1m2aSandbox

As I mentioned earlier, both girls are at
theatre camp every morning this week and amazingly enough it marks
the first time since they’ve been born that I’ve been
home by myself – barring being ill, I suppose.


I’ve already got grand plans for the fall when Cora’s
in pre-kindergarten three days a week: one day of chores and
errands, one day of teaching, and one day available to volunteer in
both schools. I picture having all this time to do my home-work
unfettered: grocery shopping, bill paying, toilet cleaning,
vacuuming, sifting through young-child detritus that’s
accumulated under a bed – the possibilities seem endless. And
as weird and sick as it sounds, I’m looking forward to it; I
don’t heart doing laundry in any big way, but I am truly
anticipating getting all the grunt work done whilst childless, so
my time with the kids can truly be quality time with the kids as
opposed to “time doing errands while dragging children
unhappily after me.”

As I’ve written recently, I’m
in full smoothie swing this summer and have been pulverizing fruit
left and right. Recently, though, a mid-afternoon crabby episode
drove me to experiment with, um, other ingredients, and I’ve
hit on the absolute best smoothie ever.


If you like chocolate, of course.


One caveat here – I use a half can (about six to eight
ounces) of coconut milk – the thick stuff that’s full
of fat but oh-so-good. So you should like the taste of coconut
before you make this. I personally love the ice cream made with
coconut milk, so this is, to me, like a chocolate milkshake. Of
course, if you’re not dairy-allergic like I am, you can use
cow’s milk instead, but make sure it’s got some fat in
there for some delicious oomph.


Here ‘tis –

Maddie and Cora started a week-long
theatre camp yesterday at the performing arts school where I work,
and I think I may have created a two-headed monster. Or two
monsters. Or something.


The camp itself isn’t anything career-making; it’s 9 -1
every day, with some singing and dancing and acting, and a small
show on our stage at the end of the week. It’s four-year-olds
through eight-year-olds, so we’re not talking anything
incredibly complicated. My main reason for putting them into it was
really to give the girls a chance to have a week of structure and
getting up somewhat early before school gets started. Cora’s
never done school at all, and this week will be the most time
she’s ever had to concentrate in her life. Add to that things
like learning to get her own lunch in and out of a bag, and taking
care of her own potty needs, and I figured the camp would be a
great testing ground for Cora before pre-k.


I forgot how much the girls just like to perform.

So yes, we went horseback riding, and yes,
Maddie loved it.


Not LOVED loved it, as in, “Mummy, sign me up NOW! I must do
it! I want horsie curtains and horsie sheets on my bed!
NEEIIGHHH!” But loved it as in, I saw that slow smile spread
across her face as the ride began and, in spite of her fears and
challenges along the way, that smile never left.

Maddie’s had trouble with her lovey
being at school; if she brings it, she has a tendency to want to
take it out and snuggle with it. During class time. And when
Maddie’s got Silky in her hands, she goes into a coma-like
trance, only barely able to listen to the outside world. I find
that the days Maddie would leave Silky at home, she’d finish
the day much more alert and attentive, and I tried for a long time
to get her to leave it alone.


Finally I went with the tried-and-true parenting method of
bribery.

Not to brag here – more like
I’m just wanting to capture it so I don’t forget that
such days exist when the dark times come – but we had
ourselves quite an awesome day yesterday.


The morning started earlier than anticipated, when Maddie
spontaneously awoke at 7 a.m. I thought I heard her rustling around
quietly, so I stuck my head out of my room and saw her sneaking
into the game room. "Maddie?" I asked softly, a question. She
turned to me: "I finished my book last night and wanted to get
another one." And sure enough, she grabbed another chapter book and
took it downstairs, snuggling on a couch with a blanket to read.
Smiling quietly, I got out our daisy-shaped pancake griddle and
proceeded to make a fun breakfast. We had a lovely slow beginning,
reading and cooking and eating things loaded with butter and syrup.


The girls and I hit our neighborhood pool around 9:30, and had the
place entirely to ourselves until 11 a.m. Cora’s hit an
intense diving phase – as in, “for rings” –
and she spent the whole time diving for rings, diving for glass
jewels we bring for “sunken treasure”, diving for her
goggles – you name it, she swam for it. Maddie, meanwhile,
had her snorkel gear on and was practicing breathing through the
snorkel tube, swimming like a cruising shark over the entire pool
without coming up for air. It was truly greatness.

If you’re anything like me,
you’ve been madly making smoothies since all our delicious
summer fruits began coming into season. The girls love them, and I
love having a glass full of fiber and vitamins in a yummy drink.


I’m a bit of a protein hound, always trying to find new
smoothie recipes that will get me some blood-sugar-boosting
proteins and fats in non-dairy ways (slight allergy), and I came
across this one from target="_blank">Keeper of the Home recently. Since
I’ve been madly freezing organic fruit as it’s
available for a modest price, I’ve got a drawer full of
berries that are being seriously whittled down in this recipe. The
use of coconut milk solves my thirst for something more filling
than pure carbs, and I throw some brown rice protein powder in for
an extra boost as well.