Mobility

Both kids are becoming more mobile. I am keeping slim just trying to catch up!

Miss Cleo

Ever seen those advertisements where some lady claims to know the future and tells you to call this 1-900 number and find out your fortune? Her name, if I recall correctly, was Miss Cleo. Well, my hubby must have made that call because if you refer back to a post (less than a week ago) called "threes" you'll see he forecast the downfall of WAMU. I tell you what, the guy's a keeper.

My favorite songs

I have been a fan of country music for many years now. Favorites such as Tim, Trace & Reba top my playlists. Recently however, I have become a fan of a new genre - Nursery Rhymes, specifically ones sung my my 2-year-old. The best part of her renditions is the lyrical liberties she takes when singing acapella. Some of my newest favorites are verses such as:

"The BISSY BISSY spider"
"Wing around the mosies, pocket full of mosies...."
"ABCDEFGHIKKNOOOPQRSTUVWXY and Z"
"BOP! goes da weees-oh"
and most recently
"Tinker Bells, tinker bells, tinker all the way!"

What's for dinner?

Okay, don't make these for dinner unless you want to gain 1000 lbs. Make them and eat one then give the rest away as a gift. I made them and will be taking them to a friend because I can't keep things like this in my house or I'd be as big as the house.

Mix some vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and whipping cream then boil it and pour the mix on top of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Let that sit for 5 minutes to get happy then stir until completely mixed. Stir in some chopped up ginger snaps and refrigerate the mixture for 2 hours. Roll into little balls then roll the balls in finely ground ginger snaps. Refrigerate another hour and then give them away or you'll eat them all. You can make these ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for 3 days if they last that long.

I suppose you could make these with oreos or nilla wafers or nutter butters or candy canes too.

Fit for a Princess

Our little princess got a tent for her 1st birthday from coach and his family that she plays with often when visiting Nana & Grandpa. She and her brother like to crawl in and hide. There's a little wand and crown that came with it along with an inflatable bed/couch converting unit. It's all pink and sparkly and fun. The only thing you have to watch out for when playing in the tent however is invasion by the "big yellow bear" (ala our golden retriever/lab mix).

Teething pains

We are still waiting on those darn teeth to come in for our little guy. He's had six teeth since he was 6 months old. Well, now he's pushing 15 months old (as old as his sister was when he was born, amazing) and still has only six teeth residing in his mouth. Now he's getting an additional two that are trying to make their way into his lower gums. They initially broke through the gums about 2 weeks ago but still have yet to reach their full height. By this age his sister had almost a full mouth of teeth, including her 1 year old molars, which he doesn't have yet either.

This poses a couple challenges. First, we are reluctant to give him any sizeable piece of food or anything particularly hard (carrots, etc) since he cannot grind well in the back without teeth. Everything must be able to be swallowed whole or gummed into oblivion. Second, I sincerely believe it's making him a bit irritable. Of course, it may just be a developmental stage, but if you had something piercing your gums 24 hours a day, wouldn't you be fussy? He is overall a happy boy, but I think things bother him easier because of it.

For example, recently he was in the kitchen holding on to Daddy's leg and Daddy had to move to the other side of the kitchen and little buddy didn't take it in stride as he normally would. Daddy sighed and said "Buddy, you are a real piece of work." This was ironic in that a family-friend made the same comment to Daddy while they were playing tennis together only a couple days ago. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony and wonder whether it really was teething or merely hereditary :)

A day with Grandmas

The kids got to go with Nana to visit their great-grandparents last Friday. The left early Friday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. Mommy & Daddy got the full details of family they got to visit with and toys they played with but best of all was the kitty that Great-Grandma is raising. Daddy has sworn never to have a cat for a pet so it's a special treat for our kids to get to play with a kitten. The other highlight of the visit was a trip to Chuck-e-cheese to play the games. It seems both kids had a stellar time because both were exhausted when they got home and it took about 2 days to come down off of their adrenaline rush :) Mom and Dad were happy to have an evening to themselves on Friday too so it was a win/win situation all around.

What's for Dinner?

Last night, as a special treat, Daddy decided to make us dinner. He cooked up some Wahoo (it's fish, yeah, I hadn't heard of it before either). You could also use swordfish, halibut or shark. To make this recipe you'll have to convince some of your close family to brew up some amazing pomegranate jelly so good luck trying with that. Maybe you could try plum jam instead. Here's what he did:

Use about a pound of fish, cut it into 4 servings. Mix together pomegranate jelly, lemon juice, ginger, red pepper and garlic powder for a yummy sauce. Take about 3T of the mix and add some margerine for a glaze. Glaze the fish then broil 5 minutes. Turn over the fish then glaze again and broil about 5 more minutes until it flakes easily. Serve the fish with the sauce and maybe some garlic bread and mashed potatoes like we did. At 260 calories a serving for the fish you can't go wrong. Easy cheesy and yummy in your tummy. Thanks Daddy, good job!

Dodgers play to mixed reviews

We were able to buy some last minute, half-price tickets on ebay for the Sunday Dodgers/Giants game. There was no scoring until the 11th inning so play went pretty fast. Our seats turned out to be in a good location. We were at the top of the stairs which meant that the kids didn't have to climb them to get in or out of our seats and we got to sit in the shade. Plus we were close to the 3rd baseline so our view was pretty good. Our baby girl had a great time and was soaking in the Dodger experience, including having a Dodger dog, crackerjacks and the works.

Unfortunately, we were in seats 5&6. This wouldn't mean much except to know that seats 7&8 were between us and the aisle. Also, not a big deal, until two 300+ lb guys came to sit in those seats. The guy in seat #7 was so big that he rested his elbow on the back of seat #6 (ours) for most of the game. This made Daddy VERY claustrophobic and he wound up taking our little princess for a walk for most of the game. Mommy & Mr. Fussypants were left to fend for themselves. Around the 7th inning, the two big guys moved down to some open seats (where they shared 5 seats between the two of them) so our family got to share the last few innings together at least. There was no score and by the 10th inning, Mr. Fussypants had had enough and was voicing his displeasure so we all decided to call it a day. Overall, not a great experience. We need to wait for our little guy to get a bit older before going back and we'll make sure to get four aisle seats next time.