whoa. two posts. one day.

It's just that kind of day. Here's the updates:

• I ordered some snow stuff for S, so once this snow melts, there will be no more snow here until she has grown exactly enough that the stuff we bought won't fit. It's Murphy's Law. I'm sure you've heard of it.
• The Peppermint Bark. Oh, Good Lord. Make this. Eat this. Love this. When Molly mentions that the ugly, trimmed off edges are yours to nibble, I think she may have meant that you should set them aside and nibble on them over a lengthy period of time...or at least take longer than four minutes to eat them all. I've got a tummy ache and a sugar-overload headache. It was totally worth it, though. Totally. I will say that this didn't end up being a S-friendly activity. I thought she'd really love crushing the peppermints, but she hated it, and I quickly grew insanely nervous that she'd crush her fingers. She sprinkled the candy onto the two layers that needed sprinkling, but there was a lot of waiting on her part...and three-year-olds aren't big on waiting. Luckily, she was happy to play on her own and continually pick out Christmas music while I made candy. It all worked out rather nicely.
• A Clean Sweep. While I was making candy, S noticed that there were lots of little bits of crushed peppermint that had fallen to the floor (more like EXPLODED onto the floor as I crushed the candy...minor difference). She dutifully went and got her toy broom and told me not to worry about the floor because she'd sweep it all clean for me. She was occupied, so I didn't really pay attention until she told me that I could look because the floor was beautiful and clean. When I looked down, the floor was spotless. You're impressed, right? It even took a minute for the light bulb to go off in my head. This is a three-year-old without a dustpan. What happened to all the peppermint? Turns out, once you get the detritus out of the immediate kitchen area, you can just sweep as violently as you can to disperse it all over the house. I'm finding tiny shards of peppermint candy all over.
• Next year, I'm buying this. And, Toddler Tamer, I didn't find out about this until after our email exchange on the subject of crushing peppermints.
• Now I'm making Ham and Bean Soup, and I'm not sure if this is an exclusively southern thing, but it sure tastes and smells southern. Translation: it's got pork in it and it's delicious. If anyone needs a recipe, let me know. It's easy breezy to make, and it costs about three dollars to make a huge pot of it. It's a win-win.

Toodles, peeps.