Jim is 3!

This Sunday was Jim's birthday. He and Marie went to mass and then to her last swim class. She was asleep in the car by the time they got home and Jim transferred her to bed with no problem, promptly causing Ty to wake-up from his nap. Don't know how that baby-radar works but Ty's is finely tuned. We had a nice dinner of Todd Chargo's venison steaks and Jim's favorite mash potatoes. YUM! Marie insisted that Jim "walk around the sun" like they do in her class so out came the candle and globe. She sang the song and he circled the sun with the globe. It ended with Marie singing, "and now Daddy is THREE!" Happy 3rd Birthday, Honey! We love you very much!

OUTSIDE!!!

Finally, as I look out the window today, I don't see any snow around the house. The last big pile has melted along the driveway. The rain that we have had the past few days likely helped a lot. In any case, we made it outside!!! Marie is finally big enough to try out her "bikes." She likes both her pink, solo-cruising-the-block one and her red and blue, parents-can-push model as well. Friday, she and Jim took a cruise around the neighborhood with her on the back of my bike. They went down to the lake and Marie went up to her knees. Jim reported that it was freezing cold but then saw the tweens across the street heading out with towels. Youth! Ty tried to help me weed the other day. It didn't go well. He kept trying to eat everything. Dirt, rocks, grass...I opted for a different activity with him. In dog news, we switched Cody from a front lawn dog to a backyard dog. He now has a nice zip line that originates right next to the door so he can go outside and hang out in the back. Once a day I let him go off leash and it is scary. He is sooo fast and huge; he flies over to the pond, races around in the trees and comes back. Cody loves spring.

I believe that ever item in this photo is a hand-me-down. Clothes and scooter from cousins, shoes from Atlanta, and yes, that is my Grampa's grill behind her.

Marie pushing Ty on his scooter. You can still see snow here.

Explaining how it works.

Trying it out.

I think I have got it!

Happy Birthday, Mamma!

What do I have to wish for when I blow out my candles???

How To Eat a Chocolate Bunny

First bite

yes, that is a kiss

"HELP ME!!!"

Easter, part 2

These picts are of the cousins and Marie decorating Easter Eggs. I can't tell you what a huge joy it was to watch Marie with her cousins. First of all, she adores, absolutely adores, the older girls. She loves to mimic them and to follow their lead. Then, there is Luke. I observed them holding hands at dinner and then sitting next to each other, leaning on each other's shoulders watching a movie. They are truly best friends. It was great to see her comfortable and having such a blast with them! She has come a long way and truly knows they are HERS.

My favorite moment was when she was EXHAUSTED, roaming around their house with Charmin, her trusty bear, and discovered that Aunt Heidi's brother was sitting on "HER" corner of the couch, on the one pillow. She grabbed me and exclaimed, indignantly, "MAMA!!! That Man is sitting on MY pillow." Teague chuckled and kindly moved so Marie could reclaim "HER" pillow. When we got into the car to go home minutes later, she was asleep by the end of the block. That, my friends, is tired.



I have been a little slow in posting as this has been a busy week. With his previous 2 weeks upset and in the hotel the past weekend with car naps, Ty has been a little out of sorts. Naps have been quite the challenge. He will scream in his crib for a while, sleep for 30 minutes, awake and then repeat a few more times. This kid owes me a good hair dye appointment, to be sure. Marie too, has been out of sorts. I think she is at the age where naps aren't needed at 3pm but badly needed at 5pm. That's fine, we can get her to bed by 7pm but then Jim gets little time with her. Tonight she asked me why she was going to bed while the sun was still out. THANKFULLY, we have a close friend from Sweden so I was able to explain that in Sweden there are days that the sun never sets (I left out the part that they have huge celebrations during this time all night long). She thought that was pretty cool. The other funny thing from her this week is she has started to call bananas, "grananas." And, Sunday we are going to the ballet. When I told her about this, she told me that we would have to take an airplane !?!?! What??? Well, she explained, it is a long way to LA to see Uncle Jeff. No no no dear...ballet, not L.A.

Easter in Chicago-Lombard, part 1

We ventured forth. We packed up the kids, their Easter baskets, their car snacks and drove the 6 hours to Lombard to spend Easter with our family and friends. We stayed at a hotel and you would've thought that we have personally ushered Marie into Heaven. She was so thrilled! First, there was the candy and popcorn in the lobby then...an elevator ride! We found our room and she couldn't believe her eyes. There were 2 beds, a couch, a TV and drawers for our things! She had unpacked her clothes and stashed them into 3 of the 4 drawers (graciously giving 1 to Ty) and had stripped down to get into her suit within about 2 minutes. Jim and I couldn't stop giggling at her excitement! Here she is enjoying the pool with Jim. On Easter Morning, she was up early and she and Jim hit the pool by 7:15am. She kept asking him,"Where is everybody else?"

Friday night her cousins came over for a quick swim and Marie INSISTED on showing them "her house" upstairs. Then they all changed and headed over to my brother's house for playtime and dinner while Ty and I crashed in the quiet of the hotel.


Saturday, her excitement continued at the breakfast bar. Sadly, Jim woke up fighting off a flu bug and exhaustion and needed to sleep all day. So, I braved breakfast with the might duo. Ty ate a plate of scrambled eggs and toast while Marie took 2 bites of egg, sausage, holding out for the cinnamon roll I told her she could share with Daddy. She loved all the choices!

Then, I packed up the kids and we headed into the city to see Aunt Jacqui, Uncle John and their new baby boy, Jack. Jacqui and I grew up together and it is so amazing that we both have baby boys at the same time!!! Marie and John immediately renewed their friendship, bonded, shared gum, played games and chatted each other up. I got to hold the baby and visit with my BFF. We laughed at how mighty Ty was in mass compared to Jack. Here I am in awe with my new favorite lil friend.

Then, we got a group shot...courtesy of Jacqui. She took the picture however she looks amazing even though she just had a baby...she should've been IN the picture!
More Easter pics to follow...

Inspiration

I finished a fantastic book last week, "The Last Chinese Chef." The author is the same woman who wrote "Lost in Translation," to give her some street cred. This was one of those books that I slowed down as I read to make it last longer. SOOO good. I learned so much about Chinese food and it was a very sweet love story to boot! The entire time I read it, I wanted to eat what they were describing...it was so vivid you could see and smell the food as you read the words! Duck, chicken, pork ribs...YUM.

Mental switch to my coffee table. I have a quite a few coffee table books and I rotate them so I will look at them all. One is a beautiful huge Borders book (you know, the sale table at the front?) that my Grandma gave me via my Aunt entitled, "China: The Beautiful Cookbook." Well, I have flipped through it from time to time but come on...cook REAL Chinese food? After reading "The Last Chinese Chef" I practically flew to the book. It has fantastic descriptions of regional food and life in China along with recipes and great photographs. So, tonight was the first test. I started with a very easy recipe: braised chicken with lemon. You marinate a 2lb chicken with a soy sauce-lemon juice-rice wine mixture for an hour and then boil it in a lemon sauce for an hour. Reduce the sauce and pour it over the chicken. Jim and I learned that we are now proficient in chopstick use; we scarfed that chicken down so fast I was a little embarressed. We tried to keep some of the traditions of chinese food that I learned about - trying to serve others without them knowing, not wasting any food, the importance of texture, taste and presentation. I also learned that my knives don't cut it (DARN good pun!). You are supposed to cut through the chicken, bone and all, in slices and then re-arrange it on the serving platter. This didn't work so hot but I covered the chicken pieces with lemon slices and it still was pretty. Still not sure how to do this but will be asking my favorite chef buddy soon.


I never never knew how complicated Chinese cuisine was until I read these books. You could write a hundred master's thesis on the topic. I laughed aloud at these steps I read in one recipe, "Clean the chicken and bone it, leaving the skin intact - use a sharp knife with a narrow blade to work around the carcass until it can be completely removed." That's it...that's all they say. I am supposed to just remove the bones LEAVING THE SKIN AND MEAT INTACT just by reading that?!?! I gotta lot to learn but judging from tonight's results, I am off to a good start.

Anyways, wanted to share the two books. If nothing else, if you are trying to learn about China, you should read the first book. For me, it was a moving experience. I NEEDED a good book; it had been a drought. To get THAT book that tied in with my special coffee table book, while I was missing my Grama in a particular way...just was so special. Any other book recommendations out there?