Happy Mother's Day, 2017!

While part of me automatically dismisses "made-up holidays", I haven't found a strong enough reason not to get swept up in the celebrations that kids put together for Mother's Day.

Of course, every day is Mother's Day and Father's Day,  Grandma's Day and Grandpa's Day,  Daughter's Day and Son's Day,  Brother's Day and Sister's Day... And, not all of us can make every day special for all those someones we care deeply about.

Being a staunch Wish List advocate, we've always kept a running wish list for each of us, kids included. Some of the items, we have to work for it ourselves, and some of it can be given to us by others. Oddly enough, most of my wish list items turn out to be generally for the family, not just exclusively for me... every once in a while, I'll have a camera accessory or car accessory or a garden accessory on the wish list that nobody else cares about, and feel extremely thrilled when I get it as a gift exclusively for me.

I am rambling already....

Speaking of Mother's day, the kids declared; "Mama, you like hikes, so, for Mother's Day, that's what you are getting as your present."

So we went hiking, on a trail that was quite deserted but for small game, and drank in the beauty of nature and its wildlife.

The best part for me is, kids hang out with the dad on the trail, and I get to walk at my pace, stopping for pictures, letting my thoughts wander and generally trying to let go of the constant stress I feel to balance everything I am juggling.

One of the thoughts that nagged me throughout this walk, no matter how hard I tried to push it away, is this ever-present one: Why can't we as a society find a better balance for raising families in a constructive and positive way, while allowing for parents to pursue their professional careers with all the support they need.

For example, trendy companies offer dog room and gym and cafeteria and other comforts for their employees. In my Utopia, these companies will also offer Montessori-based childcare for K-12! 

The biggest struggle that we face as working parents is to find a safe place for kids to be when we are not with them as we are pursuing our own professionally fulfilling lives outside of domestic environment.

School of course is only 9 to 3 in my district, with 1-hour late start on Wednesdays. 

As employees, we owe it to our employers to honor our commitment of not just x hours of work, but our commitment to high quality of productive and efficient contribution.

The other adult and I are constantly facing the challenge of being in two places at once: be at the office to interface with our teams and have interpersonal interactions that foster team spirit for the standard office hours, and at the same time, find a way to be there for the kids so they are not latchkey kids.

And, understandably, this thought has begun to nag me even more now that nearly 12 weeks of Summer holidays are looming large on the horizon. Not all kids are wired to attend summer camps; and even if they are, not all parents can juggle the logistics of dropping them off and picking them up at odd hours, while still trying to be at their jobs that will help pay for these expensive summer camps.

Agreed, some of us are lucky to have employers who support flexible schedules as long as employees can be productive contributors. Some of our jobs permit telecommuting and helps us collaborate with our team via advanced technology, while managing our kids' summer break somehow. But what about those others who have no flexibility? 

Anyway, I am rambling again... If there was an easy solution, we wouldn't be where we are now...

Back to Mother's Day, where I started: I was grateful to savor the made-from-scratch  "Mama's Special" Pizza that the other adult is well-known for. So, what's in Mama's Special: Eggplant, kale, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, pineapple, feta. Not much mozzarella or cheddar as Mama does not like pizzas smothered in cheese. And it is fairly thin crust. And the sauce is home-made to Mama's liking with just the right touch of home-garden oregano. And, best of all, it is not made by Mama!

Merry Christmas 2016!

Much like every year so far, the kids were excited to make their wish lists. Since we don't have cable TV or Network TV or Satellite TV or anything filled with ads, kids have no clue what sort of "toys" to ask for Christmas. So, they've always been creative with their wish lists.

One year, when she was 5, the older child asked for a 2-year old sister in her wish list! Yep, she wanted a sister but wanted to bypass the baby phase where they just scream and feed and work out the basics of locomotion, as she noticed with her younger brother.

And at about 5 years, the younger child wanted a very specific book: about ocean creatures along the lines of picture books by Steve Jenkins -- not just the sunlight, twilight, and midnight zones, but more about the abyss and the trenches, which has not been explored much and written about much in picture book format.

Even at middle school, the fascination with unicorn has not faded. Yet again, the older child wrote in her wish list that she would like a real live unicorn that can talk and be her friend. Phoebe and her Unicorn is not just a fictional comic strip for her.

The younger child's fascination with PvZ has not waned after 3 years. He keeps coming up with different packs and different plants, and loved making the PvZ Friendship cards for Valentine's this year. So, naturally, he wrote "PvZ stuff" in his wish list, but surely not plushies and little plastic toys that we looked up on the web. He wanted working kernel-pult and cabbage-pult and black-eyed pea and citron and laser bean...

Some Jam Cookies got made for Santa and was set on the table with a mug of milk. Some carrots were set out for the reindeer. Apparently, at some point Santa mentioned that his reindeer like to eat mushrooms and so the younger one wanted to set out some mushrooms for the reindeer as well... Hmm.

We read The Night Before Christmas - the picture book version with illustrations by the one-and-only inimitable Jan Brett -- that has become our favorite read on Christmas Eve before tucking kids in bed.

Of course, Giving is not just part of the season, but a commitment in life, which we do in our own way as often as we can.

Kids didn't get on the Naughty list, phew!. Santa did stop by and leave some interesting presents for the kids, which is probably going to keep them busy till school starts next year.

Happy Halloween

The younger child decided to be Ivan, from The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Not the scariest costume if one knows Ivan, the sweet and adorable gorilla. He had a mask in his Dress Up cubby and had black pants and black shirt, so, the costume was easy enough for him to put together.

The older child decided to trick or treat as a Voodoo Doll. Chopsticks and large pompoms became the pins for this costume which I did not help make at all.

Pumpkins got carved, Jack-O-Lanterns lit, pumpkin seeds roasted, trick-or-treating done in the neighborhood...

Your Skeleton is Showing: Rhymes of Blunder from Six Feet Under by Kurt Cyrus, illustrated by Crab Scrambly is a popular read around this time, as is the old favorite By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Caroline Stutson, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes.

As always, this poem from Halloween Hoots and Howls by Joan Horton, illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi is the reigning champion:

"Woe is me," the pumpkin said. 

"They plucked me from my garden bed, 

Hollowed all my innards out, 

And with a joyful whoop and shout, 

Carved two eyes, a nose, a grin, 

And stuck a lighted candle in. 

Next they set me on a post 

Where every goblin, ghoul, and ghost, 

Howling, prowling through the night, 

Filled my orange skull with fright." 

"As if that wasn't bad enough," 

The pumpkin grumbled in a huff, 

"They later baked me in a pie, 

And now they're eating me -- GOOD-BYE!"

Valentine's Day Cards So Far

Thanks to schools adopting the day as "Friendship Day", the older child has always looked forward to Valentine's Day preschool through lower elementary. The younger one, not so much. He could take it or leave it. But, what they both like is an opportunity to create something fun and share with friends.

As the kids started thinking about what sort of card they want to make for their friends this Valentine's Day, we started to casually look back at the ones we have done so far. We were quite happy to visit the memory of how they arrived at the design and how they executed it and how incredibly satisfying it was to them.

While the cards we've made over the years may not all look polished and stylish and sophisticated, the emphasis at home has always been on being creative and enjoying the process without much weight on the end-product's superlative finish and appeal. After all, what is slightly unappealing to my eye could be dazzling in theirs.

The arts and craft supplies are on low-level shelves and cubbies, organized in a way to help them find things and make sure they are returned to the right spot for next use. They each have their own space to create, which is a luxury as I keep reminding them way too often.

Anyway, the younger child's favorites were Prehistoric Splotch Creatures, Shaving Cream Marbling, and Lettuce Stamping.

The older kid preferred the more crafty Valentine gifts like her Salt Dough Heart-In-A-Box and Kisses Mice Envelope Card.

The Hanging Decorations she made a while back are still cherished in our house: Striped Hearts and Plump Hearts.

Of late, the older child has played with PicMonkey to create some custom graphic cards. One of my favorites that I made for the kids using picmonkey is the Valentine Coupons.

Boy were they thrilled to see a coupon that said "One single serve dessert you pick at the bakery"... and another that said "Stay Up Late Till 10 p.m."  Quite a dilemma for the kids to "Save" the coupon for a special day or just go out and splurge and get that dessert eaten right away! 

Of course, being the artful mommy, the coupons came with the restriction: Not Valid on School Days, Limit One Coupon Per Day.

Some art exploration that became Valentine's cards include Watercolor Cling Wrap, Textured Paper Hearts, Oil Pastel Masked hearts, Reverse Stamped Hearts, DIY-Scratch-It Cards.

My favorite in terms of the idea is the younger child's "Flags Valentine" cards, and crosswords. He picked out some interesting flags of countries and designed a simple card with a One-line Joke for each. I like that he tried to match up his friend's roots with the right country flag where possible to personalize the cards.

The older child is not quite gung-ho about Valentine cards and that's okay. No obligation, no pressure. If it seems like fun and she wants to do it, then it's a lot of fun for me to join in. She is still convinced that it has to be something unique that she has made, not store-bought.

For now, the younger child is strongly leaning towards his current obsession and trying to come up with something he thinks is fun to create... We'll see how it shapes up over the next two weeks.

Happy Winter Break!

Winter Break was simple and mellow.

Many different board games were played, sometimes ending in a screaming fit, and sometimes going endlessly because it was too much fun.

Lots of hot chocolate was consumed, sometimes with marshmallows and fresh whipped cream, after 3 mile walks on neighborhood trails.

Handmade greeting cards were sent by kids to friends.

Stories got written, whimsical drawings came about on and off, and favorite shows were watched.

Cookies and banana breads were baked.

Santa did stop by. Christmas day was too exciting for the kids. Wish lists got (mostly) fulfilled.

Deepavali: Festival of Lights

Fall has always been soul-filling yet overwhelming for me. First, the natural beauty around me just fills me up with joy. But then, the pressure starts building with a string of festivals and holidays both Indian and American that we try to celebrate as best as we can.

When I was young, it felt liberating during the festival season - no school thanks to national holidays; all friends and neighbors celebrate together so it is hard not to get into the spirit; it was one big long party interrupted by a few school days on and off... of course, we kids always hoped that monsoons will strike as well and give us more school closures...

However, over the last quarter century, it has been difficult to keep up that tradition of celebrating Indian festivals and holidays. I still celebrate as many as I can to connect my kids with my roots and pass down some traditions, which they may outgrow and reject as they get older.. and that's their choice.

Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, however, is not optional. Since we celebrate in a non-denominational way, with lighting of as many lamps and candles around the house as possible - inside and outside - while the kids sing "Down with Darkness, Up with Light" and some other Sanskrit slokas I have them repeat after me, it seems like a fantastic way to integrate their mixed cultural heritages in as harmonious a way as possible.

What's a festival without special foods, right? Each Indian festival comes with its own prescribed menu. Deepavali is filled with sweets and savories of all kinds.

Deepavali is also about giving - house help, vegetable vendor, rickshaw-man, random folks in need - small acts of kindness like offering new clothes, special sweets and gifts... it's what makes the holiday special.

Ever-Scary Clown and the Bucket Head Zombie

Unlike the previous years where I did the major work of sewing/making kids' costumes based on their input and request, this year I left it entirely up to the kids. I offered to assist them as needed, of course, but, I made it clear that I won't be deeply involved.

The 10 year old is fully capable of  designing and possibly sewing her costume if needed, but she has her plate full this term with school and extra activities. So she opted for the Ever-Scary Clown.

There is no doubt clowns are scary as this survey shows, and of course we learn a lot more from this article about the History and Psychology behind this fear of clowns. Speaking from personal experience, the clown make-up was what gave me the chills as a little girl, even though their slapstick antics is commendable when I look back as an adult.

Now, we did talk about picking a character from a book, or for that matter, a scary character from a scary book if she wants. But, she said nothing can be scarier than a clown and was firm about it.

With a dedicated "Dress Up" cubby from toddlerhood, to which we have been adding and subtracting items constantly, the ten year old has always loved playing dress up at home, even talking her little brother into some dress-up role-play activities. Assorted wigs, bead necklaces, jewelry, mermaid tails, pirate stuff, cat mask and tail, hats, goofy glasses, home-made fairy skirts, home-made butterfly wings, home-made crowns... just a simple collection of  items, always handy. So, the clown costume was easy to pull together.

The make-up was the fun part: nothing too elaborate, just some basic elements to suggest a hint of the sinister.

The seven year old decided early on that he wants to be a bucket head zombie from PVZ. He had the clothes, and he asked to borrow my brown coat and Papa's tie. The only thing left to do was get the bucket that goes on the head. He was going to use the large yogurt tub at first, but wanted to paint it all gray and wasn't sure if the paint will stick. So, I bought a fabric bucket-style bag from Dollar store -- sold as a Halloween trick-or-treat bag. He painted the green bag gray, with some red paint for blood just like the bucket head zombie is depicted in the game.

Again, make-up was the fun part - just an all-over gray with some dark circles under the eyes and some red around the mouth from eating brains.

As usual, they picked out their pumpkins, scooped out the innards and got them ready for carving. Papa, the official Carver Extraordinaire, let them pick out their designs and carved the pumpkin with effortless ease, especially thanks to these newfangled Pumpkin Carving Kits.

Pouring down rain didn't stop them from going trick-or-treating, although the younger child had his reservations about venturing outside.

Mother's Day Hike!

"What do you like for Mother's Day, Mama?" asked the ten year old a few weeks ago.

I like her spirit: in addition to what she likes to do for me, she always asks what I'd like, and tries to accommodate my likes.

Being a compulsive list-maker, there is a running Wish List handy at home, to which I keep adding items that catch my fancy, and occasionally remove some that no longer interest me.

So, I printed out about 10 things that would be nice to do/have for Mother's Day and stuck it on the fridge, not expecting any of them to be fulfilled, if at all. Some were homemade gifts like sugar scrub, others were store-bought utility items for the kitchen like the much-needed wooden cutting board to replace the broken one.

I've noticed that if I am not specific, the Other Half does not waste time finding ways to surprise me with "things". Not because he is lazy, but because I am difficult. Notoriously difficult - in terms of others splurging on me or going to too much trouble for me. I actively discourage such generosity sometimes, much to the annoyance of near and dear. No fancy jewelry or purse or shoes or outfits for me. I have a minimal wardrobe and when I need to replace something, I find it myself at the price I am willing to pay for it.

However, I am rather easy to please. Handmade things and Simple gestures make me wildly, tearfully grateful.

Anyway, as the little girl and I love to get our fill of eye-candy from Pinterest, we had pored over Mason Jar Gift Ideas a while back. So, one of my Wish List items was a mason jar gift with things I'd like. Not stuffed with candy and junk, but things that I would truly enjoy using. And I was quite thrilled with what the ten year old gave me:

Not only did she throw together decaf & herbal teas, candles, lip balm and soap, she also sewed a rice bag microwaveable heating pad with grey fleece outer covering to remind me of our soft fluffy kitty.

Plus, attached coupons that she created with Picmonkey. No cooking for a whole weekend! No dishes for a week!! 15 minute Foot Massage!!! I was smiling away just thinking about using these coupons soon. Oh, and there was also a coupon for a dessert of my choice and a coupon to go watch a movie of my choice!

And, while it was not a total surprise, it was not on my Wish List either. The evening before, I was asked to disappear for an hour or so and leave her alone in the kitchen. Which I did, after I asked Papa to keep an eye on the proceedings. That's how I knew something's cooking. I woke up to a plateful of homemade chocolate covered strawberries, some of them sitting in a chocolate cup.

Coupons are a big thing this year. Kids got some for Valentine's Day and their Birthdays. So, making some coupons for Mama would be an easy gift that she'll love, right?

The seven year old (who needs to work on his handwriting) made these 4 coupons for me: "Free massage", "Free food", "Free nap", and "Free all three"!! I keeled over laughing, much to his puzzlement. "What, Mama? Why are you laughing? You like food and nap, right? What's so funny about the coupons? I made them just for you!"

The highlight was the 10-mile hike. Yes, Ten Miles roundtrip! This was on my Wish List, of course. We climbed the Tom, Dick & Harry mountain - a slightly steep uphill climb of about 5 miles with elevation gain of 1700 feet. The stop at the Mirror Lake along the way was wonderful. The views were breathtaking. The climb was a bit brutal for the 7 year old but he managed fine. The whole roundtrip including stops for views and pictures took us 4 hours, four amazing hours of being one with nature and forgetting everything else.

Not that we don't hike otherwise or find ways to appreciate each other otherwise, but, it was nice to sit back and enjoy the experience on a dedicated day. Of course, I called my mom and chatted with her. Talked to my mum-in-law as well. And hugged and squished the kids a zillion times like I do on most days, even if the drill sergeant in me is ready to burst forth any minute.

Picmonkey Valentine Fun

This year, I just gave coupons for the kids, plus a customized card, all made using my favorite Picmonkey. They have helpful tutorials that make creating fun!

The coupons were a big hit, of course, so now they don't have to plead and negotiate for these little luxuries that they cherish.

Kids Craft: Valentine Mice Kisses Envelope Card

The nine year old has not been a big fan of cliched cards and candy fad for Valentine's day; her class does a simple card exchange with an optional candy element keeping in mind allergies and sugar content. Participation in card-exchange is optional as well, and handmade cards are encouraged.

Pretty much every year so far, she has been making custom valentine cards for her friends, and this year she still seemed interested, so we brainstormed together.

To candy or not? That was the question.

The candy mice made of Hershey's™  Kisses was an instant favorite the minute she came across it on web search and that settled the issue of candy this year.

We cut out little pink hearts to serve as the mice ears which was sandwiched between two Kisses and glued with rubber cement. The eyes were the most fun to do - spacing them, mismatching them, all seemed to add character to each mouse.

For a while now, she has been playing around with Picmonkey, so it was fun to create a simple card with the timeless message: "Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other's gold." She didn't want to make any standard one-liner jokes or cloying sweet messages that play on word sounds.

How best to package this card? was another question. Should it be just a small postcard-style card with message on one side and name on the other like previous years? Nah, that seemed too blasé.

That's how we hit upon Envelope Card: make a template square to fit the card, with appropriate shaping on all four sides to fold in and make it envelop the card.

We also made some labels to add the From and To at the front using Picmonkey. Since there were about two dozen envelope cards to make, I helped her make some of them and we both had fun creating these simple no-fuss unique cards for her friends.

All that was left to do was hot glue the mice to the card and hand this unique and thoughtful token to her friends in class.

Kids Craft: Customized Valentine's Day Flags Cards

Valentine Flag Cards

The six year old vexillologist designed a "Friendship Card" for Valentine's day to give to his classmates. He was particular about choosing flags that he considered interesting; he also tried to match up some of his friends with the flags of the countries of their ancestry. With classmates from Armenia, Azores, Serbia, Russia, Germany, Scotland, Sweden and Italy, he had a fabulous time getting the cards ready with me.

At first, he wanted to draw and color the flags, which I whole-heartedly encourage usually. But, considering the time constraints and his flu-like symptoms, I decided to print it. Much like last year when Prehistoric Life was all the rage, which led to unique valentines, this year, it is all about flags and countries.


We did add a kid-friendly joke inside each card with the answer at the bottom. Og picked out a few special jokes and knew which friend would enjoy it the most so he made sure the right flag and the right joke went together to the right recipient.

All that was left to do was stamp some sweet treats and color them in and add some custom drawings to personalize the card with an inside story. The kid enjoyed this process to his heart's content, relating a story about each. For example, he chose to color one of the cards with a jar full of sweets in a jumble of colors claiming that the jar was left out and the candy inside got all sticky and gooey running into each other. In another card, he added a table on which the jar rests (rather than being suspended in mid air), and proceeded to add a few candy on the table and on their way to the table from the jar, explaining that some of the candy from the jar started escaping before the lid was tightened.

Finally, he wrote his name in the "From:" part of each card. He had typed the recipients' name when we were designing the card layout, rather than writing the names by hand. I didn't mind it this time as he did the typing himself to make sure the recipient's name is readable.

Rather than a cutesy finished product that looks all perfectly adorable and cliched, it seemed more appropriate to let the kid decide on what sort of a card to make for Valentine's day. In another year or two, he may not be interested at all, which is fine.

His friends may not even realize the fact that he put in so much thought and effort into creating these unique cards. But, going by his current interest, which is all Flags, flags, and more flags, the cards gave him a sense of ownership and pride in making something special as a token of friendship. And that is all that matters.

Merry Christmas 2014!

Like the past few years, Christmas was low-key this year as well, with the focus primarily on the kids. They were both enthusiastic about giving this season - just what little was easily accessible to them. Like, the Toy Drive in their school, Wishing Tree items for their respective class rooms, a random act of giving (to a homeless person on the street)... They also willingly set aside old toys and games that they have outgrown, to be donated appropriately.

And, the 6 yo got to make cookies in the classroom and take it over to an Elder Care Facility nearby, and sing carols to the folks living there. The joy he got out of this whole experience is immeasurable.

A few well-chosen crafts and activities filled the days leading up to Christmas with cheer. Neither child is into any of the stale tedious crafts like gluing cotton balls and making paper plate snowmen and suchlike; and it disturbs the 10 year old to make banal crafts. She does look around the recycle pile to pick out cardboard and foam board and such to create things on and off. Like, the diorama she made as a present for me. Hot glue gun is her favorite tool these days.

The kids decked the tree to the gills with just whatever ornaments we've saved all these years. Many of the favorite ornaments are either hand-me-downs from my MIL or things that kids made. I just sat back and curbed my urge to redistribute the ornaments and find some balance.

We baked lemon bars, chocolate-oats-marshmallow rounds, and marshmallow halwa. We have all outgrown the standard cookies like sugar cookies, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, gingerbread and so on.

The kids made a card each for Santa. The younger one didn't need any help with his and I was pleasantly surprised to see his finished card - a card on top of a card - a double-card with collage and writing all his own.

The older child just had a lot of questions for Santa in her card - almost like an in-depth interview. We did set out some lemon bars, oats rounds, marshmallow halwa plus milk for Santa, and of course, carrots for the reindeer.

We read The Night Before Christmas, drinking in the pictures in the 10th Anniversary edition illustrated by Jan Brett. We quietly went to sleep so Santa can stop by.

All of Christmas Eve was high-energy for the kids, but, they were free to do anything they wanted. I had taken the day off, and having done all the preparations for the holiday, I got to do some embroidery for relaxation.

Christmas Eve meal is usually whatever we feel like having, nothing traditional. So, this year, we again voted on a Fondue meal which both kids absolutely love. We had French Onion fondue with veggies and bread; and chocolate fondue with fruit assortment. We shared what each of us is thankful for, what we'd like to do better next year and so on.

Christmas morning started by 4:45-ish for the kids. First thing they did was check for telltale evidence of Santa's visit. Boy, were there many! To start with, Santa left a note answering most of the older child's questions, and adding an appreciative note about the younger one's card; some lemon bars and halwa were gone; carrots were mostly gone, with a few nibbled-on pieces left behind in a hurry as the reindeer dashed off. Of course, the Stocking hung by the fireplace was full, so, Santa definitely stopped by!

Considering the older child barely fell asleep by midnight, it was a shortish night for her, but, I could understand her excitement. I like that she still believes in all this magic. It is easy to get cynical and easy to discard this aura of mystery. But, as long as she wants to, it is her choice to believe.

Kids were thrilled with their modest presents, based on their Wish List, plus a few surprises. I did not expect the kids to be too thrilled about finding books in their Xmas stockings. But they were truly elated to pull out Funny Fill-ins (mad libs), Joke Book, even a pocket Roget's thesaurus, along with some oranges and peppermint rocca and minty Kisses.

All in all, a quiet holiday, at home, no stress, no pressure to be somewhere and do something. All four of us seem to enjoy just hanging out at home rather than intensely socialize.

Happy Pumpkin Day, my little Ostracoderm!

As much as the older child is into spooky stuff, the younger is averse to it. He prefers to celebrate the trusty old pumpkins on Halloween.


Papa, the official pumpkin carver, took requests from the 9 year old and the 6 year old: "Stack-o-Lantern" is the 6 year old's and "Melting Witch" is the older one's.

Both the kids drew a bunch of pumpkinhead robots, and pumpkinhead people, colored them in, and gave them as Happy Halloween cards to their friends.

The older child added an extract from a short poem (by Joan Horton from Halloween Hoots and Howls,) to her card. I might have not-so-subtly hinted that she add this poem. It is one of my favorites to read aloud around this time. Another seasonal/topical favorite is By the Light of the Halloween Moon.

I packed mummy-face pizza for lunch, by request, for the kids. We had Black-and-Orange Pasta for dinner: Black rice pasta and pan-seared carrots with a touch of balsamic vinegar and Bragg liquid aminos. Why Black-and-Orange? The answer of course is, Why Not?

The black rice pasta turned a dull purplish grey on cooking, so, I added a touch of black gel color I had leftover from the penguin cakepops project I made a couple of years ago.

Costumes: The six year old zoomed in on Ostracoderm. Since no one knows quite what it looked like, it was something I enjoyed making, based on fossil evidence and artists' impressions on the web.

The older child wanted to be a resourceful, rough-and-tumble, potions-expert witch, fashioned after Bridget Zinn's Kyra (unlike Hermione Jean Granger, who is a superb-intellectual-witch minus the potions).

[Aside: The older child was allowed to buy one book at the school book fair this year. She chose Poison by Zinn; am trying to stay several chapters ahead of her to screen; settling for paraphrasing and skipping parts that seem out of her range at this time and letting her read the rest herself. Zinn, a young and talented Portland resident, succumbed to cancer recently, Poison being her debut novel. I had to buy this book - her life's work.]

The 9 year old made her own little witch's broom from the fallen tree in the backyard. Yep, a huge limb of our tree fell in the recent storm. Luckily not on our roof, and not on the power lines and phone cables. Looks like that's enough firewood for the winter.

The kids' dentist's office has a Candy Buyback! Not that I expect the kids to haul pounds and pounds of candy from their trick-or-treating; they have a small-ish home-made fabric bag which when full is a bit much, and doubles as a clock: if it is about half-full, it's the perfect time for them to head back home.

I was standing at the store a few days ago, trying to read the labels and pick and choose the treats to give away, leaning towards raisin boxes and packaged fruit leathers, when the other half very kindly relieved me of my moral constipation.

"I know what you are thinking... but, let it go. It's OK," he said and took over the task.

So, this year, the neighborhood kids knocking at our door are not going back with organic apples or oranges, or finger puppets or glow sticks or play clay...

Father's Day: Dw i'n garu Papa!

Papa likes no-fuss days. Papa likes to be left alone. So we did what he likes. Sort of.

Kids worked with me to make a simple T-shirt for Papa. Of course, it had to be in Welsh. Dw i'n garu Papa roughly translates to "I love Papa" for those of us who are not native speakers and are not too worried about grammar at this point. And, of course, it had to have a reference to the Periodic Table.

And, for sure, at the back it had to say what each of us thought Papa did best.

Kids each made a book of 5 Things I Love About You, Papa. Older child made a standard book.

The younger one got some help making a small accordion book.

The older child also decided to bake Papa some Panda cookies, following the youtube tutorial.

He roars like a monster encouraged by their squeals of delight.
He very gently picks them up and puts them in their bed every night when they fall asleep in his bed.
He plays endless Tag with them in the backyard.
He takes them camping and lets them explore.
He doesn't make promises often but always keeps the promises he makes.
He listens. He acknowledges. He guides. He loves.
He is an awesome father, much the same as my own dad.