Category Archives: general musings

Floundering

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Like many people, I’ve been walking around the last few days on the verge of tears. I burst into tears on the way to the grocery store when I heard a Christmas song with a line about children laughing. I’ve been at a loss for what to say, what to do. I think Jonna summed up exactly how I’m feeling right now. Especially the part about how being a parent puts a crystal-clear picture in my head. Those kids were Matilda’s age. I’ve had to stop my brain 100s of times in the last several days from going there.

The sadness is being replaced by anger. Anger with how weapons that fire multiple bullets per second are readily available. Anger with the media for glorifying evil. Anger about violence as entertainment (a chicken and egg question – I know). A BLIND RAGE with anyone who is voicing support for more guns. I can’t. I just can’t.

So I’m doing what I can. Yes, I’m hugging and squeezing my kids harder and longer with this fresh reminder that it’s all so fragile. I’ve thrown money at it hoping that one of those families can feel the outpouring of love and support.

And yes, I’ve gotten political. I’ve always been in favor of more sensible gun control. I grew up in a house with hunting rifles. I shot our BB gun as a kid. I’ve trained on handguns and semi-automatic weapons during ROTC training (for the record, guns terrify me). I think having felt that power in my hands – having the kickback rattle through my bones – is part of why I think guns need to be regulated and controlled. So I wrote to all of the politicians in offices representing me: my Senators and Representative, my State Senators and Representative and Governor. In case you’re wanting to do the same, here is what I wrote. Feel free to copy if you want… I started with the letter posted on Daily Kos and added my own opinion. Did it make me feel better? Not totally, but at least I felt like I did something.

Dear Senator [Smith],

It’s way past time to pass reasonable gun control legislation. In the wake of the horrific massacre of 20 innocent children and 7 adults in Newton, CT, I implore you to work others in the Senate to enact sensible gun control legislation.

Specifically I would like to see:
- Ban the sale and possession of automatic/assault weapons in this country.
- Limit the size of large capacity ammunition clips, and create a database for all purchases of ammunition (similar to database used for the sale of pseudoephedrine-containing products).
- Require a criminal background check, mental health check and mandatory waiting period for anyone to buy a gun, eliminating gun show loopholes.
- Mandate spousal notification before a gun can be legally obtained (similar to Canadian gun laws).
- Institute a gun-ownership permit or license that requires the passing of a test and annual renewal (similar to drivers licenses and license plate renewal).
- Require legal gun owners to safeguard their weapons against theft and misuse.

People claim the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, but this is not an unlimited right. I believe we’ve let the gun lobbies and fear mongers exploit the Constitution to an absurd level. There is nothing in the document providing a right to possess assault weapons that can shoot 100s of rounds in seconds. We regulate everything from driving to drinking to buying cold medicine; it’s beyond time to regulate gun ownership.

I appreciate your consideration and look forward to a response.

——

So, how are you doing? What have you done that makes you feel marginally better? If you need a place to vent any frustrations, grief or  feel free to do so in comments. However:  my blog, my rules – I will not debate my opinions on gun control. You will not change my mind and any comments supporting civilian possession of automatic or assault weapons will be deleted, as will calls for more guns. Fair warning.

Christmas Cookies

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I am the baker in my family. Have been since about middle school or so. For years I’ve been the one to make the sugar cookies for cut outs at Christmas, loaf after loaf of zucchini bread in the summer, and birthday cakes year-round. As a newlywed I made extra money for gifts by selling my Christmas cutouts to co-workers! Now, I’m the one to provide the sugar at our family Christmas gatherings.

I have some tried-and-true recipes that I make year in and year out but I every year I also try something new. After a consultation with twitter, added 2 new recipes to the mix this year and both were fantastic. On Saturday and Sunday I made 6 different types of cookies, most of which are hanging out in the freezer until the celebrations begin. Here’s what I made…

Peanut Butter Blossoms. These are my husband’s favorite and a must every year. I use a recipe from a family friend but it’s similar to the one I linked to. I makes a ton so it’s good for a cookie exchange. If you want to up the ante like I do use mini Reese’s cups instead of the Kisses. They will melt so I usually pop the finished cookies into the freezer for 5-10 min after they cool to room temperature which will harden the Reese’s cups.

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yes, this is the recipe that’s been floating around since email was invented. Yes they are delicious. My recipe is double what I linked to and makes a TON of cookies and even my trusty Kitchen Aid can’t handle that much dough. So I halved it and the linked recipe is the smaller version. I got to use my new Vitamix to make oat flour and to chop the chocolate this year so it went much faster. Make sure you use really good chocolate (this is not the place for Hershey’s bars). I baked 1 dozen of these then scooped the rest of the dough into balls and froze them so I can easily make fresh cookies when I need them.

Mexican Wedding Cookies. These are new this year – I don’t know why I’ve never made them before becuause they are super easy. I made them on the recommendation of Crystal via Twitter. I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe because I always have good luck with recipes she posts. And, I got to use my new Vitamix again! These are so yummy, I will be making them again.

Sugar Cookie Cut Outs – This is what started it all. I took over making the cut-outs in high school, I think. True story: my dad used to take us kids out of the house when my mom made cut-outs because of all of the cursing. At some point she switched to making them with the pre-made dough in a tube you can get at the grocery store and I thought homemade were better so I took over and have been making them ever since. I’ve tired dozens of recipes but I find the simpler the better (again, I linked not to my recipe but to a similar one). I like to roll them thin to get the maximum frosting:cookie ratio. These are frozen, undecorated and will be frosted at another time. This year, given Matilda’s sensitivity to red dye I’ll be trying out some natural (and expensive!) food coloring. And please, no royal icing… only buttercream in this house!

Orange Sugar Cookies – This was one of my “trial” recipes that made it into regular rotation. I love these cookies with or without the chocolate. I linked to the recipe I use but I up the orange zest to 3 tablespoons, increase the orange extract to 1.5 teaspoons and add 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract to the glaze. Sometimes instead of dipping the cookies I drizzle them with the glaze because I’m lazy. These are great in the summer if you use lemon instead of orange.

Mexican Hot-Chocolate Cookies – These were a trial cookie that hit it out of the park. They are insanely good – sweet with just a hint of heat. I read through the comments and decided to add the cinnamon and chili to the dry mix and rolled the cookies in plain white sugar. Next time (there will be a next time) I’ll add half a bag of chocolate chips. I’m not exactly sure how I heard about hot chocolate cookies but I looked at probably 8 other recipes before discovering Martha’s, but all the others had bad reviews in comments except for this one. I highly recommend.

I still plan on making America’s Test Kitchen’s Gingerbread Cake for our Christmas dinner dessert. That will also be a new recipe so I’ll have to report back later.

Here are a few tips if you want to make 6 kinds of cookies in a single weekend (I didn’t count, but I think when I was done there were  around 21 dozen cookies).

1) A Silpat is your saving grace (0r any other silicone baking mat). As are heavy half-sheet pans (I got mine for cheap at a restaurant supply store). Having these mean no washing cookie sheets between batches and nothing sticks. Plus the big pans can mean more cookies per batch.

2) A cookie scoop (again, I got this for cheap at a restaurant supply store). Makes scooping cookies super easy and uniform.

3) Parchment paper. I lay this out when rolling dough so I can get away with less flour which makes for a better cookie. I lay out a sheet and put pre-scooped dough balls on it while waiting for the oven. That way I can empty my mixing bowl, wash it and move on to the next dough even if all of the first kind of cookies aren’t done baking.

4) Read through all your recipes. Know what order you’re going to make them. Does it need chilled? Great – make it, throw it in the fridge then make and bake your next recipe while that one chills.

5) Mise-en-place – I know that might sound too “Iron Chef” for some but it makes all the difference. On day one I didn’t get as much done as I would have liked. So that night I got all my dry ingredients mixed, my wets mixed (where I could) and laid it all out. On Sunday morning I was able to have 3 kinds of cookies (nearly 10 dozen!) DONE before 10:30 AM (I started around 7:15 thanks to the Madman alarm). I was shocked at how much time it saved.

6) A spouse who will keep the kids out of the kitchen while you work. I love to have my kids in the kitchen with me but I was in cookie-mode and just needed them out of my hair for several hours. At kitchen with doors (like ours) so you can close everyone out is also a nice thing to have.

What are your holiday baking traditions? What recipe should I try next year?

Things I Won’t Apologize For

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Is it me or does life feel a little upside down lately? Things are happening in life and online that have me shaking my head and wondering if I’ve gone beyond the looking glass. I’m feeling a bit ranty lately so I’m going to get it off my chest.

Here’s a list of things I won’t apologize for:

1. Using twitter any damn way I please. If you don’t like what I’m saying or what photos I’m posting or the hashtags I’m using you are free to unfollow. I don’t care, seriously. I won’t hurt my feelings and I likely won’t notice.

2. Attending events for local companies and using said twitter account to talk about it.

3. Buying an expensive product at full price from a locally owned company that happens to be large and tweeting about it. Supporting local does not mean you have to buy only from small mom-and-pop shops. If you think that large local companies don’t deserve our support you’re crazy.

4. Calling you out if you post the Ben Stein “Confessions for the Holiday” piece that is 2/3 false and has been proven to be lies year in and year out. Just stop it.

5. Wishing you  Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. (should note here, because I didn’t then, that I’m not Jewish. But in that moment I just wanted to shut that lady up. I’m not apologizing for that lie, either.)

6. Raising money. I AM a fundraiser, after all.

I think that’s it for right now, but I’m in full honey badger mode right now so watch out.

What’s getting on your nerves lately?

 

 

Treat yo’self (Treat Free Code)

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woot! woot! sponsored post alert!

Treat is a new card brand on the block – owned by Shutterfly and run by the former Tiny Prints Greetings. And while I adore and use Tiny Prints for things like holiday cards, thank you notes and invitations; Treat has become my go-to for one-off cards (but! you can order multiples of a single card, too!).

Here’s what I love about Treat:

- High quality cards that you pick from the comfort of your laptop (even at 1:00 AM when you remember that your aunt’s birthday is in 3 days).

- They have designs that use photos or not – it’s up to you. And there are over 300 Hallmark-designed cards to choose from.

- You can set up all your cards at once and then Treat will send them out at the right time making you look like a rockstar. I did this in May – I sat down for an hour and set up about 27 birthday cards to go out over the next year and it’s awesome. Remember “set it and forget it”?. Yep, it’s like that but instead of a perfectly roasted chicken you get the praise of being a good friend/daughter/coworker/etc. You can even add gifts to the card by including a gift card to places like Amazon and Target.

- Treat will send the card to your recipient or to you. If you want to add a handwritten note, they’ll send it right to you and you can deliver it yourself.

- You can set up a card then edit it for several different recipients. I just did this today and several Thanksgiving cards featuring my kids will be going to the family who isn’t joining us around the table. All I had to do was update the personalization and the address. Easy peasy.

- They have an App! You can send cards right from your phone. Talk about easy!

So here’s the deal. I’ve been using and loving Treat since May. And they are running a promo right now where you can give them a try for free, too. Use code TREATBLOGR for one free Treat card good only on Monday 11/19 & Tuesday 11/20. I know you’ve got someone in your life who would appreciate a card. What have you got to loose?

 

Disclosure: Treat is giving me a credit in exchange for this post. I only share products that my family  has used, so I can attest to their quality. 

No Sleep Till…

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Matilda was a horrible sleeper until around age 4 and I swore the universe owed me a good sleeper. And we (mostly) had that with Madman. That is until we moved him to a toddler bed last spring. I was determined to keep in his crib until age 3 but he figured out how to climb out shortly after he turned 2 so the crib came down and the toddler bed went in. We haven’t slept since.

He goes to bed just fine, but around 4 AM he decides it’s a great time to get up and play. He doesn’t cry or demand our attention which is a nice change from Matilda’s old, clingy habits. What he does, however, was worse. He quietly destroys his room.

(FYI: you can assume that most of these photos were taken between 2 and 6 AM)

Or he would gather every toy in the room and bring it into bed with him. Do you know how jarring it is to wake up at 3:27 AM to the sound of wooden blocks crashing together?

Sometimes we would actually sleep through the mayhem in the room next to ours and find him like this in the morning:

Or we’d find him asleep on the floor somewhere which I don’t mind. Except for when he falls asleep right behind his door and we can’t open it without hitting him.

It got to the point that even with naps, I would always go into his room with my camera ready because I’d never know where I would find him.

Most of these issues we’ve solved by putting his dresser, toys and books into his closet where he can’t get them. He still gets up daily around 4 AM, but Mark can usually get him to fall back to sleep for a couple of hours. But he’s always been an early riser and we know that we can’t just let him play alone or he’ll cause a major mess (he picks at his diaper through his PJs and will shred it, polymer balls everywhere! such fun!). So when Madman is up, one of us is up – no matter how early. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped going into his room with my camera ready to go. You just never know when you’ll find a swashbuckling cowboy at 6:45 AM.

 

Strong Silent Type

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I feel like I don’t give the Madman his proper due here on the blog; poor, neglected second-born that he is. As the third child I always swore I wouldn’t let my kids experience different treatment…that they would have equal billing in baby books and beyond. I’ve told you about old boxes of slides with my name spelled wrong, right? Yep…one of my parents (I won’t out the guilty party) spelled my name wrong nearly a year after I was born. Pretty good reason for me to try harder, right?

But, I haven’t. I must say that I didn’t even make a baby book for Matilda until she was 3. But then I did her first three years in beautiful oversized photo albums and never even attempted to start another. Perhaps Madman will get a baby book for his 3rd birthday but the truth is I didn’t document his first year as well as I did Matilda’s and I’ll have to cobble together his 1st year via this blog and my twitter archive.

Bieber hair

But this boy of mine, oh he has my entire heart. He’s tall for his age with a strong, athletic build. I let his blond hair get shaggy because I can’t get enough of it, but once it gets too far into Beiber-territory we get it chopped. He refuses to stand still for even a second so getting a photo is nearly impossible. But beleive me when I tell you I could right volumnes about this kid’s smile, his laugh and don’t even get me started on his dimples.

Dimple!

At 2 years and almost 7 months he’s finally just starting to talk with some clarity, which, to be honest, if he were my first I would have had him in and out of specialist offices by now. But he communicates well without a full grasp of language and gets along just fine so I’m trusting myself (and our pediatrician) that he’ll figure it out sooner or later. It does get him frustrated sometimes but if you don’t understand him he’ll just grab your hand and drag you to what he wants and makes you understand.

His favorite thing in life is his big sister. The two of them are pretty great together, and Madman wants nothing more than to be doing whatever Matilda is doing. His fearless nature coupled with his desire to do exactly what she’s doing has led to some harrowing experiences.

Madman is the one who is teaching us all to slow down to look at the bugs and dig in the dirt. He’s showing us to just go with the flow (especially if that flow includes wearing costumes in public) and to just laugh because laughing is fun. I just love this kid so damn much.

Halloween 2012

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So! OhMommy left and apparently she took my will to blog with her to Chicago. Back in July. Oof. It’s been awhile, eh? No real reason… I’ve got 59.7 blog posts formulated in my head but I never found the time to commit them to paper (screen?). I’ve lot’s to catch up on…little stuff like my oldest starting kindergarten, you know, NBD. But, let’s ease back into this with a photo heavy post, shall we? (if you follow me on twitter/instagram you’ve seen them all, sorry!)

Thanks to the frankenstorm that gave us hurricane-style 70mph winds and waves on a Great Lake of 20 feet, our neighborhood’s trick-or-treat was postponed until yesterday. Let’s not even talk about how fast a post-vacation high can be harshed by losing power for 3 days and having roof/chimney damage that leads to plaster/fireplace/mantel damage.

Tip: a waterproof crib topper under your leak buckets will help to protect your floors (something I wish I didn’t have to learn)

Huge shout out to Emily for opening her home to us while she traveled for work. We had warm beds, hot showers and homemade meals in her adorable house rather than suffering at our 45-degree house. Thanks, Em! (and to Emily’s mom!)

The story of how we got these pumpkins to come. This photo is pre-storm when they were freshly cut. Last night they were 75% moldy goo.

Back to the point… 2012: the year Halloween was in November. Matilda knew she wanted to be an equestrian since probably last Christmas. Since she’s been taking riding lessons anyway she had most of the gear. I did finally give in and bought her a (deeply discounted) real riding coat after I looked for a boys jacket at a few thrift stores with no luck. She also scored real leather riding gloves out of the deal which I justified with the fact that she actually uses them at her lessons. She looked pretty darn cute, even with 2 layers of long johns under her costume.

And lord help the person who called her a horse rider… she would correct you with a quick “I’m an equestrian!”

Madman, my sweet opinionated 2.5 year old, was a monkey. Stuffed into the same size 24 month costume his sister wore just a month after she turned 2. I want to make clear that I didn’t not force this costume on him. He had a choice between a bee (which would have fit him much better) and this monkey (which I didn’t realize was so small until after I showed it to him) and he picked the monkey. Luckily, the coat fit him fine, but the pants were about 5 inches too short so the little feet were just below his knees.

Of course, since I can’t help myself when it comes to making these comparisons, I dug up photos from Halloween 2008 to see my two monkeys side-by-side.

Much to Matilda’s delight, Mark decided to dress up at the last minute by donning his Army fatigues. Let’s pause for a moment  and consider that these were issued to him when he was 18 years old and he still fits into them.

And, even though these really have nothing to do with Halloween, I have to post these photos to show how delightfully weird my kids are right now. Matilda is so into horses that EVERYTHING is about horses. Everything. Her scooter is really a horse named Scarlet and yesterday she found a snow brush which she then used to groom her “horse” for about 20 minutes. She even picked over the horseshoes like a proper equestrian would.

As for Madman, he’s at the age that it’s just a heck of a lot easier to give into his demands to wear what he wants than to fight him. This is why he’s frequently seen out and about in costume:

A walk to the neighbor’s house requires his sister’s riding helmet.

The man of steel enjoys pancakes for breakfast.

Buzz prefers to shop Trader Joe’s in the early morning on Saturdays.

I think I may have my blog mojo back… hopefully there will be more updates soon!

 

 

Weekend Recap (Late Edition)

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Yes, I know it’s Friday. Am I the only one who has to play catch-up all week after a 3-day weekend? I’m not complaining at all. But damn, this week has gone by quickly. This past weekend was one of this tales of parenthood that makes you wonder how we survive it all. I like to call this one Traveling with a Sick Toddler in a Single-Bed Hotel Room. Or How Not to Do It.

I have to preface this recap of the weekend with the tale of the sick toddler. Last Wednesday I got the dreaded “daycare call” and was told that Madman had a low fever and had crawled onto his cot 45 minutes early then promptly passed out. He hadn’t eaten and had acted dazed all morning. I picked him up after nap and he was just a cuddly, tired lump all afternoon. On Thursday Mark and I tag-teamed staying at home with him and by that evening he had still not eaten and broken out in a rash. A trip to Urgent Care later and we had a raging double ear infection (yikes! that wasn’t even on our radar) and either strep or Hand, Foot & Mouth. The CNP who checked him didn’t bother to get a throat culture since she was going to prescribe antibiotics for his ears anyway so if it was strep we were covered. If it was Hand, Foot & Mouth that’s just a waiting game. As Friday progressed we were pretty sure it was Hand, Foot & Mouth and the poor boy was miserable and looked diseased.

So! Saturday was my cousin’s wedding in Columbus – an event my entire dad’s side of the family would be at, including my brother and nephew from Florida. So we headed down to the hotel with Sir Coxsackie and his sister, leaving at nap time in the hopes that someone would get at least 2 hours of sleep in the car. He fell sleep right on cue (with snacks in hnad, watching Clifford). All was going according to plan. That is until he woke up 20 minutes later. And never fell back asleep. Oh boy…

 

Too bad he didn’t stay like this

We arrived at our hotel which was full to the brim of sports teams – apparently there were both soccer and baseball tournaments in the area over the weekend. Yippee. We got the early check-in we asked for but we had single king room, not the double queen we wanted. Turns out ALL the double queen rooms had been booked by the sports teams. Fantastic. We get to the room and throw the girl in her swimsuit and I took her to the pool – we had been promising it the whole day. Mark stayed in the room with Madman, hoping that maybe he’d doze off. After a swim and visiting with some of the family we headed up to get wedding-ready only to find out that Madman had refused to sleep. Yikes.

We arrive at the church literally 2 minutes before the 4:00 PM wedding started … oops! … and I ended up hanging out in the vestibule with Madman who just wanted to run around. He was getting more and more clingy and whiny by the moment but he did have a chance to play with my cousin’s kid for a bit (I was told he wasn’t contagious anymore and I hope that was right). After the pretty and short ceremony we did family photos and more chatting before we headed to the reception. We drove the long way, once again going that Madman would close his eyes for just a few minutes with no luck. At the reception Madman wanted nothing to do with anyone but me. He wanted to be held at all times and was super cranky. In the meantime Matilda was super-excited to see all of her cousins. She was bouncing around like a pinball from one to another and back. She couldn’t wait to dance and see the bride again. Madman held out as long as he could but by 7 Mark took a very tired and cranky boy back to the hotel.

Matilda & her cousin B, my brother with Matilda,
Matilda’s reaction when the bride and groom entered the reception

Matilda and I stayed and she was thrilled that we were seated right where the wedding party came in. She was so attentive to every detail and tradition and LOVED to clink the glasses to get the bride and groom to kiss. Finally, around 8:30 the dancing started. Matilda shook her groove thing for about 3 songs until she declared herself DONE and wanted to go back to the hotel. Apparently the crash after her 1st Shirley Temple was a hard one.

My parents, married 45 years this fall, were one of the last 2 couples dancing during the anniversary dance,
Matilda and the drink of red dye and sugary doom,
Stephen (my cousin) and Sara – the happy couple

Now, remember we are all in a single-king room with a pack n’ play for Madman. Matilda and wade through the packs of 8-9 year old boys roaming the hotel halls with no parental supervision (OMG) and tip-toe into the room at about 10 PM to find the boys wide awake. Madman had not had a single moment of sleep since about 11 AM. Matilda crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep but Madman was running laps in his crib. At one point I saw him try and nearly succeed at climbing out. He FINALLY crashed around 11. Then for the rest of the night I had a 5 year old who thought she was a barnacle attached to my back. That is until she woke up at 2:30 crying about her ear hurting. I corralled her in the bathroom where she cried and screamed refused to take any medicine for a good 20 minutes. I finally got her to take some motrin and she quickly fell back asleep. Of course, even after all of this Madman was up at 7 AM so Matilda got another round of swimming in as Madman and I toured the halls of the hotel.

Sunday morning we spent at my aunt’s house in Columbus for breakfast and more family time before we hit the road back to Cleveland. This time Madman was asleep within minutes and actually slept most of the time, thank goodness. When we got home we did fun things like make a meal plan for the week and go grocery shopping. We did, however, check out Old Carolina BBQ for dinner and it was delicious.

Monday was spent installing our air conditioners to ward off the 95 degree heat, sprinklers and then Mark and Matilda went to a cook out with friends why Madman and I stayed home and watched way too much TV. Then, since Matilda got the sprinkler I pulled out all the sandbox buckets and a big plastic tub onto the drive way and let Madman go to town in the water. Of course, the night ended with 3 window AC units blasting in the bedrooms which meant we were in for a game of “electricity roulette”. If you don’t know the rules you’ve probably never lived in an old house. The game is where you ask yourself “If I turn this on, will it blow a fuse?” Turns out when the item in question is a tiny nightlight the answer is yes. Ahhh – I love old houses. Good thing we keep a stash of a few dozen fuses around. Once that was fixed we all fell into bed for the night.

Hope your holiday weekend was good to you and that your week has gone as fast as mine. TGIF – time to do it all again!

 

Weekend Recap

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I had so much fun doing last week’s weekend recap, I thought I’d do it again. This weekend was much more tame as we stayed closer to home.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early, as usual, and headed to the Farmer’s Market. Arriving at 8:15 didn’t mean we beat the crowds – the place was, happily, packed. We loaded up our bags with chicken and eggs from New Creation Farms (jumbo eggs, because by 8:30 EVERYONE was out of regular – wow), asparagus, tomatoes, bread from Zoss and a Gray House Pie. We stopped to get some breakfast – a breakfast slider from NCF (I highly recommend) and a strawberry crepe.

Then it was back to the house where Madman helped Mark mow and Matilda ran around like a madwoman. Then, while Madman napped, Matilda and I tackled the weedy front beds. Well, she made mud pies while I worked. I have no idea what the plant below is, but I’ve declared it my nemesis. They always been in the gardens and lawn since we moved in and they grow so fast. I declared war on them and spent a few hours digging up every last one, trying to make sure I got all the roots.

After nap we headed over to one of our favorite spots for an afternoon – the Cleveland Botanical Gardens – where we romped around the Children’s Garden, checked out the new kitchen garden and ran over the paths and bridges. We have a family membership there and we get more than our money’s worth, year round.

Later in the evening we had an impromptu meet up with the Classy Chaos crew at out South Chagrin Reservation. What a wonderful evening. We hiked through the river and played in a clearing. They had been there all day, which is something we need to do soon. We are frequent river waders there in the summer, but a day in the park and a picnic dinner sounds like a perfect early summer activity. Cleveland is incredibly lucky to have our incredible Metroparks – they are just beautiful.

Today I slept in for Mother’s Day today and woke up to 2 snuggly kids along with french toast, bacon and local(!) strawberries. The rest of the day was somewhat lazy with t-ball in the yard, nap time snuggles, more weeding, meal planning for the week and solo grocery shopping. I know, it sounds lame, but I actually like grocery shopping and going by myself is something I enjoy. More time outside, more weeding and a delicious dinner using our farmer’s market buys: roast chicken, roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes with strawberry-rhurbarb pie for dessert. Overall, a great day.

How was your weekend?

Festivals and Tribe Games and Carousels, oh my!

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Like other CLE bloggers I thought I’d do a weekend wrap-up. It has a lot less brunching and drinking, but it was busy and fun just the same. Here’s my weekend recap, parent-style.

Friday night, as soon as Matilda got home from school, I whisked her downtown to Playhouse Square for a performance at the International Children’s Festival. I’m so in awe of our theater district. It was humming with activity on Friday and Matilda was just SO! EXCITED! to go into the buildings with the lit-up marquees over them. We saw World of Rhythm in the glorious State Theater. She LOVED the show and was dancing in the aisle by the end. She’s been talking about it non-stop and drumming on everything in sight. After the show, we walked around the theater and she posed “like a princess” on one of the grand staircases. Then we walked down to Noodlecat, her favorite CLE restaurant, for some ramen and steam buns. The kid loves her ramen.

Our date continued with a long walk back to the car as we admired the buildings (as-seen in The Avengers), laughed at our matching silver shoes and imagined that a bank was actually a giant robot.

Saturday had us at a friend’s First Communion where Matilda peppered me with questions throughout the Mass. She asked everything from why the girls were in veils and the priests were in robes to asking me if they were talking about zombies after John 6:53 was read. Oy, I think it’s time to start looking for a church. She has so many questions. After the ceremony we headed to the party where there was photo booth – BEST IDEA EVER. We had a great time hamming it up for the camera.


Saturday night the Indians had invited us to check out their new Kids Clubhouse. Since it was an evening game, I stayed home with the Madman while Mark took Matilda and her buddy and his dad to to check it out. Mark was floored with how well the Clubhouse was done and of all the amenities they thought of. Biggest bonus points goes to the wealth of family bathrooms available in the space. Matilda is just starting to use the public bathrooms on her own and I was worried about her in the often crowed and chaotic restrooms at the ballpark. Problem solved. They also have cheaper food options (think Uncrustables and organic milk) and, hooray! nice, private, clean nursing rooms for moms of infants. Mark even took a snapshot of the nursing room to text me, knowing how grateful I was when I found nursing rooms when I was still breastfeeding. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a quiet place to nurse and I want to give the Indians a big high-five for thinking of that. Both kids (ages 5 & 6) love the outing – the Kids Clubhouse is perfect for little kids who just can’t sit through 9 innings. Parents can watch the game while the kids play. Kudos to the Indians for adding this area, they really did their homework. Matilda has already asked when she can go to another game.

Playing in the new space, private nursing room,
view of the filed, Mark and Matilda after the game

On Sunday we had our traditional breakfast of buttermilk pancakes. We take our pancakes seriously around here and I’ve perfected the perfect fluffy pancake using this recipe (my tips: beat the egg whites to almost soft peaks. Then fold everything very gently, don’t over mix).

That afternoon I took both kids with me to Mansfield (my hometown) to meet up with my parents for the afternoon. They have been “snow birding” in South Carolina for 4 months and we haven’t seen them since Christmas. We meet them at Kingwood Center, a beautiful garden estate, were the kids could run around and feed the ducks. Then we went over to the Mansfield Carousel for a few spins. It was the Madman’s first time on a merry-go-round and he seemed suspicious of the whole endeavor. Later rides on a bench were enjoyed a bit more. Matilda, the girl who rides actual horses, assumed a stance of holding on for dear life as she rode. My kids are weird.

We got home just in time for bedtime. While we were gone Mark mowed the yard, did ALL the laundry, did dishes and went grocery shopping. Color me impressed.

This week is busy with work stuff and planning for next weekend. How was your weekend?