As I mentioned the other day, Lindsey saw the beach girl plate that Brenda and I collaborated on and asked if we could do a beach boy plate. We could, and did, and now it’s in my Etsy shop.

I started painting this mug almost a month ago, just for something to do while I was supervising Annalie painting her pink kitty (of which I still have not taken any photos). Brenda’s mom has this IKEA lampshade and I’ve been eyeing it for a while. This mug doesn’t really look much like the lampshade but I did use it for inspiration.

When I took the half-painted mug back to the studio to finish it, I had planned to add a few more flowers and leaves. But Brenda said she thought it looked finished already. I trust Brenda’s eye, so I looked at the mug again and reconsidered. I decided to just outline the flowers and add some whimsical stems. I’m glad that’s all I did because I love it this way. I think I might just keep this one for myself.

Speaking of knowing when to stop painting, do you guys remember that tree love mug/pencil holder that I made for Kerri a while back? Here, let me refresh your memory.

I don’t hate it, but…it’s definitely not my best work. I should have left more white space around the trees and I don’t like the dotty pine tree on one side (you can see that side on the Etsy listing), which quite honestly was the result of me trying to fix a mistake. I knew as soon as I picked up the finished piece from the studio that I wanted to try again. It took me a couple of months, but I finally did.

I’m much, MUCH happier with take 2 of the tree love pencil holder. I’ll let Kerri decide which of the two she wants, and maybe I’ll eventually put the other one in my shop.

While I was finishing up the funky flower mug and take 2 of the tree love pencil holder, Annalie was painting something for Troy. We happened to be painting on Father’s Day, and Annalie took it upon herself to choose a piece she thought Troy would like and paint it specifically for him, which I thought was quite sweet. And I’m impressed with the finished product too! It actually has a sort of pattern to it, which is a fairly new skill for Annalie.

She signed her name on the back and drew the sun, a flower, and the moon. She actually painted all of this, by the way. In the past she’s drawn with a pencil and I’ve painted over that, but this was all Annalie’s handiwork. I love that she’s getting better and better at painting, and look hopefully forward to the day when she’s old enough for us to go spend an afternoon painting together without her getting bored and demanding to go walk a puppy.

Annalie also painted a little heart for Troy, which we made into a magnet after it was fired. I don’t have any photos of it, but I have a funny story related to it. Annalie painted one side blue and scratched her name and drawings of herself and Troy into it with a toothpick. The other side she painted red and then added pink dots all over that side. She asked me what I thought, and I said I loved it. She replied in this world-weary tone of voice, “Of course you love it, it’s polka dots.” She might as well have rolled her eyes and added, “DUH.” Kid has my number. I sort of love that about her.

I’ve been thinking about a recipe I read a few days ago in Catherine Newman’s cooking blog for Donut Cake. Catherine says her family’s name for this classic cake came about because the combination of nutmeg and vanilla really tastes like donuts. Hilariously, she adds that they also renamed it Donut cake “so that Homer Simpson might stumble on it via Google.”

Catherine says in the post that she likes her cakes plain, or maybe with a little fresh fruit and whipped cream, but I kept thinking about this cake covered in a thick white glaze and sprinkles, like my favorite cake doughnuts. Tonight while I was writing this post it kept coming to mind. Finally I told Troy was going downstairs to make a quick Donut Cake, at which Troy let out a very Homer-Simpsonesque “Woohoo!”

The cake was quite easy to make. When it was done and cooling on a rack I stirred together 3 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and equal parts lemon juice and water added a teaspoon at a time till it was the right consistency. I took the cake out of the pan and spooned the glaze over the still-warm cake so that it dripped just a little over the sides. I added some sprinkles before the glaze had a chance to set.

A slice of this cake and a glass of milk made an excellent bedtime snack. I bet it makes a good breakfast too…I’ll let you know tomorrow!

Happy First Day of Summer, a day late! Brenda and Bug (who house-sat for us while we were gone) stayed the night since they didn’t pick us up at the airport till 8pm on Saturday, and Bug and Annalie were so excited to play with each other again that they both woke up at 5:15. I “slept in” till 6:15. Around 8, the girls started asking if they could go swimming. We caved to their pleading around 9 and filled the wading pool, expecting the water would be too cold for them to do more than stick their hands and maybe their feet in. But they jumped right in and started splashing away. Crazy kids. I guess they got the memo about the first day of summer!

Also, happy Father’s Day, a day late! I neglected to actually get a photo of Annalie and Troy yesterday, but I did get these shots of her helping cook spaghetti con burro e pomodori for our Father’s Day dinner. She melted the butter and dumped the pasta in the boiling water and stirred the sauce and added the chopped basil. She was quite proud of herself. I told her at one point that I was really glad she liked cooking because it’s more fun when she’s cooking with me, and she said, “Well, I’m glad you like to cook so many delicious things, Mama!”

You like this fierce outfit Annalie put together? I wouldn’t have tucked the shirt in, and I wouldn’t have put this particular shirt with that skort, but…somehow it kinda works. The color combination grew on me and by the end of the day I quite liked it.

Lemon cupcakes, one of which I’ll be eating for dessert (after my Subway sandwich) while I watch Chuck vs. the Wookie tonight for Chuck Me Monday. (Yeah, I’m a dork, we know this already. But I’m a dork who loves company. Watch Chuck!)

The other day when we went to Leslie & Ed’s for dinner, Leslie had cupcakes all baked and cooled and ready for Annalie to decorate.

I helped with the frosting, but Annalie was the Official Sprinkler. Leslie was ready with an assortment of fun stuff: pastel sprinkles, blue sugar, and Sixlets.

Does Aunt Leslie know the way to Annalie’s heart, or what?

Leslie’s husband Ed is a farmer. They live out in the country and drive tractors and grow feed corn and fix their irrigation systems when they break. They’re 21st-century farmers, mind you; they have DVD players in their tractors. They also recently built a new house on the site of the old house that Ed grew up in. I’m not sure, but I think that house had been there for 70 years or more. They invited the local fire department over to do training exercises on it, and then burned it to the ground. I bet that was exciting.

Now they have a really nice new house with a big garage and basement and a guest suite, and the only fires happen in the fireplace. (And sometimes the grill when Ed isn’t paying close enough attention to the meat he’s cooking. Not that anything like that happened the other night when we were there. Twice.) Did I remember to take any pictures of the nice new house? No. No, I did not.

Doh! Silly me.

I did take pictures of Annalie climbing a rock pile in the backyard though. Queen of the mountain!

Then back down to look for cool rocks. It’s true that most kids like rocks (I know I did), but ever since we visited Erin and her extensive rock collection last fall, Annalie has been especially fascinated. She keeps finding cool rocks and saying, “I bet Auntie Erin would like THIS one!”

Then she asks me what kind of rocks she’s found, and most of the time I say something like, “Um, I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Erin next time we see her.” But at Leslie & Ed’s, Annalie found some rocks that I could actually identify. I think. I’m pretty sure. Maybe?

Erin, does that look like flecks of Pyrite to you? It sure looks like fool’s gold to me, but I could be way off. I’m no igneous petrologist, after all.

The rocks kept Annalie occupied till dinner, which was delicious. The corn was homegrown and the roast beef survived the flames very nicely. Troy and Leslie only got into one small fight over the horseradish. The conversation was lively.

Eventually Annalie got so crazy-tired that she was literally climbing up Ed’s legs as she giggled hysterically, in between throwing her teddy bear up in the air and jumping all over the couch. So we had to say our good-byes and head back to Omaha. Annalie conked out in the car about five minutes after we left.