Annika says...

- Annika, what comes after 11?
- Friday.

Winn Weekend 9-13-14

Last weekend was a bit uneventful. It actually started kind of disappointing, because in the very morning I did 2 things that I want to never do. I bailed on a friend and I was too lazy to get out of the house (to go to an apple fest). On Sunday we had friends over. It was a cool evening and we lit our fall candles, ate a hearty potato soup with warm biscuits and then pumpkin cookies for dessert. A fine welcome to the beautiful season that is Fall.
The weekend before last, however, was much more eventful and a lot of fun. The type of fun...

Dining room metamorphosis

We have been in our house a little over 2 months now. Which is about how old Mr. Leo is; which is exactly why the house is still not completely organized or even unpacked, which is exactly why one of our cars still won't fit in the garage. All of that plus the empty photo frames on the walls notwithstanding, it already feels like home. Quite possibly the only room that is the closest to completion is the dining room. It's where we/I spend most of the time, and I want to say it's because of all the natural light (which I DO LOVE), but let's be honest - the reason is its close proximity to the kitchen where there is food.

Let's take a trip down memory lane.

Chalkboard wall * Kitchen Tales, Part II

At some point during last Sunday's church service I caught myself thinking of the long list of things I wanted to get accomplished during our 3-day Labor Day weekend. Paint a chalkboard wall in the kitchen, put 2 coats of polyurethane on our Ikea kitchen island, assemble Leo's crib finally, hang curtains in the kitchen and in Leo's room, finally connect our TV, get my Warby Parkers fitted at Walmart, have friends over for a cookout, clean, do laundry... I went over the to-do list several times in my head before tuning into the pastor's words. Ironically, the sermon was on the importance of resting in order to rejuvenate. I felt a bit convicted, honestly.

Winn Weekend 8-23-14

So it's Monday and time to talk about the past weekend (and dream about the next one! always!). It was a pretty eventful kind of weekend, and I did make myself a promise to take note of all the little things, especially those that do your heart so good.

baking with a toddler...

... is a lesson in patience, I'll tell ya. Have you ever baked with a 2-year-old? How did that go for ya? Did you have any batter left for those muffins? Were you able to find your kitchen under all the flour?

I love involving Annika when I cook. I always know it's going to be a lot of work, but it's either that or she will nag me senseless. So I choose the lesser of two evils:)

did this really just happen?

This happened yesterday. Technically, it's not preschool. They call it play-group, which is kind of like pre-preschool, but i wouldn't be myself if I didn't make a reason to psych myself up:)

Little lady is very social, so I wasn't worried about her being clingy or sad or scared. Yet, I was nervous all morning. Got up at 7:30 with an alarm clock (whoa!?) and got myself ready before waking up my big girl for her big day. Greg had to be at work at 8, so I was anxious about being on time. 

Annika was excited and in preschool spirit the moment I walked into her room. "I'm going to preksool, mama?" "I wear my backpack, mama?" I even let her eat breakfast at her little craft table.

It was a big deal and Annika made sure all the walls in our house heard that. Mr. Leo sure did and woke up ready to eat his breakfast. The moment I realized there was no way we were going to make it out the door on time, our daddy made it back home. We all got ready and even had time for pictures. We made the whole thing into a bigger deal than necessary, but it's the beginning of her (pre)school career, people! 

The 2 hours went by much too fast to get anything accomplished. I just sat there at home twiddling my thumbs until it was time to get back in the car and go pick her up. I'm sure I'll get some sort of a productive routine going, but I was just so excited for her to tell me how her day went. 

She ate cheewios and cwackers and just wore her backpack and no hit anybody and play with pretend cheese and see new fwiends, that's how:)

And a couple of pictures from my iPhone