Emily packed a lunch for me...

Wendy made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and there was half of a sandwich left over. Just before Emily went to bed she said she had packed my lunch and was going to put it in the fridge for me. After the kids were in bed, I went to look at what she had done and this is what I found. The best is the note and the fact she signed it from Avery as well. Love the Life-Saver mint taped to it. This kid rocks.

Free at last...

The wait is finally over. Well it's been a few weeks now but after living in this country for just over 34 years all of the paperwork cleared and I was sworn in as a citizen of the United States of America. It was a very short ceremony but a great learning experience for the kids. Wendy's first question following the ceremony was "Where are we going to go now that we can leave the country?" Maybe a short trip to Canada. That seems safe.

Feeding the Spider Monkeys at the Adirondack Animal Land

The best thing about the wild animal park was feeding Fruit-loops to the spider monkeys. Emily can be heard in the video to say that the monkeys hands are "hard, not all lotiony." They were also quite good as using their prehensil tails to grab on to the food as well.

Northville 4th of July Parade

The kids had alot of fun at the parade in town. The parade route was a short walk from the house into town. They had a very nice parade and it looked like all the surrounding towns and villages participated. There were fire trucks and rescue vehicles (even a small hovercraft) and lots of classic cars. They had a drum and bagpipe regiment as well. Of course the kids loved all the candy they got. If you listen carefully to the video, that is what Avery is repeating to himself halfway through the video. CANDY!!!

Emily and Avery Fishing with Dad and Grandpa T

The fishing was great. Grandpa T bought a bunch of worms and the kids had a blast. As you can see it didn't matter how big those fish were, they were just so excited to be fishing. They are still too young to bait the hook and unhook the fish once it's caught but isn't that what Dads are for?

Fourth of July in New York

We were able to spend the Fourth of July in upstate New York with part of the Tartaglia clan. They have a small house on a lake in a small town, village really, called Northville. We all had a great time. We flew in to NYC on a Wednesday and stayed in the city that night. It was great to see Aunt Mary and Amy and Ivan and Alex. Emily and Avery were so excited to see their cousin Alex. He is 8 now and came with us on the drive up to the house the next day. Grannie Annie and Grandpa T were already there waiting for us. The kids had a great time fishing for the first time and riding on the paddle-boats. We tried to swim but the water is still very cold even though it was 75 degrees the entire time we were there.

Fathers and Sons Campout 2009

Avery went camping with Dad and Paka this weekend. After a leasurely fish fry dinner at the Cracker Barrel on the way up, he helped get camp set up at the Pine Log Wilderness Mountain Area near White, GA. It was wet but he had a blast. A heavy thunderstorm Friday night didn't even put a dent in his enthusiasm. He had his headlamp and a saftety wistle (with a thermometer, compass and magnifying glass on it) and his sleeping bag which is apparently all he needs. As the wind and rain pelted the tent he read his picture books (by the light of his headlamp) and commented on how cool and awesome camping was. There were lots of other fathers and sons from our Stake but none of his more immediate friends were able to be there. Fortunately there was a small stream nearby that kept him busy most of the evening on Friday. Who knew throwing rocks into a stream could be so entertaining! After eating pancakes early Saturday morning and throwing a few more rocks into the stream for good measure, Avery fell asleep on the ride home. It was a short campout but he remained enthusiatic throughout which by any measure makes it a great success.

Kid kissing pig

He wants what?

This morning Avery comes in my room and says to me, "Mom, when can we get a pig?"  What??

Most kids want a dog, cat, fish, etc. but my kid wants a pig because pigs are so "cute" he says. Wow. It's actually not a bad idea--if you live on a farm. I'll get right on that.

Avery's Room

Over Christmas break we decided it was time to do Avery's room. The poor kid hasn't even had his own blanket since he was a baby. Santa brought him a new bed set and lamp so we painted it to match. We added a few things after this picture was taken but I thought it turned out pretty good. Thanks for the idea, Bridget!

Chrismas morning...

In the excitement of the morning we remembered to video the kids but didn't remember to take pictures! So the following are the only two pictures to document the day.

Paka and Mimi came over to spend some time with us Christmas morning. We loved that they were able to spend some time with us because the kids were sick Christmas eve and we had to miss the party with the family.



Santa was very generous to us and we had a wonderful time.

He brought me a new professional series KitchenAid and so I had to bust it out that morning and make a cake! This is one of my favorite cakes ever!






Cranberry Cake

3/4 C Butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
3 Eggs
1 1/2 C Sour Cream
7-8oz Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
1 1/2 tsp soda
3 C flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp almond/vanilla extract
3/4 C nuts

Cream butter and sugar; add egg one at a time beating after each one. Mix dry ingredients. Add alternately with sour cream. Add flavoring. Grease and flour bundt pan. Put 1/3 batter on bottom. Swirl half the cranberry sauce onto the layer and sprinkle with a few nuts. Swirl into the batter and repeat layers until used up. Bake at 350 for 1hr or until doen. Cool 5 minutes in pan. Turn on rack and cool.

Glaze

1 rounded C powdered sugar
1 1/2 TBSP warm water
3/4 tsp almond extract

Mix and drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with nuts. ( I prefer slivered almonds or pecans)

Christmas break...

Over the break we had a really good time dog-sitting Popcorn and Coco for some friends of ours that went on vacation. The kids adore them (so do Andrew and I) and couldn't wait to take them outside whenever they got a chance. We also had fun decorating our gingerbread house that was made by our friend Susie Connell. Thanks Susie, we had a great time!!

Some updates...

So it's been awhile again since I last posted and I'm just going to update everyone in a few different posts instead of cramming it all into one. 

Below are the pies I made for Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. The pumpkin pie is made from our Halloween pumpkin this year. We never ended up carving it so I cooked it down and made some puree. It turned out really good, I thought. 

Also, I made my mom's apple pie and that was scrum-diddly-umptious! I would include the recipe but I'm feeling lazy so if you really want it then shoot me an email. 

Many of you know that I'm a Twilight fan so my friends Shauna, Bridget and I had a girl's night and enjoyed going to see it the night it opened. Of course Shauna and I had to wear our nerdy Twilight shirts from when we went to the book party for Breaking Dawn. They say "Team Edward, Cooler than a Werewolf" in case you can't read it.


The finished pumpkin pie.. I didn't take a "before" picture.

Before the oven....

The finished product!