(Almost) Wordless Wednesday.

Jamie checking out what could, potentially, be her new cubby, in her new classroom, at the "Meet the Teacher" night last night. Could she be any more excited to go to school? Could I be any more melancholy?

For more "Wordless Wednesday" posts go here!

Apricot Chicken with Lemon Broccoli

What a relief! I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in this week's What's Cooking Wednesday because I didn't think I had cooked/photographed anything fancy-smancy in the past week. I sat here berating myself for being a horrible mother and wondering just what had we been eating lately. Breakfast for dinner, boring old pasta, pizza...jeez! Then I decided to download the images from my camera to check out all the cute pics. I took of Jamie at her J.K. "Meet the Teacher Night" last night and, low and behold!, there was a pic. of the Apricot Chicken I had made! I had completely forgotten about that. Whew. So, I'm a good mother again. Just like that.

The recipe came from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals which I have on loan from the library. I love her "cheating" dessert recipes, so I thought I'd check out the main-meal ones. Hmmmm. I'd have to say that I probably won't be adding this cookbook to my collection. It seems like a lot of her recipes aren't all that terribly healthy and quite a few of them call for alcohol: vodka, wine, Kahlua, etc. I mean, I know the alcohol cooks off, but I just don't want to have to buy a new bottle of something everytime I want to whip off a "quick and easy" dinner. Plus, the recipes don't seem to be that much quicker to make than it would be to actually prepare something healthy with real, whole, ingredients. But, I picked out a pretty good one and, now, I bring you "Chicken with Apricots and Almonds" served with a side of "Lemon-Garlic Broccoli" (and some prepackaged chicken rice).

Chicken Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons or more extra-virgin olive oil

2 scallions (aka green onion!) finely chopped

1 jalapeno chile pepper, sliced thin

1 teaspoon bottle minced garlic

1 teaspoon bottle minced ginger

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 can apricot halves

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted.

Broccoli Ingredients:

12 oz packaged broccoli florets

1 tablespoon lemon olive oil

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons shredded lemon zest

1 teaspoon bottle minced garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

salt and ground pepper

Chicken Directions:

1. In a large zip-top plastic bag, combine flour, salt, and lemon pepper. Add chicken. Seal bag; shake to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag; shake off excess flour mixture. Set aside.


2. In a skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add chicken to hot oil; cook about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Transfer chicken to plate; set aside. Add scallions and jalapeno to skillet. Cook and stir for 1 minute, adding more oil. Add ginger, garlic, and lime zest; cook and stir for 30 seconds.


3. Drain apricots, reserving liquid. Set apricots aside. Add the reserved liquid to the skillet, scraping up browned bits in pan. Return chicken to skillet with any accumulated juices. Add apricots and toasted almonds. Stir to combine; heat through. Serve hot.

Broccoli Directions:

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine broccoli florets, olive oil, the water, lemon zest, and garlic. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; microwave on high setting for 4 - 5 minutes. Check for doneness; cook 1 minute more if necessary. Sprinkle with lemon juice; toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Verdict:

Well, I bought the chicken on sale: $10 for 6 breasts. I'm not doing that anymore. I find that cheapo chicken is just rubbery and gross. But, that's not Sandra Lee's fault. Also, it took way longer than 3-4 minutes per side to cook the chicken. Way. Longer. And, one other little note: I did not include the chile pepper.

The sauce was pretty good. I was surprised how it did thicken up nicely. Probably if I had used some nice, fresh, organic chicken this would have been pretty good. As it was, I just couldn't get past the gross chicken. Dave said he liked it, both the girls ate it, and it sure did look pretty on the plate.

The broccoli on the other hand was a huge mistake. None of us liked the lemon flavour. We just like broccoli to taste like broccoli, I guess. Maddie, who normally loves the little green "trees", kept trying different pieces and saying, "Ewww, there's something icky on this one. Ewww, there's something icky on this one, too. Ewww. Do I have to eat my broccoli tonight?"

The second side was prepackaged chicken rice which Sandra Lee actually recommended serving with this dinner. This got 2 thumbs up from both kids who loved it. I hate prepackaged crap: the list of "ingredients" on the packages frightens me to no end. Figures that this was their favourite part of the dinner! I kept thinking, Chef Ramsey or Jamie Oliver would have shuddered to see me making it. Well, I now have both of their cook-books so maybe I'll post something from one of them next week.

For other recipe ideas please check out Shan's Tales From the Fairy Blogmother and feel free to add your own while you are there!

Tagged! 7 Fun Facts About Me

I've been tagged! What fun! Thanks to the lovely Storm at All Things Cherished for letting me play.

Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


And here are 7 things about me you may, or may not, have known...

1. My favourite T.V. show of all time was "Moonlighting". My husband's name is David, and my daughter's name is Maddie. Coincidence?


2. I have metallic body parts. I have a metal rod and two metal screws in my left arm and three big metal screws in my left knee - all the result of being hit by a car in my 20's. The x-rays are really cool.


3. What I like: I consider myself to be extremely loyal and very trustworthy. If you tell me something in confidence - it's vaulted. What I dislike: my "down-smile", my outie, my braces and, usually, my hair.


4. I love animals and I have had many, many, different pets including dogs, cats, a rabbit, ferrets, rats, mice, and birds. I think my most beloved pet was my ferret Molly. She was the smartest, sweetest, little pet in the whole world and I still miss her.


5. I am addicted to coffee. If I don't get a cup of coffee by 10 a.m. I will start getting really cranky. By 10:30 I'm miserable and I will have a headache that will continue until the next day. I take it with a bit of skim milk (not cream...that is completely gross and makes my coffee taste like someone melted a stick of butter into it) and 1 packet of Splenda (no other sweeteners...nothing with aspartame...only Splenda. If you don't have Splenda I will accept two rounded teaspoons of sugar).


6. The movie character that is most like me would be "Sally" in "When Harry Met Sally". Can you tell? Well, I just want it the way I want it. ;-)


7. I will not allow Dave to leave the house without kissing all us girls and saying "Good-bye". If he ever did that would be tantamount to a huge fight. We are very keen on saying big "Good-byes" around here...you'll notice that if you ever witness one of us leave and see the rest of us hanging out the window yelling "Good-byeeee! I looooove yyyoooooouuu!" 40 or 50 times. I must say this is my doing - something inherited from my Dad. I often wonder if our neighbours think we are gonzo...but I don't really care.

[I told Dave that I was doing this and that I was trying to come up with 7 "interesting" facts about me. I asked him if he could think of anything. He quickly said, "How about the fact that no other person in this world has ever heard you fart". Uhhh...okay...thanks honey]

So, there you have it.

Now I have to tag 7 other people. I really don't even know 7 other bloggers, so I'll have to borrow some of them:

(Of course) the wonderful Shan, at The Fairy BlogMother

and my lovely friend Simone, at Widney Woman

and the beautiful Michelle, at Bleeding Espresso

and I think I'll tag the clever Jen, at A2eatwrite

and the adorable Leah, at Laughing Leah Loves Lillies

and the brave Kellan, at On The Upside

and cool Karen, at Virtually There.

Thanks again, Storm. I really didn't have much else to say today. :)

The Purloined Toothbrush

I bought myself an electric Braun toothbrush ages ago. Do you have one? They are really fantastic. It makes such a huge difference that I could never, ever, go back to a regular toothbrush again. When you use the Braun it feels like you've just come from the dentist. Amazing. It's so great that I even took it with me to Jamaica. Sure, a regular toothbrush would have been much easier to pack/transport...but it is just that good. Of course, with my (stupid, I hate them! I hate them!) braces on it doesn't work quite as great so now I have to rely more on my Waterpik with it's special "brace-face" attachment.

But, anyway, when I first got the Braun toothbrush Dave scoffed. He thought it was a silly contraption and he was going to stick with his trusty, old-fashioned, manual toothbrush. Fine by me! So the Braun was mine. Well, mine and the girls': I got separate little brush-heads for Maddie and Jamie. But, generally, usually, my toothbrush head is the one that has remained atop the Braun handle for, oh, probably a couple of years now.

I don't know what happened, but suddenly Dave decided that he is going to start using my Braun toothbrush, too. He got his own little brush-head and, now, he thinks that I should not be leaving my brush-head on top of the handle anymore. He thinks I should have to remove my brush-head and put it in the little cup along with his and the girls'. He doesn't think that he should have to remove my brush-head when he wants to use the Braun. Hmmmm. Well, I suppose that is basically fair enough but, then again, look bub...you had your chance and what did you do? Scoff! That's right - you scoffed and you lost your chance to have equal share in the Braun. I have an at-least two-year ingrained habit of leaving my brush-head on the Braun and you expect me to just change that...all of a sudden...just because you say so? Well, it just ain't that easy, pal.

So, to punish me Dave has taken to taking off my brush-head and hiding it behind my Waterpik in the bathroom. Don't think I didn't notice, Big Guy. Every night I go in there all the other brush-heads are in the cup and mine is...where?....Oh, right. It's behind the Waterpik...right where you hid it!

I didn't say anything. Nope. I just kept my lips sealed. And waited. And waited. For the perfect opportunity.

"What's that, honey?
Where's your brush-head??
What do you mean? You can't find it???"

(insert evil laugh here).

Revenge is a dish best served way up on top of the mirror, on the left hand side, in the bathroom.

{Someone once said that marriage is all about finding new ways to drive each other crazy for the rest of your lives. We like to live by that motto}.

Home Run Night.

Last night was Maddie's first official T-Ball game. It was, I believe, about minus 58 degrees with the wind-chill factor so I thought for sure the game was going to be cancelled. But, no, the show went on. Even I (who cannot handle being out of doors when the temp. drops below 25 Celsius) was at the game, though. I mean...I couldn't let a little frost-bite and frozen eyeballs stand in the way of seeing my baby's first game now could I?! And, now that I have defrosted, I can tell you it was a lot of fun.

I must say, the kids are so adorable and the coaches are doing a really terrific job. I don't know how they are keeping all these kids organized, and going in all the right directions, while teaching them the intricacies of baseball at the same time. It's something to see.

Maddie is doing really fantastic. Despite her little frozen fingers she was a complete trouper and she never gave up going after that ball, I'll tell you. She's a go-getter, that one.

As the game wore on, and the temps. fell even lower, the turtle necks and sweaters under the kids' jerseys were obviously not cutting it anymore. You could start to see the winter coats coming out along with some hats and gloves (and not of the baseball variety). A couple of the kids, I noticed, left the game early. I think they were just going ahead and "calling it" themselves. Can't blame `em. But, Maddie wanted to hang in there...so we did, too.

She got to play left field, short-stop, and pitcher. Pitcher is an interesting position in t-ball since it involves no actual pitching. It does, however, involve wearing a really huge helmet with a cage that poor little Maddie could not see out of. She wasn't in too much danger of being hit since the other team only managed grounders. The big hitter so far, fortunately, is on her team. He got a home-run the first time out. He actually hits the ball up into the air, above all the kids' heads, and out into the field! I think he may be a ringer.

No one seemed to be keeping any kind of score. Even still...I sense a winning season.

Angel Food Cake with Strawberries (and Mint)

Ohhh, so we were both thinking dessert this week, Shan! Of course we were. ;-)

And you think yours was easy - well wait `til ya' see this. This is so easy that it may not even qualify for "What's Cooking Wednesday" because there was no actual cooking involved! The recipe is from Sandra Lee's "Semi-Homemade Desserts, 2nd ed.". I bought this book after getting her first Semi-Homemade Dessert book from the library. From that I made the most impressive looking Black Forest Cake for my mother-in-law's birthday - that was really one of the easiest desserts I had ever whipped off in my life! From this book I made Sandra Lee's "Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Mint".

Here is the ingredients list:

1 purchased (12 oz) angel food cake {ya, you don't even have to bake a cake!}

1 bag (16 oz) frozen strawberries, thawed and drained

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon orange-flavoured liqueur [ex. Cointreau or Grand Marnier]

1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed [ex. Cool Whip]

1/4 teaspoon orange extract, [ex. McCormick]

fresh mint leaves.

Here are the incredibly simple directions:

1. Remove angel food cake from container and invert onto plate; bottom is now the top of cake. With a serrated knife, carefully remove top of cake by slicing horizontally 1/2 inch down from top. Set aside.


2. Gently hollow out center of cake. Be careful not to tear inside or outside "walls" of cake. Tear removed cake into small pieces and place in medium bowl.


3. Pick out best looking strawberry to use as garnish; set aside. To bowl containing cake pieces, add strawberries, mint, orange-flavoured liqueur, and 1/2 cup of the frozen whipped topping. Fold until combined.


4. Fill cake, both well and center with strawberry mixture. Replace reserved top of cake.


5. Stir orange extract into remaining frozen whipped topping; frost cake. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and top with reserved strawberry. Chill cake for 4 hours before serving.

Okay, so I didn't bother with the mint because while it looks really pretty in the cake I just know Maddie would have hated that. Also, I had no orange flavoured liqueur hanging around and even though it's such a small amount...probably shouldn't be giving booze to the kiddos. I did have orange extract, though...so I used that in the Cool Whip. The brand of mine is "Frontier" but I don't remember now where I got it...probably from "Goodness Me".

Verdict: yummo.

So simple and easy and really impressive looking. Well, mine is a bit messy (Sandra Lee swirled her Cool Whip and I just spiked it. The swirls are prettier. Plus, Sandra had all the little hits of green from the mint in hers - which also makes it look prettier). This would be great if you needed to bring a dessert to someone's house but you really had no time. They'd think you slaved over it all day! Dave thought it would be even better with fresh strawberries and that would probably be true but only if you added sugar and water to them and let them sit for a bit to get all nice and squishy. You need there to be some sugary syrup around them to seep into the cake.

Easy-Peasy!

Please head on over to The Fairy BlogMother's site for more great recipe ideas and to maybe even add one yourself: we'd love to have you play, too!

The Closet of Chaos.

This week's Tackle It Tuesday (Hosted by 5 Minutes For Mom) is the Hall Closet. It's a good job done because 1) the weather has warmed up and we really don't need 100 winter hats and mittens shoved in there...let alone all the snow-pants 2) we don't even know what shoes the girls have anymore since it was such utter chaos in that closet 3) it's kinda' like shopping: "Hey! I didn't even remember I had those cute little sandles -cool". Oh, and 4) we could barely shut that closet door anymore!

[During. Doesn't Jamie look horrified by the mess]



[And After. Ahhhhhh. Serenity Now].

I really don't like starting these big, overwhelming, projects. I actually don't mind it once I'm in the middle of it and I love it once I'm done...it's just getting up the gumption to start the thing that is the most difficult. Yes, I did say "gumption". So, I must thank 5MFM for helping me clean-up my closet! I also should thank my dear Davey for doing all the laundry in the house over the weekend. I mean, there is literally no dirty laundry anywhere. He must have done 8 loads over the weekend! And, he folded it all and put it all away, too! Incredible! So, I also thought it would be nice to surprise him with a nice tidy closet and hall today.

As an added bonus project I bring you my little galvanized metal, chalk-board-painted, container which was also overflowing with winter gear as well as...1 swimsuit, 3 stuffed animals, several hair-clips, and a harmonica! Now, it is also nice and tidy and contains only summer-appropriate items (baseball hats, baseball, and gloves).

[Before]

[And After]

See ya' next time for Tackle It Tuesday!

All About The Beeg.

Today I bring you a few more sides of Jamie...

So, the other day she had out her markers and some paper and she asked me how to spell "horse". So, I called out the different letters from the other room.

"H..." I said.

"What does an `H' look like?" Jamie asked.

"Well, it's two tall sticks with a little stick joining them in the middle"

"Okay...okay...and what's next?"

"O" I said "It's just a little circle."

"Okay...okay...and what's next?"

"r" I said "It's a little stick with a tiny hook off the top of it"

And on it went.

I just figured we were playing a little game and she was just scribbling whatever on her piece of paper because there is no way my little three year old baby could write these letters just based on my descriptions...right?

When I went out later and glanced at her paper this is what I saw.

I think she just may be a genious. ;-)
Pretty darn good!!!

Some of the other sides of Jamie James...

Talented Jamie (she isn't holding on to anything)

Determined Jamie (look at her go)

Loving Jamie ("You're my best friend, Maddie")

Thoughtful, Pensive, Jamie

My Sweet, Beautiful, Jamie.

I'm here all week!

Yesterday Jamie and I shared some Princess spaghetti. She gobbled hers up before I had even finished 3 mouth-fulls of mine and then she asked for more.

"Sure, sweetie" I said "You can have the rest of mine...because I love you so much".

She looked at me with a little twinkle in her eye and started eating from my bowl. A few seconds later she said,

"Here, Mommy - You can have the rest of mine...because I love you so much".

{ahh, how sweet}

She pushed the bowl towards me and started giggling her little Jamie giggle.

Very funny, kiddo. Very funny.

Jamie-The-Comedian: One of the many sides of my little Jamie James.

The Golden Potato Salad.

Ok...I was going to do my recipe for a quite nummy chicken casserole. It had chicken on top of rice and was a quite easy to prepare one dish meal (gotta' like that) but, uh, guess what? I lost the recipe! I think it was from the Looney Spoons book that I just returned to the library! So, let this be a lesson to all you kids out there...be sure to write down your recipes before you forget where you got them from...or return your cook-books to the library!

So, instead, I bring you the side dish: Golden Potato Salad.

This recipe is from "The Vegetarian Family Cookbook" and I have made it two slightly different ways.

Here are the ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes

1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips

2 scallions (a.k.a. green onion), thinly sliced

Dressing

1/2 cup [soy] mayonnaise

1/2 cup low-fat yogurt

2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard

Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Minced fresh parsley and/or dill, to taste.

Directions:

Bake or microwave the potatoes in their skins until done but still firm. Allow 2 to 3 minutes per potato, test for doneness, then add a little time as needed. Let them cool to room temperature. Slip their skins off and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch chunks and place in a serving container with the peas, bell pepper, and scallions.

Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir together. Stir into the potato mixture.

Season with salt and pepper. Add parsley to taste, or put in a small bowl and pass for topping individual portions.

The first time I made this I used the soy mayonnaise which is called "Veganaise" and I only added 1 teaspoon of mustard and, of course, no disgusting dill. I hate both mustard and dill. Horrible, horrible, things. And, it was DELICIOUS!! Even Dave who doesn't hate much more in this world than peas - loved it. When he saw the peas he just about flipped out and said, "I am not eating peas. Don't even bother. I won't eat it". But, I explained to him that they are not cooked and they taste totally different (and very good) when they aren't cooked. So, you HAVE to use frozen and NOT canned peas! Dave also really, really, loved the Veganaise but then we discovered something that wasn't so good about it and stopped buying it. It was either the high price and/or I think it had a lot of cholesterol (which doesn't even make sense...but I think it really had more cholesterol than reg. mayonnaise). I can't really remember now what the reason was to not buy it again (short shelf life, too, I believe). But, I must say, this potato salad was gobbled up. Everyone was practically fighting over it. The girls kept asking for more and Dave brought a bunch in his lunch the next day.

The second time I made this I used the full amount of mustard, regular mayonnaise, and I over-cooked the potatoes a bit. It wasn't as good at all. So, be very careful about cooking your potatoes in the microwave...you may not need as much time as they suggest you may. And, you may want to go ahead and try the Veganaise because I think it made it taste really, really, good. The sweet potatoes make it different and very nummy and the peas are fantastic in this potato salad so don't listen to your family of pea-haters and add them in!

Be sure to hop on over to The Fairy BlogMother's site (the Home of "What's Cooking Wednesday") to find a bunch of other great recipes and...hey...why dontcha' join in and let us know what's cooking at your place while you're there?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

We did it! We did it!

We finally had our first, official, "dinner party" at the house. Okay, so we've had parties/get-togethers at the house before but that was always for a child's birthday and while it involved lots of food and people it was all just buffet-style where everyone helped themselves to, you know, chips and shrimp cocktail, chicken wings and salad, cheese, crackers, and all kinds of fruits and veggies cut up and served with dip...that kind of deal. This was an official, grown-ups sitting down at the dining room table and being served a plate full of food, kind of deal.

I thought it best to break in our Martha Stewart dinner party skills on my family because, well, they have to love me even if I totally forget that we don't have any place mats that don't have Dora or all the various Princesses on them...we don't have any napkins that aren't made out of paper - let alone napkin rings...we don't seem to have enough cutlery for large groups of people (I don't know where it all went, but I suspect the forks and socks are snickering at me from some corner of the house somewhere)...and I totally forgot that grown-ups are supposed to be offered some wine with dinner (they probably wouldn't have wanted any, I suspect, but I should have had some to offer at least!). But, despite all those things...I think it went quite well.

And, the important thing was Maddie and Jamie got to have a great visit with their cousins again whom they have not seen since last November. Sad. I know.

The kids played in the playroom and the yard while dinner was cooking and then ate at the "kids table" in the kitchen while their parents (my brother and SIL) and my mom had a great chat. It was lots of fun and we've learned lots to improve upon our soiree finesse for next time.

{My SIL is punching my brother because he is making rabbit ears over her head. Yep, we're all a bit goofy}

So, who shall be the next victims...er, I mean Guests?! We shall see....

In the meantime...

I also include in this blog entry my little Tackle It Tuesday which, this week, was to learn a couple of new, cool, skills in Photoshop. Thanks to the ever hilarious and always helpful Scott Kelby and his book "The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers" for teaching me how to create a Poster Presentation (kids photo) and how to create a Digital Frame (adults photo). The snap-shots aren't much, but the effects are pretty cool!

(Tackle It Tuesday is, usually, some horrible housework task that needs to get done but the rules at "Five Minutes for Mom" state it can be anything on your "to-do" list. My Scott Kelby book is now over-due at the library and I still haven't made the time to try out all the cool techniques in his book...so it was definitely on my list. But, Hey, I guess the dinner-party in itself was a pretty big Tackle! At least it was for us...the dinner party challenged).

;-)

Wanna see a preview of next week's Tackle it Tuesday? Clearly, this won't be as much fun as playing in Photoshop...but, it's gotta get done. I think there is a shoe rack in there somewhere! And, possibly...my cutlery!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all my Mommy friends had a great Mother's Day yesterday! I did. Well, except for the having to be at work at 6 a.m. part. But, once I got home it got better. Dave and the girls got me these adorable garden statues (which, I think, may live in the house instead of the garden: they are so cute!) and my friend brought me the beautiful flowers! I don't know why she would bring me flowers for mother's day...other than the fact that she is just super sweet like that. Thanks T!

In honour of Mother's Day I bring you these little interviews with the two people who have made Mother's Day possible for me: My Girls.

Madilyn, Age 5.

Favourite Food: Watermelon

Favourite Drink: Iced Tea

(Me: Iced Tea? You've had Iced Tea??

Maddie: Yep. At Grandma's

Me: Oh, Okay.)

Best Friend: Abby

Favourite School Activity: Artwork (especially "sticker stories")

Favourite Toy: Jamie

(Me: Ah, c'mon...what's your favourite toy?

Dave: Jamie can be a toy. She's a good toy.

Maddie: Ya!

Me: Oh, okay. Jamie it is then)

Me: And what will you be when you grow-up, Maddie?

Maddie: I'm going to be a bus driver and I'm going to marry Derek. We won't have any kids, though - just a cat - and I'll name her "Emma" and we'll live next door to you...cause I love you!

Me: Ahhhhhh.

Jamie, age 3.

Favourite Food: Pisssghettie

(Me: With meatballs?

Jamie: Yes! Meatballs!!)

Favourite Drink: Soy Milkshake

[we call Soy Milk "Soy Milkshake". I don't know why. We started getting it because we think Maddie is lactose intolerant. The girls love it]

Best Friend: Maddie

Favourite Toy: Polly Pockets

Favourite Thing to Do Outside: Play on the play-set.

Me: And what will you do when you grow-up, Jamie?

Jamie: I will be bigger and my arms will be way, way, way, big and I'll be able to reach stuff. I will have a purple car and a husband named "Mickey". We will have a daughter and I will have a job digging stuff. I will live right beside you, too...because I love you, too!!!

Me: Ahhh...you girls are good.

Thanks for making my Mother's Days so wonderful, 365 days a year.

"You Like Me, You Really Like Me!!"

Ho-hummm.

Another weekend has come and gone. What to write about..what to write about?? Hmmm. Not much comes to mind.

Not much EXCEPT THIS!!!!!!!

How cool is THAT???

And, I even get to keep this super-cool, incredibly awesome, wickedly wonderful award from Storm at All Things Cherished. Is that nice, or what?

I have NO idea why she picked me to be one of the "Blogs Worth Visiting Again", but I am definitely flattered.

I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy.

What a nice, early, b-day present.

Thanks Storm!!!!!

She's Got The Chalkboard Paint Out Again...

I know, I know - you've been dying for another craft idea. Preferably one that uses some more of that cool chalkboard paint, right?

Well, here you go dear reader...

First, ya' get yourself a cheapo clay pot. The dollar store carries them in an assortment of sizes for very little coin : a dollar, I believe.

Then you tape up the rim of your planter. You may want to be a bit more careful taping up yours than I was for mine...my rim came out a bit messy (but nothing a little Photoshop couldn't fix).

Then you prime your planter and wait. Paint your planter and wait. Paint one more time and wait.

Then...you get to write/draw/scribble whatever you'd like all over your planter. You can even stick a plant inside if you like. Why the heck not, eh?!

So...here's mine. Ain't she a bute? We wrote "Welcome Abby" on ours as a little surprise for our last dinner guest. I think she thought it was cute. I sure do! You know me and chalkboards.

Now if you thought that was impressive (and, I know you did...I can tell...) just wait until my BIG Project is revealed sometime later this spring!! It's gonna' be a doozy.

She's Not Heavy...

I just got back from a little bit of an open house at Maddie's school. Her teacher was nice enough to let me bring Jamie along and Jamie sure had a great time. She just wandered around looking at the puppet theatre and building things with the blocks and saying, "Hi" to all the kids. She even met one other little boy who will be in her class this coming fall, but it's kind of hard to believe since that little boy had to be about a foot taller than Jamie! I'm starting to realize that a year, or even a few months, does make a big difference at this age. The difference between a kid who turns 4 in January and one who doesn't turn 4 until the following winter is pretty noticeable! But, I'm not worried about little Jamie. She can't wait to go to school and I know she'll do just fine. Me, of course, that will be another matter.

One of the sweetest things about getting to go to Maddie's school today was the reception I got when I arrived. Maddie jumped out of her seat when she saw me and came flying over to wrap her arms around me. Of course, my heart just melted. I recognized immediately that that was going to be one of those little moments I'll always look back on and cherish. I just love that little kiddo. The other thing that was, maybe, even sweeter than that was watching how kind Maddie was to Jamie. She immediately took Jamie by the hand and showed her where to go and was talking to her in the cutest "mothering" tone. Then, when we left the classroom for a bit to go to the library, I grabbed Maddie's hand and Maddie swung around to grab her sister's hand. "Come on Jamie" she said, "I'll show you where the library is so you'll know for when you come here this fall".

How nice it is that Jamie has Maddie to look out for her, and that Maddie has Jamie to look up to her and love her. Sure, they have their moments when they fight, and yell, and threaten each other with the standard "...then you aren't coming to my birthday party", but behind all that I know that they really, genuinely, love each other. How lucky they are.

How lucky am I.