Kites and such

My Tuesday morning was very quiet. Aidan has developed a little nap routine & I am trying so hard to stick to it so that she gets her required sleep. Yesterday was spent here at the house. E & A were at school, Aidan napped & I sewed. I am working on the twirly skirt still (I can't tell you how slow I am with projects). I had everything cut so all I had to do was follow the tutorial and go. I figured I would have it finished it less than 2 hours and have time to do something else before going to pick up E & A. I must think a lot of myself since that was not even close to what happened. I got maybe a third of the skirt put together & sewn when I ran into a problem with the hem. I can't get it to sew without puckering. I got to a stopping point and now it will sit until this weekend when I can take a look at it with the help of my MIL (aka: experienced sewer). I hate to stop and see it sitting on the machine, but I know if I keep fiddling with it I will really mess it up - so it sits.

(Ainslee - above- pre-kite mode).

I love the above shot of Erika. I hate that my camera wouldn't allow me to get any closer. I want a big-girl camera so badly and have run out of hints to drop. I even have my SIL dropping hints on my behalf; in the mean time I know I am missing out on good stuff. Anyway - we went kite flying this weekend. This was a family first. It was a lot of fun and the girls ran, and ran. The kites were in a goody bag we received at a recent birthday party. We had pretty low expectations but were very happy once Martin was successful getting them up and the girls were able to keep them up (hence all the running).

And lastly. Food. Specifically, summer salads. I have been using recipes from the food & wine site. I tried the Shrimp and Noodle Salad with Ginger Dressing. It says 30 minutes for the total prep & cook time - but it took me longer. I would definitely make it again but I would make it a day in advance and let it sit overnight. We liked it better the following day. I have also made the chicken salad with grapes & blue cheese. Another hit. I am really loving this website. I hope you take a peek if you like to cook.