Cooking Lessons

Anastasia has always loved to help in the kitchen. She started by helping with Shake N' Bake, and quickly graduated to helping with cupcakes. Since then, she's moved on to cracking and scrambling her own eggs and helping gather ingredients as we start cooking. Now, she's interested in taking the next step in our lessons in the kitchen, learning how to cut the vegetables of our meals. Recently, when I decided to make beef stew, Anastasia was super excited to get to cut some of the veggies.

I cut the onion and the carrots, then put Annie to work on the celery while I prepared the meat. A few weeks ago, I started her cutting broccoli off the stem and I was sure she was ready to take the next step. She did a great job. Orlando was very excited when he saw the picture.



When she'd finished cutting all the celery, I'd finished browning the beef so it was time to get all the vegetables into the pan. Anastasia was ready to help again.



I know Orlando loves that she's so interested in food. Yesterday, as she was helping him make paella (which she loved when she got to taste it), he questioned what she might be cooking when she's in college. Clearly she's moved well past ramen at this point.

Disney on Ice: Princess Dreams

When I got an email offering 1/2 price tickets to Disney on Ice: Princess Dreams, I knew it was too good to pass up. Myney, Nathalie and Abby were all excited to go, too, so we were all set for a real girls night out. Anastasia wasn't really sure what was in store, but she was certainly excited when we walked into the arena and she saw that they had princess dresses on display.



Then she realized that there was a real live princess. She was pretty overwhelmed.



Abby and Nathalie were pretty surprised that the arena was offering valet stroller parking for the show. I thought it was pretty smart given that the target audience for this show was the toddler set.



When we got to our seats, Annie couldn't contain her excitement anymore.



Then the show started, and the smile disappeared. It was replaced by serious concentration. Abby and Nathalie bought her a light-up spinning magic wand (every bit as crazy as it sounds). Anastasia kept it spinning for the whole show.



My favorite part of the show was the dance of the flatware for "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast. While they were dancing, Abby, who writes a style blog that features "Thursday's Tabletop", was inspired to create a place setting Halloween costume.



The show lasted just under 2 hours, which meant it was well past Annie's bedtime when we left. Still, it was going to be a while before we could get on a Metro train, so we decided to take Annie's snow-cone and head for a glass of wine while we waited.



Not surprisingly, Annie crashed while we waited. Myney and I decided that it would be better to pay for a cab home rather than carry her on the crowded train. It was a very snuggly end to the night and I found myself thinking back longingly to the days when she wasn't quite so grown up.

Superbowl for the Dogs

While the Packers were working on the field, Anastasia and I were taking a break from healthy eating in favor of buffalo chicken dip and pita chips at Abby and Nathalie's. It wasn't a party really, Annie and I were the only guests, but it was a planned break from the healthy eating plan I've been on since the first of the year.

And, while the grown-ups watched the commercials, the half-time show and the game, Anastasia played with the dogs. When they were finished playing fetch, and chasing Annie around, it was time to show off their tricks in exchange for pita chips.

Roxy rolls over for treats:



Boston gives high-fives:



Roxy and Boston are very active little beagle mixes, and Abby and Nathalie are always thankful for the exhaustion that follows a visit with Anastasia. Sunday was no exception. Anastasia was pretty worn out from the playing, too.



Many thanks to the ladies for a very fun evening.

All photos courtesy of Nathalie Rothert.