My assistants

I'm running out of ideas for indoor activities, it's been over 100 degrees here for over 30 days and this week is suppose to get even hotter... We've been doing some baking and the girls love to help (Binney eats batter every time I turn away).  I think this photo is helping make oatmeal raisin cookies.  I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast but we are out of the steel cut oats that we use so I decided to sneak it into some cookies.  Did you know that oatmeal is great for boosting a nursing mothers milk supply, that's why I try to eat so much, you can never have too much milk for the growing baby!

salted toffee chocolate squares

I made these treats for a girls night out I went to, they were super easy and yummy.  I got the recipe from the Martha Stewart food magazine which always has great easy recipes in it.

graham crackers
1 bag (8oz) toffee bits
11/2 cups coarsely chopped toasted natural almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (4oz) bittersweet chocolate chopped or chocolate chips
3/4tsp coarse salt

preheat oven to 350, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.  Place graham crackers in a single layer on sheet, edges touching.  Sprinkle toffee bits and almonds over graham crackers.

in a small saucepan bring sugar and butter to a boil over med-high heat, reduce to rapid simmer and cook until mixture is syrupy (a few minutes).  immediately pour over graham crackers and bake until sugar is bubbling 12 minutes.  remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate and salt over graham crackers.  remove from pan and let cool slightly, use sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut into squares and let cool completely.  enjoy!

Let me do your hair

The girls want to do my hair all the time and while I let them most of the time there are times when doing something else (cooking/dishes/laundry).  Peanut decided sweet pea would be the next best thing so she has now started torturing doing her "hair" as well.  This blow dryer actually works, makes noise and blows out cool air.

"sit still so I can dry your hair"

help mom

"you look so pretty, all done and now you get a pop"

Since O has been gone for a little over a week we've done some girly things that we don't normally do with him.  We went to a breakfast tea here, the girls got tea sandwiches and iced tea (we are in texas after all) and had a blast.  They got their hair cut at a regular salon (no more kids salons for us), which is their all time favorite thing to do (maybe it's the relaxing shampoo that gets them).  We've gone out to dinner a few times, they love going to eat at a restaurant since we hardly ever go with all four of them.  They still ask for brother several times a day and miss him a lot but do enjoy having the run of the house.

Teething cookies

I made Norah some teething cookies since she wants to eat anything I am eating, this way she can hold her own food and nosh away while we're eating ours.  I had made them earlier in the day and put them in the oven to dry out, totally forgot about them until Kev asked what was in the oven.  I cooked them until they were brown and after all of the drying and cooking they're totally crumb free and comparable to a hockey puck, yum!  I get most of her babyfood recipes from here, they have tons of homemade recipes and tips.  You can see how much she liked them and yes we finally got her a highchair, she's getting to be such a big girl.

Pa's here

My mom and pa came for a quick visit last week, they stayed for two days and then left with O for his two week stay at Noni and Popi's house.  The kids instantly loved Pa, who wouldn't, although they couldn't quite figure out where he fit in (couldn't grasp that he was my Pa and Noni's dad).  One of is hearing aids had broken before he got here so he could only hear half of what they were saying, probably a good thing since the volume in our house is quite loud.  They got their introduction to summer here in TX and are very glad they didn't have to be here for long, it's kinda like being in an oven with a hair dryer blowing on you.

love how peanut is all cuddled up

O getting ready for the airport

We've talked to O a bunch and even skyped with him the other morning (he hadn't seen daddy in a few weeks).  He seems to be having a blast and has already gone fishing, boating on the ocean, gotten lobsters, dairy queen, dunkin donuts, and gone to the beach several times.  He got to spend time with his cousins Hannah and Charlotte (who we've yet to meet) and Uncle Justin and Auntie Courtney too.  He did great on the flight there even with the delay and having to travel longer than expected.  We miss him but will be up to see him in a few weeks!

Six months

I'm six months old!

I had my six month well baby visit yesterday and I was 14lbs and 25.5", long and skinny like my brother and sisters.  I am as sweet as can be and love my siblings, my face lights up when any of them are paying attention to me.  I still get up about two times a night but mama doesn't mind since it's cuddle time with just me.  I am trying to sit up but haven't quite got my balance yet and if I see something I want I will try to get it by any means necessary.

Blast off!

These next few pictures are a great representation of the kids personalities (not taken intentionally).  Binney is super stubborn or strong willed if you want to call it that, when she's made her mind up there's virtually no changing it.  I forget what she was mad at here (probably what space suit she got to wear) but this photo captures her stubbornness perfectly.

everyone checking out the lights overhead that go off when you step under them (that's why the coloring is weird in the photo)

peanut is already moving on, she has about a 10sec attention span.  O looking to see what is making the lights go off.  Love binney's thinking pose.

 binney is still there, either still thinking (highly unlikely) or just being too stubborn to move, everyone else has moved on.

I think we finally convinced binney to undress and move on, probably with some type of bribe (she totally gets her stubbornness from me by the way).

Mckenna childrens museum

Kev took a few days of leave before he heads out on a 10 day TDY so we got to do some fun stuff with the kids.  We headed to a local childrens museum one of the days trying to avoid the 100 degree heat outside.  They had a good time and we only had to break up a handful of fights, a good day.

peanut doing what she does best, besides being a princess of course

Binney checking out what her bones look like inside her body

water play

playing a light up dance game

O manning the bakery counter, my kind of place!

Binney shopping and peanut checking her out with a scale (she was convinced it was a register)

Bowling

We went bowling for the first time as a family, I thought it would be a fun thing for the kids, little did I know the balls were huge.  This was not the candlepin bowling from back home, I hugely underestimated their abilities.  Nobody wanted to wait until their turn, Binney got her fingers stuck between balls twice, O kept pushing the lane clearing button (once when Kev had just thrown bowled his ball which led to a huge bang from the ball hitting the metal clearing thing). We only made it through one string..

 O is not the best sport, if he doesn't do good he gets mad.  Notice he's not even paying attention to how many pins he knocked down.

daddy helping peanut

where did the pins go?

when is my turn again?

we wised up and got the ball launcher thing

This was at the base and boy how things have changed since I was a kid and went bowling.  We had to put all of our names into the computer, pick a theme for our lane, it kept score for us, when it was the kids turn to bowl metal bumpers automatically popped up, amazing!  Guess I haven't been to a bowling alley in a really long time.

budding artists?

More like just making a mess, but having fun while making it and that's what matters.

yummy

Can you guess what Norah's first food was?

Did you guess right, avocado.  She loves it too.  She wants to feed herself, she thinks she's a big girl already.  Yes, we do feed her in a jumparoo, we don't have a highchair yet and she's perfectly happy in her jumparoo.  She's a pretty neat eater as far as babies go considering this is her first time at it.  She's gonna get banana and sweet potato next, I have been making food and storing it in the freezer for her.  She's spoiled and will get all homemade food, nothing from the jar for this baby!