(And if the idea of reading a whole post about potty training seems daunting, may I recommend you just catch the highlights? 0925, 1030, and 1135 will give you a good idea of how our morning went.)

0700 — I crank up the heat (for my soon-to-be-pantsless children) and gather all necessary potty-training supplies*. I re-read the email of tips + advice from my sister.

0730 — I get the kids up and change their diapers. Sophia’s already done what I was hoping she’d do on the potty. Why do my children poop so early in the morning?

0745 — Kids are sitting on their potties in the kitchen and drinking large cups of grape juice. I have the baby gate up so no one can escape.

0800 — Both kids are still happily sitting on their potties and eating bagels while they watch a movie on my computer. I’m reading a book and thinking this isn’t so bad.

0851 — Sophia’s first success. She gets a jelly bean and is now allowed to roam the kitchen in her underwear.

0916 — Sophia’s first accident. She seems confused.

0925 — Sophia’s second accident. She has squatted over and peed directly on the puzzle she was doing.

0927 — Sophia’s third accident. She is unfazed.

0930 — Eli’s first victory. A green jelly bean and approval for potty-chair probation.

0940 — Eli’s first accident. Again, confusion. I guess it feels weird to pee in your underwear after three years of wearing diapers.

1000 — Eli’s second accident. This time, he cries. I decide (/need?) to call that progress.

1030 — Sophia’s fourth accident. As I rush her over to her potty and clean her off, Eli runs through her puddle, slips + falls on his back in the pee. Both children are now wailing and very wet. I eat half of the chocolate that was supposed to last me this whole week.

1100 — Both kids pee in their potties again. Jelly beans.

1113 — I am reading a book as they play in the kitchen and I look up to find a piece of poop on the floor. Both children happily admit to doing it.

1120 — Eli spends 15 minutes pooping on his potty. I light a candle.

1135 — I throw up while trying to clean out Eli’s potty and question my decision to do this while pregnant.

1145 — Kids eat lunch and we decide to end today’s training with the kids’ most recent successes. One more jelly bean for everyone and then it’s rest time.

1200 — …rest time for the kids, that is. I clean the potties, mop the kitchen, wash the kids’ clothes and towels from this morning, and get everything ready for tomorrow. Can’t wait!

I don’t often post book reviews here on my blog … but then, I don’t often post much of anything here on my blog. (Buh-dum-bum-ching!) I’ve been reading several books a week lately and figured I’d highlight some of my favorites here.

I read The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare earlier this year and while I enjoyed it, at the end I was left scratching my head. The plot centers on a Scotland Yard detective who acts as a double agent in a secret anarchist society bent on destroying the world. It sounds straight-forward enough, but the story progresses from somewhat typical mystery (although much better written) to straight-up bizarre. Upon my last reading, I surmised that it had gone over my head and I’d need to re-read it.

Enter: The Southern Pines Literary Society. I convinced (/commanded) my book club to read it for our November meeting in hopes that a second read-through and some scintillating discussion would enlighten me to the true meaning of this book. I’m happy to say that after both of the above, I am changing my review to five stars (from four) and GLOWING PRAISE (from bewildered admiration).

You don’t need me to tell you Chesterton was a genius — but I’m going to anyway. I’ve dog-eared practically every other page of my copy, because peppered throughout the story (which is intriguing and often hilarious) are poignant observations on life and human character.

One of my favorite quotes (from when a certain character discovers he is not as alone as he supposed himself to be): “But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one.”

And perhaps even better: “‘Listen to me,’ cried Syme with extraordinary emphasis, ‘Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? If we could only get round in front–’”

The Man Who Was Thursday changed the way I see the world — and is there anything more we can ask from a book? I’ll be re-reading it often.

This blog is a lot like the fish we bought for Eli a few months ago. No matter how much I neglect it, it’s still alive when I come back to check on it. Looks like we’re stuck with each other — my blog, Fish, and me. (Eli isn’t very creative with naming things. Just ask his favorite stuffed animal, “Friend.”)

Things have been — surprise! — busy around here. It probably has something to do with Eli being in the throes of two-year-oldism, Sophia trying to do everything Eli does (despite his “loving” violence toward her), my pregnancy (18 weeks and counting), and my little nannying charge, Rory (11 hours a day, 5 days a week).

My life has gotten significantly easier (and more fun) since the arrival of Molly, my sister and current favorite person in the whole world. She’s staying with me for a few weeks and is a tremendous help. The idea that a dish left on the counter might be washed by someone else … it’s a wonderful feeling.

I’m going to try to update more regularly, although I’ve said that before (and the holidays aren’t a great time to start). Stay tuned for pictures of our Christmas decorating (and our sad little tree)…

Thanks to a fortuitous mistake, I’ve made one minor change to the original recipe. I accidentally doubled the amount of brown sugar in the crust the first time I made this and after correcting my error the second time around, decided I liked the sweeter crust. In my opinion, the mild cream filling wasn’t sweet enough to top an almost-savory crust. The change is already made in the recipe below.

This is the perfect dessert to make when strawberries first appear in the early summer. Even though for most of us that time is past, we can enjoy it all summer long thanks to some hard-working produce truckers. (Where are the strawberries coming from at this time of year? Canada?)

brown sugar strawberry tart

from Evil chef mom who got it from sunset magazine april 2010

1 cup flour
6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/2 cup whipping cream
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced

Preheat oven to 350°. In a food processor, whirl flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, the cornstarch, and salt until combined. Add butter and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and pulse until fine crumbs form and dough just begins to come together. Press evenly into bottom and up sides of a 9-in. round tart pan with a removable rim.

Bake until edges are golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool on a rack, then gently push tart crust from pan rim; set on a plate.

In a bowl with a mixer on high speed, beat creme fraiche, cream, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until thick. Spread in cooled crust. Arrange strawberries in circles on top, alternating cut sides down and up.

Chill, loosely covered, up to 4 hours.

If you have some lemon thyme leaves served this some thyme sprinkled on the top. It love the herbal lemony taste of the thyme mixed with the sweetness of the strawberries and the tang of the creme fraiche.

Last night I went to Ikea. Three years, 100 miles, and one million dollars later, I drove home with what we needed for our room (and maybe a few extra things, like meatballs, a train track, pillows, frames, ratchet straps, a mixing bowl… dangit, Ikea, I’m helpless against your charms.). Today we took a much-needed break from our bathroom remodel to do something fun (not that hooking up a drain line for a new toilet isn’t fun…), and while it still needs some finishing touches, I’m pretty happy with the results:

In preparation for the party, I finally replaced the dead rosemary bushes that had been flanking my front steps (for a good six months) with some pink geraniums. I am proud to say that despite my terrible track-record with plants, those geraniums are still alive today. (Only Nathan knows how amazing this truly is.) In a fit of craftiness, I made these tissue pompoms for the front porch. I wanted to hang a lot more out there, but ran out of steam/motivation/time.

I didn’t do a lot of decorating for the party, but I got the idea for this little clothesline from my friend Amy (who was my co-host for the party)(that makes it sound like a radio show, and coincidentally, Amy actually IS on a radio show, so … there’s that). We gave the onesies to Kallie after the shower as a gift.

Look, I made more pompoms! The dogwood branch on the table (as well as the azaleas in the last photo) came from my neighbor’s yard. I couldn’t find any flowers I liked at Fresh Market the day of the party, so I just asked my neighbor Jill if I could use her yard and she graciously allowed me to. I’m not sure she knew I’d be sawing off a dogwood branch, but if that was a problem … she should’ve specified.

Many of the girls at the shower (and some who didn’t attend) contributed to buy Kallie the highchairs for her baby girls. Nathan and I bought some Uglydolls + put them in the highchairs so she could envision her future. You can see them in the back corner of the dining room.

SO many girls offered to help with the food! I made a cheese plate, crispy pork medallions w/yogurt + caper dipping sauce, orzo salad (I blogged it here), and veggies + white bean hummus. Everything the other girls brought was delicious. For me, the most exciting part of any party is the food, and this spread did not disappoint.

This photograph proves that everyone had a good time. And it wasn’t staged. At all.

Amy (standing) brought a Mad Lib for us to fill out while we mingled. She read the end result while Kallie opened her gifts, and while it was hilarious, it turned out to be a bit of a horror story. You wouldn’t know it from the pictures, but we’re a bit of a morbid bunch, I guess.

Kallie, at 30+ weeks, looks better than I ever did carrying ONE baby. Seriously, she looks amazing. It’s not even right.

After a prayer for Kallie, her husband, and the babies, some gift-opening, and a crazy Mad Lib, Amy and her amazing cupcake bar treated us all to some delicious dessert. If you’re in the Southern Pines area and having any sort of event, ever, you need to hire Amy to come do her thang. You won’t regret it.

Kallie + her husband are going to be amazing parents. They’re leaving us soon, but we love them + wish them all the best. And I’ll always remember to pray for you guys because I’ll probably never get around to taking down the clothesline above my bookshelves.

Sophia is surprising us with a new trick every day, it seems. She races around the house on all fours and then pulls herself to standing using every piece of furniture within reach. She uses her chubby little fingers to pick up every crumb, pine needle, bobby pin, or piece of lint, and of course it all goes into her adorable, perpetually-open, drool-filled, 2-toothed mouth. If you would like someone to come over and make sure your floors are clean, I am renting Sophia out by the hour. Email me for pricing. (The only downside is that you have to follow her around + stick your finger into the back of her throat every few minutes to sweep out anything that’s stuck. Not that different from most vacuums, though.)

She has also taken up singing, but only while she’s standing. Like any good vocalist, she knows that the best sound quality comes when you are standing and your diaphragm is stretched out. (Thanks, Mrs. Roberts.) I’m not sure what she’s singing, but it sounds kind of like The Carpenters.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the new faces in her arsenal: scrunchy-face + … well, I don’t know what to call the second one, but she does it a lot.

And, since I made you wait so long for this post (Mom), here are some superfluous happy, open-mouthed baby pictures for your afternoon enjoyment:

We moved her mattress to a lower position in the crib and she pulled herself up to standing the very same day! I guess we were hampering her development a bit by not giving her room to stand. I’m okay with that … soon she’ll be walking and I’m not sure I’m ready for her powers of destruction to be multiplied with all the new stuff she can reach.

And here’s Eli, for good measure:

I also recently moved both children into the same bedroom; it’s cute to hear them chatting + laughing in the morning when they wake up. It’s not quite as cute to hear them waking each other up in the middle of the night, but I guess every silver lining has a cloud.

This is the perfect pasta salad to bring along to summer barbecues. The recipe (and entire cookbook) was originally recommended to me by my dear friend Lauren, to whom I will be forever indebted, because I am seriously in love with this salad. And really, the entire cookbook — The Bride and Groom First + Forever Cookbook — is full of amazing recipes. My go-to recipes for chili, meatloaf, pancakes, biscuits, and risotto all came out of this one book. Enough said.

Orzo Salad with Lemon, Feta, + Pine Nuts

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup orzo
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons finely chopped black olives
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, + sugar in a jar. Shake it like a polaroid picture. Set aside.

Cook orzo according to package directions, making sure to leave it al dente. Pasta salad is no good with overcooked, soggy pasta. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Shake them constantly + don’t take your eye off of them — they’ll burn in a split second. They should toast up in just a couple of minutes. They’re done when you can smell them.

Drain the orzo and transfer it to a medium bowl. Add the dressing to the hot pasta and toss to coat. Let cool to room temperature. (I stick mine in the fridge to speed this up.) Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, red onion, and basil and stir to combine. Add the feta and toss lightly. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.

I think this is best made at least 4-6 hours ahead so the flavors have time to meld together. It’s fine right away though, and delicious the next day. Enjoy!

Also, this girl NEVER closes her mouth. She’s not happy unless her tonsils are showing:

Seriously. It’s always open.

Or maybe she’s just trying to show off her new ….

TEETH!