Carrot soup and a snow day

Today I had no real plan for dinner, since I just didn't know exactly how this snow day would evolve or what kind of leftovers we would have from the nights before. I tend to lose a little steam when it comes to cooking on Thursdays, and when better to wing it than on a snow day?

I also tend to feel a little panicky if I don't have a stash of carrots in the fridge, but the sad truth is that they often get neglected until they are rubbery and pretty much unappetizing. Naturally, today I had almost two pounds of carrots sitting in the crisper, getting less and less crisp by the day. I knew I could do some kind of baked potato main/side, throw in some leftover pork for Matt, but what to do about a vegetable? Roasted carrots just didn't sound right. I did have kale, but I really didn't feel like washing it. But then I remembered soup! (How could I forget soup? I could eat it daily in the winter and be happy) And just as I was about to tackle a slightly complicated carrot soup recipe, I remembered reading this - how to make any pureed vegetable soup in 5 steps. Bingo. Easy. Peasy. Throw in some white beans from last night's dinner and it gets even more satisfying.

Our snow day should really be reclassified as a snow morning. Even though we had around six inches on the ground at daybreak, by early afternoon the sun and warm temps had done quite a bit of work melting away our winter wonderland. Oh well. It was beautiful and fun while it lasted.

New habits

I really wouldn't call myself a "crafty mom." However, since we've been spending more time at home recently and since perhaps I might subconsciously be trying to overwhelm the girls with my "fun-ness" before I become the sleep-deprived, irrationally emotional mother of a newborn, we've been seeing quite the uptick in visual arts around here lately.

Today's mess, I mean craft, was scented microwave puffy paint. I know, kind of sounds a little weird, but it's actually so easy and the girls had a lot of fun with it. I wouldn't say they created anything that resembled anything, although Emery did crank out a few E's that survived microwaving, but the process of whisking and squeezing the paint more than made their morning. Especially since the craft was preceded by a dreaded trip to the dentist for Emery, who screamed so hard that at one point we were surrounded by three dental hygienists as well as the dentist himself, all trying to placate poor Emery.

Since I expended so much effort with the craft and dentist, I decided to take it easy on myself for dinner. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I am coming to grips with the fact that I often put too much pressure on myself to cook complicated dinners. Not because I think anyone around here really expects complicated, but because sometimes I don't get satisfaction from making quick-and-easy chili recipes.

I'm realizing this is going to need to change some once Baby D #3 decides to make his/her appearance, so I'd better start adjusting now. Hence, turkey chili even an eight-year-old can make. This chili comes together in less time than it takes to conduct a scented microwave puffy paint project and actually has depth of flavor. If you're like me, you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand, making it an ideal finale to a day when dinner just doesn't need to be complicated.

Anna Kimball is 2!

Our sweet, silly Anna Kimball turned two last week. It's fortunate that she seems to be in a good stretch here behavior-wise, so I have all kinds of glowing things to report about our new two-year old, who I know could hit a stretch of "terrible twos" again any day now. Around Christmas she had a slew of tantrums that compelled me to order a cheap baby gate to set up in the doorway to her room for time-outs. Of course just as soon as the gate arrived, the tantrums started to die off ... so we are enjoying these pleasant moments as they come.

Anna Kimball is far more opinionated than Emery was at age two. For instance, she won't tolerate at least half the clothes in her dresser and will definitely not wear tights right now. She knows exactly which two books she wants before bed - they aren't always the same books, but no substitutions will be accepted. She also has the odd bedtime ritual of always insisting that we switch the monkey lovey that's in her bed with the spare monkey lovey that's in her top dresser drawer. "Two monkeys!" she cries and that's when we know it's time to make the switch.

Since Anna Kimball barely wears most of her own clothes, it's a pretty good thing she's basically the same size as Emery and is now working her way into Emery's wardrobe, too. She's in the 75th percentile for height and the 90th for weight. You'd think that would mean Anna Kimball is a good eater, and I guess in some senses she is, since she's always ready for the next meal (or "MUNCH!" as she calls it) but she is still very selective about what she eats.

Currently, her favorite activities include Play-Doh, playing with her Critter doll house, pretend cooking, playing with dolls, looking at books and dress-up. In some ways, she plays better on her own than even Emery does now, something I attribute to being a second child and something that also gives me great hope that Baby D #3 will be even more independent than his/her sisters!

Anna Kimball is a cuddler for sure and her cheerful disposition brightens this house every day. I love how she's not quite a big girl yet (well, in one sense she is I guess!) but is slowly becoming more intentional and learning new skills with each passing week. It can be so fun to observe this process, especially since now I realize how brief it really is.

I supposed it's time to end this "Ode to Daughter #2" before a tantrum erupts - Happy Birthday Anna Kimball! We adore you!

Catching up, briefly

I'm going to be brief, because the thought of trying to recap all of November and December is entirely overwhelming and unappealing to me right now! Sounds trite, but family and fun are pretty good summations. We had Thanksgiving in Florida, then some Christmas chaos, some respiratory ailments (those actually were not fun, surprise surprise), and Christmas in Virginia. I'll let these fantastic pictures taken by my talented sister-in-law speak for themselves and cross my fingers that 2014 will bring with it more motivation to regularly blog.

Halloween and a getaway

For all the build-up in Emery's little mind about Halloween, I think it lived up to its fame. For weeks, even months, she was certain she would be her "blue ballerina," which is her favorite dress-up costume that she wears nearly everyday. I wasn't about to tell her that most kids get new costumes or have their moms make them something!

Handing out candy was almost as much fun, if not more, than peddling for some herself, though encounters with scary masks forced Emery to cover her eyes while still graciously offering a Kit Kat.

Then, over the weekend, Matt and I were able to get away for a night while Grammie tended to the girls. We did quite a bit of hiking and I felt quite a bit pregnant catching my breath up the hills. I also felt quite a bit pregnant when my chicken salad sandwich at lunch just wasn't good enough (I'm sure it was fine!) and I sent it back to the kitchen with no appetite for a re-do and then pouted at my lunch of french fries.

The fall colors were glorious, as was the peace and quiet and what seemed like a decadent number of extra hours to sleep, considering that we turned the clocks back on Saturday night AND traveled to the Central Time Zone! Now that's a 24-hour vacation worth repeating.

So close

I dropped the girls off at the gym's childcare this morning while I went for a run. When I returned to pick them up, the childcare workers said, "You should see her! (Anna Kimball) She took 12 steps!"

Woah. I've seen her take two steps here and there in the past week or so, but not 12! She's definitely not off and running yet and had only one other instance of consecutive steps today, but I would certainly say that we are so close to the real deal.

In other news, we took a little day trip to Bryson City, NC this weekend to see the fall colors. I was initially told by my dear husband that our destination was about two hours away ... let's just say it's a good thing I grabbed some DVDs at the last minute because two hours was really four. (in his defense, our return trip, via a different route, was much shorter) In my defense, I wanted a chance to actually enjoy the fall colors, too - not entertain two children with while getting a crick in my neck and an ache in my head.

But thankfully we had our new Routan minivan to deliver us to our destination, complete with a drop-down DVD player and headphones that the girls could actually use. We would up having a great time seeing some new things, eating out together, which we rarely do as a family, and making the most of autumn's beauty.

I love how this shot depicts our way home - Emery was pretty much no-maintenance with DVDs and a nap ... Anna Kimball, though, quickly tired of digital entertainment, wasn't really even that excited about finally facing forward in her car seat and eventually made sure we knew it. Nevertheless, the trip was a great success and one we'll surely repeat.

These days ...

Anna Kimball still isn't walking (20 months and nearly 30 pounds, OUCH), but is scaling everything, her favorite mountain being Emery's Tripp Trapp high chair which is particularly precarious and apparently really fun to climb. Somehow she has the good sense to mainly climb in when Emery is not around, perhaps knowing this could incite a wee bit of jealousy and "SHE'S IN MY SEAT!!" Anna Kimball is also obsessed with standing on stools. So now I have two full-time kitchen "helpers."

Emery is attending ballet class and seems to like but not love it. I almost loathe it since the whole experience is 90 minutes door-to-door on Friday afternoons in the height of traffic and I don't even get to watch her! And I'm quite certain she just stands there while all the other girls dance around ... she's not a big participator in situations like this. In the spirit of being positive, I'm sure it's been a good experience for her in some way and I'm sure we'll all be grateful to get our free Friday afternoons back in 4 weeks.

Emery loves her little co-op preschool on Wednesdays and Parent's Day Out on Thursdays. So happy I can leave her and Anna Kimball for that matter, too, in situations like these and we don't deal with separation anxiety. I think Anna Kimball enjoys a little break from her older sister, too. Though she adores her, currently all Emery has to do is look at her funny and Anna Kimball simply can. not. take. it. Commence SCREAMING. Commence me trying not to scream as well.

Lots of bread baking going on, too. I think I just like the feeling of having something tangible to show for my day, something I put my hands to and was good, sometimes even great, not just a work in progress as these girls, sweet as they are, seem to be.