Naan

I have been baking lately to get through my baking supplies so I don't have to throw them away.  Last week the girls and I made graham crackers to use up the graham flour.  They were good to munch on.  They were healthier than store bought but they did not taste anything like the store bought version; less sweet, which I like, but also had a much stronger wheat flavor and a chewier texture. 

 

On Sunday I decided to use up some of my bread flour and make naan.  My husband and I had tried to make naan once a couple years ago and did not fair so well.  I think the yeast was old and we burnt a couple of them.  This recipe though was easy to put together and didn't take to long to make if you don't consider the time it takes for the dough to rise.  

 

The girls helped me add ingredients and mix the dough together.  I like including them in the kitchen and they are much better at following directions than when we first started.  After the first rising, I separated the dough into small balls and let it rise again.

 

It did not take long to roll the dough out after the second rising.  I did a little over half at first and then finished rolling the rest while the first set cooked.  I like recipes where there are stretches of inactivity such as rising or resting because I can time it with Baby M's naps.  I worked on the dough while she was sleeping and let it rise whenever I was too busy to deal with it.  It worked out well.

 

I love my reversible cast-iron grill/griddle.  It was a wedding present and I use it often for pancakes and then I always have a grill handy when I need it. The naan fried up quickly and I didn't burn a single one!

Fresh baked naan is delicious.  It is cheaper than what you get at the grocery store and tastes so much better.  Next time I will knead in chopped garlic like the recipe called for instead of being lazy.  I'm sure that would taste even better.

And here is a picture from our last visit to Little Rock Zoo.  The original plan was to hold Baby M up instead of me looking through but she was comfortably asleep against her daddy's chest and I wasn't going to mess with that.  The girls and I have had such good times there.  I'm going to miss living so close to a zoo that is the perfect size for children. 

Field Full of Daffodils

We headed up to the Wye Mountain daffodil field again this year.  More daffodils were in bloom than last year and it was a beautiful, warm afternoon.  We picnicked there and the girls ran around exploring the whole field.  They liked dressing up in their spring dresses and Easter hats.

 

Science Time

My husband's parents came for Thanksgiving week and it was lovely.  Two extra people helping around the house and keeping the girls busy.  Not a vacation for me but I was definitely able to take some long breaks.  We were very busy with family pictures, story time, a visit to the Museum of Discovery, Thanksgiving dinner and a trip to the Zoo.  The girls had such a nice time getting spoiled.

We are back to our usual routine.  The girls are delving deeper into the murky waters of the terrible twos.  I'm tired and losing my patience with them more than I wish.  They just aren't listening much and throwing more fits over little things.  I know it will get a lot worse once baby sister arrives before it gets better.  But at least it is Christmastime and I love Christmas!

 

This morning we tried out a 'science' activity.  They created a chemical reaction by mixing an acid and a base.  Of course the particulars of that did not matter to them.  They liked playing with an eye dropper for the first time.  And they liked how the baking soda foamed when they dropped colorful vinegar onto it.  Since it is December, I choose red and green food coloring for the vinegar. 

 

 

D needs to work on her timing with squeezing and releasing the eye dropper bulb.  But T got the hang of it and didn't need help from me after the first few tries.  There was very little mess and they had fun.  Success!

Halloween Festivities

The Thursday before Halloween the girls and I went to Thompson Library's storybook walk.  It was really nice.  They had a bunch of high school kids and other volunteers dressed up as storybook characters passing out candy and little toys.  The girls got to practice trick or treating in a small area without too much walking and indoors where we didn't have to worry about the cold.  I loved that there were so many non-candy treats.  We don't let them have candy yet really.  All they got from their haul was one dum dum and a couple jelly beans (magic beans from Jack of course).  But they had spider rings, foam stickers and other little toys that kept them happy instead.  It was also nice bumping into familiar faces from our weekly story time and seeing the kids all dressed up. 

The girls were all dressed up too, as was I (sort of).  I had finished the girls costumes enough that people could tell what they were even though pieces were not finished and some details (that no one except me noticed) were messed up.  D is Linus, T is Charlie Brown, I am a pumpkin patch and baby sister in my belly is the Great Pumpkin.  I'll go into the costumes in detail in the next post when I have better pictures.

The night before Halloween we went to the Family Fun Fest at Immanuel Baptist Church.  It was amazingly crowded.  There were so many kids and parents everywhere, but it was a lot of fun.  They had games that you had to play to win treats.  The girls had fun playing them and won every single game (there weren't any real rules and plenty of help, so I'm sure none of the kids who came lost any games).  The cake walk had a huge line so we avoided that but my friend's husband won a cake.  They must have had a ton of cakes there, considering how many people we saw walking around with cake.  It was a lot of fun and a great alternative to trick or treating since the girls are so young. 

We also got all dressed up for Halloween Mommy and Me Yoga today at Barefoot Studio West.  It was fun trying to do yoga with all the cute kiddos around.   The girls spent most of the time watching the other kids and moms and also playing with balls.  But I did get a cat stretch and a brief downward facing dog out of D. 

 

 

The rest of the plan for Halloween afternoon is to carve pumpkins and pass out candy to trick or treaters (if we get any; we had 2 last year).  Happy Halloween everybody!

Museum of Discovery

Last Tuesday we met a friend and her two boys at the Museum of Discovery here in Little Rock.  It was our first time going.  I hadn't planned on getting the year the family pass because I figured having one to the zoo would be enough.  The past few weeks though I have come to the realization that I won't be able to push the stroller around the zoo so easily in the next few months as my belly gets bigger and bigger while I get more and more tired.  That and the zoo trips, being outdoors, are restricted to good weather.  We have been really lucky to have a nice, mild summer with plenty of cool mornings for zoo trips.  But I will now have some place to bring the girls when it is too hot (like this week) or too cold in the winter.

The museum is really nice and interactive.  The girls played with things that demonstrated science, not that they got it or were the right age for a lot of the things.  But it at least introduces them to things that they just don't get otherwise.  We also got to go to the story time (no stories involved--a science experiment instead).  It was great!  They learned about polymers, which went right over their heads.  But they got to play with a bunch of things made from polymers and stick a colored pencil through a Ziploc bag of water with out it leaking.  This is stuff they just don't get at home.

This weekend we went back, this time with my husband.  It is right around the corner from The River Market.  So after we picked up some fresh fruit and veggies, we headed on over.  The girls got to watch the shapes that sound waves can take as they adjusted a sound dial.

 

They both got to create designs in sand as the table spun around. 

 

 And of course, in the body room, they got an anatomy lesson from daddy.  He told them all about their spine (which we've practiced before because it's in the song 'This Old Man').

 

 

Catching scarves that have been sucked through tubes and spit out at different spots is so much fun!  It kept D busy for a long time, although Miss T lost interest before long and kept trying to climb the stairs instead.  The museum also has some small animals like mice, ferrets, snakes, frogs, insects which the girls liked looking at.

 

And then there is a playroom, where there is a lot to do and I can conveniently sit down and keep an eye of them.  I think the investment in the family pass will definitely be worth it this year.



 

 

 



Birthday

We plan to celebrate my birthday and my sister's (hers is on the 17th) together when we visit California in a week so I hadn't anything planned for today.  And I actually completely forgot it was my birthday until I checked my email this morning and saw happy birthday wishes from my bank.  Gotta love impersonal automated birthday wishes and it is very sad that I needed it to jog my memory.  Of course even if my bank hadn't reminded me, a quick check of Facebook made it clear that today is my day.  And to help my husband out, I texted him that it was my birthday.  To which he responded, after wishing me a happy birthday, asking what I got for myself from him.  It's my parents' marriage all over again (and that isn't a bad thing because they were very happy).

So besides a lovely poop filled diaper Miss T presented to me, the only birthday present so far is an apple pie the girls and I picked up at Fresh Market.  I got the no sugar added pie because who in this day and age needs all the extra sugar in our diets.  The girls certainly don't need to start on that this early in life.  It tasted plenty sweet though and really hit the spot.  The only thing I can think of that would have been better is blueberry pie from fresh picked blueberries.  It is not yet blueberry season though and it looks like with our month long trip to California, we may miss blueberry picking this year.  So sad. 

The girls are currently "napping" while I get some time to myself.  By napping I mean T is fast asleep while D talks to herself.  She used to be the type that no matter how riled up be before bed, if you put her in the crib within a couple minutes she would pass out.  Now she babbles and sometimes cries 15-30 minutes each time after I put them down before falling asleep. Two reasons I can think that might affect her sleep are that she is no longer sucking her thumb (she sucked it too much two weeks ago and left her thumb swollen, callused and with the outer layer of skin missing) and she has started getting more into potty training.  Both of them have both been waking up an hour early for over a week now.  I miss sleeping in the extra hour. 

 

Yesterday we went to a playground at Burns Park for the first time.  We met up with two boys the girls have been pals with all their short lives.  There is a great area there designed for the 2-5 age group.  They had a lot of fun riding the horse merry-go-round, sliding down the slides and hanging on the bars. 

 

This afternoon we are going to make footprint butterflies on canvas with acrylic paint.  I plan to lay cardboard down on the floor for protection but I really hope they don't make a mess.  They will be Mother's Day presents for Oma and Leila.  I'll keep one for myself too but am not sure if I'll count it as a birthday present or Mother's Day present. 

Outside in the Springtime

Spring is in full force here.  The trees are leafy green, weeds and grass are growing like crazy and flowers are blooming everywhere.  We have been spending time outside in the nicer weather.  We bought a family pass for the zoo.  The girls have had fun watching the animals and hearing the lions roar and the seeing the monkeys play.  We walk often to the little playground in our neighborhood.  Slides and swings and a merry-go-round keep them busy and demanding the visits anytime they think of it, especially Tess.

We also spend more time in our backyard.  I keep them penned in the middle level of the yard with one of those six panel super yards so they don't fall over the ledge (its about a 3 foot drop).   And they are good about not trying to escape, except every once in awhile T will try to squeeze around one of the sides.  That girl has a little naughty streak.   To keep them busy, I have little brooms with dust pans for sweeping the patio and trowels for digging up the soil in pots. They have their own pots so they leave my little container garden of tomatoes, peppers and green onions alone.   They also have a collection of rocks and sticks they can play with.  I picked up a little slide for them at a consignment sale a few weeks ago.  They have a lot of fun with it and it is a great size for working on their balance and climbing skills.  They have taken tumbles off the top but landing on the grass, they recover pretty quickly.  They also have their little coupe to push each other around in.  A huge part of the enjoyment of the car is actually getting to clean all the rainwater/dirt/oak pollen off of it with a washcloth before they ride it.  Funny girls

 

 

As it really heats up for summer I plan to get them swimming in the kiddie pool and set up a water table for them.  The patio faces full south though.  It gets pretty blazing out there.  So we'll have to restrict our time out back even with help from a canopy.  Unfortunately, this evening our time outside was cut short because, as D learned to say, "Bug eat you."  Mosquitoes are back in the evenings and I am not sure where I put the bug spray last fall.  We really have to do something about our mosquito problem this year since I do want the girls to learn to love being outside.

Garvan Gardens

Last Friday we went for the first time to Garvan Woodland and Gardens a little south of Hot Springs.  It was a beautiful afternoon and the gardens were gorgeous.  It was a little late for the tulip extravaganza but there were still many beautiful tulip blooms.  There were so many different types and colors. 

 

We strolled down to the koi pond and the girls got to watch the fish swimming around and the water flowing down from the rocks above.  It was such a lovely afternoon and the gardens were not crowded. 

Besides seeing the beautiful flowers and water features, I think the girls enjoyed climbing up on the big rocks the most. Most of the time we let the girls out of the stroller and they walked farther and for longer than I expected they would.  My little girls are growing up! 

 



Daffodils

On Saturday we loaded the girls into the car after their nap and headed over to Wye, where the Wye United Methodist Church has its annual Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival.  It was a beautiful spring day.  The sun shined most of the time and it was warm.  Warm enough that most of the kids were wearing their short sleeve spring dresses. 

The girls, however, I dressed in one of their warmer dresses with leggings because I was worried there would be a cold wind like the day before.  So, no cute spring dress shots yet.  They still looked cute though and it was a little chilly when the breeze gusted (of course it was also a little hot when the sun came from behind the clouds, but we'll just ignore that fact for now). 

The field had lots of flowers but also lots of patches where the daffodils were thin.  It did not seem like there were that many people but it was really hard to get shots with nice views of all the background flowers without getting fellow festival goers in the shot too.

The festival is very small: just the field itself, a food stand and a craft barn.  We had hot dogs and the girls got to pick their very own balloons from the balloon stand.  They both picked pink.  I wonder if T would have picked another color on her own, but D knew exactly what she wanted.  Once D started shouting 'pink' and pointing at the pink balloon, T went for it too. 

If I feel it is worth it, I may just drive out during the week, just the girls and me, and see if we can get better shots with more flowers and fewer people.  Plus I could try out the spring dresses.  However, it is a 40 minute drive and getting the girls to cooperate for photos by myself might not work well.  We do plan to go to the Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs to see the tulips soon.  I will just wait for the next flower photos until then.  And there is always next year for the daffodils.

Christmas Preparation

I checked the weather forecast for this morning and we may actually get some snow on Christmas Day.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  Gotta love a white Christmas. 

The girls both have colds but so far it is only runny noses and a slight cough and hopefully they don't get worse.  Anna also seems to be sick, at least her eyes are runny (not unusual with her allergies) and her nose is dry and hot.  I hope every one is feeling better for Christmas and for Oma's visit right after Christmas. 

In the meantime, I am trying to find time to bake cookies.  I made some Lebkuchen earlier in the month which turned out disappointing.  Today I am making Rugelach, which I think is a recipe I got from Ina Garten.  I've made it before and it was yummy so hopefully I don't mess it up this time like I did the Lebkuchen. 

I am also working on some last minute knitting projects that will hopefully be done on time.  By on time I mean either when my mother flys back to California on New Year's Day or when we fly out in mid-January.  I also have a little felt project to make for my nephew that should be done in the next week.

I knitted a ruffle scarf because it looked interesting and possibly like fun to knit although it wasn't really.  It was quick and easy though so no complaints. 

One present I have been working on for a long time is a pair of Iphone compatible gloves.  It is my first time knitting gloves and they are not as difficult as I thought they would be.  Even knitting the conductive thread into the tip of the index finger and thumb is not as difficult as I had feared.  And best of all, it actually works.  I can use an Iphone without taking off the gloves!

Yesterday turned out to be a relatively warm and sunny day for December, so we headed over to Two Rivers Bridge Park for a walk.  The girls got to walk around the picnic area and see the Arkansas River.  Miss D wanted to join in a game of soccer that another family was playing.  Anna, as always, enjoyed getting out for some exercise and a chance to meet other dogs and people willing to pet her. 

 

We even let the girls loose while we were walking the trails.  To the amusement of everyone passing by us, they spent most of the time helping me push their stroller along. Our double jogging stroller has a bar right above the basket underneath the seats that is the perfect height for the girls to grab and push.  The only problem of the day was we lost one of their hats, which I'm really bummed about.  And I have no idea how it happened unless someone else picked it up in the couple minutes it took me to realize one was missing and took it home with them.  

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday we went to a local pumpkin patch at Bobrook Farms.  Not only was it the girls' first pumpkin patch but it was a first for Kevin and me as well.  We went early, as soon as it opened, because of the girls' nap schedule and I am so glad we did.  Most of the time there was only two other families there which made it nice because there was plenty of room for the girls to explore without getting overwhelmed by crowds.   Before we left, bus loads of kids started coming in from church groups and more families appeared so I'm glad we had a chance to have a more relaxed and quiet experience.

 

Look how big they are getting.  Two and a half feet tall!  T's shirt says, "Give me candy or owl scare you" and D's says, "I'm bootiful" with a ghost on it.  They make such adorable Halloween shirts these days. 

 

The girls had a good time wandering around the pumpkin patch.  They got pretty dirty too, which I would have expected if I had really thought about it.  I mean, it is a farm--not one of those lot pumpkin patches in the city where the pumpkins are trucked in and displayed.  I had to do a load of laundry yesterday for all of our clothes and spent the beginning of nap time wiping mud and straw off shoes and boots. 

The girls enjoy their pumpkins.  We picked out two small ones and brought them home.   T likes them but D absolutely loves them.  D gives them hugs and kisses and cries when she has to leave them.  She picks them up and carrying them around the playroom one at a time and sets them on the couch.  They are pretty heavy too, about 3 lbs; so she is getting quite a workout. 

They liked the big pumpkins too but we already had one at home from the farmer's market.  So we left all the big pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.  Ours is sitting out on the stairs in front of the house and the girls can see it from their playroom window.  They say bye to it as we back out the driveway when we head somewhere.  It is adorable. 

 

Momma with her little pumpkins and a nice big pumpkin. 

 

The drought this year killed the corn maze but there was still a sunflower maze.  It was beautiful.  The girls got to watch the honey bees collecting pollen.  It is their first time seeing a real live bee.  When we read about bees in their books, I always do the buzzing noise and then 'sting' them (tickle them).  So its nice for them to be able to associate it with something real, although they will be shocked the first time they are actually stung . . . it's not a fun tickle, that's for sure. 

 

 

Dadda and his girls surrounded by a field of sunflowers.

 

We also got to play in a corn pit and go on a hayride.  The girls were really unsteady in the corn pit, so they mostly just stood in place and picked up handfuls of corn and then eventually fell on their bottoms.  The hayride was a nice ride past the berry bushes that we picked blueberries from this May, and more pumpkins and fields and farm equipment and scarecrows.

 

We had a great morning at the pumpkin patch.  It'll be a lot of fun next year, when they can run around more. 

 

 

Little Rock Zoo in Fall

We had beautiful weather here in Little Rock on Sunday.  To celebrate, we went to the zoo.  And thanks to the wonderful Central Arkansas Library system, we were able to get the girls in free with our library cards this month.  That saved us $14.   

 

 

The girls got to watching monkeys play around and koi swimming in the moat.  Some of those koi are really big.  And the girls made the 'ooh ooh' monkey sound.  Momma's little monkeys.

  

The girls liked watching the penguins and kept saying 'wa' for waddle even though the penguins were swimming, not waddling.  It is a neat exhibit.  Both times we've gone there have been penguins swimming right in front of us at the glass.

 

 This male gorilla was putting on quite a show for us, charging back and forth.  He kept looking up at all the people watching him.  Something in his look made me feel guilty that he is penned up and exhibited for people's pleasure.  With the other animals, like the tiger, I looked in their eyes and it didn't bother me.  But the gorilla's gaze held too much understanding and it just didn't feel right. 

Last time we went to the zoo the girls were only 9 months old so they did not get much from the trip.  This time though they were much more interested in the actual animals (instead of other kids watching the animals although they were still occasionally distracted by them).  We were also able to let them out of the stroller more so they could toddle around and explore that way.  D got to watch a giraffe bending down to eat some leaves off the ground.  The giraffe looked very awkward doing it, but it was neat to see.

 

The lion family were all resting right by one of their enclosure's windows so we let the girls out of the stroller to watch them. I thought this was a good shot of T looking at the lioness.

 

We had a wonderful time at the zoo.  I think in the spring we will get the year family pass so we will go more often.   By then they will be walking a lot better.