Thunderstorm Time Travel

This morning the weather was hot and muggy. After preschool we went to play outside in the kiddie pool and the sandbox. Big Bro and Lil Sis played happily and I did some gardening. But soon it turned into a super stormy afternoon. The kids hid under the porch while I quickly gathered up their toys and we went inside to dry off. 

I distracted them from the storms by reading books on the couch and making a fort under the dining room table. Pepper panted and stayed close to us. 

Then I remembered: one night when I was small my sisters and I woke up in the night because of a very close and very loud thunderstorm. I remember fearing the big pine tree out my window would break or fall right into my room (it didn't, and it still stands even today). We were all scared and it was pitch black night. My dad took us down into the basement, an unfinished basement lined with a coal bin and full of tools. But a central feature was the old ping-pong table. I remember playing ping-pong safely in the basement that night as the thunder rumbled and the lightning flashed. With our heads below ground level, and hanging out with my dad, I felt safe. When the storm passed he tucked us back into our beds and we went to sleep.

So, just like my dad had done decades ago, I took my own kids down into the basement. Our basement is also unfinished. Instead of tools, it's lined with random junk that I dream about clearing out, though we have some tools too. In one cleaned out corner we have an air hockey table. So that's where we went. We played air hockey until the storms passed with the whir of the table's electronic music and fans drowning out the rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning.

It made me feel close to my dad. It felt a bit like time travel to a past lifetime or a visit to a parallel universe. A fun and meaningful tradition for stormy days.

Kid Conversations

After a full day of playing and togetherness I needed a break. The kids reluctantly accepted that it was quiet time. They didn't really have to be silent, they just needed to give me some space. They could choose to play by themselves or together. Lil Sis started a conversation with Big Bro: remember the Na-na-Na? That grown-up singing to Elmo in bed and Elmo can't sleep and the grownup sings na-na-na!? 

Yeah! He replied, and they both started saying "Na-na-na" as loud as they could.

It then morphed into them singing different songs. Big Bro started singing the letter S song from our ABC Mouse app. Lil Sis started singing the letter I song.

Quickly the conversation deteriorated into potty talk. Big Bro said "looks like we better move this to the bathroom." And they went into the bathroom to giggle and laugh some more.

I heard them flushing the toilet repeatedly so went to go check what was going on. Luckily it wasn't anything serious... The toilet wasn't overflowing nor was it full of toilet paper or some random toy. I shooed them upstairs into the toy room so they could play up there.

They agreed to go upstairs. But before following her Brother upstairs, Lil Sis stopped and asked me with a gleam in her eye "Mommy, since you're not upstairs we can talk potty talk, right?"

I wasn't sure what to say. Should I take the hard line position or should I let them have some secret sibling fun? I can hear the potty talk and endless giggles floating down the stairs. I still think quality sibling time is worth a little benign mischief.

Maple Love

This was the first year that our maple operation was 100% my own. After a bit of trouble to get a working drill, the kids and I tapped three trees on March 10th, which is about one month later than what  was typical for us due to freezing temperatures (ie: the coldest February in 80 years).

For some reason two of the three trees were having yellow sap from the get-go. In years past these particular trees were usually our super-producers. This made no sense to me, since it was no where near warm enough for them to start blooming (the usual reason for yellow sap) but after a few days of the same – just some small yellow drips – I pulled the taps out. Now I just had one tree left.

On March 17th I boiled my first batch of sap on the kitchen stove.

In total I had 5 small batches of sap to boil during my short five-week sugaring season. The batches are shown (from left to right) first to last.

Batch 1 was beautifully clear sap but I made a rookie mistake and boiled it for too long making it more like candy. It's already starting to crystallize.

Batch 2 was yellow sap. I'm not sure why it happened maybe because it froze and then thawed while in the bucket thanks to temperature swings. I was almost going to throw it out but my husband suggested I try it. He even tasted it and said he liked it so here it is, super dark. At least I didn't over boil it so it's more like syrup instead of honey.

Batch 3 was a mix of some slightly yellow sap with a second run of clearer sap. It turned into a medium syrup but it was a very small amount.

Batch 4 was crystal-clear sap and boiled to a good consistency, however there is a ton of sandy sediment at the bottom that I should strain out.

Batch 5, the last one, was also beautifully clear sap but the smallest amount yet. I boiled it to a good consistency and the color is amazingly light, just like Batch 4, but batch five has less sediment at the bottom. Perhaps that is only because it hasn't been sitting in the fridge as long.

I pulled the tree tap yesterday because even the nighttime temperatures were supposed to be above freezing. That is not sugaring weather. 

 Yet the next morning I, along with the rest of Northwestern VT, woke up to this:

Maybe sugaring season is not quite over, but I am over sugaring season.

Field trip Fallout

Yesterday Big Bro came home from a birthday party feeling under the weather. That night he fell asleep unusually quickly at bedtime and had a fever and cough. Unsurprisingly, the next morning he wasn't feeling that much better. Regretfully and reluctantly I told him he better stay home from preschool today.

 It was a bad day for missing preschool because his class was going to the Flynn Theater to see "Harold and the Purple Crayon." Around the time that his class would be getting on the bus to the Flynn Big Bro started to perk up and I seriously questioned my decision. He was aware of what he was missing and feeling quite sad about it.

So if he couldn't go to Harold, I decided I would bring Harold to him. We started by reading the book, twice. Then I taped white paper to the wall so he could draw Harold's adventure himself. He happily told me the story as he explained his picture, even getting some of the book phrases perfectly. 

Lil Sis and I made our own version called "Harriet and the Brown Crayon" in which Harriet and her puppy go on an adventure. They are following the sun when they come upon a big scary dog. Harriet's hand starts to shake with fear and creates water. She quickly draws a canoe for her and her puppy to get in and paddle to land. Then she discovers she is hungry so draws a peach tree and peach pie. She and her puppy eat their fill, then she draws a bear to finish the rest. Next she draws a mountain to climb but falls off when she is looking at the bright sun. Similar to Harold's balloon, she draws herself a hang glider for her and her puppy to get safely back to the ground. Then they decide they want to go home so they draw their house and then play with another dog named Peppy.

The next activity was to make a pie like Harold's 9 pies and Harriet's peach pie. I had an old piecrust in the freezer from Thanksgiving. We had the ingredients to make a chocolate cream pie, a first for us. 

Then Nini graciously went out to get heavy cream so we can make whipped cream to serve with it. It's now cooling in the in the fridge and I haven't heard any more sad remarks about missing the field trip. Parenting win.

We sampled it with fresh whipped cream after lunch. It was still a bit warm, so not as pudding like as it should have been, but it was still delicious.

Master & Legend

Just like his dad, Big Bro loves Legos. For his 5th birthday we got him two Lego sets that he had been begging for since Christmas.

Big Bro started building right away in the 20 or so minutes he had between opening the gifts and having to get out the door to preschool. When he got home he went right back to building. Occasionally he would ask questions about the directions but he really built them himself. He is becoming a Lego Master.

Here is the "SUV with watercraft trailer" after he finished it:

And here is the tow truck after completion with minimal help from me (I tied the string and answered questions):

He was so happy and busy working on his Legos all day, it was a beautiful thing!

So last night we all started playing Legos after dinner. Big Bro and my husband were trying to find all the pieces to one of his old spaceship Lego kits. It occurred to me that if we sorted the giant bin of Legos from my husband's childhood collection we could actually put most, if not all, of the sets back together. Then Big Bro would have lots of sets to keep him busy and happy.

It was no small feat to go from this:

To this:

But the whole family was involved and having fun sorting. Lil Sis sorted the Lego horses once she tired of the colors. Big Bro even declared it more fun than building because he got to move around a lot. And he did move around a lot scoping out Legos and running to the kitchen to find more Tupperware to put the colors in.

After the kids were in bed, my husband and I started the laborious task of finding the specific pieces that went with old instruction booklets. The gray and black bins were by far the biggest and the hardest to sift through to find the exact piece we needed. At times it made our eyes swim. We both looked for 20 minutes or more looking for one black door hinge piece.

By the end of our night we had 4 kits reassembled and then broken apart again to be neatly stored in plastic baggies.

Here's one that I put together:

Here's a big, fancy one my husband (Lego Legend) put together.

This sorting task will keep us busy for many evenings to come since husband estimates he has about 40 old kits. But we had fun doing it, and I can't wait for Big Bro to see each kit. Big Bro and I have also been talking/working on being organized so Legos don't get lost. Maybe, just maybe, our hard work will be (at least somewhat) preserved.

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3/28/15: Well it took 2.5 hours including searching for pieces and improvising for pieces lost or dog chewed but here it is folks: rescue plane. I also made the medic female because both the pilot and medic don't have to be male! #positivefemalerolemodels

Winter Tradition

Technically spring started a few days ago but no one told the Northeast. In our attempt to both reduce our heating bill and our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, we keep our heat really low. Especially at night. The result is that we wake up in the morning and it is very cold. The kids come downstairs for breakfast and shiver away as we offer them sweaters and hats while we wait for the heat to catch up. This was particularly unpleasant before daylight savings time started and the mornings were dark.

Pretty quickly, our solution was to crank up the pellet stove and have a breakfast picnic directly in front of it. It has turned into a nice little tradition. Cozy, quaint, and easier than having me remember to turn up the heat well before everyone else comes downstairs. I imagine this tradition will continue and I think it will be one of those things that stand out for my kids when they think back to their child. At least I hope so.

Winter Tradition

Technically spring started a few days ago but no one told the Northeast. In our attempt to both reduce our heating bill and our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, we keep our heat really low. Especially at night. The result is that we wake up in the morning and it is very cold. The kids come downstairs for breakfast and shiver away as we offer them sweaters and hats while we wait for the heat to catch up. This was particularly unpleasant before daylight savings time started and the mornings where dark.

Pretty quickly, our solution was to crank up the pellet stove and have a breakfast picnic directly in front of it. It has turned into a nice little tradition. Cozy, quaint, and easier than having me remember to turn up the heat well before everyone else comes downstairs. I imagine this tradition will continue and I think it will be one of those things that stand out for my kids when they think back to their child. At least I hope so.