The most singularly disturbing toy mauling I have seen to date.

thank you for this Cash

dream of having a pony

is now a nightmare

What do boxers and toddlers have in common?

 A lot, actually. That could be a post in and of itself.

But today Sadie and Cash enjoyed the wide swath of low-tide beach with equal delight.

What they don't have in common is that my kid will go into the water, fully clothed, up to her waist, even though its 50 degrees outside and the water is even colder. My dog will barely get his feet wet.

MIY Monday: Crocheted Eggs..Chrocheggs? (tutorial)

One thing that Sadie really, really likes is checking for eggs in our chicken coop.  I usually let her put the eggs in the carton (with intense supervision) but then she wants to take them out again, and put them in again, and... you get the picture.  It also goes without saying that eggs don't make the best toys.  Going through a box of yarn remnants from last years Sock Monkey Hat making binge, I found a color palate that reminded me of eggs, so I decided to make some eggs that Sadie can play with.

The yarn is organic, tea-dyed cotton in worsted weight.  These would probably look better if you were using a sock weight yarn, but I don't have any of that, and the point was to use up what I had, so... I used a G hook and started with a magic double loop of 6 single crochets. I crocheted these in the round, so you either have to count or use a thread marker.

Row 2  two SC in each stitch- 12 stitches.
Row 3 two SC in first stitch, SC in next: repeat around-18 stitches
Rows 4-8 SC in each stitch around- 18 stitches
Row 9: SC 2 together, SC one. Repeat around, 12 stitches
Row 10: SC in each stitch-12 stitches

at this point you should probably stuff the eggs. I am using a poly-fiber fill that is from a dog toy that Cash destroyed. I thought about putting a pebble into each egg, just to give them a more realistic weight, but kind of glad I skipped that step since one of the things Sadie has decided to do with the eggs is throw them at the dog's head.

Row 11: SC 2 together SC one, repeat around-6 stitches
Row 12: SC 2 together until the top is closed. 

Cut thread, pull tail through the last loop, and then use your crochet hook to pull the loose end back down into the egg--weave it through a couple times, then hide it.  Voilla. Crocheggs. Its a seriously quick and easy project. 

A perfect homemade toy to help your little practice those fine motor skills with none of the messy clean up that playing with real eggs requires.  And now I have until Christmas to figure out how to crochet the chicken to go with them.

Happy Monday!

a case of the gypsy blues.

When Sadie woke up from her nap today she asked to go bye-bye.  My one-year-old gets cooped up too.  Since the boys were out in the country, I didn't have a vehicle, so my bye-bye options were somewhat limited to where our chevrolegs wanted to take us.  We went for a walk on middle beach.  Sadie was perfectly happy to run around there and pick up rocks, and roll in the sand, even though that meant I had to pick a cigarette butt out of her hair (gag) but on the walk home through Front Street I felt bad for the first time that this shabby looking town is all I have to show my kid.  Sadie points her pudgy little fingers at a pile of decomposing refrigerators that are lined up in a litter-strewn alley between two falling down houses.  I'm trying to give her some kind of an adjective, because she wants to know what everything is these days.  "Junk." That's the best I could do. Front St. in Nome is decaying.  The ever-prevalent wind is scouring the exterior off the buildings, the sidewalk is streaked with hawked loogies, spilled beer and expired cigarettes.  Even though it's 5pm on Sunday there are plenty of people staggering around more than a few sheets gone. They are laughing really loudly, and ridiculously, which Sadie then immitates in her childish way, which is sad because she is trying to comprehend funny, and that laughing really isn't funny.

I know this is part of my love-hate relationship with Nome... as in I LOVE the surrounding country, and the awesome friends we have here (truly some amazing people) but I HATE the town of Nome itself. Seriously. I cried the first time I saw it.

Dear Sadie, If I could redo our bye-bye this afternoon I would have us wake up in Edinburgh, or somewhere else like that.  Somewhere old, but clean.  We would stay at an inauspicious pension, or maybe a tiny bed and breakfast owned by a sweet snowy haired lady with a thick accent that's just a little to hard to understand. We could go for a walk on old cobblestone streets that are so worn from foot traffic that you wouldn't trip over them too much.  When our legs got tired we would pop into a cafe and I would be so delighted to find a really strong cup of espresso, and a raisin scone for you.  We'd take our snack to a park, where there would be a fountain and some grass for you to run around on. You would feed the crumbs from your scone to the pigeons.  If we were lucky, we might even see a police officer on a horse. You would probably really like to see a horse. I don't know what else we would do...admire the magnificent, towering castles, maybe just walk around and people watch--look into shop windows at all kinds of different curiosities, go eat dinner in a place that has comfy vintage chairs and warm yellow light filtering through prismatic lead crystal.  When our eyes had finally seen enough new things for one day, we could retire to our accommodations and fall fast asleep under a fluffy, white feather-down comforter that still smells just a little bit like the sunshine soaked up on an afternoon clothesline.

Now that would be a bye-bye I could feel proud of. So it's midnight and I am travelocity-ing tickets from Anchorage to Edinburgh, and guess what? $345! That is less than a plane ticket from Nome to Anchorage.  Maybe when Loren gets home from this most recent hunting excursion I'll convince him that Sadie and I really need to go bye-bye to Scotland.

summer sliding into fall

The days have been getting shorter, and seemingly more busy, as summer comes to a close and fall creeps in. I can't put into words the way my eyes just want to drink in the sight of the tundra in fall.

Maybe it's because I know that soon the landscape will be void of any color (and warmth for that matter), but I really feel like if I had to pick a color palate for my soul, this would be it.

right, maybe minus the four wheeler--but the guys (Loren and my sister's main squeeze--Glen, who gets credit for the first three pictures seen here) have been out enjoying the fall colors too--and catching three delicious caribou that we are in the process of cleaning and putting in the freezer. 

Caribou is delish. Yesterday we put up almost 100# of homemade sausage of the breakfast, Italian, and Chorizo varieties. We ground up some of the caribou fat to add into the sausage to give it superior frying ability, and it is fan-frikin'-tastic if I do say so myself.  Today was ribs, and tomorrow will be hamburger, steaks and roasts.  Every time I get to clean and process an animal I feel so humbled and thankful for the gift of this animal's life that gives us clean, healthy and affordable food for the winter.   I also like that the people hunting for our meat are ethical, and don't waste anything.

That is all that is left of three caribou.  I guess you need to leave something for the bears, and shik-shiks. With my husband I always know that the meat will come in from the field clean and well cared for. I really appreciate that about him. It means a lot to me to be able to raise my little one on some of the healthiest food on earth--fresh game and fish, tundra berries and greens...look what good babies it grows! :)

Don't mind me if I use this as an opportunity to veer widely off topic and post gratuitously cute pictures of my baby... oh look, here's another one:

Ever since my sister was here last week Sadie has been obsessed with accessorizing.  Can't go wrong with striped pyjamas and a pom-pom scarf... no you cant.

What is it about my sleeping baby that I just love so much? Maybe that it is the only time she stays still long enough for me to really get a good look at her?

Too much Falcon Punch: Sadie gets a big-girl bed.

I stole this illustration from google images because I am too effing tired to draw my own.  That's a sad state of affairs for me.

Up until the last couple of weeks we have been co-sleeping with Sadie and happy with that situation. This isn't a post to debate the pros and cons of letting baby sleep in your bed, because anyone who has a kid can tell you the best sleep arrangement is the one that works for you--and by "works" I mean "provides the maximum amount of sleep, and safety, for all parties involved." To keep you at the top of your parenting game, be prepared for this situation to change, maybe even frequently.  If I've learned one thing in the world of parenting so far, it is that SLEEP=SANITY.   Up until the last couple weeks I can honestly say that I have enjoyed sleeping with Sadie in the bed with me,  it has made night nursing so simple and easy, it has been a good bonding time for us, and she has been such a sweet snuggle bug.

So can I just say, WHAT HAPPENED?  Somewhere around the time Sadie turned 13 months the snuggle bug disappeared and the night ninja hit the scene in a major way.  Literally, it seemed to happen overnight.  Bedtime has become a long and drawn out ordeal. And when she finally does go to sleep, this new baby thrashes and punches me.  In her effort to have maximum contact with my body, she rolls herself over me and lays directly on top of my face.  She turn herself sideways in the bed and kicks my face, no matter how many times I try to gently re-situate her. Last night, in my sleep deprived delirium, I was narrating this nocturnal boxing match with some "FALCON PUNCH!" "SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!" "FALCON KICK!"  It was kind of funny, but kind of not funny...see SLEEP=SANITY above. I can't imagine all this night-time restlessness is good for Sadie either, especially since she seems to want to comfort nurse approximately one billion times a night now too. Last night was a last straw for me.  I am so wrecked today I feel like a mombie (mom-zombie)  My whole body hurts. I need some sleep to function... not a lot, but some.

So even though I was loathe to do it, I un-sidecarred Sadie's crib from our bed (shit, I've been the one who ends up in there most nights anyways), put it on the lowest setting, moved it to a corner of our room, and voila, a big-girl bed for Sadie.  She is taking a nap in there right now.  I should be taking a nap, but I am at that too tired to sleep stage.  Ug.

Tonight we begin the transition out of the big bed into the big girl bed.  My prediction: We have a stretch of sleepless nights in front of us, but it can't be any worse than the Falcon Punchfest that has been going down the last couple of weeks.

I am going to follow the Dr. Sears recommendation to help ease the transition with extra parent-baby contact time during the day (more rides in the ERGO, more snuggles, etc..), tanking up Sadie with an extra snack before bed, and using words to help her understand that when "Sadie goes night night, the nums go night-night too." If my blog entries seem to get less and less coherent, you can assume that our new plan is, um, working out NOT so good.

And can I just say to all you lucky devils who get to blissfully slumber through the night... A FALCON PUNCH TO YOUR HEAD! Enjoy it. SLEEP is a luxury that you take for granted until it goes away.

Blueberry Sourdough Waffles