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The Friday Post. [vol. 2]
In the grand scheme of fast weeks versus slow weeks – it was a fast one, but I can’t say that it’s one I enjoyed all that much. This morning, our whole street was blanketed in a thick sheet of fog. We drive down a mile long stretch of straight road to get out of our neighborhood and on my way to drop the boys at daycare (just Charlie and Ben. I’m still home with Luke.) it felt as if I was driving into oblivion with Charlie and Ben in the back chattering about where the moon might be. I’m not quite sure where the days went. Maybe I lost them somewhere up in there in the fog. And all week, despite being home with Luke and not doing nearly as much as I normally do, when the days were over I tossed myself into the couch and almost immediately fell into a deep dreamless sleep, waking around 11 when I realized I was not tucked in my bed as I should be. I’m glad it was a fast week because honestly I’m ready to move on to the next one.
Things are going full speed ahead in our primary bathroom remodel. Everything has been torn apart, and the task of putting it all back together again has started. Drywall is going up today, electrical work is done, and next week tile will start to go up. That’s when it starts looking like a bathroom again instead of an empty shell. We’ve made our picks for tile, but still have to pick up everything else. Honestly, I think it’s going to wind up looking an awful lot like the boys’ bathroom except with a shower instead of a tub and that will make for a very happy bathroom indeed. Should be done in another week and a half, just before my parents arrive for their annual February stay.
This weekend will consist of trying to get my bearings, trying to decide if Luke is well enough to go to school on Monday, and I hope lots of fresh, clean, healing air. What have you been up to? I hope you had a lovely week. How about some links from around the web?
I’m pretty sure this cinnamon toast is what dreams are made of.
Broccoli soup. yum.
My friends were all chatting about this earlier this week and now I’m obsessed. Have you tried it?
If you’re in the US – run!
I saw this dress the other day and can’t get it out of my mind.
How to be more successful and less stressed.
I’m dreaming about all the places in my house I want to stick a sconce.
Adding to my list of February cocktails.
Have a great weekend, friends! ♥️
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On (Working) Mom Guilt.
Luke is sick. Has been all week. We had Monday off for Martin Luther Jr. Day, and he woke with a cough that got steadily worse through the day. Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5am for my school day as normal, got myself ready, the big boys, and then went to wake Luke up and get him ready too (he’s generally my “late” sleeper). He seemed a little tired and weepy, but I was ready to push through and was honestly in a bit of a rush to get us to school on time (I abhor being late). I was totally tunnel vision. ***MUST GET OUT DOOR*** My husband leaves later than we do, so he was holding a very limp-looking Lukey against him as I buzzed around the house barking orders at everyone then trying to morph those orders into a fun game like the toddler drill sergeant I can lean toward in the mornings. The need to run a tight toddler ship and all. Mike asked me a couple times if I wanted to stay home with Luke because he didn’t seem like he was feeling all that well. Nope! I answered. He doesn’t seem like he has a fever. He’s good. It’s just a cough. We’re going to school. My husband defers to me on these things (as he should. lol).
I was finally finished corraling everyone and everything, so I leaned in to grab Luke and I finally stopped to take a look at him. He had his eyes closed and was leaning on my husband’s chest with his arms slack at his sides. His cheeks were flushed and an audible wheeze was rattling in his chest. I felt his forehead and, of course, fever. Enter Mom Guilt. Hit me like a ton of bricks, as it tends to. He was so very clearly not ok. I was so ready to just push through and get us to where we “needed” to be at any cost, when clearly home is where he needed to be.
I know, I know. You’re thinking – “It’s ok mama! You realized! You did the right thing in the end.” because you are my sweet, kind, supportive readers. But if you’re a parent – you know what I mean. The guilt that you’re not doing the right thing. That you didn’t immediately realize what was best for your child because you were thinking about what you “needed” to do for work. Anyway – I’ve been home all week because that cough has since turned into pneumonia. Breathing treatments, steroids, doctors visits every day and the threat of the Emergency Room if he didn’t get his oxygen levels up. Still can’t believe I almost sent him in to school like that. 💔 mom guilt of the most extreme case and gosh does it burn.
But that’s not all – on the other side…you have working guilt. I’m a teacher – an elementary school librarian – and did you know there’s a teacher shortage? There’s a substitute teacher shortage too. So while I’m out – no one is covering my classes. Teachers just don’t get their planning when they have media for fine arts. A whole week of letting down 40 teachers. No one covering my morning or afternoon duties, my lunch duty, my various extra classes that I cover. I can only imagine what they’re saying. “I wish I could take a whole week off too, but I’m here doing my job like I’m supposed to.” No, maybe they don’t all know that my son has pneumonia and he needs me, but it doesn’t stop the guilt. And it won’t be the last time I’m out this year. I’m sure of it. Just as it’s not the first time I’ve been out (we had a nasty run of RSV earlier this year, croup cough another time, and several weeks of quarantines for contact tracing at the beginning of the year).
I was chatting with Mike’s sisters and mom the other day, and his sister who has four kids and is also a teacher told me something I just really needed to hear. “You will never look back and wish that you had been working during this time. Luke needs you. I used to feel so guilty about missing school for sick kids, but not anymore. I remember missing a lot of school when ours were young. It’s just a phase.” And she’s so right! But it’s sometimes hard to tell your mind something that your heart knows. Anyway – I’m sure that Luke will be better next week, and I’ll be back at school, and in a few weeks I’ll go through this spiral all over again when he or one of the other boys picks up something else. For now, I’m going to try my best to enjoy the baby snuggles, being home, and hot coffee on tap.
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Polenta Party for a Crowd.
I woke Monday morning with just the twinge of a wine headache. My normal weekend limit of two glasses had been stretched to three as a result of flickering candlelight, a table full of friends, and my kids blessedly entertained by people other than me. Twelve of us gathered around two long tables pushed together, on chairs and benches that my husband and I have collected from dumpsters, curbs, and thrift stores over the years. Little jars gathered in the same way were all filled up with wildflowers that Luke and I picked early in the morning down the road from our house. Old glass yogurt containers had votive candles burning, the wine was decanted that morning, more candles burned around the house, lamplight filling the rooms, soft music (Louis Armstrong) tinkled in (And I think to myself, What a Wonderful World) on a small speaker in the kitchen. Mismatched glasses and napkins lined the table set with our white dishes and to top it all off, the windows were cracked to let in the most delicious winter breeze.
I’ve craved gatherings like these over the last few covid-ruled years. Big family style dinners where the food is so dang good, but no one actually cares if it’s fancy or just chili with cornbread because they’re just happy to be there. The fear of gathering together has held me back from creating these special memories (current health crisis and all). We’re still being diligent and of course we still wear masks when out and are vaccinated and and and…but I also know that before I know it my kids are going to be grown or too cool to hang around us and they’ll have missed out on gatherings with loved ones and community and how much longer is this going to last anyway (I fear the answer may be forever)? But anywho – I’m not actually here to talk about the virus. I’m here to talk about the warm feelings that gathering around a table brought. And of course the FOOD! Ahh what I wouldn’t give to be able conjure up for the smells filling the house on Sunday night. Of braised beef cooked for hours in the oven, of herbs I picked fresh from my own little garden, of brownies iced while still warm, of farmer’s market carrots roasted until sweet and topped with carrot top pesto.
Really though, instead of making you all hungry, I just wanted to share the menu in case it might give you some inspiration for your own gathering. And also for myself so I can refer back to it when I wonder to myself…what did I make for that winter dinner party with our people? And how did I make that perfect big batch of polenta in the crock pot? So here it is. Just click on the text to go to the recipe I used. And of course I took no actual pictures of the food because who has time for photos once the friends arrive and the wine is poured?
The menu:
Parmesan polenta (recipe follows)
Braised beef ragu
Roast carrots with carrot top pesto
Collard greens
Vinaigrette for a big green salad
Iced brownies
(Spiked) Grapefruit sodaBig batch Parmesan Polenta in a slow cooker
makes 10-12 servings9 cups liquid (I used about 4 cups vegetable broth and the rest water) plus another 1 cup or so to add at the end if needed
3 cups fine or coarse ground corn meal
1 cup parmesanSet slow cooker to low and pour in liquid. Add corn meal and stir. Cook for 3-4 hours, stirring every hour until thick. Just before serving, pour in parmesan and stir together. You may want to add a bit more liquid at the end too depending on how thick it looks. This is for soft polenta. Turn to warm and your polenta will stay nice and soft until serving.
To serve the ragu, I used a large white serving platter and poured polenta and spread to about 1 inch thick or so. Top with ragu, and send everything around the table family style if you’re feeling extra warm and fuzzy.
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An Small Idea for Prayer.
When I was probably 8 or 9 nine years old, my mom and I were in the car driving somewhere or other. I don’t remember the errand, but I will always remember something that she told me on that drive. We had to pull over to the side of the road for a fire truck speeding past us going to help someone. My mom told me that every time that happens, we should say a prayer for the people they’re going to help. Now, I have to tell you that I’m not someone who sets aside time to pray every day. We’re catholic and go to church (sporadically these days what with the current health crisis), but I spend most of the mass managing my three boys and praying that we make it to the end. lol. And of course, I send up a personal prayer when I feel like I need to, but to this day, anytime I see a see an ambulance, fire truck, or police car with its lights on, I say a prayer for the people who they’re going to help. Think of all the prayers that could be said for those people if we all started doing this. And it just means that in some small way we may be helping someone in crisis.
Do you have moments you pray? I’d love to hear. I keep thinking that the boys’ should start saying evening prayers before bed too, so maybe I’ll try to start that this week.
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(Spiked) Grapefruit Soda.
I don’t know what it is about January, but after the holidays have come and gone, citrus fruits begin to consume my thoughts. Maybe it’s the freshness after the sticky sweetness of the treats from Christmas? Maybe it feels fresh and healthy for the new or year? Maybe it’s because citrus is in season in the winter months? Whatever it is, my need for citrus in January has held strong my entire adult life. So of course, keeping with those strong feelings, I had to make a citrus cocktail this month.
Saturdays are my cocktail day. I don’t make them during the week (other than the odd margarita for Taco Tuesday and I’ll occasionally have something on Friday, but my sight on Fridays is wholly focused on pizza and who cares what I’m drinking?), but let me tell you, come 4:30pm on Saturday, I am starting to think about my weekend cocktail paired with a little pre-dinner charcuterie. I always pick my cocktails at the beginning of the month so I can have something different for each week. January’s drinks were an Italian Greyhound, a Hummingbird Cocktail, an Aperol Spritz and, of course, the grapefruit soda. It’s just a happy little habit that makes the weekend feel more luxurious and special. And it’s not about the alcohol. It’s the whole process. The treat of taking time to make a multi-step beverage – a luxury that I don’t have during the week. And I think you should try it too. Guarantee you’ll feel more relaxed with a homemade cocktail in hand.
Ok on to the drink. The elements of the grapefruit soda are simple. Grapefruit simple syrup, grapefruit flavored sparkling water (I used Perrier), and your favorite vodka. You could have it with or without the alcohol, and it’s a true delight either way. Last week I made it for the boys with just the grapefruit soda and simple syrup and they drank it right down.
Grapefruit Simple Syrup
2 cups grapefruit juice (I used 4 grapefruits, but it will vary. Use ruby red or pink for prettiest color)
2 cups sugarCombine the grapefruit juice and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Let cool and store in a jar with lid. Will keep refrigerated for about a month.
Grapefruit Soda (for one drink)
Ice
1 1/2 oz vodka
1 1/2 oz grapefruit simple syrup
Grapefruit flavored sparkling water, to top (I used Perrier)Stir together vodka and simple syrup in your glass, add ice and top with grapefruit sparkling water. Cheers and enjoy!
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The Friday Post. [vol. 1]
Made it. It’s Friday. Oh glory glory. I don’t know about you, but I think of Friday as a weekly holiday. I’m not one who needs much encouragement to celebrate something, but I think we can all get behind this one. How was your week? I feel like mine passed in such a blur. Highlights were a cake for no reason, farmers market produce, and feeling like I’ve been really on top of things. I have a few things that I’m hoping to get to this weekend, and I’m so happy it’s a long one.
Ben is supposed to start intensive potty training on Monday at school (they send us an embarrassingly forceful letter about how “according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, potty training should be started at the age of two”. and I was like OK I know we’re supposed to do it, but you guys have him all day and I work and when am I going to do it, I kind of have my hands full. Sheesh. Yes, I’m clearly self conscious about it, let’s move on.), so I’m going to take him to the store so he can pick out his undies. So far he’s told me “No I do not wanna sit on the potty.” lol. May need to make a potty training cake to get through it. In fun news, Charlie got a gift card to the movies from his aunt and uncle for his birthday (way back in October), and either my husband or I are going to take him to see Clifford. He’s never been to a movie theater before! And Luke will be wandering around all weekend being his usual slobbery self.
I’ve been wanting to have a little dinner party with my friends from school, so we’ll have them over on Sunday as there’s no school on Monday for MLK Day. I’m thinking that creamy parmesan polenta will be on the menu topped with braised beef in a homemade tomato sauce, sides of glazed carrots, collard greens, and we’ll finish it off with iced brownies for dessert. Imagining lots of red wine, craft beers, spiked grapefruit sodas and maybe a game after the boys go to bed. Our principal is leaving our school for a promotion and the panel is in the process of choosing a new principal so I’m expecting some tea on the side.
Anyway – I’ve been loving this little space as an outlet. I’m wrapping up my first week as a blogger and it feels like a natural extension of my life. Who knew I had so much to say?! I have so many ideas that I’ve jotted down to write about too. Inspiration is at an all time high!
I think I’ll use this Friday Post to share a little personal update, and a few interesting links that I’ve found this week that you might find interesting too. Lots of blogs do this and I always love reading them. My favorite is Cup of Jo, but I also love Grit and Polish‘s too. So with that – here are a few links from around the web this week…
I’ve been following along with the snippets of Jo Rodgers’ flat renovation for two years and it’s finally done and it is just as stunning as I’d hoped.
“Even as these stories work to uncover mother’s complex emotional truths, they indulge their own little fiction: that a mother only becomes interesting when she stops being one.”
A trick to fall asleep almost instantly.
I just finished this book (did not see the ending coming), and started this one.
This picture makes me smile. May have to recreate.
Also for valentine’s day.
What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun? Whatever it is, I hope you kick your feet up and relax on the side. 🙂
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Pizza Friday. (And Our Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe)
Pizza night begins on Thursday night for me. After the boys are in bed, the house is cleaned up, the dishes are being whirred clean in the dishwasher, the laundry is tumbling, but generally just before I step into the shower, a little reminder goes off on my phone. *MAKE PIZZA DOUGH*. Yelling at me really. Telling me not to forget or else I’ll have to make an unwanted Friday stop at the grocery store for dough and 20 other things not on my list (though I wouldn’t mind some fresh flowers and a few bottles of Topo Chico). I’m always happy to do it after I get over the initial shock that I almost forgot again. I first trudge to the kitchen, and (most important step) I turn the lamp on that sits on the counter for extra coziness. I may pour myself just a splash more wine and then out of the pantry I pull the flour, the olive oil, the salt, the yeast from the fridge and a mason jar from the shelf to measure out my warm water. It’s a ritual that tells me – the weekend is almost here! All you have to do is just lean forward and momentum will take you right up to that moment you walk through your home’s front door on Friday night. On pizza night! The best family tradition that rolls around every single week with the predictability of clockwork. Wanted to get our favorite recipe down here because I’ve tried so many in the decade that we’ve done Pizza Friday (even before we had kids!) and this one truly is the best. It freezes well if you want to make it in bulk, it comes together in 10 minutes, you can make it the day of, or (if you’re a working mom like me) you can make it the night before and it goes into the fridge for an overnight rise. It tastes even better for the extended rise.
Pizza Dough
2 teaspoons/5 grams dry active yeast
1 3/4 cups/ 420 ml lukewarm water
4 ½ cups/625 grams all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 teaspoons/5 grams kosher salt
2 tablespoons/30 milliliters olive oilPut the warm lukewarm water in a mixing bowl (use a stand mixer or food processor if you prefer – I always use my kitchenaid mixer). Sprinkle yeast over water and let dissolve, about 2 minutes.
Add flour, salt and olive oil and mix well until flour is incorporated and dough forms, about 5 minutes. It may look a little rough or pockmarked.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn dough out onto surface and knead lightly until it looks smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Coat a bowl in oil and place your dough in the bowl and let rise in the refrigerator overnight. You can skip this rise in the refrigerator and use the dough right away, but this cool, slow rise makes it easier to stretch and gives the pizza a crisper texture and more nuanced flavor.) You can also freeze it for future use.
To make your pizza: preheat oven to 475. Get bowl out of fridge (I usually let it sit out for a couple hours first to make it easier to stretch) and pour out onto on a lightly floured surface. Split dough into either two pieces for large pizzas or into four for small. Form each piece into a smooth, firm ball. Flour lightly, cover loosely with plastic wrap and top with a kitchen towel. Leave to rest for about 15-30 minutes. Now is a good time to get your toppings ready, make your sauce.
Now, to bake pizzas stretch into your desired size. If you like thick pizza – make it thick. If you like thin – make it thin! You can do this with your hands or a rolling pin. We use cookie sheets to cook ours but you could anything. You can use either olive oil or fine cornmeal on your pan to ensure that it doesn’t stick. We like a crispier crust so we pre bake the pizza at 475 for about ten minutes before putting any of our toppings on. If you like a softer pizza – just add your toppings before you put it in. Baking time will depend on the thickness of your pizza, so it can vary from 10-20 minutes. Just keep watch the first few times you make it and make a note. We also like to broil for a couple minutes at the end for yummy cheese.
I’ll make another post soon with our pizza sauce recipe and topping ideas! Enjoy!
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Making Every Day Special.
If you follow me on instagram, I’ve talked many times about a document I made several years ago after having my first son, Charlie. To give you a little background – I was just going back to work after maternity leave and felt so sad about it all. I wanted to stay home longer with him, quit my school librarian job, throw caution, our family insurance, and my pension to the wind, but I just couldn’t. But after I had a second son, and then a third, I’ve since come around to being a working mom and I’ve actually found that I am a much more balanced and happier person this way. Now…of course, I am on a teacher schedule which I highly recommend if you have kids and are looking at work options. I have summers off, long holiday breaks, I get off at 3pm every day, and I don’t take any work home (Let it be know that I often did have to bring work home my first few years of teaching and of course I have no homework, papers or tests to grade).
Ok but that’s right now – when I started back at work after that very first maternity leave, I was struggling emotionally and just with figuring out routines and how to make days meaningful when I was so tired all the time from working all day and then caring for a child all night. I would sit in my office while pumping and watch the online video feed of my son crying at daycare and I would cry too. I would get so upset about how unnatural it is to separate a mother from her child at 12 weeks when he was just so tiny and helpless and needed his mama. Phew! I’m getting emotional just thinking back on it.
Well…I soon got pregnant with a second son and decided that something had to change. I had to figure out a way to manage it all – to make childhood magical and special for my kids even if I was so freaking tired I couldn’t even think about how to get to bedtime every night. I wasn’t depressed. I was just struggling with how to do it “all”. And no one was going to figure it out for me. If I didn’t make the memories happen – they just weren’t going to happen. My husband is wonderful, caring and everything one could want in a partner for life but he doesn’t really care about having green milk on St. Patrick’s Day, God love him. I found that things were passing by without me noticing. I forgot St. Nicholas Day, I forgot to send a homemade card from the boys to my mom for her birthday, I realized my husband’s half birthday had been the week before. These things matter to me. All these special, (seemingly) silly little moments passed me by without me doing anything about it. My life was being lived. Not celebrated. And not to mention that we didn’t have clean laundry because I kept forgetting that I had to do a load of laundry every day, and I had to make dinner every night and also somehow keep the house clean and get the boys to daycare and myself to work on time?? After many weeks (or was it months?) of floundering – enter, The Document.
As a librarian, I have a mind that likes to put things into categories. (I live by the Dewey Decimal System after all). So I started to think through what things are important to me. Tradition. Family. Celebrating major and minor holidays. Baking. Acts of Kindness. Food. Having a clean house. Predictability. I am a huge believer in rhythms. If you know nothing about rhythms or the importance of routine for small children, try reading Simplicity Parenting. It’s one of my favorite parenting books and gave me so much inspiration for what I wanted my own parenting to look like. Anyway. I could go on at length about all of these ideas, but I wanted this post to serve as a little introduction to these ideas, and where Making Every Day Special came from. I especially wanted to have a place on here for this spreadsheet that I made to manage our life. It may seem a little structured and boring to you at first, but I feel like it has helped me so much in just wrapping my brain around doing “it all”. I’ll probably use this space to talk through some ideas for celebrating life every day, but now this document has a place to live!
Just click on this link to make a copy of the Making Every Day Special that will go directly to your Google Docs. If you don’t have Google Docs – Here is the Word Document.
I left my text in there to give you ideas for things we do and celebrate, but make it your own! I usually go through throughout the year and add and delete things for the new year. Delete everything that doesn’t speak to you, and add new columns for things that are important to you.
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The Best Green Beans I’ve Ever Made.
I know, I know. Green beans. Decidedly un-sexy. When I think of green beans, the canned version generally comes to mind. A dull, lifeless grayish green with mystery liquid somehow deeming itself “fresh” for decades to come. Now, let it be known that I’m not above canned green beans. My kids love them. We throw them in casseroles and soups and anything that needs a little veggie oomph. These green beans, though, are not to be confused with those green beans. These, my friends, are the best green beans I’ve ever made. They’re flavorful, fancy enough for a dinner party, un-fancy enough for an easy weeknight. They’re in season at our farmer’s market right now, so I plan to get them again this week and make them this exact way to solidify what I’ve already decided – everyone needs these in their life.
You’ll find with most of my dinner recipes that I’m extremely unprofessional and don’t give exact amounts. I am just a mom who likes to cook after all. Treat these as an idea, or a shopping list. These are the elements, make with more or less of each of the elements as you prefer. That’s the fun part of cooking after all – the throwing things in with abandon and making it your own.
Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes
1 lb green beans
sliced mushrooms
butter (1 – 2 Tablespoons)
olive oil
minced garlic
salt
pepper
1 lemon
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/4 cup roasted shaved almonds
goat cheese crumbles (or shaved parmesan if you prefer)Wash green beans and snap off both ends. Boil until fork tender (10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms and garlic and cook until tender goodness. Strain green beans and add to skillet. Season well with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to let the flavors combine. Turn the heat off, add the cherry tomatoes, squeeze lemon over the mixture and mix together. Quickly transfer to a pretty platter (you don’t want the tomatoes to cook, just warm slightly). Top with almonds and goat cheese (or parmesan) and enjoy!
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Parenting Tip #1: Check and Double Check the Crib Sheets.
I wanted to start things off right here with letting you in on the most embarrassing parenting story that’s happened to me lately… I’m not sure why this is jumping out to me as what should begin my writing career with, but here we are. My heart is set and it won’t be changed.
Let me set the scene for you. It was a Monday night (much like tonight) in the not too distant past. We had just gotten the boys down to bed, and were beginning the arduous task of cleaning the house from top to bottom. My husband is always on kitchen duty, and I am on laundry and general tidying duty. So I was sitting on the couch surrounded by my boys’ tiny folded things, listening to my audiobook when my husband called to me laughing from the other room. “Uh, honey.” “Mmhmm?” I replied, not knowing that soon my life would be irrevocably changed.
But when he came in he was holding something very small, very lacy and very…leopard print. A thong. It was my thong. Now…I am known to wear the occasional thong every now and then if my chosen outfit requires it. I am a strong proponent of the anti-VPL community. But I’m not normally a lacy leopard thong kind of gal. More sensible comfort thong with a little lace because I like pretty things. But I won’t deny it. This leopard print thong was mine. Well, I thought, nay! I hoped! to myself that maybe I dropped it from the laundry when I was carrying the basket to the couch. But those hopes were dashed when he said these next awful words, “Look what I found in Lukey’s lunchbox.” And that’s when it all became clear, friends… On Mondays I send in freshly washed crib sheets and blankets for each of the boys. My thong was found inside one of the pesky corners of Luke (our youngest)’s crib sheet and one of his kind teachers then returned it to us in Luke’s lunchbox.
It’s been a few weeks, so the memory burns a little less, but I also wonder if I am now known at the boys’ daycare as The Thong Mom. Maybe it would have been kinder for the teacher to just throw it away and I would be none the wiser? What do you think? In the end – let my mistake be a lesson to you – always check and double check the crib sheets before sending them in to daycare. Hope you guys had a great Monday! No thongs found in any lunchboxes tonight, so I’m doing just fine.
(The boys’ matching monogrammed school bags are from LL Bean. They’re the medium boat and tote and they work wonderfully for daycare trips, and when the boys turn into school age boys, they’re perfect for library book bags.)
The Metroka Family 