Cooking with Littles.....

Me:  "Hey guys, let's make chocolate granola!....just hold on a second while I switch out the laundry...."

Henry:  (quietly goes into the kitchen and reemerges carrying a giant glass jar)  "Here mommy, I've got the jar of chocolate......."

.....I'm not sure if there's anything worse to clean up than molasses mixed with glass....at least it didn't land on the carpet.  If he had made it a few inches further I'm not sure I would have been able to see the humor in the situation......and thank goodness it wasn't actually a jar of chocolate either....I also would not have seen the humor if I had lost that much chocolate in one fell swoop......

Ah, the joys of cooking with so many little hands to help :)

Blueberries are for Licking....

The boys love popsicles....I know, you're shocked by this amazing revelation into the minds of my children....well I finally broke down and bought the popsicle mold I've been eyeing since last summer and the boys and I got to work. Apparently anything frozen in popsicle form counts as a popsicle to them so our first few batches were just smoothies that I froze in the molds which have the bonus of being healthy (unlike the Dora popsicles David begs for every time we go to the commissary).

Then we got fancy.....and in our house fancy popsicles are eaten on the patio....while riding tricycles......

I think we've found our new favorite summer pastime......

Happy Mother's Day to Me

This year Mother's Day was difficult.....difficult because I had to face the day without Katharine and difficult  because of the 3 AM wakeup I got from Henry who was out of his blankets and upside down in his bed begging me to "cover him." This was followed by another wakeup at 3:15 in which he grabbed my hand with his own unfortunately wet hand and begged me to "dry it off."  It was vomit.  He needed oh so much more than just to be dried off.

Such is the life of a mom.  But you know it's worth it.....

I found this this week in my book of meditations In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year (which you really should buy already...I promise it's totally worth it!)

"At all times, and no less in ours, Christian women play a most important part in the apostolate and in the handing on of the faith.  Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give:  their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their   constancy.  The Church expects from women commitment and witness to all that contributes to the dignity of the human person and furthers their true happiness.

When these qualities with which God has endowed women grow and develop, her life and work will be really constructive, fruitful and full of meaning, whether she spends the day dedicated to her husband and children or whether, having given up the idea of marriage for a noble reason, she has given herself fully to other tasks.


Each women in her own sphere of life, if she is faithful to her divine and human vocation, can and in fact does achieve the fullness of her human personality.  Let us remember that Mary, Mother of God and Mother of men, is not only a model but also proof of the transcendental value of an apparently unimportant life."

The proof of the transcendental value of an apparently unimportant life...I love it....and really, who could look at these guys and say this work of mine is unimportant?

On a brighter note, Chris had this little (big?) beauty (the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme 2-Pound-Loaf Breadmaker) waiting for me as my gift.  Or does the promise of fresh baked bread make this count as a gift for himself?

My first loaf of whole wheat honey sandwich bread....a little flat but I call it a success!  

Birthdays are for Baking

Being one of the only "old" married couples in law school I feel compelled to take care of as many of those young whippersnappers my darling husband pals around with as I can--you know, offering home cooked meals and such since there's no telling what they're eating when they're left to their own devices.  This is especially true when it comes to birthdays....after all, if they don't have mothers or wives around to bake for them and make them feel special on their big day then who will?  Hopefully none of these young men feel annoyed that my mothering instincts extend well beyond my own precious brood.

Well, today we had yet another birthday and while I didn't go kitty cupcake crazy, I did manage to whip up a batch of our favorite cookies--with the boys help of course......

We also squeezed in a round of our new favorite game--the Catch Me! Tin Game.  The boys love this.....okay, Chris and I love it too and have played a few rounds without them.  There's a dice with five colors (corresponding to each wooden mouse color)--the "cat" rolls the dice and if your color comes up the "cat" tries to "catch" your mouse with the tin that the game comes in as you try to pull your mouse off of the felt circle.  It's especially fun if you also make cat noises :)

And for your viewing enjoyment....here is what happens when your son doesn't listen to you when you tell him that hot sauce is in fact hot and he probably shouldn't lick it.

Don't worry....after I stopped to take his picture I did eventually give him some milk to ease his torture.....or should I say natural consequences........

A Day at the Farm

We joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) at the beginning of the growing season which means every week we pick up our share of produce that was just harvested at the farm and once a month we get to go to an open farm day and take a ton of leftover produce home with us, pick as many flowers and herbs as we want, play on their playsets and eat delicious snacks!  It was super crowded--I'm pretty sure everyone came right when they opened to attempt to beat the heat. 

David had a great time--there was a digging for potatoes treasure hunt and a giant tire sandbox so what's not to like :)

David asked to hold some of our produce in one of Chris' bags--he didn't last long carrying the extra load.....

It was really hot so we didn't last as long as we would have liked--once we had gathered all of our goodies and the children were a nice shade of pink (from the heat not a sunburn--what kind of a mom do you think I am!) we headed back to the house to cool off and get some lunch.  David made it two minutes from the house before he started crying and then....got sick.  all. over. himself.  and the carseat.  It was super gross--Chris sprang right into action and took the whole carseat out--with David still strapped in--and hosed the whole thing down.  David was fine as soon as he was cleaned off.  We are pretty sure he just got motion sick, poor thing.  I have a picture that I won't share due to the gross factor of him after the incident (not because I'm evil--he asked me to take one, he was even giving me the most feeble and sad "cheeses" you've ever heard.....

Our Score:  one bunch of flowers, cilantro, basil (I should have taken fives times as much according to Chris), a couple sprigs of rosemary, one head of lettuce, three green bell peppers, three tomatoes, some garlic, five cucumbers, five zucchinis, two yellow squash, five onions, and one box of potatoes courtesy of David's treasure hunt!  Not too shabby for free! 

Of course I was most excited about the flowers........We love being a part of the CSA.  We are eating a lot more produce now--since we have so much!  Everything is so fresh and delicious; and since it came from just down the road instead of south america it's still packed with all it's nutrients!  Plus we feel super hip :)

Henry is One!

We had a BBQ with some friends yesterday to celebrate Henry's first birthday.  I think he enjoyed himself--well at least he enjoyed the cake!

David and I made a chocolate cake from scratch for Henry in the morning.  I severely underestimated the added mess involved in baking with a toddler when you throw cocoa powder into the mix.  At least I had the foresight to tie on the apron before we started......

 David *helping* Henry blow out his candle....

 David licking the candle while I'm not looking--and by licking I mean biting off the end--delicious....

 or maybe not so delicious......

 All my boys enjoying the cake.....

 Henry really enjoying his cake....

 Henry got two books from our friends and we got him this set of blocks with primary colored water in them--they were a hit!  I love that when you hold two up together you can see the new color that forms (red + yellow = orange, etc!)--I'm sure that's Henry's favorite part too :) 

And of course Mr. Leroy was on hand to provide the musical entertainment!

A Manly Taco

Kate gave us her famous chicken taco recipe to try last week and this is how Chris really made it his own. It's a real man's taco--a tortilla, refried beans and two taco shells. Thank you to Kate for the excellent (and super easy) chicken recipe! Chris has announced he no longer wants beef tacos to disgrace our dinner table again--it's chicken tacos forever :)

Baking with a Toddler

Yesterday David and I made cookies while Henry was napping. He was really excited to help. He dumped all the ingredients into the bowl and did a little mixing. It was hard to account for the ingredients that didn't make it into the mix--once the cookies were in the oven I realized that a lot more sugar ended up on the floor than I had originally thought. David didn't agree that it's better to clean up while you cook than to wait until you're finished, he didn't agree that you should clean up at all really...oh well, I guess we can work on that.