Baking Assistant

After letting Etta help me do some baking quite a while ago I decided I should probably start letting her help some more. She loves to put on her apron, like mommy, and get to work.

I need to be more patient, less up tight and make sure that whatever we are baking together will only be eaten by us.

At least until she stops dipping her fingers in the flour to take a taste.

But all the germs cook out, right?

Anyway...Sunday night we got duded up and made buttermilk biscuits for daddy for breakfasts for the week.

Getting pictures during actual production is nearly impossible at this point so we had to do some staged shots after...

Rolling...



Cutting...(she did actually cut out most of them. With the amount of force she was using one would think they were made out of cement.)



Finished product. And daddy says that they are yummy!

A Mean & Awful Mommy

OR A Very Wonderful Fun-Filled 90 Minutes.

Depends on who you talk to.

And when.

Last Saturday the weather was CRA-ZEE here in Lewiston. Not a bad early morning. Rain, rain and more pouring down rain throughout the middle of the day and then a beautiful, clear, almost warm evening. Luckily for us the Fire Department was having a Fire Safety Fun Day INSIDE at the fair grounds. We piled into the car and headed out.

Etta loves buses. Airplanes. Motorcycles. Boats. And thankfully - firetrucks. In the parking lot was the new Life Flight medi-copter. Did I mention it was raining? "Yep, there's a helicopter Etta!"

But when we got inside, low and behold, FIRETRUCKS!

Firetrucks that you could sit in! And steer! And push buttons! (Okay, we don't know if she was supposed to push buttons, but she did...)

Best. Mommy. Ever.

Big truck. Little Girl.



Ready to drive.



This one was her favorite. She could have "driven" it all day.



Even if she did have to share with daddy.



And then our playgroup friends showed up.

The boy type friends.

Grey and Porter.

"Look Etta! There is a huge jumpy tunnel/train blow up thingy! Doesn't that look fun!! See?! Grey is going in!! Look, here comes Grey!! Doesn't he look like he had fun?!?!? Don't YOU want to go through?"

"C'mon, really. It'll be okay. Mommy will come with you!"



LET. ME. OUT OF HERE.



Is this the only way out? Then let's get it over with.



The downfall of FORCING your child through something like that?

"Mommy. Mo' mommy. Up mommy. No walk, mommy up."

For the rest. of. the. time. Are you kidding me? It wasn't that bad. Seriously.

I did manage to pry her off long enough for a few hops in the actual jumpy castle...

This might be okay.



Um, all done.



Overall I would have to say that I preferred that whole experience to just staying at home.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Having a birthday and Mother's Day so close together may bother some people. But I LOVE it. Last Friday Etta and I celebrated the day by doing whatever we wanted. This included a bath together (probably TMI!), a trip to The Pond, and a lunch date with daddy. We got this fun family pic before we left McGhee. Had dinner with Steve and Cathy and finished the night hanging out with Matt and Christine. It was a *lovely* day. (And I didn't clean even ONE toilet all day!!)

22 Weeks

Over half way. Hard to believe. This pregnancy is going way faster than the last. Good in some ways and kind of sad in some ways. We are very excited to meet baby Mae but want to make sure that she is fully ready before she gets here!



You can compare to where I was (approximately) with Etta here

Note: The yoga pants I have on for this go around are much more forgiving than the last time. And a different, more forgiving top. Gotta cut a girl a little slack!

Happy Mother's Day to Me

For Mother's Day I asked for two things:

#1. An uninterrupted shower/getting ready to go. Check.

#2. Make dinner without any "assistance" from a certain husband, daughter or little dogs. Check.

Excellent day!

Stacking the rocks to play "Ka-Boom".



A certain daddy after being "forced" to be outside for about an hour and a half on a sunny beautiful afternoon. (Which, after having the weather that we've had for the last few weeks, I'd think HE would be thankful for!)



My Wheat Berry Salad waiting to be fully mixed and Lemon-Cumin chicken waiting to go on the grill. Both were SUPER tasty!


Find the recipes here.

Happy Mother's Day!

It's okay Montana Gram, you can crack a smile. We are all being silly today.

Wish that you were here but glad that we got to spend a week with you over birthdays and get to spend another week in less than three! Have a great day!

Love,
Your Girls

Instrument Puzzle

One of the puzzles that Etta got from Grandma Barb was an instrument shape puzzle. When you put the piece in it plays that instrument's version of "Old MacDonald". We also use it to quiz her on instrument identification. No rest for the weary!

Happy to play with the puzzle!



This piece goes "Right dere!"