Dinner Song

I have no picture or amazing description. But it was really funny. At Sunday dinner last night Tots broke out in song. It was, "Do As I'm Doing." So after letting her get a few lines out, I joined in. Then she stopped and said, "Daddy SING! Sing Daddy!!" And so Chad chimed in, as well. So there we were. At the dinner table. Clapping our hands and singing one nursery song after another. She is such a character :) Really, though. Were you singing nursery songs at your dinner table lead by your toddler?? Yeah, probably not. Was this a sneaky plan contrived by a toddler who just didn't want to eat her dinner? Maybe. But it was fun!

Playmates

Babes is getting so big :*( I can't believe how fast time flies. She is walking!

I just can't believe how much she likes to walk.

We were playing the other day and she was being so darn cute!

I had to snap a few shots.

ENJOY!!!

She likes to talk a lot, too. In fact all the while we were playing she was making some great sound effects.

She is so much fun.

Sitting

I'm not much of a baby sitter. I have to say, this one was fun. Tots had so much fun with her cousin. I couldn't resist picking up a camera for some classic kodak moments.

They were playing with cars on the windowsill while watching cars. soooo cute!

Cousin got a little camera shy and stopped playing when he saw me!

Tots just doesn't care.

And then they started dancing to the credit music.



Our little jammie fest party was pretty fun.
Well, I had fun anyway!

Pumpkin Pie

Once upon a time we had pumkins by our front door:

3 small, 1 large.

Then the time came to cut them up. That's right, I said cut them up.

And make pumpkin mush. Yes, I said pumpkin mush.

for: Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumkin rolls, pumpkin pancakes, even just a lil pumpkin in our pasta (Shhh! Don't tell!).

& the fruits of my labors- pumpkin seeds!!

Why

I just don't know why my girls do the things they do.

(Tots hitting our plant)

(Babes leaving me sweet nothings)

The Zoo & The Place

Chad took a whole week off to work on the storage room (future post), so we decided we could use at least one day to go out as a family.

We started off at good ol' Mickidees where tots ate her first happy meal.

What do you think? Did it make her happy?

Well, if not tots or babes, definitely dad!!

Then off to the zoo. It was great. They pretty much had monkeys. Some elephants. Mostly monkeys, though.

Ooop. That's a Giraffe. But, really, mostly monkeys. Lots and lots of monkeys (not including my two, that is).

And there was a train! So cute!

Tots was in heaven. So we pushed it a little and went to This is the Place, as well.

And we were going, going,

GONE!

And thus concluded our family day.

"Remember-When" Wednesday

I love looking at old photos. Except, the ones I love looking at aren't really that old. So for this remember when Wednesday, I am posting one that just tickles me every time I see it.

I call it, "Tot's First Taste of Toe."

Which is different from "Tot's First Taste of Sock":

WATACUTIE!

1-sies

I can't believe my baby is one.

Cake was had


Messes were made.


And presents were opened.

She is officially one.

She is getting so big. She loves to climb on things and tries to walk every once-in-a-while. She even says a few words. Mostly, though, she is just a joy to have. I love the personality she brings to our family. We are a better family thanks to this little cutie that came into our lives just over a year ago :)

Punkin 4 Halloween

All month long Tots has been requesting her costume, "I be a punkin for Halloween."

So I worked on it and it came out alright. But then the big night comes and she needed some . . . persuasion to put it on (I told her she couldn't get any candy without it). It worked :)


We went with some friends early and got rained on. SO bad, in fact, that tots was requesting to go home (despite the fact that she LOVED the prospect of getting candy at every door, and then taking a self-guided tour of everyone's home as they opened the door). It was pretty cold.



So we came home and I got to pass out the candy (I love that part!). I made a list of the most creative costumes I found. The winner for the night was the quarter who came to the door.

And then Sunday came and I found another one I just couldn't NOT take a picture of:

the woopie cushion.

All in all, it was a fun halloween. Next year babes will be able to enjoy the fun a little more.

A Lil Thanks

I wanted to take a post to thank you for your ideas about dinners. I want you to know that I have been planning my meals out 2 weeks in advance and shopping once for them. This has been soooooooo nice! It is hard to remember to sit down and really hit it hard with all my lists at once (grocery, calendar, menu items, etc). But it is just nice to get to dinner time and know exactly what I am going to make and that I have everything that I need for it.

Now if I could just find someone to chop the veggies for me . . .
. . . Oh well. I guess you can't win them all!

As a thank you (and since it was a lil requested), here is that really amazing cookie recipe:

Jeanette Afualo's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 C (2 1/2 sticks) margarine, "imperial" (I used half butter and half margarine)

3/4 C brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 C granulated sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1 1/2 C flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

3 C oats (quick- but I used regular and they were fine, too)

1 (12oz) bag chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375. Beat margerine. Add sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a seperate bowl. Add flour mixture to the margarine/sugar mixture. Stir in oats. Stir in Chocolate chips. Roll batter into balls (yes, with your hands) and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until evenly browned.

So . . . I can't remember if I adjusted anything for the fact that I used regular oats . . . you'll have to use your amazing baking intuition. But she taught us to make these in CA and the recipe worked great here, too. I noted my adjustments. Good luck!