7 Quickish Takes

1. So on Monday it snowed 6 inches. Tuesday it was 50, sunny and melty. Wednesday was in the 40s and nice as well. Thursday it thunderstormed and flooded everything. Basements, roads, the creek... floods. Today it's sunny again but there are those pesky 50 mph winds we're dealing with. Plus it got cold again so all the melting turned to thick sheets of ice. Hot dog. Oh February. The most volatile of the months.

2. We're having fun learning about the Walrus these days. And in scoping out the closest walrus to us... I hope C is content with YouTube, :)

3. We are going on a date tonight. Supposed to be dinner and a movie but we might ditch the movie I actually do want to see it but it just seems like a lot of money when they put movies out on DVD/streaming so quickly now.

4. Working on language skills has been very rewarding, it's fun to see progress! Every time he learns a new word and uses it on his own is great!

5. Generally speaking my house is cleanish. I need to vacuum but when don't I? I could vacuum every hour and that might actually combat the problem but who knows. I've always wanted a Roomba but my Dyson works great and honestly a Roomba would just be in the way these days.

6. I cannot believe there's only a week left of February! Thrilled that it's a short month but I'm not entirely ready for March and Lent and all that. Though I do know what I'm doing for Lent. I think.

7. After these the most boring quick takes of all I give you take 7:

We actually had a pretty good week but Husband has been busy and I am really looking forward to this weekend! 

Have a nice weekend! And Link up with Jen. 

WWRW: Walrus Books

It probably started with The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems. Our love for Mo is well documented on this blog and that is probably C's most read. In the book, wait for it, the Pigeon wants a puppy. And when he gets a puppy he realizes that he does not in fact want a puppy. He changes his mind to a walrus.

And that my friend, planted the seed. Babies, toddlers and children, they are like little gardens. You plant seeds of knowledge, faith and manners and with some nurture they will eventually grow into (hopefully) self-sufficient adult people.

It was the one line about Pigeon wanting a walrus. Then we read the wallpaper on the inside of back cover. You can "Look Inside" on Amazon but it's a box that says "One Walrus" repeated. So at the end of the book we say "One Walrus" many many times.

Then there's the classic Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. After a smattering of zoo animals the very last zoo animal is a walrus bellowing.

We apparently read these books a lot. I knew we did, but gosh we must have. Because in C's magnetic fishing  there is a walrus to grab and it is his favorite. He carries it around.

Some kids like dinosaurs. Or trains. My younger brother liked gnomes. C... has a thing for walruses. I know this will shock you, but there's not a whole lot of toddler appropriate information about the walrus out there. We made some walrus coloring sheets. Those are fun. We've been watching some YouTube videos obsessively. Here's his favorite:

Bonus: When he watches this he sits in my lap and gives me a hug when the two walruses do!

So as of 3:00 today when my package finally arrived. (Oh President's Day getting in the way.) We have been reading:

Where's Walrus by Stephen Savage. The walrus escapes from the zoo and hides from the zookeeper who is chasing him down. In the end, the walrus does go back to the zoo and gets a bigger enclosure to boot. So in some respect it's a book about tiny zoo enclosures and animals getting bored in captivity. Except it's not really about that at all. (That's me really really digging for an over arching theme.) 

This is the perfect book for a toddler who has a fascination with walruses for a few reasons: 

• He gets to find and point to the walrus on every page. But it's easier than Where's Waldo? So he is actively engaged. 

• There are no words. I know listening to stories is so important but narrating what's happening is a lot of fun and super helpful for understanding as well. Plus then it can be as short or as long as we want. 

• The graphic-y design is really fun. Not all kids have a graphic designer Dad but since C does, we're happy to engage him in good design and talk about good design elements with him. And he doesn't mind because it's about a walrus. 

So that is what we are reading, or rather, paging through this week on our journey of walrus love. Any other walrus book suggestions? We'd be happy to hear them. 

 Linking up with Jessica and her other lovely people.

Ode to a Diaper Bag

You probably read Grace's blog right? Who doesn't read that hilarious bit of wonderful?

So you probably already know that she has an amazing giveaway right now. A Lily Jade Diaper Bag. But not just either of their diaper bags. The Madeline Bag. In red.

Just to be clear for a minute, my name is Madeline and red is already my color. It is the color of my kitchen. It is the color I picked for C. It is the color of the diaper bag we already have. I'll be honest with you and tell you that my L.L. Bean Bag is getting the job done. Apparently they don't have red anymore which means I would definitely not buy it again but since L.L. Bean stuff lasts forever it doesn't matter one bit.

It's just that it looks like a diaper bag. Which is great and fine by me when C was a baby. In his infant car seat (also red, he coordinated with his diaper bag) and when it was so easy to go places with him. But now, C is a toddler. He hasn't been in a carrier car seat in a long while now. He's grown up. 

Unfortunately, our diaper bag hasn't. I cannot tell you the amount of covet I have for the Lily Jade Madeline diaper bag in red. But it is extreme. 

I've never been much of a purse girl to be honest. The thing about schooling for 18 years in a row meant I had a backpack 90% of the time to put stuff in. And in the summer, I worked at camp which was another great option for a backpack. As I have transitioned to true adulthood however (read: no longer take a backpack with me everywhere) I have basically just switched to the diaper bag. 

And that was fine. I guess. Then I saw the Lily Jade bag and I fell in deep, hardcore love. It's real leather. (Grown Up.) Mature. Stylish and I could really use some stylish in my life. But best of all, it has this amazing insert that converts it from a diaper bag into a purse in a moment. So I can take the youngster to the museum and playdates with his stuff in tow but later when it's time for book club... it will no longer be jammed packed with fruit snacks, wipes and cars. (I carry diapers too I do, but I have like 4 different kinds of wipes and a whole lotta fruit snacks.) Oh. And it can be a backpack if I want it to be. As a long time backpack user I can safely say that this bag is magic. 

This is not a post like Cari's boots. I certainly do not expect that anything will come from this post. I just needed to put it out there. Get my feelings out on paper you know? Or typed into the blog but whatever. 

I entered the giveaway every.single.way I knew how including dusting off the Facebook account I don't really use to like Camp Patton. Which seriously goes against all of my own policies on Facebook as I haven't liked anything in years. Literal years. Since they were links in paragraph form on your profile. 

There isn't another entry for writing a post all about how much I want the diaper bag. But I'm putting it out to the universe that this Madeline wants THAT Madeline very badly. 

A Party of Cookies

Listen, I know everyone is all America's Test Kitchen is the best all the time. I get that I do. My brother has the book and I have taken a few recipes from it. I especially like the Blueberry muffins for the times when you want something a little different than my Bisquick Blueberry Muffins. (I've used that link so many times I can't even tell you.)

But when it comes to cookies well Betty Crocker is where it's at. Sure I have Martha's book too and some of her recipes are really good. But Betty's got that down home you could actually make these kind of recipes. I use:

I have written about this book before, back during Gingerbread House time. But in case you don't remember I will explain. This is my favorite cook book. I have my Grandmother's copy, with vanilla stains, and notes about certain recipes and clippings from magazines and newspapers pressed between the pages but the binding isn't doing so well. However, the lovely Betty Crocker people re-released the book EXACTLY the same. (There is a note about how food safety and popular ingredients have changed through the years) but it is still all 1963. The photographs are real and the food styling is just so homey that every single cookie looks possible because they aren't too perfect.

When it came time on Friday to make our cookies for our party, C and I got out the Cooky Book (I just love that it's spelled with a Y) and got to work. We use Mary's Sugar Cookies on page 18. I have made Ethel's Sugar Cookies as well (very tasty and also on page 18) but for cookies for decorating Mary's cookies are where it's at.

And you guys, they were perfect. We chilled them for about 4 hours and rolled them out, cut them with our heart cookie cutters and 8 minutes later we had PERFECT cookies. Crisp around the edges with a soft chew in the middle, perfect for decorating. Just ignore my flash and head in the window and look at the fun C is having.

(He insists on putting on his apron when we cook and apparently that spilled over into decorating too.)

It was a very happy Valentine's Day with cookies to decorate. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I used store bought frosting and then just a few different kinds of sprinkles so that it was easy peasy. And it was. We also had Papa Murphey's and punch because we're fancy like that. 

We had a great Valentine's Day and a good weekend. Now we're back to Monday and the weather is GROSS. But on the upside it is supposed to be nice the rest of the week so I am looking forward to that! 

Valentine's Day Quick Takes

1. Mother Nature is a tease. Yes. It was 33 yesterday. Maybe even 34. That is above freezing people. And it was sunny. And the snow did start a melting. But my glory was short lived when I awoke to snow. More snow. And cold. Snowy and cold. I'm willing to bet the Pagans dancing naked in Spring weren't crazy they were just relieved the Winter was over.

2. Happy St. Valentine's Day! I know a lot of people are all "we don't need material things to show love" and "corporate Holiday" and all that. But I don't subscribe to that philosophy and I enjoy even the small gift giving holidays.

3. C got 2 new Elephant and Piggie books for his collection:

He is excited by this and in the hour since receiving them we have read each 3 times and the other Elephant and Piggie books once. It's an Elephant and Piggie kind of day up in here.

4. Husband got a desperately needed pair of tennis shoes, which is not entirely selfless because I may strongly dislike the pair he has taken to now. (A pair that is in goodish condition but are ugly to the ugliest power.) But since Husband's life revolved around 4 pairs of shoes: black dress shoes, brown dress shoes, tennis shoes and a casual summer shoe it really is okay to throw a new pair in the mix selfish or not.

5. We are having a party tonight, the details of which I have not hammered out. It may involve cookie decorating but we'll see. The guest list is in fact figured out so I suppose that is something.

6. I am being summoned to read some new books over again so I should probably go.

7. Link up with Jen will ya?

Theme Thursday: Heart (What About Love?!)

The title did in fact warn you I would have this here. 

Hearts is a hard theme for me. I don't have Valentine's decorations that I put out. We did make some Valentine's Day crafts but they didn't actually involve hearts and I can't post them because their recipients have not actually become the recipients yet.

Sadly I'm kind of over the Olympics, my heart just isn't in it. Thanks NBC. I know I can stream all the stuff on the interwebs but my interwebs is of the slow variety. I also realize that Summer vs. Winter and the shows being reruns in the summer. But the last round they had Olympic coverage all day and now it's the standard line up. I don't love Rachael Ray anyway but when I could and should be watching something Olympic-y it's even more of a let down. So it's hard to get pumped watching snowboarding, again, at night when I haven't seen anything else.

Okay, enough lamenting. Ridiculous. It's Thursday. There's a theme. And it's a happy one. Well as long as we mostly all stick with Valentinesy hearts and not heart disease hearts. Though I suppose if we're all taking pictures of our oatmeal containers and their heart healthy warning that would be okay. (And I completely missed the #WhatWomenNeed thing and had no idea, but the way you're all responding is in fact happy, healthy and hopeful!)

So y'all (in my longing for Southern Living life because... more snow/cold.) get this:

A random smattering of stuff on a tray and some hearts. Think of it like the baby/bridal shower game that is sometimes played. Or hidden pictures or something. Either way. Have a good Thursday. 

Oh and link up with Cari because that's what some people like to do on Thursdays and it's pretty swell. 

Sochi 2014: Pt. 1

So... here is the Madeline's play by play of the Olympics weekend 1.

• First of all, in my normal life (not during the Olympics) I would never want cable. These next few days... I wish I had DVR and all.the.channels. 

Okay now that we've covered that little issue we will continue our look alike game from Friday.

• Canadian Figure Skater Kevin Reynolds is the human embodiment of Peter Pan. 

I'm not even going to post a picture of Peter Pan because I am certain you already see it. Plus he flies with a little bit of pixie dust hard work. Just saying. 

• If you are in the process of naming a baby watch the Olympics. ENDLESS possibilities. Having a girl? I would go with the female speed skating list: Ireen, Martina, Olga, Claudia, Annouk, Ida, Antoinette, Yuliya, Shiho, Jilleanne, Bente, Jelena, Kim, Mari, Shoko, Natalia, Stephanie, Luiza, Brittany, Yekaterina, Masako, Anna x2, Francesca, Ivanie, Noh, Yang, Katarzyna. 

There's pretty much an event that will suit your naming style. Like the hip names? Slopestyle snowboarding is jammed packed with great names for you.

My favorite boy names can be found in the men's cross country skiathlon: Dario, Marcus, Martin, Maxim, Ilia, Jean-Marc, Daniel, Johannes, Maurice, Lars, Alexander, Giorgio, Hannes, Anders, Tobias, Alexey, Petter, Alex, Evgeniy. Sjur, Tord, Francesco, Axel, Mikhail, Ivan, Iivo, Curdin, Jonas, Roland. 

So many swell choices. 

• I also believe I missed my calling as a biathlon athlete. Now, when we did cross country skiiing in gym class I was horrible but nobody told me I could have a rifle strapped to my back and shoot targets before continuing. That's all I am saying. It's is my new favorite sport. Easy. 

• It is 65 degrees warm in Sochi today. I have clearly made the wrong choice to not travel to the Winter Olympics. I never pictured Russia as beautiful. (Bleak might have been a more correct term) I know it's a beach resort town but it really is stunning. Shamefully I'll be here in my windchill warning tundra wishing I was in temperate RUSSIA.