Preparations, or How will I clear off this dreaded table?

It's that time again, almost Friday night, which means almost Shabbat. This is what my dining room table looks like:

In honour of full disclosure, as per Knitty Gritty Homestead

Ahhh, moving. You think you'll be unpacked in a week and then you realize you've gone completely mad to think that anyone could complete more than one task a day with two young children under foot. And so here we are, a few hours from a very special night, and I've got some work to do. (At least the sunflowers are already in place. Fresh flowers are a must for this Shabbat table.) I'll see you back here next week, with some posts that I can't wait to share. In the meantime, I am going to leave you with the following summer to-do list, created by me and Alyce earlier today. It is a list of all the things she would like to complete before the end of summer vacation. May it inspire your own summer adventures.

Have the most wonderful of weekends! Report back, would you? I'd love to know how you enjoyed this July weekend.

We bake

 We settled in at (on) the counter to make challah today. Shira was napping, so we got to baking.

We (Alyce) tasted the honey, because, I have no reason. It's just what one does. 

She put her entire self into the project.

She told me stories of princesses.

And best of all, she had the good sense to give me a break and do some dishes already.

Our house smells of warm challah, and I don't know if there is a better smell in the whole world (the cookies we also made this afternoon were a close second). More cookies, you ask? Yes, I need help. I. Can't. Not. Bake. But if you think that over-baking is really so terrible, than I don't think we should be friends. And you might want to stay friends, because then you can eat the cookies. 

Moving on. I'm excited for a relaxing Shabbat dinner tonight with Matt (the girls are heading to bed early tonight after they both woke up on the wrong side of early this morning). Tomorrow me and The Children have been invited to a tea party at a friend's house, and Sunday the three of us head to Toronto for a visit with other friends, where we will enjoy, among other good things, some Indian food. Matt is taking most of the weekend off because he deserves it. We like and and want him to stay happy.

What are your plans for the weekend? I hope it's a great one.

Getting Ready

Reset. I love Friday nights.

Shabbat Shalom, everyone. I wish you the best of weekends!