Day 260 | School Lottery Saga: It Begins

Chase listening carefully during the presentation.

Today we officially started the search for the perfect school for Chase. Seems a bit early? We agree...if we lived anywhere else. In the District, though, most of the public and charter schools offer 3 year old pre-kindergarten programs. Which means next year (!!!) for our little guy. Crazy, I know.

You have to get into one of the schools via a lottery so we'll rank the top 12 (at the max) schools we would want him to end up in and then we'll be randomly assigned come March. Seems easy enough, right? Well, as you might imagine, spots in the good schools are really hard to come by. We're trying to stay optimistic, though, because there are a handful of schools in our direct area that we're really excited about and might not be quite as sought after. 

Today, Chase and I went to an open house for a Montessori school down the street. We decided (Chase and I, that is) that we could find a better fit. On to the next open house!

Tune in for more open houses, application woes, and lottery results as the months tick by. And think happy thoughts for us, would you?

Day 259 | Oh How Times Have Changed

Not too long ago (about three years, actually), the idea of spending the morning at a car dealer service center would have been one of my least favorite ways to spend a few hours. Fast forward: two babies and no free time later and I'm loving the quiet, kid-free morning. It's almost too good.

What kept me busy for three hours?

• Knitting (Woohoo!)
• Reading a magazine (What? They still print these?)
• Getting my nail polish removed (Turns out you have to go somewhere to have that done for gel nails. My full gel manicure review will come soon.)
• Splurging on a delicious soy latte and muffin

Thanks, Chris, for hanging out with the boys so I could enjoy this luxurious outing. Ha!

Day 258 | He Can't Wait

This is the scene every time we pick Chase up or drop him off at school. Robbe tries just about everything to sneak into the classroom as soon as the door opens.

One day, little man, one day. Let's stay little for the time being.

Day 257 | Meet My Friend, The Slow Cooker

Have you discovered the beauty of the slow cooker? I've had a long-term relationship with this small appliance but just recently started fully appreciating how perfectly magical it is to throw everything in a pot and ignore it for a few hours and then, ta-da!, dinner is ready. The best!

Interested in some of my favorite recipes at the moment? Here goes:

Braised Beef and Peppers

Chicken Taco Soup

Quinoa Tex Mex Casserole

French Onion Soup

Teriyaki Chicken

Sausage and Kale Stew with Mashed Potatoes

Vegetable Parmesan Quinoa


Happy slow-cooking!

Day 256 | The Sweetest Compliment

Do you see the resemblance?

Chase is the sweetest toddler around. His latest compliment?

"Momma, you're beautiful just like Thomas."

Day 255 | Bee-Day Card

Here's my latest birthday card go-to. I use Chase's little thumbprints for the bee bodies and add the embellishment with a black marker. Easy-peasy.

Just don't tell my soon-to-be one year old niece it's coming her way. 

Day 254 | He Did It!

Call it a fluke. Call it a Christmas miracle. Call it whatever you want, but the important thing is Robbe slept through the night! Whoop, whoop!

7:50pm through to 7:06am. I knew he could do it. 

Don't think there is any part of me that is expecting the same result tonight but at least there's hope. I might sleep again some day after all.