Give Me Bacon Or Give Me Death

this girl is such a nut!

proudly showing me her clever fishy face

So, we had a great time at the MFA Thursday night. Li'l Bit was SO excited and ridiculously wired--and chatty! About halfway there I actually thought, I don't have the stamina to keep up with this conversation. She loved riding the T with me and all the adventures one encounters in switching trains. We got to the museum and went straight to the European Art Gallery. She was running from painting to painting exclaiming, "Mommy, look at this!" About thirty minutes into our visit she totally pooped out. All the adrenaline drained from her veins and she was done. All of a sudden it was, "Mommy, let's get out of here." :) I finally found my favorite room--Van Gogh, Degas, Monet--and she was so ready to get home. But, I made her wait while I gazed at each painting for about ten seconds each. Ah, blessed luxuries!

Speaking of luxuries...
Here's a recipe I've put together that my husband is In Love With! One evening I rummaged through our bare cabinets and found a rare assortment of ingredients. When I put it all together we had one amazing dish on our hands. Now hear this, I love to make things cheap and from scratch, but this is not one of those things! It's easy and indulgent, so prepare yourselves.

Shrimp & Bacon Alfredo

~14 oz bag of frozen, small shrimp
~4-8 T. unsalted butter (that's right, a whole stick)
~1-2 T. minced garlic
~4.5 oz bag of real bacon pieces
~1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
~13 oz box of whole grain rotini
~2 jars Alfredo sauce (you can also make 1 jar work)

1) Thaw the shrimp and pat dry. Heat butter to sizzle & throw in garlic and shrimp. Saute to your heart's delight. Pour in the alfredo sauce and heat through thoroughly.
2) Prepare pasta according to pkg. directions and drain.
3) Pour pasta into 9X13 inch baking dish. Pour shrimp alfredo sauce evenly over pasta. Sprinkle w/ as much mozzarella as you want. Sprinkle that with as much of the bacon as you want.
4) Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Great dish to prepare ahead of time as well.
5) Devour it w/ focaccia bread on the side. :)

Art and Fashion--All in One Day

Big date tonight! Li'l Bit and I are going to the Museum of Fine Arts. We've been planning it for a week, and she can't wait! Every evening she's marked off the day on her calendar and counted the days until our night at the museum. I, too, cannot wait to wander the halls full of the world's finest art with my one and only Li'l Bit! One of the greatest components of my homeschooling agenda is the benefit we derive from living in a city drenched with history, art, music, science, culture, etc. I love my city. (And we have Sonic, too.)

Li'l Bit also knows exactly what she's going to wear tonight. When I came home Tuesday night with new boots a light bulb went off in her head. "You can wear your brown boots-because they're the most beautiful-and I'll wear my pink boots and we'll wear dresses together!" That's my girl. I'm working on convincing her to let me wear the black boots, because they're more comfortable. ;) As soon as she got out of bed this morning she starting piecing together her outfit for tonight. A long-sleeve green tee w/ a pink tee over it, a pink tulle skirt w/ brown tights, and her pink rain boots. She's all set!

Ruthless

The ol' Ball and Chain told me to leave.
He kicked me out of the house for three nights. He thought I might need some "time to myself" and a little bit of "rest and relaxation." Well, whatever. I went. ;)
Last Friday, B.daddy got home and I hopped in the Honda and left! (And I left him with three hungry kids and no electricity.*) I drove to the Cape, where I had booked an amazingly affordable and luxurious hotel room. Then, to my delightful surprise they actually upgraded me to one of their loft suites! I had two full baths-one with a huge two person jacuzzi-, a king size bed, two floors, two t.v.'s, a patio--okay, I'll stop. Funny thing is, after I discovered my bounty I felt compelled to call B.daddy and have him and the kids come down. It just didn't feel right for me to have so much space all to myself when it would be the perfect space for all five of us. I got over that rather quickly.
My full intent was to do absolutely nothing but read, sleep, eat, and possibly shop for a new pair of jeans allll by myself. Check, check, check, and check!
Glorious silence ringing in my ears. Freedom to read all day, watch t.v. all night, and sleep all morning. One should not take a personal vacation of this nature often for it would surely make that person impossible to live with on account of her being a totally selfish, lazy fool. However, in moderation and with the right heart, this is was an ideal retreat for my weary mind and soul. My body didn't mind it too much either. I took a total of five soaks in that wonderful jacuzzi. And I'm turning into such a clean freak. I cleaned the tub six times.
I returned to the fold this beautiful Monday at noon, and relieved Stac of the care of my children. I've been cleaning and nesting and snuggling all afternoon. It is good to be back; and it is good to be here so fresh and relaxed. Patience is a virtue that for the weaker of the fold only seems to come about after indulgence in luxuries.
If I get time and remember to do so, I will post my reading list for the weekend. Five rather worthwhile books, I must say. Right now they are still packed in my suitcase and I'm not about to get off this couch to retrieve them just so I can get the authors' names right. My sweet Li'l Bit is laying beside me reading as I type, and I am rested enough to know you don't bring moments like this to a premature ending.
And Li'l Bit just informed me that she thinks I have said enough!

*There was some sort of underground explosion in our neighborhood and our house was without power for almost 24 hours. It came back on at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morn. All is well.

Dream Big Little Girl

When I got married I learned to cook. When I learned to cook I learned how to save money at the grocery store. When I learned to save money at the grocery store I started telling myself: when we're older and richer (forget wiser) I'm going to only buy the highest quality groceries. I'll shop only at Whole Foods and our food will always be delicious.
Well now that I've learned everything is delicious when you make it from scratch & love-no matter the brand-I've graduated up to a grander dream.
When I'm older and richer I'm going to stock my wardrobe w/ garments only from Anthropologie. It is impossible to imagine a store more perfectly catered to my fine lady/girly fancies of fashion. Every time I walk through the store-buying nothing-I drool and dream and sigh to myself. I liken it to walking through the Garderner Museum. Though, perhaps not as magnificent. But close.
So yes, I'm not much older, and none the wiser. Walmart is still my source for all things cheap and delicious, and my highest hope can apparently be fulfilled by a very expensive trip to the mall.

In other news:
~It snowed this morning; we are enjoying a very chilly October, and Li'l Bit is wondering where her Christmas presents are. Snow=Christmas.
~The kids are in Lock Down (alone time) right now. The smallest one has gone to sleep and the two bigger ones are starting to seep into the living room where I am presently typing and drinking hot coffee.
~My blessed husband will hear his praises sung all weekend from family and friends far and wide. Why? Well, I'm paranoid and superstitious, so I won't post about it until it's all said and done. Let's just say: you'll be jealous. All of you, three Readers, no matter your station in life, you will hate me with hot, green jealousy in your hearts. It's that good.

On Fire

I started my first oven fire last night! (It wasn't quite as dramatic as the picture above, but it could have been.) :) I was broiling Bacon Cheeseburgers for my dear husband and children. It was my first time to use the broiler, and I was following the recipe, thank you very much! It said "place burgers 3 to 4 inches from the broiler for 10-12 minutes." So I did. By minute 7 there was trouble. Smoke started billowing out and the alarms started going off. I opened the oven and saw that, Ah, they're on fire. Sweet Gizmo was standing in the corner with his hands over his ears crying, "Turn it off! Turn it off!" I took him into the living room and B.daddy started looking for the fire extinguisher. By the time we'd read the directions on the extinguisher and opened the oven back up the fire had gone out. So the burgers were saved and beautifully flame broiled. They were delicious!

This reminds me of some of my first kitchen mishaps:

Once I added cup after cup of flour to some very soupy mashed potatoes. I was just trying to thicken them up a bit, and though my husband of three months was telling me they would taste bad, I persisted. "They'll taste like flour," he cautioned. "Flour doesn't have a taste!" I retorted. (I'm a very proud, know-it-all sort of person.) Finally the potatoes were nice and thick, and they tasted horrible--disgusting. They tasted like flour.

The first time I ever tried to make fried chicken: I poured the oil in the pan and turned the heat up to medium...then medium high...then high. Why wouldn't the oil come to a boil?! In a moment of God's good mercy I called my mom before putting anything in the oil. I asked her how long it takes to bring oil to a boil, and in her most serious, nurse voice she said, "Do not put anything in the oil! Turn the burner off and leave the kitchen now!" She explained to me that oil doesn't boil--it catches on fire.

The next time I tried to make fried chicken: This was much later--we'd moved to Boston before I got up the nerve to try again. I brined the chicken in buttermilk and salt and followed the recipe to the "t." Which means, I fried the pieces exactly as long as the recipe said to...without cutting into them to check for doneness. What a beautiful meal set out on the table when my young husband came home from the office! We piled mashed potatoes (flourless), cream style corn, and fried chicken onto our plates. Then I took a huge bite out of my chicken leg. It tasted a little funny. The texture was a little off. B.daddy, being the King of Raw Chicken Phobia, cut his up and saw some very pink meat...and blood. By this time I had completely chewed and swallowed a mouthful of raw chicken. Defeated and disgusted I took the chicken back to the pan to finish frying them. When it was all said and done, we just couldn't bring ourselves to eat any of it. And I don't believe I have tried to make fried chicken ever since.

What's For Dinner

I already have half of B.daddy's homecoming feast prepared. One of his favorite dishes is complete and in the fridge. The cheesecake is in the oven and almost done. And I'm sure I'll be making bread all morning long. He gets home tomorrow at 3 pm, and I can't stop my mind from jumping from task to task. It's not that the house needs to be in ship shape w/ dinner on the table as soon as he walks in. It's just that I'm not sure I can focus on anything that doesn't have to do with him getting home!
Yes, I'm tired. I've rarely felt such physical fatigue as what I've been feeling the last few days. (I was good till day 8. Day 9-and-on kicks my tail.)
Single moms: I salute you. It's not so much that it's tiring--it's lonely. More than the tiredness, more than the inescapable responsibility of parenting...I've just wanted someone to talk to! And not just anyone. I've been talking-more than usual-to all my nearest and dearest throughout the last week. But I want to talk to my husband. That's what I miss, and that's what I can't imagine doing without. I can't imagine going through one of the most--if not the most--demanding and complicated phases of human life without that one person who loves you more than anyone else and will listen to anything and everything and try to respond with gentleness and understanding. I know people do it all the time. There are moms and dads in every culture who have to hold their own--whether they're married or not. I'm just saying I am Dang Thankful for my husband; and I take neither him for granted nor the stamina people like my sister have to keep up just to get through every day and every night.

Some fun photos of the Daddy In Action:

halloween three years ago

his 33rd birthday party. i think ladybug might have actually been conceived on this night. sorry. too much info.

li'l bit and i spent a day in harvard square putting together his birthday present. (lots of fun things to do all by himself.) she was very excited for him to open his guide.

always so fun when they get to make things with him. in this he is infinitely more patient that i. i can hardly stand to let them "help me" with a cake mix, let alone build shelves!