Greg Turns 35

35?! Yes, indeed. Greg celebrated his birthday last week. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Addie, Scotty and I joined Greg for lunch that day, then we had a special dinner at home. We had a quiet celebration with just the Kropfs for cake and a little playing of their Wii that evening.
What I will remember most about this birthday is that this was the year with the ugliest cake you've ever seen. I tried following a new recipe for "Carmel Cake" and it DID NOT go well. The cake itself was wonderful, but the carmel icing was a disaster. And while I was assembling it and realizing all was not going well, I managed to burn my finger in the process too! I ended up calling Greg on the phone cracking up, and telling him, "I'm sorry, but your cake is ugly and I burned my finger!" We decided it tasted just fine, despite the cosmetic disappointment.

And here is a shot of Addie, who learned to write Daddy's name that day. We thought it was pretty cool!

North & South

It used to be pretty common for us to use this blog to talk about our food. Once I got pregnant with Scotty, all talk of food ceased, and though I have gotten my appetite back since later in my pregnancy, I hadn't yet had life return to normalcy enough to start cooking new things and talking about it. Well, I'm back, baby.

Last week I decided to try making "Southern Style Cornbread" from my Cook's Country Cookbook. Incidentally, I adore this book, which was put out by America's Test Kitchen. It's full of classic, old home-cookin' recipes, and each one was tested to come up with the best ingredients, the best methods, to turn out the perfect product. Greg got me this book last Christmas, right when we found out I was pregnant. It sat on the shelf for way too long before I started into it, and now I am really enjoying it.

Anywhooo, I was hankerin' for some cornbread and looked up the recipe. I found two: one for regular cornbread, and one for "Southern Style." Hmm, I thought, I wonder.... And since I didn't have the ingredients for the "regular" kind, I started in on the "Southern" kind. The book explained that this was not your "Northern" cake-like, sweet cornbread. When I think of cornbread, I think of sweet, cake-like stuff, and that was what my mouth was watering for. Well, this is definitely different! Though it was fun to make it in the cast iron, and it came out with a gorgeous crispy crust, it was NOT what my mouth wanted when my brain thought "cornbread."
We ate it with a very "Northern" recipe- a chili recipe from a woman in Yakima, WA. And this was some VERY Washington Chili. I can't really explain how, but trust me, it was Washington food. Hearty.

Greg and I decided we are definitely Northerners when it comes to our cornbread. Though we love so many things from the South, we really like our cornbread to taste like dessert.

Where do you weigh in on this issue?

My First Gruel

We tried starting Scott on solids a few weeks ago. We've since given up because it seems that whatever we put in his mouth just runs right back out. We'll give it a little while longer and try again.
But we got these pictures of the big introduction anyway.
I have to tell you, that as a food lover, it seems so wrong that a child's first introduction to this great stuff we call food would be runny, stinky, rice cereal. You parents out there know what I mean- that stuff is gross! The babies don't seem to mind it though, and I even remember Addie chowing on it with much joy, so I guess to a baby it isn't so disgusting. Scott wasn't sure what he thought of the whole experience.

Like I said, we'll try again soon, and hopefully be on our way to eating the good stuff!

Addie the FLower Girl- the GOOD pictures

I got a few more pictures of Addie's big performance at Erica & Joe's wedding. A special thanks to Lukas VanDyke, the wedding photographer, who took these. If you are in the SoCal area and need a photographer, I would HIGHLY recommend him! He took magnificent pictures!

Here is Addie signing the guest book




AND....

the big moment.

Oh. My. Word.
Who is this kid? Where did she come from? OK, OK, I know where (and who) she came from, but seriously?

Christmas #3- with Greg's Family in Phoenix

We headed out to Phoenix for a loooong overdue trip this Christmas. It was great to see everyone, and we were especially excited to meet our newest niece, Zoe, and introduce everyone to Scott!

We spent a lot of time hanging out at Mamaw & Papaw's house....
Addie tried out the Wii,
and we played card games, ate a lot, and just enjoyed being together!
Here is Greg, reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip!
Here's us four on Christmas morning. Addie & Scott were busy lovin' on each other, as usual.

A Yard!

One of the best parts of our trip to Phoenix was Mamaw & Papaw's big backyard!
Addie LOVED playing in the leaves! Throwing them up.....
and jumping in!
Also, the oversized tether ball was a hit.
And there was no shortage of croquet playing! Greg played almost every game with Scott in his arms, and he still rocked at it!

Group Shots

This picture cracked me up because our kids are into looking at each other more than the camera.
OUr family with Greg's parents and grandparents
Mark's family with parents and grandparents

Cousins

Good time with the cousins!
Micah, Addie & Ally watching a movie
Little Zoe- the miracle baby
Pig pile! Even the babies join in!
Playing our new game- what fun!

Wow! Thanks!

Gift Opening:
Addie checks out the cool home-made lip balm I got from Jess.
The (Mark) Spangler kids try out their new puppets
Scotty gets his first computer!
Addie plays with her cousin's new stuff. Of course!

The Kids Have a Blast

Scotty though Uncle Mike was soooo funny!
Addie loved being Mamaw's helper

Scott and Papaw chill out.

Christmas #2- Our Own Family

Because of the hectic pace of our December this year, our own little family's Christmas ended up being very non-traditional. We wanted to find time for a good, sit-down present opening. But it would have to come after my parents visit & Erica's wedding, before we left for Phoenix, while we were busy recovering from all the late nights and getting the house ready for company (visitors stayed here while we were gone), and getting Scotty to the doctor and baking bread for the neighbors and packing for our trip...

You get the picture. It didn't really happen.

Instead, on the day before we left for Phoenix, while busy with errands and cleaning and the like, we decided to just gift our presents to each other at any random time during the day. It ended up being really fun! Greg would leave a gift on the bathroom counter to surprise me while getting ready, he would find one on the kitchen table after coming downstairs. Addie loved getting gifts all day long, and we even saved a few of her gifts for the car ride to Phoenix, to make the trip more fun! It might not be what we want to do every year, but it was great for this year!

A cute shot of Scotty
Greg loved his new book!
An ipod docking station! Wahoo!


Sorry, no pictures of me receiving my gifts. At least not any I am posting online. Mostly I am in pajamas with bad hair, and the world just doesn't need to see that. But I got some great gifts!
Addie plays her new electronic saxophone, which mercifully, has an earphone jack. So she rocked out in her own private concert.

Addie's 4th Birthday

I cannot believe that I am blogging about my daughter turning FOUR! But believe it or not, she is a big four-year-old now, and I am finally posting these pictures from her birthday party.

This year we had a small "Storybook" birthday party, because when we asked ourselves what Addie really likes, the answer was books!
We had my parents in town, and invited the Myers and Kropf families for dinner. On the menu was:
-Green Eggs & Ham (deviled eggs with green filling and regular looking ham)
-Cheesy potatoes from the "Ox Cart Man"
-Peter Rabbit's salad (with radishes of course)
-Little Red Hen's bread rolls
-Pooh Bear's honey

We put out all these books as decorations, and had stories and a puppet show and present opening. It was a great night to spend celebrating our wonderful gift from God, named Addie.

Somehow is all the busy preparations, we missed getting a picture of the food table, but here is Addie's plate to give you a glimpse.
Here I am, reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to the kids.
Greg reading another book to the kids- "If you give a Moose a Muffin"
Addie and Ally Myers, and the big 'ol stack of gifts waiting to be opened.










Like I said, I can't believe it has been four years since we first met our daughter. We love what a wonderful additon to our family she is. We love her spunk and her big vocabulary, what a quick learner she is, and what a tender heart she has toward the things of God. We love how God made her petite little frame, her genuine smile, and her big blue eyes. Thank you God for our Addie!