Progress

Y'all. Y'ALL. This kid seemingly has suddenly discovered empathy?

I'm not sure what happened, exactly, but somehow Mila has gone from being delightfully self-centered to losing her mind as she worries about the rest of the world. I legit don't know what snapped in her little brain, but here we are. There are now two kids who read a sign that a homeless person is holding and start crying.

Both Alexis and Mila want to fix the world.

I have a million examples of how this whole thing is new and recently prominent, but there's one that is making me extra cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Lost dog signs.

Mila has started to notice all of the lost dog signs that are scattered all around the world. The first time she truly understood the meaning, she quickly turned on me. "Why don't we ever look for the lost dogs?" I have a million answers to that question, but the one that matters is the one I said out loud. "I keep an eye out for dogs that don't seem to be where they belong all of the time."

It's true. I do. I nearly hit one that wasn't where he belonged earlier this summer, in fact. A giant yellow lab was standing right in the middle of the road as I came around a bend, so I slammed on the brakes to keep from missing him. It was a spot where it wasn't safe to stop the car, so instead I drove a little past, pulled over to a safe place, and started trying to lure the dog towards me. The whole time Mila was in the car and I was worried she was about to witness a cry flying around the curve and taking out the dog, but luckily she didn't. I was able to read the pup's tags and send him on his way home.

But I guess that was before Mila discovered empathy? It must be because it didn't come to her mind. She was too busy yelling at me for all of the lost dogs and GEESH, MOM. TRY HARDER.

I've since turned the whole thing into a way to keep Mila from driving me nuts in the car. I tell her I saw a lost dog poster, describe the dog, and tell her to hunt and look and see if she can find it. Good luck, kiddo! I'm sure that lost dogs will just rain from the sky as we're driving around!

Still, this empathy thing looks good on Mila. With any luck, she'll keep it because she's a force of nature and if she decides to channel that towards making the world better? We'll all win.

The Daisy Photo, Volume 16

Well now. We've been doing this for quite some time, haven't we?

In case you don't know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the girls' half birthdays.

On their half birthdays, I ask the girls to dress in a simple white dress and hold some flowers for a photo or four hundred.

Alexis gets daisies because I have approximately 3258913785712 of them in my garden and they happen to bloom right around her half birthday.

Except this year. This year they bloomed over a month early. I have no idea how or why, I just know that they were done before we even managed to get to the correct month.

Which means I had to buy flowers this year. I'm a little bitter about it.

But only because they were SUPER hard to find. It ended up being a thing where I bought several lavish mixed boquets just so I could get a few good daisy stems.

No matter, we got it done.

Alexis paid for her own white dress this year because of course she did. She has a job like a real human now, and she wanted a dress that was more expensive than I'm willing to pay for one little photo. So.

She made her own magic with her own money and it's almost as if she's inching way too close to being an actual adult.

Which is beyond startling, frankly.

Because wasn't it just a few months ago that this whole daisy thing started?

Which means it makes absolutely no sense that there are now 16 different half-birthday daisy photos.

Don't blink, y'all. A lot can happen.

Like this. I blinked and now here is that tiny baby nearly grown up.

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

I bought too many strawberries. I didn't really think that was a thing that could be done, but then I managed to buy two packs of them on Friday night when I ran to the store and then I bought two more today when I ran to the store. Like, who does that? Who forgets they just bought strawberries two days ago?

Me, apparently. That's who.

The girls will destroy most of those by the middle of the week, but I still needed to pull a bunch into a dessert or something so they don't go bad.

Alas.

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

1 pre-made graham cracker crust

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
Zest and juice from one lemon
1 cup heavy cream

1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups strawberries, halved

1. There is not a step here for feeling guilt over using a pre-made crust, so don't spend any time doing that, mmkay? I mean, if you want to spend the time making one from scratch, carry on. I consider that a step worth skipping.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth. Add the cream and mix at high speed for an additional 2-3 minutes or until thickened.

3. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Place a small saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the sliced strawberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch and boil until thickened. Use a fork to smash up the strawberries. Allow to cool.

4. Spread the cheesecake stuff in the graham cracker crust then spread the cooled strawberry goo over top. Finish off your creation with the halved strawberries. Make a pretty pattern if you want. Or don't. Whatever works is cool.

5. Top with some puffs of whipped cream, if you wish.

6. Refrigerate for an hour before cutting. BAM.