Brilliant Idea

So, I have long wanted to make my own recipe book, you know, put together all of the recipes that I dig out of several cookbooks all of the time. Then I thought, I'm pretty consistent with this blogging thing, what if I make a recipe blog and post the good recipes I try there? Then I can make a book at the end of the year. This way, you all can see my best recipes too:) Follow the Cooking with Amy link on the blog list to find me. Hope you all enjoy it! Here's a picture of my first recipe...

More slip and slide

We had another family, Pearl's friend Jake from school, over this week to play slip and slide...this time the kids were brave enough to try. I just had to share these videos...

Here is Sam,

And here is Pearl!

Anyone else want to come slide? We're always looking for another excuse to set it up!

PS, sorry so many videos of my kids doing boring things. I really do this for our out of town aunts and uncles (we love you Jayson and Sara, Crystal, John and Lora, and Maryann and Brian, and Peter!)

Love my Job

These past few weeks, I have begun seeing speech therapy clients at home in Sam's bedroom. I absolutely love it! The kids are darling, (even though sometimes they make me sweat!) and it is so wonderful to have Sam at home (upstairs with a sitter) while I do it. Not having to commute means I get more time for him. I am also able to schedule my few clients while Pearl is at school, I don't think she has any idea that I am working. This is what the plan was all those years ago when I chose my career, and I am so grateful I was finally brave enough to do it. I am also so grateful for my mom and my husband who constantly encourage me to push myself, and who always have my (eventual) happiness in mind. Who wouldn't be successful with such great cheerleaders? The bottom line is, if you haven't chosen a career yet, consider being a Speech Language Pathologist. It's the best!

REAL tea party!

Pearl had Makayla over today for a playdate, and we decided to have a REAL tea party with real tea cups and a real teapot and real tea (well, real grape juice) and scones! They had a blast, it's funny to see them practicing to be polite. We called up Grandma Hulbert, and she came over for a scone too (they were AWESOME - best recipe I've tried yet). The girls got all ready (Pearl even waved her magic wand at me to give me a sparkly dress) and picked flowers for the decorations while I made the scones. I think their favorite part was putting their own butter and jam on their scones, and of course, pouring their own tea!



Scones
(adaped from Williams-Sonoma Bread cookbook)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine:
2 cups flour
1 T sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

With a pastry blender, mix dry ingredients. Then, blend in 4 T chilled butter cut into pieces until it looks crumbly. Add 2/3 cup cream whisked together with 2 eggs all at once, stir to form a sticky batter. Knead in bowl a few times. Divide dough in half, shape into two discs (approx 6 inches in diameter, 1 inch thick). Cut into 4 wedges each and separate. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Serve with butter and jam.

It does make me feel like mom of the year to do these things for Pearl. Don't worry, though. It doesn't happen that often. And now I'm tired:)

Sam is a Boy!

Ok, so Sam said his first volitional (not coerced or in repitition) "love you mom" today. It's just funny when he said it. Pearl usually says these things to me when we're cuddling, or after we have done a pedicure or something. Sam said these treasured words at Little Gym, where he was repeatedly jumping on the bar and swinging himself off onto the mat. He was pretty independent, so instead of helping him, I waited on the mat to tickle him. That's when he said it. Apparently, he loves me when I take him places where he can do things that would normally injure him without getting hurt. What a boy!

Slip and Slide!

We had our first party out on our new deck, which I have been wanting to do pretty much since we got it finished in March. Jared finished the lights a few weeks ago, and we watched a "good eats" episode on ribs, so we figured now was the time! We invited 6 families over to eat ribs, buffalo wings, and to try out Jared's giant slip and slide. I wanted to get a picture of the ribs, but I wasn't fast enough, so this is all I got:

Apparently they were good, because I cooked 6 slabs of ribs and we only had two ribs left over. The recipie can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/who-loves-ya-baby-back-recipe/index.html We did have a few wings and drumsticks left over, which is just fine with us because it's a favorite of ours (well, and I did fry 14 pounds of poultry...) here's the recipie for that ...just don't look at the nutrition info or you'll never eat it! http://www.recipezaar.com/8590 Make sure you use Frank's hot sauce for the hot sauce in the recipe



The other part of our oh so cool party was the slip and slide. We have this HUGE lawn off of the deck - It was one of the first things we worked on when we got the house (the lawn was in before I had a functioning kitchen.. I'm still a little bitter about that). Anyways, there is quite a slope, and Jared has always wanted to make a giant slip and slide. You have to see it to believe it:

A lot of the dads went down, and my party sister Annie and I were the only girls to give it a try. It was REALLY fun, the only problem was that it was unseasonably cold for August in Sacramento, perfect for a nice deck party, not so great for a giant slip and slide with the sun going down! Thanks everyone for coming, we had a great time:)

First Stitches...or something like that...

Poor Pearl! She got her first emergency room visit for an injury last night. She and Sam were playing, and I quote "ready set go cow jump over the moon" in the bathtub and she split her chin open. Of course, I was at mutual, and had to rush home to take her to the emergency room. We picked up Grandma Weir on the way, because Grandma works there so she knows all about hospitals:) We were so lucky, her gash was about an inch long and gaping, but it was a fairly straight line so she didn't have to get stitches, she got "magic glue that holds your face together." All in all, we were in and out much more quickly than I expected to be (we were only there for a few hours, amazing) and Pearl was so brave. Grandma did help keep her entertained by telling her all of the naughty things her Auntie Annie did when she was little... it really was entertaining. We didn't get home until midnight, so I thought she might want to sleep in a little, but she didn't want to miss out on her new excitement in life, riding the bus in the mornings with Makayla and Andi. Oh, to be 5 again! I must say, I am a bit surprised...I really thought Sam would be the first one at our house to need stitches:)

Anniversary

Well, I don't have a beautiful picture to commemorate the event, but today is our 7th wedding anniversary. We celebrated saturday night by going to dinner and buying Jared his 3rd wedding ring ( I hope he doesn't lose this one...) and some new church shoes and a new suit - I think it's the first time I've gotten him to the mall to do those little chores in a year or two! Anyways, I can unequivocally say that I made a very good decision 7 years ago to marry this man. I am grateful to him for the part he plays in our happy little life, grateful that he is such a good husband and father. I love you, Jared.

Pearl goes to Kindergarten

Pearl had her first day of kindergarten today! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Dyer, and Pearl says she is "nice" and "beautiful because she has long hair and a little braid." I must admit, I didn't think I would, but I had a few tears when she walked through that door... I guess I'm not as immune as I thought I would be. I am so excited for her to start this new chapter of her life, though Sam and I did miss her this morning.

Big Boy Bed!

So, this weekend instead of doing all of the things that I was supposed to be doing, I decided to work on setting up a therapy room in Sam's room. It has been a dream of mine since grad school to be able to see a few speech therapy clients from home, and now is finally the time! My first client starts in two weeks, once Pearl is in kindergarten. So, while I was moving everything around, I decided that it was time to take down Sam's crib. Lizzie has a big girl bed, and Sam is always wanting to get in. It took me over an hour to take the crib down and put the new bed together, and once I was done, I thought, I sure hope I don't regret this!!! He has done really well so far (two naps and one night), maybe he really was ready! I don't think he really gets the part where he can get up by himself - after nap today, I found him sitting on the edge of the bed, yelling "Mommy!"