End of Weekend Ramblings

I meant to post at least two more times last week, but the week got insanely busy - and then my entire little family got sick. First Sammy, and then me, and by last night, James was tossing back the Nyquil. We're all stick in the thick of it and judging by my inability to stop dousing Sammy in kisses and hugs, we've likely got a few more days before our colds even think about trickling away.

Anyway, I had planned to do a few themed posts last week, and I still have a round-up of Sammy's favorite books in my drafts box, but my head is too foggy to put forth actual structured thoughts, so here's a few random photos and commentary on our activities over the past week.

On Monday, we skipped Sammy's usual My Gym class so I could get some errands done and he could get a haircut. I sheepishly admitted to the hairdresser that no, this was not his first haircut - but rather his third. What can I say - I like a clean cut little boy! He also received his first ever lollipop, which you can't actually see in the photo above as it's engulfed in his mouth and hand. He loved it, but of course.

Another shot of his haircut. And just because I think his pudgy little hands look adorable while waving.

Remember our trip to the pumpkin patch a few short weeks ago? Well our pumpkins are no more, thanks to that disgusting little creature above. Perhaps we bought pumpkins too early, perhaps we didn't place them in a safe area, or perhaps our pumpkins were just unbelievably tasty this year. As such, over the course of two days, Sammy perfected the phrase, "Go, squirrel, go!" (to little effect, unfortunately), and we witnessed some major pumpkin carnage.

Monday during nap time, I prepared Ina's lasagna with turkey sausage, which I baked on Tuesday evening. Rarely have I met a lasagna that I haven't liked, but this just didn't do it for me. To the point where I ended up eating a turkey sandwich instead. It called for a decent amount of goat cheese (though mozzarella is pictured above), and it was all I tasted in the end product. To me, lasagna should not taste predominantly like goat cheese.

But backing up a bit, Tuesday morning I faced a big fear - watching two toddlers by my lonesome. Sammy's friend Emily came over for the morning so her mom could do an errand. Prior to her arrival, I was actually terrified, especially as I thought about the prospect of having to change multiple poopy diapers throughout the morning. Luckily Emily stayed dry as a whistle (of course I can't say the same for my boy), and we ended up having a very easy morning. The babies entertained each other for quite a while, and I was even able to get them to play outside - and no one got run over!

That afternoon we also received a visit from our good friends Misty and Clark! Clark is now about a month and a half old, and clearly the cutest little meatball ever. I wish I had a better photo of his outfit - there were elbow patches on his cardigan! He is very sweet, and a few days later, Sammy saw a baby and yelled, "Clock!" (Or something that sounded like that.)

Once I got past Tuesday's fear of keeping two toddlers occupied for the morning, Wednesday reared its little head. We recently joined an indoor pool, as I am dead set on becoming a better swimmer, in hopes of doing a triathlon next year. Mind you, I know how to swim - just not very well. My coordination is horribly lacking and I can't breathe correctly in the water to save my life. So, I signed up for a private lesson that I was to take that morning.

But that's not what stressed me out. As of the past few weeks, Sammy is very anti certain strangers (especially creepy looking 20-year-old guys that work at My Gym), and let's just say - his independence from his mom is lacking. Thus I was absolutely terrified of leaving him in the pool babysitter room. I'm sure I looked like a ridiculous overprotective mom when dropping him off with his bag containing his favorite toys (including Mr. Bear) and snacks, and nervously rambling to the babysitter about how he might cry as soon as he saw me leave the room.

Well, that didn't happen. He didn't even notice that I left, and I received a great report from the babysitter when my lesson was over. (Also, I had a great lesson. But still can't breathe correctly and still look like I'm having convulsions while attempting to do the crawl stroke.)

As soon as my lesson was over, we rushed over to a farm / park in town to do a "Gentle Touch" class with the rest of our playgroup. I have to laugh at the name of the class, as Sammy's touches are anything but gentle, but it was a great little session. Various animals were brought out to the kids, and they got the opportunity to pet a chicken, donkey and rabbit. Sammy loved looking at the animals, but got a little skittish when it came to actually petting them. Which was probably to the animals' benefit.

Thursday night, we accomplished something that I am horribly embarrassed to admit had yet to happen for the first 15 months of Sammy's life - sitting down to dinner with just the three of us. Mind you, James and I have taken Sammy out to dinner a million times, and we've had many family meals with our extended family. But due to Sammy's 7 p.m. bedtime, James' 6 p.m. arrival home from work (on a good day), and my inability to cook a full meal before Sammy goes to bed, a legit family dinner, complete with a set table, just hadn't happened yet.

For some reason, on Thursday night, I was set on making it happen. We ate Ina's parmesan chicken, her mashed potatoes (it was a big Ina week, apparently) (also, the potatoes were insanely delicious), and roasted carrots. Nothing too complicated, but it still involved one half hour episode of Sesame Street, a popsicle, and some serious leg clinging and whining. We ended up having a fantastic meal though - one that reminded me of my childhood family dinners. However, I'm not sure it will be happening again anytime soon.

Sammy's cold began on Thursday, but it got worse on Friday. (Likely not helped by the four vaccinations he received the day before at his 15-month doctor's appointment.) I took the above photo in an attempt to capture him wearing his new slippers from Queenie, but what really strikes me is how sad and pathetic he looks! Look at those red eyes and the under eye bags! My poor boy.

During a much needed marathon nap session that Friday afternoon, I made homemade ricotta and herb ravioli. I'll make homemade pasta once or twice a year, but would really like to make it more often. It's so easy and so delicious - it just takes a bit of time. (Also, I wouldn't normally make two pasta dishes in one week, but was still reeling over Tuesday's gross lasagna.)

The pasta dough recipe I used this time was the simplest I've seen yet. It required mixing three eggs and two cups of flour with a dough hook for 5-7 minutes, and then letting it sit for 20 minutes.

After kneading the dough a few more times, I separated it into six pieces.

Using my KitchenAid pasta attachment (best thing ever), I rolled out each piece to the recommended thickness.

My ravioli filling was comprised of 1 cup of ricotta cheese (I had plenty leftover from the lasagna), 1/2 cup of romano cheese (which I prefer to parmesan), a tablespoon of chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Earlier in the week, I had purchased this ravioli mold. It was relatively easy to use, though getting the raviolis out of the mold took a little effort.

My raviolis weren't perfect looking, but they tasted it! (And of course I forgot to take a picture of the final dish.) I served them with (gasp) store-bought marinara sauce (I like Rao's), and it was the ideal comfort food for a rainy Friday night.

After a dreary and rainy Friday, Saturday could not possibly have been more gorgeous. I do believe that it was peak leaf day in my town, and the temperature hovered in the upper 60s / low 70s. For the first time in a couple weeks, I joined my running partners for a leisurely run around town, followed by a catch-up breakfast, which we were actually able to eat outside! It was a great start to the weekend.

That afternoon, my family attended my cousin's wedding up in Northampton, MA. Again, the bride and groom could not have asked for a more perfect day. (Which my sisters and I mistakenly celebrated by dressing as if we were going to a funeral.)

It was a great wedding and a beautiful day overall, but a lengthy one. As evident by my slits for eyes in the photo above, by evening, my cold was really setting in and I was exhausted. 

And that was my week. Is it the (next) weekend yet?