Teaching Responsibility

In an effort to begin teaching responsibility, we have required James to start helping us out more around the house.  One of James' favorite is helping put the silverware on the table for our meals.  He also enjoys filling up glasses with ice and water and putting those on the table as well. 

Before bed each night we set aside some time to clean up all the toys and straighten up the living room.  Generally my husband will help with this while I am cleaning up the dinner dishes/kitchen.  He will assign small tasks to James like picking up all the cars and putting them in a plastic bin, and together the two of them will clean the living room up.

Recently I have made sure to have James pick out the clothes he wants to wear for the day.  Before every once in awhile he would want to choose clothes, but now I require him to decide what clothes he will wear for the day, and I encourage him to dress himself too.  James does pretty good with his shirts although he can get frustrated if the arm ends up in the head hole.  Usually he still wants help with his underwear and pants.  Sometimes he will do his socks on his own; other times he wants assistance.

These are just little ways we are trying to give James some additional responsibility, and as he gets older, we will have him help in different ways.  We believe it is important for children to learn to contribute to the family and to have knowledge on how to care for themselves. 

Mommy's Fault

Sam had a sibling visit today, so I dropped James off with a friend of mine.  She has three children of her own and was more than happy to add James to her mix.  I packed James' Spiderman bag with an extra set of underwear and pants (just in case) along with some snacks.  James didn't use the restroom the whole time I was gone (almost three hours), but shortly after I arrived, he told me he needed to go potty.  I took him into the bathroom, helped pull down his pants and then sat him on the toilet...kind of held him as he sat on the toilet since they don't have a seat insert.  Well...I didn't realize that I hadn't helped pull his pants down far enough, so even though James was sitting on the toilet, his underwear and the back of his pants still ended up getting peed on.  It was all Mommy's fault on that one!  Next time I will be extra sure to double check that.  The funny part is generally JJ will stand when he pees, but I thought he had to poop, so I had sat him down.  He did end up needing to poop before we left his friends' house as well.

My friend said James was a terrific listener.  He would do whatever she asked the very first time she asked him.  That was wonderful to hear!  It always makes you even more proud of your child when someone else hands out compliments about their behavior.

Allowance

My husband is such a sweet, caring man.  Last week he brought me home these flowers just because he wanted to let me know how much he appreciates the care I provide for our family...both our boys and himself.  The flowers made me feel loved.

Awhile ago my husband started designating a monthly allowance for both of us.  It sounds crazy, huh?  This is especially funny because we did poke fun at a couple we know who have allowances.  In their case, it is because the wife likes to spend money too much, so the amount of money spent needs to be limited.  In our case, my husband wanted me to make sure to do something for myself instead of always for everyone else.  I will admit, I am pretty frugal, and I don't spend much money on myself, so this has encouraged me to do so.  It is nice to know I have some money I can spend on whatever I want to purchase.  Before I would feel bad when I wanted to purchase something for myself, but now, I look forward to it, and I know it makes my husband happy.

My husband also has an allowance, but that is to try to limit his spending.  : )  In our home, my husband tends to be the big spender.

All this to say, I appreciate my husband and how much he loves our family.  He is the love of my life, and I am so thankful to call him my husband and the father of my kids.  I couldn't be luckier.  : )

Car Rides

We have one of those plastic Little Tikes one seater red coupes, and yesterday we took the red car to the park with us.  James rode in it to the park while I pushed Sam in the stroller.  At the park, the boys had a blast with the red car.  Sam would sit in the car, and James would run around as fast he could giving Sam the ride of his life.  Sam's smile was HUGE, and James kept laughing and smiling the whole time.  It was an adorable moment of time to witness between the two brothers. 

Of course I had left my camera behind at the house.  That seems to always happen...the times I leave the camera at home, something I would love to capture on film happens.  Oh well...

Some would tell you I already take way too many pictures, but I really enjoy it, and when I'm old and cannot remember well, the pictures will serve as good reminders.

Recruiting James

It has been a little while since I have openly and purposely invited James into the kitchen to help with a cooking or baking task.  Yesterday I decided it was high time for that to change.  I decided to try my luck at homemade hamburger buns.  While James was taking his nap, I whipped the dough together and got it rising in a covered bowl.  Once James woke up, we went to work, and James had a blast!  He enjoyed punching down the dough, helping me break it into smaller chunks of dough, rolling the dough into balls, smashing down the balls and brushing milk on the top of each hamburger bun.  The result was a beautiful golden brown hamburger bun that was tasty, but perhaps next time I will play around a little bit and add some more seasoning or flavoring to the buns since I just made them the "plain Jane" way this go around.  James was and still is very proud of his hamburger bun creations.

The recipe was extremely easy, and I am not always super successful at yeast breads, so I love the way the recipe had you boil ingredients and then set them aside until room temperature.  Having a stand mixer with a dough hook also makes this super easy.  Definitely a good basic white bread dough recipe.

By the way, here is the recipe I used: Belles Hamburger Buns.

My Two Little Guys

A lot of things have changed with my boys since my last update...at least I am pretty sure this will be new information.  If I repeat anything, oh well!  I would do smaller posts, but there is so much to talk about, so I just felt like doing an overall update.

Sam
Let's start with the youngest of the two, Sam.  He has really gained confidence in his walking ability over the past couple days.  He walk a good distance...as long as there is motivation (something he really wants to get his hands on).  At the park yesterday he would randomly stand up and walk a little bit before getting back down to crawl.  Once he realizes he can move faster by walking, he will probably be going full speed ahead!  I imagine he will be moving out of the nursery and into the walkers room at church within the next month or two (although he may prove me wrong).

I do believe Sam is finally working on his other bottom tooth.  He currently has three teeth on the bottom, and he pushed through the third quite awhile ago.  I noticed yesterday that Sam would wake up during his nap with a little cry out and then he would settle back down...he tends to do this while sleeping when he is teething.  Then he started drooling up a storm this morning which is another significant sign of teething for Sam.  Finally last night and the night before, Sam has been coughing quite a bit in his sleep, and I am thinking it may be due to the extra saliva build up from teething.

Sam has started to exhibit new skills as well.  He loves to give kisses, clap his hands and wave (mostly to passing cars).

Sam adores James!  He tries to mimic everything he does...in fact Sam just has fun mimicking in general.  Already Sam can go down slides on his own...of course he prefers the head first method, and he is getting the grasp at climbing up those park ladders as well.

James
I consider James completely daytime potty trained now.  He stays completely dry all day even during his naps.  James is really good about letting us know when he needs to use the bathroom...even when we are at the park or someone's house, so that is wonderful.  At night there have been a few times that James has woken up and wanted to pee.  He would pee and then hop right back into bed.  This isn't consistent yet, but it makes me think James' body is getting ready to possibly start staying dry at night.  I will say he did have one completely dry night...that night he woke up twice needing to go pee...the last time being at 11 p.m., though, which isn't bad for my sleep factor.  : )

James is showing a lot of concern for others which is great to see.  Yesterday at the park we saw a young boy, probably a year or two older than James, trip over the tree roots and fall down.  The boy immediately started crying and his mom rushed over to him.  We were about ten feet away, but you could tell when she lifted up his pants leg that the boy's knee was bleeding.  James looked up at me and said "I want to give it a kiss."  In case you are wondering what that means, kisses make owies feel better at least in our house.  What a sweet, caring little boy I have!  I was so proud of him...although I didn't let him go over and kiss a random stranger's bloody knee.

James will also say the cutest things.  He has really turned into quite the chatterbox, when he wants to be.  The other day he told me "Gemma is cute."  Gemma is one of his friends in our moms group, and the funny part is she is actually about Sam's age.  For whatever reason, James adores her.  He was really concerned about her a couple weeks ago when she was sick.  Also out of the blue James will say stuff like "Mommy, you're beautiful" "I'm proud of you" "You're the best" or other adorable little expressions.  People say we are going to have the beat the girls off with a stick, and I won't be surprised if that is true!  : )

James really shines as a big brother.  He will get down on the ground and crawl with Sam.  He will offer comfort when Sam is upset and many, many other sweet loving things.  It has been incredible to watch this brotherly love and affection grow between the two of them.

What a Disaster!

Let's just say I am so grateful I am doing trial runs of Sam's birthday cake.  His birthday is a couple weekends away, and I want to make a from scratch cake for his party.  I have had great success at from scratch cupcakes for James' birthday last year, but when I have used that same recipe for a from scratch cake, I end up completely overcooking it and wind up with a disgustingly dry chocolate cake.  Well...for Sam's birthday, I looked around online and decided to go for this most delicious looking and sounding Vanilla Bean Cake.  My modifications involve using strawberry preserves instead of raspberry per my husband's preference and our mutual concern about the raspberries being too overpowering.

My vision for the actual birthday party cake involves a two or more layered rectangular cake (so there is enough for all our family) decorated on top with half sphere cakes that will be frosted to look like sports balls (basketball, soccer ball, baseball, etc.).  For my trial run, I decided to make one 9" round and one half Sports Ball to get an idea for the cake itself and then to practice my sports decorations.

My first mistake happened in pulling the cakes just slightly too early.  The 9" cake is actually alright...it is the sports ball that was slightly undercooked and stuck to its pan a little bit because I didn't wait long enough to flip them over.  As you can tell by my picture, I am starting off not the most happy in my attempt thus far.  However, can I say this cake is amazingly delicious...the vanilla bean really does intensify the overall flavor. 

Then let me preface the following by stating I have never in my life attempted a frosting other than glazes, ganaches, or powdered sugar based frosting.  So already this Italian Meringue frosting is quite intimidating, to me at least.  Getting the egg whites stiff while trying to time the sugar and water mixture to reach 238 degrees was difficult to say the least.  Next time I will get the egg whites going first and then work on the sugar and water mixture because keeping the egg whites slowly turning while I wait for the temperature to rise, I imagine, will be far less tricky than trying to continue to add small teaspoonfuls of water and stirring the sugar water mixture waiting for the egg whites to be ready. 

Up above I have already added the 238 degree mixture and am waiting for the frosting to stiffen and the bowl to cool to the touch.  Here is where I think I made a critical mistake...on top of the fact that I probably cooked the sugar and water mixture too high...I didn't wait quite long enough, I don't think, before beginning to add the butter to the frosting.  I am not sure how many mistakes I made but surely a lot because there is no way I could decorate with the resulting frosting...it was way too runny as evidenced by the picture below.

Ideally I was going to use a star tip to create the orange of the basketball and use black frosting for the lines; however, the frosting just oozed right out of the decorating bags.  Even putting the frosting in the fridge didn't allow it to harden up any.  Like I said, I am grateful I decided to do a trial run.  Go ahead and laugh now...I would too if I were you.

As the end result, though, the cake tasted absolutely delicious!  The whole combination of the vanilla bean cake with the strawberry preserves to the runny vanilla bean frosting on top was perfectly complimentary and oh so incredible!  My husband says I have to make this cake for Sam's birthday, that is how much he loved the flavor combination, and generally my husband is a chocolate lover, not unlike myself, so originally I wasn't even sure he would go for the possible idea of a vanilla bean cake.  It looks like I will need to perfect the frosting in the meantime though.  Perhaps I will have to put together some simple cupcakes or something and make frosting for decorating, so I can continue practicing until I nail this frustrating Italian Meringue frosting!  After all my son's first birthday cake cannot end up looking as horrible as the one above, I refuse to let that happen.

By the way, if anyone has any insight into perfecting the Italian Meringue frosting, I would appreciate any tips you have to offer.

Hiking Routine

Yesterday my husband had the day off work, so we went on a family hike together.  The hike led to a waterfall overlook (a wooden bridge with a bench that allows you to view a pretty waterfall), but you could also take a path down to the stream and play near the water.  James had fun throwing rocks into the water trying to throw the rocks farther and make bigger splashes each time.  Sam had fun crawling around and exploring.

On the hike back to the car, my husband asked James where we go after we get to the car...he was curious if an expectation has been made from our previous trips.  James talked about how we will drive to a restaurant and get burgers and french fries, so, yes, James has determined that is part of the hiking routine. 

Honestly, we didn't mind at all because my husband and I were hungry after our hike.  We stopped and ate a late lunch/early dinner before heading all the way home.  Poor James...he was so tired, he wasn't even interested in his food, except a few french fries.  He said he wanted to go home, and he quickly fell asleep in the car.  He even stayed asleep and transferred to his bed upon our arrival home.  Sam also fell asleep and transferred, so my husband and I were able to get a nap in ourselves, which never happens after a day hiking, so that was nice...although I might have woken up feeling slightly more tired than when I fell asleep.

Valentine's Cheesecakes

I am a little behind on posting about the Valentine cheesecakes I made for our Valentine's party; however, since I only upload my pictures once a week, with a few exceptions, this is the quickest I had a picture ready to add to my post.  Hopefully you will not be too disappointed.

It all started when I was assigned to bring dessert to our Valentine's day party.  Usually a potluck menu is put together, and each mom goes in and chooses the dish they would like to contribute.  This time the leader just assigned desserts to myself and a friend of mine.  Honestly, I was a little annoyed at being tasked with desserts without being asked first, and my husband thought I should be passive aggressive and just take something store bought.  However, even though I would have rather chosen my dish (and perhaps I would have chosen desserts, I don't know), I decided I would bake some mini cheesecakes to take with me since that is what has been mentioned to me in the past from some of the moms in my group.

These cheesecakes were my Valentine's creation although I did get my inspiration from other sources.  This is where I took the recipe for the graham cracker crust and the cheesecake filing: Cheesecake Recipe.  Originally I was intrigued by this site: Cheesecake Decorations; however, I am not a fan of Nilla Wafer crusts...I would much prefer the from scratch graham cracker crust, so I took the best of both worlds and combined some of the ideas.  I may be in the minority, but I cannot stand the canned cherry pie filling, so I wanted something different to top my cheesecakes with, so when I saw the ganache and strawberry, I had to go for it, and it worked perfectly for Valentine's day.  In fact I had planned on using raspberries instead, but the store was all sold out of them when I bought my ingredients, so I settled for the strawberries...I know, not much to complain about, right?  You may or may not be able to tell from my picture, but I added the ganache topping and then had to attend to my little boys, so I popped them into the fridge...not knowing how quickly I would get back to them.  When I returned to put the strawberries on top, the ganache had hardened, so I just used the room temperature ganache to "glue" the strawberry halves on top.

The cheesecakes went over extremely well!  I had compliments from everyone who tried them.  Someone even said it was the best cheesecake they had ever eaten!  So relatively simple too!  It doesn't take the time commitment of a full size cheesecake, and it is nice to have them in individual serving sizes instead of having to cut and distribute multiple slices...perfect for any party!  Also you could use any cheesecake filling/topping and be completely creative with the presentation.

Seeing Relatives

Today is a jam packed day of visiting relatives.  It started by going to our aunt's house for breakfast.  Her daughter (our cousin) was in town from out of state, and we don't get to see her very often, so it was nice to visit with them and enjoy a meal together.  After we ate, we took a walk over to the local park and played hard with the boys.  James and Sam were completely worn out...both crashed on the way home, and both of them managed to transfer to their beds and sleep an additional two hours...which never really seems to happen lately.

Then here shortly (in less than an hour) we will head out the door to have dinner at the in-laws.  They asked us last minute (yesterday in fact), and we figured there was no reason to say no...especially since we would rather jam pack this day rather than have to set aside another one of our evenings for the dinner.  However, now, I am kind of wishing we would have pushed the dinner back to another day because it has been such a busy day, and it would be nice for the boys to be able to continue playing nicely together at their own house with their own rules to follow instead of having to be on their better behavior...if any of that makes sense.

I've Been Busy

For a little while I was doing alright at putting some time aside to write an update for this blog of mine.  Lately, I just have been so busy...or at least felt so busy and haven't really made the time for this.  Between entertaining the boys and planning their birthday parties (really I am mainly focusing on their cakes...what kind of cake will I make, how will I decorate them, etc.), I just haven't sat down and done much else.   Well...that is not entirely true. 

Life is going well.  Everyone is healthy (which is a big relief). James is fully potty trained during the day.  He even can stay dry during his two hour naps. At night we are still using overnight diapers because it is too long to stay dry.  I am not going to even attempt that one until James has a few dry mornings in a row.  Otherwise I would just be setting everyone up for failure.  Sam has taken some more steps, and he is getting a little braver with standing on his own and trying to walk while we are outside or doing various tasks.  Sam is defintely capable of walking...he just needs the confidence that he can do it.  James was very similiar when he started walking as well.

If it's Not One Thing

So...a few weeks ago, the flu visited our family and reeked its chaos.  Then this week Sam comes down with a high fever, and James only gets a slight fever.  Within 24 hours James is fully recovered and back to his normal, high energy self.  Sam is still battling his fever although I had high hopes that things were getting better yesterday.  Yesterday Sam's fever was staying below 100, and he was in a decent mood for a majority of the day.  He even slept better last night and woke up with a normal temperature.  Then by this afternoon, his temperature was back up...101.7 last I checked.  Poor baby!  I just want my little boy to feel better...I feel so bad for him when he is acting absolutely miserable.

Egg Eater

For the longest time James would not eat an egg to save his life.  There was something about eggs...perhaps the texture or taste that James could not stand.  He wouldn't eat them scrambled, fried, hard boiled or any other combination.  I would always offer him a little bit, but without fail, James would refuse to eat the eggs.  This really wasn't a big deal because James will go to town on meat (hamburger, ground turkey, chicken, beans), so protein was not a concern or lack thereof. 

Within the past several months, James has decided that eggs are tasty, and he likes them.  In fact he will gobble them up like crazy!  Just this morning James ended up eating two fried eggs...that is the same amount I ate myself.  So far I know James will eat eggs fried or scrambled.  I haven't had a chance to try hard boiled since he has began eating eggs.

Breakfast seems to be James' best meal.  I know research says that breakfast is your most important meal, and you should make sure to eat a healthy breakfast, so I am happy that James eats a lot at breakfast.  Usually James will eat more than I can at breakfast.  He has been known to eat more oatmeal than I imagine most adults would consume in one sitting.  The rest of the meals throughout the day are hit and miss.  Most of the time James will pick and nibble at his food; other times he will eat a lot; however, it is a guarantee that James will eat a lot at breakfast.

More Steps

Up until now, Sam has only taken one or two steps at a time, and he has been rarely displaying this new skill.  Well...tonight Sam started to take more steps and was able to walk a good distance before falling over.  He was really excited to keep walking over to me.  Fortunately, I was able to capture some of those steps on our video camera; however, Sam was a little too interested in the video camera and would then refuse to walk for me anymore...instead he would get down and crawl because he can reach me a lot quicker that way.  I put the video camera away, which Sam was not happy about, and a little later I tried pulling out my regular camera to capture his steps in a picture.  I got a couple cute pictures of him climbing on the little recliner and driving the ice cream truck, but he refused to walk with the camera out.  That's okay...I am thinking here shortly he will be more adventurous about his walking and will forget all about cameras when they make an appearance.

Seeing Daddy off to Work

Lately in the evening time when my husband puts James to bed, James will ask if he has to work in the morning.  When he answers yes, James asks him to stay home instead.  Or, on the other hand, if he answers no, James gets super excited.  So sweet that James loves his daddy so much...

Then in the mornings lately, Sam will throw the biggest fit when Daddy gets ready to leave for work...not necessarily the getting ready part, but the saying goodbye part.  Sam will start clinging to Daddy, and when I finally pry him off, he will give the most pitiful sounding cry and the saddest look on his face.  It is so great to see how much Sam loves his daddy as well...

I know this breaks my husband's heart and makes it that much harder to leave us all behind.  In the end, though, he is going to work for our family...to provide food and shelter and the ability for me to stay home and care for our precious little boys.  I am grateful for my husband's hard work.

Both boys are excited when Daddy returns home from work (as am I), and often they clamor to gain his attention.  These moments should be enjoyed because who knows at what age they will no longer want to hang out with their Daddy.

Bounce House

Last night we went to the family bounce night.  We wanted to try it out to see if James enjoyed it, and if he did, we wanted to reserve his birthday party there.  I had been to this particular bounce house with my mom's group when they first opened, but James was pretty young then, close to eighteen months, and he wasn't into it at all.  Then the couple other times we have attended bounce houses with our mom's group, James hasn't seemed that interested.  So instead of booking a birthday party at a bounce house, we figured we better see if it would be something that appealed to James first.

My goodness, James had a blast!  In fact we all did...even Sam!  There were so many different options from big slides to obstacle courses and sports...along with other things.  James was sad when we had to leave and said he wanted to go back there.  We had already reserved the birthday while we were inside (I took care of those details while my husband and James played) after we saw how much fun James was having.  We asked James if he wanted to have his birthday party here, and he excitedly said yes.

Sigh of relief for me is the birthday party won't end up being at our house if it rains.  : )  Originally we were thinking of this outdoor children's amusement park, but if the weather didn't cooperate, we would be stuck inside our house again...just three weeks after having Sam's first birthday party at our house.  That just seemed overwhelming to us.