Guy's Tater

Hand in hand with the Toy Story obsession comes the Mr. Potato Head mania.  Guy is very creative with his:

He did it all by himself and was *quite* proud of himself.

Baking and Snacks with Ian

Just want to record how much I am enjoying my time with Ian right now...he's helping me bake lemon bars for the school's bake sale tomorrow, and in between licking the bowls, we are snacking on strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar.

He's such an awesome little kid.  I love that he still enjoys doing things with me (when he is not too cool for me, or engrossed in a Lego Star Wars game).

Guy Funnies

If I had any doubt that Guy was going to be the biggest mover and shaker in this family, I shouldn't anymore.

The things he has done this week alone:

• Continuously pushed kitchen chairs over to the sink to "play water"- which is all well and good when I am in the kitchen with him, but when I was laying comatose on the couch with the stomach bug for the second time in 4 weeks, it was not at all amusing.
• If he wants anything- anything at all- he will go ahead and make plans to get it without my help.  He scoots into the van first thing so that he can get to my stash of gum in the console before I can stop him- he says, "Bum...hand?"  (Gum in my hand?-- nothing to do with his actual bum, thank goodness)
• He began crying hysterically this morning when he woke up.  I went in to get him, and there he was, dangling by his fingertips on the outside of his crib.  He is the only one who has ever tried to climb out of the crib... 

Seriously, Ian is so cautious, that he would always ask me prior to doing anything, and Chase, although he would climb like a monkey, wouldn't have tried the multi-step operations that Guy is up to.  

We got trouble.  Right here in River City.  

Make it and Love it!

Because I need more things to do, I am now addicted to this blog, Make it and Love it!

Thanks to Nicole Ferguson for making me go to bed even later than I was previously.

St. Paddy's Day Leprechaun Shenanigans

 What's really funny is that ten minutes after we discovered the chair piled with books and the footprints leading to the cookies...Gavin used it to climb up, get the tupperware, and help himself to a cookie for breakfast.

 Did they put anything in the freezer?

 A collection of random green items.

 A note (they picked all the green crayons out of the crayon box).

 Shamrocks on the window (although Ian asked why they didn't leave any 4-leaf clovers...?  He's getting very detail-oriented!)

 Green pee again!

 They must have stayed up really late blowing up an entire package of 15 balloons last night (*gasp, wheeze*).

 Foot prints in the green sugar leading to the box of cookies.

Ian's trap- propped open with his own shoes!!  They ate the cookie and left Eenie some gold.

 He HAD to have a St. Patrick's day shirt on-- he was VERY VERY concerned about the pinching that may go on at school today.

 Another failed trap.  They cut their way out of the bag AND ate the cookie.

 The third trap- cookie gone, we gather that they used that spoon to sweep the treat out without setting the trap off.

 Happy face left on the floor.

Guy with his 'gold' and his stolen cookie :)

Chase missed the fun- he slept in too late.  It's ok.  I sent him a green lunch.

'Twas the greatest mix-up cookies

In preparation for "Leprechaun Day" - as Ian calls it, I'm in the kitchen baking cookies.

I don't know about any of you, but my parents instilled a giant love for folk music.  It can't be normal.

My brother and I grew up listening to records from the Irish rovers, the Limelighters, and the Kingston Trio.  So much so, that I pretty much can sing along to the Irish folk groups playing in any Irish pub that we end up in.  It also makes me break out into weird songs at the mere mention of partial lyrics in conversation.

I think the title of my family life growing up would be "Meech: The Musical".

Anyhoo.

Today's cookies are tweaked for St. Paddy's Day tomorrow (we have to have something to put in our Leprechaun trap tonight, right?).  They are inspired by one of my favorite Irish folk songs-- you can listen to it here while you bake:


Me Father He Was Orange, And Me Mother She Was Green Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 t orange extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten slightly with the bottom of a small glass dipped in green sugar.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Bye! See you soon!

Whenever Gavin wants to do something naughty (ie, climb on a chair and take stuff off the kitchen countertop) he says to me, "Bye!  See you soon!"  I think he believes that if I think he is going away, I won't watch him anymore, and he can do what he pleases.

That boy!