The Betty Crocker New Junior Cookbook

 My mom dug up Stacey's old cookbook from when she was a kid this winter.  E looks at the title and laughs, "New Junior Cookbook...not so new anymore!"  Well, she's been pouring over the recipes for a few months.  She really wanted to try out some recipes.

Well, last week, we had some frosting leftover from an activity from the week before...and since we didn't have any graham crackers, I said that we needed to make a cake.  E ran right over to her cookbook and looked up a recipe for a yellow cake.

 She excitedly read me all the ingredients and necessary supplies.  As we had them all, I agreed to the project.

E declared that all bakers needed aprons and outfitted the boys accordingly.  Everyone wanted a job.  X fetched the supplies.  He helped measure out ingredients and he held the mixing bowl...although, he did try to run the mixer.

E tried running the show.  She measured ingredients.  Returned supplies to the cupboard, but her main job was running the mixer.  She thought that she was big stuff as she used the mixer.

C ran around generally causing havoc.  But, he was such a cute little baker that I couldn't really be annoyed with his antics.  I can't really remember how he was helpful, but I do know that he was there 'helping' the entire time.  Sampling the batter was his favorite part!


But, truthfully, who doesn't like sampling their work?!  All three loved taste testing their cake.

Jut was at work when the baking occurred.  He was due home while the cake was baking.  They were watching the cake bake, but decided that they wanted to surprise Dad at dinner with a cake.   So, they posted a guard at the window watching for him so that they could turn off the oven light and 'hide' the cake.  I did burst their bubble a little by pointing out that his sense of smell would give 'away' the surprise.  They were funny.  It was hilarious.

Once the cake was cooled, they had fun decorating it.  We did sequester C for that activity...thankfully Jut was home by that point in time.  E decided to decorate it as an American flag.  She did most of the decorating...but she did *reluctantly* allow X to do a few of the stripes.  They did a pretty good job for their first attempt at decorating a cake.

Once it finally came time to eat the cake, everyone's frosting disappeared first, but the kids ate all the cake too.  However, they didn't really keep asking for it...it was a fairly dense, heavy cake.  Reminded me exactly how it tasted 20+ years ago when my sister and I would make the same recipe.  Fun times and fun memories.

Extreme Home MakeOver...An Internal Update

Downstairs looking at the old 'wall of windows'

Standing in the old bedroom downstairs looking into bathroom

The house is changing every day.  It probably doesn't look like this anymore, but it looked like this a week ago.  Now, there is plumbing lines and duct-work snaking through the house.  Things are continuing to progress.

This picture shows the east wall that used to house the infamous 'wall of windows'.  I think we are going to like the new look!

Our bedroom

Jut in the laundry room

Boys' bedroom

E's potential room

There used to be a wall where the flooring disappears on the floor.  I am standing on the new staircase.  I am anxious to see how we are going to arrange this space.  It seems smaller than I had pictured in my mind.  I don't think our aircraft carrier of a couch is going to be a great fit in this house either.  Why we thought that sectional was a good idea is beyond me.  It fits the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for."  It hasn't fit well in any of our houses yet.  Maybe I'll get to buy some new furniture someday!

Our new bedroom upstairs.  The entire upstairs is completely redone.  The whole thing was cut off and rebuilt.  Our bedroom seems huge. I'm not quite sure what we will do with all the space but I know that we will like it.  We just decided to add a window in the north wall and make a little nook into a 'craft' area for me instead of another closet.  I think I will enjoy the 'me' space.  Funny thing about the design...the walk-in closet is about double the size of the bathroom.  We may regret that later....or we may not.  We are just excited to have a bathroom attached to our room again.  PH spoiled us.
Here's the laundry room and the kids' bathroom behind it.  Not much to say about that.  I'm excited for it to be on the second floor and so I won't be constantly hauling clothing up or down the stairs.  I will miss the convenience of first floor laundry when muddy clothes come inside but I think the day-to-day stuff will be wonderful to never have to drag downstairs.  I'm really excited to not always have piles of laundry stacked up on the couch...In the new house, it will pile up somewhere upstairs, I am sure.  But, it won't be in the living room!!

The boys will share a room when we move.  This will probably be their room.  With all the closet space, my dad thinks it needs to be E's room eventually, but the significantly bigger room, so for now, the boys will probably be found here.

Of course, we haven't decided officially on many things.  People ask what the old parlor will be used for...and we really don't know yet.  It will probably be a toy room of some sort.

There is an extra bedroom upstairs that won't be used yet as a bedroom.  Will it be an office or a toy room?  We have yet to decide.  We have space.  I'm excited to have space.  The house we are living right now has space, but it is not well managed space.  We have no large areas to have groups.  Fitting 12 people around a table to eat is almost impossible.  The new house should easily make all these dreams a reality.  Things are taking shape.  We are really going to move.  Life is good.  God is good.

Extreme Home MakeOver Continues...Getting Better

Here's a look at the outside before the roof was fully on...we take pictures but it they are always on different camera devices...and so getting them loaded onto this blog is seeming to be problematic.

We are still waiting for the 'back porch' or mudroom to get framed in.  Getting everything to code in that area has been a challenge....and rebuilding isn't going well due to the fact that they can't get the post out of the ground that has the electrical box so that a new foundation can be poured...or something of the sort.

The hole in the second floor was for the trestles to go up.  Glad I didn't have to haul them up.  It was left for the drywall to make its way upstairs.  Once again, glad I don't have to haul it up the stairs.

It is coming along.  Weatherbys was out this week working on the plumbing.  The electric guy spent a bit of time marking where the wires were going to be going.  It is making progress.

Jut spent some time talking to the contractor today.  If everything goes smoothly, we might be in by the end of May.  However, the way the weather is working with us, the end of June seems more probable.

When I get the other camera out, I'll post some pics of the inside.

A bit of fun...

Earlier this month, we had a fun visit to Impression*5.  Jut had to do a presentation at Statewide, so we took the opportunity to visit the museum between his sessions.  I always love the bubble exhibit and the kids loved it too.  I really love when we can capture the bubble popping on camera! 

 X's turn!

Bubbles are serious fun.  However, it was very busy.   So, the kids didn't get to play in it nearly as much as they would have liked.

E loved exploring everything.  Had she not had two brothers running around like crazy, she would have explored each exhibit very carefully.  As it was, she was rushed with many of her exploring.

She did enjoy creating the lifecycle of a frog project while the boys were occupied elsewhere.  Jut even guessed what it was when she was finished.  I was pretty impressed with his guessing skills.  :)



They have redone most of the exhibits since the last time we visited.  It was really nice and impressive.

One of the other fun things the kids got to do was feed the fish.  Jut thinks that they were bluegill and bass.  The fish were funny to watch.  As soon as the worker started loosening the bolts, the fish were swarming the top.  The older two both got a chance to feed them.



 They had a fun structure building display.  E had fun building the wall that she's showing off.  I was impressed that she got it as tall as she was and was thankful the boys were occupied elsewhere...so that she had a chance to actually build.








The boys had fun building too.  C loved knocking everything down.  He played the part of a bulldozer well.  X just got frustrated with C's demolition.   But both loved dressing up.

The major attraction of the day was the model train exhibit in the basement.  It was a 100 ft oval of track.  It was impressive.  The guys running the trains had a train schedule with cargo to pick up and drop off.  Each guy had designed 6-18 foot of the oval.  It was quite the set-up.  The boys were in love and mesmerized....there was even a train table to play on.  Heaven was in that basement for my train-lovers.

At the end, what visit isn't complete without a picture in a giant mouth.

C's Adventure

So, tonight I needed to return a few books to the library.  I just wanted to quickly run there, look for a couple of books, and run home.  That is all code for "I didn't want to take any children".  So, I told Jut I was going to disappear.

Well, little mr. C came and found me putting on my shoes (I thought to myself at the time that he was like a bloodhound concerning his mommy...little did I know how accurate that thought was!).  So, I tried to leave and he'd have none of it.  So, I took him to Jut and he distracted him with a Star*Wars toy and I scooted out the door.

I had a nice walk to the library. Chatted with one of the workers for a few minutes and was perusing the new books when I saw out of the corner of my eye, a young gentleman walk in the door carrying a towheaded little boy with a cape that looked remarkably similar to C's.   Then I heard, "There's my mom.  There she is!" in a voice that was C's.  I took a closer look and this young gentlemen was carrying C.  C wearing his superhero cape and bare feet!

The young man asked something about being his mom and brought C to me.  I said something like, "What are you doing here?"  The young man explained that he saw C wandering down the street without shoes and a coat wearing the superhero cape, and he figured that he had escaped from a house undetected. C kept telling him that he was going to the library to find his mom.  So, he brought him to the library to find his mom.

After thanking him profusely, he turned to leave and I asked his name.  It was Keegan.  He lived on 501 N. River road or something.  I wish I could remember exactly what he said.  I'd love to send him a thank you.  When I think about all the things that could have happened, I start panicking.  I'm so thankful that God was watching out for my little man and used Keegan to get him back to us safety.

After Keegan left, I called Jut who had just realized that C was missing.  He came right over with shoes and a coat so that we could bring him home safety.  Scary.  Scary to know that your child is missing.  Scary to think about all the 'what ifs' had Keegan not intercepted C...Now I didn't ask where Keegan intercepted C.  I hope he was still on the north side of Superior.  I pray that he didn't attempt to cross Superior by himself, but if he did, I'm thankful that it was evening and there wasn't much traffic and I am so thankful that Keegan made certain that he got safely delivered to his mom.

So, C had an adventure. Mom and Dad had a scare and tomorrow we will attempt to 'child-proof' the front door.

A Smile

So, the kids had their 6-month dental visit today.  E can out dressed all in pink.  Last year, she dressed all in white to be a tooth.  So, I asked her about her ensemble.  She replied, "I'm a smile.  I thought the dentist would love to see a smile!"  She's too precious for words sometimes.

The boys' hygienist brought out an iPad for the waiting boy.  The dentist office might have just become one of their favorite places.

3 "Big" Developmental Milestones

So, we had 3 exciting milestones reached today.

#1.  The house has a roof!!!  We've been waiting for that for 10 weeks, and now we can say that it is finally done!  I don't think all the windows are in on the top and the room between the kitchen and garage is still non-existent, but the roof is on!!  It is so exciting to see everything taking shape and being framed in.  I can't wait.  We are going to love it!!

#2.  X rode his new bike (without training wheels) effortlessly for the first time outside today.  He rode it right after Christmas in the church gym, but today he spent an hour riding outside.  He began in the church's parking lot and proceeded to master the sidewalk and even turning in circles instead of stopping to turn around.  Exciting times for him.  Meanwhile, C cried and cried because he wanted that bike and not the 'old' balance bike.

#3.  C went #2 in the potty!!!  He was running around diaperless and ran to the potty and took care of business.  No one else may really care...but I was excited because he really has no interest in potty-learning.  Now, if he would just repeat said phenomenon, I would be really excited.

So, we those were our three big milestones reached today.  Exciting times...aren't you glad you just wasted 1 minute of your life reading that.  :)