Red, Red Wine

We have tons of grapes growing on the fence in our backyard. I couldn't even tell you what kind they are - they're small (pea-sized) and have huge pits in them. If you eat them too early, they are incredibly sour, like chokecherries. But if you catch them at the right time, they are actually quite sweet and tasty. And it's hard to tell when that sweet spot is, because they look the same shade of purple whether they're all chokecherry-pucker-inducing or sweet and yummy.

I've never had much use for them before, but this year, I decided I was going to take a trip into the unexplored (by me) world of wine-making. I found this recipe online and used it as my base recipe. I still had tons and tons of raspberries left, so I threw a bunch of those into the mix, too.
The only other thing I did different from the recipe was that I went to our local brew & grow shop, and bought actual wine yeast (as opposed to regular old bread yeast), and threw it into the mix instead of floating it on the bread, as the recipe suggested.

It's been fermenting for about a month, and I've started bottling it. I only had two empty bottles to start with, so let's just say I've been having to drink a lot of wine lately so I can use the empties for my homemade stuff. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it. And as an added bonus, you know all that stress I've been under lately from solo parenting? After putting the kids to bed and having a couple of glasses of wine, I'm all, "What kids?"

I actually tasted some of my homemade stuff, and it's quite delicious, if I do say so myself! And I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Halloween

We live too far out of the city to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. I'd have to drive the kids from house to house, and somehow, that doesn't feel like trick-or-treating to me. The last couple of years, I've met up with my aunt and my cousins for TOT'ing in their neighborhood. My aunt and I enjoy chatting while the kids beg for candy.

I'd rehearsed with Sammy for a couple of days beforehand. "What do you say when they open the door?" and then, "What do you say when they give you candy?" The first few houses, he did pretty well. Then he forgot his manners and instead of saying "thank you" he said "More, more!" I quickly corrected him, and we only had one more incident of a forgotten "thank you". I think it went pretty well, overall. And the weather was beautiful, probably the only time I remember Halloween being warm. Most years, it's hard to figure out what kids are supposed to be dressed as, since they are usually bundled up in their bulky winter jackets and stocking caps.

With no further ado, the kids in their costumed glory:

Eeek! It's a skunk!


Natalie was about to cry in this one, because I stepped back to take a picture and she thought I was going to leave her.


I made that skunk costume for Sammy on his first Halloween. I haven't had time to sew another costume since, but I have high hopes for next year.


I should dig out a picture of Sammy wearing this costume for a side-by-side comparison. Natalie looks so much like him in this shot.

Get Out and Vote!

Top three reasons to vote today:

1. You will help chooose the next leader of our country.
2. Voting is your civic duty.
3. Starbucks is offering a free tall, brewed coffee to anyone who stops in and says they voted.

To elaborate on item #3, I received an email yesterday from Starbucks with this information. No coupon necessary! Get out and vote!

Tag! I'm It

Mommy Vern tagged me to play. I love games! The name of this one is, locate the 6th photo in your 6th online photo album and post it.


This was taken at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Sammy looks so young in this picture! Looking at the date stamp, he would have been 16 months old, just a little older than Natalie is now. Time goes by so quickly.

Anyway - this was a really funny moment, but it might have been one of those "you had to be there" type things. That cow that Sammy is holding, plays "The Chicken Dance" when you squeeze its udder. Riley, the Sheltie in the foreground, loves to sing/howl along. Riley and Sammy were fighting over that cow toy the whole time we were there that weekend. In this picture, Bailey (the Sheltie looking over Sammy's shoulder) looks like she was about to get in on the action, too.


So, who wants to play? Colleen, although you've already made your post for this month? (Just teasing! I kid because I love!)

It's Fall!

I recently read an article that began with a sentence similar to this one: "It's not difficult to take care of young children; what's difficult is trying to do anything else while taking care of young children." So true. I find that I get too frustrated trying to accomplish anything that takes longer than 2 minutes, while the kids are around.

But! It was beautiful here on Wednesday, and since it was 24 degrees on Tuesday morning, I wanted to take advantage of this last gasp of warm fall weather before winter arrives next week. When we got home that day, I decided to try to rake leaves. Amazingly - I managed to work for 3 hours and got the whole front yard done!

While I raked, first the kids played in the hammock swing:

Soon, that led to one sleeping baby...

and in the meantime Sammy found the book bag in the car, and read stories to me.


While I did this!

Holy Productivity, Batman! It was one of those moments where I felt like I had it all together. Not surprisingly, I was brought back to reality yesterday. Natalie is cutting two molars and fussed at me all day yesterday, so I barely managed to scrape together dinner last night. And when I got home from work yesterday, the lawn was covered with a new layer of fallen leaves. Oh well, it was a good feeling while it lasted.

Hot Wheels

In yesterday's episode, Ron and the kids visited their Auntie C., leaving Becky at home with her cleaning supplies and a peaceful house. When the kids returned...

Sammy found me in the bathroom, scrubbing out the sink. His face was puffy, and his voice was shaky. I immediately dropped my sponge. "What's wrong?!" I said, looking from him to Ron for an answer.

He was barely able to choke out the words. "I l-l-l-left my c-c-c-c-c-ar at Auntie C.'s hou-ou-ou-ou-se!!!!" he wailed.

Flashback scene: Earlier in the day, I'd run errands with the kids and we didn't get home until well after lunchtime. The kids were cranky, and I had a trunkful of groceries to unload, so I decided to stop at Micky D's for lunch, a rare treat in our household. Even rarer, I ordered a Happy Meal for the kids to split. I don't think Sammy even knew until now that McDonald's had toys. I might live to regret this rash decision.

"Boy or girl toy?" they asked. "Boy," I said, since Natalie's too young to know or care that she was getting a raw deal. I knew she'd be happy fighting with Sammy over whatever toy they got.

It was a blue Hot Wheels car, that you pulled back and then it would race forward. Sammy was thrilled, and insisted on bringing it to Auntie C.'s house later, to show everyone. You know what happened after that.

I have never seen him so upset about anything. Honestly. It was like the end of his little world. It was 8:30 at night, and Auntie C. lives half an hour away, so I was not about to drive an hour to rescue his 50-cent toy car, but I had visions of fresh bread dancing in my head all day and still needed to make a trip to Target for yeast. And McDonald's is on the way to Target, so yep, I told Sammy I'd stop and get another car for him. I know, if I was hearing someone else tell this story, I'd probably think they were overindulgent, but let me tell you, I have never seen him so happy. If another $2.50 Happy Meal is all it takes to turn his whole world right-side-up again, so be it.

I did tell him to enjoy it, because it's the last time he'll ever go to McDonald's twice in one day, on my watch.

Zen and Now

Since Ron has started working nights, I have a whole new appreciation for single moms and army wives. Honestly, I had no idea how hard it was to never get a break. I've found myself getting a little short with the kids, a little more often than I'd like, lately. I used to have a very short temper and I think I've come a long way, but with this new stress in my life, I've been backsliding a bit.

On Saturday, I got a much-longed-for-and-much-appreciated break. I spent the entire three hours cleaning the house, and had just gotten it under control when Ron and the kids got home from his sister-in-law's house. (There's another part to this story, tune in again tomorrow.)

I had packed lunches for the kids, and Auntie C. told Sammy he was really lucky to have a mom who made such nice lunches for him (awww, thanks, Auntie C.!). Sammy replied, "Sometimes I make her angry."

Ugh. That was a wake-up call. Ron thought it was cute and showed that Sammy had an understanding of how his behavior affects me, but that's not at all how I took it. For that to be the first thing he says about me when someone brought me up? It really didn't make me feel very good about myself as a mother.

I remembered a post on The Toby Show awhile back about a book called Buddhism for Mothers, and decided it was time to get my hands on a copy. I am going to learn to be a calm mother, if it kills me. And it might.