this girl ...

...just got voted "most musical," by her 8th grade class.

The beginning of quarantine was tough for her.  Everyday she'd come into my office:

"We should be performing in Simi today..."
"What are we doing today?"
"We would be having our dance today."
"We'd be on Spring Tour today."
"Can we go to the beach tomorrow?"

She was pretty mad about her social life being put on indefinite hold.

Two months later it's down to:

"What are we doing today"
"Can we go to the beach tomorrow?"

She's definitely less angry which is nice.

I get it, no music trip, no Washington D.C. trip, no 8th grade dance, no 8th grade promotion event (which has been rescheduled as a "drive through" event -- that will be interesting) and probably 6+ music performances cancelled.  It really isn't fair.  I keep telling her, at least she's not a high school senior.

She has been doing a lot of solo music.  She has started composing using software which I for one think is pretty impressive (yes, I'm her mom, but still).

All in all we've settled into quarantine life pretty nicely.  The girls and I have found our weekday rhythm and I have to admit -- it's not terrible.

kamping

The vast majority of our friends camp.

We do not.

While this has been a non-issue for most of my life, kids -- shockingly -- have made this a complication, as all they want to do is "go camping like their friends."

Thank goodness for cabins.  Or, should I say kabins as the clever marketing people at the KOA have branded them.

This fall break I took the kids down to San Diego with some friends.

To say the kabins were a hit is an understatement.  A place where bunk beds are only trumped by

a porch swing.

Let me reiterate.  I. do. not. camp.  We own no camping gear.  I came armed with an electric kettle (the kabin had an electrical outlet).  It's amazing how much you can make with hot water -- cup o noodles, instant mac n cheese, coffee, need I go on?

We spent one of the days at Sea World.

(that's how the gangsters roll with one polka dotted legging up, right?)

After all that kamping, we had to stop at Fin's on the drive back.  I mean mommy earned that -- being all by myself!

Happy fall break!

crafting

For those of you who know me well you'll understand the irony of the post's title.

Making things + Becky = not always such a good result.

This seemed like a very Becky-able project, so we took it on.

There are generally a bevy of pinecones at a lot of the parks near us.  However, it seemed as though other people had decided to get  crafty as well, because we actually had to hunt for them a bit!

The Little Wickies love doing crafts.  You would never know it from their faces though.

Our little pinecone Christmas trees.

conversations with a 6-yr old

Katie with her flea market find: a dolphin for her charm bracelet

Katie was sick this weekend, so instead of attending a birthday party, I made her go to the flea market with me.

I was shopping when I look up and next to me is a girl who is impossibly skinny and way too pretty and flawless for a flea market. I look back and there is a large man with sunglasses following 4 feet behind her. Turns out it was Taylor Swift.

Me: Katie, see that girl with the cream colored dress on?

KT: Yes.

Me: That's the girl who wrote and sings the song that mommy is learning how to play on the piano right now.

KT: Back to December?

Me: Yes.

KT: Why are you whispering?

Me: Well, she's famous and I want to give her some privacy.

KT: How famous is she?

This is where our conversation faltered. I mean, how do you rank famous-ness in the world of a 6-year old? Less famous than Elmo, more famous than Cailou?

Our conversation descended into what other songs she sang (I only knew one other); how many people in the world know who she is; in what countries people knew her in; etc., etc.

the fair: back to back

As what is fast becoming tradition we attended the fair on opening day this week. There were friends, games and more. Katie rode rides without abandon, Mo not so much. All in all it was a pretty exhausting day.

I however, forgot the battery for my camera, which made it very difficult to take pictures for a piece I was supposed to be doing.

Because of this, we headed back the following day with the aim of completing my interviews, and seeing the (perhaps) calmer side of the fair.

Bonus: when you interview 4H kids, they bring their animals out of cages for your kids to pet.

I don't know how those kids keep those all white outfits clean.

All the kids I spoke with were delightful. You can see some of them here if you're interested.

The girls wanted to take a picture with Willie the horse.

This is as close as they would get. Future 4H girls, I fear they are not.

From the baby animals, geese and pig races to the fish and frogs in the aquariums, the day was really nice, and almost leisurely compared to the day before.

Perhaps the best part of the day was the live butterfly exhibit. You dipped q-tips into nectar, placed them under their feet and they would climb right on.

And, in the end the Little Wickies were rewarded for being so patient with mama while she was working.

maddie meets monet / katie covets chagall

Today I took the girls to an art museum for the first time.

Mo had little interest, she kept walking around saying "me no touch da art, right mama?" in a sort of Rainman way.

I'm thinking of taking Katie back as she seemed to really enjoy it.

She was able to describe to Papa in detail later that night her favorite piece of the day -- floating fish, painter in the background and all -- which I was surprised by.

Blue Angel by Marc Chagall, Katie's favorite piece of the day

Now, don't get me wrong while they did fine in the museum the stairway back to the car provided WAY more fun. We spent at least 15 minutes playing on these.

"Did you like the museum girls?"

"Yes, mama."

Two minutes later going down the ramps in the parking structure, "Wee!!!! Mama, this is fun, do it again!"

And later, "Mama, can we come back so we can go down those ramps again?"

folding madness

Fact: Katie is getting good at origami.

Fact: Katie loves to mass produce things once she figures them out.

Mama's solution: Put this skill set and passion together and transfer it to something more beneficial for the culinary needs of our family.

Wontons.

Mo was not happy watching us, and ended up joining in.

Her start was commendable, painting water on the edges very carefully.

Then she would just scrunch the whole thing up. And "fold" it over a bit.

"Ta da!" she would proclaim.

The meat tended to slip out of the Maddie creations a bit too easily after being boiled, but they were all edible.

Usually wontons are made with shrimp and ground pork, but I often make them with turkey because it's easily available at my grocery store and is a tad healthier.

Turkey Won Ton

1 lb. ground turkey

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. minced onion

1/4 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. sherry

8 water chestnuts diced

4 large Chinese mushrooms diced

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 green onion stalk chopped

1 egg

2 packages of wonton skins

Mix ingredients well. Make wontons using 1 tsp. of filling per wonton.

You can check out YouTube for some tutorials on folding wontons.

give me some mo

So loving this little girl these days (I know, I've officially jinxed it now by typing that sentence).

I love how when she jumps around she either says, "hopscotch, hopscotch" or "salta!"

I love how she only calls Katie "sis," and never refers to her or calls her by her name.

I call her my little anime girl -- big 'ol round eyes on a little tiny face.

I love how all "L's" are pronounced as "W's." She calls her little friend Logan "woggie."

I need to take more video of her talking these days, because she's a crack up, and I know in a blink that little voice will be gone.

My brother has proclaimed she sounds like an elf.

Chapstick that has been "Maddie-ized"

Part elf, part robot, often sentences will start and end with the word "Mom," except it sounds like "Mam."

"Mam, you got big knife, Mam," she will say flatly as I'm cutting up her strawberries in the morning.

No, she's not practicing to be an Asian tourist

-- she's letting me know that's she's in fact, 2 years old.

Okay, enough gushing. I'll be sure to look back at this post another day when the girl is a teenager and driving me crazy.

my little warrior

Today, after a long week of combat with mini-me, we had a wonderful afternoon without the taint of nasty words, timeouts or a battle of wills.

We climbed into bed together read stories, chatted then settled down for a little snooze.

Perhaps it's because I'm with her all the time being a SAHM, maybe it's because we have similar personalities, but we can really get to each other. Patience and constant communication are the only weapons I yield.

Three things I try to remember when it comes to Katie:

- Show her the respect I want her to show to me.

- Don't be afraid to be wrong or apologize when I am in fact wrong - no one is infallible.

- Repeatedly tell myself "she's only 5."

My little cherub.

$0 spent

Last year we took the kids to opening day of the fair with the goal of doing minimal damage to the pocketbook.

Today, the girls and I went back with the goal of spending $0.

That's right: $0 spent.*

There is actually quite a lot to see and do at the fair, and if you get their early it's not insanely busy.

we had ring-side seats for pig racing, the highlight of the day

I had to make sure Kaitlyn understood the rules before going. She begrudgingly agreed.

Apparently a fair without rides, is better than no fair at all.

We headed out early to get a free parking space in downtown and walked to the fairgrounds.

Baby pigs at the fair were a big hit with the girls

It was really nice because we weren't rushing around to see everything.

We did things like stop to see the Amtrak train go by.

We sat down and watched the livestock auction.

Katie was captivated. We ended up staying and watching this for longer than I would have ever expected.

And of course there was Muttin' Bustin' -- kids under 6 and 60 lbs. trying to ride sheep.

I asked Katie if she wanted to try. She declined.

Our friends Zach and Dylan did it earlier in the week. I so wished we could have seen them do it.

I bribed the kids to walk back to the car with some cookies.

We're actually headed back to the fair again tomorrow if you can believe it. Katie has a tap performance. Also, we'll be with Mr. Pork-Chop-on-a-Stick (a.k.a. Papa), so I'm guessing it won't be a free day. But oh well, at least today was.

* While kids under 6 are free, adults are not so here I have to thank the VCF and my editor for a courtesy press pass.