A Conversation With Luke

A conversation I had with Luke in the car today.  I'm blogging it just so I have it written down somewhere.

Luke:  Mommy, why do babies cry when they come out of their mommies?
Me:  Well, they are cold and hungry and they're naked!  (lots of giggles)
Luke:  How do they eat when they are in the hospital?
Me:  They either eat from their mommies or the nurses give them formula which is a special milk for babies. 
Luke:  And I ate from you right?
Me:  Yes, both you and Sam did.
Luke:  Do you mean from these?  (points to his chest)
Me:  Yes.
Luke:  What are those called?
Me:  Breasts.
Luke:  Oh, then what are boobs?
Me:  Well, boobs are another word for them.
Luke:  Oh, then what are broads?
Me: BRAs are a piece of clothing that women wear to keep their boobs up.
Luke:  Oh, ok. 

And that was that.

Year of Desserts

I love dessert.  Doesn't everyone?  Now that I live in Washington again I've had more opportunities to make desserts which has been a great excuse to try new and fun recipes.  As each holiday approached this year or plans were made with friends I would quickly volunteer to make dessert and set out to find something that fit the occasion.  They were all quite tasty and easy to make so I thought I'd share them here.  I'll put in pictures and the recipe when available, most of them are found on the Kraft Foods website.

Here's how the year went:

August - Luke's Fourth Birthday - Train Cake

I'm starting with a dessert that my sister Jenni made but it turned out so cool that I had to share!  We had a train themed party and the cake was perfect!

 

November - Thanksgiving - Layered Pumpkin Dessert

A yummy layered dessert that fit great with fall colors!  It went nice with a little Bailey's on the rocks.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/layered-pumpkin-dessert-127640.aspx

 

December - Little Christmas - Chocolate Mousse Torte

We celebrate "Little Christmas" every year with the Omdal family at my sister's house.  I had been eyeing this dessert, a Chocolate Mousse Torte, for a long time and was excited to finally make it.  It even look really close to the picture and tasted just as good.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate-mousse-torte-114021.aspx

February - Jenni's Fortieth Birthday - Triple Chocolate Bliss Cake

I hosted a party for Jenni's 40th birthday.  She said she wanted something with chocolate so I found this one.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/triple-chocolate-bliss-cake-97892.aspx

 

April - Easter - Angel Lush

I made this one years ago and decided to give it another try.  Can't quite get it to stand up straight but it sure tasted good!  A nice "springy" dessert.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/angel-lush-pineapple-74114.aspx

 

June - Father's Day - S'mores Cups

These just looked yummy and since we were doing finger foods for dinner I thought they would fit in perfectly.  I didn't get a picture of the final product but Luke and I had fun making them.  Careful how long you bake them, the edges got a bit too crusty.

http://cupcakecrusaders.com/2011/10/26/smores-cups/

Fun Nights with Friends

Here are a few desserts I've made either to bring to friends' houses or when we've had people over.

Tiramisu Pie

Very yummy if you like a bit of coffee flavor in your dessert.  Sorry, no pic.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-tiramisu-pie-106927.aspx

Cookie Brownies

A few friends posted this one on facebook and I had to try it.  SO easy and super yummy.  Amazing combination of cookies, brownies, and peanut butter!  I made the mistake of leaving them in the pan too long after taking them out of the oven so they didn't come out in once piece.  I might have over baked as well.  Next time I might try in cupcake liners.  Oh, and would also be good with some vanilla ice cream.

http://krazyclippers.com/2013/04/03/awesome-treat-for-chocolate-lovers/

Strawberry Dream Squares

I used a mix of frozen fruit in this one and it worked out great.  In addition to strawberries there were blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  Tasted great after a lasagna dinner.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/strawberry-dream-squares-112591.aspx

Homemade Twix Bars

This one was a hit! I made it to bring to Gemma's for dinner with the crew and had leftovers for Father's Day.  I messed up on the caramel layer (I had caramel dip so it was too runny when you cut into it) but no one seemed to mind.

http://www.highheelsandgrills.com/2012/07/homemade-twix-bars.html

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight
This one I messed up on.  I didn't plan ahead for the friends we were having over that night and missed the "refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight" part.  It only had a few hours to set and even after putting it in the freezer for a while it wasn't quite put together by the time I served it.  Luckily it still tasted yummy but it was a quite mess, hence, no picture!  I'll try it again someday.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chocolate-chip-cookie-delight

August - Luke's Fifth Birthday - Batman Cake
And we came full circle this weekend with another great birthday cake by Aunt Jenni!  Luke's new obsession is Batman so Jenni found a way to make the logo out of Candy Melts and it turned out great.

Looking forward to another year of yummy experiments!!

 

Pre-School

Luke had his last day of Pre-school today.  He has had the best year and we've been so happy with his first school experience!  From the first day he has loved every moment and it was always so fun to hear about his day when I got home.

A few highlights:

• Mrs. Crossen, Mrs. Crossen, Mrs. Crossen - this lady should be Sainted (if we did that in the Lutheran Church!)
• Weekly show-and-tell that correlated to the letter of the week.  It was always a fun family challenge to see what we could come up with.  Winston usually was the creative genius in this category!
• The playground (of course)
• His "buddies"
• Going to school with his cousins
• Art projects - many wonderful paintings have graced our walls and provided beautiful holiday and seasonal decorations
• Family Chapel
• Great songs and Bible stories
• Being snack person - a monthly occurrence where you brought the snack, choose the prayer, songs, led calendar, etc.  On Monday they celebrated his birthday as snack person and he couldn't sleep for a week he was so excited. 
• Watching him grow into this amazing little guy who thinks outside of the box, is excited about learning and life, and shows compassion for others. 

Two more days for me and then bring on Summer!!

The night before and the First Day of School - September 2012

Last Day of School - June 2013 - And one pants size bigger!

 Marin, Luke, and Silje ready for the last day of school

Mrs. Roth and Mrs. Crossen

Samuel Turns Two!

Our "baby" Samuel is now two.  Hard to believe that two years have gone by - and they have been quite the two eventful years for our family!  Having Sam, selling a house, leaving Texas, and then settling into life in Washington.  We celebrated as a small family on Wednesday with dinner and presents and then had a bigger celebration with the rest of the family on Saturday.  Cousin Ailey turned eight last Monday so we had a double family party for them with lunch, cake, and more presents. 

April 10, 2011

 April 10, 2012

 April 10, 2013

 

I made a video to showcase to highlights of Sam's life...enjoy!  It's about 4 minutes long.

http://youtu.be/5YkouuahZCU

Halloween Train

Luke got a big surprise today - his first ride on a real train!  If you travel through the history of this blog you will find several mentions - or entire posts - about Luke and trains.  We have found several fun trains to go on in the past;  zoo trains, aquarium trains, Christmas trains, etc., but today was the first REAL train.  We went to the Northwest Train Museum in Snoqualmie and went on the Halloween Train.  The museum is a restored train depot where you can ride on a train of antique railroad coaches.  The ride takes you to North Bend and back with beautiful views of the Cascade Mountains, fall leaves, and Snoqualmie River with a tiny glimpse of Snoqualmie Falls.  Wearing your Halloween costume got you $2 off your ticket so of course Luke was dressed in his train conductor outfit and fit right in!

 "Hey Luke, give me an "I'm excited for the train face'!"

We enjoyed hot apple cider from the cider press

(on the platform) before the trip.

Waiting to get on the train.

  Luke was so excited to see the real train conductor

and hand over our tickets. 

He thought it was just like being on the Polar Express!

 It was naptime for Samuel - the movement of the train 

kept him relaxed for a while.

 We saw the top of the falls and then the river. 

Even on a rainy day it was beautiful.

 It's Washington - you have to deal with raindrops getting in your pictures!



Life With Boys

Luke and I have an agreement for bathtime.  He likes to take baths with his brother so they have some time to play with their bath toys, splash around for a while, and then Luke gets to play longer while I get Sam ready for bed.  The rooms and bathroom have always been close enough that I can leave Luke to play as long as he stays on his bottom and answers when I yell out, "Luke, are you okay?"  (He also has so little water that I'm not sure why it's fun or warm enough to play!). 

The other night after putting a fresh clean Sam in his crib to play with toys I headed in to wash Luke and get him ready for bed.  I found him laying in the water pointing at his (very long and hard!) penis and laughing.  The following conversation followed:

"Mommy, look how big my penis is!".  (giggle, giggle)
"Yes, Luke, it is."
"Mommy, why is my penis so big?"
"Well....(thinking...stalling...)...that's just what happens to penises sometimes."
"Mommy, I tried to push it down but it just keeps growing and growing and growing." (said while pushing his penis against his body with his entire hand)  "It is SO long!" (continuous giggles)
"Just leave it alone and it will go back down."
I assume this is just the first of many penis conversations I'm going to have over the years.  I would love it if they could all be this funny!

Luke's Train Party

Luke loves trains.  I mean Luke REALLY loves trains.  He loves train books, train toys, and making train noises.  He loves driving over train tracks, watching trains go by, and watching train videos on YouTube.  So it only seemed fitting to have a train party for his fourth birthday.  He got to help pick out the supplies - he went for the decorations that looked like real trains instead of the cute cartoon ones -  we transformed the playhouse into a train station, Luke dressed as a train conductor, and we were all set!  The weather was perfect for outdoor play and a BBQ and good times were had by all.

The whole family got in the train spirit!

Train cake by Aunt Jenni.

Blowing out the candles.

Why use a fork?!?

Twins and mommies get to hang out and trade stories.

It's been a few years since college!

Happy Birthday Luke!!!