Hardwood Floors!

It's the moment so many of you have been waiting for...a glimpse of our new hardwood floors! Jason and his dad spent an entire weekend getting the living room and kitchen done, and then Jason tackled the computer room/toy room on his own. While all the baseboards were down, Jason and I decided to repaint our formerly forest green rooms a lovely shade of brown. And then just a couple weeks ago, Jason's parents came out to help with some of the final details: painting doors and trim, cutting and installing baseboards and quarter-rounds, installing a new kitchen ceiling fan...that sort of thing. The end result? Well, we absolutely love it!

His Funny Is Not My Funny

This morning Liam came in with Logan as they always do to ask me to get their breakfast. (1,000+ days and counting, and they still haven't figured out that I'm always going to shower and get dressed before going down to eat.)

Anyway, I was ironing my pants, and Liam says "Dad, you're already wearing pants!" I'm actually standing there in my boxers. Jill looks over and says "Liam, that's Daddy's underwear." Just then Logan comes in, and Liam says "Logan! LOGAN! Dad's wearing underwear just like YOU! That's HILARIOUS!!" And laughs hysterically.

I wish I could say that's an unusual way to start the day.

Coasters Cannot Be Trusted

Last weekend we took the boys down to Six Flags along with a few other couples and their kids. It's been quite awhile since Jill and I have been there, and most of the time we focused on the coasters. I didn't recall what there was for younger kids, but as it turned out - quite a bit.

Part of Six Flags St. Louis is a water park, so we started there. They had an enormous wave pool, a kiddie area, a sort of slow-moving river you can float around on inner tubes, and a couple of water slides that were open. Logan had fun in the wave pool, and Liam sort of enjoyed the inch or so of water that he allowed himself to be coaxed into. It's kind of comical to see a kid who's around 3 feet tall and suited up in full lifejacket regalia being freaked out by water higher than his ankles. Oh well, we're working on it.

We did get Liam over into the tube river, where he sat on my lap as we floated around. I think this is probably what he had the most fun with in the water park, since he was doing something, and yet no portion of his body was actually in contact with water.

At some point, something occurred in the water park, and most of the kiddie area was shut down. So, we ditched the water park, changed everyone back into street clothes, and hit the park proper. We took the boys up to the Looney Tunes area, where there were lots of playgrounds and tame rides for them to enjoy.

Logan managed to get in not one but two roller coasters, and we're talking full-size coasters here, not the Zambezi Zingers. First up was the new Tony Hawk Big Spin, which consists of a fairly mild coaster ride, but the cars are free to rotate around as you go through the track. At first glance, I was dead-set against riding this one - my abhorrence for any sort of ride where you spin very fast in tight circles is well-documented. I was told the spinning was pretty light, and I really wanted to go with Logan on his first coaster ride, so I went. And it wasn't too bad. Logan was pretty excited until the first drop, and then his face went from "this is pretty neat being on this ride" to "OH DEAR LORD WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO". Any time we hit a curve or dropped or did anything that upped the G-forces, his eyes would get really big and sort of dart around in half-panic. I think there was only one instance where he actually got a little freaked out, but like any coaster it only lasted .8 seconds, so he made it through just fine. Afterwards we asked if he liked it:

"Yeah, it was pretty fun."

"Do you want to go ag-"

"NO."

At the end of the day, he and I rode the Screaming Eagle, which is an awesome all-wood coaster way in the back of the park. He only went on it because his friend Savannah was a big fan, although after the Tony Hawk ride I don't think he was quite so keen on coasters. I sat next to him and told him to hold my hand and just scream as loud as he wanted. The coaster goes up the first hill, then down a gentle little slope to get a rolling start before the first big drop. Logan started screaming at the gentle slope and didn't stop until the very end of the ride. He thought it was fun, but has no interest in ever riding that one again either. EVER.

The log flume, though, was a big hit. He rode that probably 4-5 times. It seems to have just the right combo of relatively low speed and a decently steep but very brief drop at the end. That was the highlight of the park for Logan. Liam's favorite was the carousel, or as he called it, the horse ride.

All in all a fun day, helped enormously by the perfect 83-degree weather and astonishingly light crowds. Jill and I managed to both ride the new wooden Evel Knieval coaster (Verdict: Awesome), and even that was only about a 15-minute wait. Maybe someday we'll get Logan on that one (probably not before 2035).

First Day in First Grade

It's official! Logan is now a first grader. He hopped on the bus today sporting a new lunch box (black and white camouflage), a new backpack (Batman), and new tennis shoes (black and silver with a yellow "lightning" streak). There were no tears this morning ~ but maybe a few butterflies.


Logan's new teacher is Ms. Hill, and his good friend Bryce is in his class. He has the honor(?) of having a second floor classroom (almost directly above his kindergarten room). Oh! And this year, as an older, more responsible first grader, he has the privilege of checking out not one, but TWO library books each week.


When Logan came home today, he told me that EVERYONE in his class stayed on "green" today. (Think classroom behavior management in the form of a stoplight. Green = good!) What a nice bunch of kids Ms. Hill must have!

Logan also said that he thought he was going to like first grade for the whole year. I think that's a pretty good indication of the type of day he had. At least, I hope it's an indication of the type of day he had, because I wasn't able to extract any further details about the day. Wait, I take that back...I also learned that they didn't do math.

So there you have it, folks! There's no denying it. We have a bona fide first grader in our midst. Look at that face...you know he's ready to tackle some new challenges. Bring it on, First Grade!

Have a great year, Logan!

Happy Birthday, Jason!

We love you so much!

Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

As Logan and Liam would say...
We hope you have a suh-weet birthday!

Do Whatcha Wanna!

Happy Birthday, Alex!

You're one cool dude! Hope you have fun being 4!

Love,

Aunt Jill, Uncle Jason, Logan and Liam

And here's probably the best picture I've ever taken of Alex, an oldie but goodie

...one of my all-time favorites...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!

Congratulations Logan!

Logan, we are so proud of you! Your handwriting is looking so nice. Your classwork shows great effort! Your art projects are very detailed and colorful! And we are amazed at how well you are READING! You have made such wonderful progress in kindergarten. We are so excited to see what you will achieve in first grade!

A big thank you to Logan's energetic, enthusiastic, fantastic kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bertino!

Lyrics

OK, this will only be funny to Bon Jovi fans, but I had to share.

In anticipation of the concert I recently attended, I listened to a fair amount of Bon Jovi music. Logan and Liam always particularly enjoyed Living on a Prayer for its "rock" quality, so it got a lot of air time in the van. Little did I know, they were memorizing the lyrics...sort of.

I overheard both boys singing separately this morning...

Logan's version

"Shake my hand, and we'll make it I swear.
OoooOH! Bring it on, Claire!"

Liam's version:

"Take my hand, and we'll make it out of squirrel.

OoooOH! Make it out of squirrel!"

Hanging Out With Friends

Our Tennessee friends (Matt, Shelly, Joel, and Amanda) came to visit us this weekend! With the culmination of Matt's ENT residency in a few short weeks and a move to Kansas in the works, they have been very busy! We are so happy they could spend a couple of days with us before they made their way to Kansas to close on their new home. We spent Saturday morning playing outside: bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and baseball!

Logan drawing a bubble

Joel Patrol

Joel gleefully showering Logan with bubbles

A grin from Liam

Ready at the plate

Run, Logan, Run!

Batter Liam

"Lil Slugger"

The kids played well together, and the grown-ups had fun playing board games and chatting. Here are a few more photos from the weekend. Best of luck in your new home, dear friends!

Matt and Jason catching up

Amanda

More Amanda

Matt, Amanda & Shelly

A Blog Protest

Isn't this a cute picture? Want to see more like it? Then put your comment at the end of this message and join me in a petition demanding fresh posts from my fellow bloggers. I won't name names, because they know who they are (cough coughLISA...ahem, ahemLESLIE ~ I love you guys.)

With you, dear friends and family, we can and WILL see action on neglected blogs.

Happy Birthday, Leslie!

"Have A Nice Day!"

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!

It's your special day!  Have fun!  Wear stickers if you want to!  

Bon Jovi!

Happy Birthday Liam!

Liam turned three today, starting off with a nice breakfast in his ball gym.


For his birthday he got a new Batman big wheel trike and a basketball goal (not pictured). He was pretty excited about them and hopefully will be able to ride the big wheel a little better than the tiny little fire truck he rides now.

He had a bunch of friends over this evening for hot dogs and Scooby-Doo cake (on Scooby-Doo plates, with Scooby-Doo napkins, followed by Scooby-Doo party favors...sensing a theme?), and everyone had a good time.

He's quite excited about having his Batman and Spider-Man cake tomorrow. We have no idea why he thinks he's going to get a Batman and Spider-Man cake tomorrow. Hopefully he won't be too disappointed.

Anyway, in Liams' words: "Happy Birthday!"

Congrats Jayhawks!

What an INCREDIBLE season

and a PHENOMENAL championship game!!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK KU!!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Andy!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Wish we could see you! Haha.

How Nice to Have a Niece!

It should come as no surprise to most of you that the boys and I spent spring break in Lenexa, KS. While we were there, we welcomed a new special someone into our family...a baby GIRL!

Kate Addison arrived on March 20th (8 pounds, 7 ounces), and she is just adorable! But you don't have to take my word for it...

























See, I told you so! And do you see what she's wearing? PINK!

Who knows what Kate will have to endure with two older brothers and two older nephews to contend with? I'm guessing she will learn to hold her own pretty quickly.

We are so excited that you are here, Kate! Sending out a kiss for Kate and two big hugs for her two big brothers, Jack and Alex! We love you all!

Pineapple Empanaditas

Due to popular demand, here is the recipe for the yummy pineapple empanaditas featured in our last post.  (Recipe courtesy of Eating Well magazine, February 2008.)  

Happy Baking!

Pineapple Empanaditas
Makes 2 dozen empanaditas

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. canola oil
4 Tbsp. low fat milk
1 and 1/2 c. chopped fresh pineapple
1/3 c. pineapple or apricot preserves
2 Tbsp. plain dry breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

1.  Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Add cream cheese and oil and blend with your fingers until crumbly.  Sprinkle the mixture with milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and stir with a fork until the dough just comes together - the mixture will still be a little crumbly.  Knead a few times in the bowl, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few more times until the dough comes together.  Divide in half and shape into 2 discs.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.  

2.  Combine pineapple and preserves in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until syrupy, 12-15 minutes.  Mash the pineapple into smaller chunks with a potato masher or fork.  Remove from the heat; stir in breadcrumbs and cinnamon.  

3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.  

4.  On a well-floured surface, roll out one disc of dough at a time into a 1/8-inch-thick circle.  Cut circles of dough using a 3-inch round cookie cutter.  Repeat with the remaining dough, re-rolling scraps as necessary, to make 24 circles.  

5.  Place 1 tsp. pineapple filling in the center of each circle.  Fold in half, press edges together and crimp with a fork.  Place on the prepared baking sheet.  

6.  Bake the empanaditas until golden, 12-15 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar, if desired.  

Tropical Winter

Jill bought a pineapple at the store earlier this week, which turned out to be fantastic. As luck would have it, she also had her hands on a food magazine with pineapple desserts. The result?

Pineapple empanaditas:

Amazing that we can make a tropical fruit dessert in Missouri only a day after a major snowstorm shuts down the entire city. They were delicious. Logan said "this is the best dessert I've ever had in my life." Of course, he says that about all kinds of things at least 3-4 times a week.