anxiety

I am going out for dinner this evening for the first Philly Mom Bloggers meet-up. I’m definitely excited! Problem is — it’s in Exton. As in: I have to drive the car. By myself. To someplace I’ve never been. On a Friday. During rush hour.

You’re probably thinking: yeah, so what?

Well, let me tell you: Katia doesn’t like to drive in the Philadelphia area. I grew up and learned to drive in a small town in Northern Ontario where “heavy traffic” consisted of 5 cars on the same street. I never had to parallel park. Our major highway was 2 lanes — one lane going in one direction, the other lane going in the other direction; occassionally there was third lane which alternated between the two sides and functioned as a passing lane. It was uncomplicated. There is one highway — it takes you east or north. If you went south you ended up in a river on your way to Michigan, if you went west you ended up in Lake Superior. Doesn’t leave you with a lot of options.

Anyway, back to today’s challenge: getting to Exton. I looked at the map and all I see are big roads with #s like 202, 476, 76, 100… I only recognize these #s because those are the streets that are always listed during the traffic reports as being clogged with cars. BREATHE. I think I’ve mapped it out: rt 3, rt 202, rt 100… and I’m there. BREATHE.

Well, once I’m there I get to chat with some super moms, including:

• Classy Mommy
• Genesis moments
• Gunning It
• Total Mom Haircut
• Occupation Mommy
• Stinky John Jones
• Musings of a Housewife
• Girly Mama
• Mommy Sparklykatt
• A box of chocolates
• These are the days
• Situationally Single Mom

Wish me luck! Have a great weekend.

Madeleine is ALMOST walking

I realize that going from the stage she’s at right now to full-blown walking could take weeks… but still — she’s SO close! Maja as usual provides a running commentary in the background.

And some cruising:

And some letting go… this one is short but significant. Do you see that?? She almost took a step!

wordless wednesday — blueberries

baby likes blueberries

no-drip popsicle recipe

If you have kids and it’s hot… then you’ll want to have the recipe for these no-drip popsicles. I discovered this concoction years ago, while I was in grad school… the first time… and re-discovered them when Maja became old enough to enjoy a popsicle. I like making my own because I can control the ingredients, especially the sugar.

No Drip Popsicles
1 cup hot water
1/2 pkg jello
1 cup plain yogurt

Dissolve jello into hot water. Mix in yogurt. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze. Set the kitchen timer for about 2hours… or the kids will ask every 3 minutes if the popsicles are done.

This recipe has a 1000 variations! Change the flavour of the jello, use fruity yogurt, add some frozen fruit! Instead of the jello, you could also use juice (make your own using your juicer) and then add plain gelatin. I like the addition of the yogurt because it makes the popsicle a little softer and therefore easier for the wee ones to chomp.

And here is Maja’s story about how to make popsicles:

Notice how she skips over the parts where she doesn’t know the right words to describe things?

transcript (loose)
There once was a little girl… named Hmm-da-height (?!?). Her mama and her were making popsicles. And they put blueberries…yogurt…aaaaaand…orange…and they set a timer…and then they walked upstairs and they played and she found… [it breaks down, then, as Maja gets lost in her story]

wedding anniversary

I can’t believe it’s ONLY been 4 years.

We went from this in 2004:

To this in 2008: