First Play date

At the t-ball game on Monday I worked up the nerve and invited a couple of the moms over for a swim play date Wednesday.  Of course an hour or so later when I got back to the apartment I was like "what in the world was I thinking"?!  Tuesday I made my list, figured out a menu and dusted every inch of the apartment - twice.  I ran to H.E.B. and got some of their yummy croissants, made the buffalo chicken salad (because it tastes better if it's sat in the fridge over night), put together pool friendly containers of pineapple, apples, mandarin oranges and grapes and packed 3 bags full of stuff we *might* need.  Wednesday morning I got up - dusted and vacuumed again (just in case) - the whole time this article was going thru my head:  http://www.unexpected.org/2013/04/dating-for-moms/
It's a fabulous, light hearted but informative article about "dating for moms" aka making mom friends.   I had a couple friends in Huntsville that always threw super fun and relaxing play dates so I was also thinking "What Would H or C Do"?

Time came - moms arrived and it just happened.  It wasn't stressful or awkward (much) - the kids played together fantastically.  One hiccup was that the little kid pool was closed but we regrouped pulled out as many floaties as we had (I was prepared!) and let the kiddos play on the steps of the main pool.  Then we came back to the apartment for lunch (both mom's wanted my recipe *squee* - never doubt the awesome powers of good chicken salad served on croissants, oh and peanut butter and honey) and the kids played for a little longer in Mia's room.

I never imagined it would be so easy - now I can't wait to do it again.

Just an ordinary day

June 14, 2013

Today was the first day all week that we didn't have to be anywhere at a certain time so Mia and I took full advantage of it and did nothing.  We cleaned the apartment, made some food ahead for the weekend and played at the pool.  It was lovely.

Mia's Room, Granola Bars and a Snake

I haven't been entirely happy with Mia's room since we set it up.  It felt small and got impossibly messy way too easily.  I was reading in the current parenting book I'm studying that it's really important to "simplify" your child's room as much as possible.  After reading that and my over all feeling of dissatisfaction with it I knew what today's project was going to be.  I spent the morning moving the furniture here and there, organizing all the little stuff, books, etc until I got it to where it is now.  I think (once the closet is finished but I needed Ben for that - his height definitely comes in handy!) that it turned out just about perfect.

The rest of the day Mia and I just chilled at the apartment cleaning, playing board games, listening to music, reading books and making more granola bars - we decided to put off Library Day until tomorrow - it was really good to have a day where we didn't go anywhere.

Ben headed to get his hair cut after work and stopped at books a million to browse - on his way into the bookstore he saw a snake!  It was all curled up and just chilling in the corner.  Adding that to our list of local wildlife we have now seen: a road runner, an armadillo and a rather large snake.  :)

Dinner was buffalo chicken salad - seriously nom nom.  A great "make ahead meal" because it tastes even better when it's been in the fridge for a day or two.  I'll post both that recipe and the granola bar recipe on the Recipe page just in case anyone would like them.

In other news - my mom got married today.  She and her fiance were in Huntsville for a visit and decided to go ahead and tie the knot since all the kiddos, save for me, were there.  We are very happy for her and wish her and Jim the best.

Tomorrow is library day, more cleaning and a visit from Ben's parents!!!!  We are super excited!  So forgive me if I don't blog over the next couple of days - I am sure we will be crazy busy.  No fear tho - it'll just make for a great post on Monday.  :)