The Zoe and Silas Show

And now for the weekly gymnastics report...

Zoe & Silas had their first gymnastics class of the summer today. Here is what Silas had to say about it (apologies for the poor lighting)-

5/21/14: Pointing out to me where they "work" (which is apparently somewhere in Quebec).

5/15/14: Silas was a dear and made me a chicken hamburger chocolate pie when I got home from work.

5/11/14: Derek had to work on Mother's Day so we decided to celebrate on his next weekend day off, which is tomorrow. Looking forward to family plans at a later date, we had a pretty regular day. There's always some of this- And usually some of that- I didn't feel like cooking so the kids and I went out for a rare dinner at a nearby restaurant. I feel very lucky to be a MOM to such great kids!! At preschool they completed some questions about me, and both of them just melted my heart! SILAS SAYS- I am 29 years old (why thank you!) My favorite color is purple My favorite food is bananas My favorite song is the ABC song My favorite place to go is the Arboretum My favorite thing to do with him is stickers I am the best ever because I am so nice to them... ZOE SAYS- I am 21 years old (why thank you even more!) My favorite color is red My favorite food is salad My favorite song is spanish My favorite place t...

The self-proclaimed "Project Expert" at work Tonight Silas announced that he is a "project expert", Zoe is a "baby animal expert", Daddy is a "funny expert", and Mommy is a "calendar expert". Hmmm,  #thetruthhurts Like  ·   ·  Promote  ·  Share Sue Mellett ,  Lisa Scott ,  Elaine Speare  and  27 others  like this. Tracey Mullane   ha ha ha May 6 at 8:59pm  ·  Unlike  ·  1 Jill Robidoux   Mama gets the job done! May 6 at 9:27pm  ·  Unlike  ·  1 Krissy Albuit   Hahaa! May 6 at 10:09pm  ·  Unlike  ·  1 Rachel Hundley   Love it!! May 6 at 10:32pm  ·  Unlike  ·  1 Heidi Brennan   I am also a calendar expert. Tough job! May 7 at 12:18am  ·  Unlike  ·  1 Laura Edwards ...

4/28/14: "Silas, let's see how much my bum weighs!!"

4/6/14: Last Sunday I was able to spend an evening with two of my best friends, Tracy & Lisa. Derek was off work and we cooked for everyone, and I bought some beautiful spring roses to celebrate the occasion. Tracy was in Boston for a conference, so Lisa made the trek to see us from western MA with her husband Carlos and their adorable baby, Matilde. We were bummed that Tracy's daughters, Brynn & Delaney, had to stay home with dad in MD. I'm plotting a family visit with them as soon as we can swing it! It was the first time we've been together in 4 years!  We had a great time catching up while the kids did their thing - which for Silas meant "working". Note that he is sitting at "his desk" with a notebook, a calculator, and an old iPod and iPad keyboard. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "trying to connect to WiFi"! Auntie Tracy brought the kids these awesome Melissa & Doug stickers books, and ...

4/3/13: S&Z's daily bathmat conversation on Thursday morning landed on "what color are your eyes?". Before bed Silas decided he needed to count the money in his piggy bank. His answer to the question "what are you saving for?" is always the same - "COLLEGE!!".

1/3/13: Mr. Sickie... And Ms. Cranky, which is a direct result of her sick brother getting more than his usual share of 1/8 to 1/4 of the total parental attention ;) We were snowed in for the day, and Derek had to work so I made us a big Indian feast for dinner. I combined two recipes that used cauliflower and potatoes - one from America's Test Kitchen  and one from Smitten Kitchen . It was a snow day curry extravaganza! Mr. Sickie LOVED it, and (of course) Ms. Cranky didn't think it was so wonderful :$ It was at dinner that I realized that Silas totally has Zoe figured out. I don't know why this surprised me, but the following conversation cracked me up! S: (innocently comments) it's a little bit spicy. Z: I DON'T LIKE SPICY THINGS (of course she hasn't taken a single bite at this point of the meal). S: Zoe, I was wrong, it's not spicy. Momma, what did you do with all of the spices we toasted? Me: Do you mean the SEASONINGS we toasted? Th...

9/23/13: Having fun with their piggy banks before school. Silas has been talking a lot about saving money. When I ask him what he's saving for he says, "for college!". At least he's listening to some things!, is the mental response of this parent who is in the thick of the no listening phase.

9/12/13: Explaining to me why he was pretending to be dead. We've had several family deaths occur in the last 6 months, and apparently I've explained death in such concrete terms that they have distilled this information by pretending to be dead sometimes (mostly Silas).

I welcomed a "normal" day today like a breath of fresh air. We went to the Y this morning, and then Derek headed out to do food shopping and I took the kids to Hale for a picnic lunch. After lunch S&Z tried to catch fish with their nets. It was pretty funny to watch them scare all the little sunfish away! Just a relaxing, mellow summer Sunday. I'll take it! ***** Cook's Notes : Tonight for dinner I made Chicken Tostadas with Summer Vegetables . I used corn tortillas instead of flour, and elevated the dish by topping them with chopped arugula and crumbled feta cheese before baking. They were a hit with all of us, and I'm already thinking of ways to make these a seasonal favorite (roasted veg in the fall, etc.). A recipe I forgot to post last night in my catch-up notes was for the White Refried Beans that we made on Friday night along with chicken tacos. We slathered the tortillas with the beans before loading up the taco wi...

Considering how loud the campground was on Saturday night, sleeping went pretty well for S&Z. Our tent has a zip-up "wall" that creates two rooms, so the kids were on one side and we were on the other. We woke up to a beautiful day around 7:30am on Sunday morning. The kids had been itching to go swimming since we arrived, so we threw on our suits and headed to the pond after breakfast. The big milestone of the day was Zoe putting her head underwater and jumping off the dock.  Over and over and over. Needless to say, everyone was tired after swimming. It was pretty cool in the afternoon so Derek built us a big fire and kept it going into the night. S&Z ended up taking a 2-hour long nap after lunch in the tent. Derek and I took advantage of some quiet time to take showers; I even sat by the fire and read a book! The kids had a blast playing with Adrianna after nap. We weren't really prepared for rain this tr...