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 New birthday rain boots. She wears them all day long.  

I'm going to post a photo a day for the next week. Comments are turned off. Enjoy your week!

Growing up, Sundays were always the day that we made yummy treats. It was usually no-bake cookies or some kind of cake. I'm finding that it's turning into my favorite time to bake; everyone is home, together and relaxed. It's comfort food. Especially when it's made with peanut butter.
 I have a peanut butter & whipped honey sandwich every single day (I make them on these which we all love.) I almost always have it for breakfast, mostly because I am not a big breakfast fan and secondly, I'm not super crazy for breakfast food (unless I am eating at the Griddle Cafe- that's a whole other story.) The kids have a sandwich for lunch nearly everyday, too. With all this PB consumption, I don't know why I didn't think about making PB cookies sooner. I haven't made PB cookies in at least 10 years, probably more. Henry's head nearly exploded at the near mention of it. Oh the possibilities!!
 Our favorite PB is this one and we got hooked on this whipped clover honey on a trip to Utah last Fall. It's really good and I'm not going to admit how many tubs we've gone through. It's embarrassing. 

I digress. Back to the cookies. Do you roll yours in sugar? For some reason I did. It seemed like that's what we always did (I could be wrong here) even though none of the recipes call for it.
 I don't know who started imprinting PB cookies with the back of a fork- but it stuck (LOL!) The cookies were good. Real good, Clark. They were delicate without being so dry that they were crumbly. These weren't dry at all, actually. 
 Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 C peanut butter

1 C white sugar

1 C packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3 C all=purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Set oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Mix in the eggs. 

In a separate bowl, sift together remaining ingredients. Stir/mix into batter. Refrigerate 45 minutes. Roll into 1" balls, roll in sugar & place on baking sheet. Flatten each cookie with a fork. Bake in oven for 10 minutes.  

 Enjoy!

 I had forgotten how fun and exciting it is when you start feeding little ones food for the first time. They just don't quite know what to do with it and most of the time, it ends up all over them. Henry never ate baby food/pureed anything and so we never used bibs, so this baby boy bib business was kind of new for me (and I secretly loved the challenge.) 

 We are on day 3 of feeding this little one, can you tell? Not that I mind terribly the absolute slobbery mess it makes, oh no not at all, I am quite fond of sweet potato's but you know…I needed some bibs. And to be completely honest, I have really, really missed sewing. Like really. Yes, I did curtains last week, but that was more along the lines of just hemming the fabric. It's so therapeutic for me. Making something out of scraps. And it's not just something, it's something that I/we need and something that serves a purpose.
I hauled out the big box of fabric scraps and grouped them together & then sewed them into 3 bibs. They are backed with a white cotton terry cloth (which I was so surprised to find in my fabric closet- I have no memory of ever buying it.) I had a lot of scraps left from Charlie's quilt so he now has a bib to match! This was a great little project because you have a finished project in no time at all. I think I'm going to make another 3-6. 
They are held together using size 16 snaps, which were a cinch to put on.  I think he like's it:  
 And I like them, too!
 I think I'll make some more while I watch the National Spelling Bee on Friday. Yes, it sounds like the perfect evening to me.

I'm coming off of a major sugar-high. Major. I may not make it through this post. We bought our first ever bona-fide bbq/grill this weekend so we decided to have a bbq with friends and cakes to celebrate Henry & Kate's birthday. I never had a chance to make birthday cakes for them (which I was having some major guilt about.) So at 11:00 p.m. Sunday night, I started pouring over come cookbooks for some cake options. I can't remember if I bought this cookbook when I was at Magnolia Bakery or if I bought it on-line, but I don't think I've ever made anything out of it.
Henry wanted a vanilla cake and Kate wanted a "chockey" one. The cookbook has a "Traditional Vanilla Birthday Cake" recipe that I used and I paired it with their chocolate buttercream frosting. I later remembered that Henry said he wanted vanilla frosting (trying to keep the two separate was confusing!) so I kind of botched that but then I gave him the a-ok to put his lego star wars figures in the frosting and so he felt much better about it all. Kate's cake was the "Chocolate Buttermilk" cake with a vanilla buttercream frosting that I tinted pale pink.  I have to say that I think the vanilla was better than the chocolate. The vanilla was really light & fluffy and the chocolate was pretty dense, but it wasn't necessarily moist, if that makes sense. But the vanilla buttercream frosting was really, really good. We sang to the kids and it pretty much went down like this for Kate:

"Oh la, la, everyone is singing to me, I think I could get used to
this!""Wait a second. I'm not so sure about all this birthday singing business…"
"Mama!!! HOLD ME!!!!"
"Wait.a.second. I need to pull myself together. I am 2 years old after all and there are candles that need blowing out!!"
Phew. That was intense.

And to think, it all happened to the tune of "Happy Birthday to you…"

Being 2 is hard work!

 The owl clip art for the invitation was purchased from this etsy shop. 

I was so honored to throw a baby shower for my good friend Rachel on Wednesday. She has been such a dear friend to me since we moved here 5 years ago and I was thrilled to be able to do this for her.  Plus she goes with me when I buy things from strangers on craiglist- you know to make sure  I don't get chopped into itty bitty pieces! Now that's a friend!

Years ago I threw a baby shower for my friend Kim and and we made these hanging flowers out of lunch sacks so I decided to give it a whirl again (remember these Kim?): The idea/instructions are from Martha Stewart on-line. Super easy to make. I think we (thank you, Jean and Peter) made about 16 or so and I hung them all in front of a large window. All you need are lunch bags/sacks, scissors, a hole punch & some string (oh and double stick tape or I used a glue stick.)
 I made mini-brownies with a dollop of ganache and raspberries. I have to say, brownies are one of few things I don't make from scratch. There are so many awesome boxed versions out these days. This one is by far one of our favorites (who knew Amazon.com sold brownie mixes???) And besides I can honestly say I've never had a homemade brownie that was better than one from a boxed mix. These were really small, bite-sized ones and if I don't say myself, were pretty darn delish. I've  never put ganache on brownies before but that is about to officially change. Try it people. Ganache= heavy cream & chocolate. You can do it. 
 And the 4 of us stayed long after the party had ended, chatting, eating hummus & pita's and then doing more chatting & more eating. I love these gals. Rachel was such a lucky duck and received that sweet little red number directly from Paris, France. Erica on the far right is due around the same time as Rachel and is the one responsible for the awesome french bread recipe. That's Jean sitting next to Erica and of course the Mama-to-be, Rachel. I know I've talked about all 3 of these gals at some point here in this space so now you can put a face to the name.  Ann- these pictures were mostly for you- we were all sad you couldn't be here!

And finally, I finally got around to recovering the lampshades which you can kind of see here and the drapes, I pulled down the old ones and found fabric that is working so much better. I really, really, really love the new drapes. I'll share soon. 

Thanks  for the awesome chapter book suggestions- we are heading straight to the library this weekend!

 We call him Charlie Bear or Charlie Bug. Mostly we just say "Charlie" with an extremely overexagerated Boston accent which sounds a bit like Chhhahlie. You know there is that mad fisherman from Boston. It's Charlie Moore T.V. (don't watch the whole clip- you only need to watch the first 20 seconds to see where I'm going here.) 

Well, Charlie is 6 months, which means we'll be starting to feed him food soon. He's had a few nibbles here & there but nothing regular. I don't think he looks like Henry or Kate so it will be interesting to see who/what he ends up looking like. He's a sweetie pie. He falls asleep chewing/sucking on the edge of a blanket. He's not quite sitting up on his own or rolling over yet, but I think he's getting close. He's starting to get a little bit of a routine going. He goes down for a 3-4 hour nap mid-day and is doing really well at night. Oh I could just gobble him up. I'm so happy to have him in our family. He is the perfect addition!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12013371&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Hiya! I've been working on Henry's birthday movie since before his birthday and  finally had some time to finish it up this evening (You can't have a video for one and not the other…you know what I mean.) Henry turned the big "5" last Thursday. His birthday was such a fun one. He wanted to spend the day at Disneyland so we went down in the early afternoon, had lunch at the restaurant of his choice and then spent the day together as a family. There were churros, a lego store visit, blowing out of candles, presents & ice cream. The Charlie Brown music seemed like the perfect song for Henry. He picked it out as my ring tone on my cell phone about a year ago and I've kept it ever since.

5 is seeming so big. So much older than 4. We are savoring these last few months of him being home with me/us all day before school starts in September. He's such a sweetie pie and so excited for school. He got a new Star Wars thermos for his birthday that he'll be able to take to school as well as a new lunch bag. 

 Henry is sweet and energetic and has a wonderful imagination. He is all about Star Wars. He spends hours every day playing with his little figurines. We gave him this book for his birthday and he pours over every single page before bedtime. He loves Charlie Brown and always seems to get a good chuckle when he watches it. For the record- "You're a good man, Charlie Brown" is one of his favorites (it is pretty hilarious.)  He is growing like a weed- 98% for height & weight and almost growing out of his 6T's. Gosh- there is so much to say, but mostly, I'm just in love with him. Madly.

Speaking of books, I think he is old enough to have us start reading chapter books and wanted to see if you had any suggestions on good books for his age. I hope you'll join me in wishing Henry a Happy Birthday. 

See you soon!

xoxo

Nathaniel Hansen is a good, good friend of ours. We became friends in Boston about 10 years ago and have been friends ever since. He is an extremely talented filmmaker. He has been featured on Kickstarter (on their homepage no less!) and is trying to raise money for his latest project, "The Elders." You can find all the information here, as well as hear Nathaniel, in his own words, describe his vision for the film. His work is so incredible and inspiring. Here's hoping you raise all the
money you need, Nathaniel! We think you are pretty amazing! 

I'm quite fond of the documentary below (make sure you read Nathaniel's words about it before you watch- they are posted below the vide0.) Chris was lucky enough to see the screening of it here in LA in March at the WGA theater (I, on the other hand, was/am the primary food source for a little one and therefore was sadly unable to attend. Boo.)

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7196960&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Pat – A Documentary Short from Nathaniel Hansen on Vimeo.

In Nathaniels words:

"This is the second documentary short in my profile series. I've walked by this store on Boylston street hundreds of times, and there is always an elderly woman peering out from behind the store front.

The front of the store is all glass, and the display case is filled with "collectible junk." I couldn't help but think every time I walked by, "how does this store survive, and what is that woman's story?" I had no idea just how interesting the woman in the junk shop would turn out to be.

Artistic Statement: As the second in my profile series, I wanted to retain certain aesthetic elements from my first piece in the series featuring Gilbert. The challenge would be to keep the series interesting, and to keep those aesthetic elements from becoming cliche or gimmicky.

I decided early on to make the store an extension of the main character, Pat, as she is very much a part of the store and the store a part of her. I utilized an establishing shot from across the street to convey voyeuristic sense of peering in to this "familiar stranger's" life. I wanted to create a sense of place, differentiated by sound and perspective, that marked the outside from the inside of the store.

I wanted the interview to have an almost home movie or archival feel and I felt that the drab colors and the cool fluorescent lighting should be accentuated for the viewer, so obviously black and white wouldn't work like it did with Gilbert's piece.

My only regret with this piece is that I didn't have a wider lens to shoot the narrow store interior and capture the clutter and sense of claustrophobic nostalgia one feels when inside. Although it was awkward for me, I chose to frame a couple shots of Pat where she sits all day long near the store front. She literally blends in with the items on the wall. Over the last 35 years, Pat has become a part of the collection that she so lovingly curates."

I filmed this piece on a Sony EX1, with a Letus 35mm Adapter, Zeiss Planar T* f1.4/85mm prime lens, and a Nikon 50mm f1.4. The project was color treated with magic bullet looks.

To view other documentaries Nathaniel has done, click here.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11785909&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Little Miss Kate turned 2 on Friday. She is spunky and hilarious, dramatic and sweet. She is saying lots of words and is her brother's shadow. She is a sweetie pie and we are over the moon for her.

We have been in Utah for the last few days- this time for a wedding (congratulations, Mom!) It's been a whole weekend of celebrating: a birthday & wedding on Friday and our wedding anniversary on Saturday (12 whole years- wow!)

We are heading home today and gearing up for another little one's birthday this week. May is a full month for us!

I'll be back in this space soon!

xo

 We spent the afternoon at Santa Monica Beach. Henry thought it would be really funny to run around (in extremely windy conditions) with our beach umbrella.
 Did I mention it was really windy? 
As in our umbrella kept flipping the wrong way?
But that was the funniest part to him (and us and his lack of ability to have any control over said umbrella.) 
Shortly after this picture was taken, the umbrella slipped out of his hands and went wailing down the beach. I was laughing so hard, I was crying. Paralized (read: I made zero effort to help him) I just sat and watched & then my sister, Vanessa, jumped up to help him chase it. Luckily, some fellow beachers (??) leapt up & saved our blessed umbrella.  
Life as an almost-5-year-old is grand. 
Oh yeah, and so is the life of a soon-to-be 2 year old:
Thank you chocolate chip cookies!