Travelingjenny

Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood

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  • Grace’s bunny

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    Poppy dodged a bullet yesterday (or rather, a scalpel), when a snowstorm prevented me from making the journey to the veterinarian in Kennebunk who was going to spay her. Instead, she spent the morning in the car, waiting quietly and patiently until we could bring her back home. She's a good bunny. Don't tell her, but I've already rescheduled her appointment for next month.

    Grace was very worried about her surgery ("to take out that thing in her stomach"), and wanted to make sure that Poppy would make it back home to her. So she made a very sweet sign for the carrier. That vet had better take very good care of Grace's bunny.

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  • Tess’s favorite color

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    "I love blue every day! Blue like my eyes!"

  • A group effort

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    On Sunday we finally made the big one-mile trek down our road to the Christmas tree farm. The farm opens the day after Thanksgiving, but we were always finding excuses not to visit it early on — too muddy, too crowded, not warm enough, etc. We suddenly realized that if were going to have any time at all to enjoy the tree, we had better go chop one down as soon as possible. So we headed out in the 20 degree, post ice-storm weather — no crowds on that morning! — grabbed a sled for the girls, and began our journey out into the fields. Everything went smoothly, Grace got to do some sledding, and Adam chose the tree this year. The only real problem was that the tree was coated in ice, so it had to thaw out for a while before it could be decorated. And this year, we had two little elves who were fascinated with the ornaments and were actually willing to help — they even put on their red party dresses (and party crown) to celebrate the occasion. The ornaments are all clumped near the middle and bottom of the tree, but that's okay — it's perfect just the way it is.

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  • Cold feet

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    The other day I decided to let the chickens out while it was snowing — they're Maine chickens, after all — and when I opened the coop door, they just stood there and peeked out for a couple of minutes. Then, one by one, they flew out of the coop (instead of their usual hop-and-run routine), seemingly afraid to walk in the foreign white stuff covering their beloved grass. They quickly discovered that there were areas of the yard not yet covered in snow, and decided they would be okay after all. They had better toughen up quickly — it's going to be a very long winter.

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  • We’re going to need more barrettes

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    This evening I discovered my new favorite game — beauty parlor. It involves me sitting very still and relaxing while Tess combs my hair and Grace "makes it pretty" with barrettes. It's amazing how long this game lasts, and how fun it is for all involved, at least until Tess starts to get aggressive with the comb. And when Adam came home, it was his turn to make the girls' hair pretty — he did pretty well, for a bald man.

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  • No more movies for us

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    Grace has been wanting to see a "real" movie for a few months now, so we decided that a kid-friendly movie would be the perfect birthday afternoon activity. So while Tess was napping, we presented Grace with a viewing of Finding Nemo. I chose this movie because she is familiar with the Nemo character (ah, the power of marketing), and because I remembered the film as a cute story about a daddy fish looking for his son, with the help of a hilarious sidekick fish. I warned Grace about the brief scene in the beginning when Nemo's mommy and all of his siblings are killed — which happens off-screen, and which she didn't really seem to get anyway. But I had forgotten about the sharks with the HUGE teeth who try to eat Marlin and Dory, and the whale who does eat them, and the pelican, and so on and so forth. Add to that the fact that the poor little fish had been separated from his daddy, and sweet Grace was a complete stress case. Our sensitive child sat completely still (no small feat for our little wiggle-worm) the entire time — and even covered her stuffed squirrel's eyes. In the end, I felt really guilty about causing the poor child so much anxiety on her birthday. And right before she went to bed that night, she said, "Can you please erase Nemo?"

    Last weekend, in an effort to redeem myself, I let her watch Lady and the Tramp. A cute story about dogs, right? No — Tramp gets his leg run over by a carriage, thus rendering the movie too sad to enjoy. So, tonight I tried Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, a classic we all remember with a good message about nonconformity. I even checked out a review of it on Netflix first: "Appropriate for ages 3+." And I warned Grace beforehand about the "Abominable Snowman." Once again, she sat completely still, and held my hand the entire time. I gave her several opportunities to stop watching, but she insisted on seeing it through to the end. And then right before bed, she said, "Can you please erase Santa?"

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  • A sprinkling of snow

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    We had our first snowfall today, and although it never even fully covered the grass, Grace was ecstatic. She spent almost two hours outside trying to make a snowman — no small feat when there is hardly any snow. Her very sweet daddy helped her by running around the yard, shoveling snow into a pile. When it became apparent (to us at least) that her snowman dream would have to be achieved another day, she used her snow mound as a platform to jump off of. Good thing she was wearing padded snowpants!

    Tess, on the other hand, was clearly in denial.

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  • Musician

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    The design of this one-of-a-kind instrument began several weeks ago when Adam let Grace hammer some nails into a piece of wood while he was working on the chicken coop. Shortly thereafter, she let herself into the basement, opened a can of red paint, and started painting it before I realized where she was and what she was doing — yikes! Next, with supervision, Grace added some wire, a few screws, and of course, a lightswitch. And now for Christmas, she would like her own toolbox. I can't even begin to imagine what she might create, but I do know that she can no longer reach the paint.

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  • Wired

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    I'm not sure if I should be proud, or scared…

  • Big and little

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    And different in so many ways…