Day One Hundred Thirty-Seven

Alexis teaches Mila all of the worst things. It's been true since the beginning of Mila and will probably always be true because that 8-year gap is quite the incentive. It's cute when someone so tiny commits shenanigans.

I can't even begin to count the number of times Alexis has prompted Mila to say something ridiculous to me and then sat by giggling when it happened.

But the other big thing is that Alexis very much so wants to have a tiny clone. She wants Mila to like the same things she likes and do the same things she does and ... it's ridiculous. From dance to cheer to television shows to ... everything. Alexis keeps trying to suck Mila into her world.

Usually she fails. Mila is an independent and confident little soul, so she has no problem standing up for what she truly wants. Sometimes she is a little willing to share an interest with her sister, but mostly she goes her own way.

That is especially true when it comes to television and movies. Mila just doesn't like what Alexis likes. They don't agree on any shows, and Alexis can't seem to convince Mila to like the same things she liked when she was little. She has tried Dora, Monster High ... all sorts of things. Mila just doesn't like the same things.

Until now.

The girls binge-watched High School Musical yesterday. All three movies. At the end of their 6-hour extravaganza of time wasting, Mila was hooked. HOOKED. She spent today trying to watch it all over again, but Alexis stopped her.

Because she needed to rewind one line at a time.

So they can memorize the movie. And recite it together.

Mila is playing along.

As if 2020 didn't already have sufficient forms of torture involved.

Day One Hundred Thirty-Six

I've made up my mind that I'm just going to spend the next year or so in the woods. I'll walk along creeks, climb up mountains, and deal with stupid bugs flying in my stupid face because they are far less annoying than stupid reality.

Have you tried going to a grocery store lately? I swear masks are the latest and greatest IQ test. There's a whooooooole group that isn't smart enough to wear them at all. Then there is the other group that doesn't wear them correctly and WHY DOES THIS BOTHER ME SO MUCH? I swear I'm having flashbacks to every group project I ended up doing myself in high school and college because other people couldn't be bothered to try.

ANYWAY.

WOODS.

THEY ARE GOOD. Mosquitos don't disappoint me by letting their noses stick out over a mask, mostly because they're too small for me to see if they're wearing a mask or not. So I'm going to spend a lot of time in the woods.

I'm dragging the girls with me. They're entertaining.

The past few days have seen endless hikes all over the place. We've hit all four corners of Pittsburgh and beyond, which is how we happened to drive by the sunflower field that basically ever teen girl ever has taken a selfie in lately. I don't know exactly where it is, or how to get back there, but we magically managed to drive by it by accident, so of course we stopped. It just so happened that I had my grown-up camera with me and the girls were dressed "fancy" (... for a hike, because they do that randomly for no good reason).

It basically was meant to be.

Which is how it happened that I have 400 good photos of the girls with sunflowers. I have no idea which few I will get printed, but yay for dumb luck! And feeling obligated to get prints of photos!

Day One Hundred Thirty-Five

I really need to channel Alexis' love of baking towards the things that are in our fridge/pantry so ZUCCHINI BREAD. MAKE ZUCCHINI BREAD, KID. Because I need to focus her efforts more, I'm continuing to re-up some of my old favorite recipes. Here's a good one that I first posted in 2012.

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If all of the bloggers in all of the world were to have a cage match to decide who had the best readers, I would win. It would be no contest because y'all are some seriously amazing people. You put up with me begging for money for kids at Christmas time and you keep coming back even though I'm OMG SO ANNOYING. YES I AM.

So ... uh ... thank you.

In a moment of realizing that y'all are really very smart, I went and did something crazy and asked Facebook for a zucchini bread recipe. I have a bunch, but none of them are The Perfect Zucchini Bread Recipe, so blah. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, INTERNETSSSSSS.

I've only managed to try a couple of the recipes that y'all shared so far, so I can't say for certain which one is the bestest in the land, but this one is pretty darn good. It's Katie's recipe and I'm totally posting it without asking permission first because SEE! ANNOYING! THAT'S ME!

It's definitely a solid, dependable recipe. The results are exactly what you think of when you think "zucchini bread," with no crazy extra ingredients or anything off the beaten path. Which, of course, means I made it a second time with chocolate chips thrown in and I'm scheming a way to get way more creative with it.

Get busy, Alexis.

Katie's Zucchini Bread

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Not Dry Ingredients (sorry, you can't make me type the "M" word):
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

You'll also need:
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup walnuts

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil together.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the not-dry ingredients and mix well.

5. Stir in the zucchini and nuts.

6. Pour the batter equally into two ungreased loaf pans.

7. Bake for one hour and ten minutes, or until it begins the zucchini bread starts to brown slightly and a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Pat yourself on back for making a dessert that contains a vegetable.