Brrrrr!!!

It's snowing right now. We had a couple of warm days last week then it turned cold again.  The snow isn't sticking but brrrrrrrr...!!! Joshua likes it anyhow. But I am trying to stay warm with the girls.

I sure hope it warms up soon.  We all went to soccer practice last night. (Abby wanted to yell "Go Joshua" but she suddenly became too shy once we were there.) They played against two of the other teams to practice. Joshua made a goal attempt and just barely missed.  We were so proud of him for trying though! I think his soccer level has pre k and k children playing so some of the players have played before. The actual games start Tuesday. Anyhow, here are the kiddos all bundled up to watch last night. (Joshua is in the star shape.  He is number 9.)

Here he is....

What a cutie! He is so excited to play and wear his uniform!

Green Dinosaurs (Soccer)

Joshua joined his first sport last week...soccer!  He has been wanting to play for a long time.  (Soccer is actually the only thing he can sign up to play at age 4 around here.) He missed his second day of practice since he was sick so I missed the memo about him wearing his team jersey. Anyhow, here are a couple of shots of him at practice tonight.  He LOVED it.  He had so much fun and was such a great listener. They picked their team name...the Green Dinosaurs. He sticks his tongue out when he concentrates...so cute but I hope he doesn't catch a bug! Eeeewwwww!

Joshua is finally feeling better but Jeremy, Abby and Ellie are all under the weather. I hope everyone is healthy again very soon!!!

My sister, Ellie's six month portrait and my little chef

Crystal stopped over with her friend for a quick visit.  it was good to see her but it was way too short. Doesn't her new hair look so pretty on her?? 













I tried to get a good portrait of Ellie today to add to the wall with Joshua and Abby's 6 month photos. Instead of paying too much for someone else to take her picture, I thought I';d give it a shot.  Our little photo session was short, though, because little miss Abby wasn't cooperating (she kept running in front of the camera).  Anyhow, I got a couple of good ones.  I think this one is my favorite. But I haven't decided for sure yet.

Here are a couple of others...what do you think?

And here is Abby wearing a chef's hat I made for her(and a wild hair clip underneath it).  She loves to "cook" at her kitchen.  She even brings over my recipe books to "read" from while she cooks. :)

A couple of random photos

Just a couple of fun photos to share. Abby loves doing anything Joshua is doing.  If he's playing cars, she wants to play cars.  If he is coloring, she wants to color.  If he is reading in bed, she wants to be right there next to him. Here they are in Joshua's bed (with bed head!) using their Tag/Bugsby readers (little "pens" that read the books to them and ask questions).  They often wake up before we do and read/play in their room.

One afternoon, Joshua asked me to take pictures of him with Ellie.  He sat there holding her and tilting his head in different poses (without me telling him to do it) while I snapped away.  It was pretty funny. 













I hope you have a great weekend.
Stacey

Sitting and sleeping

Ellie's been working on her sitting skills. She's getting better every day! (And then after a while she flops onto her belly and gets mad. :) )

Here, she is exercising her vocal cords and having some tummy time.

And here's what happens when a 2 1/2 year old refuses to nap.  (This is the kitchen, just a few minutes before dinner.)

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!

My best tool in the kitchen!

I had a friend email and ask me about cooking my oven fries (her's almost burnt on the bottom) so I wanted to share a secret with you all. My secret weapon in the kitchen is Pampered Chef Stoneware!!!!  I honestly don't know how I cooked anything before it. Maybe I didn't cook. LOL I can't remember.  I have been using it for about 6 or more years now and it is amazing!  My go-to item is my large bar pan but I also love my pizza stones (I have two!!), my bread pan, my large casserole pan, my round casserole dish and my muffin pan.  Awesome stuff!!  (And no one is asking me to promote these...I just really love them!) (You know, I can't remember if I had a problem with the bottoms of things burning when I lived in California...could be after I moved to a higher elevation (alomst 6000 ft.) or could just be that I didn't cook as much before...anyhow, just thinking out loud!)

Let me tell you why stoneware is so amazing.
1. It cooks food evenly. Things don't get too brown on the bottom before the top of the food gets browned.
2. Food doesn't stick (well, a little bit sometimes, but hardly at all if you season them well!). 
3. It's easy to clean (once again, if you have seasoned them well...I'll explain that below.) Ever soak a lasagna pan forEVER to remove the stuck on cheese?? It cleans off of stoneware so easily!
4. It keeps food hot longer.
5. It is both oven and microwave safe (and freezer safe but I never put mine in the freezer)....but never put it in the dishwasher or use soap!!!  Soap will ruin stoneware.  I use the little scrapper that comes with stoneware and a dishrag that never comes into contact with soap.

Now, you might notice that the stoneware is a little pricey.  In my opinion, it is well worth the investment.  I have had mine for years and it works even better now than when I first got it.  Just being able to bake cookies, biscuits, etc. without the bottoms burning is worth it to me! And don't even bother to try the less expensive stoneware you might find at the store.  I have tried it and it is not nearly the same. Look up a PC consultant near you and buy it from her.  You can even host a little cooking party if you like...I have hosted and been to several-I love PC stuff!

As I mentioned above, the key to having wonderful results with stoneware is to season it properly.  You MUST cook high fat content foods in it the first several times.  Don't be tempted to skimp here.  You know you want those croissants, bicuits, brownies and cookies anyhow.  (Or give them away to a neighbor if the temptation is too great for you.) But really, this is key.  Spray it with non-stick spray AND cook something high in fat. I always do this at least 3 times before I cook low fat goodies.  Your stone will turn dark brown over time.  This means it is well-seasoned and how it is supposed to look so don't worry. Now, I have heard a consultant say that all you have to do is spray it with cooking spray to season it...if your's says this, don't believe her! Trust me.  I have many well-loved and seasoned pans and can tell you from experience that you cannot skip this critical step of seasoning it well. LOL

Ok, I will stop going on and on about PC Stoneware now.  :) Feel free to ask if you have any questions about what pans I use/recommend or if you need a good recipe to season your new stoneware.
*One last thing to mention is that all ovens are different and you often need to adjust the cooking temperatures or times of a recipe to fit your particular oven.  Keep that in mind and try to learn if your oven cooks extra hot or takes longer to cook things. It's helpful to have an oven thermometer as well.)
Happy baking!!!