Feeding the Baby

Wesley is always asking to hold his baby bother and he really wanted to give him a bottle. Josiah needs to take a bottle to make it easy for Joan when I go back to work (three 1/2 days a week). So, this week everyone got some practice with the bottle.
Wesley and Lydia did great holding Josiah and giving him a bottle and little Josiah quickly emptied the bottle. Now we just need to keep practicing this a few times a week.

The Big Hat and the Mouse

Last Friday it was Jacob's turn to go some place with Grandma and Wesley and Lydia. Grandma, being the adventerous kind, decided to take them to Chuck E. Cheese. First she took them to the Sombrero Tower at South of the Boarder.
The kids thought it was pretty cool to be 200 feet up in the air.

They had a great time at Chuck E. Cheese riding the little rides.

Lydia loves carousels.

Wesley and Lydia are probably going to be roller coaster enthusiasts.

I am sure they would love to ride a roller coaster like this one.

Surprisingly, no one napped on the way home from Friday's adventures.

The Big Boy

Before Wesley and Lydia even got in the car to go to Grandma's house, Lydia asked her, "Can we go to the big boy again?" She was talking about Eddie at Edventure, the children's museum. Wesley and Lydia really like this museum and they have fun on the play structure inside of Eddie.
Grandma took them last Thursday to see Eddie again. Lydia also liked "driving" the car. Check out her boots.
This time Daniel went with them to the museum.

Dianna said that Lydia especially enjoyed the grocery store. She also loved this at the children's museum in Richmond.

While Wesley and Daniel played on the fire truck, Lydia continued to check out groceries.

This slide looks like a lot of fun.

The kids cooled off with some water play.

And then enjoyed a treat! Wesley picks sponge bob every time.

Lydia also found her favorite dental patient.

Simple Backyard Fun

I got half the things done on my to-do list last week because it was a very simple to-do list - clean the entire house, de-clutter a closet, and finish a digital scrapbook that I had already started. I didn't finish any of the three items but I got each of them 1/2 way done.

I decluttered the closet by getting rid of the all the gift bags I have collected for the last five and a half years. I saved every gift bag I received from all the showers I had when I was expecting Wesley. (I had three part-time jobs at the time and each hosted a shower for me, our Sunday school class had a shower for us, and my friends gave me a shower.) I thought I would re-use all those gift bags and I continued to save all the other ones I was given over the years. What was I thinking? Getting rid of all of them really freed up the space in one closet.

We don't have a yard but the kids love playing in their Grandma and Grandpa's yard. Ryan taught Wesley how to play badminton. I loved playing badminton with my mom when I was a kid. I would still like to play it.

Grandma got a sprinkler for the kids. Of course, they loved it.

The kids rode the ride-on-toys through the sprinkler.
Actually, Ryan skateboarded through it.

The kids also helped take care of the beautiful yard.

Grandma was brave to let Lydia have control of the water hose.

Lydia likes to water the plants.

Lydia said she swept the sand with little strokes.

Aquarium Fun

The Saturday after Josiah was born, my mother-in-law took Wesley and Lydia home with her. They were so excited to go. I missed them a lot but it was a relaxing week with just Josiah. I had hoped to get a lot of projects done and I did manage to complete about half of my to-do list.
On Monday Dianna took Wesley and Lydia and Ryan to the aquarium.

Dianna said the kids really liked touching the horseshoe crabs.

Ryan picked one up to show Lydia.

That is a big crab.

Wesley picked up a smaller one.

Lydia was able to touch them in the water. There was also a touch tank with sting rays. The kids also liked seeing all the sharks in the tunnel as they rode the moving walkway.

Ryan did a good job taking this picture.

Dianna had lots of funny stories to tell us about the kids. For instance, Wesley and Lydia slept almost the entire way home from the aquarium. When they got back to Grandma's house Wesley said, "It was a lot faster coming home than going there." Ryan told him, "That is because you slept all the way home." Wesley denied sleeping in the car.

Date Night

Yummy takeout
Cooperative baby

Chocolate Gravy

On one of my first trips to South Carolina to visit Chris’ parents they introduced me to chocolate gravy. I am told this recipe was developed during the depression. It makes for a rather sweet breakfast.

On Saturday morning, I made drop biscuits and Dianna made chocolate gravy. Wesley and Lydia loved it, of course! Chocolate for breakfast! Dianna sometimes puts it over ice cream for an after dinner treat.

Mix together the following dry ingredients.
2/3 cup cocoa
¾ cup sugar
½ cup flour
Dash of salt
Add a little cold tap water to make a paste.
Add 1 ½ cup milk (you may need to add another ½ cup later).
Stir with a wooden spoon over low heat. Don’t let it get lumpy on the bottom. Once it starts bubbling then you can add more milk.
Remove from heat.
Add ½ stick of butter
And 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Serve warm over drop biscuits. Chris’ family breaks up the drop biscuits and then adds the chocolate gravy. The goal is for no white on the biscuits to be showing.

Drop Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Mix dry ingredients then add 1 cup of buttermilk (I have also used regular milk, without adding vinegar to it, because I picked up the wrong milk and dumped it in).
Add 4 tablespoons of melted butter
Stir until just blended (don’t over mix). Drop by about ¼ cupfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheets. I get 12 biscuits out of this recipe.
Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.