every six months

A visit to the dentist.

Yesterday while at the dentist for my routine cleaning Ambrose decided to follow in mommy's footsteps. He not only went for a 'ride' in the big chair; he received a full cleaning with grape toothpaste. I'm happy to report no cavities for either of us!

childhood memories

It is not chosen.
It is not guaranteed.
It may be something that seemed trivial.
It may be colors, sounds, an experience . . .

Whatever it is, aren't childhood memories so pleasing? It makes me wonder what memories will became ingrained for my buds. Many of my childhood memories came from observation and participation (gardening, canning, playing outside, cooking, etc.)

I can envision . . . just waking from being snuggled under the covers, daylight forcing my eyes open, the smell of apples baking. Could it be? It is! A glass pie dish full of 'apple pancake'. YUM.

I made a dish of apple pancake for a meeting I had today and all the moms loved it! I watched with envy at first as they all ate it (Blaise's diet restrictions do not comform to apple pancake) but then I just found myself back at home as a kid running to the kitchen to confirm what was in the oven. Thanks Mom for a lovely memory and here's to many more to come.

Apple Pancake
¼ c melted butter
3 apples – peeled, cored, thinly sliced
¾ c pancake mix
½ c milk
3 eggs
1/3 c sugar – divided (1 tsp.)
¼ c chopped pecans
1 t cinnamon

Saute apples with butter. Sprinkle with nuts. Mix pancake mix, milk, eggs & 1 tsp. sugar. Pour over nuts. Sprinkle remaining sugar & cinnamon. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

sounds

Pop, pop, pop goes the bubble wrap . . .

Swish, glob, swoosh with the paintbrush . . .

Giggle, giggle.

Thanks Crafty Crow for a fun morning!

The finished masterpiece!

After Picasso (my bud Ambrose) was done with his corn he said it was time to make Blaise more food (at breakfast he noticed our supply was dwindling). How can you argue with that? So out came the vegetable steamer, food processor, knife and cutting board.

Peel,

chop, chop, chop,

steam,

*whirrrrrr . . .

mmmm . . .food for Blaise!

*Ambrose's favorite part - pureeing in the food processor

Can you guess which is squash, carrots, peas, bananas and pears? This reminds me of a baby shower I went to one time where we had to guess what food was in each baby food jar.

After all that hard work a chef should be entitled to sample his homemade applesauce. Why wait to sit down at the table when you can pull up some carpet right in the kitchen?

Upon completion of raking some leaves today after lunch we stepped into the warmth of our house to have our noses tickled with the lingering smell of homemade applesauce. YUM!

peek-a-boo

We went to a Children's Book Festival this weekend that showcased over 45 local authors. Ambrose enjoyed stories read by the authors and some crafts. Blaise was busy performing for lots of admirers his 'downward dog'. (Last night at home we saw Blaise take his first crawl forward, an inch or so counts - right?)!

This photo was captured as we listened to an author read 'The Bubble Gum Kid' (cute story). You know . . . Daddy listening, Ambrose looking around and Blaise playing peek-a-boo. Perfect. . . just for giggles I made it into a 'cartoon'.

family fun night

Last night, we had family game night. Caribou, Candyland, Connect Four, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Scavenger Hunt and the pea game (made up by yours truly).

Two straws later, a ruler for a 'line' to cross and frozen peas set in a pile . . . lungs expanded, air expelled and oh my goodness so much laughter . . . who doesn't like to see their husband on the floor blowing peas around?

choices

Which toy to play with,
what direction to drive home,
what to have for a meal,
what to read,
to make a purchase or not,
to take a phone call or not,
what to wear,
or whom to vote for?

We make countless decisions each day; large and small. We are so blessed with the priviledge of these choices. Today the buds and I exercised our right to vote; we were fortunate and had no line to wait in.

As Ambrose recounted later 'we voted and the curtain didn't open'. Blaise on one hip and Ambrose's hand in mine my attempt to pull the lever to open the magic curtain failed. The nice lady shouted so the entire room stopped to stare . . .'you need to pull the lever all the way over'. Gee, thanks. Either way, we voted and most importantly we received stickers!

A choice for Ambrose, where to match the leaves? A fun fall game, we photo copied fresh leaves from a walk outside to make a leaf matching game.

fall fun festivities

My buds: Bob the Builder and pumpkin Blaise (as Ambrose referred to him).

It is amazing what a year provides; neighbors' kids lining up for a picture without crying and legs just long enough to climb the steps to each house (no bottle necks this year). Halloween, a gorgeous fall night, where we were embraced with lots of giggling and running to the next candy stop to scream 'trick-or-treat'. The most precious sound we heard though was a soft 'thank you' (Ambrose even told us when he needed to go back up a set of stairs in order to say 'thank you', wow).

My bud, Ambrose turned three this weekend. Or as someone at church poignantly expressed to me, that now I'm three years older. Thanks.

We held a 'recycling' theme birthday party for Ambrose, complete with a 'recycle' hunt, cake and plenty of playground time. According to Ambrose the best part 'was eating the cake'.

Ambrose wished for one thing for his birthday, a wheelbarrow. Our worker bee was in full motion earlier this afternoon; our front lawn spic and span of any leaves. Damian and I joked that we could have walked inside and stood at the front window watching while Ambrose did all the work; so intensely involved using his wheelbarrow (how many more years can we say this?)

This was a very busy weekend for Ambrose but focusing for a moment on my other bud . . . Blaise, doing such a great job sitting up on his own at almost 9 months.