Archive for the ‘Life & Times’ Category

Animal Watching

Posted Saturday, February 27th, 2010 by Mollie

Andy took his birthday week off work, which gave us a chance to go to the zoo on a weekday morning.  (I promise not to post about every zoo trip but this is all I’ve got today!)

Natalie’s favorite of the day:  the baby elephant statue.  Forget the real animals!

Ben’s favorite: it’s a tie, between the pigeons that were after his crumbs at lunch…

… and the sleeping pig in the barnyard.  I would poke the pig through the fence, he would grunt in his sleep, and Ben would giggle.

My favorite: the new California Condors, one of the rarest birds in the world (less than 200 left in the wild, the zoo is part of a conservation program).  I know lots of people think they are ugly or creepy but I love them!  This exhibit is fantastic.  It is huge, yet you can get up close.  The birds have been so active every time we’ve seen them.  These ones are still juveniles but their wingspan is already impressive, must be close to 9 feet already.  I tried to get some good pictures, but they are fast.

One last thing: Natalie doesn’t say “the zoo”, she calls it “the zoob”.  Cracks me up every time!  I will be sad when she learns to say it correctly!

Valentine’s Day

Posted Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 by Mollie

Natalie is always thrilled to jump on board with any holiday she learns about, and Valentine’s Day was no exception.  (I’m just glad she doesn’t constantly ask to go trick-or-treating again!)  All week long she looked forward to a Valentine’s party at her friend Ava’s house.  The girls got to decorate crowns, and eat heart shaped sandwiches for lunch.

This is what happens when lunch is left unattended!

These are the Valentines that Natalie and I made and gave this year: iPods!  Complete with Hershey’s Kiss earbuds.  They were a big hit.

Kids At Play

Posted Friday, February 12th, 2010 by Mollie

Natalie and Ben are becoming fast friends… mostly.  Ben adores his sister, but sometimes she gets frustrated trying to play with him.  The other day I reminded her to be kind to Ben and not push him.  She responded cheerfully, “I’m not pushing him, I just want to poke him in the eye!”

Don’t worry, this is a genuine hug happening!

The bathroom is Ben’s favorite playground, he takes every opportunity to sneak in.  Tearing toilet paper into tiny pieces is actually one of his least mischievous bathroom activities.

Natalie and her girlfriends are already putting Ben to work and he is only too happy to help out!  He is tiny but he can push them around in the little wagon.

Here’s just a cute one of Nata and her BFF Bekah cozied up watching a movie in my bed on a cold and rainy morning!

Sunshine By The Slice

Posted Sunday, January 24th, 2010 by Mollie

I’m sure everyone knows by now that we got an entire week of rain last week.  It’s not often that SoCal gets a storm like that, and we personally enjoyed it very much.  The kids and I did end up feeling a little cabin fever by the end of the week.  Going out in the rain is fun the first couple times but after a while it becomes annoying when you get soaked just trying to load the kids into the car!  One day we had some particularly loud thunder, it was actually shaking our house.  Natalie got a real kick out of that.

This recipe for Lemon-Vanilla Tart with Candied Lemon Slices was found in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine  and promised to be “Sunshine by the Slice”.  It was a nice treat in the middle of a very gray week.  So good and tangy and simple, I highly recommend it.  Though if I do it again I might try it with a different pastry, I like a thicker and sweeter crust.

Coloring is Natalie’s favorite rainy day activity.  We went through an unbelievable amount of paper last week.  She especially loves these princess coloring pages.  She’s starting to get the concept of staying in the lines, but truly her favorite thing is watching ME color and directing me what to color next!   Fortunately for her I think coloring is relaxing and I had extra time on my hands last week, so we had nice times together.

We have three rules about crayons:

1. No snapping crayons in half.

2. No tearing the paper off crayons.

3. No dropping crayons on the floor or Ben will eat them.

We make Natalie repeat them to us and it’s always so funny to hear her say them.  She tends to forget numbers 1 and 2 (she seems to have an uncontrollable urge to do those things), but is VERY concerned about #3.  “Ben will eat them ALL GONE!” she says.  Yes, he really will.

Mornings at Home

Posted Sunday, January 10th, 2010 by Mollie

Our mornings go by pretty quickly.  One errand or activity, plus Ben’s nap, and suddenly it’s time for lunch.  The mornings when we just stay home are always a nice break.

I drag Ben’s high chair into the middle of the kitchen so he can watch me cook and clean while he eats snacks or plays with toys.

Natalie hangs out at the table painting, coloring, or doing playdough.  Or eating snacks.  Did I mention how much my kids like to snack?

Not from the same day I but I wanted to show it anyway… they had so much fun discovering this new playhouse.  They are playing together, or at least alongside each other, a lot these days!

My kitchen creation of the day was these red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, from scratch of course.  The frosting was rich but so yummy!   I disapprove of store bought frosting (inherited that one from mom).  The special occasion was having my girlfriends over for dinner.  I made Fancy Macaroni (with 4 types of fancy cheeses) and it was a hit!  Notice the empty plates.