Just add dirt.

Today the boys and I went for a too-quick (in Carter’s opinion) trip to the Discovery Museum. The garden has been opened for the season (finally!) and I decided it made perfect sense to let them go out after fully soaking themselves playing the waterworks area. I figured it would be nice to be in the warm sun and they might dry off, instead of forcing me to get out the dry outfits I had for both of them in my bag.

Wrong. Dirt + water… you get my drift. But hey, I did have those spare clothes, so I really didn’t care. It’s not like their hamper is not already a piquant mix of aromas, why not add in some earthy smells? ;)

See, last time we were there, there was not this AWESOME digging area. And they did love it dearly.

Right about here I should add that Carter kept correcting me about something. I call it dirt. He says it’s soil. SOIL. Sheesh.

Anyway, their clothes started to get a great muddy sheen to them. Cole is not one to hold back, and he really got into the digging.

Who needs tools?

Not him, that’s NOT who. Then, the inevitable happened.

Oh dear.

Um. Yeah.

Huh.
Sweetie, you have a little something on your chin…

Well, as long as he’s not upset… might as well let it be. Seeing as my wipes were not handy at the moment, being at my stroller ~20 feet away.

Dirt has minerals and vitamins, right? Oh, sorry, I forgot. SOIL…

Where did the baby go?

I mean, come on! This is not a baby. Who told him he could grow up like this, so quickly? I know some people do *not* miss the baby stage, and there are certainly things about growing older I appreciate (I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where grooming myself may even be a daily occurrence). However, it seems like just yesterday when Cole was more like this:

Little baby in swing. In arms. In-anything… except INdependent.

Now, Cole is far, far from independent. He still spends a lot of time being held, snuggled, and loved. But he’s also… well, look.

Now, don’t even get me started about this guy here. I’m not even thinking about how big he’s getting.

Another oldie but goodie

00006 HOMEMAKING COURSE, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

WHY IS MY GRANDMOTHER SWINGING A PICKAXE?

This photo has the note 'homemaking course' on it. Was digging a foundation part of 'making' a home? I need to ask my dad if he knows. One thing I do know, my grandma was not overly prone to physical exertion.

She did have great hair, though! Never have I swung a pickaxe, and surely it would not be wearing a bathing suit, or with my bob 'just so'. (She's the one person whose face you can clearly see in this photo.)

Obviously a staged photo

00008 New City - July 1930, originally uploaded by Kristianna.

I like this old photo of my grandmother and some unknown lady. It's a nice photo. It's also funny. Why? My grandma could NOT drive.

Cool, Sweet Treats Beat the Heat

Today’s post brought to you by rhyming!  The fun with words game!  :)

Anyway….
 
I make homemade popsicles.  It’s a nice way to make a somewhat healthy treat, and I also can sneak a lot of goodness into them (protein powder, fruits my picky 3 yr old would NEVER touch much less eat, yogurt).

Yesterday I made some Jello Pops.  I took a single serving container of vanilla yogurt, added some cooled—but still liquid—Jello, some protein/vitamin powder, and blended it up before pouring into the popsicle molds I got at Target a few years ago (totally worth the $2 each or whatever they were).   They’re cold and creamy and YUMMY.

First Beach Outing of the Year!

Saturday we packed up the fam-fam and headed over to Santa Cruz. Though Cole’s been many, many times, I knew it would be *like* a first for him. He was pretty small last summer when we went all the time for Little Guards.

While he was a little apprehensive of being put down at first, he warmed up to it. As long as the water from the cold, cold, Bay didn’t touch him. He loved sitting in puddles from holes dug right near the water’s edge though!

I’d say we have a threesome of beach loving kids here.

Oh, and as you can see, Bunny wore her thermal top and was bodysurfing in that cold water. I didn’t even like it touching my feet. She has ice in those veins.

Menu 04/20/09

Happy Monday!
It's HOT here today and tomorrow, so I am going to be keeping the kitchen cool as I can for a couple of days.

Sunday: Out to dinner
Monday: Burgers/Dogs on grill
Tuesday: CORN
Wednesday: Bolognese sauce
Thursday: Grilled Herbed Chicken drumsticks
Friday: Taco Salad
Saturday: CORN
(CORN = clean out refrig nite--we're not just eating a ton of corn)

Two Years

Hoos for Hokies, originally uploaded by Kevin Mad Dog Inman.

I have not been very bloggy since being sick, but wanted to take a moment to remember the poor kids who were slain two years ago today.

Here a tooth, there a tooth.

Two down, eighteen to go. If she loses 2 more very quickly, then she can live on baby food, yay! ;)

Bunny totally lost this tooth. We think she swallowed it. But the Tooth Fairy must’ve found it anyway, and gave her her payment. Hey, if “TF” can sense there is a tooth to be gotten, then surely she can also find it!

Pardon us, we have The Plague

Oof, we’re sick. Just a family tummy bug, but it’s sucking. I’ll be back when we’re not otherwise occupied lying around and whining about how bad we all feel.

Happy Easter Cake Pops

Happy Easter Cake Pops, originally uploaded by Bakerella.

Good Golly Miss Molly, these are cute. But I think I am cake pop pooped. :)

Mommy Follies

I love making cute things, and if they’re sweet cute things, then YAAAAYYY!

So, I had to give the cupcake pops a go.  Since there are excellent instructions HERE, I will not try to make this be some redundant recipe.  More like, my thoughts and observations as I made some.

 
First, it is an ODD thing to make a perfectly good cake (and this one came out really perfectly), then rip and tear it apart.  It was kind of fun.

It looks like I could use this to top my tomato plants, doesn’t it?

 
I tried mixing the frosting and cake the neat way, then resorted to using my hands.  Soooo sticky!

 
Carter helped in the one way he could.  He helped clean the bowl.  This kept him occupied for long enough to allow me to form the cake ‘balls’ and put them on a couple of baking sheets to firm up.  I let them stay in the fridge until the evening, then formed them into the cupcake shapes, and let them go back into the cold until the next morning, as the instructions caution you that the coating will weep and become wet if you put finished pops in the fridge – and I have a cat who’d love to lick anything left out overnight.  I thought I’d spare the kids some special kitty saliva.  :)

Dipping these guys was not hard at all. 

My main observation would be to only dip a few at a time, then make sure the sticks are inserted before the candy coating hardens up, or I think it could crack.

I did have a time of it getting the chocolate up to the right level, and these I photographed were before I figured out how to do that.  :)

Using the side of the bowl helps to control where the coating goes.

The good news is they do set up really quickly, so by the time you’re done making the ‘bottoms’, you’re ready to flip ‘em over and dip the ‘tops’, which is where the real fun was.  I used blue and pink, as per Bun’s wishes, and she chose the little candies that I placed on the very tops.  I love sprinkles, and always have some on hand here.  :)

 

 
A totally worthwhile, and impressive project.  They were yummy, and Bunny was happy with them.  Her friends loved them, too!