Conversations with Anna on God

Today, while the kids and I were driving home from the library, out of the blue, Anna asked if Heaven was close to our house. I told her that no, Heaven was far, far away. She then asked if that's where God lives. I told her yes. (Not a good idea try and examine advanced theological ideologies with a 3 year old, while driving in rush hour traffic, right?) She then told me how God will come and help you if you need help. I added that it's probably a good idea to periodically thank God for all that you have, too. I told her that I often thank God for she and Jack as well as Daddy. She then said,

"That's nice. But I would like to thank God for the red ladder that is in the back of that truck in front of us....because red is my favorite color".

Saturday Morning Dance Party

It gets a little dull at about the 1 minute mark, but bear with it because the finale is good.

Flamenco Tuesday

Because some mornings you just wake up and want to dance the Flamenco.

A Four-Alarm, Full-of-Fun Family Weekend

We went to a family reunion over the weekend in Corpus Christi. Our first stop, upon arriving in town was the Texas State Aquarium.

Next stop, Family Reunion

Feeling dapper and ready to meet some hot chicks at the family reunion

Men always congregate near the keg. Jack learns some keg etiquette ("kegiquette"?) and prepares for college

Anna upheld the time-honored tradition of running positively amok on the dance floor of Moravian Hall, following in the footsteps of her father, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Jack participates in another time-honored, family tradition: succumbing to Aunt Gayle's mad "baby whisper" skills. Babies regularly fall limp in her arms. Aunt Gayle is a legend.

Puddin'

I know what you're thinking: "Way to go, 'Ms. My Children Drink Spinach Smoothies Everyday'". In my defense, I only gave him about 1 tablespoon of chocolate pudding and only about 1/4 of a teaspoon of it actually made it into his system.

Independence Day!

We sort of stumbled upon the neighborhood's 4th of July bike parade this morning, after a failed attempted trip to Ikea (there was a line of people, waiting to get into the store). Luckily, Anna was already dressed in her Independence Day finest, so it was fate that she was able to jump right in and join the parade. This girl ran the parade route, like it was a 5k--not at all what I expected out of her!

Running along side her Bestie

Jack celebrated his new-found independence this Independence Day, by practicing his walking at the park, after the parade.

Finally!

An hour after this video was shot, he was running laps around our kitchen. We had a feeling this would be the case, since he's been doing everything but walk for the past year or so. Last night, he also started carrying around the plastic potty, so since he's mastered walking now, he's probably ready to move on to the next chapter: potty training.

Impressive

...considering that we threw this together using what we had on hand (not pictured is the liberally buttered and lightly broiled ciabatta bread to go with). It was delicious too, in case you were wondering.

Gearing up for the holiday weekend

Have a fun and festive 4th of July!

Small Kitchen Appliance Fail

Today, I learned the hard way, the subtle differences between a blender and a food processor. This morning, as Jack patiently (ok, not so patiently, actually) awaited his morning smoothie, I stuffed our blender full of goodness: frozen peaches, blueberries, an orange that was on it's way out anyway, a couple of hearty handfuls of baby spinach, a couple of tablespoons of ground flaxseeds, milk and yogurt. I pressed the ON button and it whirred and whined, but nothing even began to spin in the canister. I tried and I tried, finally realizing that my blender wasn't working. Panicking, as Jack violently banged his fists on the table and, as I looked at the bounty of fresh produce that I was about to have to dump out, I remembered my food processor, tucked away in a high cabinet. Food processor/blender...same thing, right?

Wrong.

I had to chew my smoothie this morning. Turns out that food processors do more of a "rough chop" as opposed to a "smooth blending" of the food that you put in them. I managed to choke down a cup of the stuff, but Jack wouldn't have anything to do with it. In fact, this experience might have ruined smoothies for him entirely.