Kitty Love

How could I not immediately share? Snapped at 12:56am...technically, it's Wednesday now...

Manicotti Thursday

So I've shared banana pancakes (they were quite yummy BTW) and quiche...here's another favorite. Manicotti! Shown pre-baking, in the assembly stage.

And fresh out of the oven, one ricotta/broccoli/spinach-stuffed tube missing to the land of cooling-off-for-little-mouths-ville:

bye!

Scrawled on the window by my big 7-year-old kid upon exiting the car last Thurday morning...that's him waving from beyond the foggy glass.

Your Cuteness Quotient for the Day...

Exhibit A.
Subjects are watching the third Presidential debate.
Child T, age 7, asks how old McCain is.
Mom replies, "I think he's 72."
Child M, celebrating her 3rd birthday, exclaims, "He's not two!!!"
T: "No, seven-ty two. Seven and two."
M: "How old is he?" as she motions toward Obama.
Mom: "I think he's 47."
M, indignantly: "Well I think he's 41."

Exhibit B.
Aforementioned subjects T and Mom are lying in bed. T's hand is on Mom's abdomen to feel Unborn Sibling moving.
Subject M climbs onto the bed and puts her arm around T, her brother.
T: "There's no baby in my tummy, Mira."
M: "I'm just tryin' to hug you!"

*blink*

Mira's 3 now. I'm not sure how it happened, but my memory of her babyhood is quickly slipping away.

She hasn't had her birthday party yet...that's coming on Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday night as she slept I hung the decorations for her birthday party, to get more use out of them. Besides, I love an excuse to hang streamers in the doorway. We didn't ever do goofy stuff like that when I was a kid, and Mira's just old enough this year to really excited about her birthday. Wednesday morning I woke up and proceeded to make pancakes. Banana pancakes. It was my first time doing it on my own. Both TCO and Voldemort were excellent banana pancake artists and I have been craving them for awhile now.

I let her eat breakfast without even getting dressed first, too...oh, the controversy! "Mommy am I three now?" She asked, wide-eyed and incredulous. Yes, honey, you're three now. Only one more autumn lies between her and kindergarten. :(

Art for Art's Sake

In the past week I've completed two pieces of artwork. As in, art for work's sake. Which is certainly better than no art at all, but how about art for me, for my loved ones, for whomever or whatever? I despise how artistic creation goes in spurts for me...I'll make a few things in a relatively short period of time, then nothing worth mentioning for a year, or longer. I don't share because I think I possess any true talent, but because it brings me such happiness to create.

Above left, detail of tracks on a work-intended piece. I'd share the whole image but I don't know exactly what will become of the entirety, if anything. Below, my very first owl. Mira and I spent some time this afternoon with watercolor and crayons. She made three lovely pictures, one for her daddy, one for her grandma, and one for her great-grandma. My owl is for PGG.

Quiche. It's what's for dinner.

Okay, very un-original title. Crazy thing is we actually did eat some beef a day prior or post-quiche. Mama got a cheeseburger craving that wasn't going to be fulfilled by McDonald's. I only buy hamburger about once or twice a year, so it's kind of a big deal. But anyhow, quiche...how I love my quiche. It's terribly "unhealthy," prepared in its traditional manner. I usually don't add meat, let alone actual real bacon. Whatever else is random depending on what's in the refrigerator. Last weekend's quiche contained broccoli, salmon, and fresh dill. I make the whole-wheat crust from scratch with 7tbsp of real butter.

Here it is before going into the oven...
And fresh out, with the egg-and-cream (I use half-n-half) mixture hot, steamy, and risen...

Cooled off, sliced, and still hot. Yum.