Baking Gingerbread

 Baking cookies and treats is always a special activity to enjoy this time of year. The other day the boys and I made some fun gingerbread cutout cookies. We have all sorts of fun cookie cutters; including a snowman, snowflakes, a train, and even a hummingbird. I made a small batch of dough because while baking with little children is fun, it can also be quite a challenge- and a mess! I certainly didn't want to spend all day or have it take so long that everybody got grouchy. It was just right. We had enough dough to cut out a couple of each shape and we ran out just as the little fellows started getting tired of it. When the cookies were baked we set them aside to cool (and to take a break). Later in the evening we all sat down and painted them with powdered sugar icing. When I was younger and didn't have children I would have wanted them all to be artistic and perfect. Needless to say I gave that ideal up a long time ago, which is a good thing because now I can do things like this for fun and not worry about it.  David had lots of fun spreading the paint on his cookies, Matthew had one to munch on, I made mine as artistic as possible, and we even got Andrew to paint a few!

Two Happy Little Boys

A Train!

David Ready to Paint Cookies

Cookie Icing

David; Proud of his cookie!

The Gingerbread; All Done

10 Degrees Outside

It is about ten degrees outside. I have absolutely no desire to go out there. My ideas of perfect activities on such a cold day includes reading books on the couch, making crafty things, and drinking hot chocolate. The boys however think otherwise. David keeps begging to go out to play, while Matthew brings his boots over to me every few minutes indicating that he wants me to put them on him. Finally I reluctantly bundle them and myself all up. The snow pants, the coats, the hats, the gloves, the boots. It takes at least ten minutes to get everyone ready for what I know will probably only be about five minutes of outdoor fun. It feels like such a chore. But when we finally make it outside it is worth it. It is worth it to see the sparkle in their eyes, the rosy glow on their cheeks, and the smile on their faces. Even though it does only last five minutes before they are cold and ready to go back inside.

Matthew

David

Cleaning the Bathroom

David enjoys helping me with whatever I am doing. I even let him help clean the bathroom. I try not to use any chemical cleaners so we aren't breathing any toxic fumes. On the mirrors I use white vinegar and wipe with a clean floursack towel. Of course I had to wipe the fingerprints off when he was done, and I made sure to wait to clean out the sink until after he was was done standing in it.

Little Quotes

David has been talking more and more lately. He says the funniest things sometimes. This is such a fun phase! Here are some samples of his little speeches.


David in church reading a Jonah book to himself, suddenly he points to Jonah and says loudly “Dod(God)!” Then he turns the page and points at Jonah again “Nother Dod!”

“Im’s helping Mommy make dinner.” as he drags a chair into the kitchen.

“Im’s” helping Daddy with his work.” after coming in from outside with Andrew.

One day while talking about the baby in Mommy’s tummy David pipes up, “Me has baby in my back.” and points at his back.
“Oh do you?” I respond.
“Yeah” matter of factly, “Daddy has baby in his back, too.”

If we say “You’re so cute/ funny / smart or whatever”, David responds “Im’s not cute/ funny/ smart or whatever we said, Im’s just Dadid.”

I walked into the living room to find David with Andrew’s stethoscope trying to listen to his heart. As he moved it across his chest he stated, “I can’t find my ‘art, I lost my ‘art.” He has been fascinated with his heart since Andrew showed him a picture of a heart and blood vessels in his EMT book.

A conversation with the baby chicks overheard last Sunday morning. “Bye bye baby chicks. I has go to church now, sit still and be quiet.”

While outside with Daddy, David commanded, “Go ‘way ice!”
Daddy replies, “We want the ice to go away don’t we?”
“Yeah! Then we can walk in the mud!” David exclaims.

Yesterday I had my fabric out and was making hot pads to sell at the Farmer’s Market and telling David what I was doing. Pretty soon he came over with 4 or 5 Legos. “We can sell these at ‘arm market” Next he comes back with the whole box, “And we can sell these at ‘arm market.”
“Are you sure you want to sell them?” I asked “Won’t that be sad, you won’t be able to to play with them anymore?”
“Yeah, it will be sad,” He replied “but we can sell them at ‘arm market.”

At the Library

David loves going to the library. He takes out all the crayons, markers, puzzles, stuffed animals and spreads them all over the floor in the 'area. I bring my computer and enjoy some internet time. Then when I am done we clean up the mess. Actually this time I told him to take out only one puzzle or toy at a time and the mess is much less. Only the crayons are everywhere:)

David and the Tractors

Last week we went to the Spokane Ag Expo. It was so cute how much David loved the big tractors. He wanted to sit in every single one of them.

Big Brother

David is going to be a big brother! We are expecting our second baby this summer. I am not sure how much David understands but he likes to talk about the baby in Mommy's tummy. He also says that he has a baby in his back!

I am almost 12 weeks along now. Overall I have been feeling pretty good. Mostly just tired and lacking in energy. I do start feeling sick if I go more than a few hours without eating any protein.

We are very excited about the new addition to our family!

Snowmen

Finally the snow was just right. David had been wanting to build a snowman for so long and we either didn't have any snow or it was too soft and powdery. So when it was finally perfect we all bundled up and headed outside to have fun. We started by building one snowman. Then David told me that the big snowman was Mommy and Daddy's snowman and that he needed a little snowman. So I helped him build a baby snowman too. It was such fun and he was very pleased. Everyday he looked out the window and said "I see big snowman, I see baby snowman."

My Birthday

David loves birthday parties, so when my birthday came around he was very excited. Andrew was going to bring home pizza and a little cake that night after his EMT class and David kept asking when Daddy was coming home and bringing the birthday party. He also was very excited to help Daddy wrap presents and then give them to Mommy. He did get a little impatient while I opened them and wanted to open some himself! I had a very special birthday and was so blessed by my special family.

Studying

David is fascinated by Andrew's EMT book and loves to look at it with him. It can make studying difficult for Andrew sometimes. But at least David knows about the "heart pumping red blood ou and blue blood in" now!

Beach Fun

We always make sure to spend some time at the beach while in California. This time we took a drive to the coast and stopped at one beach and stayed awhile. David chased the seagulls and the waves chased him. He laughed and squealed in delight. As soon as we left he started talking about going to " 'nother beach" So after some other stops we wet up to a beach farther up the coast. We stayed there and watched the sunset. It was a beautiful day on the coast.

Box House

I remember making houses out of cardboard boxes when I was a little girl and having so much fun playing in them. On day my Dad brought an appliance box back from work for David. We cut windows and a door into it. He loved playing in there and making Aunt Missa's dog Tizzy play in it with him.

With a Goat

One of Melissa's goats had a kid while we were visiting. So of course David enjoyed petting her and helping to bottle feed her!

Baking Cookies

David loved making cookies with Grandma. It was so fun to see him rolling out the dough and cutting out cookies.

Little Cowboy

Uncle Jonathan

Playing blocks with Uncle Jonathan.

Great Grandpa

It was special to get to go out to lunch on day with my Grandpa Nick. We all enjoyed that very much. I am so glad that David has a chance to know him at least a little bit. It makes me sad to be so far away from him not knowing how much longer he will be here.

Jumping in the Leaves

David has enjoyed his time at Grandma and Grandpa's. It was so much fun to rake their leaves into a pile and then Jump into them!

Raking Leaves