My Roots: There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Every few months I have an experience - either on my own or through my kids - that transports me back to a long-ago moment or a period of time that in some way shaped the person I am today. I want to write about these experiences, to document how they make me feel today compared to how they made me feel when I was young(er), and have decided to tie them into the theme of Chasing Roots because while they are not necessarily Midwestern or Texan, they are decidedly a part of my roots.

Growing up we visited the shoe slide park - named, obviously, for its giant, shoe-shaped slide - nearly every afternoon during the summer months, and as regularly as possible on weekends during the fall, winter, and spring months. The slide, as in the long, rectangular, slightly-curved-at-the-bottom sheet of metal, was just a slide. But the framework surrounding the slide turned the structure into the perfect spot for nursery rhymes, fairy tails, and adventures to unfold. I made lasting memories with my sister, parents, friends, and even my own kids in that shoe, and I'll always remember the joy that park brought me, no matter how old I get or how far away I move.

According to Lost Madison and a number of additional sources I came across, the origin of the shoe slide is a mystery. Many Madisonians remember playing on the slide in the mid-to-late 1960s and the slide begins showing up in city records in 1970, but no one knows exactly when it was built or who built it.

The Madison Metropolitan School District's Recreation Department is responsible for the slide's upkeep (how the school district ended up with this job is another mystery, as the land on which the slide was built is a public park and does not belong to the school district), and they take this responsibility very seriously. Every year, the school district partners with the Madison Art Museum's Art Cart Program and repaints the exterior the shoe. Professional artists plan elaborate, themed murals - we're not talking about slapping on a coat of Benjamin Moore exterior paint in Old Mother Hubbard Blue - and then local children help implement the plans. (Check out a few of the very cool looks the shoe slide has had over the years here.)

While in Wisconsin this summer we read in the paper about an upcoming community-wide painting of the shoe. My mom and I made plans to take Will and Hallie, and as I might have expected, Hallie jumped at the opportunity to contribute while Will opted to skip painting in favor of training for American Ninja Warrior on the nearby monkey bars.

Hallie donned a huge t-shirt smock, listened to the organizers' instructions, and started painting her skyline windows. After she finished her windows, she painted her twinkly stars. And finally, she left her mark - a handprint - on the inside of the shoe. The same shoe that many years earlier left its mark on me. 

Hallie's contribution won't last forever - next year dozens of little hands will create a new mural on the shoe slide - but our memories of her contribution will. Her childhood, linked to my childhood. Her roots, linked to my roots.

High Five for Friday (10.10.14)

Today's post covers two weeks worth of "high fives", since last week I wrote about Will and his birthday on Friday. 

1. Last weekend we celebrated Will's eight birthday. He treated his friends at school to Spongebob and Patrick cookies on Friday afternoon, and on Friday evening he tried to cheer the Aggie Women's Soccer Team on to victory. (Unfortunately the Aggies lost for the first time ever with our family in attendance.) On Saturday we dined on donuts for breakfast, visited the pumpkin patch, took in another soccer game (Tom, Hallie, and I relaxed on the sidelines as Will scored a goal and his team won), watched football, played at the park, and finished off the evening with a pizza picnic and a Garfield movie marathon. On Sunday Will celebrated one final time with 20 of his friends, lots of our grown-up friends, two dozen cupcakes, and a Spongebob cake at Powersports.

No, I didn't decorate the cookies. I only do cakes
and cupcakes. Thanks, Peace, Love, & Cakes!

Me and the birthday boy at the Aggie soccer game. I
LOVE the accidental photo bomb by the woman behind us.

The balloon pit was ready and waiting
when Will woke up on his special day.

He didn't want a cake, cupcakes, brownies, or any other sweet treat
on his actual birthday - he just wanted to put his candles in a pizza.

Thankfully I took a picture of my Spongebob cake before
Tom accidentally stuck his fingers into SpongeBob's eyebrows.

2. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Will and Hallie's elementary school ROCKS. A few weeks ago, their principal and assistant principal promised the students that if the students met their Boosterthon fundraising goal, they'd work from the roof of the school. Well, the students met their fundraising goal, so to the roof our principal and assistant principal went. After working up there for a few hours, the principals made the day even more fun by staging a fire drill during which they were "rescued" from the roof by the fire department while all of their students looked on.

I don't remember my elementary or middle school principals, likely because back in those days, kids only knew their principals if they misbehaved. (Or at least that's what I'm told, and that would make sense because I was, above all else, a rule follower. I never set foot in a principal's office until high school when another student…let's just say "harassed"...a friend of mine and me in the library.) I guarantee, however, that my children will remember their principals. These women make every effort to know and support every single child, in whatever way each child needs, and my kids love them. I love them.

3. Our house is officially all dressed up for Halloween! It may not feel like fall outside, but it looks like fall inside!

4. This boy competed in his second Tae Kwon Do tournament at the end of September. He placed first in weapons, second in forms, and fourth (after getting disqualified for kicking below the belt - literally - in the third place match) in sparring.

Competing in forms.

Preparing to spar.

Watching his competition.

Mentally tallying his opponents' scores. (Seriously.)

Showing off his hardware.

5. Happiness Highlights

"Why is it taking so long to load?" 

Last week I chaperoned Hallie's first-ever first field trip.

Rockin' their super shades.

I can't get enough of these cuties at soccer practice.

Thanks, Jenn, for the adorable shirt!

I found this little buddy at Hobby Lobby the day after we brought Moo
home. He's almost as cute as Moo AND he doesn't poop in the bathtub.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!

Recipes: Breakfast Bonanza

I try between one and three new recipes - everything from main courses and side dishes to breakfast baked goods and desserts - every week. Roughly 75% of the recipes aren't tasty enough to earn a spot in our regular rotation, but the remaining quarter or so, those that at least three out of the four of us enjoy, are bookmarked so that 1) we can make them again, and 2) I can share them with all of you.

I haven't done a recipe post in nearly a year, so I have at least two - maybe three - posts highlighting close to 30 tried-and-true recipes waiting in the queue. I hope you come across something in one of them that you and your family will enjoy!

Breakfast Bonanza
I've recently gone on something of a kick when it comes to breakfast (or breakfast for dinner, one of our favorite meals) foods. On a busy night, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, and a baked treat really hit the spot!

Note: I use these pans when I bake cookies and scones, roast veggies, etc. They are without a doubt the best pans I have ever owned and I will never buy another kind of baking sheet or roasting pan. One of my favorite features of these pans is that you never need to grease or butter them, or line them with parchment paper or baking mats. Instead of listing in the "adaptations" section of each recipe that I didn't grease the pan or use parchment paper, I'll just tell you now that no matter what the recipe says, when I use these pans I don't prep them in any way.

1. Pumpkin Scones
Adaptations: I omitted the honey simply because I forgot about it, and I skipped the pumpkin icing.
Comments: We all loved this scone, and none of us missed the forgotten honey or purposely omitted pumpkin icing. This recipe will certainly end up with a place in our regular breakfast/breakfast-for-dinner rotation.

2. Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones
Adaptations: None.
Comments: I guess it's the whole wheat flour that makes this recipe "skinny"…these scones don't taste skinny though - yum!

3. Cranberry Orange Scones
Adaptations: I left out the orange peel, not because I wanted to, but because I found myself out of oranges and unwilling to postpone baking these scones. I also skipped the orange butter.
Comments: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these scones went over tremendously with all four Ferri. Even Hallie, who doesn't usually like "things" (like craisins, raisins, etc.) in her baked goods, ate an entire scone.

4. Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
Adaptations: I added a mashed (previously frozen but thawed) banana, just as I always do when I make pancakes.
Comments: I stopped buying prepared baking and pancake mixes a few months ago, and since then I've been searching for a pancake recipe that went over as well with my kids as did Jiffy Mix and Biscuick pancakes. After striking out three or four times, I finally hit a home run with these light, fluffy pancakes.

5. Banana Oat Muffins
Adaptations: None.
Comments: My kids didn't rave about this recipe, but it was an overall hit when I baked a double batch (the recipe only makes 12-13 muffins) for Will to take to school for snack in early May. His teachers emailed me that afternoon and begged me for the recipe, which I of course shared…and I then baked a double batch for Will to take to school for snack every week for the remainder of the school year. (This recipe uses between four and six bananas for every 12 muffins, so baking these muffins really cleared the frozen bananas out of my freezer.)

6. Skinny Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Banana Muffins
Adaptions: I substituted sun butter for peanut butter, quick-cooking oats for old fashioned oats, and semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips. I also didn't measure my mashed banana. I simply pulled a banana out of the freezer, thawed it in the microwave, and tossed it in the bowl.
Comments: I didn't like that I had to use my food processor to make oat flour (just another appliance to wash), but the end result was worth it!

7. Blueberry Power Muffins
Adaptations: Instead of two cups of all-purpose flour, I used one cup of all-purpose flour and one cup of whole wheat flour. I also used nonfat plain yogurt instead of either of the yogurt options listed in the recipe.
Comments: Hallie and I had been engaged in a seemingly-unending quest for the perfect blueberry muffin (she wanted "yummy like Starbucks", and I wanted "healthy unlike Starbucks") until we came across this recipe. It was an all-around hit!

I have a few friends coming over for a casual brunch on Friday and can't decide which of these recipes to make. Scones? Muffins? Decisions, decisions…

That about wraps up breakfast foods - next week or the week after that I'll share my recent favorite main and sides dishes!

Disc Golf, We Have a Problem

I tidy up the garage on a regular basis, but twice a year, usually in the late fall and early spring when the weather outside is pleasant, I commit to spending an entire morning thoroughly cleaning it out. During my most recent tackling of the garage I came across a crate packed to the brim with nearly 35 disc golf discs.

Yes, 35 discs seems like an awful lot of discs for one person to own, especially considering what they cost and how often they end up in a lake or swamp, but Tom loves to play and Will likes to play so I just turn a blind eye when my boys add discs to their stash.

When Tom arrived home that evening I asked him why all of his discs were in the garage and not in the back of his car, where he usually keeps them. He laughed, and replied, "Erin, those are my extra discs".

Come again?!

You mean to tell me there are 15 discs in your disc golf bag and five discs in Will's disc golf bag and 10 extra discs in your trunk and 35 extra discs in the garage and we own 65 discs?!?!

The little voice in my head told me to just walk away.

So I did. I walked away and (a few days later) into my parents dining room, where I saw this.

A few years ago Tom introduced my dad to disc golf. I knew my dad had taken a liking to the sport, but I didn't realize he'd become nearly as obsessed as Tom. He now owns at least 29 discs and three disc golf bags (which he apparently stores, at least some of the time, on the dining room table) and is on a first name basis with the employees at the disc golf stores in Madison.

Apparently discs are to men (at least the men in my life) what shoes are to women.

Want to learn to play disc golf? Tom would happily teach you. And don't worry about buying your own discs…Tom has enough discs for you, your family, your neighbors, and your teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade to all play at the same time.

Eight is Enough

Every parent has at one time commented on how fast children grow up. I've done it. You've done it. We've all done it. Because it's true. The minutes…the hours…the days…drag on and on and on. But the years? They disappear in what feels like the blink of an eye.

There was a time, not that long ago, when all this growing up business didn't bother me. I couldn't understand why parents cried when their babies grew into toddlers and their toddlers grew into preschoolers. Watching Will leave one stage behind on his way into an even more interesting and rewarding stage made me downright giddy. I looked forward to his next year and the year after that, even if they arrived quickly, because I knew his best "little boy years" were yet to come.

But not anymore. Now, as we transition from Will's little boy years to his big boy years, I find myself sitting all alone (well, not entirely alone - I have Moo to attack me at regular intervals keep me company) in a big empty house wondering where my baby went and fighting back the tears I never thought I'd cry.

I started describing Will as "emotionally extreme" shortly after birth. Others brushed off this assessment of his personality with remarks like, "all babies cry" and "of course he's happy, you just gave him a cookie", but I knew - call it mother's intuition - that Will felt life more deeply than most children. Even now, Will's everyday ups and downs take him higher and lower than those of most kids (here's a prime example), and not in a "predisposed to drama" (like a younger child who resides in my house but who shall remain nameless) kind of way.

I worry about how all this will look as we transition from little boy ups and downs to big boy ups and down. Life is out there, waiting to delight and disappoint my sensitive boy, and more than anything I just want for him to survive it all in one piece.

I suspect that some of you with older children would like to stop me right here and remind me that, in the grand scheme of things, Will still qualifies as little. Perhaps, but do you know what eight years old looks like these days?! Nowadays, when you turn eight you receive actual percentage and letter grades instead of smiley faces on your homework assignments and tests. You compete against your peers for the coveted spots on the select baseball team's roster instead of simply playing for fun. You receive karate medals based on your performance instead of your participation. You learn that not every child plays nicely and not all adults act with kindness in their hearts. You realize that the world is so much bigger than your world, and that for many, life includes a great deal of pain and suffering.

Oh, and your room smells like boy and your mom frets over having to even consider buying you deodorant.

So I've decided that eight is enough. Eight is old enough. I want little boy years and little boy ups and little boy downs for a little while longer.

You can wish Will a happy eighth birthday, but then that'll be it for a few years. I'll let you know when I'm ready for my baby to turn nine.

My sweet boy, when I look at you I see myself. Your daddy gave you so much - your brilliance, your overwhelming desire to learn and understand, your throwing arm, your nose - but I know that I had a little something to do with who you are as well. Your eyes are my eyes, your smile is my smile. You have my competitive spirit, my perfectionist tendencies, my propensity to worry, my introvert vs. extrovert confusion (are we introverted extroverts or extroverted introverts?), my occasionally short temper, and my desire to keep the peace. You feel the ups and downs - and wear your emotions on your sleeve - just like I do.

As you prepare to take on your "big boy years", I too am preparing. I'm gearing up for the peaks and valleys, readying myself for the emotional highs and lows, because we're in this together. I will always share your joy and excitement, help you cope with your anger, and allow you to feel your sorrow. I will always be your biggest cheerleader and your strongest advocate. I will try to keep the little in you for as long as possible, but will love you all the same - maybe even more, if that's possible - as you grow.

Happy birthday, sweet boy. I love you to the moon and back plus infinity times a million with a cherry on top.

Currently: August/September

Listening
Since school started in late August I have spent an unprecedented amount of time ALONE in my car. (Not in the evenings, of course, but during the day. In the evenings the kids and I cruise from one activity to the next together.) And for the first time in my entire life, I have kept both the radio and the CD player off.

I love to turn the volume up and sing along to my favorites tunes. I love to turn the volume down and let the background music carry me away. But this fall, the peace and quiet I've found in my suddenly and almost eerily quiet car has been exactly what I needed.

Eating
I enjoy a wide variety of foods for dinner, but when it comes to lunch, I tend to find something simple and tasty and stick with it for between two and four months. For example, two winters back I ate chicken and vegetable soup every day. Last summer I ate a veggie burger, broccoli, and strawberries every day. This past winter I ate/drank a pineapple, banana, and spinach smoothie every day. And this summer, or at least for the last month, I've eaten cottage cheese and grapes every day. I seriously cannot get enough cottage cheese and grapes - the good folks at Kroger are starting to wonder why I suddenly shop for groceries twice a week instead of once, and why my cart is always half full with these two items. Yum!

Drinking
I think this is a strange category, so when the October/November installment of Currently rolls around I'm going to combine Eating and Drinking. It just feels odd to month after month document that fact that month after month I drink basically the same beverages at the same time every day. Boooorrrring.

Weather
If you recall, we had 36 hours of glorious, fall-like weather a couple of weeks ago. Since then we've enjoyed a couple of cool(er) mornings, but our daytime high temperatures have remained near 90 degrees. Weather-wse, early- to mid-fall is my least favorite time of year in Texas, probably because early- to mid-fall is my favorite time of year in the Midwest.

I expect to feel a little more homesick than usual this fall because my mom, my sister, and I aren't taking our annual October/November weekend trip to Chicago. Between weddings and travel plans and work commitments we couldn't come up with a single free weekend, which means that for the first time in my entire life, I won't experience a Midwestern fall - brisk mornings, sweaters and jeans, stunning colors, falling leaves, pumpkin patches, and apple orchards - in person.

My mom took this picture in Northern Wisconsin last weekend.

Wearing
Is anyone else SO over shorts? I strongly dislike shorts to begin with, and by this point in the year I want to throw every pair I own in the trash.

I'm proud to report, however, that once school started I transitioned easily from my workout-pants-until-6pm summer style to my showered-and-dressed-in-real-clothes-by-11am fall style. Every August I wonder if I'll be able to let go of the workout gear, and thankfully, every September I've been able to do so. Most days.

To be clear, I'm not waking up, showering, and getting ready for the day at 11am. I get up at 6:30am, get the kids dressed and fed, walk the kids to school, go to the gym, and then, before I shower, I tackle any errands (like the bank or the dry cleaner, where I don't have to get out of the car) or jobs around the house (like cleaning or yard work) for which my sweaty clothes will be acceptable. Just wanted you to know.

Feeling
For the most part, even though I stay very busy during the day, I have no trouble settling down and relaxing for at least an hour or two every evening and for maybe half of the weekend. But every once in a while, the anticipation surrounding and responsibility associated with an upcoming event - even if I expect the event to be enjoyable - start to weigh heavily on my shoulders and I find myself unable to completely relax.

That inability to relax, and the desire to simply "get through" what's next, is what I'm feeling right now.

I hate this about myself. I wish I could - and I honestly try to - focus only on the excitement, but for some reason a part of me can't let go of the deadlines and responsibilities and costs and time commitments and, and, and… Just something else to add to the list of "things I'm working on".

Wanting
I desperately want Moo's front claws to be removed. The vet we chose won't do the procedure until he reaches (approximately) five months old, and I just don't know that my ankles, hands (he loves to attack my fingers as they cruise across my computer keyboard), tennis shoes, and furniture can survive his kitten claws until late December.

On his way up my pajama pants.

I also want a pair of camouflage pants and a cream-colored lace top. Any suggestions on where I could find these items?

Needing
There's a fine line between want and need…I may NEED Moo's front claws to be removed.

I also need just like two more hours in each day. All those in favor, say "aye".

Thinking
Seriously?! Who has time to think these days?!

When I find a spare moment I try to crack open a book and read a page or two. Right now I'm a few chapters into Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, "an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem". Tom commented that this book seems like a strange choice for me, considering my most recent reads included Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and Divergent for the second time, but that was my goal when I brought this work of nonfiction home from the library. I wanted to read something completely different, something that would require me to think about a topic that had never crossed my mind before. And boy, does Stiff deliver on those two fronts.

I'm using the hilarious coupon booklet that Will made me for Mother's Day as my bookmark. I smile every single time I open the book.

Enjoying
Besides grapes and cottage cheese, I'm enjoying the kids' fall sports season. Both Will and Hallie decided to play soccer this fall, so for the first time since the fall of 2012 I'm back on the field at least a couple of times a week. The organization through which Hallie plays doesn't hold actual games, but instead focuses on technique instruction, character building, and developing the life skills associated with team sports. It's a perfect fit for Hallie, who enjoys soccer-related games and activities and running around with her friends but loses all interest (and/or falls completely apart) as soon as someone takes the ball away from her. Will plays in the city's league, and while I'm not a huge fan of the league itself (we've yet to experience a season that wasn't plagued with coach, field, or uniform problems), Will wants needs the competition that real games bring. And if I'm being honest, I want the competition that real games - even if they're not my games - bring as well.