Pumpkin Carving Contest 2009 - Vote for Your Favorite!

Here are the results from our 2009 pumpkin carving contest. I won't say which pumpkin belongs to which person. Since Margot is not yet big enough to wield a knife, she dictated her artistic vision to Brodie and he carved her pumpkin based on the instructions.

Vote for your favorite!

Shenandoah

This weekend we camped in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. It was spectacular - cold, crisp weather, changing leaves, the rain ended before we arrived, and Brodie even saw two baby bears (but Margot and I did not).

This year's camping trip far surpassed last year's camping trip. Last year, we were unable to reserve a campsite and so drove out hoping to snag one of the 'first come first serve' sites. By the time we got to the ranger station in Shenandoah National Park, there was a long line. We got in line, and when we got to the front the couple in front of us got the last available campsite. It was terrible. We drove around until dark, trying to find somewhere else to camp, but ended up driving back to DC and camping in the living room. Margot savored that memory, though, and honestly thought that camping in the living room was so much fun.

Until she got to do some real camping, that is. Now that she has a real taste for outdoor camping, she's hooked. She loved sleeping in a tent, loved watching the campfire, and loved toasting marshmallows and drinking cocoa. I'm not sure she's ready for backcountry camping yet, but I bet she will be in a few years. For now, car camping is a ton of fun with her, especially because of the ear-to-ear grin she wore the whole time we were there.

"I like pink. Pink is my signature color."

One thing that Margot and I will never agree on is her love of the color pink. "Love" is not a strong enough word, actually. Try...obsession. Adoration. Zeal. Add those up, and maybe, just maybe, you've scratched the surface of how Margot feels about the color pink.

We were at the mall last weekend, and we browsed in H&M because I like their selection of kids clothes. I found this adorable, brown houndstooth cap with gold threading that I loved for Margot. I made her try it on, and she did so begrudgingly. It looked fantastic. It was so cute. I wanted to buy it right away.

But she stood there, smile faded from her face and her shoulders slumped. I knew she would never wear the hat once we left the store. I sighed. There was no point in buying the hat because it would just sit in her closet until I gave it away or sold it on Ebay.

"Margot, please," I pleaded, a little too desperately for a 32-year-old mother talking to a four-year-old. "Please, will you wear that hat if I buy it?"

She looked straight at me. "Mom, you know these aren't my colors. My colors are pink and purple."

(Before you think she was being disrespectful or ungrateful, let me assure you, she really doesn't mean to be. She just has her opinions and she sticks to them. Peer pressure is not something that affects her, at least so far.)

Mentally, I flashed to a scene from Steel Magnolias, which, embarassingly enough, is one of my favorite movies. In the scene, Shelby (played by Julia Roberts) is describing the colors at her wedding ceremony. She calls them "blush" and "bashful." Her mother (played by Sally Field) calls them "pink" and "pink." Shelby then goes on to describe how every last detail in her wedding ceremony will be pink. Her mother comments that it looks as if the reception area has been hosed down with Pepto Bismol.

Clearly, Margot is Julia Roberts and I am Sally Field.

If you're not familiar with this scene, or if you just want to see it again, you can watch it on YouTube. The details to which I refer here are within the first two minutes of the clip, so it won't take much of your time.

Mystery Meat

Usually Margot brings her lunch to school. I prefer this because I know exactly what she is eating (I don't think she has the concept of 'lunch-trading' just yet), and this way I know she isn't having too much processed junk. Four days out of five she eats peanut butter on wheat bread, apple sauce (or some other fruit), and milk, but, occasionally, she'll ask for soup or pasta or mac and cheese to bring.

In my effort to stay organized, I usually prepare her lunch the night before because it's just too hectic to make lunch in the morning. Sometimes, though, I am too _____ [fill in the blank with lazy, tired, or absentminded].

Last Friday was one of those days. I woke up late and realized that I hadn't made M's lunch the night before. Margot had been asking to buy hot lunch at school, so I decided Friday was the day. I tried to look up the school lunch menu online, but the link wasn't working. So I packed her off with $1.20 in her backpack (love those subsidized school lunch prices!) that would cover hot lunch and milk and assumed they wouldn't let her go hungry.

I forgot to ask her about how hot lunch was until Sunday evening. After dinner, Brodie and I asked her how she liked 'hot lunch' on Friday.

"I didn't like it!" she declared. "There was white rice and peas, and so I ate all of that, but there was also some kind of meat that I didn't eat. I don't know what it was."

Brodie and I laughed and laughed.

M continued. "It [the meat] looked like one of Portia's treats. You know, with the lines on it?"

Portia's dog treats have those fake grill marks on them. Apparently, so does the meat in DCPS.

I laughed so hard I got a stomach ache. That description was priceless.

I think we'll only buy hot lunch on pizza day from here on out.

First Soccer Season

Soccer season started today. Margot was ready: pink socks, sparkle shoes, skinned knees, and all. She wore shin guards to practice but won't in the future - they are just too big for her, and are really not necessary with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. Poor Margot looked as if she was running with casts on her legs.

She even scored a goal - although, truth be told, her goal came at the expense of another girl. The other team had the ball and was running it toward M's team's goal, when the lead girl tripped over herself and fell flat on her face. The other girls stopped and crowded around her while the girl screamed. Margot caught up, got the ball, turned it around, ran it back up the field, and kicked it into the unguarded net. (The fallen girl was fine, by the way. She only hurt her pride.)