We-time

I read a lot about me-time lately in magazines. Me-time to sport, me-time to have fun with friends, me-time to relax or get a beauty treatment. But what about we-time?

With two little children, it is not easy to find we-time with my blue prince. There is always one of the kids requiring attention, or something needs to be done at home, or there is some piece of work that needs to be finished.

Last Saturday we had a romantic dinner: see set-up arranged (as a surprise for me) by my husband:



My contribution was the starter: coquilles with tomatoes. How to cook it?

What do you need?:
- 4 coquilles per person
- A couple of tomatoes
- 1 lemon
- Olive oil, salt and pepper

How to prepare the tomatoes?
First you have to peel the tomatoes (it really makes a difference). Then cut them small, I cut them in thin long pieces, but I do not think that the shape really matters. In a bowl, mix the lemon juice,a bit of oil, some salt and pepper. Then mix the tomatoe pieces with half of the sauce.

How to prepare the coquilles?
Cook the coquilles in an anti-adherent pan. Wait until they are slightly brown on one side, and then turn them. If you are impatient like me, you will find it hard to wait, but please do so, because if you turn the coquilles too many times they get broken.

How to make the plate look nice?
Put first the tomatoes, and then the four coquilles in each plate on top of the tomatoes. Add the remaining sauce on top of the coquilles. For decoration purposes, you can add a bit of fresh persil or other fresh herbs on it.

And there you have a romantic, easy to cook and delicious starter!

Chocolate icecream

Last week we still had snow! And like a little impatient girl I could do no more than ask myself: Why? Why? and WHY?

Luckily, this week it is totally different. Cute flowers are starting to grow everywhere, and according to Lidia (the girl that helps us with cleaning), this means that there will be no snow anymore. Yuuujjjuuu!

Top happyness arrived with the wind. Literally. Yesterday I heard a well known music from... the ice man!



I run outside like mad, since the bus stays only for a little while in the street waiting for clients. You guess, no jacket whatsoever, ugly socks with ballerina shoes (first shoes I found in our hall). But here was my reward! Chocolate ice cream!

Little shoes for little princess

We all know that babies and toddlers do not really need shoes until the moment that they start walking and they need to have something in their feet (specially if you live in a cold country!). Until then, socks with antislip are usually more than enough.

But yes, little shoes look so cute! Specially on little princesses like Anna! My mother is ready handy in making clothes, pathwork and all sort of handcrafts. Last thing she made is a pair of shoes for Anna.


You will need:
- Felt
- Four buttons
- Some cord
- Special scissors to make the irregular cuts

How to make the shoes?
My mother bought the materials from Dona (www.miescaparate.com/donapuntdecreu/); and she used a pattern from Marie Claire Idées. If you want it, just write me (a comment or an e-mail) and I can try to get it to you. For the rest, it just involves making sure it is the right size for your child, sew it together, put the buttons, ...and voilà!

Of course, it is easy to say and not so easy to do, ... but the result is great!

Who is who? Getting to know the family

If you are two years old, it is not easy to get to know all your family and their names. Mama and papa; that is easy. What about aunts, granmothers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, etc?

My sister had a good idea to solve the issue. She made a selection with pictures from our family. Then she printed them in 13x18 format and glued them: each picture in a piece of colored carton. Afterwards she protected each sheet with the plastic used to protect books. Finally, she binded all sheets in a sort of booklet. The album is pictured below:



The result is very nice and quite resistent to be used by naughty boys! Paul really likes it and we use to go over the whole "family book" together. Who is who? Now he knows perfectly well!