In the belly of the beast

Is it close enough to Valentine's Day to continue the gushing?
 I'm still feeling a little wingy after landing a solid twenty four hours of kid freedom.  It was a random set of time that's for sure.  But Ben and I have never been one's to shoot for coherency. Sometime in situations like these we take to the streets.  B-love likes to hit the ground running, which usually involves a little shopping and some french fries.  But we are on a budget y'all.  We have a ten year anniversary extravaganza to save for, and we were already doing up the night in style (with double decker groupons but style nonetheless).  So we did what anyone in our situation would do.  We sat opposite each other in the living room and stared at our computer screens.  We ate cheezits and took naps.  We are talking about romance for the record books here people.  

By the time 6:30 rolled around I had managed to find some makeup and an outfit that didn't involve an elastic waistband.  We wound our way up the old historic columbia highway and over a rickety bridge until seeing a beautiful restaurant surrounded by twinkle lights.  It was right on the river and I ate up every cheesy moment, from the pianist playing only the Beatles to the roaring fireplace and tableside Bananas Foster.  The food was good but the company was fantastic.  No one makes me laugh or feel more loved than this guy.  We decided to go for broke with a midnight movie just because we could.  

Ah date night...

along with getting your kids to nap at the same time, it is the holy grail of the stay at home mom.

I need every reminder, that I have someone who will hunt me down for a hug when he gets home, and serenade me while I cook dinner.  Someone who will open the spaghetti jars and talk me off all my ledges.  Yes I want to kill him on a daily basis but honestly I would rather fight with him every night  than wake up with anyone else.

Bus stop antics

Hello.  I'm Ian.  I'm fwee and I yike piwates.

Hello.  I'm Ava.  I'm six and I lost two teeth already!  I like animals and coloring and long walks on the beach. 

We love each other most of the time.

I know what's coming next.

Here it comes!

It's all fun and games until someone gets licked.

V-Day shout out

Well it took me awhile but I hit my Valentine's Day stride at about 5:15 pm.  There were ooh's and ahh's as I scrounged around to find our decorations and busied myself with fondue preparations.  There were screams of delight over hello kitty slippers ($3 target clearance!) and Jake and The Pirate smartphones.  The ordinary Thursday of doing laundry and lounging lazy at the library becomes extraordinary with some sparkle strewn about the house and meals shaped into hearts.  I'm always thankful for a mix up in the routine and the little reminders to say You're Mine in a million different ways. So...  
Here's to days devoted to I Love You's.
Here's to heart shaped pancakes.

Here's to the cutest Valentine's ever.

Here's to littles who are easily blown away and the sweet privilege of being the dynamite.

Here's to the cute guy next to me on the couch.
Here's to the promise of a hot weekend date night.
Here's to grandparents who agree to take our kids.
What else could a girl ask for really?

Happy Valentine's Day to all my lovies far and wide.  I hope you know you're loved today.

lunch date

I have a standing twelve o'clock engagement with a handsome lil'man at a very popular restaurant called Mama's kitchen.  Sometimes we discuss current events such as whether ninjas are stronger than power rangers or whether the Diesel's from Thomas the Train are sorry for being so mean to everyone.

We acknowledge that our oranges are in dire need of Mater's towing assistance as they hang precariously off the table, just about every single day.

Occasionally I get to be entertained by a game or a song

Such as, "I'm a little apple tree.  How many apples can you shake from me?" At this point I have to pick one apple off of his tree.

and, "I'm a little dewivry twuck!  How many packages can you shake from me?"

And you guessed it.  I have to pretend to remove two packages from his booty.

Oh, man.  Sometimes I don't realize how ridiculous my days are until I actually talk about them out loud.

milestones

Miss A. finally lost baby tooth number one yesterday.  I cannot believe how long it takes for those teeny teeth to finally fall out.  It started with an accidentally bathtub incident which knocked the tooth a little loose and caused a bit of hysteria.

Followed by a month of tongue pushing

and a month of, "it's definitely coming out now mama!"

But it turns out that yesterday was the day and one bite of her glow bracelet was all it took to convince that tooth to vacate the premises.

A word of warning to the pre-tooth loss mamas out there.  Do not go to google and type in tooth fairy the night your child has lost her tooth and is sound asleep in bed.  There is a world people.  A world I didn't even know existed.  This is probably because I stubbornly have refused to join Pinterest, because those women are flying to crazy town and I would be the first to buy a one way ticket.  I toned it down to a golden one dollar coin, a new Barbie toothbrush, and a tiny note from Ember Rose Sprinklestar.  This might sound like, as usual, I've overdone it.  But I'm telling you I might as well have told her the toothfairy was fake and left a rock under her pillow compared to the options.    

Here's my girls new smile.  It's pretty cute if I do say so myself.  She informed me today that she wanted to be the toothfairy when she grew up because, "her castle's probably MADE of money."  That's my girl. 

kitchen sink granola

I'm feeling a little guilty about my one pound of butter post and decided to throw some balance into the mix.  Unfortunately, it's only good for you if you don't eat the entire half sheet in one sitting.  This is kind of a head/heart recipe as I mashed up a little Alton Brown with a little Deb Perelman but I've made it an embarrassing number of times and it always turns out great.  So let's get cooking!

First grab 3 cups of oats (I haven't tried quick cooking yet so I'm not sure what the variance would be?)

Throw it in a bowl with 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut (This stuff is my crack addiction!  If you can't get Bob's try any unsweetened coconut from an asian grocery store or use the bagged sweet stuff.  But you might want to dial back the brown sugar (not that I would)).

Add 1/4 cup heavily packed brown sugar (light or dark)

Then I use a mix of whatever nuts I have on hand (pecans, almonds, and peanuts is my favorite so far) and blend about 2 cups worth in the food processor until chunky.  Add the nuts to the bowl and stir.

Now here's where you can let your imagination run wild.  I wanted mine to really clump up so I added everything I could think of.  My combo was 1/4 cup maple syrup (once I used Mrs. Butterworth's and it was fine)

Add 1/4 cup vegetable oil

a few Tablespoons of corn syrup

about 1/4 cup of peanut butter (if you don't use the peanuts in the nut mix)

about 1 Tablespoon of vanilla

and a few squeezes from the honey bear

It should be about a cups worth of liquid ingredients.  I also added a few shakes of cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon salt.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and spread it out on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 250 for about 40 minutes (stirring every fifteen to twenty minutes). 

When there's about 8-10 minutes left I stirred in one cup of dried cranberries (so they wouldn't have a burned flavor) 

Yours might take a little longer but just take it out when it's a nice golden brown color.

Try to gather any self control you have and let it cool in the pan.  Then break it up into large clumps and it will store in a airtight container for...well I don't really know since ours hasn't lasted longer then two days.  You can have it with milk for breakfast or over ice cream in the middle of the night.  I think it makes the best lunch with some vanilla yogurt and fruit.  

I have to hide the Tillamook vanilla bean in the very back of the fridge so my kiddos won't find it.  I am a lot of fun to live with.  Let me tell you.

This will be the best granola you've ever had!  I promise you won't even miss the four sticks of butter.

Six on Sunday: Things I would do if I flew solo for twelve straight daytime hours

Happy football day!  Did everyone enjoy the Superbowl?  I thought it was especially great when that one guy did that one thing and then everyone cheered.  Right?!  Actually I was cheering for the red team (sorry honey) because my friend Amy's dad works with the quarterback's dad and they played doctor when they were kids.  (Is that accurate Amy?) Ava thought the halftime show was extremely inappropriate ("too many boobies mommy") and yet somehow she knows all the words to Single Ladies.  I might need to do some investigating.

 Ok, a couple of disclaimers first:
1. I L-O-V-E my kids
2. They are just about the two cutest beings on the planet
However:
3. Ian climbed into bed with me and 5:57 AM and asked me to make him 'pantakes'
3. Ava was talking to me at dinner and spit chips into my mouth

Drumroll please!

#1 I would sleep in until 10:30.  Ten is too early and eleven doesn't leave me enough time to take an hour long shower and still make it to lunch. (this would be my bedroom if Ben let me stencil the walls and buy bird themed bedding. I'm not really allowed to redecorate after the whole painting the living room wall purple thing)

#2 I would go through the Starbucks drive through and get a medium (I don't go there enough to even know what they call their medium nowadays) salted caramel mocha poured into two small cups (one for tomorrow) with extra whip cream.

#3 I would leisurely stroll through TJMax, Nordstrom Rack, and Marshalls.  I would buy one shirt for $6.80 and call it a success. (this would be a photo of me if I had significant plastic surgery)

#4 I would go see The Silver Linings Playbook (sorry Christy) at the cheap theater and drink a fountain Coke.  Then I would movie hop on over to theater 2 to catch Les Miserable

a special shout out to Oscar for making it entirely credible to go see a Bradley Cooper movie

all I can think of when I see this girl is Dakota Fanning

#5 I would meet my love at the most crowded and over priced taco place downtown where everything is organic and homemade and written on a chalkboard.  I would drink a margarita with sugar on the rim and eat chips and salsa until my belt needed adjusting.

#6 I would come home, crank my electric blanket up to 11, and cuddle in bed with the three half read books on my nightstand and a cup of hot tea.

this one gets first priority

P.S. I would most definitely go into my babies rooms and smell their heads and marvel at how wondrous they are, but this isn't Seven on Sunday now is it?

P.P.S.  Is it just me or do I sound dehydrated?