Living in Munchkinland

Davis began his second year at San Marcos Montessori today. He was hesitant because this year he will be a full day student. I drop him off at 8:30 and pick him up at 2:50. Sniff. That's a long time to be without my boy. Last year he only went until 11:30. I miss him already and it's only 12:30. Sam misses him too. Davis seemed to be okay though. He picked out his outfit last night. I had laid out two really cute shirts and shorts for him to pick from, but he threw those back in the drawer and pulled out his old stained Montessori shirt and his "big boy" pants and a pair of shoes a size too big and declared that to be the perfect first day of school outfit. Then we went to the kitchen and he picked out what I should make for his lunch. His new lunch box is rockin. It's from Planet Box and it is stainless steel and good for the environment and so cute! He chose spanikopita, veggie chips, peaches and nuts. I promised to pack in the morning. He also in...

We've been having a good week. We've been busy. Michael has been working in Giddings every day which is an hour and a half commute each way. This means he leaves before the kids wake and arrives home after they go to sleep. And then last night he didn't get home till 4AM! No one should ever doubt his dedication to his job. This has left me a lot of time with the boys. And we've been making good use of it! Sam has dropped his nap. I keep putting him in his room, but he just plays in his bed for an hour. He does go to sleep now at 6:30PM which leaves me an hour to have special time with Davis. This is actually pretty perfect since Davis will start school next week and we needed to find a new time to spend some one-on-one time together. This week we had a playdate with my friend Stacey and her two kids. I went to the dentist. We had a great playdate and lunch with my mom and my niece Lilliana. I got to go my beloved book group. And yesterday we spent the morni...

It's been a busy week. My nephew Kade came to spend last week with my mom and dad while my sister and her husband went to Vegas to celebrate their birthdays. We celebrated Kade's birthday with a pool party one day. Another day I picked him up and took the three boys to a jumpy place, then out to lunch, then out to ice cream and then to a playground. My boys love to be with their cousin and I love it too. Then we spent a great weekend out and about. Friday night the sitter came early (I'd like to mention here that we love our sitter) and kept all three boys while my parents, grandparents and I all drove up to Austin to my parents' condo. We met Michael there and had a beautiful dinner and then headed out to see the touring Broadway production of Wicked! It was so fun. It was the second time for us to see the show, but our seats were fantastic this time and we loved it even more! The songs have been stuck in my head ever since. The next morning we loaded up the m...

The other night we had a splendid wine fueled dinner party with our friends Cheris and Rob, their kids Violet and Graham, and my parents when it started to rain. Now you may know by now that this doesn't happen around here. We haven't had a rain storm in forever. We were so excited we ran outside and acted like fools. The kids were amazed at all the wet liquid from the sky! Unfortunately, the whole thing only lasted about five minutes before the sun came out, but we got the most beautiful rainbow at the end. Enjoy!

I've been working on my cookbook today and typed this recipe up. It sounded so good I decided to make it tonight. I actually made this a lot in late June when I was getting a ton of squash out of my garden. It is absolutely delicious. You can add chicken if you want to, but as it is, it is a richly flavored, dairy-free vegetarian marvel. It's simple, economical and tasty! I serve it with bread sticks or cornbread for the boys. Make it and let me know what you think. Serves 8 1/2 cup olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and chopped 1 cove garlic, peeled and crushed 4 large tomatoes, chopped 2 zucchini, chopped 2 yellow squash, chopped 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped salt 1 c. vegetable stock 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar 1/2 tsp fennel seeds ground black pepper to taste 1/4 c. minced or julienned zucchini and yellow squash, mixed for garnish. Heat the oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until softened and transparent, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ...

I hate you August. You are hot. H-O-T. Over a hundred degrees hot. I send my children outside to play at 8 in the morning and they are begging to come back inside out of the heat at 8:30. You are brown. Everything is brown as far as the eye can see. Brown, yellow, dry, crisp. The ground is split in cracks. You are dry. There is no rain. I don't even remember rain. The ponds are gone, we're on water rationing. You sit here across my 31 days of this month with your high pressure sitting directly on my face and you are sucking every bit of fun out of my days! Vacation is over by August. School doesn't start until the end of August. We can't go outside. All the library programs are over. Can't go to the playground- we're under a heat advisory. "Don't go outside!!!", say all the news men. Okay. I'll sit in my house with my two small children and wait. And wait. Only 3 and a half weeks to go. You are a murderer, August. You kill...

We just spent eleven amazing days in Canada. It was pretty much awesome from beginning to end. We left on a Friday morning and arrived in Ottawa, Ontario around 4. Mom and Dad were there to pick us up in a minivan and drive us out to the cottage, which is actually in Quebec, about an hour away. It was a great drive. the kids slept in the car and mom and dad had brought wine with them so we could toast on the drive there. I love that tradition and Michael and I agreed that we will try to adopt it. The cottage is in the middle of forest and on a pristine spring fed lake. There is no cell phone service and no internet. The house is up on a hill and surrounded by trees so it feels like you are in a tree house. A gorgeous deck leads to a boardwalk path that meanders down to the lake level where they have a dock, paddle boat and motor boat. The weather was cool, often between 60 and 75 degrees. It was raining quite a bit there and the local people often complained about the cool w...