Weekend blessings and Christmas plates

Gosh, we only lost one hour, but it seems like my whole weekend just flew right by! It was SO full of blessings, though...

Yesterday I took the girls to a pottery painting place. Amelia is obsessed with turtles, so she painted a cute little green turtle, and Sophia painted a mug. We also did... our Christmas plate for 2008.

I started a tradition of making a plate with the kids every year at Christmas, so that one day I will have a whole set of Christmas plates. Up until now, I've always used foot/handprints, but now they're old enough to actually paint it themselves. It's just that this year there was so much going on, I never got around to making one and we missed the deadline, so we finally made it this weekend. Better late than never, right?

Here are the past years' plates (ok, not a great picture - Sophia's first Christmas was her foot print made into a reindeer, her second was her hands made into an angel, and last year it was both the girls' hands made into a Christmas tree):

You'll have to wait two weeks (when it's fired and ready to pick up) to see this year's creation ;)

I had our wonderful teenage babysitter with me to help, and met a friend and her daughter at the pottery place. Afterwards we went to a yummy (NOT diet-friendly) restaurant next door. Then we all went to the park and spent two glorious spring day hours visiting, swinging, and watching the girls get completely c-o-v-e-r-e-d in sand (my car interior is like a desert).

Then last night Davis and I had a date night. We went to a little pizza place and took a long walk... it was lovely!

Today after church, while Amelia napped, Sophia and I made the perfect loaf of bread (thank you Julia Child!) and then cooked dinner together. This is a yummy recipe I found on recipezaar:

Curry Chicken with Coconut and Peanuts
1 hour 15 min prep
SERVES 6 (or, my family of two adults and two young children)

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 beef double bouillon cube
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 glass white wine
2 cups water
salt
white pepper
7 ounces coconut milk
cornstarch, and water to thicken

Cut chicken into cubes, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Slice onion in julienne, and mash garlic.
In a large wok, (or dutch oven if necessary), heat oil to just below smoking.
Add garlic and stirfry til golden, and quickly add onions, and stir.
When the onions begin to soften, add chicken, and stir fry until cooked through and browned a bit--liquid from chicken should all be evaporated.
Add wine and reduce a little, then add peanut butter, boullion, ginger, curry and cilantro.
Stir to coat well, and until peanut butter has melted.
Add water, and simmer about 15 minutes, or until flavors have blended well.
Add coconut milk and heat to just below boiling, then add cornstarch slurry to thicken as desired.
Serve over steamed rice, with chopped cilantro and peanuts to garnish.

Also not diet-friendly. It was NOT a good diet weekend overall, but I lost 4 lbs last week, so I was feeling pretty smug... I haven't gotten back on the scale, but I have a feeling I gained them all back this weekend ha!

Now I need to catch up all the house stuff that's piled up while I was having so much fun - laundry needs folding, floors need washing... and I guess tomorrow I'll have to vacuum out my truck.