Ice cream for sale!

Emery's most favorite thing to do right now is scoot around on her ice cream truck on our front walk, yelling "Beep Beep!" And then handing us ice cream treats saying "Yummy, yummy."

So listen up for the ice cream truck - she just might be making the rounds very soon!

More on Charlottesville

We had great fun in Charlottesville and Emery seemed to grow in leaps and bounds, both physically and intellectually. She now will try to repeat just about any word you say and seems a LOT heavier to carry. She also developed quite an affection for her cousin Tucker, bonded with Henny as well as Papa, our resident babysitter who fearlessly put Emery down for incredibly early naps without any hesitation and became entirely addicted to being "out-shiide."

We've been so fortunate to land "free" seats, and Emery is slowly but surely grasping the concept of staying in her seatbelt.

Checking out her new sleeping digs.

All the cousins love Papa!

Swing time!

Though she's become quite the picky eater, Emery will rarely pass up a peach.

Nor will she pass up playtime at the water table.

Looks like a pretty confident driver to me!

Taking a break from making music to show us her tummy.

Though Emery still isn't walking, she impressed me with her agility by climbing up this slide all by herself!

Most of the time Emery got a little, oh, territorial, shall we say, when her younger cousin Molly approached, though this was a sweet moment of cooperation.

Whatever Tucker's doing, Emery wants to do.

These girls are always happy to be held!

Loving time with Henny!

And with Papa, who rescues her from the stroller for a ride up high!

Our little music-lover even appreciated the bagpipe concert we went to (not knowing it was going to be bagpipes) and clapped after all the songs.

Wow, she looks BIG here. Our flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga was delayed almost four hours, and much to my relief, Emery finally settled down for a snooze while we waited ... and waited ... and waited.

And though we'd rather someone beam us straight to Charlottesville for our next visit than mess with multiple flights again anytime soon, I have a feeling we'll be back. :)

Back from Charlottesville

This past week, while Matt went backpacking in CA, Emery and I hightailed it up to Charlottesville to spend some time with Henny and Papa, Uncle Austin and Aunt Jackie, and of course Tucker and Molly (to Emery, Tucker is "Tu-KEH," as well as one of her new idols).

No time to post much now, but here's a snapshot of the cousins picking peaches ... well, really riding along in the wagon enjoying peaches while the rest of us picked them.

More to come later, hopefully!

Getting molars isn't much fun

Emery getting her molars has led to screaming the likes of which I've never heard from this child.

Yet, as awful as I'm sure it's been on her, today I'm kind of glad it's been so rough ... otherwise she never would have wailed herself to sleep on Matt.

She hasn't done this, well, since she was an itty bitty baby! (you might notice Matt still was wearing his hospital bracelet - he wore it till it fell off. AHHH ... melt my heart, would you?)

If you have a can of tuna,

the possibilities are endless. I've been thinking of writing a post on fallback, pantry meals you can whip up in a pinch, but I'm having trouble getting my list together. So I think I'll just post the ideas as they come to me.

Today I was reminded of the wonders of a can of good tuna (please not the gray, catfood stuff). It does not have to always turn into boring mayonnaise-tuna salad, though that's not half-bad, especially on top of a baked potato with some corn. Sounds strange, I know, but I ate tons of these when studying abroad in Scotland. And baked potatoes, well, they deserve their own post because recently I've made many a delicious meal out of odds and ends in the fridge piled on top of a baked potato.

My "tuna turnaround" today centered on white beans and wheat berries, both super pantry staples. I've gotten in the habit of cooking lots of different kinds of dry beans in mass quantities, then freezing them for later use.

To the tuna, wheat berries and white beans I added some shredded carrots, diced onion, diced cucumbers, chopped tomato, feta, chives, and a little salad dressing.

YUM.

The wonderful thing about this kind of tuna salad is that it doesn't depend on all of these ingredients. Many could be swapped out for other kinds of grains and veggies. I think chickpeas would work well, too, if you don't have white beans handy.

For a hot dish, you could always mix your handy can of tuna with some marinara, throw in some green or black olives, and whatever "pasta cheese" you have on hand and presto, there's dinner!

I'm sure there are many other avenues you could take with a can of tuna, but now my appetite is getting the best of me, so this post will have to end. Now.

NPR car

This week Emery began a Kindermusik class for which we need a parking pass. Like a good student (or parent of a student I guess), I dutifully followed the instructor's guidance to place the decal on the bumper of my car, since that's where the parking police like to see it.

As I was trying to place the sticker on straight (unsuccessfully), with Emery in my arms and needing to get back inside for class, I felt a little thrill. If there is anything I am not, it's musical. And if there's anything we don't do in the Doescher household, it's put bumper stickers on our cars. 

So you can imagine Matt's reaction when I told him about the sticker - "Now we have an NPR car! Why didn't you just put it in the windshield?!?"

Because! I know we don't normally do things like this, but I actually find it kind of fun/funny ... makes me feel like I can pretend to be a different kind of mom for the few months that Emery is taking Kindermusik. The kind of mom who annually donates to NPR (incidentally, the class really is held on the campus of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and even in the building I think that houses the campus' NPR station. So he's kind of right), the kind of mom who sung in an acapella group in college and is now extending her love of singing and music to her young, impressionable daughter, the kind of mom who, even in the midst of all the demands of parenthood, still manages to continue nurturing her musical abilities by playing the violin in the local orchestra ... you get the idea.

None of these things will ever be true, but something about having the bumper sticker makes me feel like maybe more things are possible than I really think. Starting with Emery letting me listen to NPR news in the car in the morning instead of Toddlers Sing for the 80 millionth, billionth time.

A must make - Skillet lasagna with sausage and peppers

I impulsively bought a Cook's Country "Skillet Suppers" magazine in the checkout line at the store a couple of months ago and it hasn't disappointed. At all. The spicy steak soft tacos were amazing and now, well, this skillet lasagna is a new, promise to make again soon and frequently, favorite.

The magazine version of the recipe suggested the option of substituting the ground meat with 1 lb. of sausage removed from its casing (I used mild Italian chicken sausage) and adding a chopped red bell pepper with the onion. We loved the flavor the sausage added and even Emery could handle the mild spice.

Even better, it truly only took me about 40 minutes start to finish and didn't seem to create much of a mess in the kitchen.

This little girl, however:

does make quite a mess in the kitchen, and everywhere else these days, but we still love her!