A Little Fussy

A Resolution

2012-01-25T14:54:00.001-08:00

At the end of last year, one of my friends commented that she had only two family pictures from the whole year. It dawned on me that we were in the same boat. My grandmother had asked me for a picture of our family of three. It had taken me two months to just cave and take a picture (and another two months to actually print it-- ah, the digital age.

So one of my resolutions this year is to take a monthly family picture. Here's our first attempt:

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January Thaw

2012-01-22T18:01:00.001-08:00

As you may know, weather in Buffalo has been a little atypical of late. We had a green Christmas and now a weird warmish January peppered with lightish snow that melts pretty rapidly. I've always liked the January Thaw that we always get around this time of year but this year all of January has been a thaw. At this moment I seem two possibilities for our near future: 1) Hello, mega lake effect snow blizzard or 2) Hello, Al Gore's next slideshow presentation!

Either way, I decided to have a little fun and throw a little January Thaw dinner party. So I had my mom and aunt over for a dinner with a nice melty theme. Maddie and I made snowflakes to drip from the ceiling. (Don't worry I help the scissors. She just stuck every other snowflake on her play kitchen.) We also made pipecleaner snowflake napkin rings.

On the menu:

And of course, for dessert I tried out these melting snowman cookies that I found on Pinterest.

And this was also a little Pinterest discovery... and a science project that Maddie and I made in the "Super Fab Lab." I had meant these little snowflakes to be our napkin rings, but I forgot to do them with Maddie on Saturday and they take about 12 hours to do. You can find the directions at the link above, but you basically make pipecleaner snowflakes and crystalize them in Borax and water. Super easy, but only for the patient.

Sleep in Our House

2012-01-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

When I first met Rob, he was a champion sleeper. He could sleep anywhere, anytime. He would go to sleep at 10 and sleep past noon any day of the week. And then he would take a good three hour nap later that day.

Then we had Maddie and she was a champion not-sleeper. Seriously ever since God created insomniacs he's been practicing to get it right for Maddie. She started out pretty good for a newborn, sleeping four hours at a time. But by three months, she had settled into the night terrors, and she's never really shaken them. She regularly wakes up in a panic and terrified. I constantly wonder why she didn't get his ability to sleep.

In recent months, she's gotten much better. She has a few bad nights here and there. However in the month or so, she's gotten a little more casual about trying to get herself back to sleep when she wakes up. So we're working on that.

I'm starting with this:

A quick little calendar I drew out to help Maddie see her own progress. Every day that she sleeps well (that can include going to bed nice and easy, sleeping all night or at least going back to bed easily after she wakes at night), she gets to put a sticker on the calendar. When she gets five stickers in one week, she gets to go to the store and buy stickers. We just got a super big reward for last week because she did so well. She got a sticker book (seriously, I may love this stuff as much as she does).

You'll also note on the calendar that we were counting down to the day Maddie got her big girl bed. Next month, we start counting down to something else. Stay tuned for more!

Healthy Lunch Salad

2012-01-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of known in my office for having really unusual, healthy lunches. I've always been really picky about lunches but one thing I love is a whole grain salad. I try to do really simple things that don't take a lot of prep work and that can last most of the week, so that I am only making lunch once.

This salad is super simple to make and gets great reviews amongst my co-workers:

Quinoa Grape Salad

This is just red quinoa, a bunch of grapes, crumbled feta cheese and walnuts, tossed with a bit of lemon juice. A note about quinoa -- quinoa is awesome though I know it can be a bit intimidating to newbies. The secret is that you have to salt the water as you boil it. This salad I made with a package of red quinoa that my local grocery, Wegmans, sells. I doubt that most places have this, but regular quinoa works the exact same. I cook it according to the package and after it's cooked, toss in a bit of lemon juice. Then I let it cook to room temperature and add in the feta, grapes and walnuts. Second secret, I use Emerald Dry Roast Walnuts which are coated in some sort of liquid crack. They're seriously awesome.

The one package of red quinoa makes enough for about three to four lunches for me. Super easy and super delicious. Enjoy!

Wanderlust

2012-01-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

As always, this winter I have a little bit of wanderlust. The other day, my husband and I were discussing how our future vacations may be a little dicey. He's recently figured out that bright sun is his migraine trigger and I am a beach person. This apparently was news to him, probably because we've never been to a beach together.

I've always secretly fantasized about going to exotic locales, mostly archaeological but just never had a chance. I've been very lucky to be able to travel, but just not to these places. Here's my list:

Tahiti or Fiji: if I'm going to go and sit on an airplane for a while, I need to spend double that time in a bungalow over the water.

Manchu Pichu: one of my friends is going there on her honeymoon this year and listening to her training schedule is a bit daunting. I'm feeling my timeline running shorter on this one!

Tikal, Copan, Palenque, or pretty much any Middle American site: I have always been fascinated by stories of expedition crews trekking through the jungle and "oops, there's a temple!" My plan is to close my eyes and pretend for one minute...

Ankgor Wat: I hear it's swarming with tourists, but I have a fascination with this site in Cambodia. For some reason, I really want to do yoga here-- I always have.

Egypt: this is a must-see for someone who grew up watching Ten Commandments. My ideal would be a trip with my best friend who shared my love of Egypt to the point of taking a hellish Egyptology class on college (and studied with me by watching the Mummy).

China: there's a part of me that very much wants to travel the Silk Road and see the cave paintings of the Han dynasty.

Chitchen Itza: Nearby Acapulco wouldn't be so bad either, but I really want to see those stepped pyramids.

Part of the reason I don't go to these places is that I spend equal time daydreaming about places I've already been to. I would love for my next vacation to be Hawaii or Greece. I'm also getting a hankering to try Switzerland or England. Sadly, I think we're going to none of these places anytime soon, but there's always time to dream.

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Big Kid!

2012-01-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Guess who's in a big kid bed now!

Um... and she's a lot happier about it than she looks in this picture. Silly Mommy didn't have her camera on her moments before when Maddie was laying on her stomach reading a book just like a big kid. This was the reaction she gave me when I asked her to do it again for the camera.

I've been talking this up to Maddie for a while and she sat and watched me take apart her crib to make this toddler bed. She was so excited she jumped on her new bed for quite a while. But at bedtime I could tell she was a little anxious. It reminded me of oh so many nights when I was a kid and a teen and I went to bed after just having moved around my room. I remember feeling anxious about the new layout or just slightly ill at ease. I have a feeling that Maddie is like me and may not be so good with change.

And it also reminded me that since I moved to this apart almost 3 years ago, I have never once moved around my furniture. I grew up in a house where we always moved furniture. And by we, I mean my Mom (a.k.a. the Mad Mover). Mom shifted around the furniture in every room at least once a year, I swear. I always loved to rearrange my room.

Somehow I just don't do that anymore. Somehow I get a set idea of where furniture should go when I move into a place and I never really try a new layout. My bedroom is looking a little shabby -- maybe I should give it a go!

Back to the subject at hand... Maddie's big kid bed is just one of several "big kid milestones" that we're facing over the next few months. Keep your fingers crossed for me and here's hoping my new year's resolution doesn't go out like the wind.

Off to Market

2012-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned here, this Christmas Maddie got some food to play with -- but that was just part of the bigger picture. Here's what she really got for Christmas:

A Farmer's Market Stand.

Again, I was inspired by more expensive toys. This farmer's market is available at Amazon:

I did also dream a little bit about this:

But hello, we live in an apartment. And we're not rich (or German to read the instructions on how to do this.)

Luckily things sort of came together for us. I was at Michael's and found these vegetable crates on clearance for $7 (score!) and I have an awesome brother who does wood working. So I sent him this picture and he built me a far superior scale which Maddie now uses to weigh her stickers (another gift from Santa). She does love the whole stand area and plays over there all the time. But I have a feeling it will develop even more. Those milk bottles may be the next future craft... we shall see.

A Healthy Craft

2012-01-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's the big reveal of the felt craft that captured all my attention throughout the holiday season. Back in the spring when I was buying Maddie a play kitchen for her birthday, I knew I wanted to give her some food to play with. I had this in mind actually, something which I had seen long ago:
(which can be purchased on Amazon.)

But then I started thinking, I could probably make fruits and veggies on my own. I was just to the point of figuring out how to make a fabric sphere when I saw a pin on pinterest to buy patterns for felt food of all different kings at umecrafts.

Once I visited umecrafts I got a little impulsive. There was a nice little sale going on and I ended up buying four different sets of patterns. Hence my HUGE pile of felt that I showed you in my previous post.

Throughout November and Decemeber, I set my little crafty fingers to work and made tons of food for Maddie and my niece's Christmas gifts. Here are some pictures of most of them...

Veggies including eggplant, summer squash, broccoli (it's small so you might not see it in the basket!), artichokes and cabbage.

Fruits including watermelon, oranges, tomatoes, banana, apple, and grapefruit. In the background is a grocery bag I made for Maddie from an old coffee sack.

A Barista set which I made as a joint gift for Maddie and her dad, who is a barista. The set includes a brownie and ice cream, hot cocoa, coffee, latte, cheesecake and lemon meringue pie (in the takeout container). Also not pictured is a cappuccino, mocha and tea.

Pizza set with deep-dish and thin crust pizzas and toppings including pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and tomatoes (hmmm, which are mysteriously missing... perhaps I need to clean!) This also includes a pizza server and cutter.

Also as a tribute to Maddie's daddy, I personalized this by making a pizza box with a special "Pizza Girl" logo since her dad used to work at "Pizza Man" in Covington, Louisiana.

I may have gotten a little obsessed and truthfully I'm still going long after Christmas. Once I got into the habit, it seemed easy to come up with a few more items on my own. I'm started deviating from the pattern and turned squash into eggplant (easy!) and blew up my orange pattern to make the grapefruit. Then I played with the apple pattern and made the tomato. I also played around a bit to make the fruit segments to stick together. The apple pattern called for the core to be made in velcro, but nothing else seemed likely to bond. I played a little bit with craft magnets stuffed inside the orange pieces but it really didn't work. You can see I added snaps to the tomato to make it bond. The grapefruit was easy --I just added velcro to the pith section. I may soon have another post with some new patterns that I'm working on. But I do highly recommend umecrafts. These patterns are super easy to follow and really got me into a great new craft.

Butterflies... the Real Thing

2012-01-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

I've blogged about the Butterfly Conservatory before, but here is the Christmas version!

This time we were lucky to have some special guests: my niece, Annie, her parents and her brother (none of whom are pictured here, Annie kind of stole the show.)

Annie and her grandma look around for butterflies.

Maddie found something interesting with her binoculars.

There was a whole lot more running around this time. Annie gave a squeal when she saw her first butterfly and that led to a whole lot of squealing and running away from anything that moved.

Try though they might, neither of the girls were used as landing sites. But we sure had an awesome time.

Magic Butterflies

2012-01-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

When I took Chemistry as a junior in high school, I had an awful teacher who basically treated us like kindergarteners. This is the one thing I learned in Chemistry - magic butterflies. (I still remember Mr. Herman placing the emphasis on the magic part, hence I to this day have absolutely no idea why this was a chemistry lab.)

I decided to try this idea out with Maddie and my niece, Annie, as we're taking them to the Butterfly Conservatory this week.This is absolutely perfect for two-year-olds and they really loved doing it. As an added treat, they're both marker crazy right now and got markers for Christmas. Score.

Here's what you do: Take a conical coffee filter and cut along the two folds on the side. Open the filter, and you should have a perfect butterfly shape.

Let the kids draw all over the filters with washable markers. They can color as much or as little as they would like.

(My niece discovered a new species of butterfly -- the H fly.)

Once they've had enough with coloring, it's time for the magic to begin.

Dip the edges of the butterfly into a bowl of water, and all the colors will run together and spread throughout the coffee filter. (Maddie is paying close attention to this step with the binoculars we made). Because these little ones don't have too much of an attention span, I ended up dipping pretty much the whole filter in the water, but older kids might like to see the water actual spread into the filter (I think this is the chemistry part that we missed courtesy of Mr. Hogwarts School of Magic).

We added little pipecleaner antenae to our butterflies and my sister-in-law and I decided that the paper towels we set them on were just as pretty! Here's Maddie's butterfly:

Resolutions

2012-01-07T10:59:00.001-08:00

This year I made 12 resolutions (because it's 2012, get it?) I'm a big fan of resolutions and I think the real key is to pick things that have been weighing heavily on your mind already. My resolutions are never things that are ritualistic but more characteristic. For example, this year I'm going to work on patience... Because I'm going to need it.

I never really good identify if I was an overly patient person or not, but with a two-year-old, I'm realizing that I'm not. So I'm working on being slow to anger, being calm and forgetting that feeling of rush, and most importantly, no snap decisions on discipline. I'm totally Phil and Claire Dunphy and Set a limit without realizing that of course I'm going to have to enforce it. (Anybody see the Modern Family where they took away Christmas?)

Anyway... Back to topic. While I'm not sharing all of my resolutions here (uh, you'd be bored, really) I am going to share one that will appear on this blog.
For lack of a better way to say this, my resolution is to do more educational activities for Maddie.

That involves two things:

I'm planning to create a monthly activity for Maddie that will help us get through the winter, but hopefully will continue on throughout the year. Each month I'll be crafting a larger-scale toy that Maddie can play with that will help with the long days indoors. Of course, I'll post pictures and details here so stay tuned.

And I just totally forgot the second thing. No joke. We're off to a good start here. Ok... to be continued...

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My Dad

2012-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Twenty-five years ago, my father passed away. He was a wonderful man who influenced my life in countless ways - and that seems like such an understatement. But there really aren't a whole lot of words to say how much he meant.

The Gift of Time

2012-01-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years, Rob and I have tried to give each other at least one gift that is more meaning than money. Though we still give each other gifts, it's something a little more personal and well, meaningful. Last year, we gave each other 20 coupons that ranged from little chores around the house to special "get-out-of-jail-free" cards. This year, I saw this idea and was inspired -- until I started trying to put together ideas and babysitters, and then I though, eh -- next year.

Originally posted at FindJoyInTheJourney.

But I did take a hint from this idea and came up with a different possibility. Rob and I are giving each other a calendar with 1 sticker each per month. That sticker is for our own personal day off.

Since Rob usually works 6 days a week and Maddie requires some attention here and there, one of my big complaints since becoming a mom is the lack of a day off. Rob of course takes that one day a week as an excuse to crash and is always hesitant to do anything that day as it's his day off.

To combat the problem, Rob and I are making a list of three things that constitute a day off. Mine are: 1 hour home by myself, a nap, and being able to cook or grocery shop alone. Each month, I'm going to put my day off sticker on one day, when Rob is off too and he has to give me my three day-off requirements, and vice versa obviously. We'll try to work in a few date nights too;)

Hello 2012

2012-01-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

I know that New Year's Eve was two nights ago, but to me tonight feels more like the end of the old year and the start of something new. On the eve of going back to work after a long vacation, I find myself making lots of resolutions and invisioning a whole new start. It seems the time to evaluate, so here goes. On this the last day of the old I find:

There's finally snow on the ground (please let this be a sign of lots of snow days but not a late spring!)
My house is an absolute catastophe. And I've tried cleaning just about every day.
I have absolutely nothing to wear tomorrow.
There are precisely two Christmas cookies left and I consider it my duty to eat them tonight before the resolutions kick in.
All the work I said I would do over my vacation has not been miraculously done by elvesas I originally thought it would be. (That may have been a bit naive.)
I just discovered that my Christmas shopping is not done.

When I told Maddie I was going back to work tomorrow, she said, "Yea!" I'm trying not to be insulted (she followed that by "Grandma's House!" which hey, I'd be excited about too.)Well, tomorrow is a new day. So I guess there's nothing like a fresh start with no mistakes.

The Family Tree 2011

2011-12-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

So I had this great idea to share one of our family Christmas traditions with you all, my loyal readers (most of whom are actually in the family and already know of the tradition). And then I got a sneaking suspicion... So I looked back a year and yup... I already blogged about this here. But guess what, I'm going to blog about it a little more because I love this tradition and because it's very timely at the moment.

About 16 years ago when I was in high school (yeah... that's how old I am), I got this idea to make a new family tradition. The truth of the matter is that though I had a lovely childhood, we sadly lost a lot of family members during my preteen and teenage years and my cousins and I often felt that our family was ever shrinking instead of expanding -- not a very joyful Christmas concept. I wanted to do something that would honor each member of our family and find a way to keep them with us even when they couldn't always be there. Truthfully, I wish I had done it long before we had lost so many of those family members.

That first Christmas I spent weeks and weeks up in my room in the attic, painstakingly (but truthfully clumsily) crafting one ornament for each member of the family using glass ornaments, paints, glitter and an oh-so-difficult-to-use-without-burning-yourself glue gun. I tried to make each ornament reflect an aspect of that family member. Seashells for my mother who loves Long Island and the beach, western theme for my cousin who rides horses, music notes for my brother and sister-in-law who play piano, etc... I cried tears of frustration trying to get things to stay glued and get the letters of names to look just right (as I said, I am never too neat with crafts though I wish I could be).

Some of those ornaments have seen better days, and periodically I need to make an update or too (One of my most loyal blog readers gets an upgrade next year!) I've also joyfully had to make a few additions. My sister-in-laws parents, my new cousin Tom, and of course three new ones for our newest little ones: Maddie, my niece and my nephew.
Here's my aunt Luann's which I talked about recrafting last year, designed to look like a patchwork quilt -- go ahead and name that pattern.

Each year that Christmas is at my Mom's house, she graciously allows us to hang the ornaments on the tree. I get the joy of handing an ornament to each person and watching them put it on their branch. (Yes, Rob and I are the only ones I think who follow the true Days of Our Lives tradition and put ours in a cluster. Mine's the clear glass with a little hippie-ish beading for my PP&M-loving soul. Rob's is decoupaged newspapers for as Rob says "Remember when I used to read newspapers?" and Maddie's is ducky-themed since she never appeared without a duck until she was 2. I'm sure she'll love that as a teenager.)

For those who couldn't make it to our Christmas or who are no longer with us, we still hang their ornament on our tree -- a way for them to be present even when they aren't physically there. My aunt who lives in Africa every year has an ornament hung on the tree by her sister -- and next year, she'll be home to hang her own.

My mom likes a simple tree, nicely flocked with very few ornaments and I know this tradition makes her a little edgy to see such a cluttered tree. Plus the whole effort of getting people to climb over people to get to the tree can be a little crazy. This year we had 16 plus three little ones so it was indeed a bit chaotic. It may be selfish of me, but I love it. Because every time I see all those ornaments, I think about how we started with 11.

***

Now here's the part where nice, sentimental Christmas turns into expose your inner crazy soap geek, Alex. Yes, this tradition originated with Days of Our Lives -- and believe me, I have taken no small amount of teasing for this fact. Since it certainly seems to me that we may be nearing the end of the soap opera genre with all the recent cancellations, I'd like to take a moment here and tell you why I frown at all you who poo-poo the Days of Our Lives ornaments! [Of course, if my explanation of the tradition left you cold, you can just skip this part altogether, because you are not the sentimental type!]

I grew up watching DOOL, and occasionally still watch it today. From the time I was three years old, I watched Days: since I wouldn't nap, my mom would let me sit quietly next to her while she watched her soap. Some of you sceptics may not like to hear this, but I think watching soaps made me more creative, better at multitasking, more able to focus (come on how many conversations can you pay attention to at one time? I'm known to follow three or four), and analytical (you have to be able to think through how Stefano could have died seven times).

But at this time of year, I always love to watch soaps and I usually watch a few more shows than usual. There's something magical about a soap opera Christmas episode that always puts me in the mood for the holidays. Watching the Days' Horton family hang their ornaments, or the GH Twas the Night Before Christmas reading (which I think they skipped this year!) is just like watching those old Christmas classics on television. I still remember seeing the Cory family celebrate around their tree (in their mansion) on Another World and thinking someday I want that. And it's nice to know that as this stage of my life, I have my own little soap opera Christmas moment (still no mansion, though). So Viva La Soap -- seriously, do something right for your brain and indulge in a little romantical education daytime television today.

If you're not familiar with the Days Christmas tradition, here it is. I cannot believe they have this one on YouTube. Hello, 1976!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T11:54:00.001-08:00

Darned if this doesn't happen to me every year... I really had a tough time feeling like it was Christmas this year. That's what happens when you live in Buffalo and have a green Christmas.

Plus, this year I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas night on my lonesome (after Maddie went to bed that is.) That didn't really help with the post-Christmas letdown.

But guess what! It's snowing!
And guess what! I'm in the mood for Christmas.

So here are a few last Christmas wrap-up photos to enjoy.

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Maddie's Christmas book that has a working street lamp and plays We Wish You A Merry Christmas; Maddie shows her new Cinderella doll (and box of art supplies) the new fallen snow; Mommy's boots, Baby's boots, Lalaloopsy's boots; Our tree all aglow with Santa's Little Helper wearing her awesome Christmas jammies.

Plus, Santa came to visit me. I found $50 in my sock drawer which apparently I was saving towards Christmas gifts... to myself. So Merry three-days-after Christmas, everyone!

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Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Once again, we were lucky enough to have a wonderful Christmas, filled with lots of family time.

(From left to right): Row 1: A blurry picture of Maddie's first view at her Christmas stocking; Every item was the most exciting thing in the world; Maddie shows off her new stickers, the greatest gift a toddler can get apparently. Row 2: Rob enjoys his new Chemex; My sister-in-law, Jeannie, shows Baby Ian his new book, Hug; Maddie and her cousin, Annie, play house under the dining room table. Row 3: One of the greatest gifts we all got -- my 96-year-old grandmother with her grandchildren; The grandchildren on the stairs, note Maddie has inherited her mother's ability to do the Days of Our Lives pose (though Annie's pretty dramatic too!) Row 4: Maddie "helps" Grandma with Baby Ian; Rob and I get a moment of Christmas cheer. Row 5: Santa; My poor brother, Jim, who had a cold, but still this photo is just him, and his son, Ian. Row 6: The hit gift of the season, a microphone from Grandma, allows Maddie to be a little more dramatic than she usually is; Grandma and Maddie enjoy Christmas party #2; Baby Ian peeks over Aunt Dode's shoulder.

And God bless us, every one.

The True Meaning of Christmas

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

"and the angel of the Lord appeared to them and said, 'Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy.'" I admit I'm picturing little Linus and his blanket in the spotlight right now.

This is quickly becoming my favorite annual post -- the Christmas crèche post.

Here's this year's:

I like to let Maddie play with the crèche and as she plays I try to tell her what it is. This year we really got it.

"It's a barn." "Oh, a barn." "And this is Mary." "Oh, Mary." "And Mary had a baby named Jesus." "Oh, cheeses."

That's Maddie's 'paying attention' response. She's very good at repeating and saying "oh" like you've just said the most fascinating thing in the world.

This year, Maddie decided everyone needed to be in the barn -- (apparently lots of people were inconvenienced by that overbooked in) shepherds, kings, sheep, angels, et al.

She also really upped the joy factor by adding a bunch of jingle bells to the manger. Apparently, Baby Cheeses, there's no room for you in the manger either.

But my favorite thing that Maddie does is show how rambunctious those barn residents were. They seem to be climbing the walls to get some space of their own.

Hope this little reflection helps you find the true meaning of Christmas!

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Merry Kissmas!

2011-12-21T05:46:00.000-08:00

We had a Kisstastic day this weekend. Maddie and I made peanut butter kiss cookies:

I'm not above using child labor.

Maddie unwrapped all the kisses and helped me measure and stir the cookies.

This is when she said, "This is hard work!"

She also kissed all the cookies:

We also did a little Christmas decoration project. Seven years ago, Rob proposed to me under the mistletoe. I saved the mistletoe but never hang it up because I'm always afraid it will crumble and it's poisonous to cats (and probably little people, too!)

This year, my mom had this great idea:

So there it is perfectly preserved and contained, safe for all.

And it still works after all these years.

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A Christmas Wreath

2011-12-18T05:25:00.000-08:00

Warning: this is the easiest Christmas project ever.

I wanted to do a few little Christmas decorations for Maddie's room, but then realized that things taped on walls can seem awfully weird in the middle of the night to a toddler with night terror issues. So I decided to keep it simple and make a wreath for her door. Voila:

I was inspired by a wreath I saw in the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens. (I searched their site to find something to link to, but nada so just buy the magazine... Or do this.)

I used a giant spool of gift wrap ribbon in white and started tying 6 inch strips (a little Elf humor for you!) to my embroidery hoop, clustering them along the way. I curled them in small groups to avoid confusion with all those ribbons.

This was the part where I had lots of helpers. See?

In the end Maddie approved.

How about a close-up of that cute face:

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I added a little red bow at the bottom and hung it with red ribbon on the back of her door (nicely out-of-sight from her crib. Phew!)

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New Orleans Part Deux

2011-12-17T16:49:00.001-08:00

Here are some more pictures of our trip to New Orleans -- and I may actually be in most of them (shocking, I know! It turns out my husband takes lots of pictures of me.)

Maddie and I in front of Jackson Square. Maddie's pointing out a Christmas tree that's behind Rob.

Maddie hopped a ride aboard the Carousel at City Park during Christmas under the Oaks.

Maddie and I pose in front of the St. Charles streetcar at Riverbend. I'm pretty sure that yellow sign says don't stand here.

On the streetcar.

Somebody loves Strawberries Romanov at La Madeleine's.

She made a few new friends-- like her cousins.

And of course, Woofster (whose really name is Clyde S. Dale, but Maddie made the good choice to rename him.)

All in all, a good trip!

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AaBbCc - Come Sing With Me!

2011-12-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's another craft project made of felt! I decided to do this simple alphabet game to help Maddie learn her lower case letters. She knows all of her upper cases, but is just starting to learn the little ones.

I took a large piece of white felt (they come prepackaged at about 40cmx60cm, and I halved it) and sewed on 26 pockets of brightly colored felt.

Each pocket has a lower case letter on it. I took the small (20cmx20cm) precut squares and folding them into sixths, and cut them into squares. Half of my sixths went to pockets and the others went to making letters.

And I made upper case letters by
Taking a sixth of the felt, folding it in half and then sewing the letter in the center to take up as much of the fabric as possible. Then I trimmed around the edges.

I did free hand this because I'm gutsy, and admittedly a few of my letters are a little wonky. (Huh, autocorrect wants to make wonky into robot. Intriguing choice!) my S is pretty sad actually. If you want to give yourself a guide, you could use soap to draw your letters.

I trimmed all my pockets to match size-wise and sewed a small case letter with embroidery thread that matched the color of the upper case letter. Then I laid them out to make sure the fit, and sewed them onto my white felt with a sewing machine.

Really this project was nothing fancy. I sewed the letters during nap time each day for about four days. Maddie would tell me, "Make my letters, Mommy" before going to snooze. The pockets went really fast-- I think I finished them in two days. And then sewing them to the backing took a few hours because someone wanted to sit on my lap -- which just makes me nervous around a sewing machine.

End result -- Maddie loves it. Though she seems to enjoy matching by color rather than letter.

As you can see, she's shoving all the orange letters in the orange pocket.

The plan is to hang this on Maddie's closet door but I haven't quite gotten around to it. Maybe after Christmas. Until then Maddie enjoys laying it out on the floor to play with.

See? It apparently makes a great mat, too.

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Christmas in New Orleans

2011-12-13T07:54:00.001-08:00

After five long years, we finally made it back to NOLA for a long awaited visit with Rob's family. Maddie was introduced to the city we both love so dearly and had a great time (then she got sick. Oh well it was good while it lasted!)

Maddie checks out the forecast before boarding the plane to New Orleans.

St. Louis Cathedral decked for Christmas.

Coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Maddie and Mommy cuddle up over beignets. She really only liked the "flour" on top.

Maddie has a muffin in the PJs on Tulane campus. Over her shoulder is the exact spot where Rob and I first met.

Maddie sits under the oaks at Newcomb.

Maddie has lunch at her namesake --La Madeleine at Riverbend.

Ok, it looks like all I did was take pictures of Maddie eating. But Rob took more so there will be a part two to this post.

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Counting Down Part II

2011-12-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

Advent calendars have always been a big part of my family's Christmas traditions. We usually had a very traditional advent calendar, like the kind with the little Christmas snow scene accented in glitter, and little quaint pictures behind each window. I remember vividly when someone I knew had a chocolate-filled advent calendar -- being just a little bit jealous, but still the magic was in the simplicity.

When I got to college, my Mom did the most awesome thing for my best friend Melisa and I. She gave us advent gifts to help us count down not to Christmas, but until the day we got to come home. She gave us each one gift for each day of December that we would be in New Orleans. Most of them were simple things -- little Christmas decorations, a Christmas wall hanging, a CD (or maybe it was a tape -- I guess I'm dating myself). Each gift was wrapped up and we would open them together. I still remember how incredibly exciting that was and how much it meant to Melisa and me. We still talk about it and it is something I hope to do for Maddie some day.

This year, my Mom gave Maddie an awesome Eric Carle calendar that I talk about here. And she also gave us a quilted pocket calendar that I've stowed away for next year. But I've seen so many advent calendar ideas lately on Pinterest that I am seriously contemplating having a few calendars around the house.

Here are a few of them:

Originally posted at AubreyandLindsay. Each bag has an ornament for the Christmas tree.

Originally posted at HowDoesShe. I just really like the modern graphic look of this simple calendar.

Originally posted at KatherineMariePhotography. I love this idea. Wrap up 24 Christmas books (new or old -- it doesn't matter) and each night unwrap one to read. My Christmas book collection needs to grow a bit before I try this, but maybe by next year!

Pinteresting

2011-12-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

I'm setting myself a little new Christmas resolution. I know the Christmas season has just arrived, but I'm actually feeling the pinch a little bit. I took on a very ambitious Christmas gift craft project that is taking me way too much time (but is also really fun!) That means that all the super cute decorations that I have pinned over the past many months over at Pinterest, are not going to happen this year. So I'm already looking ahead to next year. So let's just see... Next year, when I look back at the blog in say November, will I have made these things?:

Originally posted on TwoJunkChix.

Originally posted on StumbleandStitches here -- and by the way, this was the right idea, because it was posted in July! When I should have started crafting Christmas decorations apparently.

Originally posted here at ravelry.com. There's a pattern, but I'm telling you right now I'm faking this one with felt.

Felt is my new best friend. In fact, that's part of my huge Christmas craft project. I can't share any details yet, because it's part of a Christmas gift for someone and I don't want to spoil the secret, but...

This whomping pile of felt gave me goosebumps down my spine. It's so exciting. And I'll tell you, I ended up buying even more felt than that. But I'm getting a ton of projects out of it all. Stay tuned for more!

The Christmas Waltz

2011-12-07T19:52:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of dancing with Maddie to Christmas records. She's memorized all my choreography and seems to want to switch partners.

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Pomegranate pancakes

2011-12-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

**warning, these photos do no justice!

This morning I tried to make Ashley's (from Under the Sycamore) Buttermilk Pancakes. At the same time, I decided to show Maddie something new: a pomegranate.

Maddie often asks us what we need so she can write a shopping list. I like to give her fun food words to write and pomegranate is a popular one. Lo and behold they were on sale the other day, so I grab one. I cut it open to show Maddie and she had the brilliant idea of adding it to our pancake batter. Healthy and delicious!

How's this for added nutritional value, we not only had pomegranate in our pancakes, but I was out of eggs, so I added applesauce (and just bumped up the baking soda and powder).

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Raising a reader

2011-12-03T14:08:00.000-08:00

I saw this article in Parents Magazine this month on raising a reader and thought I would pass it along. It's an article on how to teach your child to enjoy reading, and here's Maddie reading.

(The picture on the left is what happened when I said, "Smile, Maddie!")

I know what you're thinking: "I hate those moms who brag about how great there kid is at everything!" Well, I'm going to brag about how great Maddie is about something. Maddie is a GREAT shopper.

Because though you really thought these pictures were about Maddie's amazing reading abilities, if you look closely you'll see what Maddie really does is flip over all the books to the back page where most books show other books by the same author. Then she points to each one and says "I buy that one, I buy that one, I buy that one."

(Of course, while you're looking closely, you'll also notice that I let Maddie put stickers on the wall. Some battles are just too hard to fight.)

And then Maddie likes to toss the books into a big pile. She does this with a great deal of style.

Clean up time

2011-12-02T15:22:00.001-08:00

After dinner tonight, I cleaned up the living room and cleared off the coffeetable (our usual play area). Maddie promptly told me, "I put something on the table."

Next thing I knew this is what my coffeetable looked like:

Here's the girl with all the decorating sense:

Apparently tchotchkes are in.

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Let the countdown begin!

2011-12-01T10:19:00.001-08:00

I mentioned on Facebook this morning that Maddie and I were beginning a Christmas countdown with our Eric Carle advent calendar. My comment got some curiosity so I'm sharing now because this truly is awesome.

My mom found us this calendar at a Barnes and Noble-- well actually at a BN sale benefitting my school! For those of you not familiar (Sarah), Eric Carle is the author/artist of the Hungry Caterpillar and Dream Snow, a Christmas book.

The calendar is way more awesome than it sounds because it's actually ... Wait for it... A pop-up calendar.

Tadaa! (you love my crappy iPhone photos. Admit it.)

Each day as you open the door, you get a little ornament to hang on the tree.

Today's was the little green Santa ornament you can see here.

Oh and Maddie filled all the pop up present boxes with rocks. You know just in case you were looking for an idea on how to use yours.

Happy counting!

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My Christmas Wish List

2011-11-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

I could seriously shop for myself year-long, but somehow everytime I go to write a wish list for myself every single thing I have wanted all year go right out of my head. Plus, there's something really intoxicating about buying gifts for a little one. So far Maddie has asked for stickers, paints and a purple tricycle (or treecle), but I seem to think that she wants a whole lot more. Like have you seen those Lalaloopsy dolls? Those things are so cute! And is it sad that I'm kind of wishing they made Children's Place clothes in adult sizes? I would love it if my wardrobe consisted in mix and match leggings (with skirts attached please) and graphic tees.

Anyway back to me. Here's what I finally came up with:

A short sleeve cardigan type thing (in grey or white) or a long sleep shawl like sweater (in any color). Yeah, I know this is really specific, but it seems like I've seen a million in stores and can't find any online. These two were at Old Navy -- which by the way, I really seem to be digging now, so an Old Navy or Gap gift card wouldn't be such a bad gift idea either!

Pajamma bottoms - nothing fancy, just a simple pair like Victoria Secret's (the graphic is a little intimidating!)

A book on Jackie Kennedy -- I'd kind of like to read this one, but truthfully I would probably never have a chance to listen to the dvds. So really any Jackie book would do.
It is the 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's and you know I'm a fan!
Every Spring I read a Jane Austen book, and I have had a hankering for this one for a long time! These three are all obviously from Amazon and I do have a wishlist there.

This is purely a dream item but...

This makes me giggle. We currently have none of the Lost DVDs and we would like to eventually have all of them. So we might as well dream big.

Oh and I totally want these socks:

I do actually have an older wishlist here that I still would love some items from (I got the dinnerware, thanks J&J!)

Oh and here's one more pipe dream:

Yeah, it's $300 so I doubt Santa will drop that puppy down the chimney, but I'll just drop it out there in case I have any really rich secret admirers.

That was pretty impressive for not wanting anything, huh? It's amazing how your need for stuff just grows...

Maddie is short for...

2011-11-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

Princess. That's what Maddie told me the other night.

In case there was any doubt.

After the struggle

2011-11-26T10:04:00.001-08:00

We have a new sleep issue in the house! We've had at least a year of good napping so it definitely seemed time to mix things up a bit.

(Naptime on a nice peaceful day. Sometimes she just looks so angelic I can't help but snap a few pictures).

Over the past two months or so, naptime has devolved into a knockdown drag-out fight. She used to nap from 11:30-12ish until 2pm, now it takes until about 1-1:30 to get her to go down.*

Somedays I struggle back and try to make her nap. Bribes and threats have been heard in our house. Of course, days when there's a tight schedule are sure to include as much schedule disruption as possible and usually no naps and cranky people (I.e. Mommy).

After Thanksgiving I just decided to chill. I hate to say it but she may just not need a nap as much anymore (Though I do!) So I've just been letting her play a bit longer after lunch time and then coaxing her to sit quietly.

Today there was struggle with sitting quietly and then she fell asleep like this:

If that doesn't say it all.

*The kicker of course is that she only does this for me. My mom gets her down with no struggle. Rob drops her in her crib and says "see well." Maybe she sees me as the sucker, but she's always had big separation anxiety.

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Thanks!

2011-11-23T19:32:00.001-08:00

I found this cute idea for Thankful Turkeys here and decided that this would be perfect for us this year. Maddie and I went on a pinecone hunt, then we made feathers and labeled each feather with something that we were grateful for. Let's take a closer look at Maddie's shall we?

Stickers, Annie & Ian,Mommy, Daddy, G-Ma (Grandma), GG, Dodie (Technically, she said "people" but when I started listing people we knew she said uh-huh.), Kopeka, Polka Dots (this was a new one to me), Paints.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall!

2011-11-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

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Delish.... Ous.

2011-11-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

I had one last Halloween urge left in my system and that was to make these chocolate doughnuts. So I made them last night with a very special helper. I unfortunately never got any pictures of the doughtnut maker as we were both quite the mess, but I do have two perfectly preserved flour handprints on my bedroom door to memorialize the occasion.

Here's what I have to share Martha Stewart is a genius and these treats were one of her best ideas. She probable did not make them on an electric oven though --not great for frying. Consequently my doughnuts are a bit on the crispy (read: burned) side. But they taste good.

Here's the recipe for Chocolate-Caramel Doughnuts Holes.

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Trick or Treat

2011-11-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, I am so late in posting this but here's a little Halloween wrap-up. Maddie was Tinkerbell this year. Her costume was lovingly made by her Grandma.

(Tink really loves Kitty!)

Dollar store wings!

And we took Maddie trick or treating for the first time this year. We live in a pretty ritzy neighborhood (uh, we aren't the ritzy ones though) -- so we thought hey, let's see how the other half trick or treats. It turns out, they do pretty well. Most houses we went to gave out 3 or 4 pieces of candy each!

Anyway, Maddie loved it. She tried to take the whole basket at the first house... And tried to go into their house (note: time to teach Maddie about Stranger Danger). All the neighbors loved her and she got some "croclate":

Maddie had some trouble eating a piece of gummy candy:

Yesterday we went for a walk on that same street and Mads sat down on the sidewalk and told me she wanted to go Trick or Treating.

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Tales of a Pumpkin

2011-10-29T12:16:00.001-07:00

I'm really behind on all of my Halloween posts. I have been blog-absent and I apologize. But I wanted to share this one nugget of information that I discovered this year. Pumpkins and me do not mix.

We headed out to Niagara County to buy a pumpkin in mid-October. As it turned out it was pretty raining and the farm we went to was pretty much picked out. So we headed to Harris's Farm which had a great supply. Maddie loved picking out her pumpkin.
>
In fact for days afterward, she hugged it and told me "I love Pumpkin."

We carved our pumpkin a little too early I guess. Rule #1: when you live in an apartment that is warm, carve your pumpkin the night before Halloween. We did not.

Here I am carving the pumpkin -- this was apparently just an activity for me. As much as Maddie looks interested in this picture, her interest was short lived.

Two days before Halloween, our pumpkin had liquified. And thus by Halloween, we had no Jack-o-latern.

Part two of our pumpkin debacle involved my favorite part of Halloween: PUMPKIN SEEDS!!

Let's just say this. Don't leave pumpkin seeds in an open container on a shelf that you frequently use. Don't do it twice. Or you will eat no pumpkin seeds this year.

Boo

2011-10-29T12:14:00.001-07:00

Normally, I don't go in for Halloween, but with a little one I've actually been pretty into it this year. I even went all out for some crafty decorations. And at the last minute as I caught sight of a Toys R Us catalog I decided to make these:

I saw a picture of those little Ugly Dolls and thought, "Hey, I can do that." And then I thought it was perfect for Halloween. So I whipped these up from some spare felt, thinking Maddie would enjoy them. Instead she tried to pull off their eyes and said, "No Ghosties!" Ah, well. They'll keep until next year.

These little ghosties were courtesy of a Pinterest post (I'd love to link it, but I apparently never pinned it). Maddie had a ball making them. Can you pick out which ones she made? Then of course she spent days filling each one with crayons and rocks, which is why if you look closely, these are multi-color speckled ghosties.

And they're perfectly at home underneath a little spider web...

But this is my favorite picture of all time. Maddie and I made some cutout bats and scaredy cats for our window. Can you tell which one is the real cat and which one is the cutout? (Give you a hint, the real one is fat.)

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A Taste of Fall

2011-10-26T09:18:00.001-07:00

For me, October is less about Halloween and more about Fall food. I've been pretty busy cooking some of the recipes I've found on Pinterest lately. But the other day I decided to try something new.

Buffalo is pretty big on sweet potato fries... And that got me thinking: what if I made Butternut Squash Fries?

(Somehow these photos always look so much more appealing on my iPhone. I really need to get a new camera!)

So I made French Dip (recipe found here through Pinterest) with a side of Butternut Squash Fries.

I'm not a big fry person and I've never made them from scratch before. I experimented a little and I'm sure a better cook would know the best way to actually fry these-- I ended up baking them.

To try it for yourself just seed and cut up one butternut squash. I chose to cut them into very thin matchsticks. Toss them in olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons, you want them pretty oily or they'll stick) and spread thinly on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees, turning occasionally until browned (about 20 minutes). Sprinkle with kosher salt immediately after you take them out of the oven. Delicious!

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No Picky Eaters Here!

2011-10-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I noticed that Maddie was snacking more on cheese than the fruits and veggies that she will actually eat if I remind her. So I came up with this idea to give her a little visual reminder and put some choices out there. (By the way, I'm in love with felt lately, in case you can't tell...)

Fruits (and a few veggies) from clockwise from left to right: broccoli, strawberry, orange slice, peach, pear, raspberry, blueberry, banana, grapes, apple, tomato.

Veggies, clockwise, from left to right: squash, corn, tomato, green beans, beet, peas, carrot, broccoli.

These were super easy. I just cut out two of each shape, sewed them together in a nothing-fancy stitch with a craft magnet in between layers (although you could probably hot glue a magnet to the back -- I just felt safer sandwiching it). Some of the fruits and vegetables I got a little creative with and made a little bit of detailing. But for the most part, I kept it simple.

Now I put the fruits and veggies that we have on the fridge for Maddie to play with and remind her to grab them for a snack -- which actually does work! And I stash the ones we don't have up on top of the fridge to remind me to pick them up.

So far, Maddie seems to like them!

If you want to try this for yourself, feel free to use these patterns (but really their nothing special):

Ok, and now you also know the truth: those fruits and veggies also cover up the stickers I've scrapped off my fridge.

Summer is officially over...

2011-10-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

You know summer is over when you take a picture like this:

We went to Kopeka this weekend and Maddie wanted to go throw rocks one more time. The lake was all churned up and the wind was blowing. Always a little sad to say goodbye to our lake, but a powerful sight to be sure.

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Pear Gruyere Pie

2011-10-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

Ah, doesn't that just sound so rhymey and delectable? Well, it is. So there.

Fall is upon us, it seems, and that meant a recent trip to a farm stand near Kopeka. I had intentions of making an apple pie, but the I also bought a ton of pears... And I started thinking of Pushing Daisies.

[Side note, that was seriously an awesome show! While I'm mainly a plot-hooked person, that show was visually stunning-- more so in the first season. Seriously, Netflix that baby and note that each scene has a two-three color scheme AND a geometric/pattern theme that permeates everything from costumes to scenery. Fascinating.]

Anyway, Chuck used to make a Pear Gruyere pie. I'm not usually a pie making person but I decided to experiment a la the old "Pie Hole." And I came up with this recipe.

Now I should mention, this started off seeming to not be a day for pie making. First I realized I was almost out of flour. Which meany my pie crust was a little moist, and had to be hand pressed. Someone kept eating all my pears (seriously she ate them faster than I could peel them!) I was out of nutmeg. And my pie dripped onto the bottom of my oven (yuck, but those drippings joined many others so at least they aren't lonely). But voila!

Pear Gruyere Pie

Crust:
2cups flour (I blended whole wheat and regular bleached flour, as I was out!)
8 Tbsp butter, cold and chopped
4-5 Tbsp cold water
Pinch of salt
3-4 oz of shredded Gruyere

(Mix by hand, adding a little more water if needed.chill dough for about 30 minutes, then divide and roll into two crusts.)

Filling:
Peel and dice pears (I used Bartlett)
Toss with A splash of lemon juice

In a separate bowl, combine a few handfuls of granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice (or just nutmeg if you have it!) and 2 Tbsps butter. Sprinkle in with your pears and toss to coat.

Assemble the pie (I use a glass pie pan and just spray it with cooking spray to be safe.) Cut the top of the crust to vent, and sprinkle all over with about 3 oz of grated Gruyere.

Bake at 375 degrees (with a baking sheet underneath...) for about an hour or until bubbly delicious.

Enjoy and as you do chew away the bitterness of ABC's cancellation of Pushing Daisies.

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Butterflies

2011-10-08T10:42:00.001-07:00

Today, Mom took Maddie and I to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls. I haven't been there since it opened in the 1990s. Seriously this place is awesome! And 2 1/2 is the perfect age. Perfect.

The butterflies are just beautiful. Sadly this is one place where my iPhone camera just wasn't sufficient. I really wanted so many pictures that I just couldn't get. And as you'll notice in these pictures, the butterflies are not easy to see.

But first, let me tell you that in order to go, you must bring:

"Noculars".

It makes it much easier to search for those butterflies.

"Butterfly! Right dare!"

There were butterflies everywhere, and of every shape, size and color. (again this does no justice!)

Did you know butterflies eat oranges?

We all had butterflies land on us:

And Miss Maddie attracted a black and white polka dot one who wanted to say hi. ("Right dare! Right dare!")

And luckily Grandma got us a butterfly to take home:

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Mommy's Prince

2011-10-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

This week, I had to work a lot which has one benefit -- daddy-daughter time. Maddie had this conversation with Rob at the slides one day:

M: I'm a princess.
R: who's your prince?
M: Robert.
R: Then who's Mommy's prince?
M: Um, Paul.
R: Who's Paul?
M: Paul takes Mommy on slides.

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Crayons for Everyone

2011-09-26T04:31:00.001-07:00

There's a crayon in there for everyone. This morning Maddie was putting crayons in the jar saying: Aunt Luann, Jimmy, Aunt Pat..."

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Niagara Falls Part II

2011-09-25T16:01:00.001-07:00

You pretty much know anytime I say "Part II", it's because I have to steal pictures from Rob's phone, right? And subsequently that means it will take forever, right?

Ok, well, the time has arrived for more pictures of Niagara Falls (taken about 2 months ago, I think!)

Just in case you were in doubt that this was the worlds most gorgeous place (obviously it was a bit misty.)

Maddie really wanted to climb on the railings but when I pointed out the sign she told me she can't read. True, Maddie.

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Day Trip! [Part 1]

2011-09-15T18:16:00.001-07:00

Rob and I both had off yesterday, so we up and took Maddie to Canada! We started off at the Conservatory, and took just a few pictures.

Then we did just a little bit of walking around:

More pictures soon!

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500 (give or take a few) Days of Summer

2011-09-11T09:45:00.001-07:00

[That's an awesome movie, isn't it?]

It seems to me that Summer has been switched off like a light switch. I know we still have a bit of heat left, but the leaves look tired, the time seems a bit more hectic... We had Labor Day at the cottage and wouldn't you know it the lake turned choppy and dark, with a strong wind pushing out that last summer feel. And just like that, it seems like summer is over.

I must confess: All summer long, I said I would be so happy when Fall got here. This summer was just all of the bad aspects of summer and too few of the good.

But now that Fall is here or at least rapidly approaching, I miss it all. I want to swim in the Lake one more time! And just soak it all in.

As they say, some of the best moments of our lives are the ones where we forgot to take pictures. I had one of those this past weekend, swimming with my family. What a joy!

But I did get this:

See, she likes swimming too. Actually she refused to put on a shirt, because she likes the midriff baring style.

A few other tastes of a wonderful summer:

(Whatever Annie is doing in this picture cracks me up.)

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Nature Lover

2011-08-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

When, Maddie and I take walks, we go about 1/8 of a mile per hour. She likes to stop. A lot. Here are a few nature moments from this week:

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Conversations with Maddie

2011-08-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, we've reached the part of my blog history where you will now get to read cute things that Maddie says.

Conversation #1:

Me: "Mommy's going to start dinner."
Mads: "Hmmm... What kind dinner?"
Me: "I'm making Tiropitas. It's a type of pie made with cheese."
Mads "Oh, and eggs."

Conversation #2:
Me: "I am so sneezy today!"
Mads: "Mommy need tissue?"

I am ridiculously amused by not only Maddie's words, but the way she delivers every line with careful deliberation. Most csentences have a "Mmm" or "Hmmm" before them. Kind of like a french person speaking english for the first time.

The Pinterest Challenge

2011-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I am completely obsessed with Pinterest. I only found it a few weeks ago and let's face facts, it didn't take me that long to fall in love. I have always been a true believer of love at first sight. For those of you not familiar, Pinterest is a site that enables you to pin images/articles that you find online to your style board. Essentially it serves as an online notebook to jot down your wishlists, craft to-do lists, decorating/fashion ideas, etc... But the best part is that you also get to see what other people are pinning and thereby find things online that you otherwise never would have found.

I fell in love with Pinterest maybe a month ago and as of today I have pinned 128 things. And this is the challenge of Pinterest. I now have 128 projects on my to-do list, and that list is growing daily. So I'm attempting to hold myself accountable to my initial Pinterest inspiration.

I've seen several blogs posting about their Pinterest Challenge, most notably Sherry of Young House Love. Sherry has challenged her readers to actually complete a project that they have pinned. Um... well, I don't time to complete anything right now, but I'm going halfway there. Today, I'm taking a moment to review my pins and start my realistic to do list of projects to do. So here we go...

Turning Inspiration into Perspiration:

Oh wait, I got distracted on Pinterested and pinned 5 more things... So here we go...

Fabric Covered Clips: an easy first and perfect timing since I'm currently redoing my office.

Homemade Clorox Wipes: I hate spending money on these, so why not.

Lanterns: This may be what Rob is talking about when he says I go overboard, but I'm thinking Labor Day...

And in reviewing my boards, I've discovered that I get bonus points because I've actually completed two projects. That's two more projects than I thought I had completed! This post will be continued, because oh, believe me there are more projects. And if anybody needs a Pinterest invite, just let me know.

Princess

2011-08-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is Her Royal Highness, Princess Maddie. She has been wrapping herself in quilts and labeling herself "Princess" for months now.

So I'm putting together a dress up box. Anybody have any old costume jewelry, purses, smallish dresses or hats?

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Sloppy Maddies

2011-08-02T18:41:00.001-07:00

One of my go-to dinners has always been Sloppy Joes, which we now call Sloppy Maddies. See?

(ok, so this picture is more about potential and how my model will do things at her own pace and how dare you take my picture during dinner Mommy).

It's super easy and just plain old delicious. And here, I give you the recipe.

Sloppy Maddies:

1 lb ground turkey
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 can tomato paste
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1. Brown ground turkey in a tbsp of olive oil. Add cumin and paprika.
2. Add onion and red pepper, cook about 5 minutes on Med High. Add garlic cook 1-2 minutes.
3. Add tomato paste and stir.
4. Add tomatoes, breaking them up by hand before adding, and all juice. Add brown sugar, worchestershire, salt and pepper.
5. Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve over rolls or bread. This really made a ton of food, we ate it for two different dinners!

Enjoy, but remember whoever makes this has to clean up Maddie.

Breaking Bad (Habits)

2011-07-30T10:30:00.001-07:00

We're being silly! Hide your head in shame.

Ok, as I confessed, Maddie is two and still drinking from a bottle. I decided, (and this is the actual conversation I had with myself) "I'm a tough Mama. I can do this!"

So here's the plan:

1. Cut out the bottles cold turkey.
2. Offer a choice of sippy cups.

Contingency Plan:
Trick Maddie into drinking milk from a cup.

Progress Report:

Lead-up: I pepper my conversation with questions like "Are you a big kid or a baby?" Luckily Maddie answered "big kid" because I did not have a backup plan here. I casually mention, "you know, big kids drink out of cups, not bottles." and "look, Mommy's drinking from a cup!"

Day 1: Enough jibber-jabber. I cut to the chase. After setting out all our bottles and tops on the dinner table, I put Maddie in her chair and tell her that today's a big day. Since she's a big kid now (Yea!) we get to drink out of big kid cups and we're throwing out all our bottles. Maddie puts each bottle and top in a trash bag all by herself.

Daddy comes home just in time for me to say, "Where do we put the trash?" and Maddie to answer, "Daddy." Yes, Maddie, that's correct, we ladies don't do trash. Daddy takes out the trash, while secretly giving me a look of "Are you serious? Should I keep these someplace?" I give Daddy a knowing smile that says, I am so confident that you can really toss these! Little does Daddy know, I hid an emergency bottle in the pantry. Sucker!

Then we back the richest, most peanutty Peanut Butter cookies on the planet. I offer one to Maddie with a coffee cup of milk that matches mine. She dunks her cookie, but no dice on the milk. She opts for water from a sippy. Hey, hydration. I'm cool with that.

The whole day goes by and Maddie never asks for a bottle. Or milk. But she does drink water. Personal victory.

Day 2: Calcium here we come. Daddy gives Maddie an Elmo straw-sippy cup with breakfast. Two sips were enjoyed (can I get a hoot-hoot!)

We go to Grandma's house with our milk in the straw cup thing. (Maddie has always had milk on car trips. She's had some car sickness problems, and the milk helps stave that off). No drinking going on today though. She's drinking water but none of that other stuff.

Naptime approaches, time for the big guns. I pull out my secret weapon. A Pampers stages "bottle/cuppy thing" (this is it's official name). It's a sippy cup that has a nipple shaped more like a sippy cup mouth, got that? So it's a cup not a bottle and I'm not cheating. Maddie got it: she picked it up, examined it, said "Cuppy!" and promptly drank 5 ounces.

At dinner time, I asked Maddie if she wanted milk or water. She sadly mumbled milk. I asked her which cup she wanted and she didn't answer. So I gave her milk in an opaque sippy cup. Sure enough at the end of dinner she put that cup to her mouth and drank. And drank.

So maybe I did have to dip into my contingency plan. Either way you look at it: Victory is mine! For today...

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Confessions

2011-07-29T17:53:00.000-07:00

Maddie is officially two and she is a very bright smart girl. I'm constantly surprised by how much she has learned over the past few months. Today, she began talking almost exclusively in sentences and she was quite the chatterbox. Previously she had peppered her babble with a few sentences, mostly of the "I fell" or "Nu-Nu fell" or "Elmo fell" variety (do you see a pattern here?). But today it was all kinds of complex sentences and differing verbs.

Maddie can also count to 11. Do you believe that? Well, you shouldn't because her counting basically goes like this: tree, four, five, seben, eight nine, leven. She also knows one and two, but they are sort of isoteric integers.

Despite the many places that Maddie excels, there are several areas that we need to work on. And surprise, surprise all of these would be areas that need to be introduced to her and just haven't been. So here we go... These are my confessions:

1. Maddie still drinks out of a bottle. While Maddie has taken to sippy cups of all kinds for water (and also the occassional shot class

(Thanks, Grandma!), for some reason she just will not drink milk out of anything but a bottle. At one point, I tried. It was a standoff. She refused liquids of any sort. I was going deaf, so I caved. It was a bad situation. She is a total baby on this one, carries a bottle with her all day long, nurses that puppy and yup, even chews on the nipple. (Yes, Rob, I said nipple.)

2. Maddie still has a nu-nu (pacifier for those of you not from Rob's family). She carries it with her everywhere. She sleeps with it, talks with it... Oh wait, I don't have to tell you this, you've seen it in just about every picture I've ever posted. The day Maddie was born, before they even brought her from the nursery to my room, the nurse gave her a nu-nu. I remember her saying something like, "Wow, that baby needs to suck." She's been relatively placid about it, but she really needs it for sleep. And as you will soon see, I ain't messing around with sleep.

3. I still rock Maddie to sleep at night (and often at nap time). I refuse to comment on Maddie's sleep as I am a highly superstitious person, but I will discuss her going to bed routine. We established a nighttime routine almost immediately after taking Maddie home from the hospital. But her nighttime routine and her daytime routine involved a lot of cuddling. I confess, I just couldn't put her down. Things have gotten quite a bit better in more recent months, as I mentioned here. Maddie gets a bath, we read two stories, I have a little night-night saying, she gets a (few) kiss(es), and then I sing to her. Approximately 37 verses of Amazing Grace until she falls asleep and then I put her down. In recent weeks, Maddie has been initiating a move to the crib right after story time (Hallelujah!). However, usually being in the crib just excites her and she has "probelems" (on purpose) falling asleep which can only be solved by jumping in her crib. But we're working on it.

4. Maddie still takes a bath in the kitchen sink. Her grandma is going to be upset about this one, because she just gave Maddie a whole bunch of bathtub stuff for her birthday in June. But hey, that was only one month ago. It took me a while to buy a bath stopper. And I really need to clean the tub (Hey, I live with Rob. What can I say?) Really this one is 100% me being lazy. At first it was a save-my-back thing, now it's just kind of a bathroom-phobia thing. I don't know. These are all just excuses. I really have nothing to say here.

5. Maddie still sleeps in a crib. I never felt like this was a behind the curb thing, but I am astounded at the number of people who have already transitioned their 18 month olds to big-kid beds. We have a really good reason for this one. Have you heard about how much trouble we have with Maddie's sleeping? Uh, she can sleep in a crib until she's 20 as long as she sleeps. Oh, and when we're at Kopeka, Maddie sleeps in a big-big- kid bed (a queen size bed). She does fine, but she wakes up a lot, mostly because of the change of surroundings. And when Rob woke up in the morning, she was sitting on the couch, holding her Cinderella video case, pointing at it saying "Princess." Is it just me or does the thought of my two-year-old running around the house by herself inspires nightmares?

PS. Maddie is nowhere near potty-trained. I'm adding this as a PS, because I am perfectly fine with her not being potty-trained. But again, I am astounded at how many 18 month olds are already potty trained. Maddie just really isn't ready for this one yet. I thought she was getting closer this weekend, when she started grabbing at her diaper saying "Uh-oh" but then I changed her and realized her diaper had come open and was literally falling off. Any way, I'll add this to my confessions, but am not exactly in a rush.

Now, that I have confessed all my little secrets, here's the biggest secret of all. I'm kind of ok with all of this. So maybe Maddie is a little behind the curve on some things. None of these "sins" are really hurting her -- other than the kitchen sink thing (I mean her legs basically stick out of the tub at weird angles.)

Before Maddie was born, I really figured I would be some sort of supermom. I mean, hello, have you met my mother? And I have her genes. But as it turned out I'm just plain old like everyone else.

And here's a message to all you future moms or new moms, nobody's perfect. Don't expect yourself to be. Those perfect moms that you see at the park? They totally ignore their kids at home so they can watch their soaps. And they probably feed their kids out of dirty dishes, too. There's a ton of self-imposed pressure to be perfect, and any little challenge can sometimes seem like a sign, but at the end of the day when you look at your baby and he or she is happy you know you've done a good job.

The summer months have definitely inspired my thoughtful side and I've been thinking pretty seriously about how I would like to grow, both as an individual and a mother. And while I'm being kinder to myself and more forgiving of myself, I am going to be putting my new growth to the test by slowly addressing some of these development steps. Stay tuned for updates!

Kopeka

2011-07-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sad to say that tomorrow is my last official day of my week-long vacation (and I even get the stress of working on Sunday too!) With the hecticness (hectosity? Oooh, let's go with that)... With the hectosity of my job and the craziness of Rob's schedule, we haven't had much downtime, particularly straight in a row. But with this week, I decided to grasp some peace and we headed to our cottage, a place that Maddie has always called "Kopeka."

I've very quickly discovered that Maddie is an outdoor child. (Dear God, help me.) While we go to the park almost everyday and often twice, Maddie very rarely has the experience of a backyard. At Kopeka, Maddie would exclaim "Outside!" at least every five minutes. There was the beach, "Rocks!" Sitting on the backporch, "Seat!" The Gazebo in the park "Zeebo!" And even sitting in the grass painting, "Paint!"

I took just a few pictures:

I taught Maddie to paint last time we were at Kopeka, and surprise, surprise it was a hit. Maddie is quite the artist -- and thankfully these paints are washable.

Maddie's favorite part of Kopeka is the beach. When we first got there, the lake was pretty muddy and there was a huge beach. The next day was terribly windy and rocky and we lost all that beach. Maddie loved to stand close to the water and watch the waves, but she still seems to have a little fear from that day long ago when we introduced her to the Lake. Thankfully, she's happy to throw the biggest rocks she can find. And Daddy spent lots of time helping her. She's very proud of herself.

Maddie was fascinated by the "apples" on my Dad's Mountain Ash tree.

Every vacation should have a breakfast made of Nutella. Don't try to stop her.

If it rains, just bring your lawn chair inside while you read and watch Tinkerbell.

One of our new discoveries was the gazebo in the park next door to our cottage. I tried to teach Maddie to sing "I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" but she didn't go for it. She would rather stare out at the water, dance around and throw herself down on the ground saying "I fell."

Quantification

2011-07-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

This morning, Maddie was sitting on my bed while I got dressed. I took out my peasant skirt (because it's too hot to wear anything else) and put it on the bed. Maddie immediately picked it up, held it up for closer examination and said "BIIIIIIIG! Big, big Mom-mom." Then she stopped and said "Little baby." Nice.

Reunited and it feels so good...

2011-07-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

** Disclaimer: Honest to goodness, I do not know what is going on with my blog. The pictures are showing up terribly! But if you want to see a clear version, just click on the picture. I am too tired after this long day to try to figure this out.**

Ok, maybe a bad song choice (and a bad song) but appropriate. My family had it's first reunion in ... Maybe 15 years? Maybe more?? Today also marked my Aunt Dode's birthday and she was hosting the party at her house.

Rob and I had so much fun, as did someone else I know. A few pictures from the day:

Sitting in the shade and good company.

Carl Kogler's descendants -- including me!

Each branch of the family posed for pictures by their "parent" tree. This is one of my favorite pictures: my cousins, Leo and Betty Jane holding up their father, Peter's picture.

My first cousins Lucy, Carl John and his wife, Emily, dining on the steps.

Maddie makes friends with her cousins Wyatt and Alexis.

A rare photo of the blogess, with Fuzzy and little Fussy in front of the "Family Tree." I appointed myself as the decorations subcommittee and used the rainbow as my theme. Since there were seven siblings from which we all decended, each sibling was assigned a color and had their own paper chains and photo ornaments in their color. This tree represented the whole united family with everyone's picture and a rainbow chain:

This is just a little sampling of the day, but there are lots more at our Flickr page if you are interested!

As American as ...

2011-07-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

Cherry Pie!

I never ever make pie. Truth be told, I am not a big pie person except maybe on Thanksgiving day when I will eat a slice so that I can enjoy the Cool Whip. (Yes, I said Cool Whip, Tom!)

But a little while ago my Mom gave me a pint of cherries and they just weren't being eaten. So I contemplated making a regular old pie. And then I thought, "Naw, I can do better than that."

So I made a sugar cookie:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
Bake in an ungreased pie tin at 450 degrees for 10 minutes

Then I added it with cherries (just cleaned and pitted, nothing fancy).

Then I topped it with a diabetic coma:

[Sorry this is really just guess work here]
2 Tbsps cold butter
a handful of sugar
a handful of brown sugar
a small handful of flour
blend or mix by hand until you've got a nice sugary crumble and throw it on top of the pie
Throw the whole thing in the oven for about 10 minutes more.

And you know what? It was really good.

What a difference a day makes

2011-07-10T18:36:00.001-07:00

Last night I realized that I had 2 hours to throw together a photo album in order to take advantage of a super awesome coupon I had. This is pretty typical for my Saturday nights. I get in this super productive, let's-stay-up-really-late-because-it's-the-weekend mindset... all the while forgetting that Rob has to leave for work at 5 am and someone likes to get up at 6:30.

So there I sat at 11:30, with dreary eyes looking through the approximately 5000 photos that Rob and I have taken over the past two years. And I noticed this:

My baby used to look like this.

And then one day she looked like this.

And then this.

And this.

And then she magically grew hair and looked like this.

Sigh.

Take a number

2011-07-08T17:06:00.001-07:00

I once read a quote that I'm going to paraphrase here: "Parenthood is counting how many more of something there is."

I firmly believe this statement.

Tonight I said to Maddie, "One more time!"

Then I asked her to repeat, "How many more times, Maddie?"

Without missing a beat, her answer: "Three."

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Rejuvenated

2011-06-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

This year started off really muddled for me and I have really been dragging. I've blogged about this here and there over the past year, so bear with me if I am repeating myself. It has just seemed that every single day I feel two steps behind and am drowning in a mountain of paperwork and just really mundane tasks.

Well guess what: It's summer. And that means my workload just got a whole lot lighter. I feel like there is a whole world of possibility in front of me. I am still amazingly busy, but somehow I have much more energy to deal with it. Let 2011 begin. It is 2011 right?

As my mind winds down for a leisurely summer, my creative side is kicking up its heels. [Is that the key?? Think less, create more? I feel like my mentor, Julie, would be screaming "Yes!" right now.] I'm mentally redecorating the cottage (since that's where I'm sitting right now). I'm also planning decorations for a family reunion. And I'm itching to craft a few 4th of July items since I'm hosting tomorrow's festivity. (More on that later!)

I've even start pinning on Pinterest which I was a little hesitant to do. I'm not overly designy or crafty so Pinterest seemed over my head, but now I'm kind of hooked. It's like a moleskin for my mind.

Besides I think I'll make it my summer goal to get a bit more crafty. And techy.

Plus, Maddie and I already did some crafting today...

This was the end product.

Oh and this too:

Maddie haggles with a prospective collector:

Then she takes a nap.

Activity Hour

2011-06-29T06:30:00.001-07:00

Today is my home day (though today I have to work all afternoon, boo!) Usually I try to get Maddie interested in a project so I can clean the house. Here's what we did this morning (kind of like a day in the life... But this was literally an hour):

1. Money Laundering:

For any of you mommies or future mommies out there, this is an awesome toddler activity. I started out with a coke bottle mostly filled with water and had Maddie drop pennies in to make the water overflow (in the confines of that big blue bucket you see.) she then chose to pour everything out into the bucket. So next I filled the bottle half full and added a drop of dish soap (we use hypoallergenic soap, so no worries). Put the top on and you've got a instant bubblemaker. Take the top off and you've got a bubble volcano.

Maddie also loved fishing for coins in the bubbly water!

2. Storytime!

Maddie likes to sit in her rocker and look at every book in her book basket before throwing it on the floor.

3. Stickers in a Box

Ok this one I don't get:

We have a box of stickers and today Maddie had to empty it out and stand in it while playing with stickers. And after placing each sticker, she would run in place.

Guess it's time to start the day and get out of our jammies!

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And that's why I married you

2011-06-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

I told my husband today that somebody had said something that had made me pause. His response:

"You're a great mom!"

"You're really pretty!"

"I love you so much!"

Yup, he's trained.

Things

2011-06-22T12:45:00.001-07:00

Things I love:

1. When I wake up to see Maddie peaking over the bed squealing "Mom-Mom".
2. Maddie's crazy run down the hall, almost missing the door, breathlessly exclaiming "Dada...Dada".
3. The Tourist is actually a pretty good movie. Just sayin'.
4. Waking up to a clean house that has not been struck by lightning.
5. Work during the summer (Woot-Woot!)
6. When Maddie sits like this:

Things I do not love:
1. Every Wednesday, Rob "let's me sleep in until 7." every Wednesday, Rob starts the coffee maker at 6:15 am and blows a fuse because he didn't turn off out AC first, thereby waking me up before I usually wake up anyway.
2. Trying to sew a simple beanbag on my sewing machine and finding out that my bobbin is jacked.

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BLT Pasta Salad

2011-06-21T14:56:00.001-07:00

I stopped my recipe blog a while back because I don't take great food pictures (and who wants to cook anything that looks grayish?) But every once in a while I make up something that makes me say, "hey! Wait a minute..."

This is one of those dishes:

BLT Pasta Salad
(warning!: this is one of my really casual, no measuring kind of recipes!)

1. Cook half a box of rotini (or similar pasta). Let cool.
2. Fry 8 slices of bacon and drain. Reserve a Tbsp of bacon fat.
3. Add one finely diced tomato, 1/4 of a red onion (diced), crumbled bacon, diced fresh mozzarella.
4. drizzle with leftover bacon fat, a bit of olive oil, a splash of lemon juice, salt and fresh pepper.
5. Add in a few handfuls of arugula and toss.

I served this as a side to Mozzarella-Basil stuffed Turkey Kebabs (see Martha Stewart Everyday Food June 2011for the recipe-- they were surprisingly good!)

Maddie got a little confused by the cob holder. And then ate none of this delicious meal. But I enjoyed it!

I may be trying this one for July Fourth. What's more American than a BLT?

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Catching Up

2011-06-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

This June has been pretty darn hectic! We ended May with some birthday celebrations. Then we started June with more birthday celebrations. Plus lots of work for me (graduation festivities!) and lots of work for Rob (warm weather = cold brew!)

Then last week was the culmination of one year of work for me -- a special event that I organized, planned and sweated over. And I was honored to be able to bring La Madeleine with me. While I never got any pictures of her there, I did grab this one after in her adorable dress:

She loves being in pictures-- and taking them:

Then surprise! My new nephew made an early appearance:

Rob and I had some crazy hours this week and then lo and behold, we all had this one day to our selves. We went to a yard sale this am and stopped at Sweetness (very cute newish coffeehouse near the zoo). Then after nap time, we all went shopping. Mommy plumped up her summer wardrobe and is so happy right now!

Then Maddie decided I looked like this gypsy accordion player on Rob's cellphone app -- so we listened to that song about 50 times.

With that I would now like to announce that it is officially summer. And though I work during the summer, I am blissfully happy doing so. Productivity makes me very, very happy...

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For Rob

2011-06-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

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To Dada

2011-06-19T04:17:00.001-07:00

To a man who helps Mads accomplish big things...

And helps her to dream big...

We love you!

You deserve a nap.

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Quiet Time

2011-06-18T18:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took Maddie to the playground at 3pm. The playground is pretty deserted at that time, because most kids take naps then (Maddie!)

She climbed up to the top, peered out through the sides and yelled, "Kids!"

But alas, no one came.

So we picked some flowers instead.

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Princess is 2!

2011-06-11T06:10:00.001-07:00

Maddie is now officially two years old!

And here's how she spent her official birthday:

We got Maddie a whole ton of stickers... And she began putting them on the couch.

Had the day ended there, I think it still would have been the best day of life.

We had cake at GG's. Maddie expertly blew out the candles on the second line of Happy Birthday.

She ate lots of frosting.

She dipped the Tinkerbell cake topper in the cake repeatedly and then licked frosting off her legs.

Maddie's gift from Mommy and Daddy: a play kitchen.

And as a side note, Maddie discovered "preencise" (aka Cinderella).

She likes to dance now. And she really likes to dip!

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It's my party...

2011-05-29T18:30:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday, and I've had a lovely day full of moments like this:

I am a little nervous that the rumbling thunder I hear in the distance may ruin my sleep, but still a great day.

Yesterday however was Maddie's birthday party (though her actual second birthday is next week). We had a Tinkerbell themed party here at the cottage. Here are a few party details:

Of course, the party took place in Pixie Hollow.

Glass charms, labeled by fairy type.

Flowers created by the garden fairies.

The happy thought jar (yes, my brother tipped Maddie a dollar).

Pixie sticks, gummy butterflies and favor bags for fairies of all types.

Cupcakes dusted with pixie dust.

And a few great moments:

The birthday fairy rests up before the party.

Maddie takes a moment to chill.

My niece Annie, her dad, Maddie, and Dada throw rocks at the beach.

Birthday cake at the picnic table. (we had high tea!)

Maddie mostly loved the frosting.

Mads tries out her new laptop.

A hug for Ma.

Guests at the party in front of butterflies that the fairies painted.

Uncle Jim learns to use a computer.

Popular... I know about Popular

2011-05-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

First of all...

Let's go Cubs.

Secondly, I just saw Wicked for the first time and loved it. While watching it, I kept thinking of how awful it is that kids pick on whoever is different... And how awful it is when it's your child.

That's right, Maddie got picked on at the playground the other day. Two little girls played "stay away from the baby (Maddie)!" Maddie was bewildered but I wanted to cry. Then she was all like "Whatever."

Not two minutes later she went up to a different girl and joyfully screamed in her face, expecting her to scream back like her cousin Annie does. But the little girl got scared and ran crying to her mommy. Maddie felt so bad that she started crying!

Don't worry things have gotten better. Today she had two big kids who were doting on her.

I know I had promised some playground pictures, but something went wrong with my computer and they're in the ether. Hopefully I'll post them soon.

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Rain Rain Go Away! (The Playground Part I)

2011-05-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ugh, B-lo, really enough with the rain already. This weekend has been spent indoors with a few runs to and from the car. All our nice plans (including cheering at a lacrosse game!) have gotten cancelled. And of course, Ms. Maddie must now stand in her window staring out at the pretty green leaves saying "Rain? Rain?"

So, since we haven't been able to take a trip to the park, I thought I would take a moment to tell about our playground adventures. We've always headed over to the park, where Maddie obsessively rides the swings. At the beginning of this season however, we added something new to our repertoire -- the slide. This actually works out doubly well for Maddie. Walk to the park, swings, long walk to the slide where there is another swing, long walk back, swings again, walk home. See there's no downside here.

Last week, we had a terrifying moment. Our playground has a baby slide (about 3 feet high) and then a great big playset with three slides. Two slides are on the same platform, and then there's a third tunneled slide about 1.5 feet down that's connected. The first day we went to the slides, Rob went with us. After trying the baby slide a few times, Maddie decided she wanted to try what the big kids went on. So I went up with her and we went down the big slides together a few times. Then I stayed at the top and Rob stayed at the bottom. Maddie was on her own and ecstatic. This was like second nature to her, and she was doing brilliantly. I've never seen such a happy little girl!

Needless to say you know where this is going right? I took Maddie back to the park on a day when Rob was working. I was pretty hesitant to do so, but I let Maddie go up to the top platform by herself and stayed at the bottom to catch her and help her up the ladder. She probably did the slide about 20 times. Easy, no problem.

Next day, same deal. Until the 21st time down the twisty slide. That's when two big girls started running around, and one of those big girls went into the tunnel slide (the one on the lower level). I was already on the ladder to get to her, but I could see Maddie's brain turning, "Oh, I can go on that tunnel slide like the big girl!" She grabbed on to the railing, and went for the huge step and of course, her little foot was way too far from the step. Interestingly Maddie has super human strength, and held onto that handle for what seemed like FOREVER. Sadly, she swung around on that railing, like it was a stripper pole, until there was nothing underneath her. And then she let go and fell about 4 feet, landing flat on her back on a metal platform.

From the very moment I saw her heading for that step, I was racing for her and every second, I was just a second behind her. She started wailing (obviously!) and I picked her up and started patting her down checking for broken bones. She just held on tight and cried for about a minute. Then she saw that big girl go by and head to the swings. She looked at me, sniffled and said, "Swings?" got down and trotted off to follow the big girl.

Thank God!

Do you believe there's not a scratch on her? Two tiny black and blue spots and that's it. Talk about lucky people. Phew...

Since then, Maddie still demands to go to the slide every day. I diligently climb up with her and go down with her every single time (exhausting!!) She's not a huge fan of that -- she's tasted freedom and has not forgotten it (though she has apparently forgotten falling). The first day that we went back, I was still in my "Bad Mom!" mindset, thinking I never should have let a two year old up on that platform alone! when I notice there's a 15 month old up there alone. I'm standing next to her father and start going up with Maddie when he laughs at me and says, "They go about 2 inches an hour, it's totally safe!"

Well, at least I'm not the only one to think so. I'm still heading up that slide 20 times a day, but hey, I know my baby is safer for it. And maybe one of these days, I'll let her taste that freedom again. Just not quite yet.

And if you made it through all of this, stay tuned because I'll have a nice light hearted playground post for you tomorrow.

OCD part III

2011-05-14T06:02:00.001-07:00

Maddie's OCD strikes again!

She's currently matching the letters we found under the couch with the crayon of the corresponding color.

Oops nevermind. Now she's just putting the letters down the couch. And the crayons.

Spring!!!!

2011-05-11T09:35:00.001-07:00

Maddie and I went on our first picnic in the park today. It's 70 degrees and sunny and about time!

Here's Maddie eating a tomato. Two minutes later she decided she would rather run in the road. And our picnic was forgotten. (Don't worry, I caught her.)

And here are a few more pictures to prove Spring is here:

(Maddie is a born-Bleacher Bum. Wrigley Field, get ready for her!)

It's almost my birthday!

2011-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, May has begun and let the countdown begin as well. Only 26 more days until my birthday! This year there are a lots of little fun things that I've really been wanting to buy for myself, but just have put off. So I'm putting together a little wishlist (ROB!)

Bangles and Cocktail Rings:

I am totally crushing on these two bangle bracelets from Esprit -- bracelets and rings seem to be the only things that I can wear without having to worry that they will remain intact. I'd love a huge flower cocktail ring like this one, but really any bold ring or bracelet would totally perk up my wardrobe.

Artificial Chinese Lanterns:

This is a little bit of my search for the white elephant. I have been wanting some artificial chinese lanterns (and a nice sturdy vase like the one in this picture!) for a long time and haven't been able to find any.

Photo Storage:

Part of my ongoing photo organization project... And it turns out that Maddie's photos may be too plentiful to go in just an album, so I'd love some of these photo boxes in orange, red or brown. I've always wanted to start a great big family album. I need lots of Kolo 11x14 refill pages in soft white for Maddie's scrapbook and our wedding scrapbook (oops... only 5 years late!)

Home Details (and Storage):

There are always the little things that just would help polish things up a bit. I'm in love with baskets because I can hide all Maddie's toys in it and would love a matching set of simple, plain baskets. I love this tray for my dresser to corral all my stuff (and match my bold colored stripey theme!). Not only do I need a jewelry holder but this one matches the recurring tree theme that seems to pop up throughout my house. All of these items I found through Target, but anything works, right?

Kitchen Needs:

I've now learned that when you see a silverfish, you should not throw up your hands and scream for your husband to "Kill it! Kill it now!" Coincidently, I'm looking for a good set of everyday dishes that are easily replaceable, easy to match and most importantly dishwasher-safe. I also could really use a nice sharp cutting knife or even a knife set.

The list could go on, but that seems to be the way my heart is headed right now!

Royal Wedding Day!! Hooray!

2011-04-29T07:14:00.001-07:00

I love the royal family, always have! I vividly remember Sarah's wedding and fuzzily remember Diana's. My cousins and I used to pretend to be the princesses and followed their every move in Star magazine.

Needless to say, I've looked forward to this day for a long time. While I haven't been obsessing, I do really like Kate (and her sister, Pippa, too!)

So I had planned to get up and watch the wedding part depending on Maddie's night of sleep. This week she's surprised me by being ridiculously clingy and not sleeping well at all. So I thought I would allow myself to sleep until 5 or 5:30.

Surprise! Maddie woke up at 2:30 am and put up a ridiculous struggle to stay awake. Guess she really wanted to see the wedding! At 4:30 ish, I caved and brought her out to watch the festivities. She cuddled for about 30 minutes before she started cranking demanding to watch Dinosaur Train. Back to bed she went and finally fell asleep.

So yup, I watched the whole thing (though I did fall asleep during one of the really long songs). What a beautiful wedding and a gorgeous bride!

By the way, Maddie chose to wear purple today. I guess she's feeling her royal blood.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

OCD - The Mother of Obsession

2011-04-27T19:23:00.001-07:00

It's amazing to me when people say I lack attention to details. Because I do things like this:

Yup, my color coded shelves are legendary. I was beginning to feel like they were getting a little rumpled looking, so I started over.

The top shelf is dedicated to Rob's personal library. He does have lots of books integrated into the rest of the sections, but he has a special library of presidential biographies and New Orleans history books.

Then of course, there are the big blocks of colors:

Showcases for my camera collection:

And the Eiffle Towers that we've (I and then we) bought each time we've been to Paris:

The best part is that when you organize books by color and than size, you come across the most interesting combos. Like this one:

And of course I know it won't stay like this... I've already added in our savings jars:

(Yup, for those of you wondering when we'll be buying a house, we currently have $1 for a down deposit. Just kidding!)

So this is how I spend my day off. Well, that and baking chocolate "pip" cookies and picking every yellow flower in the park with Maddie. At any rate it was a great way to avoid doing the actual cleaning I was planning on doing today.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hope you get to nibble on some bunny ears!

Turtles, Bunnies and Chicks... Oh My!

2011-04-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

As Easter approaches, I've been trying to fit in all kinds of seasonal activities. (Ten Commandments night!) Today, I took Maddie over to Canada to see the flowers at the conservatory. I did have a moment of pause, and correctly so about going alone. This is the conversation I had at customs:

"Uh, are you in communication with Madeleine's father?"
"Yes, I'm married to him."
"Is it amicable?"
"You could say that."

The customs officer very nicely let me into Canada but warned me that in the future, I should carry a notarized letter authorizing me to travel alone with Maddie. (I am quite the risky lady!)

We made it over and found a very crowded conservatory, but Maddie and I just took our time and walked around a few times. Just as a comparison here's Maddie last year at the conservatory:

It's amazing what one year can do. Here's my attempt to replicate last year's picture:

Then Maddie decided that spot wasn't comfy. So she tried this:

And then she was off. Here are a few of my favorites:

(that souvenir is in my pocket.)

The tropical room is amazing-- it's gotten a lot of TLC apparently!

(What's in there??)

"Hi!"

"MomMom, that chick did not answer me!"

Baby turtles!

I admit it: I had trouble choosing my favorites. I'll be posting more pictures on Flickr shortly.

I leave you with this picture of Maddie looking at the bunnies:

[This post cost me $2.99 because Maddie deleted the app from my phone that allows me to download my pictures. Hope you enjoyed every penny of it!]

Good Time Gal

2011-04-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

Do you remember last year... right around this time, actually... when Maddie went to her "boyfriend" Morgan's birthday party? And this happened?

As you may recall, that is not Morgan. That is Morgan's friend Joey. Maddie took one look at Joey's beautiful blue eyes and well, the rest is history. Of course I took one look at Morgan's blue eyes as he watched his girlfriend kiss another boy right in front of him and his first birthday cake and I felt pretty bad for him. Poor Morgan.

Fast forward one year, and surprise surprise:

We went to Maddie's cousin Annie's birthday party last weekend. (Happy Birthday, Annie!) I was a little nervous about Maddie because she hasn't really been around that many other kids -- these kids all know each other pretty well too. But Maddie just walked right up to the big kids and two seconds later she was lip locked to this kid, Cullen, who didn't really seem to mind. She decided he was a pretty good kisser, so she went back for seconds. And thirds. That's my girl! Luckily, Cullen was not the birthday girl's boyfriend. So I guess in a year Maddie has grown and changed.

However, if you are planning a party, let this be a lesson to you. If Maddie is invited, she will make out with somebody. My heart just skipped a beat thinking about the teenage years. Oy Vey. (Happy Passover!)

Monday, Monday

2011-04-11T16:25:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it's all you can do to roll out of bed, throw something on and get out the door. Am I right?

(see, even she doesn't want this recorded for posterity!)

Kopeka

2011-04-09T18:53:00.001-07:00

Today we went to "kopeka" (Maddie's word for the cottage.) it was a gorgeous Spring Day and we did lots of running around.

Of all the rocks on the beach, Maddie was fixated only on the rocks on the table.

Spring has sprung! Leaves are budding on the Magnolia!

Ok, and then this happened:

Rob took Maddie out of the car and I guess the seat belt got stuck but he kept pulling.

All that glitters...

2011-04-07T16:16:00.001-07:00

Guess what we discovered.

Stickers!

We started out making some art for Grandma. But Maddie decided that was boring.

Then she moved on to adding some bling to my jeans (and then the back of my shirt...)

Then it was tattoo time.

And make-up time! Don't I look glamorous?

I feel pretty!

2011-03-27T06:29:00.001-07:00

How do I look? Is my ponytail ok?

Happy Spring!

2011-03-20T13:00:00.001-07:00

What a great day to wear new shoes and pick up rocks!

S.o.s.

2011-03-20T08:49:00.001-07:00

Do you think she's trying to spell "Help"?

Poor little thing

2011-03-20T07:31:00.001-07:00

Maddie has had a tough week! First she got a small rash on her side. Then she got an ear infection. Then her cousin went home to Boston. And now her rash has spread to her whole body. It doesn't seem to bug her and the doctor said it's nothing big and not contagious. But the poor baby is as speckled as her leopard print jammies:

There's no known reason for the rash but I think it might be the detergent we use in her bath:

Gentle cycle please!!!

On cat's paws...

2011-03-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Do you find yourself staring at your browser window waiting for a blog like this? Actually this is Maddie waiting for her Dada to get home from work. You should never mention the word Dada around 5-6 p.m. because she takes that as a promise.

At any rate, I wanted to save I've been slow in posting because the famous Armagedon of the iPhone also deleted my blogging app which means that I have lost the convenience of posting. There's no using the computer around Maddie. She thinks it's broken. Because we lie to her. If we don't we would have Sesame Street going on the tv and the computer constantly. That girl is seriously addicted.

By the way, I vividly remember waiting for my dad to get home from work, too. Like mother, like daughter!

Starting Over

2011-03-09T07:34:00.001-08:00

Ugh, what a day. And truthfully it has not yet been a good start to 2011.

I actually started writing this on Monday but stopped because I decided that was all the words I had. Normally I start off the year with gusto, but this year I've just Bren in a daze.

To top it off, I had a week off for Spring Break but don't be too excited on my behalf. I started it off sick and ended it by throwing out my back.

I spent the following week in a state of bare movement and am still a little off, but don't worry. I'm working on it.

Monday I got in my car, turned on my music and discovered my iPhone Library had been erased (long story). I got to work to discover my work on a HUGE project had also been erased. Clearly the world wanted me to get a Mulligan.

So yesterday I set about the work of recreating. I built my music library back from scratch, finished that work project in one day (it normally takes a week -- I am superhuman), and I ended the day on a great note.

Now if I could only get into my normal organizing mode...

***if you're wondering why I threw my back out, stay tuned! There's a story coming soon...

Why...

2011-03-05T15:10:00.001-08:00

Maddie loves to "why". See?

Sometimes it's windy when she flies:

But no matter the weather she loves it:

A few weeks ago, my Mom very kindly babysat for us overnight while Rob and I took a little get away to Niagara Falls, Ontario in honor of our 11 year anniversary. Before my Mom came to stay she asked me to TiVo a show that her friend's granddaughters loved. Maddie watched it, and was kind of blase.

When we got back from Canada, we watched it with us and for some reason, Maddie decided to take a little more interest.

That show was called Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue. And since then all we have heard is two words: "Tink" and "Why"

And that my friends is how I threw out my back. You try helping a 30 pounder to fly and see how your back does. (Oh, and I also hear the word "bach" for when Maddie wants to color on my back with crayons. Best form of message therapy I know!)

The snowy day

2011-02-25T12:24:00.001-08:00

Surprise

2011-02-25T05:25:00.001-08:00

I try very hard to remember that February is not Spring. I was still unprepared for this:

But it's pretty, isn't it? And i'm on vacation so that's why I can say that.

The Journey of Nu-Nu

2011-02-20T08:22:00.001-08:00

Nu-Nu is the name of Maddie's pacifier. It comes from Rob's family and his childhood and just stuck. Maddie pronouces it someplace between "new-new" and "no-no" with such cuteness of tone that she can keep that thing until she's 20 just so she'll keep saying it. Believe me there is nothing cuter than when Rob is getting her dressed in the morning and knocks nu-nu out of her with her shirt. She yells "Nu-nu" and then paws at her shirt until she finds it.

Well, yesterday a curious thing happened. In the morning Maddie and I were putting pennies in her piggy bank when a penny got away from us and rolled under her crib. She went to find it and instead found the original nu-nu that she came home from the hospital with.

All day long Maddie went back and forth between her old and new nu-nus. And that is home the real Nu-Nu managed to get away.

We had friends over to visit yesterday (Hey, Kat!) and Maddie was our source of entertainment, playing with every toy and stuffed animal imaginable. After our friends left, we noticed that Nu-nu was missing.

We assumed it would turn up but by bedtime that damn thing was no where to be found. Have I mentioned it's pale pink, so it blends with everything?

Rob and I did a pretty thorough search of things, delaying bedtime in hopes of a miracle. But alas, nada. We tucked Maddie in with old nu-nu and hoped for the best.

Surprisingly, Maddie did pretty well. She woke up twice, briefly, crying in her sleep but didn't seem disturbed enough to stay awake.

I actually spent another hour after Maddie went to sleep systematically going through the house: every toy box, laundry basket, bookshelf. Even the fridge. Our friends got a text, asking if they for personal reasons had decided that they really needed a nu-nu. I even checked the hall in case it had somehow gotten knocked outside the door.

I looked for it for two hours this morning. No stone unturned! I prayed to St. Anthony. I prayed to St. Jude. And I'm not even a saint patronizer.

Then I decide to swifter under our bed (mind you, we had checked there three times, and moved the bed just in case.) As Maddie ran away with the Swiffer, I stooped to examine my box spring where a certain cat with claws has torn a little hole I'm the lining. And, voilà! Nu-nu. Inside our box spring.

To be fair I really don't think the cat put it there. They were both pretty sleepy. I'm postulating that Nu-Nu fell and by some odd chance bounced into the hole (from the size of the hole, I think it's possible. I might research...)

So now there is peace in the house, and naptime has commenced!

***please note: for those of you wondering how the sleep training is going there is a hint in here. I will not be blogging about our progress because the minute I do everything will change! Mum's the word.

Tomato Pepper Relish

2011-02-18T14:28:00.001-08:00

I haven't done this for a while but I'm posting a recipe. Bad photography and all.

Tomato Pepper Relish:

This recipe started with Martha Stewart Everyday Food's recipe for Tomato Eggplant Relish. Since I don't care for eggplant I started substituting and then just kept going.

It was super easy and delicious (clearly as I keep crappy recipes to myself). Here you go:

Tomato Pepper Relish:

1can whole tomatoes
4-6 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
1small onion
1Tbsp olive oil

Super easy instructions:
Pour out can of tomatoes onto a rimmed baking sheet. Break up tomatoes. Add garlic cloves unpeeled and red pepper, chopped. Roast at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take out pan and fish out garlic cloves. Use flat side of knife to peel cloves and toss them back in the mix.

Purée have the sauce in a food processor and then add it back to the rest of the sauce. At this point, you can store sauce in the refridgerator or even freeze it.

Before serving, saute one chopped onion in olive oil. Add sauce and season with salt and pepper to your taste. I add in a little bit of the water from the pasta to make it adhere to the pasta better.

I served this with rigatoni and feta as Martha suggested. Delish!

Goldilocks

2011-02-14T18:34:00.001-08:00

Maddie's learning about spatial relations. It's a tough lesson to learn.

This tin is too small!

This ball is too big (but I love it)!

This face is just right!

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!!

The writing is on the wall

2011-02-09T07:59:00.001-08:00

Let's play a game. Write a caption for this picture:

I'll start:
"So much for our security deposit."
"Time to buy stock in Magic Erasers."

Here's Maddie's entry:
"Elmo."

Portrait of the artist in her studio

2011-02-02T12:10:00.001-08:00

This is what it looks like outside today:

What Twitterers have hashed "snowmagedon" and we call winter has befallen us, happily causing a snow day! Gosh, I love working at a school.

Of course it would have been cooler had it not fallen on my normal day off. Ah, well.

Rob went into work at 4am to shovel snowmagedon away from his coffeehouse. Thankfully Maddie slept through his departure AND he brought me a latte. AND he let me sleep until 8:30! Best snow day (normal day off) ever!

So after he went back to work, I built this with the help of my busy worker bee:

For Christmas, Maddie received this gorgeous (and surprisingly easy to assemble-- I.e. Not from Ikea) art table. It's a blackboard, with a roll of paper (being saved for more economical use in later years) with cups to hold pencils, chalk, etc...

Maddie's currently using it as a reading table:

And for doing our taxes:

(see our W4s? Bah-da-dum.)

And for doing this:

I can only assuming she's measuring out milk for a baking project.