A working kitchen

Ohmygod, you don't even want to know what's been happening in my kitchen.

Actual cooking. With multiple ingredients. And sauces that thicken.

I took a cooking class on my birthday called Mac and Cheese 101 and while I was there, I bought a toddler cookbook along with a few gadgets, like a super deluxe apple slicer and a pizza cutter.

Since then, I've been on a roll. I am cooking, like, all the time.
Here are some things I made:

1. Treasure Triangles, which was basically a black bean and banana paste inside a puff pastry. Result: Kids did not eat it.

2. Mac and Cheese that was not from a box. Result: Everyone ate it.

3. Zucchini and avocado soup. Result: Gross.

4. Pan fried chicken and gravy. Yes! Gravy! It worked! Result: Awesomeness.

How long do you think this will last?

Tulle envy

For those of you without Facebook, here is Marina at her friend Noa's fourth birthday party. Can you guess the theme?

Hint 1: It involves a lot, a lot of pink.



Hint 2: And twirly skirts.



Hint 3: Wands and crowns.



Hint 4: And wings!



For those of you playing along, the correct answer was: fairies! Nice job.

Where am I?

Our house has bronchitis. We will be back with family antics soon . . .

In which I turn into a plant lady

It's no fun moving from a luxury house to a much smaller furlough house with no central air and wobbly window screens. So I decided that to make myself feel better about it all, I was going to invest a plant biome.



Isn't it so amazing? It's made by a local artist who specializes in cactus and succulents and puts them in glass orbs like this. Many of them are tiny and are meant to hang from the ceiling. But I wanted a big one that could be mounted on the wall. She created quite a world in there.



And perhaps my proudest moment since I moved away from my parents house was figuring out how to mount it. I hung this! All alone!



Since my purchase, I have collected four more plants for the house. Most people know my history with plants and it's not good. So I really hope my new little green family lasts more than a month.

Things my kids eat

Overheard in the bath . . .

Marina: Ella, you're blonde now!

Ella: I not.

Marina: Yeah, you are!

Ella: I'M NOT BLONDE.

(Bam! Bam! Bam!)

Marina: Stop hitting me!!!!

Friends?

This is me trying desperately to be Ella's friend.



Since she started the two-year-old class and even more since she got a fever last week, the kid has been moody and miserable. Which may explain her new game. It goes something like this:

Ella: You're not my friend. Daddy is my friend.
Me: Boo hoo.
Ella: Sorry. Sorry. (Hug.) You're not my friend. Daddy's my friend.
Me: Boo hoo.
Ella: Sorry. Sorry. (Hug.)

You want me to keep going? Because it keeps going.