Leftovers

I found a couple pictures that weren't posted...most of them Kelsey and her scowl-y face!

 

This was the last time we had to wear winter hats! (of course it's my hat she's
being silly with)

Doing flippys!

Oh snap!

Found the bubbles!!

The kids drive the powerwheels so far and then abandon it in the yard.
Then Craig has to drive it back to the garage :)

Again I hear, "Mommmmmmmmmmmmm!"
 

Spring is here and we have been spending almost each evening outside absorbing all the fresh air we can! Besides trying to contain the kids to the backyard, we are having so much playing outside this year.

We ROCK!

Rock Band for Wii, that is! As we have been slowly getting our basement back to normal, obviously the first things we took care of were walls and floors. So now we've been replacing the damaged electronics. And with all of the rain, the kids not being able to get outside, we NEEDED another avenue to release their energy! I know they watch the sitter's grandson play Wii baseball, so they get the concept of the video games. Craig plays the "guitar" and the kids grab the drum sticks. Of course, Craig doesn't actually activate the drummer on the video game. Drew doesn't like to share the drumsticks, which maybe shows how passionate he is about drumming because I can get him to share pretty much anything by saying the word, "share" to him. We may be on the hunt for another set of drumsticks so Kelsey and Drew can be dueling drummers. The best part is hearing the kids exclaim, "I wanna dum!" or "I dum" every night after dinner. I told Craig we have to watch what they say in public because people may think we call our kids DUMB and they are repeating it! I know "r's" are hard to pronounce, even Drew says, "I Dew" with no r. We try saying DRUM to them, to emphasize the R they are missing and they just say "dum" as if, duh mom I just said that. I know it will come, right?

 

 

 Then on Saturday, we were in Wausau to celebrate Braden and Ella's birthdays. Cousin Braden has a REAL drum set and the kids were in heaven! They were so excited when it made actual noise and we had a hard time getting them away from it. And no, we will not be asking for a drum set for Christmas :)

Spring Has Not Sprung

I thought I'd post some pictures of the tiny bit of Spring we experienced over Craig's spring break. Like, he was able to take the kids outside, granted they had to wear winter coats but weren't wet and muddy as one would think in this weather. I know it's hard to believe there was sunshine and dry ground only a week ago. We are so excited for parks and playgrounds and tricycles and turning the T.V. OFF - then maybe the kids won't ask about Caillou every.second.of.the.day. Caillou is a cartoon on Sprout. He's four years old and bald, yes totally bald. We aren't sure what his appeal is but almost any moment that Caillou isn't ON the television, one of the kids is asking, "Where's Caillou? I wan Caillou." And they laugh at him and are totally mesmerized by the short cartoon clips.

Otherwise the kids have been doing a lot of "colouring" then Kelsey says, "look - TADA!" We've been trying to get the kids to say "love you" back to us but they just associate us saying love you with a kiss - so they pucker up!

 

Sometimes you just gotta lay down at the department store!

 

Happy Easter

With all of the sickies we had this week, Easter was going to be a game-time decision for us. The kids woke up pretty normal Sunday morning and actually ventured OUT of the living room for the first time in a week. I didn't see them play on their own at all before this. So I figured they were feeling more like themselves. But the true test comes after waking up, so we were going to make the absolute decision after naptime.

They woke up "okay" and they had spent a lot of time indoors last week so I wanted them to be able to get out. Drew actually climbed into the stroller Sunday morning, asked for his coat, and asked to "go out". So, knowing it would be a quick visit, (by the time they got up and we drove up there we would only be spending about 2 hours with other people) we packed things up while the kids finished napping. It all started out fine but I don't know if I said the trigger word "home" or they were just done with Easter but they were in tears by the time we left.

They are in much better spirits today; back to their goofy selves with a lot less coughing, snot, and crabbiness!

Sweet baby Etta, trying to figure out all these kids!

Drew had no trouble jumping in and playing with the toys.

"I did it!"

I don't know about that face

Movie star...diva...top dog. just a few words come to mind when we
see her like this!

Classic Uncle Derek pose - point at nothing and ponder it.

Stealing hugs from a shy, squirmy Kelsey

Birthday Recipes

We had lots of compliments/questions on a couple of goodies from the birthday party last week. So I thought I would post the recipes for anyone interested in trying them! And don't worry: the cream cheese cinnamon goodness that my grandma made comes calorie/fat/sugar/guilt FREE ;) Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Stix

Ingredients:
2 packages (8 ounce size) cream cheese, softened
2  egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 loaves white sandwich bread
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon mixed w/
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, melted

Directions:
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg yolk, and 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth; set aside.

Cut the crust off each slice of bread then roll out each slice with a rolling pin. Spread the cheese mixture over one end of the bread,,roll up tightly. Dip rolls into melted butter, then into sugar-cinnamon mixture.

 Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Cover with foil and freeze for at least 8 hrs. Bake frozen, uncovered, at 400 for 15 to 20 min, until brown.

Hawaiian Bun Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ingredients

1 12 pack of King's Hawaiian Original Rolls

1 lb. deli ham, shaved (I used black forest ham)

1 lb. Swiss cheese or Havarti, thinly sliced

1 1/2 sticks butter

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3 teaspoons of poppy seeds (optional)

1 onion, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350. Melt butter and mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion and poppy seed. Simmer for several minutes.

2. Cut the entire pack of rolls in half, horizontally (keeping all top and bottom halves in tact).

3. In a tin foil lined 9x13 pan, place bottom half of rolls and spread 1/3 of the onion mixture over the bottom of the rolls followed by the ham and cheese.

4. Replace the tops of the rolls and spread the remaining onion mixture over top.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. When finished, cut along "bun" lines for serving.

The Sickies

Well, we had a good go of winter. The kids managed to get 1 minor cold back in December. Then Saturday night after the birthday party, Kelsey threw up 4 times. I attributed it to all the frosting she ate - because that's all she ate off of her cake! (and the color of the puke, but I'll spare you the details). Drew was kinda out of it Sunday afternoon and crabby Monday. They both  had low fevers Monday and Kelsey was starting this crunchy cough. Oh h*ll no, I thought - we have PICTURES Tuesday! It would be par for the course; last year we didn't plan accordingly and it was daylight savings, so we were an hour off which caused Drew to skip a nap. And that kid NEEDS to nap! Of course I was a little worried he would be uncooperative and I left the session thinking, "I know Christy is talented but can she create happy, beautiful pics when my kids just weren't into it?"

So this year, same song and dance. Drew had melt-down after melt-down for the first hour of the session, like wanted to LEAVE the building. Kelsey's nose was dripping something fierce but she was overall happy. Then "trying" to get all of us together, in the same general area for an actual family photo was next to impossible. One saving grace was that the Chicago 'L' passed by the window about every 10 minutes to distract Drew from his crabbiness. We also hopped over to Montrose Beach to get some outdoor pics but the breeze coming off the lake was unbearable. Drew was just loving being outdoors and I so wished it would have been a tad warmer for the kids.

There is already a sneak peak on Christy's blog and hopefully we will have ALL of the pictures in a couple weeks. Have a great Easter holiday - we are praying the kids feel better so we can attend an Easter egg hunt at my aunt's (who dresses up like the Easter bunny too!).

2 Two-Year Olds!

Officially today the kids have turned 2! We had such a great "train" party, celebrating with our families. They have grown into such different little people. They are fairly independent of each other; Kelsey is polite, quieter, and shy. Drew is silly, loud, a show-off, and still learning his manners. We aren't even talking about moving them OUT of their cribs.There is only a little talk of using the "potty". Drew actually talks about pee a lot lately and will tell you when he stinks. They eat and sleep well, although we are working on liking our vegetables more! Drew's been waking up at night for about 15 min, I rock him back to sleep, put him back to bed and there is not a peep out of him after - hope it's just a phase he's in;) Kelsey plays with her fake food and pots; always stirring/mixing/pouring some goodies into our cups and bowls. Drew has been obsessed with balls and swinging a fake bat, then asking us "where'd it go?" (as if he hit some grand slam bomb). Lots of talk also about "BIG CARS", even when I tell them it's a truck and try to get to say truck, they look at me funny. The sitter's grandson has "monster" trucks that the kids love playing with and I suspect the Easter Bunny might put one in their basket:)

We can't WAIT for Spring - bring on the warmer weather and fresh air, trips to the park and playgrounds. The kids are so much fun at this age and we are enjoying watching them grow.

A little pre-party stretch

A pre-party snack

Drew not only blew out his OWN candle multiple times, but Kelsey's too!

Blue frosting overload - it didn't agree with her tummy later :(

"Refurbished" Powerwheels truck, courtesy of Uncle Derek

Sometimes the party girl needs a nap!