Monday, November 23, 2009

Turkey Treats

Turkey treats

(Recipe found here.)

I had a little helper making these...

hard at work!

After sampling the ingredients, she was very proud to finally put together a turkey all on her own!
Proud girl showing off her work

Shiloh's very own turkey treat

After we added the wings, she began calling them, "My angels... my pretty angels." Every time she strolls through the kitchen she checks up on them, asking, "Hi my pretty angels. How you doing?"

Hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving and takes time to count your blessings!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This is a video from a couple of months ago that I never got around to posting. She sings the entire song now, but this is still pretty cute.


video

Shi's sweet soccer skillz

Check out her scissor fake:

video


Just like the pros. Mommy's so proud!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Big girl bed!

Big girl bed!

Saturday night was our little girl's first night in her not-so-little-girl bed. Nick and I were curious what would happen if we went ahead and converted her crib into the toddler bed, so we just went for it. And... the first night was a little bumpy. She fell out twice. I knew she rolled around a lot (as in, A LOT) in her sleep so I was somewhat prepared for this. But I can't say I believe it's all her doing, because I think this makes kind of a weird toddler bed. I mean, who thought having that huge gap in the middle was a good idea?!?

Since then, she has fallen out 1-2 more times... but one of them was during "naptime" when she was trying to do a flip in her bed. (This new bed is so EXCITING, you see!!)

But ohhhhh boy, is it comfortable!

Sooooo comfortable!!

It's also a GREAT bed for reading.

Daddy daughter reading time

Actually, Mommy may have started a bad habit... I thought it would be fun to climb in bed with her and read her bedtime stories. And it is ever so sweet! It's becoming a nightly ritual. Instead of sitting in the glider, she requests either Nick or me to climb in bed with her, she'll gather up 2-3 of her "bee"s [blankets], and she'll say, "I way on you tummy?" Then she snuggles into us with her head on our chest and we read stories. It's so cozy and warm... all the way to my heart :)

Hopefully, she'll get the hang of her big girl bed soon... but when she does, it'll just be another sign telling me what I'm refusing to acknowledge--that she's growing up much too quickly!!

Felt animal board

Shhh... Shiloh hasn't seen this yet!

Felt animal board

Here's to hoping the girl gets a kick out of it. :)

Monday, November 9, 2009

Chai Apple Pie Coffee Cake

Yes, I realize the name is quite a mouthful... and so is this tasty treat!

Chai Apple Pie Coffee Cake

I stumbled across this interesting recipe here, which was an adaptation of the original recipe from here. I went with the adapted recipe, of course, because it added streusel. I've yet to meet a streusel treat I didn't like!

Cake:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup chai tea latte concentrate (recommended: Oregon Chai™ Tea Latte, Original; however, I used Tazo because it's all I could find at Meijer)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Streusel:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

Apple Topping:
2 cups of apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chai tea latte concentrate
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch baking dish, 9-inch cake pan or a small bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and mix until crumbly, with your fingers or a pastry blender. In a separate bowl, mix together chai concentrate, egg and vanilla. Blend into flour mixture, spoon the mixture into the pan, and spread it with a spatula or knife.
3. For the streusel, place 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3 tablespoons butter in a small bowl. Pinch together with your fingers until crumbly. Set aside.
4. To make the apple topping, sauté apples in 2 tablespoons butter for approximately 2 minutes in a small saucepan. Add chai concentrate, cover and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Spread the streusel on the batter. Spoon apples over the top, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Cool cake on wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Beautiful Bernheim

A Day in Photos:

Love these fall colors!!

Beautiful colors

Artsy

Stone architecture

Gorgeous tree

Pretty

Rooftop glimpse

Intriguing statue

Pretty in purple

Oohh, pretty!

So pretty...

Daddies are always good for a lift.

Playing in the leaves

Pretty girl

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Creative Musician

This is how Mommy tries teaching me to play the piano:
The "proper" way to play piano

But I'd rather play like this:
A more interesting way to play piano

Or... even better! Like this:
The most interesting way yet to play piano!

School is in session!

... or a very brief version of it, anyway!

School desk & poster

We're putting Shi's school desk to use and loosely following this curriculum (which I modified to include a Bible verse instead of a vocab word) to do some "learning activities." The website also gives some good ideas for activities to do and books to read related to the weekly theme. Now I am on the hunt for some good craft websites, but I'm not too creative on that front! But it is probably Shi's favorite part of doing "school."

Now if only my little scholar's attention span were a bit longer... ha! (I know, I know... she's a toddler!) :D

Monday, November 2, 2009

All things girly

Well, here's my first attempt at some bows and clippies. I'm ready for another trip to the fabric store for more ribbon. :)

First batch of bows

How am I doing?
Also, does anyone know of any good online tutorials for different types of bows?