Busy little bee

These are two custom knits. Both are size mediums.

Election Day Trauma

What is a good childhood without some good old fashioned trauma?

As in, Mom and Dad say we're going to go vote. We load up, we drive down the block to the polls (which just so happen to be right next to a lake), we vote, and we head home. And then the 2.5 year old loses it when he figures out we're heading home.

Why?

Because he thought we were going on a boat.

Oops.

Toby no tail!

Last night, Toby's bedtime story was "Guess How Much I Love you", a story about a daddy hare and little hare. About 3/4 the way through the book, Toby spreads his legs and starts poking around. Puzzled, we stopped and I asked what he was doing...he looked at me and replied, "Toby no tail!" So we've established that he does not have a tail. And in case you were wondering, he's also informed me that Daddy does not have a tail, Lucy does not have a tail, and Mommy does not have a tail. But Lex has one, as do the fish.

Last night was a new first for Toby - he jumped with both feet off the floor! For months now he's thought he was jumping, but it was really a funny sort of hop, with one foot always on the ground. But he was convinced he was doing it and neither Curtis nor I had the heart to tell him that it was not, indeed, a true jump. But last night (apparently inspired by the hares in the story), he took to jumping, and they truly were jumps! Go Toby Go!

Curtis's car has a flat so we need to take care of it today. Luckily, his class today was cancelled so that gives us a few days to take care of it before he needs to drive to Raleigh again...which means he's not leaving me stranded without a car! Yay!

The fish were moved last night and seemed thrilled with their new tank setup. I'll have to get pics soon and post.

Happy Monday to all!
Chel

Oreo Balls

Back by popular request...the recipe for Oreo Balls!

Oreo Truffle Bombs
This recipe makes a mixture of crushed Oreo cookies and cream cheese balls which are dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with dark (or semi-sweet) chocolate.-->-->
Ingredients:-->-->
8 ounces cream cheese, softened-->-->
1 (16 ounce) package Oreo cookies (may use Mint Oreo cookies, instead)-->-->
White chocolate, best quality (four Baker’s brand packages)-->-->
Dark or semi-sweet chocolate, best quality (two Baker’s brand packages)-->-->
(Optional: peppermint flavoring, up to 1 teaspoon or ½ teaspoon vanilla)-->-->
Directions:-->-->
Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. -->-->
With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). -->-->
Add mint or vanilla flavorings if desired. Mix thoroughly. -->-->
Roll into tablespoon-sized balls (or egg shapes) and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. -->-->
Refrigerate for 45 minutes, to firm.-->-->
Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. -->-->
Roughly chop white chocolate and melt in a double-boiler, over medium/low heat. (or you can use a metal bowl to put the chocolate in, placed over boiling water in a smaller pot, if you don’t have a double-boiler).-->-->
Add food coloring if desired, and stir in.-->-->
Dip ball / egg-shape and coat thoroughly. -->-->
With slotted spoon, lift ball / egg out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off. -->-->
Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. -->-->
In separate double boiler, melt dark chocolate (or milk chocolate). -->-->
Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over ball / egg. -->-->
Let cool. -->-->
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator. -->-->
Other options:-->-->
-Add green, blue or red food coloring to make pastel colored eggs for Easter. Top with a jellybean. -->-->
-You can also add the mint or vanilla flavoring to the mixture.-->-->
-Instead of dipping egg into chocolate, chop the chocolate up into fine pieces and roll the egg in it for a “crumb shell”.-->-->

Of Trick Or Treating, Rearranging Furniture, and Broken Toes

Or, our Halloween weekend, revisited. :) It's been a busy week!

Last Sunday we went to the zoo for their Halloween celebration. It was uber-cute, with tons of free games for the kids to play (beanbag games, etc), a magician, a clown, a costsume contest, and of course, the animals! It was a gorgeous day to visit the zoo, and we had a lovely time.

Toby and Lucy on the stump at the zoo

Toby as a scarecrow!

Lucy was pooped :)

Toby throwing beanbags

A friend of mine owns Alexia Jean and makes hairbows and all sorts of beautiful things. She and I did a swap last week - I made her a knitted cardigan for her daughter and she sent some gorgeous bows for Lucy! Here's one -

We tried pigtails last week for the first time! TO DIE FOR. Don't you just want to squeeze her?

And finally, the big Trick or Treat night. We went out last night around the neighborhood. This was Toby's first year trick or treating and he was practically drunk from the sugar fumes...before he'd eaten any! He had a blast... I think he wanted to go again tonight :)

And here he is with his Halloween loot

Last week after the zoo we came home and Curtis and I got to talking about the way our living room is organized. We've been tossing the idea of a reorganization around for about 6 months or so but the idea of moving the fish tank was so daunting that we just couldn't commit. I don't know if it was boredom or what, but we figured out what we wanted and put the plan into place. As of now (Saturday night), every piece of furniture in our living room has been moved to a new location (except the dining room table and china hutch). It looks great and makes the room appear so much larger! All that's left now is getting the fish back into their tank, but that's not happening until tomorrow, and then I'll take pics. I love the new setup though!

And today we had just put our bookshelf (the last piece) into place and I started loading it with books....and managed to walk into the wall. I think I broke a toe...since it's a minor extremety (whoever decided this must NOT have had a broken toe) there's nothing anyone could do for it anyway, but it still HURTS. It's a lovely shade of purple and hurts to high heaven if I move it. Which for some reason draws the kids in like little sharks...they have never shown much interest in my toes until I tell them they need to stay away from mommy's toes! Since they are finally in bed, I am heading to the couch to prop up my leg for a bit with a new knitting project.

Hopefully I will be back soon with pics of healthy fish in their new location!

Night!

Chel

A Spooking We Will Go

It's that time of year again - the tags have been cut off the costumes and it's time to start showing them off!

Today we went to a party sponsored by the town, at the Lake Park, just around the corner from us. They ahd all sorts of kids games - it was just for those 10 and under - like ring toss, a cake walk, etc, and the kids could play as much as they wanted. It was so much fun - Toby really had a blast! After the party we took a walk around the lake - there is a huge bridge that spans the middle of the lake.

The fountain in the lake

Toby had his face painted

She may be a darling peacock but she's really not thrilled with the idea of a costume, lol. But darnit, she's cute and will wear it!

My little bumblebee!

Tonight Curtis grilled stuffed pork chops for dinner - yum! They were stuffed with provalone cheese, procuttio (sorry I know I misspelled that one), and pepperoni. YUM!

When we got home, this butterfly landed on my flowers! I had my camera on my shoulder already - how convenient! He was so pretty!

Tomorrow we have plans for Boo at the Zoo, I've heard great things about it so I hope we have a great time. It sounds like the weather is going to cooperate, and that's half the battle!

More Halloween pics to come!

Conversations with Toby

I made an apple pie this weekend, thanks to the great apples from Uncle Roger and Aunt Joyce's orchard! It was soooooooo good too!
This was all Toby. He decided he wanted to wear his baseball hat, and this was how he was wearing it!
I let Luci wear Toby's cowboy hat yesterday and she left it on for probably 20 minutes! She was so cute crawling around the room in this hat!

Toby's language skills are really flourishing! He says some of the funniest things...and repeats everything we say.

He's been very into praying before meals lately. Some of the best prayers have included "Thanks God for the pickles" and "Thank you for the pumpkin patch" (that's been in the prayers every meal since Saturday morning).

He loves to help let the dog outside. This morning he was engrossed with something else when I went to the back door to let the dog out. I merely said "Toby" to catch his attention and see if he wanted to help. He looked up, then jumped to his feet and yelled, "Oh! Oh! Oh! The dog has to pee!" Curtis and I were dying. He is too funny these days.

This morning he came in to wake me up and his first words were, "Grandma's house!" I asked if he wanted to go to Grandma's house and he nodded his head emphatically with a giant smile. Now, I don't know which Grandma he was referring to (and maybe it was both, he certainly had a great time both places), but our trip to Ohio definitely made a positive impression on him! I just wish we could pack up and go visiting today.

He is also so excited for Christmas. Yesterday we received a Fisher Price toy catalogue in the mail and after dinner I handed it to Toby to keep him busy for a bit. He cozied up on the couch and went through it page by page, studying the toys carefully. After a bit, he came running up to me and pointed out a racetrack toy that he apparently really wants. It was so cute! He's attached to the "toy magazine" (as he calls it) still this morning.

Luci is teething (again). She's been up twice this week needing motrin. And she's being quite the drama queen this morning, which is a sure sign she's feeling a little off.

It is a cool crisp morning here - it was 65 in the house when we woke up, so we are all cozied up in sweats this morning. It's supposed to get up in the low 70's today so it will be really pretty later. Have a wonderful Fall day!