Go Climb A Tree, Boy

And take those other two outside with you, as well!

Gotta love the 60+ degree weather in January!  (Actually, I find it quite odd.  Supposed to be back in the 30s today so I guess it's righting itself!)

PS:  As you can tell, I've been having a lot of fun recently with the Be Funky app for iPhone photo editing.  It's free.  Thumbs up!

Gown Twins

I didn't post the pic of B from his appointment two weeks ago but now that there's a matched set, how could I not?!

Apparently this new pediatric practice really doesn't want its patients to get cold!!

It still boggles my mind that Miss C, who just seems a little bit more solid than Mr. B, continues to weigh less than he did at each checkpoint.  At 2 years old, she's just shy of 36" tall and weighs 27.5 pounds.   If only they'd share some of this long&lean thing with their mama....!!

Problem Solved!

As you might have noted from yesterday's pics/video, the BG's red "truck" remained outside even after his whopping victory in last week's poll re: getting the garage.  Turns out that entire discussion has become moot because he now has a place to put on shoes near the front door!!

When I heard the forecast for Friday PM snow, I decided I better go out Thursday night and get stuff to cook for dinner rather than planning to eat out somewhere.  I also picked up a wee birthday cake and went through the line, where my groceries were checked out by a very sweet girl who, upon seeing my football team sweatshirt, told me she was a Rams student and then, upon me telling her I was the BG's wife, exclaimed with delight about how she's had him as a teacher and has seen our kids at events, etc.  (I really should try to make myself look better on the days I wear a school sweatshirt, huh?  She probably went to school the next day and told everyone Coach is married to a troll!  ;-)

ANYWAY.

I forgot to buy candles.  I have no doubt we have some around here somewhere but they haven't made themselves obvious post-move.  Rather than go back into the grocery store, I decided to drive to the next strip over and pop into Home Goods where I did find candles....and this beaut:

It was absolutely a one-off: a random item amidst a whole lot of other stuff.  It's like it was made for our living room, however-- the colors perfectly match the couch and pillows.  BOOM!  A dedicated shoe-putting-on spot!  DONE.

Snow Report

This winter so far is still quite paltry compared to previous years (like this and this, for instance), but we're kinda used to it at this point since we haven't had extended school-canceling snow in several seasons.  We'll take what we can get, which in this case was the overnight snow that caused a Thursday delay and the Friday snowshowers that led to an early dismissal.

The BG sent the B-man to clean off the car Thursday morning before school:

Then, on Friday afternoon, they broke out the plastic sled.  (Holding out for a better accumulation to christen the faboo snow tube, Auntie Polly!):

0 to 2

Happy Birthday to Miss C...and Happy Friday to you all!

Tycoons Start Early

He may not be ready to toss a pigskin, but the 5-year old got a football for his birthday nonetheless:

The BG and I have both been very blessed to grow up surrounded by people who value saving money.  We've focused on carrying this tradition into our own married life and I thought it was now time to get B involved.  I found this Money Savvy bank and it has led to quite the learning adventure!

The two guys decided on a system for organizing the money B had received from generous relatives for Christmas and birthday-- I think it was $1 in each of the other 3 categories for each $5 in the Spend.  (He's already spent most of that through some new treasures purchased online!  I realize, with the genes from his mother, he's inclined to enjoy online shopping but extra bonus:  tracking the purchase(s) each day becomes an exciting activity and the whole process stretches out for awhile!!)

I imagine the endgame for the Donate category will be for him to choose a charity to receive the money when it is full.   For the other 2 categories, however, the BG has really made it fun along the way.   He has told B that "The Bank of Daddy" will pay 10% interest monthly on the money in the Save category.  SWEET!!    As for the Invest category, they figured out the current value was worth 1/5th of a share of Mattel, which owns Fisher-Price, which puts out his beloved Imaginext toys, so they can track that growth, as well!  (They started with Lego, but turns out it's a privately-held company in Denmark!)

Then again-- B already has a jump-start on the investing thing.  Remember this video from Nov 2010?

Who Parks Where? A Reader Interactive Query!

UPDATE at 7 AM Thursday:  We got some snow overnight, resulting in a 2-hour delay!  The BG is out shoveling the driveway now...which I guess would be necessary regardless of which car was parked in the garage!   We shall see what the rest of winter brings!

Our house has a long hilly driveway with a one-car garage (previously a carport).  I have parked my car in there since we moved in because, well, that just seemed to make sense.  Since the chimney is on one wall of the garage (previously an exterior wall of said carport), however, you can actually open only one set of car doors while inside the garage.  So unloading and loading kids can only happen from one side which is less than ideal, but has always been fine.

Having nothing to do with any of that, the BG has been wanting some sort of seating near a door where he can sit and put on his shoes before leaving.  There is no room in the entry hallway but there could be room near the door that leads to the garage.   But that would only make sense if he were going out that door to his car parked in the garage.

I scoffed initially but now I realize that maybe it does make more sense for him to be the one who parks in the garage.  I have no idea if we will ever get any of that cold white stuff but it would probably be really nice for him not to have to scrape a car at 6 AM when he's trying to get out the door to go to work.   And he doesn't generally transport kids so doesn't have to worry about opening doors on both sides.

So whaddya think?  Should we switch?  Let us know what you think in the Poll and/or comments!!

Nope, Still Not Much To Report!

We had a delightful bonus day yesterday.  It may or may not have involved some healthy eating self-sabotage by popping into a Great Harvest Bread Co that happens to be in the same strip where we took a family retail adventure.   As the BG said with a mouthful of Red, White, and Blueberry Swirl bread:  "Who even cares about how many calories it is when it's THIS good?!"

Of course, he's the slender one.   But whatever.  ;-)

True to form, that wasn't the only food-centric part of the day.  We also had quite the yummy pancake breakfast to honor our weekend guest, Hershey the Bear:

Hershey travels home with a different pre-K classmate each weekend.  (B is in the "Bears" class.)  He also brings a journal where one is supposed to detail the adventures with Hershey for sharing upon return.   I feel kinda bad for him since he got an extended weekend with us and we didn't do very much, but he hasn't complained yet!!

It's 17 degrees as I'm writing this and it's not supposed to get out of the 20s.  Pretty sure we're not going to leave the house today unless we have to!  Hope everybody stays warm!

Why, hello there!

It's a holiday Monday and we're looking forward to a bonus family day! Maybe something interesting enough to share will happen today since I don't have much to report from the weekend! I just scoured my phone's camera roll so I could at least post a pic....and here's what I found:

(Early) birthday milkshakes last Monday. Not what we'll want to be drinking when the rush of Arctic air comes tomorrow. Brrrr. I'm already cold thinking about it.

See you tomorrow when I'll no doubt be wearing a hat and scarf in the house! (Oil heat is expensive, yo!) ;-)

"Hi Guys!"

C scampered off at one point yesterday and I figured she'd found some sort of interactive electronic device. It was fun to find her, instead, on the carpet in her room:

Nestled in the midst of pink stuff, she was working busily attaching hats to the heads of B's Lego mini figures.  These are her "guys" and she loves to say hi to them!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

What Do You Mean I'm Not Invisible?

Celebrating Five

Since C is still in a crib from which she has not tried to escape (thank goodness), I generally wait to get her up until the B-man has arisen.  He was pretty excited to show her the balloons he found on his bedroom floor when he woke up so I went in to her room, picked her up, and immediately took her into his room to play:

There was all kinds of balloon fun:

And....then I noticed after taking this picture that her pjs seemed to be a little darker pink in the front:

End of balloon party time!  Time for a dry diaper and new clothes!  ;-)

I was all set to drive the longish journey to Krispy Kreme but the birthday boy told me he'd just as soon go to Dunkin Donuts since KK doesn't have Munchkins.  Since it was raining and DD is 1/4th as far, that was all good with me!   (And, even though I don't really like DD all that much, I still ate something like 7 of 'em.  Argh!)

After that, there was a lot of general hanging out and waiting for the BG to get home.  Since this is midterm exam week, track practice can start earlier and he's able to get home earlier.  Hooray!  He was home by 4 and the birthday boy ripped into his box o' prezzies then.  We headed to dinner shortly after that where, if you're on Facebook, you know that we were treated to the LOUDEST fire alarm ever just after I'd ordered at the counter and paid.  Thankfully, it didn't last longer than 10 minutes since I didn't really have to come up with a Plan B!

Guys at dinner:

Quick shout-out for Cosi here.  I know a lot of you don't have them nearby, but we're big fans.  The meals are not inexpensive (although at $4.99, the kids meals that include fruit, cookie, and milk are pretty awesome!) but what I really love is their loyalty program.  For every 10 entrees you buy, you get one free....but they count kids meals AND, amazingly enough, they always give you the most expensive entree as the free one!!   Since they often put $2 coupons into local ad mailers, it can end up being a fun outing without breaking the proverbial bank!

And, um, it's tasty:

After all that excitement (which included a surprise tray of brownies and blondies from the Cosi cashier for the birthday boy), we went home and surprised B yet again with a cake:

(And yes, please marvel at the box cake with tub frosting!! I figured we weren't serving it to anyone and it's the favorite of the BG whom I rely on to eat all the treats so why not?!)

B said it was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.  With so many in his past to choose from, how can we not be honored?!!   :-)

PS:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT NICKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Counting Practice

ONE.

TWO.

THREE.

FOUR.

FIVE.

Since food adventures are my love language, we had celebratory "Birthday Cake" milkshakes yesterday to mark the last day of being four; we're off on a surprise donut run this morning, and dinner will be a full-family-of-4 affair at his beloved Cosi. 

I thought I'd ask him to talk a little bit about what's going on in his world these days and I'd dictate it here.  Unfortunately, he keeps wanting to talk about birthday presents and birthday cake.  Maybe we're not quite at the "tell me about what's on your mind" developmental stage yet!  ;-)

[For posterity's sake, however, I will note that he is standing next to me as I'm typing this and is reading every word aloud.  We definitely have a reader!]

Maybe if I ask him some questions?   How about 5 in honor of the occasion?

1) Fave food?  Donuts.

2)  Fave thing to do?  Go to people's houses.

3)  Fave thing to play with Miss C?  Run around in circles.

4)  Love most about Daddy?  Playing Settlers of Catan with him.

5)  Most want to do now that you're 5?   Eat my birthday cake.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hard to capture the "B-man magic" in print.  ;-)  My birthday wish for his 6th year is that he (and I) will get to enjoy some quality visits with each of you in person!!

Today

May your Monday be so chock-full of good things that you have to dive in with TWO FORKS!!

More Food Talk

I didn't intend for today's post to feature more food but there's not much else going on in these parts!!

It's actually quite exciting that I finally completed this particular culinary project!  I've been a huge fan of King Arthur Flour since first going to their company store back in the pre-kids era when we were visiting the BG's family in New Hampshire.  (KAF is just across the river in Vermont.)  It was the scone mixes that first sucked me in but now I love to try new kinds of treats when they have free shipping sales.   I bought the English Muffin mix a shockingly long time ago and then followed it up with an Amazon purchase of muffin rings since (no surprise) it hadn't dawned on me that there was some three-dimensional tool-ery involved.   These two purchases have sat around forever but yesterday, my friends, was THE DAY.

(And I did substitute a new yeast packet since I figured that was what would have suffered the most over time.)

The set-up:

While it was indeed a mix, I'm pretty sure the mixing of whatever was contained in the box was probably the least labor-intensive part!  (Although I'm happy to have had access to all-KAF prime ingredients!)   The dough you see on the left is after a 90-minute rise.

In the pan!

7/11ths of the finished product:

'Twas quite a good entry in the "Carb" portion of our Brinner Trifecta (the other two parts being scrambled eggs and some sort of breakfast meat)!

As a side note, we were trying to remember at dinner last night the last time we ate out.  We did bring pizza in last Saturday night when our friends were over but we're pretty sure we ate out last on 12/31.  That is crazy.  If I do nothing else right in 2013, at least I followed through on my quest to be better about planning meals at home!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Recipe Roundup

I'm trying to be more intentional this year with planning meals.  Football season (aka, the latter half of each year) brings the BG home too late to have a proper family dinner.  Since I have one kid who doesn't really want to eat and the other who needed to eat quite early, I spent a lot of months in a cooking funk.   I ended up feeding both of them odds and ends since they were eating earlier, and then I didn't have much interest in making something for the adults to eat later.

With his current coaching schedule, however, he is generally home before 5:30.  Since that's a perfectly appropriate time for the little one to be eating before her early bedtime, I've been doing a lot more cooking of late.   The new issue of Cooking Light arrived just as I was planning a big grocery shopping trip recently and I'm now happy to report that the 3 recipes I cooked out of it right away have been big hits!

I didn't take pics of any of them but the linked recipes have photos.

Feeling like Mexican?  Try Tortilla Chip Casserole!

Need some Asian flavors?  Try Orange Cranberry Pork Stew!

Want an Indian dish that's vegetarian to boot?  Try Chickpea Curry!

I did manage to take a picture of another dinner (sans recipe) that we had this past week:  BBQ Chicken Pizza.  YUM.

Wanted to give a big shout-out to my new favorite pizza dough.  Dough is not difficult to make from scratch but, if you're gonna make it one step simpler and happen to live by a Wegmans, BUY THIS DOUGH.  I like it much better than the similar fresh bag from Trader Joe's and it cooks up all billowy and tasty each time:

It's also a darn lot of dough so I was able to make 2 calzones in addition to the pizza pictured above!

After College Comes...

...Grad School?

Nah!  It's treat + play time!!

We had been notified that C was the right age to participate in another infant/toddler study within the Dept of Speech and Hearing so we made plans to go to "college" yesterday afternoon.  When the office called to confirm, the researcher said that they were running some pilot testing of a study for 4 year olds so B could participate, too!   All this and a 50-degree day?  Who could ask for anything more?

Well, I could and did.  We left early and hit up the Kinko's right off campus since I'd been putting off some copying of files.  Side note 1)  How sad that it's now called Fed Ex Office and not Kinko's?   Side note 2) when did copies get so expensive?  11 cents per page on the self-service copier?  Come on!!

We went along to the department after that.  C sat on my lap and watched a video while they recorded her eye movements again.  This time, they're testing the effect of background speech in a different language on the ability of a young child to follow directions that are being given simultaneously with the other language speech.   When we went back down the hall to meet up with B after his session with the researcher, she reported with a lot of laughter that 1) he was quite the character and 2) he is going to be a Scentsy consultant when he grows up.   Ah, B-man...

After all that, we headed over to the very location where I'm pretty sure I had my first ever bubble tea 10-ish years ago in grad school.   The kids couldn't put their treats down:

We were waited on by the most delightful girl who offered completely on her own to split the chocolate one into two cups and add whipped cream.  Um, okay!  Even better-- I ordered 2 small drinks (1 chocolate and 1 almond milk tea) and, as you can see, I pretty much got THREE!

(And, yes, it killed me to have to decide whether to put the purple straw in the middle or the almond tea between the two chocolates.  Now I kinda wish I'd gone the other route.  Sigh!  ;-)

Happy boy!

He was then made even happier because we decided to check out whether the brand new park and playground just down the road from us had opened....and it had!  (Or, at the very least, the entrance wasn't completely blocked off and there were all kinds of people there playing.  The wire around parts of the playground make me think maybe the county didn't intend for people to be there, but whatever.)

B has informed me that we must go every single day.  Poor kid getting spoiled by this "warm" week-- not sure winter is the best playground season!

The "little" playground:

 

 

 And the bigger one...complete with pathways marked like roads for, I assume, kids and their bikes!

Puzzling

Unsurprisingly, I am not good at puzzles. Even the ones for little kids are hard for me if they don't have the picture underneath the pieces. Good thing our little Puzzle Girl has a clever daddy.

And good thing for me that the clever daddy is also a happily attentive one since I spent a whole lotta hours over the weekend watching the entire second season of Downton Abbey. Thank goodness PBS ran a marathon leading up to the season 3 premiere Sunday night so I didn't have to wait for my turn with a library copy.

Full disclosure: I tend to think of "old-timey" things with as much excitement as I do puzzles. But, like so many of you discovered before me, it is an absolutely captivating series. I would never have thought I'd be so enamored with a tale set in the second decade of the 20th century in the English countryside, but indeed I am!!

And now that I've used both "clever" and "indeed" I am going to enjoy a cuppa tea and some pudding.

A Trolley Good Time

We received a spontaneous invite Saturday to meet up with a colleague of the BG's and his family at a local Trolley Museum.  We had driven by the entrance sign a time or two since we moved (it's only about 7 minutes away) but greatly appreciated the incentive to go explore it with friends!

Museum admission included a ride into the countryside on a real trolley:

Straight to the back of the bus:

Turning in his ticket:

Showing young Joe how to get the electricity to work:

We invited our friends to come back over to order pizza so Saturday resulted in a very productive (picking up the house in case they were able to come hang out) and social day!  Hooray!

Hangouts

Never know where you're gonna find 'em!




HAPPY FRIDAY!

A Thought for Thursday

(take it or leave it!)

I've seen a lot of Facebook posts in the last week along the lines of "We have SO many toys in the house and my kid is playing with the box/Kleenex/rolls of paper towels."  Certainly, if you have ever been around small children, you know this to be a familiar experience.

But here's my question:  why does there seem to be so little understanding taken away from these experiences?  Why is the memory of glee derived from household goods so quickly forgotten when the next major gift-giving holiday comes around?  Why, in a time of life where we should be paying down debt and saving for both college and retirement, is there such a pull to spend money on more and bigger presents?  Is it competition with friends?  Compensation for some perceived deficiency?  Rules from some mythological parental guide?

I've only been a parent for not-quite-five-years.  I in no way profess to have all the answers.  If I did, I wouldn't have a kid who runs away screaming when the words 'chicken' and 'beans' are even mentioned, let alone placed on his plate (the food, not the words.  He'd like the words.  Especially if they were made out of letter cookies).

I have no idea if I'm ruining B's chances of being an athlete by not signing him up for a host of sports teams, or if C might communicate more if I'd bothered to do the baby sign-language thing.  Maybe I shouldn't let them watch more than 25 minutes of TV a day, and maybe I should be doing more crafts.  I have no idea.  My decision-making skills are hazy at best...at least for a wide variety of issues.

But this gift thing?    On this issue, I am convinced.

Birthdays and Christmases shouldn't be about the biggest and best toys, or biggest and best-planned party.   It sure shouldn't be about stressed-out parents standing in line at Toys-R-Us for hours, or for hours of stress about perfectly coordinated party decorations.   I enjoy buying stuff as much as anyone and I love a well-themed event, but none of it is more gratifying than cultivating a sense of wonder and gratitude in a child at the little blessings in life.  The trips to the donut shop.  The latest book from the library, and the new-to-them toy truck from the thrift store.  Family hugs on the couch.  Running 100 laps in the basement while daddy counts them, and dancing to the Star Wars theme song on the Casio keyboard.  These things?  They can be enough.  There doesn't always have to be more. 

You really can wrap up a box of packing peanuts and call it a present.  Really!  It's okay!

Just the other night, B was finishing the 2nd of his 4 Christmas Gatorades when he sighed quite wistfully and said, "I really miss Blueberry Pomegranate [the first flavor]."  He then informed us he would be saving Fierce Melon for his upcoming birthday, not even two weeks away.  Turning 5 is awesome and I'm sure we'll pick up a few celebratory items to make it an even more special day than usual (although I'm a big fan of finding something to smile about each day!), but Y'ALL:

Gatorade, whether literal or metaphorical, can be enough to cement the happiness of a child.  Sure, happiness can come from a shiny bow-wrapped package from the most expensive store, but it can also--truly--come from seeking and celebrating the wonder of the world around us.

(no matter what Pinterest/Facebook/Ads might make you think!!!)

(and I know this will get tons harder with older kids who are caught up in the specifics of desired doodads and gadgetry, but I pray that finding the joy in the everyday will always be our family focus.)

Two-Face

That's what I called my dinner bowl o' leftovers the other night:

 

I spent yesterday in mourning that the BG had to return to work today, if by "mourning" you mean "never getting out of my pajamas and fuzzy robe."    Per usual for winter break, I have savored these 11 days we've enjoyed as a complete family of four, if by "savor" you mean "lie around like a sloth and just BE."   ;-)

The BG is far more industrious than I (even though--fun fact alert!-- "Emily" actually means "industrious"!) and offered to make some of his fave meals from his (incredibly sad and lonely, before his life had actually started) bachelor days.  Not surprisingly, the common thread is RICE.  He recently professed that "rice makes everything better" although I'm pretty sure he's also said that about cheese.  (Side note:  he also pointed out how entertaining it would have been if Rice University had been in the "Fight Hunger Bowl" but, alas, they were in the Armed Forces Bowl instead.)

ANYWAY.   Gumbo was up first (with his own roux and everything) and then chili was turned into Frito Pie two nights later.  In case you're wondering, yes, the red peppers in the gumbo are indeed a departure from the standard green bell, but we were trying to be thrifty and use what we had.   In a word:  YUM.

I have all kinds of ideas for how I should act in 2013 to make it a more productive and healthy year, but let's see if I can put any of them into action before I waste too many words on them!!   Anything I accomplish this week will be a major improvement over the last 1.5 weeks, but, then again, none of it will be as fun or tasty, either!!!

In This New Year...

...may we experience life with the joy of siblings laughing at themselves in a floor-level shoe mirror at LLBean!