So I have been meaning to blog about my surprise visit to Washington (which was a surprise to no one but my older sister) before I got home again, but I am still here. My hubby called the day before I was supposed to leave and told me that since his business obligations would be taking him out of town a lot for the next few weeks, that I should stay here as long as possible. What could I do but agree? I mean, I miss my hubby, but since he isn't going to be at home anyway.....
So I am here for one more week. We are having a lovely, somewhat restful time with my family and have had many adventures with grandma and the nine grandkids in tow. I have a ton of pictures, but can't seem to figure out how to download them off of this PC. Man, I miss my Mac. So I guess I will just do a huge photo dump when I get back to Tennessee. Until then.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
All about James
James is four this week. I know, I can't believe it, time flies etc. He is a bright, cheerful, constantly hungry, slightly obnoxious child who occasionally does really sweet things. Sometimes there are ulterior motives. Yesterday, to get out of punishment for whining again, he walked over to me when I called him, gave me this really cheesy, sappy look and pursed his lips. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, " Mom, I just really want to kiss you," in a falsely affectionate tone of voice.
I will not reveal whether or not he got out of said punishment.
Last night I heard him talking to Etienne after they were supposed to be going to sleep. I put my ear to the door and James was saying goodnight to Etienne. Etienne responded with a thank you.
James said, "No, don't say thank you. Can you say I love me?"
Etienne responded, " I love me."
He got a birthday card in the mail from Grandpa Lewin yesterday, and was so thrilled about it. He asked me too read the brief birthday wishes over and over again. After about the seventh time, he sighed and said, "That is such a good story."
James wasn't sure what he wanted for birthday presents, but he was positive that he wanted a choo choo cake, so I searched the ever helpful internet and came up with a picture of this cake that I tried to copy.
If I ever make this cake again, I will hide it under lock and key to avoid the constant begging to see, touch, taste and smell it.
We took the cake to the park and I shared the sugar high with Moriah's kids. They did a pretty good job of running it off though.
Some other big things going on in James life-
We changed his name to Butch (ie. daddy got a little too happy with the clippers)
I tried not to weep when I saw it, so that James wouldn't freak out, but when he looked in the mirror, he buried his face in his hands and cried, " Mommy, I lost my head!!!" We are getting used to it, and hey, it will grow back.
I don't have a photo of this, but James also has his first full blown case of Poison Ivy- tummy, legs, back, arms are well covered with little pink rashes. He doesn't seem to mind it too much. He just absently scratches all day. All in all, not the best birthday present though. He'll just have to start out year number four covered in Calamine lotion.
I will not reveal whether or not he got out of said punishment.
Last night I heard him talking to Etienne after they were supposed to be going to sleep. I put my ear to the door and James was saying goodnight to Etienne. Etienne responded with a thank you.
James said, "No, don't say thank you. Can you say I love me?"
Etienne responded, " I love me."
He got a birthday card in the mail from Grandpa Lewin yesterday, and was so thrilled about it. He asked me too read the brief birthday wishes over and over again. After about the seventh time, he sighed and said, "That is such a good story."
James wasn't sure what he wanted for birthday presents, but he was positive that he wanted a choo choo cake, so I searched the ever helpful internet and came up with a picture of this cake that I tried to copy.
If I ever make this cake again, I will hide it under lock and key to avoid the constant begging to see, touch, taste and smell it.
We took the cake to the park and I shared the sugar high with Moriah's kids. They did a pretty good job of running it off though.
Some other big things going on in James life-
We changed his name to Butch (ie. daddy got a little too happy with the clippers)
I tried not to weep when I saw it, so that James wouldn't freak out, but when he looked in the mirror, he buried his face in his hands and cried, " Mommy, I lost my head!!!" We are getting used to it, and hey, it will grow back.
I don't have a photo of this, but James also has his first full blown case of Poison Ivy- tummy, legs, back, arms are well covered with little pink rashes. He doesn't seem to mind it too much. He just absently scratches all day. All in all, not the best birthday present though. He'll just have to start out year number four covered in Calamine lotion.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Still trying....
to get a good, frame-able candid of all my boys
At least act like you love each other.
That's a little better, but not very candid.
Daddy suggests laying down. Hmmm.
Mommy yells to "keep your eyes on Daddy!" Maybe if she stood behind Daddy the yelling would have been a good idea.
Well, we'll keep trying.
At least act like you love each other.
That's a little better, but not very candid.
Daddy suggests laying down. Hmmm.
Mommy yells to "keep your eyes on Daddy!" Maybe if she stood behind Daddy the yelling would have been a good idea.
Well, we'll keep trying.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Playing peekaboo
The more children I have, the more I forget to look for baby milestones, like 'recognizes mommy' or 'able to grasp objects with thumb and forefinger.' etc.
'Able to play peekaboo' is usually on that list of milestones somewhere, so lest poor Sebastien be relegated to the role of unnoticed third child, I thought I would document this great achievement.
'Able to play peekaboo' is usually on that list of milestones somewhere, so lest poor Sebastien be relegated to the role of unnoticed third child, I thought I would document this great achievement.
Peekaboo! from nicole lewin on Vimeo.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Birthday Pudding
So I am not a big cake fan. Well, really, I am not a big dessert fan- sweets just aren't my temptation (give me a big greasy cheeseburger any day). If I have to eat dessert, I prefer dark chocolate to anything else. I think I get that from my mother. I have memories of her coming up to tuck us in bed with the smell of chocolate chips on her breath. I think that must have been her end of the day splurge- a handful of dark chocolate.
At any rate, for my birthday dessert I opted for this super yummy, super easy dark chocolate pudding that I found in a magazine once. I have given this recipe to some friends already, but I thought I would share it again here.
Dark Chocolate Pudding
whisk together in a medium saucepan-
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (If you haven't tried the Special Dark powder, you haven't lived)
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons of corn starch.
gradually whisk in 1/3 cup of whole milk (or less fatty version if you are on a diet. Obviously, the more fat, the better) until a thick paste forms.
Over medium heat, slowly whisk in 1 1/3 cups more of milk and 1/3 cup of whipping cream if so desired. Either way, the total dairy should equal 2 cups.
Let this thicken until bubbly, about five minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in four ounces of dark chocolate (chocolate chips or fancy candy bar, your choice) and 1 tsp vanilla.
Now here comes the fun part. You can eat it as is, or kick it up a notch. We added a generous splash of Kahlua, but Bailey's is fantastic too, or Grand Marnier or any other liquor of choice. If liquor isn't your thing, mint extract is excellent, or any other flavor that goes with chocolate.
to chill it, just cover it with plastic wrap right on the surface, to avoid that yucky pudding skin. We prefer to eat it warm, right out of the pan. This also makes a great pie filling. I must warn you though- kids make a mess of it.
When I asked James why he was deliberately smearing it all over his face, he said he just wanted to look like daddy. (Steve's current facial motif is a rather unkempt goatee)
Oh, and this last picture is my birthday present from my mom.
It is a smocking pleater. I tried my hand at smocking a dress for my latest niece, but it took forever to do by hand. So, since I have no daughters to smock for, send your orders in. I need to make some cute dresses for somebody.
At any rate, for my birthday dessert I opted for this super yummy, super easy dark chocolate pudding that I found in a magazine once. I have given this recipe to some friends already, but I thought I would share it again here.
Dark Chocolate Pudding
whisk together in a medium saucepan-
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (If you haven't tried the Special Dark powder, you haven't lived)
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons of corn starch.
gradually whisk in 1/3 cup of whole milk (or less fatty version if you are on a diet. Obviously, the more fat, the better) until a thick paste forms.
Over medium heat, slowly whisk in 1 1/3 cups more of milk and 1/3 cup of whipping cream if so desired. Either way, the total dairy should equal 2 cups.
Let this thicken until bubbly, about five minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in four ounces of dark chocolate (chocolate chips or fancy candy bar, your choice) and 1 tsp vanilla.
Now here comes the fun part. You can eat it as is, or kick it up a notch. We added a generous splash of Kahlua, but Bailey's is fantastic too, or Grand Marnier or any other liquor of choice. If liquor isn't your thing, mint extract is excellent, or any other flavor that goes with chocolate.
to chill it, just cover it with plastic wrap right on the surface, to avoid that yucky pudding skin. We prefer to eat it warm, right out of the pan. This also makes a great pie filling. I must warn you though- kids make a mess of it.
When I asked James why he was deliberately smearing it all over his face, he said he just wanted to look like daddy. (Steve's current facial motif is a rather unkempt goatee)
Oh, and this last picture is my birthday present from my mom.
It is a smocking pleater. I tried my hand at smocking a dress for my latest niece, but it took forever to do by hand. So, since I have no daughters to smock for, send your orders in. I need to make some cute dresses for somebody.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me!
Well, almost. My birthday is actually Sunday, but this morning was the best time to do our traditional out-to-breakfast birthday date. (if you can call a meal out with three kids a date) The problem was that our favorite breakfast cafe is no longer serving breakfast, which we didn't find out until we had all the hungry kids unloaded and ready to eat. Bummer!
Part of the reason we love that cafe is the location- lots of fun views of the river and beautiful walks. So we walked a bit and tried to figure out where else we could go.
We decided to go to a little hole in the wall restaurant we had heard of many times but never actually been to. It really was a tiny place, and very quaint.
But the food was great. It took a while to get our food, and we were really hungry by this point, so we held the kids off with Sebastien's cheerios (which Etienne ate painstakingly with a fork and knife)
until our giant pancakes arrived.
Then we had fun making Sebastien smile. This kid has the biggest mouth. Sometimes I think his face is going to split in two.
All in all, a lovely morning out and a nice way to start the last year of my twenties.
Part of the reason we love that cafe is the location- lots of fun views of the river and beautiful walks. So we walked a bit and tried to figure out where else we could go.
We decided to go to a little hole in the wall restaurant we had heard of many times but never actually been to. It really was a tiny place, and very quaint.
But the food was great. It took a while to get our food, and we were really hungry by this point, so we held the kids off with Sebastien's cheerios (which Etienne ate painstakingly with a fork and knife)
until our giant pancakes arrived.
Then we had fun making Sebastien smile. This kid has the biggest mouth. Sometimes I think his face is going to split in two.
All in all, a lovely morning out and a nice way to start the last year of my twenties.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Funder
We have had a lot of rain storms lately, with plenty of 'funder' and lightning. This is the first time Etienne has noticed thunder, and the first couple of storms scared him quite a bit. Now we have this dialogue just about every night before bed, whether there is a storm or not. This video also goes to show how much he is talking now- a month ago all he did was grunt.
Funder from nicole lewin on Vimeo.
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