I was putting Princess M to bed tonight, and we were chatting about how her Uncle John was my brother; and she was at first insistent that we "are only allowed one family, and not two."
So I explained, how when we were little, we lived together with all her other uncles and aunts, with her grandma and grandpa, and when we grew up and got married we all moved out and had our own kids; and when she and Baby A grow up, they're going to get married and have kids, and they will be each other's kids' aunts.
We've talked about this before, but tonight a whole new realization entered her little mind, "Mom, when I grow up, am I going to leave your house?" As soon as I said yes, she burst into heavy sobs, and I couldn't console her for a full five minutes. "But I want to stay with you!" and "But I want to live with you FOREVER!" She was simply beside herself in anguish.
Explaining that she wouldn't always feel that way, made no sense to her, and I wasn't about to lie to her and say she could stay forever. Finally, she accepted the assurance that she could stay with us as long as she still wanted to.
As humorous as it was, it was also very touching that she loves me so much. I'm sure it won't be long enough for me before she's counting the days before she can move out on her own. Oh, that they could stay so sweet, and innocent forever!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Yeah! All caught up!
Baby A has teeth! with braces...
ok, so maybe she's still toothless, but this sucker was really cute on her.
The other day, M really wanted to eat breakfast outside. Never mind that it's near freezing out there. Whatever floats your boat...
ok, so maybe she's still toothless, but this sucker was really cute on her.
The other day, M really wanted to eat breakfast outside. Never mind that it's near freezing out there. Whatever floats your boat...
October Pictures
Early in the month, we had fun driving to an apple farm and picking some apples as well as a pumpkin for Halloween. The farm had 30 rows of trees and about 15 different varieties to try. There were some emptied trees, but, to our delight, we were able to sample most of the apple types before deciding on the 3 we wanted.Princess M liked the Rome Beauty and we liked the Fuji and Golden Delicious apples.
They had a tractor pulling a trailer with some bales of hay on it that we rode a few times for M.
It only circled the orchard, but was fun nevertheless. We decided we'd finally use a gift card for dinner at Macaroni Grill. On the way there, M kept asking how much further it was til we got to Macroni Girl... which kept us in hysterics. We held a family home evening on the armor of God. Here's M in her makeshift armor.
The ward held their annual Fall Festival which was a great success as usual. Princess M went as (of course) a princess.
Baby A went as a pumpkin.
There were all kinds of great activities for the kids, including some of M's favorites, trunk or treating, bobbing for apples,
a cake walk,
and face painting:
Alex was out of town, so it was just us girls for the ward party.
Here's another round of surprise pictures we found on the camera, courtesy of our budding photographer M. I deleted a lot of them, but we decided to keep these ones because they show an interesting perspective of the world from a child's point of view (and height).
It snowed early in October. Baby A got her first romp in the snow. She was thrilled to be outside, one of her favorite things, and very curious about the white stuff all over.
A few touches, though, and her fingers froze. She was definitely done and ready to go inside.
M, of course is an old pro at playing in the snow.
After the snow, we had a freezing spell for about a week. It was sooo cold in the house at night. We found M sleeping under every blanket she owned. (We pulled out the mega warm blanket for her bed after that.
I also found Baby A in her crib, not knowing what blankets are for, in a wet diaper and clothes, just shivering like crazy. It was so sad! We bought a space heater for her room that very day, and now she sleeps through the night like a champ! I should have thought of that earlier!
I had a couple hair color dyes laying around the house. Finally decided to try one. When put up to a vote, M saw the blonde and was so excited for Mama to "match" her that we decided to attempt the platinum blonde. I had my friend Nicole over to help me and we had a great time. But the color was a little different then expected.
The new color inspired me to be a pumpkin just like my baby for Halloween.
And the whole family:
M had a blast trick or treating. She outran the boys, even in her high heels; and broke her first heel to boot. Baby A was content to just walk by herself outside.
b
Sunday, November 8, 2009
September Pictures
Ok, I finally have all my cameras, memory cards, and pictures together in one place and can finish the month sum ups. Here's the highlights from September:
M is becoming quite the little mother. She mimics everything I do with Baby A with her own dolls; and when she can, wants to do everything for her sister as well. Here's a few pics of her "putting Baby A to bed":
I just LOVE the look in their eyes as they are looking at each other. Can they love each other like this forever? Please?
If you remember the recent post about M's friend problems, here's the pics of when we caught her with a butcher knife, trying to cut through the fense to her "friends" on the other side.
Don't worry, she's over this drama now.
September in Colorado means the Labor Day Balloon Festival.
Balloons inflate and take off in the very early hours of the morning, while it's still nice and chilly (if you're lucky and the weather isn't too cloudy or windy for them to take off at all.) We got there this year in time for the second wave of balloons to inflate and take off. It's so beautiful to walk among all the inflating balloons in a sea of fantastic colors.
They let you get right up close and watch the whole process:
And it's always exciting to see one takeoff into the sky.
M is becoming the photographer of our family. I think she got a shot of every balloon that dipped down to touch the lake. Most of them were pretty good shots.
Here's the whole family:
Baby A took her first steps! And before we knew it she was running.
Baby A turned 1 year old in September! I can still hardly believe it. Here's a couple pictures with presents:
And of course the very own personal first birthday cake:
Before:
After:
Alex shares his birthday with Baby A. Unfortunately we didn't get a single shot of him on his birthday. It sad to be so overshadowed by such a beautiful little girl!
M is becoming quite the little mother. She mimics everything I do with Baby A with her own dolls; and when she can, wants to do everything for her sister as well. Here's a few pics of her "putting Baby A to bed":
I just LOVE the look in their eyes as they are looking at each other. Can they love each other like this forever? Please?
If you remember the recent post about M's friend problems, here's the pics of when we caught her with a butcher knife, trying to cut through the fense to her "friends" on the other side.
Don't worry, she's over this drama now.
September in Colorado means the Labor Day Balloon Festival.
Balloons inflate and take off in the very early hours of the morning, while it's still nice and chilly (if you're lucky and the weather isn't too cloudy or windy for them to take off at all.) We got there this year in time for the second wave of balloons to inflate and take off. It's so beautiful to walk among all the inflating balloons in a sea of fantastic colors.
They let you get right up close and watch the whole process:
And it's always exciting to see one takeoff into the sky.
M is becoming the photographer of our family. I think she got a shot of every balloon that dipped down to touch the lake. Most of them were pretty good shots.
Here's the whole family:
Baby A took her first steps! And before we knew it she was running.
Baby A turned 1 year old in September! I can still hardly believe it. Here's a couple pictures with presents:
And of course the very own personal first birthday cake:
Before:
After:
Alex shares his birthday with Baby A. Unfortunately we didn't get a single shot of him on his birthday. It sad to be so overshadowed by such a beautiful little girl!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Apple Picking!
Yesterday, we had fun driving to an apple farm and picking some apples as well as a pumpkin for Halloween. The farm had 30 rows of trees and about 15 different varieties to try. There were some emptied trees, but, to our delight, we were able to sample most of the apple types before deciding on the 3 we wanted.
Princess M liked the Rome Beauty and we liked the Fuji and Golden Delicious apples.
They had a tractor pulling a trailer with some bales of hay on it that we rode a few times for M.
It only circled the orchard, but was fun nevertheless. We decided we'd finally use a gift card for dinner at Macaroni Grill. On the way there, M kept asking how much further it was til we got to Macroni Girl... which kept JoDee and I in hysterics.
It only circled the orchard, but was fun nevertheless. We decided we'd finally use a gift card for dinner at Macaroni Grill. On the way there, M kept asking how much further it was til we got to Macroni Girl... which kept JoDee and I in hysterics. Sunday, October 11, 2009
Cheese!!!
I've recently discovered the beauty in a little milk gone sour. Growing up, we had a lot of milk go sour from thoughtless kids leaving the jug out all night long, and as far as I remember, we always just threw it out. Well, later in life, I learned that real buttermilk is milk gone sour, but it wasn't until recently that I started investigating this prospect of actually using spoiled milk. (I absolutely abhor to waste food. We actually eat all our leftovers in this house: usually.)
Well, not too long ago we had a little milk go sour and I decided to use it. I googled all kinds of sour milk recipes and we had some really yummy pancakes. And in the process, I found many articles on the "safety" of using soured milk. I was very surprised to learn that sour milk is tons safer to consume that fresh milk right from the cow. Apparently, there are 2 ways to remove bacteria from raw milk. One is to pasteurize, and the other is to let the milk sour. It seems the acidic environment created by the souring process kills all of the bad bacteria. So with this mental block out of the way I was determined never to throw out milk ever again; and in fact, I get a little excited now when some milk starts to sour.
Then last week, we got behind on drinking and I had an entire gallon go sour. we used a cup on a cake recipe, but there was so much yet to use (and if you wait too long, the flavor is not as good.) I decided to try my hand at cheese. I had a recipe for cottage cheese, and did some more googling on cheese making, and decided to make my first cheese a hard cheese rather than a cottage cheese.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the process, but it was relatively easy. You take milk that has gotten to the "chunky" stage, heat it in a double broiler until the curds separate from the whey (remember Miss Muffit?), cool a little, add salt, and then pour through a cheese cloth to remove all the curds from the whey. Depending on how much whey you drain out, your cheese will be soft curds for cottage or ricotta cheese, or harder like mozzarella. I hung my cloth to dry for a few hours and pressed it overnight, and in the end, I got this from a little less than a gallon of milk.
There was also over a half gallon of whey left over from this process. Most of the recipes I saw said to just throw it out or feed it to the chickens; but I was determined to find a use for it. It's a shame to throw it out because it's just loaded with proteins and other great stuff from the milk. After a little more research on the internet I found some great ideas. You can use it to boil noodles or potatoes in, or even better, use instead of water in making soup or instant potatoes or gravy. I'm very excited about this not wasting thing!
Tonight, I made my first dish with our homemade cheese. I made Italian for dinner, so I chopped up some cheese, cherry tomatoes, and sprinkled with basil and balsamic vinegar (a caprise appetizer we had at Macaroni Grill once and just loved: only they used mozzarella.)
The homemade cheese is blander than mozzarella, but it worked very well in this dish. We all enjoyed it, even my girls. I understand it's also very good in any dish you might put tofu in, because it soaks up all the flavors of whatever it's in. I want to try a Thai stir fry next.
Next batch I'll add a bit more salt to cut the bland and I want to try adding some flavors to the curds before draining the whey. Maybe peppers for a pepperjack experience, or just garlic and herbs. Mmmm. I can't wait for another gallon to go "bad."
Well, not too long ago we had a little milk go sour and I decided to use it. I googled all kinds of sour milk recipes and we had some really yummy pancakes. And in the process, I found many articles on the "safety" of using soured milk. I was very surprised to learn that sour milk is tons safer to consume that fresh milk right from the cow. Apparently, there are 2 ways to remove bacteria from raw milk. One is to pasteurize, and the other is to let the milk sour. It seems the acidic environment created by the souring process kills all of the bad bacteria. So with this mental block out of the way I was determined never to throw out milk ever again; and in fact, I get a little excited now when some milk starts to sour.
Then last week, we got behind on drinking and I had an entire gallon go sour. we used a cup on a cake recipe, but there was so much yet to use (and if you wait too long, the flavor is not as good.) I decided to try my hand at cheese. I had a recipe for cottage cheese, and did some more googling on cheese making, and decided to make my first cheese a hard cheese rather than a cottage cheese.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the process, but it was relatively easy. You take milk that has gotten to the "chunky" stage, heat it in a double broiler until the curds separate from the whey (remember Miss Muffit?), cool a little, add salt, and then pour through a cheese cloth to remove all the curds from the whey. Depending on how much whey you drain out, your cheese will be soft curds for cottage or ricotta cheese, or harder like mozzarella. I hung my cloth to dry for a few hours and pressed it overnight, and in the end, I got this from a little less than a gallon of milk.
There was also over a half gallon of whey left over from this process. Most of the recipes I saw said to just throw it out or feed it to the chickens; but I was determined to find a use for it. It's a shame to throw it out because it's just loaded with proteins and other great stuff from the milk. After a little more research on the internet I found some great ideas. You can use it to boil noodles or potatoes in, or even better, use instead of water in making soup or instant potatoes or gravy. I'm very excited about this not wasting thing!
Tonight, I made my first dish with our homemade cheese. I made Italian for dinner, so I chopped up some cheese, cherry tomatoes, and sprinkled with basil and balsamic vinegar (a caprise appetizer we had at Macaroni Grill once and just loved: only they used mozzarella.)
The homemade cheese is blander than mozzarella, but it worked very well in this dish. We all enjoyed it, even my girls. I understand it's also very good in any dish you might put tofu in, because it soaks up all the flavors of whatever it's in. I want to try a Thai stir fry next.
Next batch I'll add a bit more salt to cut the bland and I want to try adding some flavors to the curds before draining the whey. Maybe peppers for a pepperjack experience, or just garlic and herbs. Mmmm. I can't wait for another gallon to go "bad."
Sunday, October 4, 2009
August Pics
These pictures make me want to cry. M has not had the best luck with friends amoung our neighbors. There's a whole group of girls on our street, but they're all 8-10 years old. No one her age, and definitely no girls for her to play with. Until this month she didn't know the difference; she was just content to play with Mom & Dad. Enter Little Miss W:
W is a chatterbox 10 year old who runs with the older girl crowd on the street. She has "saved" M several times by bringing her home when she wandered off to play while I was working in the front garden. (M was fine, but it was dramatic for W to "save" her) One day, W's friends weren't around, so she spent the whole morning playing with M. M was so thrilled, and kept telling me all about her "friend." When W had to go home, she promised M to come play again in 2 days. M waited on pins and needles for the blessed day. But with her friends back, W didn't want anything to do with a little 3 year old anymore. (You can't blame her really.) But W never came, and M would continually want to go out front to go find her "friend." When we would run into W on the street she would quickly give us some reason why she couldn't play and run off to her friends.
M was convinced W was still her friend, and kept wanting to go find her at her house. Alex and I tried to tell her that W did not want to be her friend or play with her because she was so much older, but she just didn't understand. Finally one day we were out front and M saw W playing down the street. She excitedly ran to her to ask her to play and was broken hearted when W told her she didn't want to play with her & to go home. It hurt me to see her so sad, but what can you do?
Now to explain these pictures:
M was playing in the backyard, just screaming/squealing for fun when suddenly some girls on the other side of this fence started squeeling back. They had a blast echoing each other for a while, and M ran to tell me about the new friends she had made on the other side of the fence. If she peeked through the slats, she could even see them jumping on their trampoline. I asked her if they were big girls like W or little like herself and she was sure they were little. So, at the prospect of a girl her age nearby, we walked around the block to meet her new "friends"
Turns out the "little" girls were actually 8 and 10 years old, and were not thrilled to see a 3 year old that they were forced to be nice to in their yard. I quickly made our excuses (it was bedtime for M anyway) and had to practically carry her kicking and screaming from their house.
For days M would beg me to go play at her "friend"'s house, and I had to insist that we would not be going until we got an invitation from them. (which I knew would never happen, but I couldn't brake her heart again.) So for days, M would peek through the fence waiting for the girls to play in their yard. If she found them there, she would try to play her scream/squeal echo game again. But the girls would never squeal back.
This day, Alex found M in the backyard, just forlornly staring through the fence at her "friends" and squealing, to no reply.
Another day he found her with a kitchen knife in the corner trying to cut through the slats to get to their yard. (picture pending). Oh what I'd give to find a little girl her age on the street for her to play with. :(
W is a chatterbox 10 year old who runs with the older girl crowd on the street. She has "saved" M several times by bringing her home when she wandered off to play while I was working in the front garden. (M was fine, but it was dramatic for W to "save" her) One day, W's friends weren't around, so she spent the whole morning playing with M. M was so thrilled, and kept telling me all about her "friend." When W had to go home, she promised M to come play again in 2 days. M waited on pins and needles for the blessed day. But with her friends back, W didn't want anything to do with a little 3 year old anymore. (You can't blame her really.) But W never came, and M would continually want to go out front to go find her "friend." When we would run into W on the street she would quickly give us some reason why she couldn't play and run off to her friends.
M was convinced W was still her friend, and kept wanting to go find her at her house. Alex and I tried to tell her that W did not want to be her friend or play with her because she was so much older, but she just didn't understand. Finally one day we were out front and M saw W playing down the street. She excitedly ran to her to ask her to play and was broken hearted when W told her she didn't want to play with her & to go home. It hurt me to see her so sad, but what can you do?
Now to explain these pictures:
M was playing in the backyard, just screaming/squealing for fun when suddenly some girls on the other side of this fence started squeeling back. They had a blast echoing each other for a while, and M ran to tell me about the new friends she had made on the other side of the fence. If she peeked through the slats, she could even see them jumping on their trampoline. I asked her if they were big girls like W or little like herself and she was sure they were little. So, at the prospect of a girl her age nearby, we walked around the block to meet her new "friends"
Turns out the "little" girls were actually 8 and 10 years old, and were not thrilled to see a 3 year old that they were forced to be nice to in their yard. I quickly made our excuses (it was bedtime for M anyway) and had to practically carry her kicking and screaming from their house.
For days M would beg me to go play at her "friend"'s house, and I had to insist that we would not be going until we got an invitation from them. (which I knew would never happen, but I couldn't brake her heart again.) So for days, M would peek through the fence waiting for the girls to play in their yard. If she found them there, she would try to play her scream/squeal echo game again. But the girls would never squeal back.
This day, Alex found M in the backyard, just forlornly staring through the fence at her "friends" and squealing, to no reply.
Another day he found her with a kitchen knife in the corner trying to cut through the slats to get to their yard. (picture pending). Oh what I'd give to find a little girl her age on the street for her to play with. :(
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