Nora's First (Real) Christmas

This was the year. The year that Nora finally got what Christmas was all about. We read "Charlie Brown's Christmas" and sang carols and watched "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street." We ate and laughed with friends and family. We endured 24 inches of snow that were incredibly timely. Nora snowshoed through our backyard and the woods of Two Harbors. She made a snow fort with the neighbors. She set up "tea parties" for anyone who would sit still long enough and then offered them beer and hot dogs. Errrrrr...maybe we need to work on the TEA part of the tea party. (I have a video of this that I've been trying to upload for about a week to no avail.)

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday. Being stranded in the snow meant that we were helping shovel our neighbors out of their driveways instead of staying warm by the fire. It also meant that we had unplanned dinner parties and extra people around, just because it felt right to be together.

I'd like to think that Nora learned a little bit about "community" this Christmas. I've felt fairly rudderless since moving here- part of why I haven't been posting much, I'm sure. However, we chose this town and this neighborhood and this house because it felt like we could become a part of it all. The last week has made Duluth feel a little more like home.

Is it Christmas today?

That is the question that wakes me up every morning these days. Nora is super-excited about this whole Christmas thing, And why not? I'm more in the Christmas spirit than I've been for many years.

The lights! The snow! the tree! Company! Egg nog! Baking cookies!

It is pretty wonderful.

I think what has Nora so excited is the large red box next to the Christmas tree. It contains (shhhh- don't tell her!) a wooden play kitchen made by her Grandpa Dan. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a gift that I was neither giving nor receiving. I just can't wait to see her face when she opens it!

I hope it looks something like this:

Still processing

On Saturday morning I had the pleasure of helping to field dress, drag and hang a buck that our friend Cindy shot. I was hunting on her land, and I'd been sitting in a stand for a little over 2 hours, basically just freezing my tail off. She got home after an overnight shift, saw the buck grazing in her back yard, grabbed her bow, walked right up to it and shot him from 10 yards away. Then she texted me to come help.


Life is not fair. Doesn't she look happy, though?

In any case, Kat and I thought this would be a good chance to learn how to process deer. So we went over Sunday afternoon and processed it with Carl & Cindy. It was an all night afair (we didn't get home until after 11:00). But we did have fun, and we learned a lot.

We decided to go ahead and bring Nora with. We figured it would be a good chance for her to learn where our food comes from. We don't want to scare her or make her a vegetarian, but we do want her to understand that the meat we eat comes from a living creature and that it should be respected.

Whatever our intentions, this is the picture that will be forever singed into my brain when I think about the whole experience.

We're either really good parents, or really, really, truly awful parents. The jury is still out.

Milestones

Nora's growing up (she said with a mix of delight and dismay). She has kept me busy and guessing the last week or so. Just when I think that I know what to expect, she goes and poops on the potty. Then, of course, she refuses to even try for the next week. It's toddlerdom at it's finest.

She did an aboutface on the whole water issue, too. I was beginning to think that she had seen "The Wizard of Oz" when I wasn't around and had a phobia of being melted by a sacchriny girl from Kansas. Now, suddenly, we're in for a tantrum if she doesn't get her bath. She likes to dnk her head, put her whole face in the water, splash, blow bubbles....I attribute this to that one page at the end of "Green Eggs and Ham" where Sam-I-Am and the unnamed guy are submerged.

Water and pooping are fine now and then, but Nora's new all-around obsession is letters. She likes picking them out of books, finding them on stop signs and attempting to draw them. "O" is clearly superior- and I'm sure that has nothing to do with how easy it is to draw....She has these Eric Carle cards with letters on one side and animals on the back. She likes to point to each letter and "spell" what the animal is. Most entertaining for me as a mother are "U" (which is known exclusively as "umbrella"- as in "o-c-t-o-p-umbrella-s") and "Q" (known as "O-with-a-tail").

Oops! The toddler in question is home. Back to parenting, while it lasts.

The Little Things

Eric bought a new monitor for our computer. It was hooked up to our television and set up to use with a wireless mouse and keyboard. Which sounds like a great idea, but my eyes just aren't that good anymore. So we found a desk on Craig's List, plopped it in our front room (now "The Library") and set the computer up on it. And here I am. Writing and reading comfortably, without buying a new laptop. It's amazing how a change of venue can improve the tone.

Nora agrees that simple pleasures are where it's at. Nana MJ sent her a homemade froggie pillowcase for a Big Girl Pillow, a smily face bouncy ball ("My Happy Ball") and a bunch of stickers. Nora then had to Aunt Mimi, Bella, Daddy and Nana to tell them how cool this was.

It takes a little more than a bouncy ball to make me happy these days. But not much more.

Why I prefer to be behind the camera

A couple of weeks ago, Eric and I returned to Pennsylvania for a friend's wedding (Hi, Heidi!). It was a gorgeous, moving ceremony at a beautiful location. Afterwards, Eric and I had another friend (Hi, Carl!) take some pictures of us. I know, it's scandalous to use this venue to remind our friends and family (Hi, Mom!) what we look like. Still, it's good to know that my image does record on film.

Then, Eric decided to take some pictures of me, as there is a distinct lack of those. For good reason, it turns out. Even the birds object to me being photographed. This is me realizing exactly how they objected.

So, you sat through that. I'll throw you a bone. Here's a shot of Nora relaxing in the Duluth sun in July. That's right, July.

Making Amends

So, I've been called to task by a number of people for not posting anything here. I know, I know....Life has had a way of getting away from me. If you, too, are irritated by my lack of blogging I recmomend one of the following:
1. Call St Mary's/Duluth Clinic Medical System. Ask for Information Services. Tell them to stop firewalling my blog.

2. Fly/drive/walk to my house. Clean it. Cook dinner. Put Nora to bed. Because that's about all I do outside of work. My life isn't really that interesting, but it takes time, right?

3. Remember, I blog only enough to assuage the guilt. Escalating levels of guilt caused by frequent reminders are likely your best bet.

4. Buy me a new laptop. What? It might help...

It isn't true that life isn't all that interesting, actually. Lately, we've had grandparents in town, flown to PA, leaving Nora in Minneapolis with the fam, and yesterday, we went on a 30 mile bike ride. Nora actually tolerated that quite well. For which, we took her for ice cream. Which she enjoyed immensely and hasn't stopped talking about.

Without further ado, here are some of the pictures from the above-referenced grandparental visit. They are Grandpa Dan and Nora on Rock Knob in Hartley Park, (a marginally toddler-appropriate walk from our house), Eric, Kat, Nora and Nana on Boulder Lake (a short drive from our house), Nora at the PortLand Malt Shop (downtown Duluth) and Nora at Bayfront Park ( on, strangely the bayfront in Duluth). Have I mentioned that I love where we live?