Take two

Waiting for ballet. Costume was on by 6 a.m. today. Last night she went to bed super excited, it's like we hit a pause button that resumed playing in the wee hours of the morning. c.

Perfect peach pie

Father's Day was about baseball, swimming and pie. My neighbor made a peach pie that was incredible. She's a great cook which has a lot to do with why it turned out so good. She shared the recipe with me but it's on Cook's Illustrated which is a subscription site so unless you are a subscriber you can't access it.

She opted to skip the lattice top and instead cleverly used one of her kids play-doh cutters to create this really cute top pattern.

I promise to find and personally test some peach pie recipes to share with you in the coming week. It's a tough job but someone has to do it! c.

Early bird

Happy Father's Day a little early.

I haven't been able to do my daily posts the last few weeks because work and family life have been pretty hectic. July looks like it's going to be a lot slower and I've got some project to share.

Hope your weekend is relaxing. c.

Full swing

Summertime activities are in full swing around here. We did a lot with animals over the last few days which included a trip to a little farm and to Brookfield Zoo where some of the creature were real and some were not. c.

Paint

We've been trying to get the kitchen area painted for a long, long time. I think you will see why from this photo. I hope to have before and after pictures (one day). c.

Filling the silence

We had a blast at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago the other day. Space seems to capture the imagination of everyone. They have lots of interactive exhibits and fun movies to watch.

There was a wall of post-it notes where kids wrote down what they thought they would need if they went into outer space. Some said things like oxygen and food while others asked for books and grass and music to fill the silence.

The grounds around the museum are pretty too, offering a great view of the skyline. c.

Hi

Yesterday I stopped myself from drawing a face on the lemon. I felt like I was becoming a bit predictable with drawing faces on edible objects. Then last night when I was done making pasta fusilli I noticed this staring back up at me. No drawing required, just a little imagination. c.

Holistic honey

I started to think more about the uses for honey recently when g. had a bad cough and the pediatrician told me to give her a spoon full of honey to help calm the coughing. Reminder: Children under one year of age should not be given honey.

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who's husband had an infected cut on his finger. She told me that he used honey to get rid of the infection. Wikipedia mentions a little something about uses in medicine. She also told me that she uses it on her face to keep the wrinkles away. She has beautiful skin so I thought to myself, where can I buy a vat?

In honor of my new best friend honey I made this super great honey lemonade. It's pure summertime in a glass. c.

Play time

We had a near miss with a broken nose this weekend. Falling flat on ones face on the concrete doesn't do much for little snouts.

For a little treat we made a stop at Paper Source after things were all checked out. I shouldn't be allowed in there, it's pure heaven, I want to move the entire store into my house. I was able to exhibit a tiny bit of self control and left with a few stamps to add to our collection. When I was in the store staring at a wall full of crafts dreaming up stuff g. and I could make together I said to my mom, "I really love playing with g." Then she said, "It's g. that is playing with you." So true. I wonder how old she will be when she finally says to me, "Mom I really prefer scuba diving, or mountain climbing, or playing the drums, or..."