8 Jun
I bought a set of three 4-inch cake pans for the top tier of Ava’s birthday cake, and I’ve been looking for a reason to make a miniature layer cake with them. Fortunately, our friend Dave’s birthday provided a good opportunity. I was short on time, though, so I used a dark chocolate cake mix, and I added a cup of peanut butter to a tub of vanilla frosting instead of making buttercream. Very easy (and, I think, pretty darn cute, too).
5 Jun
I found these old wooden spools at a flea market over Memorial Day weekend. I loved the bits of remaining thread and vintage labels.
3 Jun
This weekend, Ava asked if we could “please, PLEASE” built a compost bin. I’m not entirely sure where she got this idea, but I think the blame might be placed squarely on PBS Kids (and certainly not the parents who let her watch it so much…)
Anyway, it sounded like a good project, so we found some directions for a small compost bin online. Fortunately, I hadn’t cleaned out the refrigerator since early March, so we had plenty of decomposing produce to give us a healthy head start. I think we need far more dry matter now–leaves or grass clippings as Liana suggested. We’re using shredded newspaper in the meantime.
Ava’s pretty excited about it—she’s saving scraps to add to it and reminding me that we need to shake it every day. Does anyone have any idea how long we’ll have to wait to have usable compost? Neither one of us are particularly patient.
Up next, also at Ava’s urging, a better recyling plan for the Smith household. Can’t wait.
1 Jun
When we were at the lake last weekend, Ava asked about the tent campers. She thought camping sounded like a good time, so we packed up the girls, two coolers and a tent and headed to the nearby park on Saturday.
Bryan had quite a bit of help pitching the tent.
After we set up camp, we headed down to the beach.
Tom, who was biking around the lake Saturday afternoon, joined us that evening.
We roasted hot dogs for dinner, and Ava made S’mores for dessert.
That’s pretty much where the sweetness ends…
By 10:30 that night, we realized that it was going to be quite a challenge to get everyone to sleep in an 7 x 8 foot enclosure. Olivia will only sleep in her crib (see the very rare exception in the post below), and she has to be laid down awake for the most part. Even a couple late-night stroller rides couldn’t cajole her into relaxing.
And Ava, who never sleeps regardless of the circumstances, was equally challenging. I finally threatened to pull the plug on the trip and take everyone back to our house. Surprisingly, Ava—who was the champion of the entire trip—wailed, “I want to go home!”
So, in the complete darkness, we packed up the campsite, put out the fire and drove home. I realized it took longer to get ready for the trip than it actually lasted.
And, despite going to bed around midnight, both girls were wide awake at 6:45 the next morning.
It’s a charmed life we lead.
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