BIRTHDAYS!

Ainsley, 4 years old, 9-12-09

We had a Butterfly Birthday - complete with butterfly cake, cookies, and crafts. The kids had a blast - being four is fun!

Ronny, 1 year old, 10-10-09

That cupcake had no hope!

We started the day with a football game! Go Whitworth and cousin Ian!

The Woodland Park Zoo!

August 28-30, 2009

Ainsley, Ronny and I (mom) traveled to Seattle to visit [uncle] Dennis and take a trip to the Zoo! Ainsley had a fabulous time - I'm not really sure Ronny had a clue though :). It has been a couple of years since I visited a zoo, the last one being Portland when Ainsley was just over a year. Ainsley fed the birds, rode the carousel, saw the elephants get their feet trimmed and had a great time hanging out with Dennis. Finish the day off with a giant sucker on a stick and all was almost perfect - we sure missed Dad, he had to stay home and work. :(

Girl's Day!

Yesterday I was blessed to spend a fabulous day, sans kiddos, with my cousin Kate! Thank you to Auntie Jill for taking the kids to the lake for a day of fun! Kate and I started the day with massage (a great way to start any day!). Spent about 2 hours on a nice, relaxed, conversant lunch, did some shoe shopping (smoking hot shoes Kate!) and caught a movie.
The movie, "Julie and Julia" sparked a fun social experiment. The Recipe Sharing Connection, a group blog developed today to share favorite recipes among friends. Look for more to come as we develop this creative process, add authors, and share the fun!

S'mores Cookies

From the Everyday Food magazine.

I fell in love with the idea of this cookie and just had to give it a try - the kids could have S'mores with NO fire! The cookie was a hit and I'm excited to share it with you!

1/2 C old fashioned rolled oats
1 C all purpose flour
1 C whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 C light-brown sugar
1 large egg
8 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate cut into 30 squares
15 large marshmallows halved horizontally

Preheat oven to 350.
In a food processor pulse oats until finely ground. Add flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; pulse to combine.
In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, scraping sides. Beat in flour mixture until combined.

Drop dough by teaspoons 1 inch apart onto two baking sheets. Top each with a chocolate square. Bake just until lightly golden, 11 to 13 minutes. Remove sheets from oven.

Heat Broiler. Top each cookie with a marshmallow and broil until lightly golden.

YUMMY!

Friends... Fun... Faith... Fourth of July!

We were fortunate to spend Fourth of July weekend at Priest Lake with fabulous friends and family! Throw in a wedding and it was a weekend to remember.

So, now for the disclaimer - I have way to many great pictures to post! If I could post them all I would but with more than 100 taken in one day, there is simply no way. If you facebook, check them out there!

The weekend started Wednesday, yes Wednesday. I took some vacation time and headed up to the cabin with the kids. It was a great couple of days!

Friday we headed back to town to share in the joy of Kristen's wedding! Shawn met us there and together we were headed back to the lake! Waiting for us at the cabin was our great friend Josh with his three kiddos - Taylor, Logan and Levi. Logan and Ainsley are almost exactly the same age and Ronny and Levi are almost exactly the same age.

And now the fun begins! It took 2 hours and a miracle, but we were finally headed to the beach!

The beach was great - the water was warm-ish - the friends were awesome - and the fireworks were fabulous!

Ronny with his 'rock' (who needs a teething toy when you have the entire beach?) and Levi!

The Beach at Baratoo

Ainsley towing Logan

Enjoying the fireworks with Uncle Dennis!

California Trip - May 2009
Happy 50th Delta Marina Yacht Harbor!

Movin, Movin, Movin...

It's official! Ronny is mobile. He really started working on this movement thing while on our trip to California. As my family told me it was really only proper for him to crawl for the first time at Auntie Lola's, after all I had my first pumpkin pie there - it's a house made for firsts! Since the taking of this video he has mastered the belly down crab walk. Why use your knees when your feet are made for mobility? The crab walk, eventually leads to a dolphin motion, and so he goes, porpoising across the floor - my boy, the break-dancing animal! I guess everything eventually makes a comeback!


Enjoy the video!

Oscar Mayer Weinermobile

Remember the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile? The giant hot dog on wheels - yellow and orange...

The Weinermobile has been making its way across Washington State and has recently spent a fair amount of time in the Spokane area. Not long ago Mom, Ainsley and I were headed to my cousin's bridal shower when up ahead, coming toward us, was the Weinermobile.

I prepared Ainsley to look our her window and watch for the "big, funny looking, yellow and orange truck". "Here it comes..." "Get ready...." It's almost here..." "Look, did you see it? Wasn't that silly?"

"Where mom?"

Some things are simply more exciting at 30-something than at three!

1...2...3...4...5...Ready or Not, Here I Come!

The childhood game of Hide and Seek has hit our house! It started one night last week with Ainsley calling out, "Mommy, you can't find me!". It ended with Ainsley and Shawn in a dueling game of Hide and Seek. Since Ainsley is truly a novice at Hide and Seek the learning curve was a comedy in the making. Ainsley counted first and Shawn hid - our walk in pantry makes a great hiding location. As Ainsley searched the house she soon realized the door to the pantry was closed and as she peeked under the door, she squealed with delight - "I see Daddy's feet!"

It was now Shawn's turn to count and Ainsley's turn to hide. True to every pre-schoolers learning experiences... they do what they see, and she hid in the pantry! Here comes Shawn, "Mommy do you know where Ainsley hid - I can't find her?" AINSLEY, "I'm here Daddy in the pantry!" And so the game continued with Ainsley hiding exactly where Shawn hid and notifiying the whole house of her location! Ah, the joy of childhood fun - laughter is good for the soul!

You can never take the farm out of the farm girl!

Although Ainsley never lived on the farm she truly is a farm girl and if you ask her she will tell you the only thing important about a farm is that the tractor must be green! She has many fond memories of Gram and Pappy's farm and loves being a farm girl with daddy on our 'big' 10 acres. Now that spring has sprung, let the farming begin! Ainsley loves this work from home thing mom is doing - it means she gets to ride the 4-wheeler and feed the horses almost every day. It also means there is plenty of time to play with her puppy and ride the tractor! Oh, Ainsley and her Pop John (Deere). Its a good thing Shawn did such a great job restoring it. It will be in the family for many more than the 5 generations it has survived so far!

In the words of Ainsley "Go Green!"

The Biter Biscuit...

Really, how can one little cookie make such as mess and bring such joy at the same time? It is clear that Ronny is going to eat us out of house and home while Ainsley just picks at her food like a bird. With the never ending food to mouth action of the little man we decided it was time to give the biscuit a try. As happy as it makes him it truly is a train wreck! The joy quickly ends when the cleaning begins...

Ainsley's Favorite Things

1. Playing on my trampoline
2. Carrying my baby dolls around
3. Playing with toys
4. Purple and Pink
5. Strawberries
6. Grammie
7. Dora Games
8. My dog Dolly
9. My friend Brooklyn
10. My teacher Erica
11. Chocolate Milk
12. Makeup
13. Nail Polish
14. Riding the 4-Wheeler with Daddy
15. Cooking with Mommy

Getting Started...

Well, here we go! As I enter this first post I'm wondering how creative my blog will become and how often I'll update it. I suppose I'll have to keep good tabs on it so parents, grandparents, extended family, and friends can watch the kids grow. Wish me luck!