Things happening at our table...

The Chinese Are Out to Get Me

So, I was talking with a Chinese friend of mine the other day (well, I talk to her almost every day, but, this particular conversation happened the other day). She mentioned that she had sent a link to this blog to her parents in China, but, that they were unable to view it, as it was blocked by the Chinese government. I have been censored by the Chinese government.

I wonder how long some Chinese bureaucrat must have spent reading through our hundreds of posts to determine that our blog creates a threat to the future existence of the People's Republic of China. But, regardless of how long it took to come to such a conclusion, the bureaucrat must have ultimately decided that pictures of my children and Tuesday with Dory food my wife cooks will stir the Chinese people to revolution. Rebecca's silly grins will cause the whole country to be overturned by a proletarian uprising. News about our Christmas vacation outings will bring about political insurrection. Jacob's ABCs will cause a coup.

Or, they have just blocked all of blogspot.

Jacob Teaches Us How to Have a Good Time in the Winter

Step 1: Eat right out of the pan.

Someone liked the baked potato soup I made a couple weeks ago... We were about to take half of it over to our friends who just had a baby, and the other half was still in the pot with the ladle in it in the fridge. I came downstairs after changing Rebecca and this is what I found in the kitchen. At least he is holding his right hand under the ladle so he doesn't spill on the floor, even if his sweatshirt didn't avoid a mess. His mouth is wide open in the first picture. He kept saying "mmm, it's good" while he was trying to eat out of the ladle. Luckily he saved enough for all of us.

Step 2: Sing your ABC's. Did you catch "Jacob" for "J-K" in there? He is still doing that, I love it.

3. Make your baby sister laugh.

TWD: Honey Wheat Cookies

I'm back with TWD! Sorry I skipped out on Dorie's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies last week. I heard they were good, and I may get around to making them at some point in the future. I did make her All-Occasion Sugar Cookies on February 11th, so I thought that might be good for our cookie baking in that week. I don't know that I'll use that sugar cookie recipe again, as I like the one I got from my mom who got it from her friend, Sue Shumway, much better (much, much better). Enough about the past...let's talk about how I did participate this week!

Michelle of flourchild is the Tuesdays with Dorie host for this week. She chose the recipe for the Honey Wheat Cookies. I made these Monday night for our Family Home Evening treat. Jacob was very excited when he found the dough chilling in the fridge. I don't think he knew it was for cookies, but he knew it would be good and so he kept asking me for "treeeat! treeeeat!" until I convinced him we better wait until we could share the treats with Dad.

These cookies have an interesting flavor - they contain wheat germ, lemon zest (I used lemon juice instead so I wouldn't have to go to the store), and honey, as well as other regular cookie ingredients. I ran out of regular unsalted butter last week so I used a ICBINB baking stick instead, so the cookies might be even better if real butter and lemon zest are used.

These are cute, tasty little cookies. I enjoyed the simplicity of the recipe and the outcome was good enough to encourage making these again! Good choice, Michelle! Check out her blog for the recipe.

"Get a Haircut"

Two weeks ago we had a haircut party for the boys for Family Home Evening. Jacob was more tolerant of this haircut than the ones he's had previously. Hopefully by age 16 he won't be sitting in the baby's high chair when Jeff gets busy cutting with the "buzzers" as Jacob called them. (Clippers make a buzzing sound, which I was reminding him of the day or two after the haircut, and he then started calling them buzzers.) I snapped a couple of pictures when he was waiting patiently for Jeff's haircut to be done so he could go get rinsed off. He keeps telling us, as he rubs his head, "Get a haircut" or "need a haircut." A little too soon, so we'll wait a bit longer for the next one!

Jacob's Cookie Party

Earlier this month we had a Valentine's Day celebration (read: playgroup with cookie decorating) and several of Jacob's friends and their moms and siblings joined us. We had a great time! I borrowed the idea from my sister in-law Amy, who hosts a Valentine party for her older kids every year with dinner and a movie and all sorts of fun. I tried to scale it down for the two year-old set, and it was a success.

Getting ready for friends to come!

And I wish I'd uncovered the bowls of frosting for this one, they were so pretty all lined up!

right as I snapped this one he told me his cookie said "Love." Sorry about the weird eyes, son. :)

Laughing all the way...

Asleep on Dec. 25th. Can you say wiped out?!

Sometimes it makes the day go better when I pay really close attention to my kids and the things they do that make me laugh. Here are a few recent examples:

• A couple weeks ago we were getting out of the van to head in to a special trumpet performance by a friend at the downtown library. I noticed Jacob's pants were just a little bit wet (it was only 9:45 AM) so I told him we better change his diaper 'cause he was awfully soggy. While I was changing him I said something about how he had a lot to drink that morning. Now most times I change his diaper he says "Too much juice the other day!" And then we laugh and laugh.
• Jacob now takes it upon himself to lock the door when we come in. I feel so safe. And it keeps him inside, which means one less job for me. I tell him thanks for locking the door for me. And then we laugh and laugh.
• Today at the science museum he was playing with this pretend solar power thing that had a light switch that turned on a sun hanging overhead. He told me he had fun today because he got to "play with sunshine!" And then we laughed and laughed.
• Rebecca prefers to be sitting when she is getting around. I call it the bum scoot. Yesterday she had on tights so she moved REALLY fast across the wood floor. Jacob is good about closing the door when he heads down to play in the basement so Rebecca doesn't "crawl down" but he had to be so fast yesterday because she was scooting so quickly towards him as he went to head down. I said "hurry, hurry, she's coming!" And we laughed and laughed.
• Today we had lunch at the Institute. Peppers for the salad had been cut into rings today and Jacob wore pepper bracelets for a good portion of the meal. I'm still laughing about this one.
• Jacob likes it when Rebecca jumps (well, with help) in his bed to give him hugs. Only he uses words that I used once to mark the bedtime occasion: "Attack! Attack again! Attack!" And we laugh and laugh. She especially likes this as well.
• Jacob likes to look at the pictures in the back of my scriptures after we read the Book of Mormon together at night. He can tell me these: Joseph Smith's house (cabin), Woods/Joseph Smith see Jesus (Sacred Grove), temple, wagon, jail, Joseph Smith tipped (Carthage Jail). I don't laugh so much at this, but I do smile because it is so fun to see him concentrate so hard and remember all the pictures. His phrase for Carthage comes from me telling him that Joseph Smith fell out of the window when people hurt him.
• Rebecca loves to be tickled. It is even funnier right after a bath when I am getting ready to put some clothes on her but haven't just yet. She just slaps her tummy over and over again, laughing and I get her in the armpit whenever she raises her arm in the drumming process. She laughs and laughs and I think I could do this all day.
• He was holding a spoon up while he was eating and starting blowing towards it. I thought he was blowing on his food. Nope. "Blow bubbles like us-ree (nursery)," he said. And then we laughed and laughed.
• We hear Jacob cheering a lot in the mornings after he wakes up. I never knew it would be for a sporting event in the kids' room until recently. All of Jacob's animals were in Rebecca's bed one morning and she was loving it. And she laughed and laughed. So did I. He has continued to do this. I'm amazed she's dodging penguins and Dumbo and bunnies so well.
• Jacob likes to spin around (or even just sit or stand somewhere and spin his head a bit) and he'll say "Like skating!" He really likes the Olympic clips I've been showing him online. And he laughs and laughs.

I could share many more things but this should tide you all over until next time!

Net Gain

Tonight I was talking to a Chinese friend of mine. We were discussing the one family/one child policy, wherein Chinese families face a fine if they have more than one child. It is not uncommon for families in some parts of China to break the law and willfully pay the fine (which for middle or upper class families is not that great). I asked my friend if she lived in China if she would have more than one child. She said no, but not because of the law. She said that the costs of having children is too great.

I told her that she was very right--the gross cost of having and raising children is very large. But, I also told her that the net cost was negative, and that, indeed, I believed children produced a net gain. Unfortunately, since the upside of the transaction is measured in happiness and joy, and the downside in dollars and cents (and work, effort, and sacrifice), the calculus of childing is often not fully comprehended by those not engaged in it. I imagine I will come to understand this even better as mine grow up a bit more. But, as of now, we are at a net gain on both transactions.

TWD: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia and another brownie recipe

**Update: these are pretty fudgy just like people said on the TWD blog. I put mine in the freezer and will eat a whole one after they firm up a bit. They looked great when I cut some of the edge pieces (less gooey!) for the family I made dinner for tonight, and I had a small taste test with Jacob. We approve! If you like fudgy brownies, try Dorie's recipe at Chocolatechic's blog!

This week's recipe was chosen by Tanya of Chocolatechic, a fitting choice for someone who loves chocolate. I'd never heard of Rick Katz, but he is a pastry chef who worked with Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child when they were putting together the Baking with Julia series 15 years ago. And though I haven't eaten one of these brownies yet, I would say that this Mr. Katz is a good man.

The recipe and method can be found at Tanya's blog. I like brownies from scratch much better than the boxed variety, but I'd never heard of making brownies this way before where half of the egg-sugar mixture is whipped and doubled in volume. I suspect these will be very fudgy as other people have reported on the TWD site. I tend to go for a more cakey, sturdy brownie (my favorite is from Cook's Country actually. I'll paste that recipe below. They are REALLY good when you double the recipe, then put about half the batter in a 13X9 pan, top that first half of the batter with whole York peppermint patties, then pour the rest of the batter on top. I'll report later on how these fudgier ones in my kitchen ended up tasting!!

3	ounces unsweetened chocolate , chopped
8	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick) , cut into chunks
1	cup sugar
1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/4	teaspoon table salt
2	large eggs
1	teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3	cup all-purpose flour 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8-inch baking dish with foil and coat foil with cooking spray. 2. Melt chocolate and butter in small bowl in microwave or in heatproof bowl set over pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally to combine. Cool mixture for several minutes. 3. Whisk sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs, and vanilla together in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in flour until no streaks of flour remain. Scrape batter evenly into prepared pan. 4. Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center of pan comes out clean, 22 to 27 minutes. Cool brownies on wire rack for 1 hour.

On the Move!

Here are some recent pictures of Rebecca. She is getting around pretty good these days, doing an army crawl or a bum scoot most often, but now she's pulling herself up on her knees and getting into all sorts of weird corners I never noticed. Enjoy! We sure do :)

The kids and I made pumpkin pancakes for dinner tonight. Someone rubbed bananas and pumpkin puree in her hair, which I of course assumed was a way of letting me know that she approved of this meal.

Rebecca's favorite pastime of late is scooting over to this wagon of blocks and dumping them out. I caught her straddling the handle the other day and reaching in to get remnants leftover after the dumping.

Pleased as punch!

TWD: Back in Action and Cocoa-Nana Bread

This week the assignment was Cocoa-Nana Bread, chosen by Steph at Obsessed with Baking. I made it on Saturday morning while the kids were playing, and we ate it throughout the day. Before long Jacob came in the kitchen to dig in the drawer where the measuring cups and spoons are. I thought maybe he wanted to help so I got out his new apron that his aunt made him for Christmas, and got the baking powder ready for him to pour. Turns out he didn't want to help, he just wanted to throw measuring spoons and cups around the living room, much to my dismay and much to his baby sister's delight. She sucked on every 1/2 tsp. in the house and loved it. After I put the batter in the pan Jacob wanted to have a bite so I gave him a lick of my spatula. Not 2 minutes later (after I was pretty sure I put the bowl in the sink) I looked into the kitchen to see him on the floor with my KitchenAid mixer bowl, the spatula in his mouth, and his mouth and clothes lovin' on the chocolate. Too bad Jeff had the camera with him, it would have been a classic picture.

This bread is a little bit too chocolatey for me to be a breakfast sort of bread, but it was still pretty good. My pan makes most quick breads too crusty so I cut the crusts off and liked the moist middle much more. I put the bananas on the table for the picture just to remind myself and others that they were an ingredient, since they end up being a tad bit overpowered by the cocoa. What you can't see is that next to the plate on the other side there is a machete, a bike pump, and a ski mask. Those are not ingredients, thankfully. Next time I'll add another half of a banana and I'll make sure I have chocolate chips to put in since I had to leave those out this time.

Someone in the family loves to eat chocolate chips straight out of the bag, which means we usually have some, but it also means that we run out when I least expect it. And I won't name any names, but the chief chip-eater is neither my husband nor either of the children. Just sayin'.

I won't post the recipe here, but I will give a hint...go to Google Books, search for Dorie Greenspan Baking and go to page 46! They have about every other page of the book on there for preview, and this one happens to be just one page. I have wanted this book for so long and bid for it on ebay the other day but I lost because the auction ended while I was asleep. I didn't really want to win bad enough to wake up at 3 AM, I guess. But they have it for just 14+shipping at ecookbooks, the cheapest I've found, so I think I will go ahead and buy it so I don't have to keep waiting for my name to come up for it at the library.

Stay tuned for next week: milk chocolate mini bundt cakes!

Yellow and Grey Week

I wish I were more into pretty things sometimes, then my house would be cuter (and I would probably be cuter) but for now I'll just admire the pretty things that others tell me about. As a prime example, I came across a blog recently that's written by a young mom living in Chattanooga, TN. She is pretty stylish, her husband makes the coolest pancakes, and this week the blog's focus is on all things Yellow & Grey. We love yellow in our house; it's such a happy color. So here's to a great week of finding cute things in one of my favorite color combinations.

MyBlogSpark: General Mills

I think I've always been a fan of cold cereal. I suggested it for dinner the other night and was promptly turned down by my better half. It's so easy to eat it, so there's really no excuse for skipping breakfast.

Thanks to MyBlogSpark, our family recently received four coupons for General Mills cereal. I haven't had a chance to use them yet (I keep forgetting them when I go to the store, whoops) but I look forward to picking up some cereal, maybe a kind we haven't had before.

Jacob calls all cereal O's because that is what we've always called Cheerio-type cereals, his first love in cereal. In our house, we've learned that people can possess the O's: sugary cereals are called "Daddy's O's" and I noticed last week Jacob called the KIX "Becca's O's." And the Special K with Red Berries was aptly named "Berries O's." He loves cereal; can't imagine where he gets that from...

Here is a coupon for $1 off of one of four GM cereals for you, dear reader.

Thanks to General Mills and MyBlogSpark for the info about the benefits of cereal and the goodies for me and my family and for my readers!

Slideshow of Pictures from Ohio

Enjoy!

10 Months old!

In just a few days Rebecca will be as old as Jacob was (10.5 months) when we packed up the LeSabre of yore and headed from Provo to Ann Arbor via Denver. This is something I will take the next few days coming to terms with, because, let's face it, life hasn't exactly slowed down since this little girl was born. She is about as cute as can be and it really is so fun to learn more about her personality.

There are some things that she has done or that she does often that are worth sharing:

• looking like she wants to chew out of her bed (laying on her side, and gnawing on the rails)
• pointing her foot in the air when I get ready to put her socks on
• dancing while she's on her tummy
• laughing when she gets her 8 teeth brushed
• scooting everywhere in a sitting position and getting into things a bit more than her brother did
• picking up hymnals with one hand when we are in sacrament meeting
• moving our office chair here at the desk while someone is sitting in it
• waving her arms around during the songs at church
• using her pincer grasp very excellently when eating. she eats very fast but still looks dainty doing so.

Happy 10 month birthday, Rebecca Lea!

Here are her stats from 2 weeks ago at her 9 month checkup. Doctor has no concerns, of course:

Height: 30.5 inches (99th percentile)

Weight: 23.5 pounds (99th percentile)

Head: also 99th percentile