Just A Fun Weekend

Friday morning rough start.

Friday night Luke had a gig so the girls and I ate fish sticks and watched Pocahontas. 

Saturday: morning at the gym (swimming with the girls and my workout; Luke played basketball) and lunch at Smashburger. (Josie and I decided we wanted cheeseburgers - or 'hanna-bunnas wif cheese on it' as she calls them - the night before). 

Clem assembled a bag of accessories for our afternoon.






#1 dad

Princess Unicorn.

And Moana. (I was wearing a flower headband that Jenny wore as Frida Kahlo to Stachebash 2010.)

Beta testing Geordi LaForge costume.

Wearing the only pair of sunglasses in the car. (#1 dad)

Our first trip to Mid East Market in Ballwin. They have at least 3 kinds of rose water! I've never cooked with it but Bon Appetit had a recent article that inspired me to seek it out. I bought a bunch of sauces, pickles, and chutneys to try.

I made pizza dough, tomato sauce, and chocolate pots de creme for Sunday dinner and brown butter cardamom banana bread because there's always a bunch of overripe bananas on the counter. Saturday night: fish sticks and Pocohontas!

Sunday morning: an hour of swimming in the deeper pool, Luke and I paired with one girl as they swam and swam and swam. C is beginning to become a more proficient swimmer; Josie isn't there yet but can float well.

Swimsuits off - street clothes on - lunch of grilled cheese at the cafe - dance clothes on - street clothes on...

Dance lessons.

Jenny stopped by for a visit and dessert in the afternoon. Pizza for dinner

with Amanda and Cameron.

That night when I sat with Josie before bed I asked her about her favorite part of dance class. She answered that it is when they leap over the spot-holders on the floor "when we weep [leap] the stars."
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Nine Days in January

Luke went to Texas for nine days. But we survived! It was challenging to get the girls to school by 7:30 - workworkwork - pick them up - get dinner ready - bedtime routine ... and repeat. I was on call on night and more than once had to tell the person who called me "hold on a second - I can't hear you! I have to get away from my children."

My mom popped over for a couple of hours and I used that time to re-up on art supplies at Michael's.

We swam both weekend days. It was bitterly cold but worth it - they were so exhausted. They fell asleep easily those nights and I read, wrote on the blog, and watched Wonder Woman.

'"Take a picture of my chip."

This idea for a huge roll of paper for tracing their outlines was from The Artful Parent. I traced them as mermaids...

Clem 1) is very insistent about tracing or copying things and 2) our inventory expert. I have no idea where she found this bra and I'm pretty sure she found the purple one deliberately (most Ariel-like).

Self-portrait by Clem. She remembered her bangs!

Unfortunately this feather-and-glue project didn't hold their attention long - but the dining room still looks like backstage at a Vegas revue.

Tiny Baby is a toy that makes me smile because C swiped it from our very first daycare. She's small and lost easily - sometimes for months - but when she reappears (this time Josie found her in a closet)  C is so happy.

Also note: three headbands.

Next morning. Two headbands "because I'm a unicorn princess."

Loveys put to bed.

I was really impressed by Josie's watercolor Merida. She chose exactly the right color for her hair.

Their artwork side by side. Isn't it amazing the difference 17 months makes?

These paint sticks are great.

On Friday night a sitter came over and I went to a square dance with the squad. Saturday morning we had a playdate with new friends.

Luke was on the early Sunday flight from San Antonio and we picked him up at 9 am. We made it! Later that day was the girls' first dance lesson at their new studio. They loved it! Everyday they've asked - we're going to our dance lesson TODAY?!

Josie is in the mid-age range for this class - is taller than almost everyone.

Sunday night: meal prep (roasted sausages and veggies and quinoa) and a dinner of sous vide ribeye with an ancho-coffee rub and green beans.

C and I worked on her posters for the door of her classroom - she's the Star of the Week.

"Favorite Animal"

"Favorite Lovey"

That night Josie wandered the house, emerging from her room in different garments each time. (Lately she's been wearing either a swim coverup or a swim dress over her pajamas.) She added a unicorn tail.

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What's Making Me Happy This Week

Bedhead pajamas. I finally bought a pair of these made-in-Los Angeles pajamas and they are WORTH IT. So soft and they wash and dry well. I think this pair might be my next...

Beverages!

Mike's tea  In Elgin Mike shared his recipe for great iced tea and I'm sharing with you: to make a gallon, steep 3 bags of Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger and 3 bags decaf Green Tea. No caffeine, no sweeteners, no carbonation.

Pour over coffee  Everyone's talking about zero waste it seems and the bottles of Starbucks coffee I buy for my morning iced coffee + cream are such a waste of plastic and money. I bought Luke a Chemex for Christmas but I've been using it to brew then chill coffee.

Stevie. I read her unauthorized biography this month and spent some time listening to her records, solo and with Fleetwood Mac, to round out the experience. She entered my consciousness in high school with their 1997 live album. I've never seen her perform as a young woman with her voice in great shape. What an incredible performance.

Volume.  These volumizers are great for adding lift to first day and second day hair (and third day...) Living Proof Full Dry Volume Blast and Kerastase Volume in Powder (this one smells great).


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Lately

// Josie, putting her hand in the pocket of a re-discovered fleece jacket: "Ooo! A pocket for rocks."


// Josie has begun to draw human figures ... but NOT as well as Clemmie.





// This scene in the living room:

"Let her come to me," said Clementine, holding aloft a battery-operated nightlight. Josie played her part as Te Ka, crawling toward Clementine on her hands and knees. "You know who you are," Clementine sang softly.



// Every single time Luke picks up Josie she strokes the back of his head.






// Josie, after a stern lecture about how to hold the new Disney CDs so they don't get scratched, holding a CD gingerly: I think it has an itch on it.


// Josie was putting on her pajamas and after grabbing something from Luke corrected herself: "Oh Daddy. I sorry. I snatch."


// In case you were wondering...






// Swan Lake moments. They know the story from a beautifully illustrated book from my childhood. They thrill when - gasp! - we turn to the page when the beautiful Odile becomes a ghoul.

Christmas and New Year's 2017

Nutcracker ballet. We attended the 7:30 pm show because it was the only one we could manage between my call week and the band's gigs. We made it through the first act.

First snowfall. I made a Dutch baby in a cast iron skillet for breakfast - so pretty and so delicious!

C loves oatmeal raisins cookies - those were our second baking project.

Playing "beach" for several hours.

Christmas Eve. Pancakes and bacon for breakfast; grilled cheese for lunch; Ferdinand at the movie theatre.

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for Santa. These are pleasantly salty.

Of course I wanted them to wear their Christmas pajamas but somehow all (all 10 pairs?) of their pajamas were in the dirty clothes basket which is why they are each wearing a dress.





Christmas Day in WashMO.

Josie in her happy place - being held by Uncle Brett!

After our toast the girls sang "Skumps!" from Sleeping Beauty.






"Take my pitcher while I hold her."

Ballerina costumes.

Stay-home day with Daddy playing with the Christmas haul, including a Play Doh mold set. "Josie's making a fish."

Sous vide ribeye / carrots splashed with avocado oil and sprinkled with ras el hanout spice blend.

Pre-party Costco run. Luke waiting in line for a churro.

First pour over coffee!

Breakfast in a tutu.

All dressed up for Cinderella at the Fox. The best part of the show was on the on-stage costume changes from rags to ballgowns - when Cinderella's white ballgown was revealed, Josie exclaimed, "Her dress looks like mine!" and everyone around us laughed.

New Year's Eve Eve. After Cinderella and a fun pizza playdate with friends, we hustled the girls home for bedtime. Inauspicious sign: Josie had an accident which rarely happens. I changed her clothes and brought her into our room. She was restless, flailing around, and agitated -- somewhere between a night terror (she has those occasionally) and a feverish dream - "Mommy, there is a monster over there!" she kept saying. Luke took her temperature - 102 - and that broke with one dose of Tylenol. Eventually we got (some) sleep but I awoke congested with allergies and already tired. My parents came over at 9 and we all went to First Watch for breakfast. The girls went to WashMO overnight and I came home for the day-before party food prep: pressure cooking and shredding chicken into the mole I made earlier and starting a batch of sous vide carnitas.

I popped over to our friends' NYE party and came home early for a very quiet evening of tidying up, reading (Gold Dust Woman: the biopgraphy of Stevie Nicks), writing on the blog, waiting to shred the pork. Luke came home late from his gig and then we were up and running for our New Year's Day get-together, theme: Every Kiss Begins With Queso! Jenny came over for party prep. 👏

I was having too much fun and this is my only photo: the post-party clean-up of five crock pots and a three-dish warming tray. We cleaned up and drank the open bottle of wine and had a 90s pop radio dance party. 2018 is off to a great start.

This time in: 2011 // 2012 and this! // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 // 2016