It's been a good day so far. Just cleaning the house and putting up handmade curtains in the kitchen (finally). They look adorable and totally inspire me to continue decorating the rest of the house. (Pictures to come soon. I promise.) I'm hoping to do some fun seasonal things tonight like dressing my daughter up as the cutest kitten known to mankind, baking a batch of awesome pumpkin spice cookies, carving the pumpkin on our porch, passing out candy and meeting our new neighbors, and toasting pumpkin seeds. All these things seem fitting for a day like today. Though Matt is dead set on going to the beach tonight. So not seasonal but totally relaxing for us all. We'll see who wins.

Update: I won. Well, sort of. We did stay home and enjoy the fall festivities, minus the pumpkin seeds, pumpkin carving, and cookie baking. Lofty expectations for one afternoon. Those events will have to wait for tomorrow. But that kitty? Oh, she had fun roaming the neighborhood at night with us and practicing saying very confidently "Trick or treat" all the way up to each and every doorstep only to say very quietly to each host, "Kitty be shy with people." Though she's not shy enough to keep from announcing it. Tricky cat.

Her world

Guess which little princess took a leak on her throne? If you guessed the one measuring 3 feet tall (as opposed to this 3 inch beauty), you would be correct. I heard the announcement from inside her bedroom that she had "peed". When I arrived on the scene, I found her diaper off and immediately began searching for a puddle on the floor. Sure enough, I found a wet spot near where she had been playing, with this 2 inch tall toilet sitting right in the middle. Fortunately, my parents were visiting and on hand to laugh along with me. As if confused by our laughter, Karis demonstrated exactly how she had done it, sound effects and all.

We've heard her talking to some "friends" over the last few weeks. The names "Marko" and "Blue" often come up. Things like Take a nap! and Sit down! are orders we find her barking out, seemingly into thin air. When we ask about them, she grins in embarrassment. Her world is such a fun mixture of the literal and imaginary right now.

P.S. We discovered this song yesterday by Over the Rhine. Karis thought it was HI-LARIOUS. She would, wouldn't she?

Fall favorites

A few things I'm savoring these days...

An Italian feast, served family-style, to celebrate a much-loved friend. Lots of passing of dishes, enjoying of beverages, and laughing at kitschy wall decor.

The colors of fall. Since we Floridians can't enjoy them on the trees, we proudly display them through our wardrobe.


The annual "finding of the one leaf in the yard that decided to change colors." I imagine it's all in protest...tired of the usual path that leaves around here take of simply falling off the tree and immediately turning brown, that one leaf decides to jump ship and die a beautiful death, going out in a blaze of orange and red. I appreciate his sacrifice.

These eyes. So much protest in them when she doesn't get her way. This season of parenting has me t.i.r.e.d.

This scene: a chilly morning, two warm bowls of oatmeal with almonds and maple syrup, and a surprise visit from MeMa. A great way to start the day.

These walls and floors

Cooking together is an (almost) daily activity. Give or take some patience on my part, it's something we like to do together. Within 2 seconds of me asking her if she wants to help cook, I am sure to hear the distinct sounds of a dining room chair being pushed along the floor and some pint sized grunts as she manhandles the piece of furniture into the proper place and positioning for "I help mommy" time.

This week I designated "curtain" week, lest MeMa see our naked rear ends through the windows anytime soon. I finally decided on painter's drop cloths for the living room and dining room windows. They were cheap at $10 a piece and provide a nice organic quality to the windows. But, as is the case with home improvement projects, one project completed highlights the need to do another project. In this instance, dressed windows points to naked walls. Pace yourself, Alina.


I've mentioned the importance of dance parties on here before. Well, we christened our floors last week. The moment was brief, but it was a moment nonetheless. With all the moving in and stress and exhaustion of the last few weeks, times like these are worth running-into-the-other-room-to-grab-your-camera-and-missing-half-of-the-dance-already-in-progress-in-order-to-set-up-the-camera-and-capture-the-candid-family-moment. I'm pretty sure this kind of thing drives Matt crazy.

And, yes, I suppose I do dance like an old woman running in place.

(Sorry the lighting is so poor. I wanted to document this moment anyways and share it with you. Take note of the sweet little turn Matt gives Karis at the end and then her pleading response of "Oh. More dancing?")

Mirror, mirror

Apparently, when moving into a new home, the opportunity will arise when an unsuspecting mirror is placed on the ground, propped up against the wall, awaiting the day when it will be assigned real estate on the new walls. It takes a two year old to see the potential here. And she has seen it two years in a row.

Our move in September 2008. Karis at 15 months.

A two-year-old Karis after our move in September 2009, a few weeks ago.


Does this qualify as a tradition? ...the annual dance-in-front-of-the-mirror-on-the-ground-in-September-while-mom-is-super-stressed-out tradition? Because, if it is, I'm ok with this becoming a new custom...all except the whole 'moving our family and all our belongings from one house to another' part, of course. I'll thank you to leave that part out from now on.

Cathy's pantry

One day last week, Karis and I walked to meet our new neighbor Cathy. She and her husband live in the most adorable little two bedroom house right along the Trout River. Wooden-framed, I believe, it's a quaint bungalow, with a vibe like that of a fisherman's cottage. She gave me the tour which included a stop in her old-fashioned kitchen housing an industrial stove that she only turns on "when cooking more than one dinner at once." We took a peek in her pantry, stocked to the gills with freshly canned pepper jellies, pepper slaw, and pickled peppers. I drooled. And then I promptly asked her to teach me how to can. She politely obliged to my impulsive and forward request.

To top things off, she walked us around to the pepper garden on the side of their house. Rows and rows of different varieties of peppers glistening in the sun and dripping with water from the above ground sprinkler system they painstakingly installed to care for their beloved plants. Unafraid to get her hands dirty, she picked a bunch of peppers from different plants for me to take home, describing the names and uses for each variety. I can't remember much of the details that she shared, but I remember thinking I like Cathy. She's a salt of the earth type of woman. Honest and straightforward, sharing with me that the Peter peppers are aptly named because they look like male genitalia. Really honest. I like that.

"This is our little slice of heaven," she bragged of her home, standing by the pool in the morning breeze. When she stopped by my home a little later that day to bring by a full roast beef dinner (cooked in the aforementioned stove) and a jar of Peter pepper jelly and pickled peppers, I felt as if she'd shared a little bit of heaven with this hungry family.

(Photo: Toast with cream cheese topped with Peter pepper jelly from Cathy's pantry. A savory snack or even breakfast, if you can handle a little heat in the morning).