Life's A Scrapshoot

Birthday Food

2012-02-19T13:25:00.000-06:00

The theme for the parties were this year was Disney Cars for Ian and Baby Dolls for Annaliese. I've never done thematic food before, but after going to Walter's party with its thematic food, I wanted to do that, too. I've also linked all the recipes I used for reference next year when I go to make cakes and wonder what recipe I used.

On the right is Pasta with "Tow Mater" Sauce. Next to it is Chicken Parmesan Meatballs that I modified from this meatloaf recipe .

In the red crock is "Mack" and Cheese based off this recipe from Panera.

Garlic Bread "On a Roll"

"Baby" carrots and other veggies

Baby Spinach Strawberry Salad. Next to it, covered, is my childhood doll crib, lined with a crock pot liner, and filled with fruit salad.

Ian's cake was to resemble a dirt track for his cars. He added some more cars after I took this picture, trying to get all the cars he has on top. I thought this was the tastiest cake, chocolate thin mint cake with cream cheese frosting.

It took him three huffs and puffs, but he got it blown out. Before, when everyone was singing to him, he was all smiley and shy. Adorable!

Annaliese's cake was a stroller based on this image. I used donuts from our local bakery for the wheels. The cake didn't come cleanly from out of the pan, so that was the corner I removed, and there wasn't enough left to make a baby face from. When baking the cake, I had trouble getting the middle to set, and it took longer than anticipated, but by all accounts, the cake was yummy.

As soon as the candles were lit, she started blowing them out. We had just practiced a few days before so she'd know what to do. Then everyone started singing to her and she got smiley and would run her finger/hand through her hair. It took her lots of tries to get the candles out because she wouldn't get too close to them. In the end, we raised the cake to her and she didn't have a problem then.

Birthday Bash

2012-02-19T12:15:00.000-06:00

I had so many pictures I wanted to share that I had to split this post in two- one for all the food and one for the presents and playing. We had a joint party for Ian and Annaliese in the party room at Freedom Bank. Perfect place for a party.

Grandpa Dave with his two youngest grandkids. I wonder if his hands weren't busy holding them, would his fingers be in his mouth, too?

Annaliese, Oliver, and Brady have fun with Walter's gear toy.

Ian super excited about his pirate shirt.

But then he opened his Star Wars present next and was even more excited.

In his last present, he had THREE Star Wars sets. He hasn't stopped playing with them since they were opened.

Annaliese loved her balloons (so did the other little kids). Notice the baby in her arms, it's never far from her side.

Annaliese was most excited by her clothes. She got lots of them, and I was happy, too.

Ian was busy flying his Star Wars fighter while Annaliese was opening gifts.

She loves her chair and Snow White.

Thank you everyone for all your gifts (I'm particularly excited by the clothes- saves me shopping!). We're so thankful you could all come and join us on this day.

Ian is FIVE!

2012-02-13T21:03:00.000-06:00

Like so many of his previous birthdays (the year he was born and 2009) it snowed, but unlike those years there wasn't a snow day. This year we had a mini-celebration on the actual day, with a bigger party to follow this weekend.

His present was waiting for him when he woke up. Annaliese was ready to help open it (she is so ready for her own presents).

The very happy boy with his Mega (mini) block Pyrates Ship.

After his fun-filled day at preschool complete with Disney Cars cupcakes, he rushed up to his room to assemble the pirate ship.

For supper, we met Marlena, Noah, and Walter at Summer Kitchen.

Walter loves lemons.

Ian loves pancakes, though instead of syrup, he likes to choose a packet of jelly to have spread on them.

Annaliese likes her pancakes, too.

Ian loved his presents Lego caterpillar tractors and the Death Star (he latest obsession, thanks to preschool, is Star Wars. Darrin and I couldn't be happier with this obsession. There's been lots of light saber fights and Ian pretending to be Yoda and Darrin is Chewie).

His free slice of birthday cake. He shared a bit with his sister and didn't eat it all. I'd hate to track how much sugar he eats this week, with cake and cupcakes today, Valentine's Day tomorrow, and a party this weekend.

He was so hyper and excited tonight. While Darrin was tucking him in, he said, "I can't wait to be six!" We quickly reminded him not to wish 5 away (he's very excited for a new backpack and kindergarten). We told him he has 366 days to wait, to which he replied, "That gives me a long time to figure out what my next cake will be! Maybe Star Wars, or a pirate ship, or Peter Pan!" Made me smile. So many interests and so much excitement when you're five. I love this kid!

Winter Finally Arrived

2012-02-05T19:06:00.000-06:00

We had a bout of snow back in November, but it melted well before the Christmas holiday. Since the new year, we have set two record highs for temps over 60, and I was fearful Annaliese would never get a chance to wear her new snow pants. But Saturday the snow finally arrived and we got some winter. And now, our weekend, in (lots of) pictures:

We woke up Saturday to snow and it didn't stop until 5:30. We ended up with about 8 inches of heavy, wet snow.

Darrin had to tackle the driveway sans snow blower since it wasn't working. The nice thing was that the cement was warm enough that the snow that came after never stuck.

Sunday, this little purple princess just would not take a nap, so we headed outside. While Darrin and I scooped out the end of the driveway, she scooped invisible snow off the cement.

While we shoveled, Ian collected all the big snow chunks and assembled them into piles. This pile was all from Darrin and I throwing snow onto it, but Ian had fun conquering it.

Annaliese loved playing in the snow... as long as she was standing.

She even didn't mind being in the middle of a snowball fight. Poor girl, the snow is up to and in some places above her knees.

The minute she fell, she'd start to cry and whine "Mama, Daddy" asking for help. She did not like trying to stand back up in the snow.

Darrin enjoyed the snow.

Annaliese couldn't make it up the hill, and she hates trying to stand up in the snow, so she decided just to scoot her way down.

Stomach sledding rocks! I'm surprised Darrin was able to do it without getting much snow in his face.

Another snow ball fight. Annaliese's expression is priceless in this one.

Sledding with Daddy.

Mommy even went sledding this time, too.

Ian tried to knock the snow chunk off the branch.

And ended up with snow in the face.

Ian did lots of sledding on his own, too. It's so bittersweet watching him to it, because he has been scared in the past to go on his own.

One Week Ago...

2012-02-04T09:58:00.000-06:00

we were in the Quad Cities visiting family and celebrating a first birthday.

When we first arrived at my grandpa and grandma's, Ian shot lots of pictures of his toys. Here he's showing great-grandpa all the shots he got.

Annaliese would run around the room, giving kisses to everyone. I snapped one of grandma, too, but had my camera settings wrong. When I asked her to do another, I got the typical almost-2-years-old answer: NO and then running off.

Annaliese spent a lot of time wiping her baby's butt and putting on the diaper (which is as big as the baby).


Ian and his toys. He got the car for lunch at Steak and Shake. He would set these up and take many, many shots of them with his camera, and then play good guys/bad guys with them.

At Great Billie's, there was lots of banging on the piano.

Ian taught Great Billie how to play lots of his games on the Kindle Fire. Here they're playing Memory together.

The Birthday Boy, who spent most of his time walking around, playing with the paper, and let the older kids open his presents for him.

It was a long weekend and they both slept for 1.5 hours in the car on the way home.

On the drive home, we saw a perfect sunset for a perfect weekend.

January Goals

2012-02-02T22:01:00.002-06:00

Self-reflecting, I think I did a terrible job of accomplishing my goals. I started off the month on a mission and accomplished much of this the first weekend, but then work took over, I got exhausted, and preferred to be lazy on the internet instead of make progress on my goals. New goal for February- have less goals and achieve them, most likely by spending less time on the internet!

Here's some of what I actually did accomplish:

- Finish December and January month banners. I did get both done, but only snapped a picture of the January one.

- Make birthday party invites. I took the lazy way out and only made a few for people who don't have access to the internet. Otherwise emails or facebook invites were given...

- Finish half the remaining layouts for Ian's baby book. I didn't get half done, but I did get a few. Some just needed to be reinforced/repaired, so I don't have pictures of those. Here are a few I did finish:

I had this page in his baby book for years, but without a title or journaling. Isn't he adorable!?! One of the issue challenges at Club CK caused me to finish it. The challenge was to make a layout based on a card. I found a card with just a stitched sentiment on it, done in the creator's handwriting, so I used my own handwriting to make the title (I see now I forgot to use the buttons I was intending to use to dot the I's...)

Photos of Ian from my sister's wedding. Again it was an issue challenge that helped me finish this layout. The challenge- use pink on a page you normally wouldn't. I don't normally use pink on any page for Ian.

- Keep up-to-date in project life. I have done this, and have actually had the previous week done by Tuesday of the following week, I've just been really lax at getting them posted. When the sun comes out, I'll get a picture of last weeks layout and post them. You can see the pages here.

Things I didn't accomplish but had intended to when January started was to scan 100 pictures for mom and dad's album and sew Ian's pirate hat. Maybe they'll happen in February...

Here are some additional things I did get done:

Pictures from the first month of Annaliese's life. Created for the issue challenge to use brown, aqua, and purple together on a page. Love all the pictures I could get on a page.

This page tells the story of Ian jumping off his slide and onto the couch while yelling, "To Infinity and Beyond!" One of my favorite pages based on this page I saw on Club CK (and tagged on pinterest). This challenge was to use letter stickers in your journaling, something I love to do.

I also found a way to patch Ian's jeans (he has holes in 9/10 pairs, not to mention some khakis and cords). I patched one pair, but on the to-do list for this weekend is to patch the rest.

February will prove to be a busy month, so not sure how much crafting will get done- I have a joint birthday party to throw for my two kiddos. Can't believe they're both going to be a year older!

Project Life Weeks Two and Three

2012-02-02T21:32:00.000-06:00

Week Two- January 8-14

Left page: We baby sat Walter on Monday, the pantry saw lots of action- Ian trying to climb the stool to get candy off the top shelf and Annaliese playing peek-a-boo, Ian beating me at Jenga, and a cut-out from Annaliese's day care daily sheet talking about her cough and runny nose.

Right page: Annaliese is obsessed with cuties, I'm obsessed with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and Ian helped Annaliese put together a puzzle. The entire right column is all about Ian's Kindergarten round-up: the story, penguin he made, his name tag, and our program for the hour-long event.

Week Three: January 15-21
This week had an insert of our trip to the zoo.

Left page: Ian flying with Pooh Bear on his Disneyland Adventures game (they're attached to balloons), Annaliese drinking from her favorite cup- given to Ian a few years ago from Aunt Stephanie, Ian making his own oatmeal. The green card with the heart tells of Darrin and I going out for a date lunch on MLK day while the kids were at school. Zoo insert posing on the gorilla and Annaliese leaning into Darrin in fear of the lion.

Right page: Annaliese taking scoop after scoop of peas- not sure if it's because she likes the actual vegetable or likes scooping, Ian at his first day of swimming lessons since the summer, Ian with all his rescue vehicles waiting to save Annaliese's doll house, picture of the ear drops for Annaliese's ear infection (costing $140) and papers from the prescriptions and doctor's visit. Zoo insert: Ian walking across the bridge on his own and the kids walking through the jungle tree roots.

Homemade Honey Wheat Rolls

2012-01-21T19:33:00.000-06:00

This morning, just a few minutes before I looked up at the clock and realized Ian had swimming lessons in less than 10 minutes, I was busy throwing the ingredients for beef stew into the crock pot. Upon return from swimming lessons, I realized that I wanted to have some bread with the stew for supper. I was looking for something along the lines of our favorite crusty rolls we get at Hy-Vee and bake for a few minutes in the oven. I didn't find a recipe like that, but what I did find was a delicious, slightly sweet, fluffy roll that I will be making again and again.

If it isn't obvious, I have a lot to work on in the aesthetics department, but they tasted divine.

I was going to type the whole recipe, but really, all I changed from adorkable's recipe on tastykitchen was that I substituted two cups of the flour with whole wheat flour. You MUST try these.

And here's a shot of Ian at his first day of swimming lessons since July. He was right back in the water like he never left.

Spontaneous Zoo Visit

2012-01-16T19:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we were headed to the Children's Museum, and much to Ian's dismay, it didn't open for two more hours, so we headed to the zoo instead. The zoo is going through a 15 year renovation, and as such, our favorite place, the aquarium, was under construction. But we enjoyed many of the other exhibits at the zoo. Annaliese is more and more enthralled with the animals every time we go.

There was a time in his life when he was terrified to walk across this. Not any more.

A monitor

Annaliese checking out a swimming otter.

A tortoise, one of Ian's favorite animals.

Warm enough for the tigers to be outside.

Annaliese leaned back into Darrin in fear of the lion right on the other side of the glass.

Usually when we're at the zoo, the gorillas are too hot to sit on...

Project Life 2012: Week 1

2012-01-14T20:27:00.001-06:00

One of the blogs I read daily is Ali Edwards' blog. Weekly she posts her Project Life layouts, and I was inspired. I did something similar in 2010, but didn't like the format I was using. I love this format from Becky Higgins, though, with the pre-made journaling cards. I'm so hoping this year I can keep up with weekly posts. Here's the spread for this week:

Left page spread. The date will eventually go on the card in the upper-left corner. Just not sure I want that card yet. Journaling shares the stories of New Years and all the fun things the kids played this week- lots of dress up and playing with Christmas toys. The insert is the newsletter from Annaliese's classroom. We're pictured on the front at her Christmas party.

Right page: The back of Annaliese's newsletter, where she's pictured playing with friends. Journaling talks about Annaliese going potty for the first time, our record temps, and Darrin's birthday.

I used a combination of products from Simple Stories, digital journaling cards from Project Life (Clementine), and some Thickers.

Happenings

2012-01-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

Guess after posting nearly every day in December, I needed a break from blogging. Life hasn't been to exciting around here. Just getting back into the routine of school and work. Lots of early bedtimes for the kids. I have been scrapping and quilting a bit. I'm working on a Project Life album, in which I do a photo journal, as Darrin would call it, to document our life each week, capturing the everyday stuff I normally wouldn't do a whole layout on. I've got last week done and am just waiting for some good lighting to take a picture to share here. But in the meantime, I have other pictures to share (starting with the most recent picture, since that's how they were uploaded):

Annaliese pouting... any guesses from who she learned this is how you should look when you pout? If you guessed Ian, you'd be correct :)

We had a great time babysitting Walter on Monday. Here Annaliese pretends to take his picture with Ian's camera.

Ian so willingly shared his Lego police vehicles with Walter... until he realized how easily they could be broken. They went up high, but Ian was happy to share his other vehicles.

Annaliese and Walter playing with the word slammer on the fridge. There are two different alphabet things on the fridge, they each could have had one, but I guess they thought this one was better...

Annaliese trying to climb up on the stool because...

She saw her brother standing up high trying to get some candy. Monkey see, monkey do. Think we need to bring the step stool in from the garage. It would be a much safer alternative...

Just a cute capture of Ian.

I cannot tell you how much Annaliese's 'scrunchie' face makes me smile!

There has been A LOT of catch around here. I told Ian this was the last winter for it. Once it turns nice, only ball playing outside. He's got quite an arm on him now. Only problem is that it's not very accurate.

The scrapbooks have been all out a lot these past two weeks and looked at by both Ian and Annaliese. Makes my heart sing when they ask Darrin or I to read what the pages say or tell them about the pictures.

Dress-up box fun!

Arrr! Matey!

Darrin turned 31 a week ago Monday. Actually got him TWO presents this year (usually it's none...). A tent and some Carhartt bibs for playing with the kids in the snow.

End-of-the-year Craftiness and New Year Plans

2012-01-01T10:31:00.000-06:00

I forgot to post at the end of November, so here's what I was spending my free time doing in November and December (when I wasn't spending it on the computer).

My Hero Man. The layout was one of the classes at CK Scrap and Play, so all I had to do was find pictures to go with it. These of Ian and his 'sword' worked perfectly. He called himself Hero Man. I finished the layout for a challenge on Club CK that involved using at least 3 different fonts in the title.

Meeting You for Annaliese's book. I have pictures printed to make basically the same layout, but for Ian's book. I so love looking back at these pictures and remembering how Ian was the first time he met Annaliese. This was for a challenge on CK to use punctuation as an embellishment. I used periods in the bottom left corner and around the journaling.

Maple Leaf block for Linda in the Friendship Block Exchange. It was only a month late...

There would be a total of 36 half-square triangles for Jen in the Friendship Block Exchange

That's me showing my calf Beatrice in the Kiddie Calf Show at the Clayton County Fair. This was for a challenge to scrap pictures more than 10 years old. It was fun to scrap some from my childhood; I need to do more of that.

The colors look terrible in this photo (I need to get my layouts done earlier to get photos in the sunlight). These are photo attempts to get a good family picture shortly after Annaliese was born, but the three that should be were never all looking at the camera at the same time. Challenge was to display pictures as if they were in a film strip.

My Mother-in-law opening the Kindle Fire cover I made her (made myself one, too). Basically figured the design out completely on my own; pretty proud of how it turned out.

Baby Bliss was finished just shy of the new year. It tells the story of Darrin and I holding Annaliese for the first time. This was for two challenges- use an emotion in the title and use three different inspirations from the magazine. I LOVE this layout!

You can add to the craft list the costumes I made for the dress-up box, but that was about it. And I'm sure you noticed if you read all the captions that most of my layouts are for challenges, but without those pushing me to finish a page, I know I wouldn't get as many layouts done.

Things may change a bit in the new year. Instead of making a New Year's resolution, I'm focused on monthly goals (off to the right on the blog). If you talk to me often or see me online, help remind me to get them done. A lot of times during 2011 I was having an internal conflict between whether I should quilt or scrap. I think I've made peace with myself, basically giving myself permission to focus more on scrapbooking than quilting, so be prepared to see more of that in the new year. It's the first day of 2012, and I can't wait to share with you all the things we'll do this year!

At Our House Since Christmas...

2011-12-31T22:43:00.000-06:00

we went for bike rides in only jackets. When is it ever over 50 degrees in December?

We babysat this cutie for a few hours

Ian and I put together his caterpillar puzzle.

Ian spelled words on his word slammer.

Annaliese smiled really big, making her 'scrunchie' face.

Peek-a-boo behind the blinds.

Had some upset moments

Ian successfully made not one, but two peanut butter and honey sandwiches on his own.

Dressed up like a cowboy and rode on Bullseye.

Collins Christmas

2011-12-31T22:22:00.001-06:00

Monday brought a slower pace to life and no car rides over 12 minutes. We ate breakfast with my parents and then headed to spend time with Darrin's family. Annaliese wouldn't let go of her baby doll and Ian had fun playing memory with Grandpa on the Kindle Fire. Later that evening, when all the aunts, uncles, and cousin were there, we opened presents.

Ian waiting to pass out presents

Annaliese excited for the ball in her stocking. Both she and Ian got one and they have been thrown around our house a lot since we've been home.

Another thing that's gotten a lot of use- the aprons that were in the kids' stockings. They put them on, then use the towels that were in the pockets to 'clean' their toy kitchen and table.

Ian opening the motorcycles from his great aunt Deb and great uncle Pat

Annaliese's barn with animals from them.


Playing peek-a-boo with the towel.

And then the battery died in our camera. But Santa knew what he was doing when he gave one to Ian for Christmas, so we borrowed it.

Annaliese and her cash register

She immediately started coloring when she opened all the art supplies from both sets of aunts and uncles.

Ian asked for a drum, but he's even more excited about the harmonica, which has been played a lot more than the drum.

And this has nothing to do with opening presents, but is too cute not to share. On the way back to Omaha, Annaliese would hold her doll up to the window and say, "See. See." over and over. LOVED IT!

It was a whirlwind time for Christmas this year with it on a weekend, but the kids really loved all their gifts. Now back home, they've ALL been played with and I'm sure you'll see them popping up in more pictures through 2012.

Warnecke Christmas

2011-12-31T10:31:00.000-06:00

Christmas at Great Billie's was a typical Christmas; tons of food to snack on, lots of family to visit and play with, many games of Foosball, everyone's stocking hung by the chimney, a visit from Santa Claus, and LOTS and LOTS of presents.

Stockings for all Great Billie's grandkids, spouses/significant others, and great-grandkids

Annaliese and Makenna play peek-a-boo

Dining with Layton for lunch

There always seems to be someone wrestling in the basement- it has a lot of floor space


Intense game of Foosball

The look of amazement on Annaliese's face as Santa Claus walked in

Ian passing out presents from Santa

Annaliese wouldn't sit on his lap, but she was comfortable enough to go and get presents from the big man

Before Santa came, Annaliese was pushing around a baby in the stroller. Then she decided to load all her presents in it.


The baby doll she's holding was from Santa, and she has taken it with her everywhere.

Doerscher Christmas

2011-12-30T20:06:00.000-06:00

After we opened gifts at our house, cleaned up, and ate breakfast, we loaded up the car and headed to Davenport for Christmas with my dad's side of the family. We usually do just extended family at that time, but this year, because of scheduling, we had to open presents from my parents and sister there as well.

Annaliese and Ian with their large grill from Aunt Cara and Uncle Shawn

Annaliese with her pots and pans. They've already been put to use in the play kitchen.

Ian excited for the police car that goes with his rescue squad set.

Christmas book from grandma and grandpa- both the regular and the greats. We got two books, perfect for two kids who love to read, because now they won't fight over it!

Guess Who from Cara and Shawn. After only 4 or 5 games, I was surprised at how well Ian was asking the questions and understanding my responses to know which tiles to knock down. As someone who grew up playing the game, love the addition of the pets side, much harder than the people to narrow down options.

Oliver and the wooden blocks we gave him.

CLOTHES! Most likely Annaliese's favorite gift, she carried them around with her and wanted to change into them.

My sister and I attempting to put together Oliver's present.


Oliver's firehouse car ramp is all together and the kids had a blast sending the cars Ian got down the slide.

It was great sharing the Christmas with our extended family. I gave my parents a photo album with pictures of my dad and his siblings when they were little and everyone enjoyed looking through them and sharing stories, and I so enjoyed hearing them. Thanks again, everyone for the gifts, the kids (and Darrin and I) love them and have already played with most of them!

Advent Calendar Dec. 23 and Our Christmas

2011-12-28T21:42:00.000-06:00

The tag for the 23 read, "Open your Christmas pajamas." Before we did that, though, the kids and I enjoyed a day home together. We finished frosting the sugar cookies (Annaliese only cared about eating them), played lots of Disneyland Adventures (so much so that I had trouble walking the next few days thanks to the Matterhorn), and finally drove to see the lights, though Ian fell asleep before we even made it through the first neighborhood. Before the kids went to bed that night we opened up our new pajamas.

Annaliese enjoying her cookie

Frosting cookies can be messy!


About the only cool thing we saw looking at lights.

Ian walked into our room Christmas Eve morning (which was actually our Christmas) around 6 and told us he had to go to the bathroom. He has never done this, knowing he can always just go on his own. He stood around for awhile, even with Darrin telling him to go several times. We both knew what he really wanted- to go look at the presents. He never got up the courage to ask, so he used the restroom like he asked and returned to his room. He went back to the bathroom again around 7:15, this time without asking, and ran quickly to our room when finished to tell us, "Santa came already! And the stockings are so full he had to set them on the floor!"

The excitement that I always waited to see finally showed this year. He ran down the stairs as fast as he could and started digging through all the presents. Luckily he complied and waited for the obligatory shot of all of us in front of the tree with our new pajamas. He was a bit disappointed after opening the first gift, because every other gift he found was for Annaliese (his was hiding in the back). She, on the other hand, could have cared less about opening the presents. Most of the time we would have to start one for her, and then when she got a glimpse of what was inside, she'd tear into the package. Ian still has to learn that Santa doesn't bring everything on the list; we've told him several times this season Santa only brings three presents because that's how many the Wise Men brought Jesus. Telling him that again didn't help to squelch his disappointment, but then he opened the dress-up box from Mommy and Daddy, and Santa's list was forgotten. Annaliese was so enthralled with her second gift that her last gift, the dollhouse, didn't even get opened until the dress-up box had been completely checked out, and the opening of it took a lot of coaxing. And then when the dollhouse was opened, it was the only thing she and Ian played with until we left for Davenport.

Annual Christmas picture of all of us in new pj's.

Ian super excited to find fruit snacks in his stocking.

Annaliese tearing into her first gift from Santa, with her books from us around her.

Ian super excited about getting his camera, with a note inside to share with Mommy and Daddy

Ian crawling under the tree to get my present he hid in back.

The writing on my present. Darrin told him to write, "To Mom" so Ian wrote mom two times. Love that!

Opening the dress-up box

Annaliese couldn't get out of her pj's fast enough to put on her dress-up shoes. She didn't care much about the pretty dresses in the box, though.

Ian modeling his cowboy outfit. That vest went with him on our entire trip to Iowa and, for the most part, he only took it off to eat and sleep.

And his pirate outfit (hat to come later)

Annaliese super excited to open her dollhouse

Advent Calendar Dec. 22

2011-12-27T21:56:00.000-06:00

Today was "Celebrate Christmas with the Witchells" We had a fantastic time as always. Ian resumed his role of present-passer-outer and took it very seriously. Annaliese and Walter were both into opening presents this year, instead of just interested in playing with the paper. Once finished, they immediately started playing with their favorite presents; for Ian, a set of four characters (Spiderman, Superman, a pirate, and a knight) made by Noah, and for Annaliese, feeding her babies with the food. Both Annaliese and Walter loved banging on the box holding Walter's rocking chair. Annaliese wanted to immediately change into the clothes she got, and Ian couldn't wait until the morning when I promised we'd play his new I Spy game.

Passing out the presents

Opening her first present- a puzzle

Walter loved his truck puzzle

Annaliese opens an ornament

Ian checking out his I Spy game

He picked this book for his bedtime story

Ready to change into her new clothes

Walter loves to rock in Annaliese's chair, which is good because we gave him a similar chair

It didn't take Ian long for the characters Noah made to find their way to his fort and meet his fireman.

Advent Calendar Dec. 21

2011-12-21T19:14:00.000-06:00

Tonight was supposed to be "drive around to look at lights" night, but it didn't happen. A certain 4-year-old in this house desperately needed to go to bed, and was in that bed by 6:30, and most likely asleep shortly after, as he was yawning while saying his prayers. Hopefully we can squeeze in some lights on Friday night. We'll have to see as Santa comes to our house a day early, on Saturday morning.

Advent Calendar Dec. 20

2011-12-20T20:46:00.000-06:00

The tag read, "Fly like Peter Pan" which left Ian a bit puzzled. Luckily he had a busy day at preschool preparing for his program this afternoon. They sang three songs and acted out the Nutcracker while his teacher narrated the story. He made an excellent mouse king.

When we got home, he discovered a note under the tree from Santa. Santa had brought one of the presents early. He knew Ian wouldn't have time to play after he opens it because we have to leave for Iowa. He got the game Disneyland Adventures.

He was so frustrated in the beginning. He couldn't figure out how to use his arms to control the Kinect, so that ended in a sobbing fit. I think the frustration was worth it, though, because he absolutely loved dueling with Captain Hook. The flying was just so-so to him. He wanted to fly for real.

Annaliese got into it, too. Whatever action Ian would do, she would do off to the side. She tried to do it in front of the sensor, too. So adorable.

Advent Calendar Dec. 15-19

2011-12-19T22:13:00.000-06:00

December 15 - "Celebrate Mommy's Birthday" We went out to my favorite restaurant, Lazlo's, with Marlena, Noah (whose birthday was yesterday) and Walter. Enjoyed some Kahlua brownie and ice cream for my birthday treat.

Table full of food

Ian helping to blow out my candle (his kid's meal came with ice cream, too).

December 16 - "Christmas party at church" We went to church with my parents and sat again with Marlena, Noah, and Walter, enjoying a pasta dinner amongst others in our congregation. Annaliese would shove handfuls of the spaghetti in her mouth, and it was so neat watching her with those long noodles. Ian didn't eat much pasta, but enjoyed lots of the sweets, including decorating his own gingerbread. After dinner, we were entertained by our interim pastor singing a song he wrote earlier in the month, two sisters playing Christmas music on their violins, another group of sisters performing a dance, and everyone joining in to sing carols. My favorite two would either be the reading of a story for the kids (look up The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado, it's a great Christmas story) or the black light show performed to "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Wish I had pictures to show, but we forgot the camera at home.

December 17 - "Bake Christmas Cookies" Before Darrin and I headed to Kansas City, we helped the kids cut out some cookies. Ian was opposed to doing it the whole morning because it would take away from his playing time with Grandpa, but once he started, he wanted to keep going and going.


Annaliese making her first ever cut-out cookies

Rolling out the dough (the light streaming through our window was very annoying!)

Ian was all about doing it all by himself. I think the gingerbread and snowman were his favorite shapes.

December 18 - "Frost Christmas Cookies" Grandma helped Ian frost cookies while Annaliese was asleep and we were watching the Packers live. He said he had a lot of fun doing it, and enjoyed eating them as well.

Hard at work

The final spread (saving some for mommy to frost later)

December 19 - "Enjoy homemade hot cocoa" I made this hot cocoa recipe before we left for the weekend, and we enjoyed some tonight. Darrin and Ian both said it was better than the powdered stuff because it was thick and rich. That's probably what happens when you use milk, heavy cream, and chips instead of water and powder. And making it is so simple that we just might have to make this our go-to hot cocoa now.

Scooping the cocoa (it taste great plain, too!)

Adding it to the milk

Enjoying the final product

Annaliese didn't have cocoa, but she really enjoyed the cranberry sauce

Go Pack Go...

2011-12-18T21:39:00.000-06:00

even though they lost. It was supposed to be an awesome get-away weekend for Darrin and I to KC for the Chiefs/Packers game. We should have known by the way it started that the outcome wouldn't have been what we expected. The hotel, which was supposed to be awesome, was less than sub-par. Supper took over an hour to arrive at our table. Parking was outrageous- we spent a total of $40 on parking this weekend. And the game, it was so awesome to see them in person, just wish we wouldn't have witnessed their first loss. We had fantastic seats for the show, though- row 33, right behind the goal post. And even though they lost, I can't wait to see them play again.

View from our seats

And it's game time!

Rodgers hands off to Grant

Rodgers under center

We scored our first TD on this play.


A fairly decent self-portrait

I'll return tomorrow to posting our advent activities. It was a bit crazy around here with my birthday, work coming to a break, and the game, but I'm off now until January, so I should have no excuse not to post tomorrow.

Advent Calendar Dec. 13 & 14

2011-12-14T21:34:00.000-06:00

Dec. 13- "Make your own wrapping paper" day. I had to go to a Deacon's meeting at church, so I was there long enough to see them start, but not the final product. Annaliese was all about the mess of painting, and it's her work that covers most of the page. Ian was very focused, using small strokes with a paintbrush or drawing people with a marker. Little did I know he also drew on my wrapping paper for the birthday present I opened a day early, writing To: Mom From: Ian, Annaliese, Dad all by himself (with Darrin only have to spell out a few of the words). So proud of him!

Dec. 14- "Visit the Reindeer" day. When Ian read that this morning, he said, "But that's too far!" In reality it's practically around the corner at the greenhouse/nursery we live near. We intended to go just to see the reindeer, but ended up having so much more fun. They had different cutouts you could pose in, bowling, bean bag toss, ring toss, coloring, and Ian's favorite (Annaliese's least favorite) a ball pit. Ian even snapped a picture of Darrin and me. Ian asked as we were leaving if we could go back tomorrow. That was after he asked if he could stay there forever and we told him no. It turned out to be a way more fun night than I had thought it was going to be.

Ian kept throwing fastballs instead of just lobbing them in.

Annaliese decided so much for throwing them and just stuck it right through.

Ring the antlers proved difficult. No one was able to ring them.

She was much more content to just sit on the side and kick the balls.

He jumped in with absolutely no fear multiple times. I think it's time to try the pool again.

Pretty much what she thought of the ball pit.

Can you spot Ian? He's buried in there somewhere.


He would have stayed there all night.

Bowling Christmas trees down with ornaments.

Eventually bowling was too difficult, so they just ran up and knocked them down.

Ian posed in about 5 different ones of these. We kept trying to get Annaliese. Darrin was under the top hat, but Annaliese decided it's where she wanted to be, so he did a quick swap with her.

The shot Ian took of us

Advent Calendar for Dec. 10-12

2011-12-12T20:54:00.001-06:00

December 10 - "give toys away" day. We filled a bag or two with toys to drop off at Goodwill, then went shopping at Kohl's for toys to drop off at Toys for Tots. Ian was very sad he had to give his away and wanted to add it to his list at home. Luckily he forgot...

December 11 - "make snowflake marshmallows" day. Although, the marshmallows didn't solidify as quickly as we thought, so it ended up being "make Christmas tree pizza" day, and I cut out the marshmallow snowflakes once the kids went to bed. We also were able to get outside and hang the birdseed ornaments we made earlier in the week.

December 12 - "watch a video from Santa" day. Portable North Pole allows you to enter a bit of information, upload some pictures, and Santa talks directly to whoever you want. In this case, Ian, though as Annaliese looked on, there were lots of Tanta, Tanta coming from her. You could tell Ian was totally digging it- hands to the mouth is a sure sign of excitement/nervousness. You can view the video here. Before we watched, though, we enjoyed a glass of hot chocolate with some homemade marshmallows.

Advent Calendar Dec. 9

2011-12-10T08:56:00.000-06:00

Last night we "camped around the Christmas tree". Well, most of us. Annaliese slept in her crib still. Darrin brought down our top mattress, and Ian made a bed for himself. At first it was right under the tree, but he pulled it out from there when he actually slept. We got the living room all arranged and then ate ice cream in 'bed' while watching a movie. Perfect Friday night family time.

huh, apparently a section of our lights aren't working...

Advent Calendar Dec. 8

2011-12-08T21:31:00.000-06:00

Today was "Make reindeer food" day. We needed an activity that was short because I had bells practice tonight at church. That, coupled with the snow we got today, made it an even shorter time at home. Darrin had to fly solo tonight on the activity. Every time he put Annaliese down, she would cry, so Ian would have to take the pictures.

Reindeer food is a simple combo of oatmeal, sugar, and sugar crystal sprinkles that are spread outside on Christmas Eve for Santa's reindeer. Ian first wanted to know how they'll get on the roof- we'll have to figure out something good for that. We learned from yesterday's bird seed that they both needed to be able to make it, so they each had a separate container.

Apparently while he was making it tonight, Ian said something to the effect of, "Tomorrow can we do something not involving a recipe?" He doesn't have to worry about that, but there won't be a post tomorrow; the activity is an all-night thing...

Advent Calendar Dec. 7

2011-12-07T20:15:00.000-06:00

Today's activity was "Make a present for the birds"

We made bird seed ornaments to hang on the trees outside. I got the recipe from this blog.

Both kids took turns dumping in the first ingredients (flour, water, corn syrup, and gelatin) and then got busy stirring.

After mixing that, they took turns again dumping the birdseed in. Annaliese wasn't too happy when we had to take the spoon away from her so I could thoroughly mix it.

The kids each chose a cookie cutter and then started scooping and filling.

And finally, Ian did the poking of holes for string.

They have to dry overnight. I'll post pictures of the final product later.

Advent Calendar Dec. 6

2011-12-06T20:18:00.000-06:00

Today's advent activity: "Make a Christmas Craft"

We made reindeer ornaments, which I found on Pinterest and it led to directions here.

First step: shred the brown paper

Second step: Stuff the ornament with paper. I was impressed with how well Annaliese did putting the paper in the ornament, but eventually she got tired of the one-piece-at-a-time method

Third step: Twist on the antlers (no pictures, it took all hands on deck to do that part).

Final step: paint on nose and eyes with fingers. Annaliese just wanted to keep painting; wasn't too happy when I took the paint away.

The final product: we'll paint some black on the eyes after the white dries.

Advent Calendar Dec. 5

2011-12-05T20:35:00.000-06:00

"Write a letter to Santa"

This year Ian did it all on his own. We helped a bit- spelled out the words using the fridge magnets, but it was all him drawing and writing. On his list: a camera that works, a fridge (for his firehouse), a drum, and a video game (added with encouragement from Daddy, because that's the one present we have for him; Disneyland Adventures for the XBOX. He can fly like Peter Pan, I'm pretty excited for him to try that!). Annaliese got in on the list writing too, or at least the coloring.

Advent Calendar Dec. 4

2011-12-04T18:35:00.001-06:00

Today was "Watch a Christmas Movie" on our advent calendar. After church we headed to Blockbuster to rent a movie. We selected "A Merry Madagascar" which, apparently, is a very short movie at only 22 minutes, so it ended up being "Watch Christmas Movies" because we followed that up by watching the Christmas classic, "The Grinch."

We did a lot of enjoying the winter wonderland this weekend. Here's a view from our backyard looking over the neighborhood:

Ian went sledding more these past two days than he did all of last year. He just wanted to keep going and going; didn't matter if he got snow in his face or fell of the sled. After Annaliese went down once, her immediate reaction was to ask to go inside. So after a bit of crying when she realized we weren't headed in, she went down another time with Darrin and Ian, and from then on, just kept saying, "More. More."

And just a cute shot of my girl:

Advent Calendar Dec. 3

2011-12-03T14:40:00.000-06:00

Today was "Visit Santa" day when Ian flipped the number. I was worried when I wrote it on there last night it may not happen because of the weather forecast. It was snowing lightly when we left, heavier on the way home, but totally worth it. We had a couple of options for where to see Santa, but opted for Scheel's. We had to stand out in the snow for a bit, but then we heard the jingle of bells and looked up to see Santa arriving with his reindeer.

His elf checked the way down to make sure it was safe, and then Santa followed by rappelling his way down.

Inside we waited in line to see Santa. Just as we presumed, Annaliese wanted nothing to do with him and Ian was shy. Ian did tell him he wanted a camera that worked. Santa wanted to know where he went to school and if he was a good big brother. Annaliese did get brave enough to accept a candy cane from Santa and give him a high-five.

Along with seeing Santa, they were other festivities- coloring pages, a letter for Santa, balloon figures. We skipped those and headed straight to the Ferris wheel that's always there, only today was free. Ian was a bit nervous in line, but he had a great time. He and Darrin talked the whole time and he had a big smile on his face.

The snow was really falling, so we skipped the other activities to head home. Annaliese fell asleep on the way. Ian again said, "This day was the best!" to which we had to give him a hard time because he called yesterday the best. Darrin and I had fun, too, and we'll probably head back there next year.

Advent Calendar Dec. 2

2011-12-02T22:16:00.001-06:00

There's a reason I'm writing on each tag before I go to bed at night- I wrote the first two days out and ended up having to cross today's out and write something different. Marlena called last night and invited us to an open house at the photography studio where Noah works, so Darrin and I figured while we were downtown, we might as well take the kids to see the downtown lights and cross that off our list. So that's what Ian found on the back of today's card, "Go see the downtown lights."

We started off with a tour of the studio and some appetizers, followed by dinner at Roja with Marlena, her mom Virginia, and Walter. After that, we bundled and headed to look at the lights. It was chilly, but Ian absolutely loved the walk by the water and going down the downtown slides.

As we were climbing in the car, Ian said, "This is the best night ever!" I think he had a pretty good time.

Advent Calendar Dec. 1

2011-12-01T21:24:00.000-06:00

I've been absent from the blog for almost a month, but I'm about to make up for it (I think). As a last minute creation, mostly out of annoyance for answering Ian all the times he asks, "How many days until Christmas?" I created an advent calendar. Took some ideas I saw on pinterest, some brainstorming, some googling of Omaha events, and came up with 24 ideas (because our family Christmas will be the 24th). Ian walked down to the kitchen this morning to see this on the wall:

I'm annoyed I didn't have enough white tags on hand (they were made and hung after 10 last night), and had no idea when I was writing on the tags how they'd be arranged. I'll definitely do something different for presentation next year, like perhaps actually sew together the one my parents gave me before I had kids.

Ian saw it this morning and said, "A calendar - in the shape of a tree - to countdown for Christmas?" (Imagine his voice raising at the end of each phrase.) He knew exactly what it was for. Each of the tags will eventually have a Christmas activity associated with it. I have a list of options, and am only writing on a few tags at a time so that we can place activities according to our schedule.

Ian flipped over today's tag and it said, "Go to the library and check-out a Christmas book." Of course, the library was pretty much barren of Christmas books, but we did find one to bring home, though Ian was way more excited about the Curious George and Berenstein Bear books.

Stay tuned for more updates on our Advent activities!

Slide Sequence

2011-11-06T12:00:00.014-06:00

I think the most fun the kids had in the leaves was when we put a pile of leaves at the bottom of the slide. It's too big to slide down it anymore, but it worked really well as a jumping platform. Annaliese just wanted to rock it back and forth when she got to the top, and then she'd get mad when Ian would pass her by and head down the slide.

Wonder"Fall"

2011-11-05T16:11:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the perfect weather for Halloween, and also for playing in the leaves. Annaliese was very timid at first, probably because as soon as Ian jumped in them once, he wanted to just throw handfuls of leaves at anyone around (Darrin and I made sure to throw some back). Eventually we stopped our leaf throwing (after we had leaves inside every inch of clothing and were itching) and instead just sat or laid down in the leaves. The kids had even more fun when we put a pile of leaves at the bottom of the slide. So much fun and family memories!

October Accomplishments

2011-11-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

The month of October started off with a scrapbooking weekend extravaganza. The scrapbooking magazine I subscribe to, Creating Keepsakes, hosted a Scrap & Play weekend here in Omaha. About 150 people attend. Two of those attendees were Marlena and me. We scrapbooked from 5:30 until midnight on Friday and 9:00 am til midnight on Saturday. Included with our cost were five different cards/layouts/albums they talked us through making. I didn't really care for the cards, and have other plans for the travel album they offered, but I did make all the layouts (though I only have one finished). We also got time to work on our own layouts. I would totally go again next year. Other than that, October consisted of getting my weekly layout down for Erika's issue challenge on Club CK and the kids' Halloween costumes.

Created the same weekend we went to the orchard this year. Pictures from last year's trip. Made for Erika's issue challenge to include apples on a layout. I'd been saving this paper for a year, and was finally glad I printed the pictures and made myself use it.

Canoeing 2011. I made this one at the CK Scrap & Play just because. I free-handed the paddle and used some glossy accents on top to give it the poly-sheen Ian's paddle had. Also used just a bunch of journal tags overlapped to write on. Not sure if I liked that part.

Another one of my layouts I did at CK Scrap & Play just because I needed to document the story of Annaliese coming home from the hospital.

Completed at CK Scrap & Play for Erika's issue challenge requiring us to use a sketch from the Oct. issue. After I shot this picture, I realized the middle picture on the top was upside down, so it's switched on the actual layout. I used some stickles on the accents to give them a bit of frosted sparkle.

This was one of the three layouts they provided supplies for and walked us through at the Scrap & Play. When I got home, I simply added the pictures and put the embellishments on top. The circle picture is just a bit blurry, and that fit Erika's challenge to use a blurry picture.

This one didn't quite turn out how I envisioned, but it's done and in her book. This will be the title page in her baby book. Made for Erika's challenge to incorporate a pin in your layout.

I made Ian's costume this month. The shirt is just an oversized green t-shirt I bought and cut triangles at the bottom. The pants are green pajama pants. The belt and hat were inspired by this costume and tutorial. He absolutely loved it. Here he is at the Spooktacular his preschool had.


Annaliese modeling her costume shortly after it was made. The tutu turned out way puffy, even after I thinned it out and didn't involve sewing, so I'll just show the dress, made from this tutorial with a few little changes. After a couple screaming fits, she would at least wear this part of her costume with little complaint.

That's it for this month. I wish every month I could go to a day-long scrapbooking or quilting event. I'd get so much more accomplished. I already have a quilt block done for November, though, so there's a start!

Halloween Hoopla

2011-10-31T21:34:00.002-05:00

For the past 4 years, Marlena and Noah (and eventually Walter) spent Halloween with us in our neighborhood. This year we switched things up and headed over to their house. After a delicious dinner (Noah's chili for the adults and mummy dogs for the kids), it was time to put on costumes. We had no problem convincing Ian to change, but it took some bribery distraction, in the form of chocolate, to get Annaliese in hers. Ian chose to be Peter Pan this summer and hasn't wavered. So of course, Annaliese had to be Tinkerbelle. His costume was MUCH easier to make than hers. Walter was the cutest owl ever.

Ian loved to march ahead of us, flashlight in hand, to all the houses. Eventually we had to take the flashlight away (shining it at people, not the sidewalk) and talk to him about running ahead. It's apparently hard work waiting for two tiny tots to catch up, even though we had a wagon to haul them in, and he let us know he wasn't happy with us. He did a great job saying, "Trick or Treat". I'm pretty sure the people in the next house could hear him, he spoke so loud. He probably would have gone all night long if we let him. Compared to our neighborhood, their neighborhood is lacking lots of Halloween decorations. Last year Ian was terrified to walk up to some of the houses (and this year even more went over-the-top crazy with decorations). In Marlena and Noah's neighborhood, only one house had something that scared him, and he was able to get past his fear and go to the door.

It's hard to tell what Annaliese loved the most. All thoughts of hating the costume vanished when we walked out the door and she saw the wagon. She loved riding in it and would tap the seat across from her because she wanted Walter in there, too. As soon as the wagon stopped, though, she immediately stood up and was all business walking to the door. After the first house she had it all figured out and didn't hesitate to reach forward and grab the candy and put it in her bag. She'd mumble thank you, but you could clearly hear her tell people buh-bye.

The scrapbooker in me really, really tried to get a picture of the two of them standing or seated with their pumpkins, but neither of them were having it. I may even have caused some of the moody behavior by trying to get too many pictures. Oh well, so it goes. Here are some of the shots we did get:

All in all, I think everyone had a great night. Can't wait to see what the kids decide to be next year.

Pooley's Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we made our annual trek to Pooley's Pumpkin Patch. I really, truly, love this time of year. We visit the same places and do similar things year after year, and it's so neat to see what the kids do the same and differently over the years. Case in point, the first time we ever went to Pooley's, Ian was terrified of the baby chicks and wouldn't hold one. Today, he reached in all by himself and grabbed one with absolutely no prompting from us. But holding true to every year, he wanted to "drive" every tractor there. Annaliese was more animated than last year and climbed on everything. She LOVED all the animals; cows, bunnies, chicks.

Ian knew exactly what to do on the tractor. His words, "Let me practice!"

Annaliese loved being on the tractor, too, and turning the wheel.

The roosters/hens would eat right out of our hands. Annaliese eventually got right in there, too.

She didn't quite have gentle figured out.

"Mommy, look at the chicks!"

I couldn't believe how comfortable Ian was picking them up all by himself.

In "Cornyville" Annaliese loved it when Darrin poured corn down on her hands.

My Little Pumpkin

Ian got to lead the way for all of us in the corn maize.

And he made sure to greet Annaliese at the end.

Ian put himself there and said, "Mom, take my picture!"

Our best shot out of about 10 of the family. Will we ever get a picture where we're all smiling and looking at the camera?

Ian took FOREVER to find a pumpkin. I think the fact that people were getting on the wagon is what finally forced him to make a decision.

Annaliese wasn't as picky.

September Craft Ceations

2011-10-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

Moneik's Lover's Lane block for the friendship block exchange

Patti's Greek Cross block for the friendship block exchange

Cindy's Annie's Choice block for the friendship block exchange

Great Billie threw Ian a first birthday party when we visited March 08 when she couldn't make it to Omaha for his party. Layout down for CK issue challenge in which you had to use numbers in your title.

Four Generations with Annaliese. Made for CK issue challenge to use multiple photos.

After watching and discussing the events of 10 years ago, I had to get my story on paper. One thing I always wonder is where my parents/grandparents were when major events happened in their life, so now at least Ian and Annaliese will know if they're ever curious. Created for CK issue challenge to cluster.

Annaliese being so adorable in her adorable outfit. Made just for fun :)

Ian's first birthday fell during the week, so we snapped pictures and so did day care. Can't believe how much he's changed since then. Still remember those days like they were yesterday.

Apple Orchard

2011-10-09T20:01:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, with my parents in town, we traveled to Small's Fruit Farm in Mondamin, Iowa to pick some apples. It's a bit of a drive from Omaha, but worth it. This year we got to see all the flooding. Interstate 29 South had just opened from Missouri Valley into Omaha (though 680 remains closed) and all along the way fields were still filled with water and houses built up on a slight hills looked like little islands- no way to get to or from the houses but boat.

It's the same orchard we visited last year, yet such a difference experience with the kids being a year older. At first Darrin was lifting Ian to get apples, but we found some trees that still had apple within reach, so Ian started trying to climb every tree, most of the time unassisted. Annaliese didn't chill in the stroller the entire time (we used it for the heavy apple bag instead). She was content to be carried in Grandpa and Daddy's arms. In the end, Ian had enough and refused to pose for a picture, hiding behind the sign instead.

Two Weeks Ago...

2011-10-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

We went to the zoo with Darrin's family. The good thing- there was barely anyone there. The bad thing- it rained nearly the entire time we were there. That didn't stop us from having a great time and seeing many of the sights we don't normally stop by to see in the summer (desert dome, kingdom of the night, butterfly house). Ian wanted to stop and look in EVERY window/cage/display. Annaliese conked out after our picnic lunch, but enjoyed looking at everything, too. She's learned that monkeys say, "Oo-oo-oo."

Children's Museum

2011-09-25T19:56:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Grandpa Dan, Grandma Diane, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Ryan, and Cousin Owen came to visit. we had a fun-filled weekend. Our first stop was the Children's Museum. We hadn't been there for a few years, and I think Ian enjoys it much more at this age than when we were there at least two years ago. Annaliese had a blast, too, especially with anything that had a steering wheel.

We started off in my favorite room, the ball room. Once you put a ball in an opening, the balls are moved along inside tubes through blowers, gravity, and science I don't understand. They are all deposited in a bin on the ceiling, which dumps them on all standing below.

Aunt Stephanie gave Ian a lift on the chair in the ball room.

After the ball room we headed upstairs to the special dinosaur exhibit. Ian was scared of the T-Rex that greeted us and almost didn't make it in the room. Once in, though, little attention was payed to the dinosaurs. Instead, Ian was obsessed with playing in the a kitchen where you could prepare large cuts of meat, and Annaliese loved playing on the playground up there as well.

I don't know what the next room is called, but it contains many different things. Annaliese sat in the green tractor forever. If there hadn't been a line, I don't think Ian ever would have gotten off the CAT. He loved every minute of being a fireman and Annaliese had fun playing in the water. I wish I could get Ian to do all my grocery shopping for me.

Bedtime Story

2011-09-16T20:25:00.001-05:00

Ian could 'read' "There's an Alligator Under my Bed" pretty much word for word shortly after we checked it out from the library and has read it so much after. I know it's a bit difficult to understand, butt I had to share. So if it's close to your bedtime, let Ian read you to sleep.

August Scrapbook Pages

2011-09-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

Well, September is a third over, and I'm behind. Here are the scrapbook pages I made during August. Most of these were made for challenges on Club CK, a message board and inspiration gallery for scrapbookers. I try to do the issue challenge there every week, which guarantees I get at least 4 layouts done a month.

This layout is about the day Darrin proposed to me at Lambeau Field. I had carried the tickets around in my wallet until I made the page. This one was made for an issue challenge involving family trivia.

Ian's Sears pictures for his first birthday. The journaling tag get tucked in behind his picture so it's hidden. This was for an issue challenge on CK in which I had to use onomatopoeia- a word that represents a sound (SMACK). Onomatopoeia is one of my favorite words to say and I loved teaching it when I was in the classroom.


One night at dinner, Ian was tired and asked for a towel to sleep on. This layout was for fun and based on a sketch from sketch support.

Ian having fun with his great-grandpa (Ian was 5 mos). This issue challenge involved using eyelets.

Our camping trip from this past summer. When I look at it, it doesn't seem finished to me.
Might have to add something more.

My Bucket List- the major one is for me to really experience all the states. To make this layout, I used Photoshop Elements 8 to incorporate lots of layer masks to make a picture of each state I've visited into the shape of the state. Made for the Book of Me challenge and an issue challenge involving negative space titles.

Picnic Perfect Weekend

2011-09-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

The weather was lousy here on Saturday, rainy and cold all day. Ian matched his temperament with the weather that day. Luckily Sunday and Monday both dawned sunny in both weather (right around 70) and disposition and we were able to have picnics both days.

Sunday we went and explored Schramm State Park, just south of Gretna. You can tell it's fallen on hard times thanks to the budget, but we still had a great time. We ate a picnic lunch and then began exploring. It is home to a hatchery and the kids had a blast feeding the fish and the ducks would eat the food right out of your hand (of course, we didn't bring money for the fish food, so we only had enough after feeding the fish for one bite from the ducks).

One of the lagoons had this gross covering over all of it, and as we approached, we thought we wouldn't see anything. Turns out it was my favorite lagoon. Frogs would pop up through the covering, then quickly go under just to pop up nearby a second later. And on the lily pads we spotted a turtle.

Our favorite part was walking the miles of trails. It was flat enough that even Annaliese could walk most of it herself (though Darrin did carry her in parts... she is a slow walker). While we were walking, Ian would run ahead, turn around, and hold out his arms for Annaliese. She would scream with pleasure, pick up the pace, and head into his arms for a hug. This continued over and over on the trip. Loved it!

And of course, Ian needed a turn with the camera, capturing this shot.

On Monday, we headed to a local town park for another picnic lunch and some playing on the park equipment.

It was such a relaxing weekend (if you look at my to-do list, you'd know it was. Only one thing was crossed off). It makes going back to work even harder. At least it's only a four-day week!

Videos from Tonight

2011-08-29T19:33:00.000-05:00

Ian had dance, dance, dance at preschool today. We decided to extend it to home, too:

Annaliese doesn't always know what's inside, but any time she sees a 9x13 pan, we get this reaction:

The Weekend Lens

2011-08-22T20:38:00.001-05:00

Warning: This post has LOTS of pictures.

We went home this weekend to celebrate Oliver's first birthday. Such a major milestone for a guy who spent his first weeks in the NICU. It didn't take him long to find the frosting, and by the time he was done, he had frosting all over and needed to get a bath in the sink.

Ian has become a little photographer. He asks quite often at home now if he can use the camera. We don't have a small camera, and I'm surprised at how well he does handling the weight and the proportions of it. So in the car on the way home, I wasn't surprised when he asked for the camera. Here's the view of our ride home from his perspective.

We haven't been able to take the normal way to/from home lately because Interstate 680 south to Omaha has been closed due to flooding. The Missouri has been flooding since the end of May/early June and has just now started to recede. We've been taking I-80 around, but after it took an hour this weekend to get out of Omaha thanks to an accident on the interstate, we thought it might be good to look for an alternate route. We headed home this time by taking 680, then veering north to Mo. Valley and crossing the border on Hwy. 30. It took a bit longer, but I'm glad we went that way.

For those familiar with 680, this is as you crest the hill right before the north/south split. The rest stop with the lookout tower is just off to the right. It was so strange to crest the hill and see water where there normally is absolutely none- not even a view of the river.

This is near the bottom of the hill before the north/south split. I wonder what it looked like at the highest levels.

This is Hwy 30 west of Mo. Valley near the entrance to the DeSoto Wildlife Refuge. I believe that the only time this road was closed was when the DOT put up barriers. I've never been this way before, but I doubt it' supposed to look like this.

A farm near the DeSoto Wildlife refuge.

The actual Missouri River. It's had to tell in the picture, but it is quite high (though the river always seems small compared to the Mississippi).

Little Builder

2011-08-15T20:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, and for the life of me I can't remember how the conversation started, but Ian convinced Darrin they needed to go out to the garage and build something. The weather was cool enough to work out in the garage and Ian found a suitable project for Darrin to make: a miniature work bench. While Ian said he wanted to work with Darrin, it was mostly Darrin working and Ian riding his bike or playing outside. I think Darrin preferred it that way, too. By all accounts, it was a success. Darrin says he enjoyed himself out there, and Ian DEFINITELY enjoys his bench.

Splash Park

2011-08-07T13:03:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday we went to a splash park with Ian's preschool class. Ian had TONS of fun and Annaliese was a bit overwhelmed by all the people (there were easily 50 kids running around- three different day cares were there). We decided to go back yesterday for almost an hour. They had lots of fun, and I so enjoyed watching them with the other kids. Annaliese had a boy about a year older following her around everywhere and Ian had a girl he was hanging out with. They would both run around like crazy from one feature to the next. And all the while, Darrin and I could sit safely in the shade and watch them play. Now I want to go check out all the splash parks (also called spray parks) around town to see which one is the best!

Productive Post

2011-07-31T15:15:00.000-05:00

I got quite a few layouts done this past week, as well as a quilt block for our friendship exchange.

Dutchman's Puzzle for Regina

Scrapped my favorite restaurant, Lazlo's, for a challenge on the Club CK boards.

Layout for Ian's baby book of him with Great Billie at Christmas time.

Finally started scrapping his first birthday party. Love this page.

This one was for another challenge on Club CK where we had to scrap about ourselves and what we know for sure right now.

Treasure Hunt

2011-07-30T15:46:00.001-05:00

Ian is in love with Peter Pan. He has watched that movie more times in the last 6 months than I have in my whole life. His favorite TV show is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, in which the main character and his crew are friends of Peter's and in every episode have a run-in with Captain Hook. One of his main pastimes this summer has been to pretend he is a pirate; the couch is his ship, he has a fort, and has drawn many treasure maps (and I love listening to him explain the route we need to take to get there). He pretty much lives and breathes pirates. So, Darrin and I staged a treasure hunt for him.

His fort. Originally created as a place for him to have toys that Annaliese can't get to.

Someone, Ian can't decide if it's Jake or Peter Pan, left this map laying on top of the fort.

THERE'S THE X! Right in Mommy's flowers. He was all about going to find the treasure... but first, a change of clothes (still in pj's). The wonderful map was made by Darrin.

Outside, the first thing the map said to do was to go around the tree.

Still following the map. Watching him decipher the map was interesting. He generally knew what he was supposed to do, but had trouble following the route exactly (as in, he wanted to go around the first bush in the backyard, not the second as indicated on the map). Still he was having a BALL!

He located where the X would be and started digging. Didn't take him long to find something.

Imagine sharp intake of breath when the treasure was opened, because that's what he did. Inside he found a Mater toy from Cars 2, and then many trinkets Darrin had as a kid. Had we planned this out a bit more, I probably would have decorated the box to look like a treasure chest, but I don't think he cared at all.

Sprinkler Fun

2011-07-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

We got home from dinner last night and the kids played outside for a bit. Ian was pretending his trike was dirt bike and mentioned the sprinklers. We have been trying to get him to play in the sprinklers every summer since he could walk and he has always firmly resisted. He was all for playing in them this time as long as he could ride his dirt bike through them. Annaliese stood back for awhile, but eventually followed Ian in to see what all the fun was about. Ian would drive straight into the water. Annaliese just wandered around and you could clearly tell by her reaction when the water would hit her. Both so cute!

It's HOT!!!

2011-07-23T22:26:00.000-05:00

This past week has been GROSS! Thank goodness for central air. For most of the week, we kept indoors, but one can only do that for so long before insanity starts to set in. Here's how we dealt with the heat:

This has nothing really to do wit how we keep cool, it's just a really neat shot Darrin got of Annaliese. Maybe by asking to have her hat put on (and then it slid down) she was hinting she wanted to be outside...

There has been LOTS of book reading by both kids around here. Annaliese is obsessed with the Pigeon books by Mo Williams. We've got a few new ones after we went to the Borders "going out of business" sale- so sad.

This car has seen more playing time this week than it has in a long time, which is great because it requires the floor to be picked up to have the maximum fun with it.

Ian hauled out all his cars one day and had lots of fun- here they're going into the parking lot.

Clothing has been optional for the kids this week the house... and check out her crazy hair!

We did wander outside to play in the pool on a day when there was a breeze (so I didn't die from the heat watching them play).

And we went to the zoo Friday. It was hot, but my summer is almost over and we haven't been enough. They love each other SOOO much.

Ian and the hammerhead.

Annaliese in the jungle.

I have also been doing some scrapbook organization/prepping and will hopefully have some new layouts to post soon, as well as a quilting project that needs buttons and mounting. Hopefully by next weekend...

Brad & Katie's Wedding

2011-07-18T09:03:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday my cousin Brad married Katie. It was an outdoor ceremony, and while it was a bit warm, I'm so thankful it wasn't this past Saturday but a week ago. It was beautiful and romantic, as all weddings should be. But more importantly, it was time with family.

Before the wedding, we had to get a family picture of us all dressed up. My parents, my sister and her family, and us.

The bride and groom. They'd eventually move and stand under the pagoda he built just for this day.

The song everyone is dancing to- "We Are Family." What you can't see is my 81-year-old grandma (Great Billie) sitting on a chair in the middle of the group holding her great-grandson Brady (6 mos old). Everyone in this picture is related to her in some way. This song is requested at every Warnecke wedding and is carried out in the same way.

Not sure if you noticed in the picture above, but Annaliese is tuckered out in my arms. She slept like this through all the noise- it was amazing.

The best thing for me at the weddings- watching Ian dance. He and Makenna got their groove on.

Spinning Makenna around. Wish I had video capturing them dancing together, and Ian dancing alone. He was a maniac and so darn adorable on the dance floor.

Great Billie with all 10 of her great-grandkids. Number 11 will arrive in December.

Annaliese didn't sleep forever, and she wasn't to be outdone by her big brother on the dance floor. She strutted her stuff, too.

Vacation Week (Wednesday afternoon- Friday)

2011-07-13T21:15:00.001-05:00

After we packed up the campsite and headed back to my parents' house, every single one of us took a nap. Ian slept the longest (around 3 hours), and this was just a few hours after we had gotten up. It's crazy how even though we slept while camping, we were all so exhausted still.

All refreshed, we headed to Backbone State Park. Instead of going to the main lake, we pulled off along one of the many streams and did more creek stomping. I love stomping because it's a great way for us all to get wet, but I can wear clothes over my suit, so I'm super happy. At first, Ian clung to Darrin and me. He really didn't want to walk around much, which was hard for us to grasp because the water was crystal clear, shallow, and he had been stomping just a few days earlier at the cabin. As it would work out, he finally started enjoying himself around the time Walter and Annaliese (who loved the water initially) had had enough.

For supper Wednesday night, we took everyone out to eat to Fennelly's in Elkader. I had some FANTASTIC fish and chips; actual real fish, not the overly processed kind with too much breading on it. On Thursday morning, after a stop by Pedretti's Bakery and Osborne, Marlena, Noah, and Walter headed home and we headed to spend time with Darrin's parents. We spent the afternoon relaxing and that night took Ian to see Cars 2.

Friday morning after breakfast, Great Grandma came up to watch Annaliese and the rest of us slathered on the sunscreen and took Ian on his first canoe trip down the Turkey River. Unlike back here in Omaha, it has been very dry there and the water was low. It didn't take long for Ian to start asking when we would be there. Things got better, though, when we stopped at a sand bar for snacks and fun. Grandpa found some empty shells for Ian, which he was ecstatic about. We tried to get him to float down the river, but he freaked out the entire 10 feet we tried to have him float. Needless to say, he wouldn't try that again. It didn't stop him from stomping through the river and hunting for more shells.

After that, the canoe trip wasn't as bad. He started pretending to be Peter Pan and shouting, "Ahoy there mateys" across the river to Grandma and Captain Hook. We stopped again at another bar and found a live clam for him to investigate. Along the way we had also seen deer, a bald eagle, an otter, and lots of blue heron. At the end, Ian said he had a blast and wanted to do it again.

Vacation Week (Monday - Wednesday Morning)

2011-07-12T21:54:00.002-05:00

Vacation started with the 4th of July parade in Garnavillo. Ian got so much candy, even stopping two-thirds of the way through the parade because, "My hands are tired and I can't pick up any more candy." Fine by me. Annaliese watched most of the parade from Darrin's lap.

Following the parade, we headed to a park/cabin the family friends own. There we met up with their kids and grandkids for great food, Kaboda/Gator rides around the property, s'mores, and creek stomping. Last year Ian accidentally fell in the creek so we came prepared this year with his swimsuit and old shoes to wear. Annaliese and Walter had a great time splashing in the shallow part. Ian had said he wanted s'mores, but in all actuality, he parked himself at the table and ate cookies instead. His favorite thing was riding around the park, going on four different trips.

That night we went to Monona for fireworks. Ian spent the time leading up to the show chasing fireflies and rhyming lots and lots of words. It seems like with every sentence he says, he take the last word in the sentence and rhymes with it. At times it can be a bit annoying, but it makes me smile, too, seeing how much fun he has. When the fireworks started, the rhyming stopped for a bit, until he was bored by them, and then it picked back up. As always, I had lots of fun shooting pictures of the fireworks.

The next day, we headed out with Marlena, Noah, and Walter to Pike's Peak in McGregor to take in some views of the Mississippi and walk the trails. Ian had just been there a few days before with my dad, so he served as our park ranger guide.

After a quick run for groceries, we picnicked at Fort Fun in Prairie. Ian had a blast running around the structure chasing Noah and pretending it was a pirate ship. He was also a very determined little boy on the balance beam, trying over and over again until he could make it to the end. Annaliese actually tolerated the swinging and didn't scream or want to get out.

That night (Tuesday) we camped on some land Darrin's parents own. It was the first time camping for Ian, Annaliese, or Walter, and they all did so well. We learned a lot about cooking over the fire that night and the next morning. For supper, we had pizza casserole in a dutch oven. We were not completely prepared for removing/cooking with the heat that intense. Luckily my father-in-law has well stocked shed and a pitchfork worked perfectly for removing the pan from the fire pit. Ian got a chance to do sparklers after it got dark, and he again chased lightening bugs and rhymed. Annaliese surprisingly didn't seem to have any more of a problem falling asleep in the tent as she does at home. Cooking breakfast the next morning went much better, as we learned from the night before. Annaliese loved the pancakes Noah made over the fire.

Quilt Retreat 2011

2011-07-08T16:22:00.000-05:00

Another great retreat has come to an end. We had a great time at LouAnn's quilt garden quilting, chatting, playing BINGO, eating, and sharing. My friend Sara is moving back to NE Iowa, so it was great to get some last days sewing in with her. Oh how I will miss her input- she is my go-to person for color. I gave her such a hard time about leaving, though, but I wish her only the best. Walter joined us for the retreat and he did such a great job entertaining himself so his mommy could get some sewing done.

I worked, finally, on a tree skirt pattern that I've had for 7 years. As the previous post showed, I opted not to go with any green and red, as I was seeking input on, but an all neutral one. When I left on Sunday, I had all three dark diamonds done and one light. I can't wait to get back to Omaha and finish the others. It better be under the tree this year! Here is half the tree skirt:

I also made myself another Lazy Girl Runaround Bag. I've made a new one every summer and use it as my purse for the whole year.

Before the retreat started, I got my two blocks for the June Friendship Block Exchange in the mail. This one is for Gaila and comes from quilter's cache:

The second is for Jen and she designed it herself.

This month it is my turn to get blocks. I can't wait to see them all!

Quilt Retreat Day One

2011-07-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

About to head to bed, but I had to post three pictures:

Picture One: I finished the first diamond for the tree skirt.

Yep, there would be no red or green in that. After looking at the fabrics and a night when sleep would not be had, I decided all neutral was the way to go. Two more identical blocks like this, and then three of the reverse. I'm a slow quilter, so we'll see how much progress I'll make...

Picture Two: My little diva

Darrin sent this picture to me tonight "just to make me miss her more." It worked. She's so freaking adorable in there and looks so much older than the 16 months she is today.

Picture Three: My Tired Boy

My sister sent me this on my phone. Ian came to Iowa with me and got to spend the day with Aunt Cara and cousin Oliver. He made it all the way home without sleeping, so didn't get to bed until after 10 last night and was up at 6:15 to play. A nap was necessary, and he chose to sleep on the floor behind the chair because he wanted to hide from Grandpa, or scare him when he got home.

Quilt Retreat Project

2011-06-24T17:44:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again when I have to figure out what I'm going to work on at quilt retreat. This year, I know it will be the tree skirt I've been meaning to make for seven years. Other things with a due date or intended for other people always took precedence. But I don't have anything pressing right now, so it's finally time for the tree skirt. It is essentially a log cabin diamond quilt-as-you-go. I hated the way they used the colors, though, in the pattern, where the outer half of every diamond is red, but the upper half is part green and part neutral.

Here is the fabric I pulled from my stash to use for this, followed by two mock-ups.


On this one, the red and green could switch so red was on the outside.

So here's where I need blogland's opinion. I know my mock-ups didn't include all possible ways of doing the tree skirt so I'm open to other ideas, and I'm also open to adding/reducing colors. If you were going to make this skirt, how would you do it? And to those that don't quilt, your opinion is welcome too. How would you like it to look?

Edited to add: I did some googling and found this one, which is different than my mock-ups.

Cleaning off the SD Card

2011-06-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

I was transferring pictures (all 115) over from our camera SD card to my computer, and realized I hadn't shared lots of cute pictures.

Ian has really developed some obsessions over break so far, or at least I'm noticing them more because I'm spending all day, as opposed to 4-5 awake hours with him.

He is obsessed with the TV show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on Disney. Our couch alternates between being the Jolly Roger and Ian being Captain Hook, or the couch is Bucky (Jake's ship) and Ian is Jake.

He has spent a lot of time over break coloring and drawing. This was something he was not interested in at all last summer, so I think the preschool experience is coming through.

He is a boy who HATED getting dirty, but this summer has spent a lot of time digging in my flower bed (seeing as how it doesn't have lots of blooming flowers in it, at least it's getting some use this summer).

Some interests have definitely carried over from last year:

He's too scared to ride his big boy bike, but loves riding around on his trike. He FINALLY braved leaving our driving to ride down the hill to the neighbor's driveway. It's just hard work biking back up the hill.

He's helping me bake (here we're making homemade goldfish, though we called them starfish). Ian didn't like them much, but Annaliese LOVES them.

He still loves playing frisbee, and has gotten much better at catching it.

He still loves Toy Story and Cars, though you can add super heroes like Spiderman, Batman, and Iron Man in to the mix as well. He was thrilled to get this in the mail, though, from his great aunt and uncle. It was quickly taken up to his room so Annaliese couldn't get it.

Annaliese's vocabulary has developed so much already, and even though she can only say less than 20 words (that Darrin and I can identify, probably not a stranger, though), she understands so much. Some of her new words include up and fish.

Her favorites to say, though, are shoes, followed directly by buh-bye. She loves being outside riding her bike (backwards) but to her nothing beats a wagon ride. Even when we take it to the park, she does not want to get out and play.

She's learned so much more than just words this summer. She's learned how to go down the stairs. Not the traditional way of going backwards, but on our steps with the spindles she holds on and essentially walks down. On the other stairs, she walks to the edge of the stair, plops down which puts her feet on the next stair, and starts the process all over again.

And she's just a cutie. Ian tells me at least once a day, "Mom, Annaliese is so cute, isn't she." She's especially cute when she's dressed up as Wonder Woman.

Weekend Weather

2011-06-12T22:15:00.000-05:00

The weather this weekend has been fantastic; temperature in the 70s, cool breeze, and no humidity. Why couldn't it be like this every day? So we spent some time outside, lots of it on Marlena and Noah's new patio. Otherwise it was blowing bubbles and riding bikes outside. Annaliese wants to do whatever Ian is doing, so she tried to blow her own bubbles (she could put the wand in the bottle, but not blow the bubbles). She was also able to move her bike, but going back, not forward.

Annaliese is definitely my daughter. Darrin brought home ice cream on Thursday as a reward for Ian doing such a great job jumping off the diving board. Annaliese wanted some, too. She opened her mouth the widest I've ever seen- her eyes almost bugged out- and when it wasn't there fast enough there was lots of screaming and trying to get out of her chair to get closer. She sure enjoyed each bite she got.

When it was too hot outside (I HATE humidity) the kids played inside, and I got some layouts done. My goal is to finish Ian's baby book (finally) by the end of the summer, so some of these pictures are pretty old.

Ian and I on the Warnecke scale.

Annaliese and I on the Warnecke scale.

Ian at the St. Olaf Fire Dept before his 2nd Birthday.

Ian @ 5 months

Today was THE day

2011-06-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

At swimming lessons today, it was THE day; as in diving board day. Last year on the first jump his teacher had to drop him in the water. He was given the choice last year and chose not to go a second time. I won't even go in to how terribly the next day went...

BUT that didn't hold true this time.
This time, Ian was looking forward to going off the board. We talked about how it's just like jumping off our stairs (he jumps from the 2nd or 3rd stair down to the floor All. The. Time.) and we talked about how a life jacket works.

This time, he was the first kid to go.

This time, he didn't need his teacher to drop him in; she didn't even get on the board with him.

This time, when the teacher said jump, he did just that.

And this time, he chose to go a second time.

He said it was super fun and can't wait to do it again tomorrow.

I am one proud mama!

Family Tradition

2011-06-09T11:33:00.001-05:00

I'm working on scrapbook pages for both Ian and Annaliese's baby albums incorporating these pictures, but I thought I'd share on here, too. When I was growing up, my maternal grandparents owned a general store in their hometown. It was tradition when a grandchild was born, to be weighed on the scale the scale in the store. I continued on the tradition with both Ian and Annaliese, though for them the scale is now located in my grandma's basement as the store has closed.

Me on the scale in Jan. 1981 (I was 1 month old).

Ian on the scale April 2007 (Easter time). He weighed 14.25 pounds.

Annaliese on the scale April 2010 (Easter time again). She weighed a little over 10.75 pounds.

My Cutie Pie

2011-06-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

The weather has been gross the last two days, near or over the triple digits, so the cooler temps and cold breeze was welcome this afternoon after nap time. We headed outside and she was such a cutie and I just had to share. She had her 15-month checkup last week and she was 31.75 inches tall (87 %ile) and 23 pounds and 13 ounces (66 %ile)). The doctor pointed out that it was a jump from her 12 month stats, which would explain why I thought her 12 month clothes were getting small on her and she just started wearing them!

Sunday Picnic

2011-06-05T19:26:00.001-05:00

When I think back on my childhood, one of the things I remember is going on a picnic with my family after church. We'd head to Pike's Peak, Effigy Mounds, or Osborne, eat lunch and walk the trails. Whether or not that really happened or is just a childhood memory I've fabricated in adulthood, I have no idea, but I'm sure my parents could set me straight.

I'm hoping it was something we did, because it's something I'd like to continue with my family. Today after church we headed to my favorite picnic place, Chalco Hills. We ate a picnic lunch of Subway for Darrin and me, peanut butter and honey for Ian, and cheese cubes and bread for Annaliese, with apples, yogurt, and chips for all who wanted. After lunch we walked the trails, spotting a turtle, along with two deer, all of which made Ian's day. We finished off the trip watching Ian play at the park.

Ian put his own hat on- my little homeboy

Annaliese ended up eating everything on her plate.

Ian @ Chalco 5/08 Annaliese @ Chalco 6/11

I love those curls!

The start of our trail walking. Wasn't long and Ian wanted to turn back.

And if we had listened, he would have missed seeing this turtle, which we heard walking through the grass before we saw it. When it breathed, it's mouth puffed up like a frog's.

The first deer we saw. We stood looking at it for 3 minutes before it slowly moved on.

Annaliese and Ian on what we call the Troll Bridge. Ian was fascinated by the water running under.

Deer number two. This one didn't like us hanging around and started grunting at us. I now know what sound a deer makes.

Darrin and Annaliese watching the deer.

Ian enjoying the park.

I'm not a food blogger...

2011-06-04T22:21:00.003-05:00

but trying new recipes is something I enjoy, especially when it results in a meal we really enjoy. That was the case tonight. We love having breakfast for supper around here. It's one meal that's guaranteed to get no complaints from anyone. I've been making pancakes from scratch lately and tried another new recipe tonight.

I think I can safely say that I have found my go-to pancake recipe. These flipped beautifully- nothing stuck to the pan, my spatula, and didn't break when I tried to flip them. They browned nice and evenly, another thing I had never gotten from another pancake recipe. They were quick to mix together. And they were super healthy; whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt. I didn't feel guilty when Annaliese ate 5 of them. Only she can attest to how they tasted plain, though, as Ian and I topped ours with a blueberry-banana mixture that tasted great with the pancakes. There was good reason for Annaliese not to have the mixture: just look at how she looked after eating a Cheerio-yogurt mixture this morning.

There's no way I was letting her feed herself and I was too busy flipping pancakes and she much too impatient to wait for me (Darrin was not home tonight). To quote Ian from supper tonight, "Mommy, that was the goodest supper ever!"

Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes
adapted slightly from blondiernner @ Tasty Kitchen
made 12 1/4 cup pancakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Oatmeal (original recipe called for rolled oats, not instant. I used what I had on hand).
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 cup Greek Yogurt (original recipe called for 6 oz weight, I didn't notice that until just now. I did that conversion wrong but it worked for me! It also called for non-fat, but we used 2% for Annaliese)
1/2 cup Milk
2 whole Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Couple shakes cinnamon (I didn't measure and original recipe didn't call for cinnamon.)

Instructions:

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a whisk. Make a well in the middle for the wet ingredients.
In a small bowl/measuring cup, combine yogurt and milk with whisk. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
Pour wet mixture into well in dry. Combine mixtures until just mixed. Lumpy is good.
Cook them up and enjoy :)

Blueberry-Banana Sauce
from foodandwhine @ Tasty Kitchen

a few notes: This was a bit tart. When I make it again, I may try adding a bit of sugar. I will probably double the recipe as well, as we barely had enough for just Ian and I.

Ingredients:

1 whole Banana, Sliced
1 cup Blueberries (I used frozen)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Water Or Juice (I omitted because I used frozen berries. If using fresh, I would include)
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until thickened.

The Kids are Most Definitely Back

2011-06-02T10:40:00.002-05:00

The SD card in our camera can attest to that. In the days since they got back from their grandparents (five days to be exact) we've taken 100 pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

My monkey boy. Boy, did he freak when Darrin first lifted him up there, but once he realized he wasn't going to fall, I think he enjoyed himself quite a bit.

Swinging Girl. She either was smiling or crying in the swing. If you were talking to her, she loved it; if not, she was scared.

She was flirting with some people off camera and just looked too cute.

Ian is so at home at the park now talking to the other kids. He loved going down the slide, just to turn around and climb back up with with his sticky legs.

Darrin is such a great daddy and I love catching him in his element.

One of my goals for this summer- to teach Ian how to swing all on his own.

Our first official day of break Ian turned his easel in to a fort and three days later, it's still his favorite place to play.

Her rocking chair has become her favorite thing over break. She's either sitting in it rocking herself or pushing it around the living room.

We hauled out Annaliese's new water table the first day of break. Ian is very methodical in his play. He is not a fan of getting splashed on or having his clothes get wet (even though I suggested swim clothes) so it's taken some coaching.

Baby Girl, on the other hand, LOVES splashing in the water and could have cared less about the toys that were in it.

She was soaked head to toe and was loving every minute (including splashing the camera).

Ian started swimming lessons this week. So different from last time. He chats with everyone, cracks jokes, and is not timid at all in the water.

The garden post weeding. Everything's up: onions, peas, lettuce, beans, broccoli, zucchini, and sweet potatoes. I should add for those that don't know that we have one plot out of 63 plots at our church. The very weedy one on the left (which I would like to take over) and the berry bushes on the right belong to other gardeners.

While we were at the garden, Suzie was there picking strawberries and generously shared some with the kids.

While the kids were away...

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the parents (especially me) did play. Darrin had to work most of the time the kids were back in Iowa visiting their grandparents, but I had time to do a little crafting and cooking.

I made some Fudge Island Bars (no recipe link, it's from an actual cookbook) shortly after the kids left. Why I made a jelly roll for just Darrin and me is beyond me. Needless to say, some of these ended up going in to the freezer for later.

As the week started, I was all set to make foods that normally send Ian in to a tizzy at supper time. One of them we tried was a chicken and veggie lasagna. I was even surprised Darrin said it was okay to make this past week as he doesn't eat most of the veggies in it. But he ate this dish, and had seconds. Even took the leftovers for lunch the next day. I just wish it would have been creamier. There wasn't a lot of cream to it.

The rest of the dishes I thought I would make didn't end up getting made. Turns out we're not as hungry or consistent about staying on schedule when the kids aren't around. The fruit in the fridge doesn't get eaten as fast, either. Doesn't help that we went out and had several "Date Night" dinners.

The best date night we had while they were gone was to see Wicked at the Orpheum. I HATE the Wizard of Oz, so I was a bit skeptical of the musical, even though everyone I talked to assured me they weren't much related. Well, they were right. I LOVED the whole thing: the story line, the songs, the costumes, and the lighting effects. Oh how I wish cameras had been allowed.

I spent some time the week they were gone quilting. I made the two blocks for the May friendship block quilt exchange. The first is a "Wonky Square-in-Square" for Jenn. It was totally outside the box of what I normally do, but I enjoyed this. It was so freeing not to worry about cutting everything evenly.

The second is an "Eight-Pointed Star" for Trish. Thankfully Jen shared paper piecing for this with all of us, which was a huge help, as the directions on quilter's cache didn't make much sense to me.

I also finished quilting and binding a blue monochromatic quilt. As with every other quilt I've made, it wasn't done by its deadline, but hopefully it will be loved by its eventual recipient nonetheless. Even though the pictures don't show the colors the best, from the lightest block to the darkest, they are some type of blue shade. I quilted it in an all-over meander with a Sulky Blendables in blue.

Then there was a bit of scrapboking, too. These first two pages I have had sitting nearly done for the longest time and finally I put some journaling and titles on them. The last one are some pictures and paper I've had for awhile and just finally got it put together. My goal this summer- a layout each week for both kids. We'll see if it happens...