The latest

Mom and Anna dressed up for a girls' day out together.

This girl LOVES her own reflection. Her hair twists lasted about five days, with daily changes of the snap beads on the ends.

Ernie and Anna love posing for the new camera. It takes fabulous action photos.

We play lots of "baby doll" in our house. Here the kids are modeling their baby slings, made out of scarves from Ethiopia.

The kids decided to join Dad in his post-run stretching. Anna considers the tutu appropriate for any occasion.

Here we are sharing a homemade Ethiopian meal. We purchased the injera from a restaurant in Seattle.

25 weeks along. Can't wait for July!

Is it wrong to laugh when your kid falls down in the ocean? Is it wrong to make her walk out on her own so you don't get all wet? It is wrong to take dozens of pictures chronicling her misadventure?

I love this picture of Ernie. It captures his beautiful spirit so perfectly!

After a long day at the ocean, the kids fall asleep pretty fast.

Ernie's first short story

Other news I forgot in the last 2 posts

The binky is gone. Cold turkey was the only way. We tried cutting off the tip little by little, but she hated that even more than it being gone. As a consequence of taking away the binky, Anna decided to climb out of her crib. The bunk beds are up and Ernie and Anna are now sharing sleeping quarters while the other bedroom transformed into a playroom.

Ernie is doing great in kindergarten. His reading skills are just blossoming! It is such a wonder to see him put together words and actually understand what he is reading. It makes me much more determined to get Anna learning her letters (she knows "A" and points it out whereever we go) so we can move down that path towards reading with her too.

More news to come in a few weeks!

December and lots of pictures!

*Cooking dinner. Pants are optional. Anna is now potty trained. WOO HOO!

*Mom trying to get a nice picture of the kids together. Ha ha.

*Just goofing around with the new camera.

*Ernie is loving the legos Grandma and Grandpa got him for Christmas.

*The highlight of our Christmas was a visit from Aunt Jen, Uncle Mike and cousins Chris and Emily.

October and November

*Anna is loving Little Gym. Even better is that she gets to wear a leotard with Tinkerbell on it.

*We visited the train yard at Snoqualmie for the afternoon. Brian doesn't mind going there in the least, since we get to stop at the Snoqualmie Taproom for lunch.

*One set of Halloween costumes from the depths of the dress-up box. Ernie has worn this frog costume at least 3 years. This is the second year Anna has worn the flower costure.

*Pirate Ernie and Knight Samuel enjoying hot cocoa on the hay ride.

*Anna as Tinkerbell. Ernie as a pirate. We also did Pirate Tigger one day.

*Carving pumpkins this year was a blast!

*Enjoying the "corn box" at our new favorite pumpkin patch.

*The kids could not wait to decorate the Christmas tree. It went up the day after Thanksgiving. Ernie was enthralled with the Polar Express train around the tree and spent hours playing with it.

*Finishing touches on the Christmas tree.

* I love so many things about having a little girl. I actually teared up the first time we painted our fingernails together.

Recipe Request #2

Easy home-made macaroni and cheese ( I double this recipe)
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp butter

1. Cook macaroni as directed on package. Drain and return to pot on stove on low heat. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is desired consistency.

Recipe Requests

Guiness Chocolate Cake (thanks Erica!)
cake:
2 cups Guiness
2 cups unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process preferred)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

icing:
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

preparation:
for cake: preheat oven to 350 degrees
butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch high sides. line with parchment paper. butter paper.
bring Guiness and butter to simmer in heavy large sauce pan over medium heat.
add cocoa ppowder and whisk until mixture is smooth. cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
Add Guiness-chocolate mix to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
Add flour mixture and beat briefly on low speed.
Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack, cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.

Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing on top. Top with second layer. Spread 2/3 cup icing on top. Top with third layer. Spread remaining icing over top and sided of cake.


YUM!