Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!

February, so far...

Evelyn has become a superhero. We are not sure what prompted the transformation. Perhaps a bite from a radioactive spider, or some sort of chemical plant accident. That's how these things usually happen (or so it seems). But, we have a regular super hero running around our house, saving countless animals from the dreaded fate of being "Stuck in the mud" or "Stuck in a tree".
We will be going about our day in the usual way, when, unexpectedly, Evelyn will cock her head and say "Listen Mom! Do you hear the sheep! It's stuck in the mud! It needs our help!"

So, Super Ella is called into action, she dons her cape, grabs her trusty rope/lasso/kite string/dog leash/ whatever-it-needs-to-be and she is off to save the distressed animal.

More often than not, she gets herself 'stuck in the mud' along with the unfortunate creature. Apparently we are having an endemic mud problem. (I'll have to get the drainage fixed...) She calls for Mom to help her get free. She will toss me an end of her 'rope' and hold on -straining- as I pull her free. Then, it's the needy beast's turn. When they are clear of the mud, she pretends to lift them up and comes to me with her hands cupped saying "It's okay little sheep. I saved you. You're not stuck now." She will then pretend to place the sheep on the floor and give it a little pat as she sends it on it's way.

It is so neat to watch her interact with the void of space that is the animal in a completely realistic way. I have been looking forward to watching her imagination develop since she was still a fetus. It is exciting to see it bloom.

She has also been playing "Train" and "Race Car". In these games, she moves all the kitchen chairs into a line (for the train) or a cluster (for the race car). The train game goes like this:

"Mommy! let's play TRAIN! You can be the driver!" She pulls me over to the first chair. "Ethan, you can sit right here" And so he sits. "Make the train go Mom!"
"Chhh-ga Ch-ga, Ding Ding, Ding Ding, Ch-ga Ch-ga, Woo-Wooooo!" say I.
"Stop the train! We got to pick up D! (and B! and Juliana! and Casey!)"
I comply "Chhhhhh-ga, Ssssssssssss, Ding Ding, All Aboard!"
She crouches down and talks to a void of space about 8 inches tall. "Hi D! (B, Juliana, Casey) do you wan to go for a ride on my train?" "Okay! You can sit right here." She gently picks her friend up and holds them near to her chest. She carries them over to their assigned seat and carefully places them down as she says "Here you go. This is your seat right here." She takes her own seat and calls out "Let's go Mommy!" And off we go to pick up the next friend. Then, we head to Chuck E Cheese and go on all the rides, then we have ice cream, then, the game is ended by Mommy ;-)

Ethan has started to put hats on. He loves this red toque particularly. We think this picture makes him look like 'Papa Smurf'.

He is getting more interested in playing 'peek a boo' and has been sitting quietly while looking at a book. I will often find him in his room playing by himself with his cars and books. He usually has pulled his sleep sack off his crib - along with his blue knitted blanket - and will be sitting with his blanket wrapped around him and his soother in his mouth. He really notices textures and loves anything knitted or soft. Most of the time though, he wants to bite the knitted item and will pull loops of yarn out.

He continues to stand independently, he can even climb onto the kitchen chairs now. But, no walking yet.



Again, run your mouse over the film strip to see the captions. Please check out the 2 other posts from today as well.

A visit with the Brand's

On Feb 1st, Ryan had to go to a seminar in Cold Lake. I figured that while Ryan was at his thing, I would just drive the extra 2 hours and go visit my friend Jen and her kids Juliana and Evan.

When I dropped Ryan off, he asked when they would wrap up for the day. The facilitator chopped about an hour off the expected end time, so our visit with the Brand's was brief.

The boys took a bit to warm up to each other, but were soon playing with Evan's cars and practicing their standing skills.

Juliana and Evelyn played exceptionally well together. They did a bit of cooking with Juliana's kitchen, they played a bit of Play Dough, and finally, (when we were supposed to be leaving) they played Doctor. Juliana examined Evelyn's belly and listened to her heart. Evelyn in turn complained of a sore throat and asked her to check it out.















Evelyn and Juliana have known each other since the day Juliana was born! I had the privilege of attending Juliana's birth when I was about 37 weeks pregnant with Evelyn. When I held Juliana, Evelyn kicked her in the bum! Then, when it was Evelyn's turn to come home from the hospital, Juliana was there to meet her when she arrived home.

Over the years, I have taken a picture of the girls almost every time they have visited. I continued the tradition when the boys arrived (only 4 days apart!) Here is an edited collection of some of their pictures: Roll over the pics with your mouse to see the captions

Bev's Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

I just found a similar cookie recipe on AllRecipes.com and modified it with really good results. Your house will smell wonderful after you bake these.

Bev's Spicy Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/8 cup Panella (brown sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats (or quick oats)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or 1 cup of either raisins or choc chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
3. Combine the flours, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir into the butter mixture.
4. Stir in the oats and raisins/chocolate chips. The mixture will look dry and stiff.
5. Form small balls of dough and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press flat. (They will stick to your fingers less if you keep your fingers moistened with water.)
6. Bake 9 minutes until light and golden on the edges. Do not overbake.
7. Let them cool for 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Otherwise, they will break apart.
8. Store in an airtight container. (If they last long enough to need storage!)

Also, I just tried the Morrocan Tagine recipe I posted a while ago. It is really good! I may well make it at Magna Bay! Here is a pic of what it looked like. Both the kids and Ryan really liked this recipe.