Lilacs and Cows and May Day, Oh My!

It has been way too long since I've posted and a lot of water has gone under the bridge but suffice it to say that spring is definitely sprung here in Shepherdstown. Our lilac bush, which Vince and I bought at Monticello almost 15 year ago (!), is blooming non-stop and has gotten so big I can see the top of it from Laura's window on the second floor. Buddha in the living room has a lovely offering of flowers from JiaJia's school hike yesterday and a very small lilac bloom. He seems happy (although, being Buddha, he usually seems that way). I'm happy too, even with all the pollen and the sneezing, because it has been an unusually long and beautiful spring, unlike recent years when it has seem to shoot from winter to summer without us having much of a break in between.

The grass is also riz here and I'm reminded I need to nudge Carl, our lawn guy, to come and mow us out of our meadow. He's a great guy but a little casual when it comes to sticking to a schedule so we're not looking as manicured as I'd like.

The Wolfe Pack's most recent adventure? The Cow Caper at South Mountain Creamery. One of my foodie friends in town got me started getting milk delivered from South Mountain and it has been a great experience so far. We put a cooler out on Tuesday mornings and later that day it is filled with milk, cream and buttermilk. The buttermilk is like nothing I've ever used before - thick and rich and extremely buttery tasting. I've baked with it, made panne cotta (yum!) and also made cheese. I think it even improves the flavor and texture of Vince's mother's Hershey Bar Cake and that is saying a lot because I thought that cake was already perfect.

Anyway, forgive my food-induced rapture, the point of this discussion is that South Mountain has a festival every spring called the Cow Caper, where the community gets to come visit the farm, see the milk processing facility and basically get free run of the place. We arrived at milking time so the girls got to see where the milk actually comes from, then we visited the calves and baby goats. They have a chicken house and JiaJia got to hold a baby chick in her hand. It made a big impression, let me tell you, as she is still talking about it. Laura, fastidious little soul that she is, didn't care for the aroma in the barnyard (that's her grimacing at the smell in the milking parlor in the picture to the left) and REALLY didn't care for the mud so I don't believe I'll have to be concerned that she might turn to dairy farming as a future career.

The total hit of the day, even more than the calves and chicks, was making butter. We each got a little canister of heavy cream that we shook for what seemed like hours and ultimately ended up with about a tablespoon of butter. A miracle! We kept the canisters and have since made more butter. More miracles! It seems funny but what I loved about this was the fact that the girls made the connection between the foods we eat and where they come from. Seeing the cows being milked, talking to the guy who runs the dairy, making butter - it makes food something real as opposed to just stuff that we buy at the store. Now, if I didn't have to keep explaining how chickens lay eggs I'd be very happy indeed.

May promises to be a busy month for the Wolves. On May 3, JiaJia's school will be walking in the May Day parade, our town's own little pagan celebration. It is led by the Green Man and ends with a traditional Maypole dance, with intertwining ribbons and the whole shebang. From what I'm told, we have one of the only two Maypole celebrations left in the U.S. All in all it is a nerdishly jolly sort of event, with lots of tree-huggers in evidence, and the kids are happy because they dress up as fairies or gnomes.

May 4 is Vince's and my 17th anniversary. How we've managed to get to this point without killing each other is a mystery to me but there it is. What can I say? He can fix anything and has every tool known to mankind. A man like that is useful to have around the house.

I'll be taking lots of pictures at the parade so watch this space.

April showers are here, May flowers must be around the corner...

Here we are on another gloomy day here in the mountains of WV. The kids are at school and I'm recovering from a week walking on the political quicksand of my office in VA. I'm exhausted but nowhere near as tired as I was last week when I had both girls home from school plus Sophie here for the week. Three screaming children running around the house for a week had me wishing for a cocktail about noon every day. I wonder how our mothers did it (except maybe they did give in to the urge for a martini in the afternoon once in a while).


We had a nice quiet Easter with a visit from the bunny and much chocolate all around. Laura, in her typical way, has her candy still, organized in a box in her room to be doled out as she sees fit. I discovered, much to my chagrin, that she actually still had candy left over from LAST Easter tucked away. Thankfully that has been disposed of, to be replaced by this year's batch. Now that I know she's such a little hoarder I'll be sure to check in a month or two to be sure the mice haven't moved in for a feast.


JiaJia, on the other hand, had to be restrained from consuming ALL her candy at one sitting. I had to take hers away, put it up on top of a bookcase, and create rules for when a piece of candy can be earned. She tries to wheedle it out of me by promising, "Mommy, I won't be WILD" but she can't help herself. This is one candy-crazy child. She's also promising to be every bit as fashion conscious as her older sister. The photo at the left is her with her interpretation of how to wear a kid's dress as a pop star might. I think she is preparing to be the next Hannah Montana.


Looks like it will be a quiet weekend. Vince is working on Saturday and the big excitement will be a visit from the cable repair guy who has to replace our cable box. I can hardly wait!

A Visit with the Aunts and Uncles

We got together with the extended family last weekend at Jane and Ken's because Barbara was visiting. Tyler and Janey K. made it in from Southern Maryland and it was an especial treat to see Thom and Aunt Cay up from North Carolina. The biggest surprise, though, was Kix and her kids. Turns out her son and Alec play on the same baseball team. What a small world!

At any rate, we had great pizza (of which I ate WAY too much) and lots to talk about including, in no particular order, our crazy relatives, politics, why you shouldn't "reply all" on e-mails, the benefits of local vs. shipped-in organic foods, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Janey K., in her usual Pied Piper way, took the girls off my hands, for which I am eternally grateful. They played restaurant and generally ran around like the insane urchins that they are. It was wonderful because I actually got to converse with the adults a little. You don't realize how much you miss that until you get to do it. I also got to hold Baby Kenny a time or two. He feels like a feather when you're used to hefting a 40-pound, solid muscle pre-schooler. The boy is ready to walk and once that happens all hell is going to break loose.

The only bummer of the day was that NOBODY brought a camera. Unbelievable!

A funny followup story (which some of you have already heard...)

Sunday, I came upstairs after working out and found the girls had built a huge nest of pillows in the living room. It was their restaurant, called "A Big Smile on You," presumably because that's what you'll have once you've eaten there. They were wearing their aprons that Aunt Janey K. had given them and Laura had made them name tags. She was Mrs. Tiffany and JiaJia was Mrs. Flower. Laura took my order, JiaJia cooked and served my lunch, then they gave me a hug, because as Laura said, "that's just the kind of restaurant this is." It was a hoot.

I'm embarrassed to admit we did a big nothing for St. Patrick's day. The girls didn't even wear green to school and I schlepped around the house in workout clothes all day (which are definitely not green). No green beer, no corned beef and cabbage (which I don't really mind since I don't particularly like corned beef), no soda bread, nothing. My Irish ancestors are spinning in their graves at this greivous omission. Oh well, maybe next year.

So next Sunday is Easter. Laura announced to me last night that her little buddy, Isabella, had told her there is no Easter Bunny, its really your parents. What?!?!? I thought I had at least a couple more years before we had this conversation but no such luck. I pointed out to her that Isabella hadn't proven herself to be a particularly good source of information in the past but I think she is on the verge. I hope I can convince her to believe for a little bit longer. I'm just not ready for my first baby to be that grown up.

But all things considered, whether she believes or not, I will be expected to pony up with the candy. Some things never change...

My Wild Children and Vince's Happy Birthday

The weather here has been pretty warm this week. Tuesday it was 70+ degrees but very rainy and windy. By the time I got home from the office the rain had stopped but the wind was intense. The girls had been riding their bikes outside but decided to get a little crazy when Mom got out the camera.

The girls had a great time making their own birthday cards for their dad, who turned 49 yesterday. JiaJia's is a purple explosion, consisting mostly of her name but with lots of squiggles and other stuff which only a four year old could understand. I love Laura's card, particularly the picture she drew of a big round head with the legend "You." Since Dad is the only one in the house with a big bald head I think we could have figured out who the picture depicted without her guidance but there it is.

Vince had requested surf and turf for dinner so the girls helped me make poached lobster with lemon butter and filet mignon with sauce Bearnaise, along with roasted asparagus and baked potato. Since I had to go into the office in Virginia three days this week I cheated and bought a cake at Wegman's but I have to admit, I would have been pressed to make one that tasted as good. It was fantastic!

After dinner it was bath and bed for all (not all together but you know what I mean...) We slept the sleep of those who are well fed and happy. How blessed we are to have such privilege in our lives.

Snow and Ice and Nothing Else Nice

The dreaded snow day. We woke up to about an inch of snow this morning but the predictions were for more snow followed by ice so both schools are closed. Vince left for work at 5:00 a.m. so I'm home alone with two wild children who can't go outside to run off all their energy. Oh, and did I mention I'm trying to work because I have a deliverable this afternoon?

I've been relieved of some of the insanity by the arrival of the two neighbor kids so they're all playing in my room and apparently seeing who can scream the loudest. I have the phone on mute while I'm on a conference call but at least I'm getting some work done.

Later we're having chili and cornbread for dinner - the perfect icy weather meal to my mind, even if it is healthy turkey chili (but don't tell Vince or he won't eat it). The cornbread is my new favorite (which I'll be addressing in my other blog - http://www.notsoseriousbaker.blogspot.com/ after I bake it and take a few pictures) from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Then hopefully I can get the whole crew calmed down with a movie or perhaps some opium (just kidding) for the evening.

Then tomorrow it starts all over again. You know, I used to actually look forward to the weekend but once you have kids that all changes.

The picture is one of the few good ones I've gotten recently of both girls. Wouldn't you know, I told them that instead of saying "cheese" they should say "I hate my sister." Bingo - great picture!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The day started with a nice bonus - school is back in after two days off due to the weather. They started two hours late but that's okay, it gave the girls a chance to sleep in. And now I'm writing this from a VERY quiet house. As my friend Jamie would say, its a beautiful thing.

We're not doing anything special to celebrate - just a nice roast chicken for dinner and an hour spent watching LOST for mom. Both kids are having parties at school (for which I baked absolutely nothing - I truly am the worst school mom in the world) so I expect lots of valentines festooning the house this evening plus a ton of little doodads provided by the mothers who actually have some talent at putting together gift bags and the like. I suppose I could do that sort of stuff but I just don't so this will be one more thing that my kids will be telling their therapists about in 20 years. Nice of me to give them material, I guess.

At least my girls look cute with their Valentine pillows. What a couple of hams!

Pictures from Christmas

One of the hardest things I do as a mother is to try to get pictures where both of my kids look like they are at least marginally normal. Usually L does the cheeseface and JJ scowls so I end up with pictures where one or the other of them looks awful. This Christmas was no exception.

They insisted on wearing their elf pajamas from last Christmas, which was fine with me but nothing I could do, not even sinking to bribery, could get one single picture with both of them looking like the angels I know they are. Or at least the angels I'd like to world to believe they are.