Obligatory September Post

Well, damn.  I guess I missed August. 

Oh well.

September was busy and I can't believe it's already over.  It was "International Month" here:  Visits from (Suzy, Kim, and Max - all the way from Australia) and (Kay and Jen - from Canada) brought much fun and joy.  The visits also reminded me how much I miss *all* of them.  They also taught me more about how much bigger and more flexible the girls are getting! 

One of the definite highlights of Kay & Jen's visit was going to the beach, where the girls finally decided that the waves looked much more fun than scary and actually played in the water!  This makes me very happy, because it was kind of sad to go to the beach earlier in the year and not be able to really enjoy the waves.  We went to Natural Bridges State Park for a pretty much perfect day:

I've been knitting quite a lot.  Dishcloths, a Clapotis, and I started a gift baby sweater that I'll probably work on some more this evening.  It's a bottom-up raglan, knit in pieces, which is a very different construction than the sweaters I've done for the girls thus far.

Anyway.  I'll sign off here.

File Under...

...Things I Do. Not. Miss.

Laundering a LARGE load of diapers every other night.

There are things about potty training that have not been completely full of joy and delight, and there is definitely still a laundry factor, but I realized recently how nice it was to not have a clothes basket full of diapers to fold, stuff, and put away every other morning.  We still do an occasional load, because C prefers to wear a FuzziBunz diaper at night, but going from 20ish per day to 1 per day?  Just, wow.  :-)

Stroller usage is definitely down as well.  If I had a garage, I might even consider taking the thing out of my trunk.

Titular Changes

Finally!

I had enough of an inspiration to give this blog an actual title.  Yay!

Compliments of Merriam-Webster Online:

abecedarian (n):  one learning the rudiments of something (as the alphabet)

This word cropped up in one of our "A Word a Day" calendars nearly a decade ago.  Tonight, for some reason, was the night I finally made the connection between it, and another (kinda major) piece of my life.

I am A.  The incredibly wonderful man who is my husband is D*.  When the girls surprised us by arriving a bit ahead of schedule, C's name was already determined.  However, we still needed another girl's name.  When we realized that we already had A, C, and D as first initials, it seemed clear that we should focus on names beginning with the letter B.  This may be the only reason we were able to decide on a name before leaving the hospital!


I also love the idea of an abecedarian being someone who is still learning, because that's something I truly enjoy and value.

*I know, I know.  Technically, D could or should also be considered an A, but he's gone by D his entire life.  And it works out so much better this way for my title.  :-)

The Berry Pickers

A really fun morning at Webb Ranch in Portola Valley on Friday.  Many berries were picked, and just as many were consumed, as you can see by the empty basket C is holding.  The girls had a great time, which made me happy that we'd made the effort to go.  What made me even happier was the taste of sun-warmed blackberries and boysenberries straight off the vines.  Definitely a win on the happiness-per-effort-expended basis!

I have so many good memories of picking berries as a kid.  Raspberries and boysenberries at Grandma's house.  Blackberries *everywhere*.  Huckleberries up at the cabin.  Blueberries and gooseberries in our backyard.  Two days later, I'm still enjoying that the girls had fun doing something I loved as a kid.

Second Sweater Syndrome

I found dresses I liked for the girls' 3-year portraits, got home with them, and discovered that the blue yarn I'd gotten on sale at Tuesday Morning this spring would be perfect for little lacy shrug sweaters to go over the dresses.  I cruised Ravelry and found a pattern I liked, which was even in stock at my local yarn store.  I took a little time to swatch for gauge and check for shrinkage by washing the swatch, but once I cast on, I blew through the first sweater.  The second, not so much.

Many knitters talk about "second sock syndrome" where the second sock of a pair lingers on the needles or never gets finished.  I have second sweater syndrome.

I am plugging away, a few rows per night.  Having the deadline of wanting to get the portraits done soon is helping keep me focused.  Barely.  Pictures when (no, really, when) I finish.

Of Serendipitous Dinners and Self-flagellation

More than a month.  :-(

I knew that this would be a problem, which is why I haven't mentioned this blog to anyone but D thus far.  And if you're reading this now, it's probably because I've gotten my act together sometime in the future.  I've had lots of ideas and intentions.  Those have never made it into "e-reality".

I am still in awe of how delicious yesterday's dinner turned out, so I'm going to rave here!  We had quite a lot of leftover grilled chicken from earlier in the week, and were tired of eating it unadorned.  After perusing the grocery store circulars, quesadillas popped into my head.  Plus several places had avocados on sale.  So, we shredded some of the chicken, added cheddar and jack cheeses and a bit of salsa, and made quesadillas.  I made guacamole following the recipe in "The Best Recipe".  Simple ingredients.  Simply prepared.  Delicious beyond all expectation.

And I am also happy because tonight I have nearly finished a crochet project I started back in January.  All I need are 3 buttons for the underside of the shell, and this guy is done!

Alright.  Off to fold laundry.  Good night!

Birthday Parties and Merry-Go-Rounds

Today was so much fun that I decided to write about it without stopping to apologize for my lack of posts recently.  :-)

All four of us headed up to Tilden Regional Park today to attend the 5th birthday party of a lovely young lady named Rosemary.  Rosemary's mom had told me about the park several times before, but we hadn't made it there.  It's over an hour from Santa Clara, in Berkeley, so it's quite an expedition.

The party was held beside the park's historic merry-go-round.  This carousel was built in 1911, and came to the Bay Area in the 1940s.  I have ridden more carousels in the last year than in any year previously, thanks to the girls.  They're fun, and I love seeing the two of them enjoying the ride, but y'know, nothing too exciting.  This merry-go-round was different.  This merry-go-round was amazing!  The vintage animals were gorgeous and the horses had real horsehair tails.  What really surprised me, though, was the non-animal seating options.

There was a bench arranged so that 4 or 5 tiny horses were suspended in front, at just the right height for a parent to hold a very small child astride one.  There was a sled-shaped bench unit that rocked back and forth as the carousel turned.  And my (and C's) favorite - a circular unit that spun around its center as the carousel turned.  That thing got some serious rotation going!  I really, really enjoyed riding it.  So did C:

The gorgeous weather, birthday festivities, delicious food, family time, and the pleasure of being so unexpectedly delighted by something I'd assumed would not be too big a deal made it a wonderful day.

And a tiring one.