Mr. Potato Head

Steve calls Colby "Potato Boy" or "Spud" a lot. I'm not sure why. I inquired. He's not sure why, either. It makes me laugh.

The real reason for this post, though, is to document that Colby is learning the parts of the body. He got belly button quite awhile ago and then feet (because he loves to play the "stinky feet" game). Now he's added ears, eyes, nose, and mouth to his list of accomplishments. It made me think of Mr. Potato Head and voila.... a post was born!

Larger than most

I had both kids in for well-checks yesterday.

At 3 years old, Kailin weighs in at 33lbs and 39" tall. Colby is up to 27.5lbs and 33 1/2" tall at 18 mos. They're both at 75% for height and weight. I find it interesting (although I guess not surprising given God's plan) that we would end up with not one, but two taller than average Asian kids!

Maybe I won't always be the Jolly Green Giant in our family! ha ha ha.

I thought I would share the portraits we had done last month. Kailin was, of course, sporting a lovely scratch across her forehead.

So.....Use the fork, Colby.... use the fork!

Kailin has a big crush on the word "so" lately. So..... a lot of her sentences start (and end) with so. Example; "So then we put the toy in the box so......." the end. That's the end of the sentence. It is far more humorous to hear than to type, but I wanted to remember it, so there you go.

Colby is learning to use a fork and spoon. He's actually pretty good with the fork. The spoon skills could use some work, but they're coming along. Last night at dinner, Steve was feeding him and then it occurred to him that Colby could be doing it himself. He put three pieces of pork chop on Colby's tray and handed him the fork. Colby immediately started stuffing the pieces into his mouth using his hands. Steve said, "No, the fork, Colby! Use the fork!" and then we all laughed because it sounded just like it was out of a Star Wars spoof. He took heed, though, and speared a piece of meat. Then he looked at his fork and decided if one piece of meat on there was good, two must be better and tried to jam another one on there. We had to laugh at him a little. It didn't work, so that piece went into his mouth (immediately) the old fashioned way. That boy....

This much I know...

There is a lot in life that I don't know. But here are two things I do.

Just when I think my kids have driven me to the very edge of what I can stand - to the point I want to throw up my hands and say "You win - you're too much for me today and I give up!" one of them will inevitably do something that warms my heart to it's very core and proves to me that putting up with all the frustrating, nuts driving, insanity will pay out a million fold in moments like these. We were all upstairs after Colby's nap and Kailin got a time-out for refusing to give her brother back his bink after she'd been told numerous times to do so. She refused to take the time out and as a result, lost her stuffed bear and moose while she was in her room. Colby gathered them up and he and I sat in the rocking chair until Kailin was ready to come out. She asked for her animals back, as I knew she would. I told her that she could have one or the other and she could choose, but that you lose your turn with toys when you have to go to time out. I prepared for a fit and another time-out. She looked at me and looked at her brother. I bristled with anticipation and told her to go ahead and choose or I would choose for her. She looked at me with a smile and said, "I will wait, Mama. I will wait for Colby be done." I could've cried tears of joy. I wait and wait for the day when the tender times number more than the fights and days like today give me hope.

The other thing I know is that Colby adores Fraggle Rock. I bought a couple of dvds for Kailin thinking it would be a change from her normal animated stuff. She doesn't really like it all that much. Colby, on the other hand, squeals with delight at the Fraggles bouncing around. He grooves and bops to "Dance your cares away....worries for another day...." I love it. I love watching my kids delight in anything - it's a better feeling than any other I know.

One last thing - We went for a couple of bike rides this weekend and both times the kids both fell asleep - on each other. It was darling to see and I'll add the picture we took to this post as soon as I upload it.

Snuggle bug

We're weaning Colby of his morning naps. It's nice during the week to have a break in the morning, but it's a royal pain on the weekends to have to try to plan around two naps. It's time. But it's not easy (and also not fun). We were outside much of the morning today as it is one of those days that's just glorious beyond compare - birds singing, breeze blowing, temperate, blue sky (no scent of charring brownies on the air).... a true gift from God. Anyway, Colby just came over and crawled up into my lap with his blanket and is, to my surprise, out like a light all snuggled up on my chest. I could be annoyed that he probably won't take a good afternoon nap, but I'm choosing to take it in and snuggle him back and appreciate this rare chance and this fleeting time. Too soon he won't want my snuggles anymore and too soon I'll be wishing for this time back. And also too soon the noodles will be done and I'll have to disturb his peaceful dreams. But for this moment I will thank God for my boy and for this day and for these few minutes when I can feel his sweet fuzz on my face and his hot breath on my chest and revel in motherhood. There goes the timer. Figures. Ha ha.

Grandma Alley's Peach Cobbler

I made the Paula Deen peach cobbler with raspberries (we were fortunate to get about a quart and a half of free raspberries last week....MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM) thrown in and it was GOOOOOOODDDDDDD!!!!!

Anyway, someone asked me to post my grandma's peach cobbler recipe (actually my great grandma's recipe I've learned) and here it is:

Fill a cake pan (no joke - no size listed here... but I use either an 8x8 for a half recipe or a 9x13 for a full) 3/4 full with peeled, sliced peaches . In a separate bowl, combine 1c. sugar, 3Tbsp (rounded) each of flour and cornstarch. Pour over the peaches and mix (the original recipe says "mux together" -- Mux. How much trashier does it get than that?? Ha ha). Dot with butter. In another bowl, mix 2c flour, a dash of salt, a little vanilla, and 3/4c shortening (I used half butter, half margarine since I was out of shortening and it turned out fine) with a fork until crumbly. Add milk until a sticky dough forms. Roll out like a pie crust and put over peaches. Top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 375 until browned.

Leaves a lot of room for play, doesn't it? I added some extra cinnamon to the peach mixture and also refrigerated the dough for a little bit before I rolled it out between two pieces of wax paper (easier to move and also less sticking to the rolling pin!).

Movers and shakers and the smell of earth...

Yesterday the kids delighted me with their version of the K&C Moving Company as they carried Kailin's doll bunk beds round and round through the house. Colby thought it was hysterical and laughed the entire time and Kailin thought it was funny that he thought it was funny, so then she was giggling. The boys just watched. ha ha.

I bought beets at the farmer's market the weekend before last. They're a favorite with the whole family and I meant to have them last week. Anyway, I boiled them all up last night (my original intention was to try roasting them, but we were running the air conditioning and I just couldn't justify heating up the house with the oven....although then I went upstairs to take a break and Steve turned it on to make french fries... ha ha ha. Oh well!). As they were boiling, my whole house smelled like dirt. That doesn't sound as poetic as it should. Maybe I should say that it smelled earthy. Anyway, I love the smell of earth and in the absence of a garden this year (I'm hoping to put in a vegetable garden next year), I'll take it however I can get it. The kids snarfed down two portions each and Steve and I followed suit. I'm sure we'll all be seeing the results of our efforts today, but those fresh beets are soooo sweet and good - who can resist?

I had to throw on this picture of Colby from yesterday. It was his first efforts at finger painting. He did really well right up until the end. He was overjoyed to be able to choose the colors of paint and despite his tendency to avoid a mess, he delved right in. Then....I turned my back and he REALLY got into it! Ha ha ha. It was a breeze to clean up and he had a ball. Well worth the effort!