Contemplations and Concoctions

This past week has been a pretty good week. I know I say that all the time but I guess it's my "normal" answer for when things go well but not super duper fantastic.

For the longest time I use to organize what we would eat all week.  I found it very helpful and a good way to organize my points and keep on track when I was doing Weight Watchers.  I haven't gone back to WW since I had my baby.  I have thought about it but now that I live on a very tight budget I choose to spend my money on organic food for my son and almost anything else baby related. 

Bright and early this morning Riley, Tim and I all got in the car and drove down to Hawrelak park.  When I say bright and early I do mean bright and early.  Thankfully Riley was a trooper  and after a very hard night before and going to bed at 7:30 he was up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30 am.  I wouldn't normally be thrilled about this but since we needed to leave around 8:30 it was good. 

I have completed my first daring bakers challenge!  It went very well and only took me three and half hours to complete.  I think thats a really good time.  I made sure that the little man was safely in bed before starting because it makes doing anything in the kitchen about a hundred times harder with him under my feet. 

I decided to make an almond cake with lemon syrup and a layer of strawberries, lemon-vanilla butter cream and white chocolate mousse and ganache.
 

This weekend was pretty good.  Tim, Riley and I all piled in the car on Saturday morning to go downtown for their swimming lessons at the YMCA.  It was lots of fun, Riley is finally (for the past two lessons) warming up to being in the water with Tim.  He doesn't reach for me anymore and actually giggles and smiles a lot now.  His friends C & C were there.  We've been taking lessons with them since the very beginning.  I've really enjoyed getting to know them they are great girls and the little one is so sweet.  She also gives me a reason to buy pink things!  My little one sure doesn't need pink!  Bedsides the fact I'm pretty sure that Tim wouldn't allow it.  He was the one that insisted Riley could NOT wear a "dress" to his baptism.

Paula,

I love your recipes, but I have to be honest I don't make them very often because of the behind and hip enlargement that seems to come with your cooking.  I really appreciate your cooking and now that I have taken the plunge and experienced it first hand I'm sure I will be making many more of your delicious recipes.  Could you please take it under advisement though that I would appreciate you keeping the calorie count to something around 1200 a piece of cake so that I may enjoy one forkful before having to walk away and only dream of the entire piece.  Summer is coming and I would like to buy a new bathing suit for the first time in 4 years.  I would also like to have the new swimsuit a size 6, that is very do able as that is what I am currently.  Therefore, I am requesting that you from now on make your recipes with little calories and no fat and all the flavor!

Thank you for taking my suggestions under advisement, I eagerly await your new low cal, no fat recipes!

Your loyal follower,

Holly   

I love these generous goopy, jiggly, sweet, chocolately packages of goodness.  I found the recipe a couple of years ago out of one of my favorite cookbooks. 

Nigella Lawson, you are a genius in the kitchen and your pretty cute to boot!  You make such beautiful and yummy looking dishes.  Every time I look through one of the four cookbooks of yours I own I always find something new I want to make.  This however, is the recipe I always come back to. It works every time.  Even when I reduce it from it's normal amount for 48 brownies to 6.  I've also added walnuts, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips to it and it still works.  Although, I have never tried all three at once!

This is the aftermath from too much partying!  Swimming, shopping, cake... what else could a 19 month old ask for in one day!

I love C.S. Lewis.  I find his writing hard to put down.  I've read the Narnia series so many times in my life I'm sure I could repeat parts of it to you.  I can barely wait for Riley to big enough that I can read it to him.  I'm very excited about Prince Caspian coming out tomorrow (May 16th) and plan to go to it next week when I have a babysitter!  Tim has been working his way through the Narnia collection but hasn't gotten to Prince Caspian yet.  I guess he'll just have to see the movie first.  C.S. Lewis and his wonderful books about a fantasy land were a big part of my childhood and I still read them occasionally.

Well... this isn't what I had originally written up to post about today but maybe I just wasn't supposed to post it.

One of my fellow Mommies a couple weeks back asked me what classes I had Riley in as we were leaving our swimming class. Which made me think to myself "should him and I being doing more classes?". I answered that I had him in swimming and I take him to the library for a sing/read along when he gets up early enough.

The Mommy seemed satisfied with my answer. But it made me think about if I was really doing enough for Riley. Is he being stimulated enough? Is he learning enough? Am I making sure that his potential is being pushed as far as it can?

I hear a lot about people that are putting their toddlers in many activities. Ranging from swimming lessons to "baby band" all the way to toddler 2nd language classes. Are these necessary? Am I hindering Riley's learning by having him spend time with me during the day instead of in a class learning something?