C'mon get crafty.

I'd really like to get back into the habit of updating more that once a week, but these days Lauren has been going to bed even later than usual. She likes to get out of bed and tell me "I can't go asleep too good." Add this to the list of phrases that I will leave on her voice mail when she goes off to college.

Another saying that has been heard a lot lately is, "I want to do something with you." Usually I respond to this plea by rifling through our cabinets for ingredients to make cookies or brownies. Lauren helps add them to bowl and then acts as the designated stirrer. Concerned that Mark and I would have to buy bigger clothes if this kept up, I thought that it was time to try a new strategy.

So yesterday my friend Melissa and I went to the dollar store to buy craft supplies. Ten bucks later, I was weighed down with construction paper, scissors, popsicle sticks, pom poms, pipe cleaners and other preschool delights.

However, it was Melissa who picked out the biggest hit in the craft pile - a bare piece of MDF cut in the shape of a horse. Lauren worked non-stop on him for hours this weekend.



She decorated him even further after this photo was taken. Right now, that pony is wearing more glitter and sequins that a Vegas drag queen. That kid loves her glitter glue. In fact, the first thing she said to me this morning when she came into our bedroom at 7:15 was "Is my pony dry yet?" To which I replied, "I can't go asleep too good."



I did perform some low effort baking today using my bread machine. My parents gave it to me for Christmas a while back, but I hadn't used it for a couple of years. I have this crazy idea of actually making homemade bread rather than continuing to buy it from the store. This is a brioche that I made using this recipe. Three eggs and a half cup of butter make it sumptuous, but not the type of bread that you could eat everyday and keep your arteries clear. So while I'll definitely make this one again for special occasions, I'm looking forward to trying healthier options. I'm also working on a scrapbook album, which I'll post photos of when it's finished. More craftiness to come!