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?!)