May not look too bad, but that little slice went completely through his lip- compliments of one of his many teeth hitting the piano. The doc decided not to get stitches (though it could have taken a couple) for fear of it being too traumatic for The Frog. Luckily, the mouth heals quite quickly and it was barely noticeable a week later :)
Friday, July 31, 2009
First Major Injury
May not look too bad, but that little slice went completely through his lip- compliments of one of his many teeth hitting the piano. The doc decided not to get stitches (though it could have taken a couple) for fear of it being too traumatic for The Frog. Luckily, the mouth heals quite quickly and it was barely noticeable a week later :)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Image Heavy
One day when none of the toys seemed to be doing it, I decided to make little box "house" for the frog. When the box lies on its side (not pictured) the top flaps act like a door (I cut little holes for The Frog to stick his finger through to open the door) with a patio and roof :) I cut a window with "shutters" on one side, but I also cut some shapes on the other sides.
He seems to have a lot of fun looking through the holes and dropping toys through them, though I probably had more fun than he- nostalgia. I used to love building all kinds of things out of boxes as a kid.
We had the Taylors over for dinner on Sunday to bid them farewell before their journey to Virginia for law school. Their son Caleb was born the day after The Frog and so we've dubbed them good friends since we (the moms) like to go for walks together and occasionally our whole families would get together for games.
It was really fun watching our little men play together. We're really going to miss them!
Whenever I bake various breads, I try to only grind enough wheat for my current project, since a lot of the nutrients/vitamins are lost as time goes on ("They" say after 72 hours it's not much better for you than white flour, but I really haven't done any research and don't really understand why that would be the case, so don't quote me). Because of my many mini-batches, as opposed to one large one, I bring out the wheat grinder fairly frequently. It's so loud that it makes The Frog cry, so I've grown accustomed to putting it in the garage. However, now The Frog wants to go out there with me. I've discovered the solution is to put these ear muffs on to deaden the sound, and then The Frog can enjoy watching the process. Isn't he cute?
I decided it was time to teach The Frog about the ultimate childhood pastime:
bubbles.
He thought they were pretty interesting (though he could never seem to catch them) and since pretty much the only "trick" we can get him to do on command is blowing, I thought maybe I could get him to blow his own.
Nope.
He just really wanted to taste the wand! So this is how our bubble excursion ended, him dragging the wand around through the muck and eating dirt.
Daddy came home to rescue him from getting too many minerals...
I had a "Day Family Reunion" on Monday and thought I would show off my family tree. That's right, this shows up every time so new family members (i.e. The Frog) can get their leaf added to the tree. We're on the Clinton branch.
We had a little picnic dinner at the reunion and The Frog had a blast crawling around, exploring the cooler, gnawing on radishes through a plastic bag etc. and occasionally, coming back to me to get a bite of dinner.
For some reason I thought maybe The Frog was ready to learn about coloring. Didn't want to use crayons or pencils because he bites EVERYTHING (including me) and has been seen taking chunks of wood off of building blocks, so I thought washable markers were the way to go (especially since he loves dumping the basket and depositing them to all locations around the house). He seemed interested when I made the "magic lines" appear, but as soon as I let him go at it, he really wanted to taste the tip. The combination of his will and mine turned into this:
I really loved this one because he almost looks like he's mad at the marker for doing this to him. (Plus it illustrates one of his new ubiquitous talents- nose scrunching)
He seems to have a lot of fun looking through the holes and dropping toys through them, though I probably had more fun than he- nostalgia. I used to love building all kinds of things out of boxes as a kid.
We had the Taylors over for dinner on Sunday to bid them farewell before their journey to Virginia for law school. Their son Caleb was born the day after The Frog and so we've dubbed them good friends since we (the moms) like to go for walks together and occasionally our whole families would get together for games.
It was really fun watching our little men play together. We're really going to miss them!
Whenever I bake various breads, I try to only grind enough wheat for my current project, since a lot of the nutrients/vitamins are lost as time goes on ("They" say after 72 hours it's not much better for you than white flour, but I really haven't done any research and don't really understand why that would be the case, so don't quote me). Because of my many mini-batches, as opposed to one large one, I bring out the wheat grinder fairly frequently. It's so loud that it makes The Frog cry, so I've grown accustomed to putting it in the garage. However, now The Frog wants to go out there with me. I've discovered the solution is to put these ear muffs on to deaden the sound, and then The Frog can enjoy watching the process. Isn't he cute?
I decided it was time to teach The Frog about the ultimate childhood pastime:
bubbles.
He thought they were pretty interesting (though he could never seem to catch them) and since pretty much the only "trick" we can get him to do on command is blowing, I thought maybe I could get him to blow his own.
Nope.
He just really wanted to taste the wand! So this is how our bubble excursion ended, him dragging the wand around through the muck and eating dirt.
Daddy came home to rescue him from getting too many minerals...
I had a "Day Family Reunion" on Monday and thought I would show off my family tree. That's right, this shows up every time so new family members (i.e. The Frog) can get their leaf added to the tree. We're on the Clinton branch.
We had a little picnic dinner at the reunion and The Frog had a blast crawling around, exploring the cooler, gnawing on radishes through a plastic bag etc. and occasionally, coming back to me to get a bite of dinner.
For some reason I thought maybe The Frog was ready to learn about coloring. Didn't want to use crayons or pencils because he bites EVERYTHING (including me) and has been seen taking chunks of wood off of building blocks, so I thought washable markers were the way to go (especially since he loves dumping the basket and depositing them to all locations around the house). He seemed interested when I made the "magic lines" appear, but as soon as I let him go at it, he really wanted to taste the tip. The combination of his will and mine turned into this:
I really loved this one because he almost looks like he's mad at the marker for doing this to him. (Plus it illustrates one of his new ubiquitous talents- nose scrunching)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Lindsay's French Bridal Shower
One of my best friends Lindsay is getting married in August and so the MOH and I threw her a most fabulous bridal shower (if I do say so myself) yesterday. We went with a French theme, since that is where they are going on the 'moon. I had so much fun making the food and planning the details:
I actually saw these pink tissue-paper flowers (they look a lot like peonies to me, and I know Linds loves them) here first and really wanted to try and incorporate them somehow. They ended up in a basket on the table with some framed French pictures I got at Ikea. (an extra favor for the bride)
We chose the colors to be black and pink- not sure if that's particularly French (honestly, I don't know much about French culture) but we liked it for the shower. I loved these octagonal plates I got at Zurchers. Just HAD to use them :)
I made these artichoke heart tartlets and though yummy, they didn't have any pop of color, (beige pie crust, beige filling) so I added some chives from my garden on some and used paprika and parsley on the others. I think they turned out great! We also served a veggie platter, "croissant-wiches", fruit skewers, baguette and brie with tomato and...
creme brulee! I don't have a torch and didn't have enough ramekins for everyone, so I made them up in cupcake foils and used the broiler instead. It worked great, except they were a bit squishy to handle. Still haven't thought of a great solution for that. Yummy though :)
After several runs of creme brulee, I have a LOT of egg whites left over, so at the last minute, I decided to make some pecan-meringue cookies. They were yummier than I expected- I'm not usually a huge fan of meringue.
Mel absolutely wanted to have eclaires, so we ordered them from a bakery. I'd still like to try to make my own though. Any tried-and-true recipes out there?
Our drink garnishes were just blue-berries and raspberries on a toothpick, and frozen. We originally wanted blackberries and raspberries (our colors) but then Mel went with blueberries for more contrasting shape. I think they're very cute :) We served wine and for those of us who don't drink, we had pink lemonade and water.
We played three games:
Game #1- an on-going game where all the guests were given 5 rings (dollar store) and were not allowed to say "cute", "wedding" or call Lindsay anything but "the blushing bride". If they were caught using any of these taboo words, the catcher got to take one of the "catchee's" rings away. At the end of the shower, the one with the most rings won a prize bag.
Game #2- a written quiz (multiple choice) about the couple for the guests to fill out and Lindsay got to go through and answer all the questions in more detail for everyone. (How they met, first date, proposal, etc)
Game #3- a veil making contest (which ended up being a lot more fun than I expected). I've been to several showers where the bride gets decorated in a toilet paper dress, but instead we had them divide into pairs and make a "veil" using a paper plate, crepe paper, this tulle "ribbon" and tape. The bride got to choose her favorite to wear the rest of the shower. (modeled above) I was really impressed by the creativity we saw and how completely different they all were.
Linds and Mel :)
The Frog got to be the only boy on the premises and Melissa's mom had a lot of fun playing with him (and the dog) for most of it.
Linds got a great "haul", including this very subtle mask :D
My present :) (a Silpat, made in France. LOVE THEM! Perhaps I'll dedicate a later post to raving about mine)
haha, really want to make an obvious pun on The Frog's name here... can you guess it?
The prize bags- pink nail polish, pink toe separators and a pink nail file. Just loved these cellophane bags from Zurchers.
For favors, we gave out madeleine cookies in the aforementioned bag with a recipe attached using pink ribbon.
I think all our hard work paid off. It was a great success!
I actually saw these pink tissue-paper flowers (they look a lot like peonies to me, and I know Linds loves them) here first and really wanted to try and incorporate them somehow. They ended up in a basket on the table with some framed French pictures I got at Ikea. (an extra favor for the bride)
We chose the colors to be black and pink- not sure if that's particularly French (honestly, I don't know much about French culture) but we liked it for the shower. I loved these octagonal plates I got at Zurchers. Just HAD to use them :)
I made these artichoke heart tartlets and though yummy, they didn't have any pop of color, (beige pie crust, beige filling) so I added some chives from my garden on some and used paprika and parsley on the others. I think they turned out great! We also served a veggie platter, "croissant-wiches", fruit skewers, baguette and brie with tomato and...
creme brulee! I don't have a torch and didn't have enough ramekins for everyone, so I made them up in cupcake foils and used the broiler instead. It worked great, except they were a bit squishy to handle. Still haven't thought of a great solution for that. Yummy though :)
After several runs of creme brulee, I have a LOT of egg whites left over, so at the last minute, I decided to make some pecan-meringue cookies. They were yummier than I expected- I'm not usually a huge fan of meringue.
Mel absolutely wanted to have eclaires, so we ordered them from a bakery. I'd still like to try to make my own though. Any tried-and-true recipes out there?
Our drink garnishes were just blue-berries and raspberries on a toothpick, and frozen. We originally wanted blackberries and raspberries (our colors) but then Mel went with blueberries for more contrasting shape. I think they're very cute :) We served wine and for those of us who don't drink, we had pink lemonade and water.
We played three games:
Game #1- an on-going game where all the guests were given 5 rings (dollar store) and were not allowed to say "cute", "wedding" or call Lindsay anything but "the blushing bride". If they were caught using any of these taboo words, the catcher got to take one of the "catchee's" rings away. At the end of the shower, the one with the most rings won a prize bag.
Game #2- a written quiz (multiple choice) about the couple for the guests to fill out and Lindsay got to go through and answer all the questions in more detail for everyone. (How they met, first date, proposal, etc)
Game #3- a veil making contest (which ended up being a lot more fun than I expected). I've been to several showers where the bride gets decorated in a toilet paper dress, but instead we had them divide into pairs and make a "veil" using a paper plate, crepe paper, this tulle "ribbon" and tape. The bride got to choose her favorite to wear the rest of the shower. (modeled above) I was really impressed by the creativity we saw and how completely different they all were.
Linds and Mel :)
The Frog got to be the only boy on the premises and Melissa's mom had a lot of fun playing with him (and the dog) for most of it.
Linds got a great "haul", including this very subtle mask :D
My present :) (a Silpat, made in France. LOVE THEM! Perhaps I'll dedicate a later post to raving about mine)
haha, really want to make an obvious pun on The Frog's name here... can you guess it?
The prize bags- pink nail polish, pink toe separators and a pink nail file. Just loved these cellophane bags from Zurchers.
For favors, we gave out madeleine cookies in the aforementioned bag with a recipe attached using pink ribbon.
I think all our hard work paid off. It was a great success!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Happy Belated 4th of July!
This would have been up last Saturday (which is still belated), but then I realized that I didn't take any pictures of the 4th with my camera and had to beg my buddy for all hers.
I started the day bright and early doing the Provo 5K "Freedom Run" with a lady from my ward (I her 1st assistant at Women's Conference). It came up that she had always wanted to do a 5K but didn't have anyone to do it with and so I gladly volunteered. Be both ended up getting injured a few weeks before the race and decided to speed walk instead of run. This one got us so pumped, we're going to run one this September too!
While we were waiting for the race to start, all these hot air balloons started emerging over the horizon. So fun! I guess there's some kind of hot air balloon race in Provo, every 4th of July. Who knew there was such a large hot air ballooning community here?
One of Jay and my favorite places to go out to eat is Goodwood because we just LOVE their baby back ribs. And if you split a full rack, it's only $20! You can't beat that! So I decided to try my hand at making ribs for this special occasion :)
As you can see, this was a very fancy meal ;)
We even had fresh-cut flower from my garden.
Said buddy joined our little family and brought the corn on the cob and apple pie (because what's more American than apple pie?)
You know it must be good if Jay is willing to get his hands dirty...
The Frog had lots of fun too, even if he had to eat in his exersaucer to be outside with us.
We had no trouble at all finishing off over 3 pounds :D
Perhaps I'll make it a new family tradition. I'm still on the lookout for good ones :D
I started the day bright and early doing the Provo 5K "Freedom Run" with a lady from my ward (I her 1st assistant at Women's Conference). It came up that she had always wanted to do a 5K but didn't have anyone to do it with and so I gladly volunteered. Be both ended up getting injured a few weeks before the race and decided to speed walk instead of run. This one got us so pumped, we're going to run one this September too!
While we were waiting for the race to start, all these hot air balloons started emerging over the horizon. So fun! I guess there's some kind of hot air balloon race in Provo, every 4th of July. Who knew there was such a large hot air ballooning community here?
One of Jay and my favorite places to go out to eat is Goodwood because we just LOVE their baby back ribs. And if you split a full rack, it's only $20! You can't beat that! So I decided to try my hand at making ribs for this special occasion :)
As you can see, this was a very fancy meal ;)
We even had fresh-cut flower from my garden.
Said buddy joined our little family and brought the corn on the cob and apple pie (because what's more American than apple pie?)
You know it must be good if Jay is willing to get his hands dirty...
The Frog had lots of fun too, even if he had to eat in his exersaucer to be outside with us.
We had no trouble at all finishing off over 3 pounds :D
Perhaps I'll make it a new family tradition. I'm still on the lookout for good ones :D
On His Way to Responsible Adulthood
Just wanted to quickly proclaim two baby milestones (mostly for me):
1) It's official. I suspected yesterday, but now I'm sure that The Frog understands "No". I'm so excited! Today he was going for the garbage can in the bathroom while I was busy washing my hands and when I said "No" he stopped his hand midway, looked at me (I gave him that "look" all mom's inherently know how to do) and he stopped going for it. Success!!
2) I might be setting myself up for disappointment, but tonight and last night, The Frog went to bed for the night without crying, AT ALL!! I put him in his bed and he just laid down, curled up into is usual ball and I left. Amazing! Now, there could be a confounding variable, which is this- last night I let him hang on to the tube of A&D his was gnawing on and tonight I let him bring my chap stick tube to bed. Not sure what it means, but perhaps he finds comfort in various plastic tubes?
No matter, this mom is ecstatic!
1) It's official. I suspected yesterday, but now I'm sure that The Frog understands "No". I'm so excited! Today he was going for the garbage can in the bathroom while I was busy washing my hands and when I said "No" he stopped his hand midway, looked at me (I gave him that "look" all mom's inherently know how to do) and he stopped going for it. Success!!
2) I might be setting myself up for disappointment, but tonight and last night, The Frog went to bed for the night without crying, AT ALL!! I put him in his bed and he just laid down, curled up into is usual ball and I left. Amazing! Now, there could be a confounding variable, which is this- last night I let him hang on to the tube of A&D his was gnawing on and tonight I let him bring my chap stick tube to bed. Not sure what it means, but perhaps he finds comfort in various plastic tubes?
No matter, this mom is ecstatic!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sunday School Slip 'n Slide Soiree
Jay and I teach Sunday School to the 12/13 year-olds at church. We decided it would be fun if we had a little class party- plus we really wanted to try out Jay's new slip 'n slide (his birthday present from The Frog) I think we all had a really great time.
I got a bit carried away with the camera and ended up taking over 200 pictures! (yikes!) Here are the highlights :D
I got a bit carried away with the camera and ended up taking over 200 pictures! (yikes!) Here are the highlights :D
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