98 cents

Blueberries, die blaubeeren, el arandano!




Whatever you call them, they're delicious! At 98 cents a pint, they're a steal. I came home last night with five pints. Yes, 5. Minutes later, four were in the fridge and one was rinsed and ready to eat. Matt asked me if it was really healthy to eat a whole pint, to which I replied "healthier than a pint of ice cream." 24 hours after purchase, there are two pints left.

Claire LOVES blueberries! For breakfast, we whipped up some blueberry pancakes. These were delicious. I love buttermilk pancakes, but these were a nice change. The orange juice in the recipe made them so sweet that they didn't need a thing - no butter, no syrup. I'd highly recommend trying the recipe! As you can see from the picture, we enjoyed them thoroughly. Claire's tongue, tooth, fingers, and parts of her legs were stained blue from all the blueberries.

She also had blueberries and 'Puffs' for a snack this afternoon. There was no monkey business during this meal (i.e. dropping food on the floor - opps!), blueberry after blueberry went straight into Claire's mouth. She, Sadie, and I finished another pint.

Blueberry Pancakes -http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=222282

Anniversary Date Night

Matt and I had a fabulous 4th anniversary last Thursday, June 24th. This last year together has brought so many changes. As all new parents, Matt and I have obviously had less time for just each other. However, I think that parenting together has deepened our relationship. Someone once said watching your husband as a father makes you fall deeper in love with him; I'd have to agree. (Matt would think this is too romantic, but what can I do!?) I praise God that he's blessed our marriage so abundantly!

We had a great evening out. Omi was in town and watched Claire while we went to try out a new restaurant. We told our server that we don't get out much (which we talked about changing - once every several months is not enough!) and that we'd be there a while. He graciously told us to stay as long as we'd like. The service he provided was excellent! We started with drinks. Matt had some sort of beer (I think from a local brewery) and I had champagne with raspberry liquer. Yum! We then ordered a cheese flight and charcuterie (meat plate...lol). After some great conversation, we put in our dinner order. Matt had a sandwich with pork tenderloin, proscuitto, and some other form of pork, and I ordered Canadian walleye with capers, with sides of roasted asparagus and ridiculously delicious whipped mashed potatoes. (I don't even want to know how much butter was in them!) We stayed at the restaurant for almost two hours. It was so fun and relaxing!

Tower of Yogurt

As I've posted before, Claire really likes to empty out Mama's cupboards. We decided to put all those yogurt containers to good use this past Tuesday evening while Daddy was gone. I knew there was a reason we've washed and saved them all - they're a cheap toy! I took a video for him so that he didn't miss out. :)

A few details to notice:

1. Claire looks back at me before she knocks the tower over. As I was building it, she kept trying to get at it and I kept telling her "not yet." So either A. - she's a good girl looking for Mommy's approval before she knocks it over OR B. - she's being a little stinker and seeing my reaction to her about to knock it over. You decide.


2. These yogurt cups are rolling back to her. I keep asking her if she can knock over the other tower that's still standing, but she knows what happens with tower - they fall over. The yogurt cups, however, she's intrigued by. Her prior experience tells her that usuallly things don't roll back to you when you roll them away. These cups are different. Smart girl. ;)
   
3. The cute little curls on the back of Claire's head.
   
4. Bonus Points: What flavor of yogurt do I eat most often? ;)

Ok, Plan B. The video is too large to post. So here are a few pictures instead - two before and one after.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

Like a big pizza pie, that's amore!



Claire is quite the little helper in the kitchen. She likes to crawl around, stand up holding on to my legs, and clean out the cupboards while I'm cooking or cleaning up. Luckily she's still okay with just the tupperware cupboard. If she opens another one, I just pick her up and move her over to the approved cupboard. I know this will not always be the case when her curiosity gets the best of her.



Last Thursday, she helped Mommy make pizza. I have this delicious and simple recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough from scratch. We topped one side with pepperoni and mozzerella and the other with fresh baby bella mushrooms, zucchini, and feta! Can you guess which side was for Claire and I and which side was for Daddy? :)




As we were ready to put the pizza in the oven, the chef and sous chef wanted a picture. As you can see, the sous chef decided to stick her little tootsies in the pizza because the texture just looked too good not to feel! (This first picture is actually a reenactment, we weren't fast enough to capture it on film the first time!)




Of course all good chefs and sous chefs check up on their dish while it's baking! Be sure not to open the oven door and let the heat escape if you don't need to though. :)




We really enjoyed this meal! (So much so in fact that we made pizza again on the weekend.) As you can see, Claire prefers her pizza over even the grapes on her tray. You might also note the cup without the sippy lid. She's getting good at drinking from a cup, although sometimes she has a little trouble with the flow, so we only fill it a little bit for each drink. She'll also take anything that resembles a cup (like a plastic yogurt container) and 'drink' out of it while she's playing! So fun! :)

Happenings...

We've had a fun month since I last blogged. I was getting some grief though for not blogging for so long, so here it is. :)



Claire's been having so much fun and keeping us on our toes lately!

New Happenings:

• April 28th - started crawling!


• A week later - found Claire standing at the step.


• Sunken family room = perfect, built-in play area. (traps her in!)


• Much rather pull herself up and cruise along furniture than crawl. (Example: When coming over to mommy sitting on the couch, she'd crawl to the couch, but then cruise to the other end to see me.)


• Cute little crawl - left leg moves forward conventionally, right leg uses the bear crawl method. :)


• LOVES to stand at the step and watch the world around her!
• Tries to bend down while holding on with one hand to pick something up. Sometimes she can successfully grab whatever and stand back up. Sometimes still falls on her bottom - good thing she doesn't have far to go! It's cute watching her try anyway. :)
• Started letting go and standing at the same time - only 10 seconds or so at first, but now more often and longer periods of time.


• OH NO! Sunken family room = no longer trapped! Claire started climbing up the step the first day of summer with mommy. Now we close the door to the basement. And vacuum the whole house, A LOT! Amazing how many little teeny tiny things can be found on the floor when you're crawling. And let's explore them by putting them in our mouth, shall we?!? ;)
• Explores in the bathroom by opening the cabinet, then mommy closes it again - this is a game. Lately has gotten bored with the cabinet doors though and has moved over to the drawers. Also lately, has started standing next to the tub and reaching for items inside like the soap and sponge.
• Loves to explore in the kitchen, crawling around while mommy's cleaning up and cooking, and emptying the tupperware cabinet (so much for keeping that organized now!).


• Loves to be an airplane and fly around the room with Daddy!


• Loves it when mommy pretends to eat body parts - neck, knees, feet, toes, you name it! Giggles lots when we're playing this game!


• Ticklish on her neck, at her armpits, and her upper legs, even her back sometimes. Not so much on her belly though.


• Misses Sarah, Tori, and Sammy - we saw them yesterday for lunch and playing and she got big smiles on her face. Loves staying home with mommy though (or is that me loving staying home with Claire?).


• Loves playing with Sage - just 2 1/2 months younger and they're both at an age now where they love to interact. (Pictures - go to Amber and Ross' blog link.)


• Trying to figure out this whole nap and being at home thing. (Should we sleep until 5:45 or 10:30 or somewhere in between?)

Recent Events:

• School's out for summer!


• Playdates with Sage
• Hanging out with Annabelle and Mommy and Jen while Daddy and Brian spend 5 hours changing the brakes in the Mazda 6! (This should only take 2 hours.)


• Going to the dentist with mommy and NOT being happy about it! (DO NOT take your child to the dentist with you, just don't do it! My lesson has been learned.)


• Feeding the ducks at the cemetery with mommy


• Taking lots of long walks with mommy and daddy in the evening. (New jogging stroller = way easier to push!)


• Listening to lots of music: Radio, Koenig der Loewen (Lion King), etc.


• Helping mommy cook bread and pizza (more details to come in later post)


• Sleeping in! (sometimes)


• Picnic at the park with Theresa and Norah and Emily S.


• Lunch out with Sarah and Tori and Sammy, Theresa and Norah, and Emily S.


• Starting to cut a tooth (We can see that the gums are starting to pull apart.) and not being fussy about it! So ein braves Maedel ist Claire!!


• Visits from Onkel Alex and Omi


• Trip home to meet Traudi and Mandi and for Onkel Willi's pre-birthday celebration


• First time eating Bill's BBQ Ribs - The BEST ever and mommy has been going there with Omi and Opa since she was Claire's age. :)

That's all for now - this was our catch up blog so I had to be brief! I can't leave you without a picture though. :) It's a good think Onkel Alex has to come down once a month for his chiropractor appointments. We love seeing him!

It's all in the ingredients.

I love to eat! In my family, gatherings revolve around the meal. It is all about the planning, preparation, and togetherness of the food. Phone calls and emails are sent before getting together to plan the menu. Though I love trying new recipes, they have to be simple at this stage in my life. There's no time to spend hours in the kitchen. :)

For two nights now, I've actually made what I consider to be tasty dinners. I rarely am organized enough to plan the meal and buy the ingredients in advance, nor have the time and energy to come home after a full day of work and prepare a home-cooked meal. (Sound familar, anyone?) This week seems to be an exception, which I'm excited about and proud of! Both meals have been VERY simple, but delicious. It's amazing what quality ingredients can do in a recipe, especially when that recipe calls for minimal ingredients. The fresh flavors really shine through in these simple recipes!

Ok, well the first meal doesn't really take a recipe. Tortillas, ground beef with a little seasoning, store-bought fresh salsa, plain yogurt, and cilantro...you guessed it, tacos! You may think I'm crazy to be proud of this, but it was executed well with planning, buying, and assembling ingredients. ;)

Tonight I made black bean soup. Dried beans that I soaked and cooked, the cooking water from the beans, chicken raised the old-fashion farm way (free-range, eats all the leftovers from the kitchen...I have a hook-up from a friend at work!), chicken broth made from the gizzards of said chicken, same fresh salsa from the tacos, frozen corn, sauteed onions, a little chili powder, topped with sharp cheddar (which I almost always use because it provides more flavor with less cheese - and Claire loves it!) and lots of the same ole fresh cilantro from the tacos. (Doubling up ingredients = smart planning when you're cooking for three.) SO good! Considering the amount of ingredients, I was worried it would be bland. I was pleasantly surprised and owe the tasty goodness of the soup to the wonderful ingredients. Very happy about these recent tasty meals! It feels so good to provide nutritious and delicious meals for Matt and Claire!! :)

Side notes:

Matt eats everything I make now, without complaining! He has no idea what this does for my soul. Most of the food he actually likes, too. :)

I highly recommend making this soup for yourself and your family - the recipe is at http://www.cookinglight.com/ when you search for instant black bean soup. I changed it a little based on what I had on hand.

I wish I would have taken a picture of the soup dished up - the presentation was fabulous with the cheddar and cilantro. :)

I will not, however, leave you without a picture. Claire is ALL OVER lately! She also loves books. She doesn't necessarily sit still to listen to a whole story, but she does like to look at, sit on, and turn the pages of books. :) She's talking up a storm in this picture!

(It's annoying me how the picture is not centered between the two side notes and I can't get a space between the last side note and this note, but it's almost 11:00 and way past my bed time...so I guess I'll have to deal with it.)

Happy Mother's Day to all women!

Mom - You're the best! I couldn't ask for a better mom. I'm the woman I am today because of you. I love you with all my heart, forever and ever.

Brenda - Happy Mother's Day! I am so thankful for you - you helped shape Matt into the wonderful man and husband he is. You're an awesome Grandma to Claire. I appreciate that you're always there to help when we need you. We love you very much!

Claire's latest and greatest:

"I surprised Mommy today! When she came out of the bathroom, there I was, standing up at the step to my room. I got her good! She thought I'd just be staying in the family room."

"Then, later this morning I was suppose to be napping. I got her again! I was standing in my crib...haha - it's so fun to stand! I got out of my nap...yesssss! Mommy took me with to ask the neighbor to lower my mattress, because Daddy is at Grandma and Grandpa's. She could have done it herself, but I was tired and wanted to be held and she didn't have enough time to try to figure it out! Plus, then I got to play with my friends Jeff and Cory. They're so fun! Jeff says he loves me. I can't wait until I can keep up with the older boys!"

Lauren's latest and greatest:

My goal this week is to sew wipes for Claire. I figure, I'm already washing cloth diapers, why not just throw cloth wipes in the mix. Apparently they're really easy to sew, we'll see about that! We've already made the solution before. We got the recipe from Jen and it's way easy! One thing that I got from my mom is the desire to use less. She was 'green' way before it was popular! Way to go mom! (That's one trend you set!)

At church today, all women were honored with a carnation (until they ran out - they'd ordered 4,000). Pastor Mike talked about the tradition of Mother's Day honoring all women, not just moms. Even if a women is not a mother, she sets a maternal example for the children around her. You can hear the sermon on podcast at http://www.hopewdm.org/. How true is it that all women are models to those younger! My life has been influenced by many amazing women besides my mom, especially my Aunt Chris! Happy Mother's Day to the best aunt EVER!