Comfort...Food

The weather is blah, Hubs is traveling, they're still pooping in their pants, and the news all around  is depressing.  But we know that God is on His throne and reigns over all our troubles, and works things out for the good of those who love Him.  And a huge batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies helps, too.

M's Kitchenaid advertisement pose

Like the little red hen story - they only want to help eat

YUM

MORE YUM

Look to the cookie!

M - what a ham!

Smile?  I'm eating!

I'm feeling better already

Don't worry, Hubs, I'll save you a few.  Hurry home!

Lost Boys, Er, Photos

Just kidding about the Lost Boys.  It's more like Lost Photos.  Through the gracious gifts of both goods and services, in a year's time I've acquired both a beautiful new Nikon camera (you've heard me speak of it before) and the installation of Picasa 3 on my desktop, which is the best photo thingy that ever was invented, according to our wonderful techo savvy installer friend - and he would know - no, for real, he would!  He's really really smart when it comes to both photography and technology.  The problem is, my BRAIN is not the best it ever was, so I'm STILL having problems with my "new" technology.  I keep trying to take photos with the Nikon, which does take MUCH nicer pics than our old Sony Handycam, but the problem comes when I need to upload, oh, about 900 PHOTOS at a time because I've been procrastinating.  What?  You?  But you always have such cute up to date photos on the blog!   Yeah, because I use my old Handycam, the piece of...uh, equipment...that I know how to operate.

So my new year's resolution this year is to learn how to use BOTH the Nikon AND the Picasa 3 AND figure out where the pictures go when I actually DO accomplish the upload AND how to get the photos from that mystery location onto Blogger. 

Before Three is born.  So I know how to get you good pictures of him. 

I think that's a much better resolution than a clean house or losing the baby weight, because you and me both know that's not gonna happen!

So here are just a few of the efforts of nearly a day's worth of labor....pictures from the Nikon.  Make that recent pictures.  Enjoy!  We are just hours away from our annual Christmas vacation, so Merry Christmas!  Enjoy time with your loved ones and I'll be back soon, depending on how my technology works for the next week or so. 

Last Saturday Hubs and I had Christmas with the boys, just the four of us, complete with homemade cinnamon rolls, a fire, and pj's all morning (yes, we all changed by afternoon).  There was even snow on the ground...just wonderful.

M gobbles up cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast

N with his first hot chocolate the night of being a snowplow with Daddy

M helps decorate Christmas cookies

N decorates cookies, too

One for me, one for me, one for me, NONE for you!

Christmas "Eve" night they only left Santa one cookie!

N loves those cinnamon rolls!

Merry Christmas!

Cookies, Sweeties and a Funny

 This morning's adventure with the boys and a funny story about my mixer ensues:

M sneaking cookie dough, N posing like a ham! 

What do you do when your hubby brings home a giant box of dates from his business trip to Dubai?  Make cookies, of course!  Well, not right away...we had to eat a bunch before I decided I needed to do something with the rest.  It's nice to have a hubby who's thinking of me and the kids while he's running through airports and brings us little treats sometimes (better than tchotchkes to dust).  I'll bet you're not at all surprised that my little helpers liked eating dates.  I was chopping them for the cookies and kept feeding them pieces.  N grabbed a whole one and chomped down, surprised to find a pit! 

N, left, and M helping me clean the bowl after we got them in the oven.  I had a LOT of help this morning.  Lunch was a disaster, of course, but that's to be expected after sampling the product before, during and after, which took all morning.

Look again at the white Kitchenaid mixer in the top photo.  Here's a funny story.  I've always wanted a Kitchenaid, but have made do for 9 years with the little $10 hand mixer that cheapskates like me use instead because a real one is almost $300!  I even had to buy a second one this year when my sister in law blew up the first one!  (The poor mixer was 9 years old, how long are those cheapies supposed to last)?  So my parents were here over Labor Day weekend and we were all piled in the van heading out to some escapade, when I noticed that someone in my neighborhood had a garage sale with a GREAT BIG KITCHENAID just sitting there on the table!  I made Hubs stop, hopped out, checked out the mixer, and ran back to borrow a 20$ bill from my mom (we do not carry cash, in case you were thinking of robbing me.  My purse is full of matchbox cars, coupons and smashed up crackers.) 

I know, right? 20 BUCKS for a Kitchenaid?  Well, it's not exactly brand new.  It looks like a 1970's model (like me) but it works (also like me).  A few weeks later, Aunt L and I were mixing Red Velvet Cupcake batter in it and I said, "I love my new mixer so much!"  As the words came out of my mouth - literally, AS I WAS SAYING IT, the motor started SMOKING! 

AAAGH!  It's on fire!!

Okay, not on fire, but SMOKING!  The kitchen was starting to smell bad from the smoke, so we finished the cupcake batter with the cheapie hand mixer (they were delicioso, by the way, complete with homemade cream cheese frosting). 

I couldn't bring myself to throw away my garage sale treasure.  It sat there for another month before I had the heart to test it out again, sure of another near disaster.

But it made pancake batter just fine.  Then it made stuffed egg filling just fine.  And today, it made Frosted Date Creams very well.

So I'm keeping it.  I think it's just a little testy, and doesn't like big jobs, like mixing for more than a couple of minutes!  I think it's got a lot of character (also like me) so it stays on my counter awaiting its next (little) job. 

"Pweeze?"

We were working on "please" tonight. Because this afternoon, they were snatching the Nilla wafers out of my hand and running away! 

When they came back for another, I told them to be polite and say "please."

Much whining ensued.  "Cooo-kie?  Coook-kie? Coook-ie?  Waaaahhhh!"  Then running away. 

This went on for just a minute until M said, "Pweeze?" like it was all his idea. I handed him the cookie, and said, "thank you, Mommy.  You're welcome." just reinforce that that's how the communication works. He smiled and bit the cookie, running away to play. 

N watched the exchange, then....

lunged at me, trying to grab the cookie out of my hand, then pitched himself onto the floor with a big, "WAAAHHHHH!" 

He's a little dramatic and I did not fall for this. 

An hour or so later, when they saw me sneak a Nilla wafer, maybe or maybe not on purpose, we tried it again.

"Say please," I prompted.

"Pweeeeeeze?" M asked.  I handed him the cookie and he scampered away.  Then I prompted N, who'd again seen how it works.

Once more, I was attacked by a frantic toddler, desperate for a Nilla wafer.  No cookie.  He was quite upset with me.

Half an hour later, one of them spotted the Nilla wafer box on the counter and immediately M said, "Cookie? Pweze? Cookie? Pweze?"  Seriously, who can resist THAT?

N must have been pretty desperate because, after a little prompting, he said, "Pee."

That was the sweetest cookie in the box.

Hello Hermit

her·mit

 /ˈhɜrmɪt/ Show Spelled[hur-mit]

–noun

1.

a person who has withdrawn to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.

2.

any person living in seclusion; recluse.

3.

Zoology . an animal of solitary habits.

4.

Ornithology . any of numerous hummingbirds of the genera Glaucis  and Phaethornis,  having curved bills and dull-colored rather than iridescent plumage.

5.

a spiced molasses cookie often containing raisins or nuts.

I used the word "hermit" last night to describe myself to a friend since I did not leave the house at all for 72 hours this week, possibly a record since the birth of my sons.  I spent yesterday playing Megabloks, wiping noses, making chili and cornbread and baking snickerdoodles for Hubs' co-workers today.  I was thinking, it's not so bad being a hermit if the boys are happy (they are, for the most part, because of the plethora of new Christmas toys).  Then I was thinking, hmm, what is the actual definition of hermit?  So I looked it up - on dictionary.com, of course, because I don't even own a dictionary, a horrendous admission for an English teacher.  So, am I a hermit?

1. No.  While I profess a deep faith in Jesus Christ, I believe He said to GO and preach the Good News, not to live your faith in seclusion.

2. No.  I live in a busy suburb in an 8-unit townhome with a handsome hubs and two crazy toddlers.  Not my definition of seclusion.

3. No.  I eat animals.  My children act like animals and at times I feel like a zoo exhibit, but no.

4. No. I eat birds, too.  I have curves, but that's about it.  No plumage, iridescent or otherwise.

5. Yes.  I think this is the hermit I meant.  A spicy, nutty cookie.  That would be correct.  I am a hermit.

Now, to find myself a good hermit recipe...

Dear Diary,

I don't like the coffee grinder.

I like French Toast, though!

I like everything!

What's that kid doing?

Say Cheese!

Watch me climb these smooshy steps, mom!

This is such a riot!

Zoom zoom! I'm speedy!

I wonder if mom is noticing me eat all these M&Ms?

Nathans decorated cookie!

I <3 BACON but I hate getting my car washed!

Made with Love...and Terror

The boys and I are making a care package for Uncle A, who is away at college for the first time this fall.  We haven't done much coloring, but I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try again.  I taped the paper on the floor and gave them each a crayon. 

These don't taste so good, Mommy.

I had to help them and they kind of  got it, but I won't post the finished product so the pictures are a surprise for Uncle A.  See how N is sticking his tongue out?  That's because he bit the tip off of a purple crayon and chewed it up!  I gave him some milk and I'll watch for the end results.  (Pun intended.  I found a piece of toy yesterday.  Yeah. Nice.)

I put on Sesame Street so they could learn about octagons this morning while I baked Uncle A some cookies.  I hope that one day they can help me in the kitchen baking cookies, but it just doesn't work that way quite yet!  Well, I had all the ingredients out on the counter, then took out the electric hand mixer, plugged it in...and stopped.  Matthew was hanging on to my legs, sobbing!  And not the kind of sob like he just slammed his finger in the drawer (which I suspected at first)- the kind in which he's trembling and frightened.  What in the world? 

He buried his head in my shoulder as I inadvertently brought him nearer to the dreaded object, attempting to console him by letting him pour the sugar into the bowl.  He cried harder and clung to me tighter!  What's going on? 

Uh, oh...the hand mixer.

He's terrified of it.

So I stopped the baking and took him back to Sesame Street and tried to calm him down.  It took several minutes until he was composed enough to look at me with sad, wet eyes, pat the side of his head, (sign language) and beg, "Nigh, nigh?"

He wanted to go to bed!  So I took him upstairs, N following because he refused to be left out, and he immediately curled up with his lovie and binky and closed his eyes.

Poor fella!  I haven't used the hand mixer with him in the room for a long time: okay, I don't do much baking, and didn't even think of it.  Even if I had, I would have assumed that he'd be okay with it because he finally acclimated to the coffee grinder.  Remember - I never even turned it on!

So Uncle A, enjoy your cookies, because they were made with much love...and terror.

Today: 13 Month Photo Shoot

I know I promised TN pics today, but this is so much funnier!  I decided to get a 13 month pic of the boys on our oversized armchair this morning because I wanted their Ferris U t-shirts immortalized (they won't fit much longer, Aunt L!).  So, here is how the photo shoot went.  Go ahead and laugh - it's hilarious!

Shot 1: ain't havin' it, Mom!

Shot 2: Is that the lawn guys we hear?

Shot 3: Mom breaks out the animal crackers for a distraction. Whassup, Nathan?

Shot 4: C is for cookie, yum,yum,yum!

Shot 5: Matthew cracks a smile; Nathan is very serious about eating this cookie as fast as possible!

Shot 6: Hi mom!  It's in, I want another!

Shot 7: See?  I'm ready for more!

Shot 8: Gettin' tired of this, Mom.  One cookie?  Seriously?

Shot 9: We're outta here!

C is for Cookie...

It's good enough for me!  Oh, keep reading, I'm full of these little ditties!  Yesterday we had our friend C over to make and decorate Christmas cookies.  Ok, let's be honest, while she was doing all of the rolling and cutting of the dough, (my least favorite part-hee,hee)  I was busy changing, feeding, and calming two little cookie monsters.  I did manage to dip a million pretzel rods in chocolate, her least favorite part, so I guess we're even.  Finally, finally, we got to the fun part:

decorating!  Nathan held the sprinkles for us.

Matthew was having a good time; Nathan liked the crinkly chocolate chips bag.

Setting up to get the cookies in the picture.  Look closely as Nathan swipes a pink heart!

Trying to get most of the pink frosting off his fingers before they go....

 

in his mouth!