Big Sky Days

sweet valentine

Love is in the air.

and lastly, some pre-valentine sibling cuddles...

Happy Valentine's Day!

a new year

 

Welcome 2012.  

Flipping that calendar over to a New Year comes with mixed emotion for some.  Another year older, etc....  But for me - right now -  it is a welcome, hopeful change.  I have shyed away from writing down my resolutions for the past few years, making it harder to take stock on what has changed and grown.   This time after an evening of staring off into space, I wrote them all down and I got really joyful because I am looking forward to a new beginning.  I have already shared this list with my closest friends and perhaps sharing them here will make me a wee bit more accountable.  

  

In 2012 I want to...

-Go on a trip, a big trip, with just my husband.

-Explore my spirituality - it has come up too many times this year to ignore.

-Stop apologizing or overthanking when I don't really mean it and I just don't know what else to say.  Try to just let it be.

-Ride in a century ride (a 100-mile bike race)

-Work on making new friends.  Nurture and be grateful for the friends I do have (all of you!!)

-Be loving towards my brother and accept that I cannot change him. (Definitely need to attend some Al-anon meetings.)

-Be present and mindful with Lila and Henry - have more shared fun.  And breath-in deeply before yelling.  

-Raise more chickens, grow a big garden, and create more homefood.

-Listen to my patients, spend the time to really hear their words, see the world from their perspective - even if for just a moment.

-Attend a continuing education conference that will help me be a better clinician.

-Take control of my finances and turn the fear into action.

-Spend more time with my family.

Isn't she full of life?!  It is contagious!

Well, maybe the list is huge.  And maybe it will turn out to be too much, who knows?  However, it is nice exercise to think about the things I want and think that there is a new beginning to get started on them.  Cheers to 2012!  

 

our (belated) weekend

Can I still review our weekend?  On Tuesday?  Oh, I think so. 

But it is a dazzling, beautiful fall day.  Full of sunshine and spinning yellow aspen leaves and a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains.  So, I will not stay here long today.

But what is October without pumpkins?  I had to show off our trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend with some friends.  

First there was the tractor ride, with Henry at the helm...

The Quest for the Patch.  This was done after a disorienting tour through the corn maze.  I was so confused I couldn't even take a picture.  These kids couldn't stop running and switching directions and yelling, "This way!"  Whew, it was a lot. 

Quickly, pumpkins were decided upon.   And, of course, sat on to stake claim.

The tractor ride back was bumpy but full of pride.  Everyone's precious cargo was held tightly and shown off to the other passengers. 

A group photo.  Everyone's personality is coming through on this one.

And last bit of running about while we paid for our pumpkins and said our goodbyes.

The carving was done, at home, the next day.   Our jack o' lantern has a classic design with triangle eyes and a few buck teeth.  Not much changes on our pumpkins from year to year.   We then roasted the pumpkins seeds and gobbled them up in no time.  

That is our sweet pumpkin story for 2011.  Now here is the song that I have sung every year since 2005 - when Henry's preschool teacher taught him the lyrics for Halloween when he was 2.  We all sang it this year to celebrate the season.  It is especially nice to sing it with the jack o' lantern glowing and with a soft voice. 

"Jack o' lantern, jack o' lantern,

what a beautiful sight.

You were once an orange pumpkin,

now you light up the night."

 

 

 

pre-easter events

Spoiler alert:  If you don't want to know, look away.  Quickly now, because it is coming.  Look away. Final warning. 

I am the Easter Bunny in this household.  

There it is.

I do not know what goes on in other homes - perhaps a big, floppy bunny actually comes to your house -  but that is not the case around here.  

Therefore, I partake in the strange custom of filling plastic eggs with candy each year.  I consider avoiding it each year.  I consider  hiding real, dyed eggs.  Yet, we always seem to end up somewhere where plastic eggs are a requirement.  I consider putting a small plastic toy inside the small plastic egg.  And although I can see why a small toy might be better than a small piece of candy, I am not totally there.  Each year, I go with the candy.  

Turns out -  candy is good. Yum.  I really like those Cadbury ones on the side.  Jeez, they are good.

Off to the easter egg hunt at school, which required 6 plastic eggs per kid.  We got a fresh dump of about 4 inches again last night and so, the snow prohibited outdoor hunting.  

Each kid in the class created paper bunny ears and paper easter baskets.  Each kid stuffed their mouth with all of their candy.  

I especially loved the handmade Easter basket.  But it was a tad overwhelming for my daughter.  She goes bananas for all the candy and all the attention from the kids. 

Once home and after a rest, we dyed some eggs.  

I got the dye from Imagine Childhood and, actually, most of the items for their easter basket.  (Oops. I guess you already know I am the Easter bunny!)  If this place (Imagine Childhood) is not on your radar, it should be.  Check. It. Out.

The dye is natural and not as vibrant as the artificial sort but I think the process is wonderful.  These kids were all business and begged to dye a thousand eggs.  If only, we could eat a thousand hard-boiled eggs....

And the eggs turned out to be lovely.  

Happy pre-Easter!  

 

 

37

Wow, to be 37.

Inspired by Dig this Chick blog, here are 37 things that make me love my birthday right now:

1. This and every day

2. My sweet, sensitive Henry

3. My loving, energized Lila

4. Nutella

5. Cooking at home

6. My new home with it's old schoolhouse charm

7. Our growing baby chicks and our future friends and fresh eggs

8. Sweet Ruby Tuesday and her snoring during her afternoon naps

9. Spring, or the promise of

10. Hot Coffee in the Morning

11. Alice Munro's Runaway.  The short stories were perfectly enthralling for me.

12.  A boy and his dog

13.  A girl, her imagination, and her dog

14.  Old friends and belly laughs

15.  Breaking out the sidewalk chalk in March

16.  A birthday trail run in Elena Gallegos Park

17. Best friends reunited

18. Green chile sauce on anything

19. Hodgepodging (aka pot luck) with ABQ friends

20. Fresh tulips on my table

21.  Living so close to Yellowstone (and a mini version.)

22. My incredibly, strong parents

23. A brother on the road to health 

24. The opportunity to sit and, just be with my friend 

25. A birthday transceiver so I can hike and ski more safely

26. The excitement of summer plans

27. My job

28. Awesome sunsets

29.  Living 1/2 hour away from a best friend like no other

30.  Our invisible fence for our dog

31. Waking early to enjoy a good book and coffee - alone

32. A birthday dinner with my parents at the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe

33. My son's expanding diet - with sushi as the most recent addition!

34. Wild rice sticks from the bulk bins at our co-op

35. Black tea after lunch

36. Watching cousins grow up together

37. My husband

So, here's to 37!  It is a good life.

On Valentine's Eve

We have been crafting and baking in preparation for the lovely Valentine's Day.  First, we went to my sister-in-law's paper store in town, Ro Sham Bo, and took some time to busy ourselves in the art of Valentine making.  She puts on an incredible spread at her store full of paper, stickers, envelopes, stamps and special pens to make the experience so much fun.  Everything is laid on big tables and everyone seems to work diligently and share amazingly well, even the 3 year olds.  For the writing on the valentine's, I did try to focus on the friendship aspect of Valentine's Day - especially with my son.  He was a bit timid about writing "Love, Henry" on each and every card he made for the kids in his class.  But once "From, Henry" was introduced he was off and running.  Both kids crafted many Valentine's Cards - making ones for everyone in their class and their teachers.  

I think my kid's respective Valentine's cards say a lot about their personalities...but perhaps I am reading too much into it.

We have also been baking.  My daughter and I baked a flourless chocolate cake to share with our family across town on Saturday night.  This ugly yet delicious cake was paired with store bought blood orange sorbet.  And today we all made Valentine's Day cookies.

And just for fun...here is a shot of the dirty dishes after!

We are ready and excited for the big day!  


 

holiday making continues...

Yum.

Yummo.

Yummiest.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark.  So delicious!  And easy, peasy....

I used the Barefoot Contessa recipe for chocolate bark and instead of the nuts/fruit, I chopped up 30 peppermint candies and sprinkled on top.  Cooled in the fridge for 30 minutes and then put in jars for gifts.  I didn't end up using the peppermint extract, as many recipes suggest, because - well- I forgot it.  But I don't think it is necessary.  This recipe is a really nice combination of dark chocolate and peppermint.  Mmmm.  Many recipes also call for a layer of white chocolate which I skipped just because I am lazy.  I think it sounds good with the white chocolate but this recipe works...so I don't think I will miss that layer one iota.  

Here's the chocolate after it was microwaved to smooth oozieness and spread out on parchment paper.

Next we sprinkled the chopped up peppermint candies.  I just threw those unwrapped candies in a bag and pounded them with my meat tenderizer.  Really, I did!  I tried chopping them with a knife and candy was flying all over my kitchen.   This bag-pounding-with-meat-tenderizer method is a method I frequently use when I need chopped nuts for granola.  Anyway, here's my daughter sprinkling the candy.

and voila!

As my gracious daughter unwrapped more candy,

I started on the white chocolate, pistachio, cranberry, and apricot bark.  Again, from barefoot contessa.

And that neat sticker on top was made using an embosser from Williams-Sonoma my mom gave me a few years back.  Looks perfect on top of these jars!  Thanks Mom! 

So, I am ready to gift these away!  And I still have some more chocolate so I am dreaming up my next bark recipe...almonds, perhaps?  More peppermint?  I will definitely need more jars.  Okay, I'm off to do that!

 

 

homemade holiday goodness

Thinking about some homemade gifts.  My son is concocting all kinds of gifts at school that he can't help but tell me about each afternoon when I pick him up.  His excitement is contagious!  He is also planning on making a homemade joke book for Santa to leave with Santa's usual cookies on Christmas Eve.  I guess something to "lighten up" his sugar cookies.  (ha ha ha)  

Thus far, I have mostly bought my gifts but I do try to make something each year to give.   And this year (drumroll, please) I decided on chocolate bark! Mmmm.... I have never made it and I have been searching for recipes and seeing what sounds good to the little people in my life.  They both seem semi-excited about the bark notion but I am going with it anyway!  Chocolate bark with pistachios, apricots, and cranberries!  Peppermint chocolate bark!  Here are some of the delicious ingredients:

"Chocolate is no ordinary food.  It is not something you can take or leave, something you like only moderately.  You don't like chocolate.  You don't even love chocolate.  Chocolate is something you have an affair with."  -Geneen Roth

This winter I do not have any coworkers (unless you count Ruby or Mr. Joe Orangey)...so I am thinking teachers, friends and family will receive this chocolate yumminess.  My plan is to involve the kiddos in the making process and then have them hand it out to their teachers on their last day of school.  (I did also get gift cards, if the bark is not so delish!)  So. Stay tuned for photos of that process.

The other night while we were baking these:

We saw this amazing sunset...

Right outside our front door!  Isn't it amazing?!  It made me want to run back inside and eat those cookies (which were pretty good) and I did!  Strange but true.  Then I had to pack 'em up and bring them over to a dinner party, which I was grateful for.  

So much homemade goodness goes on this time of year!  And not just food...but cards and photos and, even, joke books for Santa.

 

 

the "didn't make the cut" holiday card photo

This photo almost made the cut but I guess I felt like we were too far away...and I didn't want to zoom in and cut out the mountains because they are too pretty.  I tried and tried to make it work but, alas, I chose a different photo.  But it is such a nice photo and the day we had in Teton National Park was a wonderfully memorable day.  So I had to share this.   

The holiday card thing is always a bit of a struggle for me.  I want to do it every year but every year I really dread it.  This year was no different.  I had to drag myself through the whole, incredibly easy process!  I think I like the idea of getting cards and people getting mine so I drudge through. 

Anyway, the cards are ordered and have yet to arrive on my doorstep.  Then I will not-so-joyously slap some stickers on them and stamps and hopefully send them in the mail sometime before the year 2011.  I can't count on that, though.  

Christmas Music

 

I just love Martin Sexton.  My husband and I started listening to him sometime in the year 2000.  We first saw him live at the Somerville Theater, shortly after we were married... that same year.   It was a great night.  A cold, wintry night in Boston, just before Christmas.  The performance was incredible - a small venue, full of his fans, and everyone just sang, clapped, and danced along with him.  Magic.  We have seen him several times since (and he is always great) but that first time was the most memorable.  As part of that Boston performance, he sang a Christmas tune...I can't remember which one but I think his Blue Christmas rendition is awful nice.   He did come out with a Christmas album a few years back - which we play and play and play all through December.  

So this afternoon, I am listening to Martin croon Christmas carols and making lentil soup.