It is official - Nicholas is a WALKER!

You know your little one is a proficient walker when he can stop in mid-stride, glance over his shoulder at you while grinning and then keep walking forward ... without falling on his rear-end.

I am desperately trying to catch a few moments of his first steps on a video clip but no success yet....

5 Things Game

The "5 THINGS GAME"



The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.



10 years ago...

1. I was engaged.

2. I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my extended family on my Mom's side.

3. Working two jobs to help pay for wedding.

4. I had my own Holy Hour at Church - WOW! Now I can only find a Holy 5 Minutes in my day.

5. I was childless.



5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List...

1. Clean the kitchen,

2. So I can go grocery shopping. (We'll see how crazy Wal-mart is two days before Turkey Day.)

3. Mop the kitchen floor.

4. De-Clutter our guest room.

5. Say my daily prayers because it is going to be one busy, hectic day!



5 Snacks I Enjoy...

1. Coca-Cola & Jalapeno Chips

2. Chocolate

3. Peanut Butter

4. Coffee & Scones

5. Did I say Coca-Cola & Jalapeno Chips - very good combo!



5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire

1. Pay off my house and then build an extra room for a dining room.

2. Buy a Mini-Cooper. So Cute.

3. Help my church build a new building.

4. Pay off all of my siblings house mortgages.

5. Fund Michael's Chess Hobby & School Hobby:)



5 Places I Have Lived... I'm trying not to give too much personal info here, so generics:

1. Kansas 25 years

2. Kansas 1 year

3. Oklahoma 2 years

4. Kansas 3 years

5. Nebraska 3 years



5 Jobs I've had/Still have...

1. Dillons grocery clerk

2. Insurance Adjuster's secretary

3. Insurance Agent

4. A.G. Edwards office person (now I can't remember the title)

5. Mother to 3 little people - which means I'm a cook, cleaner, driver, gardener, entertainer, story-reader, librarian, stain-remover, teacher, and nurse.

Okay.. now I am tagging 5 friends...

1. Florena
2. Dawn
3. Matt
4. Erin
5. Chrissy

Nicholas is a walker ... and a climber!

My 10 month old is becoming more and more mobile. This past week he has been taking tentative steps between furniture & people. He can climb the staircase so quickly & quietly - that sometimes he is up on the next level before I even know it! I think by Thanksgiving Day he should really be getting about even more!

This may have been the shortest 10 months ever.

Patricia Polacco

I have discovered an author of some wonderful children's books, Patricia Polacco. As often happens at the library, the kids and I randomly pick books from the shelves. Sometimes they are real duds, but other times they are hidden jewels. So it is with Patricia Polacco's work. Many of her stories are from her own life or from her family's experiences as Russian immigrants to the United States. Here is the short list of books by Mrs. Polacco that we've been reading the last two weeks:

The Keeping Quilt

Babushka's Doll

The Bee Tree

Thank You, Mr. Falker

Thunder cake

Chicken Sunday

Just Plain Fancy

It may seem silly that I am writing so much about children's literature. As I kid, I didn't read very much so I am discovering many of these books for the first along with my children. Actually much of Patricia Polacco's work is quite recent, but I think it will stand the test of time.

Oh, by the way, this is E Week at our house. Here are some of our favorite E stories:

Ella, Eli, & Encore for Eleanor by Bill Peet.

The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling.

ENJOY!

Biscotti

I've been wanting to try my hand at biscotti for a long time. I finally borrowed the book Biscotti by Lou Seibert Pappas from the library. After perusing the different recipes, I decided to try the first one, Biscotti Toscani. It was very easy to make - not hard at all. Homemade tastes so much better than biscotti from a coffee house. Next, I'm going to try a chocolate dipped recipe. I know what I will be making for my holiday baking this year!


Biscotti Toscani

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole almonds (I substituted sliced almonds)
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

1. Place nuts in a shallow pan and bake in preheated 325 degree oven until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool.
2. In a mixing bowl cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, almond extract & orange zest.
3. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, nutmeg & salt. Add to the creamed mixture, mixing until blended. Cut almonds into halves or thirds and fold in. (I substituted the sliced almonds).
4. Divide dough in half. (Dough will be sticky - used floured hands.) Place on a greased & floured baking sheet (I used a slightly floured Pampered Chef round stone) and form into two logs about 1/2" thick, 1 1/2" wide and 12" long, spacing them at least 2" apart.
5. Bake in the middle of preheated 325 degree oven for 25 minutes or until a light golden brown. Transfer from the baking sheet to a rack. Let cool 5 minutes.6. Place on a cutting board. With a serrated knife slice diagonally at a 45 degree angle about 1/2" thick. Lay the slices flat on the baking sheet and return to the oven for 10 minutes, turning them over once, to dry slightly. Let cool on a rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen (or so) biscotti

Kid's Literature

1st Quarter - Week 9

We have a "C" theme this week, so many of the characters in the books we are reading begin as such. You'll also find a quilting theme. Our Five In A Row book this week is The Rag Coat, which is the story of a poor Appalachian girl and her homemade coat.

Curious George Learns the Alphabet & Curious George Gets A Medal by H.A. Rey
The Patchwork Cat by Nicola Bayley. Great story about a Tabby that sets out to retrieve her beloved patchwork quilt. My favorite passage from the disgruntled cat: Tabby licks herself and thinks. "I should send this family away and let the milkman stay with me."
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. All-time favorite children's story!
The Name Quilt by Phillis Root. Loved this story about a Grandma & a quilt.
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo! by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel. Very funny spin on the Little Red Hen story.
The Baby BeeBee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie; illustrated by Steven Kellogg. Another all-time favorite library book.
Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco. Very valuable story about a little girl who gets a doll that turns out to be twice as rambunctious as her owner.
Cock-A-Doodle Dudley, Chester the Worldly Pig & Cowardly Clyde by Bill Peet. Mr. Peet has become one of my favorite story tellers. Always very clever and great illustrations. No wonder - he was a Disney artist for many years.
Carl's Masquerade by Alexandra Day. I liked the illustrations in this book, but I don't care for books that have few to no words. The main character is Carl, a Rottweiler. Not exactly the kind of dog I want to lead my children to think are safe & cuddly!
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
C is for Clown by Jan & Stan Berenstain
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Candy eaters...

My kids are funny. They are quite picky about candy. They don't just eat any candy. Sophia likes plain Hershey's chocolate, M&Ms and gummis. Will likes M&Ms, sugary Spree-type candies and suckers. They both like Twizzlers.

So, where does that leave all the caramels, Kit Kats, Almond Joys, Snickers, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, Twix, Whoppers, Butterfingers, Baby Ruths, Peanut M&Ms, hard candies and jaw breakers?

This is why Halloween is fast becoming one of my favorite times of the year also;)