Cookie Party, or "We're gonna need alot more stepstools!"

It took me a year to do, but I finally ordered some fall cookie cutters, found a sugar cookie recipe, and baked, baked, baked! I also made icing for the first time, scouring the city for powdered egg whites so as not to accidentally kill our children by using raw egg whites, and experimenting with natural food coloring. That's when things got a little tricky. See, I was imagining neon orange and astroturf green. I kept adding more and more of the (um, really expensive) natural die to get the deep, rich color I wanted. Instead, I got pastel icing that tasted like, well, the spice aisle in an Indian grocer. This morning, with emergency directions from my husband, I added this and that, and came up with something edible. I actually ended up liking the muted colors after all.

To make it more festive, we invited over our neighbors (and friends!) and had a cookie making and icing party. Abigail (3) and her mom, Kyla (almost 3) and her mom (and Baby Cole), and Scarlett (1.5) and her mom came over to help Nourit, Avi and I ice about a million cookies. (Danielle came over later, too, since she's got my vote for favorite non-blood related Auntie.)

Before our first guests arrived, (while we were busy getting the dishes clean from the night before!) Nourit started lining up stepstools in front of the chopping block where we usually roll out the dough. "We're gonna need alot of stepstools," she said, as she brought in all that she could round up, including the potty seat/step. We gently explained that that one stayed in the bathroom exclusively, then proceeded to clean the floor and her hands after we sent it back to the other side of the apartment.

Abigail and Anna

Amber and Kyla

MacKenzie and Scarlett

Busy creating masterpieces!

And here they are, the masterpieces.

Links to recipes used in this production of "Cookie Party":
Sugar Cookies
Orange Cardamom Cookies
Decorating Icing

What Has Dodo Been Up To Lately?

Find out on the Chicago Moms Blog, where I blogged about Dodo's Great Escape.

If you don't know about the 5th member of our family named Dodo, please click here.

There's a New Deli in Town

We've been in Hyde Park awhile now, starting on our 6th year, amazingly enough. During that time we've been excited to welcome the expansion of Hyde Park Produce on 53rd Street, the backstory cafe on 61st Street, and Istria Cafe, under the traintracks on 57th Street and in the Hyde Park Art Center. These are our favorite places to frequent, and now, from the owners of Istria, comes Zaleski & Horvath MarketCafe, on 47th Street.

Yesterday, we drove over after church (it's a little far for a walk with the stroller for us) and stopped in to drink some coffee and look around. Both of the owners were there and gave us such a warm welcome, explaining their coffee making process (with a Clover coffee machine, brewing coffee, not just espresso, 1 cup at a time), slicing samples of their wide variety of cheeses for us to try, and writing down our suggestions for market items. (I suggested dried egg whites, because I can never seem to find them for the cookie icing I want to try.)

Although the $8/bag of King Arthur flour** is a bit too expensive for us, we'll definitely go back for the deli. We took home two cheeses that we had with a baguette for dinner last night - delicious! And their selection of sandwiches looks amazing. I hope (and will suggest) they expand their baked good selection to include something chocolate-y and some flaky croissant. (If they put a little nib of chocolate on Mike's espresso plate, he would be very happy, too.)

The store is decorated with great old family pictures, most prominently the patriarchs of the Zaleski and Horvath families. Already, a week or two after opening, there were quite a few people in the store, drinking coffee, and milling around. One of the owners (the tall, blonde one) said the opening of the store happened just around the time his first baby was born, so he is looking forward to raising two "children", I guess!

One of the things that draws us to a place is the people. I love the small-town feel of knowing from whom I'm buying. I love to support store owners who are trying to provide the best quality item and good service to our neighborhood. The Z & H Market isn't perfect yet, but I'll be drawn back to watch it grow because of the personal welcome we received from the moment we arrived to the moment we left (squirrelly children notwithstanding!)

**Since posting this, the owners said they repriced the flour. They really, truly are interested in their clients needs/wishes! All the more reason to go back! (in addition to the cheese and coffee...)

At Some Point...

…she’s got to stop crying and fall asleep. I’ll give her 10 minutes. After 5, I get up and put my hand on her back. Ah, there she goes. Tiptoe back to bed. She wakes up, madder than before. Screaming like she’ll never be happy again. But she always smiles in the morning.

At some point, my maternal gut becomes a detached observer. “I wonder how long she’ll actually keep this up.” “Wow, that’s a new level of crying I haven’t heard.” “Is she going to do this when she’s 10?” All these thoughts while I’m hiding my head under the comforter, just to muffle the crying from the crib 5 feet away. I’ll give her 10 minutes.

4 minutes go by. At some point, the babies in the Romanian orphanage stopped crying. Why do I always think of that? I get up and she immediately grows quiet. She just wants my hand on her back. But I’m tired, and at some point, I need to get some sleep. I tiptoe back to bed. She screams a few more minutes until Mike comes in and picks her up from her crib. “Do you want to sleep with her in the bed?” No. But yes.

I love the feel of her little body so warm next to mine. I love feeling her breathe, knowing she is exactly where she wants to be – next to me. She falls asleep immediately. If only it were this way all the time. There would be no struggle to figure out the best sleep situation for her – for all of us. If she would just be content to lie in between us and sleep, we’d all be happy. But at some point, she stops sleeping and just wants to nurse nonstop. And I’m at the point where I need to sleep. Even a couple hours at a time.

LeapFrog Fun

Last night I attended my first "mommy blogger" party, sponsored by LeapFrog. I was very excited about the chance to meet the other bloggers in person, which was a wonderful part of the afternoon, and putting faces with the names, words, and experiences I've read about for months.

What a welcoming party it was, right from our entrance into the the Kindercare building. We stepped into a room full of toys, yummy food, and stacks of LeapFrog products to try out (and take home!) After a few minutes of mingling, I left my oldest with her father and sat in on a discussion hosted by members of the Advisory Board for LeapFrog. They seemed genuinely interested in taking back suggestions from parents to their developers. I enjoyed hearing from other moms about their personal 'toy philosophy' and relating it to mine.

Back to the play room, we ate pizza, tried to carry on conversations in the midst of chasing after children, and collecting age-appropriate toys to bring home and try out. I noticed (too late) there was a face painter and an artist rendering exquisite designs on cheeks and on paper. That's okay - Nourit is still too small to be disappointed to have missed it. She enjoyed watching the older and more interesting Pink Girl get her face painted with swirls and sparkles.

I am definitely not accustomed to bringing home armfuls of toys, and I was floored by LeapFrog's generosity. I will certainly keep my eye on them as my girls get older and more interested in electronics. It will be good to have such a highly regarded educational option to consider when we get to that stage!

And Now it Begins

The quest for the right school. Preschool, that is. I have been dreading this day ever since I learned from my neighbor what a crazy city this is for getting your child into school. And it's not just once. It's finding the right preschool, and then making sure your name is on the list a year ahead just to be considered for a lottery; it's then making sure you can get into a good Kindergarten/Elementary school, which in turn doesn't guarantee you an automatic feed into a junior high and high school. Oh, no. You have to apply for each of those, as well.

Then, there are the choices. Because where we live, there is no way I'm sending my child to the school down the block. It's not a matter of elitism. It's a matter of her safety (and frankly, a desire for a nurturing and academically challenging atmosphere.) But we're not at academics quite yet. We're still at preschool. And there are alot of them, both private and public, in Hyde Park and downtown Chicago. I think at this point, we're leaning away from homeschooling because we'd have to hire someone else to do that for us!

So today we dove in and visited our dream school for Nourit - the Lycee Francais. We were quite surprised at what a warm and welcoming place it was. I guess we imagined an austere staff, and children who didn't smile. We felt quite the opposite, and are ready to apply before the December deadline. (Yes, that is for admission for Fall 2009. Welcome to Chicago, folks.) The idea of having Nourit immersed in French while she's at the best age for learning another language is our main reason for looking at this school. If she remained there throughout her entire school career, she would graduate with an excellent education under her belt, a year beyond most other schools academically. And growing up bilingual would help her learn other languages more easily, and give her a leg up for in our ever-shrinking global community. The pricetag, however, is (gulp) $13,100/year. For preschool. So obviously, we cannot send our child here unless we get an amazing (and it would have to be almost 100% amazing) discount. We'll still apply, though, because those little kids speaking French were so darn happy.

Please Sir, I Want Some...

Tonight, Avi exhibited again that she speaks English. (With her hands, at least!) While Mike and I ate dinner (and Nourit made playdough cakes), Avi kept putting her hands together for more squash and apples. Not quite as clearly as our ASL friend at the left, but very clearly communicating with her hands what she wanted.

She can also clap and wave. What a smart baby! (Makes up for all the fussiness, I guess!)