The Doerflinger Family

homemade ravioli night

2011-02-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

David and the children made ravioli for supper last weekend. The pasta recipe came from Jamie Oliver and was rolled out by hand. The filling was chard sauteed with garlic, oven roasted grape tomatoes and onions, and some feta cheese and sour cream all stirred up together. We made a simple marinara sauce to spoon over the cooked ravioli. Yum!

the big snow

2011-02-05T14:14:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a "perfect storm" of weather conditions that brought us a lot of snow. A very big snow. And a blizzard with howling winds and arctic temperatures. It was the most snow anyone in Kansas City has seen for along while. The children had two snow days, and even David could not get to work on the day after the blizzard (although if his building had not been closed I am sure he would have tried to go in anyway!).

meet Ollie

2011-01-25T12:27:00.001-08:00

Heaven help us, we adopted a dog. He's a young Golden Retriever, probably about 16 - 18 months old. Oliver or "Ollie" came from a Golden Retriever rescue organization here in Kansas City. We'd been sort of casually watching their list of available dogs, when suddenly this guy showed up on their list at www.petfinder.com and he seemed like a really good fit for us. We were not disappointed when we met him, so we took steps to officially adopt him, and he joined our family just a few days before Christmas.

Since that time we have fallen in love with Ollie and we have learned that it is no longer safe to leave food on the kitchen counter unsupervised or it will be consumed by "the red menace." But really he's not a menace, just a big furry sweetheart who wants nothing more than a couple of walks in the neighborhood each day and lots of playtime with the children, liberally mixed with cuddles and cozy places to nap. He would gladly be a lap dog if we'd let him, but he weighs in at about 55 pounds, so I'm discouraging that!

first snowfall

2010-12-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

We got our first snowfall of any significance last night. Not much, but enough to do a little snow play this morning. James shoveled snow to his heart's content, then made a snow angel. Then David and Laurie came out with the sled and everyone had a blast sledding down our little hill. James is old enough and big enough now that he really got into the whole sledding thing . . . then he asked me to explain snowboarding to him. Oh dear. Time to distract him with a cup of homemade hot cocoa in front of a roaring fire.

oh! tannenbaum.

2010-12-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to try a Christmas tree farm about 45 minutes away in Ft. Osage, Missouri. It was a lovely drive, and when we got out there it didn't take us long to choose a hilariously chubby-but-yet-beautiful Scotch pine. It was bitterly cold, so we wasted no time cutting it down and dragging it back to the check-out area of the farm. Unfortunately, our tree was SO chubby, that it became stuck in the "bagging machine" - the device that tightly wraps fresh trees in a mesh bag to make them easier to transport. It was so very stuck that it could not be pulled back out or pushed forward. The family that operates the farm was at a loss, trying different things, nothing working. And in the meantime, about a dozen other families had all arrived and selected trees, but no one could leave, as our tree was literally stopping up the operation. It became quite a little party, with all these families standing around the bonfire to keep warm, throwing out suggestions, criticisms and encouragement. Finally some brute-force and a pickup truck pulled the tree through the machine. We assumed it would be a loss, as it had taken quite a beating, but it looked alright, and the tree farm family assured us that if it turned out to be damaged, they would bring us a replacement tree. So, we took our chances and brought it home, removed it from it's bag, and lo and behold, it was gorgeous. A little scraped up on some of it's lower limbs, but nothing broken. Of course, it is SO chubby that we had to move all the furniture out of our library to make room for the tree, but it looks lovely, and it makes us smile every time we pass it.

Thanks to Ft Osage Christmas for making this Christmas tree one to remember!

thanksgiving

2010-11-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

We had the nicest Thanksgiving this year. My new brother-in-law invited us out to his family's farm for the afternoon, so for the first time in many, many years we did not host a family Thanksgiving supper at our house. It was so refreshing. Not that I don't love doing Thanksgiving . . . it's my favorite holiday to cook for . . . but it was a nice to do things differently this year. Of course, I still made pies. Of course. But that was all.

And it was a lovely, if a bit chilly, day. The children had a ball exploring the barn and playing in the hayloft, and it was lovely driving home that evening and seeing all the holiday lights that had already gone up.

The only drawback to our Thanksgiving was not having the big kids with us, but we made up for that by doing Thanksgiving II on Friday. Because I just couldn't get through this weekend without roasting an enormous turkey . . . so we had another very nice evening of Thanksgiving dinner and a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit . . .

afternoon walks

2010-11-16T14:10:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to make the most of the nice weather we've been having by walking to Lucy's school to pick her up in the afternoons. It's not too far for Lucy to walk, and it is so nice to be out in the sunshine enjoying the fall colors. I know all too well that soon it will be too cold to be outdoors much at all, so we're enjoying it while we can. James rides in the stroller on the way to school, but on the return trek he walks with Lucy. They both gather handfuls of leaves and play hide-behind-tree games while Lucy tells me snippets about her day I might not hear otherwise. And of course there's the added benefit of James sleeping better at night when he has had a nice long afternoon ramble through the neighborhood!

halloween and heartbreak

2010-11-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

James and Lucy had a marvelous Halloween, although I always think Halloween-on-Sunday seems weird. But they had a blast, especially James. This was the first time he really understood what was going on, and he really got into it. The first house or two we visited, he was very hesitant and had to be prompted to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" etc., but by the third house we visited he had figured out the protocol, and quickly became a master at selecting the best houses to visit and shouting out "Trick or Treat." Lucy enjoyed herself too, although she is a little more reserved than her brother, and a little reluctant to knock on the doors of stranger's homes.

Two days after Halloween we lost our dear bunny boy, Petey Petunia. Those of you who know us or who have visited our home will, of course, know all about Petey, and how I acquired him many, many years ago when he was just a baby, and how he has lived with me for almost twelve years. Petey had become very, very elderly and frail this past summer and fall, and was suffering, so we had to let him go. I am still shocked at how upset everyone in the family was . . . we all cried and cried. I guess he had just been a part of our lives for so long that we had a hard time getting over his loss. He was a great pet, and we'll always remember him fondly.

lucy's birthday

2010-10-15T07:30:00.001-07:00

As I was sending Lucy off to school yesterday I realized "Oh darn" (I didn't really think "darn," more like a bad word that rhymes with "sit"!) "I have Lucy's treats for school done, I have her party for friends Saturday all planned, I have her family party on Sunday all planned, but I don't have anything for tonight!" And while one might think Lucy has an abundance of birthday fun waiting for her this weekend, when you're very small it's pretty important to make your actual birthday very special. So, good mommy that I am, I whipped up some delightful vegan chocolate cupcakes for her. We also let her open a lot of her presents, but saved a few for the family birthday party on Sunday. The hit of the evening - besides the cupcakes - was the singing birthday card James gave to Lucy. I will be hearing that singing hamster in my sleep for days, I am sure. I think she had a lovely day.

fruits of my labors

2010-10-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

My baby and my baby's cupcakes . . . fruits of my labors indeed! These are the cupcakes James and I made for Lucy to bring to Kindergarten today for her birthday. My sweet baby girl is six!

baking extravaganza

2010-10-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

Lucy's birthday is tomorrow, and as it will be a school day, she wants to bring cupcakes to share with her friends. We had some over-ripe bananas on hand, so James and I made some banana cupcakes that we'll ice later today with coconut icing. For Lucy's birthday party on Saturday, I'll need four (!!!) layers of chocolate cake to build her fantastic cake design, so James and I also made a double recipe of our favorite devil's food cake. For the party Saturday we'll also need Halloween cookies to decorate (gotta keep the children occupied!), so James and I went ahead and made the dough for those as well.

The photo above depicts the aftermath of our baking extravaganza.

brazen mice, or why our cats are worthless.

2010-10-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

So we're watching T.V. Sunday night, catching up on some shows we had DVR'd, when suddenly a mouse runs out from behind the television. It runs across the living room floor to the fireplace, stops, looks up at me, I scream, and it runs back behind the television.

Now, this was not in the middle of the night, we were not being quiet, the room was not dark. The T.V. was on, lights were on, we were having an animated discussion about football, and it was only about eight o'clock at night! I am so shocked and disgusted by the brazen mice that live in my decrepit falling apart rotten old house.

Oh yeah, and where were the cats? Good question! They were all lying around, asleep somewhere. Worthless felines. If James tries to pull your tails I will not intervene.

lake weekend

2010-07-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

I won't even comment on what a terrible "blogger" I am . . . yes, it's been months. No, I don't have an excuse.

We spent this past weekend down at the family's lake house at The Lake of the Ozarks. David's sister and her family joined us as well. We all had a lot of fun swimming, eating, swimming, drinking, swimming, boating, oh, and fishing. Lots of fishing. L caught a catfish the first afternoon, and J caught a little perch on Sunday morning, so they were both happy, and Andrew and Laurie had a blast playing with their cousins and getting teased by their aunt and uncle. Nice family weekend!

pretty, pretty tulips

2010-04-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

We have some lovely "Angelique" tulips blooming in the front flower beds right now . . . they look like the embodiment of all things girly and fairyland and ballet tutus . . .so pink and ruffly and delicate . .. I am in love!

zoo days are here again

2010-04-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

We've all been missing our frequent trips to the zoo, but now that warmer weather is upon us once again we've been getting to the zoo almost once a week. What's not to love about the zoo? The kids get lots of fresh air and exercise, it's relatively inexpensive since we buy a membership each year, we see lots of interesting animals, and the people-watching is endlessly fascinating. Last Sunday morning we took a jaunt to the zoo, rode the carousel, and had an encounter with a friendly goose!

easter weekend

2010-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

We celebrated easter with a lovely family luncheon out on the back patio . . . homemade tomato & mozzarella calzones, grilled sausages, a big green salad (thank you Vanessa & Bo), and of course, a great big chocolate cake, since we also celebrated Laurie's birthday. James, predictably, cut his nose about ten minutes before our guests arrived, so has a giant gash on his face in all the photos (it's not dirt, it's blood, I swear!).

goodbye winter? hello spring?

2010-03-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of winter, but the weather was nice enough that I was able to take the children on an outing to the zoo yesterday morning. it was a bit chilly, but not too terrible, and it was lovely to be out in the fresh air. Today is the first day of spring. It began snowing sometime in the night, and it has snowed all day long. There are about six inches on the ground, and more to come. Have I mentioned how much I dislike the weather in Missouri?

snow-day outing

2010-03-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

A local nursery (Family Tree Nursery in Overland Park) had an "Open House" this weekend with all sorts of fun, free activities for Children, including a petting zoo, a balloon artist, an "airbrush tattoo" artist, bead bracelet making, pot-your-own plant, popcorn, doughnuts, and much more. James and Lucy had a ball, and it almost made us forget about the snow coming down outside! We've had about six inches, and it's still snowing! On the first day of Spring.

frozen-cold-snowy-icy

2010-01-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday it was finally warm enough to actually go outside and take some photographs of our frozen, snowy world. It has been so unbelievably cold and snowy and icy . . . I feel silly complaining, because I know much of the country has much colder, snowier and icier weather than we do, but this is more than we usually get here in KC (a LOT more!) and it's so tough with small children. If it was just the husband and I, I'm sure it'd be wonderful . . . lazy afternoons hunkered down in front of the fire, marathon cooking sessions in the kitchen, a couple of good old movies to watch . . . but with two little ones at home (and both with a stomach virus, naturally!) our snowy-day fantasies will have to wait until the children are older.

cocoa-in-the-snow

2010-01-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday another wave of snow began it's assault on kansas city, and the children and I decided to celebrate (?) this by making hot cocoa, getting bundled up, and going outside to have cocoa-in-the-snow. This rapidly became James using the child-sized snow shovel to scoop up snow and throw it at Lucy and I, but it was fun while it lasted. And yes, there was peppermint schnapps in my cocoa.

Ice Cream Social

2009-09-12T06:54:00.001-07:00

Last night was the annual Armour Hills Ice Cream Social - a big party at our local park . . . hot dogs, bouncy castles, ice cream, a visit from a fire truck . . . lots of fun and a great testament to what a wonderful neighborhood we have here!

School Girl

2009-09-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

Lucy started her last year at Ward Parkway Preschool this week . . . she's now in Pre-Kindergarten! My big, big girl! I can hardly believe that teeny tiny pink bundle is now a great big almost-five-year-old! It's going to be a great year - we're very excited about the teachers and curriculum and the great group of kids!

The (first) BIG project

2009-08-24T06:58:00.001-07:00

Like many families we have an ever-evolving, rarely-completed list of projects we want to do around the house. With a big party in the works for later this Autumn we feel a new urgency to actually check off some of the items on our list, and one of the "big" ones was figuring out what to do with the front walkway. It was an eyesore, but we honestly couldn't come up with any ideas we liked.

Finally, brilliantly, David came up with a lovely plan that was (reasonably) affordable and was something we could manage on our own. So after some exciting concrete demolition, and a few very expensive trips to the home improvement center and two garden centers, we tackled our project yesterday, and I think it came out very nicely.

After tearing out the old concrete "curbs" (ugh, that was hard), we dug up (and transplanted to a bare spot in yard) a patch of grass on each side of the front walk, and put in flower beds, after first building a little decorative retaining wall. It has totally transformed the space, and we feel almost a little foolish that we didn't do something like this a year ago. Oh well. It is very pretty now. I almost hate to park in front of it!

The abundance of friends

2009-08-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

On a trip to the zoo with a good friend and her son this past Friday, our conversation turned, inevitably for me, to gardening. She told me all about her wonderful tomato crop, and I had to admit to her that our tomatoes have been a disaster. Between the squirrels and a horrible infestation of spider mites we have harvested exactly two grape tomatoes. Yes. Two. Grape. Tomatoes. Very sad.

Saturday afternoon, as I lay on the sofa with Lucy, recovering from our tree pruning fun earlier in the day (see below), someone knocked on our door. Standing there was the husband of my good friend and their daughter, with an enormous box of luscious, red, ripe tomatoes from their garden.

After admiring the tomatoes for a day, we cut a bunch of them up to make into a lovely tomato-basil-balsamic salad which we enjoyed as part of our Sunday supper. I think I will use the rest tonight in another salad - maybe something with tuna and capers? Thank you friends!

Be your own arborist

2009-08-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

David & I figured out that if we took out a couple of tree limbs we might be able to get enough sunshine on our south-facing slope that we could grow grass. Of course, as with any project, this turned out to be a lot more work that we would have liked, but the children "helped" a lot, and the trees along the street look better. Now we can try one more time to get some grass to grow!

Green Beans

2009-08-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

I know this all usually pictures of my adorable children, but for something a little different, here are some green beans. Not just any green beans, but green beans freshly picked from my garden. They were so good. They were crisp, they were sweet, they were flavorful. They took my taste buds on a nostalgic trip to my childhood of eating fresh green beans right off the bush in my parent's garden. But mostly these beans made me sad and angry that 99% of the green beans I eat these days taste like, well, nothing like a fresh green bean. I guess they have a green bean flavor, and they have green bean consistency, but really, they do not taste like a REAL green bean, and that's sad. I've become so accustomed to eating vegetables because I should, because they are nutritious, because they are low calorie and full of fiber. I can't even remember the last time I ate a green bean like these from my garden. They were so real and so delicious - they were a revelation, and not in a good way. Maybe next year is the year we dig up the front lawn and go crazy with our vegetable garden . . . for now, back to my little tiny veggie patch, with it's handful of green beans, some amazing cucumbers, and the promise a good pumpkin crop later this year.

My beautiful babies

2009-07-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

When we were up in Wisconsin for Erin and Chris's wedding at the end of June, one of their friends, Bill Anthony, a professional photographer with William Anthony Photography , took some amazing photos of L & J - I haven't seen them all yet, but he sent me a little preview today with this photo of my babies.

Blueberry Fields

2009-07-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of some nice weather last week and went to a local blueberry farm (The Berry Patch) and picked over four pounds of delicious blueberries. Lucy was very enthusiastic about the whole experience, and picked almost two pounds all by herself. James wasn't quite as happy about the outing as Lucy was, but he certainly enjoyed the fruits of his labor. Pun intended.

poppy, cracker crumbs, ibis

2009-05-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

My papaver "Manhattan" bloomed (finally!) today, and I am so happy. It is so pretty. Memorial Day trip to the zoo this morning with D and the children. James ate cheddar bunnies with gusto, as you can see, and Lucy and David enjoyed the birds in the aviary.

tractors and guns, oh my

2009-05-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

We spent most of the day Sunday at D's sister's house in Lane, KS, about an hour south-west of here. J spent most of his afternoon parked behind the steering wheel of a vintage, non-operational John Deere tractor. He was in heaven. The grown-ups and older kids spent an hour or two shooting clay pigeons with shotguns. I have VERY mixed feelings about guns, children with guns, and the idea of shooting things. But it was fun to watch, and D, his brother and brother-in-law were incredibly careful and cautious when the kids were shooting, and they even managed to convince me to give it a try! Aghhh, I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But it was actually fun, and empowering. Might even try it again sometime (but no, I would NEVER want to go hunting, no way, no how)

fairy gardens, happy children

2009-05-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we moved our enormous swing-set from the side of our house to the backyard, right outside the kitchen window. Since the move the children have been playing outside a LOT more than they were before, because it easier for me to watch them AND cook dinner/fold laundry/etc./etc. All this outdoor time has inspired all sorts of new creative play, including the "fairy house" Lucy and I made (out of an old plastic pot, twigs, moss, and a lot of hot glue from the hot glue gun!) and the "fairy garden" we've been constructing all around the fairy house. We think the fairies approve of their little refuge, and have been visiting often.

sweet baby james

2009-05-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

I really am going to have to stop calling James my baby sometime soon - he is a "big boy" now! But oh, he is still my little sweetheart baby boy sometimes, like this morning. We had half an hour to kill before Costco opened at 10:00, so we stopped at the Kauffman Garden for a little mommy-son romp among the flowers, and James was so sweet, so cute, so funny! (This is rare these days as he is definitely putting the "terrible" in "terrible twos" . . . hopefully he'll get through this stage quickly!) He had so much fun sniffing flowers, running down the paths, balancing on the curbs . . . it was a joy and delight just to see him so happy!

artichokes

2009-05-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

I adore artichokes. I can eat them all ways, at all times. Lucy does not (yet!) love them, which breaks my heart. But tonight I introduced James to his first-ever steamed artichoke. I showed him how to peel off the leaves one at a time, dip the leaf in the dipping sauce, and scrape the yummy artichoke flesh off of the leaf with your teeth, and toss the spent leaf into the "trash" bowl in the middle of the table. The first two leaves he needed a bit of help with, but after that he took to it like a duck to water. He'd take each leaf off, eat the good part off, then throw the leaf into the bowl and scream "I did it" - then repeat. It was noisy, but very, very, very cute!

prairie children

2009-05-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

We had a little ramble at the "Lakeside Nature Center" the other morning. It's one of our favorite places to visit, despite (me) or because of (J & L) the enormous rattlesnakes they have on display. I favor the owls. The kiddos like the giant alligator snapping turtle. We took photos out in front of the center with some native grasses and wildflowers.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T15:44:00.001-07:00

My darling children, David and myself celebrated Mother's Day with an outing to the Zoo this morning. Like all of our outings to the zoo, this one began with a ride on the carousel.

In addition to the trip to the zoo, I was presented with a lovely breakfast (but not in bed!), we had a fun lunch out at our local "mexican" restaurant, and David and the children are making a supper of a green salad topped with grilled chicken, grilled zucchini (Lucy's favorite!), grilled peppers, and grilled ciabatta - yum!

15? Really?

2009-05-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

This cannot be real, but the calendar just doesn't lie. Andrew turned 15 on Saturday. He is now old enough to drive (!!!) to and from school and work without an adult accompanying him. Crazy. Celebrated his b-day with a great big 3-layer mocha cake and a heart beef-centric dinner.

A visit to the Kauffman Garden

2009-04-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday, James, Lucy and I took my two girlfriends Erin White and Kerrey Roberto to the Kauffman Garden to enjoy the spring flowers. Then we went home a drank a lot of white wine while watching wedding-related T.V. shows. A perfect day.

Happy Birthday Emily

2009-04-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my birthday Saturday night. The weather was a little stormy, but we were able to eat al fresco, which was lovely. The menu was grilled shrimp, a mushroom, cheese & vegetable strudel, and a lovely little salad with beets, oranges and baby greens. My sister Vanessa made a fantastic lemon cake for dessert, but we had to eat that on the screen porch as things had grown too stormy outside. In addition to Vanessa and her boyfriend Bo we also had my two best friends from college staying with us for a wine-soaked weekend of birthday fun.

happy weekend

2009-02-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

We had such a nice weekend . . . the weather was unseasonably warm, so we were outdoors a lot, including a trip to the zoo on Friday with friends from Lucy's preschool, and a lovely Saturday afternoon at Brookside Park, followed by grilling some incredibly yummy lamb-burgers made from Wempe lamb - so delicious! Sunday it turned a bit chilly so we spent out morning at the "Metropolitan Lawn and Garden Show" at the American Royal. The kiddos had a lot of fun, and I got lots of garden inspiration! I can't wait for spring!

David's Birthday

2009-01-19T13:16:00.001-08:00

Although his birthday is today, we had our family birthday party for David yesterday. We celebrated with homemade tamales (David's request) - which came out incredibly well. I don't even care for tamales all that much, but these were great. My sister Vanessa and her boyfriend Bo helped us make them, and they brought margarita fixings too, which was lots of fun. We also had a chocolate cake with fleur de sel caramel filling, but it wasn't that amazing - weird recipe, caused me much grief. Normally baking is my strong point, but this cake wasn't that great. The kids still loved it though, so I think everyone was happy. In these photos you can see how badly J. needs his hair trimmed. I am almost ready to take him for a haircut, I swear! Poor J. I love his fuzzy little head

snowy fun

2009-01-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

The bitter, bitter cold ended in the night, and it warmed up very nicely today, so we spent some time outside playing in the snow this morning. It was kind of a thin little snow, but the kiddos had lots and lots of fun nonetheless.

H. Stern Nude Models

2009-01-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

Yep. This is what I saw when I turned on the T.V. tonight. James had been playing with the remote control, and when I turned the T.V. on to watch a bit of he news what I saw was a pay-per-view channel screen asking me if I wanted to pay $9.95 for "H. Stern's Nude Models" - David said "that's my boy" . . . hmmm.

well, let's just skip Christmas

2009-01-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

So I sort of missed Christmas. Not literally, just here in the wonderful world of blogs. So, here we are, a nice New Year's Day photo, or at least, a photo or two of what we ate. Mario Batali's recipe for a Mythic Pasta Dome (Timpano di Maccheroni) - the crazy centerpiece dish in the movie The Big Night. It was truly awesome, delicious, lovely texture, not overwhelmingly rich . . . actually quite simple to make, just lots and lots of steps involved in the process. We celebrated New Year's Day with my sister and her boyfriend, David's big kids and our two little ones. Lots of fun was had by all, and we are all just so darn glad that 2008 is over and done with . . . hopefully 2009 has happier healthier days in store for all of us!

Family Visit

2008-12-17T11:18:00.001-08:00

My parents and my grandmother came to town for a visit last week. It was really lovely having them here; the weather was great, everyone stayed healthy, we had some fun outings and some delicious meals. All in all, I think much fun was had. Here are a couple of pictures of L & J with their grandparents and great-grandmother!

Where are my children?

2008-12-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

The other morning my children disappeared while I was doing the breakfast dishes. They weren't begging me for an after-breakfast snack, they weren't whining to watch somethng on T.V., they weren't pulling the ornaments off the Christmas tree. Where could they be?

Ah ha! They were upstairs with my Grandmother, reading stories. Yes, I got totally misty-eyed. I wish my grandmother could stay with us all the time, but a week-long visit was wonderful, and my kiddos adored spending time with her!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

O.K., so I knew I might be a little bit lazy about updating this blog, but who knew it would be this bad . . .no pictures from Halloween, no pictures of children cavorting with autumn leaves, no pictures of Thanksgiving revelry, no pictures of the first snowfall . . .

So for all of those omissions, I am sorry. I will try to be better. Really.

Here are a few photos from our big Christmas Tree day today, beginning with our trip to "Santa's Christmas Tree Farm" in Lee's Summit, MO and culminating with a hot chocolate-fueled tree decorating party after naptime this afternoon.

Trip to Mendocino

2008-10-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

David, Lucy, James and I spent a week in Mendocino visiting my parents, my sister, her husband and their children. We could not have had a nicer time - the weather was beautiful, the children all played well together, and my father's wine cellar was much enjoyed. The weather was warm enough that we were able to spend some time on the beach - the water was too cold for swimming - but we had a great time playing in the sand and exploring the tidepools.

Red Rody

2008-08-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

James has mastered mounting his trusty steed, Red Rody, although his dismount is usually a little bumpy. But boy does he love bouncing on his horsey!

When one isn't enough

2008-08-19T18:27:00.001-07:00

We went to a little dinner party at a friend's house Saturday afternoon, and we knew they were making an amazing dinner, and we'd been asked to bring the dessert, but I might have gotten a little carried away. I started with some dark chocolate cookies with oatmeal and white chocolate chips for the children in the group. Then I made an almond, nectarine and cherry tart with this amazing almond-y crust and filling. Then I decided the almond tart was too prissy, so I made a "rustic" plum tart as well. And, we brought all three desserts to the party. And all three were thouroughly enjoyed.

ketchup is yummy

2008-08-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well, James really like ketchup. And why wouldn't he? It's sweet, it's red, and it does wonders for one's hair.

Zoo Saturday

2008-08-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

We had a fun little outing to the zoo Saturday morning for the annual Zoo members' breakfast. It rained lightly the entire time we were there, but it was very nice nonetheless. As always, the carousel was the big hit of the day.

Sprinkler Time

2008-08-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

It has been so hot lately, with no rain, sadly (although that doesn't stop the mosquitos or the humidity in the air!) so I did a little watering the other morning and let L & J play in the water. Much fun was had.

Sprayground Fun

2008-08-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I tried to take all four children to the Leawood Pool for a morning swim, only to discover upoon our arrival at the pool that it is no longer open in the mornings, now that morning swim lessons are over for the season. Rats.

So, as a consolation prize we all went to the "sprayground" at Loose Park, where we all had lots of fun. Except for Andrew. Who was in a mood. But the rest of us had lots of fun! Even J was getting in there and getting wet.

Corny Baby

2008-07-31T19:03:00.001-07:00

This morning a friend sent me this great photo of J chowing down on an ear of corn at her barbecue on the Fourth of July - my baby does love corn - must be that sojourn in Iowa by his Scott family relatives.

Blogging Virgin

2008-07-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

So, I've not really been into the idea of blogging but it seems like I am the only one, so I've decided to give it a go. We'll see how current I am able to keep this . . .don't hold your breath!

For whatever it's worth, the weather has been weird/unpleasant (when isn't it here?) and the children have both been ill with mystery fevers and general crabbiness, but we're working through it. And David is home safe from his trip to Little Rock, so hooray for that. I always feel like celebrating when he makes it home safely from a business trip. Maybe it's a tad morbid, but I feel like he travels so much that he must be tempting fate, so I always feel like we've dodged the reaper one more time when his plane touches down safely.