Food Snatcher

O is constantly looking for food. If someone is eating anywhere near him, he's making a move.

W is turned away. Perfect opportunity to snatch his waffles and peaches.

What? I'm not doing anything.

He turned again. I'm going in for more.

Big Birthday Boy

I can't believe it! My baby boy has turned ONE! It's scary how fast time flies. Well, we started the month reflecting on our baby and all the people who love him. For his actual birthday, we celebrated with just our family and then later with extended family. W loved the attention and E was thrilled to sing the Birthday song, yet again. O just loved being there seeing the action.

The cake was a hit. Birthday boy attacked the cake and the candle...yes, he started eating the candle.

He was quite happy to devour his slice of goodness.

I'd like to say that he's blowing me a kiss for his lovely birthday celebration and scrumptious cake, but really, he's just stuffing his face.

Here he is 2 weeks later before his second birthday bash. Notice the hair. It must be cut...again!

New hairdo, showing the love for being ONE, and playing with his presents.

What a cutie.

Birthday Cakes

So far I haven't repeated any birthday cake recipes. Each one has been different in some way. This one was no exception. I saw it online and instantly knew I had to make it for W's birthday cake. Oh, yum. It was just like a warm moist Cinnabon that melted in your mouth. This was the first of two cakes for our little man.

Brown sugar and cinnamon swirled in the middle.

Warm icing drizzled...or should I say poured on top.

Saucy Chocolate, what do you think?

For the second birthday gathering, I saw these and I wanted to try them. They're Cake Pops and she has a million variations. I was a little hesitant to do them. I don't have a great reputation of successfully dipping things in chocolate and having it look neat. Plus, it would be hard to get the pops perfectly round. I decided to go for it.

Made about 50. Some more round than others.

Dipped in white chocolate. This takes forrr-evv-err! I was going to have several colors, but it was just taking too long.

Here are all the balls for W's birthday: tennis, softball, basketball,soccer, baseball, bowling, golf. I was going to have a football, but I was afraid the shape wouldn't hold.

Overall, they were good. Fast and easy to eat. Everyone can throw away their own stick. Kids could eat them as they played outside. Super cute to put a candle in one and sing. It was the perfect size for W to eat. However, they took way too long to complete and I'm just not sure it was worth it. Birthdays...I'm always experimenting with something.


Here's the recipe for the Cinnamon Cake, which is called Honey Bun Cake.

Honey Bun Cake

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow or white
cake mix
4 egg whites
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

For Filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I may have used more)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I think I used more on this too)

For Glaze:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, egg whites, sour cream and applesauce. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.
2. Pour half into a greased 9 x 13 or bundt pan. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Cover with remaining batter; cut through with a knife to swirl. Bake at 325 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (If using bundt pan, bake for 40-45 minutes). Cool on a wire rack. Flip over onto serving dish.
3. For glaze, combine confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth; drizzle over warm cake. Store at room temperature.

Simple Beauty

Attack!

First, the little one with long beautiful eyelashes tries to distract me with his good looks and sweet chitter chatter.

And then...

Ka-Pow! They both attack.

Body slam her!

Do it again!

Ha ha ha...we gotchya mom!

(As a side note, A didn't like the fact that I put "girl" hats on the boys and took pictures. Oh, well. The kids tend to share just about everything around here.)

Past Few Weeks

During the past few weeks, the boys have had about 2 dozen collisions with each other, the floor, or furniture that resulted in split lips or bleeding gums. My reaction is getting less and less dramatic.

She got me.

Mom...I have a tutu around my neck! Help!

Strongest Girl Competition 2009

O has always been larger around than W, but now he has about 2 inches in height.

W finally gets his upper two teeth, but one came down much faster. He's a little snaggletooth.

First pair of shoes (size 2) thanks to a friend of ours who gave us quite a bundle of boy clothes.

Playing outside, fighting over a ball.

Laughing...good to be outside in the cool breeze and sunshine.

The Cabinet

E's old stompin' grounds...the bottom cabinet. The boys are now interested and she has a secret plan.

Come here boys...come on...come with me...let's play together...come on...good boy...

Ha ha...she's luring one unsuspecting baby into her trap.

And shut the door. He's trapped. Her plan worked out beautifully. W now stays clear.

Sleeping Babies

My heart just melts when I see my babies sleep.

Mr. All Over The Crib

Mr. Finger Sucker

Miss I Must Be With My Friends

He's also Mr. Blanket Boy

Or I just laugh.

Exhausted

All friends are in pj's and tucked in.

He's so funny.

What Now?

Things were going pretty smoothly for awhile after VomitFest 2009. Everyone seemed to be staying happy and healthy...wow, I know. Things were looking up. Notice I'm using past tense.

Happy:
Well, E has been transitioning out of naps for a couple months. She rarely takes one these days. But to be safe we have continued to put a pull up on her because we never know when she'll decide to take a little snooze. She's been dry all day every day for who knows how long until recently. Why? Well, we taught E to stay in her room during "Quiet Time". So, we're assuming she thought she couldn't come out to use the bathroom. Since then we have told her several times that she can use the bathroom during "Quiet Time", she just needs to tell us so we can help her. So far so good.

Another explanation for the accidents could be that she got so caught up in her play and then oops, too late. I'll go cry in the corner until Mom comes. This explanation is a big maybe. She's always been really good about stopping play to go to the bathroom. Whether she's dancing, putting friends to bed, watching tv, or eating, she stops to use the bathroom.

For the past couple weeks she has been going through another phase where she likes to dress, undress and redress herself...a million times a day. This doesn't seem to tire her...only me...because she is always in need of assistance at some point. It's usually a given when you hear spontaneous screaming, crying, and kicking on the floor that she can't get a shirt on correctly. Either that or one of her brothers is pulling her hair. Then she usually appears with a shirt, asking for help.

She has even attempted to wear the boys' clothes. Yeah...."the word on the street is struggle." This is usually when Baby E is here, not our 3 year old E. She has several personalities, voices, and behaviors. The main 3 are E, Baby E, and Mommy E. Sometimes I am corrected as to whom I am speaking, although most times it's pretty obvious who is here. E is just E. Baby E mimics the boys, cries, wants a bottle, and can't talk. Mommy E takes care of Baby E and she is always calling for dinner in a distant voice.

Healthy:
Anyway, back to my "everyone staying healthy" comment. It's me, again. What's wrong with me? Maybe I need to exercise more or something. But I was carrying O on Sunday when I squatted down to greet E and her new creation from Primary. Someone was behind me and inching towards me, not knowing I was there. I leaned forward and pulled myself up. That did it. That simple movement pulled what feels like every muscle in my back. I then carried both boys out to the van and buckled all the kids. My back was killing me. I haven't been able to do much of anything since then. Do you know how hard it is to care for three little ones without moving your back? Uh...the answer would be hard...really, really hard.