Spring forward

Having a rough time this year with "losing" an hour this year. It happened this past Sunday and France and a few days on, my sleeping is still off. Not sure why. Definitely looking forward to the weekend to be able to hopefully sleep in. :)

Easter Monday

A few photos from this Easter weekend :)

On Good Friday (it's not a bank holiday in France like in the States, Easter Monday is), my daughter came home from school with this cute thing she made in class

On Saturday, we colored Easter eggs in the morning

Had cute little "nest" cakes for dessert

Then, made fuzzy chicks in the afternoon

Her Easter outfit arrived earlier in the week along with a coral tulle skirt that was on sale so I couldn't resist :)

And, last, but not least, the Easter basket post-hunt ;)

Bread machine "adventures" 2

So, I've made the dough for homemade cinnamon buns a few times which makes it ridiculously easy as all I have to do is roll out the dough once it's ready. I used 1/3 cup+ sugar in the dough instead of 1/4 cup when I make hamburger buns. Then, I do a second rise after I roll and cut them out and put them in the pan. The last time I did them in the evening and let them rise in the oven.

I also made some banana bread as a test. I don't know what I expected, but it came out pretty well.

The recipes is from Allrecipes. I used more banana than was called for, mashed it, and added vanilla. When it was still warm, I felt like only the vanilla could be tasted. The next morning, the banana flavor was stronger. My husband and daughter loved it so I will definitely be making it again soon.

Organizing and Crafting

It's been a very long time since I've posted anything crafty. I've done a few things here and there with my daughter, but I really miss creating things on my own. My "me time", if you will. I've mentioned we've had some set-backs with the work on the house. Plus, I've been ill and obviously, parents don't really get a day off. So, I've been using what energy I have to take care of that which doesn't leave much time for "extra" stuff. This isn't me lamenting these "first world problems". Once my back pain is better, I will hopefully be able to finish unpacking/organizing things the way I'd like.

 

Splash (Again)

Yesterday afternoon, my little family of 3 went out for a long walk. The weather was nice but the ground was still a bit slushy from all the rain earlier in the week. There were puddles everywhere and our daughter was enjoying splashing around in them à la Peppa Pig, wearing her rain boots, of course. Somehow, my husband and I started chanting "Splash! Splash! Splash!" while she was doing 'cause we're weird like that. ;)

Then, he mentioned, "Speaking of 'Splash', I'd love to see that movie again. I remember really enjoying it. You know the one with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah? I saw in the cinema when it came out."

Of course, I remembered and loved that movie. I also recalled that Tom Hanks called her Madison in the movie which is also my daughter's name. Thinking of the film brought back nice memories, but that was a long time ago. Would I still feel the same if I rewatched it all these years later?

This is something that I've come up against before: Do I preserve the memory of watching something I once enjoyed? OR, do I take the risk of "ruining" the memory and see that it wasn't as good as I remember? This has happened so many times with movies, television series, etc., I can't even count. There are certain things I won't even watch, games I won't play, especially from my childhood, for fear the memory of them will be ruined. But, then I've also rediscovered some things and shared and loved them even more by seeing them again.

Ultimately, we've decided we'll try and find some time to watch Splash this weekend. I mean, what's really the worse that can happen? ;)

What I Ate 2

Breakfast 

I had a hot water with lemon when I got up. Then a plain yogurt and 2 kiwis

Lunch 

Tabbouleh salad with smoked salmon

 Snack

Green tea and an orange

Dinner

Spinach Ricotta Lasagne roll-ups

Goodnight Moon

I think most reading parents have a book or five they've read so many times they have it memorized. Among my personal favorites is Good Night Moon. We had lost our copy and bought another one and that copy got so beat up that we unwittingly put it away. As we've been organizing my daughter's room and moving things in, I uncovered our other copy. My little one was ecstatic and said she wanted us to read it at bedtime. When I told my other half, he was also excited. He said he really missed reading it to her. Growing up in France, he had not heard of Good Night Moon before we had our daughter, but I assured him it was a must have for her. Needless to say, it has become a family favorite and we are all happy to continue the tradition of reading it. :)

I found this video reading of the book in case you haven't heard of it.

Organized Schmorgarnized

I've somehow missed out on the planner "craze". I mean here's an excuse to buy pretty stickers and decorate pages all in the name of keeping things organized which definitely speaks to me. Only, I have pretty much stopped using my planner and started plugging things into my phone. This is weird to me because I prefer writing things down  and I don't really trust my phone to remind me of stuff or maybe I don't think I'll remember to probably schedule the reminders. At any rate, I go back and forth about the best way to organize things be in a planner or otherwise. This is probably time that would be better spent actually organizing things. ;)

Bread machine adventures

Last week I broke out my bread machine to make pizza dough for my calzones. My husband excitedly requested homemade burger buns like I used to make now that the bread machine was dusted off. This week I decided to make that happen and quickly found the recipe I used at Food.com. They came out really well and my other half and daughter were delighted. I made her a mini burger which she ate it piece by piece. She's not really got the concept of sandwiches yet and tends to take them apart and eat them that way. :) And, no, this is definitely not health food by any stretch of the imagination!

Buns

Hubby's burger

The buns were the perfect texture and not too sweet.