Tasty Treat!

I couldn't resist taking a series of pictures of the boys eating ice cream outside one evening. When the weather warms, I loosen my grip on my kids' diet and let them have some frozen treats - usually involving frozen blueberries and vanilla ice cream. It also helps Jude put on weight. Or so I tell myself.Content after having his ice cream.

Can this photo get any more white trash? Check out that pot belly!

I didn't say it was pretty, folks.

Diggin' right in.

Samuel loves to pose for the camera.

Gardening

Joel and Colin decided to build raised beds in our backyard for our family garden. I'm so excited to lower our food budget a little bit and eat fresher food! Joel has been stopping by after work helping cut wood and assemble these beauties.

I can almost taste the candy-sweet tomatoes already!

My Chunky Girl

I haven't posted pics of Juliet in a while - here she is in all her chunkiness. How much do I love kissing her all the time?! And dressing her up like my own personal doll. She's loves people talking to her and she is close to sleeping through the night now. Okay, she slept from 8-4:30 last night because she has a cold and is doing a lot more sleeping than normal. She's only waking up once per night around 2:06 a.m. (pretty much down to the minute, oddly enough) normally, to eat. I tried to put her away in her swing for a few minutes, but she didn't love it.

You can tell she really likes playing with the boys - look at all those fireman and policeman protecting her! And check out those leg rolls!

Yep, she's wearing a bright pink sweater dress. Samuel could not stay out of the pictures this morning.

I tried to capture a smile on camera, but she really only smiles when she can see my entire face.

Before & After

I was supposed to post these pictures a while ago, but I've been a blog slacker. Better late than never, right? We lived in our kitchen for awhile while Colin completely remodeled our living room - new walls, trim, new fireplace, etc. He had help from his family and we are forever grateful for that! I will show pictures of the entire room when we get our updated furniture in, but for now, here's the before and after of the fireplace:
This was the before picture. It was a monstrosity of dingy bricks.

Here's the after. It's stone with concrete surround/mantle and a new insert that makes our house super toasty. Yay for a fresh living space!! Oh, and can you believe how bold my color choice is on the walls? We were scared at first, but love it now.

This One's For You, Tabs!!

This recipe is off the hook - it's rich and delicious!! My dear friend, Tabs, came to visit me yesterday and requested this recipe. Thanks for visiting, Tabs!!


Pecan-Streusel Coffee Cake

Streusel:
2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
1/2 cup pecans, toasted , coarsely chopped Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
11/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup whole-milk or reduced-fat or
(2%) plain Greek-style yogurt*

For streusel: Combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Add melted butter; toss with fork to blend. Using fingertips, rub mixture together until small clumps form. Mix in pecans. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
For cake: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 9x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add half of flour mixture; beat just until blended. Add yogurt; beat just until blended. Beat in remaining flour mixture just until blended.
Spoon half of batter into prepared baking pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle half of streusel evenly over batter. Spoon remaining batter in dollops over streusel, then spread evenly over with offset spatula. Sprinkle remaining streusel evenly over top.
Bake cake until streusel topping is brown and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Jude's Second Birthday

I can't believe Jude is two! Well, I can based on his fiesty little personality, but it seems like time goes so fast with three kids. And I can't believe it's taken me 9 days to post these pictures. Anyway, we had a very informal, impromptu get together last weekend and here are the pics:Jude got a fuzzy blanket from my mom.

Here he is blowing out that not-so-pretty but made with lots of love cake.

And licking it too.

Yep, thats a chicken bone. Can you tell we are trying to put weight on him?

I Would Be Remiss To Not Share This Recipe

I made this cake for Jude's birthday - it's the Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake from the Portland Palate. The cake is moist and delicious. Here's the link:

http://www.reciperewards.com/recipe/Blue_Ribbon_Carrot_Cake.html

Here's how my cake looked - sad, but sooo tasty! Why do I always try layer cakes? They are way beyond my skill level.

In Case I Didn't Know My Current Job Description....

Samuel will remind me.

While I am brushing my teeth and Samuel is peeing:

Samuel: "You really need to scrub the toilet, Mama."

Pause - I take a moment to digest that statement and Samuel takes a moment to size up the toilet once again.

Me: "I just scrubbed it Saturday. That was only two days ago."

Samuel: "Well, you need to scrub it again."

Kids are funny.

It's Like Kid Crack.

These are my kids.

These are my kids on drugs, er, I mean cartoons.

Fun Outside

The boys loved the nice weather last week - as did I. Jude hit the pavement pretty hard while playing.

Samuel loved using Grandma Jan's camera.

Samuel and Grandpa Jeff.

Jan got Juliet to fall asleep - is there anything better than snuggling with a sleeping baby?

This is about as far as Jude can get riding a bike. But at least he has fun!

I was actually riding Jude's bike with him on the back. So much fun!

Girl Clothes Are So Much Fun!

Apparently I am not the only one that loves girl clothes.

Juliet.

My sweet baby is growing so fast!! Not so fast that she's sleeping through the night or anything, but she's growing out of clothes and trying to roll over. She'll be 4 months pretty soon (2 1/2 months adjusted age). I'm still loving dressing her in pink everyday and discovering her sweet yet determined personality. She had some tummy time on the Boppy pillow today.

Yep - I really could have opened up that aperture a little more, but at least the eyes are in focus!! Look at those chunky little cheeks - oh I could just eat them all up.

And she found her thumb briefly yesterday - she loved it, but it does take quite a bit of coordination to get it up into her mouth at this point.

I love that Samuel will sit in her play gym with her and talk to her for a bit. She really is quite relational - she loves the face time.

She snuggled right into Colin's friend Mark's shoulder and snoozed. Have I ever mentioned that I just smell in her hair and neck all the time - I love how babies smell. Always have.

Finger Painting: Not For the Faint of Heart

I was feeling brave. Or perhaps a little crazy. I decided finger painting was a great way for the boys to start the day. Samuel could have done this activity until the cows came home, but it was only exciting for Jude for about 15 minutes - just long enough to destroy his outfit and slather some on his face. Lucky for this cute little shirt, this paint is washable. Why did he get the paint around his mouth? A taste test perhaps?

Samuel making hand prints.

Jude making a mess.

Samuel's fairly clean hand - before the paint was lotioned all the way up to his elbows deliberately.