leftover magic

as our activity schedule ramps up with the holiday season my meal planning becomes more important. a favourite around here is anything you can eat with your hands. handpies / pasties are always a hit.

monday i made a new (one pot!) favorite spiced yellow rice with chicken and vegetables and tonight i wrapped the leftovers up in puff pastry. presto. (and tomorrow these will hit the lunchboxes! i love stretching a meal.)

yum.

one car family

as of june 12 we will be a one car family. with me working from home now, this shouldn't be too bad. it is a question of economy - gas prices, and the costs of a new car. (we have been borrowing a car from our neice away at college, who is now returning for the summer - thanks sammy!) as well as a choice for more conscious living. we will see how it goes.

while i save up my pennies for this, k and i will be travelling to preschool (7 miles return), the market, etc. with the above set-up. d found the used lady schwinn (schweeet! thanks babe.) through a friend at work, and our neighbours were cleaning out the garage and offered us their bike trailer. perfect. (the only downside being i can't haul more with it.)

******

even more perfect is my k. who is 4 today. which i cannot believe. she is the kindest most thoughtful kid i know. with a crazy sense of humour. she informed me today, that she will always be my baby, or at least until she is bigger than me. and that i won't be growing anymore, but she will. she then gave me a big thumbs up. such is life. (you help me grow in more ways than you can imagine my little bug. i love you. happy birthday!!)

cuts

I have been trying to get the girls to stand still long enough to photograph the matching nightgowns I made them for Christmas. My mom always had a new nightgown waiting for me under the tree Christmas eve, and it is a tradition I am trying to keep up. They are of the softest Moda flannel with pink rick-rack, and oh so cozy.{Little better look at them here.}

I did get them to sit still long enough to cut their hair last night. An inch of K's and three off E's. I have been trying to do this on my own, in an effort to be more frugal. I do think I am getting better, but wonder if anyone has a good set of haircutting instructions out there? I am so lucky they both have curly hair! {Do I remember correctly that there was a guide to children's haircuts in Martha Stewart Kids way back when...)

Happy Monday!

update: the nightgowns were based on Burda 9766 - and haircutting tips are in the MS Kids Spring 2002 issue {thanks Sarah!}