School's in session

So, it's yet another school weekend.  But Scott is in the home stretch!  He may or may not sit with this lovely clock on his desk at class...

I took that a while ago - I believe the countdown is at 61 days.  SWEET!

Do any of you out there find it hard to believe that Scott would have that on his desk, facing out towards his professors?  HAHA!

The one nice thing I try to do is cook him a really nice dinner on Saturdays when he's in school.  It's a long, long day for him.  I get requests during the week and while I cook, he gets some one on one time with JJ.  It has definitely not been easy on him to be away from our little guy every other weekend for over a year.  But it will all be worth it in the long run! 

Last session he requested bacon and leek risotto.  It's amazing.  The recipe had me at bacon but REALLY won us over with the fried egg you put on top (it calls for poached, we just prefer fried).  Runny egg yolk on top of creamy, wonderful risotto?  A match made in heaven.  Leeks are in season during the spring so go grab some and make this!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/04/bacon_and_leek_risotto_with_poached_egg

This saturday is St. Patrick's Day so he didn't get much of an option on his special home cooked meal.  Corned beef and cabbage, of course!  Best part - corned beef hash tomorrow!  Just like last year, I've had a brisket brining away all week.  If you haven't done this yet, please do it!  It's so easy and tastes amazing.  I'm trying to work up the motivation to make some soda bread this year too (to go with the kerrygold butter I splurged on.  MMMMMMM).

I hope you all have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!  I have some beautiful irish eyes smiling at me today :)  Now, off to crack open a beer and get started on our irish feast!

Next class session - Scott has requested I make cookies.  I'll be back in a few weeks to show you the results!

Dance Party!

JJ has discovered the rhythm in his SOUL!  Or more like the lack of rhythm in his soul :)  White boy dancing at its very finest...

He does love MJ.  But hey, who doesn't?   We'll all agree not to tell Scott he was dancing to a Glee cover version though :)

Counting! Sorta...

Excuse the poor video.  I could blame it on him and say he's too wiggly.  But really, I just wasn't prepared for the cuteness and certainly wasn't expecting to share this video with anyone else!  But I just can't resist...

We work a lot on our numbers.  Tonight he really wanted to count.  Over and over again.  Except it's not so much counting as it is saying the numbers he knows best in a totally random order.  Oh and cheering for himself at the end.  Usually he says "I did it!" at the end, but you'll just have to imagine that part.

*sigh*...SO CUTE!  Love this little boy :)

Valentine's Day came early

Valentine's Day is a Tuesday.  How dull.  You know what I do on Tuesdays?  Dinner, bathtime, bed.  Not a lot of room for romance in that action packed schedule.  It was also a school weekend for Scott and I usually try and make something special for him on those weekends because after 3 straight days of school, he's earned it.  This weekend, I decided that something special would be dessert.  Dessert that would include dark chocolate.  Scott is a total chocoholic.  The darker the better too. 

I came across this recipe online last week and was seriously intrigued...

Goat cheese and raspberry swirl?  hmmmm.  It would either be amazing or awful.  Lately, Scott and I are both obsessed with all things goat cheese.  Goat cheese in mashed potatoes?  Yes, please.  Goat cheese mixed with spinach and served on top of a poached egg?  YUM.  But goat cheese in a brownie?  I was skeptical but thought what the heck!

Ohhhh, they're good.  So very good.  Not overly sweet and the tangy goat cheese mixed with the raspberries?  Definitely amazing. 

Try them. Now. They're even pink - so sweet for an early Valentine's day treat!

I also thought I would make a big pot of Italian Wedding soup for dinner this week.  I made this recipe last winter and got rave reviews.  Plus, Italian Wedding soup sounds romantic, right?  Not that soup is at all romantic, but it sounds good :)

On the less dull side of Valentine's Day - we do actually have plans!  Just not for the actual day of.  I found tickets for Brit Floyd - a fantastic Pink Floyd cover band from England.  We saw them on PBS recently and the show was really good.  They'll be in Baltimore in March - so we're taking the day off and heading up for the show (it's a Monday, of course).  Dinner in the inner harbor and a fun concert.  Not bad! 

We recently came to the realization that if we don't prioritize alone time - we'll never get it.  It's hard with a little guy at home and it's certainly not going to get any easier.  So we've sort of challenged ourselves to find fun, affordable date nights.  Considering how few and far between they are, I thought dropping some money on concert tickets still fell into the affordable category. 

Do you have any ideas for fun, affordable date nights?  Something other than just going out to dinner and coming home to crash in bed with a full bellly??  (do you watch The Middle?  They nailed the post dinner romance concept...) I'd love to hear some ideas!  Help a sister out!

The good life

It's a school weekend for Scott...so JJ and I went out on the town today.  We met up with the lovely ladies of book club (including his auntie April!) and he was on his best behavior.  PHEW.  Lunch out is a real crap shoot.  He usually naps around lunch...but he woke up at 9:30, so nap time got delayed today.

YES - I SAID 9:30.

I bet you were wondering how I suddenly learned to write in complete sentences.  Amazing things happen when you get to sleep in.

Since we were in MD, we stopped at the Kielbasa Factory.  What do they sell there you ask?  Kielbasa!  Shocking.  But really delicious, homemade, served to you by an old polish lady kielbasa.

Do you know what happens when you are a little boy and say MMMMMMM to every sample of kielbasa they give you?  You walk out with a lollipop.  This boy loves his lollipops. 

Now, there is an unspoken rule with this blog.  You must ignore the background of any and all pictures I take.  Lets all pretend like you can't see shoes, toys, laundry and other assorted items strewn all around like some sort of tornado hit my apartment.  Just focus on the super duper cute little boy, ok?

XOXO

Within the last few weeks, a wonderful thing happened.  JJ turned 18 months and that "language explosion" I had heard so much about started showing up!  Very exciting.  Just about every day he has a new word.  He had a handful of words before then, but its really remarkable how much he has to say now.  We even got a "Joseph"!  Before we only heard an occasional "JJ". 

But the part that REALLY gets me is he understands a lot more too.  Specifically, I can ask for a kiss.  And get one!  He'll lean in and give me a smooch.

It's the best.  thing.  EVER.

Kisses right back at you, little man.

Rock star!

He loves his Daddy's new guitar...