Surprise! It's June!

Yes, we're alive, just busy as always. No excuses this time (wait, did I already give one? oops. Well no MORE excuses, certainly). I decided it's ultra boring to only go backwards to catch up, and most likely not going to ever be achieved, because, really, who wants to see pictures from 8 months ago anyway. It's all about the here and now, baby. I may slip in some old ones at some point, but it will be sporadic at best. Onto the good stuff, pictures of course. Oh yes, and cake too.

As for little man, he seems to be getting bigger every second. And boy, oh boy, has the language explosion occurred this month. He now says words like "bus" and "juice" with amazing precision. The speech therapist in me is beaming at every sound. Of course, the mommy in me is working to sound interested when he says it at every truck that passes by in the car. But really, at the end of the day, I always want to eat him up every second. Look at this kid. I bet you want to eat him too.

Now for the month's Recap:

So, in case you missed it, it was my birthday. I'll forgive you for sending my presents late. ahem. Anyway, John did a fantastic job of spoiling me this year. He made me many many meals throughout the entire birthday weekend. Got me a superb fancy green watch (which, sadly, got returned to Costco and put into savings for one fancy camera instead, release date to be determined). On my birthday eve however, he invited friends over for cake and ice cream. We devoured not one, but two delicious cakes. The first of which was a delightful rainbow chip cake made by Jane, John's mom.

And the second one, I made. Now, I know that it's sort of against the rules to make your own cake, but I wanted to. I really enjoy a good bake off, especially when I know I won't be doing the dishes. Plus, this is a lemon angel food cake that my mom always made for me on my birthday and it had to be just right (not unlike many things in my life, the dishwasher, the pillowcases, my closet hangers, there are rules people). And of course, I couldn't let John take all the credit. I'm super selfish in case you haven't met me. Sadly, I failed to get a group shot. So if you were there, I hope you remember it. It wasn't THAT crazy of a party.Next thing on the list, John climbed Half Dome! He went with these crazy yeah-hoos:and of course, had an amazing time.

And in case you didn't know it, John is super skinny. And super hot. So proud of him. ahhhhh.

Then came Father's Day. I had a super fantastic day with meals planned, activities planned, and I don't think anything I planned happened accordingly. First off, I told John I would be making him biscuits and gravy for breakfast, I slept in, and when i woke up, he was "setting up" for breakfast (aka halfway through making them), oops. Then we went to church, I think I did make him some lunch, and then he did get to take a gigantic nap along with Ethan. Then instead of my park day feeding the animals, John begged to go fishing instead. So we went to the Delta. It was awesome. All except for the part where Ethan kissed the fish...on the lips!!!!

The following weekend, Ethan and I went boating with the youth group in our church. It was awesome. Here is Ethan saying, "cheese." Funny how saying "cheese" doesn't actually make you smile, eh?
I met a new friend, actually the sister of one of my friends, I shall call her fancy Nancy, although she goes by many other names. She was one heck of a tubing partner. Ethan screamed his head off the entire time we were on the tube. Well I guess I was screaming too, but for entirely different reasons.At the end of the day though, we loved it. As we love all water sports and non-work activities.

The following week, another birthday celebration! Yeah! I love it when it lasts all month long. Next year, for the big 3-0 I hope it lasts for a month too, hint hint, John.

Funny how you can look so awkward with balloons on your head. Yeah, I was totally surprised too.And the fantastic ladies who helped me celebrate. And especially my friend, Tara, who I bullied into making me a fantastic apron. I love it, and wear it daily.Now for the last weekend, I know, you thought the month would never end, huh? So it's been super hot, in the triple digits party people, so I decided, since we don't have a pool we can go to all the time, we needed to bring some pool to us. So I bought E this little mini pool that has little spout all around it. It worked like a dream!E and I ran through it, laid in it, splashed in it. It was all I could ever hope for a $15 investment.

And did you check out his speedo? Ah, my heart melts for this little one.

Now, just one tiny little tidbit. I started running. Like, not after a ball or anything, but for fun. Well, torture, really, but kind of a sick-pleasure. It's been three weeks now of running everyday. I'm running now 2.75 miles every morning at 6am. So when you see me, you should ask and make sure I'm still doing it ok? Somehow by putting it in print, it lets me brag, but it also makes me have to keep doing it, just in case you ask.

What's the mama tomato say to the baby tomato?

Ketchup! Get it? I'm trying to get back on the band wagon and add some photos here to the blog again along with some supremely cheesey narration. But, in order to keep every thing flowing correctly, I'm changing the dates to just pretend like I posted on time, and no one will know the wiser. Except in the case of all you google reader fans, who will have this random new one from September of last year. Oh and you might notice that Ethan has grown up quite a bit! But at least I'll be putting something up new to look at right? Until then, here are some photos courtesy of my new iphone. See? I have been busy.

Ethan, 17 months.

Thanks-Giving

*Note to my avid readers, I'm sorry that I'm still doing my catch-up homework, but our computer broke, (and may still break again in the not-too-distant future) thankfully we were able to recover everything, but I was not able to update the blog. I'm back on the bandwagon again, and am ready to recommit myself to update again.

We had the Crawford Crazies (love you!) over to our house again this year for Thanksgiving. This is the Holiday that always seems to sneak up on me like a week after Halloween. But we get our fill and I get to eat my favorite food, Thanksgiving Yams. (Enter shout-out for Aunt Sally for her super sweet recipe).

Family Shot:

The star of the show:

Or was it these scrumptious delights? (see the yams, front and center)

Ethan fell in love with Cody this year. Cody had an amazing Indiana Jones hat that he bravely let E play with throughout the festivities. E now repeats "hat" all the time, and does the baby sign along with it.

Here is said Cody, again, entertaining E. I think Cody might have even gotten a little jealous of E's sweet ride.

GG (Great Grandma) and Grandma

Sharon & Tim

Juli, Joanie, & Meriel (Please tell me I've learned to spell your names right)

Courtney, James, Cody, Brigitte, and Zach

Pie-Palooza

This post is for all of my friends who say that they really want to learn how to make pies, but then never come over to make them with me. aka, my first attempt at a tutorial.  Lucky for you, my friend Tammy did come over (I swear I'm not as bitter as I sound), and even luckier, has a fancy camera to document our hard work. Of course, if you're just looking for the secret recipe, you may find it here (pie crust) and here (Razzleberry Filling). I'm totally famous and was featured as a guest blogger on my friend's recipe blog. I know you're jealous. And without further ado:

Pie Crust That Will Make You Famous

Special equipment:

1 Large Pie tin (I prefer 10 inch)

1 tea towel

1 pastry knife or pastry cutter

Combine the following Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 pinches sugar

Mix. Then add:

1 cup shortening (I prefer butter-flavored, but do what you must)

Then, using the pastry knife, cut the shortening into the flour mixture,

until it is uniformly the texture of cornmeal (less is more here). 

Pour cold water, about 2 tablespoons at a time, evenly over all and mix quickly with a fork

Shape into a ball, then divide ball into two equal pieces. Cover one ball with a towel.

Using a floured, flat napped tea towel, roll the other ball flat, evenly rolling from the center outward with a rolling pin (nonstick or silicone works best here). Be careful to keep the circle even and round as you roll. Don’t be afraid to patch, either. You will have to occasionally add flour as you roll when the dough begins to stick. 

When the circle becomes approximately the size of your pie tin in diameter, fold in half, and place inside the pie plate. Unfold the pie dough and adjust to fit your pie plate. Patchwork is not frowned upon.

Fill the unbaked pie shell with berries. By berries I, of course, mean a 12 ounce package of frozen raspberries, and 1 pound package of frozen boysenberries. (I have also substituted the costco three berry mix here with delightful results (not the whole bag of course, this is only 1 pie).

In a separate mixing bowl, combine 1/3 cup flour and 1 ½ cup – 1 2/3 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it). Pour over the berries. 

Cut 2 tablespoons butter in small chunks and place evenly over flour & berry mixture.

Drizzle 1 Tablespoon vanilla over the top of everything. 

Roll out second ball of dough, using above directions. Then, if you're super fancy like me, you can use cookie cutters to make vents for steam to escape during the baking process.

Place second crust on top with vents. 

Place the second crust over the filling and press the two crusts together at the edge of the pie plate, sealing them to each other. 

Using a sharp knife, cut off both crusts evenly, slightly larger than the pie plate. Tuck the excess under the edge of the plate and crimp the edge of the crusts with your fingers in a decorative pattern all of the way around the pie. Optional: Brush egg-white over the top for a nice glossy finish.

Place in 375 degree oven for about an hour. Cook until lightly browned. Don’t forget to put a baking sheet on the shelf underneath to avoid a messy cleanup. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

November

E has discovered that hiding in cupboards is an excellent way to entertain oneself. Look at that dashing smile. 14 months already!

That and, enjoying the benefits of being a Costco shopper, you get to play with the cardboard boxes.

E and Henry, his cousin, got to spend quite a lot of time together this month. Next month they will be making bff bracelets. Here are the boys as they enjoy the Oakland Zoo. Neither one seemed too impressed with the whole thing, but mama got some great shots of the giraffes, elephants, lions before the camera went out.

Here are the boys getting a hose down.

Henry playing chauffeur.

E seems a little more wreckless.

Enjoying the views from the Living Room

This month Kai came for a visit (and brought Justin too) and we got the boys together for a photo shoot.