Best Bath Night Ever

Tonight, while Caitlin was taking her bath, I brought in my harp and played for her while she washed.  I started playing Pachelbel's Canon in D and she started vocalizing along.  No words, just following the melody with her voice.  And that girl can really sing with gusto.  We totally rocked the powder room.

The sweet things they say

Caitlin requested yellow yarn for a project she wanted to do.  I found the loveliest shade of pastel sunshiny yellow and gave it to her.  She told Gwen all about her knitting project and Gwen said that it was sure to brighten up anyone's day.

A good heart

Today at Trader Joe's I saw chocolate filled Advent Calendars for 99 cents. I asked Gwen if she wanted me to buy one for her and Cait and she answered, "No thanks, Mom. It is only 99 cents for all that chocolate. That means someone got ripped off." 
I guess I just need to teach her to cook and drive and my work here is done.

Breakfast in bed

Today, for no reason what so ever, I got breakfast in bed.  It was Caitlin's idea and Jeff, master omelet-maker that he is, went with it.  I had a glass of apple juice, a mug of coffee, a bowl of raspberries with a square of milk chocolate, a toasted and buttered bagel and an amazing mushroom omelet.  And, to top it all off, Caitlin climbed in bed with me and read to me (between bites of my bagel).  She read me the story we are reading together before bedtime, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  It was such a treat to listen to her reading to me.  I adore my family!

The Plan

Caitlin proposed the following plan for today:

• Play hooky
• Send mom out for doughnuts
• Eat doughnuts while watching "Tangled" on a loop

I countered with the following proposal:

• Get ready for school
• Go to school
• Come home
• Go to piano lessons
• Do homework
• Eat a healthy dinner
• Go to bed

Here is what I would really LIKE to do:

• Both of us play hooky
• Go to an outdoor cafe and eat croissants beneath a colorful umbrella
• Take a walk in the sunshine
• Play music and sing
• Work on crafts or art projects
• Eat a gourmet meal prepared and served by someone other than myself
• Stay up late reading Nancy Drew books all snuggled together

When the cup is definitely empty

We had a lovely little girl spend the night with Caitlin last night.  She is a few years younger and it was her first slumber party.  As I was helping her brush her teeth, she asked for a glass of water.  I keep a rinsing cup for each of my girls by their toothbrush, but I hadn't brought one up for our guest.  I ran downstairs and discovered that I didn't have any clean small cups, so I grabbed an adult sized coffee cup hoping it would be alright.  When I handed her the cup she looked at it quite suspiciously.  So, thinking she's disappointed there are no flowers or fairies on the cup, I ask if anything is wrong.  She sticks her hand in the cup, just to make sure then she looks at me and says, "Yes, there is no water in this cup."  What kind of person gives a kid an empty cup when they ask for a glass of water!  Clearly I am not qualified to be a mom.  Well, we filled the cup at the sink, but I am pretty sure this little girl thinks I am a bit of a dim bulb.
Other than that, she had a wonderful sleep over.

Best Ginger Snap Cookies EVER

These cookies were so amazing!  The recipe came from the June-July 2011 issue of MaryJane's Farm.

1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for rolling the cookies in
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp groung ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F with rack in middle.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add molasses and egg and beat until smooth.

In a medium bowl, mix flour and spices, baking soda and salt.  Add to the butter mixture and stir until dough is thoroughly mixed.

With a medium scoop of dough, roll a ball about 1.25 inches in diameter.  Roll in sugar and place on a cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly with your fingers.

Bake on the middle rack, one cookie sheet at a time for about 13 to 15 minutes.  Cookies should look slightly cracked.

Cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to wire cooling rack.

Makes approxiately two dozen.