Our Little Conductor
Brooks has been bitten by the Thomas bug. He LOVES trains of any kind and will sit and play for literally HOURS on end with tracks and little trains.
I picked up some Thomas stuff at a recent consignment sale that he is currently loving.
Video of this obsession is on Facebook.
You will notice in the pictures that he has on a onsie and shoes- pretty funny.
Every day when we get him up and dress him, he insists on putting on shoes. He has this funny thing for shoes. (He gets it honest;)). He doesn’t care which shoes, he just cries and reaches for his shoe baskets until we put some on him. So here you see him playing with trains half dressed, but with shoes.
Also funny is how he says the words “shoes” and “socks.” “Shoes” comes out really long and funny like “Shooooes.” “Socks” sounds something like “Shicks” which comes out sounding like there is a “t” on the end…you get the idea. It’s pretty funny and caused my friend and co-worker, Amy to get the giggles the other day.
A Freebie I Forget
It’s been raining here for DAYS going on WEEKS! We’ve been cooped up inside and I’ve been wracking my brain thinking up things to do with a toddler that are cheap/free and indoors.
I remembered this one this morning- the LIBRARY! Our public library has several different programs during the week for kids. This morning we went to story hour. There were lots of toddlers there and brooks loved singing songs and doing the finger plays and activities.
We heard stories and poems about dragons that were really funny and cute. Brooks colored a picture of a dragon and then we looked for new books to check out and read. The children’s area is very fun with blocks and other toys to play with and lots of cozy places to sit and read.
They have a couple of different story hours, a bedtime story time on some evenings, read to a pooch (a very friendly dog comes to the library and your child can read to the dog), toddler story hour and other special events.
Of course the sun FINALLY came out as we were leaving the library- but everything is still too wet outside to play.
We checked out some of our favorites: Eric Carle, Donald Crews and of course a Thomas DVD. But i need your help- I was looking for grown-up books and realized I am so out of the loop when it comes to good fiction. I need some suggestions- what are some of the better books/authors you’ve read lately? Any new authors I should know about?
I’m partial to historical fiction or stories set in the south- but really I just love to read, so any good read will do- even (in the words of Collin) ”mediocre christian fiction” 
.
my little reader
If Larry leaves early, Brooks usually plays in his room while I shower and get ready in the mornings. I put up the baby gate and let him run wild- not really wild -more like moderately active.
I can usually hear him climbing on his climbing toy, playing with his musical instruments or some other noise making toy. This morning when I got out of the shower I heard nothing. We all know that when you hear nothing trouble is brewing so I quickly looked in on him and this is what I found:
Brooks loves books. He also loves to have books read to him. We have books everywhere in our house partly because it’s small and there are only so many places to put books and partly because we just have a lot of books. I put out his books on the shelves along with our because in true kid fashion he loves to pull things off the shelves and most days he’ll go for the brightest colored ones. The kids books save the grown-up $200 text books. Really, since I started putting his books along side ours on the shelves- he has stopped messing with the big people books and plays with his own.
For his first birthday EVERY present was books! Every single person gave him a book. Not one truck or leggo- Books abounded. I love that people know we value education and I love that my son loves books and will hopefully soon love to read as much as I do.
The Necklace
Brooks wears a necklace- an amber teething necklace. He has worn it since he was about three months old.
Without fail, everywhere we go people comment on this necklace. Most people just comment on the cool necklace Brooks is wearing, but I can tell they think it is a bit odd. I really don’t mind- mostly I find it funny that people always notice.
I learned about teething necklaces from my friend Amy of the Wilson 6. Her kids are varying ages and they all wear them. I wonder if she gets as many comments as I do?
So what is it? Amber- specifically Baltic Amber is an organic substance-fossilized tree sap or resin. The amber has anti-inflammatory properties which can be absorbed when it is worn against the skin. Teething necklaces soothe a child naturally when he or she suffers from teething pain. The child doesn’t chew it. Succinic acid- also known as “essence of amber,” is absorbed from the amber into the skin.
You can call it a bunch of bunk of you want- but I say they work. Brooks hasn’t had any real problems with teething – some drooling and chewing- but no disrupted sleep, fevers, or any of the other problems that can come with teething. I didn’t even know he was teething until the teeth started showing through his little gums.
Here are some other comments we’ve gotten- “can’t he choke on that thing?” Nope. Brooks’ necklace has a plastic fastener that would give way and break if somehow it got caught on something.
“What if it breaks, won’t beads go everywhere?” Nope. There are knots between each bead so if the necklace does break only one to two beads would come off.
Brooks loves his necklace and his is actually his comfort object. Some kids carry around a blanket or a stuffed animal. Some kids suck a thumb or a paci- my kid twirls his necklace. When we snuggle up to go to bed, Brooks will reach up and hold onto the necklace. I also find him doing this in new places with new people if he feels nervous or unsure.
Where do you buy one? I’d start with etsy or google “amber teething necklace”
Weekend Recipe
We had this for dinner last night. it was quick, easy and Yummy. Brooks ate it up!
Quick Beef Stroganoff
1lb of beef (ground or cut of choice sliced up into small strips)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of beef stock/broth
1 cup water
1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
3 cups of rotini noodles, dry ( the spiral kind or whatever noodles you like)
1/2 cup sour cream
Brown the meat on medium high heat in a large skillet. Drain any excess fat, add the stock and the water and deglaze the pan, then add the soup and worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil- turn the heat up a little if needed. Add the dry noodles and turn the heat down to a medium simmer. Cover and let the noodles cook for about 15 minutes or until done. remove from heat, add the sour cream and stir until completely incorporated. Serve with a vegetable of choice.
Dancing Boy
You should check out my facebook for a really funny video of Brooks dancing.
Stupid wordpress won’t let me post a video without charging me $$$
Little Boy’s Weekend O’ Fun
Here are a few pictures of Brooks from this past weekend in the NC mountains. We had a great time with family.
Climbing up and down on the hearth was a big hit
Yes this is at McDonalds and yes that is a french fry…
Playing outside the cabin
Wish me a Happy Anniversary
A Happy Blogging Anniversary- a Blogiversary!
I have been blogging in one form or another for 5 YEARS!
I started blogging when I moved to Texas in 2004. I’ve chronicled a move, a love, a marriage , a pregnancy, a baby boy and a family.
Here are a few of my favorite posts over the years:
Note: most of these posts are favorites because of the time in my life when they were written, not necessarily the actual content. Some of the content is pretty good though…
Give Away!!
Athens Friends:
I have two pre-sale passes for the Cornerstone Children’s Consignment sale. These get you in at 5:00 pm on Thursday night. This is before the public can shop early at 7:00 pm (and they have to pay $5!).
If you have never shopped a consignment sale here is your chance to find some great deals on kids clothes and toys, baby gear and infant items.
I’ll give them out first come first serve so the first two people to comment here or on Facebook will claim them!
Weekend Recipe
It is late, well late for me anyway and I can’t sleep. I meant to post this last weekend, but we drove up the Murphy, NC to spend some time with Larry’s sister and her family while they vacationed in a very lovely cabin on the mountain.
This recipe was meant to be a treat for Sarah, Larry’s sister, who is allergic to eggs.
I found a great website that is all about eggless cooking. I adapted a recipe I found there and the result was very, very good.
While I normally cook with eggs, it is nice to know there is a site out there for the times when I need to make a dessert or bake up something only to open the refrigerator door and find that I am out of eggs. Rather than send my sweet husband to the store, I can still whip up something tasty. Really I promise it tastes great. Would I steer you in any other direction???
Eggless Chocolate Cake
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup oil
3 cups coffee, cooled
6 oz semi sweet chocolate, melted
Preheat the oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients. I used instant coffee in three cups of water rather than brewing coffee and waiting for it to cool. I also melted the chocolate in the microwave- 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between. You’ll want to stir in the melted chocolate slowly so it gets mixed in well without cooling in the batter and making it chunky.
Mix everything up with a mixer on medium speed. The batter will be runnier than regular cake batter- more like pancake batter. This recipe makes a large amount of batter which is why you need a large mixing bowl.
Spray a 9×13 cake pan ( you could use layers or cupcakes if you want). I just used a 9×13 glass dish- worked great. Pour in the batter and bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour or until a pick comes out clean. Let it cool completely and then frost with your favorite chocolate frosting. I could share my Granny’s recipe for Never Fail Fudge Frosting, but I am just not ready for that yet.
This really was a great chocolate cake- moist and dense with great flavor. We all loved it, except for Larry’s sister ,who as it turns out is also allergic to chocolate- where is the justice in that? I am not sure how I’d survive without chocolate.
Note: when you ask your husband if his sister can eat chocolate and he responds with a hesitant yes, go with a fruity dessert recipe.
