As much as I love snow, after a couple weeks of it I start to get stir crazy. My kids have also been really squirrely and antsy. So I was pleased that the weather was nice today, crisp but not cold sunny but not super warm.
The girls played and I took some pictures. It was nice and they got filthy with the mud and such. That wasn't a big deal as it was totally worth the time and energy spent.
The first flowers:
Sweetie:
Magnus:
Happy spring, though a few weeks away!
This was about a week ago, at any rate, but here is the story:
I had made a quick search after the first encounter of scissors. Apparently, I did not catch them all. I have also learned that the kids like to tag team their mother sabotage.
Cordelia makes a mess. I clean it up. In the minute or two it takes to do that, Cecily has some scissors and is chopping away again. It wasn't too bad.
Here's the first iteration of the clean up hair cut:
I did some extra trimming:
It is very short but I think it is cute!
I suppose I have learned my lesson, maybe not Cecily though!
I wanted to wish my lovely sister in law a wonderful birthday! Have a great day and make sure my brother treats you to a lovely evening!
PS. You are old. I get to say that for the next nine months or so!
I love to bake. It is one of my favorite hobbies, yet one that can be terrible for my waistline.
At any rate, Sunday I made some sugar cookies. "Cookie Hearts" is what Cecily called them. I made a double batch and sent some over to my sister who needed a bit of a pick me up. Generally, I just make a simple butter frosting, but my issue with that, is that it often is just too thick and rich for the cookie and ends up with a sugar overload. So I thought, why not a glaze? I took out my trusty Betty Crocker Cooky Book (more on that in a minute) and made a Browned Butter Glaze. The glaze was rich but not overpowering, very buttery with almost a caramel flavor. It went on thin and I was able to frost many in a very short time.
It is also very simple:
Melt 1/4 cup butter over medium high heat, until golden brown (the darker it gets, the more buttery it will taste). Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla (almond would work too). Color with food coloring. Add enough hot water to make a fairly thin glaze. Dip cookies face down and shake off excess. This should easily cover a batch of sugar cookies.
Central to my cookie baking is my Cooky Book. It was originally published in 1965. It contains the recipes of our most treasured family cookies (the best) chocolate chip cookies, molasses crinkles and many others. I am always finding new things to make from it. 
A couple years ago, I was looking at the newspaper, and there was an insert that had a reprint of the 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook. As a free gift, you could get the Cooky Book! I had to look it up and check if it was the right one, as our original was missing its cover. I saw the sample pictures and pages and was certain it had to be it.
The holy grail of chocolate chip cookies:
It was! So, I told my mom and that happened to be what I got for my birthday. I highly recommend it. While it does include some oddities (Trix cookies, anyone?), there are some real gems in there.
I was getting a bit sick of my previous title. It felt a bit silly. I am trying this on for size. If there is one thing I know about myself, I know that I am fickle. I get bored and I want a change! I find it very hard to represent myself in one way. I am not totally silly nor am I totally serious. I am not cutesy either. It is hard to find a balance sometimes with a website layout.
Let me know what you think. Bonus points for those who get the correct classic movie association.
Last Thursday was Aaron's birthday and we had a little shindig on Friday for him. I can't believe he is already 9. I remember seeing him just after he was born and I thought that he was such an adorable baby. He is a bit quirky, but is a really great kid. I am proud to be his aunt.
I have a new layout and I am working on making it look good. I wanted something cleaner and brighter. I hope this will work for awhile.
Read more...
Growing up, I suppose you could say that my sister and I weren't exactly normal. I guess I do remember a bit of what was popular with our peers in the early 90s, but most of it we weren't really into. We didn't watch much television, but we did watch movies. Of course, we loved "The Little Mermaid" and Co., but next on our list were musicals. Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals accounted for most of them. We would drive everyone nuts on car trips with the repetitive verses of "Do Re Mi" an the like.
As I wish to indoctrinate my own daughters into the love of musicals, I have started them young. Thursday night, we watched the great MGM classic, "Singin' in the Rain." The girls loved it. Music and dancing filled the screen and they were entranced. They danced to the lively songs and laughed at the silliness.
I was trying to decide what part of the movies was my favorite, and I kept thinking one thing was, but then another bit came on. While the plot is pretty sparse, there are so many classic lines, gags and songs that it can be enjoyed by just about anyone.
As a kid, "Make 'Em Laugh" was always a highlight for me. This was Cecily's favorite, unsurprisingly. She just cracked up as Donald O'Connor danced, fell over and made silly faces.
I know I cannot force a love of good movies on my children, but I can encourage it. They will have more musicals in their future!
Last Sunday, while Nate was watching the girls, they hid in the bathroom and Cecily decided to cut her hair and also do Cordelia's. Cecily's was mostly isolated to the top of her head, which now includes a couple bald spots. All I would have to do is shave the sides and Cecily could rock the mullet!
This is an after my fix, her longer bangs just looked bizarre, so I mad them all short.
Cordelia got it all over. I ended up having to cut two inches off in the back, so no more pigtails for awhile.
Not a great picture:
After the fix:
I was pretty sad about the whole thing, but it is just hair and will grow back!
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