Mother's Day

Have you ever been watching a cooking show and thought, "Wow!  That looks delicious.  I must make that immediately!"?

I thought that recently about a chocolate hazelnut torte I saw on TV.  Mother's Day seemed like the perfect date to try it out.

Mykey graciously made dinner.

And I graciously made myself a torte.

It looked so inviting and incredibly delicious.  I was extremely excited as I wrapped my big lips around my first enormous bite.  As I began chewing my first enormous bite,  I remembered a minor detail.

I don't like hazelnuts.  Like, at all.

Poo.

That dadgum torte tasted like dirt.  Because that's what hazelnuts taste like - a big 'ol pile of dirt.  But don't worry, the day wasn't a complete waste.  Kitty made me a nice note.

And then she gave me a nice mess to clean up in the bathroom.

Ah, Motherhood.  Sometimes it's like a chocolate hazelnut torte - it looks mighty appealing but can end up being just a big 'ol pile of dirt.

Old Man River

My husband apparently thinks I want to be married to a 44-year-old.

So he went ahead and turned 44.

Now what am I supposed to do?

Sigh.  I had no choice but to celebrate his birthday.  And like a good wifey, I took him hiking.  I even attempted taking an attractive selfie with him.  But we failed because we're old now.  Uhhh...I mean...he's old now.

Larger sigh.

No matter. I'm such a good wifey I bought him an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins and let him eat a cheeseburger and fries for dinner - even though I could hear his old heart groaning beneath the grease.

Kitty bought him a nerd toy - a mini Sphero. They get each other.

I bought him a new office chair for his old back.  It took 6 weeks to arrive.  Apparently it rolled itself to our house from the East Coast.

Alright, I guess I'll keep the old guy.  (But not much longer.)

Happy Birthday, Mykey!

Indulgences

How much wood could a Kitty chuck if a Kitty chews popsicles in the tub?

A lot.

2-Wheeler

We finally taught Kitty how to ride a bike without training wheels.  I've been prodding her for a couple of years and she has resisted greatly.  Every time I asked she would respond, "When I'm 8."

I didn't approve of that timeline.  Kitty is far too intelligent to be postponing training-wheel removal until she's 8.  I refuse to have a scaredy cat.  So - like all of my good parenting decisions, I told her she didn't have a choice and I forced her to learn.  

Before you go tsking your finger at me, we did take her to the sporting goods store and let her choose out whatever bike she wanted to learn on.  I didn't even squawk at the price tag.  Inside I was bellering like a banshee that she didn't have a defined budget but I held it in.  Now that's good parenting.

Kitty sure chose herself a beauty.

All said and done, Kitty did great!  We had some frustrating moments and elevated voices, but overall she caught on pretty quickly.  Unfortunately for me, her father wasn't much help.  He was nursing a back injury and couldn't handle the weight of holding her up on the bike.  I had no intention of being hands-on in this bike-riding lesson, but there I was, panting alongside Kitty like a dog chasing the mailman.  Father dear stood around getting a back massage instead.  Rough life.

A few more trips to the high school parking lot and Kitty was a pro.

Now...what can I force her to learn next?

Career Goals

Kitty has a lot of interests and talents.  I think this will be a great help to her when choosing a career path.  She really has an abundance of possibilities.

Like being a cowgirl:

Or a knight in shining armor.  Are girls called knights? Maybe a kitty in shining armor.

Or homeless:

Or a Frisbee retriever-er.

Or a creepy stalker:

Whatever she decides, I hope she's rich and will take care of me in my old age!

(Is there a lot of money in creepy-stalking?)  I sure hope so.

Easter Greetings

For the past 2 Easters, I have been a super cool Mom and hosted an Easter party and egg hunt for Kitty and her friends.  Both years were FANTASTIC!

This year I couldn't be a super cool Mom and put together a party.  This year, stupid Covid was the master of our lives. This year I had to be a lame Mom.

Well...not that lame.  I'm naturally cool so it's hard for me to morph into complete lameness.  I'm so naturally cool that I still put on an Easter egg hunt, complete with a hidden Hatchimals surprise egg.  A Hatchimals surprise egg!  And then I hunted for the eggs with Kitty like the super cool Mom that I am.

 I even let Kitty find the special egg.  Go ahead and give me a patty-pat-pat on the back. She was thrilled with her surprise.

I'm so cool I made a delicious ham dinner and a carrot cake that tasted like baking soda.  Poo on trying a new recipe.

But the dyed eggs were a smashing success and Kitty wrote Easter notes to her ol' Ma and Pa.  She's a super cool cat.

We topped off our Easter shenanigans with a plea to the Easter Bunny for gifts galore.

Thankfully, the Covid had not infected Mr. Bunny and he was able to hop on over to our place.

Hoppy Easter! (See how cool I am?)

Leprechaun Hunter

I remember a time many months ago when Kitty tried desperately to catch herself a leprechaun.  Every day at recess, she and a group of enthusiasts searched the school yard and set up traps, hoping to capture one of the creeps.

Unfortunately, luck was not on their side.  Also unfortunately, she was not at school on St. Patrick's Day, the most likely day of the year to actually catch a leprechaun at school.  Thanks, Covid-19 for ruining leprechaun-hunting.

We tried to catch the elusive guys two nights in a row at home, but did not succeed.  Mykey used his 3D printer to make some gold to entice the tiny bugger, Kitty set up a trap with a luring sign, but still no luck. 

 

He tripped the trap but we didn't get him.

We did, however, catch the slippery monster's hat and buckle, so all was not in vain.

Well, we didn't snag ourselves a leprechaun but we did have a deliciously green dinner; pesto pasta, veggies with green goddess dressing, Irish soda bread, yum, yum, yum.

Kitty even surprised me with a note.

Who needs a lousy leprechaun when I've got such a lovely Kitty?

Happy St. Patty's Day!