Teatopia

Good Things

Today actually felt like fall. I am so used to the cooler temperatures we had up north, and I hate that the seasons don't really feel like seasons down here, except for summer of course. Every season feels a bit like summer! Today MF and I took lunch from our favorite Thai restaurant to my mom. If you remember, my mom now teaches where I taught the last few years, and as we drove off, I remarked to MF how relieved I am to be home with my baby girl. Life is good. Lately I think I've lost sight of how blessed we are! I've been worrying so much about money, but I have a wonderful family, a nice home, 2 reliable cars, and I love to cook, which is great since we rarely eat out these days. Life is good!

Olivia and MF's baby sleeping in my car. Too cute! We joke that they're going to get married!!!

Tonight, I made sweet potatoes with cinnamon, sugar, and melted marshmallows like my MIL makes. Yum! I let Olivia have some of the plain potato and she'd swallow and wait patiently with her mouth open while I picked out some non-marshmallowy potato fo her! After dinner, we ran some errands and I went shoe shopping. I totally thought I had scored BIG TIME when I found a BOGO (buy one, get one free) sale, except I couldn't find anything to fit my freakin' huge feet!!! I used to wear 8.5, sometimes 9, now I need a 9.5, which is the ONLY size they didn't have in all the ones I liked. Pooh! My disappointment was quickly forgotten though when we left the store and I put Olivia's winter hat on. She didn't even wake up, which is good because I never would've gotten this picture. Hats=evil. Mittens=more evil than the devil himself.

When we got home, James tried to get Olivia to say "dada" and she said it immediately. Everytime he says "dada" she repeats it. She used to make the "mmmm" sound and "mamamama" but hasn't in a while, but now everything is "baba" and "dada". And tonight she danced for the first time, and I burst into tears. I'm such a dork.

Tomorrow morning, we're going to an Organic outdoor market downtown. It's the last market day of the season, so I'm hoping to score some fresh produce to make baby food. After that, we're heading to a luncheon hosted by my grandma. It's a yearly Thanksgiving celebration for her camping club. Why would I want to go, you ask? THE FOOD! They have the best casseroles and good Southern Cooking. I swear every woman there cooks like Paula Deen. I'm bringing fudge-mint brownies, which are so simple.

Teatopia's fudge-mint brownies:
-- follow fudge-like brownie directions on the back of the box, subsituting milk for water (a tip my dear friend Entsar taught me long ago!)
-- add a dash of mint extract and mint flavored Hershey's chocolate chips

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Posted by Hannah at November 3, 2006 11:31 PM