If we were associated with the mafia...

I would have thought this was a finger.

Coen has a fascination with containers of all different shapes and sizes, so I've been saving some from around the house for him. He goes around collecting random things like a sock, a pencil, binkies, Marshall's Star Wars guys, keys, whatever! Unfortunately he also puts his snacks in them as I discovered when I opened an old face wipes container to find this hairy, bloody finger, or so I thought until further inspection. It's a carrot!

Life is busy, my kids are crazy, I blog not to complain, but rather to recall years from now how hilarious it is. They grow up too fast and I know someday I'll miss it.

Happy Autumn!!

Apple Pie Recipe, here

In homeschool this week, Marshall and I are doing a unit on apples and Johnny Appleseed. I figured we couldn't do an apple unit without an apple pie. So we made one!

I have to be honest, I don't think I've ever baked a pie by myself before and I had certainly never bought Crisco. I usually go over to my mom's because she keeps it on hand, and has a pastry sheet which I didn't have until today, along with a real pie pan, which I still don't have, and I like to do it there because she usually ends up just making the crust for me as well as the clean-up. (Just being honest here).

So tonight I mustered (we're talking deep down, mustered, here) my inner domestic goddess* and did it sans mommy :'( I used a different crust recipe though. It was crumbly and hard to work with, I had to pretty much re-assemble it in the pie pan and the lattice crust I planned on doing was not going to happen because it kept breaking so I just schlepped the strips on there and called it good, no fancy edge or anything. Next time I'll call and get mom's recipe first. But it tasted just fine and was super yummy!

Our reviews:

Mine: Oh.My.Gosh. My taste buds had died and gone to heaven, it was so yummy!

John: Gave it 10/10 - which NEVER happens!! Not to mention said it was the BEST apple pie he had ever tasted!! He told me he didn't know I could bake a pie like that. Well neither did I!! Who knew?!

I like using these !! a lot, huh?

Marshall was thrilled he got to stay up past his bedtime to help (we didn't start until 8:45!) and I left him a piece for breakfast in the fridge since he went to bed while it was baking.

So while I was piecing together the crust in the pan, Marshall made what he considers a joke and it made so little sense that I just could not stop laughing.

Me: This crust is just too crumbly
Marshall: That's why they call it a pie! (laughs)
Me: Uh, huh (laughs for 10 minutes, making Marshall feel like he is the world's best joker ;)

*More domestic goddess-ness coming soon!

THIS WEEK IN "THE TODDLER TIMES"

Link to featured articles (or scroll down to see the posts):

Twenty-three Month Old Wins World Record for Most Baths in a Week

The Sibling Synopsis

The Mommy Moment

Twenty-three Month Old Wins World Record for Most Baths in a Week

Coen Harris won this prestigious and note-worthy award tonight after finishing this weeks' up-teenth bath. Here's the weekly bath run-down:

Saturday: 1. had the typical day we get ready for Sunday bath at bedtime

Sunday: 1. had the I made a mess of myself with Desitin right before getting dressed for church bath
2. had the I rubbed Cream of Wheat cereal in my hair before church bath
3. had the I'm sticky with smoothie mess from rubbing it all over me bath

Monday: 1. had the I went to the park and dumped sand on my sweaty little head while laughing bath
2. had the I had a lot of stinky diapers today and the smell lingers bath

Tuesday: 1. had the dad's showering before work so I should climb in with my jammies on shower
2. had the I'm boy and I get sticky when eating bath

Wednesday: 1. had the mom's going somewhere so I need to smell clean in the morning bath

Thursday: 1. had the dad's showering before work and I want to spend every spare second with him and he doesn't know I just bathed last night shower
2. had the mom's going somewhere in 2 seconds and I just rubbed her hair product all over myself bath
3. had the I played at the park then got sweaty and dumped more sand in my hair for the second time this week bath

Friday: 1. had the I covered myself and the computer keyboard in glue and glitter bath
2. had the I climbed up to the kitchen counter with a chair and grabbed the red tempera paint, took it to the living room floor, and made some hand prints with it then went to show mommy who thought I was covered in blood and nearly had a heart attack bath

photographers captured evidence at the crime scene: a toddler blanky and bright red toddler-sized handprint

The Sibling Synopsis

Big brother Marshall started swimming lessons on Saturdays and Karate on Mondays thanks to the super affordable community ed classes! Nay-sayers of homeschool are thankful he has some socialization opportunities.

Mom found chunks of hair not-so-carefully hidden under the make-shift desk on Wednesday night after bedtime. The fact that his hair is so long and shaggy to begin with served him well for not being discovered all day. After search parties looked all day for the roots of the missing locks, they came up short by nightfall. It wasn't until the next night, after having it washed and trimmed by mom that she finally found it. While running her hands through it as he drifted off to sleep, the tell-tale jagged roots made themselves known about an inch under his double cow-lick in the back. Luckily it is not visible or noticeable and several long locks remain.

After leaving an open bottle of glue and glitter near the computer, Marshall spent most of Friday morning in time out doing additional school work as punishment for getting into mom's craft supplies. Little brother Coen had come upon the opened containers, left conveniently next to the keyboard and mouse. He had a time out of his own. Mom and Dad remained cool, calm, and collected on the outside but fumed on the inside while they explained to Marshall that while they still loved him, he was grounded from the computer and office for a week. After time out Mom decided Marshall needed a little one-on-one TLC and they spent a pleasant afternoon together learning about Johnny Appleseed while Coen napped.
This very lovely sign adorned Marshall's door as mom and dad decided the punishment

The Mommy Moment

Hold on.

Be right back.

I'm in the middle of something.

Give me just one more minute.

What did you say?

Okay, just hold on.

Sigh. Mommy doesn't have a moment.

The "elusive" me

Wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number 1
Oh my, me my
What I think
What I like
What I know
What I want
What I see
WANNA TALK ABOUT ME.
Oh mememememe
Wanna talk about MEEEEE!

That was one of my favorite songs back in my country-listening days. I don't really want to talk about me, but my brother accused me of being "elusive" in my blog, so here goes.

1. I turned 27 last week and that feels old. It's not the mid-20s anymore, but late-20s. Too close to 30. But at the same time I will be SOOO glad to be out of my 20s and put this decade of my life behind me.

2. On the subject of aging, I think I have about as many white hairs as I do years behind me. I keep waiting for the wrinkles to set in, and with that deep, deep regret for sunbathing all those years. (Who am I kidding?! I'll eat up those rays every summer for the rest of my LIFE!) Thank goodness for my dad's skin genes. Not so thankful for his hair genes :P
See the white & gray beard? The hair (or what's left of it) is that color too. Did you notice the sarcasm I threw in there? Yup, get that from him too! But isn't he a good looking guy? He's only 46 in this picture, and hardly a wrinkle to be found.

3. Every Friday I am amazed that I made it through another week. It baffles me because at least once throughout each week I think I'm losing my mind and I just want to hit "pause" on everyone else's lives (ie: my kids) while I catch up. Where's the remote?!

4. I'm reading a really good book called "Talkers, Watchers, & Doers." It describes the different ways kids learn and how to tell what kind of learner your kid is. Highly recommend it!
5. I really love homeschooling. Like, really, really love it, LOVE it. It's become an obsession.

6. Speaking of love - I LOVE it here! In moving here we said we would give it 2 years, but I picture us staying much, much longer.

7. I'm not homesick at all and actually like being away from everyone I've ever known. Change is good sometimes. It doesn't mean I don't love you. I miss my mom though. Especially on days where I really just want a break from the kids to get caught up on housework or school plans. But it's teaching me patience. Plus John has been SUPER AMAZINGLY AWESOME at letting me have "me" time to do those things and helping out more. We've been more of a team since moving here. It's been such a blessing!

8. Speaking of blessings, I'm baby hungry. (You know, cuz babies are blessings.) I'm scared though. It took us one year and a box of 35 pregnancy tests to get pregnant with Coen. And then the whole c-section not healing for 3 months thing, I'm NOT looking forward to another one. The thought of all that plus the 18 months or so of pure hell surrounding his birth still makes me cry. And then I talk myself out of ever having kids again. EVER. But not really because I still want my girl.

9. I have this rash on my leg. I've had it on and off, mostly on, for OVER SEVEN YEARS. Right after John and I got married, I broke out and it's been on the front of my lower leg ever since. I joke that I'm allergic to him ;-) I've had it biopsied 4 different times by 3 different dermatologists. The results? Atopic Dermatitis. Which just means a skin rash. Well, duh! I kinda figured that. After trying a few expensive prescription creams and even a homeopathic tablet, none of which worked, I gave up. Now I just deal with it and play the waiting game for it to go on one of it's sabbaticals.

10. I'm sick of couponing. You know how you used to love to read, before you *had* to in junior high and high school? It's like that kinda. Because I *have* to do it, it takes the fun out of it. So I procrastinate at it and by doing so make myself a frantic, crazy mess trying to get it all figured out before the weekly sale ends. Because Grocery Smarts doesn't have "The Lists" I used in Utah, I'm left fending for myself. It's so tedious and time consuming! But I'm stuck *having* to for our budget's sake :P

11. I'm a total insomniac and toss and turn for hours. Hence the date stamp on this post.

But now I'm tired.

Marshall-isms

1. Marshall waking me up on Friday morning: "Mom I'm glad you had a birfday, it made me enfusiastic!"

2. John: "I need to see if I have meetings tomorrow because it's fast Sunday."
Marshall: "Fast Sunday? So church goes faster? I LOVE fast Sunday!"

3. Marshall: "Mom, did you know Grammy does anything I tell her to?"
Me: "Yes, I did know that. She didn't do anything I told her to when I was little."
Marshall: "I'm sure lucky then!"

4. Me: "Coen is going to be 2 next month!"
Marshall: "Oh no! That means he is going to be part of this family!"
Me: "He has always been part of this family!"
Marshall: "But Dad said he wasn't going to be if he kept hitting him and he did."
Me: "Dad was just kidding, Coen is still part of our family."
Marshall: "Oh man!"

Coen's Weekend

On Friday morning Coen went into the bathroom, pulled the stool up to the sink, got the soap pump, ran to Marshall's bed, climbed up, and proceeded to lather up his legs, getting hand soap all over himself and the sheet. I realized it was too quiet, went to find him engaged in this activity, stripped him and the bed down and gave both a good wash, each in their respective places. I put on the spare sheet set and put Coen down for a nap.

On Saturday John let me sleep in (with the promise that Monday he could sleep in) and got up with the kids, serving them Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast. When I woke up and saw the vacuum in the boys room, but the floor too covered in toys to vacuum, I asked what it was doing in there. "Oh," John said, "that would be from the bag of Frosted Mini-Wheat crumbs that Coen ran away with and dumped all over Marshall's bed." The one I just changed!

Saturday for dinner we made an egg, sausage, and rice dish that my mom used to make. We gave Coen a few spoonfuls on a plate since he hasn't been eating much lately. He scarfed it, much to our surprise (it's a little spicy) and we ended up giving him some from our plates, he loved it so much. We ate a hurried dinner before heading over to a ward member's house for an ice cream social. Where Coen absolutely REFUSED to eat ANY ice cream and was actually quite MAD AT ME for trying to give him ICE CREAM!

Sunday after church while I was making lunch, Marshall crashed on the floor between the living room and dining room. Coen goes over to him and falls on top of him with his legs around Marshall's head and a death grip around his waist with his arms. Marshall is screaming "Help! Mom, Help!" "He is half your size, you are bigger than him! Roll over and he'll fall off!" I tell him. So he rolls over, I'm laughing, and they're having a blast wrestling! This must just be something that brothers DO! It was fun to witness their little interaction. Coen is such a little instigator!

On Monday I went in to wake John up after letting him sleep in. I crawled into bed and was dozing with him when Coen wandered in, excited to see that Dad was still there and hadn't left for work. He crawled up and over him on the bed, hunkered down in between us, got all situated and comfy, then crawled back down and ran out the door. A minute later he returned with John's cell phone, climbed back up and over John, who was laying on his side, and positioned the phone on his ear just right then sat, looking at John, waiting for him to talk to somebody. It was too funny!

He turns two next month and if he's like this now, well I might just need a prescription for some Valium.

Dinosaurs!!!

For my birthday on Thursday, we decided to take the kids downtown to Union Station's science museum where they are housing a temporary "Dinosaurs Unearthed" exhibit. I was trying to be their 100,000th visitor and win their "Guestasaurus Rex" package which included a 1 year membership, 4 build-a-dinos, an over night stay in the Westin Hotel, $100 gift card to a local grocery store, and $100 gift card to a nice restaurant at the Station. The winner won at about 11:00 this morning, so it wouldn't have been me anyway since we wouldn't have been there on a Sunday. Oh well! It was worth a try, and a great excuse to have John take a half day off and get the boys to this exhibit!

Since we just wrapped up our Dinosaur Unit in homeschool, this was perfect! One of the reasons I did the unit was because I knew this exhibit was in town and wanted to get there before the end of September when it leaves (actually they just extended it until January). The other reason being, of course, that Marshall is obsessed with dinosaurs right now thanks to PBS's Dinosaur Train, where he has learned A LOT about them.

I love that I caught him looking up at it like this!

We compared ourselves to different sized dinosaurs. This really helped Marshall put them in perspective. Just look at how tall a T-Rex would be next to him (he's standing by just the leg)!

Playing paleontologist by brushing away debris to find dino tracks then comparing them to the chart to discover what dino they belonged to.

It's a good thing people didn't live at the same time as dinosaurs, can you imagine trying to run from one of these??

Marshall's favorite-the T-Rex

Can you tell from the angle these were taken that Marshall was using my camera?

If this exhibit travels to a museum near you - I highly recommend it!!


So, they had several interactive dinosaurs that you could push buttons on a plaque thing and make it move different parts of it's body. They also had a few dinosaurs that had sensors and when you walked past it would start growling (which is what you hear in the background) and moving around. Marshall was doing the motions along with the interactive dinosaurs, it was funny to watch but he was so into it! He starts moving about 30 seconds in, be patient. Does the sound work for you??

Climbing, Running, Jumping, Climbing, Sliding, and did I mention Climbing?

The boys need to get all their crazies out each day, so I found this gem of an indoor play place at a near-by shopping center/outdoor Gateway-type mall. Marshall loved that it was under a "Marshall's" store and kept "reading" the sign to point out his name. After we were done playing he insisted we take the escalator up to the second floor to check out the store, he was convinced it held something cool inside that he would want. When he saw women's clothing and home decor in the storefront windows, he quickly turned around and headed back down. We were glad to find a replacement for Marshall's beloved "Dinosaur Mall" (aka: Sandy Mall's dinosaur play area). I think many a cold winter morning will be spent here as the temperature drops.

I had my little point and shoot camera, so please excuse the poor quality pictures. They speak for themselves - these boys loved climbing on EVERYTHING they could get their hands on!

Smoothie Sunday

While we miss our families back in Utah, and having Sunday dinner every week, we are glad to say we've established our own little Sunday ritual. This has become something we all look forward to every Sunday! With early church and John gone until about 2:00 each week, it is nice to just lie low and not do much on Sunday except hang out as a family. Marshall looooves this new little tradition and talks about it all week. This week he requested skittles.

John rented Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Marshall flipped out and told us to turn it off - it wasn't for kids and locked himself up in his room. John told him there was no difference between lightsabers in Star Wars and swords in this movie. After that, and some snuggling for safety on the couch, Marshall quickly warmed up to it and said he loved it at the end. It is my guess that he'll wake up first thing tomorrow and watch it again.