Look what we made

I've been reading the Amelia Bedelia series to Kennedy. She loves these books and all the silly things "that crazy Amelia Bedelia" does. But the books gave her an idea. On Saturday morning, Kennedy said, "Mom, I know what we should do today. Let's make a pie!" Seriously? A pie? I've never made a pie in my life - at least not one from scratch. Maybe it's about time. My grandma is an excellent baker and makes fabulous pies. The last times we've been up to visit, she made sour cream raisin (one of Pamp's favorites) and blackberry (to die for when it's warm with vanilla ice cream). We bought some apples from Costco last weekend that weren't very tasty, so I thought, why not turn them into a pie. This could be a fun kitchen project for us to do together.

First we had to go shopping for the ingredients. But that was after I took the girls to book group with me. Jake had gone to a car show with Uncle Ben, and luckily my mom was hosting. They were both on their best behavior (Macy took a nap and Kennedy watched a movie) while we chatted and discussed the book ("Cutting for Stone" which I didn't have time to read - I didn't even get a copy because I was 76th on the hold list at the library!)

When we got home I made lunch and then did a major cleaning of the kitchen and dining room, also in preparation for the pie making. Was I stalling? Kennedy helped Jake and Ben build a shelf for the shed, and Macy was napping again, so I figured I should take advantage of the time.

Finally we headed off to the store for the ingredients plus something for dinner. By the time we made it home, it was too late to make a pie, and I couldn't find a box of powered milk that wasn't sized for a family of 10. Really, do people drink that stuff? And is it an essential ingredient for pie crust anyway?

Sunday I went for a jog and came home to the girls making blue Swedish Pancakes with daddy. After breakfast, Jake went to Home Depot for more shed project materials, so I asked him to check at Target for a small box of dry milk. He couldn't find any, but came home instead with non-dairy coffee creamer.

While Macy was napping, Kennedy and I got to work. We creamed the fats (four of them in this particular recipe: butter, margarine, shortening and lard), added the sugar, salt, non-dairy creamer (why not?), baking powder, flour and water. The best thing about this is that it's done all in the mixer. Then we had to add more flour - a couple of times - before it could be rolled. But that was the fun part. Kennedy was a great helper, sprinkling the flour, taking turns rolling, laughing with me when it stuck to the counter, trying again, getting the pie pan under the dough, trimming the edges... Her favorite part was working with the dough. I gave her all the trimmed off parts and she rolled, patted, molded and cut it to her heart's content. She made a smiley face, a snake and a baby long neck dinosaur in an egg.

I assembled the apple filling and poured it over the crust. Then we rolled out the top crust, put it all together and got it in the oven. We made little pie crust cinnamon and sugar cookies with the extra dough, too (not the play dough) - this was also a test to make sure the crust was edible before we cut into the pie!

Jeff came over to show us his new car, and asked that we bring the pie to dinner. I was a bit nervous about sharing my first attempt, but what better testers than family, right? Well, it was a success! Kennedy and I are now on our way to master pie baker status. She kept asking everyone, "Do you like the pie? Isn't it delicious?" And then, "We should all say thank you to the dessert makers!" Jeff also made a really good Dutch oven pear cobbler. So thanks to all the dessert makers and to Amelia Bedelia. I'm glad Kennedy talked me into this.

Then there was this feast prepared for all the animals. I love seeing the girls playing together! They both have a great sense of imagination, that's for sure.

Kennedy has now changed her mind about what she wants to be when she grows up. No more ballet dancer. Now, she wants to own a restaurant and be a chef. "The restaurant will be called Casa because it's Spanish for house, and my restaurant will look like a house. It will be open all the time, except for when I'm sleeping. And mom, you can work there too. Maybe you can make some curtains so we can close them at night. Then people will know that we're not open. And we can write on the door with a special marker when we are closed. It will be our restaurant and we have to wear our white suits and our white chef hats. It will be so great!"

In trouble

The other night while we were sitting down to dinner I heard Kennedy's cries coming from the girls' room, and then finally, "Mama, I need you! I'm in trouble!" She'd been calling for a while, but I was ignoring her thinking that it wasn't serious (she can be a bit dramatic sometimes). When I went up to see what was wrong, I found her standing on her headboard stretched out to reach some dinosaurs on the dresser - and she was stuck. She couldn't figure out a way to get down without hurting herself. I felt bad for not coming sooner, but everything was fine, and I assumed lesson learned.

Nope! a few days later I got the same calls for help. There she was again, stuck. This time I got my camera before helping her down.

Over the weekend I was brushing my teeth in our bathroom upstairs, and I didn't hear Kennedy calling me for help from the bathroom downstairs. Then she came up to find me, but she was bare from the waist down. She explained that she'd had an accident and was trying to clean it up, but she really needed my help because the toilet was so full. Kennedy kept saying, "I'm so sorry, mama." She really felt bad about everything. After helping her get cleaned up, we went downstairs to assess the mess. Apparently Kennedy was worried that I would be mad, but really aside from being disappointed with the accident, I was quite impressed that she was trying to clean everything up. Unfortunately, she'd used so much toilet paper to wipe herself and the floor that she clogged the toilet. And then she used even more toilet paper to try to clean up the overflowing water. We got everything wiped up and Kennedy even helped me mop the floor and clean the toilet. Problem solved, no more trouble!

First day of school

Kennedy woke up three times in the middle of the night and came in to our room asking to snuggle. I wonder if she was just too excited about school to sleep. But then this morning, it was Macy that I heard first. She was in her crib looking at her Elmo book and singing. Kennedy was a little slow to wake up, and also a little sad that I didn't come get her to snuggle. She then asked if we could schedule some time to snuggle, "like maybe on Saturday." Seriously, she's too cute, but it's funny because Kennedy is my little miss independent. She's NEVER been one for snuggling.

I have to say that it was so great not to be rushed this morning. It can be really hard to get out the door by 7:20, but today we had a whole extra hour to get ready for the first day of school! We had picked out her outfit and made her lunch the night before. That left plenty of time for us to all eat breakfast together (except for Jake who had left for an early dentist appointment) - Kennedy decided she wanted oatmeal with raisins and nuts. Of course the morning wasn't all perfect. I was so focused on getting out the door on time and taking pictures before we left, that I almost forgot the lunch and I did forget to have Kennedy brush her teeth! Luckily we have some time to work on the routine.

At school there were no tears. No separation anxiety (another thing she's NEVER had a problem with...I admit that I did cry after dropping her off for her very first day in the Suns class and it was really hard for me to leave the girls to go to California last month). Miss Theresa just took her by the hand and led her off to start working on a job. I think the teachers know that this can be a difficult time, especially for the younger kids in the class, but they have nothing to worry about with Kennedy...except for maybe an accident or two. The potty thing is a little off track at the moment.

I think Macy is sad to be left out. She's looking forward to the day she can join the Stars class!

Last days of summer

Summer is winding down. It's been a good one, but now it is time to say so long and get ready for fall.

Kennedy fell asleep in the car on the way to Sunday dinner at Grandpa Ray's - and stayed asleep the whole time we were there. I put her down on the couch, right in the middle of conversation and dinner preparation noise, but she was obviously exhausted.

She woke up a bit as we were leaving, and was disappointed to have missed Jeff's gourmet ham and cheese sandwiches. It was bedtime when we got home, so she got on her jammies, brushed her teeth, listened to a story, and then slept soundly all night. I think it's going to be good for her to get back in the routine of taking naps when school starts again.

And speaking of school starting, today we went to an open house to meet Kennedy's teachers and see her new classroom. We're really excited for her to be in the Purple class this year. It will be a three-year, dual-language program. She's been talking about it for weeks now, saying "Let's talk about what we know about my class so far." And she'd say as we went through all the paperwork and bought the needed supplies (colored pencils, watercolor paints, scissors, glue sticks and tissues), "There's lots of things to learn about my new Purple class!" Yes, she is very excited, too!

Well, now we know a bit more. She will be in a classroom downstairs, with a cubby on the end closest to the door. Three of her good friends from the Stars class (Lucy, Mae Mae and Amelia) will be with her. There are lots of new and interesting jobs to do, like this one she tried out with Miss Lorena. It's from the practical life area of the room, and the kids use tweezers to pick up plastic leaves and sort them in the matching colored cup.

Miss Lorena, who will eventually speak exclusively to the kids in Spanish, helped Kennedy practice the names of los colores in Spanish.

Miss Theresa, the other teacher, will speak to the kids in English, and one of Kennedy's teachers from last year, Miss Diana, will come down to help at lunch. The classroom is quite big, very organized, and has: a Spanish area with jobs, music and reading materials; an art area; a place to learn about geography and countries; sensorial materials; counting, number and math jobs; letters, reading and writing projects; circle space; tiny tables and chairs; two pet tortoises (Oscar and Esmeralda); and an amazing feeling of love, encouragement and learning. I know this will be a great year for Kennedy!

We're also looking forward to Macy having some one-on-one time with her grandparents. It's so much easier to take one kid out on adventures than taking two! Now Macy will get the chance to do the fun things Kennedy did when she was this age: the art museum, the natural history museum, the arboretum, the zoo, the library... Hopefully I can also get her into a Little Gym class.

Wake up, sleepy heads

Mornings come early at our house. Our alarm goes off at 5:30, but it's usually ignored until 6:00. Jake gets up and gets ready for work - he's out the door by 6:30. It's a good morning if I can get showered before the girls wake up, but I'm usually not that lucky. So while I get ready for work, they often get to watch Sesame Street. They sit together in the office chair and sometimes share a snack. Macy loves Sesame, and especially Elmo's World. And it still holds Kennedy's attention, even though she's probably seen most of the episodes by now. I love having a few undisturbed minutes and peeking in at them cuddled up together. I just had to get a few shots of Macy's morning-after-bath-hair and Kennedy's don't-take-my-picture-face.

My own fancy Nancy

Kennedy's been interested in talking about the calendar lately. That got us on the subject of Halloween, which got her thinking about costumes. For now, she's wanting to be a kangaroo again this year, so she had to try it on to make sure it still fits. It does, and she's been wearing it quite often. When she first put it on, I got out the makeup and drew on a little black nose. She also wanted pink eye shadow, pink lips, and pink cheeks to match. Another day she was wearing the costume and added a tutu. She wanted to be a fancy kangaroo mom to her two babies and joey.

Yesterday while Macy was taking her afternoon nap, Kennedy wanted to do my hair and makeup. We got everything out - brush, comb, cup of water, ribbons, hair clips, makeup - and she got right to work. When she was finished, I had a blue nose, hot pink lipstick, pink eye shadow, and two "braids". I drew a cat face on her, so then she wanted to add some whiskers on me.

During our workout that evening, Kennedy said, "Daddy, daddy! Excuse me daddy, look at my beautiful hairstyle." She'd put it into some sort of fancy ponytail with three of the clips from my hot rollers and was twirling around in her little sun dress.

I had asked her earlier what she wants to be when she grows up. She said a ballet dancer. Luckily she's not thinking of a career in hair and makeup. I don't think either one of us has much of a future there.

Camp out at the Spruces

We had our annual family camp out at the Spruces over the weekend. Friday night we drove up the canyon after stopping to pick up some burritos and joined the family around the campfire. Kennedy had been looking forward to roasting marshmallows, and Macy got her first taste of the special treat. She really loved it. It turned out to be two and a half days full of sugar - hot chocolate, cupcakes cooked in orange peels, granola bars, graham crackers, juice...add this to Macy being able to play in the dirt all day, and she was in heaven!

Macy had been sick with a fever since Wednesday, so we didn't commit to spending the night until the last minute. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a mistake. She did not sleep well at all. That meant that we did not sleep well either - except for Kennedy who did not seem at all bothered by Macy's crying and squirming. Luckily our tent neighbors said that they didn't hear her until morning.

We had a nice breakfast of pancakes and eggs and then spent the day playing around the campsite. Kennedy and I built a nest for the birds, squirrels and chipmunks to enjoy. She was so engaged in the project, raking the pine needles into a pile, surrounding them with pine cones and rocks and green boughs, and then sprinkling the nest with peanuts. She told Jake's Aunt Kristy something like, "The squirrels will scamper down from the trees and just love this cozy nest!"


Kennedy was also really funny telling everyone that they needed to visit Torrey. It was like she was doing an ad for the city, but one of the things she was most interested in talking about were the numbers on the doors of the hotel rooms. Sometimes she just cracks me up!

Saturday night after the traditional Dutch oven turkey dinner, we decided to drive home and sleep in our own beds, but even that didn't go exactly according to plan. At 1:30am, Kennedy came in and asked to snuggle. In the process she woke Macy up, but we just let her cry this one out. Naps in a tent are tricky to say the least. It was easier to get Macy to fall asleep by taking her for a walk in the stroller, but that didn't quite get her all the rest she needed.

I had to spend a lot of time holding Macy - she'd desperately cling to me if I tried to pass her off, or if I did get her out of my arms, she'd cry and try to get back to me as fast as she could manage.

We headed back up for a breakfast of omelets in a bag, fruit and English muffins on Sunday, but decided not to bother cleaning the girls up. They had both fallen asleep in the car on the way home the night before, so no one got a much needed bath. Of course that didn't matter because they had one more day to get dirty, which they did by playing in the sand and water, building castles and rivers and tunnels with the bigger cousins.

The most exciting thing was to learn that the nest had actually worked! Kennedy was thrilled that some of the peanuts were gone, and we were even able to see the mountain jays come down from the trees to grab the last of the nuts.

So then we had to build another nest that would be just for the squirrels, but it seems that they weren't as interested in the salt and vinegar chips that we left for them.

After we took the girls on a walk with Eliza riding along on her bike, we came back to camp to take the tent down, play one last board game, and then head home. But before we left, we were rewarded with a moose sighting!

It's nice to be able to spend this time with Jake's family, even though it was a little bittersweet this year because they had just put Grandma Lu in a care center. We love the opportunity to be able to visit, do creative projects, play games, and spend time in such beautiful surroundings. All that, and we sure do eat well when we're camping! I guess all this makes the five loads of laundry I did on Sunday night worth it.

I scream, you scream

One of our evening walks to the neighborhood burger joint. Even Kennedy gets excited by an ice cream cone for dessert.

Fun, fun, and more fun

Jake didn't have to work this weekend, so we got to spend some long overdue family time together. He's been watching a sewer lining project that's kept him out late most nights this last week and working seven days a week. Saturday Kennedy and I did a workout in the basement. Then we did some work around the house, ran a few errands, and had a movie night at home. Kennedy and I made chocolate chip cookies as a treat for when we watched Curious George. Both girls liked the movie, although Macy went to bed before it ended and Kennedy was afraid of the doorman. Macy, our music lover, was dancing right in front of the TV to the Jack Johnson songs.

Sunday we got up and walked down to the farm to feed the ducks. After Macy's morning nap we went to my parents' house for brunch and a swim. Then we packed up for dinner at Jake's parents'. Aunt Kari is in town this week, and we all needed to do some meal planning for the camp out. The kids all had a great time together, as usual. Kennedy and Huck took a walk around the block carrying umbrellas (even though it was a beautiful evening), while Grandma Sue helped Eliza collect things for a nature art project. Macy and I followed along behind all of them. She's trying to figure out how to jump. She'll crouch down, say something that sounds like "1,2,3", then spring up and lift one foot off the ground. It's the cutest thing! But it also makes going around the block a very slow process.

When we got back to the house, Kennedy and Huck were playing in the sprinklers with the umbrellas.

Normally Kennedy does not like getting wet, splashed, or sprayed...and she'll go out of her way to avoid it. Maybe having the umbrella helped.

Maybe it was seeing her cousin do it too. Maybe she was more willing to try after Friday, when she and I hid behind a boogie board in the pool while Pamp sprayed it with the hose (she loved this game!) Eliza and Macy had to join in the fun. By the end, Eliza and Huck were drenched and Kennedy and Macy were just damp, but it was clear that they were all having a great time!

What a day!

We took Kennedy on a big girl adventure on Saturday - to her first movie, Toy Story 3. She's obviously seen lots of videos at home, including Toy Story and Toy Story 2, but she was in awe of the big screen, and a bit frightened by the super loud previews. She sat in her own chair (with a booster seat) right between us, and didn't move from the spot until we left. We gave Kennedy a crash course in movie etiquette while we waited for the theater to get dark, and she did amazingly well with the no talking part. She did however laugh...a lot...really loud. It was a big, exaggerated fake laugh, and she'd look around to see if we were laughing too - like she wanted to make sure it really was a funny part. And every time she laughed, it was. Both because the film was amusing, and because it was so funny to see her reaction to it. That was definitely the best part for us, watching Kennedy watch the movie. I hope I always remember how her face lit up with delight, especially during her favorite part when Buzz Lightyear started speaking Spanish and dancing, and how the sound of her big belly laughs filled the whole theater.

And then to top off this totally awesome day, Jake bought Kennedy her first Slurpee (which she didn't especially enjoy), and then we went to my aunt and uncle's neighborhood picnic/carnival. We met up with Grammie and Pamp, who had been watching Macy, and the rest of the family to enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, chips, ice cream, live music, bounce house, swing ride, duck pond, and sawdust search. Even in the rain, we all had a great time!