This and That

our Japanese magnolia blossoms every spring around February // denim on denim at the doctor's office, much too cold for this weather! // gluten-free pancakes // Afon's 4th birthday

This time last week, we were celebrating Saint Valentine's Day followed by Afon's fourth birthday.  Here he is a year ago on his third birthday.

And my sort-of recreation of it yesterday:

You'd never know from his pictures that he is such a happy, joyful boy!

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For Fat Tuesday, we repeated pancakes and made Daniel's shrimp remoulade.  It came out perfecto.  It was pretty easy, if you're not too stressed by multiple ingredients.  No cooking, baking, or blending required.  Just chop, measure, and mix.  And boy was it tasty!  I mean, it can be a salad dressing, a bread and veggie dip, or a sauce for pasta.  I'm definitely making this recipe again!

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Lent approaches, ponderous and slow, and I'm not the only one who feels that way.  Molly makes me feel A-okay about not really diving in.  The past couple of years, I've done a more-or-less traditional Byzantine fast, which entails fasting from all animal products for most of the week.  This year, I am post-pardum, breastfeeding, and fumbling with an illness/food intolerance.  It wasn't even an option in my peripheral, and I don't feel guilty about it, and I don't feel guilty I don't feel guilty about it (well, maybe just a twinge).

Remember this from last year?

Well, I'm recycling that school of thought for this Lent.

I have been doing daily Scripture readings with Blessed Is She and following along on the #holylens project and #OnlyOneThing on Instagram.  I need the least of the least incentives to loaf about on Instagram.

What are you doing/not doing this year for Lent?