Tonight, as I was cleaning up the kitchen, K drew me a picture. She was so proud of it and showed it off immediately.
"Where should we put it?" I asked.
"I know! I'll put it under your pillow. That way, L won't find it."
She ran to my room to put the sweet picture under my pillow. L, who had been doing puzzles in the living room, piped up and said, "I'm going to find it, Mommy. I really can find it."
Oh, these children really are interesting!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
What's in a Name?
H. Bug-a-boo. Big man. Little man. Hot stuff. Buddy. Big boy. Chunky monkey. Chunker. Chubs. Mama's boy. Moose.
These are all names I have been known to use in reference to my son. When I originally started this blog, we really thought Moose was going to be his nickname. Not something that other people called him but what we called him at home, just like K is Munchkin and L is Monster. Frankly, I don't like the name Moose but S seemed to really like it and I just couldn't stop the madness. Actually, I didn't really like Monster, either, but it stuck and there was no getting rid of that. And there are plenty of days when she lives up to that name.
The funny thing is, Moose isn't really sticking. As much as his father likes it, it's really hard to call H Moose. For some reason, it's just not working. And when S tries to call him Moose, it sounds contrived, almost forced.
(By the way, most of his cousins and some of our friends call him Baby H. I have a feeling that will continue the rest of his life. On his wedding day, the family will be saying things like, "I can't believe Baby H is old enough to get married!" and other such nonsense.)
I don't know what nickname he'll end up with. Both Munchkin and Monster were adapted at a very young age so we shall see what happens.
What are your kids' nicknames?
These are all names I have been known to use in reference to my son. When I originally started this blog, we really thought Moose was going to be his nickname. Not something that other people called him but what we called him at home, just like K is Munchkin and L is Monster. Frankly, I don't like the name Moose but S seemed to really like it and I just couldn't stop the madness. Actually, I didn't really like Monster, either, but it stuck and there was no getting rid of that. And there are plenty of days when she lives up to that name.
The funny thing is, Moose isn't really sticking. As much as his father likes it, it's really hard to call H Moose. For some reason, it's just not working. And when S tries to call him Moose, it sounds contrived, almost forced.
(By the way, most of his cousins and some of our friends call him Baby H. I have a feeling that will continue the rest of his life. On his wedding day, the family will be saying things like, "I can't believe Baby H is old enough to get married!" and other such nonsense.)
I don't know what nickname he'll end up with. Both Munchkin and Monster were adapted at a very young age so we shall see what happens.
What are your kids' nicknames?
Monday, October 29, 2007
Of Naptime and Camera-Forgetting
We just got home from a pumpkin carving party which was completely fun. However, I forgot the camera. This seems to be a recurring theme in my life. The party was fun although I didn't bring a pumpkin with us to carve. Why would I bother with a silly thing like that? It really all has to do with my forgetfulness in purchasing one sans children yesterday and my unwillingness to purchase one with all three in tow. Somehow, it just wasn't something I wanted to do. Oh well. Fortunately, my friend had an extra and even carved it for us. She said it was a gift for H's first Halloween.
Since I don't have any pictures from the party, I thought I would post this one I took of L after "nap time" today. I told the girls they had to stay in their room and be quiet or we wouldn't go to the party. Well, they stayed quiet but there was no napping involved in nap time. This is the outfit L had on when she came out of her room, complete with a bathing suit that is two sizes too small and her favorite stuffed frog.
Happy Monday, y'all!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Pictures From the Weekend
Here are a few pictures from our weekend with Papa and PJ. We had such fun with them and were sad to see them go. Enjoy!
Fall Festival
This weekend, Papa and PJ came for a visit. We haven't seen them since they were here in May to help out after H was born. S had to go on a business trip, leaving me to care for a preemie, two little girls and recover from an emergent situation. It wasn't pretty. I never would have survived without their help. They did countless loads of laundry, cleaned my house from top to bottom and made my life much easier.
Friday was our school's Fall Festival. The girls got all dressed up as "Ice Princesses." I'm not real sure where the Ice Princess came from but I went with it. Since we have tons of princess dress-up stuff, I saw no reason to spend $14.99 on another princess outfit. I found some inexpensive crown/earring sets and added those to our existing costumes. The girls were so excited about the crowns and earrings that they had no idea that most kids get new things for Halloween/Fall Festival. H got to wear a bumblebee costume I purchased for K for her first Halloween. He wore it for all of five minutes, just long enough to get a picture.
The festival was fun. The girls had a great time although it took them a little while to warm up to the large crowd. The best booth, according to K, was the "Go Fish" booth. It's there every year and the little kids (preschool and kindergarten) get to fish for candy. This year, however, they gave out live goldfish. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I really hope I get a fish."
Let me take this opportunity to recall a story from my own childhood. My dad took me to the state fair when I was about 10. My friend, Susan, went with us, along with a couple of other girls my age. We played games, rode rides, ate junk. All things you normally do at the fair. We all played the throw-the-ping-pong-ball-in-the-fishbowl game and one by one, each started winning a fish. Susan, however, didn't win a fish. My father made me give her my last ball and, wouldn't you know it, she won a fish. I was the only one who didn't. This has been a sore spot for a very long time.
So when K said she really hoped she got a fish, I flashed back to my 10-year-old self and did all I could to make sure K got that fish. I was so proud when she fished a fish (which was promptly named Aurora)! Fortunately, we had an extra fish bowl at home and some fish food so Aurora has taken up residence in our living room.
After over an hour of wandering around, the adults (and H) were ready to go home. The kids had a blast and we have survived yet another school-related function.
I left our camera in the car so I will post pictures from said festival as soon as Papa downloads them from his camera and sends them to me. For now, here are a couple of pictures of the kids prior to the festival.
Friday was our school's Fall Festival. The girls got all dressed up as "Ice Princesses." I'm not real sure where the Ice Princess came from but I went with it. Since we have tons of princess dress-up stuff, I saw no reason to spend $14.99 on another princess outfit. I found some inexpensive crown/earring sets and added those to our existing costumes. The girls were so excited about the crowns and earrings that they had no idea that most kids get new things for Halloween/Fall Festival. H got to wear a bumblebee costume I purchased for K for her first Halloween. He wore it for all of five minutes, just long enough to get a picture.
The festival was fun. The girls had a great time although it took them a little while to warm up to the large crowd. The best booth, according to K, was the "Go Fish" booth. It's there every year and the little kids (preschool and kindergarten) get to fish for candy. This year, however, they gave out live goldfish. She looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I really hope I get a fish."
Let me take this opportunity to recall a story from my own childhood. My dad took me to the state fair when I was about 10. My friend, Susan, went with us, along with a couple of other girls my age. We played games, rode rides, ate junk. All things you normally do at the fair. We all played the throw-the-ping-pong-ball-in-the-fishbowl game and one by one, each started winning a fish. Susan, however, didn't win a fish. My father made me give her my last ball and, wouldn't you know it, she won a fish. I was the only one who didn't. This has been a sore spot for a very long time.
So when K said she really hoped she got a fish, I flashed back to my 10-year-old self and did all I could to make sure K got that fish. I was so proud when she fished a fish (which was promptly named Aurora)! Fortunately, we had an extra fish bowl at home and some fish food so Aurora has taken up residence in our living room.
After over an hour of wandering around, the adults (and H) were ready to go home. The kids had a blast and we have survived yet another school-related function.
I left our camera in the car so I will post pictures from said festival as soon as Papa downloads them from his camera and sends them to me. For now, here are a couple of pictures of the kids prior to the festival.
The Animal in My House
My Dad and stepmom, PJ, have been here this weekend. More on that later. I had to post this little story, though, because it's really quite humorous.
We watched the shell all morning and no movement whatsoever. So I took a few pictures of the shell, which is very pretty, and decided to return it to its natural environment. For all you animal lovers out there, have no fear. The crab was returned to his/her previous home safe and sound.
On Friday, we went out to lunch to a little place on the water. It is one of their favorite restaurants to visit when they come see us. After lunch, Papa and PJ took the girls down to the water's edge to look for shells. Among the average seashells was this beautiful shell that looked to previously be home to a crab. So we took home a few shells, including that one.
When we got home, we put all the shells on the phone stand in the kitchen. We went out (to the Fall Festival at school which is an entirely different post), came home, fixed dinner, and chatted for awhile. At one point, the former-home-to-a-crab shell fell off the phone stand. Since the children had been around it, most of us chalked it up to it being too close to the edge. My comment, however, was that the shell was in the middle of the stand and I believed a creature was still in the shell. So we put it on the kitchen table and watched it for at least an hour. Nothing. Figuring everyone else was right and there was nothing in there, we put the shell back with the others and went to bed.
The next morning, K got up and went to the kitchen to look at her shells. Papa was in there making his coffee (not something that is normally done in this house since neither S nor I like coffee) and K asked, "Where is the crab shell?" Papa looked and, I kid you not, the crab shell was gone.
We looked everywhere for that thing. It wasn't underneath the phone stand or anything else in the kitchen. We got out a flashlight and looked under the stairs, under couches and chairs, everywhere we thought the crab could possibly be. We even slid the china cabinet away from the wall and looked under it. Y'all, the crab was gone. Just plain gone. I figured we would find it when it died and started smelling.
This morning, when K and L got up at 7:00am (no earlier because of our new rules), they both came running into my room and said, "Mommy! We found the crab! We found the crab!" In my sleep-deprived stupor, I told them to bring it to me. I asked them to show me where they found it and it was right by my door. That's a trip through the kitchen and down the hall for this little critter. Yet when we turned the shell over to see if we could see anything other than shell, there was nothing, not even a little foot, to be seen.
We watched the shell all morning and no movement whatsoever. So I took a few pictures of the shell, which is very pretty, and decided to return it to its natural environment. For all you animal lovers out there, have no fear. The crab was returned to his/her previous home safe and sound.Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fruit Muffins and Baked Oatmeal
Over the weekend, S made two things for breakfast that were just wonderful. One is a family recipe that we've made many times before and they are always a hit. The other is a new recipe found in a church cookbook. I thought I would share both with you. The muffin recipe is ours but the oatmeal recipe is from the A Taste of Trinity cookbook. I've never even been to this church but they have some wonderful recipes! Maybe one of these will inspire you to make something yummy.
Fruit Muffins
(I would call these blueberry muffins but you can use any berry you like and I prefer raspberries)
3C flour
2C sugar
1Tbs baking powder
1/4lb (1 stick) butter
2 eggs
1C milk
2C fruit
Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in butter until a fine meal is formed. Measure out one cup of the mixture and set aside. Add the eggs, milk and fruit to the remaining flour mixture. Place in muffin tins lined with paper liners. Top batter with dry mixture that was set aside, evenly distributing the entire amount. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes 20-24 muffins.
NOTE: Frozen fruit works best in this recipe, as fresh fruit tends to break up more easily in the batter. You can also add the zest of half a lemon to brighten up the flavor.
Baked Oatmeal
3C oatmeal
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1C milk
1/2C oil
1C sugar (half was plenty for us or you can do half sugar, half brown sugar)
2 eggs
Mix together oatmeal, baking powder, salt and milk. Add oil, sugar and eggs. Pour into greased round or 8-inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (until firm and lightly browned). Serve with milk.
Fruit Muffins
(I would call these blueberry muffins but you can use any berry you like and I prefer raspberries)
3C flour
2C sugar
1Tbs baking powder
1/4lb (1 stick) butter
2 eggs
1C milk
2C fruit
Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in butter until a fine meal is formed. Measure out one cup of the mixture and set aside. Add the eggs, milk and fruit to the remaining flour mixture. Place in muffin tins lined with paper liners. Top batter with dry mixture that was set aside, evenly distributing the entire amount. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes 20-24 muffins.
NOTE: Frozen fruit works best in this recipe, as fresh fruit tends to break up more easily in the batter. You can also add the zest of half a lemon to brighten up the flavor.
Baked Oatmeal
3C oatmeal
2tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1C milk
1/2C oil
1C sugar (half was plenty for us or you can do half sugar, half brown sugar)
2 eggs
Mix together oatmeal, baking powder, salt and milk. Add oil, sugar and eggs. Pour into greased round or 8-inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (until firm and lightly browned). Serve with milk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)