Partay!

We had a fun-filled weekend. We were invited to a party at the home of another vintner who has been a friend of my husband's since he was a kid. It ended up being a potluck, so we tried all sorts of interesting dishes. I made what turned out to be the fastest dessert I've ever made. It was based on a recipe labeled "fast" in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It should have been made with corn syrup, peanut butter, brown sugar and puffed rice cereal. I didn't have half of those ingredients, so I substituted wheat syrup (because I've never seen corn syrup here), chocolate and corn flakes. It turned out quite well and took a whole ten minutes to prepare. I'd show you what it looked like, but it was all eaten up at the party.

The two older Lambchops and I got to wear some new clothes to the party, too. I wore my new wrap skirt and kimono shirt and felt very pretty the whole evening (which is quite a feat when you're sporting a post-pregnancy body like mine). Lambchop #1 wore a dress that used to be mine. It was always very much a mini-dress on me. I altered the torso section of the dress, and she looks great in it as a long dress. I think she felt very pretty, too. She certainly looked pretty to me.

Lambchop #2 wore a pair of jean shorts I made him. I actually cut out the fabric for these last year but never got around to sewing them, so imagine my surprise when I found they still fit him. I was thinking I'd have to make them girly and give them to his littler cousin. My husband tells me they are so plain, they look homemade. I think he might be right. I could add some contrasting stitching here and there to spice them up a little. I may actually do that, because the side pockets could use some reinforcing.

On a totally unrelated side note, I love this picture of him. His little girlfriend from school is hiding behind him in the background. We were at school on Saturday morning to watch a show put on by Lambchop #1's class. Later, he went out to the playground to play with some of the kids from his class whose parents opt to send their kids to school Saturday mornings (School is optional on Saturday mornings at their age, but it becomes mandatory in elementary school - they get Wednesdays off, though.) Anyway, he and this little girl adore each other, and it just cracks me up to see them together.

And, one last, great tidbit from the party that I don't have a picture of...

I saw my husband dance for the first time. This is something I've never witnessed before, because every time we go to a wedding or some other party, we've got small children who conveniently impede such activities. This party was what they call a Balfort (not sure about the spelling there), which comes from the local endangered language of Occitan. It's basically a party featuring Occitan folk music and dances. The music sounds very Celtic to me, and it involves a lot of dancing where everyone dances together in a circle or in two lines facing each other. At one point, there weren't enough men for the dance, so they asked him to do it. He appeared to have fun, and I took this as a sign that I should be the one to drive home.

He did a couple of different dances with everyone. One of them was a circle dance, where you switch partners each time you make a turn around the room. It was fun to watch. He looked quite a bit like a he was playing rugby and ready to catch a ball at any moment. I didn't take pictures, though, because I figured if I made fun of him, he might never dance with me if and when we're ever at a party or wedding without babies in tow. The funniest part of it all was the fact that Lambchop #2 seemed to have really gotten the gist of all the dancing. Daddy came over breathless and sweating after that circle dance. Our son looked up at his father and said, "So, you've danced with all the ladies now, Daddy?" Perceptive little guy, isn't he?

And lastly:

As I type this, Lambchop #3 is experimenting with maneuvering her way around the room by sliding around on her tummy backwards. She pushes backwards with her arms and moves around in reverse. She just hit the laundry basket, though, so she'll be stuck unless she figures out a way out of there. That's a funny age.