The Sausage King of Chicago

banshee @ 2009-11-08T19:54:00

2009-11-09T00:59:13Z

Aaaah! How cute is this?!

Completely impractical, and way too small to be properly nostalgic. But I'm glad it exists.

banshee @ 2009-11-03T09:38:00

2009-11-03T14:55:53Z

Larkin vs. dim sum.

- Still not walking, but is cruising around like a champ and starting to let go a little while standing
- Eats EVERYTHING. Is a little epicurean who wants to try any food she sees. For example, tried to flag down every dim sum cart as it passed, pointing and calling out, 'Yum yum YUM!'. Likes things like pickles and olives and Thai food. This is the exact opposite of Owen.
- Has a pretty interesting vocabulary so far. Routinely uses words like birds, books, pets, cat, yum, blocks, brother, butterfly (butt!), red, mama, dada, puffs, and her favorite, 'whassat?' (point point point)
- gives air kisses freely
- flirts by tilting her head and pointing to people and smiling (see video)
- loves books, will bring you a certain book if you ask for it ('where is your train book?') and will flip through a stack of board books while chanting softly, 'Bookths...bookths...bookths...'
- If she hears music anywhere she will do the funniest little subtle dance - more like a shimmy. Cue grocery shopping and adorable baby gently bobbing to Muzak.

She's just such a cool little kid - so sweet and happy and easygoing. We're lucky. We have great kids.

banshee @ 2009-10-27T21:20:00

2009-10-28T01:25:03Z

I know, I know - enough with the pictures of your kids, right? Sorry to be that person.
Really, though, it's either this or regaling you with tales like, 'I went to the craft store and bought nothing!' and 'I didn't have anything to eat but cheese so I made my husband bring home soup!'.

See? So here:

(more)

banshee @ 2009-10-27T09:26:00

2009-10-27T13:53:21Z

It's not easy to get Owen to agree to photos these days. They'd just cut into his video game time, you know?
But look at this sweet kid! So pensive, so thoughtful,

Aaah! Ninja!

Somebody's going for a drama scholarship.

Most badass $14 we've spent in a while.

banshee @ 2009-10-24T22:33:00

2009-10-25T02:41:34Z

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And it was pretty much too dark to take any good photos. Plus I was running around and putting out food instead of documenting important times in my child's life. Mother of the year! At least everybody had their fill of pigs-in-a-blanket.

My three-tiered cake idea was shot to hell after the first two layers. The top became Larkin's personal cake instead. Obviously a hasty decorating job. I don't think she cared, although she seemed rather confused by the hoopla. 'Why are you setting it on fire?!'

I do not know how professionals get their fondant so smooth on a round cake. The concept was so much cooler in my head - orange and pink banners around each layer - but it just looks sad and droopy.
I'm the Ass of Cakes!

Hopefully everyone had a good time, in any case. Larkin sure seemed to.

banshee @ 2009-10-18T23:52:00

2009-10-19T03:57:02Z

Is anyone here using Google Wave? The husband is and I'm trying to figure out how to get an invite. I don't even know when it's supposed to launch officially. O, technology!

banshee @ 2009-10-17T19:29:00

2009-10-17T23:30:31Z

So who wants to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright? Bonus: I will come over and help you decorate.

banshee @ 2009-10-15T16:26:00

2009-10-15T20:35:58Z

It's the Larkin Bee's birthday!
Her proper party was postponed a couple of weeks (so that family could find hotels nearby with available rooms), but today my mom took L and I out to lunch and then went nutsy cuckoo at Pottery Barn Kids with the spoiling of the Bee. I mean, check out this puffy dollhouse that opens up and has two floors! And Chloe doll with changeable clothes! And ooooohhhhhhh. How long have I been mooning over that chandelier/mobile?! And it was the last one.
That was just the spontaneous birthday extravaganza. She had already arrived with other toys, too! A fluffy adorable puppy, Golden books, a talking push-button phone...my kids are lucky kids. I'm a lucky mom (and daughter). I can't forget that.

banshee @ 2009-10-14T09:54:00

2009-10-14T13:55:45Z

It's snowing. Snowing!

banshee @ 2009-10-11T14:30:00

2009-10-11T18:37:02Z

Just hangin' out and bein' a bee.

I wanted to get out of the house today but it's so chilly and windy that we settled for five minutes in a bee costume. Yesterday was loads of fun, though - a pumpkin picking and carving party chez these lovely people. Owen had so much fun at the pumpkin farm that he demanded M bring him right back there today. I was so thrilled to get out of the house and talk with sparkling people who aren't also simultaneously scanning my groceries. Life is good.

banshee @ 2009-10-08T21:53:00

2009-10-09T02:05:33Z

Bullet points! Here's what's up:

- Went to physical therapy today and mostly talked about why I'm not feeling much better. It's almost certainly a herniated disc, and while I'm up and around, I'll turn or move slightly and feel like my leg is being torn apart. Today I drove with the L.Bee to the toy store in town (5 min away) and was ok until we got back in the car to go home. Commence growling and puffing and shrieking through the searing pain, gripping my leg with one hand and steering with the other. This sucks.

- The L.Bee turns one next week. No! Way! She helped me pick out some presents; I figure she'll forget about them by her birthday.

- The Owen Bean is just truckin' along in school. He's a really sensitive dude. We saw 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' and he spent most of the film hiding, curled in his seat. They're cartoon meatballs, dude! Ah, poor kid.

- It was our 7-year wedding anniversary on Monday. We had takeout sushi while sitting in bed and watching Nick Jr. with the kids. That's 7 years for you!

- Ohh, project runway is on.

banshee @ 2009-10-06T22:04:00

2009-10-07T02:15:57Z

I want to bring LJ back. Facebook has too many tiny universes to keep track of, Twitter's cute and fun, but a lousy conversationalist. Hey, winter's coming! What else are we going to do?

So, Halloween's coming. Owen was planning to be Ash Ketchum, an endeavor that was veering dangerously into obsessive cosplay territory. No, not the Ash from the original series, the newer one with the red and black hat. Not those gloves, the other ones. And the shoes...

Then, mercifully, he started playing a video game about tiny ninjas and decided a ninja costume would be acceptable as well. Done and done! Clearance costume from the mall, $10. Not spending every night for a week sourcing puffy vests and trucker caps - priceless.

And no, I did not yet tell him about the sweet-ass pretend katana set I bought him to wear with it. Would you want to be ninja attacked every morning for the next three weeks? Me neither.

banshee @ 2009-10-03T22:53:00

2009-10-04T02:57:13Z

Breaking the seal on autumn - first visit to the pumpkin patch.

We didn't really do much, other than pick up some cider and candy apples and send Owen through the cornhusk teepees a hundred times. We'll be back for pumpkins and hayrides and the petting zoo. It's one of our favorite things to do.

banshee @ 2009-09-12T13:37:00

2009-09-12T17:43:06Z

So I learned something about myself this morning - I learned that I am not only mildly claustrophobic, but intensely, acutely claustrophobic. I figured this out when tearfully begging to be let out of an MRI machine - an 'open' MRI machine! - at an appointment that was supposed to help me finally figure out what is wrong with my spine and why I'm laid up with intense back (and now leg) pain that has kept me from getting around normally or feeling ok for months.

I needed this. I had to fight to get an MRI, and now I can't even go through with it. My only hope is sedation, but I'm not sure that will be enough to keep me from feeling that I've been buried alive. Augh, health fail!

Edit: Oh! I wonder if I can get insurance to pay for this one!

banshee @ 2009-09-09T13:30:00

2009-09-09T17:31:27Z

First grade, b*tches! BRING IT!

banshee @ 2009-08-16T22:25:00

2009-08-17T02:27:06Z

A frog friend, schlorped onto our front door this evening. Nature everywhere! Horrible, horrible nature!

banshee @ 2009-08-14T22:23:00

2009-08-15T02:25:19Z

Sad woodchuck longs for the beach vacation he'll never have.

banshee @ 2009-08-13T21:04:00

2009-08-14T01:08:32Z

Enough of this food stuff. We got back late from the Children's Museum, so we ordered Chinese delivery.
Anyway, baby alert:

Four tooths total, and some crawling, and a lot of clapping. Yay, everything!

Heyyyyy, Spotty Elephant...what up?

banshee @ 2009-08-12T22:29:00

2009-08-13T02:31:02Z

And another thing!

We have this badass hawk gang that hangs out in the field out back. Here they are being completely freaky.
(click to get to a larger pic if needed)

banshee @ 2009-08-12T19:51:00

2009-08-12T23:53:23Z

Moar food! Tonight's side was stuffed zucchini, AKA 'artery-clogging bacon bombs'. No recipes, just wingin' it.

(Filling is the scooped zucchini mixed with panko, 1 beaten egg, salt, pepper, cooked bacon, and good parmesan, sauteed in a bit of butter, stuffed into slightly pre-baked hollowed zucchini halves until golden.

Served as a side to chicken breast with a dijon-tarragon cream sauce, and steamed purple beans (which just turned green anyway).

banshee @ 2009-08-11T20:49:00

2009-08-12T00:54:14Z

I'm trying to be better at farmers' market cooking. Buying more vegetables, trying new things, putting more effort into side dishes, cooking better meals more often, etc. Since last Saturday the fridge has been bursting at the seams with assorted produce, and tonight made a dent in that with purple cauliflower, romanesco, and zucchini roasted with olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, and parmesan. Romanesco is a funny little vegetable.
'Mmn', said the husband. 'Tastes like math.'

banshee @ 2009-08-06T21:21:00

2009-08-07T01:24:55Z

banshee @ 2009-08-04T12:09:00

2009-08-04T16:23:26Z

This weekend we drove to NJ to spend time with M's family, then headed down to Baltimore from Saturday evening to Monday morning with his parents (and nephew) for a Red Sox-Orioles game and a trip to the National Aquarium. We stayed at a really cool hotel sort of inadvertantly, because most of the hotels in Baltimore proper were booked solid. The city was swarming with Red Sox fans - literally swarming. In fact, our 3 hour trip down took 6 hours because of all the traffic - a lot of which was Red Sox fans! On the Jersey Turnpike no less!

It was a fairly whirlwind trip and we didn't see a ton, but it was nice to do something different for a change. Even the trip back ( presumably a 6-hour trip that took 9.5 hours, gah!) was entertaining in a way. We always drive the same corridor down to NJ, etc, so weird and rural middle PA was a welcome switch.

Anyway,

Charming.

The Bee is tired, popped 1.5 teeth, and caught a cold. Poor The Bee. It's good to be home.

banshee @ 2009-07-16T08:04:00

2009-07-16T12:13:13Z

It feels like summer hasn't really started yet, and yet it seems like it's almost over.

I've wasted two beautiful weeks puttering around the house and popping Advil, which sucks. I can get around slowly, but driving is no fun at all. I finally had to get in the car and go grocery shopping last night when M got home, and had zingy back twinges every time I step on the gas/brake. Not cool. I don't want to drive the kids around like this. :(
I really should have called the doctor days ago, but last time they told me to basically suck it up and wait, so what's the point? And now we've got family coming for the weekend, so too late. Complain, complain! Sorry. :)

Ok, children need breakfast...

banshee @ 2009-07-14T10:00:00

2009-07-14T14:11:13Z

Last night I put together a Martha-Stewart-for-Kmart console table (on clearance!) that works perfectly as a mini-desk for Owen's tiny room. It's only 15" deep, just enough for a flat-screen monitor, keyboard, mousepad, and not much else. Bonus - no room for clutter!
We also moved his bed to another wall, took out the play kitchen and other things he doesn't play with, and pretty soon he'll have a brand new 'big kid' room. The bedrooms here are so teeny. It's like a dormitory.

I have so many projects lined up; it's crazy. I have to finish painting the hallways a pearl grey (the downstairs hall is almost finished). I have to paint O's room a soft light blue. I have to paint the upstairs bath a sort of cafe au lait, and clean white trim throughout the house. Gotta paint that metallic vertical stripe in the living room. Gotta hang mirrors and bracketless shelves.

The problem with waiting until you can thrift accent pieces and artwork and frames and furniture is that you're never done. Still, I don't think I've bought anything for this house that didn't come dirt cheap from a garage sale or was on deep-discount clearance. Holla.