You may hate cats....

But how can you say that this is not adorable as can be?

Little Pianist

Joselyn got this little piano from her nanny (Adam's mom) and she quickly learned how it made sounds. It has now got to be her favorite toy! I'm tellin ya, this girl is going to be musical!

No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

This is one of Kade's many favorite books. He asks for it all the time. We read it all the time. I'm serious. And, perhaps like many other children, he memorizes his favorite books. Even after just a few readings, if he likes a book he can finish the sentance or phrase. In the mornings when Aaron brings him in the room for "jump on Mommy time!"-- yeah, talk about a nice wake-up call-- he'll say "No more monkey jumping bed!" And then, he'll jump on me. And on the bed. Jumping... another one of his FAVORITE things to do. Serious. I guess he doesn't think he's a monkey... So, maybe I need to start reading the book differently?

"Eight little Kades jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head!
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
'No more Kades jumping on the bed!' "

Naw... I don't mind so much, so long he doesn't jump on the furniture, little monkey boy!

So, some of his favorite books right now are:

Mother May I?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?

Anything with a train or cars in it

Cars

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

Scriptures (the scripture reader books with pictures put out by the church)

How do dinosoars say goodnight (this series is AWESOME!)

Bear wants more!

The board book version of "Where is my mother?" (he loves to say, "down down down, plop!" and "snort!" and "oh no!")

Green Eggs and Ham

CTR (he says, "Choose Right! Choose right!")

and others...

Let him laugh!

It's about nap time, which explains why Charlie is SOOOOOOOOO ticklish! LOVE IT!

Cute video of Joselyn laughing

Party in my tummy

Amaree... here is the "Party in my tummy" video... HALARIOUS. Get Charlie and Kade to watch this... This is one of Autumn's favorite TV shows so I watch it sometimes.

Out of the mouths of babes

Today Amaree and I were talking on Skype, both of us with our babies on our laps. Well, they decided they wanted to talk and have a conversation too, so we let them:

[4:32:19 PM] Marissa Noe says: b y ahbxu hh
[4:32:41 PM] Amaree says: i8,lk tytc, cbhby5bv6b6bvhg768v7u777777
[4:32:45 PM] Marissa Noe says: YY YYYYYYYYYY J
[4:33:01 PM] Marissa Noe says: BK6YHJKM H7KL99999999N887UHYJ
[4:33:03 PM] Amaree says: b yvgf bnb cbk gvfnm bbgf gn nniovfj,.vf vbvfmk l m, bi b ;
[4:33:10 PM] Marissa Noe says: U 7B
[4:33:13 PM] Amaree says: / b hjnnmknnjbff fc rev vf trg
[4:33:28 PM] Marissa Noe says: MIIY7IO NUUJY
[4:33:29 PM] Amaree says: jhj bgnmvm ,kmkkihjumj,gyiukkhmi uom,hy79-i8n798EVVRGE;-[4:33:29 PM] Amaree says: =
[4:33:34 PM] Amaree says: JKB J,MU,DS4N
[4:33:45 PM] Amaree says: i0 pkm yyght itbg4fA
[4:33:50 PM] Marissa Noe says: JN,MU
[4:34:02 PM] Marissa Noe says: HB NNNNNNNNNNNNN
[4:34:03 PM] Amaree says: hHQ HHHHHHHHH/FFF [RT /
[4:34:07 PM] Amaree says: ;[
[4:34:16 PM] Marissa Noe says: J, T TY INUI L;HUT66
[4:34:18 PM] Amaree says: INB IK,ytyg g
[4:34:25 PM] Marissa Noe says: MN
[4:34:28 PM] Marissa Noe says: UHMKL
[4:34:41 PM] Marissa Noe says: MLOLUYGYIK,
[4:34:47 PM] Amaree says: gh 77rdo. b sdfasdvn as ndas mefabnas asduidasbnasdbyasdbhjmkl mvsdg nam sd
[4:34:49 PM] Marissa Noe says: (yawn)

We may not understand what they wrote to eachother, but babies have their own secret language. They know what's going on.

Snorting Charlie

SNORT!!!!

Kade being canned!

Kade likes to play on our balcony. We have some #10 cans that he decided to stack. However, playing on the balcony has been rendered impossible now that the wind broke our plexiglass preventing the boys from crawling under or between the railings... You'll have to twist your head to watch the video. Sorry...

"Baby Bubble Hat"

One rather successful bubble bath resulted in "bubble hats".



















Please also note Charlie's "bubble goatee" as well. He likes to drink the water/bubbles (yuck!!!) and so ends up with a goatee every time we have a bubble bath! SO funny! Kade now asks for "baby bubble hat" with great frequency!!!

Daddy Toot!

Mom always said that she had "Sweet Toots!" Yeah, right, whatever! Kade has learned the word "toot" and so whenever I toot (on those very very rare occasions) or anybody else toots, he'll always announce, "Mommy Toot!" or "Charlie Toot!" or "Kade toot!" or "Daddy toot!"... Yesterday as Aaron and I were playing with the boys before bedtime, I will admit to passing some gas. Shocking, I know. Kade was apparently rather shocked, too, because he said, "Daddy toot!". No matter how much Aaron tried to convince him that it was me that tooted, Kade was adamant... "Daddy toot!"

And I didn't even bribe him!

As promised...

Here is my recipe for Lemon Bars/ Chocolate Orange bars. The lemon bar recipe is one of my favorites.

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 powdered sugar
2 cups flour

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 350 degrees

1. Beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually blend in flour, just until a soft dough forms. Press evenly into a 9x13 pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
2. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, zest, and juice, beating until blended. Gradually blend in the flour and baking powder. *important-- if you add the flour/baking powder in with the other ingredients at the same time, the chewy upper crust does not form.
3. Spread evenly over cooked base, and bake 25 mintues longer. Place on wire rack to cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over top.* The lemon bars will cut more easily and keep their shape better if cut when cooled completely.

*Orange zest/juice or lime zest/juice can be replaced for the lemon juice if desired.

*To make Chocolate Orange bars, replace the lemon zest/juice with orage. The crust recipe follows:

1 cup butter.margarine, softened.

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup flour

Autumn

What a cutie she is...

Potty Training Video from Japan

A friend of mine has been following my blog about Kade potty-training and saw this video on YouTube and sent it to me. HYSTERICAL! AND so typical of Japanese people. I LOVE IT! So, since I can't easily post videos on my blog, here we go!




Maybe I should start singing this song to Kade when he needs to go poop. Already we do a cheer for him (if I try to do it without Charlie moving his hands like a Cheerleader, Kade ALWAYS asks for "Baby Ra-ra!")

Ra-ra ree-ree! you can go pee-pee
Ra-ra roop! you can go poop!
Ra-ra ree-ree! you can go pee-pee
Ra-ra roop! you can go poop!
Yey! (cheer madly like a muppet)

Jacobson Park

Today was such a beautiful day so Chelsea and I took our girls to Jacobson park! Everyone else was also taking advantage of the as well. There were LOTS of people there!

Experimental Cook Amaree

Well, as most people in my family know, I LOVE to cook. And, I'm getting pretty good at just "making things up" without using a cookbook, and having it taste pretty darn good. I also love to try new recipies, and am constantly scouring my gazillion cookbooks or the internet for an interesting recipe, especially when I'm low on ingredients (the other day I made some peanut-butter noodles with veggies for dinner... OH they were good! Whoddah thunk peanut butter and spaghetti noodles would go together? No me!). Tweaking recipes is a given... I am not one for following recipes all the time... but so far I have had few failures.

And then there are those days when I am PURELY experimental. I take recipes that I am familiar with and totally shake things up. Like today. I have a great recipe for lemon bars (Not Missys... but only because my microwave is HORRID!) and have a huge affinity for the chocolate/orange flavor combination... Yes... Chocolate Orange bars have been created. They are still in the oven, so I can't give you any feedback, but if they turn out good.... and they do smell good as they're baking... then I will share the recipe... And, if they're good, Aaron will get some in the mail. Yummy-licious!

BTW- I didn't use my cool Bakers-Edge pan, only because I wanted a huge 9x13 pan worth of orange bars. I hope I don't regret it...

Update

Well, they turned out pretty good. Interesting, but pretty good. I think I might modify the chocolate shortbread recipe I have... it called for too much salt (I should have known better!). My friend Quinn liked the orange bars... I will send some to Aaron and see what he thinks. I don't like my 9x13 pan, however. The more I use it, the less I like it. Shortbread is not supposed to stick. Chewy Granola bars aren't supposed to stick. And neither of them come off this glass pan! Frustrating!!! I guess I will just have to grease the pan every time... I will post the recipe later :)

Goodbye old yucky kitchen faucet- HELLO to pretty new shiny one!

We bought a new kitchen faucet and two bathroom faucets a few weeks ago, and on Saturday Adam installed the new kitchen one!! It looks SO much better... see for yourself! (it's amazing how one little change affects the whole look of the kitchen)

Before:

After:

New School Prayer

I got this in an e-mail and thought it was interesting. So, share it I will...

New School Prayer

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's 'inappropriate' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen !

Kade at his best.

Here are a couple of cute things Kade does.... He LOVES to put on "hats" (anything that can go on his head). A sock that he drapes over his head... newspaper... buckets... headbands... it doesn't matter what it is. If it goes on the head, it is a HAT!

He also loves tickling people. It's so funny! "tee-ko tee-ko tee-ko! Tee-ko daddys feet!" He will tickle anybody's feet, tickle Charlie... Tickle tickle tickle!!!

Oh, he is learning and imitating and soaking in everything he sees and hears! I just wish I was a better role-model. I need to start doing more behaviors that I want him to imiate and less that I don't... ::sigh:: At least he'll make me a better person, right? And I perhaps should start imitating him a little more sometimes... going to bed at 7:00... running around naked... pooping on the floor... throwing major tantrums... (ok... just kidding with the last three...)