A Lesson in Baking ... by Claire

First: mix all ingredients together in a bowl. It is okay to help the machine stir, but make sure that your mommy turns it off first.

Next: add chocolate chips. One handful at a time. Stop to eat a few along the way. If you drop some in the floor, either let your little brother eat them, or pick them up and eat them yourself. Do not put them in the bowl.

Next: time for a taste test. Mommy says the batter is the best part. I agree. Do not put your spoon back into the batter bowl after you have licked it. If you do, don't tell anyone.

Next: WAIT. I had a hard time with this step. I patiently waited by the oven door for the cookies to bake.

Last: more taste testing. This is my favorite part!!

Now for your after-snack entertainment ... a little music.

Sew What?: February

This month has been more about planning than actual sewing. I have several projects that I have been planning for the spring and a new quilt I want to try. Here are some sneaky peaks below. I hope to have them all finished up sometime during March ... it would go much quicker if I had a serger and an embroidery machine. I have to travel 30 minutes to my mom's house to use both when needed. (I use the embroidery machine a ton-like I should probably pay to have it serviced!!)

Here is what I have planned for my March sewing extravaganza ... which will take place IN MY DREAMS. No, really, I should be able to get this stuff finished up this month ... if I am willing to sacrifice a little sleep.

This fabric is for David's birthday party outfit. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to use it all because I think the print by itself would be a little much.

This fabric is for Claire's birthday party outfit. Both party outfits will have a cupcake applique somewhere on the front (hence, a trip to mom's to use the embroidery machine.) I was trying to get the colors of both kids' outfits to coordinate since we are having their parties on the same day (at different times and locations). Plus, the party print fabric just didn't look very girly to me. I think the polka dot fabric is perfect because it picks up the orange, aqua and yellow from the party print, but also has the pink and purple for a more girly effect.

This fabric is for an Easter play outfit (for all those darn Easter egg hunts we go to every year-last year, we went to 5). It seems to be a pretty trendy thing around here to host an annual Easter egg hunt. No complaints from me, although 5 is a little excessive. With this fabric, Claire is going to get pants (bunny) with ruffles (gingham) and a white t-shirt with a bunny applique. David will get a long romper of some sort with the leftovers.

This fabric is for a sleepover quilt pattern I found on a sewing blog that I read. I have been wanting to make a quilt and this one is relatively small (since it is basically a nap mat), so I thought it would be a good place to start. This one will be for David, although I don't anticipate him going to a sleepover anytime soon. That will give me plenty of time to get this thing finished! Depending on how time intensive this project is, this would make a great birthday gift for some of Claire's close friends in the future. We'll see!

Last, but not least is a finished item! I bought this dress ready-to-smock and my mom smocked it for Claire. We love it! Claire has already been asking to "wear her puppies" but I told her we had to wait until it warms up!

What's Cooking Wednesday?

Apparently this is going to be a bi-monthly post. I can't seem to get around to doing it weekly.

This week: another soup recipe. This is one easy as pie, but it's not pie ... it's soup.

Bacon-Corn Chowder

1 pkg. bacon
3 (10oz.) cans cream of potato soup
3c. milk
2 (14oz.) cans white corn, drained

Chop bacon in pieces and cook in skillet; drain on paper towels. (I think that next time I make this, I will cook the bacon in the microwave like I normally do and crumble it into the soup ... much easier I think.) Pour soup, milk and corn into large saucepan/soup pot and heat for 5 minutes; add bacon. Bring to a simmer. Serve with cornbread of garlic bread. Serves: 6.

This would be great to freeze for later too.

Tuesday

I was not supposed to work today. I had a leisurely day of errands/chores planned while I only had the care of one child who typically takes a 2 hour nap both before and after lunch.

Instead, my nanny ended up being available after all so I went to work for about 5 hours.

Then I picked up Claire at school.

Then we made cookies (for work tomorrow), which is not a quick or easy task when you are assisted by an almost 3-year-old.

Then I consoled David after he bumped his head for about the 10th time today-he needs to start walking soon or he is going to give himself a concussion.

Then I cleaned on top of the kitchen cabinets and put everything back from where we had the kitchen painted last week.

Then I tried to catch up on my bible study for the week since we meet tomorrow night and I have only done day 1 of 5.

Then I fixed dinner for the kids and heated up leftovers for myself since my hubby had a "work" dinner tonight. I forgot to mention that David threw up shortly after he started eating (I think he got choked on something) so I had to (1) clean up his "sick" and (2) fix him a second meal.

Then I fed David a bottle and put him to bed.

Then I gave Claire another bath because she got a fruit snack stuck in her hair. (Will had already given both kids baths during the hour he was home this afternoon.)

Then I cleaned up the kitchen. Then the faucet broke and I tried to fix the sink because water was not coming out of the faucet and instead was coming out under the sink (I finally gave up and left that project for Will). Then I cleaned up the water from under the sink.

Then I put Claire to bed.

Now, I am sitting here drinking a glass of wine and waiting for Will to get home so we can (1) fix the sink and (2) watch American Idol.

Did I mention that I had only gotten about 4 hours sleep on Sunday night because David threw up all over me at 2am. Like I had to take a shower all over me. He had a pretty high fever, but no ear infection. Monday morning, I had to leave work to meet my nanny at the doctor to learn that he had no ear infection and he was not teething. I did not learn (1) why he had a fever for the past 3 days or (2) why he would not sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time.

I am so very tired and its only Tuesday!

But, I am thankful that I have a house to clean, a job and a paycheck, food to eat and a family to love. I am thankful to have good health insurance with only a $10 co-pay. I am thankful that my husband has a job with a company that just had 2 new drugs approved by the FDA (when many other pharmaceuticals companies are having major layoffs). I am thankful that I have all the energey and physical good health to do all this stuff (most of the time). God has blessed us beyond measure and I am certainly not complaining.

I just needed a little venting. And maybe some sympathy. I am certainly thankful for all the "stuff" I have to do.

Claire: Future Shoplifter?

I wanted to post this photo of Claire to show her modeling the finished outfit I discussed here. Also, I had two funny stories about Claire that I hope are not the beginning of her life of crime.

Shoplifting incident #1: At church today, the new bookstore opened and they had several children's bible story books displayed outside the store where we passed as we were walking to our car after church. Claire stopped to browse and we continued walking. Right before we left the building, I looked down to discover that she had actually taken a book. I quickly explained to her that we don't take things that aren't ours and we don't take things from stores without paying for them. Obviously, my point was not made.

Shoplifting incident #2: I took Claire to the grocery store with me this afternoon as a special treat and a little "mommy and me" time. We got some lunchables for her lunch at school this week and she asked to hold them. "Sure" I said. A few minutes later I discovered that she had opened one of the lunchables and started eating. I told her that we weren't supposed to open things before we paid for them. Her response: "But I hungry Mommy." I don't guess this was really shoplifting since we did pay for the item before we left the store (and did not try to leave without paying). But, I still think we have a few boundary issues to work on for sure!

Happy Birthday Saturday-Part II

After we left Bounce U, we headed to Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jon's house to celebrate Meme's (my mom) birthday. We had yummy pizza and salad and CAKE, of course! Here are some pics from Meme's birthday celebration. We won't tell you how old she was.

Aunt Ashley made a yummy cake and the candles spell "Happy Birthday" (they are backwards in the picture ... or maybe she is holding the cake backwards).

Everyone had to help Meme blow out the candles.


No trip to Evie's house is complete with a dress-up party. Claire insisted that we pack her princess costume to dress up with Evie (even though Evie has a TON of dress-up clothes). Here are our two Sleeping Beauties.


David loved riding on the push car.

Happy Birthday Saturday-Part I

Saturday morning, we headed to Bounce U to celebrate Claire's friend Max's third birthday. The kids had a blast on the inflatables and I think the daddies had quite a bit of fun too. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Here is the birthday boy with his mommy ...

and with his daddy (coming down the slide).

Spencer and Hunter play a little bouncy basketball.

Will and Claire did a lot of sliding.

Here's our friend Baker.

Brian and Blair on the fast slide. You just kind of crash at the bottom (see below).

Claire had the biggest grin on her face at the bottom of the slide. Oh what fun!

Her comes Buckley, Will and Hunter (with their boys) down the slide. A sliding trifecta!

And then a big crash at the bottom. Everyone is all smiles!

Yeah for mommies!! (See David clapping his hands.) Me with Jess J. and Jess W.

David: 10 months old

David turned 10 months old this week. He is growing up so fast. He is a busy little boy ... much busier than my busy little girl. He is going to be TROUBLE when he gets a little older ... I have a feeling. So, for scrapbooking purposes, this month with David:

He got 2 new teeth. You can see them barely poked through on the bottom. That makes a total of 8 teeth now. No wonder he is such a good eater! He loves to feed himself and he is pretty good at it ... no major food buildup in the food-catcher (aka: bib). He almost eats as much as Claire. Will's parents had the kids one day and his mom called to tell me that David had eaten 4 chicken nuggets, some french fries and half a fish sandwich bun at McDonalds. And he gets mad if you don't get the food to him fast enough too!

He loves to play peek-a-boo. Here is Claire and Will trying to entertain him while I get his dinner ready.

We are crawling and cruising everywhere now. He is a good little walker and uses anything he can get his hands on to move (e.g., the garbage can, a chair, etc.). He is getting braver each day and I know that sometime soon he is going to let go and walk! Meanwhile, I see many bumps and bruises in our future.

I thought this was a cute shot from behind and it shows off his first Mickey shirt that Will got him when he was in Anaheim, CA for work a couple of weeks ago.

David loves his mommy! He is such a sweet little boy. I love to go get him up in the morning. He is always standing there in his crib (which is now on its lowest setting) waiting for you. He gets the biggest grin when he sees you and starts jumping up and down. Oh yeah, the crib is one of his new favorite teething toys. I have come in his room many times to find black specks of paint around his mouth where he has been chewing on his crib. Hope the crib paint is non-toxic!

David loves to ride on Will's shoulders (and pull his hair in the process). Will looks thrilled! I'm afraid he is going to be my biter and pincher. He will grab a handful of skin and squeeze and it hurts so bad.

David got this super-cool zebra toy (named Ryan) for Christmas from Santa and he has finally figured out how to sit on it properly. He still has a little trouble getting down though. We have to make sure the area is clear around him to prevent any major injuries!

Last, but not least, David has found the stairs in our house. Anytime he is left unattended downstairs (even for a second), he will start making his way over to the stairs. Initially, he would just play on the bottom step, but here lately, he has been halfway up before we found him. Hence, the gate is officially up!

I don't have a picture of this (shocking!), but David claps now and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. We cheer and get real excited when he does it and he just grins and claps more. I could just look at his sweet little smile all day long!

My Funny Valentine

Look at my valentine cuties. Don't you love their shirts! I think they got to wear them a whole ONE time. Hearts are "in" all year, right?

So, Will and I celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday night with dinner at Midtown Cafe with Ty & Jessica. Will ordered the smallest steak on the planet. He got the 5oz. filet since he also ordered an appetizer, but it looked quite funny (and small) sitting on the big bed of creamed spinach.

My Valentine!

Our good friends, Ty and Jessica.

A sweet treat that I put together for Will's gift for his desk. The pics were a sweet treat to me from my friend Jadie. Too cute!

Claire, hard at work on her valentine's cards for her friends at "school".

A special Valentine's snack compliments of the Curious Gourmet cupcake cafe.

Pretty, Pretty Princess cupcake for Claire.

Vanilla Bean (with hearts) for Will.

Devil's Food cupcake for me. Actually, Claire decided she wanted the "kwakwat" cupcake so we traded. I think the vanilla bean cupcake was the favorite of the adults.

David did not want to be left out of the cupcake eating. He finished off the frosting from the pretty, pretty princess cupcake. He is gearing up for the birthday coming up in a couple of months!

Saturday, Will and I had a romantic dinner at home after we put the kids to bed. We tried to watch a movie on "On Demand", but Comcast was slow because of "heavy usage" in the area (go figure!) and it was approaching bedtime. Then, we tried to watch one of our own movies on DVD, but the color was messed up. We gave up on the movie at that point and switched back and forth between the NBA All-Stars slam-dunk contest and "The Break-Up". {How romantic!}

Some other random Valentine shots.

This is the outfit that Claire's Meme made her to wear to her party at school on Thursday.

Another cute photo of Claire in her heart shirt.

My SWEET girl!


Will helps Claire read her Dora Valentine card from Mommy & Daddy. What is Valentine's without Dora? Not much at our house!



David with his first Valentine card ... from Mommy & Daddy of course!