Our week

All of the parents in George’s class at school are required to make play dough at least once, and October is my month.

I used this recipe (I doubled it) and it worked perfectly.  I stared at this lump for about 45 minutes straight, terrified the end result wasn't orange enough (the required color this month).  The more I stared, the more I was convinced it was pink or, at best, peach sherbet colored.  I see now I had nothing to fear.

______________________________________________________

Frances and Marshall.

Happiness in a chair.

_______________________________________________________

George remains obsessed with Squinkies and received some Cars ones for his birthday this year.

I spend most of my days watching him organize them in a teeny tiny line, often paired with bigger cars or, in this case, coordinating princess Squinkies.  As my mother likes to say, this boy is an engineer in the making.

______________________________________________________

Our washing machine broke last week.  On Friday afternoon (of course).  The day before George’s party (OF COURSE!).  I spent hours researching a new one, asking friends for recommendations, scouring Consumer Reports, and studying online reviews to find the best fit for us.

24 hours later, I walked out of Lowes with the same washing machine we had before.  Apparently, I am an old fuddy-duddy who loves the standard agitator, low-tech model and wasn’t prepared to drop the equivalent of one month’s salary on a machine that received lukewarm reviews from Amazon.  Plus, I wash a load of clothes a day in this house, so a high-capacity machine would have been underemployed.  So far, so good!  Let’s hope this one lasts (at least) another eight years.

______________________________________________________

Organized garage toys

Thank you to my sister for passing down another set of these terrific bucket shelves.  Frances and George each have a set in their rooms and they are fantastic for holding doll clothes, trains, cars, doctor kits, figurines, and basically anything little and likely to get lost (which is pretty much everything they play with these days).  Sadly, I ran out of room to put a third shelving set in the house, but they are perfect in the garage.

______________________________________________________

Sometimes I wonder if the wrong parent stays at home.

George’s school is selling frozen cookie dough as a fundraiser, which is code in this house for, “Hey Will, can you set this sheet out at your office and see if anyone is interested?”  This year, Will took it to the next level.

Not surprisingly, eleven people signed up.  How can you say no to that face?

And of course, there’s always the guilt-trip angle.

______________________________________________________

And speaking of Will, I came in the den the other morning to find this.

Will always, always remembers the anniversary of our engagement, or Puffin Day as we call it. 

When Will and I were dating, we took a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium that happened to have a special puffin exhibit.  We learned that day that puffins mate for life, only laying one egg at a time, and working as a team to ensure the baby thrives.  As Will often does, he remembered how special those creatures were and how much I fell in love with their adorable charm and he used the puffin as a mascot when he proposed.  Nine years later and I still can’t believe how lucky I am.  And I can’t believe that I never remember to get him a card!

He must really be my soul puffin.

Happy Thursday, everyone!