More Zoo!

It's been a rough couple of days here for a few different reasons and we decided we really needed to get out. So...to the zoo! We took advantage of some photo ops, luckily the dinosaurs were friendly.

Owen Being Cute (again!)

Look at Owen's face. Do you think he adores his dad?


Picture from playgroup.

Book Review

My Life in France--I decided I had better read about Julia Child before my mind wandered away from the topic so I picked up this book from the library. Like the title says, it really just covers her life in France so there's nothing about her childhood. She wrote this book with some help when she was in her 90's and I think it was finished just a little before she passed away. I was totally blown away by the details she provided. It's not the most fascinating life story ever but she could recount specific meals in great detail from dinners that happened about 60 years earlier. She must have kept some sort of log of her meals to be able to have that kind of recall. Either way, it's pretty impressive.

Birthday and More Cookies

We managed to get to the Memorial Day Parade yesterday! Owen was scared/fascinated by the whole spectacle but it helped that it included a lot of his favorite things (cars, fire trucks, animals...).

I had lots of marshmallows left and ate the S'more cookies really fast so I thought I would try them again and work on making them healthier. I figured since they were so incredibly good a few tweaks to the recipe wouldn't do too much damage. It worked! These were really good! Put side by side I'm sure the original recipe would win out but these definitely were still tasty. The marshmallows didn't dissolve into the batter as much as they did the first time either.

Healthier S'more Cookies
Ingredients:

5 Tbsp butter, softened

3 Tbsp applesauce

½ cup brown sugar

1/2 TBS vanilla

1 egg

1 cup wheat flour

1cup white flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup choclate chips

3/4 cup smashed graham crackers

1 cup marshmallows

Preheat oven to 375
In an electric mixer (or by hand), cream together butter, sugar and applesauce. Add vanilla and egg. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, except the last three add ins. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Add in the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows.
Scoop with a tablespoon or medium disher (aka ice cream scoop) and roll dough into balls. Place on a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 – 11 minutes or until the sides and tops just start to turn golden brown

You can listen to our lovely voices singing Happy Birthday and see Owen help blow out candles if you're interested.

It's Thomas the Train Day!

It's Thomas the Train Day! (I've been saying that in my head all day because it reminds me of Rex Manning Day! If you don't understand that you need to go watch Empire Records. It probably won't seem like a good movie now but it used to be. Trust me.). Anyway, we went with some friends and took a lovely train ride and wandered around to a bunch of super hot tents where Owen could run around and play. He was most interested in sitting and staring at a model train they had set up. It was fun but I think we all agreed that it would be much better to go and ride the train on just a regular day without the crowds and the craziness.

S'more Cookies

Everyone should make these cookies. I love them. I love most cookies but these are extra amazing. Really. No, really. Go get the ingredients. Go make them. Now.

Recipe here. (I halved the recipe, used teddy grahams instead of graham crackers and semi-sweet chocolate instead of hershey bars. I almost forgot! I cut out some of the butter too!)

Owen helped. See that smudge of flour on his cheek?

Good Luck!

Pat's brother, Jeff, got sworn in to the Navy this morning and he's off to boot camp!

Book Review

Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen -- Whenever I see a preview for a movie that was adapted from a book I get a bit panicky and feel the need to read the book before the movie ruins it for me. I do this even if I have no intention of seeing the movie, those previews can reveal so much, you know?! I had heard of this book awhile ago and wanted to read it but since I didn't write it down or immediately go get it I promptly forgot. Then I saw a preview for it and it was all the motivation I needed. (By the way, I really do want to see this. Meryl Streep as Julia Child?! I wouldn't have been able to imagine it but she's brilliant in those previews! Brilliant!)

The author of the book decided one day to complete all of the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. I'm sure you can imagine the hijinks that ensue. It was a good and entertaining read but I wanted to learn more about Julia Child (It implies you will in the movie preview. See what I mean? My reading of the book was tainted from the get-go from that one preview!). It's also interesting to note that she chronicled the whole thing on a blog while she was doing it so she went from a blog to a book deal to a movie. Nice, right?! Anyway, I have a couple of books already lined up for my next read but I might slip a book about Julia Child in there somewhere.

Poor Bunny

Sometimes I have an urge to be crafty but Owen is awake and Owen + trying to get anything accomplished = chaos. I wanted to sew this little bunny stuffed animal that I saw in a book I got from the library and it looked easy. It is easy. Sewing with a sharp needle while a 2 year old is running circles around you is not easy. The poor little body was so messed up that I didn't even bother sewing the head on. The head is cute though. I'll reserve sewing for naptime now.

Giraffe

Owen has had his giraffe (or if Owen is talking it sounds more like "jrowf") for almost 2 years now! He brings him to bed every night and likes to visit him often throughout the day. At some point we made a rule that giraffe wasn't allowed to leave the crib so there would be no danger of him getting lost but now that giraffe is in an open bed Owen likes to go check on him and the rule has expanded to not leaving the room. He's even perfected a new way of carrying him (see below).

June 2007 (first picture ever with giraffe)

May 2009 (most recent picture with giraffe)

New Bed!

We've been kind of sick around here but since Owen's crib was recalled we decided to go ahead with our plan to move him into a twin bed. It was kind of scary to not have him contained anymore and I don't think we've hit the full extent of what that can mean. He's slept two nights and one nap in there and he seems to still be excited about it! Yea! I'll work on getting an authentic picture of Owen sleeping but he was nice enough to pose for this photo. It takes a lot of effort to close your eyes apparently.

A Visitor!

Owen's Uncle Alex visited us last night while he was in town! He played some guitar for Owen and tuned Owen's guitar too (I think Owen was helping when I took this picture). I think Owen wowed him with his own guitar skills.

Fluke

We had some fun last night. I heard Owen cough a bit from his room and then a minute later some terrified crying. I ran in and discovered that Owen had thrown up for the first time ever (those early days don't count). Poor guy. I didn't rush and get my camera to document it for you (you're welcome) but I thought I would still announce it. After the initial shock wore off, Owen was quite amused by the whole situation and seemed to be totally fine. We'll see how today goes! In the meantime, I've decided to quarantine him.