Today…

Outside my window:it’s starting to get pretty cold, at least by my wimpy standards. Yesterday was in the 40’s and 50’s and jackets and winter hats were dug out of the nether regions of our closet. Except for my husband who may as well have been wearing shorts and a t-shirt compared to my cold-heating gear. Little BB seemed to be more on his side, trying to abandon anything warm we put on her. MM was on my wimpy side, donning his cute Elmo hat and big scarf – and still complaining about the cold. ;O)

This weekend we: went to an annual street festival that we’d semi-enjoyed last year (we only semi-enjoyed anything this time last year having basically just had a baby). We parked on the outskirts of the festival near a favorite coffee shop and had a warm cuppa, letting MM burn some energy in their little kids section. Then we headed outside into the windy cold and walked about a mile through various shops’ sidewalk sales and a few street entertainers. I was very worried that Dan would not enjoy the festival and I think I probably bugged him, constantly asking if he was having fun or if he wanted to go home. I’ve found in the past that if he isn’t enjoying something, none of us would, and I wanted to make sure he knew that I wouldn’t mind leaving if he wasn’t feeling it but I think I just ended up being annoying. Whoops!

At the end of the mile we got to a local library’s annual book sale which cleverly coincides with the street festival. We’d never made it that far last year and I was itching to check it out – and I’m so glad we did! For such a small hole in the wall library, the selection of books for sale was GREAT and I scored three books for just a dollar each that I am very anxious to read in the near future!

I wrote more about this here.

We also:took the kids to this silly themed restaurant called Quaker Steak & Lube. Have you ever eaten at one of these places? When you drive up it kind of looks like a gas station with gas pumps, etc. decorating the parking lot. Inside is lots of race car memorabilia, car racing arcade games, etc. They really themed the place up and it’s a little cheesy but kind of fun. The kids meal we got MM came in a cardboard race car – so cute!

I wouldn’t say the food was terrific and I would definitely say it’s over-priced but it was fun and we may go again someday for a special occasion. MM’s favorite part was probably the fun twisty straws our drinks were served with – something I can easily recreate at home!

I am reading: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (book four) which I actually started to read while we were on vacation at the Dells when I realized that somehow I had never read book three even though I’d been convinced I already had. Blah, blah, blah – I finally found book three which had been lost in our sea of bookshelves, read it, loved it, and now I’m reading book four again. It makes much more sense now!

And yes, of course, this means I finished Mockingjay last week, which I plan to review tomorrow. I stayed up way too late Friday night to finish it because I got to that point, you know the point in a book where you really just physically cannot put it down. The book had officially sucked me in in the last third – I mean the whole thing was fantastic, but by the last third of the book, I was basically obsessed to the point where Lady Gaga songs actually seemed to relate to the plot of the book. I know.

You should check out these great links:

• It is officially soup weather in our home and I just found an awesome new recipe at Tasty Kitchen: Outrageous Garlic Soup – I’m planning to make this soon!
• I love this idea from Nesting Place for having a lunch basket in your refrigerator to store all of the little jars and bottles that you use on a near daily basis – genius!
• Ohdeedoh recently featured this map play mat on Etsy that your kids can drive their matchbox cars on – and it got me thinking of ways I can make a map of our actual neighborhood for MM so he can see the streets and shops we visit frequently in map form. If I were really crafty I might be able to draw or digitally create something like this map and get it laminated. Hmmm…
• Did you get a chance to see Ellen’s important message about teenage bullying yet?
• If you’ve recently had an electronic device ruined from water damage, you might want to read this.
• How adorable are these Max costumes from Where The Wild Things Are featured at Ohdeedoh?
• Another video you need to see: Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon give a rap history lesson (found at Kottke.org)
• The Frugal Family Fun Blog is one of my new favorite resources for fun family ideas – I love this Autumn Window Display!

One last picture to share before I go: look at this pretty winter squash from our CSA that I’m planning to cook soon, maybe tonight. It’s so pretty I’ve been putting it off, but I hate to let it go to waste. It’ll likely get baked tonight.