Summer Thoughts, New Developments & The Perfect Cookie

Ryann has to be at the pool for Swim Team at 8:00 am, 5 days a week. I never thought I'd say this, but I've actually enjoyed being up early this summer!! Summer mornings are so amazing - the heat hasn't set in yet, no one else is out, I roll down the windows in the van, the crisp, clean air smells of wet grass, the sky is bright blue and I love the feeling that a whole fun summer day is still ahead...

Now that I've gotten used to waking up at the crack of dawn to get Ryann to the pool (although, let's face it, there's no sleeping in with my chunky early bird anyway...), this week we've added summer dance. So on top of Ryann's 7 1/2 hours a week of swim team, she's doing 11 hours of dance. 11 hours - then our studio decided that the Ensemble girls could take any extra classes for free... That's when Ryann disappeared. She's pretty much living there now. I drop her off between 10:00 and 12:00, then go back to pick her up at 6:30. She now at 18+ hours and growing... Dance is her passion and this is a great opportunity to try everything - she's taking ballet, rhythm tap, 2 tap & jazz combos, lyrical & hip hop, plus assisting the new class of up & coming Pre-Jrs... Which brings me to our next new development. Madi & Skye were happy to skip dance this summer & just hang out & play like some kids do... Perfectly happy, until Madi heard that she was eligible to audition for the new Pre-Jr. Ensemble... Now Madi is dancing 4 days a week too. Ryann is there anyway, so she was invited to be an assistant for Madi's class. Both girls are excited for auditions in July - Ryann for Jr. Ensemble & Madi for Pre-Jrs. My relaxing summer schedule looks like this...

Here's my girls ready to go to dance. :)
You might think that during one of our little breaks in the day, I would be smart and stay home and relax, but you'd be wrong. We had a short break on Monday and were headed over to the pool when the thunderstorm rolled in. I felt bad for the girls so I decided to have a Cookie Day. I love to bake, but it makes me sad to admit that baking with my girls truly pushes my patience to the limit. A 30-minute job becomes a 2-hour job, full of "She got to put the eggs in! That's not fair!" and "Can I eat 44 chocolate chips, because she ate 44 chocolate chips!" and the dreaded but inevitable spilling of the perfectly-measured dry ingredients... All of these things are such a challenge for the anal-retentive mother. But I really wanted to do a fun activity with the girls, so Madi & I made a run to the store (for things I thought I already had when I made this suggestion) and we got started. We tried The Perfect Cookie recipe that I found on Mindi's blog - it was a huge hit! They were way too yummy! (Thanks Mindi!)

Here's the recipe:

CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COCONUT COOKIES
aka "The Perfect Cookie"
Source: Mystery Woman Barbara Boczany
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 c. brown sugar, packed
- 6 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 c. flour
- 2 1/4 c. oats
- 1 1/2 c. coconut
- 12 oz semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Beat butter and sugars at high speed until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until blended. Beat in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add flour and mix at low speed until blended. Stir in oats, coconut and chocolate. Arrange in 1/4 cup mounds about 3 inches apart on large buttered baking sheets. Pat down to 1/2 inch. Bake in upper oven, rotating occaionally, 15-18 minutes. Cool one minute. Transfer to cooling rack. For smaller cookies, adjust baking time...but they are great when they're BIG.