A few weeks ago a work trip had me off to Panama for a few days. Trevor was going to come along, but the hassles of figuring out travel, work schedules, and kiddo coverage proved too daunting at the time. A few days after we decided he would forego this trip in favor of a long weekend elsewhere with just the two of us, I was out with a couple of girlfriends and I casually lobbed the question, “hey, wanna go to Panama?” I would be in meetings for most of my time there, and it really did seem to be a shame to not have someone along to enjoy the beautiful property. And if I was going to have someone, why not two? The question was a part of larger discussion we were having about just saying “yes” to things we want to do in and with our lives, which at the moment involved everything from savoring time together, enjoying our glass of wine, and doing the unexpected in the future. I was the lucky beneficiary of the last point, when they let me know a few days later that they had jumped on the chance to purchase some last minute tickets and would be coming along with me on the trip.
The meeting schedule and travel times dictated that we arrive a day early, which allowed me to spend the full day with my gals, and that was truly a gift. I wasn’t sure when or if I would see them during the rest of the trip, as I had meetings, meals and excursions planned with the full group.

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I had some goodies on hand from last week’s recipe post for roll-out sugar cookies (link here), which proved helpful as we looked for good indoor activities during our recent cold snap. On these cold weekends the days can seem especially long when the kids are cooped up inside all day, and it gets tempting to pop in a movie to keep them occupied. On this particular night it was right before bath and bedtime and I gave them their choice of watching a show or decorating cookies – they jumped up and down at the latter option. I mixed up some simple powdered sugar icing (1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 tablespoons milk), gave the kids some food coloring and sprinkles along with the cookies, and let them go to town.

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There were a whole lot of Valentine’s Day preparations going on at the Olson house this past weekend. Taylor’s classroom has a card exchange later this week and since handwriting is such a focus at his age, the teachers encouraged the parents to involve their children in the card making process. Although that required a bit more advance planning than I generally do, I will be loving it at about midnight the night before the party, which is usually when I am getting things ready for school events. “Yoda Best Valentine.” A great card for a little boy that loves Star Wars, but one that is appropriate for all of the students in his class. Many classrooms don’t allow candy, so we opted to use these gel pens for Yoda’s lightsaber.
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