Ari = not a tater tot

Just another all-about-Ari entry...

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Ari has a huge book collection, partly because for one of my baby showers, they asked everyone to bring a book to add to Ari's library. But despite the variety, Ari has a few favorites, and one of them is Olivia...



It's a clever little book, and maybe the reason I like it so much is because Olivia reminds me of Ari. (Lines like "Olivia is very good at wearing people out" ring especially true some days.) Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning this book is because Ari almost has it memorized. She can't recite the whole thing by herself, but as we read it to her, we prompt her with the first couple words of each sentence, and she can fill in the rest.

She's becoming "difficult" to read to because she constantly interrupts with questions like "What's that?" or "What are they doing?" as she sees pictures on the page. I try telling her that if she just listens to the story, she'll find out, but she won't fall for that. I think one of these times I'll just completely abandon the words on the page and spend the entire time answering her questions. That would easily take just as long as reading the real story--if not longer.

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I've mentioned before that among the songs I sing to Ari, I sing several from the Broadway soundtrack of "The Little Mermaid." At first, when Ari asked me what I was singing, I just told her it was an "Ariel song," which meant I could get away with singing one of several songs. Mostly, though, I end up singing "The World Above" because it's short and easy to sing. The other night, she asked for "Ariel song" so I started singing "Beyond My Wildest Dreams." I was quickly interrupted by her slightly-annoyed little voice. "No, Mommy, Ariel song."

"This is the Ariel song," I replied, hoping that would satisfy her.

"No," she protested firmly. "Sing, 'so much light, sun so bright.'"

I just stared at her. She was actually quoting lines from the song ("There's so much light here, light and space, the sun so bright here upon my face..."). Which I guess means that my days of fooling her with any old "Ariel song" are over.

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One of Tony's favorite candies is Swedish fish, and Ari likes them too. She asked him yesterday if she could have some, and since it was close to dinner, he told her she could have 2. She wandered off to the kitchen to help herself, and came back, gleefully declaring, "I got 3!"

Tony looked at her sternly. "How many were you supposed to get?"

Without missing a beat, she popped one in her mouth, held out her hands, and said, "Ari got 2!"

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We were eating dinner the other night, and as always, Ari was mostly uninterested in her food. Then she decided that she wanted Daddy to help her, so Tony obliged, holding her plate and feeding her. As she was eating, I jumped in with, "Ari, you're a tater tot." She gets all playfully bent out of shape when you give her nicknames now, so naturally, I enjoy harassing her a little.

Sure enough, she quickly yelped, "No!"

"Yes you are," I taunted. "You're a tater tot."

"No, I not a tater tot!" she squealed.

"You are."

She reached over to her plate, grabbed a tater tot, and held it in front of me. She suddenly grew serious as she said, "No, Mommy, THIS a tater tot." Then, I swear she rolled her eyes at me as she turned away. Sometimes I think she's a teenager trapped in a toddler's body.

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Later in the evening, Ari was playing with one of her princess crowns, setting it on her head and declaring herself, "So pretty!" One time, she brought it to me--she climbed on the couch next to me and placed it gently on my head (with a little assistance from me, to avoid getting my eyes poked out). Once it was in place, she grinned widely and said, "Mommy so pretty!"

"Aww, thanks, Ari," I replied with a smile.

She scrambled off the couch and no more than a minute later, she was back, looking at me seriously. "Mommy all done being so pretty?" she asked matter-of-factly.

"Um... yes?"

"OK," she replied casually. And she snatched the crown off my head and took off.

Mad video game skillz

First of all, just some blurbs from the weekend....

Matt, Kristin and Nick came over on Friday night, and we got Chinese food for dinner. (We won't talk about how I got my butt kicked at Mario Party later in the evening.)

We did almost absolutely nothing all day Saturday, which was bliss.

The only productive thing we did on Saturday was to visit a friend in the hospital, which meant that I got to hold her brand-new, one-day-old baby girl. (I seriously refuse to believe that Ari was ever that tiny. It's simply not possible.)

We went out for dinner with several good friends on Sunday to celebrate one friend's 30th birthday... and the birthday boy's wife footed the bill, which was awesome.

I got key lime pie for dessert... the best non-chocolate dessert in existence. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Later on, I got Ben and Jerry's. (Oh, hush... I got the low-fat frozen yogurt [chocolate fudge brownie] and split it with a friend, so there were barely any calories to worry about.)

Tony put $10 into a nickel slot machine, and, on his 5th pull, hit something right, because we ended up with $102 (and promptly quit and cashed out). (Tony claims he did it all, but we all know I was his good-luck charm.)

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And to finish... I'll leave you with this mostly-pointless video. I mean, Ari is always cute, of course, but she's not showing off any new tricks or doing anything especially charming. All I really have to say about this video is that my daughter has seemingly inherited my video game skillz (meaning... she has none).


Ariana 2-17-09 from Sariana on Vimeo.

I can smile at the old days

I was feeling nostalgic the other day, and decided to go through some old pictures. And lucky you... I'm going to share them with you! These are all pictures-of-pictures, so the quality isn't that great, but you get the idea.

And, you know me... I'm not just going to post pictures with short captions. So I'm probably going to talk a lot, too. You've been warned.

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When I was younger, my family used to vacation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire almost every summer. When it came time for our annual family summer vacation in 1997, my parents did something unprecedented--they invited Tony to join us. Up until then, family vacations had been strictly family-only. But Tony and I had been officially dating for almost 2 years at that point, and I think my parents could see where this was going.

Because we couldn't all fit in one car, Tony and I drove a separate car, where we had a long talk about our future together. And he also told me he was planning to ask my parents' permission to marry me. I was excited, but not overly, because according to everything we'd discussed, he didn't even have a ring yet, so a proposal was not going to happen. (Turns out he was a big, fat liar, but we'll get to that.)

Quick tangent... this is a picture from that vacation--taken at the base of Mt. Washington. It's me and all my siblings and Tony, almost 12 years ago. (Ha ha, hope you guys don't mind me posting this.) It really has nothing to do with my story, but it cracked me up. Man, my siblings look young. So do I, I guess, but I don't think I've changed all that much. But my youngest sibling, Pete (the one in the striped shirt right behind me)... he was only 7 when this picture was taken, and now, he's in college.



The night Tony had "The Talk" with my parents, I knew what was going on, but went to bed like a good little girl... again, still thinking there was no way he was going to propose. The next day (July 10, 1997), my mom decided that Tony and I should have some time alone, so they arranged to drop us off at Loon Mountain. There was a gondola you could ride to the summit, and up there were some scenic walkways and lookout towers, some "glacial caves," a restaurant, and other things to do. We were going to spend the morning up there and then join them at the base later.

When we got to the top, Tony insisted on finding a lake that my parents had told him about. We had trouble figuring out where it was, and I couldn't understand why he wanted to see it so badly. (I found out later my mom had told him she thought there was a walkway around the lake, so he thought it might be a good spot to propose.) When we finally did find the lake, it turned out to be a reservoir for the city, which meant it was blocked off.

We headed back the way we came, and found a scenic walkway... it was a boardwalk that went through some trees and then opened up onto a platform. We stood enjoying the view for a few minutes... both of us facing out, him behind me with his arms around me. We talked quietly for a few minutes and at one point, he asked, "Are you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?" I simply replied, "Yes," thinking he was just being mushy, but the next thing I knew, he turned me around and got down on one knee. I wish I could remember what he said then, but knowing what he was doing, I couldn't focus at all. He asked The Question, I said yes, and he slipped the ring on. We hugged and kissed and then went back to the way we had been standing before. It was probably a full 5 minutes later when I suddenly yelped, "Oh, I didn't even look at the ring yet!"

This is The Spot. (And look what a gorgeous day it was, too!) Why we didn't think to get a picture of ourselves in The Spot, I'll never know. I guess we were both just too giddy to think straight.



But when we revisited the spot, about 8 years later (in 2005) on our own little vacation, we remembered to get a picture.

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Now for the wedding (August 1, 1998) pics. These 2 pictures I'm about to show you are the only 2 pictures we have on display. (I know... how lame are we?) Anyway, this one was taken by a friend--I don't remember who, but it's one of my favorite pictures.



This is another favorite too... a candid one taken by our photographer. (I included part of the frame, too, because I love what it says.) This was in the receiving line after the ceremony... there was a lull in the line and Tony grabbed my hand to look at my rings, then gently kissed my hand. We thought no one was watching, but apparently, the photographer was. That's what I like so much about this photo--it was just a quick, intimate moment that we thought was private, but it got captured on film.



Here's a picture from our honeymoon (in the Poconos, if you're curious). The photographer would come around at dinner every night and take everyone's picture, and then they'd put them in a "cool" setting like this and try to sell it to you. Well, we gave in and bought one (obviously).

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I know I've talked about it here before, but we have vacationed on Prince Edward Island with my family a few times since we got married. Each time, we got cottages right on the beach. We would usually go and do whatever tourist-y stuff during the day, but we always made sure we were back around dinnertime for low tide. The tides on PEI (at least, the side of the island we were on) are very dramatic. (In fact, the highest high tide in the world is in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, not too far from PEI.) When it's low tide, the water goes way out, and you can walk forever on the gorgeous red sand. So that was our evening routine, and one of my favorite parts of every trip.

This picture is from the first time we went, in 2000. We had just gotten Sasha, so she was only a few months old. We had no idea how she'd react to the sand and water, but she loved it. This picture was taken facing the shore, but it's a good illustration of the tides. See the "cliff" in the background? At high tide, the water would be right up to that level. But at low tide, it all clears out, leaving lots of sand for walking and random little pools for wading and splashing.



And here's another picture of low tide. This was taken from the "front yard" of our cottage, so you can see how close we were to the ocean. And if you look way in the background, you can see how far out the "real" ocean is. I'm not sure what time I took this picture, but it probably was not at the peak of low tide, because those pools are still so big.



PEI is one of the most beautiful places in the world--if you ever get a chance to go there, you should. And now that I'm looking at these pictures, I want to go back.

(And also... now I feel old. Meh.)

And that's it for now. Maybe some other time I'll dig up some more pictures. Or maybe I won't. You just never know...

Didn't think she'd be making out with boys already

Ari's latest "obsession" is putting her dolls and stuffed animals in time-out. She is very stern about it, too--I've caught bits and pieces of the speech she gives them, with phrases like, "Don't move, don't cry, you stay there, 5 minutes, no talking." It seems like every time I turn around, another doll/animal is in time-out. And when I ask her to tell me why they are in time-out, she doesn't give me a solid answer. I'm starting to suspect that this new routine is her subtle way of protesting the entire concept of time-out as an unfair and pointless form of discipline. (Though, for the record, I should tell you that we don't use time-out all that often with her. At least, not as often as she's been employing it.)

Also, up until this weekend, I thought it was not possible to color on carpet with a crayon. But Ari kindly demonstrated that one should never underestimate a toddler's powers of destruction. I was sitting at the computer yesterday when she came over to me, out of the blue, and loudly said, "Hi!" with a giant grin on her face.

Thinking that was sweet of her, I smiled and replied, "Hi!" But when she kept grinning at me, I quickly grew suspicious and asked, "What did you do now?"

"I broke-a my crayon," she said, holding up half of a red crayon.

"Okay..." I said slowly, feeling like there was more to the story.

"Ari color," she added, pointing in the direction of the living room.

I knew there wasn't really any paper around for her to scribble on, so I asked, "Where did you color?" thinking maybe she had colored on the coffee table (again).

She pointed again, a little more urgently, and as I got up from my chair and saw the damage, she finished her sentence. "Ari color on the carpet."



That picture doesn't even show all of it... I couldn't fit it all in my camera's viewfinder. I made her help me scrub the carpet, but she was far too excited about it for it to be any sort of punishment. But at least it made me feel better. Most of it came out, but if you're looking for it, you can see faint pinkish lines. So if anyone has any tips to remove crayon from carpet, I'm all ears.

Ari had a couple "dates" with her "boyfriend" Nick this weekend. On Saturday night, while Ari and Nick were playing together, Kristin (armed with her camera) was trying to get Nick to give Ari a kiss. Instead, Ari grabbed his face with both hands and planted a big kiss right on his lips. I'm pretty sure she did that more than once--encouraged by our laughter, no doubt.

We hung out with them at the mall on Monday night, too--let the kids play in the play area for a while and then got dinner. When it came time to walk the mall, we had Ari and Nick hold hands. Sure, it was adorable, but it also served a practical purpose--it kept them so occupied with each other that they stayed with us and didn't wander off. They took off running once or twice, but I think the fact that they were holding hands slowed them down a bit.

After the mall, we went to Coldstone, and let them two of them roam free. Luckily, it's a small store, so there's not much for them to get into. Of course, of the very few things they could get into, Ari managed to find all of them, first playing with the bathroom door, then the door to the employees-only area, and finally trying to erase the chalkboard sign in the window. But for the most part, they kept each other distracted. At one point, Ari was spinning in circles, and we told Nick to go dance with her. I am not kidding when I say he didn't walk over to her--he strutted. We were cracking up, because it totally looked like he was trying to impress her or something. A few minutes later, Ari was walking around with this weird limp in her step--totally on purpose. Really makes you wonder what goes through their little heads sometimes.

Lazy Monday

I love Monday holidays. It's nice to have an extra day added to your weekend. Right now, Ari is fully engrossed in an episode of Handy Manny. She had some yogurt for breakfast and I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes. We have no specific plans for the day, but it will more than likely end up being a laundry day. I guess we'll figure that out once Tony wakes up.

It's been a fairly busy weekend so far. Saturday afternoon, we got together with some friends. We planned to get together with Matt and Kristin, and their friends Todd and Michelle were coming in from out of town with their son Logan (we've met them before, and seen them several times since). Kristin and Michelle were planning to get pedicures done, so I ended up tagging along. It was my first time ever having a pedicure, and it was wonderful to be pampered and have someone else paint my toenails for me. I picked out a sparkly purple for my toes... it came out lighter than I thought it would, but I still like it. I am definitely going to have to do this pedicure thing again sometime... maybe in the summer, when my feet aren't always covered in socks and shoes. And I will have to try a manicure sometime soon, too.

After our pedicures, we headed back to Matt and Kristin's house and just hung out for the evening. The kids played fairly nicely... most of the scuffles were between Ari and Nick, since they're the same age. Logan is only 18 months, so he kind of did his own thing. We had pizza for dinner, cupcakes for dessert, and once the kids were in bed, we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples.

Yesterday was church as usual. Brandon and Kerry are out of town, so I took over Kerry's "job" of speaking in between songs during the worship service. Plus, I sang a solo... even though it was a song I've done before, I was still so nervous. I don't know why... I have no problem speaking in front of people or singing in a group (even if the song involves some solo lines), but singing completely by myself still terrifies me.

In the afternoon, we went to my parents' house for dinner. Dave, Jess and Micah were there too, and it was nice to see them again. Micah just turned 5 months old, and he is such a smiley little guy. Dave and Jess left shortly after lunch was over, but Tony and I stuck around. We put Ari down for a late nap and watched the movie "Fireproof" with my parents. Wow, what a powerful movie. It's the kind of movie that makes you think (and cry, lol), and leaves you thinking about it long after it's over.

I had the most killer headache the whole time we were at my parents' (and then crying during the movie sure didn't help it) and nothing seemed to touch it. When we got home, I put Ari to bed, goofed around online for a little while, and ended up going to bed before 10:30 PM. I know... crazy, right? I NEVER go to bed that early. But the extra sleep was definitely nice. Ari was awake before 8 this morning, so I got up with her, and like I said, we're watching a Handy Manny marathon. I think I'll go join her. Chances are, I can get her to snuggle under a blanket with me on the couch.

Keep that breathless charm

Valentine's Day 2006 was the day I found out that the little munchkin growing inside of me was going to be a girl. Looking back, I think maybe that was the moment the whole pregnancy became really real to me. Because now this baby was no longer a nameless, genderless being inside of me... now "it" was a "she" and "she" was "Ariana Juliet." I wasn't just going to be a mother... I was going to be a mother to a daughter. It was exactly what I wanted.

So I thought, in honor of this Valentine's Day, rather than dedicate an entry Tony, I'd dedicate this entry to the 2nd greatest love of my life, and share some of my favorite pictures of me and Ari. I really wanted to write something more to accompany the pictures, but I'm struggling to find the right words. So instead, I'll let Mr. Sinatra speak for me, with the words of the song I sing to Ari every night before bed.

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Someday, when I'm awfully low



When the world is cold



I will feel a glow just thinking of you



And the way you look tonight



Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm



And your cheeks so soft



There is nothing for me but to love you,
And the way you look tonight



With each word your tenderness grows



Tearing my fear apart



And that laugh that wrinkles your nose



It touches my foolish heart



Lovely... never, ever change



Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it?



'Cause I love you... Just the way you look tonight



Just the way you look tonight

Randomosity

Just some randomness that I need to clear out of my brain to make room for all the deep thoughts that are waiting. (Stop laughing.)

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Last night, I made the best brownies in the history of brownie-making. I found the recipe on the back of a bag of cookie dough mix that I had, and it was so easy. Basically, you mix up a brownie mix as normal and spread it in the pan. Then you mix up a cookie mix as normal and drop the dough by teaspoonfuls on top of the brownie batter, and press it down slightly (that helps the cookie dough sink into the brownies as it bakes). The directions I had said to bake for 35-40 minutes at 350... so in other words, just a little longer than whatever time you normally cook brownies. And oh my gosh, you guys... I can't even tell you how good these brownies are. The recipe also calls for them to be topped with chocolate frosting once they're cool, but yeh, like I was going to wait for them to cool to sample them. To me, they're fine without the frosting. Anyway, try it. You will thank me.

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I'm singing this song in church next Sunday. So this is my reminder to myself to practice it. I've sung it before, but it's been a while... Very pretty song...

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In case you ever need to know... baby wipes, with a dab of dishwashing detergent, will remove permanent marker from skin. And Mr. Clean Magic Eraser gets it off walls and doors. That's my PSA (Parent Service Annoucement) for the day.

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Speaking of PSAs, while Tony and I were watching "Law & Order: SVU" the other night, there was a PSA featuring Mariska (pronounced "mah-RISH-kuh," by the way) Hargitay (surprise, surprise). I forget the exact wording, but it was something about how loving someone means caring about them, not hitting or hurting them. So as soon as she said that, I whacked Tony in the arm. He didn't believe me when I said it was a love tap.

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I watched a bit of "Superman Returns" the other day. Man, that new guy sure does resemble Christopher Reeve. But... he's no Christopher Reeve, you know?

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Speaking of Mr. Reeve, has anyone seen the movie "Somewhere in Time," starring him and Jane Seymour? I loved that movie as a teen, and I just read the book this weekend. Totally mushy, gooey love story, but hey, I'm a sap.

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Have you ever stopped to think who would play the part of You, if they ever made a movie of your life? I think, for me, it would be Janeane Garofalo... she's a short, sarcastic brunette, just like me.... she'd be perfect.

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I am really, really tired of my winter wardrobe. My warm-weather clothes are so much cuter. And there's so much more variety. I'm sick of wearing pants every single day.

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It's amazing how something as simple as just getting your hair trimmed (in other words, not changing the style at all) can make your hair look SO much better.

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I sliced a big chunk of skin out of my ankle when I was shaving yesterday--right above my heel, and right where the back of my shoe hits, which means it hurts every time I walk, despite the super-cool Disney princess band-aid protecting it. You would think, after this many years of shaving, that I would know how to do it without injuring myself. Sometimes I really think I shouldn't be allowed to be a grown-up.

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And I think I'm done here.

A tale of pigtails

Look what my daughter let me do to her hair...



The double barrettes were her idea... we bought them at Target the other night, and she insisted on a set of barrettes from each package.



I have given up on getting her to pose for me. So I simply think of things for her to do that will get her to hold still for 2 seconds... like giving the dogs treats.



And then she wanted to take a picture of me, so I let her. I held the camera steady, but she pushed the button. Not too shabby, eh?



Anyway, back to the pigtails... I did her hair like that on Saturday when we went to Target (when we bought the barrettes), and I also did it like for church this morning. The most impressive part is that she actually left her hair alone all through church and lunch afterwards. Of course, by the time we got home (after stopping for a couple errands on our way), she had torn out both the barrettes and elastics, but overall, she seems to really be digging this idea of having her hair done up. She likes to shake her head and feel the pigtails flop around, and she's in love with these new barrettes. Maybe she's just happy to have that mess of hair out of her eyes.

Ari's first haircut

Last night was the big night... we took Ari for her first haircut. Her hair was starting to get a little scraggly on the ends and we figured we should go ahead and get her used to the idea of having her hair cut. Even if she freaked out or something, at least we would have tried. There's a girl named Sara who's started coming to our church who just opened up a salon, and I was in need of a haircut myself, so it all worked out beautifully. We figured I would go first so Ari could watch, and then we'd give it a shot with Ari.

Usually when I get my hair cut, I just go for the cut--I don't bother with shampoo or styling. But last night, I got the works. She washed my hair (and I need to remember to ask her what she used, because my hair smells fanTAStic), dried it, and even straightened it, too (using a Chi straightener, which makes me want one even more now). Ari paid little attention to what was going on with me--she was more interested in checking the place out. She was really well-behaved, though, and then finally, it was her turn.

She climbed up into the chair all by herself, and Tony was nearby, armed with fruit snacks and lollipops to keep her cooperative if necessary. (He bought a whole bag of lollipops, so I swiped a few to keep at my desk at work. Mmmm, Dum-Dum lollipops....) Ari's used to having her hair brushed, but any time I snag a knot in her hair, she gets whiny with me, so I wasn't sure how she'd act with a stranger touching and tugging on her hair. She was great, though. She kept turning her head, but that's to be expected, of course. Sara trimmed up the back and sides and even added a little bit of layering in the back. Not a huge difference overall, but her curls definitely look prettier and less messy.

And yes, of course, I have pictures (taken with Tony's BlackBerry)...

I was trying to get her to keep looking straight ahead here. There was a mirror in front of her, so I figured she'd want to look at herself, but she kept looking at Tony whenever he snapped a picture, kept wanting to turn and look at Sara, etc.



But even though she kept turning her head, she never tried to escape the chair or sit up on her knees or anything, which is impressive in itself (especially if you've ever seen Miss Squirms-A-Lot at the dinner table).



When we were done, we showed Ari the hair that had been cut off. Sara asked me if I wanted to keep some, and it's a good thing she did, or I probably would have forgotten.



Blurry, but I love the expression on Ari's face.



So Ari's first haircut is done and over with... another milestone down the tubes. And if anyone's curious what she's been up to today...



Yes, folks, that is black, permanent marker. I'm fairly sure Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will take care of the walls and door (because, seriously, it IS magic), but getting the marker off her skin will be another story entirely. Good times...

Conversations with Ari

Just a few samples of conversations with Ari...

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Ari: (to no one in particular) Sing "Itsy Spidah."

Me: (starts singing) The itsy-bitsy spider went up the--

Ari: (interrupting) No! Don't sing!

Me: What? You just told me to sing.

Ari: Nooooo!

Me: OK, then... what do you want?

Ari: Sing "Itsy Spidah"... Daddy.

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As she was "waking me up" (read: peeling the covers off of me, one by one) on Saturday, per Tony's instructions...

Ari: (to Sasha, in that high-pitched voice that people often use with animals and babies) Hi, Sasha! How doin'? I wake up Mommy, OK? OK.

(She has conversations like this with the dogs all the time now.)

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As I settled her down for a nap one day...

Ari: Where Mommy going?

Me: Mommy's going to go exercise.

Ari: Why?

Me: Because Mommy likes to exercise.

Ari: Because Mommy has a big butt?

Me: [insert routine speech about how we don't say that people have big butts, because it's not nice]

(Yeh, this is not the first time she's made that comment to me, and she's also told me several times that she has a big butt. I don't know where she picked up that phrase from, but Tony thinks she got it from me, which strikes me as odd, because my butt is one of the few body parts I don't complain about. But maybe she heard me joking about it or something. Who knows.)

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Me: Ari, you're [silly/goofy/weird/cute/pretty/etc.]

Ari: No, I not!

Me: Oh? What are you, then?

Ari: I Ariana Juliet S********!

(I fully admit that I purposely throw adjectives at her just to spark conversations like this, for my own amusement. It's become a kind of game with us now.)

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Me: Hey, Ari, you want to go to Target?

Ari: Why?

Me: Because we need to get a few things.

Ari: Why?

Me: Because we're all out of them.

Ari: Why?

Me: Because that's what happens when you use stuff.

Ari: Why?

Me: Because that's one of the laws of the universe.

Ari: Why?

Me: (now with a trace of irritation in my voice) Ari, stop asking why and just put your coat on.

Ari: Hi, Mommy.

(She does this quite often, anytime she senses annoyance in our voices... it's almost like it's her way of apologizing, or making things right. And you know what? It totally works.)

Steelers cupcakes

We had no plans for the day on Saturday, so Ari and I had a little girl-bonding time in the kitchen. I got the brilliant idea to make some "Steelers cupcakes"--chocolate cupcakes with yellow frosting--for Superbowl Sunday, and I enlisted Ari's help. She was more than thrilled to be my assistant.

(These first few pictures were taken on Tony's BlackBerry, which is why they're not that great.)

I showed her how to crack the eggs, and it seemed like she was going to try to do one herself, but she chickened out at the last second. Which is probably better anyway.



She was fascinated with (and a little wary of) the mixer.



She kept herself amused with counting while I filled the cupcake cups.



You can hear her super-enthusiastic counting in this video. (Excuse my total dorkiness--I didn't know Tony was taking video at the time.)


Ariana 1-31-09 from Sariana on Vimeo.

When it came time to make the frosting, we broke out the real camera. We attempted a nice mother-daughter shot before we started.



See how she's helping me hold the mixer? She also helped me turn the bowl.



Part of the recipe calls for 2/3 cup of milk to be added slowly... and when it came time to add the last little bit, I let her do it completely on her own.



She was more than a little pleased with herself.



After mixing the frosting, it was time to add the food coloring. I dumped a good bit in, and to my surprise, it was the perfect amount. Look at that gorgeous Steelers gold...



Then it was time to sample... I mean, decorate. Yeh, decorate.



And... the finished product. I tried to arrange them in the shape of a football...



And of course, as you all know by now, the Steelers won the Superbowl! I'm not saying it had anything to do with my awesome cupcakes, but you just never know...