St. Pats and Pies

   Hello! Happy Late St. Patrick's Day and first day of spring to you! It has been more like winter here, not unusual for Reno Spring, though. We spent Saturday morning drawing pictures of rainbows and pots-o-gold.

Sawyer looks like a Leprechaun Ghost. So pale!

Corned Beef and cabbage cooked all day, of which the boys ate none. I don't get it! Last year it was a hit! At least Jeff and I enjoyed.
 A fun kitchen activity Adrian and I worked on a while ago were these Little Cherry Pies.

Anything miniature seems to be a hit with them. Adrian helped with the egg wash and sugar cinnamon sprinkling.

As always, this project was done without pants. It seems Adrian's creative outlet is constricted by pants and so he prefers to do as many activities as he can without them.

For the record,..I had pants on

    We made these at Christmas time and several times since. We like them best with cherry but they are also good with fried apples- all nice and smooshy inside! Also great with coffee the next morning- but I say that about ANY baked dessert.
   Sawyer may not be at the age where he can help out too much in the kitchen or with art activities, but we still manage to have tons of fun. Here he is on the trampoline one morning bouncing the day away.

We love our Little Bub!

Ninja A

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I promise you, though- this video makes the wait worth it. Please excuse my mediocre editing skills, this is the first video I have ever made in imovie.

Isn't he totally hilarious? 50% of the time when asked he says he wants to be a Power Ranger when he grows up. He thinks it's an actual job. The other 50% of the time he wants to be a Fire Fighter, but worries he won't be tall enough. I asked him why he thought he might not get tall enough? He says to me, "because I don't know how many more vegetables I can eat."

A few other things that we have accomplished lately....

I'm thrifty

Replacing the feet in Footie pajammies so that little Bro can wear them. (Never say NO to hand-me-downs!)

And, of course: 

Lego tower to the ceiling. Jeff says be sure to mention the ceiling is VAULTED. They got the ladder out. It was quite a feat.

We finally got snow! It wasn't much, and only stuck around for a day or two, but the boys really enjoyed playing in it.

The sandbox became a "snow box" that A & S dug and scooped into all morning.

    Last year Sawyer was too small to play in the snow, and I recall Adrian didn't like getting cold and wet at his age- but Sawyer LOVED it.  He kept calling snow "bubby" and we couldn't figure out why. Then in the bathtub a few nights ago he scooped up a handful of bubbles and, smiling, said, "bubby!" He thinks the snow is bubbles! Cold Bubbles!

Stan and Flax tore through the snow all morning. They pretty much cleared the deck after a while just from racing back and forth.

   Here is Big Red. Momma Hen. I cleared a path with my boot that morning so that they had a bit of room to scratch, the other two are under the coop in a big dry area where their food is. They really don't like the snow, but the sun melted most of it off of their coop and and yard by the next day. That morning, when I first opened their coop hatch-door, she just poked her head out, saw all the snow, and then refused to emerge. The little walk was covered in the white stuff, so I cleared it and told them they were on their own. I guess by mid morning they were hungry enough or it had warmed up enough to venture out.

Today, all of the bubby has melted.  It's supposed to be 65 degrees out! The sun is shining and the buds on the trees are looking hopeful. I worry that this winter that really never came is just very delayed and we will be getting snow into May! I hope not.

Adrian's first Valentine's Day Party at Preschool was fun fun fun! Miss Lucy and Miss Stacy had juice and treats for everyone and the kids exchanged cards. I saw a really cute card idea that I just HAD to do with Adrian. Start by taking a picture looking down-ish on your tot while he holds his paw up like this:

 Then crop, add text and cut a few slits above and below the fist with a box knife. Insert sucker- VIOLA! 

The BEST part: total cost for 30 of these adorable personalized valentines, 12 BUCKS! Wouldn't they be great for all kinds of things? Party favors, Thank you's, candy canes at Christmas! 
 The night before, we also made chocolate covered strawberries for a special Valentine's Day breakfast. I had to work all day, so it was a nice way to start off the morning with the whole family.

 On Saturday morning Kristen and I met up with a few members of the church for some volunteer time at the Northern Nevada Food Bank.  The time flew by, and I look forward to getting the boys involved with this when they are a bit older.

  This is a pallet of onions donated by a regional farm. Each 50 pound bag had to be cut open and then sorted through for salvageable onions.  It was dirty dirty work, about half of each 50 pound bag was rotten and they were all dirty. In two hours our side of the table tore through a whole pallet! It was very rewarding to see the clean bags of shiny, perfectly good  onions we were able to make for needy families from what would have been thrown out.
   The Food Bank Warehouse is far out past town, and on the early morning drive we also spotted wild horses!

Aren't they beautiful? I guess you can't really tell from this picture, but lemme tellya- they were.

Quinoa "Nuggets" with Honey Mustard Yogurt Dip

     As some of you may know, I did the vegetarian and then Vegan thing for several years. I really enjoyed it! I felt great, looked great, and enjoyed learning new ways to think about eating.  Although I don't believe that a full vegetarian lifestyle is the right choice for us, I still try to incorporate "Meat-Free" meals into our week. #1: meat is expensive, #2: animal protein doesn't need to be the star of every meal to make it a satisfying one, #3: it makes me feel good knowing I was able to create a healthy meal that we enjoyed.  So, on that note, I give you: (The link to my)

                                             

  Quinoa Nuggets 

with Honey Mustard Yogurt Dip

   Have you had Quinoa? (Keen-waaah) It's crazy good. Easier and faster to cook than brown rice (or white for that matter) Really healthy, really fun to eat (and say!) The size reminds me of couscous, but instead of a little pasta your getting a whole grain! Alright, moving on...

These little nuggets are done in mini muffin tins, so they come out perfectly dip-able sized.

Can you tell Sawyer is sick in this picture? Poor Baby Bear.

The toy store that hosted Curious George last weekend had a birthday party for Elmo on Saturday. Sawyer's fever was gone, so we headed down to meet "Mo".

I could not get Sawyer anywhere near Elmo. Weird, because he loved Curious George. Honestly though, can you blame him? Elmo's eyes are freaky.

Sawyer DID enjoy the bingo dot coloring center!

We got home and the sickness hit ADRIAN like a ton of bricks. Super high fever and body aches/chills. He slept for 14 hours, and then took two naps. Ah...winter time with young children!

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with kids and nightmares while sick. They came after the high fever (hours after) and lasted all night. Very unusual for Adrian. I guess it's from not feeling well? Or maybe from Elmo's freaky eyes? 

Also, I'm pretty sure I have pink eye (AGAIN!)

ALSO also, how do wiener dogs breath under the covers all night?

Stanley joins the family

We adopted a dog. A new member of the family! (Yes, I am crazy- but you knew that already.) That puts our count at: four humans (subcategory-two toddlers) three hens, and two dogs. I guess now I need ONE of something.... I found an earthworm in Adrian's pocket once. I think that counts.

I know Flax LOOKS less than thrilled at Stanley's arrival- but believe me they are two furry peas in a pod

  A little about The Man Himself:
                1. He's obese. His elderly previous owner cooked him three human meals a day and didn't have any energy to exercise him.
                2. It appears he's had a head transplant (cow body, black &brown head ONLY)
                3. He thinks jumping from heights and crash landing on Flax is a great wrasslin' move.
                4. He fits right in with us perfectly. He loves kids,  Sawyer has thoroughly given him the ear/nose/tail pull test. (Sorry Stan.)

   Stanley's first morning at breakfast with us he looked on approvingly at the egg I was frying. He sat his mismatched self down smack dab in the middle of the kitchen rug and patiently waited for me to add a few sausage links to the pan.  You should have seen the look on Franken-dogs Franken-face when I placed his bowl of kibble and cottage cheese on the linoleum before him.  So THIS is how it's going to be?

   Later that afternoon, we took Stanley on a walk. I meant to bring the camera so I could get some great action shots of him and Flax frolicking at the park, but left it at home accidentally. After dinner I grabbed the camera to hunt down Stanley and try and get a few more pictures of him for the blog. Apparently his new lifestyle is taking it out of him!

This is all he could manage

     Curious George made an appearance at Learning Express Toy Store.  Adrian really enjoyed meeting the characters at Disneyland last year- but I wasn't sure how SoyBoy would feel about the giant monkey costume.

Neither boy wanted their turn with Curious George to be up so other kids could say hello.  It made me happy to see them so happy.

Adrian and the long goodbye

Easy Valentine's Day Decoration

 As soon as one holiday ends, Adrian is anxious to begin plans for the next. Valentine's Day is always a special day with us, we usually make a cake or cupcakes and make each other little cards. This was a project I saw on Pinterest via The Peanut Paint Shop, (check it out, real fun) but I wanted to do a simpler (or FREE, with stuff we already had in the art. dept.)version.

Here is Adrian painting the black-n-pink combo heart ( his favorite color combination this week)

Adrian made two extra watery water color paintings on thick-ish  plan white paper. Then he used a template I made out of card stock to trace and cut out four hearts. (I helped round off the hearts when he was finished)

covering the hearts in colored sugar (the best part)

 

 

 

 

 

The I wrote everyone in the family's name in Elmer's Glue and Adrian covered the glue-hearts in red sugar. We chose red sugar because we didn't have glitter. I think glitter would be really fun. (To color sugar add a few drops of liquid food coloring to plan white sugar in a container with a lid and then shake around. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.)
   Then we let the sugar "soak in". Then A shook away the sugar to reveal our names! He thought that was cool. I thought it was messy, but oh well.  After everything was dry, we attached the hearts to one another and TA-DA!

I think it's adooorable

 It's cute, he's proud of it, and I used what I had. That's my kind of kids craft!

Nothing else to exiting going on around here really. A few colds, a few tantrums, the norm. Oh,...and this happened:

He thinks he looks like a ninja.

Not to be left out, Adrian had it stretched over Sawyer's face, too- but Sawyer no-likey. He actually looks a bit concerned in this picture.

We made our own Taco Seasoning! I've been wanting to do this for a while, and always look for the "low sodium" packet at the store, but I knew I already had the ingredients, I just needed to know the right measurements to put together. Measuring?? That's right up Adrian's ally.

Please ignore the one legged, pants down fireman. He's having issues.

We used this Taco Seasoning Recipe  and bought most of the ingredients on the Hispanic foods aisle for 79 to 99 cents a package. 

It made plenty! We use this mix for many favorite recipes other than just tacos, so it's nice knowing I have it on hand. Plus, Adri had a good time measuring the ingredients and then stirring it up. I didn't let him do the Chili Powder, though.
    Here's what Sawyer did while Adrian helped:

I've noticed that this is the way he likes to sit in his high chair:

always with his ankles crossed. Such a polite sitter. Although...sometimes those chubby little legs are kick kicking manically while the upper half of his body flails around, hands banging on the tray while I fumble around with his sippy cup/cracker box/cheese stick/ banana peel/ fillet Mignon.  He's all business when it comes to "nacks"(  what he calls any meal.)

   Unfortunately, Adrian has a fever and body aches this morning, so Ninja Turtles on repeat may be the highlight of our weekend. Oh! And I get the laundry, of course.

     After being totally out of it for the first week of 2012, I have definitely made up for it in week two! We kicked off our weekend (Saturday night) with homemade pizza. We used the raw dough you can buy pre-made in a ball at Raley's. It turned out great!

What? You didn't know Power Rangers could make pizza as well as fight dinosaurs? Well, this one can.

Next time I will separate the dough into several balls so that Adrian and Sawyer can make their own "kid kind" without mushrooms or olives.

 Also earlier that day Adrian and I put together what turned out to be THE MOST AMAZING Chocolate Pie. If a Chocolate Pudding Pie and Chocolate Mousse had a baby- it would be this Nestle Chocolate Satin Pie. Add in that it's super easy to make and we have an instant winner for my family.

Okay, who forgot this kids bib?

 Another highlight of my weekend was putting the boys in matching outfits. Is it mean? I've done matching PJ's before- but this time it was full on twinsies in public. Whatever.  I probably only have like...one more year before they refuse and think it's silly- and by then I guess they'll be old enough to where it might indeed be silly. I really tried to get a picture of them standing together.

Like- holding hands. Or resting hands on each others shoulders. Or doing some cute twinsie pose, but nooOOOo. Not going to happen.

  After dressing like Gufous and Gallant- Adrian made me promise to let him put on his Power Ranger costume to go to MEGA PARK. If you live in Reno and have not visited Damonte Ranch Park yet, you are big time missing out. It is so awesome.  I am afraid to go on the level three play structure and can't imagine how this thing could have passed a safety inspection. I expected at every height he reached for my little man to topple off the thing. I listened as my friend Kristen went down the Super Slide with her three year old- screaming. Kirsten, that is.

                          Adrian rode his bike all around the place(another new development!)

                             and Sawyer toddled around jabbering at any kid who came close.

                                                          All in all- it was a great day.

New Year's Resolution 2012: quit the social network and find a positive way to communicate with family and friends while still feeling somewhat "connected" to the world. Hopefully this blog is the answer. If you are a distant family member looking for photos and updates about the boys, a friend who wants to see whats going on in my world, or simply a stranger who has stumbled across my blog unintentionally- all are welcome!
   I had every intention of having this going on January 1st- but have lost the whole first week of the new year with a nasty stomach bug.Two E.R. visits later I think I'm ready to join the General Population again- we'll see.