Psycho-Mom Stalks Child (And Brent & Kristen Come Visit)

"Oh no! It's cold outside!"

Emma made sure to tuck these two little jack-o'lanterns (which Uncle Brent helped her carve) indoors for the night. Good thing, too-- last night we had our first frost of the year here in Colfax.

We also had a light dusting of SNOW, shown by the white on our roof tops this morning...

Jon surprised us Thursday night by coming home a day early. They let the guys leave early this weekend, if any wanted to, because in a couple of weeks his crew will be heading over to North Dakota, for a short-term job.

Once that starts, of course, Jon won't make it home at all on weekends. But his time in North Dakota should only be for 2-3 weeks, so we can handle that.

Friday morning my youngest brother, Bill, stopped by on his way to Rhinelander. Emma and Michael missed seeing him because they had school, but Jon, Leila, and I were around and enjoyed the visit. We had coffee and talked for a couple of hours.

Later that day, when the school bus pulled up to the house to drop the kids off, only one got off-- just Emma.

Fortunately, we had planned it that way. Michael and three other boys were dropped off-- overnight bags and Halloween costumes in tow-- at their friend Alex's house, for an overnight Halloween party.

This was Michael's first "overnight" experience at a friend's, and he was excited. The rest of us decided to go for Chinese dinner at a restaurant in nearby Bloomer that night. Since Michael doesn't care for Chinese food and usually vetoes that as an option when we talk about places to eat, it seemed like an opportune time to reach for the chopsticks.

Anyway, on our way home from dinner, I confess I drove us a little out of our way so that I could drive past the house Michael was staying at. Let's call it motherly concern. As I turned around in their driveway and peered, best I could, into their brightly lit windows (I don't think anyone in the house had time to notice me in full Psycho-Mom mode, stalking my child from their driveway), Jon sighed and shook his head. But alas: their house is in a valley and a thick pocket of fog prevented me from seeing anything. Still, I was somewhat reassured that Michael was not sitting outside on their doorstep weeping or wandering along the side of the road, rejected and looking for the way home.

They dropped him off the next morning, and he was none the worse for wear-- though he did admit that the bed full of squirmy boys didn't actually get to sleep until two in the morning. But they watched a couple of seasonal movies and played some fun games. Michael brought home a pumpkin he had decorated, ghost cookies on sticks, and a jar of candy corn that he had won by making the most accurate guess for how many were in the jar. (He didn't really guess, by the way... he estimated by counting rows and columns of visible candies, and doing a little math. He was only off by 5!).

Emma was glad to have him back. As much as they bicker, they are usually good companions for each other.

Here's Emma, busy painting.

Last week Leila and I helped out Emma's art teacher at school, while Emma's class had art. They were working on their own versions of "The Scream" (the famous painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, with a white face screaming against an abstracted background).

Emma would like it if I came to her art class every week, but I'm thinking I'll pop in more occasionally than that.


Saturday afternoon Jon's oldest brother Brent and fiance Kristen came over. They'd stopped at Klinger's on the way over and picked up pumpkins for the kids to carve. This was Brent's idea, and I thought it was very sweet... he did all the "work" and got down on hands and knees to scoop out the seeds and pulp.


The kids drew their designs on the pumpkins with marker; Michael decided he wanted to leave his like that, and spare his little pumpkin faces the knife. But Brent was permitted to help Emma carve out her jack-o'lantern faces.

Everyone was real pleased with the results... including me, who now considers this particular Halloween tradition officially accomplished for the year, with no plans to stick my hand inside any additional sticky pumpkins, now that Uncle Brent did the job. Thanks, Brent!!

We had a bonfire outside and concluded the evening with supper and games of chess by the fireplace (between Kristen, Emma and Michael). Despite not playing since she was little, Kristen held her own against Michael.

Kids learn so much from board games! Taking turns and learning to play by the rules are just a tiny part of it. What better way is there to try to teach your child not to gloat and praise themselves when they're doing well (or cry and pout when someone else succeeds instead).

Emma and Kristen made necklaces together, and a wary Leila decided to let Kristen hold her while I got things ready and did some clean up (very helpful, since lately Leila is shy of visitors and wants to be Mommy's girl the whole time).

In case anyone is interested, here's the recipe for wild rice crockpot dish we had that night:

Wild Rice Casserole

1 cup uncooked wild rice

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

2 cans mushrooms, drained

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup slivered almonds (I substituted 1 tsp almond extract for the actual nuts)

3 beef boullion cubes

2 tsp seasoned salt

2 pounds beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 cups water

Place ingredients in order listed in slow cooker (do not stir). Cover and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours (don't open the lid during the cooking process!). Stir before serving. The rice really expands during cooking, so 1 cup is plenty.

Also, in case anyone is interested, we tried a couple of different recipes for toasting the pumpkin seeds we ended up with after Brent and Kristen's visit. Emma and I agreed this one was the best:

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

1 egg white

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. In medium bowl, whisk egg white, sugar, cayenne, and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off the excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Thought I'd close with more of Laurie's pictures, from our visit to Rhinelander a couple of weekends ago.

I think if Emma's art teacher saw this picture by Uncle Jo Jo, she'd want him to volunteer in her classroom, too. That's how I was "discovered"! Emma had shown her playful pictures that her and I had done together at home (silly pumpkins and ghosts made with chalk on black paper). She saw the art in that and sent me a note. So I think she'd be loving the pumpkin above.

We're still not sure what we're doing for Halloween this year... maybe just trick or treat around Colfax. For the life of me I cannot find that bumble bee costume I was going to have Leila wear (Michael and Emma wore it for their first Halloweens, as well).

Have a safe and frightful Halloween!

Another October Weekend

Hello!

My sister was kind enough to send me some of the fun and expressive photos she took during our visit to Rhinelander last weekend.

I thought I'd post a few here, for those of you who don't visit her blog (though you can see it anytime, through the link on the right-hand side of my blog).

As you see, Laurie's photos have artistic merit in their own right.

They do more than just copy images that are already "out there" in the world.

Laurie actively seeks out the beauty around her.

If needed, she lays down on wet ground and gets leaves in her hair, so she can point her lens upward through a tree canopy.

Her knowledge of lenses, filters and camera settings make fall color pop.

She looks around her and makes editorial decisions... she decides whether to bring the whole landscape-- or one single plant-- into focus.

Should the background be soft and muted? Will there be a moving object in her shot? Should she show that movement or make it "freeze"?

She considers the shapes and angles of her subjects, and lines things up in a pleasing way...

or in a quirky way, depending on whether she wants harmony or humor to be the predominate mood in the photo.

She creates portraits of loved ones, by recording the facial expressions and postures she either observes or elicits from them with a little teasing or a few well chosen words.

She tells a story about people and places and natural objects that are important or beautiful to her.

She's leaving a loving record of herself and her family (at left, Mom's helping Michael pick out fabric colors for a quilt she's making him).

What do you suppose this photograph will mean to Michael someday?

Okay, okay; enough with the deep thoughts... I promise!!

The more mundane photo at right is one that I took. However it does chronicle an important event: Emma feeding Leila for the first time.

Her grandmas will be gratified to know that Leila has finally warmed up to the idea of eating baby food. She swallows well now, and most of it winds up in her belly. She has mashed food with every meal.

The taste-treat that finally won her over was oatmeal mixed with bananna and apple. I tasted it, too, and agree it IS good. I can't wait till we get to the part where she eats those groovy little hotdogs (do they still make those?). Another future highlight will be melba toast.

On a much more serious note, Monday afternoon the kids brought home notes letting us know that a Colfax kindergartner had been hit by a car while trying to cross the road to his school bus that morning. This time of year it's still dark out when some kids board their buses. You would like to think that people would slow and stop when they see a school bus's flashing lights, but that sadly doesn't always happen. I don't know exactly what happened in this particular case, but it must have been horrible for all involved.

The good news is that the little boy should be all right, though at least one bone was broken and there are hospital bills for the family. Friday of this week the school took up a collection by letting each child who brought in a dollar for the family wear a hat to school (this is normally a dress code violation, so the kids enjoyed the chance to express themselves through creative headgear, as well as feel like they were helping).

We appreciate that our bus driver does his route in such a way that our kids never have to cross the road. He passes our driveway on his way up our hill, and then picks them up on the return trip.

Jon came home Friday night driving this semi trailer, loaded with components of a large drill they use at work. Because of the difficulty of maneuvering a long vehicle like this up our little road, he actually BACKED the semi up the short stretch of road that goes right past our house (at night!), then parked it along the side of the road, in front of our house.

He told me he was going to be doing it this way, so as the hour of his arrival approached the kids and I listened excitedly for the low rumble of a semi engine. When it finally came, there was no mistaking it. We saw a long string of lights in the darkness, heard the air brakes, and then Jon blew his big horn (in case we had overlooked his arrival). We ran outside with flashlights to greet him-- I wrapped Leila up in a blanket and carried her outside, too.

Other than that, it was a pretty ordinary weekend. Emma and Jon rode the 3-wheeler over to our neighbor's farm, to pick up our week's supply of eggs, and ended up promising the farmer a wagon-load of our grass and leaf cuttings for her chickens. The farmer (a woman nicknamed "Johnny") and another neighbor who helps her out came over with a tractor, hauling a small empty trailer.

Jon and Emma helped them fill it up; here you see Emma "compressing" leaves for them before they cover it over with a tarp.

Johnny said that most of these clippings will be used as mulch, but that her chickens love to pick through them as well. They especially enjoy fresh grass cuttings. She offered us composted manure for our flower beds, which we will probably pick up later this fall.

Jon's friend Derek also came over this weekend. Derek helped Jon fix something on his Bobcat; Derek has some large-sized wrenches that Jon does not have, along with the mechanical know-how to help figure the problem out. Jon figures his friend helping out for an hour or so probably saved him $400 in repairs.

We are very fortunate that Jon has the skills and broad acquaintance to trade his work and time with so many skilled tradesmen. It really helps us out (and he helps them out, in return, as well).

Last night we had Jonathan over for a crockpot supper of stew and bread. He had come over in the afternoon first and watched the Packer game with us, so that was fun.

Prior to that, Jon and Michael watched most of the Viking - Bears game. I know I promised no more "deep thoughts", but I have to point out a touching father/son moment I observed.

Of course Jon is a life-long Packer fan-- and Michael, his erstwhile son, has recently taken up the Vikings as his new favorite team. This cannot please Jon much, though he lets Michael have his preference and watch the Viking games, etc.

Well, yesterday afternoon I heard Jon call Michael in and excitedly tell him about something great the Vikings had just done. He had a positive tone of voice about it, and high-fived with Michael.

And later, when the Packers came on, Michael helped cheer on the Packers, reminding us that they are his second favorite team.

So you see: they're reaching out to each other through sports viewing. Isn't that-- sniff-- beautiful?

To close, here is a little corner of my dining room that I rearranged this morning. It features the old rocking chair that my mother-in-law recently reupholstered for me. If I'm recalling the story right, this chair belonged to Jon's Great-Uncle Nat, and was found in their hunting shack (which was Uncle Nat's home when he was alive).

It's a good sturdy chair and has r

ocked lots of Hurlburt grandchildren, including Sally's children. I had it for Michael and Emma, as well. The bottom had gotten pretty worn and frayed, though, so Jane spiffed it up for me. It's kind of a dark blue-green color, and goes nicely with the valance I got from Sally and hung up in the dining room this weekend (unfortunately you can't see that in this picture).

Draped over the back of the rocking chair is an afghan that my dad's mother, my Grandma Bragg, knit.

October Riches

It's amazing how much difference a couple of days can make in the fall, as you see in these "before" and "after" photos. The first picture of our house was shot on Friday, before our weekend trip to Rhinelander. The next was taken only three days later, after the trip was over. Quite a difference, huh?

We have lots of oak around our house, so rust and yellow are the predominant colors. Still, I expected our color to be better than what we'd see in Rhinelander, because Mom had warned us that their fall color was past its peak. Eau Claire is far enough south to be a little bit warmer and later, seasonally, than Rhinelander.

Even so, the trip north revealed that in a color comparison, Rhinelander wins hands down. It must have to do with the variety of trees-- Rhinelander has lots of red and orange maples, as well as paper birch with bright yellow leaves. It also has lots of quaking aspen, whose round leaves are a bright yellow and make a pleasing soft rustling sound as they shake in the wind.

Michael and Emma didn't have school on Thursday or Friday of this week, because of teacher conferences. Still, I had errands to run on Friday and couldn't leave for Rhinelander until about 4 o'clock. So Jon actually beat us to my parents' house.

He finished work early on Friday, so was able to get an early start on the six-hour drive from his current worksite in northern Minnesota to Mom and Dad's. He's actually only about 70 miles from Canada, right now. But we hadn't seen him for a couple of weeks, and he was anxious to see me and the kids-- particularly Leila, who's at that age when she changes so much day to day.

She's getting a little more shy and selective about people now, too. We were hoping she wouldn't cry when she saw Daddy-- he would have understood, but he would have felt bad, too.

But she didn't fuss. She remembered her Daddy and gazed lovingly at him. She grabbed his nose and giggled and coo-ed. But he could see how she's changed in the time he's been away; for one thing, she's a much better "sitter." She still falls over without support, but is much better at supporting her own weight. She can be propped up with pillows and likes to reach for toys from that position.

So we had our little "family reunion" with Jon at Mom and Dad's house, while waiting for Laurie and Mark to arrive.

Their jeep pulled up a few hours after dark, and strangely enough we were still up to greet them (I'm notorious for not being able to stay up much past nine). But the kids, including Leila, stayed up till the crazy-late hour of ten o'clock that night, and the adults even made it a few hours beyond that, talking and laughing.

We haven't had to change the clocks yet, so it's still dark at 7 in the morning. That's nice on the weekends, though, when you want to sleep in without guilt. The guys slept in, and when it was light out, they took Mingo for a bird hunt. Mark was nice enough to pack along extra hunting gear for Jon, who he knew was coming straight from work without time to pack anything. I had offered to bring Jon his hunting stuff, but he'd told me not to bother-- I don't think he trusted me to pack the right items, which would be more insulting if I didn't agree that I don't know much about hunting (let alone his storage "system" for things like that).

Anyway, while Jon and Mark hunted, and while baby Leila had her morning nap, Laurie and I snuck away to have a fancy cup of coffee at a little shop in Rhinelander. The shop was new to me-- I had never even noticed it before. But we asked the lady who waited on us if it was new, and were told it had been there twelve years.

It's in an old house that blends right in with the residential neighborhood around it, so it's easy to miss. But its little room are jam-packed with country and vintage-looking home decor. It also features some really stylish-looking bags, jewelry, and clothing. It has lattes, cappuccinos, and Italian sodas, which you can sip at a bistro table in the tiny front lawn behind the garden gate. I bought an interesting little ornament for my Halloween tree, and we had coffee at a table out front. When the morning sun became rather too direct, we migrated over to nearby Pioneer Park.

There was a small farmer's market going on there, so we perused that for a while before walking under the shade of the park's tall pines. We found a little path that led to the river bank, and along the way Laurie discovered a tiny bird's nest... the perfect opportunity for a cheesy photo. Say cheese, Lulu!

Since we wanted to make it back before the baby woke up (and since we knew Mark would have something good ready for our lunch), we hurried back to the house. Leila was still asleep, but the rest of the family was diving into Mark's German tomato soup and sourdough bread. Luckily there was plenty left for us.

By that time my brother John had arrived as well, so there was lots of fun and lively conversation. We went on walks and enjoyed the blue skies and unseasonably warm weather.

After Michael expressed his heart-felt desire to play croquet, we split up into teams and played the insidious course that John set up for everyone. He always puts one hoop at the edge of a hill, and we end up spending most of our time trying to get through the hoop without rolling back down the hill (easier said than done).

The Mom-Lisa team took an early lead, but that fizzled out fast after the Jon-Emma team made it through three hoops in one turn. Their victory seemed certain, but Laurie and Mark ended up walking away with the prize (gloating rights).

Here's John cleaning his shoes after stepping into a couple of Oscar's mud pies. Oscar has the charming habit of doing his "duty" on paths where people commonly walk, rather than off in the woods like most dogs.

We had a very good supper Saturday night, thanks to Mom. We finished the day with cocktails around an evening bonfire.

Sunday morning Jon and Mark went out hunting again, this time with Emma and Laurie tagging along with Laurie's camera. They found a porcupine near the house and shot it, helping Oscar and the other dogs avoid a snout-full of quills and a painful lesson. Dad buried the porcupine in the fenced-in garden, so Oscar wouldn't be able to dig it up later.

After lunch we said our goodbyes. Emma and Jon rode together in the company truck that Jon had rode down in, and Michael, Leila, and I followed behind in the Tahoe.

So we had a few hours of daylight together in Colfax. I was glad that Jon got to see the place during the peak of our fall colors... months earlier we had discussed how exciting it would be to watch how the seasons unfolded at our new house... particularly in the fall. And we haven't been disappointed. It's spectacular.

Here are a few views from out the windows and around the yard:

The little oriental tree in the big front yard flower garden...

The wood piles and back yard playhouse...

As leaf color lightens and trees lose their leaves, the "bones" of the woods gain prominence. Tree trunks, fallen branches, rotting logs and upturned roots become black skeletons against white sky on a cloudy day.

Last year Emma lamented the lack of leaves in our lawn, and I had to restrain her from jumping into our neighbors' piles of leaves. This year there should be no shortage of leaf piles (or opportunities to rake).

Weekend Ramble

More from Leila's wardrobe of crazy pants!

Jon worked through the weekend, so this time it was just me and the kids.

Just me and the kids... All. Weekend. Long.

Actually, as grim as I tried to make our Daddy-less time sound just now, we did manage to get out and have a little bit of fun and interaction with the rest of the world on Saturday.

First, we had pizza at the Little Italy restaurant, in Colfax. It's a place on Main Street (not a chain, Mark!) with about eight tables and a fun series of murals on the walls, including a mural of the three guys from the mafia show The Sopranos. The guys are dressed in dark suits and look like they're seated at a table in the restaurant, casing the joint for anyone new walking through the door (this mural freaked me out, the first time I saw it).

While we were there, the only other customers were an elderly couple seated across from us. After a few minutes the lady of the couple came over to our table. As you can imagine, I was very curious as to what she had to say.

She told me that she had a problem, and wondered if I could help her figure it out. Her problem was that she could feel her car keys in the lining of her purse, but couldn't find the hole from which they had entered, so couldn't get at the keys. She thought maybe I could figure it out for her, so she wouldn't have to resort to cutting open her purse.

I felt around the purse for a minute (strange, sticking your hand in someone else's purse; its such a personal thing). I couldn't figure it out either, right away. Then I checked a small pocket in the very front, and bingo... there was the hole in the lining. Mystery solved.

We laughed about it, and she thanked me. A few minutes later, they left. Five minutes passed by, and she came back... quickly bestowing a dollar each on Michael and Emma, with instructions to get themselves an ice cream cone. Since I had just told them that no, we were not going to have dessert with our lunch, they were especially delighted. Following the serendipity of the moment, I relented and let them have their calorie splurge.

After that we went for a drive to our favorite cluster of apple orchards. It was a bit of a rat-race there... tons of city folk trying to get their kids a quick infusion of country life.

But we bought some apples, had some cider, and let Leila get her first look at a miniature donkey. They had goats and pot-belly pigs there, as well (that type of pig is SO cute). Michael informed me that pigs are highly intelligent mammals (I think I've heard that before).

Interesting little aside: this weekend Michael asked me what I thought about him becoming a vegetarian. I had to think about that for a minute... remember, I was a vegetarian for four of my college years (until I was exposed to all that interesting food at the Hurlburt potlucks, and my resolve started to erode).

I ended up telling him that he was too young to make that decision for himself; for now, he would have to eat what the rest of the family was eating. When he is older-- and better equipped to research a healthy vegetarian diet and help prepare his own food-- it's fine with me.

I did agree he could try eating less meat, if he would supplement the loss of protein with other good sources like beans and rice. He agreed. He suggested he keep eating fish (he loves fishsticks and ketchup), hamburger (no explanation needed there), and chicken (KFC, thank you)... but no more bacon or pig. As fishsticks, hamburger, and chicken are about the only types of meat we have on a regular basis, I had no problem with any of this.

I sure have a thinking boy, in Michael. I am constantly amazed at the worries he comes up with, and the subtleties he observes. Global warming. Cultural stereotypes. Mom in a bad mood. Not much gets past Michael.

But he also reminds me, all the time, that he's a little boy. All of a sudden he'll ask me something so fundamental, I'm caught off guard.

Kind of like that time this summer when I realized that David, despite his maturity, sensitivity, and interest in politics and philosophy, was still unsure how to operate a can opener.

Which reminds me of another random tangent to go off on: this summer David observed to me that one cultural difference that seems to hold true with southerners is that they can say anything they want to another person-- no matter how cutting or unflattering or outright rude the remark-- as long as the words "Bless his heart" or "Bless her heart" are added at the end.

Southerners... bless their hearts.

After the apple orchard, we followed winding highway K to Cornell. It's a nice drive and there was a lot of fall color along the way... though every time I try to get the kids to notice pretty fall color Michael squelches me with some kind of remark about "Why do you like death?" Sigh.

Anyway, we made our way to Grandma and Grandpa's big yellow house.

Once there, we took pictures of the kids by the big popple tree in their back yard, at Grandma's suggestion. The old tree's days are numbered.

This tree has been around ever since Grandpa Bud can remember (and that's awhile, since the house belonged to his parents first, before he and Jane bought it).

Some of its long, heavy limbs have been pruned over the years, for safety reasons, but Bud and Jane are still concerned that it (or some of its dying branches) may come down in a wind storm and damage their house or injure someone. So they've made an appointment for a person to come over, and take the tree down in pieces.

This tree has been a milestone over the years. Generations of Hurlburt kids have scaled it and flashed their toothy grins for the camera. It will be strange to see it gone.

Moment of silence for a fine old tree?

Tonight we have conferences with the kids' teachers. I'll also be signing Michael up for basketball.

Last week we signed Emma up for Girl Scouts. There will be 13 girls in her group this year, but that's fine because another parent has volunteered to be the leader (with two others as assistants).

Of course their year kicks off with a fundraiser... the annual nut, candy, and magazine sale. I mention this for no particular reason, though (ahem) some of you will be contacted.