Talking to Kids about Moving

Anne is generally over the moon about the new house, but in the past week or so, she's started to get a little resistant when we talk about the prospect of leaving our old house. "I like the new house the best," she'll say, "But sometimes I'm going to sleep at the old house, too." When we tell her that that won't be possible because someone else will be living here, she gives us a resounding NO.

It makes sense that she would be a little anxious to leave. James and I love this little old house and the time we've spent here. But to us, it's just a quick drop in the memory bucket, a place among all the other places we've lived, a place where we spent just a little over a year. But to Anne, it is the only home she's ever really known. She was too little to remember our Arlington condo. This house is the setting for the only Christmas she remembers, the only birthday she remembers having, the place where she's played with her friends, all the little moments in between.

We've been trying to do what we can to make the move easier on her. The main thing is that we've tried to move everything else before packing her room. That way, she has a sort of sanctuary amid the chaos of packing that's taken over the rest of the house. We're planning on unpacking and setting up her room at the new house first thing before anything else, for the same reasons.



We've taken a lot of photos of/in the old house during the months we've been here but are trying to snap some shots of the little things about it that we'll want to remember in the future: the plants and trees in the yard, the crystal knobs on the pretty ladderback doors (each one is unique), the funny black-and-white retro tile in the bathroom.

It helps a lot that we've been spending a lot of time at the new house, usually making at least one trip every day for renovation purposes. It's also convenient that the layout of the new house is very similar to the one we're leaving. Thank you, mid-century architects! A.'s new room is coming together, and she's already made friends in the new neighborhood, which has been great for helping to distract from the fact that our time at the old house is coming to an end. But I still find myself crossing my fingers, hoping it all goes smoothly.

Have you moved with your kids? How did you make the transition a little easier? Any strategies you could share would be most appreciated.

Happy Monday!

Our New House

Just over a week ago, we closed on our new house -- a four-bedroom, two-bathroom (!) 1940s Cape Cod just a few streets away from the house we've been renting for the past year. Despite a few dubious design choices left over from the early 1970s (psychedelic wallpaper and linoleum, wood paneling everywhere), our new house is pretty much perfect in our eyes, full of light and charm and tons of possibilities.

Anouk's favorite things about it are the vintage light fixtures in the bedrooms and the seats under the dormer windows upstairs; James loves the yard and the fact that it's within walking distance to the beach; I still can't believe the sheer number of cabinets and drawers in the kitchen (well over thirty) and the neighborhood, which is shady and friendly and full of young families.

I think what's most exciting though is that this new house means that we're here in Norfolk to stay. We can start settling in and really putting down roots. It's exciting, seeing our city through this new perspective. I never really paid attention to the elementary school down the street before; now whenever I pass it I can't help but picture a little six- or seven-year-old Anouk there, knowing that it will be her school one day.

We're going to be super busy over the next few weeks as we settle in and start some pretty extensive renovations so please forgive me if things are a little slow over here on the blog. I promise I'll make it up with some juicy DIY posts later for those of you who are into that.

Two whole bathrooms! I still can't believe it. Happy weekend, everyone!

Fall Fun List

Since summer is officially over, I thought it would be a good time to share some of our favorite fall places, crafts, and treats from last year. If you have any suggestions you'd like to share, from your own blog or around the web, please link in the comments! Also, if you do any of these, please write and let us know how you enjoyed it. :)

I'm cuddled up under a wool blanket as I type this and I love love it. Welcome, fall!

GO:

-Bergey's Breadbasket: Quite possibly the best petting zoo in the area, with a PYO pumpkin patch and a delectable bakery attached. Bergey's inspired our apple dumpling recipe (below).

-Hunt Club Farm: The photos at the bottom of this post is from our visit last October (look how small my Nou was!). Their fall harvest fair runs through Nov. 1 this year and you can bet we'll be there again.

-Apple Picking at Martin Vineyard & Orchard: A recent trip that's going to become a family tradition. Apple season ends in November, but I would call ahead to make sure they're still open (their website doesn't seem to be updated frequently).

-New Earth Farm: A beautiful farmer's market in Virginia Beach, with probably the most interesting and delicious organic and seasonal produce in the area.

-First Landing State Park: So gorgeous this time of year. Try the Bald Cypress Trail, an easy hike for little legs.

-Big Woods State Forest: Some "real wilderness" hiking just about an hour away in Sussex County.

-Bennett's Creek Farm Market: Bennett's Creek is a treat in any season but fall makes us hungry and when the weather turns cool, we crave their she-crab soup.


MAKE: 

-Pumpkin pie playdough: Adding pumpkin-pie spice makes everything feel more festive.

-Gravestone rubbing: A spooky craft to get older kids interested in family history.

-Pinecone prints: This is a great time of year for nature painting.


COOK:

-Maple cinnamon marshmallows: Dresses up hot cocoa; a lot easier than you'd think.

-Apple dumplings: A quick and easy version of the famous ones at Bergey's Breadbasket.

-Pumpkin quinoa: The perfect breakfast for fall mornings.

-Sugar cookies: Not our recipe, but one we use constantly. These cookies are tasty and don't spread!

12 in 12 (September 2013)

This month's 12 in 12 (on the 12th) project found us running all over, from sunup to sundown. Usually when we have a busy day like this I feel wrung out by the end of it, but this day, our travels all over town really came together to highlight to me how much our city has to offer. I feel like this post is a love letter to Norfolk just as much as it is a recording of our ordinary run-of-the-mill day.

Dear Norfolk -- we love living in you. And dear readers, don't forget to pop over and check out Darcy's and Rebecca's 12 in 12 projects at No Monsters in My Bed and Not-So-SAHM.

7:30 AM: Mornings make me feel like this too.



10:00 AM: Anouk and I venture down to Ghent for a couple of hours to run errands. We have a lot of presents to buy, as pretty much everyone we know had a baby or a birthday (or both!) in September. We bought one of the baby gifts, for my friend A.'s little girl, from Kitsch, which is such an awesome store full of handmade goodies. If you live in the area, you should definitely stop in.




11:30 AM: Coffee break at Fair Grounds. Anouk sings along to the Beatles Let it Be album and I read a poetry zine put out by high school students while I finish my drink. Why wasn't I this awesome in high school??

12:00 PM: High noon on Colley Ave.

12:30 PM: We stop by Lafayette Park on the way home to run off some steam before lunch. I just adore the gnarly old live oaks that grow there; they might be my all-time favorite trees.




2:00 PM: Naptime.

5:30 PM: Aunt Kristen is in town for the day on her way to a friend's wedding. Anouk is SO happy to see her and I think the feeling might be mutual.

6:00 PM: We walk down Granby Street to visit our favorite of the Norfolk mermaids (Miss Definitely Downtown) before Aunt Bonne's birthday dinner at Hokkaido. Happy birthday, Bon-Bon! P.S.: I swear sometimes we really do eat meals at home.

8:45 PM: A quick bath before bed.

How was your day?

12 in 12 (August 2013)

It's August, and therefore time for another 12 photos in 12 hours. I feel like every time this project rolls around we have a really boring day and I long to be able to put my camera aside and wait to shoot when something more interesting is happening. It's hard to find the inspiration when you're just not feeling it. But I guess that's why this project is important -- it gives me a chance to search for something special in the little moments that don't seem very inspiring. And isn't that what most of life is?

I'm sure Rebecca and Darcy had far more interesting days, so be sure to check out their blogs today too. Here's to you, August 2013! Can you believe we're more than halfway through August already?

9:45 AM: It's a hot day that's only supposed to get hotter, so A. and I take our trip to the park as early as possible, right after breakfast. Despite our best-laid plans, it still feels like we're sitting in someone's armpit. Bleh. However, the chubby baby legs (climbing so high!) made me smile.

11:00 AM: A quick stop by the Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Center, a site that I'm thinking of reviewing for the blog based on a recommendation by my friend E. It looks interesting so A. and I make plans to come back later in the week when we have a little more time to explore (and when it will hopefully be cooler).

12:00 PM: Anouk's lunch: chicken nuggets, cucumber, goat cheese, and ketchup. Lots of ketchup. Anouk likes everything with a side of ketchup these days. Mama's lunch: a second latte and a few handfuls of Captain Crunch (not pictured because it was eaten hurriedly while A.'s back was turned, I want to keep her from a horrible lifelong Crunch addiction).

1:30 PM: While Anouk naps, I try on the bridesmaid dress I'm wearing in K. & D.'s wedding to see if I need to alter it at all. I can't believe I'm going to be wearing this beautiful dress in less than two months! I can't wait to see two of the best people that I know get married to each other. It's going to be rad.

2:15 PM: I reached for this magnetic Disney Princess set when we were in the thrift store a week or two ago to distract a very whiny Anouk from trying to jump out of the cart. It worked and she basically hasn't stopped playing with it since. Totally worth the $1.50 I paid for it.

3:30 PM: Kroger! Grocery shopping goes six times faster when the car-cart is available.

4:45 PM: The Josie-cat watches the squirrels in our yard. She got a clean bill of health at her checkup at the vet last week, not one issue for our 14-year-old girl. I hope this means we'll have her for 14 more.

6:00 PM: It's too hot to cook so we go out for dinner at Guad's at Granby. Our waitress was nice enough to bring A. her own bowl of  salsa because she understands that sometimes, you just have to double-dip your chip.



7:30 PM: On the way home, we stopped for a family portrait in the window of the H&R block. If I was still a humanities undergrad, I could write a fifteen page paper on how this photo is a commentary on the attitudinal changes between the American family in today's recession versus the Great Depression of the 1930s, and I would draw allusions to Grant Wood and Dorothea Lange and Sinclair Lewis. But luckily I'm not and so I don't have to do that kind of thing ever again.

8:30 PM: Bedtime cuddles with Daddy.

Flower Child

Anne was in a wedding last month -- one of her superamazing godfathers got married to an equally superamazing woman and they asked our A. to be part of the flower girl contingent. We were already extremely happy and excited for Uncle P. and his bride to get married. For A. to be a part of the day was just icing on the cake, and we were all very excited (and a little nervous) about it. Anouk is two after all, not quite two-and-a-half. And in case you haven't noticed from this blog, my child happens to be an extremely spirited child.

But on the day of the wedding, she was surprisingly obedient and docile. She held hands with the other flower girls and made it all. the. way. down the aisle without a blip. She colored quietly in her coloring book during the rest of the service. She let the photographer pose her for a few pictures, something that always prompts a scornful "NO, mommy" when I try to do it. She even took a nap between the ceremony and the reception, like, will wonders never cease?

Of course she looked adorable in her tiny white sparkly dress -- her princess dress, she calls it -- and seeing her in it reinforced to me how quickly kids grow at this age. When we got the dress back in the spring, I had thought I might need to do some alterations to it, take up the straps, which were too loose, and the hem, which was too long. But by the time we tried on the dress again the week before the wedding, it fit perfectly. She'd grown an inch in three months. Zoom -- just like that.

But more than that, this whole wedding experience made me realize suddenly how much Anouk's world is growing. Once -- not too long ago -- her entire universe was limited to pretty much me and James. Now she has a whole host of faces around her, familiar and unfamiliar, and the circle just keeps widening every day. It is unexpectedly one of my favorite parts of parenting so far, seeing Anouk starting to build these relationships for herself, without our help. And gratifying, too, to see that the seeds of independence and friendliness and respect that we've tried to carefully tend are starting to grow and blossom in our child.

I'm not saying that she's perfect or even that she behaved perfectly throughout the whole entire wedding process -- she is, after all, a two-year-old. (And speaking of icing on the cake, there was one heart-stopping moment when I saw her, across the dance floor reach up to touch the wedding cake and I ran like the wind across the room shouting "I'll spaaaaaaaaaaank you!", getting there just in the nick of time to prevent it from actually happening.) But I have no problem with saying that I am proud of my daughter and the person she's becoming. And that I am excited to see her keep growing and changing, reaching toward the light.

Tahini Halawa

Halawa, or halvah, is a traditional Middle Eastern sweetmeat, considered by some to be the first candy ever made in recorded history, with sesame seeds and honey. Nowadays, halawa is served in many cultures all over the world, using ingredients ranging from semolina flour to almonds to yams but the most traditional recipe calls for tahini (sesame paste), honey, and pistachios. My aunt says that she remembers my Lebanese great-grandmother cooking up big batches of this sweet, though nobody thought to save the recipe she used because halawa wasn't one of their favorites.

I can understand that. I do like halawa, but I admit that it is kind of an acquired taste. The texture not exactly fudgy, slightly flaky, slightly creamy. It's not super-sweet like most Western desserts, and the tahini gives it a faint smoky taste (I've heard some people substitute the tahini with almond butter which sounds intriguing though I've never tried it). But it's also incredibly addicting. I find myself craving it sometimes, and when a halawa craving hits, nothing else will do. There is literally nothing else like it in the world.

I've been making halawa a lot lately, to try and get Anouk in touch with her Lebanese roots (she didn't like it at first but seems to like it more and more every time she has it). Though I don't have my great-grandmother's specific recipe, it does make me feel a connection with her every time I make this and I love that.

Ingredients:

1 cup honey
3/4 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup tahini, stirred

Directions:

Over medium heat, cook the honey until it reaches 240 degrees F, or the "soft ball" stage (when dropped in water, the honey forms a round, flexible ball). Let cool slightly, then stir in the nuts and vanilla. Fold in the tahini, then stir well to combine. Pour mixture into a lightly greased dish (we find a standard bread loaf pan works well for this). Chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Cut into pieces and serve at room temperature. Makes about 1 pound.

Big Girl Bed

Anouk has been working on outgrowing her crib for a while. A few months ago, she learned to climb over the crib rail, which necessitated all sorts of baby-wrangling on our parts to keep her from falling and hurting herself, mainly involving an XL-size sleepsack, a hair elastic, and a little bit of luck. More recently, she started to show a definite preference for taking her naps in mine and James's bed. It happened so many times that finally, we gave in and ordered her a new big girl bed of her own. It was delivered over the weekend, and so we decided that Sunday night would be Anouk's last night in her crib.

I tried hard not to get teary as I tucked her into it for the last time. I have always promised myself that I won't let myself get too sentimental about Anne getting bigger. Milestones should be happy events, and I don't want to diminish her accomplishments by feeling sad about time passing. I don't want to miss the moment at hand because I'm too busy missing ones that came before.

I made myself make a mental list of all the positives about A. not sleeping in the crib anymore. It went like this:

• She will be more comfortable in the new bed (and thus maybe sleep a little longer in the mornings?) 
• We'll be able to snuggle. 
• Now we can work on potty training, which means eventually no more diapers. (Hooray!)
• I get to redecorate her room to match the big-girl comforter Anne picked out all on her own (I will NOT think about boxing up the little crib quilt I chose before she was born.)

Monday afternoon we put together the bed and loaded the mattress onto it, carefully chosen and tested to ensure it was not too firm, not too soft, but just right. Monday night, we went through our usual bedtime routine and tucked A. into the new bed nice and snug. J. and I spent a long time making sure that she had everything she needed (night light, sippy cup, cat) and then we turned out the lights and closed the door. It took a few false starts, a couple of serious talks in the light of the ladybug lamp, but before we knew it, Anne was sleeping peacefully in the new bed, as though she'd been doing it for months. 

I stuck my head in a couple of times before my own bedtime to make sure she was doing OK. And you know what? In that great big bed, with the duvet pulled up over her, she looked so small. As small as she looked the time we put all five pounds of her in her crib for the very first time. Not so big, actually, after all. Not too big, not too small -- but just right. 

Strawberry Picking

Nothing says summertime is almost here! in Virginia Beach more than strawberry picking down in Pungo. I've been dreaming about it since the cold gray days of February and so when James asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, that's what I picked (get it???). On Saturday, we (finally!) got our chance and drove down to Cullipher Farms to pick to our hearts' content.

We chose Cullipher Farm for a few reasons: first, they use organic growing practices, and with strawberries heading the list of fruits with high pesticide residues, that was a big deal for us. Second, they have two locations, one at the farm stand near Pungo Village and one a few miles away, which cuts down on crowds. We chose the farther-away berry patch, and as soon as we stepped out of the car we could smell the scent of berries warming in the sun.

We picked and picked and picked. In Anne's case, I should say we ate and ate and ate. By the time we finished, her white shirt looked like it had been dunked in a vat of red dye. I know some people were looking at us and thinking, who's the crazy mom who dresses her kid in white for berry picking? To which I say, there is a method to my madness. I dunked the whole shirt in a bucket of hydrogen peroxide as soon as we got home and today, it's good as new. (That's why they crowned me the Queen of Stain Removal. It's a glamorous job, being a mom.)

All in all, we picked two gallons of berries for $22, which is a great bargain considering that a pint of organic berries can go for as much as $4 or $5 in stores. We immediately put up one batch and saved the rest to eat this week -- and boy, have we been eating them as hard as we can. Even so, I'm still not sure we'll be able to work our way through them this week, so...let the baking commence!

This has been kind of a funky strawberry season so far -- the cool weather in April meant the berries set late and with the temperatures fluctuating, it's hard to say how long the season will last. Which means: go this weekend! Click here for Cullipher Farm's hours.

^^ My little strawberry girl, all tuckered out. I feel so lucky to be her mom, on Mother's Day and every other day of the year.

SweetART at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art

Last Saturday evening, we went to the SweetART family night at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach and had a great time. In addition to amazing interactive art exhibits, there was food, crafts, live music, kiddie spa treatments (courtesy of the Klumsy Moose), and even an open bar for the parents (score!)

Anne and James and I attended the event with our friend Sarah and her Baby A. I think it's safe to say that we all had a blast. We decorated heart-shaped cookies, made Valentine's cards for friends, and then explored the art gallery a little. Some of the things we enjoyed seeing included some really cool avant garde jewelry, a custom Vans exhibit, and even a few of our old favorites from the Chrysler!

But best of all was probably the ArtLab, "a space of activity and exploration" for children of all ages. Anouk and A. spent a lot of time sticking felt shapes onto different surfaces, playing with chalk, and jumping onto the giant beanbags that littered the gallery.

After a while in the ArtLab, we were called back to the main courtyard by the strains of the C-Shells, who did a live performance that had most of the room up and dancing. At the end of the set the lights came up and we left with our goody bags. But I know we'll be back again soon.

The next Family Fest at MOCA will be held on Feb. 24. And Feb. 21 is Pre-K Art Day! Will you be there?