What more can I add? This is pretty standard bathtime fare at our house. Cora's starting to really move these days (she just discovered the cat food this weekend, yikes!), so I want to enjoy her chubbiness while it lasts. Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Cuties in the tub
What more can I add? This is pretty standard bathtime fare at our house. Cora's starting to really move these days (she just discovered the cat food this weekend, yikes!), so I want to enjoy her chubbiness while it lasts. 
Sunday, April 12, 2009
+ Happy Easter! +
[Eating very first Cadbury cream egg, and surely not the last...] "Mom! There's YOGURT inside!"
Happy Easter! Now that we've had enough warm weather for the tulips and daffodils to finally appear and the cherry trees to bloom, I feel like spring has arrived. Here's wishing everyone the best in this season of rebirth and renewal.
Here is a play-by-play of Larson's egg hunt. Chilly weather and rain forced our Easter Bunny to hide the eggs indoors and Larson was determined to find them all...even the ones hidden under the couch cushions! (there weren't actually any eggs in the couch cushions, but a helper (that would be dad) sneaked one in there while Larson had his head buried to help him out a bit).
On Saturday night, Cora was baptized at the Easter Vigil service at our church. It was a very long service but both kids held up remarkably well, especially Larson, who was _fabulous_ up until the very end. Even to cooperate for pictures at 9:30pm (waaaaay past his usual bedtime!). Cora's dress was picked out by Nana and will probably also be used for Claire's baptism sometime soon. It was a very special evening for our family.
PS New Memphis post following, so keep reading!
Happy Easter! Now that we've had enough warm weather for the tulips and daffodils to finally appear and the cherry trees to bloom, I feel like spring has arrived. Here's wishing everyone the best in this season of rebirth and renewal.
Here is a play-by-play of Larson's egg hunt. Chilly weather and rain forced our Easter Bunny to hide the eggs indoors and Larson was determined to find them all...even the ones hidden under the couch cushions! (there weren't actually any eggs in the couch cushions, but a helper (that would be dad) sneaked one in there while Larson had his head buried to help him out a bit).
On Saturday night, Cora was baptized at the Easter Vigil service at our church. It was a very long service but both kids held up remarkably well, especially Larson, who was _fabulous_ up until the very end. Even to cooperate for pictures at 9:30pm (waaaaay past his usual bedtime!). Cora's dress was picked out by Nana and will probably also be used for Claire's baptism sometime soon. It was a very special evening for our family.
PS New Memphis post following, so keep reading!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Spring Break
Yes, that's right folks, we headed to Memphis for a week of BBQ, Graceland, Peabody Ducks and rollicking good family times! What's not to love about 4 adults, 3 kids and 1 newborn all under one roof? Here's Cora doing her Elvis impersonation:
Here's the real thing, too, just to prove we were there:
Not only did Cora got to meet her cousins, but she also got to meet Scott and Jonnett and Baby Jane! Scott is a residency friend of Susan's who is doing a fellowship in Memphis. As you can see, he and Cora hit if off pretty well. You can see more photos here on the Maurer blog.
Keepin' it real with matching shirts on the way to the Fire Museum:
The family photographer, Kate, has even more pictures of the visit here, and our attempt at getting all 4 kids in one shot here. She also took some great portraits of Larson & Cora which will hopefully be gracing our home in the near future. Thanks for hosting us and putting up with all the craziness - we had a blast!
Here's the real thing, too, just to prove we were there:Not only did Cora got to meet her cousins, but she also got to meet Scott and Jonnett and Baby Jane! Scott is a residency friend of Susan's who is doing a fellowship in Memphis. As you can see, he and Cora hit if off pretty well. You can see more photos here on the Maurer blog.
Keepin' it real with matching shirts on the way to the Fire Museum:
The family photographer, Kate, has even more pictures of the visit here, and our attempt at getting all 4 kids in one shot here. She also took some great portraits of Larson & Cora which will hopefully be gracing our home in the near future. Thanks for hosting us and putting up with all the craziness - we had a blast!You know you're a mom when...
...your snacks for school/work are packed in re-used plastic Gerber baby food containers
...you're really good at counting to 3
...8am is considered "sleeping in"
...you reach into your jacket pocket for your car keys and find Lightning McQueen instead
...wiping a toddler's runny nose on your own sleeve seems like the best alternative in the absence of a tissue (hey, we were at the park and it was cold!)
...you know which airports have the best family bathrooms (DFW, SEA and MSP get two thumbs up!)
...you notice every emergency/police/construction vehicle on the road...even when you're driving alone
...you refer to the bathroom as "the potty" when it's just you and your spouse
I'm sure lists of this type have been done before but I just had to add my own little bit :) Additions welcome!
~Susan
...you're really good at counting to 3
...8am is considered "sleeping in"
...you reach into your jacket pocket for your car keys and find Lightning McQueen instead
...wiping a toddler's runny nose on your own sleeve seems like the best alternative in the absence of a tissue (hey, we were at the park and it was cold!)
...you know which airports have the best family bathrooms (DFW, SEA and MSP get two thumbs up!)
...you notice every emergency/police/construction vehicle on the road...even when you're driving alone
...you refer to the bathroom as "the potty" when it's just you and your spouse
I'm sure lists of this type have been done before but I just had to add my own little bit :) Additions welcome!
~Susan
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Garden find
Today I was very excited to find a bunch of ranunculus (ranunculuses? ranunculi?) when shopping for some flowers to plant. The photo is just to give you an idea what they look like...I got yellow, bright orange and a corally red color - just lovely! I'm probably planting a little too early, but I just couldn't help myself. Cross your fingers for me that we're done with frost and torrential spring rains so mine will look as fabulous as those in the picture :)Larson helped me in the garden today and he had a blast. I've now come to terms with the fact that my child has reached the age where he needs a separate wardrobe of clothing that can basically be destroyed and stained with all mode of outdoor boy adventures. Having done so, I can also relax and enjoy such activities without a thought about where all the dirt is actually ending up. Ah.
So my mom (aka my landscape gardening consultant, as mentioned previously) gave me her recipe for making a potting soil mix out of topsoil and manure and I'm trying it for the first time this year. Larson was just SOOOO tickled that we were "playing with cow poop" today. So easy to please, that guy! Poor Cora was relegated to the pack&play and not exactly thrilled about it, so we only got a partial planting completed.
Other items on my gardening agenda for the spring: window boxes for our upstairs balcony, locate and plant a peony bush (today was "too early" I was told), re-do the flower bed in the main part of our garden, find a cool tree/shrub to put in the two big planters on our upstairs balcony (ideas anyone???), and spruce up the flowers under our cherry trees by the street (I think I need some kind of stones to outline the planting area to prevent the grass from creeping back in...). Can't wait!
PS Here are some preview pictures from our trip to Memphis a couple of weeks ago. More to come later!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Quick weekend baking
I had some leftover ricotta cheese and decided to try out a "cheesecake" recipe from Martha Stewart to use it up. It is a very simple recipe and took no time at all. You know, one of those recipes you can practically throw together by the time the oven is done preheating.
The result? Very delicious, although it's better with embellishment. We used fresh strawberries. There's no crust, but you coat the pan with sugar after the butter, so the outside is a little sweeter and almost crust-like.
The result? Very delicious, although it's better with embellishment. We used fresh strawberries. There's no crust, but you coat the pan with sugar after the butter, so the outside is a little sweeter and almost crust-like.
Here's an abridged version of the recipe, taken from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook:
Preheat oven to 375. Generously butter & sugar a 9-inch springform pan.
Whisk together in a large bowl: 1.5 pounds ricotta, 6 egg yolks, 1/4 cup flour, 6 T sugar, zest of 2 lemons and 1/4t salt. (it says to puree ricotta in food processor and I totally forgot this step. I think it would enhance the texture of the cake, but you can probaby skip it if you're in a hurry).
Beat 6 egg whites with 6 T sugar until stiff & glossy, then fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the ricotta mixture. Gently fold in the remainder of the egg whites and pour into your pan.
Bake for about 1 hour, until center is firm and top is golden brown. Let cool and enjoy!
~Susan
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Eventful Friday
Yes, it's one of those things that we will inevitably look back on and laugh, but poor Larson did not find it so funny yesterday :(
Most of the time, when a kid is really sick or hurt, it's pretty obvious. Or even if it's not at the outset, it's still pretty easy to determine with a little probing. When a curious, energetic three-year-old refuses to open his eyes, despite all kinds of enticements, you know something's up. Especially when that something was preceded by a poke in the eye by another 3-year-old finger.
Took him in to the clinic (yea! avoided yet another ED visit!) where a fluorescein exam confirmed that he had a whopping corneal abrasion on his right eye (that's a scratch on the cornea, in layman's terms). That exam produced a lot of kicking and screaming. A lot. Whew, was I glad when it was over. Then in the car on the way home, after several minutes of silence, I heard: "I didn't want to open my eyes for the doctor," in a quiet, calm voice. Good thing my adrenaline was still pumping, or I probably would have starting blubbering right then and there. I mean, I just had to help hold him down so someone could pry open his painful eye and now he was basically apologizing for getting all worked up about it. Kids never cease to amaze me. He even let us put the antibiotic ointment in his eye without objection so that it would "get better really fast."
At home, Larson asked if he could watch a movie. So, we put on the only feature-length DVD we own ("Monster's Inc") and he "listened" to it on the couch and devoured at least half a box of goldfish crackers. I thought I should probably relax the rules a little after all the trauma of the afternoon...
The amazing thing about the eye is that the cornea can regenerate itself literally overnight. So this morning, when Larson woke up and still wouldn't open his eyes, I was a little worried at first. After a while, though, we realized that he was probably just scared, because gradually Brett saw him trying to peek out and then when he was brave enough to open them all the way and realize it didn't hurt anymore, he was sooooo excited!!!
Ah, the journey of parenthood. You never know what is around the next bend. Here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday afternoon studying for my epidemiology final. Fell a little short in that department, but I did get all the Easter candy purchased while waiting at the pharmacy, holding Larson with eyes closed shut the whole time, completely oblivious to all that chocolate and sugar...
Most of the time, when a kid is really sick or hurt, it's pretty obvious. Or even if it's not at the outset, it's still pretty easy to determine with a little probing. When a curious, energetic three-year-old refuses to open his eyes, despite all kinds of enticements, you know something's up. Especially when that something was preceded by a poke in the eye by another 3-year-old finger.
Took him in to the clinic (yea! avoided yet another ED visit!) where a fluorescein exam confirmed that he had a whopping corneal abrasion on his right eye (that's a scratch on the cornea, in layman's terms). That exam produced a lot of kicking and screaming. A lot. Whew, was I glad when it was over. Then in the car on the way home, after several minutes of silence, I heard: "I didn't want to open my eyes for the doctor," in a quiet, calm voice. Good thing my adrenaline was still pumping, or I probably would have starting blubbering right then and there. I mean, I just had to help hold him down so someone could pry open his painful eye and now he was basically apologizing for getting all worked up about it. Kids never cease to amaze me. He even let us put the antibiotic ointment in his eye without objection so that it would "get better really fast."
At home, Larson asked if he could watch a movie. So, we put on the only feature-length DVD we own ("Monster's Inc") and he "listened" to it on the couch and devoured at least half a box of goldfish crackers. I thought I should probably relax the rules a little after all the trauma of the afternoon...
The amazing thing about the eye is that the cornea can regenerate itself literally overnight. So this morning, when Larson woke up and still wouldn't open his eyes, I was a little worried at first. After a while, though, we realized that he was probably just scared, because gradually Brett saw him trying to peek out and then when he was brave enough to open them all the way and realize it didn't hurt anymore, he was sooooo excited!!!
Ah, the journey of parenthood. You never know what is around the next bend. Here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday afternoon studying for my epidemiology final. Fell a little short in that department, but I did get all the Easter candy purchased while waiting at the pharmacy, holding Larson with eyes closed shut the whole time, completely oblivious to all that chocolate and sugar...
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