Toothwhale

A late winter trip to the zoo

The sun came out and made me want to make something of today with the kids. Earlier in the week, they asked about going to the zoo, and I said we'd go soon, when it was warmer. It took me almost forever to get us out of the house and over there, but we spent a couple hours this afternoon at the Nashville Zoo.

We saw a gibbon, two siamangs, and the zoo's signature meerkats. We toured the indoor favorite, the Unseen New World.

We smelled the goats in Critter Encounters. We saw a cougar, a cassowary, two red pandas, and two clouded leopards. We saw alligators in no mood to move. We saw a pair of lynx grooming each other, and a pair of tigers giving each other some space. We saw what we saw without waiting a turn or looking over or around other heads because we were some of the only people there.

We also saw empty habitats and these signs.

Everyone and everything is waiting for spring.

To Harper's displeasure, we skipped the carousel. We did go to the gift shop, though. Right inside the door, they were playing an ad for Squirmles. Henry was mesmerized. Magical worm pets? Where have you been all my life? I have no idea what possessed me, but I agreed to buy him one. In the end, we left with one for Harper, too. There's one born every minute, apparently.

The season at the Nashville Zoo starts up again around March 15 when closing time moves from 4 to 6 p.m. By Eggstravaganzoo on April 3, all the animals, animal shows, and crowds will be back.

Recipe and food blog links

I've been liking to start the week with a recipe, but I didn't make anything but simple usuals last week, so I don't have anything much to share. Unless you need a recipe for spaghetti with meat sauce. Nah. I do have a handful of recipe links and a pair of food blog links for you, though. The recipes are five that looked so good to me that I've been carrying them around in my head for weeks or even months. The food blogs are two that I regularly eat up with big spoons.

Amy at Milkbreath and Margaritas shared two recipes in September that called my name. Lucy's Salad is full of gorgeous greenery, fruit, and nuts, and it gets topped with a homemade dressing. I do love a salad with fruit and nuts. Her Great Aunt Helen's Poor Man's Cake is made with a whole box of raisins. I do love raisins. Amy also has a Recipe Page full of deliciousness.

Jamie at Blonde Mom Blog posted two recipes in November that I must try. Because You'll OD On Turkey At Some Point This Week is a black bean soup recipe with fresh cilantro. Me Again, With The Cilantro is a recipe for chicken enchiladas with rotisserie chicken and yes, cilantro. (You gotta love her titles.) I can see myself using leftover chicken in place of rotisserie and making both of these recipes in one week to use the same bunch of cilantro.

Jessie at Vanderbilt Wife has a Recipe Index that goes and goes. Let's both spend some time there after trying the Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes recipe she shared in February.

If you like food and funny, I say add Ezra Pound Cake to your reader. Rebecca (that's her name, too) tells a good story and she takes a great photo.

For recipes and photos with the power to pull you out of a food rut, see Rachel at A Southern Fairytale. She shares her love of food through her own posts and by hosting the weekly Mouthwatering Monday linky.

I don't know about you, but I feel a grocery list coming on.

Project 365: Week 8

Love these two.

The most fun we had this week was at a nature center near us. Henry thought this stump looked like a volcano. Harper thought it looked like a place to practice a balancing trick.

To see the rest of the week in photos, click on over to my Project 365 set on Flickr.

Who she is, rethought

I woke up feeling sad about what I wrote. I thought it would make me feel better to write it down and put it out there, but, instead, it made me sad. Harper's resisting and refusing, screaming and defying -- it does wear me out. But, it's only part of who she is.

There's also the her who thinks always of Henry, her brother and best friend. The her who likes to sing, to snuggle, to give hugs. The her who holds onto my neck and says she wants to grow up to be a mommy just like me. The her who loves to climb, to jump, to race, to swing and slide, to go places and see things, to play and pretend and explore and create.

The her who is only beginning to become who she is.

She may not be making my job as her mother an easy one, but she's worth the hard work of finding more peace and compromise. So, I have work to do. We have work to do.

Who she is

Tonight, she chose Ian Falconer's Olivia as her bedtime story. No other choice would have been more right. The children's book about a feisty piglet ends this way: "When they've finished reading, Olivia's mother gives her a kiss and says, 'You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway.' And Olivia gives her a kiss back and says, 'I love you anyway too.'"

I love her anyway, and I know she loves me, too, but Harper wears me out. She wears me and Jake and even sometimes Henry, out.

For nearly three years, I have been telling myself that she is in a phase. That it will pass. It will get easier. She's just tired. Or hungry.

I think I am beginning to see something, and it's not a light at the end of the tunnel. It's that this is not a phase. This is who she is. This is WHO SHE IS.

Although, I hope not.

I still hope not.

Because this person is difficult to parent. Very difficult.