what have you been doing with your time?

I haven't blogged in weeks for two reasons.

1. My camera died. If I can't post pictures of E, I'm not particularly motivated to blog. I think I've found the replacement to order - upgrading a bit - hurrah!

2. I was away at the American Library Association Midwinter Conference working on my final session of the Notable Children's Book Committee. I've been on that committee for four out of the past six years (a two year hiccup when E was born) and I care DEEPLY about the mission and end result of our hard work. Check out our final 2007 Notable Children's Books. It's an amazing list of truly the best of the best for readers birth through age 14.

In short summary of this past year's reading, in 2006:

My favorite fiction - Year of the Dog by Grace Lin. This gem of a novel is a perfect example of when an author successfully creates what she intended to write. The accompanying illustrations are charming and appropriately childlike. I love it!

My favorite picture book - I am not just saying this because it won the Caldecott - I fell in love with it the first time I opened it - Flotsam by David Wiesner. I was on the Caldecott Committee when he won for The Three Pigs and I think this win is just as deserving!

My favorite YA book - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is a purely emotional vote. I cried so hard when I finished the book that Tall House, Double Cup had to rub my back for 20 minutes to help me recover. When a book can do that to a jaded reader like myself, it's highly notable!

So my time on the committee has ended and it feels very bittersweet. I will very much miss the amazing discussions I got to be a part of with so many intelligent collegauges. I will miss have thousands of books delivered into my hot little hands every week but I will relish the time I get back to spend with E and THDC as well as the baby on the way. And I've already started reading ADULT books! gasp! What fun!

if they ever get married .. . .

. . . then this could be the cover of E and Moo's wedding invitation.
We woke up to snow covering everything this morning - it was gorgeous and exciting and I knew at once we would throw everything on our to-do list out the window. We haven't had snow like this in Portland since E was 13 months-old.

It was a perfect play-in-th-snow day with sleddng, snow angels (and snow robots - E wanted to be a bit more manly than an angel), but no snowmen - the light powder just fluffed around in our hands. I got some good video of E and Tall House going down the medium hill in our neighborhood- that's me all bundled up in the background with the camera. We first went to the steep hill that was filled with 5th graders with a death wish and promptly moved on. I got that great thawing out feeling when we finally came inside. THDC made a fire and we all had the glowy, rosy look. It was a great day.

Thanks Marfie for the pictures and the fun!

call him Ciccarelli

E started his hockey career on Saturday with his first ice skating lesson. I think he's destined to fulfill my childhood crush of Dino Ciccarelli or maybe even the Robby Benson character from Ice Castles. Tall House, Double Cup took him to his class and said it was a madhouse of preschoolers and older kids. He said many of the girls had skating costumes on. E opted for fleece.
E had a great time and really felt successful -which is a huge relief because we have another 9 Saturday classes to go.

manilow (say it with jazz hands)

Tonight at Manilow was transcendent! I couldn't go to bed without posting the pictures. I don't know how I will ever sleep tonight! I firmly believe that Barry deserves all the happiness in the world - he's just the best!
How did I get to "manilow"? (say it with a hushed tone while flashing jazz hands). Marfie had the idea and bought us amazing tickets in row 22 (thank you so much Marf!!!) And her close friend K-Mama from Minnesota flew in just for the concert.
We went to Mint for drinks beforehand and found three or four other groups of 30-something women tossing back apple martinis, also heading to see manilow. The concert audience was very . .. um . . . grey. And not very gay, which surprised me. I mean, hello - gay boys - you would have LOVED it! But alas , the three of us were left to scream, sing, cry, and dance.

The show was fantastic - he sang everything we wanted him too plus some surprises. New England Morning was defintely the showstopper, but he also played a recording of himself at 3 trying to sing for his grandfather. His grandfather stood in the front row of his first concert at Carniege Hall - stood the whole time. It just made me weep.

The second half of the concert was full of glow sticks and 70's music - the stuff I remember playing on the radio when I was little. All of his songs have more meaning to me as a mama than they did before I had E. I can't put into words the excitement and emotion. What a night. I wish you all could have been there!

our new baby is a . . . .

GIRL! Yeah! We were really hoping to have one of each so all of us are terribly excited. Right after we found out, we went to Evan's school to tell him first. He pumped his arm in the air and said, "Yes! Let's call her Emmeline!" So we can say goodbye to the name Trigger, which was his earlier choice for a girl . . . It was such a joy to call our family and friends and tell them. When I came to work the next day there was literal shouting for joy because everyone knew I really wanted a girl - it was so fun to share the news - and to have so many people be happy for us.
I have to admit, I've been thinking about girl clothes way too much over the past two days. I've been trying to be sensible and go through E's baby clothes and see what we have that will work already and not go on a crazy spending spree - and I've been successful . . . until just now when I finally broke down and bought something from Hanna Andersson . . . . her Christmas Dress for 2007!
And a matching vest for E. I couldn't help it. I think I would have gotten the matching Mommy sweater if it had been available in my size . . . . which I know makes most people groan but I'm pretty far gone with the news.

Yeah for our baby girl!

tea

We celebrated our second annual day-after-christmas-tea at The Heathman. Nana, Marfie, Brooke, and I met for early tea before Nana and I did some shopping at Smith & Hawken, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, and Garden Fever.
We sat is lovely upholstered chairs and lounged for nearly two hours with warm tea and three tiers of yum-yums. The cucumber and watercress sandwich was a favorite, followed by the coconut cake. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Menu

Smoked Slmon Napoleon
puff pasty with creme frache & smoked salmon

Corstini of Goat Cheese
toasted baguette with mild fresh goat cheese

Pate Maison
pork pate with roquefort & pistachios

Classic Cucmber Sandwich
cucumber watercress & chive cream cheese

Deviled Egg
dijon, chive aioli & smoked sweet paprika

Heathman Scone
freshly baked buttermilk scone with mascarpone & jam

John's Famous Fruit Cake
brandy & meyer rum-cured with candied fruit

English Shortbread


Parisian Opera Cake
layers of coffee cream, jacon & chocolate ganache

Haupia
hawaiianstyle coconut ckae with coconut chiboust

Lemon Bar
flaky pastry with lemon curd & powered sugar

Devil's Good Cocolate Tea Cupcake