Andrew's First Tantrum

He wanted to eat paper towel, and I wouldn't let him.

 

rhyming - gracie style

Grace just learned what a rhyme is - "Mommy, Cat.  Hat.  See?  Rhyme!!!!" 

As she kept this up this weekend we realized that she was taking every word and adding a "Pl" at the beginning.

Gracie. Placie. Rhyme!
Kevin. Plevin. Rhyme!
Bridget. Plidget.  Rhyme!
Andrew. Plandrew. Rhyme!

Now she has realized this makes her parents laugh hysterically, but today she threw us for a loop.

"Gracie, what rhymes with store?"
Plore!
"Bag?"
Plag!
"Counter?"
Plounter!
"Cracker?"
Placker!
"Banana?"
Tree! 
Which she found hilarious....I love toddler jokes.

No Monsters Allowed!

Grace has been scared of monsters in her room lately.  We are not sure if this is being used as a tactic to avoid sleep or if it is genuine.  We decided to play it safe by having the house sprayed with monster repellent and we made a sign to warn any monsters that come knocking.

Kevin

Tonight at the garden center I saw one of those pretty evergreen topiary trees, Kevin and I liked it but we decided not to purchase it. 

Later as we were pulling out of the parking lot, he said in a thoughtful tone, "You know what?  I decided I do not like those ball tree things."

Me, "Oh really, why?"

Kevin, "I feel like those cliched things are just not "me"." 

Uh okay.  Never thought of topiaries as "cliched" but uh whatever. 

He may not like manicured lawn trees but he is a great dad...so that works for me.

Snapshots from last night

Awesome family portrait

Easy and delicious potato salad

Anyone who has been over to my house in the last few years for a party has probably had this potato salad.

Small red potatos or fingerling potatos (the ones i photographed were from the farmers market...look at this purple one....Grace would say "Mommy, look at that CRAZY potato")

Cut into small pieces and toss with olive oil, garlic or shallots, and salt and pepper. Sometimes I add dried rosemary in while they roast.

Bake in a hot (like 425 or so) oven until the edges are crispy and the potatos are soft.

Toss with fresh herbs, parmesan cheese, or just eat as is. 

Serve warm, room temp or cold.

Ham and a half

Grace is a character, as you all know.....this photo is of her "posing"....

Recently I called her a "ham", and she said "I am a ham and a half!"

channeling martha stewart - failed attempt

So last Saturday I was at the grocery store and saw some great looking cookies in the bakery.  I could have bought those for dessert, but instead I thought, "Why not make those super cute ice cream cone cupcakes that I had once for a birthday treat in the 6th grade and thought were awesome?"

An acceptable answer would have been, "Because you are having 3 families over for dinner tonight, which by the way is in 3 hours and you have not showered yet.  Or made dinner yet.  Or appetizers yet.  Or cleaned up the house and backyard yet."  But the ice cream cone cupcakes are so darn cute, so i ignored my inner voice...she was saying "stop! buy the cookies!"

Anyways, I used a cake mix and a box of cake cones. 

Make the mix according to the directions on the box, pour it in the cones, put frosting on top, simple - right?  Not really. 

One tip I read was to put the cones in an egg container, but that didn't really work.

The muffin pans worked well, meaning none tipped over. 

The directions said "fill cones 1/2 full with batter". But I wanted the domed tops, so I filled them up to the top. Not a good idea, you get this....

But the little cake dribbles were DELICIOUS. And irresistable (this piece went immediately into my mouth after the photo was taken).

 

So, in short,  it was a mes.

But on the upside, I think I have found a frosting recipe that rivals my beloved Bay Bakery frosting!  Now, I was a bit embarassed purchasing....

at the grocery store....but it is trans fat free!  Does that make it ok?  No?  Does it help a bit? No? Oh well.  The frosting was good.  Really good.

So not exactly a Martha Stewart-esque effort, but not a total failure either.

Oh and my little taste tester....