August at our house

Splashing with cousin Grace, who is almost 1.




Vacuum attachment microphone. Max loves dust pans and brooms and vacuum cleaning attachments. And toilets. Can you think of filthier objects?



Levi on the potty, with a strategically placed book. He still tells me every day, "Mommy, I need privacy."



Our little performer singing the alphabet.


This is the look Levi gets on his face when he is telling a really exciting story...and when he is jumping from the coffee table to the couch :)



Max and his beloved fire truck. Thank you Nana and Grandpa! He pushes the buttons to make siren sounds and says "Whoa!"


Levi in the summer sunshine. I love this.



Personality plus :)


August has been a pretty productive (and busy) month so far. With Zach out of school, we have been working hard together, tackling various projects around the house. We had a garage sale with friends, and are now in the process of turning our guest room into a playroom/school room for the boys. The guest room has not been getting much action lately, and with 1300 square feet, we really need to maximize our living space. Having all of our toys and children's books in one room sounds like a dream to me :)

I've been spending a lot of time researching and ordering preschool supplies too. I am getting really excited about homeschooling Levi. I sometimes doubt my ability to plan ahead and stick with a plan, but I feel really good about getting some practice this fall. I couldn't decide between the Sonlight curriculum and Before Five in a Row (both revolve around classic children's literature), so I purchased the instructor manuals for both and bought a few classic books and games, knowing that we'll be borrowing most of the recommended books from the library. I have the booklist in my purse, so that I can be on the lookout for inexpensive used copies at garage sales and thrift stores. I also made Levi a plastic box with 26 files, one for each letter of the alphabet, so we will be studying a letter a week (with corresponding books and worksheets) and memorizing a couple of Bible verses for each letter of the alphabet as well. He is so excited about his "school box!" He will be turning 3 in November and is already talking a lot about his birthday party (he wants to color birthday cakes with candles and "fire" every day!)

Max has become a little star performer (at least to us.) At 15 months, he started singing the alphabet all of the way through...and he pretends to be singing into a microphone all of the time :) A spoon, a vacuum cleaner attachment, a corner of his favorite blanket...anything will do! We are so grateful for these boys.

Zach has a potential job opportunity (here in Tulsa) that looks promising, and is sort of the perfect career move, so we may be staying here for a while. We miss our Colorado friends and Colorado in general, but we feel that God has us here for now. Tulsa may not be our forever home, but we are very content and enjoying family and friends, as well as a lower cost of living, which is making it easier to pay off Zach's medical school loans in a timely fashion. Mvelopes.com is a really great budgeting tool that we have been using. Speaking of the budget (can you hear the sarcasm?) last night, we booked two trips for the fall, and we are so excited. The first is a four day Colorado getaway for me and Zach, and the second is week long trip to Virginia to visit Zach's dad and stepmom. It should be a lot of fun.

So, what haven't I been doing lately? Cooking. I have a a menu, but it is pretty basic, with a lot of smoothies and sandwiches. It is just so hard to want to turn on the oven when it is 100 degrees outside.

That is us, right now, in a nutshell.

Love,
Kate

Fun at the Zoo

No public entry.


I have to laugh when I see this one. Max's legs don't look all that different that the Sheeps' :)


Zach and Max.


Levi and reflection in the "water ball."


Max loves saying, "baaaa..." and thoroughly enjoyed petting the sheep and goats at the petting zoo. He loves animals!


"Mama Llama." On the other hand, Levi is less than enthralled with the zoo animals, and would be quite satisfied with finding sticks and riding the train. Oh well!


Levi kissing baby elephant statue.


Max with 3 month old baby goat.


The four of us after a fun, rainy day at the zoo.

Summer is upon us

We are just having too much fun splashing in our little back yard pool and I have been keeping busier than usual with cleaning, cooking, reading, and volunteering that I just haven't had much left over to blog about. Or time to blog, to be more accurate. I always have something to talk about :)

The boys are doing well. Max is walking and talking a lot now, which is fun. He is getting to be such a big boy. I was a little sad when Levi started growing up, but with Max I am fully embracing this new stage. It is so much fun. I could be wrong, but I think the "golden years" of family life, must be when all of the kids are around the age 4 to 10 range. No diapers and no hormones. I've really tried to listen to all of those ladies who have said, "They grow up fast, enjoy them while they're little." It's a challenging, but wonderful phase in life and I am thankful for every moment-- or at least 97% of them :)

Love,
Kate

Max's First Birthday

For Max's first birthday (April 10th) we celebrated with a simple family brunch. On the menu: Breakfast casserole (my first time to ever buy bacon), Ginger cream scones with dried cherries (these are amazing), fruit, and of course, homemade banana-cake cupcakes with whipped cream/cream cheese icing.

Here are some pictures of our sweet boy and some yummy recipes:







Ginger Cream Scones

Deborah Madison says: When I was pastry chef at Cafe Escalera in Santa Fe, I used to make these for early morning customers who wanted just a little something with their coffee. It's the cream that makes them melt in your mouth like nothing else does. Ginger scones make an exceptional base for strawberry, peach, or dried winter fruit compote shortcake.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 1 cup candied ginger, chopped to the size of a raisin
2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP sugar, plus extra for the top
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP cold butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cream or a mixture of milk and cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 425. If you have a baking stone, heat it for an extra 10 minutes. Or lightly butter a sheet pan.

Toss the ginger with a tablespoon of the flour. Mix the remaining flour with the baking powder, sugar, and salt, then cut in the butter with your fingers or two knives until the mixture resemble meal. Combine the eggs, cream, and vanilla, then stir into the flour mixture along with the ginger. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead 8 to 10 times. Pat or roll the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick, then brush the top with the remaining cream and sprinkle with sugar. Cut into 12 wedges or into small circles and bake directly on the stone or on the sheet pan until glazed with gold, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

1 pound bacon
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 (16 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch casserole dish.
Fry the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.
In a large bowl beat together eggs and milk. Mix in cheese, bacon, onion and green pepper. Stir in the thawed hash browns. Pour mixture into prepared casserole.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes until eggs have set.

Banana Cake

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and place on a damp tea towel to cool.

Whipped Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Directions

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

As you probably noticed, we deviated from our healthy ways somewhat...but that's what birthdays are for :)

Love,
Kate

I love this kid.

Let's just pretend that Levi has his pants on :)

Max at 10 months!

Max is the best baby. He's going to be one of those kids that never stops talking (lucky me!) He amazes us every day with new words and signs. In the picture with his hand up in the air, he is signing "light." He brings us so much joy with his contagious smile and charming personality. Happy 10 months sweet boy!

My little fireman at 27 months.

Pics we are sending to Max's birth-parents