The Little Chefs

My boys love to cook and spend time in the kitchen. Of course, they love to eat too, so that's a good thing! Here's a look at some of what we've been eating lately:
Isn't this just yummy-looking? We joined a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) this summer, and each week we get a big brown bag of gorgeous, locally-grown veggies from a nearby farm. Last week, we got yellow squash, cucumbers, red potatoes, an onion, beets, kale, and baby arugula! We also still visit our farmers' market, and we are eating the best produce (and fresh-baked bread and fresh eggs) ever. When we run out of something, Henry always suggests that we "buy more at the farmers' market," even if it's not something we can get there (like oranges). I love that he associates fresh produce with the farmers' market; next step, we need to get these boys out to a real farm!

We also have a small patio "garden," which includes a few tomato plants and yummy herbs. I had to take a picture of my basil!Now that we have all this delicious food, we have to cook it all, and lately, our cooking has started pretty early in the morning! Will occasionally wakes up with the sun these days, and that's not necessarily a good thing since it is sunny and bright at 6:15 am now. On those early mornings when he is calling for me, I bring him downstairs and we make muffins together. I think he really loves having some quiet time with just the two of us, baking away in the kitchen while Gene and Henry snooze on. Will helps me get out the ingredients, and then we both measure and stir it all together. He is such a good little helper!

And then, of course, he has to watch the muffins rise in the oven.
Sometimes Henry is awake by then as well.

The best part is eating everything we make! We snapped this picture of Henry because it looked as if he had just polished off about 8 plates of food. Now the kid can eat, but half of the dishes actually belonged to Will.

When they're not really cooking, the boys love to don their chef's attire and cook in their play kitchens. We are treated to all sorts of yummy concoctions, from pumpkin and cookie "soup" to gruffalo crumble and owl ice cream (from The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson).

What are you cooking these days?

School's Out!

Yesterday was our last day of school, and it's a bit bittersweet. The boys love school and I love having a few precious hours to myself, but I do enjoy all our summer activities. September will be here soon enough!

Henry's last day was actually last Friday. This was his first year of Mommy's Day Out and he only went on Fridays, but he sure did love his teachers and the babies (as he called them) in his class. I have to say that their little school has pretty loving teachers. Ms. Donna and Ms. Alycia were wonderful! They even made this little book of Mommy's Day Out memories.

Henry loves to look at the pictures of himself and all his little friends.

Will's class celebrated the last day of school with a small classroom party. There was food, of course! Thank goodness the mom who coordinated the party brought enough food for hungry little brothers! Henry ate as much as Will did!
Then they decorated koozies with stickers.

Henry really wanted some milk!

Now that school's out, we have a pretty full schedule of swim lessons, Kindermusik and Gymboree classes, and play dates galore! Happy summer!

Baby, It's Hot Outside

It's only May, but here in Houston it is already plenty hot and steamy outside. The boys still love to play outdoors, so we either have to get out the water toys or head out first thing in the morning.

Last weekend, Gene took the boys to spend some time with his dad and they got out the Slip 'n Slide. Clearly the boys had a blast!

Yesterday morning, the boys wanted to play outside at 8am. The weather was as perfect as it gets. They insisted on taking some of their favorite friends with them. Will set up the animals at the top of the play set so they could watch the boys swing. The poor stuffed critters look imprisoned, don't they? They are really just onlookers! From left to right, you have Brown Bear and Baxter (Will's favorites) and Brown Bear (Henry's best bear). Yes, I know we have two Brown Bears, but I didn't choose the names!

I pushed the boys on the swings for awhile, and then it was Baxter's turn.

Brown Bear had to wait by the water bottles.

But then he got a turn too!

Today, the boys wanted to play outside in the afternoon. To help them keep cool, I brought out some bowls and paintbrushes and let them go to town painting our fence with water. I figured if they got wet, all the better!

Will especially loved this activity. I remember doing this a ton as a kid, and it's just a perfect summer activity because they love it and can't possibly hurt anything!
What are you going to do to keep cool this summer?

Ring Around the Rosy

Ring around the rosy,

A pocket full of posies,

Ashes, ashes,

We all fall down!

The Little Sponge

Will is 3 1/2 and he is busy learning all kinds of things this spring. Don't they all seem like little sponges at this age? He is so busy absorbing all kinds of new things.

First up, when I went to Seattle, Will got to go to his first symphony concert. The Houston Symphony holds special children's concerts throughout the year, with a short, age-appropriate program and even an instrument petting zoo! How cool is that? Gene, Nana, and Pop took Will and apparently he loved it. Well, why wouldn't he? The kid is obsessed with music!
Will also started swim lessons this month. This photo pretty much sums up our first two lessons. Will sat in the corner of the pool and refused to touch the teacher.
He really didn't do anything for two lessons, but now I find a sitter for Henry (thanks, Mom, Dad and Liz for helping babysit) and I get in with him. He's much improved after just two lessons, mostly because now he actually participates! I'm pretty sure he'll never been an Olympic swimmer, but that's okay. I think music is more his thing anyway!

At home, we've been working on our Hooked on Phonics workbooks. He loves them and it's something special we do when Henry is napping. Lots of my friends are working on reading and pre-reading skills with their 3- and 4- year olds. There are so many different programs out there, but so far I'm pleased with our Hooked on Phonics set. We do a page in the workbook, which usually includes something like making an F out of straws, play games on the computer, read books, and sometimes watch a little video. We started with the first book of the preschool set, so it's pretty much all review for Will, but he's enjoying it!
Last Saturday was Will's fifth and final nature class of the season, and guess what? He finally loved it! This class was all about amphibians, and Will managed to do every single activity! Saturday was another rainy day, so Will got to wear a poncho. I think that's one of his favorite parts of class!

Gene told me that he loved seeing the frogs!
Their art project shows the life cycle of a frog, from eggs to tadpole to tadpole with legs to frog. And the best part is that he can tell me all about it!

The teacher in me was excited to reinforce all his learning about frogs, so this week we have been listening to the Barenaked Ladies song "Polliwog in a Bog," which is all about a tadpole's transformation into a frog. The boys crawl around on the floor as polliwogs and then start jumping when they turn into frogs. It's pretty cute. We've also been reading A Frog in a Bog by Karma Wilson, which is a fantastic and funny story about a frog that overeats. And finally, Will has been obsessed with an episode of Dinosaur Train called "Campout!" And guess what it's about? Yep, early frogs! Whew, all this learning is hard work! Will celebrated his last Tadpole Troopers class with this enormous sundae. I think he deserved it, don't you?

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was last Sunday, so I am just a little behind posting pictures! Mother's Day didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it too, mostly because the club where we usually enjoy Mother's Day brunch only allowed members this year. I was so sad to miss it because it's in our neighborhood and the food is so yummy!

But this is what I found on the kitchen counter last Sunday morning when I woke up:

Orange-chocolate chip scones are my absolute favorite! Thanks, honey!

Here are my two sweet boys just before church. They look distracted because they are watching Mickey Mouse.

For brunch this year, we got very last minute reservations at the Downtown Aquarium. It was pretty busy and very hectic and the food was not as good as at Redstone, but I really enjoy a brunch out for Mother's Day, and that's what we got. And we can't go to the Aquarium without at least riding the carousel.

I'm not sure how this happened, but this is the only picture I got with my little boys. It was the end of the day. Everyone is in jammies and it's almost time for bed.

Mother's Day didn't turn out exactly how I had imagined it, but I got to spend it with my sweet little boys, and that's what makes it special.

Outdoor Fun

I have a confession to make. I really don't like Play-Doh. It's messy, it's a pain to clean up, and the kids mix all the colors together. But the boys really like their Play-Doh, so sometimes we just have bring it out. Last time, we played outside, and I honestly think that worked out much better. We started out with three tubs of Play-Doh, but when the playing was all over and we put everything away, we only managed to fill up two tubs of Play-Doh. Hmm. See what I mean about the mess?

Will has been asking to bring out the swimming pool for at least two months now, and it's finally warm enough to set it up. The boys love to splash in the water on a hot day.
And after "swimming" we can eat our dinner outside too.

This night we had baked ziti, garlic bread, and broccoli and tomatoes from the farmers' market. Yum! Will cleaned his plate and asked for "more of everything."
I foresee many a summer day spent outside just like this. And the best part -- the boys sleep so well after an afternoon in the sun!

Seattle wrap-up

Our weekend in Seattle was so jam-packed that I still have many more photos to share! If you can't tell from my two previous posts, we had a fantastic time. Seattle is a great city but it is even better when you get to enjoy it with good friends.

Here are some more pictures from Ballard, the neighborhood where Leigh and Tyler live. These are some sculptures at the heart of the neighborhood.

Katy captured this picture of our wonderful hosts, Leigh and Tyler, at lunch (remember the place where we had Bloody Marys and a Texas waiter?). And I caught Katy posing for the camera.
And now a regular Katy face:
On Sunday afternoon, after much shopping at the Farmers' Market and surrounding stores, we headed over to the Ballard Locks to see some leisure boats. The locks provide a link between Puget Sound and the local lakes. The first weekend in May was the start of the boating season, so many many boats were making their way up to Lake Washington.

I took this picture for my boys, who both love M&Ms. Will calls them "nem and nems" and Henry calls them MBMs. And yes, there is much discussion of M&Ms at our house, though we rarely eat them, because Henry knows that if he goes potty on the potty, he'll get some MBMs!

On the other side of the locks was a salmon ladder, but we only saw two itty bitty baby salmon trying to make their way up the ladder.
We waited forever, but they were really loading up the boats, so we never did get to see them lowered in the locks. But I did get Katy perched up here:

But Sunday wasn't over yet! That night we had dinner at Poppy. If you're a fan of Top Chef Masters, you may have seen the chef-owner of Poppy on the first show this season. The food was yummy and the service was fantastic!

Beautiful Poppy lights:

After dinner, we headed over to St. Mark's Cathedral to hear the Compline, a beautiful chant sung by their men's choir.

And on our last morning in Seattle, we visited the Pike Place Market. Isn't this view from the market just gorgeous?
And then Leigh took us down an alley below the market. Can you tell what this is?
Now can you tell? It's the GUM WALL and it is literally covered with thousands of pieces of chewed gum! I have never seen anything like it in my life!
And I'll leave you with one last photo of Heather's faithful companion, Steve, who journeyed with us to Seattle.

It's okay if you don't pack a Steve for your trip, but I do recommend that you visit Seattle if you haven't been there before! Oh, and do bring some friends along for the journey!