Elle, Maggie and I are currently in the Big City visiting my big family. I love family time… especially at dinner time! Tonight I made a dinner for my brother, his darling wife and my mom. It was a recipe inspired by my late grandmother.
Ginger and Soy Soaked Chicken (any cut of chicken will do)
1 cup soy sauce
Juice from one lemon
1 cup of chopped prunes
1/4 olive oil
1/4 honey
3 teaspoons ground ginger (I like to add a dash or two more as I love ginger)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 bunch of scallions chopped (saving some for the garnish)
Soak for 18 to 24 hours. We love to create a sweet and tangy sauce for our chicken. While the chicken is grilling, we put the chicken soak sauce in a sauce pan with a cup of white wine and simmer for twenty minutes, until the prunes have broken down. Then we blend the sauce until it’s smooth. Plate the chicken on a bed of wild rice and top with our prune sauce and chopped scallions.
We served it family style, for my family. A great dinner served with a lot of family stories, a joke competition, and bellyaching laughs. Good stuff always happens around the family table and should be paired with good food. Don’t you think?
On Sunday while flipping through the American Girl catalog with her bright blue marker and Christmas eyes, Elle yelped…
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Apparently American Girl now has a webkinz like feature where you invest–and I mean invest– in a doll that lives in the real world and also has a persona in cyber world on the American Girl campus.
Needless to say Elle couldn’t get this off of her mind or mine because I was haunted by
Pleeeeaaassseee Mooooooom?
I just love it?
Can we buy one now?
How about now?
Now?
As a girl who babysat for an entire summer to buy her first pair of Guess zipper jeans, I decided to strike-up a deal…
You can earn your doll. But it’s not going to be easy. We’ll create a chart for chores and attitude. You can earn 10 cents per item with the ability to make 1 dollar a day. Are you up for it?
Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed how “up for it”
she was/is. A-MAZ-ING! This little venture has turned my darling, yet not naturally gifted in the “What can I do to help you mom?” with a supernatural sense for what’s “not fair”, into the most helpful and pleasant child. A sunny disposition most welcome on what sometimes can feel like never-ending summer days.
And in her own words…
I think this will help me form better habits!
In a perfect world she would behave this way without any incentive but as her father reminded me…
This is Capitalism at it’s finest!
He calls it capitalism, I call it Beautiful with a capital B!
For our system it was important for her to learn:
1. How to work hard for something over a longer period of time– this is going to take everyday for about 3 months. Trust me she has enough immediate gratification in her everyday life.
2. The chores should be a balance of contributing to the household and personal growth
3. That she take personal responsibility for the chart and following through.
What have you found that helps you help your children to contribute to the home and have a good attitude while doing it?
Since childhood there is one aspect of summer that I love, that I look forward to, and that is berry season. Lately we have been smitten over blueberries. You may remember this… well that was just the beginning.
Last weekend the girls and I went picking.
Elle and I picked 9 pounds of berries…
and Maggie, well, Maggie ate about nine pounds of berries. She nearly resembled another girl who over did it on blueberry…
For the record I did offer to have them weigh her along with the other berries.
When we returned from the farm we got busy baking a few favorite recipes: blueberry buckle and blueberry muffins. Two recipes from our favorite Southern Living Cookbook. These sweet treats at breakfast combined with bacon had my house smelling like a state fair and honestly, I liked it. A lot! What’s your favorite blueberry recipe?
This is our favorite blueberry streusel muffin recipe from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook… a must have:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon gorund cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine egg, milk, and oil; stir well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
Combine blueberries, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1 tablespoon sugar, tossing gently to coat. Fold blueberry mixture into batter. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling two thirds full.
Combine 1/4 cup sugar, 2/1/2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon; cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden. Remoe from pans immediately. Yield: 1 dozen.
*If using frozen blueberries, thaw and drain them, and pat dry with paper towels. This will prevent discoloration of batter.
You know the one where a group sits in a circle, one person starts by whispering in another’s ear, the information is carried from one person to another, until the last person says the information out loud and most of the time the original information has become distorted over the course of the game.
This can happen in real life and with the purest of intentions and from just one conversation.
Elle: (to her friend Charlie) Did you know my Papa is a wedding singer?
Charlie: He is?
Elle: Yep, and he sang for the President.
Me: Actually he is a country dancer and danced at the White House.
Elle: Oh yeah, he’s a dancer and danced for the President.
Me: No not for the President, just at the White House.
Elle: But mom you said…
Me: What I said was he danced at the White House.
Elle: Oh I guess not for the President. The President was out of town.
Me: hmmm… I don’t know that the President was out of town. Do you know that to be true?
Elle: no, not exactly.
Sometimes it can be so easy to share information as factual but not exactly have all of the facts. Even if our intention isn’t to be dishonest, it’s important to remember that partial truth isn’t necessarily THE truth.
As my mother always said, “Your word is your honor” and honorable words are Gracious Living.
Although it can be hard, do you promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Or is it really that important? Talk to me?
I’m a bit crazy about the food I feed my children. Yell, at my TV during Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, crazy. In my own defense Your Honor, I don’t believe the French fry is a veggie. At least not the kind of veggie I get at the Farmers’ Market. I have yet to see the crinkle cut between the kale and the chard. You?
I mean You, Your Honor?
Moving on, and back to the veggies. One of my most favorite aspects of the spring and summer is our local Farmers’ Market. Oh the colors, the dirt still on the carrots, the smells, the textures. What I love most, is the experience of having my little sidekicks with me…
Okay, the truth be told, what I love most is the idea of taking the sidekicks. Because there have been times where I’ve found the Farmers’ Market juggle of two market lovin’ girls, a most important cup of coffee and an armful of veggies I can’t live without to be a bit difficult.
My middle school P.E. teacher can attest to my juggling skills based on my 7th grade performance with scarves. Not pretty.
I should say this was my dilemma until this little darling French basket came rolling into my life…
I love this sweet little French Market basket on wheels as it allows me to shop at will, have hands free to engage the sidekicks, and enjoy my morning coffee.
Have I said I love it? Well I do. I L.O.V.E it!
And yes, Elle and Maggie, that means I would marry it.
That is if I wasn’t already totally in love and married to your father… you know?!
Do you have a Farmers’ Market tip or two to share?
Don’t be shy, we’re all ears.
Note: If you are in the market for a rolling basket I’ve found a beautiful site that carries well crafted baskets, they are an investment but well worth it. I’ve done a lot of research on the rolling French Market Basket and many of the companies (including where I bought mine) have discontinued them.
Mother’s day is just a few days away we want to remind you that today is the last day to enter our Mother Daughter give away with the The Hip Hostess! Elle and Maggie will draw the lucky winner’s name tonight, May 3rd at 7pm PST. We will be revealing the winner on tomorrow’s post!
We hope you’ll stop by here and enter… oh and feel free to grab a cookie on your way out!
Teaser for some, butterflies for others. Yes, this is the article that inspired this. Anyway, I’m sure you can only imagine how quickly I lept (graceful as a gazelle I’m sure) from my bed at 4:30 this morning when I heard our newspaper carrier drive by. Yes, I have bionic hearing, a gift from my mother.
Good Morning!
The article was wonderful! Christine Sherk the writer and Collin Andrew her photographer really captured who I am and why I do what I do…
even showing a little bit of me in action at one of my programs for a fraternity. In the moment I was a little nervous, and if you remember this, you know why.
Just a little straightning. Or, maybe more than a little!
Many many thanks Christine and Collin for so honestly telling my story in this wonderful article! What a gift.
At my sister’s wedding my mother made a beautiful toast, thanking everyone who had shared in Kristins life leading up to that very special day, and quoted the African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child”
I believe this, with all of my heart.
This next weekend, for those that are local, there is a fantastic opportunity to care for our village at the CASA fun run!
I will be taking the Mindy Lockard Etiquette Show on the road to NEW YORK CITY?–I can’t hep but say that like the Pace Picante Commercial, I am a child of the 80’s/90’s–for the National Stationery Show.
But never fear, my three favorites will be there!
I did run it a couple of years ago, and this is my number still on my refrigerator…
I prayed for Donald as I ran and when I pass by the kitchen. I’ve never met Donald. But I know that Donald was taken from his home for one reason or another and it was an honor to run on his behalf and for the benefit of my village!
Today I journey into the friendly skies, destination New York City and the National Stationery Show!
I leave this – I have heard tye dye is coming back, who knew my little town was so fashion forward… oh and for the record this is a stock photo and not from my album.
and this (sniff)
for this!
I’m excited and nervous.
You know they say it’s the same feeling.
At least I think that’s what the gitters are, or perhaps it’s too much coffee… hmmm.
Anyway, since I’m heading out solo, I’d love to have you join me. Your company will be most welcome. I think you’ll have a great time. Wait, I know you’ll have a great time! So pack your bags and together we’ll take a BIG bite out of the BIG apple–chewing with our mouths closed, of course (wink).
I had hoped to capture more of the trip, like my taxi ride but my seat mate on the plane offered me a ride with her lifelong best friend who happens to live just across the park from where I am staying. I didn’t vlog from the back seat of her car because I didn’t think it would be appropriate… and by not appropriate I mean creepy for this upper East Side lady. I will tell you there is something beautiful about listening to two girlfriends get caught up and not taking a taxi from JFK to Manhattan!
Here’s a look at what 8 hours of travel looks like… bags and migraine included!
A couple of weeks ago my fantastic interns put together a few media kits that we sent ahead of my NYC arrival to a couple of Manhattan based companies.
A couple of them came back… even after we had researched addresses. So rather than mail them to the address provided by the USPS. I decided to take matters into my own hands… technically my feet. Because I hand delivered them on foot. All 160 blocks.
But before I hand delivered them, I gussied them up with a few supplies I picked up at a favorite store just around the corner…
Added a handwritten note…
tucked them in my clutch…
and headed out with my game face on.
We, me and my little media kits, were on a journey. And a journey it was. We past one of our favorite news outlets…
went through the fashion district, three times. If you are doing the math that is one too many.
Saw this billboard of which I totally agree with. However, I tend to keep it more to myself… perhaps I should try it his way?!
And then it really got interesting… am I lost?
Nope! The package was delivered without a hitch! Success.
Today was full of adventure. It all started with a short train ride up the Hudson River to a quaint little village where I lunched on the river with this fantastic woman and had a meeting at the local middle school to chat about bringing my program to them next year. How fun is that?
Once back in Manhattan I had a quick rest and then off to meet a friend for a drink downtown. I asked the doorman for directions, of which he gave me perfect subway directions to West 4th street.
Oh, just one minor detail, in NYC there are multiple 4ths.
And so, we–me, myself, and I– got off on the wrong 4th. But never fear, armed with my iPhone Google Maps app, I set off with a blinking blue dot heading for a little red pin.
On the bright side, had I not been lost, I would never have found this beautiful landmark in the village…
shades of green…
a place that took me away for a moment…
or this little charmer!
With a raise of hands which of my lovely Delta Delta Deltas can tell me what the pineapple stands for?
And just as I was starting to realize that there was a conspiracy to call it quits going on with this duo…
I rounded the corner and BINGO! I was in the correct neighborhood–my drink date is a finance journalist and calls this little building home from 9 to 5ish.
After our fantastic meeting, we–me and my tootsies–took another form of transportation back up to the upper west side…
This weekend we are so excited to be heading way out west with some of our closest friends to their cattle ranch.
On this coming weekend also happens to fall a special day, to a very special girl. Elle’s seventh birthday. And if you’re wondering how special I’ll let her tell you…
Elle: Mom, we really need to talk about my birthday weekend.
Me: Honey, you may have a day, your birthday, where you can do anything that you want.
Elle: So, can we talk about my birthday WEEK?
Houston, we have a problem and it’s not the birthday obsession, of which I’m also working on… Mama has convinced her to celebrate in country. With the cows.
Cows that she is going to love, and friends that she adores. But to make her day special, I’m looking for a few clever cowgirl party ideas that are easy to pack and bring back… because friends, where we’re going, you don’t just run out to Target and our super duper car packer is a patient but also logical man when it comes to parties. Me, not so much… “what do you mean I can’t bring along the western town backdrop?” that is if we had one. Yet.
This is what we have so far… birthday breakfast of western waffles topped with fresh strawberries and served with crispy country bacon.
and for dinner sliders, Texas style potatoes and an ice cream cake. Yes, I will be channeling my inner Pioneer Woman to literally churn out an ice cream cake. Oh, a mother’s love!
So, let the clever cowgirl ideas begin! Hit me with your best thought… I’m ready and waiting to make this girls 7th birthday at the ranch a day to
I spent last Saturday night with 8 tweens at the Country Club working on a little dining.
Then afterward I went over to Lizzie’s for wine and to help her clean out her shoes–because it’s very important to have a friend there to give her honest opinion and to help model shoes when necessary. In the case of these darlings… I found it very necessary.
Anyway, where was I…
Oh yes, the etiquette dinner. We had a great time. Really we did. We laughed a lot. We learned different types of flatware.
Different styles of dining…
And how to gracefully eat beans out of a bean bundle. When I say gracefully I mean beans were a flyin’… but it’s a learning process, no?
We also learned, or I should say one of the tween boys learned, that even when we are excited over an etiquette quiz and getting the answers correct–And, I totally appreciate getting exciting over etiquette–that yelling…
“SUCK IT!”
to his fellow etiquette attendees isn’t a choice word or words. The shade of red told me he knew. The stuttering that happened after the outburst told me it wouldn’t happen again. But just incase, we also used this etiquette dinner to move away from the fork and have a chat about appropriate words of celebration.
We all have words or phrases that we say that aren’t bad, but don’t exactly help us put our best foot forward. Speaking of “sucks” that’s exactly how it feels when habitual words come out at times that we would prefer they not. A little food for thought even among the non-tween population.
I love a good throwback. Love. Today’s diy takes me way back to the days of the chalkboard… do you remember them? Oh I remember the smell of chalk dust, the click click of chalk as my teacher wrote on the board, and when Ms. F my fourth grade teacher would turn around she had the entire day’s lesson transferred on her backside.
at the time I didn’t know I should tell her. I just got embarrassed and couldn’t make eye contact. My apologies, Ms. F… I now know better!
This old school diy is great for a slew of things such as a saying thank you to the teachers in our lives, favors for a party and a fun way to dress up our summer outdoor entertaining table.
Step One: Gather Supplies
·Clay Pots
·Chalkboard spray
·Drop cloth
·Chalk
Step 2: spray pot and let dry.
Step 3: Write your message.
For teacher gifts plant the plant, tie with a ribbon and write a sweet message of “thanks”. Elle and Maggie love picking out the pots, ribbon and flowers.
as favors paint pots and plant your plant or herb…
or for your outdoor entertaining table it makes an easy reusable container that you can use party after party.
Oh and if you mess up when writing you can always erase! It’s that easy.
Gack! These wet chilly times, call for warm chili measures… however, because it is
THE.
END.
OF.
MAY…
I wanted our presentation of this chili to feel a little less like the dead of winter. So we added a twist, a twist inspired by the pot pie my darling friend, Cate Salvatore, of the Retailer Forum ordered at the David Burke Townhouse during my trip in NYC.
I call this inspiration Chili Pot Pie. My family called it, yummy!
I totally understand that Mr. Burke may not want anything to do with the title chili pot pie attached to his name. But in that case, I would challenge him to taste test. I think he might just change his mind and perhaps his menu.
Here is what you need…
Your favorite thick chili recipe or mine…
2 pounds beef from our favorite ranch (not frozen)
1 large onion chopped
2 chopped green peppers
2 chopped red peppers
2 cans kidney beans drained
3 cloves of garlic pressed
6 TBS chili seasoning
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (for a little kick)
28 oz of chopped organic stewed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Other pieces to the pie…
Corn bread for the crust
Cheddar cheese for the cheese crisps
Sour Cream for the lattice top
Step 1…
Toss the chili ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. As it cooks, and if necessary, skim liquid off of the top to keep the consistency thick and chunky.
Step 2: while your chili is slowcooking…
On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper grate (depending on the number you are serving) piles of cheddar cheese leaving about 2 inches between. Bake on 350 degrees until melted and browned. But not too brown. Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool until crispy. If not crispy pop under the broiler for a bit. Cool.
Step 3: Make a pan of your favorite cornbread for the crust.
and crumble it.
Finally put it together. Starting with the corn crust…
topped with chili…
with a condiment squeeze bottle full of sour cream, add the lattice top to your pie…
and garnish with avocado and cheese crisp.
Voila! A chili pot pie that not only is pleasing to the eye, but the tummy too! I love to make food fun as it helps my children enjoy the process and makes any chili dinner in mid spring… well cool!
A conversation that was due to happen, especially after nearly being eaten alive by the fifth grade class at her school earlier in the day–not really, but almost. Now that she is getting older and in the first-grade she is going to start encountering my students. So, after school pick-up and just after we’d arrived home, I turned off the car’s ignition and turned around to face her…
Me: Elle babe, I need you to know something.
Elle: Am I in trouble?
Me: No, not at all. There is just a little something I want you to be aware of. I had a program at your school today. A program where some of the children were very resistant to learning manners and to me.
on hearing this her sweet little jaw dropped.
Elle: I love manners!
Me: Oh honey, me too. But sometimes it takes awhile for people to appreciate them, and to appreciate what I do. Those same people who don’t care for manners, may not care for me. (I say this because I run a tight ship, a ship that nearly had a boy or two overboard) …
Again, her jaw dropped and her eyes got really big.
Elle: Oh mom, that makes me sad.
Me: Honey, I’m telling you this not to make you sad but so that you’re not sad. Becasuse I’m not sad. For all of the students I have that love what I do, there are always a few that take a while to come around. In the process sometimes they say things or tease me; I’ve come to understand that it’s part of the job. I love what I do and I believe in it. I will continue to work with people to help them, even those that give me a hard time. What matters in life is that we are good people and believe in ourselves no matter what people say about us. Or to us. You know?
Elle: Yes, I know… Mom?
Me: Yes.
Elle: Now that I think about it a few of the boys in my class said you were kind of “Crazy” …
During National Card and Letter Writing Month we featured one of our most favorite people, Elizabeth Howard, from The Cordial Cricket. That same month, Elizabeth launched a book project that she and her son had been working on. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this cordial copy and to share it with Elle and Maggie. Elizabeth was also “cordial” enough to share a signed copy that we are giving away. To win your own copy of The Cordial Cricket, drop a comment on what you think about the word cordial. We think it’s a great word, and really fun to say. Try it, C-O-R-D-I-A-L…
Mindy’s Review
Even if Elizabeth wasn’t a dear friend, I would highly recommend this book. It’s a short three chapter read. The book is about a mother’s conversation with her son about who to invite to his birthday and the lessons he learns in inclusion. Although since entering grade school we no longer include the entire class (just the number of children as the age of the birthday), it provided a great opportunity to discuss the value of inclusion. Not to mention the how important having these conversations with our children are in teaching good manners. The Cordial Cricket is a great tool in teaching children the power of living a gracious and cordial life.
Elle (6)
What did you like about The Cordial Cricket? I liked it because it didn’t have any unkind words in it. I liked the picture of the cricket on the front of the book.
What did you learn? I learned about the word cordial. I think it’s a fun word. Fun to say. Cooordial. Isn’t it fun?
Maggie (4)
What did you like about The Cordial Cricket? I liked it when he talked to his mommy. The cricket was very nice to his mommy.
What did you learn? That it’s good to include all of the people in your class.
For more on The Cordial Cricket or to pick up your own copy visit their website. We look forward to hearing your cordial thoughts and giving this gem of a book away.
So tell us, what you think about the word cordial?!
On Sunday afternoon I was relaxing in the backyard sipping iced coffee, listening to Elle and Maggie giggle as they ran through the sprinkler and flipping through one of my favorite magazines. Cooking Light. Did I say flipping, more like drooling over every page of grilling goodness–I’ll blame the warped magazine pages on the sprinkler… yes, that’s it, the sprinkler.
For this weeks Take to the Table Tuesday we are going to grill up some golden rings. If we had five people in my family I would say or sing, “FIVE golden rings!” but we don’t and at this time we aren’t planning to.
Unless there really is a Santa and he has the power to bring Elle the first item on her 2010 Christmas list… a baby brother. Perhaps, Mommy should not be kissing Santa underneath the mistletoe this year?! Eeeek. Moving on…
Back to the four golden rings. I love grilling fruit as it adds amazing flavor to any savory or sweet dish.
Here’s how to grill up one of our favorites, pineapple. Peaches are good too, but we will give the pineapple the spotlight tonight.
Cut off the skin of a pineapple…
slice into rounds and using a knife or small cookie cutter remove core.
Pre-Heat grill on high and clean off any bits of last night’s grilled dinner. Using tongs…
place the golden rings directly on the grill.
Grill for 10 to 15 minutes on each side.
Plate and serve! We topped our pineapple with a savory chicken curry salad with cashews and made a pineapple salsa to serve with tomorrow’s dinner of grilled fish. Please disregard the crazy red peppers here… they tried to help out this yellow on yellow dinner. I’m not sure that they really helped, but we won’t tell them that.
We also think this would make an amazing dessert topped with homemade coconut ice cream or just plain vanilla!
There’s a little truth in life and that is no matter how hard we fight it,
no matter how much we tell ourselves it won’t happen,
the reality is inevitable ladies…
one-way or another we will become our mothers.
Which for me is a good thing at the age of 32. At the age of 17 I swore it would never happen… but we’ll leave that in the 90s with my 10 eye Doc Martens.
One of my greatest memories of my mother is her pre-weekend getaway bustle. She made lists. She cleaned. She packed. She baked. A little tradition that I’ve adopted as I plan for weekend getaways. I love it because I’m always prepared and the process makes me feel like my mom is in my home and not 120 miles away. The feeling of closeness may also be a result of the record number of times I call her for for recipes and tips.
Recipes like this family favorite that I took this past weekend to our getaway at the lake.
·Sugar (1/2 cup dough, 1/2 compote, 1/4 cup cream cheese spread)
·2 packages yeast
·4 1/2 to 5 cups flour
·1 tsp salt
·2 egg
·8 oz cream cheese
·1 cup blueberries
First make the dough…
Step one: heat the milk, butter and sugar in a pan until the butter melts and sugar dissolves.
Step two: pour the warm milk mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer and add the two packages of yeast.
Step three: attached with a dough hook and turned on medium add the eggs and salt and slowly add the flour until smooth and elastic.
Step four: Turn onto a floured surface and knead a few times.
Step five: Place in a buttered bowl and let rise until doubled in size.
Blueberry Filling - in a saucepan combine 1 cup of blueberries and 1/2 of sugar. Cook until the berries are soft but not liquid.
Cream Cheese Spread - in a food processor combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar. Pulse until smooth. Set aside.
Making the Braid…
Roll out the dough.
With kitchen shears snip two-inch slits making sure there are equal amounts on each side.
Spread cream cheese…
add blueberries…
and braid by folding the dough slits over, alternating sides.
Brush with unsalted butter…
and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.
Serve! Not only is it tasty but it’s so pretty too. So pretty I’m always tempted to tie a big floppy bow on the end. But then again if you know my girls and me we have a thing for floppy bows! And speaking of girls, I do hope that someday I will be taking their calls as they engage in the traditional pre-getaway bustle!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I’d love to hear the memories you made or traditions you enjoyed!
I will be the first to admit that when it comes to the affairs of my home I have a lot of opinions on how things should be done. And by things I mean everything. I know this must come as such a shock to most of you.
But there comes a time as a mom when you need to “zip-it” and allow your children the freedom to try things their own way… situations where the process is more important than the product. Say a fish’s birthday party.
Elle loves her fish, Squirmey…
(she picked the spelling based on how it sounds. Not a word from little ole me.)
and wanted to celebrate his second birthday on July 6th…
(never mind that he was given to Elle on her birthday May 29th… I kept every logical suggestion to myself)
She reminded me of this on the 5th and began the birthday party preparations (Not a peep from this direction about last minute planning…)
The party began at 7 sharp. The guest of honor swam excitedly about in his tank.
(right by a sign that had his name spelled with a “p” rather than a “q” which I’ll let you sound it out. Yep, that’s right. With piles and piles of little card finished I decided to I keep this information to myself… afterall it’s not like the other guests would pick-up on it. There’s always time to work on “p” and “q” later…)
The guests arrived each with their own little fishy card.
Some underdressed… perhaps next time the attire should be written on the invite. Elle suggested it, not me, “How embarrassing for Cinderella” she said, “She must have thought she was going to swim with squirm. Next time I should be clear.”
We opened gifts of decorated a rocks and a glass jar to hold his food…
sang “Happy Birthday” and enjoyed a little phish food!
It was one of those memories as a mom that I will always cherish. Especially since I said nothing and was simply a guest at my grand fish’s fantastic birthday. It’s amazing how much our children can do, when we give them room to spread their creative wings and plan a party for a fish. A party that if I had said something I would have been a big ole wet blanket. So glad I said nothing… and just brought the ice cream.
The chickens have left the building also known as the large galvanized “condo” in the garage.
Just in time too as I was starting to worry that chicken protective services might come knocking on our door.
Never the less, after weeks of a lot of hard work by very generous friend whom we could not have done it without, my very hot builder of a husband and a couple of adorable assistants.
Some recycled materials, nails and a little elbow grease.
A coat of paint, or two.
Based on a poor painting performance in ‘99 one of us is not encouraged to paint… so she suns herself and offeres her opinion. Only when asked of course.
The little ladies made a big move to their cottage in the country…
also known as the corner of the yard.
Now we wait for our country fresh eggs… tick tock ladies!
Last week Elle and Maggie were invited for a play date. Actually it was more like a set- up, blind play date. The kind where two moms in real life, communicate often on facebook and decide their girls would be a perfect friend match.
In real life is seems perfectly logical, in writing it seems a bit odd… oh modern technology.
Back to the date. Like any first play date, it had the potential to go one of two ways.
Way 1. Great.
Way 2: Two moms awkwardly chatting for their children.
To help break the silence our darling hostess with the mostess put together a DIY cookie baking activity that was the cutest thing EVER!
Now you see why I wanted to hang out with them. There is a slight chance this set-up was more about me. Slight chance.
First the girls combined the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla…
and waited patiently in line for their turn at the mixer (a perfect time to chat)…
Then they added the flour, salt, baking soda…
and got back in the line for the mixer (more chat time).
And just when you think it couldn’t get any cuter, the girls filled a cup with their favorite mix-ins.
M&Ms, marshmallows, toffee, chocolate chips, and our favorite sprinkles.
Mixed them up…
Put them on a greased tray (this is where they need a little assistance)…
Slam dunk… both the cookies in milk and the play date.
A sweet way to bring friends together… don’t you think?
(To try it at home find your favorite chocolate cookie recipe, break it down into the number of bakers, and go crazy with your favorite mix-ins. It’s a sweet way to bring friends together)
