Embry Loves Cookies

2011-07-18T15:36:00.009-05:00

We have been quite busy around here this summer. I have once again enrolled the kids in swimming lessons. They have started their second session this week. Matthew is doing great and loves every minute of the class. My main concern with Matthew is safety. I worry about him just running and jumping into deep water when no one is around. I was happy to see his instructors go over the "Rules of the Pool" every day and I think he is learning a lot, safety wise.

Here is Matthew volunteering to go first for something.

And here he is practicing "scooping" as they call it.

Embry is whole other story. She is very excited about going to her lesson every day. However, she has pretty much hit a wall as far as learning anything else because, she absolutely refuses to get her face wet at all. So her instructor is pretty limited in what they can do. For the first week of lessons, Embry had an awesome teacher who got her into the deep end of the pool and actually convinced her to let go and swim (doggie-paddle) about 3 feet on her own. But, in the following weeks, she has had instructors who don't push her nearly as hard and just let her hang out in the shallow end where she feels safe. I understand that she is scared, but I also know that she is VERY stubborn. So, I think she really needs someone to push her. Unfortunately, the program, not the parent, chooses the instructor. They do offer private lessons, but they are super expensive. I am starting to consider it, though. I mean, how much is it worth to have a child who can swim safely?

Here is a photo of Embry’s class. Notice how she’s the only one using a noodle? This particular instructor gave up trying to get her to swim on her own, so her gave her a noodle to keep up with the other girls in the class.

Embry and I shared our first mother/daughter pedicure and manicure for my birthday. Embry loved it and we both got cute little designs on our toes. I have painted Embry's toes before, but this was her first time having them professionally done, and her first time ever having her fingernails done. She felt very grown-up.

We had a great 4th of July at the home of Embry's best friend from school. We have become friends with her parents as well, and they invited us to their house for playtime, dinner and to watch the fireworks. There is a great spot for viewing the fireworks about 2 blocks from their house, so we just walked down after it got dark and hung out until the show. The kids had a great time playing on the slip-and-slide all afternoon, and they kept themselves busy with glowsticks and glow-necklaces all night. They were pretty cheap dates that day.

Then, on the weekend of my brother's birthday, my Mom, my Dad and I all surprised him by driving all the way to Ohio and visiting. I have not been to visit Nicolas since before Embry was born, so I'm sure it was quite a shock to see me there. His good friend arranged the whole thing including a surprise party with lots of friends, pizza, cake, and presents. It was a lot of time in the car, and not nearly enough time with family, but we had so much fun.

And the weather in Ohio was perfect! Unlike the insane heat wave that we are currently in the middle of right now.

Our projects this week include
1) Ridding our shed of 3-4 very destructive woodchucks (or are they groundhogs?)
2) Getting my dishwasher to actually wash my dishes
3) Keeping the family cool without out going crazy from being indoors all day

Well, some weeks are more exciting than others, right?

Start of Summer Update

2011-06-07T13:12:00.004-05:00

Around the House: Well, the kids are out of school for the summer and the three of us are spending our days at home together. I have switched back to nights and weekends only at work. J is doing what he always does. Everyone keeps asking me, if it's a big adjustment having the kids back at home, but really it seems like only yesterday that it was last summer. So, no. No big adjustment here. I have to reserve naptime for getting any work done, of course. But, I really am enjoying having them here with me. We've been finding lots of fun stuff to do.

In the Kitchen: I made this a couple of nights ago. It was very bacony. And even though the heat index was 103 last Friday, I couldn't help myself. I turned on the oven and made oatmeal raisin cookies. I was having company, after all, and you can't have someone over for lunch without some sort of fresh baked good. It's just good manners.

New with Embry: I am trying to prevent the kids from getting summer Brain-Drain. So, I asked Embry if she'd like to learn about money. We collected some loose change from around the house and she has been sorting and counting it ever since. We also signed up for the summer reading club at the library and Embry has read about 7 books so far this week. She loves keeping track of her progress on the chart that they gave her.

New with Matthew: I had almost forgotten what it was like having someone home who needs to be entertained all of the time. Luckily, Matthew has his sister to keep him company. But, when Embry is doing "school-work," Matthew is happy to read a book with me or help me with housework. We are concentrating on improving his speech this summer, so I am basically just trying to engage him in conversation all day long. He's already talking a lot clearer.

I am Grateful For: Time with my children. I know that someday very soon they will be spending their summers somewhere other than home with their Mama.

The Weather Outside: The crazy weather continues around here. About 8 days ago it was 40 degrees out, and this week the temps are in the upper nineties. It seems we have been violently shoved into summer. Something else to look forward to... the 13 year locusts. They are slowly making their way north and soon we won't be able to hear ourselves talk when we're outside. Yay.

I am Obsessed With: Unfortunately for my family, I have become hooked on yet another video game. It's one of the seek and find games that you usually have to pay for, but I found a free version on Facebook. Like I need another reason to be on Facebook. Sheesh. But I need something to keep me busy until the next Harry Potter Lego game out this fall. :)

Matthew and Soccer

2011-05-15T18:33:00.010-05:00

One of the many new things that Matthew has been exposed to this spring, since starting school full time, is team soccer. He is, of course familiar with the concept. He's been kicking a soccer ball around the yard since he could walk. And he would come with me to watch his sister's soccer practice every week for the last two years. He would always grab one of the extra balls and kick it around while Embry practiced. And every couple of minutes I would have to pull him back off the field because he wanted so badly to join in.

So, when the opportunity came, we signed him right up. Here's some footage from the first after school practice. Because a lot of the kids have never played before, they are doing very basic stuff like dribbling the ball without using their hands. They are playing on the tennis courts because the it had just rained a whole lot that afternoon and the grassy field was a muddy mess.

Also, all of the kids ages 3 through 6 are playing together for the first practice. The coaches do this so they can sort them out according to ability and split them up into two groups for all of the following sessions.

So, as you can see, Matthew is engaged and seems really excited to finally be included.

Around the 3rd or 4th session, I started to notice a difference. When I would arrive to watch Matthew was no longer engaged with the other kids following instructions. He was sitting on the ground off to the side of the field... playing in the dirt. I would get his attention and tell him to go back to the group. He would reluctantly go back to the soccer, but after about 5 minutes, he would return to the dirt.

You see, Matthew has befriended another boy in his class. And together... they... are... trouble. And not just at soccer practice. Apparently, neither one of the cares too much about doing what everyone else is doing. Now to be clear, if the coach addresses them specifically, they'll grab their ball and return to the group. But, the two of them get bored real quick and spend most of the hour playing in the dirt, watching the older kids' group, and playing hide-and-seek.

Matthew's teacher has told me that the two of them continue this behavior in the classroom. She has much less patience than the soccer coaches, though. She constantly has to separate them to keep them from doing their own thing during group activities. Unlike Embry, who has always been concerned with being part of the group, Matthew (and his friend) don't seem to care.

We're talking to Matthew about listening to his teacher and not disrupting the rest of the class. But, I say, if he wants to be an individual, then go for it! Bill Gates is an individual, and I'm sure that Mark Zuckerburg was never the teacher's favorite.

Transition

2011-05-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

*This post is brought to you by UPS*

Why UPS? Well, there are two things that I should be doing right now. One is grocery shopping, and the other is sleeping. But, because I am awaiting the delivery of my shiny new vacuum cleaner, and because I know that UPS will not leave it here without a signature... I have to stay home and I have to stay awake. Technically, there is a third thing that I could be doing and that is working on my grilling class for Sunday. But, I've got 3 more days to put that off!

ANYWAY, because it has been months since my last post, I decided to focus on the biggest change around here since my last post. After being a stay-at-home Mom since February of 2005, I have started working (some) days again because my baby boy is now attending school full time. That's right. I am now without children all day, all week.

Yes, it has been 4 months since this change, but I am still not used to it. When I'm out and about during the day I always feel like I'm forgetting something, like I should be holding onto something with my free hand. Or I'll remember that I didn't pack a snack and then realize that I didn't need to pack one for just me. The absence of kids in my day to day life still seems huge.

In the beginning, everyone kept telling me that, OK, I'd miss them at first, but then I'd find all this free time. And after a while I'd realize how nice it actually is to have both kids in school. But, even now, I still miss them a ton and somehow, I have no free time during the day at all. Because my schedule at work has opened up, I have more responsibilities. It seems that conference calls, errands, and class organizing has sucked up any free time that I might have otherwise had.

However, I am still only working part-time. And now that I can do more work during the day, I can spend more evenings with my family. Before, I would get to eat dinner with J and the kids maybe twice a week. But now it's more like four or five times a week. So, although I'm spending much less time with Matthew, I'm spending more time with the entire family.

Embry still complains regularly that I work too much, which hurts every time she says it. I just calmly try to explain to her that, "Mama has to work so that you can go to school." She loves school, so this explanation seems to satisfy her... until the next day when she complains again. (I don't know where she get this constant complaining stuff from. It must have skipped a generation.)

So, despite feeling like I've had my children ripped from my arms at way too young an age, I know that these changes are good for everyone. More responsibility at work means that despite being one of the newest people there, I won't be the first one fired if they have to cut payroll. Matthew loves school (more details about this in a separate post), and is making great strides socially and with his speech delay. And I'm sure that J is thrilled that he doesn't have to make dinner and put the kids to bed by himself every night. Winners all around!

(But I still miss my babies.)

Memories

2011-01-10T14:27:00.011-06:00

Last week I wrote about taking down my tree and all of the memories that it brought back. So, I'd like to share a few of my favorite ornaments and what I love about them.

Every year I get an ornament for the tree that has the date somewhere on it. Fortunately, Hallmark and various other stores sell tons of dated ornaments, so the hard part is usually picking out just one. This year, my mom and I baked like maniacs for 3 days straight, so this ornament seemed most appropriate.

I just love the teeny tiny pastry bag with "2010" on it!

Another addition to the tree this year was this tiny copper skillet. I told J that I bought it to commemorate my going back to work at Williams-Sonoma, but the truth is that I just couldn't resist the cuteness of an actual skillet that was so small.

Last Christmas, I volunteered to teach the kids in Embry's class how to make a few basic origami forms. After they mastered the basics I taught them how to how to make this candy cane. Embry became totally obsessed with making these and completely covered our Christmas tree with paper candy canes. When putting away the tree last year I threw these in with the other decorations, and when I took them out this year, Embry was thrilled to put them on our tree again.

Another contribution from Embry is this beautiful glass ornament that I use as our dated one for last year. A student at Embry's school has parents who are glass artists, and as a special treat, they allowed any student who wanted, to blow their own glass ornament! The kids picked their colors and blew into a long tube to form the hollow glass ball. I'm so glad that we let Embry make one. You can't see in this picture, but it has her name and the date engraved on the top.

Some of our dated ornaments signify an important event that occurred that year. For example, Embry and Matthew each have their own ornament for the year they were born. This one is dated 2003 and was picked out to celebrate mine and J's first Christmas after we got married. (You can tell I really like ornaments with tiny food on them). Little champagne glasses and little chocolate covered strawberries. So cute!

This next one takes tiny cuteness to a whole new level! On the outside it appears to be a simple painted matchbox. But when you open it up...

...it's actually a tiny nativity scene! I left my hand in the frame on purpose to show how adorably small this one is. The characters inside are three dimensional figurines painted with amazing detail. My brother gave this one to me several years ago, and it is still one of my favorites.

This one was given to me this year by my Mom. There's no date on it, but I do specifically remember making it when I was little. I love that stuff like this has survived. Both of the kids were so fascinated by the idea that I was once small and made stuff like that.

Although it doesn't go on the tree, this next decoration is one of my most precious. It's an angel that was given to me by a little girl who lived down the street from me when I was about 5 or 6 years old. At the time, we lived in the middle of nowhere and I didn't have a lot of playmates. I have no idea what happened to her (we moved away the next year), but I have always loved this angel and I put it out every year.

Finally, this red plastic bell came into my possession earlier this year. It belonged to my great-grandmother. There were bells of several different colors and each one bore the name of a great-grandchild (my cousins).

The bells were hung on the Christmas tree at my grandparent's house every year, even long after my great-grandmother passed away. One of my fondest childhood memories was of my brother and I arriving at Grandma's house on Christmas morning and finding our bells on the tree. We would always argue over who's bell was in the most optimum position. Higher on the tree and more towards the front obviously meant that Grandma loved me more.

*Notice the red bell near the top... that one is mine ;)

These are just a few of my favorites. Almost every ornament that goes on the tree has a memory or a person associated with it. That must be why I cherish so much putting up the tree every year, and why it makes me sad to take it down. Maybe some day, when I'm rich and I live in a big fancy house (that someone else cleans), I'll have a second "Martha Stewart" tree that gets all of the color coordinated bows and ornaments in concentric circles. But for now, I am very content with my hodgepodge tree full of memories.

Christmas Clean-Up

2011-01-05T09:13:00.008-06:00

Two days ago, I took down my Christmas tree and I cried. Not only because it was my baby boy's first day of school and I was missing him like crazy. Not only because I had eaten the last of my Christmas pannetoni, or that I had the last season of M.A.S.H. playing in the background. I was sad that Christmas was officially over. And as I lovingly packed away ornaments and decorations I was reminded of the Christmases of my childhood.

You see, this year I had some new ornaments on my tree. After my grandpa passed away last year I acquired a few things that once belonged to my grandparents, or my mother when she was little. Among those things were a few Christmas ornaments. I was thrilled to have them in my own family's home and part of our Christmas. But, as I was packing them away for next year, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the realization that I will never again spend Christmas morning at my grandparents home as I had every year growing up.

It has, of course, been several years since I have been "home" for Christmas. Since I've had children of my own, we have spent Christmas here at our house with both my family and my husband's family. I look forward to Christmas for months and I love having everyone here together. We had a great time laughing, baking, eating, exchanging gifts, and playing games. Together we enjoyed old traditions and created new ones that I hope my children will look forward to for years to come.

I realized on Monday that the door has closed forever on a part of my life that I remember very fondly. Luckily, I have lots of pictures to help me keep those memories alive.

3 Years Old!

2010-12-10T12:52:00.010-06:00

Last week my baby boy turned 3. We had a small gathering of family to eat cake and open presents. I let Embry pick out the cake, since Matthew showed little interest and she picked out this...

A not so seasonally appropriate swimming pool cake from a Jello kids cookbook that I bought a couple of years ago. Complete with swimming/floating/sunbathing bears (adult and child bears due to my mistake of buying "mini" teddy grahams instead of the regular size).

It was fairly easy to make, just a 13x9 yellow cake with most of the middle carved out and blue jello poured in. Frost with cool whip (I'm not sure why, other than to sell more products of the same brand) and accessorize with graham crackers, gummi life savers, mini oreos, and cocktail umbrellas.

I was kind of weirded out by the whole jello/cake combination, and the fact that the cake didn't have much cake in it. But, everyone seemed to like it ok.

Matthew was not much interested in opening his presents, so Embry did most of the opening. He loved the toys that he received (once they were unwrapped), but somehow we couldn't convince him that it was OK to rip apart paper and boxes. He kept looking at me to check if it was all right. Silly kid.

His favorite present, by far, was this back-and-forth car ramp thingy...

He's been playing with it pretty much non-stop since he opened it. Thanks Uncle Nicol!!

Overall it was a great afternoon. Matthew even learned to say that he's three when we asked him how old he is. This amazes me because he wasn't yet saying anything on his last birthday. How far he has come in one year - 1000 words and about 6 inches! This will definitely be the last birthday he'll have being shorter than his big sister. :)

Happy birthday Matthew!

Denial

2010-12-02T12:37:00.002-06:00

Normally, this time of year is my favorite. Putting up the tree, baking cookies, writing out Christmas cards, shopping! I don't even mind my (retail) job, which gets exponentially busy this month. More hours = bigger paycheck, and busy days go by really fast. But there is something that has been looming in the back of my mind for a while now. It's something that I have tried very hard not to think about for months. It used to seem far away, but as the year gets closer to ending this thing is creeping closer to the front of my thoughts.

My baby, who will be turning three tomorrow, is starting preschool full-time in January.

I was forced to come to terms with this when I bought Matthew a lunchbox yesterday. I just about lost it right there in the aisle at Target. Now, this lunchbox, which represents a huge change in our lives, is sitting in our front room, and every time I walk past it I get sad.

I don't know what is the matter with me. When Embry started school at roughly the same age I was excited. I may have shed a tear or two when I dropped her off on her first day, but mainly my emotions were positive. I knew that she was going to a great school, and that she would flourish. Even despite a few "I want my Mommy" episodes the first semester, I really pushed her to go on, because I knew how good this would be for her. I was right, of course. Embry is doing fantastic in a class that we still love everything about. So, why can't I feel the same excitement for Matthew?

I know that he is going to do well. He gets the same great teacher and will be in the same class as Embry for the first semester. All the teachers and staff at the school already know him. He's familiar with the classroom, he plays on the playground, and even knows some of the kids that will be in his class. I think the entire experience will be even less scary for him then it was for Embry. He is ready. I... am not.

My thoughts are simple and irrational. I am not ready for my baby to leave me. Matthew and I spend every morning together after J and Embry head off to work/school. We sit in the recliner in the livingroom and share breakfast while watching the news. We are both content to snuggle and tickle and read books and sing songs all morning long without doing anything productive like taking a shower, starting the laundry or cleaning up the house. I love my life as a stay-at-home Mom, and I don't want it to change.

But, I keep reminding myself that change is inevitable. Matthew has to go to off to school eventually. J and I discussed it at length and we agree that now is the best time for him to start. I'll just have to soak up as much Matthew as I can over the next few weeks. And once he starts, I'll be counting down the days until summer break when I can have both of my babies home for a couple of short months to snuggle and tickle and read books to and sing songs with.

Fun Things to Do in the Fall

2010-10-25T16:18:00.006-05:00

Pumpkin picking!

First we have to play in the dirt.

Then we have to convince Grandma to carry us, even though we are perfectly capable of walking ourselves.

There is tractor riding...

...and lots of time spent trying to pick up pumpkins that are too heavy.

WAY TOO HEAVY!!!

Matthew found one that was way too small (hee hee).

Finally, we found two pumpkins that were juuuussst right.

Next up was flying,

then goat feeding,

then parakeet petting (um, ok).

And finally some camel riding?! I honestly didn't think Embry would be up for this, but anything is possible when Uncle Nicol is around! Go Embry!!

My New/Old Job

2010-10-25T12:19:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago I worked my last shift at Costco. After a whole year of getting home at 10:30 or 11:00 at night, I'd decided I'd had enough.

One week ago, I started my new/old job at Williams-Sonoma. The staff there was desperate for a Keyholder/Tech Class Instructor, and I apparently fit the bill. It was a bit scary at the first few nights. Especially since it had been over two years since we left Huntsville and I had worked at WS, but my coworkers assumed that I had just moved here last week. In the first 2 days, I was running errands, taking conference calls and closing the store. I figured my first couple of shifts would be filled with sweeping the floor and taking out the trash until I got the lay of the land. I guess not.

Fortunately, everything has come back to me pretty quickly. I remembered all the register functions, how the gifts are supposed to be wrapped, and even how the associates are supposed to answer the phone. I just have to remind myself to not to say "Costco food court" when I pick up the phone.

Yesterday morning I arrived at work preparing to "assist" with the first Technique Class. It's a good thing that I over prepared, because my manger said to me after we walked into the store, "You seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff, why don't you do all the talking and I'll back you up."

Uhh...ok?

So, essentially I ran the first class, and it went great. Thirty people attended, which is about the most I have ever spoken to. I have been informed that the next few classes (the Thanksgiving ones) usually draw around 50 people. I don't know where they are planning to fit all of these people, but bring it on! At least I no longer have to wear a hairnet.

What happened to September?

2010-10-01T12:37:00.005-05:00

Three months ago, I had a birthday. Instead of presents, I asked everyone to give me Home Depot gift cards so that I could get a new screen door for the house the we had very recently acquired. The screen door that came with the house was annoying. The screen was halfway ripped out. The door didn't latch on its own and you had to wait about 30 seconds after walking through it in order to pull it closed because the hydraulic thingy that closes the door was broken. The door jam was cracked and every few months I had to move the plate that the door latches onto because the screws kept pulling out of the wood. See? Annoying.

But on Tuesday, the install guy from Home Depot came and put in our new door. Because we had gift cards, we splurged and got a nice one. The install guy put in a brand new door jam, so it opens and closes like a dream. It also has this button that you can tap with your foot to hold the door open (without putting down your groceries or your kids), and then you just tap the door and it closes again. But the best part is that it is "fullview." The entire door is essentially one big floor to ceiling window, and I love it! I think Embry said it best with, "Mama, I feel like I'm outside!" It lets in so much light in an already pretty bright room, that when you walk past the door it really does seem like there isn't a door there at all.

It is our first official home improvement since we bought the house and I never thought I'd be so excited about a screen door.

Funny Story

2010-09-03T12:44:00.002-05:00

Where to begin...?

Ok, a couple of weeks ago I woke up at about 2:30 in the morning to what sounded like a crash (or maybe a really loud thump.) Being the paranoid person that I am, I immediately assumed the worst. I thought for sure that someone had broken into our house to murder us. After sitting up in bed listening for sounds of intruders for a couple of minutes, my panic subsided a little and I started coming up with more rational explanations for the sound that woke me up. I got up and checked on both kids. Embry has a tendency to fall out of bed, so the noise I heard might have been her, but they were both safely asleep in their beds. I checked the front and back doors - they were both locked. I peeked out the blinds into the front yard - no burning wreckage from a car crashing into our house. Hmmm. I was starting to believe that I had imagined the entire thing, or maybe I had dreamt it. But, I could've swore that I not only heard something, but that I had felt something as well. Surely, I didn't imagine that. I was too tired to debate it any longer and I went back to bed.

Two days later I went downstairs to my basement to wash a load of towels. I got to the bottom of the stairs and I almost tripped over something. I was carrying a huge laundry basket, so I couldn't see what it was right away. I put down the towels, and picked up an empty plastic bottle. Well, actually, I was half of an empty plastic bottle. I turned on the light to examine the bottle and to try and figure out why it was lying at the bottom of the stairs. In an instant I understood what the noise was that woke me up 2 nights earlier.

You see, J likes to brew small batches of beer. He received a kit a few years back, and he has successfully made several batches of pretty decent beer. He bottled his last batch about a week before the middle of the night incident. Apparently there was some sort of flaw in one of the bottles, because when I turned on the basement light that morning I saw that beer had covered just about every surface in our basement... floor, ceiling, wall, furnace, washer/dryer, boxes, shelves. Everything was sprayed with beer when one of the bottles exploded. And I don't mean exploded like when you drop a soda can, and it foams all over your arm. I mean exploded like a bomb. Boom! I could see where it had hit the ceiling directly underneath our bedroom.

You'd think that I would be upset about the gigantic mess all around me. About the fact that I had a ton of stuff to do that day, had both kids at home with me, and that I had to go to work that night, and therefore had no time to clean up such a mess. That all of that sticky beer would have to stay on the walls and the ceiling for a day or two before I would get the chance to spend hours cleaning it up.

But, I just laughed. I actually laughed out loud because I was so ecstatic that I had not imagined that noise in the middle of the night.

Another Birthday...

2010-08-30T17:20:00.006-05:00

... Another ridiculously complicated cake (cupcake) recipe.

I don't know why I do this to myself. Everyone would be perfectly happy with a chocolate boxed cake mix and canned frosting. But, no. I have to ask my husband, "What kind of cake do you want? Let's make something different!"

Husband - "Hmm. How about churro cupcakes?"

Me - "Churro cupcakes!? Where did you come up with that?"

Husband - "I dunno."

I wondered if there even was such a thing. But where there's the Internet, there's a way, right? Lo and behold, I found these and I decided to give it a shot. I mean who can resist those adorable mini-churros?!

The cupcake "assembly" is actually three separate recipes (if you don't count the whipped cream). 1. The cake recipe, flavored with vanilla and cinnamon, turned out tasting just like snickerdoodle cookies...yum! 2. The dulce de leche filling for the cupcakes was actually super easy, but time consuming. The hardest part of that was opening the store-brand can of condensed milk. For some reason I could not get the top to come off, so I ended up scraping the stuff out with a spatula. Way too messy! Anyway, it turned out tasting just like the Kraft caramel cubes that you melt to make caramel apples...double yum! 3. The fun part was making the tiny churros. I don't have a lot of experience with deep frying things, but I figured these would be easy since they were so small. They didn't require a whole lot of oil to fry in, and they cooked in about 2 minutes. Pretty easy...and SO CUTE!

The best part was, that after all of the fun of filling, and topping, and miniature churros, the cupcakes tasted amazing! I was afraid that all of the additions would be too much, but they went together perfectly! One of my favorite cake recipes ever.

Oh, and J had a great birthday too! Happy birthday honey!

**Side note - Embry picked out the candles a month ago, long before we decided on cupcakes. I forgot about them until about five minutes before this picture was taken. Lesson learned = pick out your dessert before you pick out your candles.**

Summer Update!

2010-07-14T12:19:00.006-05:00

Around the House: OK, so it's not like nothing has happened in the last three weeks. It's really J's fault for my lack of blogging. You see, he bought me (for my birthday) the new Harry Potter Lego game for Wii, and I have been using every free moment I have to play it instead of blog (or cook, or clean, or do yardwork.) It is so incredibly addicting. According to the game, I am 54 percent complete, so that means only 3 more weeks of nonstop playing and I should be finished, right? That is unless the game gets harder as I get closer to finishing it, or unless there are a bunch of bonus levels, or extra characters to try out. Who knows how long this may go on?

We did actually celebrate my birthday rather quietly this year. I decided that instead of having a big cookout, and making a fancy cake that we would buy a cake...

(I know) and go out to eat all weekend long, so that I could spend my time relaxing with my mom and my husband and kids instead of cooking and cleaning. It was a great plan, I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier! Of course, no birthday (at least, not MY birthday) would be complete without fireworks. So we headed to a "smaller" event, rather than fight the huge crowds downtown. It was Matthew's first fireworks, and although he was a little unsure at first, he seemed to enjoy them after they got going. He had just learned the word "birthday" that weekend, and he kept shouting it all during the fireworks show. We might be setting him up for disappointment when his birthday rolls along sans fireworks.

In the Kitchen: Not much going on here (see previous mention of new Wii game). I did however make my award winning (ok, 3rd place) chili last week, and chicken and dumplings this week. The chili recipe is great because it makes a huge amount. We immediately freeze half of it and then eat leftovers all week long. Chicken and dumplings is one of my favorite recipes, although the "from scratch" recipe takes all afternoon to make, it is well worth it. My only complaint is that my biscuit dumplings are never as fluffy as my grandma's used to be. If anyone knows the secret to fluffy dumplings please let me know.

New with Embry: Embry finished her first session of swimming lessons a couple of weeks ago.

It was only 8 half-hour sessions, but I feel like she progressed a lot. Before this, she would never get into the pool without her floatie and she would never EVER get her face wet, or even think about putting her head under water. But now, she hops right in the pool, goes with me into the deeper water, doesn't complain too much if her face gets splashed, and will occasionally agree to go under for just a second. She can float by herself on her back for about 10 seconds, and she can swim great with a kick-board, but she still can't really swim on her own yet. We are debating whether to continue the lessons (and another $60) this summer or let her practice at the pool on her own and wait until next summer to do more lessons. So many parents tell me that kids often will just teach themselves if they get enough time at the pool. We'll see.

Also, Embry's two loose teeth are still there, just a little looser.

New with Matthew: In that same department, Matthew has two new teeth, both molars. If I didn't brush his teeth every day I'd never know he was getting any new ones, since he has never once complained about getting them.

He has made up for the lack of whining though, when it comes to getting his haircut. It has been about 9 months since his last official haircut. He will tolerate a few snips every few weeks, but that's it. I was able to trim the 2 inch tail off of his neck and get his bangs out of his eyes this month. The rest looks horribly shaggy. More than one person has compared his new look to Ringo Starr circa 1964.

Also, people keep reassuring me that longer hair is "in" for boys now-a-days. Well, call me old-fashioned, but I believe boys should have short hair that doesn't touch their face or their neck or their ears. It is driving me crazy! We have tried everything...cutting his hair in the bathtub or the sink, in front of the tv with his favorite show on, using clippers instead of scissors, giving him a sucker, even watching Daddy or sister get a haircut to show him that there's nothing to be scared of. If he doesn't get over this soon, tranquilizers may be in order.

I am Grateful For: The gift cards I received for my birthday for Home Depot. I'm going to use them to get a screen door that actually closes and new locks for the front door. And if there's any left, maybe some paint. That one takes a lot more planning, though, so we'll see.

The Weather Outside: Typical July...hot, humid, the occasional thunderstorm. Not so bad that we can't enjoy the park for a couple of hours in the morning, but the slides start to get too hot by about 10:30am.

I am Obsessed With: Do you have to ask? I need to hurry up and finish this post...only 45 minutes of naptime left to play Harry Potter!!

Matthew's New Dance

2010-06-21T14:21:00.009-05:00

It has always been amazing to me how as soon as babies can sit up, they will dance to music. How do they know how to do this? No one teaches babies this concept... at least I didn't teach my kids to dance. Who knows what they would've ended up doing then? Anyway, Matthew loves to dance! Practically all kid's shows have music in them, and he has a specific dance for each one. His dance for Dora is different than his one for Wubbzy and so on.

Now, despite my best efforts, both of the kids are now obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba (thanks a lot J!). The show is way too weird for my taste, but it does have lots of interesting music. And I have to say that Matthew's dance to this song is my new favorite of all his previous dances. He dances it the same way every time, so it's not random. He definitely has a very specific method. And it is pretty funny...even if the song gets stuck in my head so much that I need a sledgehammer to get it out.

June Update

2010-06-09T12:38:00.002-05:00

Around the House: The week after closing on the house (Yeah!) we had our annual yard sale. If it was up to me I would've given myself a week off after all of the stress of buying the house, but I wanted to have it the same day as the city wide sale. I was so tired from the week before that I forgot to put the signs up until late the night before, and I forgot to advertise on Craig's List until a few hours before. Despite my lack of effort, the sale was a success. I got rid of an entire room full of junk. We sold all of our big stuff except for our old entertainment center, which we just dragged out to the street afterwards. We were too lazy to carry it back in, and it was gone within a couple of hours. The few things small things (mostly clothes) that were left, we packed straight into the car and J dropped them off at Goodwill. My rule is that nothing comes back in the house. The weather was miserable hot and sticky, but no rain. And my newly empty basement is worth all the sweat in the world.

In the Kitchen: The only thing I have really "cooked" recently was blueberry muffins made from fresh-picked-out-of-Grandma's-yard blueberries. She brought up a ton of them, and even though I made a double recipe, there were still lots left for freezing. They'll be perfect for pancakes or waffles over the next few weekends.

New with Embry: A few firsts for Embry last week...(1) She has two loose teeth. She was a little freaked out about it at first, but now I think she's looking forward to when they actually fall out. She keeps asking me every morning, "Did my tooth fall out yet?" I keep reassuring her that she will definitely know when her tooth falls out and she won't need me to tell her. I can't wait to see how cute she looks with one or two missing. (2) She got her first library card. The purpose of actually visiting the library was to return a book that I found in my piles of yard sale stuff. It was purchased from eBay a while back and I noticed that it had "St. Louis County Library" stamped on it. So, I thought I would return it and get Embry a card while we were there. She was very proud to pick out a couple of books and check them out all by herself. Of course, she's already tired of the two that we borrowed and after 3 days wants to pick out some more. I suppose there are worse things for her to be into than reading a whole bunch of books, right?

New with Matthew: Matthew has become a master at immitating people. From acting out entire scenes from Max and Ruby, to mimicking every word and action of his sister. Embry thinks it's funny for about 5 minutes. Then she goes into my bedrooom and closes the door to make it stop. It is pretty cute. Especially when Embry is reading and Matthew grabs a book and sits down next to her and pretends to be reading too.

I am Grateful For: See above for clean basement!

The Weather Outside: Well, at the moment, its sunny and hot. Two hours ago it was downpouring, and it's supposed to storm later this afternoon. Pretty typical. No complaints unless it decides to storm on my way to work.

I am Obsessed With: Now that the house is ours (well, technically it's the bank's), there are so many things that I want to change. They all cost money, of course (which we don't have) but it's nice to know that we don't have to ask permission to paint a room or hang something on a wall. I'm asking for gift cards to the Home Depot for my birthday.

Is it Summer Already?

2010-06-01T20:05:00.012-05:00

It must be since school is over and Embry had her last soccer practice last week.

And summer is for swimming...

We're using a blow-up pool that we bought last year as a back-up for the now infamous "dragon pool." That pool (which was actually a dinosaur) lasted through about 2 swims before ripping and being left in a pile in the corner of the patio. No one seemed to care, however, because we swam at the school pool every Friday night. Now that I work most Friday nights, that won't be happening this year, so the kids will want to swim in the backyard more often.

So far, the $5 back-up pool is working great. And Embry's $4 goggles are working great too. She wears them, not to see underwater, but to keep the water from getting into her eyes when Matthew splashes her... which he does about every 30 seconds.

I also love the new swimsuits that I found at Target this year. Matthew is sporting some cute shark themed trunks, and I totally dig the trend in girl's suits the last few summer of covering up as much as possible. I let Embry pick out her own suit and she chose this super cute yellow one.

Here's to great summer!

Couple of Recipes

2010-05-21T12:03:00.002-05:00

Here you go Mom...two of my favorite lunch recipes (well, one is a recipe, and the other is more of a technique).

Wilted Spinach Salad

This recipe makes enough for one big serving or two smaller ones. Sometimes I like to throw some pieces of cooked chicken on top for a more filling meal. You can easily double or triple this recipe for more people.

2-3 strips of bacon (I like 3)
6 to 8 oz fresh spinach
1/4 of a yellow onion, sliced very thin (original recipe calls for red onion, but I never have that around)
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp. sugar
1/8 cup cider or red wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
pinch of salt and pepper

Fry bacon in a large pot that you have a lid for. If you don't want to fry up some bacon you can use leftover bacon drippings, but you won't have any bacon pieces for the salad. This can be either a good or a bad thing depending on your dietary needs. When bacon is crisp and most of the fat is rendered out, remove bacon pieces to some paper towels to drain. Pour out any extra drippings, you'll need about 2-3 tablespoons in the pot.

Add the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and sugar to the pot and cook over medium-high heat until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Working quickly add the vinegar and mustard to the pot and scrape with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits in the bottom of the pot.

Remove pot from heat, add spinach to the pot and quickly cover, allowing spinach to steam until just starting to wilt. This will take about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Remove lid from pot and toss the spinach lightly with tongs to distribute the dressing. Garnish with reserved bacon pieces and serve. Yum!

Boiled Artichokes

Prep artichokes by cutting off the top 1/4 and the stem right at the base of the artichoke. Peel the stem to remove the woody outer layer. If the tips of the leaves are sharp, you can trim them with scissors, but this part isn't necessary.

Place the artichokes upside down (and the stems) in the bottom of a pot with a big pinch of salt and fill with cold water, enough to cover the artichokes. The artichokes will float, so put something heavy, like a heavy pot lid on top of them to keep them submerged.

Bring pot to a boil uncovered and turn down to simmer for about 10 minutes. Test for doneness with a paring knife inserted into the stem end. The artichoke should be tender but not mushy.

Serve with lemon butter and enjoy!

For more on how to eat an artichoke or for a couple more yummy recipes go to YouTube.com and search for Alton Brown and artichoke.

End of April Update

2010-04-28T13:08:00.002-05:00

Around the House: There is so much going on here that I barely have time to write this. But, I am in the middle of baking cookies for our trip to Rock Falls this weekend, and this is the only thing I can do keep myself from falling asleep in between batches. First up is our trip home this weekend for my Grandma H's surprise 80th birthday party. The surprise is that about 75 of us (yeah, it's a very big family) are getting together to celebrate. A lot of my relatives live near my hometown, but a lot don't, so getting everyone in the same place at the same time has taken a ton of planning. It should be great. Catered Mexican food, lots of new cousins for the kids to play with and hopefully lots of pictures to show you later.

Next, and maybe most importantly... we are buying a house. More specifically, the house that we already live in and are currently renting. We are finally over our biggest (possible) hurdle as of today when the inspector came out to do his thing. He gave us the best possible news that the house has no major defects. Now, we pretty much knew that already, having lived here for the last two years, but we were very afraid that he'd find some sort of hidden potential catastrophe like termites or mold or something. So, now that that's done with we just have lots and lots of paperwork and phone calls to complete... and I mean a lot. But, if all goes well, we'll be the new owners of our house in a few weeks. Yeah!

Lastly, we are super busy with school as it winds down for the year. I spent all day yesterday sorting through the kids' clothes for donating to the school Rummage Sale. I am helping out with a plant sale tomorrow morning. I am observing Embry's classroom as well as an Elementary classroom (since Embry may transition sometime next Fall) next Tuesday. Next Friday morning, Embry's class is having a Mother's Day breakfast, and the week after that we are participating in the school's first ever Trivia Night. Whew. I keep telling J that I'm afraid I'm going to show up to something on the wrong day, because I can't keep everything straight.

In the Kitchen: Aside from the chocolate chippers that I'm baking right now (a road trip must have for us), I tried yet another yummy recipe from Our Best Bites. I made the peanut butter and jam bars. The best part about this recipe? I didn't have to buy a thing. I already had all of the ingredients right there in my kitchen. Easy peasy!

New with Embry and Matthew: When Matthew was born, we explained to Embry that although she will always be older him, having a brother means that someday he will be bigger than her. J and I were both speaking from personal experience, of course. (J being a taller little brother and me being a shorter big sister). Last week we had to sit her down and further explain that this event was going to occur much sooner than we thought. I don't particularly remember when my little brother surpassed me in height, but I'm sure it was sometime in high school. Yet, I am predicting that Embry's "little" brother will be bigger than her sometime this year. Matthew now weighs the same as his big sister and wears the same size shoes. He is now in a size 4T (yes, 4!) clothes, while Embry is just barely in a size 5. I caught them standing next to each other yesterday and noticed that he has less than an inch to go before he reaches her height.

If they didn't look so much alike I'd never believe that they were related. Embry is small and petite in every way. Her waist is about the size of my forearm. She has baby fine hair still, and ever her voice is small and high pitched. Matthew is built like tree trunk. A very fast growing tree trunk, you know...like a birch or something they make paper out of, that grows back really fast after you cut it down. Even his hair is thick. It's just hard for me to believe that they both came from the same genetic mix. Someone should do a study on them. Seriously.

The Weather Outside: It's been a pretty typical spring, so far. Chilly enough in the morning that you still need a jacket, but warm and sunny enough in the afternoon for shorts. And absolutely perfect at night for leaving the window open in the bedroom while you sleep. Ahhh.

I am Grateful For: I am going to change this section just this once to "I am Hoping and Praying For..." Safe travel for us and for all of the members of the family as they trek towards Sterling, Illinois. And also for great weather, so that we can enjoy each other's company as long as possible.

I am Obsessed With: I am going to change this section just his once to "I am Re-Obsessed With..." LOST. The series finale is coming up in a few weeks, and I have finally convinced J how great this show is. So, he started going back to watch all of the old episodes. Of course I had to watch a few with him and now I am totally re-obsessed with watching all of the old ones again before the finale. I know it sounds cheesy, but there are so many things that I am picking up on this time around now that I have watched them all before, and it is making the new ones that much better. LOST is quite possibly my third fav show of all time, behind M.A.S.H. and Seinfeld. And with everything else going on, it is the worst possible time for me to be obsessed with watching anything on TV. But I find ways to make it work. After I finish this blog post, I'll be putting the laptop in the kitchen so I can watch LOST while I finish up the cookies and wash dishes. Too much?

ABC's and 123's

2010-04-14T12:52:00.004-05:00

I finally got Matthew to say his numbers and letters on camera. He was only a little bit distracted...

And in case you're not yet convinced of his genius, here he is counting his loot on Easter morning...

Kids are Funny

2010-04-07T13:51:00.003-05:00

Why is it that little kids enjoy manual labor? Scrubbing the sidewalk, digging holes in the dirt... doesn't sound like much fun to me. But to my kids, it's apparently a great time.

This video actually went on for about 15 minutes. At one point, they were raking as well. Good times, good times.

Easter Sunday

2010-04-07T13:31:00.004-05:00

I know this post is a little late, but I've been spending Matthew naptime...well napping (instead of blogging). Getting home from work at 10:30pm and trying to watch the episode of Dances with the Stars or LOST that I missed that night before falling asleep is taking it's toll. Hopefully once the summer gets here and there aren't any new shows on, I can get to bed a little earlier.

Anyway, we had a busy but fun Easter weekend. We started out by taking Embry's new kite for a flight at a field in Forest Park. It was a nice day, but the wind was very sporadic. Every time we'd successfully get the kite up into the air the wind would completely die and the kite would crash. It's a good thing that Embry was content with flying a few feet above her head. Just as satisfying for her I guess.

After the kite flying got boring we went to the drive-thru at Steak-N-Shake for some lunch, and since it was so nice out we decided to eat at the little park a couple of blocks from our house. The kids played some more and we headed home for naps.

When Embry woke up, she and I dyed Easter eggs. Embry did it the traditional way with fizzy tablets in coffee cups.

I chose a different method (see previous post). My silk tie-dying turned out pretty good. Although I would've liked the colors to be darker. After the water came to a boil I turned the dial from 9 to 7 and the stupid stove must've thought I meant 2 because it cooled down too much too fast and I never did get it back up to a boil. I think that's why the colors were light. It was still pretty neat, though. You can actually see the elephants from one of the ties on its respective egg. The blog post that I got the idea from was right...1. You can find the ugliest ties at a thrift store and 2. The ugliest ties make the prettiest eggs. I mean, who buys (or wears) a tie with circus elephants on it?

All the eggs turned out great. After more playing outside and a "snack dinner," we called it a day.

Saturday was uneventful, since I had to work all day. And by work, I mean brave the insanity that is the Costco food court on the day before Easter. I think it might have been worse than Christmas.

Sunday started out great with the kids opening the Easter baskets. I found some cute stuff to put in them this year, without adding too much candy. I was right in thinking they might get way too much of that later. Embry got a jumprope, "the Very Hungry Caterpillar" book, a chocolate bunny, a flower headband, and some Cadbury eggs. Matthew got a board book, a super high bouncy ball, and a smaller, cheaper chocolate bunny.

After breakfast the kids hunted eggs in the backyard and then we packed up to go to J's Aunt's house.

It was a nice drive there (2 1/2 hours), although neither of the kids napped like we'd hoped. They stayed in a good mood the entire time we were visiting, and ate relatively well. After a third egg hunt (the first one was at the Botanical Gardens a week earlier). ..

...with roughly 240 eggs for 4 children, they had amassed enough candy for the next 5 years. Embry also found 12 eggs with dollar coins in them. Cha ching!

We had a slightly less pleasant ride home. Matthew fell asleep for about 30 minutes and woke up in a terrible mood. He was completely inconsolable, and when we stopped at a gas station to let him out for a few minutes, he refused to get out of the car. So we drove the next 15 miles or so with him screaming bloody murder, and after a while he got tired of screaming and rode the rest of the way home just fine.

We got home just in time for baths and bedtime. Then J and I collapsed on the couch and ate 2 platefulls of leftover Easter dessert for dinner. We were tired but happy. I hope everyone had a great holiday too!

Spring Update

2010-03-23T13:58:00.002-05:00

Around the House: It is Spring Break for Embry this week, which means my days are harder and easier. Harder because I am not used to picking up after and entertaining two kids all day anymore. Easier because we are not rushing around trying to get ready for school in the mornings, and I'm not waking Matthew up from his nap to pick Embry up in the afternoons. Overall, I like that I get to spend more time with Embry, but it makes it a little harder to get the house clean.

In the Kitchen: I have always liked avocados for as long as I can remember. But, when I was pregnant with Matthew, even the thought of them turned my stomach. It took me a while to warm back up to them, but now I can't have them enough. I buy them 6 or 7 at a time from (where else?) Costco and eat one almost every day. My favorite thing to do is mash one up with some green tomatillo salsa and some lime juice and eat it with tortilla chips. I have that for lunch 3 or 4 times a week, at least. Yum.

New with Embry: Embry went to a gymnastics class last week with a friend from school. She loved it, of course and wants to go back for more. She was also upset, when at the of the class some of the little girls went on to dance class in the next room. "Is it time for dance, now?" she asked. And my heart broke that she wasn't signed up for that one too. So we are considering a summer class for her at the community college. But what subject? She wants to do everything from dance to golf. I really want her to take swimming, mostly for practicality, but I want her to enjoy it too. We'll discuss it some more and, I guess decide later.

New with Matthew: Since the weather has been so nice, we have been going to the park a lot. The kids have a blast, but it completely wears me out, because Matthew is a total dare-devil. He refuses to stay on the little kids area of the park that is clearly designated for "ages 5 and under." He wants to climb on the huge parts of the playground, and slide down the biggest slides. Of course, he doesn't want any help, all the while getting pushed and shoved by all of the 12 year-olds running past. I want to let him be brave, but it is exhausting running around after him, ready to catch him if he stops paying attention for 1 second and walks off an edge. Whew!

Matthew is also very much into counting, right now. Rather than explain how cute that is, I am trying my hardest to get a video. Stay posted.

I'm Grateful For: All of the time that we are going to be able to spend with family in the coming weeks.

The Weather Outside: Spring is finally here! It is sunny and warm... and a little wet. But that's spring in St. Louis, right?

I'm Obsessed With: I remember seeing this egg dying technique on Martha a few years ago, but like a lot of things on her show I figured it would never work if I tried it at home. But, the same technique was featured on a blog that I follow, along with lots of comments from readers who had tried it and were successful. I'm so excited to try it, I can't wait for Easter!

Lost and Found

2010-03-16T14:08:00.003-05:00

The day of Embry's birthday we pulled out the video camera and discovered that the battery was nearly dead. Five minutes later we discovered that we had lost the power cord. We managed to tape a minute or two before it conked out, but I wasn't able to download what we recorded with no way to recharge the camera.

A couple of weeks later we ordered a replacement from Amazon and when it arrived we promptly left it on the box on top of a pile of junk mail for another week. Last week, I finally remembered to charge the camera and download the video to the computer. So, sorry Mom for the delay, but here is a couple of minutes from Embry's party.

Today, when I was putting away the kids' hats and gloves I found the original charger... in the coat closet in a bin of old hats and gloves. I don't why I didn't look there before. At least we have a spare now, right?

Banana Bread

2010-03-16T13:03:00.002-05:00

I am just finishing up the last piece of the banana bread that I made a couple of days ago. It is one of my favorite recipes for two reasons. It is super easy, and it is so yummy! The recipe is from my favorite and well worn cookbook, The Best Recipe. My copy is so stained and torn and burned, it is definitely time to get new copy.

Anyway, I thought I would share it with you today (the recipe that is; you're too late for the bread).

Recipe makes one 9-inch loaf.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups toasted walnuts, chopped coarse
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup plain yogurt (the secret ingredient, do not omit, and be sure not to use vanilla or any flavored yogurt as a substitute)
2 large eggs, beaten
6 Tbs butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. *TIP* I like to put the walnuts in the oven to toast while its preheating. By the time that the oven is ready the walnuts are done about 10 minutes.** Grease and flour bottom only of regular (not nonstick) loaf pan. If you use a nonstick pan the bread will not rise as much and will be a little too dense.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and walnuts together in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Mix mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Fold wet mixture into the dry mixture gently. Do not over mix or the bread will be tough.

4. Pour batter into pan and bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Easy peasy! Enjoy!

March Update

2010-03-04T13:54:00.002-06:00

Around the House: I'm trying to organize toys this week. It seems like all of the sudden, we have no place to put anything, and I am tripping over toys everywhere. Embry has agreed to fill up one huge box with stuff for the yard sale, so that will help. The best part is that I may have to make a trip to Container Store!

In the Kitchen: I made a super easy cream of broccoli soup for the kids' dinner last night. The recipe was so easy that I made it from start to finish in the 40 minutes between bringing Embry home from school and going to work. All while getting dressed for work and wrangling the kids during their usual after school craziness. I can't find the recipe online anymore, so I'll try to post it later.

Also, I'm making Puppy Chow tomorrow since I can't stop thinking about this recipe I saw on my new fav food blog last week. Hello, sugar coma!

New with Embry: It's going to be a busy weekend for Embry. She has the day off from school tomorrow because of parent-teacher conferences. We're gong to meet with her teacher to discuss her upcoming transfer to the Elementary class. Yikes! She's going to a friend's house to play Friday afternoon, and then a birthday party on Saturday. Phew. I never remember being this busy when I was 5.

New with Matthew: It's been so long since Matthew's last haircut, that he is starting to remind me of a tiny werewolf. He has an appointment next week, and I am dreading it. Holding him down for his last haircut wore me out and gave me a sore back for 2 days. maybe I should just let him grow it long until he gets over this. Ugh. I just can't. I cannot have a little boy with long hair.

I am Grateful For: Matthew and I finally feeling better. He and I both slept through the night a couple of times this week. Yeah!

The Weather Outside: It's looking a little like spring outside...45 and sunny. I'm sure we're not done with the cold yet though. It is St. Louis, after all.

I am Obsessed With: Well, if I have to think about it, there must be nothing, right?

He's a Growing Boy

2010-02-22T12:38:00.004-06:00

Matthew has officially outgrown his last piece of baby furniture. After a month or so of sleeping diagonally in his crib (the only way he would still fit), we decided that he was ready for a big boy bed. We found one on super clearance at Pottery Barn Kids and they just happened to have twin mattresses at Costco that week. Done and done.

Still, I knew that hardest part would be convincing Matthew to actually sleep in his new bed. Why? He loves his crib. He sleeps in it. He plays in it. He chews on it. He has a little ritual of running his hands back and forth along the rails before bed. But, the thing that has me the most concerned? When we got Embry her big kid bed, she loved it immediately. And everyone knows that if Embry likes something, Matthew will hate it. If Embry does something well, then Matthew will resist that same thing for weeks. They are opposite in every way possible.

So, in preparation for la resistance, we decided to keep the crib up in his room, so that we could ease him into the new bed gradually. We were totally prepared to go back a forth a few times before making the switch permanent.

Well, we have finally found something that Embry and Matthew have in common. Yes, they both like to prove their parents wrong. Matthew jumped into his new bed on that first night and slept like a champ. For the last week, when bedtime rolls around, he runs into his room, climbs up into bed and lays right down without so much as a whine. And did I mention how cute and small he looks when he's asleep in such a big bed. It still makes me say "Awww," every night.

On the same subject, Matthew has also outgrown his carseat. Well, it was actually Embry's carseat; the last one that she had before the booster. We stupidly assumed it would be the last non-booster seat we would have to buy. (He's getting really good at proving us wrong lately.) It seems that the old seat, as huge as it was (especially when trying to fit it through the security x-ray machine at the airport), it has a weight limit of 50 lbs. And although the salesperson at Babies-R-Us didn't believe me, Matthew is dangerously close to that number, and will surpass it far before his 3rd birthday. For anyone who doesn't know, you're not supposed to put kids into a booster until they're at least 3. So, I had to shop for a special (read expensive) seat with a higher weight limit that still has a harness. Babies-R-Us had one, and it was a Graco which I know to be a safe brand, but it was $180! Yikes. Fortunately, the same salesperson reminded me that they were having a "trade-in" sale, where you could bring in an old carseat and get 25% off of the new one.

Now, I was planning on keeping the old carseat and selling it at our next yard sale. But, I decided to trade it in for a couple of reasons. 1. (selfless reason) You're actually not supposed to use carseats for much longer than we have because they start to become less effective with age. And I would hate to think that I sold an unsafe carseat to someone. 2. (selfish reason) I would never get $45 dollars for it at a yard sale, which is how much I would be saving on the new one. Plus, I would have to spend at least an hour getting it clean enough for a yard sale (yes, it is that disgusting). So, I dragged the old dirty one in and wheeled out the fancy new one. Matthew loves it because it has a cupholder like his sister's. Bonus: the new seat is convertible to a booster for kids up to 100 pounds. Now that sounds like a lot, but I'm sure that Matthew will grow out of this one before he is old enough to go without a booster. (Come on Mattie, prove me wrong on this one).

Happy Birthday!

2010-02-15T14:44:00.006-06:00

It was a very snowy Valentine's Day this year. As a result, Embry's party got cut a little short. Grandma and Pawpaw had a long snowy drive home ahead of them, but I think Embry had a good time while they were here. Her friend, Olivia, also came by to play (her first official playdate with a school friend). She opened lots of presents...

And ate puppy cupcakes...

I made these from Hello, Cupcake! A very cute decorating book. They were incredibly easy, which is good because I made them at the last minute and after a very long and busy day at work. At about 9pm, the night before Embry's birthday I assembled the cupcakes while J put together Embry's dollhouse...

...which Matthew loves just as much as Embry does. Not that I didn't expect a boy to play with a dollhouse, but I wasn't sure he would be old enough to be interested yet. The good part about this dollhouse is that it actually has two big halves that can be separate or together, so they can both play without fighting... too much anyway.

Matthew also had a good time with the balloons.

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old! Happy Birthday Embry! I hope your wish comes true!!!

Mid-Month Update

2010-02-08T11:59:00.007-06:00

Ok, so January was not a great blogging month. However, I am vowing to get back with it this month (what's that, February is halfway over already?! Hmmm.) with a few more posts.

Around the House: A busy week this week. Embry's class is spending an evening at the Magic House on Thursday and I am both baking treats and helping to organize and serve them at the museum. This year will be slightly different than last, since we are taking Matthew. We agreed that he is old enough to enjoy the museum now, and old enough not to get tired and cranky at 6pm. We'll see. Embry is off of school Friday, her birthday is Sunday, and she is off of school again on Monday. So, a very long weekend for the birthday girl... lucky her! We are having a very small party at home on Sunday afternoon with me, J, Mattie, Grandma and Pawpaw, and one friend from school of Embry's choosing. I have a feeling that having a friend over to play will be the only thing she remembers from this birthday.

In the Kitchen: We are not football watchers in this house. So, the only part of Superbowl Sunday that we celebrate is the food. I picked up a couple of frozen appetizer things from Trader Joe's, including mushroom turnovers and arancini balls with bruschetta. I made this yummy hot cheese and red pepper dip from my new fave recipe blog, Our Best Bites, and of course, little smokies. Because you can't watch football without little smokies, right? Ok, so we didn't watch any football. We watched Big Love instead, which is absolutely great this season!

Last week I also made Cheesy Rice and Broccoli Casserole.

Amazingly it is one of my favorite foods to eat at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I have never made it myself. I was inspired by the recipe in my Cook's Illustrated weekly email where you make it (get this) from scratch. No cream-of-something soup, no frozen broccoli, no instant rice. The whole thing from scratch. It took me nearly an hour, and dirtied up a sink full of dishes, but it turned out SO GOOD! It had way more broccoli in it than usual (2 1/2 pounds), so I didn't feel guilty having it for lunch 4 days in a row. That same afternoon I whipped up these Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars.

So easy and delicious, and the crust tastes just like those peanut butter sandwich Girl Scout cookies. (Hmm? I wonder if my Girl Scout cookie order is in yet? Anyway...) Try this recipe from Angie at Half-Assed Kitchen; it takes about 10 minutes and is just as satisfying as the casserole that took much longer.

New with Embry: On the verge of turning 5, Embry is excelling at school, more than I ever thought she would. She loves to write in cursive now, she's reading everything, and a pro at adding and subtracting really huge numbers. The most shocking thing to me? Geography. Montessori schools like to brag that before kids enter the Elementary class (around age 6) they are able to name and locate on a map, every country in the world. "Yeah, right," I always thought. Alex Trebek can't even do that. But so far, Embry has learned the countries in North and Central America, South America and Asia, as well as all of the provinces in Australia. She is currently working on Europe. Wow! I don't think anyone ever attempted to teach me the provinces in Australia. I'm certainly impressed. And I know that she did not inherit this particular talent from me. I got a D (my only D ever) in Freshman Geography in high school. Ok, so some of that was because the teacher hated me, but still.

New with Matthew: Since I can't think of anything for Matthew, and since I haven't posted and pics of the kids of the kids for a while, I'll just do that instead.

I am Grateful For: Not living on the East coast. For lots of reasons, but mostly because of the recent weather. The news said that D.C. got 32 inches of snow last week. I like snow, but not that much.

The Weather Outside: We got between 1 and 2 inches of snow out of that same storm that hit the the eastern U.S. And it was finally the kind that you can make a snowman out of! The kids were very happy.

I am Obsessed With: Nothing at the moment, so I'll talk about movies instead. My husband and I both had the opportunity to go to the movies this weekend. (Not together, of course.) I went to see The Lovely Bones. J went to see Avatar. Now, although the film I saw was not perfect, it was beautifully shot and directed, and had a good story. The ending left me very unsatisfied, but I was entertained nonetheless. And that is the key concept to a good movie. Was I entertained? Or was I checking my watch half-way through thinking, "Wow has it only been two hours?" I am not one of those people who only like serious, meaningful movies. I love a good slapstick comedy or action flick, too. But, sorry to all you Avatar fans out there (especially Susan who has at last count seen it 5? times)... I will not waste $10, plus $3 for the 3-D and 3 hours of my precious freetime on this movie, because I do not think it will keep me entertained. I'm sure it really is visually spectacular, and I'm sure it will win 11 Oscars. But looking good can only get you so far. So, if you haven't seen Avatar yet, don't. Save your $13 for the Lovely Bones, or Young Victoria (very good), or rent Funny People, or Yes Man. Those are just a few of the highly entertaining films I have watched recently.

Thank God It's February

2010-02-01T12:52:00.002-06:00

Around the House: It's a good thing that we have the new Wii Fit game to keep us occupied during the cold winter months. Even Matthew loves to watch. Just like all of their games, this one is quite addicting and has become the thing to do around here.

In the Kitchen: I actually had two days off in a row this week, so it seems logical that I would spend some time in the kitchen. However, we've been using the excuse that we get so very little time together that we do not want to spend it cleaning up the kitchen. So, last night, we got Chinese takeout. And although I am perfectly capable of whipping up some pasta and garlic bread tonight, we'll probably just heat up some leftovers. There's always next weekend.

New with Embry: Embry is now counting down the days to her birthday. She still gets upset that she's not having a huge party like all of her friends from school, but I think she'll be OK when she sees her dollhouse and her puppy cupcakes.

New with Matthew: I've noticed that Matthew's attention span has gotten significantly longer lately. He has always loved books and puzzles, but he'd lose interest after a few minutes. Even quicker if it was something he couldn't figure out immediately. But over the last couple of weeks, he seems more patient. More willing to work things out before asking (whining) for help or walking away. Definitely a positive development.

I am Grateful For: The love and support of my extended family through what was a very rough January... for all of us. Our new year officially starts now.

The Weather Outside: Not nearly as bad as it could be in the Midwest in February. It is cold and dreary, but not icy and windy and dangerous to drive in. At least not this week.

I am Obsessed With: Yes, I am excited about Lost tomorrow, but not nearly much as I am to make these...Single Serve Pie in a Jar. I found the recipe on my new favorite blog, Our Best Bites. I am already obsessed with make-ahead and freeze desserts. They are perfect for snacking when I get home from work at 10:30 at night; a few cookie dough balls or an apple strudel popped in the oven. And now these little individual pies. They are so cute and look so yummy! I am ordering the jars from Amazon today. I'll try to remember to take pictures, so I can let you know how they turn out.

2010 Update

2010-01-05T13:26:00.002-06:00

Around the House: Well, it is a new year and the chaos of the holidays is over. Embry is back to school, J and I are back to work, the house is back to its usual mess. I guess I feel like I get to slack off on the cleaning now that it's just us here.

In the Kitchen: All of the leftovers are finally gone, so it's back to the same old stuff. We did so much cooking for Christmas, but almost none in the week after. I kind of miss it. I definitely miss having lots of cookies around to snack on. I'll be posting pictures from Christmas dinner on Facebook soon. It was our most ambitious dinner yet with a crown roast of pork and a croquembouche (which was apparently a popular dessert this year).

New with Embry: She hasn't even played with all of her Christmas presents yet, and she has already made a list for her birthday. And what does she want? An airplane. Not a dollhouse (my idea), or a bicycle. An airplane. I'm not even sure what exactly she means, but I guess I'd better find out.

New with Matthew: Newly 2 years old, and jabbering non-stop. Of course, I can't understand what he's saying most of the time, but he will carry on quite a conversation with anyone he meets. The cashier at the grocery store found it very amusing this morning.

The Weather Outside: I think the high for today is supposed to be 15 degrees. 5 inches of snow tomorrow and the high for Friday... 2. 2 degrees! Yikes. I miss Alabama.

I am Grateful For: Warm blankets, warm slippers, and warm kids and husband to cuddle with.

I am Obsessed With: I'm not sure if it's quite an obsession yet, but I can't wait for the new TV to start. Big Love next week. Lost in February. And the Tudors in March. I need to start warming up the TiVo.

Superstition and Resolution

2009-12-31T15:52:00.005-06:00

My last few New Year's Eves have been rather uneventful. Not that I'm complaining. A quiet evening at home with J and the kids, some yummy food and a movie or two is a great way to spend the holiday. Especially now that I am working and those evenings are so rare. But before I was married, New Year's Eve had a different tone to it. I'm not sure why, but they always ended up... not so great. I won't go into any detail, but every year it was something; bad parties, drunk friends, flat tires, snowstorms. I was convinced that December 31st was just a bad day for me. So, I started staying home. And for the past few years it has worked. Uneventful... until today. The curse has returned.

It started out with Matthew waking up shortly after 5 am because his overpriced, so-called "nighttime" diaper had ripped open and spilled "liquid absorbing crystals" all over Matthew and his crib. It turns out that the crystals only hold on to that liquid while they are inside the diaper. Now, normally when Matthew wakes up too early, we can change him and put him straight back to sleep for an hour or so. Not today. By the time we got the mess cleaned up, he was wide awake.

Skip to us rushing out the door to get to the store and me forgetting to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. You'll see why that's important later.

We actually had a good trip to the store, capped off by the kids quietly and happily eating their frozen yogurt from the food court where I work, while I read half of a magazine.

Next, it was off to get haircuts. This is where things started to turn. I noticed that Matthew was sleepy in the car. I should've just aborted and called it a day at this point. But, you know how it is... you just want to get stuff like this over with and not have to make another appointment and drag the kids out again, blah, blah, blah. So, I rationalized that he would be fine, just like the last couple of times I brought him here. I knew to expect a little bit of whining, but nothing like what was about to happen.

We actually got in right at our appointment time, despite a full waiting room. Matthew was first and we brought his favorite DVD to distract him. He complained while they put on his cape and then started to throw a fit while they wet his hair. All of the sudden, he slammed his head forward and smashed his face onto the metal part of the car/chair that he was sitting in. (An hour later this would turn out to be a full on black eye.) So, now he is screaming at the top of lungs, so we decide to give him a minute to calm down. By the way, children screaming is a normal occurrence at this place. I'm not sure why kids get so freaked out about getting their hair cut. But, until now, it has never been my kid.

After a few minutes, he is crying less, but when the stylist tries to restart his haircut he cranks it up again. Everything I try to do to calm him down fails and after 25 minutes of holding him down, we give up and leave the store with half a haircut and one very noticeable bald spot on one side. The very calm and patient stylist gave us an IOU, but still upset from the incident, I swear to never put Matthew (or me) through that again.

So, I decide that it will be faster to pick up some Steak-n-Shake for lunch than for me to make something, but of course that is not going to be the case. I get behind a woman who orders no less than 8 bags of food, and is apparently taking orders for the person she is on the phone with. "What do you want to eat, I can't hear you. Hold on a sec.." It took every ounce of restraint for me to keep my foot on the brake and not ram my car into hers.

We arrive home 45 minutes late for lunch and Matthew who is crying in the backseat, has been up for almost 7 hours. So, I decide that since he had some animal crackers and milk in the car that it is in his best interest to skip lunch and go straight to bed. This is when I realize that his blanket and his bear are soaking wet in the washing machine. I try to put him down with his "other bear" and a different blanket, but he is so far past tired now that he just lays in his crib and cries. I eventually throw the bear and blanket in the dryer and get them dry enough to sleep with.

He finally falls asleep and 45 minutes after we arrived home, I unload the groceries from the car and sit down to eat my cold and soggy hamburger. I turn on the tv and the cable is out. No matter; I turn on a movie that I Tivo'd last night and 3 minutes into it the channel changes and I realize that it has recorded something else. I give up, turn off the tv, and throw away the rest of my sandwich.

Embry and I lay down to rest and we both fall asleep for about a half hour. When she gets up I remind her to be quiet because Matthew is still asleep, and she proceeds to slam the bedroom door as hard as she can. Matthew wakes up and stays up about an hour earlier than he normally would.

I yell at Embry for not listening and for waking up her brother, but 5 minutes later I feel bad. After all, the whole day could've been avoided had I just listened to Matthew in the first place and went home after the store. Instead, I tried to make him fit to my schedule. I always judge parents when I see them dragging their kids through Costco at night. Why don't they get that kid to bed? And here I was doing the exact same thing.

My day did eventually get better. The kids are playing happily together now, and my next door neighbor left a gift bag full of chocolate on our doorstep. A happy surprise, because although we have lived next to each other for a year and a half, we have only spoken a handful of times. Embry and I will return the gesture later tonight with some pretty candles from Pottery Barn.

So, my most important resolution this year will be to listen to my children, to have more patience with them, and to not take out my frustrations from the day on them. I recently read something by a tired and weary mother that really struck me... "My children (and my husband) deserve the best of me, not just what is left after a long day." Amen.

Christmas Crafts

2009-12-22T12:19:00.003-06:00

We definitely have another crafter in the family, now that Embry is old enough to do so much on her own. She has spent the last few weeks working on tons of stuff for Christmas.

Here she is working on these:

Some foam door hangers (from a kit that Grandma sent) and refrigerator magnets (from Oriental Trading Co.).

Here's the awesome gingerbread house that we did together. It was also a kit that came with the house already put together! All you had to do was stick on the candy (included) with the icing (also included). A great project for her age. I've made gingerbread houses from scratch before, and she's not quite ready for that much work yet.

Last week, as part of their studies on Asia, I taught Embry's class a few easy origami models. I included this candy cane since it's Christmas time. Embry has been busy ever since making tons of them to hang on our tree.

And speaking of trees, here she is hamming it up for the camera right after she helped put up the lights on the Christmas tree. Great job!

Adventures in Photography

2009-12-08T12:30:00.006-06:00

It's a pre-Thanksgiving tradition for us. Dress the kids in cute matching outfits (I opted for pj's this year so they'd get more than an hour of use out of them), and drag them off to get their picture taken. I start out with pretty low expectations this year because Matthew is not known to sit still for anything. But, the photographer did such a great job last year, I hoped we'd get at least one good shot for the Christmas cards.

So, after waiting for the staff to choose a background we decided to start off with Embry while Matthew ran off some energy in the hall.

First shot....beautiful!
Ok, now let's bring Matthew in. Try putting him on the sled with Embry...

And he's off and running in the hall again.

Maybe if we try a prop. Matthew look, Embry's reading a book!

Nope, he's more interested in honking her nose.

And there he goes again.

Maybe if we try having him sit on something.

Now scoot them closer together, oh wait... Embry is ticklish.

Ok, let's let Matthew relax for a few minutes and do another one with Embry. Very good!

Maybe if we just try sitting on the floor.

Or maybe a stuffed animal. What's that, you only have one? That's not going to work.

(That one is my favorite.)

A couple more with Embry while Matthew recovers.

Should we just give up and come back next week? No, let's just try one more time.

I don't think we're going to get any better than that. Let's go home.

Giving Thanks

2009-12-04T13:10:00.007-06:00

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies c/o Martha Stewart (recipe here). They were so yummy. A few notes about the recipe...it says that it makes 12 pies, I ended up with about 25... also there is a lot of spices in the recipe and I actually cut back a little on the ginger and nutmeg... the cakes were wonderful, but they tasted a lot more like gingerbread than pumpkin, despite 3 cups of pumpkin puree.

I actually remembered to take a picture of our only contribution to Thanksgiving dinner this year. So I thought I'd post it along with a list of a few things (people) I'm thankful for...

My husband, who works hard all day to support his family, and then takes care of them all night while I go off to work.

My children, who give me so much to look forward to, every day.

My mother, who will listen to me complain about work and kids for hours.

My husband's family for putting up with our mess and our noise when we come to visit.

My brother for making me laugh.

The rest of my family for their love and support.

And finally, my boss for letting me have off the 2 days after Christmas to spend time with all of my family together. I can't wait!

*Also, I'm thankful for Johnny Depp, for gracing the cover of my Entertainment Weekly this afternoon, and making my day off a little bit sweeter.*

December 3

2009-12-03T14:41:00.005-06:00

Two years ago today, this happened...

Happy Birthday Mattie!

Tendencies

2009-11-24T14:26:00.003-06:00

Everyone knows that I have certain..."issues." I like to eat Reese's peanut butter cups by eating all of the chocolate on the outside first. I hate when my food touches, especially if pancake syrup gets on my eggs. Yuk!

I always assumed that Embry would the one to inherit some of my behaviors. She likes things neat and organized, just like me. But, I started to wonder when Matthew became obsessed with picking lint up off the floor and looking for hairs in the bathtub.

This is his latest quirk that seems way too much like something I would have done. Matthew often has yogurt and crackers for lunch. The other day I noticed him doing this:

He lines his crackers up and takes one bite out of each of them. The same size bite out of the same corner.

Then he lines them up again and takes another bite.

So funny, and yet a little bit scary :)

November Update

2009-11-12T12:44:00.002-06:00

Around the House: Not a whole lot going on here lately. It is birthday party season, apparently. Embry has been invited to 3 in the last couple of weeks. I still haven't decided how many she will go to. I like for her to socialize with her classmates outside of school, but there are only so many weekend afternoons I am willing to give up. I have so few weekend days off as it is.

In the Kitchen: On my way home from work last night I decided that our home has been lacking in baked goods lately. I had to resort to toast for my late night snack. So today, I was determined to make cookies. However, Matthew is napping and I am blogging rather than baking. After putting together the dough for a double batch of chocolate-chip cookies, I realized that I only had half a bag of chocolate chips. Note to self...check to see that you have all the ingredients before you put everything into the mixer. In my defense, I did check to see if we had enough butter and brown sugar, the two things we are usually out of. So, in my fridge sits a large bowl of plain cookie dough, sans chips. I was tempted to bake a few without, just to see how they turned out. But, I decided that the dough can wait until tomorrow, and I'll bring home a 5 lb bag of chocolate chips from work tonight.

New with Embry: Embry is making huge strides in her reading. She wants to read everything that she sees. Road signs, t-shirts, mail, everything. She's really starting to get it. She's also starting something new with her penmanship. I came home the other day to find a page of cursive words on the desk. She has just started to learn it, but it is coming very easy to her. She seems to like it much more than printing. She did not get that from me, I hated writing cursive in school. It was my worst subject. Go figure.

New with Matthew: Matthew is saying new words everyday. He seems to focus on one sound at a time. He favorites this week are "cool," "goose," and "soup." It is so much nicer to hear his little speaking voice than the usual screaming that we have become too familiar with.

I am Grateful For: The next 2 Saturdays off, and spending as much time with J and the kids as possible.

The Weather Outside: It has been ridiculously nice outside, especially for November. There are lilies blooming in my front yard! I can't remember it being so warm this late in the year, even when we lived in Alabama. We did have our first frost last night, but it is 65 out right now. I love it!

I am Obsessed With: Making plans for the holidays. Unfortunately, I may not know my schedule until the last few days before Thanksgiving and Christmas. So far we have several contingencies, but I know we will make it work...somehow.

Happy Late Halloween!

2009-11-05T09:00:00.005-06:00

Ok, everyone else I know posted pictures of their kids in their Halloween costumes like a hour after trick-or-treating, but I'm lazy. So, here they are finally...

Matthew is wearing a glow-in-the-dark hoodie that I found at Target in August. (I wasn't even sure it would still fit him by the end of October.) Technically he's a skeleton, but really I would put this in the category with the "Yes, this is my costume" t-shirts. I knew that he would not be interested in Trick-or-treating, but I had to put something on him since he was coming along.

Embry has wanted to be a puppy for months, so I started looking for a costume for her as soon as they hit the stores. Apparently, she grew out of the puppy costumes a couple of years ago, because I could only find them for babies. I did, however, find every Disney princess and fairy costume imaginable. Alongside these were tons of (for lack of a better word) trampy costumes like french maids and schoolgirls complete with fishnets and bustiers. Yes, for a 5 year old! Who dresses their little girl like that? So, I was forced to concoct a puppy myself using a brown hooded sweatshirt and some black socks for ears. Finished off by J's great makeup job of a puppy nose and whiskers, I think it turned out great. Everyone knew exactly what she was.

The pictures are actually from after trick-or-treating, which explains the look on Matthew's face. I had to work all day and I joined J, grandma, and the kids right after they got started in the neighborhood. (J forgot to take pictures before.) The weather was great and we had a great time. There were tons of kids out. A couple of houses had haunted houses to walk through. One family even had the BBQ out and was serving hot dogs, chips and soda to the parents. What a great idea!

Embry got tired after only a couple of blocks, so we got home pretty early. She has enough candy to last her quite a while, though. And she is happy to share with Mom and Dad and her little brother.

Pumpkin Picking

2009-10-29T13:59:00.003-05:00

It's October, so that means time to pick pumpkins, and we went to the same place as last year. This time Grandma went with, and it was colder than I remember it being last year. We actually had to bring blankets with us on the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. Embry found the perfect pumpkin and Matthew just enjoyed climbing over them. It eventually warmed up quite nicely and we had a great time feeding the goats at the petting zoo, and eating homemade custard.

I decided we would paint our pumpkins this year just to change things up. I think Embry appreciated that she could do hers all by herself, as opposed to just watching me carve it. Maybe next year I'll be comfortable with her helping with that.

Enjoy some pictures from the weekend!

End of October Update

2009-10-29T12:28:00.002-05:00

Around the House: The last few weeks have been a bit rough around here. Embry was the first one to come down with a cold. Then, despite my best efforts to keep them apart, Matthew got it too. I was next, and J was just starting to show symptoms as Embry was starting feeling better. All of us are doing pretty well now, though. Matthew still has a bit of a cough, but he actually slept through the night last night, and he seems to be getting better everyday.

In the Kitchen: Seven straight nights closing means scrambled eggs and frozen lasagna for J and the kids this week. I plan to get back in my own kitchen more starting on Sunday.

New with Embry: Embry got to do the coolest thing at school yesterday. One of the parents from school is a glass artist, and every year he lets the kids participate in making their own Christmas ornaments. Embry got to choose the colors of and blow her own glass ornament. It was then etched with her name and the date. It is so beautiful, and I can't believe I forgot to bring my camera.

New with Matthew: I hope that Matthew's ornery behavior the last few days is due to him not feeling well, and not the terrible twos creeping in a little early. It seems like every time I turn around he is doing something I know he knows he's not supposed to. Like standing on the dining room chairs, drawing on the couch, or pouring out his glass of milk. Amusing at first, but frustrating after the fifth time. It's a good thing he's so cute.

The Weather Outside: Rain, rain, go away. The worst part about all the rain? Driving in it. I never realized how much time I actually spent in the car everyday, until this week.

I am Grateful For: Setting the clocks back on Saturday night!

I am Obsessed With: Just getting to Friday, this week.

Ladies and Gentlemen

2009-10-19T12:29:00.004-05:00

Presenting the World Premier of the first song written and performed by Embry...

I know Mozart wrote his first symphony at age four, but this is a good start :)

**After several attempts, the first few seconds of this video keep getting cut off. It's the part where Embry says that she wrote the song all by herself, as you can see from the sheet music on the piano.**

Latest Project

2009-10-09T13:22:00.004-05:00

Embry and I have been working on a project for a while, in the precious few minutes that I have to spend with her lately. We've been recreating the butterflies from Animal Crossing. I finally finished the last one and hung them from the ceiling above the ocean of fish (also from Animal Crossing) on our picture window in the front room of our house. I was going to tape them to the window above the "water" but Embry insisted that they fly.

What's funny is how Mattie reacted to the new decor. The first time he saw them he just stared for a while and then quickly left the room. Then, for the rest of the afternoon, he would not even walk by the front room without me holding him. And he would clench onto me so tight, keeping a close eye on them the whole time. He was totally scared of these butterflies. Finally, I was able to carry him close enough to touch them and he loosened up a little. Today, he will go into the room alone, but is still wary of their presence. It's so interesting what will freak kids out.

**By the way, for those of you familiar with Animal Crossing, we made a Monarch, an Agrias, a Birdwing, a Yellow, a Tiger, a Common, an Emperor, and a Raja Brooke. I think there is one type of butterfly that we did not capture this summer on the game, so I was not allowed to make that one.

Mommy Milestone

2009-10-08T16:23:00.004-05:00

For the first time in 4 1/2 years there is no high chair in my kitchen. Matthew has been fighting with it for a while now, but we have only recently decided that he was big (careful) enough for a booster at the table. And he loves it.

I am both happy and sad. Happy because that extra square foot of space makes a huge difference in our small eat-in kitchen. Sad because I know that my baby is definitely not a baby anymore.

My Poor Children...

2009-10-06T12:22:00.003-05:00

They're so bored (what with their lack of toys and attention) that this is the only thing they can find to do:

October Update

2009-10-02T13:17:00.003-05:00

Around the House: A long awaited improvement for our house... a new TV. J finally picked out his birthday present and it arrived last week. I picked out the stand which is actually a low buffet (I hate those silver or black laquered TV stands) and it looks pretty good in our family room. Pros for having a new TV: watching Dancing with the Stars without lines across the screen, not having to worry that one of the kids will pull over the entertainment center and 75lb tv on top of themselves. Cons: worrying that of the kids will knock over (or throw something at or spill something on) the new tv and we'll be out 3 times the $ than the old one, and of course figuring the new remote.

Also, a pleasant surprise in the flower bed... the tiny mums that I bought 3 for $2 in the checkout at Home Depot last year came up and started to bloom last week. And they are huge; at least 24 inches across. That makes 2 things that I managed not to kill this summer!

In the Kitchen: Not too much going on since I've been working so much lately. I am, however, going to try a new recipe for New York Crumb Cake tomorrow for company. It looks so yummy, I can't wait.

New with Embry: Embry is getting along great at school. And she asks me everyday, "How many days until soccer?" She is doing better about actually eating her lunch and resting if she gets tired in the afternoon. She had an especially good time at school yesterday when a very lively thunderstorm rolled through town. Apparently, the teacher instructed the students to stop their work and come to the center of the room. They turned the lights off and closed their eyes and listened to the rain and thunder. Then they read a book about rain and discussed why the lightning comes before the thunder and so on. She was so excited to tell me all about it.

New with Matthew: Matthew has recently become pleasantly independent lately. I say "pleasantly" because he has always been independent in the way that he wants to do things for himself. But he is now actually able to do so many more things for himself, safely and without much help. For example, I can set his yogurt, milk (in an open cup) and crackers on his highchair tray and he will feed himself without spilling (too much) or choking from putting too much food in his mouth. I can now actually eat a meal while he is eating his. Also, he has become quite comfortable with walking himself to and from the car at home. This may not seem like a big deal, but to anyone who has tried to carry a toddler while unloading groceries, wrestling with a diaper bag and balancing a coffee all at once knows how freeing this is. He can be relied on not to fall up the stairs, or run into the street, and I don't have to make several trips in order to bring everything along. Baby steps, but they make a big difference in our everyday life.

I'm Grateful For: See above.

The Weather Outside: I finally had to turn on the heat this week. Wednesday morning the temp outside was 49 and the temp in the house was 55. I tried to warm up by putting a sweater on over my pj's and digging out my warm slippers from the back of the closet. But, I just couldn't get comfortable and I used Matthew's cold hands as my final excuse. I turned the switch on the central air to "heat" and left it on for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to take the chill out of the air. I was satisfied and the house was left smelling a little musty like it always does when you turn on the furnace for the first time.

I am Obsessed With: The new TV series "Glee." I think it's on Fox, I don't know for sure since I've only watched it on Hulu. It is hilarious. Somewhat campy (I think that's a word) with very dry humor and lots of "High School Musical" style singing and dancing (which I would normally despise). But the fact that no one takes it too seriously makes it so good.

It's Official...

2009-09-22T10:29:00.004-05:00

I am now an actual Soccer Mom. Embry had her first soccer lesson yesterday after school. Matthew and I came about halfway through to watch. She and the other kids were so cute running around kicking their soccer balls back and forth. I especially loved the little girl in the tutu. That's Embry in the pink pants and blue shirt.

It was surprisingly organized and cooperative (for a bunch of 4 and 5 year-olds).

The kids mostly spent their time learning to dribble and control the ball, but at the end they all lined up and took turns making a goal.

Of course, Matthew felt like he had to kick a ball around too, so my job the whole time was keeping him away from the other kids. He so badly wanted to join in.

Afterwards the coach told me what a great job Embry did, and asked when Matthew was going to sign up. So much fun! And great weather too!!

September Update

2009-09-10T13:00:00.002-05:00

Around the House: We are settling into a yet another new routine here at the Rickman casa. School has started, so our mornings are slightly more hectic trying to get Embry and Jason ready and out the door by 7. Lunches to pack, breakfasts to make, ponytails to comb (that one is exclusively Embry), teeth to brush, etc. Then, at 7:01 all is quiet, and Matthew and I eat breakfast and watch the morning news.

What is most different this year is picking up Embry in the afternoon instead of before lunch. This means that most days Mattie and I eat lunch by ourselves and then Mattie goes down for a nap. Despite an new, earlier naptime, I still have to wake Matthew up when it's time to pick up his sister, so he's usually not in a great mood for the ride there. But, he always cheers up immediately when his sister gets in the car.

When we get home from school, Embry and Matthew play together and I try to get in as much kid time as possible because most days I head off to work as soon as Daddy gets home.

In the Kitchen: Tomorrow is the International Grill Fest at CMS (Embry's school). I'm making chocolate chip cookie brownies for the cake walk, and Mexican layered dip for the pot-luck. Other than that, not much has been going on in the kitchen. We have vowed to clean out our freezer before we buy any new dinner stuff, so it's been frozen pizza and stuff for the last week.

New with Embry: Embry is so excited about school this year. I think what she likes best is not being the newest or the youngest kid in class. She tells me everyday on the way home about how she helped one of the "little kids" with something. I think it's one of the best aspects of the Montessori classroom, that the classrooms are mixed age. She gets help from older kids and she is so proud of herself when she has taught someone else.

New with Matthew: Matthew is finally starting to talk, a little bit. He has a Diego book with a pen that talks. Diego says, "Hola!" and Matthew responds with, "Ya ya!" He also will occasionally repeat "Night, night" or "Bye, bye." It doesn't seem like much, but for our stubborn little boy, it's a big step forward, finally.

The Weather Outside: Still beautiful. It's warm, but not hot. Cool, but not yet cold in the evenings. Perfect!

I am Grateful For: A husband who works all day and then puts up with kids by himself all night. Who leaves work early so that I can get to work on time and then works from home after the kids go to bed to make up for it. Thanks for taking care of all of us, J!

I am Obsessed With: Too busy to obsess this week, maybe next week.

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-31T13:19:00.004-05:00

Last week was J's birthday, so of course I have a new cake recipe to share...

Here are the Boston Cream Cupcakes that I made: Thanks to Martha for the recipe.

Of course, Embry helped me and she almost couldn't wait to eat them.

These were so cute, so yummy and not difficult at all. Just a basic yellow cupcake recipe, a vanilla pudding filling and chocolate ganache topping. They are assembled just like a regular size Boston Cream Pie, only smaller. They area little messy to eat so, J and I used forks, but Embry insisted on using her hands.

Hope you had a great birthday honey!

Monday Update

2009-08-24T14:23:00.004-05:00

Around the House: I have finished my first official week at work and all is well, so far. I'm not really any more tired than usual, but I have definitely been sleeping better at night. J is handling the kids fine in the evenings, and because I am missing them so much when I'm at work, I can't wait to see them the next morning. I do miss having the weekends to do whatever, and I am appreciating the time I do have off much more.

In the Kitchen: We've been cooking a lot lately since we've been given tons of garden veggies from my MIL. Some of our favorites are fried green tomatoes and okra, grilled zucchini, homemade salsa, and anything we can think of with fresh tomatoes. I also broke in my new cookbook, "Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey." (Thanks to Alicia for introducing me to this one.) The recipe we chose was Banana Bread Pudding. The recipe called for a chocolate sauce, but we made a bourbon sauce instead. It was soooo yummy.

New with Embry: Embry has been slightly obsessed with climbing lately. "Climbing what," you might ask? The car, the doorways, the swingset, anything that is taller than she is. She can almost touch the ceiling in Matthew's room, all on her own. That kid will do anything to keep from being bored.

New with Matthew: Matthew has really started to like anything to do with drawing. He draws on his MagnaDoodle all the time. Anytime he sees me using a pen or a pencil he runs over, grabs it out of hand, and draws all over whatever I was working on. Then, the other day, I let him try his hand at the chalkboard and he loved it. Then he started using the chalk to draw on the paper side of the easel (and the wall and the table). Luckily, chalk wipes off easily. Now he and Embry draw together all the time. So cute.

I'm Grateful For: Kids who are old enough to play together for 10 or 15 minutes at a time without fighting or injuring each other or breaking something.

The Weather Outside: I have nothing to report except beautiful weather all around. Low eighties, partly cloudy, no humidity. Just lovely!

I'm Obsessed With: Darn that stupid Internet and the vast amount of old tv shows that are available whenever you want. I recently started watching "My So-Called Life" on Hulu.com. I almost forgot how amazingly great that show was. And all my feelings of anger about the show being cancelled after one season because it was too controversial, came rushing back to me. I mean, if this show were on tv these days, it would be quite tame in comparison to what else is on. Anyway, I'm almost finished with this show, then I'm starting "Growing Pains"...

Tomatoes

2009-08-17T13:15:00.003-05:00

Yes, I actually grew something. My family is full of people who are fantastic at growing things. Gardens, flowers, houseplants, you name it. But I can't keep a cactus alive. If there is a plant alive in my house it is because it was given to me within the last few months. If there are flowers in my yard, it is because they were planted by whoever lived here before us. If there are fresh vegetables in my kitchen they probably came from the farmer's market.

It's not that I don't want to do these things, I'm just not good at it. So, when my mother-in-law brought these upside-down tomato plants to our house I figured they'd be dead in a couple of weeks. But thanks to Embry for reminding me to water them, and thanks to our sunny backyard, they actually grew big and produced!

These were my first official fruit...aren't they pretty? Now what to do with them? Not enough of them to make marinara, too many for a salad. I've got some bacon in the fridge...hmmm.

Oh yes, one of my favorite things to do with a fresh tomato. BLT.

It was delicious!! I can't wait until we harvest some more!

Pizza Recipe

2009-08-13T14:19:00.003-05:00

Costco has this great pizza kit that comes with 3 ready-made crusts and 3 pouches of sauce. I thought it would be fun for Embry to get to make her own pizza, so I bought these tiny mini-pepperoni that are the size of a dime. She made her pizza one half cheese and one half pepperoni.

For the grown-up pizza I wanted to try something different. I also wanted to use up some of the huge bag of spinach that I had. So, I searched the web for a spinach pizza recipe and found this one.

Spinach, Ham and Egg Pizza

1 store-bought pizza crust
4 cups (about 4 ounces) baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 ounces prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (1 1/2 ounces)
3 cloves thinly sliced garlic
4 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pizza crust on a cookie sheet. Scatter spinach all over crust. Drizzle with oil. Evenly distribute prosciutto, Parmesan and garlic on top of spinach. Crack eggs onto pizza, roughly positioning 1 yolk on each pizza quarter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until spinach is wilted and egg whites are just fully cooked. Cut into 4 large slices.

It seemed a little weird, but we like to try new stuff, so I went for it. Embry helped with this one too, of course. It turned out great! I decided that it tasted a lot like quiche. We ended up using bacon instead of ham, because we always have bacon in the house, but I think our version was better. I had a second piece after rationalizing that all of that spinach was good for me. Yum!

Decisions

2009-08-13T13:54:00.002-05:00

As of Monday, I will be going to work, part time in the evenings and on the weekends. It was something that we've been thinking about for a while now. I go back and forth as to what is really better for our family. I don't necessarily want to work, I would much rather be home to eat dinner with my husband and put my kids to bed every night. However, saving up some cash for a house, for Matthew to go to school with Embry, and for whatever might happen in our near future seems more important right now.

Every time I get sad thinking about what I'll be missing, I try to remind myself about how great I'll still have it. Not many people get to stay home all day with their son or pick up their daughter every day from school. I'll still have 3 days off every week, so it's not like I'll be gone all the time, but right now it sure feels like it. J and I agreed that if it gets too stressfull, I'll just quit, but we're going to give it a shot.

Henry

2009-08-05T16:49:00.002-05:00

"Henry" is Embry's imaginary dog. He is a big dog who once was a puppy, and we have traded him in at the mall for a new puppy a couple of times when Embry has gotten tired of having a full grown dog. I'm not sure if we are getting a new puppy each time, who is always named Henry... or if we are taking him to some sort of backwards aging store and just making the dog-Henry young again.

Anyway, Henry goes almost everywhere we go. He rides in the car and we have to make sure that he has his seatbelt on before we go. He rides in the cart at the grocery store, and he loves to go to the park and to museums. According to Embry, the City Museum is Henry's favorite because he like to go down all of the slides.

I have to say that an imaginary dog is the best kind. He keeps us safe and is loads of fun, but he never needs to be walked or bathed. And on the rare occasion that he makes a mess, Embry is always happy to clean up after him. Until the day when I lose my mind and get a real dog, he seems to be a good substitute.

The Many Faces of Embry

2009-07-29T20:42:00.004-05:00

Embry and I were being silly with the camera. She wanted to show me all of her different faces.

Here is her "fake happy" face:

Here is her sad face:

Here is her scary face:

I don't remember exactly what this one was, but I think it had something to do with a scorpion?

No idea what this one is, but it's funny.

End of July Update

2009-07-29T13:31:00.003-05:00

Around the House: The house is quiet and empty now that our houseguests are gone. We are slowly getting back into a normal routine. It feels like the summer is winding down already, even though we have another month before school starts. We have been spending a little less time outside, since it seems like mother nature has turned on us. J is just now getting over a severe case of poison ivy that he contracted almost a month ago! He actually ended up having to see the doctor for a round of steroids to clear it up. Also, the wasp and yellowjacket population in our yard has gotten a little out of control and I was stung twice the other day. I'm so grateful that Matthew or Embry were not stung instead.

In the Kitchen: The kitchen has been a lot less busy this week. The last of the cookies are gone and it is time to get back to some cheap and easy meals. I made black beans and rice on Sunday, Mexican lasagne on Wednesday, and I'm making chicken potpie tomorrow. Comfort food, yum.

New with Embry: I took Embry to pick out a new backpack and a lunchbox, in an attempt to get her enthused about school starting. I found some really cute ones at Children's Place. They have small backpacks for her age with matching lunchboxes in real cute patterns. I'll try to get a photo up soon of her new stuff.

New with Matthew: He's still growing like a weed and every inch taller that he gets, there are more things in the house that he can get into. Last week, he almost reached up onto the stove when there was a pot of water boiling. It just reminds me of how I have to watch him every second.

I am Grateful For: The super-fun time that we spent over the last couple of weeks with the cousins. I was so pleased with how well the kids got along, and I hope they had as good a time as we did.

The Weather Outside: This has got to be the mildest July that I remember. Usually, I dread the summers with how miserably hot and humid it gets. But this year has been beautiful! (So, far. One more hot month to go.)

City Museum Pictures

2009-07-27T16:22:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures from the family's recent visit to the City Museum where Embry was finally brave enough to go down some of the slides, and the awesome rooftop was now open. All of the pictures from high up are from the roof of the building that the museum is in. 8 stories up, I believe.

As I have said multiple times on this blog... this museum is one of the coolest I have ever been to!

Purina Farms

2009-07-19T14:50:00.007-05:00

I mentioned last week that we visited Purina Farms, a museum/petting zoo/dog show run by the pet food company. Here are some of the pictures from our trip...

Here is Embry and Grandma taking a closer look at some horses...

And some pigs, and a chicken, and a rabbit.

Here is a section in the barn where there are tables filled with dried corn and a few John Deere tractors to play with. The kids spent nearly an hour total here. Matthew just liked to feel it in his hands over and over again. Who knew dried corn was so much fun?

This part was also in the barn. Small rooms filled with bales of hay and a rope to swing into them. I love this photo of her where she looks like a flying ninja...

And this was Embry's favorite part. First a dog was brought out and ran through an obstacle course like in the competitions we watch on tv. Then another dog performed a bunch of frisbee tricks. Finally they brought two dogs over to the pool and had them showcase the jumping competition by throwing a frisbee over the water and letting the dogs run and jump out over it. Very fun to watch, Embry was so excited. Matthew, of course, wouldn't sit still, so he and I watched from the grassy area behind the bleachers.

This place was so much fun and everything was free! There was also a museum where they showed how dog food was made (no one was much interested in that), a racetrack with pedal powered tractors the size of tricycles, and lots of dogs, cats, and birds around to pet and play with. A great place for little kids.

1, 2, 3, 4 Kids?!

2009-07-19T11:43:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's right. Starting tonight, I will be taking care of 4 kids for a few days. 2 of my own and, 2 of their cousins visiting from CA. We have had almost a week to get used to each other, since they came up with Grandma last Tuesday.

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening night. Aside from the film being out of focus half of the time, a crying baby in the row behind us, and a gentleman in front of me who hadn't bathed in several days...the movie was great. I suppose that's what I deserve for having to see it on Wednesday night. If I wanted a quiet, empty theater, I could have waited a couple of weeks and went to a Sunday afternoon showing. And I have to say that this was the first of the series that I have seen since reading all of the books and it was quite a different experience. I can totally understand why people who read the books before seeing any of the films didn't enjoy the movies. But, I am totally attached to the actors' characters, it's almost as if the books and the movies are a completely separate things to me. I love them all.

We went to J's Mom's family reunion on Saturday, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. Sunny and 70 degrees. We made BBQ pulled pork, broccoli slaw, and chocolate chip cookie dough brownies to take with us. There was tons of good food and even more good desserts, yum! We had a good time and the kids got to run around outside all afternoon.

The older kids, J, and Grandma are at the City Museum today. I opted to stay home with Matthew since he is not quite big (actually I should say old) enough to enjoy most of the stuff there. We decided that it was not worth it to spend money for someone to go and just chase Matthew around the lobby for a few hours. Also, the older kids can stay longer without having to rush home for naptime. The good thing is that J gets to go this time. It will be his first visit. I hope he loves it as much as Embry and I do.

So, Grandma returns home to work for a couple of days, leaving the kids here. Thankfully she will also be leaving her van in case I dare to venture out of the house with all 4 kids. I've got some meals planned, and they are all good eaters. Also, the weather is supposed to continue to be amazing, so we can spend lots of time outside. The kids get along great, so we should be okay for a few days. But, I bet everyone will be happy to see Grandma when she gets back on Wednesday! Wish me good luck!

Wednesday Update

2009-07-08T09:31:00.005-05:00

Around the House: I really should be calling this one "Monthly Update," right? Well, we've been busy. My niece and nephew arrived from CA last week. They'll be staying with their grandma for a while, but will come visit us soon.

We had a pretty uneventful 4th due to the rain that started at around 5 am and continued through most of the day. The local parade was canceled and since the kids went to bed early we stayed home from the fireworks. Fortunately, our next door neighbors shot off some impressive ones right over our houses, so I got to see some fireworks after all. Unfortunately, they kept shooting them off until almost midnight and Embry woke up scared and ended up sleeping on the floor in our bedroom.

I did have a good b-day though with an awesome cake made by my aunt (who has been making my birthday cakes since I was born). It was white and chocolate marble cake with vanilla icing (only the stars were fondant). And the stars on the firecracker were candles, so we got to light them instead of digging up 31 (yikes!) regular candles and blowing all those out. I also got to spend the weekend with my Mom who drove down on Saturday. We watched the best Wimbledon Final ever on Sunday, played and had a picnic at the park, and went shopping and visited Purina Farms. (More on that later.)

In the Kitchen: For the 4th we grilled some pork ribs and vegetables, made homemade rolls and German potato salad. Perfect Independence Day picnic food, only we ate it inside since it was still raining on and off. I also tried a new recipe for sour cream coffee cake with blueberries that tuned out great. I finally broke down and bought a bundt cake pan for the occasion. I can't believe I have been baking for so long without one. For Mom's last night here we fixed one of our favorite dinners; crusty bread, 3 different kinds of cheese, grapes, strawberries, dates, and wine. No cooking and very little clean-up, my favorite kind of meal.

New with Embry: Grandma brought the kids a radio flyer wagon this weekend. The kids love it, but what Embry spent most of the next few days playing with was the box. She kept getting inside and asking us to shut the flaps and pretend that she was a birthday present for Mama. Then she would lean it up against the couch to make a slide and pretend like she couldn't get out. She would yell, "Help! Help!" and then slide back down into the box. She played in it so much that it started to fall apart and after several tape applications, I gave up and snuck it outside to the trash when she wasn't in the room. She noticed a few hours later, but only whined a little bit instead the huge fit I was expecting.

New with Matthew: I think that Matthew has been swimming since the last time I posted. We brought him and J along a couple of weeks ago to Embry's school's pool. They have a shallow baby pool there, but he was tired of that after about 5 minutes and ready to jump in the big pool. J and I just carried him around in the water for a hour and a half and he loved it. The only problem was that he kept putting his face in the water and trying to drink the pool water, yuk!

I'm Grateful For: Another birthday and a long fun weekend with family.

The Weather Outside: A couple of weeks ago we were given a violent shove into summer with a whole week of temps near 100 degrees. It was an especially long week, since it was too hot to do anything outside. Embry and I would have to wait until 7 pm just to go out and water the flowers. And even then it was still miserable. But, thankfully, it seems back to normal now; still hot around noon, but cool enough in the morning and early evening to play outside. And the kids aren't so crabby from being stuck inside all day.

I'm Obsessed With: Since I've finished with the old episodes of Lost I need something else to do during naptime. Luckily, my Mom gave me a sewing machine for my birthday! So my new obsession is teaching myself how to use it.

Matthew's New Game

2009-06-16T10:11:00.002-05:00

Wow, after almost a week of trying, I finally got this video to work...

Anyway, here is a game that Matthew invented last week. He plays it by himself for about 10 minutes everyday. Now, I might be getting ahead of myself, but I think we've got a pretty good little soccer player here.

Monday Update

2009-06-15T13:18:00.003-05:00

Around the House: Thankfully, the yardsale went great! I got rid of tons of stuff and the weather could not have been more perfect. I only had 2 bags of clothes and a few baby odds and ends that went off to Goodwill. Lots more room in the basement now, yeah!

In the Kitchen: Just finished a batch of German Chocolate Cupcakes with Embry. No reason other than I had the box of cake mix in the cupboard and was hungry.

New with Embry: Lots of firsts last week for Embry! First dentist appointment... she did great. I found a very kid friendly dentist in town and we love it. The best part is the gigantic bird cage in the waiting room with step-stools all around it so that kids can get up close to see the birds. First movie at the theater...she loved it. We went to see "Up," which was very cute as most of the Pixar flicks are. I highly recommend it to anyone with kids (or no kids). Embry sat through the entire thing without any troubles and ate an entire bag of popcorn! First pair of flip-flops...hilarious. She has been asking for these for months now, since I wear them all the time, but I have been putting it off in favor of safer and more rugged shoes. I finally gave in when we were at Old Navy the other day. She was so excited, but she cannot walk in them at all. Though, it doesn't stop her from wearing them every chance she gets. I just have to be very patient as she shuffles slowly to the car and through the grocery store. And finally, first time swimming in the big pool at school. Embry's school has a really nice pool that is open to all of the students and families every Friday night. So, last week, we went for the first time and Embry just loved it. I wasn't sure how she was going to behave when we got there because she isn't that fond of getting water anywhere near her head or face. We did spend the first 20 minutes sitting on the steps, but after a while she was jumping in and kicking all around the place. It was great fun and great exercise for me swimming her all around for 2 hours. We loved it, and can't wait for next week!

New with Matthew: Matthew's events this week were not so enjoyable. After 6 months of ear infections we finally went to see a specialist to check his hearing and make sure that he's not sustaining any permanent damage to his ears. All the news was good, though, his hearing is normal. But the exam was not fun at all. A nurse and I had to restrain him while the doctor examined his ears more closely. It always breaks my heart do nothing while your child cries, even if is he was in no pain, he really hated to be held down. But, 5 minutes later he was fine and I was thankful for the lack of short-term memory in toddlers.

I am Thankful For: The good news about Matthew's hearing, and the ever patient big sister who waited with Daddy in the waiting room for over an hour.

The Weather Outside: Well, it has stopped raining for the first time since about 6:30 this morning. Whew! I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the wet season here. At least it keeps the temps down. Cloudy and 70 degrees sure beats sunny and 90! (that comes in a few weeks).

I am (still) Obsessed With: Do I really need to say it? We were without Internet service all weekend long and I almost went crazy. 3 days with no "Lost!" But, I guess it was for the best. As my husband put it, "It was nice catching up with you this weekend!"

Catch-Up

2009-06-04T13:12:00.006-05:00

Ok, so my new obsession with "Lost" has definitely had an impact on my blogging. I mean, with 1 1/2 hours of free time every afternoon, do I watch 2 episodes of Lost or do I clean the house, start dinner, and catch up on my blogging? I try to do the latter at least once a week. The good news is that I only 2 1/2 seasons left. So, a couple more weeks and I can resume my normal life again.

This past weekend was so full of events for our family that I thought I'd just take it day by day. Let's start with last Thursday...it was Embry's last day of school and as promised Grandma R. picked her up. She had a pizza party with watermelon for dessert which was clear from the red ring around her face when she got home. She brought home a folder with all of her recent work in it, and we had a great time going through it together. She is so proud of what she has learned this year.

Later that afternoon Grandma H. and Uncle Nicol arrived. Grandma was here to babysit while N and I went to my brother's high school graduation in Quincy (about 2.5 hours away). As expected, Embry latched onto her uncle as soon as he got here and did not let go. They played all afternoon and all night.

Matthew took a few hours to warm up to them both, but soon he was snuggling with Grandma in the chair.

The next morning we played outside for a while and then N and I were off to Quincy to meet my Dad for an early dinner and then to the graduation. The weather could not have been more perfect to sit on a football field for a couple of hours. The ceremony was pretty short considering the number of graduates (500+)! We drove home and I went to bed REALLY late (for me anyway).

The plan for Saturday morning was to hit the zoo early, but when we woke up it was pouring rain. We did eventually make it to the zoo, just a little later than originally planned, and armed with a few umbrellas. The rain cleared up shortly after we got there, just in time for us to visit (you guessed it!) the stingrays. There was no line this time, due to the weather I'm guessing, and we got to choose the prime spot at the exhibit for petting rays. We also got to feed them! That was interesting. Grandma got a little scared doing it, but Embry had no fear. I was a little grossed out by the cut up fish heads they give you to feed them with, but again, Embry didn't care. She was just so excited to be there again. She's going to be very disappointed when the exhibit moves on.

We can always cheer her up with the butterfly house, which is her second favorite thing to visit at the zoo.

We rode the carousel and the train and then had lunch together.

And before we left Mattie had latched onto Grandpa too...

We were so exhausted when we got home that we ALL took a nap, and then spent a nice relaxing afternoon and evening at home.

On Sunday, we had everyone over for a cookout. We made steak and chicken tacos, with refried black beans and rice, chips and homemade guacamole. And what summer BBQ would be complete without strawberry shortcake, one of my all time favorites. We played video games and Scategories and then Embry went with Daddy to a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. She actually has another birthday party next week. Both J and I agreed that we never thought of kids having parties over the summer, duh.

By Monday morning everyone had left and it was just the kids and me home all week. I am loving the time that Embry is home now, but she definitely is taking some time to adjust. I can tell that she is having a hard time being around her little brother all day long. But we are making adjustments, with plenty of time for her to play quietly alone in her room. And of course any time that we can spend outside makes everyone happy.

Ok, this post is long enough, plus if I'm not careful I may not get to watch Lost at all today! :)

May Update

2009-05-21T13:37:00.002-05:00

Around the House: Nothing special this week. We are gearing up for a busy couple of weeks coming up though. Graduations, end of the school year, yard sale, dentist and doctor appointments. After all of that we should be able to actually enjoy the rest of our summer.

In the Kitchen: I've been trying to get rid of stuff that's been piling up in the freezer. I'm getting down to the end of it so I need to get creative pretty soon. What can I make with frozen lima beans, 2 frozen biscuits and apple juice concentrate? I had a craving this morning, so I'll be making my favorite cinnamon rolls tonight for breakfast tomorrow (or maybe Saturday).

New with Embry: Embry has been gong to bed early a lot lately. Not so much because she's tired, but because she has been misbehaving. She is perfect most of the day, but the minute that Daddy walks in the door after work, she turns into a completely different child. We assumed that it was the lack of attention that she receives at this time of day, because we are preoccupied with dinner and baths and bedtime. But even after making time for just her every evening for a week, nothing has changed. Hopefully, it's just a phase...

New with Matthew: Last week, Matthew figured out how to use a fork and spoon by himself. So now he wants no help eating no matter how big of a mess he makes in the process. Very cute, but very messy.

I am Grateful For: So many things lately, I'll just have to say the love of family and friends.

The Weather Outside: Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous! Although it has been a little unpredictable (40 degrees one night, 85 the next day) I love spring in the Midwest.

I am Obsessed With: Oh my Gosh! I was finally convinced to watch Lost, when I found out that abc.com has EVERY episode from all 5 seasons for free online. It has been 2 weeks, and I am up to season 2, episode 3. I spend every moment of free time that I have watching it. I bring the laptop into the kitchen when I cook and into the bedroom when I fold laundry. It is like the best soap opera ever, only with good acting. In fact, what am I doing blogging when I could be watching Lost...gotta go!

For Grandma

2009-05-20T08:44:00.003-05:00

Because sometimes you just need to hear babies laughing...

Another Day at the Zoo

2009-05-13T14:24:00.004-05:00

Another beautiful Sunday morning... another fun day at the zoo. Embry has been asking about the stingrays for months and they finally arrived at the zoo this weekend. So, of course, we had to go and see them. This is not her first stingray experience, however. We saw lots of them at the Georgia Aquarium when she was 1 1/2 (one of the most awesome places ever!) but I'm pretty sure she doesn't remember.

So we went early, so as to avoid the crowds that always come with a new exhibit, and also to avoid the extra charge that is waived for the first hour that the zoo is open. (We have a zoo membership, so virtually everything else is free for us as well.) We still had to wait in line, but for less than 10 minutes, which was not too bad since Embry is surprisingly patient with this type of thing. As we got to the front of the line, we were instructed to scrub our hands and arms up to our elbows at a washing station before we went in. Then a zookeeper showed us, with the help of a stuffed stingray puppet, the correct (and incorrect) way to pet them.

Embry was so excited as we walked in and sat next to the shallow pool that the stingrays were in. The wall around it was just high enough that Embry could still reach her hands into the water. The stingrays were just swimming around in circles and coming up to peoples' hands to be pet. Very cool. It was easy for the adults to reach deep enough, but we had to lift Embry up a little. After about 5 minutes a big one swam near enough and shallow enough and she got to feel it! She described it as "like a puff ball," which I assume means soft.

Like all popular park exhibits we had to exit through a gift shop filled with ocean themed paraphernalia. Embry is not normally the type of kid who begs for this stuff, because she knows we don't buy it, but Grandma was with us. So she came home with a surprisingly cute stuffed stingray with a tail on it so long that I had to tie it up so that it wouldn't drag on the ground. Thus adding to her collection of usual stuffed animals. "Ray," as we now refer to him, has joined "Lou" the emu, "Corn" the otter, and "Crackers" the horse.

**I just had to include this cute top-of-Matthew's-head picture. Enjoy!

The Imposter

2009-05-08T13:44:00.004-05:00

Can you tell these bears apart? Matthew can...

A few months ago Matthew became very attached to a stuffed bear that I received as a gift at my baby shower. The bear originally came with blue pajamas on, but Embry undresses everything, so the pj's quickly went by the wayside before Matthew was even born. Matthew carries the bear around most of the day, and absolutely will not sleep without it. I wash it at least once a week, since it spends so much time on his mouth. So, we decided to buy him a spare. You'd think this would be an easy task... not so much.

I looked around and quickly found the bear for sale, so I purchased one and waited for it to arrive. I was so excited when it arrived, that I would finally have a bear to give Matthew while I wash the other one. Embry took it out of the box and immediately noticed that the pajamas were not removable! I handed it to Matthew, he took one look and threw it on the floor. This didn't surprise me since it was totally different than his bear.

So, I sent the bear back and soon after found out that all of this line of bears has non-removable pj's. They no longer make the one that Matthew has. Thank goodness for eBay. After confirming twice that it had pj's that were completely removable, I bid on and won an old (but not used) pajama bear.

When it arrived, I unpacked it, removed the pajamas and gave it to Matthew for approval. He took it and immediately ran to his room. I followed him in and watched as he took his old bear out of his crib looked at both of them and threw the new one on the floor. He wants nothing to do with it. I've even washed it a few times so that it smells the same and is no longer fluffy like a new stuffed animal. So much for that idea. I guess we'll keep it around for emergencies.

**Differences between siblings***Embry really never had a blankie or luvie stuffed animal. She was fine as long as she had her pacifiers (or nuk as we called it). And she never complained about what type or color she had, as long she had at least 2 of them to sleep with. So when one got lost I simply replenished it with one from my stash of 15 or so.

End of April Update

2009-04-30T12:43:00.003-05:00

Around the House: It was so nice out last weekend that we took the hammock and big patio umbrella out of the shed. We put Matthew in the swing for a while and let Embry run around the yard with the hose. I love that they love to play outside and I try my best to not let my laziness get in the way of that.

In the Kitchen: Nothing special lately, but I did find a really good recipe for lentil soup. It's by Ina Garten and it makes a ton of soup, so it's perfect for freezing half. I have to thank Ginny for turning me on to lentil soup a long time ago. I probably would have never tried it if it weren't for her and her vegetarian phase. Of course the soup I made this week has a pound of Kielbasa in it, so it is far from vegetarian. But, it was good and even Matthew liked it.

New with Embry: Like a light switch was turned on, Embry has started to read everything within her reach. She reads her books at bedtime, the butter container on the table at dinner, the shampoo bottle in the bath. She has been studying letters and sounds at school for months, but all of the sudden it's like... she just gets it. All day long she is sounding out words and asking me what stuff says. Amazing!

New with Matthew: Matthew is growing like a weed and tearing the place up. His favorite past time now seems to be throwing his toys and making a huge mess out of a clean room in about 30 seconds. Luckily Embry still thinks it's fun to play "clean-up." Also, Matthew has about 6 new teeth. They never seem to bother him much. The only way I can tell when he's teething is that he drools much more than normal.

I'm Thankful For: Kids that like to ride in the car. Poor Matthew was stuck with me in a traffic jam for 30 minutes this week. 30 minutes without moving, but as long as I threw him an animal cracker once in a while there were no complaints.

The Weather Outside: Well in less than 30 days we've had both snow and 90 degree weather. I actually had to turn on the A/C last week. I told myself I wouldn't do it until it got really miserable out. But, last week it was 84 in the house and Embry was begging me to run the marathon with her on the Wii. I just couldn't stand it any more.

I'm Obsessing About: Wow, I can't really think of anything. I guess I have been worried lately about Christmas presents. I bought my first one of the year this week, and I can't believe I've waited so long. Not working for Williams-Sonoma sure has changed my shopping habits. No WS clearance sales, no perusing the mall on my break. I guess I will have to shop like a normal person this year.

Twinkle Toes

2009-04-24T16:08:00.003-05:00

When I tell people that Matthew likes to stand and walk on his tiptoes, I'm not sure they understand to what extent. Especially when they come over, and then that is the day he decides not to do it at all. So, here on record, is a minute or so of Matthew watching Wubzy on his toes (mostly).

**Apparently I used to do it when I was little too, although I'm not sure how young I was when I started. I know it continued until I was 9 or 10.**

Mmm... Artichokes

2009-04-21T14:40:00.002-05:00

If you like artichokes you have to try this recipe that I made for dinner last night. We don't eat whole fresh artichokes a lot (although I wish we did), but when we do I always make them the same way. Boil them and then serve them plain, with lemon-butter to dip the leaves in, yum! Then a couple of weeks ago, I saw Giada make these on TV and I've been thinking about them ever since. Now that we finally got all of the Easter leftovers out of the fridge, (and I happened to have some Gorgonzola left from the beet salad) I decided to go for it. The recipe is for 4 artichokes but can easily be made for 2, also be sure to adjust the cooking time if you are using medium or small sized artichokes. I believe the recipe is for large ones. Bon appetite!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-15T14:24:00.009-05:00

After much anticipation, Easter had arrived. I tried to do as much of the cooking as possible the day before. We colored eggs (brown eggs make the prettiest colors) with Grandma, but of course I forgot to take pictures. We also put together Easter baskets and put candy in about 50 plastic eggs on Saturday night.

So, when Sunday morning came we got to enjoy the egg hunt and our company. Embry and Matthew opened their baskets first thing after waking up. Because they get candy from the egg hunt, I put only non-candy stuff in their baskets. Embry got a butterfly net, some nail polish and lip balm, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and a book. Matthew got some wiffle balls (or "waffle balls", as Embry calls them), a big squeaky frog and 2 board books.

Everyone arrived around noon and we commenced with the egg hunt. I'm pretty sure that all of the eggs were found, with a little help from Moms and Dads. Matthew lost interest after about 5 minutes and just wanted to swing.

After the hunt, we went back inside to finish dinner. I also forgot to take a picture of all the food, but I assure you it was all delicious. Jason and I made grilled leg of lamb, homemade rolls, hot spinach salad with bacon dressing, and smashed minty peas. Our guests brought two other salads, deviled eggs, jello salad, and lots of desserts. I did remember to get a picture of the dessert table.

We had an ambrosia cake (white chiffon cake layered with orange vanilla buttercream frosting, pineapple curd, and orange and pineapple slices), key lime cheesecake, apple cream pie, Kahlua cake, and lots of candy. Yum!

Our livingroom was bursting at the seams, but we somehow managed to fit 10 adults and 3 kids at 2 tables. We all had plenty to eat, and we were entertained afterwards by people embarrasing themselves on the Wii. Good times.

Young Yoga Master

2009-04-09T09:26:00.006-05:00

Embry has always had an interest in Yoga, but since we got the Wii Fit Game she has gotten into it a lot more. Mainly we do it together, but occasionally she asks to do it by herself, and she's getting really good.

Games We Play

2009-04-06T08:59:00.004-05:00

The first thing that Embry and Matthew want to do when Daddy gets home is play "Vine." He can barely get in the door and put down his stuff when Embry is dragging him into the living room. So what is "vine?"

Embry's second favorite game is "Horton." She has been obsessed with "Horton Hears a Who" ever since Grandma bought her the book last year. Then we gave her the movie for her birthday. (Very cute movie, by the way. The best adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book I've seen.) Now she runs around carrying her "speck" usually pretending to be Vlad or Horton. I always play the part of the Sour Kangaroo (go figure). We take turns chasing each other and threatening to dunk the speck in the Beezlenut Stew. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you must read this book, and then watch the movie.

April Snow

2009-04-06T08:49:00.004-05:00

Yes, it is April 6th, less than week until Easter and it is snowing. And not just a little. It is coming down hard in beautiful big flakes. Winter just won't let go without a fight this year. I'm glad we got all of our yard work done yesterday. It is very pretty though.

April Update

2009-04-01T13:51:00.003-05:00

**Is it April already? Ok, so March was a bad blogging month, but this month I'll be better, I promise.**

Around the House: Spring cleaning! And getting ready to host some family for Easter dinner. More on that to come...

In the Kitchen: Another birthday, another baking adventure. This time it was for J's mom, and we decided to make a caramel cake recipe from my mom's Maya Angelou Cookbook (I don't remember the title.) I have eaten this cake twice before, but I have never made it myself. The recipe is unique, because it starts with making a "dry caramel," which I have never done before. The caramel is for a syrup that is used both in the cake batter itself and as a soaking liquid for the cake layers after they are baked. It's a good thing that I started the night before because it took me two tries to get the caramel right. I baked the cake and made the browned butter frosting (yum!) the next day, and assembled the whole thing right before dinner. I was worried at first about the small amount of frosting, but a little goes a long way. It was delicious.

In other baking news, Embry and I tried out our new doughnut pan last night. We used a mix from King Arthur Flour, so they were super easy. They turned out great and we had to try one out soon after they came out of the oven. That's why there are only 5 in the picture. One with sprinkles for Embry, two with chocolate for J and two plain ones for me.

New with Embry: After a week off last week for spring break, it seems as if Embry's school schedule is already winding down. I think she will miss it over the summer. We have decided that the summer program at her school is too expensive, so we are currently looking for swimming lessons for her elsewhere. She is excited about learning to swim. I hope she keeps up the enthusiasm when the time actually comes and not get too scared.

New with Matthew: Matthew is literally getting too big for his britches. He has moved up to a size 6 diaper. I'm pretty sure that's the largest size that is easily available. He either needs to slow down his growing or hurry up and get potty trained. I was hoping we'd at least be able to wait until he turns two. He is also too big for his changing table. I have to lay him diagonally across it just to get him dressed. And then there's the issue of his crib. You are supposed to switch to a toddler bed when the top of the railing is at chest level. For most kids I'm sure that doesn't occur at 13 months. Although he has never tried to climb out, it would not take much effort if he did. So we will be taking down the crib and trying just the mattress on the floor. We agree that he is still too little for a regular bed. When Embry was only two she slept on the floor for months with no problem. But, if the trend continues of doing everything the opposite of his sister, we may have problems getting him to stay in bed if he's on the floor. I guess we'll just have to try and see.

I am Grateful For: It was really nice having Embry home last week. Because of our daily schedule, her and I rarely get to spend much time together, just the two of us. It was more work and more mess to clean up, but I enjoyed our half an hour or so every day of painting or crafting (some of the things that she only gets to do when Matthew is asleep).

The Weather Outside: We have had some crazy weather lately. It was cold and rainy last Saturday, and by 2 am the rain had turned to snow, about 3 inches. By 4 am the streets we plowed and when we got up at 7 it was already starting to melt. We let Embry go out and play in the snow since it might be her last chance until next winter. By noon it was completely gone, like it had never happened. And this week it is back to chilly mornings and warm afternoons.

I am Obsessed With: Keeping this blog better updated :)

Embry's Phrase of the Week

2009-03-26T14:53:00.002-05:00

Happy at me - as in "Mama, are you happy at me?" It's the opposite of mad at me. She asks this (always in a very small voice) when she knows that I'm mad at her and she is hoping that it has passed.

Some Cute Pictures

2009-03-17T20:18:00.003-05:00

It is a rare thing to capture Matthew when he is sitting still, and even rarer to get a picture of him sleeping. I think the only sleeping pictures we have of him are during the first few days after he was born.

I got lucky last night and this afternoon, with some really cute pics. By the way, my favorite baby pictures are of baby feet, but sleeping babies are a close second.

Wednesday Update

2009-03-11T15:15:00.002-05:00

Around the House: Well, another week and a half has gone by, and we are once again a sick house. If anyone would have told me how much little kids get sick, I never would've believed them. It's only a cold this time, but for Embry that means 2-3 days with a fever, and 2-3 days of a cough that keeps everyone awake all night. Embry is almost over it, but Matthew is right in the thick of it. And luckily, he never gets it as bad as his sister.

In the Kitchen: The burrito project worked great. 18 eggs makes 12 burritos. 1.5 minutes on defrost and 1 minute on high and you have a hot breakfast, ready to eat in the car on the way to work. Perfect! We also tried a new Trader Joe's product called "No Pudge, Fudge Brownie Mix." It's a fat free brownie mix that you just add plain or vanilla yogurt to. The best part is that you can make as big or small a batch as you want, even single servings. We tried it last week and it's not too bad. It actually tastes more like chocolate cake than brownie, but it was definitely chocolaty enough to satisfy a craving.

New with Embry: We went to Embry's second parent/teacher conference last week. No surprise; she's doing great. We took home a big folder of some of her work, and mostly discussed what she would be doing different next year when she starts to attend full days.

New with Matthew: Mattie had his 15 month checkup last week, in between illnesses. I found out that he is now as tall as the average 2 1/2 year old, and that he has a very stubborn ear infection. So he is on his second round of antibiotics, and we go back to the doctor to recheck his ears next week. On another note, Matthew has gotten very proficient at tantrums. He begins by stomping his feet as hard and fast as he can. This usually results in him falling down from too much stomping. He continues to kick for a minute or so after he gets to the floor. Oh, and did I mention that he does all while screaming at the top of his lungs. I have GOT to get this on video. Not only for my and your entertainment (it is quite funny), but to show to his friends when he's 16.

I am Grateful For: We don't have to move this year after all. We have extended our lease until May of next year. I do like the house that we're in right now, but more than that I really hate moving. So, this is quite a relief, at least until next year at this time.

The Weather Outside: Wow have we had some crazy weather lately. Twice in the last week, the temp went from upper 70's to 20's after a line of storms went through. Nothing bad, just lots of wind and some rain. just when we think spring is getting closer we get another dose of winter.

I'm Obsessing About: Getting ready for a yard sale. Any of you who know me, know that I am nuts about getting rid of clutter, and I can't wait to get rid of all our baby stuff. Car seat, swing, bouncy seat, bassinet... all of the things that Matthew outgrew before he was 3 months old. Yard sale weather is still weeks away, but I'm ready now!

Monday Update

2009-03-02T15:50:00.002-06:00

Around the House: Pretty calm here for a change. Not much to report.

In the Kitchen: Embry and I baked chocolate chip cookies last week. We were running low on reserves in the freezer.

And I am dying to try this new thing that J found on a cooking-for-cheap website. Frozen make-ahead breakfast burritos. Basically, you cook scrambled eggs and whatever else you want in the burrito (for me that's peppers, onions, mushrooms, and bacon). Then you wrap it in a tortilla, with some cheese if you want, and freeze them individually. When you want to eat one you just pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes. How cool is that?! J, especially, will appreciate these, since he has never been a cold cereal for breakfast kind of guy. He'd much rather have something hot, but never has time to cook before work. Problem solved.

New with Embry: Lots of stuff going on at school this month. They had their second fire drill of the year (which did not scare her at tall this time) and their first tornado drill. And last week they had a person from the St. Louis Bird Sanctuary bring some impressive specimens to show off. I knew she was excited about this because she mentioned it first thing after she got into the car that day. They got to see 2 owls, a turkey vulture and a hawk close up.

New with Matthew: Mattie is becoming increasingly mobile, running all over the place. He is also becoming increasingly loud, and increasingly hungry. Ever since he got over being sick he has seemed like a bottomless pit. He is eating about twice what did just a month ago. It is weird to me to have a kid who wants to eat all the time, since my other one lives on 5 nibbles a day.

I'm Grateful For: Quiet time after the kids are in bed.

The Weather Outside: March comes in like a lion, right? It's not so bad here. Cold, but nothing out of the ordinary. It's supposed to get warmer as the week goes by.

I'm Obsessing About: I recently found a book that I received as a gift almost a year ago. I had put it away and totally forgot about it. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook. I was just as excited to find it as I was to get it in the first place. I hadn't even opened it until yesterday, but I've been spending every spare moment I have flipping through it.

Random Photo #4

2009-02-27T15:27:00.002-06:00

Folder 4, Photo 4

Yet another cruise photo (this will be the last one). This one, I think, is the coast of Honduras taken from the deck, as we arrived. It was gorgeous and we spent the day on the beach. That cruise was the best vacation ever. I highly recommend trying it.

Birthday Girl

2009-02-20T16:54:00.005-06:00

Embry's birthday celebration began with her party on Saturday the 14th. Embry's grandparents and great-grandparents came to visit and to have lunch and cake. I made slow-cooker BBQ pork. I bought broccoli slaw and put out veggies and chips with dip. A very summery menu for February, but I needed foods that were easy. (We were all still recovering from illness earlier in the week.)

After everyone arrived, we had to open presents. Not birthday presents, Valentine's presents.

Some of which Embry helped decorate...

After lunch, it was time for cake. Embry is still obsessed with having cakes with flags on them, so the summer theme continues. Especially with the "4" on it, it looks like an Independence Day cake :). I make a jello poke cake with whipped cream frosting. It turned out really good, and was a nice light departure from the last few cakes I've made that were very heavy and rich. Plus, Embry loves to help cut up fruit and she had a great time prepping the strawberries.

J's only complaint was that the cake was not historically accurate, with only 9 stripes and 32 stars. Whatever...

After blowing out candles and eating cake it was time for birthday presents. Here's Embry getting straight to work with her new easel accessories. The rolls of paper and paint cups (non-spill!) were from Mom and Dad.

After presents it was time for naps and time to say goodbye. Our guests were on their way home, except for Grandma H. who was staying for the weekend. She helped me put together a collage for Embry's next birthday celebration at school. Because her birthday was on a Saturday and Monday was a holiday, Embry had her birthday stuff at school on Tuesday. Her class has a very unique way of recognizing birthdays.

First Embry stands in front of the class and talks about the photos on the poster. We discuss where and when she was born and show pictures of her other birthdays and of some of her favorite things. Those pics included ones of her swinging, feeding the ducks at the park, playing with her brother, and jumping on the bed. She then took the collage slowly around the room showing it to all the kids in the circle.

Next, the teacher lights a candle in the center of the room, and Embry walks in a circle around the candle while the kids sing a song. The candle represents the sun and Embry is carrying the Earth. Each time around the circle represents one year. After each year, we discuss what Embry learned during that time, or what changed in her life, like moving to St. Louis or becoming a big sister.

After her four laps are finished the kids sing "Happy Birthday," and Embry dismisses them, by name, to their tables where she serves them a snack. We brought grapes, pears and oranges.

By the time we finished eating, it was time to go home. She was so proud to show off her pictures and to be the center of attention. It was a very neat ceremony and I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Although it's been a week and a half, Embry is still talking about her party, her cake and her day at school. And she's already talking about her next birthday, although she claims that she will be 6 years old next year, not five. I told her that she is already growing up too fast, she's not allowed to skip years like that.

Recent Pictures

2009-02-19T15:21:00.004-06:00

I just finished uploading pictures from my camera and I thought I'd share some of the good ones...

These first two are from our only major snow that we've had so far this year. Actually, it was the first time that Embry got to play in a lot of snow.

This one is of Embry playing scrabble on the bed in the guest room. She loves to play with all of our board games, but she has to set herself up somewhere that Matthew can't reach all the tiny pieces. I just thought she looked cute making words with the scrabble tiles.

This one is just Mattie posing for the camera, as he loves to do.

These next two are of Embry and her paintings. She can knock out 6 or 7 pictures in about 30 minutes. The rest of the pictures are J's.

This one is just a cute capture of one of Matthew's new faces - the fish face. He has been experimenting a lot lately with some very cute results.

And finally a rare picture of me with both kids. This is how we have been spending the last few minutes before Matthew goes to bed at night. All three of us pile into the chair and wind down to an episode of Wubzy.

Thursday Update

2009-02-19T13:57:00.003-06:00

Around the House - Wow, has it been almost 2 weeks since I last posted? It has been a little crazy here. Starting with last week when Matthew and I came down with the flu at the same time. J had to stay home from work to help me take care of the kids, and just when I started to feel better, he came down with it too. Luckily, J and I felt good enough by the end of the week to continue as planned with Embry's birthday party. (I'm going to write a separate post regarding birthday stuff.) By some miracle Embry did not (so far) catch whatever we had. Matthew has had a harder time recovering. He is still not quite back to normal, but he is feeling better every day. This week has been all about recovering; our health, our house, our sleep. Health is good, the house is getting there, and I definitely need to work more on the sleep.

In the Kitchen - Nothing puts a halt to cooking like an entire family not being able to eat. So, with the exception of Embry's party, I have pretty much cooked nothing in the past 2 weeks. Embry was the only one eating for a few days so I fed her lots of mac-n-cheese, Lunchables, and Steak-N-Shake. I felt really bad, but she thought it was great. After the party we've mostly been working on leftovers. I plan to get back into the kitchen this weekend.

New with Embry - The newly crowned 4 year old has been as busy as ever. She spends most of her time at home crafting; painting, cutting and pasting, coloring, printing out online creations, etc. But, I know she is looking forward to warmer days. Every time we pass the park on the way to the grocery store, she asks if it is warm enough to play. I tell her, "Very soon."

New with Matthew - Matthew has been trying to outgrow his morning nap for a few weeks now. Of course, his plans were sidelined when he got sick and was sleeping more than usual. But, now that he is feeling better, he is resisting again. I've still been putting him in his crib at the normal time, but most days he just sits in there and plays until I get him out again 30 minutes later. At least I still get 30 minutes to get dressed and check email.

I'm Grateful For - The fact that Embry still takes an afternoon nap. I hope she holds on till the fall, when she starts going to preschool full days. (She'll get a nap there if she still needs one.)

The Weather Outside - Normal Midwest winter lately. Cold with a few snowflakes. We had a couple of warmer days last week. But, it was back to the 20's today.

I'm Obsessing About - I think I'm still to tired to obsess. Maybe next week.

Random Photo Time

2009-02-06T13:51:00.003-06:00

Folder 3, Picture 3

Also from our cruise (there will be a lot of these)... this is actually a pretty great picture. We're at the Aquarium in Cozumel, where J and I got into the shark tank (no really!) and then walked around to visit the other ocean life. Hello little turtle...

Best Dessert from a Mix...Ever!

2009-02-02T12:53:00.003-06:00

I found this idea on my new favorite food blog, Bakerella. Basically you take a Betty Crocker brownie mix and prepare according to the directions on the box. Then, you take a Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix and prepare according to directions. Only instead of baking the cookies separately, you drop the cookie dough into the brownie batter by the teaspoonful.

The end result is a dessert that is half brownie and half chocolate chip cookie. What could be better!? As soon as I read about this, I made a special trip to the store to buy the mixes. When I got there, surprise! Betty Crocker has a box with both mixes together! Word must have got out about how awesome this dessert is. Anyway, it is so easy and a great dessert for kids to help with as you can see from the pictures.

We finished it the same way that the folks at Bakerella did... with a layer of homemade ganache. I wonder how great this would be using homemade brownies and homemade cookie dough?

Happy baking!

Random Photo Time

2009-01-30T13:34:00.002-06:00

Folder 2, Photo 2

Fast forward a couple of years... this is from our drive to Houston to embark on our cruise. Not a great picture, but this was before the time of the digital camera, so you never knew what you were getting until the film was developed. Now a days I probably would've deleted it off the camera long before it ever made it to the computer.

The structure in the distance is this huge (and a little scary) suspension bridge that leads us to our port. The structure in the foreground is our suitcase.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-28T15:09:00.002-06:00

I guess this is fair since I never completed my profile, but it's probably more than any of you wanted to know...

1. I could never marry a man who watches football.

2. I hate taking showers. It's just more work that I have to do at the end of the day that cuts into my free time.

3. I love Jeopardy! I started watching it with my Grandma when she used to babysit us, and I've watched it ever since.

4. I recently bought my first pair of regular socks in over 10 years. When I actually do wear socks I always wear those low, low running ones. Then last week, I stepped outside into the zero degree weather and my ankles were cold. So, I decided to buy a few regular pairs.

5. If I watch a movie on TV at night on the couch, I will fall asleep before its over. However, if I watch a movie at night, in bed, I'll stay up for then end of the movie and then probably stay up to watch the Daily Show too.

6. I hate Hershey's Special Dark mini chocolate bars, but I love Dark Chocolate M&Ms.

7. M.A.S.H. is my all time favorite TV show. I never get tired of it. I have every episode on DVD and I watch them on my laptop in the kitchen when I cook.

8. When I'm mad, I clean the kitchen. It's usually how my husband can tell if I'm mad at him.

9. I love the smell of Tide. More specifically, wet clothes that have been washed in Tide. If they ever put that scent into a cologne I would totally buy it.

10. My favorite things to eat for dinner are hot breakfast foods. I would much rather have cold cereal for breakfast and save the pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, etc. for dinner.

11. I love origami.

12. When I was a kid I hated tomatoes and anything with tomatoes in it. I wouldn't even eat pizza because of the sauce. (I love tomatoes, now!)

13. I wanted to be a ballerina when I was little. Little did I know how short and unbelievably clumsy I would grow up to be. Seriously, I injure myself at least once every day.

14. I dislike jellybeans, all flavors. Every Easter I would trade all of my jellybeans to my brother for his Peeps.

15. When I was in Junior High several of my friends had braces and I secretly wished I could get them too.

16. I love jigsaw puzzles.

17. I have lots of vivid dreams that I remember in great detail. The most recurring subject? The end of the world. Somehow I'm always a survivor... I wonder what that means?

18. I love to wrap presents. I even volunteer to wrap other people's gifts for them.

19. I never thought I would be the mother who goes to the store in her pajama pants and ballcap with no makeup on, but I am!

20. I will TiVo the Superbowl and fast forward through the game to watch the commercials.

21. Until I was 8 or 9, I thought that the fireworks, picnics, etc. on July 4th were just for my birthday.

22. I listen to Christmas music all year long.

23. I like to eat ice cream in January and chili in July.

24. I am slightly obsessed with all things Harry Potter. I like to reference the books and movies as much as possible in everyday life.

25. I am so neurotic that had to write these 25 things down on paper and then copy them to my blog.

Snow Day

2009-01-27T13:57:00.002-06:00

Because coloring with your hand just gets boring...

Something Fun

2009-01-22T09:20:00.003-06:00

Here's an idea I stole from a friend's blog:

Post your first picture from your first folder in your "Pictures" file on your computer (even if it's not a great picture) and explain, if necessary. On the next one, post your second picture from your second folder, and so on. If you have tons of pictures going back a few years like I do, it should be interesting. So, here goes nothing...

Folder 1, Picture 1 - Christmas 2001 at Mom's House

This was the first Christmas after Graduation. It was the end of a very crazy week for J and I. We had just graduated, moved to Alabama and started new jobs. We drove up to IL for Christmas, and then got caught in an ice storm driving home. I think it was the last time we drove to my Mom's from Huntsville. Only flying from that point on.

Tuesday Update

2009-01-20T15:01:00.002-06:00

Around the House: Well, I just found out that we will be moving once again later this spring. (Big sigh...) Our landlords are moving into this house at the end of our lease in May, so we will be finding a new house soon.

The upside(s)? We have a much better knowledge of the city and where the good neighborhoods are. We have more than a few hours to look at houses this time. We are not moving across the country. And most importantly, we can move ourselves. With a little help with wrangling kids from Grandmas, of course. Also, I kept all of our packing supplies from last time, so I can pack at my leisure.

In the Kitchen: Not anything exciting going on there. I have started my Sunday cooking marathons again, where I try to prepare 3 or 4 dinners in one afternoon to be reheated later in the week. We had grilled cheese or scrambled eggs almost every night last week, because I was too lazy to cook, so I'm trying to make up for it.

New with Embry: Embry has recently begun to count out loud when we are in the car on the way home from school. She used to start counting when we got close to home, since she could only count to 20 or so without help. She has become much more ambitious lately. She loves that she can get to 100 and beyond, so she makes us start counting as soon as she gets into the car. And so we count the entire way home, all 20 minutes. Often we get to 400 or more. Luckily, she has started to forget about it some days. Whew! That is a lot of counting!

New with Matthew: Matthew received a wooden "Melissa & Doug" puzzle for his birthday with 5 shapes. Although he doesn't quite understand the point of the puzzle, he plays with it all the time. Mainly he removes all the pieces and throws them on the floor, with the exception of the circle which he likes to carry around the house all day. When he does attempt to put the pieces back in, he ALWAYS puts the circle in the square hole. Apparently it goes better there than in its own place.

I am Thankful For: My yummy potato and corn chowder in the fridge, just waiting to be warmed up. No mess, no clean-up tonight, yea!

The Weather Outside: Cold, but not too much and a little bit of snow this morning.

I am Obsessing About: Getting my taxes filed. I know it's early but, I like to have this stuff done as soon as I can. I'm just waiting for one more form to come in the mail then I'm finished!

Night at the Magic House

2009-01-18T19:34:00.003-06:00

Last night was Embry's school outing to the Magic House. Embry and I went by ourselves since Matthew goes to bed at 7 and the event didn't even start until 6. When we first arrived, we ate pizza and cookies. Then I just let Embry wander wherever she wanted. I followed close behind, of course. It was nice for Embry to be able to play on her own schedule instead of having to go where everyone else wanted or to stop playing because I had to take care of her little brother. She could take her time and if she wanted to spend 35 minutes at the sand table, then she could (and did!). She had a great time and didn't even throw too much of a fit when it was time to go. Getting her to bed when we got home was a different story, however...

Embry's Word of the Week

2009-01-16T20:52:00.002-06:00

Chopstick - def. the stuff that you put on your lips to keep them soft and smooth.

...as opposed to...

Chapsticks - def. the things you eat noodles with.

I think this began as a simple mistake, but is now one of those things where she knows which one is which but likes to say it wrong because it makes us laugh.

Monday Update

2009-01-12T14:35:00.003-06:00

Around the House: Most things back to normal this week. It's a full week of school and work. Finally got the basement cleaned up, and all Christmas stuff put away where it actually belongs. Next project is to round up all the kids old clothes and see what can be given away and what can be sold on eBay. After that... I'll get ready for yard sale season. I have so much baby stuff around the house that Matthew has grown out of, and it all needs to go.

In the Kitchen: Saturday is Magic House Night for the kids at Embry's school and I have pledged a few dozen cookies and some juice. I find it hard to volunteer my time at these events, since I don't quite feel comfortable letting Embry run around the museum by herself. But, I can always donate baked goods. Plus I need an excuse to bake. I haven't made anything since Christmas, and I was starting to go through cookie withdrawal.

New with Embry: Embry loves to cut paper. She is slightly obsessed with cutting and pasting lately. I got her a couple of books from the Kumon series. They are great for days when we are stuck inside and I need something quiet for her to do. She also got a whole set of different edged scissors (or "curly scissors" as she calls them) which she uses to turn her scrap paper into very creative confetti.

New with Matthew: Starting to talk a little. Says "ball" and "mama." But mostly he just likes to imitate sounds. He walks around saying "Shhhtthh" and "Wwwwnnnnn."

I'm Thankful For: The refrigerator back up and running. We had a burned out heating unit last week and got lucky to find someone to fix it within a couple of days. I am so glad that it was cold enough outside that we could keep our milk and stuff on the back porch for 2 days while we waited.

The Weather Outside: It's been pretty mild the last few days... a bit of snow, but nothing substantial. We are, however, bracing for a cold snap tonight. Temps around zero with wind chills at -15. Brrr.

I'm Obsessing About: Can't wait for new TV shows to start up again. A new Scrubs episode tomorrow, new Office and 30 Rock on Thursday. And soon, new seasons of Big Love and The Tudors (best thing ever on Showtime!).

Embry's Word of the Week

2009-01-07T20:26:00.002-06:00

Glitter Box - def. the place in Grandma's basement where the kitties go potty :)

(I guess the last time we had a litter box at our house, Embry wasn't old enough to care what it was called.)

New Year, New Feature

2009-01-01T14:13:00.004-06:00

Embry's Word/Phrase of the Week

Wobbly Shoes - def. high heeled Disney Princess shoes that Embry got for Christmas from her aunt. They are about 5 sizes too big and she can barely walk in them, so she uses them for airplanes for her small stuffed animals.

Matthew, the Pro

2008-12-31T20:54:00.003-06:00

Wow! It finally worked! Fifth time's a charm...

Anyway, I am amazed at how much progress Matthew has made in just a few weeks. He's standing up without holding onto anything, carrying and throwing things while walking, and turning quite well now. His new favorite thing is to chase Embry in circles around the living room. They start giggling so hard that they both lose their balance and fall down, usually on top of one another. Enjoy!

Year End Update

2008-12-31T14:26:00.002-06:00

Well, I was planning on posting an ultra-cute video of Matthew showing off his walking skills, but Blogger had other ideas. So, year-end-update it is...

Around the House: Embry and I just finished taking down the tree. The official sign that Christmas is over. I think she liked taking it down even more than putting it up. But, it is always a little depressing for me. For several weeks, getting ready for Christmas consumes so much of my time and energy, that once it's over, I don't know what to do with myself. I've been cleaning and organizing, starting next Monday getting back into crafting. I really did not like the stockings I have for everyone, so I am going to make some new ones. And if I am going to make my Christmas cards for next year, I have to get started early.

In the Kitchen: I know you're supposed to have black-eyed peas for New Year's, but I prefer black beans. And besides, it was a great way to use up all of the leftover ham from Christmas. Also, in a fond farewell to all of the Christmas sweets, I am making a bread pudding with some leftover cranberry bread. We are also cooking up the rest of our appetizers for New Year's Eve, and I am mixing up some sangria with our leftover wine.

New with Embry: This week we are trying to finally get Embry out of her Pull-Ups. We have been sort-of potty training for a year now, but I have decided that she will be finished when she goes back to school. This week is perfect because we have no distractions and I can spend all of our time at home. She is doing great so far... wish us luck!

New with Matthew: Now that he's pretty comfortable walking, Matthew loves to chase around his sister (whether she likes it or not).

I am Thankful For: The last year, and what a crazy year is has been for us. Last year at this time we were living in Alabama and I was taking time off of work to stay home with my newborn. Now I'm at home full time, in St. Louis, my little girl is going back to school next week, and my baby just turned 1 year old. Did all of that really happen in just one year?

The Weather Outside: The weather has been CRAZY around here. The week before Christmas, it was so cold outside that I was reluctant to take the kids with me to the store. Then, in the days after Christmas it was so warm that we were going out without jackets on. There were a couple of thunderstorms here and there (yes, with thunder and lightning, in December), and now it seems back to normal. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the winter goes.

I am Obsessing About: Trying not to obsess so much; one of my resolutions. Also, not complaining as much, feeding the kids (and J and myself) better food, and the same old lose weight.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Post Christmas Wrap-Up

2008-12-29T20:09:00.002-06:00

Well, today was the first day with just the four of us in the house again. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Most of the presents are put away, most of the leftovers are eaten. (The tree is still up and the lights are still up outside. I usually wait until New Year's before I take down that stuff.) Jason went back to work and the kids and I spent a normal day at home. Although Embry is still home from school for another week, so it wasn't quite a normal weekday.

We had a wonderful Christmas and weekend. We had a full house and lots and lots of food. We opened gifts on Christmas morning. Embry got tired about halfway through and decided that all she wanted to do was paint with her new easel. Matthew slept through the presents, so he opened his later in the day. Everyone got lots of great stuff, especially the kids. Matthew played for about an hour with this train toy that pops balls out of the top of it. And Embry paints on her easel everyday. Mine and Jason's favorites are the Nintendos we got. Yes, we unwrapped a Wii and an NES. Awesome.

For Christmas dinner, we made a ham and fried deer, scalloped potatoes, Italian braised green beans, homemade rolls, a layered salad, and taco ring (taco meat inside crescent roll dough with taco fixin's on top), cranberry sauce, cranberry bread, and lots of wine. I think my favorite was the potatoes. It was from the Best Recipe Cookbook (my favorite), and I had not tried it before, but it was yummy. We didn't make a dessert since we had tons of cookies. We had three platters that we kept refilling all weekend long.

By Sunday I was exhausted and the house was still a huge mess, but I think everyone had a good time. And everyone got home safe despite some unusually weather.

Here's some pictures, I'll put the rest up on Snapfish soon. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:12:00.004-06:00

I figured that with all that will be going on at the house in the next few days, it's not likely that I will post again for a while. So, I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and leave you with a couple of cute pictures.

The first one is of Embry eyeing the cookie plate that I made up for Christmas Eve.

The last one is of the kids being cute and laying together on the floor right before naptime this afternoon. I can't believe how big Matthew is getting compared to his sister. He won't be her "little" brother for much longer.

More Christmas Happenings

2008-12-21T16:11:00.006-06:00

Around the House: Cleaning and organizing. Getting ready for guests on Wednesday night. Here's a picture of the amaryllis that I bought from a school fundraiser. I had hoped that it would wait until Christmas to bloom, but of course it bloomed a week earlier. Oh well, it was still beautiful. And it is always nice to see pretty flowers on the table when the rest of the house looks like a tornado hit it.

In the Kitchen: The focus from now until Wednesday is cookies. I baked butter cookies last Friday and on Saturday, Embry and I decorated them. J even frosted a few.

Here's a closer look of one of my favorites... the blue Christmas tree with 30 (yes, we counted) red hots on it. Embry was very liberal with the red hots on all of her cookies. I finally had to cut her off, so that we'd have some cookies without them. The funny thing is that I remember doing the exact same thing when I was little. I also liked the silver dragees :)

New with Embry: We went to Embry's School Christmas program open house last week. The theme was Christmas around the world. Each classroom was a different region/country and celebrated as they do with clothing decorations, crafts,and food. Embry's class was Africa. They each stamped a t-shirt to wear, made drums, and clay pots. She also wore a beaded necklace and bracelet that they made. They had a expert on African culture come and speak to them. He brought instruments, traditional costumes, and decorations. And someone brought in a few African foods to eat. We were able to go to Embry's classroom and then walk with her to all of the other classes to see what they were up to. It was fun.

Here's a picture of Embry in her getup. She also is sporting a candy can that she stole off of the tree when she got home that day.

New with Matthew: He's a total pro at walking now. He's getting around all over the house, although he has some issues with all the places in the house where the carpet transitions to the hard floor and vice versa. He usually just sits down, crawls over the line and then gets up and walks again. Funny.

I'm Thankful For: Trader Joe's, the best store ever. Not only did we find another great new wine there today (that I'm sipping right now), but also a small container of Fiesta Dip. For those who are not familiar... Fiesta Dip is re-fried beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cheese layered for dipping. It is one of my favorite treats, but usually you can only find it in huge containers at the grocery store. Trader Joe's had a 2 serving size and they used black beans instead of pintos (even better). Yum!

The Weather Outside: I still can't complain. Even though it's now 9 degrees outside we have somehow avoided lots of messiness this week. It could have been like at my Mom's house with lots and lots of snow, or like at J's Mom's house with lots of ice. I'll definitely take cold and windy instead. Side note - Matthew (and sometimes Embry) have taken to playing in my bedroom closet lately. I think it's partly because there is a heat duct running through it and it's always warm in there.

I'm Obsessing About: Having everything ready for Christmas morning. I'm ahead of schedule, but since Embry is home this week, I'm planning on having less time than normal. I know everyone will have a good time regardless of whether or not I dust the bedroom, but it'll be nice of no one notices that I hadn't dusted since we moved here :).