Things we learned while dog/house sitting

This weekend we stayed over at my sil's house and watched their, rather precocious, dog. It's a lot of work to cart two kids and all of the stuff that they need/are used to. Here are some take-aways from our stay.

*When at it's full height (being used as a side table) the center "screw" of a piano stool is very accessible to little hands

*Piano stools are heavily greased

*Regular hand soap does not get grease off of little hands

*Grease under the fingernails of an 18-month-old is extremely hard to remove

*Cabrini can play the harmonica while nodding and twirling

*Peter will happily watch Cabrini crazily play for around 40 minutes...from a safe distance

*Cabrini knows how to play the kazoo

*Kazoo is a funny word

*Toy trumpets are hard to play, but tambourines and maracas are not

*The Johnsons have a lot of musical instruments

*Doggy water dishes are just as alluring away from home

*Never underestimate the power of a cat-themed keyboard with a microphone to entertain a child and annoy an adult

*You can't count on a child sleeping or napping well away from home, even if she's slept and napped there before

*Never assume that someone else's pantry contains the same spices that yours does

*Decent red wine can compensate for a host of missing ingredients in a sauce

Cababy and Louisa, BFFs

We all had a play date the other day! We escaped the heat in Kayleen and Louisa's air-conditioned apartment and had a really fun afternoon!

Thanks to Kayleen, Louisa, Mike and baby-girl-on-the-way for hosting us!

If you're into this...

Then you should try whipping up your own yummy, spicy hot cocoa! Here's a little recipe that I've been playing with after drinking Dagoba's Xocalatl drinking chocolate.

1 c milk

2-3 T sugar

2-3 T cocoa

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 dash salt

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3-4 T chocolate chips

Slowly heat milk to the point where it just starts to steam. Remove from heat, add all of the ingredients and whisk. Pour into mug and fall in love!

You'll never be able to drink Ibara again. Just a warning. :)

Happy Memorial Day!

suggestion...please take note

I'd like to suggest that "having all of the laundry done" should be an option at spas. I'm just saying, it feels pretty darned good.

Since it's all done today I've moved on to some of the kids' stuffed toys. Let's just say that a certain 15-month-old enjoys both open-mouth kisses and some aggressive nose biting...luckily only with her stuffed friends. They get pretty icky.

So, here's to clean clothes, folded and put away!

I'd like to start being a little more consistent about blogging and to help me do that I'm employing a little template that I saw at another blog (Danielle Bean). So, here goes. :)

Outside my window … is a beautiful, blue sky day. I love our Japanese Maples, their leaves are such a bright green in the spring and will be a firey red in the fall.

I am thinking … that I could really use a nap...but Peter doesn't agree.

I am thankful for … my hard-working husband who makes it possible for me to be at home with our babies.

I am hoping … that we get lots of projects done this weekend. We have some helpers coming over to help. There's the yard work (never-ending really), a fence for the chickens (time to reclaim the yard for the sake of the kids) and, if I'm lucky, my very first raised bed to start planting veggies.

On my mind … I need to seal the bins of kid's clothes that are in the crawl space...now that it's warmer I'm worried about creepy-crawlies getting in them.

Noticing that … I need to start taking better care of myself. I've been sick-ish off and on for two weeks!

A few plans for the week(end) … well Ed and company will be in the yard. My plan is to make sure they are all fed and watered while managing to entertain my two tiny dictators.

From the kitchen … it's time to clean out the fridge...I'm talking a good old scrubbing.

Around the house … we need some de-cluttering. I feel like we don't have any space left and everything always seems messy. If we had half of the stuff that we do just think how much calmer each room would feel.

One of my favorite things … is getting Cabrini up from sleeping (both morning and nap). Never have I known such a happy waker-upper.

A picture I am sharing …

so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

So long luxuriously thick pregnancy hair.

Farewell effortlessly clear and luminously bright complexion.

I'll miss you most, lack of body consciousness.

In your place I now have hand-fulls and brush-fulls of hair; my first post-Peter pimple (alliteration!!); a palid complexion dimmed further by unbelievably deep dark under-eye circles; and last, but certainly not least, a new rotundness far jigglier than any jiggly bits I've ever before had on my person.

Looking at my little Peter Pan makes all of this a trifle, of course...but there it is anyway.

I need to suck it up and get to exercising more...the gym/pool membership promise in my mother's day card was for real. I have waaaay less wardrobe options post-partum because now I don't want anything tight or clingy at all on this body. When I was pregnant trying to find billowy clothes was like trying to cover the Epcot Center (or Spaceship Earth if we're being technical) with a post-it note. Therefore I stretched all kinds of pre-pregnancy garments on while in the midst of cooking Mr. Peter. Now...not so much. My goal is to be at a respectable place by October. Cousin Ben is getting married so I'll need a dress. It's a goal anyway...I'll be almost 9 months post-partum, so it's doable.

Also, can anyone explain to me why I have no ill feelings toward hair strands while they are securely attached to a head; but the moment they are free to cling to clothes and skin or float in the tub or get stuck in the drain they become disgusting and repulsive? Could it be due to all of the time spent in my youth at public swimming pools and locker rooms? I dunno.

Crabby...I mean Happy...Tuesday.