IT'S A WHAT?

James turned 2.5 last Saturday. I know, right? He's getting so big! Where is the time going? I remember when he was just a tiny newborn...

I have some 2.5-year stats for him (thanks to his recent bronchitis episode): 31.4 lbs and 37.25".

I can't really do my usual "summary" of what he's up to lately though. There just too much. So instead, I'll just mention something cute that he's bound to outgrow too soon, and which Jay and I will miss immensely: He may talk a LOT, hold intelligible conversations with us and his peers, and speak clearly most of the time, but there are still some words for which his interpretation cracks us up!

For example:

banas (bananas)

on-a-billow (armadillo)

hine (hyena)

no-accep-able (unacceptable)

cough cough (washcloth)

Here's a short video of James reading "Good Night Gorilla" with his Daddy. It's his most favorite book lately (as in, he has been pulling it off the shelf and demanding it be read 3-7 times per day, for the past 2 weeks or so). I dare you not to laugh when he says "on-a-billow"!

METHODICAL

Cora's latest game? Taking every jar out of the lower fridge shelf and putting them into the bottom of the fridge. Then she pushes them around a little, making a space for herself, and takes a seat amongst her prizes. For about 3 seconds. Then the jars go back in the shelf. And this was repeated at LEAST 2 dozen times last night. I'm not kidding. The child is obsessed with the fridge. And she's methodical. Don't get in her way or try to warn her about heavy glass jars falling on bare baby toes. She doesn't care.

Maybe she'll be a good organizer, like her mama...

MADE BY GRAMMA

Technically, I helped sew a small portion of this outfit, but Jean bought the pattern, cut it out, cut all the fabric, pinned it together, and told me exactly where and how to sew it (I even learned to do a "basting" stitch). Then she took the project home to finish herself, since we didn't have much sewing time when she visited back in May to help me watch the kiddos while Jay was at that conference back in her town. Since Cora was still difficult at bedtime back then and I didn't have the more dependable "free time" after bedtime that I do now. Anyway, it's made from a seersucker material, so it's really lightweight and soft. And I love the little lace touches Jean added. Cora looks super cute in this outfit - thank you "Gamma"!

CRAZY KIDS

OK, I couldn't resist. My kids are too crazy not to post their antics, even though we didn't catch any "baby bowling" on film.

Here is James looking for the kitten. My favorite line from this clip? "Ooh ants! My ants! I got a ants. For you."

And here are a few Cora "outtakes", including a ninja-like save by Daddy (don't worry, there wasn't a scratch on her - for once!) and some ridiculous marching form.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY

The kids were very interested in weather watching today...Our walk was so much fun. The kids meandered here and there, as usual. Cora ate some dirt. James helped us clear the road of branches. Then, as Jay and James were running ahead of us, this little kitten came tearing down the hill, chasing them! If Jay hadn't said something and distracted the kitten at the last second, I can almost guarantee that kitten would have jumped right on top of James and knocked him sideways. Just picturing the possibility had us cracking up. And that kitten followed us all the way to the end of the street and back, occasionally crouching along the side of the road, then running after James or Cora. If the kids hadn't squealed in his face each and every time, we'd have had some video footage worthy of America's Funniest Home Videos!I had the bright idea to change the setup in the living room the other day, and Jay told me I was crazy. That there was no other way to arrange it sanely. Then out of the blue this afternoon, he decided to give it a shot. We're not convinced we like it. Or that it will work. But we'll give it a week. What do you think?

So, the entire storm goes through and we're WITHOUT rain or wind all day, then at 6:30pm, as we're sitting down to dinner, the power goes out. Oh well, it happens often here. And the kids are getting used to eating by candlelight. Since the power was still off after dinner, we decided to take another walk (with the kids contained this time) to check out the neighborhood. We found 3 Entergy trucks: 2 working down the culdesac to remove a fallen tree from the line and 1 at our intersection, where they were bypassing our street to give us our power back. So after 20 minutes out enjoying the cool weather and rising moon, watching the "BIG trucks" do their thing (there was a cherry-picker), and looking for the silly kitten we played with earlier in the day, we returned home to find the power on just in time for bed. Sweet!

And now it's time I join my kiddos...

TROPICAL STORM LEE

For the first time ever, we went OUT for breakfast in the 'Burg. The kitchen was a disaster, the rain was taking a break, and we knew we needed groceries before the bulk of the storm hit. It was good and bad. Good food, good Cora. Bad bathroom issues for James. I think Jay sat in there with him for 15 minutes before he gave up and brought him back to the table. To their cold food. The poor kids' insides seem to be all messed up from this round of antibiotics. We sure hope he gets back to normal soon!

Since we only needed the "basics" (yeah right, when does a grocery trip ever involve JUST the basics?), we skipped the baby carrier and let both kids ride in the cart. They both loved it (Cora NEVER gets to ride in the cart), and both had a great time playing peekaboo. And yes, we really do go through 4 cartons of milk each week, just for the kids. And it was on sale.

The rest of the day and evening was completely uneventful, which was fine by us. We got a LOT of rain, but not too much wind. And all the trees remained standing. Bonus!

CHANGE OF PLANS

We had planned to go to the zoo this morning, but tropical storm Lee showed up earlier than expected and the heavy rain sent us to the Natural Science Museum instead. Since we hadn't been there in an entire year, we figured it was meant to be. There was barely anyone there, so we relished being able to let the kids run free, with no worry of big kids knocking them over or their squeals of delight echoing across the rooms and annoying other patrons.

(She is A-dorable, and she knows it!)Since there was no sun, and no need for her cute hat indoors, we switched to her usual. And since I'm rarely in photos (because despite Jay being the photographer in the family, I tend to be the photodocumenter), I made sure Jay grabbed one of me with my girl today!The little alligators were a hit. And I find it to be beyond cute when my kiddos stand on their tip-toes, side by side, pointing things out to each other and chatting amongst themselves.The main exhibit is currently frogs. And let me tell you, they have some cool frogs. Tiny frogs, colorful frogs, poisonous frogs, flat frogs, and even this big cutie who stared Cora down:When we showed James a frog skeleton, he declared "Fossil Fred!" (It's from Dinosaur Train, for those of you who haven't seen that episode 143 times like we have).On this trip, the toddler room was open. We couldn't convince James to go down the treehouse slide though. That is, until his little sister confidently climbed all the stairs by herself and barreled down with a huge smile on her face.Then he was game.We took Cora's picture on the big frog statue, which reminded us of last year and made us feel all nostalgic...Out in the terrarium, Jay tried his darnedest to convince James that the giant catfish was indeed a catfish, and not a whale. Have you ever tried to argue with a 2.5-year-old? They are never wrong. The thing was obviously a whale. (Or maybe his steadfastness has more to do with him being male?... Just wondering...)One of the best things about being around little ones is that they never fail to stop and smell the roses (or whatever flower they happen to pass). We love this slower pace we seem to constantly find ourselves in over the past couple of years. It's quite a gift to get to see things from your child's eyes. Want to take a break from this walk and play in the dirt? Sure, go ahead. Feel like reading the same book 7 times in a row? Let's do it. Convinced that it's more fun to watch the same fish tank for 15 minutes rather than walk around and see them all? You're darn right it is.Love these babies of ours!

It's been a good day. And it's bound to be a quality-family-time-filled weekend, since we'll likely be homebound due to the storm. It's quite soggy out there already, and we're slated to get about 5" total by Monday afternoon. Good thing we have some fun rainy day activities planned!

FIRETRUCK!

One of the local fire departments was set to visit daycare today, and we told James about it on the way home yesterday. First thing he talked about this morning was, of course, going to see the firetruck.

There were about 50 pictures posted by our director on facebook this afternoon. I didn't see one of James driving the truck or manning the firehose, so I'm curious to hear his recap of the adventure when we pick him up today!

RANDOM FACTS FOR YOUR FRIDAY

1. We have had to sign incident reports at daycare nearly every day this week. Cora has been in trouble twice for biting (unprovoked - she's just teething), and James got into a scuffle over a toy (and the other kid pushed him - he has 2 lovely scrapes/bruises on his forehead where he hit the bookshelf).

2. James doesn't like to rat out his friends. Daycare policy is to not discuss the "other kid" when incidents occur. Or, at least not to tell the hurt child's parents who is to blame (because I always ask who James or Cora hit/bite/push so I can ask if they are OK and tell them sorry). So out of curiosity, since James is so good about telling us all about his day lately ("I go down the BIG slide!", "I play with Coltin/Caden/Gabriel", "I fall down", "I made a BIG poop!", etc.), we asked him who pushed him. His answer? "No Gabriel push. No Coltin push. No Caden push. No fall DOWN!" My money's on Gabriel ;-)

3. We have had some very strange conversations with James on the way home from daycare this week. He tells us about all sorts of things. At one point the other day, I got confused by his convoluted story (something about how he fell down, and Coltin fell down, and Gabriel didn't fall down, then Gabriel fell down, and then nobody fell down) and asked him what really happened. He answered me with a "Huh?" Exactly buddy. (Perhaps he's been pushed more than once this week? That would explain the other new bruise on his head...)

4. James is talking nonstop. And he's repetitive. And bossy. And he whines. In the past week, the most common phrases we heard were: "Juice mama! Juice! Juuuice! No, cho-kit milk. I want CHO-KIT milk!", "Cracker! Want one! Need a cracker!", "Play horsey? Mama get UP. My play horsey!!", "I pick you up!" (His way of "asking" to be picked up... no matter how many times we correct him, he STILL says it like this), "Watch choo-choo? Watch TV? No dine-saurs, watch trains. No CHOO-CHOO! Watch monkey! Watch Curi George!", "Go OUT-side! My paint in the OUT-side!", and my favorite... "No go potty. I don't poop." (his antibiotics are messing with his insides, and potty trips have been a bit of a battle lately because of it). On the bright side, at least he can easily and clearly let us know what he wants these days...

5. We thought we had avoided any nasty poop-tasting incidents with Cora, since she is a wise 14-months-old already. We were wrong. During naked time the other night she was too quiet, and when Jay found her, there was poop on the floor. And on her finger. And you can guess where else. Needless to say, she had two baths that night. And a good teeth scrubbin'.

Sorry to leave you on such a foul note (pun intended). Go back and look at the picture at the top of the post, and remember how cute she is. There. Feel better?

Happy LONG weekend to everyone!

A GOODBYE FEAST

Tonight was our last gathering of the Ethnic Supper Club as we know it. This month, our buddies Sara and Philip (and Marion) are moving to Santa Cruz (and we're trying hard not to be too jealous). To celebrate their departure from the south (not that we are happy to see them go, obviously, but happy for them in their opportunity to move home and start a new career), we held a Mississippi Feast!

The kids passed the prep time by coloring and "cooking" at the table.

When Cora got fussy, Sandy placated her with tamales (this girl will seriously eat anything!) because the way to Cora's heart is most definitely through her stomach!

The spread included tamales, fried catfish, hushpuppies, greens, black-eyed peas, creamed corn, coleslaw, and biscuits. You may drool now.

Somehow, we managed to save room for desert. And with 5 adults and 2 kids enjoying my red velvet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting (recipe posted at the bottom), we managed to go through over half the cake! We're dedicated like that.

After dinner, the kids ran off some energy (and sugar high), played nicely together, and read a book with "Aunt" Sandy. James is quite the fan of her. (He was pretending to eat the fish in his marine animals book...)

Ah, Hendrix family, we will miss you! Thank you for all the delicious meals and good conversation. Hopefully we'll meet again someday on the left coast.

Goodnight!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

24 paper liners for cupcake pans (or 2 8-9" round cake pans)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners (or spray/grease the cake pans). Set the pans aside.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes (or 30 minutes for 9" cake pans). Remove the pans from the oven and place them on
wire racks to cool before frosting.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

(I usually double this recipe because I like to have plenty of frosting)

7-8 ounces white chocolate chips
4 ounces (half an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 and 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar

Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until it is smooth (or leave it a little chunky if you like - texture is fun). Set the chocolate aside to cool.

Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the melted white chocolate and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and blend on low until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds more. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute more, adding up to 1/2 cup more sugar if needed to make a spreadable consistency.

Enjoy!
(Also, we now have a big space to fill at our Ethnic Supper Club table, so if your family would like to join us once every month or two to explore the cuisines of the world with us, please let us know!)

MADE BY MAMA

I made my first pair of pants the other night. Kid pants. Pajama pants. For James.

I bought this helicopter fabric ages ago with PJ pants in mind (James LOVES "elacoptohs"), but got sidetracked with other projects. And scared because I didn't have a pattern, but only a tutorial to follow. I used the Kid Pant tutorial from MADE, and it really wasn't difficult. At all. Except that I accidentally sewed the legs together when I first started... instead of sewing the waist portions together... so I had to cut those seams off and start over, which made the legs about a half inch slimmer than I had planned. They sure seem to fit great though, so maybe it was a good mistake!

Anyway, I think they turned out pretty good for my first pair of pants. I have a few other adorable fabrics that are calling out to become PJ pants. For Cora. And maybe a pair for myself...

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Portable foods are the only way to go in the morning...

Perfect for eating in the fridge.

And no, she hasn't outgrown her desire to spend as much time as we will allow sitting or standing in the fridge. Sometimes she even takes toys or shoes in there with her...

SNEAK PEEK

Halloween plans are well underway in the Lindsay household. Yes, we know it's not quite September yet, but it's one of our favorite holidays and we think a 2 month head start is justified. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a planner.

We have another fun family theme in mind for this year...

RUN OF THE PARK

Temperatures in the low 90's called for a morning at the splash park, regardless of our coughs and germs. Luckily, the place was vacant, so we didn't have to feel to guilty leaving the confines of our neighborhood. Of course, Cora fell asleep in the car on the way there. No idea how, since she'd barely been awake for 2.5 hours. And she didn't even blink when I transitioned her from the carseat to my arms to the park bench.

Were her wisps of hair and long lashes enough to disract you from the new, large bruise on her forehead (self-inflicted yesterday morning - she faceplanted the pavement not 30 seconds after I let her out of the car)? The nasty pavement-burn from her last trip to the splash park (2 weeks ago) is still healing. It's that nice, pink, fresh circle of skin up above her left eye. And she got another bump on the side of her head this afternoon, when James tried to shut her in his closet. Poor thing looks like a wreck!

James and Jay enjoyed having the run of the splash pad.

James didn't seem to mind playing by himself at all.

After 15 minutes or so, Baby Doll woke up and joined the party.

Just in case Cora wasn't fully awake from her nap, James made sure to shock her into reality with the cold water. 'Thanks bro!'

There goes my baby, taking off with both my water bottle and her brother's. She always has to have something in each hand...