A quick little Valentine ditty

A few images of my favorite parts of Valentine's Day.

Cooper's Mailbox. Before & After.

Carmen Valentine Cape. Open & Closed.

Charlie Hand Print.

Flowers from my sweetheart.

xo

I am a lucky girl today.

Long Weekend Bliss

It is Tuesday morning, back from a long weekend.  Last night Cooper said, "Mom, isn't it crazy how just three days can seem like weeks?"  We had an action packed, yet totally relaxed, long MLK weekend.  Snow played a major role in the awesome-ness of the whole thing.  So here is a glimpse into the totally fun, friend filled, snow sledding, hot chocolate sipping, fire sitting, snow candy eating weekend.  Whew. It was a blast.

The plan was to set out Friday right after school pick-up.  I spent the morning making alfajores with my friend Steph.  Apparently homemade majar blanco (the filling of my most favorite Peruvian delight) takes only two ingredients but one full hour of stirring on a hot stove. And the short bread cookie takes about 30 minutes of kneading. Thank goodness for company in the kitchen.  Especially when the end result is this.

I spent so much time making the cookies, I didn't have a chance to make the aji de gallina that was also on the menu.  Oh well. Dessert is really the most important part of the meal anyway, right?

I packed the car, picked up Cooper, stopped at City Market for fresh mussels, lulled Charlie to sleep in the backseat by singing lullabies while Cooper & Carmen made eye rolling faces at me in the mirror (stop singing, Mom) then turned on the video and drove through the Gorge in uninterrupted bliss.  There is a tunnel just before Cascade Locks.  It has become a metaphor for me.  As soon as I drive through the tunnel and emerge on the other side I feel as though everything else is left behind.  I am truly away. So when I passed through the tunnel on Friday, the long weekend began.  Ahh. Our friends Kim & John arrived soon after I unloaded the kiddos. Pretty soon all five kiddos were running around the house having a grand ol' time.  We popped open the wine and scrambled dinner together in the kitchen. 

The chorros a la chalaca made me wish I was sitting on a beach.  But gathering around our Parkdale table with new friends was even better.

Saturday morning we all packed lunches and threw the skis in the car and headed up for SnoBlasters. There are a handful of kids from Cooper's school signed up for the Saturday ski class for the month of January.  He loves it.  We dropped him off in the chaotic SnoBlaster area, then dropped Carmen in a different ski school area and then finally dropped Charlie in day care.  I had three different colored wrist bands, one for each kid. It was almost 10 o'clock, we had been there since 8:45am.  I finally got my own skis snapped in and hit the slopes.  Icy, windy, cold, snow sparse slopes.  I called it a day after just an hour and a half and searched out Kim, smart woman who had seen the conditions and opted for reading Us magazine in the lodge. Where was the snow?

We picked up the little kids and headed back for afternoon naps and relaxing by the fire.  The hubbies and boys got back a few hours later, and brought with them the first inkling of the blizzard to follow. 

Happy, hungry kids, huh?

Sadly, Kim & John had to head back to an action packed weekend of their own.  But no sooner had we waved good-bye to their car pulling out of the newly snow dusted driveway, then we said hello to a multitude of cars pulling into the snowy driveway.  The hot chocolate stop on the way home from SnoBlasters turned quickly into a pizza party (thanks to Kristina who brought pizzas in from Hood River).  The snow was dumping and the kids got back into all their gear and slid down the driveway on sleds, standing on "snow boards" fashioned from whatever they could find.  I found Charlie sliding down the rock wall on one of my snow shoes.  He grinned with glee, "Look Mom, my snow board." The sun went down and the kids came in looking for flashlights, head lamps and camping lanterns.  Out the window they looked like winter fireflies, darting back and forth, up and down the drifts. The scene reminded me of winter days of my own childhood.  It was a bit magical. I wish I had taken a picture, but you will just have to trust me.

In the morning Jeff couldn't resist the call of the powder on the mountain and he headed up with a friend.  I was content to have a snow day with the kids and after a small nightmare involving Charlie trying to be "independent" while cleaning up his own poop accident, we bundled up and drove into Hood River for a play date. Snowmen, snowball fights and mac-n-cheese followed.

We met Jeff back at home and I sneaked up to our neighbors house to pick up a home grown winter squash so generously offered to me.  They have this incredibly cozy home where I imagine tea is always steeping, cookies are always baking and good conversation is always waiting.  I jumped at the invitation to join them (maybe was secretly hoping for an invitation) for a cup of tea. It was pure bliss to have a quiet hour with no craziness happening around me.  When I got back home, dinner was made and a glass of wine was waiting for me.  I should sneak out before dinner more often.

Hard to believe we had a WHOLE day still before it was time to go back through that tunnel, back to real life.  Monday morning started with kids jumping on us in bed asking if they could go out and play yet?  I swear they were already outside by the time the coffee was made.  Out the window I'd see flashes of pink of green as they ran by in their snow clothes, fleece hats flopping over their eyes and snow boots going up and down.  They came in for breakfast and begged and pleaded to make "snow candy". I've told them about when I was a little girl Grannie used to make snow candy on snowy days.  It is myth and lore as far as they are concerned. So we decided to bring it to life. I'm not really sure where my Mom's recipe came from but I think it was from a Laura Ingles Wilder book. Maybe Little House in the Big Woods, I'd have to ask her.  It is very simple though. Boil brown sugar and water until it bubbles up like a cauldron of syrup, then pour it into shapes in the cold snow. Voila, snow candy. Yum. Perfect for a mid-morning snack.

Its more about the process than the product, but it sure is sweet and sticky.

 

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent in and out of the snow.  We forged new sledding trails, walked up to the irrigation canal, watched Boomer frolic in the foot of powder and explained to Cooper why I would not go down the sled hill while standing on a sled.  I'm amost forty and I just don't bounce like you do Coop.

Hot chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream topped with chocolate chips soon followed. Might as well give them the weekly sugar allotment in one day, right? 

At one point I had to finally start the process of packing up the fridge, doing laundry, etc.  Cooper asked if he could watch a video while I cleaned up.  I said, go outside for 30 more minutes and then you can watch something.  He and Carmen came back 2 hours later, sweaty and covered in snow.  "Has it been 30 minutes yet?" They asked.  By then the whole house was clean, folded, packed and ready to go.  Love it. And so here we are, on a snowy Portland Tuesday morning counting the days until Friday when we get to do it all again. Life is pretty good. Come join us anytime.

*photo credits to Kim Sordyl, thank you!

Super Mama

It doesn't happen often. In fact it is so rare, I am going to gloat about it.  Yesterday I was Super Mama. Hard to believe the woman who shrieks at her children to put on your shoes had a stand out day, but I did. In fact, it started with shoes. 

Cooper gets one pair of shoes for the school year, then one pair for summer.  The process is an excruciating one that involves trying on ten million shoes and multiple stores.  He is so particular about how the shoe feels, where the tongue is, how it tightens, etc.  So this past September after ordering the right size while at Nordstrom and returning/exchanging at a different Nordstrom two weeks later, we got him the perfect pair of ridiculously overpriced Geox gym shoes. 

Needless to say, just 2 months later he refused to wear the aforementioned shoes because the insole felt funny and the Velcro cracked and rolled up. So they have been sitting on the shoe shelf in the basement and he has been wearing his rubber boots or his soccer shoes.  Ok, long back story, but enter Super Mama.  I searched our September Visa statement, found the transaction, printed it out and loaded Carmen & Charlie in the minivan for our Pioneer Square excursion to weasel my way into a new pair of shoes for Coop.  I'm not really a returner, so this was a big deal for me. In my eager start to the day I kinda forgot that Nordstrom doesn't open at 8am when I was ready to conquer the world.  So we ran a few quick errands and then found a parking place right in front of the Starbucks on Pioneer Square.  Great, hot chocolate break.  Um, kinda forgot that the Pioneer Square population is a bit colorful.  Or stinky and scary as the case may be.  We gulped our hot chocolates whilst avoiding the talker-to-selvers and high tailed it across to Nordstrom.  Ahh, Jimmy Choos for $900 a pair.  I am not usually a Nordstrom shopper, but sometimes it just feels nice to be surrounded by a little luxury.  We escalated up to Children's shoes and before you could say broken Velcro, I had a brand new pair of size 3 Geox shoes in my possession.  Accomplishment #1.  Check.

Next on the list was a desk for Cooper's room.  Being in 1st grade has brought with it the privilege of homework.  I gotta say, I am not such a fan of homework.  I mean he is not really responsible enough yet.  If he doesn't turn it in, its essentially my fault.  But we are working on it, and I figured a desk in his room with his own little pencil cup and desk lamp might be the way to go.  But despite just having scored a $70 pair of shoes for free moments before, I am a cheapskate at heart.  So I pass granola bars around the back seat and off we go to Ikea to find the cheapest, yet coolest, desk ever.  The Ikea kid club was full at 10:45am on a Tuesday morning.  What kind of people make their kids go to the Ikea kid club while they can mindlessly spend money on Swedish particle board?  Oh yeah, people like me.  So Carmen & Charlie twirled around office chairs and opened and closed desk drawers while I stood back, fingers stroking my chin, and searched for the perfect desk.  I ended up choosing a table top with attachable legs.  Then saw a "do it yourself" shelf where you buy a dresser drawer front and mini chrome legs.  The Ikea guy said I'd have to drill my own holes, but don't worry, its super easy. Those of you who know me know that "do it yourself" and "Elizabeth Lahti" should not be used in the same sentence.  But, I could get the whole desk/shelf set up for $29.  Yes, you read that correctly, $29--less than half a pair of Geox shoes.  Accomplishment #2.  Check.

In order to entertain the little ones who were not Ikea kid club worthy, I let them look at all the toys and in Carmen's case the fun fabrics.  On display were some cute tote bags made from the brightly colored fabrics they sell down there by bedding.  By chance, the tote bag pattern was available for the taking.  I grabbed one and let Carmen pick out whatever fabric she wanted.  Much to my delight she chose one that I already had yards and yards of in the attic (a curtain project never come to fruition--see I'm not really super mama if you look at the hundreds of projects I have never finished, let alone started). As soon as we got home Charlie was forced into his afternoon nap, AKA time for Mom and Carmen to do girlie things without being hit in the head with a truck or suffer through a tantrum.  I dug the fabric out from the spider webbed attic and we threaded the bobbin on the machine. Viola! a tote bag was born.  Carmen was beyond excited and made me promise to make a hundred more with all different fabrics for all her stuffed animals. 

 

 Cute tote bag for stuffed animals. Accomplishment #3. Check.

***

While I'm gloating I am going to throw in here a pic of a cute baby blanket I made for a yet to be born baby girl.  I can't NOT make a quilt for a baby girl and when I found out my friend Carrie was expecting a girl four years after her two boys I went to the fabric store within 24 hours.  I had a hard time getting a decent picture of it before I gave it to her at her baby shower last weekend, but here it is at varying stages.  I almost like the back better than the front because of the cute owls. 

This was a totally random aside, so no accomplishment kudos here.  Let's get back to Super Mama, shall we?

***

Cooper came bounding through the front door after school, like he always does.  Don't they expend any energy at school?  I swear that kid never stops.  So I show him the new shoes. "You're the best Mom ever", he exclaims with his toothy grin. I soak it up; bask in his all too infrequent admiration.  Then, I tell him about the desk.  Jumping up and down, he runs out to the car to see the new desk.  Its in a multitude of pieces.  Not wanting this moment of total hoodwinking him into thinking I am the best Mom ever to end, I tell him to grab me a screw driver and meet me in his room.  The screwdriver is not enough.  I dig through Jeff's work bench and find what I am looking for--a power drill.  I was slightly unsettled to find that it was turning the wrong way.  My handful of little silver screws kept clinking as they fell back onto the brackets.  Not to be deterred I found the reverse switch. I know, say it isn't so. I actually found the switch that said "L" or "R" and figured it out all on my own.  While Charlie covered his ears and yelled "It's too loud Mommy" I drilled the hell out of that desk and shelf. Cooper captured the moment on a fuzzy phone camera pic.

Now don't go looking too closely and tell me that looks like the easiest desk to put together ever.  I am Super Mama damnit, let me gloat.  Desk put together with power tools.  Accomplishment #4.  Check.

Like any good mother in a superstore, I bribed my children with the promise of a stuffed Ikea rat if they behaved.  They delivered on the good behavior so they got new rats to play with.  We got one for Cooper too.  The rest of the afternoon all three kids played in the basement together with nary an argument to be had.  My favorite was when the giant stuffed snakes would chase the rats and eat them.  (Thank you Planet Earth for teaching the life cycle.)  Every now and then Cooper would come up and look at me with total disbelief and say again, "Mom, your the best Mom ever."  He'd give me a hug and run back downstairs.  I would do my very best not to look too eager for praise and appreciation. 

But like I said, Super Mama days come about once a year.  The rest of the time I am hanging on by a thread, forgetting about gymnastics, burning the potatoes, arriving late or shrieking at my kids to put your shoes on, NOW.  So I'll take a Super Mama day.  I'll even gloat a little. 

Japanese Garden

If the days would stop being ridiculously beautiful, then I might stop posting blog photos everyday.  But the spectacular fall weather keeps on coming.  There will be plenty of time to hibernate this winter.  So here goes another out and about in Portland photo essay.

Carmen and Charlie have Tuesdays and Fridays off from school.  Most little kid days I try to do something remotely entertaining for them so they don't have to watch me do laundry or go the grocery store.  Today we joined forces with one of Carmen's besties, Laney.  Since it was so nice we decided to do something outside.  Portland Japanese Garden here we come. It was stunning.  One of those days and places where you wish you were a professional photographer or even a slightly talented amateur. The Garden keepers have a map for kids, to guide them to the hidden treasures nestled in corners and down windy paths.

The bridge is the most famous part of the gardens, the one you see in every photograph about Portland. I barely captured our little sprites before they dashed on to find the Koi fish. 

In the next one, Carmen is either telling me she found the Koi fish or to stop taking so many photos.  Hard to contain the camera on a day like today. (Nice outfit by the way, Carmen)

Charlie was mesmerized by the Koi.

We found almost everything on the map.  We ran up moss covered stairs, contemplated the rock gardens, shouted with delight and generally had a great time.  I convinced the trio to pose for a shot in front of a Japanese Maple that was blazing just behind a bench.  And then we just goofed around. 

Ahh, November days.  Keep em' coming. 

Empanadas

Ok, I know I just posted an autumn wonderland recap and it is only two days later, but this weekend was so much fun I just had to share a few of the main events.  If you've had enough of the Lahti blathering, stop reading now and move along.

Friday night, kids in jammies, we loaded up the ol' faithful minivan for what may have been her last voyage to Parkdale.  We are upgrading to a 4wd Sienna in a few days--Yippee!  (As an aside, I'd like it to be noted that I am genuinely thrilled to be getting a swank new minivan but also slightly appalled at what this says about me) Saturday was a bit of a chilly day so most of the day was spent indoors.  My friend Erin and her two girls arrived at noon with grocery bags full of food.  Our goal for the day was to make empanadas.  You know, those little dough enclosed meat pies you buy from street vendors in just about any Latin American country.  The ingredient list alone was two pages long.  This should have been a clue to what our day was going to turn out to be.  Or should I say day, evening, night. . .

We started with the dough since it had to sit in the fridge for at least two hours.  Kneading the dough was like a full on upper body workout.  Did I mention we tripled the recipe so we'd have leftovers?  Holy shoulder muscles.  Next we cut a million ingredients into miniscule sized pieces.  Some we cooked.  Some we chilled.  Ultimately we mixed them all together.  During this whole time Erin & I cursed our other friend (you know who you are) who had given us the recipe claiming "it's sooooo easy."  Like hell this is easy.  It was already 6pm and we'd neglected the children all afternoon.  But we got smart and decided to recruit the little slave laborers. 

Our wine fueled mess became beautiful pinched corner successes.  Aren't they spectacular?  You better say yes because it took us ten hours to make em'

Enjoying the fruits of our labor after the kids had gone to bed.  I know Erin is a little blurry, but the empanada is in perfect focus.  Bliss.

This morning I decided to be ambitious and take all five kids on a nature walk--give Erin an hour to relax at home.  The sun was shining and the day was perfect.  We set off on a scavenger hunt through the woods looking for such things as "ducks, berries, spiders, waterfalls, rainbows" and trying to avoid such things as "poison ivy, spider webs, horse poop, prickly nettles."  We crossed the rickety little bridge, tried our luck on the rope swing and did some serious exploring.  I eavesdropped on conversations between the kids.  Here is my favorite:

Carmen:  What exactly is God?

Cooper:  Some people don't believe in God and some people do.  God is like a good spirit. 

Carmen:  Yeah, he's a good spirit.  He killed all the dinosaurs so he could make people on earth. 

Cooper:  No Carmen, the dinosaurs were killed by a giant meteor that shook the earth, like a tornado. 

Carmen: Oh.

The kicker of this whole weekend extravaganza is that when we pulled into the driveway tonight, back here in Portland, my heart went straight into my stomach.  Boomer!  I left Boomer in Parkdale.  Packed up the whole damn car, got all the kids (small miracle) but forgot our dear, sweet beloved doggie.  Thankfully, the best husband in the world was waiting for us at the door and after popping the kiddos in bed he got in the car and drove back out to Parkdale.  I guess it wasn't the last trip for the minivan after all.  One of these I will have my act together.  Right?  Please tell me that one of these days I will get it all right.  Until then.