Samuel

I walked outside to check on Colin and Samuel and Colin asked me to get my camera - here's what I saw: Samuel strapped this ladder to the top of his car just like he sees various trucks that pull into our driveway do. So funny.

I love this kid. Lately he's been going to bed saying "You and Papa aren't going to play Scrapple without me, are you?" I have really been wanting to play Scrabble with Colin, but we just haven't been getting to it and in true Samuel fashion, he doesn't want to miss out on any fun. Also, I'm trying to read him "The Hobbit". I read it to the whole family last night and I think Colin and his mom were the only ones listening. After reading a lengthy description of what Hobbits look like, Samuel asked, "What's a hobbit?" He confessed he wasn't really listening for the last five minutes and insisted I start again. We'll see how far I get in this book =).

Have I Mentioned...

Have I mentioned that I love Barefoot Contessa? I love Barefoot Contessa. There it is. She has a gift of creating wonderful recipes and sharing them with the world. I love her for that. Since I had her Maple Oatmeal Scones on our meal plan (yep, baked goods are always on our meal plans - usually as many listed as actual meals), I was eager to try them. Keep in mind, there was like $10 worth of real maple syrup in these and one pound of butter - yes an entire pound. Four sticks. The funny part? She says they are healthier because they also include buttermilk and a bit of whole wheat flour. I laughed out loud. But I wasn't laughing while eating them - I was tearing up a bit because they were so good.

Of course, the boys were there "helping" me. Samuel was "reading" through the cookbook while Jude looked on. Too cute.

Nerds. Through and Through.

Recognize this cafe? It was a scene in a movie. And we are nerdy enough to go visit and eat brunch at said cafe. It was only five minutes from my house and it was so fun to be sitting where those movie stars sat and ate.

Ju Ju Bean

Oh, this little one is so funny lately. He's really coming into his own and I love watching him grow. Don't get me wrong - he is strong willed and short-tempered, but we all have things to work on, right?

Here Jude is licking frosting off the floor that dropped while I was baking Zucchini Cake (from a recent Pioneer Woman Cooks post). Seriously?! Nope, I wasn't worried about him licking the floor - it builds his immune system. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
I took this this morning when I threw him in bed with Colin. His response? "I don't want to sleep anymore, Mama."

One thing that surprises me about Jude is his very meek and gentle love for his sister. Generally he hits a lot and is quite frustrated with Samuel, but put him in front of Juliet and he kisses and talks to her like she was his own baby. So sweet. I love watching siblings grow up together. What would the world be without siblings?

My Sweet Baby - 6 Months Old

I can't believe Juliet is darn near 6 months old (adjusted). She has said her first word (as of 2 days ago). I can't believe she chose to say "Papa" instead of, well, "Mama". I mean really - who has spent endless nights (and days, for that matter!) taking care of her, changing diapers, nursing, etc? Me. But that's ok - no hard feeling here. She also moved quickly from rice cereal to sweet potatoes, as she was quite bored with the bland cereal. Here she is trying to sit up - she's getting there! And I feel like crawling will come quickly - much sooner than the boys. I really am not ready to have a baby getting into every small object on the floor - how soon I forget how hard it is to have a mobile baby that doesn't know the meaning of "no" yet.

Sewing With Samuel

I have been sewing baby gifts like crazy lately and inevitably, I do it while children are awake. Samuel woke up one morning and really wanted to "help" with my craft time. I let him cut my fabric scraps and he was one happy man!!

Apparently She Was Hungry.

I really wanted to wait until Juliet was 6 months old (adjusted) to feed her rice cereal. However, when she started grabbing my fork and other various dinner items while I was eating, I figured it was time to try her with food. Wow. She acted like she had been in some sort of famine and was making up for lost time! She likes her groceries.

Getting ready for her first bite. Looks tasty right? Little does she know that my food will NEVER be this tasteless!!
Wait for it. Wait for it.

Yea. She let it marinate for a minute.

And then decided to expidite the process by just feeding herself.

Hmm. She also gagged herself a bit.

Ahh. Fat and happy.

Canning Beets.

Colin could no longer resist the beets in our garden, so he decided to can them yesterday. I never realized what a beautiful color beet juice is! Samuel helped us pack the beets in the cans and put lids on. Colin and I briefly discussed the old days of stocking up all your food for the winter in the celler in jars and what a shift society has made now to convenience foods. I'll tell you what - there is nothing convenient about the canning process, but the payoff is amazing! Here's the beets before they were pressure cooked.

And here's the beets straight from the garden.

He Eats. He Eats A Lot.

Jude generally likes to eat junky food. Chips. Ice cream. And cake batter. He helped me make my pecan streusal coffee cake and was most interested in the Kitchen Aid mixer. Then he begged to lick the beaters. Only recently did a friend (thanks, Tiffany!) tell me that you can substitue flaxmeal and water for the raw eggs if the kiddos want to eat the batter.

It came as a huge suprise to see Jude raking his hands through our garden, grabbing green leaves of all sorts and shoving them in his mouth. He even grabbed the broccoli leaves, which I didn't even know were edible. Here's was his lettuce for dinner:

Notice his face is a bit sour? I don't think he loves plain lettuce.

His face was much more content eating the cake batter.

My Sweet Babies

Ok, at 5 months old (adjusted), Juliet should be sleeping through the night (well, at least my other kids did at this point). She's still waking up once to eat. So, when I heard her a second and third time a few nights ago, I chose to ignore her. I know, I know, terrible mom. But you know your own kids' cries (I knew she wasn't hurting or hungry and well, nighttime is for sleeping) and so to my surprise, I found her like this in the morning: She flipped onto her tummy and must have really hated that! Wouldn't all those Back To Sleep advocates just cringe to see my baby like this?

And this is how I found Jude in the morning:

Later that same morning, he was scrounging around in my paper crafting stuff -

Could he look any more guilty?

Sometimes When I Get Bored, I Do Things Like This

When I get bored, I get creative, like taking arms' length self-portraits of Juliet and I (hey, it's harder than you think!). Here's the situation today: the boys are in Rainier for a few days, Colin is asleep on the couch and The Bourne Identity is on TV. Since Juliet is awake and I can't help but play with her, I thought it would be fun to snap a few pictures. It's amazing how mamas get into so few family photos.

Oh, see how she's getting Jude's rashy skin? Poor girl! And it can't be allergies yet, because I haven't fed her solids. At any rate, I love this picture - very telling of how much I love 1) babies, and 2) my little girl.

Oh, seriously with the Baby Gap outfit?! I got this for like $2 at Value Village (I like to refer to it as "The Village"- I swear I would still shop there if I were rich) awile ago. I shop at the one on 82nd, which is so much in the scary ghetto that I feel like I must wear a bulletproof vest, but still take my chances because I love the Gap kids' clothes I always find there.

Today has been a truly divine day. I somehow (and I don't think it will EVER happen again) convinced my husband to go to the Woodburn Outlets this morning to explore the 4th of July sidewalk sale. What a guy!! He does his shopping about once every three years - he was as fun as a girlfriend today! Ok, he got a bit squirrly toward the end (as did Juliet), but it was 97 degrees out. I hit The Gap pretty hard for baby clothes and then J. Crew for myself. Ugh. I could have purchased the whole store, but instead I just got a pair of crisp white Bermuda shorts (which Colin said will go nicely with my new minivan - ouch. That one hurt a bit.), a pink rhinestone headband, tank top and graphic tee for under $50. I never shop for myself, so I didn't feel that guilty. After hitting all the necessary stores, we made a beeline for lunch (mine was Starbucks, his Taco Del Mar) and now it's a lazy afternoon inside, inevitably including me finishing "Wuthering Heights" and him taking a nap. Can I just say that I'm really sad to see that book come to an end? It is by far the darkest book I have read and Heathcliff is absolutely the most abhorrent character I have stumbled upon in literature, but I have really enjoyed it.

That's it. I'm off to read. And I hope you all have a wonderful 4th!!

P.S. Yes. I now drive a minivan. It feels like a bus. I will learn to love it. Right?

It's Hot and We're Headed to the Park

We took yesterday and headed to Happy Valley Park with a couple of my East side friends (plus Tami because she was kind enough to drive all the way out here). Lately, I'm finding it so fun to see the world through my kids' eyes. The other night I sat Jude on my lap while he ate some frozen yogurt and the joy that emanated from that kid was amazing!! I could really use a lesson from my kids to enjoy the small things in life...here's an example of Samuel and Eli living it up on the teeter-totter: Juliet hates strollers, yet she can't sit up. It makes going out an interesting feat. But look at those chubby legs!

Owen had loads of fun as well.

And this is what Jude did almost the whole time - just stood and watched (and ate snap peas).

They all voluntarily held hands here. It makes me want to flash forward 10 years to see if they will even touch each other as teenagers.

The latter half of yesterday was a bit rough - it included Jude putting his hand in Samuel's pee for the thousandth time, Jude throwing bath toys in the toilet, Samuel and Juliet not wanting to go to sleep at 9 p.m. (and let me tell you - after 12 hours alone with three small children, I have little patience left at that hour - it's my time to just sit quietly and stare at the wall), just about an entire day of fighting between the boys, and Juliet having a huge rash from sunscreen.

Here's some (not so) funny quotes from Samuel:

"Mama, you look pregnant" (I'm not)

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Samuel: "Mama, why are you dumping that milk out?

Me: "Because it's expired"

Samuel: "What does 'expired' mean?"

Me: "It's old."

Samuel: "Oh. Papa's expired. Grandpa's expired. He's old. You're expired"

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Samuel: "Mama, I thought you were going to start putting makeup on everyday."

Me: "I put it on today, Samuel."

Samuel: "Oh, it doesn't look like it."

And this, folks, is a thankless job.

Here's to a better day today!