Latest "wynne-ism"

I was picking up a pile of blocks that Wynne and Emmett were playing with. I asked Wynne if she could help me and she said "it looks like you are doing just fine by yourself, mom." Note to self. No more asking. You TELL a four-year-old what to do.

Perfect day, not so perfect muffins

I get it now. There is a reason for freezing, -37 weather. To make you appreciate the regular winter days. I have to say that Saturday was a near perfect day. Let's see:

• Slept through the night (no one crying at 3 am!) and woke up at 8 am - crazy!!!


• Temperature check -- 19 (ABOVE!)


• Got caribou and went grocery shopping by myself - "me time" has been redefined


• Put the kids on the sled and literally dragged them around the neighborhood. Went to our local coffee shop for hot cocoa


• Dragged them by the new house to see the progress Pete has made over the last week


• Found that Phalen Park was having a huge celebration for "Hockey Day". I was not informed about this holiday but it was a blast. Tons of people, live music, pig roast and oh yea, hockey.


• Went home and BOTH kids took a nap at the same time


• Had a fun afternoon playing with the kids.


• Being Saturday it was "steak night" so we put the kids to bed and I grilled up some steaks. Mmmmm. Yes, we are dorks.

Sunday was not as lucky. Wynne and I got up early to make muffins for everyone. There is a recipe in my weight watcher's cookbook that I have been meaning to try for weeks - lemon muffins. I was addicted to Caribou Coffee's lemon bread when I was pregnant with Emmett but have had to ban the dessert upon my discovery that it is 12 points! So I figured these muffins would not be as tasty, but would be lemony, dense and sweet.

I forgot about my disability. (that's what Pete calls it anyway) I am not able to follow recipe directions - even if I am really trying. This is not a real problem when cooking but can be awful when baking. The recipe called for lemon zest (and I don't have a zester - if that is even a real thing) so I was trying out all my kitchen tools to get the zest from the lemon. I was also trying to get the muffins in the oven before Emmett woke up. I could hear him talking in his room so we only had minutes left. When Wynne and I mixed all the final ingredients it looked pretty thick. I added some more of the lemon juice and crossed my fingers. No luck. They were like small yellow rocks. Later in the day I realized that I forgot to add the egg.

I did try the same recipe, but the chocolate muffin version, later in the day (and I double checked all the ingredients) either they are bad muffins or I am the worst baker in the world.

So - the house. We are getting closer. Our trusted friend and contractor "Builder Mike" is mudding and taping. We will be able to paint soon! Pete and I spent MLK day scraping more wallpaper. We are just about done with the main floor. The place is such a mess but things are coming together. Mike also installed a door for the main floor bathroom (I think they were using a shower curtain before) so that is a step in the right direction!