they are, afterall, part Canadian

This past December we had an epic snowfall — well, epic using Philadelphia standards. I think it was the biggest snowfall that we’ve had in December in a 100 years? or something like that. Of course this called for: SLEDDING/TOBOGANNING/SLIDING (call it what you will).

I was a little nervous sending Maja out to the park with a sled because last year when Richard and I took her sledding she got a face full of snow on her first run down the hill — we had to go home with her screaming the whole way back. Thankfully, however, this year was much better! She actually enjoyed herself!

tummy sliding, toboggan riding, snow slipping, saucer-flying!!!!!

I think she spent about 6 hrs out there on the toboggan hill that sunny day. I’m not kidding. She was loving it. And best of all? Maddy had fun too — they were both fearless!

it’s here!

Yea! Spring!!!!

Despite the dull and gray weather… my backyard is blooming:

My garden gnome is happy. (Sorry mom, I found this one in my closet during our renovation, and just had to keep him for myself!)

And without leaves this growth is much more interesting:

eating local

Perhaps unconsciously at first, but lately with more intent we (as in our family, but also probably more as in ME as I feel I have been the driving force of an admittedly easy-to-convince husband and well, the kids… too young to have any say) have been moving to eating more locally produced foods. I am not far enough down this road of thinking to define what “local” is to me, but off the top of my head I can probably rule out Hawaii, California, and South America as being non-local.

What has helped is that we are extraordinarily lucky to have several farmer’s markets run by The Food Trust operating within 1 block of either our house or my work. Additionally, this spring we signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

I love our CSA. Really. Funny, though, that I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about it. To catch everyone up: our CSA is run by Keystone Farm from Rome, PA. Which according to Google maps is about 200 mi. from Philadelphia. I guess my “local” is now at least partly defined by “within 200 mi.” Sure, there are closer CSAs, but this is the one we ended up with and I like it and I can pick the food up without having to use a car… so, that at least knocks off some of the carbon footprint. Right?

When we started with the CSA I was taking a weekly picture of our haul. You can see those here. I fell out of the habit, but am going to make a renewed effort to start taking a weekly photo when our winter CSA season starts up this Saturday, December 20. Our weekly full-share (as opposed to half-shares or veggie shares or veggie half-shares) CSA from Keystone Farm consists of 2 lbs of hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats (mostly beef & pork products); locally grown fruits & veggies; 1 lb. of granola; locally produced cheeses; 1 doz. local eggs.

One of the most common questions I get when people see me lugging my CSA box home from the market is: do you eat everything in the box? And the answer is no. At least not right away. For example, in the summer we were overrun by zucchini — so I shredded and froze it. Now, in mid-December I can make zucchini bread or muffins. In the winter we are being overrun by squash. So, I’m cooking, pureeing and freezing for use later in the year. People also admit that they shy away from the CSA because they don’t want 17 bunches of kale. Guess what? I have NEVER gotten kale in my CSA. ta-da! Even if I did, our CSA allows us to swap things out. We do that alot, especially with cabbage. I like cabbage… but there is a line that has to be drawn.

Maja runs out of space after a trip to the farmer’s market.

Ok, so to get to the point of this post and the inspiration for all of this: the book Animal, vegetable, miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (thanks Mom!!). Even through I’m only about 40pgs into the book it has already inspired me. Not that it was all that hard to push me in the direction I was already starting to go.

I want to try and eat more local.

I think we can do it.

This is going to help: the Philadelphia Winter Harvest buying club run by Farm to City. I found out about this while reading the blog Farm to Philly. While it has some overlap with our CSA, the beauty of this buying club is that I only have to buy things that don’t come in my CSA. I want to start buying milk through this, and yoghurt. And some of the meat products that don’t come in my CSA. It’s a start.

Immediately, though, I will admit that there are some things I can not do without:

• coffee
• chocolate
• bananas (for the kids)

This list may change.

In conclusion, then, I will start photographing my weekly CSA again. And I’m going to challenge myself (and subsequently the whole damn family) to slowly start relying more and more on locally grown foods obtained through our CSA from Keystone Farm and the Philadelphia Winter Harvest buying club. I am also going to try and share all of this with all of you.

In the immortal words of Maja: “won’t that be FUN?!?”

So, you can call me a locavore or an ecovore or just plain Crazy.

1 reason why the Phillies will win the World Series tonight

Because I live here. Easy enough? I don’t follow baseball. I am hardly what you would call a “fan”. Anytime a baseball question comes up during a game of Trivial Pursuit my answer is always: Babe Ruth. The only real baseball fact that I can receit is that the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series — and I only know this because it’s been one of the few times I’ve gotten sucked into watching a sporting match. The other time is when the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup back in 1990. Are you sensing a theme here? When a Canadian team defeats an American team… um, yeah.

Anyway, it seems that the Blue Jays defeated the Phillies back in 1993. I didn’t know this until I looked it up a few minutes ago. Ahem. So, I think that it would be most fitting that since I now live in Philadelphia the karma comes back and the Phillies will WIN tonight! The city can go back to sleeping some regular hours and I only have to see baseball jerseys for another week — long enough, I’m sure, for all the avid young fans to dress up as their favourite Philadelphia Phillie for hallowe’en.

GO PHILLIES!

Maja – Mama Morning

There are times when I feel that being a child in my house simply isn’t a lot of fun. Not that every day has to be a barrel of laughs. I would, however, like my children to look back on their childhood fondly. The problem, though, is that with both Richard and I working there aren’t a lot of opportunities for us to do “extra” stuff with the girls. This does not mean that I am second-guessing our family-lifestyle choices: 2 working parents and 2 kids in daycare. It just means that occasionally I wish that we could have a bit more fun with the girls.

I must have been in that kind of a mood, a want-fun kind of mood, when I saw the advertisement for two different child-oriented musicals being presented at the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania — on a weekday morning. Normally I don’t give these a second glance but this time I did and my first thought was: why not? I immediately bought 2 tickets for the Ant and the Elephant and booked the morning off work. Yes, 2 tickets — one for myself and one for Maja. This was going to be a Maja-Mama Morning and So.Help.Me.God we were going to have Fun. Dammit.

And we did. Not once did I have to yell “HAVE FUN!” I wish I could have captured Maja’s excitement. She was awesome and we got through the entire morning without any crying fits. And can I just tell you how PROUD I felt walking down the street holding her hand? She was a trooper and walked to the trolley stop and then again from the station to the theater. She only asked me to carry her once and when I said no she actually obliged me by continuing to walk. She was well-behaved in the theater: she didn’t climb on her seat and sat still for the entire 1hr show. Maja then proceeded to walk to the fancy restaurant (an Au Bon Pain cafe — Fancy ’cause it’s French) and ate her lunch (fruit cup with watermelon, 3 bites of a plain bagel and 1/2 a cookie). After lunch we walked the two blocks to her school and I dropped her off for the afternoon. She was in attention-getting heaven when all her friends asked her where she had been and she responded: I went to a show with my mom!

I am hopeful that this one-on-one time that I got to spend with her was positive and has some carry-over effects. I know that I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to give Maja some undivided attention and loved that I had the time to have some uninterrupted conversation time with her.

let’s go fly a kite: the Katilyn flies again

I’m sure you are all here to find out what we did on our overplanned Saturday. I know it.

This is what we did:

Well, this is what I did. Maja enjoyed chasing the tails of the kite; Madeleine tried to entangle herself with the kite while it was on the ground; Richard ran interference so that I could get the kite up in the air. Regardless, we had so much fun! We headed up the Belmont Plateau in Philly’s Fairmount Park. This area of the park has one of the higher spots in the city, it boasts a vast green space, picnic tables and a breathtaking view of center city:

Philadelphia skyline with the zoo balloon.

Our flying device of choice was a kite that I have had hidden in my belongings for the past 20 or so years. This kite has history. This kite has travelled with me across the continent 2x and has lived in 3 provinces and 2 countries. I had bought this kite jointly with my BFF, Elyn, back in high school. We even gave it a name and then stenciled this on the kite:

Get it? Weren’t we just so clever?

treehouses — go see ‘em!

On Friday we took Maja and Madeleine to the Tyler Arboretum to see their exhibit called Totally Terrific Treehouses. Now, you Philly-area readers listen up: this is very worth the trip. Pack everyone up, bring a picnic and head over because you won’t be disappointed. It’s great for kids — very easy to walk, lots to see and do, strategically placed potties, a butterfly house, activities… They will definitely take an afternoon nap. Hmmm, well, maybe not — Maja walked for about 2.5 to 3 hours and STILL didn’t take a nap.

The arboretum has 16 tree houses temporarily built throughout the grounds that you can explore. Some you can climb through, up, and on:

some are just for looking at:

one is a collection of hammocks that you can relax on (unless you have a giggleing toddler sitting on your tummy):

Princess castle anyone?

And of course, the Bell Treehouse:

We had a fabulous morning exploring all the tree houses! And best of all, Maja even got a temporary tatoo:

You can see the entire set of photos here.

24 — A meme

I picked up an open tag invite from Stinky John Jones … in prep for tonight’s meetup.

24 things about me…….

4 places I go over and over
1. Grocery store, BJs, CVS
2. Work
3. The pool
4. The local park (playground, farmer’s market)

4 people that email me
1. my family
2. my friend Elyn
3. my coworker & friend SLM
4. spam spam and more spam!

4 of my favorite foods
1. shrimp spring rolls
2. good bbq
3. spaghetti
4. fresh fruit

4 places I would rather be right now
1. the pool
2. sitting by myself on a park bench having an iced coffee
3. in Spain
4. asleep in my bed

4 movies I could watch over and over
1. Dirty dancing
2. Room with a view
3. Out of Africa
4. Steel Magnolias

I think most of the other mom bloggers have been tagged. If not… take my open invitation!

anxiety

I am going out for dinner this evening for the first Philly Mom Bloggers meet-up. I’m definitely excited! Problem is — it’s in Exton. As in: I have to drive the car. By myself. To someplace I’ve never been. On a Friday. During rush hour.

You’re probably thinking: yeah, so what?

Well, let me tell you: Katia doesn’t like to drive in the Philadelphia area. I grew up and learned to drive in a small town in Northern Ontario where “heavy traffic” consisted of 5 cars on the same street. I never had to parallel park. Our major highway was 2 lanes — one lane going in one direction, the other lane going in the other direction; occassionally there was third lane which alternated between the two sides and functioned as a passing lane. It was uncomplicated. There is one highway — it takes you east or north. If you went south you ended up in a river on your way to Michigan, if you went west you ended up in Lake Superior. Doesn’t leave you with a lot of options.

Anyway, back to today’s challenge: getting to Exton. I looked at the map and all I see are big roads with #s like 202, 476, 76, 100… I only recognize these #s because those are the streets that are always listed during the traffic reports as being clogged with cars. BREATHE. I think I’ve mapped it out: rt 3, rt 202, rt 100… and I’m there. BREATHE.

Well, once I’m there I get to chat with some super moms, including:

• Classy Mommy
• Genesis moments
• Gunning It
• Total Mom Haircut
• Occupation Mommy
• Stinky John Jones
• Musings of a Housewife
• Girly Mama
• Mommy Sparklykatt
• A box of chocolates
• These are the days
• Situationally Single Mom

Wish me luck! Have a great weekend.

keeping your opinions

I had the unfortunate pleasure of having someone personally attack my life choices today. This person had the audacity to judge where I live and where I plan to send my children to school. What frustrated me the most about the situation, though, was that this person did not even want to consider that there are a great many POSITIVE reasons for living in the city. She summarily dismissed it and implied that I, my family, and especially my children, were doomed to live a life in urban filth and amongst criminals and the uneducated.

It boggles my mind that such narrow-minded people exist.

I’m all for people expressing their opinions, but do not attack my choices. If you choose to live in the suburbs — fine. If you choose to send your child/ren to private school — fine. Everyone makes their choices based on what they believe is best for them and their family.

Me, I choose to live in a highly urban area and will send my children to a public school. I like it and it works for me and my family. We like living within walking distance of restaurants that run the gamut from African to Asian to American to European. We like living in a neighbourhood that is diverse (ethnically, racially, and yes, even with gender and family types) and where I can hear up to 5 different languages spoken at the playground at the same time. The public school in our neighbourhood is one of the best in the city and, I’ll wager, will provide my children with a better education then some of the private/charter/parochial schools in the city.

As I’ve said before on this blog: Don’t you judge me.