Fat Tuesday Linksies

I just think it's funny that it's called Fat Tuesday and I like that as a descriptor - i want a life rich like butter, not skim milk, thank you! Anyway, we are having dirty rice tonight AND i got ambitious and cajoled Kaylen into "helping" me make an easy king cake, because to some small degree you can take a girl out of Louisiana, but you can't take Louisiana out of a girl, and i like to celebrate that.

This post is sponsored by Jason, who took pity on a miserable morning and spent his lunch break going with us to the store and getting some tacos as Cafe Rio. He really is the best.

Have you seen this name popularity over time map? Amanda was almost non-existent as a name before the 1950s and there were no Amandas born in Montana till the 1960s. Of course, for most of the 1980s, there were over 40,000 Amandas born per year.... A name of extreme, but somewhat short-lived popularity.

Favorite parenting posts of the last week or so: Maybe Sometimes Your Kid Just Needs a Hug and How to Get Your Kids to Talk at Dinner and A Dime in My Pocket and now i can't find it but there was a great article on being a "yes" mom - i don't want to always be telling Kaylen "just a minute" or "not today." Even if i only spend half hour chunks just being silly with her, i need to start giving her more of my full time. No jumping up to take care of other things if only for a minute. Oh. Except Penny. She is my number one distraction and also one I often can't ignore...fortunately, her sister also adores her.