Why We Need Rebecca

It was really cold here in the beginning of January and all of our winter clothes were lying around the house. Caleb picked up his winter hat and put it on for no particular reason. (Of course, we could not get him to wear it when we actually went outside. Oh well.) I thought he looked really great so I tried to take a few pictures. He really did not want to pose for me, though I did get a couple of pictures of his back. I don't know how Rebecca does it.

Eventually, I got a couple of pictures that I liked:

Breakfast of Champions

Cooking 101

Joshua still loves to cook. He loves to play in the basement with the toy kitchen. He is always at the counter when you cook. If you plan on cooking while he is napping, you better be done before he wakes up or you will have some explaining to do.

We wanted to have homemade rolls the other night. We had to start baking while Joshua slept. He woke up as we had just started making the dough. He came downstairs and took one look at the counter and started to push a chair over. As he looked at the Kitchen Aid mixer and flour container, he decided that we had to be making a bread product.

How do I know that? Before he got up on the chair to properly see all the ingredients, he started asking for yeast. He was disappointed to find out Mary had already added the yeast.

And me? I was astounded that my two-year old knew what yeast was. I think I knew what yeast was by the time I was ten or twelve and my dad made bread in our house growing up.

And Speaking of Cooking

Mary made a cake for a friend's birthday. Doesn't it look good? We also made sugar cookies around Valentine's Day. First, you start by putting down some flour. Next, you roll out the dough. After they have finished baking, you can frost and decorate your cookies. Lastly, you can eat them. Have a heart!

It Is Like Magic

Grace and Caleb had play dates this afternoon. Mary took their friends home and then picked me up from work. The children started to tell me the day's news on the way home. The big news was that Mary got a toy for Joshua at Target. (The grandparents sent some money for a gift to Joshua. Joshua loves the gift, Bonnie and Jerry.) Mary told me that she had already rescued a toy car from it and was instructing the older kids not to put toys in it.

Grace asked, "Mom, how did you get it out?"

I answered, "Magic!"

Grace repeated her question, "No really, how did you get it out Mom?"

From the back of the car a voice says, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Guest Post

caleb knows alphabet abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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This post was completely typed by Caleb, though he did ask for some spelling help. But I wasn't sure what he was writing until I saw the finished product. He did it all without any typing help.

Sad Story

Joshua got a set of Elmo dishes for his birthday. It has a plate, bowl, spoon and fork. Joshua loves to eat with his bowl and spoon every morning. As a matter of fact, we wash his Elmo dishes by hand more often than in the dishwasher lately. I took this picture of him having Cheerios on the morning of Grandma's birthday. About five minutes after I took this picture, Joshua accidentally knocked the bowl off the table. The edge of the bowl broke.

He still asks for it every morning.

For Granny Sal

Grace and Caleb made cards for Grandma's birthday. We were going to send them to her for her birthday, but we did not make that happen. Then I was going to post them to the blog, but I did not get that done on Friday. So, here they are two days late. We hope you like them Mom and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Here is Grace's card: Here is Caleb's card:

Suprise

I don't usually buy flowers on Valentine's Day. I love flowers but hate to pay the mark up on flowers around Valentine's Day. It is know that I would rather pay for two bunches of Martin Luther King Day and St. Patrick's Day flowers than to buy Valentine's Day flowers. The Valentine's Day flowers won't last as long and will cost too much.

This year, Valentine's Day was on a Saturday. Joshua and I ran errands to Costco and there wasn't any mark up on their flowers. So I got some for Mary. They were good flowers (smelled great, looked great, didn't last as long as I hoped). The pay-off was in bringing them home. Mary was really surprised to get flowers on Valentine's Day.

Just goes to show that it is all about the expectations.

Happy (Belated) New Year

When I was in elementary school I did not think about Chinese New Year. I probably did not know what it was. I knew what it was in high school. (Actually, Matt knew more about Chinese New Year than I did. He can tell you how to celebrate it with the Fine Young Cannibals on the radio.)

Grace and Caleb heard about Chinese New Year in school this year. Both of them told Mary about it. They wanted to do something to celebrate it. So we got Chinese take out for dinner. It amazes me what they are learning.

(In my department at work, the Chinese New Year celebration has been the same for the last ten years or more. We got out for dim sum in Chinatown. I got to go out for dim sum at lunch and then have take out for dinner. Now that is a good day.)

Happy Birthday! (Part Two)

I am finally getting around to posting more pictures from Joshua's birthday. We had a party on the evening of his birthday with some of the families on our street. With the winter we have been having, it felt like we had not spent time with our neighbors in a long time. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. Joshua got to pick out the decorations for his cake. Anyone surprised at his choice? Joshua knows how to open up presents. He has not forgotten that skill since Christmas. Joshua got a lot of great presents for his birthday. (I cannot think of a single one that he does not love.) Here are pictures of two gifts. This is his panda that he calls "Bob." I am not sure how it got the name, but that is what he is now called. (He is now calling his polar bear and other panda "Sausage" and "Eggs." You know what he likes.) He also got some new footwear that he loves. He cannot wait for summer and even has been wearing them out of the home in the middle of winter.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Today is Joshua's second birthday. We are excited to celebrate with him. In typical family tradition, we went and got doughnuts for breakfast. Joshua wanted to eat the pink frosted doughnut with sprinkles. Ahh, a man after my own heart.

Here are the pictures of him in the Birthday hat. He was the one that put that hat on and adjusted it. (I kept trying to push it up so I could see his eyes.) Have a happy birthday Joshua!