Wishing you a Not-Too-Spooky Halloween

Excuse the long blogging break, please. Chaos has reigned here for a couple of weeks as we have battled a poltergeist worthy of the very best horror films. From computers to ceiling fans, tonsils to floor boards, some creature has been systematically sabotaging us...

That or my life suddenly resembles a country song. But I shouldn't complain, which is exactly why the blog has been so quiet. The only stories that have come to mind lately are whiny, and in light of what some of my loved ones are dealing with, our poltergeist is little more than an distraction.

To brighten the day/week/month, here are a few pictures of our ongoing Halloween celebrations:

Maya as Cinderella, preparing to attend the Halloween Carnival at her preschool. I must say, the Veblen Cheerleaders could have held their own in the Twin Cities gymnasium carnival scene.

Elliot as a renaissance princess heard "ooh, look at this one" everywhere she went. We thought she was awfully cute.

Last Saturday, we attended the Tamarack park (our favorite site for adventure days) trick or treat event. The park was in full color, and our little lion and firefighter, along with their good friend Abby Cadabby, were enamored with the clever games and trick or treat scavenger hunt. We'll definitely be back!

Anja, Elliot, and Maya in front of the cider press and popcorn area.

Flashes of Dance

For the sake of posterity, here are the girls' most recent dance moves. First it's Elliot in a solo interpretive circle dance, and then you'll see Maya's pre-bedtime impromptu tap performance (with all too-grown-up post-dance commentary).

Photo Friday - Check-Up Prep

Maya helped get Elliot ready for her two year wellness check by playing doctor.


Because our clinic was out of the flu vaccine, she escaped shot free, much to Elliot's relief and Maya's consternation!

Charlotte's Web

We have officially shared our first chapter book with Maya!

This is a milestone that has been on the "to do" list all summer, but of course, the longer, darker evenings of fall are a much better fit than the long, lovely summer nights in the backyard.

Charlotte's Web was a natural choice, given its farm theme, the fact that it was my own favorite early reader, and of course, we had my old copy on hand. Also, we hoped that Charlotte's bittersweet fate would help address some of Maya's ongoing questions about death and dying.

All four-year-old's love asking questions. Maya is most curious about the big ones!

I'm happy to report that Maya fully enjoyed her nightly chapters of the story, often bargaining for extra chapters at nap time. Her favorite scenes (from what I could tell... though I only read half of the chapters), included the ever-snarky Templeton the Rat or the excessively-syllabic goose, both of whom had Maya chuckling out loud.

Maya also weathered its shocking conclusion with considerable compassion and resilience. As we read the last two chapters, Maya teared up, asked a lot of questions, and then re-focused her spidery love on Charlotte's offspring, just as Wilbur did.

Family movie night... Elle wanted to keep playing!

Later, when we watched Julia Roberts portray Charlotte on the silver screen during family movie night, Maya took it a bit harder, but as soon as the tears dried she wanted to see it again. So did I...

It was a good first reading experience, from what I could tell. Her increased enthusiasm for all books was demonstrated yesterday when I cleared off all of my shelves and reorganized the stacks. She went through each one, wanting a detailed description and an age: "When do I get to read this one?"

That's my girl!

The Demands of the Day

Really? A blizzard (sort of) in October!? It is so easy to wonder what happened to fall, to look ahead at months of confinement indoors with energetic preschoolers, and to hunt around for a powerful sedative (I must have leftovers from the tonsil episode...)

Clearly, I still need to track down snow pants and boots, but the rain boots did all right for today.

No, no. Rumor has it this weekend might find us back up at 60 degrees, with time enough to put the garden to bed and prowl through leaf littered trails in the park a bit more. These first snowfalls really are full of magic, and the girls and I answered the early morning call of our backyard.

Vegetable Village was fighting so hard to finish off a few last tomatoes.

Our snowgirl toppled under her own soggy weight after only a few hours, but that doesn't erase the fun we had creating it. This snow is so sticky even Maya had no trouble rolling a section of snowgirl. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to decorate our creation, both girls were sporting soggy mittens and frozen fingers. Elliot still has no tolerance for cold, and as Maya and I looked around for a pine cone nose, poor little sister let herself into the house and stomped her slushy disapproval all over the kitchen floor.


We simply had to warm up at Caribou with a couple hot chocolates and a sticky bun. It couldn't have been a more delightful, if Christmas-y, morning.

Photo Friday - Our big girl

Age of the Superbug

Perhaps it's time I admit it. I am becoming a germophobe.

In just 4 short years, I've made the remarkable transformation from a healthy adult with a solid (if mistaken) belief in Vitamin C supplements and the mantra that colds are for wimps to a neurotic, half-gallon-of-CleanWell-Hand-Sanitizer using, I-think-I'm-getting-a-sore-throat, Web MD obsessed crazy person.


I'm part hypochondriac, part apocalypse soothe-sayer, and part... well... mother.

Of course, it's the mom bit at the root of all my neurosis.

Before motherhood, or more accurately, before mothering a preschooler, I could afford to laugh in the face of minor illness. Before motherhood, I could curl up with a bottle of NyQuil and an Audrey Hepburn movie and sleep uninterrupted until I was healthy. Before motherhood, I was sick only once a season, at the most.

Now here I am with two little germ spreaders and our first of many expected minor illnesses this season.

Along with brightly painted pictures of autumn leaves, Maya brought us all a cold. Unfortunately, in the age of the superbug, each cold puts me on edge.

So I'm watching their colds and mine for any similarities to the H1N1 symptoms (none so far). I'm reading the literature on MRSA staph, the antibiotic resistant strain that my neighbor recently contracted and we should all be concerned about. And I'm scrubbing every frequently-touched surface I pass. Thankfully my favorite cleaning product, vinegar, is purportedly a great germ killer as well, so I don't have to depend on those nasty chemical companies.


I ask you, how does one find the zen in germ warfare? How much yoga do I need before I can resist the urge to don a gas mask each time Maya wakes up with the sniffles? I'm off to find out.... :)

Hmm, maybe I'll swap the yoga for banana cake and peanut butter frosting, as long as the cooks wash their hands!

Well, then, there is your dose of crazy for the day. And mine too!

Photo Friday: Two Grown Up

Maya coyly looking back to see if I was going to take a picture. She tried to time her silly face just right, but I snapped her sweetly waiting instead.

Elliot bravely venturing into the big kid tunnels at the Eagle's Nest