I just realized that I didn’t take a single photo of the cupcakes Annalie decorated for her birthday party today. I took the photo above of one of the unfrosted cupcakes, because happy cupcake is happy, and that’s kinda neat. I took a few shots of the kids eating cupcakes at the party, but the decorations probably aren’t very visible, and who knows when I’ll get around to downloading those photos off the memory card anyway.

I’m bummed that I don’t have a picture of the cupcakes, because she really had fun decorating them. But I also think, “Eh. Whatever.” And that indifference bums me out a little bit too.

There was a reason I was kind of distracted today, though. Sonja—one of my favorite people on this or any other planet—was busy having her baby yesterday and today, and I was checking my phone every time I even imagined it might have beeped or buzzed, anxious for news. From the little I’ve heard, the day was far more exciting than they would have liked, but everyone is fine. Whew. Also, yay! Baby!

I was going to try to blog every day this month. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to make a big thing of it, I just wanted to set myself the goal and see if I could reach it. I did great for nine days. Maybe I should just be thankful I got that many posts written, and work on keeping myself afloat until there’s another calm week when I can write a post every day. Maybe intermittent blogging is all I can do right now.

I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that it’s impossible for me to do all the things I need to do in my daily life (homeschool an 8-year-old and parent a toddler, be a halfway decent wife/daughter/sister, keep the clutter and dishes and laundry from taking over the house, cook the occasional meal, crochet baby blankets and golden snitches, keep up email correspondence with friends, sleep more than four hours a night) AND ALSO blog on a regular basis. At least not like I used to, with lots of photos and thoughtfully composed paragraphs.

I just…can’t. And that makes me really sad. I don’t know what else could possibly give at this point. I guess I could give up reading and TV. I’ve already basically given up painting, and am trying to find a way to cram exercising back in there somewhere.

Sigh.

We’ve never been big on Valentine’s Day around our house. I’ve always told Troy that I’d rather he buy me a $10 bouquet of flowers on any random day of the year than spend $50 on roses on Valentine’s Day. Restaurants are too crowded on the 14th, and all the good candy is half-off on the 15th.

Then last night Troy came home with the news that he was going to have to stay late at work tonight because of a meeting his bosses are having. He doesn’t have to go to the meeting, mind you; he just has to sit around waiting for it to be done just in case they need him to do something after it’s over. That’s pretty typical of his job right now. We don’t love that aspect of our life, but we’re used to it, sadly. And at least we knew ahead of time that he wouldn’t be home in time for dinner, so we were able to eat at one of our favorite restaurants last night with the girls and call it an early Valentine’s Day dinner.

Today, Annalie and I made PB&J Valentine Cookies (while Elliora looked cute in her too-big apron and begged chocolate chips) and they are delicious. Later I might try making some Compost Cookies (despite the gross name, the recipe sounds delicious), and after the girls are in bed Troy and I will have a late supper of spicy California rolls and roasted asparagus and Annika‘s baguette drizzled with olive oil, topped with dark chocolate and coarse sea salt, oven-toasted. We’ll probably watch the second half of the BBC production of Sense and Sensibility that features Dan Stevens (the actor who plays Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey!) as Edward Ferrars. Not a bad night, Valentine’s Day or no.

I’ve been a little blue lately, thinking about how we were supposed to be moving back to San Diego right now, until our move got pushed back six months. Although we do like being close to some of our friends and family here, and we enjoy taking advantage of the great museums and monuments in D.C., we don’t love living on the East Coast. It’s far away from most of our family and friends, and we just plain like San Diego and are eager to live there again.

The biggest reason we’re ready to leave is the long hours Troy has been spending at his job. We knew when we moved here that it wasn’t going to be a cushy shore job, that there would be periods of time when he’d be working late many nights in a row. And the first year we lived here, that’s what it was: periods of time, with long breaks in between where he was home in time for dinner and for a couple hours before Annalie’s bedtime nearly every day.

For the past year that is not how it’s been. Troy has been working long hours, just barely getting home in time to tuck Annalie in around 8pm most nights. Family dinners are a rare occurrence. We’re all burned out and ready to be done with this phase of our lives.

But the fact is, we need to hang in there for another six months. We have reason to hope that the long hours will taper off this summer and things will go back to a more normal schedule. In the meantime, we’re trying to think positive. Being here another six months means we have that much longer to visit our local(ish) friends and family. We have the spring and summer to enjoy the Smithsonian and national monuments. And we have a little more time for visitors, which we always love. And it could be worse; Troy could be deployed on a ship and gone completely for the next six months. So there are many reasons to look on the bright side.

Huh. Not sure how this post turned into a rant. Then again, pretty much everything I say these days comes around to this topic of how much I am over Troy’s long hours and how tired we all are and how ready we are to move on. I’m a broken record, a boring broken record. I even annoy myself.

I’ll focus on the good things instead. Like Elliora’s enthusiasm for eating a whole peeled apple, or Annalie eating—and liking!—pasta with eggplant, or the vanilla sea salt caramels Troy brought home for me.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us to all of you!

If you know me, you know I’m a cake snob. Box mixes are okay, but homemade cakes are my true love. Cake cooked in the microwave, though? I admit, in the past I’ve been seduced by the promise of piping-hot cakey goodness in only a few minutes, or the cuteness of one serving of cake in a coffee mug (and no mixing bowls to wash).

Yet every microwave-cake recipe I had ever tried was a disappointment. My usual response to those recipes now is, Rubbery, unevenly-cooked cake that doesn’t really satisfy any craving? Bleah, no thank you. I’m glad I tried this recipe from Prudent Baby, because I was very pleasantly surprised by how tasty it is. And it’s easy! I’ve made it about five times, tweaking the recipe to suit my tastes, and everyone who has tried it has loved it.

Soften a tablespoon of butter in each mug, 10-15 seconds in the microwave on medium power. You want the butter soft but not melted. (The mug[s] you use can be large or small, it doesn’t really matter. If you use a smallish mug, the finished cake will puff out over the top a little, which is fine.)

Add two tablespoons of sugar and stir till it’s fluffy and creamy.

Pour a little bit of vanilla into each mug. I just eyeballed it, but if you want you could measure out 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.

This step is optional. If you don’t mind a crumbly cake (or you can’t eat eggs) you can skip it. If you want a chewier, more, uh, cake-like cake then mix in about half an egg per mug. The first time I made these, I happened to have egg yolks in the fridge left over from making an angel food cake, so I just used one yolk per mug. You could also break an egg into a bowl and lightly beat it, then use half of that. Or you could even use a whole egg, if you want. It will just make for a rather dense, eggy cake which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Add two tablespoons of vanilla or plain yogurt (or sour cream, or even sour milk or buttermilk in a pinch) to your mug and stir well.

Mix in 1/4 cup of flour, 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of salt.

Now for the best part: the streusel topping! In another bowl, for each mug mix together 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut 1 tablespoon of cold butter into small bits and add that to the bowl, then use your fingers to rub and smoosh the butter into the flour mixture till it’s well combined. Sprinkle that over the top of the cake batter in the mug.

Stick your mug into the microwave and cook on high for 1 minute, and in additional 10-second increments as needed. In my microwave, one mug of cake is done in 1 minute 20 seconds, and two mugs of cake take about 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Ta-daa! Coffee cake in a mug, in less than ten minutes. Just be sure to let it cool a bit before you eat it. Serve with pickled eggs and pretzels for an excellent late-night supper.

Microwaved Coffee Cake in a Mug
serves 1

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• optional: 1 egg, lightly beaten (or 1 egg yolk or 1 egg white)
• 2 Tbsp vanilla or plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Streusel Topping:

• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp butter

1. In a large or small mug, soften (not melt) butter in microwave for 10-15 seconds on medium.
2. Add sugar and mix till creamy and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Stir in the yogurt.
5. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.
6. Make the streusel topping: mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add cut-up butter and rub into flour mixture till well-combined.
7. Sprinkle topping over batter in mug.
8. Cook in microwave on high power for one minute, plus additional 10-second increments as necessary. When the cake looks mostly dry, it’s done. Let it sit for a minute to finish cooking.

October 2: Annalie’s been doing a lot of drawing on her easel chalkboard lately. I thought this one, of a pear on a branch, was particularly good.

October 3: Class in in session. (Homeschooling can be kind of awesome. In our dress code, pajamas and bedhead are perfectly acceptable attire.)

I looked out the window of Elliora’s room and saw four deer across the street in our neighbor’s yard. (One of the deer is just to the left of frame, behind a bush, so I didn’t bother trying to get it in the shot.)

October 4: I couldn’t get Elliora to lie on the couch for our monthly photo session; she kept rolling away. I tried to sneak some photos in one day when Katy happened to be in her bedroom while we were in there playing, but I couldn’t get Elliora to look at me for a single photo. Oh well. This is very representative of 10 months.

We got a new chair from our neighbors who were getting rid of it after it didn’t sell at their garage sale. Elliora loves it and has already figured out how to push it up against the couch and use it to climb up.

October 5: Troy had to come home on a lunch break. I grabbed the opportunity to take a photo of him and the girls. (He normally wears civilian clothes on his commute and changes into his uniform at work, so we don’t see him in uniform very often.)

Elliora, just reading in her chair.

October 6: My friend Carrie, who is married to a Swede and used to live in Sweden, mentioned that October 4th is National Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden, which inspired me to try making some tasty Swedish cinnamon buns, also called Kanelbullar. I knew that Swedish pearl sugar I bought just because it was pretty would come in handy someday.

I went painting pottery with both girls, and all things considered, I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. I managed to keep Elliora entertained and paint at the same time but it was exhausting.

I painted this sign (“NO WHINING. Kthx.“) for my friend Katie as an unbirthday gift for her to hang in her high-school English classroom.

October 7: Elliora decided that her toy basket looked like a comfortable place to sit.

October 8: We were invited over to our neighbors’ for pizza and the last swim of the summer in their pool. I was sitting in their living room when I glanced out the window and saw they had “Live long and prosper” painted along the inside of the fascia on their front porch, so you’d see it as you walk out the door. I’ve been over there a half-dozen times and never noticed it before.

Elliora on the left at 10 months; Annalie on the right at 17 months, in 2005.

October 10: Elliora has discovered a love of being underneath tables. We’ve discovered how many gross things and choking hazards normally live underneath our tables.

October 11: Elliora has also discovered the basket by our fireplace where we keep firewood and old newspapers. She takes her job of spreading every last sheet of newspaper around the room at least once a day very seriously.

Speaking of Trekkies, Elliora looks adorable in her ThinkGeek Starfleet Academy Cadet onesie, don’t you agree?

October 12: It’s really hard to make mashed-potato casserole look pretty.

October 13: I love it when geeky friends come bearing geeky gifts. Well, technically Laura painted the bowl on the left for me because I painted a dottery bowl for her with a BBT quote (which I never got a photo of, I just realized). And Sonja mailed the bowl (with quotes from the song Friends Forever in the Scrubs episode “My Musical”) to me, she didn’t give it to me in person. But the point stands.

October 14: These apple-pie cookies (via smitten kitchen) were extremely delicious. I kind of want to go make another complicated, time-consuming batch right this very second.

October 15: Elliora getting a taste of fall. (Har har.)

October 17: Rainbow sparkly fingernails! The polish (Rainbow Connection, natch) is from the OPI Muppet collection. It made me happy every time I glanced at my hands. Too bad it chipped and peeled so easily. But I’ve been told I should try a base coat next time and that might help.

October 18: Elliora is a climbing fool.

October 19: We went on a leaf walk for science, collecting red and gold leaves and talking about why trees change color in the fall. Annalie copied a list of words for handwriting practice and just to help her learn the words. I threw a couple of pictures in there and told her to write the words for the pictures. The picture for #6 was a tree, and I had to laugh when I saw how Annalie had spelled it. When I pointed her mistake out to her, Annalie thought it was pretty funny too. She said, “I don’t know what I was thinking. I know how to spell ‘tree!’”

Here’s the thing: it’s really hard to make a quesadilla look pretty in a photo. I suppose I could have gussied this one up with a garnish of sour cream and cilantro, or even just remembered to take a picture before I devoured half of it. But I’ve decided that my friend Madge is right to be suspicious of pretty food, and that often the uglier food is the better it tastes. Yeah, gonna go with that.

It helps that my quesadillas usually are quite delicious. I suppose it’s hard to mess up a tortilla filled with melted cheese, but still. I think we’ve all had blah quesadillas before. This is not blah. It is, if I dare toss modesty out the window for a second, sublime.

Avocado and Caramelized Onion Quesadilla
Makes 2 quesadillas

• 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 flour tortillas
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 2-4 Tbsp. salsa

First, caramelize the onion: Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a skillet (large enough for one of your tortillas to fit in the bottom) over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat to low and let onions cook, stirring occasionally, till very soft and golden brown, about a half-hour. (If you’re in a hurry, you can cook them for less time, but the longer they cook, the sweeter they’ll get.) When the onions are done, remove them from the pan. You’re going to use the same pan to cook the quesadillas but don’t bother wiping it out or anything.

To assemble: fold a tortilla in half to crease, then open. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of the cheese over half, up to the crease. Top with half the onions and half the sliced avocado, and spoon 1-2 Tbps. salsa evenly over that. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of cheese on top of all, and fold the tortilla at the crease, pressing down gently. Repeat with the second tortilla and the remaining ingredients.

Heat 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet over medium heat. Arrange quesadillas in skillet. Cook about a minute per side or till browned and slightly crisp, flipping carefully with a wide spatula.

Slice into triangles and serve hot—garnished with sour cream and cilantro, if you like.

Two-Cheese Mashed-Potato Bake with Rosemary
Serves 4-6 as a side, 2-3 as a main dish.

• large sweet onion, diced
• 3 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp butter
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 medium potatoes (~2 lbs)
• 2/3 c. milk or half-and-half
• 3 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
• 3/4 to 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp. dried rosemary)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F.

First, caramelize the onions because that’ll take a while: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute for a minute. Reduce heat to low and let onions cook, stirring occasionally, till very soft and golden brown. This will take a half-hour or more, so be patient.

While the onions are cooking, let’s get the potatoes going: Peel, rinse and quarter the potatoes. Place in a large pot with just enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes or till potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork.

Drain potatoes, return to pot and mash well with a potato masher. Add milk and cream cheese and mix well.

When the onions are done to your liking, scrape the onions and all that butter into the potatoes. Add rosemary and salt and pepper and mix. Reserve a handful of cheddar for the top of the casserole, then sprinkle half the remaining cheddar over the potatoes and stir carefully. (You want to get the cheese mixed in but not all melted in a clump.) Repeat with the second half of the remaining cheddar.

Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter right in your 8″x8″ casserole pan, in the oven for a few minutes or in the microwave for 30 seconds. Tilt the pan so the butter covers the bottom evenly, then spread potato mixture in pan. Sprinkle reserved cheddar on top. Cook at 400F for 20-30 minutes till cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Not terribly photogenic, especially under fluorescent lights, but deeeeelicious.

Notes:

I invented this recipe one evening at Brenda‘s when we had leftover sticky rice we wanted to use up. It was deeeeelicious, probably mainly because there is so much butter involved. But as Bonnie and Sonja are fond of reminding me (bless them both) according to Nourishing Traditions, butter is a health food! I really need to read that book one of these days.

Anyway, this is a yummy side dish. We gobbled it up with baked apricot-glazed chicken breasts and roasted asparagus. Well, most of us gobbled it up; Bug declared she didn’t like the butter rice and wanted plain sticky rice. Brenda, Annalie, Elliora and I were all fine with that since it meant more butter rice for us!

All measurements are approximations because I didn’t measure anything when I made it. But I think this is the kind of recipe you can adjust to your own liking, anyway. Please note that you really should be using butter, not margarine. Margarine is NOT a health food, and—perhaps more importantly—it’s not nearly as delicious as butter. If you cannot eat dairy, by all means use coconut oil instead, or an equivalent amount of olive oil.

Garlicky Butter-Thyme Rice
Serves 4-6

• 3-4 cups cooked rice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp butter (or coconut oil)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried thyme
• sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

In a medium stock pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. (The olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter and helps prevent burning.) Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and saute briefly, till it smells delicious and garlicky.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the rice. Cook stir for a few minutes, till the rice is all coated with oil/butter and there are no large clumps left.

Add the broth (and dried thyme leaves, if that’s what you’re using) and turn heat down. Cover and simmer on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, till almost all the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and add fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit another five minutes or so before serving.

Troy and I made these for a late dinner last night, and they probably took twice as long to assemble and bake as they did to eat. But they were so delicious we didn’t even care. And then we made them again for dinner tonight.

Black-Bean Oven Nachos

• tortilla chips—preferably scoops*
• salsa
• can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• sliced black olives
• chopped avocado
• grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese*
• minced cilantro

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup because scrubbing melted cheese off metal is no fun.

Place as many chips as you want on the foil-lined baking sheet. It’s okay if they’re touching but try not to let them overlap. The point of these is that each chip is a little individual serving.

Spoon a bit of salsa into each scoop. Add a few black beans, one or two sliced olives, a chunk of avocado, and a sprinkle of grated cheese to each scoop. Sprinkle cilantro over the top of the whole shebang.

Stick in the oven and check every 5 minutes till the cheese is melted.

Notes
* We used baked tortilla scoops for the chips to make it easier to load them with good stuff, but regular flat chips would work too. It just might be a little trickier to keep the toppings on.
* I know the cheese that comes already grated in the bag is easy, but please don’t use it. There’s cornstarch on it to keep it from sticking together but it doesn’t melt very well.
* The way we made these, they’re vegetarian. But if you wanted to cook some ground beef with chopped onion and minced garlic and season it with cumin and chili powder, and then put a spoonful on each chip, I wouldn’t stop you.

Note: I interviewed Annalie for this post back in February or March, wrote it up and added photos and everything, and then…got stalled. What stalled me? I needed to take one photo of a self-portrait drawing Annalie did that was hanging in my kitchen. That is my life right now: I’m going in a million directions all the time and couldn’t even manage to take a photo—of something I see every day—for months. Sheesh.

What is your name?

Annalie.

How old are you?

Six.

Where do you live?

Washington, D.C. Well, actually we live in [Town], [State].

Do you have any pets?

Yes.

Wanna tell me about them?

Yes. I have two pet cats. Their names are Katy and Lily, and they’re very sweet. They’re both girls, and Katy really likes to spend time with me; Lily, not so much. But Lily really likes it when I scratch her belly!

Who do you like to play with?

I like to play with Bug, and Suki and Amber, and I like to play with Gabby and Annie. Sometimes I like to play with Mackenzie. She isn’t as rough as some kids. Also Christa and Cassie and Jack and Morgan and Dylan. And Daddy! I like to play with Daddy, and Elliora.

What’s your favorite cereal?

Hmmm…Lucky Charms!

What’s your favorite vegetable?

I like carrots because they’re good plain and with ranch, and also good cooked. I also like peas; they taste good plain and cooked. This is an odd thing to tell people, but I also like peas sometimes in ranch dressing. It’s good, you should try it!

What’s your favorite drink?

I like…lemonade, and I like root beer, and sometimes chocolate milk. Oh, and I like Kool-Aid! Ah, the sweet taste of Kool-Aid.

What’s your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid?

Fruit punch. For the record, I really like the kind you drop in the little tablet and you see it fizz up and evolve into the whole drink!

What’s your favorite snack?

Strawberry cream cheese roll-up, and crackers and cheese. I like simple kinds of crackers, like Club Crackers or Ritz, and cheddar cheese.

What’s your favorite toy?

I like a lot of toys, that’s hard!

Well, I just remembered I need to put the cookie dough in the fridge. Hang on a sec.

That’s good, I can think about it for a minute then.

Okay, did you think of a favorite toy?

I did think of a type of toy I really like, but it’s not really a specific toy. I like toys you can play with in pools like goggles and flippers. I especially like goggles because you can put them on and see underwater!

What’s your favorite TV Show?

Wild Kratts. And I like Johnny Test, Pokemon, Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Chuck, and Dragonball Z-Kai. Did you write all those down?

What’s your favorite movie?

I like Tangled, and I also like Space Chimps.

What’s your favorite game?

Angry Birds. And I also like, um…the game I almost always play with Daddy, the car-racing game. It’s one where you can drive anywhere, like off-road and up the mountains, and you can do leaps. Sometimes you can feel it in the game controller when you jump off things! It’s kind of funny.

What’s your favorite book?

The Boxcar Children. It starts out a bit sad, but then it ends really happy. And one of the girls’ names is Violet, which is my sister Elliora’s middle name!

What’s your favorite restaurant?

Ooh, I like a lot of restaurants. That one in Omaha we go to a lot, what’s it called?

Wheatfields, the one with the fountains?

No, the one we go to with Uncle Ben a lot, where sometimes we can get balloon animals?

Oh, Spaghetti Works?

Yeah, Spaghetti Works! And I like Wheatfields too. They have fondue, and the big paintings, and the fountain! I love that place. Maybe we could go there for my actual birthday dinner, since we’ll be in Omaha?

Sure, we can do that.

(We did!)

Can we get cheese fondue?

Yes we can.

I love that! I cannot get enough of that.

What’s your favorite holiday?

My favorite holiday iiiiiizzz…Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Because on Christmas you sometimes get to go sledding, and you get Advent calendars, and you get to open presents right away in the morning, even in your pajamas! And on Valentine’s Day, sometimes you get Valentines and gifts, and you can make cookies. And on Easter you get to go Easter-egg hunting. Sometimes on Easter my mommy gets me and Dad special baskets, and she’ll probably get a little basket for Elliora this year too.

What’s your favorite animal?

Horses. I like horses.

If you could change your name, what name would you choose?

I would choose…[thinking]…Crystal! It’s a pretty name, isn’t it?

What do you love about each person in our family?

I love that Elliora is a cute baby, and I’m glad that Katy and Lily are nice and gentle and they love me. And I’m glad that Daddy is a funny guy and he almost always tickles me, it’s so fun. And I’m glad that Mommy’s cooking is delicious, and she is really good at making me birthday cakes. They taste the best when they’re made by my mom—not just any old mom, MY mom.

Aw, thanks. I’m happy you like my cakes.

And remember that one time you made those mini pumpkin cheesecakes? Those were soooo good.

Thanks!

And I’m glad that Aurora is one year old and she’s cute and adorable and can walk now! I’m glad she’s my cousin. I can’t wait till the next time I get to see her!

What do you love most about yourself?

Well, that’s hard.

Why, because you like so many things about yourself?

No, because if I say things I like about myself, it’s sort of like I’m saying, “I’m pretty and you’re not!”

You mean like bragging?

Yeah. I just don’t think it would be very polite, would it?

Well, there’s a difference between bragging and just saying things you’re good at.

I guess so.

So is there anything you think you’re good at or that you like about yourself that you can say without bragging?

I think I’m good at making pancakes. I’m a good cook, when I have help from you. And I’m good at coloring, and I’m also good at playing Angry Birds.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Hawaii.

Well, we’re not gonna make it to Hawaii this year. But I think we are going to visit Erin and Rocco in Oregon, how does that sound?

Good!

What are some of your wishes for this year?

This year I wanna have a Zoobles treehouse. And I wish I could see Niagara Falls! That would be the funnest thing in the entire world. And I want to lose more teeth! Another one is loose, I think.

Thanks for the interview, Annalie!

You’re welcome, Mama.

Annalie’s self-portrait, age 6y8m

Inspiration for this interview originally came from New Year’s Interview for Kids at Blissfully Domestic (via The Crafty Crow).

I did this interview in 2009 and 2010 too, though I published them in a much more timely manner both those times.

Thanks to my mom, Troy and I had the opportunity to go see Super 8 on Friday night all by ourselves. (The movie was excellent. We recommend it.) The theater we went to has two unusually long escalators that go from the ground floor up to the third floor where half the theaters are located.

My Day 7 alternate. Mmmmm, chocolate chip sour cream coffee cake… (via smitten kitchen)

Annalie intended to take her self-portrait on Day 7 with the new bear she got at Build-A-Bear, but she didn’t get around to it and then Troy and I went out on a date with no kids and I forgot to remind her. So I took this photo of her sleeping with her new bear next to her. Cheating? Yes. Forgiveable? I hope so.

That’s another 7 Days week!