Bean's first, official guitar lesson. She was so excited to get started!!! 

She did really good, too. Our next door neighbor is giving her lessons, so, very convenient.

I made farro salad last night. So easy to make with Trader Joe's bag of 10 Minute Farro! 

I made this recipe a lot last year, riffing on a similar salad recipe I found online. The nice thing about this salad is it is a real 'kitchen sink' recipe. You can use whatever you have on hand and don't have to be exact on the measurements, either. 

Eddie really likes it, it keeps well and bonus, farro is good for you!

1 bag of Trader Joe's 10 Minute Farro, cooked according to directions 

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 red onion, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed

2 cups chopped curly parsley

1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

2 cups sliced cherry or grape tomatoes

1 container of feta cheese, drained

1 cup chopped Kalamata olives, pitted and drained

1/2-3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Generous pinch of kosher salt

1 tablespoon Aleppo Pepper

1 large, juicy lemon*

Make farro according to package directions. After 10 minutes cooked in boiling water, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to fully drain.

In large mixing bowl combine the following: cucumber, onion, parsley, mint, feta, tomatoes, olives. Add cooled and drained farro. Toss well.

In a smaller bowl or glass Pyrex measuring cup combine olive oil, pressed garlic, kosher salt, and Aleppo Pepper.

Zest the entire exterior of the lemon and add zest to salad. Mix to incorporate. Cut lemon in half and juice. Add lemon juice to olive oil mixture. Mix well. Pour dressing over salad ingredients in bowl and mix everything together, well. 

Serve or refrigerate for future use. 

*You can also use limes instead of lemons!

From this past weekend. Missing, the mention of driving the entire length of Alberta Street for Lulu's upcoming homework project on neighborhoods due on May 4th, discovering Adidas Village at the end of Alberta Street and playing, continuing on to Sauvie's Island to do a loop where they got special drinks at Kruger's Farm and we saw cows, horses and llama's on the trek.

This was done to get them out of the house and away from the TV and GameBoys. It was meant to be family time.

Bean's teacher, Ms. Sienna, thought Bean's blow-by-blow recap was hysterical. I told her, "Eddie will be so proud!"

To have daughters who love video games as much as he does, its his dream come true.

Yesterday on our drive home, Bean suddenly mentioned Mother's Day was approaching.

Bean: "Mom...Mother's Day is coming up, soon."

Me: "Yes! It is."

Bean: "I have a special present for you, but it's a secret."

Me: "Oh, I can't wait for it!"

Bean: "But you have to wait for it."

Me: "I know, I can't wait!"

Bean: "But you have to wait, you can't have it until then..."

Me: "Okay, Bean."

Turn of phrase is lost on a 5-year old. I love it!

Bean and I were driving home one night last month as it was nearing Easter and we passed this church. The crosses were set up outside but had black cloth scarves draped around them (They changed to this colorful drape after Easter.)

We were waiting for the traffic signal to change at that intersection when Bean noticed the interesting lawn ornamentation.

Bean, "What are those sticks over there?"

Me: "Ah....um...Well, those...are..."

Bean, "Are those Scarecrows?"

Me, "YES!  Yes, those are scarecrows...!!"

And for the rest of the time we took this route until they were taken down for the season, Bean delighted in pointing out the scarecrows to me. And I was more than pleased to let her refer to them as scarecrows, too.

Bean wrote and illustrated this awesome book last week at school. (Click on the pictures to make them larger!)

(This next picture below is Bean sitting in a chair eating a hot dog. See the curly hair?!)

My mom took the girls to go see the new live action Cinderella a week ago while Eddie was on his trip. Leading up to the event, I'd drilled down to both the girls that there would be no popcorn, candy or drinks bought for consumption at the movie theater. If I hadn't gone over this with them, there would have been unrealistic expectations and grief for all involved once they arrived at the theater. 

If they were good for Grandma, I told them, then she'd take them out for a special treat afterward (which she did, a 1950's soda fountain in the mall for ice cream sundaes!)

Meanwhile, once back at school the following Monday, Bean had this recollection of the weekend which included, "...Inside we watched Cinderella! It wasn't very awesome because we had no popcorn and no drink. After I had a smoothie..."

Poor Grandma!

Eddie is in Europe this week.

Lulu discovered a wasp had some how gotten into the bathroom when she was brushing her teeth for bed. Bean and I were in the kitchen and we heard Lulu scream and come running with the news.

I went to investigate. Yep, big wasp around the bathroom lights. I grabbed the best thing I  could in a moment like this: my travel size spray bottle of Pantene hairspray.

I sprayed  (as best one can with a pump product) and threw the bathroom door closed as I took cover in the kitchen, hurting my right arm in the process. (I'm now getting frozen shoulder in my right arm  two years later from having it in my left. It sucks to get old but the plus side is once it's gone, though up to a two year ordeal, I  shouldn't be affected again.)

Any who, after an arm ice pack i went to investigate. I didn't see Mr. Wasp anywhere. And that was even more  fearsome, actually. I finally,  finally  found him, kind of hidden in the folds of a hand towel hanging by the sink.

That was pretty terrifying. Can you imagine not realizing and grabbing a towel with your hand to dry them or wipe off your mouth??? I keep thinking about the girls...

Once I spied him, I grabbed the next best thing to hairspray:  Windex!!!!

He seemed disabled from the hairspray but the Windex literally had him fall into the waste basket next to the sink.

I sprayed him several more times  (for good measure) and then tied up the garbage bag and took it all outside to the exterior garbage can.

Crisis averted!!!!

I'm still skittish in the bathroom after this though, understandably, tonight...

Happy Squirrel gave me two Blythe dolls two Christmases ago. I finally have started making dresses for my favorite of the two.  This was a direct copy of a picture of a Blythe dress shown on Pinterest last week. My version in wool felt.

Shout out to my mother-in-law: I used the Beadazzler you gave me a few years back for the cats eyes. I love that Beadazzler and use it quite a bit in my crafts !!!

I have also recognized just how much of a photographer i am not. Photographing Blythe is hard!

Lulu is a huge fan of The School for Good and Evil series for kids. This second book in the trilogy has been re-read countless times in the past year and these past weeks, as she impatiently waits for the final book to be released this July.

Tuesday night, Lulu was in absolute tears at bedtime. She had taken the book to school with her that day (as she has done numerous times before) and this time, left it on the playground and forgotten about it. 

Until it was bedtime. And we were at home.

I should add, it had been raining and hailing something fierce on Tuesday as well as into the night.

The next morning, I took Lulu to school and she ran off to see if her book was there. It was, just like I told her. However, she was in tears again because it had been in the rain all afternoon and night. It was wet, damp, and dirty.

I told her I would make it better.

And with Agatha's help, we did. It's dry, a bit brittle on some of the pages, but the dirt on the sides brushed off once dry. The hard cover is bubbled in places from water damage. The pages all swelled to twice their size once they had dried out. I'll have to put something heavy on the book for several weeks to take the volume out of them. But, it's been salvaged and Lulu is as content again as she can be, until July 2015 arrives.

I told Lulu that her book now looks like something old and antique, discovered in a lost library! She liked that description of her beloved book, as it is now. She also admitted recently she likes how the pages sound when she turns them.

Bean started a most unusual bedtime routine with Eddie a few months back. She has always enjoyed pretending and believing she was an animal, but lately she has taken it to new heights. I wish I could get video of this uploaded, it's gold.

It starts with Bean having brushed her teeth and being in her pajamas. She crawls on her hands and knees to wherever Eddie or I am in the house with her fluoride container clutched between her teeth. She dutifully gives it to you that way (you take it from her mouth) and then you praise her (for being a good dog) and then the rest of her shtick goes like this in which you give her certain commands before giving her the fluoride pill.  Ready? Let's go!

"Play dead."

"Play dead, again." (Note, this is a different position than above! Love the tongue hanging out to the side of her mouth in each, though)

"Shake."

"Shake, again." (Notice she changes 'paws' which interestingly, she chooses to be fists)

When she lays on her back like this, she wants you to rub her belly!

Eddie has been out of town this past week so I took the girls to Laurelwood for dinner on Wednesday night. They have TV's up in the restaurant and suddenly, a fast food commercial for a popular chain came on with this guy in it:

"Look at the Balloon Head!" Bean exclaimed when she saw him.

"Oh, that's Jack..." I answered, though I chuckled when I said it. 

Balloon Head.

Totally makes sense!

Lulu's birthday fell on Easter this year. Grandma Louise, of course, made the cake.

Lulu is half-way to adulthood and growing into quite a young lady!

Luggage from Grandma Louise for their trip to Yellowstone this summer at the end of June...

Super Girl t-shirt for our super girl, from mom and dad, natch!

Snazzy pink headphones from Grandma Mary and Bumpa...

Along with TWO packages of coveted Pokeman cards. Lulu is a huge fan!

And, here is another unexpected surprise for Lulu on her birthday...What could it be???

A little sister!!!! Just what she's always wanted... (Ha!)

We went to JJ Jump before dinner so the girls could run and jump around. JJ Jump is a huge bouncy house playground for kids and very popular for birthday parties. Bean loved the interactive computer games that projected on the floor inside the "Extreme" section of the warehouse. (It is 'extreme' because it is darker and has black lights set up plus there is a bungee seat harness swing the kids can go on. Bean loved it!)