No Plans

We didn't have any special plans this past weekend, which means I got a chance to tackle my "to-do" list. Actually, it was more of a "This is what I'd like to do" list. They weren't necessarily things that had to be done, but things I wanted to get done. For instance, I made these:
for the third time. Thick, chewy, granola bars from Smitten Kitchen. They only last a few days here in the house, and I double the recipe, making them in a 9x13. I use dark chocolate chips, almonds, and cranberries. This is the 2nd batch I've made this week. They rock.

And I made brownies from her blog, too. But they didn't last long at all, so no pictures. These are the best brownies I've ever tasted, though. A few summers ago I was on a personal quest to find the best brownie, making a different recipe every week. Nothing I made from scratch ever beat the Pillsbury box stuff until these. They're so chocolaty and fudge-like. I'd have made another batch of them already, but I used all my cocoa up on them. Probably a good thing because I'd eat them all before Darrin got home from work.

I also spent the weekend cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. No pictures of it, either, because you can't tell I did anything (see above paragraphs for reason. Baking=messy kitchen in my house).

The whole weekend wasn't spent in the kitchen. I scrapbooked a little and sewed a little, but have no finished projects to show of either yet. I did finish one fabric project- my own take on a Moby wrap. It required no stitching, just cutting 5 yards of fabric in half on the fold (I should have done 6 yards, though, not quite long enough). It was a must-have because Annaliese is a cuddlebug and, while I love snuggling with her, sometimes it prevents me from getting stuff done. Annaliese loves chilling in there, and I love that I can use my hands. Making supper with her in there was a breeze the last night.
We also had time to take advantage of the gorgeous weather. I love this time of year (actually, I love every time of year but summer. Heat and humidity = UGG!). Ian helped Darrin clean the grill. Every meal we ate this weekend was grilled. And yes, that is underwear he's wearing; we're trying...
Ian enjoyed playing outside, as always.
But the best part of the weekend for me was watching my two children together. Ian simply adores his sister. If she's crying, he's right there to rock her, sing to her, put her pacifier in. And when she's awake, he wants to play with her, giving her a rattle, running his cars over her, attempting to play catch, or just talking to her.

Ian would stick his orange basketball in front of her face, and then really quickly throw it across the room.