She's gone bazzerk

Our daughter has a few language barriers she has yet to cross. One of them comes after dinner when she never fails to request "bazzerk". Luckily, this kind of bazzerk is the kind that comes with ice cream, a cookie or other treat and not a total mental breakdown. I just don't have the heart to correct her yet because "dessert" just wouldn't be the same...

Lucky Kids

Our kids are especially blessed in that they get to have so many family members around them for love and support. It takes a village, right? Well, they have SIX great-grandparents, FOUR grandparents, and way too many aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins, etc to count. On Sunday they got to spend the day with one of their grandmas and they had all sorts of fun, including making edible playdoh into cookies that they got to cook and then eat...now what could be better than that?!?!

Kidding around

The kids had a great time this morning at the petting zoo, with the other "kids"...

My Little Stinky Faces

Both of our kids love books and we make it a habit to read several books to them a day. A particular favorite of the oldest is "I Love You Stinky Face" by Lisa McCourt. I walked in on the cutest scene today while putting away the laundry. Our 2-year old was "reading" the book to her brother (and her purple teddy bear). It wasn't verbatim, of course, but I think I kinda liked her version better.

"

For those of you not familiar with the book, here are the real words:

"Mama said, 'I love you, my wonderful child.' But I had a question.

Mama, what if I were a BIG, SCARY, APE? Would you still love me then? If you were a big, scary ape, I would make your birthday cake out of bananas, and I would tell you, 'I love you, my big, scary ape.'

But, Mama, but, Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk, and I smelled so bad that my name was Stinky Face? Then I'd plunk you in a bubble bath! But if you still smelled stinky, I wouldn't mind. I'd whisper in your ear, 'I love you, Stinky Face.'

But, Mama, but, Mama, what if i were an alligator with big, sharp teeth? I'd buy you a bigger toothbrush! And if your throat hurt, I'd look inside your huge mouth. I'd tell you, ' I love you, my dangerous alligator.'

But, Mama, what if I were a terrible meat-eating dinosaur? Then I'd make you a mountain of hamburgers to eat! I'd say, ' I love you my sweet, terrible dinosaur!'

But, Mama, but, Mama, What if I were a swamp creature with slimy, smelly seaweed hanging from my body? Then I would live by the swamp and take care of you always. I'd tell you, ' I love you, my slimy swamp monster!'

But, Mama, but, Mama, what if I were a green alien from Mars, and I ate bugs instead of peanut butter? Then I would fill your lunch box with spiders and ants and the tastiest bugs you ever had! And I'd pack a note with all the bugs that said, ' I love you, little greenie. Bon Appetit!'

But, Mama, but, Mama, What if I were a one-eyed monster? Then I would look right into your one eye and say, ' I love you,' and I would sing to you until your one droopy eyelid finally closed and you fell fast asleep.

I love you, Mama. And I love you, my wonderful child.

1st and 10

We went to our first football game with the kids this Friday and it was fun but very chilly. A friend of the family was playing so it was worth the price of admission to get to see him knock heads with the other leatherheads. The kids were pretty excited at first, what with all the lights and band and noise and cheerleaders and novelty of it all, but that gave way to crankiness when they realized it wasn't getting any warmer or earlier. Then as bedtime passed they both decided in their own ways to no-so-subtly let us know it was time to go home. So we made it through the 3rd quarter, which I consider a successful evening.

What's for dinner?

Here's a good idea for AFTER dinner. I got the idea from "A Year of Crockpotting" website (which I love, by the way). I haven't made it yet, but plan on making this warm dip this evening for dessert before we head out for a football game. It sounds so good that I can't imagine it being anything but absolutely divine.

In a small crockpot (or pan), add peanut butter, brown sugar, cream, and marshmellows (in a ratio of about 3/1/1/4)& a little vanilla. Let that cook slowly for about an hour and serve with sliced apples and/or celery.

UPDATE: We made this and it was super yummy! We had pretzels, bananas & chocolate wafer cookies to dip also. A little bit went a long way though and we have loads left over for later...which isn't such a bad thing (except for my belt notches!)

Closing in fast

Our little guy is quickly closing in on his "big" sister. Her clothes are mostly size 2T but she's lengthening out to a 3T so has a few bigger things. HE on the other hand, is quickly moving past his size 18mo clothes and into size 24mo (aka 2T). This evening we went to grandma & grandpa's for dinner and both kids were wearing size 2T clothes. I wonder now how long it will take for them to realize it too.

My brother is 7 years younger than I am and has referred to me as his "little" sister for many years. I guess since he's over 6 ft and 200 lbs I would be a bit insulted if he didn't...

Happy to be Hungry

I woke up from a nap this afternoon and was hungry! Hooorrrraaaayyy! I have eaten very little since massive vomiting occurred Sunday night (thus losing most of what I ate that day). I've had a little jello, pedialite & some crackers, while losing 8 pounds - YIPES! I have gradually begun to feel better today but was worried that even when I forced down breakfast, my tummy wasn't happy and didn't WANT me to eat. But I woke up and my tummy said "All Better!" YAY!

Clowns

We had a fun day of trick-or-treating at the downtown shops with friends before heading out to visit great-grandma and great-grandpa for the evening (and more trick-or-treating). Our little clowns took it all in stride and were pretty good. By the end of the night they were both running up to the door and saying trick-or-treat (okay, our little guy just said "teet-teet", but he's one so we'll cut him some slack). Although he doesn't have it on in the picture, we even got Daddy to wear his clown hat for most of the day. Even our pup got in on the action with her clown ruffle so we toted her along all day too.

Halloween Party

Yesterday the kids had a great time at a Halloween party with some friends. They got to draw and finger paint ghosts, scare off ghouls with bubbles, make scary masks, go in a spooky mini-maze, scoop up maggots (rice), eat some devilishly good treats, and draw shaving-cream goblins. They both had a wonderful time!

Woooo Hooooo

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got tickets for Christmas for $700! That's $500 cheaper than I could find previously. Okay, so we have to fly out of Orange County and into Seattle, but I'll take what I can get. We'll add a rental car and STILL save $300 in travel costs and get our own car to drive for the vacation. YES YES YES...it's lookin' like it's gunna be a good day...

What a wonderful world

There's not much in the world that can compare with a beautiful day with my three favorite people. We had a frost delay so we started on hole #13 on the back side, but Sunday was just such a day. I have to say, through all 15 holes the kids were great.

What's for Dinner?

We particularly like to eat fish, although we only eat it once a week or so. Last night though, I couldn't find a recipe for Dorado in any of my books that appealed to both of us, so I looked online. That's where I found a "Sweet & Tangy Tilapia" recipe.

Okay, so Dorado is a far cry from Tilapia, but the ingredients looked tasty to both of us and it took a mere 20 minutes start to finish for the meal so here's what I did:

In a measuring cup, I mixed lemon juice, butter, dijon mustard, strawberry preserves, vinegar, honey, and tarragon. I greased a cookie sheet and laid the fish on it under a broiler for 3 minutes. Then I turned the fish over and drizzled the mixture on top. I waited another 3 minutes and flipped the fish again, and drizzled again. After a final 3 minutes (9 total now for anyone counting), the fish was done and I served it with rice & vegis. A very healthy meal in no time flat, which is right up my alley.

The original recipe called for raspberry vinegar instead of the preserves & vinegar but I make due with what's in my pantry and we ate it all and I added it to my homemade cookbook to make again later.

Little stinker

My little stinker one-year-old is a budding mechanical engineer... or demolition expert. He wanted to hold my phone (which I tend to let him do since he's USUALLY harmless) so I let him. I looked down from my computer screen less than a minute later and he had dismantled the phone into the following configuration:
Now I ask you, would YOU have been able to do that with such speed? I would like to add my kudos to Nokia at this point for their phenomenal durability. This phone has been thrown down stairs, stood on, driven over with a golf cart, dismantled, and had peanut butter smeared into it's inner workings (all of which were thanks to my sweet babies) and keeps on tickin'. Amazing. I think I need a new phone now though since this one's kinda beat up but what could possibly stand up to the torture that they put this one through?

Our little princess

Our 2-year-old is becoming quite the feminine little girl. She loves her dresses and baby dolls and anything that has to do with nurturing/loving on animals or toys. So you can imagine how excited she was to visit with a friend this week and discover the friend had Disney princess dresses! The two of them were so cute twirling around with arms outstretched to the music together. There were even sparkling princess shoes and tiaras to match the dress. What a couple of cuties!

Holiday thinking

Well, all this shopping for tickets north has got me thinking about what the kids will want for Christmas. Invariably we are asked for the annual Christmas List and I usually panic at the last minute and can't think of anything. It always seems to sneak up on me even though I've got the countdown going all year long (scroll to the very bottom of my blog page). So I decided that I'll just keep a running list in the left-hand sidebar of this blog as the year goes on and that way I won't be caught with no ideas. As things come to me I'll try to remember to add them in.

Travel Woes

We're trying to get our tickets to fly north for the holidays and the cheapest I can find tickets for all three of us (baby flies free) is $1200! I've been looking all day for some kinds of deal or special or ANYTHING - to no avail. I've tried flying with layovers, at inconvenient times, etc, and the most I can save is $100, which still makes it $1100 to fly. So here I am, putting it out to the universe for assistance, that I need some way to get tickets... If any of you know a big wig who is in charge of marketing for an airline, whisper in their ear that this would be a fantastic time for them to put tickets on sale for us....

Normal price $200 a piece (manageable)
Current cheap price $360 a piece (laughably high)
Current normal price $400 a piece (just plain ridiculous)

Trick-or-treat Practice

Nana and grandpa are going to be gone on vacation over Halloween and were going to miss seeing the kids in their costumes. So to give them a chance to see the outfits (albeit not entirely decked out) and to give the kids some exposure to trick-or-treating before randomly telling them to take candy from strangers, we went over last night and did some "practice" trick-or-treating. The kids walked from door to door throughout the house while someone waited behind the door and answered when they heard a knock. At first, neither kid wanted to knock and forget about asking them to say "Trick or treat". By the 10th door though (there were 10 total), both kids were willing caught on and wanted to knock and even the 1 year old would yell "Teeeet" (okay, close enough, extra points for being adorable and keeping your hat on sweety). We all had pizza after which they both dined on their new treats. Daddy's and my costumes weren't all the way done yet, but we got in the spirit too by donning what we DID have completed. Now I have 2 weeks to hold the little kiddos at bay before unleashing them on the public.

The great pumpkin contest

At homecoming last weekend they were handing out pumpkins to all of the alumni so we brought a couple home with us, one big and one small. Knowing it is only 2 weeks until Halloween, I convinced Daddy to help us carve pumpkins last night. Being the total Type A personality that he is, he suggested that we make it into a little competition to draw prospective faces for the big Jack-o-lantern. We all sat down to the kitchen table, and with the pumpkin in the center for inspiration, drafted what we thought might be the winning face. Everyone knows that 2-year-olds are of prime age for Jack-o-lantern judging so our little sweetheart got the honors. I believe that the contest may have been somehow staged or the judge was paid off in skittles because remarkably one of Daddy's faces won. So they set to work cleaning out the goopy-goo inside and our little mister was in charge of separating the seeds. It wasn't long before Daddy was able to begin the face but when he sat back to admire his work he couldn't figure out what was missing....luckily our smarty little girl is very perceptive and giggled "Daddy...he needs a NOSE!" and pointed out where it should go.The end result was six big smiles; both lit up Jack-o-lanterns, Mommy and Daddy's faces, and both kiddos happy faces.

Oktoberfest

This weekend Daddy was hunting for phantom chucker (they didn't see a single one), so we needed something to keep us busy. We decided it would be fun to go to Oktoberfest. Some other moms & kids met us there for lunch. Not knowing what to expect, we arrived with empty tummies. Let me say they did not disappoint. Not only was the sausage very good (the kids LOVED it), but the music was fun and very entertaining. From there we went to the playground so I could be assured both kids were sufficiently exhausted. You know the afternoon event was a smash hit when both kids sleep for 3 hours afterward!