I should use exercise. I know I let myself get overloaded with stress and worries and work and just "stuff".

I know all this, and yet I let myself get all tangled up in it.

Argh. I think I'm just going to go to bed.

Been a long time...

Okay, I have been a slacker. I have failed to post now for ....many....days. It's not like there's nothing going on around here; hell, *something's* always going on around here! I guess I could just blame my recent attack of Life. Good excuse as any, I guess.

Let's see....the kids are all back in school. First day was successful for Kira at middle school, and the little guys are loving being back in preschool. Honestly, Mom loves them being back in school a little bit, too. I like having structure and some semblance of order to my day, and the little bit of free time and peace and quiet doesn't hurt, either. ;)

Travis and I continue our quest to obtain motorcycle licenses and scooters. I cannot wait. We got a little piece of junk Chinese import scooter the other day, and Travis ahs been working on it and we have both been riding it around the neighborhood. It's really fun, and it totally solidifies my desire to have a bigger 'real' scooter SOON. It's only 50cc, so top speed is 40mph if we're lucky, but it's prefect for practicing riding around and stopping and turning and such. I feel so much more confident now, especially with turning, since I have been riding it.

This is not our 50cc scooter. This is Kira's Razor scooter, which is battery-powered and attains a top speed of 10mph. Noah loved riding up and down the driveway on it with me. Poor Wren is dying for her own scooter.

We went to the Children's Museum with my brother and his two kids and my mom. It was great fun, especially since we just about had the place to ourselves!

Noah has the worst case of strep I have ever seen in one of my kids, so he is down for the count, but rallying back with some antibiotics. We were so sure it was the H1N1 flu -- super-high fever, lethargy, vomiting -- but thankfully, he "only" has strep. Yay for bacterial infections.

Today my mission includes ridding the house of all the outgrown kid clothes, putting things in the attic and taking things out of the attic, and planning an assault on the bedroom of my pre-teen, who seems to be incapable of throwing anything out. This weekend looks to be full, with a trip to the farmer's market, the Richmond Folk Festival, and other enjoying-the-fall weekend fun.

Pumpkins must be obtained, and costumes decided upon, as Halloween is coming! I need to develop the pre-trick or treating weird and wonderful dinner menu. Last year's supper included such delicacies as Worms On A Bun and Dirt Dessert, so I want to find something equally startling to eat this year. I love Halloween!

I also have a rant going on in my head about the people who continue to refuse vaccination for their children and place all of us at risk for resurgence of crap like smallpox, polio, diphtheria and widespread measles because of their uninformed opinion that vaccines cause autism.

Additionally, I have something to say about awarding the Nobel Peace prize to someone based on the things they *might* do, rather than the things that HAVE been done to further world peace, but hey, then I'd be branded a hater, and I don't have time for refuting that kind of nonsense today.

And the proposed names for the Richmond minor league baseball team? Seriously, the Richmond Rockhoppers? Flatheads? Flying Squirrels? HAMBONES!? What. The. Hell? If I cared more about baseball, I'd probably be more upset, but since I don't have a dog in this fight, all I can do is shake my head incredulously at the dorks who are potentially making my beloved city a laughingstock.

The tourism people should be having a cow about now.

Ah, well. Lots to do. Guess I'd better get to it.

More Scooter Love

Ok, so the picture is teeny-tiny. BUT!

I rode a scooter ALL BY MYSELF for the first time yesterday!!

Thank you Jennifer for letting a total motorcycle novice take your Buddy out on the road. It was a total and complete BLAST and I cannot wait, cannot, cannot, canNOT wait to get my own scooter!

And Mom and Dad, I didn't die. :)

Sunday family fun

I just could NOT face a(nother) day in the house with the kids, nor did I feel like sitting on the deck and watching them play. It wasn't terribly hot, so we planned an outing to Pochahontas State Park . They have an incredible water park and pool complex there, so we thought it would be fun for all the kids.

It was.

 

 

 

 

 

It was so much fun! We brought a picnic, and everyone ate a good lunch and had a fantastic time. Conveniently, when we decided to leave (because Noah was turning blue and chattering), we had to get out of the pool anyway (emergency pool cleaning), so there was a minimum of fuss and drama.

I am seriously considering buying unlimited-visit passes next year instead of joining the neighborhood pool -- the price is cheaper AND there is something for everyone to do comfortably. It's certainly cheaper than Water Country, and closer to home, too.

Now we have to sneak in one more visit before the weekend....pools close on Labor Day!

A minor achievement in coffee

This morning began, as usual, early. Noah feels compelled to get up before dawn some days, and this day was no exception. I refrained from allowing him to get me out of bed at 4:30, though, so I have been listening to him fuss and sing for two hours. Now, finally, he is up and running around the house, playing and chattering away. Even though I'd much rather be in bed, I love watching him explore his world.

Of course, being up this early means that I require coffee. Usually Noah "helps" with that, putting scoops of beans into the grinder and then pressing the button to grind the coffee. Not today! I have been on a quest for a good iced coffee recipe, since I adore Starbucks frappucinos so much and am trying to reduce my nonessential expenditures (and excessive calorie consumption!). I figured it would be nice to be able to make 'real' iced coffee whenever I want, instead of just waiting for my cup to get cold and then throwing some ice cubes in it.

Quick! To the internet!

A Google search brought me many options, and the one I'd never considered before turns out to be the key: cold-brewing! Never even thought of it. Here is the recipe I used, which makes a boatload of concentrate, probably way more than I need at this point, but, heck it was a first experiment. I did alter things a little, and basicaly, because I didn't have a pound of coffee already ground, I combined about 12oz of Dunkin Donuts ground hazlenut coffee and about 6oz ground chicory coffee that had been languishing in the cupboard. Throw it in a container with about 3 and a half quarts of water, wait about 12-16 hours, et voila! Cold-brewed coffee concentrate. Well, you ahve to strain out the grounds first.

Straining the mix was the difficult part, and I definitely need a glass container or pitcher for the resulting brew, as it is staining my plastic milk jug horribly.

Mix about a cup of the brew with about three-quarters cup of milk, a splash of cream and maybe some chocolate syrup, stir and throw in ice cubes. That's it.

YUM.

Playing in the Kitchen

So, my kids really like to play 'kitchen' and use their (and my!) pots and pans and plastic food to make dinner and serve snacks and all that. We used to have a big, upright Little Tykes kitchen for Wren that we got from Craigslist, but over the year or so we had it, it got kind of trashed to the point that it wasn't fun to play with. Plus, it was a fairly good size, and took up a lot of room.

Once we started the remodeling of our living room/library area, it had to go. I kept all the nicer pots and pans and utensils and play food in a large fabric bin for the kids, and just ignored the fact that there was no kitchen. I noticed recently that both Noah and Wren were getting into kitchen play, and this time, they were using all kind of flat surfaces for their stove. I thought how nice it would be if they had a kitchen again, but there really isn't room for one, even in our larger living space.

Hooray for the internet! I found a blog, Balancing Everything, that featured a tutorial for making a fabric roll-up kitchen play mat!  It was really cute and looked like something the kids would love, so I read through the tutorial and adapted it for my own purposes.

Took me about two days and I am especially proud to say that I bought nothing to make it. All the fabrics and embellishments were already in my stash! Yay !

Anyway, here it is:

 

It has a grill in full flame, a sink, and four stove burners. I used bleached muslin for the top, with cotton fabric for the appliances and various ribbon and felt scraps. The electric burners are detailed using a big fat Sharpie marker, and there is dimensional fabric paint for the stove knob tops. I drew the sink drain with the Sharpie, added a few water droplets with a glitter paint pen, and used packaged tubular bias for the grill grate.

The whole thing is backed with a layer of cotton canvas and a cotton print. I sewed a strip of bias binding to one end to use as a tie when it is rolled up. The three layers of fabric have a nice weight, and it rolls up and stores in the fabric basket with the kitchen toys.

Best of all, the kids love it!

Here is a detail of the stove:

 

and a shot of the sink:

 

and the grill:

 

Noah really liked it; when I took this picture, Wren was busy gathering her 'gredients' for the lunch she cooked.

 

I have to say that normally I HATE machine applique, so in making this project, my skills were definitely tested. However, it really came out nicely, so I am not complaining. And it kind of encourages me to do a few more projects with machine applique.

Hmmm....maybe Noah needs a toolbench....or a soft busy book to practice dressing skills...

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To all of my friends who are traveling to Charlotte this weekend, safe travels, and give our love to Valharic. Please let him know we are thinking of him.

Summer season

The scenes of summer, here at our house.

riding on the Washington metro, June 09

  nasturtium flower

the herb garden, early July

Hershey Park, Hershey, PA with the Girl Scouts

playing in the pool

  gathering from the garden

tomatoes by the wagon-load this year

Wren goes adventure riding, August

Ah, summer. It's been a great one, and although I am seriously done with the heat, we have managed to ahve fun, grow vegetables, and travel a small amount. Fall is coming, and I am waiting.

Philosophy

"Life's too short to be taking risks on things that may be considered fun."

Illustrious wisdom from a family member of mine whom I love dearly, but who obviously has a much different perception of what living is all about.

I know what was meant in the above statement: that risk-taking is a dangerous thing, and life is too precious to just cavalierly participate in an activity that could end your life. I have much to live for, and people who depend on me and love me, and I cannot be selfish and do what I want without regard for them.

And that's true, for the most part.

I guess the part where I have a differing view comes in with the concept of risk-taking and potential selfishness. I see all of life as a risk-taking adventure. Especially in modern times, where we (literally) go faster, have developed more technology for adventure sports, and have conquered (we think) so much more of the natural world. The world itself is larger, more accessible, and the sense of community most of us has encompasses the 'global village', rather than just the folks down the road or in the church pews.

The old chestnut, used when talking about risk assessment, "I could get run over by a bus tomorrow!" still stands, although I am not sure how likely I am to get run over by a bus in an area that doesn't really have sidewalks to step off of, much less a proliferation of city busses.  Now, I am no adventure-sporting adrenaline junkie. I like my adventure relatively tame, on the whole. Riding horses, flying in small airplanes, moving to a new area without excessive amounts of research....you get the picture. Not exactly setting the world on fire, except in my own little corner of it.

Oh, I dream of learning to kayak the James River one of these days (but not the class V rapids), and of learning to rock climb (but not free-soloing), and one of these days, I am sure that I will. I also have an intense desire to travel, to get out and see the world for myself. I'll get to all that. I know I will.

It's been a long time since I fed my personal sense of adventure, and I don't mean by having another child. Lord knows, life can be enough of an adventure with my bunch! No, this time it won't be horses or airplanes or moving house, or joining the Peace Corps.

I'm going to get a motorcycle license.

It's something I never saw myself doing, not really ever, particularly since I am not much of a biker chick. But it will allow me to safely and legally operate a 125cc motor scooter on the non-interstate roads of the commonwealth. This one, in particular. 

Right now, I am going to take the Basic Rider Course from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, buy my helmet and gloves, shop for a motorcycle jacket that IS NOT PINK (or baby blue or white, for that matter), and save money like a crazy person.

Hopefully, I'll be scooting around town by next spring.

I can't wait!