Birthdays! My babies are getting big!

Alexander turned the big 3 on the 10th of November. He had a fun day! I let him pick out a donut at the store in the morning and then we bought him some new markers and some stickers! He LOVED his piglet cake and still talks about it sometimes. :D

My handsome boy!

His friend Cameron came over to join in the celebration. Alexander did an awesome job blowing out his candles too!


My sweet baby Melody is 1! I can't believe it. Her birthday was on the 10th of December. The is the present she got from mom and dad. A big stuffed dog! Melody is very sweet and loves to cuddle soft things!

Looking a little tired but excited for her cupcake!

Hmm. what's this...?

Yummy!

Melody had a great time eating, or atleast playing.., with her cupcake!


Happy Birthday to my babies!

This Week In Photos

What happens when Alexander wakes up at 4:30 am....
Melody's reaction to being in her crib in the middle of the day with Alexander:
This is what Melody does while Alexander is taking a bath and can't stop her...
Alexander has been really into Winnie the Pooh the past couple of weeks. I think these pictures were inspired by Rabbit.
Mama in the garden with a hat on, shovel in hand and carrots in the ground:
And here is daddy in the garden. He looks like he is flying..:
We bought these cups for Alexander at Ikea. He loves to pour water from one cup to the next and so on. It can be messy sometimes. This time I put some quinoa in one of his cups. He had fun with that too.
Melody playing dress-up with mommy's jewlery:
Mama and daddy dancing:
and lastly, Melody's hair has really gotten a lot darker this week and a little more curly...!

Trick or Treat!

We took Alexander trick or treating last night! Once he figured out that everyone would give him candy, he didn't hesitate to go up to the doors! I would ring the doorbell and he would knock gently and say "open the door. Trick or treat." He would never actually say it after they opened the door but he would say "thank you." It was very cute! Some friends in the ward invited all of us who live in the apartments over for soup and bread. Then we took the kids trick or treating in the nice neighborhood! It was like in the movies where it is light outside, lots of kids running around, houses all decked out! Melody was a bumblebee, and Alexander was a superhero!(an orange superhero because that is his favorite color and he wears his 'orange outfit' pretty much everyday...) Alexander had so much fun playing and trick or treating, that he fell asleep while I was reading him Winnie the Pooh! Here are some pictures:

Yummy Autumn Recipes

This is a recent recipe I found in Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet". It is super yummy. The spices give it an Indian flavor. It tastes better the second day after the spices have blended a little bit better. It tastes good on its own or served over brown basmati rice! I usually use a mix of sweet potatoes and yams.

Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 small tomoatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Fine sea salt
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes (can use more if you want!)
7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown lentils

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, deep pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Stir in the tomatoes and ginger and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, cumen, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and a small pinch of salt. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then taste for seasonings; try to use only enough salt to heighten the flavors.

Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and lentils. Stir well, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils and sweet potatoes are soft.



This next one is a dessert. It is from pampered chef. It is the recipe I chose for the pampered chef consultant to make at my party. She had never made it before and didn't even want to try it! Her loss as it was simply delicious!

Cranberry-Orange Skillet Bread Pudding

2 large oranges, divided
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
4 large croissants (about 3 oz each)
4 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp sugar

1. Position oven rack to middle setting. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove segments from one orange using paring knife. Cut segments in half; set aside. Zest remaining orange to measure 1 tsp zest; set aside. Juice orange to measure 1/4 cup juice. Combine orange juice, water and cranberries in stainless 10" skillet. Bring to a boil; simmer for 2 minutes or until cranberries are softened.

2. Meanwhile, slice croissants into 1 inch cubes; place cubes in mixing bowl. Add orange segments and cranberry mixture; toss gently and spoon into skillet.

3. In another bowl, wisk eggs and orange zest. Combine half and half and condense milk in microwave save bowl; microwave on HIGH 3-4 minutes or until hot. Slowly add milk mixture over croissants; lightly press down to coat.

4. Sprinkle sugar evenly over pudding. Bake 14-16 minutes or until thermometer registers 155 degrees in center. Without moving skillet from middle oven rack, turn broiler on HIGH. Broil 3-4 minutes or until top of pudding is golden brown.


Hope you enjoy!

My Little Redhead!

Melody is so different from Alexander. I always assummed that babies were babies, but I guess everyone is right when they say each person comes down with their own personalities! Melody doesn't care about tv, has a short attention span, gets mad quickly, loves to eat, smiles at everyone, and loves to be held and walked around even though she can crawl and walk around furniture. She is just so sweet and cuddly! She is scared of water and animals! She HATES baths!
Alexander likes to give her a hard time. She is learning to fight back though! When he tries to take things from her now or push her away she starts hitting and smacking him! Alexander loves her though. When she is crying Alex will run to me and say, "Meldy crying. Pick up!" Its sweet. Melody gets so excited to see Alexander in the mornings that she practically jumps out of my arms!




She is starting to dance to music now and it is adorable. I can't get my video to upload... i will have to try again later... but here are some more cute pictures of her!

Here she is playing with a friend:


and getting upset:


and playing with her favorite thing, my chapstick! (she has now learned how to open it and so has to play with an empty one only....)


I can't believe she will be turning 1 soon!

My Little Artist!

Alexander's Grandma and Grandpa bought this easel for him while they were visiting. He loves it! It has a white board on one side and a chalkboard on the other. The Paper hangs over the chalkboard side. I know I am just bragging, but who doesn't when they have such a talented kid :D He loves to draw people the most. He draws D.W., Arthur (as seen above)or he draws his family (as seen below..)



He had Mark draw the shirt and pants on himself. He likes us to draw with him. He has a hard time with the shirt and pants so he usually just puts everyone in a dress, but he is getting better! Mark is always drawn with spiky hair, I always have long hair, Melody has a bow in her hair and Alex wears a hat!



here is a picture of me he drew this morning:




Besides drawing, Alexander likes to help me make things in the kitchen. Sometimes he will pull his chair in the kitchen and demand I make something by saying "I help you." Hard to resist! Mostly he just watches me and stirs the bowl every once in a while. Alex also loves to watch movies. I think if I let him he would spend half of his day just sitting in front of the tv! He loves to watch Arthur, Winnie the Pooh, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Cinderella! He also likes to go down slides and take walks! I probably read a dozen books to him each day and he enjoys going to the library to find new books though he is often sad he has to return ones that he likes. I love my little boy! I can't believe he will be 3 next month!

4 Years!

Today Mark and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary! So I thought that I would blog today a little bit about the past! We met at a young single adult branch of my church after Mark returned home from a mission to Chile in May 2005. Of course both me and Mark being shy like we are, it took us a few weeks to actually talk to eachother! We were at a church sponsored dance and he asked me dance! My favorite memory of Mark before we started dating was when we were at a church campout. It was almost dark by the time Brittany, Jessica, and I got there and there was Mark sitting around the campfire, playing his guitar and singing! I love music and always hoped I would marry someone with musical talent! Later I wanted to go out to the feild and gaze up at the stares so a group of us went out, Mark included. He and his friend Helaman started quoting and singing from Disney's Beauty and the Beast! It was lots of fun!
Our first date was a week or so later at the end of July. We went to It's Greek to Me, a delicious Greek resturant, and then walked around Fort Steilicoom Park. Mark was the sweetest most thoughtful guy I had ever dated and so of course, I was smitten and we began to hang out almost every day after that! Here are some pictures of us before we got married!

Favorite Breakfasts

I love breakfast! These following two recipes are just two of my favorite recipes. I make the puffed oven pancake for me and Alexander atleast once a week. He loves it too.

Puffed Oven Pancake

2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I use canola harvest margerine b/c its the best!)
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt (I leave salt out of all my baking. A habit I picked up from my mother)
A topping of your choice. The recipe says marmalade or fresh fruit with whipped cream or powdered sugar. I either use butter and powdered sugar or raspberry jelly.

Place butter in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet. Place in a 400 degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes or until butter melts. Meanwhile, for batter, in a medium bowl use a wire whisk or rotary beater to beat eggs until combined. Add flour, milk, and salt; beat until mixture is smooth. (there will be less lumps if you beat in flour first then add milk.) Immediatly pour batter into the hot skillet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until puffed and well browned. Serve warm!


Oatmeal Hotcakes

Soak overnight - 2 cups oatmeal, 2 cups water, 1 tsp vinegar

In the morning add:
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons honey
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (optional and they taste better without;))

Just mix it all together and cook like pancakes. I like to eat mine with applesauce. Yum! I love applesauce. Did you know that you use applesauce in the place of eggs in many recipes? I even use it when I make normal pancakes! yum yum

the beginning!

Alright Jenette, I am starting a blog! Now I just have to figure out what to blog about! Well here are two of my most favorite people!