Baby stuff

Annika has cut her first tooth. Well, she actually cut it last week, but I'm just now getting around to writing about it. It's on the bottom, middle left. Didn't seem to cause her much pain, thankfully. Hopefully all her teeth will be that easy! Okay, so maybe I just shared this news to have an excuse to put up more pictures of her because I think she's so cute. What can I say?

Beautiful Day

We have not had grass in our backyard for 2 years....now, thanks to Grant's hard work in laying a compost/dirt mix, seeding a couple of times, and faithful watering, look at it now! We are so happy with it, we can hardly stand it. We haven't been able to play out back for awhile during the new grass stage....but today we threw all caution to the wind and went outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

Corban loves showing off how good he is on the rings.

Marissa is proud to give her dolly a good ride on the swing.


Annika's just happy to be here! She loves swinging!



And she most definitely does NOT love grass. This face happened just before she started to wail...nonstop.....until I picked her up. And I thought she'd like it.

It's Your Fault

It's funny how kids are seemingly blind at their own bad behavior but very observant of others'. I couldn't tell you how many times a day Corban and Marissa get into squabbles about sharing toys or get a stern talking to (if not worse) for being unkind/downright mean to each other. Yet somehow they rarely seem to acknowledge that they were in the wrong, or if they do, they complain that it's too hard to be nice.
Today, however, it was interesting to watch them at a playground nearby. There was a little girl, Abigail, probably a little older than Marissa, playing at a sand table with a plastic cup. A 4 year old boy Evan (who was MUCH smaller than Corban) who knew her was playing nearby, chatting with Corban. He approached Abigail and sweetly asked if he could use her cup to play when she was finished. She yelled "NO!" and pushed him vigorously away. This continued for a couple of minutes, with the occasional holler from Evan's mom several yards away for him to leave Abigail alone. Corban was continuing to play but stole glances over at the argument, while Marissa stopped all she was doing and stared. After awhile, Marissa piped up to Abigail in a soft voice, "Be nice, okay?" Abigail ignored her and kept shoving Evan away. After they finally moved away, Corban added, "She wasn't sharing, Mom. She wasn't being nice at all".
Well, whaddya know. My kids DO know what ugly behavior is, they just don't want to admit it when they are the offenders. Now that I think about it, that's not unlike most adults I know. It's much easier to criticize the mistakes of others than to admit our own. Hmmm...that's a good reminder to reflect on Matthew 7:2-4 (New King James Version):

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

Never a dull moment

So, if you saw an empty dogfood bag in your kitchen, what would you do with it? If you were 4 years old and your name was Corban, and you had just had a bath, you would definitely pick up the bag and turn it upside down on your head. Oh, then you'd discover that "empty" dogfood bags are never truly empty and the top of your head, as well as the floor in a 3-foot radius around you, was covered with crumbs. Of dogfood. Whoops. Maybe next time you'll know better.

Sad News

It's official, my sister did not win the Pillsbury BakeOff. Boo. Some overly simplistic and plain double peanut butter cookie took top honors. Well, at least she'll be on the Food Network, that's pretty darn cool if you ask me.

Bargain Yeast and Vanilla

Most of you probably know this, but just in case you don't, I wanted to share how I save money on yeast and vanilla. Costco or Sam's. I know those bulk warehouses don't have bargain prices on everything (though they'd like you to think they do), but I think getting two pounds of yeast for $4.00 and a pint of pure vanilla for less than $6.00 is so much cheaper than the grocery store, it's not even funny. I don't have a membership to either place, but since I have family members and a friend who are, I either ask them to pick it up for me or tag along when they're already shopping.

It's Bakeoff Day!

Today my sister Sarah is competing as a finalist in the Pillsbury BakeOff, with the hopes of winning the Grand Prize of $1,000,000. Yeah, that's six zeros there. Her recipe for Thai-Style Mexican Chicken Wraps is unique and delicious....I think she has as good a chance as anyone to win. Oh, and guess what else. Out of the 100 finalists, she was chosen (probably due to her excellent performances on her local news stations) with about four others to be featured on the Food Network's coverage of the BakeOff. She already had one interview with them, they'll be covering her a lot today throughout the cooking, and then there will be more interviews afterwards. I can't wait to see her on national television!!! I'll let everyone know when it will be broadcast as soon as I find out. Go Sarah!