A Road

Ardon has been asking me all day to make him a road to drive on. It started this morning when he was playing with some cars. I told him we would work on it at some point today but earlier I was busy getting the house back to 'normal' after the holiday weekend.

We got home this evening from running a couple errands and I just sat down when Ardon looked over at me and said "Mom, we forgot to make a road!" As much as I wanted to just sit down with my feet up a few minutes, I decided that he had been patiently waiting for long enough. I got up to look for something to make a road and this is what I came up with.

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There is a Walmart, gas station, Dr. office, park and home. It took me all of 10 minutes to get the cardboard and markers and throw it together hence the incredible art work!

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There was a lot of crashing.

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Veering off the road.

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And cruising through town, and the river.

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I had no idea Elee would get into it like she did, it was so funny to watch her driving the car all over and making vrooming sounds as she went. Ardon just loves that she is getting big enough to be a regular playmate now.

On a Cold, Wintry Morning...

It doesn't get much better than snuggling up together under nice, cozy blankets.

Playing

Bronze bartered for a Wii on craigslist last week, they hadn't played it much yet so the boys decided to mess around on it for a while this evening.

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They played tennis, boxed and here they are bowling.

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The Wii is a little out of Elee's league at this point so she settled for watching Curious George on daddy's handheld system. It's always a good alternative.

Yogurt

I did something that I have wanted to try but has always made me nervous. I made homemade yogurt. I've looked up the directions on doing this several times but I was hesitant to make a dairy product that has to sit out so bacteria can grow. It was a mental block but I finally got past it.

Here is the final product, it turned out a lot smoother than I expected.

It tastes just like plain yogurt. Elee really likes it this way.

Ardon preferred it with flavor added so I sprinkled a little Jell-O over his.

It was a fun experiment and is supposed to be a lot better for you.

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I kind of combined recipes for our yogurt, here is what I did if you get ambitious and want to try making your own.

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You will need:

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4 c. milk (make sure it's not ultra pasteurized)

3/4 c. powdered milk

1-6oz yogurt cup with a distant expiration date

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Mix your milk and powdered milk well and put in a crock pot for 3 hours on low. After 3 hours take the crock out and let it set for an hour or so, until you can stick your finger in it but it feels just too hot for a bath.

At this point turn your oven on and preheat to the lowest temp it will go. Scoop out some of the milk and add it to the yogurt to temper it then dump everything back into the crock and mix well.

Turn your oven off and the oven light on, then place the crock with lid on in the oven and leave it alone. It will need to sit in there undisturbed for a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 12 hours, the longer you let it sit the tangier it will get from the live cultures. I let it sit for about 9-10 hours and it was just slightly more tangy than what I buy at the store. Refrigerate it.

You can also add fresh or frozen fruit to flavor it. It is supposed to last for 7 days in the fridge and you can freeze some of it to use as a starter for the next time.

If you decide to try it have fun and good luck!

Chapstick

Still Here

I am still here, I think ;-) It has been one of those weeks. I got ready to blog a couple times but had camera issues so I haven't been able to get to any pictures.

We have been sick with respiratory junk this week, I haven't had much of a voice since last week and Bronze ended up with a bad stomach bug. We've had all sorts of doctor appointments. I took Ardon in last Friday, his cough kept getting tighter and he stopped breathing, it was terrifying and we almost had to call an ambulance. Thankfully he started breathing again after a breathing treatment, he was diagnosed with asthma and put on steroids and has started daily asthma medication.

Elee has had a little cough with a yucky nose, I think all her new teeth are contributing to this. She had to get some immunizations Tuesday and I can tell her legs are still bothering her, she gave the nurse a piece of her mind after it was all done.

Hopefully we'll all well by Thanksgiving. It has taken me a while to get excited for the holidays this year (I think I was mourning the loss of summer) but now I am finally starting to look forward to all the celebration.

Cleaning Crew

Ardon teaches Elee how to do lots of different things.

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Like how to wipe her face.
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And one of my personal favorites, how to clean the floors!

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Ardon loves to help clean the house and as long as he keeps teaching Elee things along those lines it looks like I'm going to be set!

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Sysco's Leftovers

It has been very interesting what Bronze has come home with the last couple weeks. It's fun to see what new product he walks into the house with when he gets home from work. Last week we ended up with about 15-20lbs of chopped ham, cream puffs, spicy cheese sticks, a loaf of bread and something else that's already been eaten but I can't remember what it was.

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This weeks assortment has included a box full of bread.

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Looks like we'll be having sandwiches, spaghetti and soup to use this up with.

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An industrial sized bag of fries!

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10lbs of potato salad.

(Potato salad anyone?)

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And this crazy chocolate cake! I'm not really a 'chocolate person' but I even enjoyed a few bites of this! It's very, very chocolaty but really not too sweet!

(I wont even tell you what the 'Nutrition Information' label says, lets just say that the appropriate name for this cake would be 'Death by Chocolate'.)

I guess that pretty much sums up this week's extra pantry items, a lot of which we will be sharing ;-)

Wonder what next week will bring, hm???

I sent homemade tamales for the guy at work in charge of giving out left over product, he's Bronze's buddy anyhow but it never hurts to butter up our supplier!

Smothered

Now that Elee is somewhat mobile she loves to chase after, hang onto and climb over her brother.
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Ardon thinks it fun when she decides to trample over him (most of the time) and even encourages it.
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It's so much fun to watch them interact and play together. It can get pretty rowdy in our home at times but I really enjoy it!

Most of the time that is ;-)

Aftermath

For the small amount of trick-or-treating he did Ardon made out pretty well. Now his favorite thing to do when he gets to pick out a candy is dump the bag out on the ground and sort through every piece.

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View from the top.

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Elee thinks it's pretty exciting stuff, she likes to bury her hands in the candy and shake them back and forth quickly, making the packages crunkle.
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It was so fun to take Ardon out this year, he really got into it and would have gone trick-or-treating all night if we'd of let him!

Paper Pumpkins & Magic Nuudles

I finally set up a few fall decorations the other day. Ardon wanted to make a craft so we decided to make something to go with our fall theme. Here is an idea from the Crayola site for paper pumpkins, ours isn't quite as extravagant but was fun non the less!

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When there is an occasion for gifting, Andrea and I like to get each others kids 'crafty' items. For Ardon's last birthday he was given Magic Nuudles, they stick to all different surfaces and dissolve with a little water. They are essentially colorful, biodegradable packing peanuts! We've used them to build all sorts of things as well as decorate the front door and windows.

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Here is Ardon with true artistic style, in his pajamas and my boots!
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I'm not sure what he was making but it had a bunch of eyes.
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Looking in.

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I even joined in to decorate with fall themed Nuudle shapes.
So much fun with such easy clean up, can't beat it!

All Dressed Up

Ardon had really been anticipating trick-or-treating this year. Bronze's mom has had decorations out and miscellaneous costumes around her house for a couple weeks now and Ardon has constantly been asking if it's trick-or-treat time yet.

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Sunday evening the kids got all dressed up and we headed out to meet the rest of our group at Central Community. Ardon was of course Batman! Bronze's dad found this costume and mailed it up a while back for Ardon. It worked out perfectly!

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Elee started off the evening as Bronze's favorite thing, a bottle of Coca-Cola.

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Ready to go!

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We didn't stay long because of the massive crowds but walked through Rolling Hills a little bit with some friends when we left.
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Bronze wanted Elee to be dressed up as a princess or something with wings but since I didn't have time or the right supplies on hand to make something I browsed the clearance rack at the grocery store. I found this bumble costume on sale for a few dollars. Don't tell my husband, but the reason I was able to get it for so cheap is because it is actually a DOG costume! In the end everyone was happy but I can only imagine what Bronze will say if he ever finds out! ;-)

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(Note: If you do not know my husband then let me tell you he is NOT a dog person!)

My Little Cream Puff

Bronze has been bringing lots of goodies home from work lately. They now have a chef and kitchen for demonstrations so any ingredients or product left over at the end of the week is up for grabs. It has put a new and exciting twist on my pantry at home!

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One of the things we got last week was a bag of cream puffs. The kids are loving them!

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Such a yummy puff pastry with rich cream filling.

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She tries to stuff the whole thing in her mouth.

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Success!
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Tasty treats make everyone happy!