Cookies and Green Beans!

Joshua and Abby love to help me in the kitchen. If you've never had the opportunity to cook with a toddler/preschooler, let me just say that it can be a bit frustrating. You definitely need to dip into your reserve of PATIENCE. It takes at least three times as long to do anything (probably even more than that but I never really keep track of time), things don't generally turn out as well as they would if I was doing it on my own, and there's generally quite a mess.  But all of this aside, I keep creating opportunities for them to help me.  I think it's a great experience, lots of fun and there are so many things they can learn while helping. 

A couple of days ago, we decided to make peanut butter M&M cookies.  I saw the recipe online, we had all of the ingredients and we hadn't baked anything for awhile so we made plans the night before and they looked forward to it. (They remember everything and usually remind me first thing in the morning!!) I let Abby do a lot more this time than I normally do.  It's so easy to let Joshua do most of it since he is older and has more kitchen experience than Abby...but I have to remember that he got that way by me letting him help.  So they took turns doing the designated tasks.  Joshua can read the recipe and measure ingredients pretty well.  Abby can pour premeasured items into the bowl and stir. They both beg to taste it every step of the way. LOL (Even if it's just flour, they taste it like it's the most decadent dessert they have ever had!!! Funny!!)

By the way, I know some of you have little ones Abby's age at home. (Abby is 2 1/2  but Joshua started helping me bake before he was 2.)  If you want to try to let them help make something, I would spend a few minutes premeasuring everything into little bowls so they can help pour them in and not get frustrated while waiting for you to measure them. You can see a couple of things all ready to be added in the background by the mixer. 

Anyhow, here are some photos from this baking adventure.

 

Here, they are telling me how many cookies they want to eat. LOL

Ellie patiently watched from her bouncer while we baked but didn't get any cookies.  BUT, she did get her first tastes of baby food about a week ago!! (Um, she's 6 months old now!!!!!!  I can't believe it!) She has eaten rice cereal, green beans and squash so far. The first few days, she just gave us a look that said, "Really? You want me to eat this stuff??" But the last couple of days, she has been anxiously awaiting her new foods at dinnertime and literally grabs the baby feeder (this little thing we can dip into the food for her and she can use to feed herself) and shoves it into her mouth saying, "Mmmmmmmmm.......Mmmmmmmm..." the whole time. LOL I need a photo/video of that still to share!

Here's the first day of green bean tasting.

That's about it for today.  I have my first sewing class this afternoon for my very cool sewing machine my mom bought me for Christmas and I can't wait! Thanks again, mom!
Stacey

The "butt shake," Valentine's, bedtime and bathtime photos

Abby and Joshua love to make Ellie laugh.  Sometimes, they can really get her going.  The sillier they are, the more she laughs.  They sing silly songs, make up goofy dances and play peek-a-boo with her.  It is totally adorable and fun to watch.  These aren't the greatest photos (the action was hard to capture on film!), but I hope you get the idea.  The second photo shows their favorite dance...the one that really makes EVERYONE laugh...the "butt shake" (Joshua claims he made this one up himself...but I think he got the idea from watching too many episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" with us! LOL)

Joshua got to participate in his first Valentine's Day party at preschool this year. He picked out some Transformer valentines with pencils and carefully addressed them for all of his classmates. Since Abby has to do everything her brother does, she worked on various Valentine's projects right next to him.

Ellie has been really getting into bathtime lately and is hard to keep her contained.  She's not sitting well enough for us to put her into the big tub yet.  Here she's fighting hard to get control of that water sprayer! She loves trying to grab onto the water and is sometimes upset when bathtime ends.

Lastly, I want to share a photo of Abby after she fell asleep one night recently.  She is so stubborn about going to bed for naps and bedtime.  We know she is tired but she fights it many nights.  Generally, the kids stay awake for a few minutes reading in bed before drifting off to sleep.  We thought it was too cute that she fell asleep this way.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!  I am just getting over being really sick so there is much to catch up on around here.  We would love to hear from you all so feel free to leave us a message in the comments or call/email to chat.

Blessings to you all!!!

Stacey

New blog

As you have noticed, we moved blogs. With such a crazy world (full of crazies!!) we decided to keep things a little more private.  I have moved all of the old posts here and will continue to update with family photos and tid bits.  I will be posting crafty stuff in a more public place (most likely the old blog located at http://www.stacey-scraps.blogspot.com/) for all of my crafty friends. You are OF COURSE welcome to visit there as well but I will not be sharing anything personal over there.

I apologize for the slight inconvenience of having to log in to view the blog.  If anyone has a better idea (or know of a better place to host) please let me know!

Blessings!