Right Before My Very Eyes...

I suppose there IS some magic still happening in our household....
My babies are vanishing right before my very eyes!

 Our dear friend is a talented photographer, and graciously spent a morning capturing these precious littles on film.  (We snuck in some playtime, too!)  Here are some of our favorite shots:

And, proof of the magic...
this was NOT that long ago!

Ruining the Magic.

My brother was the magician in our family. 
Inspired by David Copperfield television specials, as many of our generation were, it became a hobby for him.  He worked tirelessly on his sleight of hand techniques and became pretty good.

(above:  Halloween of yesteryear, and stupefying guests after our wedding)

Derek knew several tricks...cards, coins, little magic gadgets he'd acquired along the way.
My dad had ONE trick.
He'd rub a quarter into his forearm and make it disappear. 
And, at risk of sounding sadly gullible, I bought into that trick until the brink of my teen years;
A DECADE of believing my Dad had a stash of quarters in his arm.

All you need is one good trick.  I found mine years ago.  It became my go-to jaw-dropper, baffling hundreds of students over the years...the perfect incentive for those rough substitute teaching days.

In an inspired moment following watching "America's Got Talent" with my kids, Chris showed the kids a trick of his own.  Their eyes were bright and filled with wonder!  Mommy took her turn next, bringing my trick to the eager audience.  Perfect execution...mic drop...I'm out.  "Whoa!" the kids shouted!

A little bit of confused chatter took place as they tried to figure out how mommy put a quarter in the back of her head and spit it out her mouth.  And then I heard it...

"Want me to show you how Mommy does it?" Daddy said.
"Yeahhhh!!!"  Excitement ensued.

I shot Daddy a glare across the room that, if I were Elsa, would have frozen the kingdom and CERTAINLY would have stopped him from sharing the secret to my trick.  But lacking those wintery powers, I was helpless as the curtain was pulled back on my prized illusion.  Pretty soon, I had two tiny magicians giving this little trick a whirl.

I could have had them scratching their heads for years to come, but now "they know."  And I'm kinda sad about that.  Like, legitimately disappointed!!  But instead of whining too much about my ONE TRICK being RUINED here, I'm going to use this as a learning/teaching experience.  There is a code of ethics between magicians...here are 4 simple rules by which to abide (ahem, Chris Stavenger...)

1.  Practice, practice, practice!
2.  One trick per audience (leave them wanting more).
3.  Use a mirror.
4.  Never, EVER TELL!!

So there you have it.  Chris has implored me to "get another trick," but alas, my magic days are over. 

Before and After!

Transition is difficult for me.  I felt myself physically tense up when Chris suggested that we try out a "big-boy bed" for Carter.  Now, my apprehension was, in large part, due to the fact that he still doesn't sleep all that great in his crib.  Also, his propensity for fleeing the bedtime scene is significantly higher than his sister (therefore, Mommy likes him behind bars).  But there was a large element of my psyche that just couldn't process this because...he's my baby.

Emotion aside, his new bed arrived on our doorstep and I gave myself one more night to rock him and tuck him into his cozy crib.  The next day, my very handy husby disassembled his babyhood and put a toddler bed in its place.  Our fingers were crossed as we kissed him goodnight...and I'm happy to report that he was SO GREAT all night!  Success!  Now, let's hope it continues as the novelty slowly wears off...

Before....and after.

In the process of freshening up his room, I set out to complete a project that has been waiting in the wings for quite some time.  When my childhood home was vacated, I snagged a few items for our home.  I asked for two rocking chairs...one that sits in our living room now, and a child-sized rocker that had belonged to my Dad.  I always intended to refurbish it for Carter to use, and if I didn't do it soon, he would be too big for it.  SO...I used this beautiful Fargo day to do some painting in our driveway.

Everyone loves a good before and after, right?

(L-R) My Dad's brothers pictured with the aforementioned chair, and fabric swatch options.

Annnnnnd, the newest addition to Carter's room:

Luuuuuuuuucccccyyyy!

I go through phases with television viewing.  For a while I was totally into HGTV and all the Property Brothers brilliance.  Then I had a brief love affair with Fox News.  (It was brief.) After that, I swung over to the Food Network where there was some fantastic things happening, including Food Truck challenges.  If you haven't heard that Food Trucks are a huge, delicious fad right now, you've been living in a hole (or, perhaps, a tiny village in the midwest that doesn't have food trucks...or cable).

>>As a little aside, one of my childhood friends now owns a VERY successful food truck business in southern California.  If you're ever in the Santa Monica or Los Angeles area and have a hankering for gourmet hot dogs, do what the big stars are doing and get on over to Dogtown Dogs!<<

Anyway, one of these food truck shows featured a cuban food truck called "Babaloo."  I'm not sure if this truck is still operating, but it doesn't matter:  I snagged the recipe for their "Lucy! Lucy! Sandwich", and I'm now in LOVE.  This is a delicious summer sandwich, so I'm sharing the awesomeness with you:

 Avocado -Mango Spread:
Avocado
Diced Mango
Diced Red Onion
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Sea Salt
(Combine these ingredients to taste.  This combo is, incidentally, SO tasty on it's own that you can just fork it in.).

Toast or grill bread of your choice (We use crusty french on a panini press).  Add grilled chicken breast (or grilled turkey breast) and Monterey Jack or Muenster cheese, top with a generous helping of Avocado-Mango spread and some lettuce if you prefer.  Enjoy!

Photo credit to wholegreenlove.com

Why I Didn't Buy Him a Father's Day Card.

A few months ago, Chris and I visited the Mall of America for our anniversary (romantic, right?).  While we were there, we (I) did some card shopping at Papyrus (adorable stationary that definitely costs a pretty penny).  We (I) carefully chose some beautiful and meaningful cards.

But Chris was all like, "Why does anyone spend six dollars on a card?"
And I was all like, "HUSH!  They're like tiny pieces of art!"
And he was like, "They're just going to be thrown away."
And I was all, "The sentiment will be enjoyed...and I'll be keeping mine." (I picked out my own Mother's Day card.)
To which he said, "Well, don't spend that much on cards for me."
And to which I replied, "Oh, don't worry.  I won't."

When Father's Day rolled around, I kept my promise.

Pinterest to the rescue, I downloaded some card templates and fancied them up a bit.
Then, I interviewed each of the kids separately with a fill-in-the-blank activity, beginning with Carter since he's a big ol' copycat these days.  The following is what they said about their Daddy:

CARTER

My Daddy's name is Daddy.
My Daddy is 2 years old.  (holds up 2 fingers)
My Daddy is big tall.
My Daddy's favorite food is noodles.
My Daddy's favorite color is deen (green).
My Daddy's job is to clean up.
My Daddy loves to play wif me.
My favorite thing to do with Daddy is play wif Daddy.
My Daddy makes me laugh when he nuddles me.
My Daddy taught me to catch.
My Daddy is the best at (whispers) nuddlin' me.
I love my Daddy because I love him.

KENDALL

My Daddy's name is Chris.
My Daddy is 60 years old. 
My Daddy is (this big) tall.
My Daddy's favorite food is pancakes (big ones!).
My Daddy's favorite color is green and blue.
My Daddy's job is to fix people.
My Daddy loves to make things, like salad and pizza, and loves to smell flowers and candles.
My favorite thing to do with Daddy is play with him and snuggle with him.
My Daddy makes me laugh when he tickles me.
My Daddy taught me to sing.
My Daddy is the best at baseball, 'cause he always catches the ball and hits it far away.
I love my Daddy because he hugs me and loves me.

After all of that, I think Chris is probably right.  He LOVED his cards and the sweet words from his kids.  THESE will be the cards we end up keeping for years to come. :)