MMmmm, something smells good!

We have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen lately with the kids still getting over their colds. It has been fun trying new recipes and tasting the results. Amazingly, Alyssa has really liked everything we have made, from the spicy chili, the green chili beef enchiladas, to the sweet things, like the donuts. The girls both love to spend time in the kitchen stirring the pots, kneading the dough and licking the spatulas.

First time making donuts. The rings are rising.

Can you smell them? Still warm from the fryer!

After Alyssa had her first donut, she exclaimed "Mom, you sure are a good chefer!!"

Helping me put dinner together in the crock pot. By the way, this is her FAVORITE dress and she would wear it everyday if she could.

Mmmm! I can smell all those great spicy scents! Jalapenos, chilis, onion, chili powder, cumin....

There is something that exclaims "summer" to me when I see a pack of colorful straws. Maybe it reminds me of icy cold lemonade on a hot day. I am looking forward to all those cold drinks and bright straws. Spring is less than a month away!

Sprinkles and Silliness

One of the ways I like to start my day: a homemade pumpkin spice latte, extra hot!

The girls were creative with the K'nex set and were showing off their results.

A couple days ago when I was on the computer, setting up this blog and I was rather distracted and not paying as much attention to Lauren as I should of. She was still not feeling well from her recent cold and her attention span was very short. I had pulled out all the bottles of tempura paints, paint cloth, paper towels, water, brushes and other things needed for her to paint away for what I hoped would be at least 30 minutes.

After about five minutes, she was done with painting on paper and decided to see what else she could paint on, especially since mom wasn't watching too closely! It got very quiet for awhile so I decided I had better see what she was up to. She had decided to redecorate the powder room with her bright colored paints. Thankfully they are washable and cleaned up easily. I learned my lesson to keep a closer eye on her!

Yesterday Lauren helped me with my long list of groceries at Winco. It is getting much harder to shop with her and I may start leaving her at home and shopping in the evening. First, she was in an excited frenzy when she saw all the bulk bins full of Easter candy. To compromise, I got a VERY small bag of gumdrops and said "that's all your getting today". I needed to get some butter crackers for a new recipe I wanted to try and they are located in the same aisle as all the cookies. Another frenzy came on. She was being very insistent on the Dora cookies, the chocolate fudge cookies and others, but she had to be reminded that she had her gumdrops. All of a sudden, they were not looking so good anymore.

We managed to get through my shopping list, only moving her in and out of the cart about three times, also bumping into Janelle Rupp Newman and her 7 week old baby girl. While Janelle and I chatted, Lauren started pushing the cart away bumping into whatever was in her path. We cut our chat short and I hurried after Lauren before she caused any serious damage.

When I was unloading the groceries at the checkout I came across four items that I know I didn't pick out. I wondered for a minute if I somehow managed to get someone elses cart. Then I realized, it was Lauren doing her own shopping. She picked out a big box of frozen waffles, a can of white chili beans, Hilshire Farm sausage link and a box of confettii cake mix. How did I miss all that?? She was very busy. After an embarrassing explanation to the cashier, I returned three of the items, and kept the 80 cent cake mix box. It would be a project for her to do while Alyssa was at school.

Lately when I have more than one little cook helping me in the kitchen, they can't compromise on taking turns and it doesn't end up a happy experience. So we loaded up the car in an incredible downpour of rain, drove home, and unloaded what was by now very wet, soggy and fragile paper bags. If the future shopping trips are going to be similar to this, I would much rather go alone!

The 80 cent cake mix box. The girls loved the sprinkles inside the cake.

We put the little bag of gumdrops to good use, trying to be creative, but it ended up looking more like a preschool art project.

Lauren decided she needed more sprinkles.

Maybe I should just skip putting them on the cupcake and eat them directly from the container! I ended up tossing the container out when she was done with it.

This and that...from the last four months

We went to Long Beach over Thanksgiving 2008 with my folks.

Taking a break after a long and chilly walk

The resort were we stayed

A great boardwark on the beach. The girls enjoyed running down it.

Exploring one of many trails through the beach grass

Alyssa and grandma doing dishes at the resort

The first night, a beautiful sunset.

Lauren likes to dress up as a ballerina

Happy!!

Lauren received several Thomas the Train sets for Christmas which she really enjoys!

Thank you grandma and grandpa for the cute dresses!

Checking out the loot from their stockings.

The first snow of the winter!

Trying to get a holiday picture, didn't work too well.

On the front porch

Wow! Lots of snow over Christmas! Harry couldn't make it out to work all week!

Taking a load off their feet at Smith Rock State Park, Central Oregon

The view out the back. The nursery workers had cut down many trees with chainsaws the day before, then had a huge bonfire. Hack! Hack! It was a bit smoky in the house that day!

The view when they are not burning

Lauren ran out after dinner (still on her face) to enjoy the last few minutes of sunlight. Nice alpenglow on the mountain.

My little ballerina!

A very mild February day at the park. Beautiful!

Swinging high!

Always a ham!

Eagle Crest Winter Vacation January 2009

Our favorite restaurant-The Pine Tavern

Some cuddle time with Papa

Lauren getting some help from mom

Dad and Alyssa enjoying the rink

Alyssa and Lauren trying to slide without a sled

Alyssa loves the snow!

Dad and Lauren cruisin' down, Lauren didn't
like going that fast.

Alyssa's turn and she loved it!!

Three weeks ago we enjoyed a family vacation to central Oregon. We stayed in a condo at the Eagle Crest Resort and halfway through the trip, my folks joined us. There was snow on the ground for the first two days and we had fun playing in it. We found a few small hills on the golf course that the girls and Harry sledded down. We also saw a lot of deer and Canadian geese on the golf course. Lauren went ice skating for the first time with Alyssa on Tuesday evening at the Inn of the Seventh Mountain. They both enjoyed it and couldn't wait to go again! Wednesday we took the girls to the High Desert Museum south of Bend. We explored the old west exhibit, the Indian exhibits, discovered a pioneer homestead, crawled into teepees, and laughed at the resident river otter. On Friday Harry and I left the girls with my folks and went into Bend. We enjoyed walking along the riverfront park, peeking into the shops downtown and then enjoyed dinner at our favorite Bend restaurant, the Pine Tavern.

The girls were so excited to have their papa and grandma stay with us. They kept busy with coloring, games, walks and papa even brought along his travel guitar! Saturday we headed back to the ice skating rink for another session. Alyssa found it much more slippery this time and needed to stay close to the wall. Lauren did a couple laps with her dad holding her under her arms and then she was content to watch from inside the recreation room with papa and grandma. Thanks for coming papa and grandma, it was a very special time! We look forward to going back!

On the mend

Poor Lauren, lots of goobers!

Alyssa being creative with her chicken

Still smiling!! What troopers!

It is always reassuring when sick kids start getting an appetite back! Plus, interest in playing around with their food again. Most of the time, the girls enjoyed playing with each other, laying on the floor looking at books or watching a favorite movie.

Oh, by the way, thank you for all the birthday greetings, facebook friends!!

Is it normally really slow uploading photos?? On facebook, they are usually up in a flash with the wi fi connection we have. I am still trying to figure out the layout-my pictures are getting cropped and the picture under the title is huge! Anyone know how to fix this?