Happy February 1st!

I don't know how or why it happened, but I've become quite the celebratory person when it comes to the Holidays. After the Christmas Decorations came down the girls and I immediately put up our Cardboard Conversation Hearts (which never got past my bedroom shelf last year).

This evening John was working late as he does on Mondays and was scheduled to be gone most of the evening so to minimize the "I miss my Daddy sooooo Much" and to keep the girls as well as myself busy they helped me make pancakes for dinner. The Old Cannery put up their hearts on their wall Railroad outside the store and so the girls are very aware that it is finally February :) and therefore they didn't want just any old pancake, but Pink Heart Shaped pancakes.

We broke out new aprons with matching hats Grandma had left for them for Valentine's Day baking and we had a great time. The Girls were giddy with excitement and pretended to have a cooking show and then proceeded to dance/run around the house singing.

Out of my own curiosity I decided to look up February ? I found the history and this is what I found interesting:

February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period.... At certain intervals February was truncated to 23 or 24 days and a 27-day intercalary month, Intercalaris, was inserted immediately after February to realign the year with the seasons. Under the reforms that instituted the Julian calendar, Intercalaris was abolished, leap years occurred regularly every fourth year (after a few years of confusion), and in leap years February gained a 29th day. Thereafter, it remained the second month of the calendar year, meaning the order that months are displayed (January, February, March, …, December) within a year-at-a-glance calendar. Even during the Middle Ages, when the numbered Anno Domini year began on March 25 or December 25, February continued to be the second month whenever all twelve months were displayed in order. The Gregorian calendar reforms made slight changes to the system for determining which years were leap years and thus contained a 29-day February.
Historical names for February include the Anglo-Saxon terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice. In Ukrainian, the month is called лютий meaning the month of ice or hard frost.

February was well named and placed...as if I ever doubted it but interesting facts nonetheless.

Getting Out and Cleaning Up

After dropping McKenna off at school we've been trying to pick up around the yard and get a little fresh air lately. Tate has discovered the great outdoors...and buckets. He LOVES buckets and carrying them around. Tyler's been a great help as we've been trying to clear pine cones from the front yard.

Tate discovered it's not easy walking in the grass,

but it really hasn't stopped him, he just keeps on trekking forwardIn her height of fashion: Miss Tyler and her bucket

(it's all about the accessories)

Looks more like an Easter egg hunt and definitely as much fun.

Vices

We all have our vices and mine is blogging, reading others and writing my own. One of Tate's is the bathroom and more specifically the toilet. The bathroom door is kept shut at all times because as it squeaks open Tate will ALWAYS bee-line it to the bathroom.

One afternoon while I took a minute to read up on a relative's blog I realized it was unusually quiet. Then I heard it, in the distance a quiet sort of sloshing...water and then I zoned in and realized where it was coming from (You know where this is going). Tate had found not only the bathroom door open, but that he was tall enough to reach the toilet paper on the back of the toilet and tall enough to reach into the water in the toilet bowl. I found him dipping the TP in and out of the bowl and having a grand old time. UGH! I did grab a picture, but not until after I retrieved my mischeivious young boy with a repetitive "NO, NO, NO!" while I washed him off. The smile never faded off his face and he never quite caught the drift of my message. He has been rather frustrated that he hasn't made it back into the bathroom since then.

Chocolate is everyone's vice around here, well everyone except John, but more specifically I have trained my young breed, by accident actually into their "Need" for hot chocolate ever morning and afternoon. Tate has even caught onto this delicacy lately when he was able to confiscate a cup from one of his sisters.

Sick....sick...and sick of sick

Love this time of year when someone always has some kind of ailment. What's a mom to do? A bubble around my kids would be nice, but really not realistic or feasible. We've gone through colds, stomach flu and currently trying to get over Pink Eye...which by the way is pretty much the plague because who wants it? Saying or hearing the term stabs fear into every Mother's heart and they start to slowly back away from you or quickly hang up the phone. Then you wake up one morning and your kid has it.....NOOOOOOOOOO! (I say this all very light hearted now, we are almost through it.)

McKenna had it a couple of weeks ago, she didn't want it, and didn't want to pass it on to anyone and she was really good at washing her hands quite frequently throughout the day. I did initially panic when she woke up with it. I text my good pediatrician who said their were drops but didn't suggest them. Confused I found out there were 2 kinds of Pink eye. Viral and Bacterial. He said that it would take 4-5 days and it would just go away. Before I knew there were 2 kinds everything I'd read said you had to have treatment-I mention this because when I told him this his response was one word, "Baloney". That left me with a smile and a little more confidence to do nothing. True to his word 4 days later we were free of the pink. Not before McKenna informed me she had pink eyes because she was Pinkalicious. (If you haven't read that book it's worth checking out).

A whole week went by before Tyler woke up with green/pink eyes. She had a very mild case where she mostly just complained about her eyes hurting. At that point it was inevitable that Tate would get it because Tate can't leave Tyler alone. He's always trying to steal a binki, water bottle or trying to tackle her. Two days after Tyler started Tate woke up with the Guppyiest Green eyes out of the 3. It's been about 5 days days now and he's doing better. It has gotten the kids out of church for a few weeks and school a few days as you are still contagious up to a week after symptoms. Just praying it doesn't come back around, once has been enough and I'm missing the world around us.

Thought about taking pictures...but who really wants to remember those kind of details.

Self Portraits

The girls love to draw and here are their renditions of themselves.

McKenna of McKenna

Tyler and her family-we all made the picture

Tate is 1!

Tate had his birthday at the beginning of December, but sometimes it takes a while to get around to booking one of your favorite photographers. Leslie left a sampling of her photos on her site so I "stole/borrowed" them for you to look at. She always does a great job!

He's a great kid with a lot of energy and a great little or rather big smile!

This is always the result when he realizes I've disappeared....yet again.

Thanks Leslie!

Zoo Days

Is it really only January 18th? After a raging Wind storm early this morning we woke up to a clear sky and sunshine. It looked like Spring and felt like it too reaching 60 Degrees- Being Martin Luther King Jr. Day and school not being in session I talked Leslie out of going to the gym (oops!) and going to the Zoo instead. It really was the perfect day for it!

There were not that many people there and so the kids ran free without getting in the way of others. We played at the zoo park for a while before heading to see the animals which worked out perfectly as we were able to visit each animal as they were fed lunch. Well all except the polar bear who was sun bathing.

I love being the one with the camera!

McKenna's favorite new ride

It was Tate's 1st trip where he was really cognitive of the animals-he was especially in aw of the Walrus who came right up to the glass where they had dumped a bucket of fish and squid for collection. He also loved being able to walk around with the kids.

I received a Membership to the Zoo for Christmas (from my own personal Santa Claus)and we look forward to taking FULL advantage of the membership over the next year.

We LOVE the ZOO!

Feelings

After using the bathroom, Tyler was in washing her hands and then announced she was going to brush her teeth. I didn't think too much about it since it was a quiet event, although several minutes later she came up to me and told me:

"Mom, I got frustrated while brushing my Teeth."
"Yeah?"
"I got mad at the toothpaste and then I got frustrated with the brush and the round (meaning the spinning bristles)."
"well I didn't hear you yelling and it sounds like you handled it really well, Good Job."
Tyler gives me a big hug and runs off to play.

I had no idea what she was talking about other than she was frustrated and angry with her toothbrush and the toothpaste but I was impressed at her ability and willingness to communicate and share her feelings. (She's been noticing her own as well as other feelings and identifying them lately.) It wasn't until after naptime when McKenna and I went into the bathroom and I found pink toothpaste smeared across the front of the vanity, a toothpaste lid on the floor and toothpaste all over her toothbrush and a towel. Still proud of her communication and that she didn't throw her toothbrush or the toothpaste.

Teeth

Tate had an outbreak today. He seems rather happy about it. His 2-front teeth broke through, his toothy smile is coming right a long now that he has 6 teeth.

I know gross-but he was so happy and it was a good shot of the new arrivals...in action.

Look Who's Walking

Tate doesn't really crawl much anymore. He's really quite proud of himself and very cute about it. He carefully stands up and then with a big goofy grin on his face he does his best imitation of Frankenstein and waddles across the floor. My favorite is him yelling as he walks into my arms to give me a big hug. Yesterday he walked towards me, then right before he got to me he stopped and then turned.

Today I was trying to read stories to the girls for naptime and I hadn't put Tate down yet. He was just playing around and came to the foot of the futon and Snatched Tyler's polar bear, turned and darted away-then chucking the bear and Laughing out loud to himself as he came back to try and swipe her water bottle. I found myself laughing and the girls joined in, not sure that they realize but I was laughing knowing this was and is only the beginning of his teasing his sisters.

This is for the grandparents-some of his beginning 1st steps.

Ahh the Smell of Bread...

McKenna woke up with Pink Eye yesterday which automatically puts her out of school for a few days. We actually had a great time today with (surprisingly) hardlyl any tv time, the kids didn't even ask for it. I spent the morning trying to get packages together and in the mail, Tate actually slept well and the girls played peacefully (for the most part) together. I was a bit surprised when McKenna came out of the play/grandma's room with her pajamas back on-we did get dressed this morning-apparently Mommy Tyler got her ready for bed and she decided to stay in them for the rest of the day. I guess it's really not a sick day unless you get to spend the day in your pj's.

At the beginning of winter break McKenna came home with an "easy" recipe to make bread and a list of children's books about bread and bread making. We got a bunch of the books from the library and read them but never found time to make the bread, until today. After working on homework we pulled out the measuring spoons and cups and a big bowl and the girls took turns putting ingredients in the bowl, stirring and then each took a turn Kneading the sticky dough until it was smooth and round (no KitchenAid or Bosch needed here) and then they were fascinated to watch it grow, and grow and grow.

Pictures were kind of an afterthought

I baked the bread while the kids were napping and the smell of it brought memories of my own childhood and my Mom baking bread, waiting for it to finish to have a warm slice with a thick layer of butter on it. The bread wasn't as good as my Mom's but I was very pleased at how well it turned out. We even added a few extra things like Flax for some omega-3 and wheat flour, although there was still a lot of white flour so it's called the White bread. The big test was if the kids would eat and like it. All 3 gave it a thumbs up. McKenna who is our biggest test when it comes to food ate a couple slices. YEAH!!!

Here's the recipe and the link:

Easy Bread

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
5 1/2 to 6 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water, which should feel pleasantly warm when dropped on the wrist. Whisk in the sugar. Add 2 cups of the flour into the bowl. Whisk the mixture well, then let it “proof,” or sit for 10 minutes. If tiny bubbles appear and the batter looks slightly expanded, you’re on the right track.
Stir in the salt, and then add the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead for 10 minutes. (To knead, fold the dough in half and push it down and away with the heel of your hand, rotate the dough, and repeat until it is smooth and elastic.)
Place the ball of dough in a bowl rubbed with vegetable oil and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a draft-free area for 1 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size. Punch the dough down. Knead it again to remove air bubbles.
Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle. Fold it into thirds as you would fold a letter to put it into an envelope. Turn the ends under and place the dough, seam-sides down, in greased loaf pans. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a draft-free area for about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake the bread for 30 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven; if the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped, the bread is done. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack. Rub with butter or margarine for a shiny finish, if you want. Cool the loaves and wrap tightly in plastic until ready to eat. Wrapped loaves can by frozen.

Makes 2 loaves

SUGGESTED BOOKS:

Bread Is For Eating David Gershator (Ages 4-8)-McKenna Loved this book, longest she's ever sat for a book not involving a princess, plus it comes with recipes

The Little Red Hen Lucinda McQueen (Ages 4-8)

Bread and Jam For Frances Russel Hoban (Ages 4-8)

2009 in Review

Looking back at the 2009 year the following stands out:

• Tate survived his first year alive and we survived having a little boy in the family.
• Tate crawling and taking his 1st steps
• McKenna graduated from Preschool and started Kindergarten
• McKenna and Tyler learned the ABC song
• Tyler singing and reading out loud to herself to fall asleep
• Camping at the beach over the 4th of July (Tyler becoming one with the sand)
• Visits from Family including Both Grandparents a few aunts and an uncle and some friends
• Remodel, Remodel, Remodel-Painting our house green, building a new deck and a playhouse with a swingset and slide
• Christmas lights on our house
• Sporadic big surprise trip to Utah for Christmas-Snow (Sledding, snow mountains and snow angels)
• Mastering the car trip with young kids (Travel to Utah, ID, WY)
• 2 Sisters/Aunts getting married-2 trips to Utah (one by plane one by car)!

So much more happened but my memory continues to get smaller and smaller-that's what blogging/journaling is for right? To keep a Record.

Will You Play with Me?

Before leaving Utah the Girls, I mean kids and I took a trip down to our cousin's house-The Stephany's: Uncle Gregg, Aunt Shelly and cousins Maddie and Keira. It was all too brief, but we were able to go sledding, had lunch and played toys. It was such a fun trip, but the thing that sticks out the most was after lunch Tyler wanted someone to play with and her beloved and dear cousin Keira who is only a few weeks older than her walked up to her and said, "i'll play with you." Tyler squatted down with her hands on her face and excited said, "You will? Yeah!" Then the two girls ran off to the playroom. 5 minutes later I looked into the all to quiet playroom and found 5 children happily playing including Tyler and Keirra who were playing a toy together so content and happy. My heart melted with joy-There are not too many little girls up here her age and so it was a joyful moment for us both.

PS-the whole drive to Utah all Tyler could talk about was giving "her Keira" (and Grandparents) a BIG HUG! She really does love this girl!

Utah by Storm

The entire drive to Utah the girls asked over and over again if there was snow at Grandma & Papa's house. We assured them there was and there WAS-in fact it was a white Christmas where the girls couldn't get out of the house soon enough. All dressed in their snow gear they made their way out to the backyard with their cousins and their Grandpa and went sledding, built a snow mountain and swung, all in the snow.

There were a couple of storms while we were there and the snow just kept falling. We couldn't have been more thrilled. After a bout with the Stomach Flu that ran through everyone...except me-knock on wood we made our way out into the snow with our Aunt Brooke to go see the local farm animals: about 8 sheep, some ducks and a donkey with a weird butt. We did Snow angels on the way home and even did a couple of snow runs.

It wasn't until the day before we left that the girls were able to make their snowman. The snow was finally perfect, and who better to make it with than your Dad and your Papa.

Merry Christmas 2009

Looking back at December it went by in a whirl. I couldn't believe how quickly Christmas was upon us. It was the year for the gathering of the Harris' and circumstances being what they were we had decided to stay in Washington for Christmas. As with everything things change and with only a week before Christmas John and I decided to pack up the van and surprise my family. (I told McKenna 2 days earlier, and she almost blew our cover while talking to Grandma Harris. We then explained to her that it was a big surprise and she was good to not mention it to them again.)

John was off work by 11 am Christmas Eve and as hoped we were on the road by noon. My house was still a little, ok rather messy but we were on the road on time.

The girls were thrilled to be going to Utah. As we crossed each border John would ask, "who wants to go to Utah?" and they would throw their arms in the air and yell, "ME!" Tate did incredibly well with only a breakdown once about Hermiston when he'd messed his pants and had been sitting in it too long.

Traveling on Christmas Eve is a great time as there isn't any traffic, and the roads were clear. We pulled into Kaysville a quarter after one in the morning. We stopped only for gas in Boise and Le Grande where we played in McDonaldland for about 45 minutes. Tyler's legs ached around 11 pm-but after sitting in the car for that long it's understandable. Norm, Amber's Husband was the only one who knew we were coming as he so graciously allowed us to stay at their home for a couple of days since my parents home was filled. He shamefully admitted to telling Amber a day or 2 earlier, but how would you keep that from your wife, getting rooms ready for a family of 3 kids.

Christmas morning we woke up and made our way to the Grandparent's around 8 am. Norm and Amber went in first and then we made our way our way in sending the girls in first. As we walked in their was confusion on everyone's faces and my father just stared in disbelief, jaw dropped. It was a wonderful surprise for all of us-wonderful to be with my whole family. Sadly my mother was sick and in bed, but we were happy for a small recovery later that morning. The kids were thrilled by the gifts they were given, spoiled by all of their favorite things including books, pajamas, movies, jewelry, and art supplies-and Santa came through with McKenna's Strawberry Shortcake doll set and Dora (snow princess and twins) Dolly for Tyler (although she had changed her mind a week earlier and was hoping for Princesses...but Santa just can't know and change an order that quickly).

Good job on the puzzle girls

Cousins-almost 3 yrs old

Tate's 1st Sledding Experience

SnowAngel

our own personal Rudolf

That afternoon we went to Grandma Odessa Harris' house for family gathering, food and games where we scored a copy of the Italian Job.

It was a WONDERFUL day full of family, presents, food and more family. Who could ask for anything more...other than a nap for one and all.

The trip home-great time to open the stockings