Our Buddies

On Saturday afternoon, my friend Emily, her husband Matt, and their boys Ethan (4) and Caleb (3) came to visit. They live about an hour an a half away but were in town buying a new car, so it was a great excuse to get together. FYI, they say for lightning-fast service at a car dealership, bring two small children with you and the salespeople will bend over backwards to make sure you're out the door asap! We hung out at our place for awhile before all going to get dinner.

Actually, I think think the same thing goes for restaurants as for car dealerships, since we were in and out in record time! It was so nice seeing everyone, and I love getting the boys together in the hopes of cultivating a second generation of life-long friends.

(A few pics of snack time.)

This and That

• We are very sharing people.  We've now given our virus to my mom, my brother, and Caleb.  It was a week incubation period, which seems strange. 

• Have you ever eaten a Luna Protein bar?  This is your warning never to buy them!  I bought them because I'm supposed to be eating around 70 grams of protein now that I'm pregnant, and these bars had the highest amount of protein (12 grams) for the least amount of calories (170).  However, they taste like chocolatey soap.  I'm not picky by any means, but these are hardly fit to eat.

• I've been experimenting with some other techniques other than time out for Jacob.  When he asks to go  in time out in order to get out of doing something, there's a flaw in the system.  He seems to enjoy being a helper, though, so I'm trying to play off that.  He likes to think he's being treated like an adult (which I can totally remember thinking), so getting choices and a chance to show us what a big boy he is may be the way to go for him. 

• Speaking of acting like an adult, he now wants to read books to us!  It usually consists of him naming the pictures on each page.  ("There's an apple; That a moon; a phone; That's bunny.  He sleepin'.")

 

• I made a strawberry pie this morning, the easy kind with Jell-o.

 

• This evening we're going to an event with my mom's group called "Pizza, Park, and Glitter Tattoos."  They had me at glitter tattoos! We're all meeting at a park for dinner, and they've hired a "professional" who routinely works kids' birthday parties to be the tattoo artist.  There are 95 people signed up!  Between that tattoo-ing, the wind, and the sheer amount of people that are expected to be there, it should be crazy! 

• Anyone else obsessed with "GCB"?  We love that show!  A friend who used to live in Dallas told us that the church and some of the homes really do exist, so that made me want to watch even more. I watch way too many fluffy tv shows-- I need an intervention! 

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I Have a Noodler

Absence

I didn't mean to take such a long blog break. 

Last week we were hit by The Great Stomach Virus of 2012, and it pretty much stopped us in our tracks for a few days.  I can't remember ever being so sick, like can't-even-crawl-upstairs-to-take-off-my-makeup sick.  Not fun.

Last week was also finals week in my classs, so most of my free time was consumed with grading. 

There are a few pictures I hadn't shared yet, so you'll forgive that the first is from two weekends ago when we met Frank's parents in St. Louis.  We went to the Soulard Market and then to the zoo. 

 
Jacob is at that stage where he thinks he's too big for a stroller, but he's really too small to walk without holding someone's hand.  This was the perfect solution!

This past weekend, Jacob and I went to my parents' while Frank was in Chicago at a Cubs game.  Remember how Jacob has issues with Caleb?  Magically, they seem to have resolved!  They weren't BFFs or anything, but they played in the same room and nobody cried. 

Maybe it's because they discovered a mutual love of Thomas the Train videos, which is what they're watching here.  Whatever it was, I'm happy to have finally turned that corner. 

This turned out to be a very scatterbrained post, but that's also representative of the kind of week we've had!

Baby #2 is a ............

BOY!

He appears healthy, is measuring on track and looks just like Jacob did at his 20 week ultrasound. 

So after hearing he looked healthy, my attention naturally shifted to the nursery.  Baby 2 is getting Jacob's navy and white crib bedding, and Jacob is getting big-boy bedding.  (Poor second child; the hand-me-downs have begun already...)

Jacob's room is very masculine and bold, with dark furniture, apple green walls, navy curtains, and navy and white bedding.  Oh yeah, and there's this huge map in Jacob's room:

For #2, we will use the same bedding, minus the bumper, of course.

But I'm thinking a little lighter and brighter this time.  Since we're saving money by reusing the bedding, I think a coat of paint is in order for Baby's room.  I'm really digging the stripes in these pictures:

Source: hgtv.com via Lori on Pinterest

Source: ahomeblog.blogspot.com via Lori on Pinterest

I really like the light blues, greys, and oranges, too.  Those colors would work well with our existing bedding yet look totally different from Jacob's space. 

This nursery may be the most painless redecorating project I've ever tackled. 

Now, if we could just decide on a name...

Opening Day at Busch Staduim

I'm a girly girl.

The talk of baseball and cars that seems to be on endless loop around here really doesn't interest me at all, but I remembered that today was opening day at Busch Staduim so I dressed Jacob in his Cardinals jersey. 

When I showed him to Frank (who was also dressed in a Cardinals shirt today), Frank said, "Did you know the Cardinals play a minor league team today?" 

"They do?"

"Yeah, and why are you in blue?"

"I don't know. I just put on this shirt.  Who do they play?  Someone whose color is blue?"

"The Cubs!  They play the Cubs!  Get it, "minor league?"  You should put on a different shirt."

Jacob chimes in with, "Yeah!" 

Obviously, I am easily confused, so it's just not nice to mess with me like that!

(I actually took these pictures a few weeks ago when I was nice outside.  Today was chilly and rainy.)

Raining on my Parade

I'm seeing some intentional humor creep into Jacob's actions and vocabulary.  It's actually pretty funny because he'll do or say something that's totally off the wall, and then he giggles at himself and looks at us like, "Aren't I hilarious?"

The other night, I was changing him into his pajamas and singing, "You Are My Sunshine."  After I finished, he gives me a little smile and very emphatically states, "I take your sunshine away, mama!  I put water on it!" 

Such a naughty little dude.

Coloring Easter Eggs and Resurrection Rolls

On Thursday evening, our family project was coloring Easter eggs.  Have you ever colored Easter eggs with a 2 year old?  It will keep you on your toes!

First, I thought I'd hold him and he could tell me which colors to make the eggs. 

But J prefers to work independently.

He was also really more interested in the egg dipper than anything else.

Frank caught him and brought him back to the table.

Fortunately, Frank, who claims (loudly) to hate these projects, is turning into quite the fine Easter egg-colorer.

By the time the kids are old enough to know what's going on, we'll be pros!  Frank even commented afterwards that these were some of the prettiest eggs we've ever done!

On the morning of Good Friday, I decided to make Resurrection Rolls.  Have you heard about these?

Here is what you need:

• 1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 8 large marshmallows
• Melted butter
• Cinnamon
• Sugar

Directions:

• Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.
• Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ.
• Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.
• Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.
• Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will "ooze" out of the seams)
• Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes
• Cool.
• Break open the tomb and the body of Christ is no longer there--- HE IS RISEN!  (The marshmallow disappears into the roll while baking)

Such a neat illustration!  I knew Jacob was a little young for the symbolism, but he loved the cinnamon and sugar! 

Pasta and Asparagus

We are asparagus people.  I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it in the spring. 

For lunch today, we had Pasta and Asparagus.  It was sooo good, I wanted to share the recipe.

Pasta with AsparagusSkinnytaste.com
Ingredients:

• 1 lb thin asparagus, cut into 2" pieces (tough ends trimmed)
• 6 oz uncooked pasta
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and fresh cracked pepper
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

In a large pot boil 4 cups water with salt. When boiling, add asparagus and cook 3-5 minutes, until tender crisp. Drain asparagus in colander reserving 1 cup liquid before draining.

Fill pot with salted water, cover and boil for pasta. When water boils cook pasta according to package directions for al dente.

Meanwhile, in a sauté pan heat olive oil. Add garlic and cook until golden, add asparagus, salt and pepper and sauté about 1-2 minutes, tossing with oil and garlic.

In a small bowl combine egg yolk, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/4 cup reserved asparagus liquid, salt and pepper. Mix well. After pasta is drained return to pot and mix with egg mixture. Cook on medium-low about 2 minutes, until sauce thickens and sticks to pasta. Toss in asparagus and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. If pasta seems too dry add more reserved liquid a tablespoon at a time.

Serve with additional grated cheese

Image via

Still Here

I'm still here!

Teaching has kept me very busy during the past few weeks, and I was picked up for two more classes during the May-June session.  I'm happy for the extra money because it seems like we've had a lot of extra bills recently. 

When I'm not working, we've been outside as much as possible.  This is my kind of spring!!
I leave you with a picture of Jacob that I took before church last Sunday.  Sunglasses + dolphin = cool dude.