Another Week Gone...

This week went by very, very quickly. I think it was due to avoiding all the laundry that's been invading. I am happy to report that there are only two small loads waiting to be done. And one in the dryer. And one clean load front of the dryer. (Shoot, that's four loads isn't it??? I'm never going to win an award for Best in Laundry, I can tell.)

I did manage to get the living room looking all spiffy (even the slipcovers on the couches were smoothed out). That's why a clean load of laundry was left in the garage - because the rest of the house is a disaster. When I want to pretend that I'm good at this whole SAHM thing, I sit in the living room and avoid looking at the rest of the house. A load of unfolded laundry on the couch would burst my bubble, no matter how clean it was.

All this blathering is to tell you that the camera was neglected a bit this week due to all the energy I put into talking about cleaning rather than actually doing it. What we did do was this:

Gracie finally got to play with her PlayDoh set. This was the big gift she opened before Christmas when she snuck behind the tree barrier. She can only play with it when Mark is sleeping, so I heard a lot of "Baby Sheeping? Baby Sheeping?" this week.


Mommy showed Grace how the "spaghetti" tool worked.

Wow. This cooking stuff is serious business!
Fresh pasta takes some effort!


All that spaghetti PlayDoh helped Grace find her inner chef, as she busied herself with various kitchen duties this week. She chopped up vegetables (very serious work):

We may need to work on the knife skills
a bit. Your fingers go on the handle
sweetie, not the blade!



Um, okay. We're getting there...

She spiced up the kitchen table (and sneezed afterward - it was classic!):


Okay, that ought to do it!

Well, maybe just a pinch more...

She set the table:



Plates, glasses, spoons... mommy will be so proud!

Mark got in on the action a little late...
no plates left! He can't reach the table anyway.

I don't know who she invited, but based on the number
of plates, Grace had better make more spaghetti...

On Wednesday, Grandma Dee Dee came to help mommy learn to use her new sewing machine! I still have no idea what I'm doing, but I did manage to thread the needle. All by myself. (Insert pride here.)

Dee Dee then took Gracie to stay at her house, and apparently they worked on sewing techniques there too:


Don't worry Grandma Dee Dee, I'll help mom when
you're not around to give her sewing tips.

Mark took his nine month photos yesterday. He is adorably cute in every single picture, so you can expect that I will be posting a ridiculously long gallery of photos any day now... oh wait. You get those every week anyway!

He continues to learn new things each day. Yesterday he waved at a shopper passing the photo studio. At first I thought it was a fluke, but he waved twice in response to the shopper, so I'm guessing there was something to it. He also has his two upper teeth poised to make an appearance at any moment. You can actually see the white of the teeth, but they haven't decided to bust out just yet. Stay tuned. (Aren't you glad I keep you updated on all this exciting news? PlayDoh, cutting teeth, laundry... just fascinating, I'm sure.)

I hope your 2011 has started off with less laundry than mine, and that your little helpers are discovering new ways to help around the house - or waving people down to come in and help. *wink*