Mirepoix

One of the most enjoyable parts of being home with Isabelle is our afternoon ritual of starting dinner.  In Idaho, while both Aaron and I were working, dinner prep was often rushed and not child friendly - a hungry mom & dad buzzing around the kitchen trying to get food on the table while isabelle often got upset about not being included and/or hunger.  Now we get to work together to prepare food  - with no rush.  And not only is this fun but it has actually improved her eating habits tremendously (i know i know it isn't brain surgery -  just exciting).  Isabelle is not necessarily a bad eater - she cracks me up when she eats handfuls of sprouts like they are candy or destroys a bowl of plain chickpeas - but she hasn't been exactly outgoing in her eating habits (nose up to anything with the mirepoix or holy trinity - sauteed onion, carrots, and celery).  I think, fingers crossed, that all this involvement in the kitchen is paying off.  All week Isabelle has been (for the most part) eating everything on her plate - and so proud of herself for trying everything.

Here are a few pictures from our week... enjoy!

isabelle with her old gnome hat that she insisted on wearing until her new one was finished

new gnome hat finished - needed for the past weeks cold weather!

kneading the pasta dough

later turned into ravioli that was not so pretty but oh so yummy

note to self: next time don't make ravioli...just make lasagna or spaghetti

cooking the ravioli and heating up some homemade sauce

digging through the recycling for cardboard to cut out leaves, pumpkins, and apples 

to be painted in fall colors

isabelle stirring the risotto - remembering not to break a single grain....

end result: roasted butternut squash and pea risotto

isabelle demolishing her lentil soup and corn bread

so proud she decided to eat her Mirepoix!

  

making a little sunshine

why that sun looks awfully sunny...

It has been a bit dreary out here - so different from our normal Moscow dry weather we had just gotten use to.  I gave Isabelle some fall colors to paint with and talked about the leaves changing colors and this was all she wanted to draw...I suppose I can't blame her... I could use a little sun myself.  But with the lack of sun we have been trying to keep up with fun indoor activities (it is so tempting to netflix my way through the day...) and as soon as the rain stops we run outside for a game of chase or her latest favorite game....frisbee.  My fingers have also been busy getting my knitting muscles worn in - a gnome hat and bootie set for the baby and before I could start any other baby projects Isabelle reminded me that her gnome hat no longer fit and she needed a new one too... 

creating little gnome apparel

Isabelle appropriately picked out yarn with pink and purple...her favorite colors.  And since baby may be a boy or girl we figure gray and white is a perfect genderless color combo.  Isabelle and I are not the only ones getting crafty these days.... Aaron is working on his first NH brew as we speak (and possibly ruining our stove as well...there are some weird smells coming from the kitchen).  He is making a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone ("with a little extra hop love added to it" - aaron) that should be drink ready in about a months time.

fingers crossed the stove works after...

My parents and I got Aaron the brew kit for his birthday this past year and unfortunately I haven't been able to reap the benefits considering I have been pregnant.  I have snuck a taste or two and look forward to being able to drink a glass at some point...

and remember these?

These are the garnets that my friend Rebekka and I mined for in Idaho a few months before we left (see the original post here).  I had taken them into the local gem shop in Moscow to see what if anything could be done and I decided on these beauties...

one of the small circular garnets I found cut in half, polished, and set into earrings

I am so in love with them.  Not just because the are beautiful but because they will always remind me of our time in Idaho and that fun hot day spent digging up earth to find these little blackish rocks that once polished shine with a reddish purple glow.  I have to say thank you thank you thank you to my mom for funding the setting of the stones in the earrings - yes I am completely in love with them!

Lastly, thank you for all the kind words about our missing kitty, 

we greatly appreciate your words and thoughts. 

operation kitty: failed...

Furio: 2007 - ? M.I.K.A (Missing In Kitty Action)
you will be missed :(

So Friday morning we drove down to my parents with hopes of catching the escapee, Furio, and finally bringing him home.  Unfortunately, during the two days that we were there we didn't see him once.  Which due to the surroundings I am not all that surprised - if you haven't seen my parents house... just think - back road and behind their house are acres upon acres of forest.  We are all saddened to lose our crazy kitty and hope he is enjoying being a full time out door cat or resting in peace in the great out doors.

Isabelle & Sid

We are very grateful for our other kitty Sid - who as much as we can't stand how needy he is or thick headed he can be - he is still here and will always remind us of Furio.

O's & P's

Rainy days

In other news, the weather has been less than lovely here - rainy and cold.  We officially broke out the down comforters, sweaters, and slippers in effort to delay turning on the heat (it is only October for goodness sakes).  Isabelle has been keeping busy with puzzles, coloring, and her new letters are O and P.  Neither Aaron or I have emphasized or tried to teach her any letters but she has started to come up with them on her own - she has "mastered" drawing  I, T, O, and P in the last month and we are quite impressed with her little self driven desire to draw letters.  She is also a whiz at picking out letters while reading books or while driving along - she often comes up with, "S-T-O-P....mama stop!" - and then she will slip in there "remember don't break the car mama!" (thanks for the reminder kiddo....).  I have thought about trying to do a letter a week but I think for now I will just encourage her curiosity with letters and let her go at her own pace - I want my 3 year old to just be a 3 year old.  If that means mastering the alphabet or not...thats A-Okay with me,  because your only 3 once... right?!

the rhythm of our new home

As mentioned in the last post I wanted to share a few new pictures of our place.  Mind you we are still slowly unpacking and moving things around a tad, but overall it is done for now and for the next 8 months... until we have to pack it all back up again (sigh).  Even though we are only here for a short stint many things will happen here... a baby will be born, Isabelle will become a big sister, and a certain momma and daddy need to feel like they are living in their own space.

                      
                       kitchen (w/ a dishwasher!)                                   living room

                                               
                   dining room w/ anniversary flowers                   stairs down to the water

isabelle playing by the lake

And as our life begins to settle and we feel more at home our daily rhythms are slowly making their way back into our lives.   Since I am home now full time (also with no car and 15 minutes from anywhere until the commute situation is figured out) with Isabelle I am slowly realizing how important these rhythms are to my ability to be momma all day, every day.  I gather a lot of inspiration from some passed down Waldorf books (thanks Scott, Deb & Mia!) and am happy to say that so far things have been going well.  I tend to be a task master and thrive on efficiency.... and this job forces the exact opposite - it's ok to take a half an hour to clean dishes with my little helper even though it might really only take me 5 minutes (and possibly result in cleaner dishes...).  By following a simply structured day Isabelle is naturally seeking her own play time and seems to be content with our current situation (even though she does ask once and a while when we might see her friends, go to school, or visit co-op kids).

we start with a morning circle to sing songs and celebrate the new day

isabelle loves this time (asks for it all day) even though she would never participate in library or co-op kids circle days - she loves to sing and dance

we do something together

like make applesauce from a handwritten recipe (thanks jodi!)

                 

and then Isabelle plays house

and feeds her dolls

And then we sort of repeat the whole thing again in one way or another.  It has only been a few days of just me and her and in some ways I anticipated wanting to pull my hair out... but it has been really good so far and I am feeling really positive about the next few months that Isabelle and I have just to ourselves.

i have even had time to start whipping up little things for all those babies out there

there are so many of you with baby bellies that need some knit goodies...

 and lastly, but surely not least, we get to spend our evening with daddy showing him how well we wash the dishes together

thank yous

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days, as you can imagine our lives have been full of unpacking, rediscovering toys, wondering how we accumulated so many toys, trying to hide half of the toys, and most importantly creating a space to call home.  First and foremost, I have to thank my parents for spending the weekend with us and providing emotional and physical support.  Mental break downs were tamed with comments like "lets go get more cabinet liners!" and "it is way bigger than I expected, no smell at all"...  And also a huge thank you to our dear friend Joel who flew out to Idaho only to drive back with Aaron and then help us unpack our moving truck - THANK YOU.

isabelle and grammy enjoying the view

So while our my first impressions of our new rental were dismal (I decided to trash my original post I wrote a few days ago....way too negative...I'm glad I held off on posting it)  it has turned out to be great.  After moving all of our things in and moving the owners things into the basement it feels like home - and a pretty darn good one.  We are nestled right on Mascoma Lake with a beautiful view of leaf colors to come.  We have a comfy living room, decent space in the kitchen, a dining room, and three bedrooms.  And by three bedrooms I mean a guest room (/baby room)....and by guest room I mean come visit!  Seriously - if you can, the leaf peeping on the lake will be superb in the next few weeks and we  have plenty of space.

Yesterday Aaron and I also "celebrated" our 2nd anniversary - hard to believe it has been two years since the sun shined so hard on that beautiful fall day and that we have been partners in crime for just over 6 years now.  Today I hope to take some more photos of the place to give you an idea of our new home, but for the time being thanks for being patient and sending us all your positive thoughts - we have felt them.

the escape artist

stupid cat...

So much to blog about and I so don't want to overwhelm you with all the ugly details but will try to share the highlights - now that I can (sort of) laugh it off.  So.... Wednesday morning I wake up, eager to pack the car and head up to see our new home (for the next 9 months), and I go to check on Furio (who was exiled to the bathroom during the night due to excessive yowling) and the bathroom door is open and no signs of Furio.  First I think....someone must of accidentally let him out....man this is going to be a (insert bad word) trying to find him.  So I wander my parents house looking in some extra hairy places but no luck...then the kicker...my mom says the window screen has been knocked out and the (insert bad word here) cat must have jumped for it.  Sigh...anyone who has met this cat knows he is hardly tame and can't be caught...I lost the cat the DAY we are going to NH (insert several bad words and tears here).

Well, it turns out that I did at least find him (I did not catch him).  I followed the trail of my mothers cats gazes and a mysterious yowl my mom heard and found him in one of the several inconvenient locations to try and trap a cat at my parents house (if you haven't seen it think - wow this is a great place for a cat to hide...so many hidey holes....).  I tried four times to try and catch him.  Each coming up empty handed, soaked from morning dew, mumbling profanities, and an overwhelming amount of gross boob sweat accumulating each time (sorry if that is too graphic....I haven't experienced boob sweat until pregnancy and it is no fun....at all).

So with a heavy heart and no way of coaxing the cat I decided to leave him behind with the hopes that my mom (a critically acclaimed cat whisperer) and possibly enrolling a have a heart trap might do the trick once the cat decides he is hungry enough.  I'm hopeful but not certain it will work and that our new house (which is a whole other post I can't even start on right now...as I have gone into far more detail on this one side story and I promised I wouldn't) will not be minus one for too long.

oh and this is just the beginning... more to come later

heading north

Tomorrow we head north to our new home and to hold you over until we get there and get internet going I wanted to send you over to our good friend Melissa's blog for her daughter Maggie.  A few days ago Melissa blogged a very sweet post on Maggie & Isabelle's goodbyes - and posted some very cute and typical maggie and isabelle dress up photos.

check it out here.

Thank you Melissa!