March 15, 2012
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So what’s been up since our trip to Hawaii?
Playdate for Calie and Thrivik at Bounce Palace:
Dinner at Dana and Dave’s house, where we had buffalo chicken salad – a great recipe I think I’m going to copy. We have salad at home all the time, and I could easily pick up a few chicken strips in the cafeteria at work. Toss with hot sauce and voila! I love simple, yummy recipes – thanks Dana!
‘AfternoonTea’ themed birthday party for Nicole. The kids decorated frames with jewels, and had sandwiches, fruit, pesto pasta, and pink lemonade for lunch. For dessert, there was an assortment of sweets, including homemade mini cupcakes made to look like high heel shoes. How cute! Happy 5th Birthday Nicole!
A trip to play in the snow. We found a free sledding hill right off the highway, about 30 minutes from our home. We built a fort and snowman, had a snowball fight (I won), and sledded. The highlight was when Zachary and my sled went across a big puddle. It was one of those you-saw-it-coming-but-there’s-nothing-you-can-do-about-it-except-scream moments. It so sunny that by the time we left, the snow was slushy.
Dinner playdate with Alex and Nicole. I was on a cooking kick, inspired by the finale of Top Chef, and wanted to try a few new recipes. We had giant scallops in white wine sauce, baked cod, and butter lettuce with heirloom cherry tomatoes, red onions, and Pt. Reyes blue cheese. It was quite good, but I was bummed I didn’t get a good sear on my scallops. I think I should have waited for the butter to get hotter. Next time!
Girls night out at Paul Martin’s American Bistro with Sandy, Dana, Rachel, Karen, and Kathy. “Awesome” company.
I highly recommend the $30 prix fixe meal with either the braised short ribs or hanger steak. My salad was just okay – the shrimp was over cooked and for $17, I expected more. After dinner, the other gals went Glow Bowling, but I headed home because I wanted to get up for an early morning run the next day. I’ve been really good this month with exercising at least 3x a week … a mix of jogging 3-4 miles, yoga, and cardio boxing. Alas, I am still at the high range of my healthy weight (pushing 140lbs) … I know the key is fewer calories, but I love food too much. *Sigh!*
We still have dance every Saturday for Calista – and sometimes we treat ourselves to Jamba Juice afterwards with friends Hayden and Hannah:
And we also have Zach’s basketball practice and games. This past weekend marked the last game though – we had our end-of-season party at Round Table:
Playdate with Alex and Nicole. James made bacon ranch chicken burgers and garicky roasted broccoli for lunch. Afterwards we played a fun new game ‘Pandemic’, where we work together (unlike many games), to find cures and wipe out disease. We totally lost. It was so fun though, and Zach’s already asking when we can play again! (Me too!) Sam and I took the kids to catch a matinee showing of The Lorax afterwards.
In the evening, we supported “Gathering of the Gators”, a PTA fundraiser for Zach’s school. There was music, a magician (the same guy from Jack’s 4th birthday party!), balloon twisters, and a photo booth. We had a spaghetti buffet, and people could bid for parking spaces and lunch with their teachers. It was okay. There’s definitely a group of moms that are super involved in the classrooms, so I’m a bit of an outsider … yet I feel no incentive to make new friends.
And this week? Team building – designing catapults with a limited bag of supplies. The goal was to hit targets and the winning team got Jamba Juice giftcards. Creative teambuilders are the best!
In terms of milestones, we’ve basically lost all the endearing mispronounced words from Calie. No more “yay-gurt” or “Blue-blarries” or “heli-doctors.” She’s definitely the talker in the family, often opening up conversations by asking what I did at work. Speaking of which … one day I picked her up early and she told me.”Why are you picking me up so early? You need to work harder.” The next day, just coincidentally (I’m not going to admit to taking her advice), I was later picking her up and was reprimanded with,”Why did you pick me up so late? You need to work faster.” And funny part is that when she says this, she’s rolling her arms as if I’m pedaling in a factory at work. (What does she think I do all day?!) Other interesting responses:
Anyone: How old are you?
Calista: I’m 3. But I’m size 4.
Anyone: You are so cute/beautiful
Calista: And I also know everything
Kind of interesting seeing how confident she is. I wonder at what age she’ll start hiding her age and size. If ever. And I wonder how her self-esteem might change as she gets older. I know for me, I go through stages where I lack confidence in specific skills .. but in general, I know I pretty much rock. Maybe she’s me. Maybe when she’s 37-years-old, she’ll still be confident in herself. And you know what? I’d be pretty happy with that.
As for Zach, he’s competing in his school for a spot in the Math Bowl again. And James received the Intel Achievement Award, which means a banquet at the Fairmont in SF in a few months. I’ve already purchased a new dress for $9.98 at Wisebuys.
Ending with random pictures of kids playing througout the last few weeks:
