BØØØ sier trollemor...

Poop. As i was happily knitting along on a baby sock i'm working on for a friend, it seemed to me that the cuff looked awfully big and stretchy for a 6-9 mo. size sock. But, i thought, it does decrease and it is a fold over cuff. i tried it on Oskar (almost 7 mos.) and it fit him ok. But it still seemed a bit large... then i discovered tonight that i was not using size 1 needles, i was using size 2! ACK! So. Now i'm left with the dilemma of just continuing on, and making a stretchier sock that Oskar can grow into next fall/winter or pulling it all out and starting over with size ones for zee' wee' bebe'... hmm. i think i'll forge ahead. Uncharted waters, make way!

The garden is coming along swimmingly. Everything has come up beautifully. Well. Everything except my poor, poor lettuce which really seems to be struggling. Maybe i planted it too deep. i dunno. Its pitiful. And sad. But as i said, everything else is AMAZING! Well. Ok. My thai basil hasn't shown up at all. But i haven't given up hope. It very well could be a late bloomer. i mean, i am. Maybe its just biding its time as well. (yikes.) But the sugar snap peas look awesome, the spinach is splendid, the radishes look, well, radish-y... but the feather in my proverbial cap... the soy beans... they're just so, well... they look almost prehistoric. The seed looks in every way like an ordinary pea. But when it sprouts, its nearly the size of a lima bean! It then slowly uncurls itself, not unlike a fern. Unfurling its tender green body to the warming sun. i love it. And they're all at different stages, so the row looks like a set of time lapsed images. They are very dramatic.

spring-a-ling-a-ling...

For 3 days we have spent each entire morning outside in the gleaming, wonderful sunshininess that is SPRING! We planted a garden.

Two types of spinach, red lettuce, arugula, sugar snap peas, radishes and soybeans.

Hopefully will plant cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots and cucumbers in pots this coming week. Also planted cilantro and thai basil in pots. i just really hope SOMETHING comes up. If i get one edible thing out of the lot, i will be happy. :D Keeping all of my fingers AND toes crossed.

Yesterday i had Matias make a spring pile. i had him gather some things he found in the front yard that he thought were spring-y. Mostly flowers. They're definitely spring-y.

He used them as his "candlestick", playing as "Jack be nimble..." running back and forth down the sidewalk and LEAPING as he came to the flowers. Yeah... you can see a little flatness in the dandelions.

Overall, its been a fantastic week. If now only it would rain and wash away this pollen that has descended on our lovely little world as a powdery rain. Blanketing everything in itchy, sneeze-inducing yellowness. Blech. Its everywhere... and gets on everything. Blasted oak trees. i love my trees, i really truly do. But THIS, i could do without. RAIN!

garden of greens.

i finally, FINALLY got some seeds planted in my sweet little raised bed garden. Two types of spinach, some red lettuce and some arugula in seven lovely little rows. i hope something actually comes up.
 The sun was gorgeous. It was lovely and warm. Not hot, just warm. Mmmm.

i love spring.

bloggity. bloggity bloggity.

belated beannachtaina feile padraig

so. i had a moment of utter genius tonight. seriously. utter genius. dark chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate syrup and... wait for it... frozen wild blueberries! ahhh! it was unspeakably good!

i feel a little like i failed st. patrick. the celebration of his death rolled around and i hardly batted an eyelash. yay! aren't we all glad he died!? its weird. anna and i were talking about it yesterday. almost every person-centered holiday is celebrated on said person's birthday... except st. patrick. maybe that's why everyone drinks on st. patrick's day, as a sort of a mock wake. i dunno. still, it would have been fun to have had a bit o' craic.

oskar rolled over yesterday! 3 times! twice on the exam table at the pediatricians and once at my folks'. today he went on sleep strike. i think maybe it was due to the vaccine he got. poor wee man. matias was dry all day yesterday, in his rockin' spiderman boxer breifs! we even went to anderson and back with nary an accident... then today, he was playing out in our own backyard and... well... had a set back... of the worst kind. poor wee man.

yeah. i'm not really into transitions so i've noticed. heh.

tomorrow i'm getting a garden! WHOOPEE!!! so excited! my dad built frames for my sister & i. he is enlisting the help of the menfolk to help install them at each prospective house. he's also sharing his bountiful supply of dirt and mushroom compost. summer produce, HERE WE COME! The yard is looking good. kristian's been raking like a madman. i cleared up the death in my chrysanthemum pots and they're coming back. it makes the front of the house really lovely and ready for SPRING! the last few gorgeous days have gotten me in to quite a spring fever. i've actually been attempting to spring clean. i say, attempting because with the small boy and the smaller boy, it hasn't gone exactly as i had mapped it out in my mind. but the new broom we got yesterday has instilled in me a new hope for a bright and cleaner future. no. really, it has. simple pleasures, you know. back to the garden and the outdoors. i REALLY want to dig flower beds along my front walk. ideally, i'd plant poppies. i'm just not sure how well they would do. i know nothing about poppies. my second choice are... is... are red tulips, which i HAVE had before. so. i guess we'll see. the nice thing about tulips? they are bulb(ous) flowers. they'll keep coming back. maybe poppies are the same? like i said, i know nothing. either way the prospect has me giddy with excitement!

A-ha!

...no. not that A-ha...


...i figured out what to make for dinner on Wed. Teriyaki Salmon & Rice. Yummo!

Also, i finally broke down and tried eating strawberries. They did not bode well with Oskar. i remember having to pass on all of the beautiful summer strawberries in Norway, the summer after Matias was born... looks like i'm doomed to yet another strawberry-less summer. boo.

i did the right thing by the cookies. i froze them. And my manicotti was fantastic! So all in all, a good culinary day. Though i've felt terrible. Crampy, achy, on edge, tired... and i know why. Uff. i had some interesting thoughts about it today, and contemplated writing a bit about my ponderings, but honestly, i think its probably in everyone's best interested that i don't.

deilig søndag

This was, to date, the easiest sunday i've had since Matias was born. The morning rush to get out of the house was easy (and everyone got to eat breakfast and was nicely dressed in clean clothes), church was easy (there was hardly anyone there), and even sunday lunch was surprisingly calm and easy... without all of the usual chaotic ruckus. What set this particular sunday apart was actually pretty simple. All of the men in my family were absent. Correlation? Not sure, but certainly something to ponder. (wink, wink)

i did something both terrible and totally awesome this evening... i made Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. This action is terrible because i really just want to sit and eat them all, one after the other, with a bottomless cup of coffee, BUT its totally awesome because, well... they're chocolate chips cookies. Straight up chocolate chips cookies. Made from the back of the bag recipe and not some fancy-schmancy recipe i looked up on epicurious (which, honestly, is what i usually do.) Put simply, they rock.

i really want to start making a weekly menu, so i'm not left flailing at 4:00 trying to figure how i can scrape together a meal from a can of tuna, some instant mashed potatoes and a single slice of baby swiss cheese. i sat down last monday and did just that. It worked beautifully. So... i'm going to try it again. i haven't gotten so far as to be able to shop a week in advance, but for me, this is pretty good. For this week's menu, thus far, i have: Monday- Turkey Manicotti, Tuesday- Mu Shu Chicken Wraps w/ homemade tortillas (something i've never tried, but am excited at the prospect)... well. yeah. that's it. so. i'm sure by Wed, i'll have something figured out. If not, Little Caesars $5 pizza is never a bad option. Mmm... especially with sweet chili sauce.

Usually i sing to Matias at night before he goes to sleep, however tonight, he wanted to sing to me. His choice? The all popular Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The most wonderful thing about this particular song is that is lends itself to individual interpretation. Kristian, for example, sang... like a spider in the sky, when he was a wee tot. i, myself sang... uppa bubba world so high. Matias' version went something like this: Twinkle, twinkle little star, what you are. Up above the world so high, up above the world so high. Twinkle, twinkle little star, what you are. (Not bad, if i do say so myself) He definitely gets a A for effort.

hmpf.

i think irony of the last post pretty much sums me up. good intentions... terrible follow though. its been that way my entire life. so now. here i am. three years later. my first son is 3 and a bit, and i have a second son who is almost 6 months. motherhood has been a journey, a challenge. one that i often feel that i am failing miserably, but somehow come out the other side relatively unscathed and usually having learned something. eeek. yeah. i really shouldn't be up. i don't even fully understand how i got back here. i was looking at kristian's blog. he's gone for the weekend. i was watching hulu... and yes, if you must know, i was watching grey's anatomy. however, i do feel that i redeemed myself by following that up with documentary trailers, like white stripes: under great white northern lights... which i then proceeded to post on facebook. see! no hope. i'm doomed. yeah, so. i'm tired but wasn't quite feeling the go to bed vibe. i clicked on the bookmark in the bookmark bar which was labeled Blog. i never do this. never. but i did. and i began to comment on a few posts. this little jaunt led me to someone else's blog, which i also commented on. only this time, i logged in. i still can't figure out how i remembered the password. anyhow. here i am.

here we go again...

i've decided to try my hand at the art of blogging yet again. i'm not sure what inspired me. maybe it was the fact that my son turned 6 weeks old yesterday, and i have every intention of writing a journal for/about him, but i want to find the "perfect" vessel. So i guess until that happens, i can record my thoughts here...
no, this will not become a journal of my son's life, nor will it be a catalog of my life's events. It is an outlet. An outlet for my feelings, my ponderings if you will, my thoughts, desires, moods, wishes, and anything else that strikes me. so, if anyone is reading this, if anyone cares, enjoy.