Five for Friday

Since last week. . .

1. I had a really simple, fun birthday party planned for Kylie. It turned out to be not as simply executed as it was planned, but she loved it, and I suppose it was fun. If you're someone's mom or dad who came to the party and helped us out instead of going home for a nap, bless your heart. You have earned the right to talk about what a disorganized nut job I am . As long as you do it behind my back there will be no hard feelings.I don't know what Ryan is thinking (or feeling) here.

2. School's back in, and that's cool with me. It has been harder to get them up on time, even though they were only sleeping about an hour later than normal last week. I think we made it through the week with only one tardy, and Wednesday morning Alex told me that he was happy to be going back to school.Music to my ears, I tell you.

3. Peter is turning the corner from infant to older baby. I can't stomach calling him a toddler yet, though he is starting to let go a little and stand for a few seconds on his own. That means he'll be walking soon, and that hopefully means he won't be eating as much stuff off the floor. Right? He also decided to show some love for the sippy cup this week, and that means I am one step closer to weaning. I'll move on before I get giddy. . .Oh, he is also playing a few new games. The best ones involve throwing stuff on the floor or slapping Ryan in the face, but some are innocent enough. It takes a few spoons to get through a feeding when he plays this game.

Big enough for a little adventure.

4. The weather has been really nice and cool (if a little wet, but we're coping), and it really feels like fall. While I realize that's how it works, I am from Alabama where it's summer for 9 months, sprinkled with a random sampler of other seasons' weather here and there on the off months. So I am stoked, and it has me feeling energetic and creative. Mostly in the kitchen. This week I made this and this and this. All really yummy. Now I need to harness some of that energy into the laundry and bedrooms.

Our favorite bread recipe. We make it often.

5. This may be the biggest news yet, though it will mean the least to any of you. Tonight we are going out. That's big in itself because we don't do it often enough. But we are leaving all 3 kids behind for 4 hours. Yep, that's bigger. And we are going out with friends who are also leaving their kids. I know, really, really big! And we have actual, concrete plans, so we might get through a date night without a fight or the otherwise inevitable waste of half your date night while you try to figure out what to do. This is so big that I can't even really comprehend it. Honestly my head may explode just thinking about it.