Sprinkler

Today was my first "for real" day of summer with the girls. They went with their dad for a week right after school was over and then came back to me over the weekend but it was dance recital weekend and so we spent the entire time at the recital or getting ready for the recital or stopping to get something to eat after the recital or coming home from the recital and falling into our beds in exhaustion. Today we got up (at 10:30 am) and the girls went outside to do sidewalk chalk and then we set up the sprinkler and they ran through that for an hour and then I brought out their tea party set and they served each other lemonade for an hour and then it was lunchtime. Now they are taking excellent naps! I am making Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread, having gotten up this morning with an intense craving for the same. I went online to look for a recipe and found this one. I picked it because it uses an entire can of pumpkin and not just a cup. What am I going to do with a half-used can of pumpkin? This recipe filled a regular size loaf pan (which will serve nicely for snack when the girls wake up) plus three mini loaf pans which I can freeze and save for gifts or to serve at a later date. It does not have a cream cheese swirly layer, the c. cheese is all mixed into the batter. When I headed to the fridge, I found that I had 8 ounces of Panera Honey Walnut Cream Cheese spread and so I am using that instead of plain cream cheese. I'm not even sure why it is in my fridge. But I think the flavors will be nice with the pumpkin and I am sure looking forward to this coming out of the oven!

We have made the first three of the wrapping papers and Natalie's favorite was #1, where you make a map. I let her cut up an old issue of Hobby Farms and so she cut out lots of pictures of horses for her map. She loved the idea! So I can say with complete certainty that this is a big hit with a seven year old.

By the way, my 9-5 idea for cleaning the house was a smashing success. Which is not to say that I stuck to my schedule, because I didn't -- but I sure got a lot more housecleaning done in that day than I think I ever have before. So I will definitely try it again!