5/1/07 Evening BBQ

Dave went to Tuesday dinner tonight, so I was off the hook for husband-feeding tonight. Good timing, since instead, I took my brood to a birthday barbeque for a mom in my 2004 Mom's group at a nearby park this evening. Ostensibly, the idea was to grill dinner and eat at the park, but I knew better than that. I couldn't imagine playing waitress to the boys in a park and taking care of Katrina. So before we left, I whipped up (cue cheery 1960s Swanson's ad music) a convenient yet nutritious dinner of fridge leftovers, told a baldfaced lie to prompt the boys to clamber into the car, both wailing like banshees for fear of being left behind (the depth of my enjoyment of this scene matched that of their distress), and off we were. Like a herd of turtles, as Dad would say.

I was the most outnumbered parent there, so I got some help from Kate. Her husband teaches yoga (how cool is that!) and they have one beautiful little girl. You can't tell from the photo, but Kate and Yoga Husband are British. You can tell from the photo that she's very, very nice and I always enjoy talking to her.

Katrina's Bonne-Maman-knit sweater from got all the proper fawning-over, and I unabashedly directed its admirers to the triangle details on the sleeves and collar and bragged about the textile skills of my family. Sonia's younger son Lucas took a liking to the buttons and pulled one until it's now held by 2 inches of thread!

Of course, I'm no fool. When baked goods are involved, I always have an ulterior motive.

The 2004 group has a very cool mom who's getting into cake decorating, and she welcomes the opportunity to practice. (You can't tell from the photo, but the cake-decorating mom is Canadian.) A birthday: a perfect excuse to whip up the usual homemade lopsided half-frosted cake, right? Not! Mary did whip this up quickly, but the results are gorgeous. this bow was her first. she uses cake mixes, but always adds things to them, for a very very tasty full cake. This was a streudel spice cake. Gabriel was very polite asking for some. I wasn't.

Getting all three kids to bed is definitely easier now that Katrina's sitting up so much better. Whew.

5/1/07