An annual tradition: Lefse! (And, a parenting lesson)

We continued an annual tradition this year when we gathered at my SIL's house to make Lefse.  My mom, my SIL, Eliza and me.

Eliza was eager to jump right in.  She wanted to do it all - roll out the dough, pick it up with the Lefse stick, transfer it to the griddle, and take it off the griddle.  But to those of you familiar with Lefse making, you know that it's a somewhat delicate process and so it was a bit challenging at times.  If I'm being honest, it was mostly challenging for me.  I'll admit it: my patience was running a bit thin that afternoon, and at the end of the day I felt badly for it.  I had been asking too much of her and got frustrated too easily when she would mar the raw lefse I had just rolled out, hit me with the lefse stick accidentally, get too close to the hot griddle, try to transfer a 1" thick piece of lefse to the griddle... you know... act like a 3-year-old.

When I thought about it, I realized that doing those things was the only way she would learn and get excited about these traditions -- by doing, trying, practicing.  I should have been more patient and should have channeled her enthusiasm into a task she could complete.  I need to remind myself of this, especially in my most frustrated moments.  I will do better next time.  I think I have done better since then... trying to let go of the little things, the things that do not matter (lefse, for example!).

Whew!  This parenting stuff can be hard.  Heh.

Anyway.  It was still a memorable, fun day.

And my mom took some great pictures!  Lookit!

Mom, displeased with how the new griddle is acting... cooking unevenly, and not hot enough. 

Lefse makers!  Eliza loved that stick.

Figure 1: lefse I just rolled out, about to get it from that smirking 3 year old wielding a stick as tall as she is.

Oh! And we also made rudolph cake pops that day!

Siblings

My mom wrote this post on her blog the other day (yes, she has a private blog all about Eliza and being a grandma. She writes each entry in the form of a journal/letter to Eliza), and I thought it was incredibly sweet and poignant.  I wanted to share an excerpt here. 

...

Eliza:

You won't remember this day but your life will never be the same. As a "little sister", I can speak with some authority. There will be times that you feel great joy that you have a little brother or sister (you tell us it will be a sister!) and then again sometimes you will wish profoundly that you were an only child. It's a relationship that is somewhat fragile, not filled with the unconditional love of parents. You will have to earn his or her respect and there will be many ups and downs. But your parents are giving you the best gift they can give - someone to share your early life with, someone to share your family memories of home, friends, trips, fights, group hugs, even some crises. When you are older, your sister or brother hopefully can be a support person and someone to help when your parents seems "hard to handle".  I did not discover this until much later in my life, but my sister is a connection to my mom and dad long after they are gone. Looking into her eyes, I see my dad. I see his Irish temperment, his love of poetry and reading and I see my mother's love of language, her fierce independence and intelligence. Talking to her, I get to verify family stories and history and to see if we feel the same about our life before marriage and children. Marriage and children changes you and it is good to remember earlier and very different times.  I hope you enjoy such a relationship and even go beyond it in later years.

xo
Grandma

Weekend Overfloweth

What a great weekend!

Saturday morning I got to sleep in until 8.  It would have been perfect except that I woke to the sound of a screeching toddler telling her Daddy "NO MAMA DOOOO IIIIIITTTTT!!!!".  Oh boy.  So I got up and tried to reason with her, explaining that, in fact, Dada CAN help her put her pants on - not just Mama.  Turns out, reasoning with a teenager 2 year old is pointless because they will just yell "NO!" and slam the door in your face.

Saturday afternoon/evening, while Eliza spent the better part of the day with her Grandma and Grandpa (and also fell asleep for them - WOOHOO!!), hubby and I went to dinner with my brother and SIL to a really cool new(ish) restaurant in our area.  It was, in a word, epic.  In every way - the FOUR HOUR WAIT for a table was epic (no reservations accepted - OMGZ PEOPLE), the 10-course chef's tasting menu was epic, the bottle of wine that we brought was epic, and the hour at which we got home - the latest since before Eliza was born - was epic.  I'll stop saying epic now.

Sunday morning, after 5 very interrupted hours of sleep, I woke up with the girl and we made coffee.  Well, actually she made me coffee.  She now knows how to work our k-cup machine.  WHAT THE?  Then Daddy woke up and we made breakfast.  My brother had given us some venison potato sausage that he made (like, from beginning to... er... end... let's not talk about it), so we cooked that up along with some Norwegian waffles.  I didn't know the Norwegians were big waffle people, but, apparently, I was very wrong.  And I'm glad, because those things were YUMMY.  We all helped - Eliza sat at the counter and took fistfuls of flour "for pizza dough" (?) and spread it on the countertop (wait did I say help?), Dada cooked up the sausage, and I womanned the waffle maker.

Later in the morning, I left Daddy and Daughter on their own (and in their pajamas) to go have lunch with a dear friend for her birthday.  There were four of us there, but I didn't know the other two women.  It was so delightful and... much needed (though I chastised myself on the way home for talking so much; I do that when I get nervous, I've realized).  The two women I didn't know turned out to be veteran mamas who had nursed toddlers, nightweaned/weaned them, and were on the other side.  It felt really good to ask them questions, find support and understanding in their experiences, and, honestly, just to be meeting new people!  It struck me that I don't do that often.  Remember when you were little and you made new friends easily, and all the time?  Anyway.  It was nice.

And then I came home and took a nap!

Sunday night, we took Eliza to her first musical!  It was a Children's Theater performance of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  We didn't know what to expect from Eliza during the show, being newly 2 and not known to sit still for 90 minutes at a time, but with $10 rush tickets, we didn't have much to lose.  But the minute that curtain rose, we knew we had nothing to worry about.  She was captivated.  She smiled, laughed, clapped, stared, and was completely in love with the entire experience.  I had an unexpected emotional mama moment when I saw her face as she watched the show - I actually teared up.  I know.  Come ON, Ella, it was HAROLD. AND THE FREAKING PURPLE CRAYON.  But something about the whole experience - the specialness (I know that is not a word OMG I just looked it up and it turns out it's a word), making such a fun memory together as a family of three, having it hit me that, yep, she IS big enough, old enough, READY for big kid things like this... it just alllllll hit me and made me cry a little bit right there while a slightly overweight (and 40-something) Harold was leaping and dancing across the stage in blue footie pajamas.  It was so much fun, and I didn't want it to end (It was the perfect length though, so I'm also glad it ended when it did!).  It was the cherry on top of a perfect weekend.

Without a doubt, this weekend delivered.  And once again, I asked myself how I got so lucky.

What we've been up to lately.

Making a gingerbread house

Learning to roll out dough... we'll try again next year :)

Making gingerbread men...

...and women!

Making little jars of candied pecans to give out as gifts.

Aren't they cute?

Making lefse with my mom and my sister-in-law.

(SIL learning how to roll out lefse.  It's not easy!)

Making rosettes for the first time.

So, basically, lots of Christmastime baking, and sharing in the buttery merriment with friends and family.
I'm savoring each and every moment.
It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Partay!

Eliza's party was today, and after a rough start to the day - refusing to nap, and she had a cold - the party was a success!  Our food theme was "dips", partly because the party was at 3:00 and I didn't want to serve a big meal, and partly because I was trying to avoid having to use forks (ended up still needing them, but oh well!), so we had guacamole and chips, devil's caviar (also for the chips), spinach and artichoke dip with crackers, baked brie and veggies and dill dip.  And then of course, there was dessert!  My mom made the most delicious chocolate w/salted caramel cupcakes, and hubby made the yummiest coconut-vanilla cupcakes.  I have to say, I could honestly not pick a favorite... so I had half of each.  Eliza loved her party, and was totally comfortable and happy even with all the people and noise and chaos (and without her nap) - she really is a trooper, so flexible and willing to go with the flow.

A few highlights from the day:

• As everyone was singing happy birthday, I was holding Eliza's little cake out for her with the little "2" candle lit... and I started to tear up just watching her and listening to everyone -- so many people who love and care for her, who have supported us for the last 2 years -- sing to her, to my sweet girl... it was so overwhelming and touching and I think it just hit me that she's TWO now, and really her own little person... very memorable.

• After she blew out her candle (she totally blew it out all by herself - haha it was pretty cute :) and everyone clapped, the room fell silent and Eliza just said "need spoon!".  HA!  The girl just wanted to dig into her cake!

• My brother gave Eliza a special little straw sippy cup in the shape of a bunny.  It is completely adorable and "leak-resistant" - and I have to say, it really is!  I will let you all know when it hits the shelves, it's a bit of a preview of an item that his team worked on (he's an engineer).  I was really touched that he thought to give one to his niece on her birthday.

• Eliza's Nana gave her a whole bag of gingerbread making supplies and other accessories for the Christmas season - it is so sweet!  There's a gingerbread house kit, lots of gingerbread cookie cutters (including the elusive gingerbread woman!), gingerbread cookie-making supplies, a sweet gingerbread-themed child-sized apron, and gingerbread man kitchen towels.  It was sweet because Eliza has really gotten into baking with her Dada, so it will be lots of fun for them (and I'll join in the fun too!).

• Oh!  And one from earlier this morning.  Hubby and I set up her play kitchen - her gift from us - last night after Eliza went to sleep and so when she woke up this morning we brought her over to it.  The look on her face was so so so sweet; I think I will remember it forever!  It was the face of pure toddler joy, and also a shy little look that said "really? this is for me?".  Priceless.  

• Eliza's voice got a bit hoarse by the end of the day - both because of her cold, and all the excitement, I think.  Bu that little voice talking like that was really cute.  Haha, is that horrible of me that I think my daughter's sick voice is cute??  It's a bit lower and all scratchy... I think it's adorable!

• My amazing hubby did SO much work today - not only did he make the cupcakes, he did almost all of the party clean-up, and I am so grateful.  I hate that part of the party - I love the setting up, the cleaning and prepping FOR the party, but afterwards it's such a letdown and all I want to do is sit on the couch (or in this case, sit down and play with organize Eliza's new play kitchen, food, and dishes!!).

The day was wonderful and I so soooooo appreciate every one of the family and friends who help make Eliza's life so rich and full of love.  Many of those people were at her party today, but due to space issues (i.e. we live in a shoebox of a house - but it's a cute little 900 square foot shoebox!), some of those people were not.  So, to ALL of you (you know who you are!), thank you thank you thank you.  We are amazingly lucky and grateful to have such a network of loving friends and family who support us in so many ways.  I hope someday I am able to have all of you in one room together :)

Photos to come!

Barn Time

Eliza's love for horses is growing with the help of her Aunt Kelly, my brother's wife.  Kelly has had horses all her life and is the perfect person to teach Eliza about them.  I really hope Eliza's love for horses continues and that she can learn from Kelly as she grows.

On Saturday, Eliza and I drove out to the barn to meet Kelly, who said Eliza could ride with her that day. This was Eliza's third time riding a horse, so I'm sure she felt like an old pro.  Haha.  This time, we helped Aunt Kelly bring in the horse Eliza would be riding, "G" (short for Gallahad):

Kelly showed Eliza how to clean out G's hooves, and then Eliza helped brush him.

After Aunt Kelly saddled him up, Eliza was chomping at the bit (haha) to get on, so we wasted no time.  Kelly asked Eliza if she would like to ride by herself or if she'd like to ride with her and Eliza said, very clearly "by self".  Eliza loves her Auntie, but I guess she wanted to have the saddle all to herself this time!

Eliza was on cloud nine on that horse!  Kelly lead G around the property a bit, and Eliza just sat there riding with the biggest smile on her face.  G was so incredibly sweet and gentle, the perfect "kid" horse, as Kelly said.  

We are so very lucky to have Auntie Kelly in our family (but not just for the access to the horses, of course!).  I hope there are many more days like this in Eliza's future!

Our Weekend

This weekend we had a couple of visitors - hubby's parents, also known as Nana and Pop Pop.  We had tickets to Florence and the Machine for Friday night and hubby and I both really wanted to go, so they offered to stay at our house while Eliza slept that evening so we could go.

The concert was awesome. Florence was very ethereal with her long fuchsia see-through, flowy garb (she was wearing a leotard underneath) - and man, can that girl sing.  The concert was outdoors, which was extra cool.  We had a great time - we danced and ate kettle corn and had a drink.  Afterwards, on our way home (and once we confirmed that The Girl was still sleeping peacefully), we stopped at the gas station for ice cream treats - oh yes, we know how to do it up right with the gas station desserts!  Watch out for us - we're crazy.

Saturday morning, Eliza and hubby took our visitors out to breakfast at one of their favorite breakfast spots, and then they hit up the farmer's market.  Wondering what I was doing?  SLEEPING.  It was awesome.  The end.

Later on, after nap, Nana and Pop Pop offered to watch Eliza while we went to a local brewery for a big party celebrating their recent victory defeating a very old law that did not allow breweries to sell their own beer on site.  Now that the law has been changed, they can go ahead with plans to build a massive new facility that includes a restaurant and bar.

Hubby having a pint in the rain.

A toast to their success!  "Power of the Pint!"

Eliza had a fantastic time with her Nana and Pop Pop - she loved playing with them all afternoon.  Unfortunately it rained all day, so they had to spend the whole afternoon indoors, but they still had a great time. 

Later that evening, we ordered in and after Eliza went to bed we just chatted - my sister-in-law is recently engaged and the wedding planning has just begun so we talked a lot about that.  I'm so excited for her, and I loved planning my wedding so I look forward to lots of wedding planning discussion with her :)

On Sunday, we went to hubby's favorite local restaurant for Father's Day and then we took Eliza to a playground nearby and played until it was time for nap.  After Eliza woke up, Nana and Pop Pop had to leave.  Sadly, I totally failed in the photo department this weekend, so I don't have much to show for their visit (which is also why I needed to write about it here so I wouldn't forget!).  We did manage to snap a quick one when N&PP were on their way out, though it's not the greatest of Eliza...

See her dress?  Nana got it for her at the farmer's market - it is so cute!

It was a great weekend.  And we decided that we're going to leave Eliza with Nana and Pop Pop every time they come to visit - they had a good time bonding, and hubby and I got a nice little afternoon date.  After all, they admitted that while they like seeing us, they really come to visit to see Eliza.  But, of course, we already knew that! ;)

A Day at the Beach*

Grandma and Grandpa took me and Eliza to the beach today.  We only have a few months of beach weather 'round these parts, so we thought we should take full advantage.  I hope this is just the first of many trips to the beach this summer.  

Eliza had a blast.  It is true that she is a very happy girl all around, but oh my, playing at the beach today brought out a giddiness we don't see very often in our girl.  She was all smiles when she played in the water...and, of course, when Grandpa swung her up in the air!

She felt right at home.  In fact, she made a run for it and headed straight for the water at her first opportunity - no adult supervision or hand-holding needed, apparently.  She loved the sand.  So much so, that after digging her hands and feet into it, she thought she'd see how it tasted, too.  Why not?  Eh, she didn't think it was all that good.  But, she sure liked the feeling of it on her toes.

The weather was perfect - not too hot or sunny (though that didn't stop me from covering that baby from head to toe in sunscreen), but warm enough that the water felt nice.  We sat under the shade of a massive (but closed) umbrella, and I spent a lot of time just watching Eliza and taking photos of her.  It was great, and very relaxing.  I sat there and dreamt of someday being able to bring my Kindle to read in the shade while Eliza and Dada swim :)

Reaching for a rock to "sploosh"

Laughing at Grandpa as Grandma looks on

This is a beach my parents used to take me and my brother to when we were young.  My dad said how he never thought he'd be taking his daughter's daughter to the very same beach someday.  I never thought I'd be taking my daughter here, either.  How surreal... and how very lucky I am.  

Can you even stand the cuteness that is those baby shoulders??

I still have to blog about the fantastic weekend we had, but just wanted to get this up since I loved the photos I got today - the light was perfect, and my subject was just so darn cute, I couldn't stand it!

***

*Okay, so this beach isn't really a real beach.  It's a "man-made lake", as everyone around here calls it; the water is skimmed and treated similar to a pool, and the sand was brought in.  It's actually pretty cool, though, at least to our land-locked population. You get all the benefits of a lake without some of the downsides (seaweed, slippery rocks, algae).

Ahma

Eliza is finally learning to say "grandma".  For a while, she didn't really have a word for my mom (we're calling my parents "grandma" and "grandpa", and hubby's parents are "nana" and "pop pop", names which she both says and uses quite efficiently).  It was weird.  She clearly knew who grandma was all along, but whenever we talked about grandma and grandpa, she would only verbalize "grandpa" (which came out "bumpah", and still does), making the sign along with it.  It was as though this word/sign combination represented both grandpa and grandma...?  Maybe?  Or perhaps she just never got around to learning the word "grandma"?  I guess we'll never know.  

But finally - finally - she has started to try to say grandma and it is so cute.  It comes out as "ahma".  It melts my heart (and if it melts my heart, I can't even imagine what it does to my mom's).  

Those two are best friends.  Eliza always prefers to be with/be held by my mom over me when given the choice (unless of course there is nursing to be done, then she will settle for mama), and it doesn't make me sad or jealous in the least.  I am so happy to see them together and to see Eliza love her grandma so much.  They have a special bond and they are both very lucky to have the other!

Play Date with Auntie K

Fun on the big girl slide!  (Photo alternately titled: "My child needs either a barrette or a haircut")

Feeding auntie's fishies in her backyard.  Eliza takes this job VERY seriously.  

Water, Bubbles & Dock Dancing

We had such a fun weekend!  The weather was beautiful - it was super hot and humid in the cities, but the weather at the cabin was perfect (it seems to always be about 10 degrees cooler there than in the city). We drove up on Friday, ate dinner and then put The Girl to bed.  Then we relaxed with our Kindles (hubby relaxed by fishing off the dock, but he did have his Kindle in one hand!), and a drink.  It was awesome!

The next day, my parents came up, which made Eliza very happy - Mama and Dada are just not as fun as they are, apparently :)  She was asleep when they arrived, but when she woke up she was very happy to see them.  

We had a great day.  We hung out on our new dock (where Eliza thought it was pretty fun to freak her parents and grandparents out by dancing on the dock like a wild child), walked in the lake (still too cold to swim for this mama), and we also checked out a few garage sales in town.  They were all pretty lame, unfortunately, but we did stop by a little petting zoo while we were in town - there was a little festival going on and we just caught the tail end of it.  Of course I forgot my camera :(  There were baby goats there.  They were SO cute!  Aren't all baby animals cute?  They kill me with their adorable-ness.  Anyway, Eliza loved the animals, so it was worth the garage sale strikeouts.  

That night we grilled and had fajitas for dinner, followed by a fantastic rhubarb tart made by my mama.  My dad completed the awesomeness by picking up some DQ soft serve.  YUMMMMM.

The next morning we decided to check out a new playground after breakfast.  We have our 'usual' playground in town that we always go to, but it was fun to check out a new one.  It's at the boat launch on the adjoining lake, only about a 5 minute drive from our cabin.  Eliza gave it her stamp of approval by going down the twirly slide about two dozen times.  While we were there hubby found a baby painted turtle in the sand - it was so tiny and SO cute (what did I say about baby animals??).  My mom moved it to the woods so it wouldn't get stepped on.  Then we went to get coffee before we headed home.

Eliza took an EPIC three-hour nap when we got home, and I joined her for about two of those hours, which was so nice.  This is one of my favorite things about the cabin - napping in the middle of the day is perfectly acceptable :)

After nap, Eliza and Grandpa played with some bubbles on the dock.  Grandpa would blow bubbles and help Eliza catch them on her hand - she thought this was great fun.  She did this for quite a while!

Then we did some more walking in the water with Grandma.  Eliza is becoming a pro at this!  Hopefully soon the water will be warm enough to go swimming (warm enough for mama, that is!).

The day at the cabin ended with my mom making the most out-of-this-world, mind blowing pizza EVER.  Words cannot describe how awesome it was.  We were singing her praises the rest of the night (and today).  It. was. so. good.  Then we headed home while my parents stayed for one more night.  

It was a lovely, fun, relaxing weekend for all, but most of all, Eliza had a blast.  She loves it up there, and I am so glad.  She is the fifth generation to enjoy our family's lake cabin and it is such a wonderful sight to see.  I love watching her with my parents, it reminds me of when I was little, when I spent time there with my grandparents.  I have so many happy memories from that time, and I hope that Eliza makes wonderful memories there with her grandparents, too.  

I am one lucky mama.  In so, so, so many ways.