The Wonderment of a Child

Despite being sick David still had the energy to follow this little lady bug around the floor. The bug had come in with the dill we just picked and David carried it from his Nalgene bottle to the floor and all around the kitchen. We tried to keep him from touching the bug so that it would still move around. David eventually got the bug and it has since been smashed and stepped on. Poor bug!

A Good Friday Laugh

I was checking my email today and decided to check out the videos on google. I found this one and it made me laugh. I thought, 'who wouldn't want a good laugh on a Friday morning'. This video is called Baby Panda Sneeze.

It's COOOOOOLD!!!!!

33°F

You know is it winter (even though it is just the beginning of fall) here when you wake up at 8:30 in the morning and the temperature when you wake up is 33 degrees! Last night our low was already down to the 20 degrees (29 to be exact). I just can't believe it. I know that we lived here last fall/winter but I don't think I realized how drastic the temperature change was. I suppose since we spent most of the winter with lows in the single digits or below that the temperature needs to drop befor then. Hopefully everyone else out there is staying warm!

Seasons are a changin'

Well, apparently temperatures drop pretty quickly here. It's like fall during the day and winter at night. David has had to start wearing his winter pajamas to bed in order to be able to sleep through the night without waking up cold. As you can see from the picture he is really fast! His new thing is to look at the screen on the camera any time a picture is being taken. The problem is that we are usually trying to take a picture of him. Anyway, here he is already for bed in nice warm jammies.

While we were walking this week I decided to take some pictures and see if I could take a really good picture. Well I am proud to say that I think I 2 pretty good ones. The first is of some of our changing leaves. Of all the fall colors I love the reds the best. The second picture is one of those yellow ones (I don't even know what kind they are). I like the way that the petals droop down instead of up.
I was so proud of my pictures I showed them to Dustin. Since Dustin is taking a photography class this semester I asked him if I would get a good grade on these two pictures. He told me I would get a good grade only if I could talk about them in art terms. As you can tell my art terms are excellent!

I must say that fall is my favorite season of all of them. The reds, oranges, golds, and browns are just stunning. That is probaly why the colors in our house are those colors. Fall has a much different smell, it's so earthy and calming. It makes me want to curl up on the couch with a mug of hot cider or hot chocolate and read a book. I also enjoy walking around in fall weather because I can wear a pair of pants and t-shirt and just a light jacket and be perfectly content.

My Little Picasso

We have quite the budding artist on our hands. I think David wants to grow up to be just like his dad. A few weeks ago David had his crayons taken away because he colored on the TV, and so in Taos he got to color on the paper on the table. He loved coloring with those crayons and trying out all of the colors in the box, especially the oranges. Obviously the flowers and the train were not drawn by my budding artist but he had a great time.

Today, our preschool art project was apple stamp pictures. David did a great job using the apples as painting utensils. We also used some leaves and a pinecone to get different prints on the paper. David had a great time, especially using the apples as ways to smear the pain around the paper.

Sometimes I am amazed at the way kids do things. I think sometimes as an adult we forget about the fun of the process and concentrate too much on the product. It doesn't matter that David didn't print the stamps the way I pictured in my mind, what matters is that he was able to work on his own. His picture is still beautiful and he had a great time making it.

A Bunch of Silliness....Really

Our playdate today was to go to the park with David's friends Alex and Ava (and their moms too). All the kids were having fun, swinging, going down slides, climbing and everything else you can do at the park. David finally figured out how to go down the slide by himself without help to get started, I was so proud. When David was tired of the play equipment it was time to chase a squirrel. The squirrel ran around the playground, zigzagged by the big tree, faked David out at the telephone poll and ran up the next tree. David ran a fast as his little legs would carry him to try to catch this squirrel, no luck on catching him though. In the end all I heard was, "where's it?, where's it?" It was a fun day!

Yummy Recipe: Chocolate Harvest Cake

I found this recipe on Tamie's website. We tried it tonight and it was super yummy! It's not real sweet like cake is most of the time, it's just perfect.

Cake:
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. water
2/3 c. oil
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Glaze:
1/2 c. whipping cream
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

Prepare oven and pans: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 x 1 1/2 inch round baking pans; set aside. (I used two torte pans). In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, water, oil, sugar, eggs, baking soda and salt. Using a wire whisk whisk until well combined. Add flour and cocoa powder; whisk vigorously until smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. In a medium bowl whisk together cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon until thickened. Place one cake layer on plate. Spread filling over top. Top with second cake layer. In a saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (do not stir). Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour over cake, allowing glaze to drip down sides. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Top with desired toppers.

**Instead of whipping cream I used 2 1/2 tablespoons butter and 6 tablespoon milk.

We ate this desert with our neighbors and the missionaries and it was a big hit. We love it and I wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

The Sweetest Things

David has been able to do all of these things for quite a while now but it is still so cute everytime he does them, especially together. David's new fun thing to do is parrot words back to whoever says them. Today I told David, "I love You", he responded by saying his own version of it, gave me a hug and a kiss. It was just so cute!

Today I had the chance to hear David say something I had never heard him say before. After lining each block up next to the other one he would clap once and say, "Coo Cho" to say "good job". I really got a kick out of this and kept saying it so that he would repeat it.

Holiday Hooray!!!

We spent part of our Labor Day holiday weekend in Taos, NM with Dustin's parents. David loved spending time his Grandma & Grandpa Hinton and Aunt Danielle. We shopped on the plaza, visited the arts & crafts fair and tried to visit a couple of art museums but they were closed. Of course no trip is complete without visiting the park to play on the playground.

Right after lunch we decided to go to the plaza. We had parked a ways away (and we forgot to pack the stroller) so we walked a short distance to the plaza. Along the way we came across this nice little built in bench and though it would be perfect for a nice family picture. Continuing along the walk David got bored and in order to keep on the sidewalk and not in the road, Grandpa let David walk on the wall. This was a great adventure for David and he continued to try to climb and walk on every wall we encountered.

While shopping on the plaza we came a across a bookstore. I took David back to the children's section to pick out some books. Down at his level is a "Cars" book. Written especially for children learning to read. Now obviously David can't read yet, but we read to him and he recognizes the pictures. He probably sat in that store for a good 20 minutes "reading" "Cars" to us and everyone else in that section. We of course bought if for him. Not too far away from the bookstore, when David decided to leave, we found this horse ride. David loved riding it, although he was a little unsure of it at first. He had a great time and kept asking for more please!

This is the way.....

While sitting at breakfast Monday morning, David had to show Grandma & Grandpa how the connector on the back of the train really worked. He came up with it all on his own and had a great time playing. At least he was happy and entertained until his breakfast came!