Yee Haw Dude!

Esme's graduated from the baby swing of the past 

to the toddler swing of the future

Yee Haw Dude!

Wild Rumpus

Today on my day off Esme and I went to Linden Hills to a bookstore called Wild Rumpus.  I went there many years ago when I lived in this neighborhood, but this was the first time as a parent.  It was really cute!

It's this little bookstore that is specifically for kids.  It's really, really cool.  Maybe a little bit too old for Esme right now, but eventually I think she'll really like it.  The books are only a small part of what makes it awesome.  There's a little kid door within the big people's door.  There are also cats, chickens, ferrets, chinchillas, doves, and who knows what else in there.  The cats and the chickens roam free, everything else is in it's little cage.

There are so many little nooks and crannies in this store, it's crazy.  I'm sure we didn't even see them all and there are more to discover at our next visit.

As much as Esme loves to read, she really wasn't all that interested in the books.  What she loved the most were the two Adirondack chairs that were in the store.  One was adult size and she crawled in and out of it over and over again.

There was another smaller one that was in this tiny little space that was set up like a little secret reading corner.  Esme didn't like it there and she certainly wasn't going to crawl in that little corner to sit in the chair.  She kept pulling the chair out of the corner and knocking down all kinds of books to do it.  In the end, she didn't even want to take any books home - she just wanted that Adirondack chair!  And she was not at all happy that it wasn't for sale.

There were some big ol' tears as I peeled her away from the chair and put it back in it's little corner.  Not pretty.

I'm excited to take her back there again sometime, maybe for story time!  But first I think we need to go shopping for an Adirondack chair!




 

In Memory

One of the first friends I made when I moved into my townhouse was Karen Bazany.  I will never forget it.  I walked out of my garage and Karen was outside with this little, tiny, white puppy named Sadie.  I went for a walk with her that day and we went on many more walks over the years.

One night the first summer we lived at Gleason Farms we sat on her driveway in lawn chairs and met a bunch of our neighbors.  It was just the beginning of many memories that we would all make together.  Happy hours and baby showers and new puppies and the death of pets and bridal showers and more baby showers and even more baby showers and Christmas parties - we've been through it all together.

Karen and I went antiquing, walked our puppies, went out to lunch, shared recipes and spent many hours consulting each other on the perfect shade of who-knows-what color to put on the walls of our new townhouses.  Karen is the person who drove Patterson and I to the emergency pet clinic the night that he died.  She was one of the first people to visit Esme at the hospital.  She helped decorate the front of our house when we brought Esme home.  Her house was the first house that Esme ever trick or treated at.

I have so many memories of Karen that I can't even think of right now.  I'm sure they will surface over time.  But most of all I will always remember the wonderful, loving, kind person that she was and her HUGE heart and always positive attitude.

Sadly, Karen passed away yesterday after battling cancer for many, many years.  Rest in peace Karen.  We love you and miss you always!

Another busy day.

As I said in the last post, if Esme's awake she wants to be outside.

First we took puppy and mommy's lunch bag for a walk.  For whatever reason, she only wanted to walk across the street and back a few times.  She had no interest in going any farther than that.  This was the first outing with the stroller, so it was probably good to take it slow. :-)

After a few trips up and down the driveway, we decided to take the wagon out for a drive.  First Esme started out as a passenger.

But then she wanted to help pull the wagon.

That didn't last too long before she wanted to push.

She now knows what Stop and Go mean.  And we were stopping and going over and over again, it took a long time to get home!!!

After we got back home, Esme STILL wanted to go outside.  I had a few things I needed to get done, so we had to stay inside.  She wasn't happy about that.  I had the screen door to the deck locked and she was bound and determined to get as close to outside as she could. :)

can we go outside?

can we please go outside?

Pretty PLEASE?

I'm going...

Ok, I'm not going but I'm ALMOST outside!

Thank goodness it's finally spring! :)

Busy, busy, busy!

Now that the weather is warming up, Esme wants to be outside all the time!

Today was a busy day.  One of the things that she loves right now is "driving".  It's almost impossible to get her out from behind the wheel once she gets there.  It usually ends with tears because she always wants to stay longer.

all systems go!

I am the captain!

Later we hung out in the front yard and threw some grass up in the air.  Esme thought it was particularly funny to put grass in my hair!  I love how she giggles and giggles at things like that.  This video is a little bit hard to watch because she was so close to me, but I love it!

We decided to get a new security system.  It's always important to make sure that your house is protected.

You'll have to go past me to get in!

After a hard day of driving, throwing grass and protecting the house it was time for a snack.  I wanted to see if she would like a tasty, healthy, homemade snack.  I was so excited when she took it because she loves to say No to everything.

She promptly picked off all the chocolate chips and then left the bar on the table...  Go figure!

Pajama Day

Esme and I had a pajama day today.  We were supposed to have a play date, but Esme had a snuffly nose and was C-R-abby so we cancelled. Better to stay at home.

First item of business is to try on Daddy's shoes and make sure they work.

Most of the morning we just hung out and watched Esme's favorite - Handy Manny.  I even got a few snuggles in. :)  Those are fewer and farther between these days so I will take them when I can get them.

Later in the afternoon we took a bath.  Esme likes them again now which is definitely a good thing.  As usual, she loves to sing - especially in the tub with the good acoustics. :)

She's a natural musician!  

Overall, it was a good day and even though Esme didn't feel that great.  Next Monday we will hopefully be able to get out and about and have even more fun!

Weight Watchers Fruit and Honey Bars

I've been wanting to make these bars for a long time.  They are sort of like a homemade energy bar.

In fact, I've carried the recipe around with me for at least a couple of weeks.  Some of the ingredients are a little tricky to find.  It calls for unsweetened coconut.  This was not to be found at Cub or Target, however I did find it at Whole Foods (can I say how excited I am that one is opening in Minnetonka soon!).  I also found the unsalted pepitas there.  

The rest of the ingredients I either had on hand or was able to get on my normal shopping trip.  There were three adaptations of the recipe offered and I sort of mixed them all up.  Here's the result, I think they turned out pretty good.  4 points plus each.

Fruit and Honey Bars

Serves 20

1/3 cup honey

2 large eggs 

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk

1/2 cup each 

• shelled unsalted pumpkin seeds, unsweetened shredded coconut, ground flax seed, dried apricots (chopped), dried cranberries

1/4 c. whole wheat flour

2tbsp wheat germ

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line a 9" square baking pan with nonstick foil. Beat honey, eggs and salt with a fork in a small bowl until blended. Put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. 

Add the honey mixture to the dry ingredients and pulse until mixture is slightly moistened. Press dough into baking pan until in is uniformly even. 

Bake until center is set, and edges are lightly browned. Let cool 10 minutes. Using foil, transfer the bar from pan to cutting board. Cut into 20 1 1/2" bars. Let cool completely, peel off foil.

They are pretty good.  Good enough that I had to hide them from myself and ate more of them than I should.  Believe it or not, next time I would make it without the chocolate chips.  They were ok, but not great.  And they should be great to be worth the extra point.  If you leave off the chocolate chips it's 3 points plus.

I will definitely be making different variations of this in the future.  Enjoy!