Leo’s Day at the Office

I stuck Leo in his office-attire onesie one day and took pictures of him, “at work.”  That’s what play is for a baby, after all.  😉

Here he is on his morning commute:

He had an off-site inspection at a local park that morning:

Here is one of that parts of his job that he loves…

Showing off his window office:

Lunch break (catered by Our Carpet)

At the ball popper, poppin’ the balls

After work, relaxing with a little fishing

And that’s it—one day at the office for Leo.  One rough, tiring day of work.

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Not exactly sure yet…

My runs

I’m a runner.  I love to run, and I especially love to run when there is a specific purpose for running.

There happens to be a grocery store one mile from my house, and I usually have a thing or two to pick up for dinner, so I often bring a plastic bag and a few dollars with me on my runs.  I look like this before I leave:

One day as I left for such a run Kevin saw the bag in my hand and asked incredulously, “Is that in case you have to…poop during your run?

I explained that no, it was not a personal poo bag, it was for shopping.

I’ve been a bit self conscious about my bag since then–especially because after I stop at the store, I run a mile home with the bag looking like this

It would be different if I had a dog with me but I don’t.  And a I live a mile from Vincenzo’s school, I am spotted by a lot of people who know me and are always honking and waving at me and my not-a-poo-bag.

I tried a cloth bag once, for a different look, and the next day a friend said, “I saw you running by the lake yesterday…with your purse!”

So I went back to plastic. 

Now when I get to the store and put my groceries on the counter and the cashier asks what kind of bag I would like, I stick my sweaty, wadded up bag on the conveyer belt and say, “You can just use my poo bag.  I didn’t need it on the way down here.”

Yup.  If you can’t lick ‘em, join ‘em.  And with that in mind, the title of this blog post takes on a whole different meaning.

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Twice baked potatoes (bacon and blue cheese for us, bacon and cheddar for them)
Steamed broccoli
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup
White chocolate macadamia nut cookies

Shave the Date

The play-off beard thing is getting out of control.

As you might recall, Kevin (a Blackhawks fan) is having me cheer for the Redwings since I have been shaving my legs and plucking my facial hair during the playoff season, and the road to the Stanley Cup is paved with beard hair.  When last night’s game got off to a rocky start, he almost sent me to the bathroom to shave again, just to make sure.

But thanks to a big slice of chocolate cake, an extra shaving was not required.  Leo instead sprouted an instant playoff beard of his own.

The Blackhawks won and all was shaved.

SAVED!  I meant to say all was SAVED!

Oh dear…we’re going to need more chocolate cake.

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE (last night):
Fresh pasta and meatballs
Strawberry Salad (thanks S)
Fruit (thanks T)
Old-fashioned chocolate cake and ice cream

My kid is a badass at math

Check out Vincenzo’s answer to his math story problem today:

Yes, that is exactly what he wrote.  MOW SHIT WOOF WOOF.

And that is exactly what would happen if six dogs ran into your yard.

Thoughtless Thursday: Baby S

I got my hands on a newborn last weekend.  I seriously need to start doing this as a job; I’m addicted to the baby fix I get when I do these photo shoots!  Thanks, MB, for letting me shoot your kids.  😉

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Sticky Spice Ribs (for him)
Cheese Souffle (for her)
Leftover rice and ham (for them)
Edamame (for everyone)
Double chocolate brownies a la mode

Of Blackhawks and Blackbeards

My husband is a Blackhawks fan.  He’s been a fan for a looooong time, even before his sister and husband partied with the Blackhawks at their own wedding and drank from the friggin’ Stanley Cup.

The Blackhawks are in the playoffs right now, which means Kevin is growing out his Playoff Beard.  It has become like a sixth member of our household and a scratchy third wheel in our relationship.

Tonight, before Kevin turned on the game, he told the boys: Look, I’m about to turn on the game.  Have you all been growing out your beards this week?
Vincenzo: Dad, I’m seven.
K: Vincenzo, this is important.  Have you shaved recently?
V: No!
Me: Does plucking count?  Because I’ve done a lot of plucking in the last week.

I was instructed to root for the Redwings, just in case.

The Blackhawks started the game off poorly so Kevin texted our BIL to accuse him of shaving because someone must have shaved for the Blackhawks to be playing this way.  I pointed out that his own father was shaving every day—blatantly shaving–so maybe he is the weak link.

Kevin just stroked his beard and kept watching the Blackhawks lose.

I suggested maybe he’s got it wrong, that maybe it’s not Playoff Beard that the entire Stanley Cup rests so precariously on; maybe he’s supposed to be getting me Playoff Roses instead.  I could have 2.5 weeks of roses in my house instead of 2.5 weeks of this:

(I took this picture of Kevin when I was helping two of my sisters virtually shop for my oldest sister, hence the pink skirt.  It led to the following texts:

Sister: I think Kevin will look very fresh & flirty in the pink lacy skirt.
Me: Thanks.  It’s because of his fun and flirty playoff beard.
Sister: I could tell he probably asked to model the skirt & you had to insist he just hold it up in front.
Me: It’s like you were there.

) (Bet you thought I was going to forget the out-parentheses, didn’t you?)

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Ham and turkey crepes
Edamame
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (thanks, Tati!)

Thoughtless Thursday: First Communion

My neighbor’s oldest daughter had her First Communion last weekend, and I got to take pictures of it.  Happy Thoughtless Thursday!

The last picture is, of course, my favorite.  These girls were so fun to photograph!

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Mexican Corn Cakes
Spice Rubbed Steak
Rice with Cilantro
Grilled Asparagus in Sesame Oil

MrsMouthy Bakes (and Bakes and Bakes…)

Last weekend I helped a neighbor with some baking for her daughter’s first communion and also baked a bunch of cookies for a Mother’s Day lunch at my sister’s. 

Chocolate-caramel thumbprints (they taste like almond roca)

Lemon honeybee cookies

Red velvet cupcakes

White chocolate-dipped, pearl-topped marshmallows

Chocolate, classic, and pistachio shortbread

Sugar cookies (I just baked them; my neighbor did the decorating)

White chocolate macadamia nut biscotti

I do love the baking, but I am looking forward to maybe taking this week off.  My kitchen counters no longer have to look like this…

…and instead can go back to looking like this:

Thanks to my sister and neighbor for giving me a reason to go on a baking binge!

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Steak fajita chili
Baked potatoes
Roasted asparagus
One hundred kinds of cookies

That Rocco

That Rocco.  That Rocco!

So we ate lunch on the deck yesterday while some workers fixed our granite countertops that had become uneven.  Rocco asked, “Who is in the kitchen, Mom?”  I explained that it was some workers but I had forgotten their names.  We continued with lunch, and then Rocco said, “I have to go do something.”  He ran inside then returned a few seconds later.  “I told them that you don’t remember their names anymore.”

That Rocco!

I told Rocco that afternoon that I would make him a tipi on the deck later.  The day carried on and at dinner time he must have remembered my promise because he came running up to me saying, “Mom, now is it time to make toilet paper on the deck?”

That Rocco!

At dinner he asked for more hot dog.  I gave him some and said, “There you are.  Now who loves you?”  He answered, “I do!”

That Rocco!

After the tipi was made Rocco ran downstairs to gather some trains to put in it.  I heard a lot of jingling and jangling and he kept saying something about how he didn’t have enough hands so he was just going to put his trains mumble mumble, but I was too busy cleaning up to pay much attention.  It wasn’t until I turned around that I saw Rocco’s solution to the problem of not enough hands:

And now when Rocco is looking for a specific train he’s missing, I get to enjoy the great pleasure of asking him, “Have you checked your underwear?”

That Rocco.  I don’t want to imagine a world without That Rocco.

Thoughtless Thursday: The Garden

These are all SOCC shots because that’s all I have time for!  I keep thinking of a Peanuts comic I remember from my childhood where Lucy is on a merry-go-round saying, “Stop the world…I want to get off!”

Anyway.  Even though spring somehow feels like a waiting period for summer, my garden isn’t wasting time waiting for anything.  It deserves some of the blame for my busy-ness too, but I love every minute of it!

WHAT’S COOKIN’ 2NITE:
Grilled chicken breast
Kraft mac ‘n cheese
Gooey chocolate chip brownies