June.

A photographic sampler of the month of June.

June 1: Water Play

June 2: Chuck'E'Cheese

or, More On Potty Training  Reinforcement

Elora, while fully capable of using the potty, has consistently shown a lack of enthusiasm for doing so.  Why gt up and go to the bathroom, when it doesn't seem to bother her in the least to have wet pants?  So, we've been trying to inspire the proper enthusiasm in her, both punishing her bad choices and rewarding her good ones.  This reward chart is actually something that I made for her back in January, but that I never blogged.

Note:  I made this exclusively for our own personal use.   I do not own the rights to any of these images.

These are the counters.  

I made 3 for Chuck E Cheese, 5 for the ice cream, and 7 for the movie.  I printed it all out at home, then took them to Office Depot to have them laminated.  I cut out all of the counters, and used Velcro in the squares on the chart and on the backs of the counters so that they could easily (and repeatedly) be moved around.  Then I hung it all on the wall right next to the potty, right at her eye level, with the card board sleeve from the movie hanging over it all so that she would be able to see that, too.

Based on advice I'd received and articles I'd read, I thought it might help to give her something to work toward, and for her to be able to see it and be reminded of it every time she went to the potty.  Initially, she was really, really excited about it, but she would never go more than a day or two without an accident.  Fast forward to June, and she FINALLY got her 3 days in a row!

June 6: At the Zoo (with Aunt Bekah)

We've been zoo-ing about once a month or so, since it got warm.  By this point, it had gotten hot, and knowing that they have these awesome water fountains just inside the zoo, we dressed the kids in their bathing suits.  We ended up getting there shortly before story time, though, so we did that first.

The kids could not wait to go play in the water, but when they got there, they were super shy about getting in it.  Elora, in particular, does not like to get water in her face, so she just kept backing into the fountains.  And of course, whatever Elora does, Kaylie must also do.

And then we learned that a baby giraffe had just been born that morning.  Have I ever mentioned that giraffes are Elora's favorite animals? These pictures aren't great, because they were taken through the glass and my camera kept wanting to focus on the fence rather than the giraffes (I forgot about manual focus), but isn't he sweet? Only about 7 hours old here, and already standing and walking around.  So, so cool.

June 14: Hopscotch

It was late in the day, either just before dinner or just after.  The girls and I had been inside all day--we hadn't even changed out of our PJ's.  It was a beautiful afternoon. not too hot, and Brandon decided it would be criminal if we didn't get at least a little fresh air.   We opened the garage door, set out the blue lawn chairs, and watched the girls play.

I didn't really take any pictures of their faces.  I was fascinated by the light, the nightgowns & boots, and the chalk lines.  Is it weird that I'm kind of in love with this picture?

June 28: Farmer's Market & A Speech Therapy Update

There's a farmer's market at the local park every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer, and Rebekah and I finally got around to taking the kids to check it out.  

We ended up eating half of our strawberries right there, they were so good!  We haven't made it back yet, but I'm thinking we really ought to.  

That afternoon, Kaylie had therapy.  We're still going twice a week, and Kaylie is making great progress!  She's added lots of new words to her vocabulary, and is signing for a lot of things as well.  Jennifer has moved from just trying to get Kaylie to repeat simple words to focusing on specific letter sounds and final consonants.  For example, Kaylie says "eee" for "eat", dropping the T and speaking only the beginning of the word.  We're trying to teach her to say the whole word.  At the end of each session, Jennifer always makes suggestions for what we can do with Kaylie at home, so that she continues to learn in between visits.

Elora always goes with us, and is always very good while we're there.  Jennifer either brings something special for Elora to play with, incorporates her into the lesson, or allows her to play one of the kid's games on her tablet.  Frankly, I think that might be Elora's favorite.

And that brings us to the end of June.  Next time, I'll try to bring us up to date in July.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Thanksgiving has been wonderful this year, and I hope that all of you have enjoyed the holiday as much as I have.  We kept it simple, since it was just the three of us.  Instead of a turkey and all the traditional trimmings, I made a yummy pot roast with carrots and potatoes, and a lemon and cream cheese pie for dessert.  It was all super easy, and very tasty!  And, it gave me a chance to use my crock pot for the first time in more than three years.  It was in long term storage while we were in Germany, along with the rest of my kitchen gadgetry.  Hooray for having it back!

I know you can't see it in the picture, but there's actually a two-and-a-half pound roast, carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic in that crock pot.  Once I got it all in the pot, I mixed together a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, a package of french onion soup mix, and a can-full of water, and poured it over the meat and veggies.  Then all I had to do was turn it on low, and let it go for about 6 hours.  

While I was getting the pot roast put together, my amazing husband made breakfast burritos for us for brunch.  Man, I love breakfast burritos.  And he made a ton of them, so we have plenty left for breakfast tomorrow as well.  When he wasn't with me in the kitchen, he was in the living room, watching Avatar (the TV series) with Elora.  See how nice everything looks in this picture??  It gives you a good idea of everything that we've accomplished, and conveniently leaves out the pockets of clutter that still need to be settled.  Seriously, I am loving my new home.  :)

Elora and I took naps this afternoon, and when I got up, the roast was ready.  All I had to do was to brown the rolls, and get it all on the table.  It was really nothing fancy, but it was hearty and delicious.  That roast especially was scrumptious; there's hardly any of it left! 

 

Brandon set the timer on the camera, and set the camera on the counter to get this one of the three of us.  We didn't think to tell it where to focus, so we're fuzzy, but at least the meat in the foreground is perfectly clear.  Oh well, at least I have my picture.  :) 

Brandon got this video of Elora on his phone this evening after dinner.  It's just too darn cute not to share. 

And finally, here is my top 10 list of things I am thankful for this year, but not necessarily in order:

1) Elora

2) Brandon

3) that my unborn child has survived and is healthy

4) my loving and supportive family

5) the continued health of that family-- specifically that my grandmother's heart surgery was successful, and that my dad's motorcycle accident was no more severe than it was.

6) that we are back in the United States

7) my beautiful new home

8) good friends

9) we get to be home for Christmas AND New Year's

10) all of the technologies that make our lives safer and easier (especially those that allow me to communicate so easily with my family, and those that make cooking easier and more fun)

 

Blessings!

Egg Happens. So Does Spaghetti Sauce.

I was holding Elora, getting her juice out of the fridge, and not paying attention.  This was the result.

The little stinker picked it up, and just as I realized what was happening, very deliberately dropped it on the floor.  I guess it's my fault for leaving the eggs so conveniently in the fridge door, huh?

I've also discovered that my child loves tortellini.  It's been just us girls for a few days (Brandon is still stuck in Denmark because of the ash) so I picked up some of those fresh pasta things from the cooler section at the commissary, along with a jar of Prego.  Each package is the perfect amount for Elora and me to share.  We tried one for dinner Friday night, and she loved it so well, she licked her plate.

 She made quite a mess with that sauce, I tell you.  But it was nothing to the mess she made with it Saturday.

When she was done, I cleaned her up a bit, let her drink her milk, and then put her straight into the bath tub.  There was so much sauce debris that after I'd let the water out, I had to rinse the tub.  And I laughed the whole time.  :)

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

9" pie crust (I use the frozen rolled Pillsbury pie crusts.)
1 cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs
2 tbsp stick butter, melted
1½ tsp vanilla
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp salt
1 cup pecan halves
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips

Place oven rack in lowest third of the oven, and preheat to 350°F or 180°C. Unroll thawed pie crust and place it in a 9" pie plate, I've found that the glass works best. Trim edge to ½" around plate, and fold the excess under. Flute or crimp the edges. Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in pecans (both the halves and the chopped) and chocolate chips. Pour into prepared crust. Bake 50 minutes at 350°F/180°C or until crust and pecans are browned. If the crust darkens too quickly, cover edges with foil. Cool completely on a wire rack.


Optional Kahlua whipped cream:

½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp kahlua

Beat until soft peaks from when beaters are lifted.

I made this for Thanksgiving this year, and it was delicious! (Photo above.) I have another one in the oven now, and I am looking forward to digging into it tomorrow. Since I don't have a mixer, and I'm not wild about the idea of beating it by hand, I haven't tried the whipped cream; you'll have to let me know how it is.

chocolate covered *bliss*

After discussing chocolate dipped strawberries with Katelyn on Saturday, I decided that I just had to have some. I bought a package of strawberries, a cup of the Baker's microwaveable dipping chocolate, and went to town. It was perfect; I had just enough chocolate to cover all the strawberries. There were 2 plate's worth. We had the first plate for dessert Sunday night, and the second one for dessert on Monday. Delicious!

Also, *head-palm*. You were right, Jennifer. I wasn't using the macro setting on my camera, so of course I was getting blurry up-close shots. Not any more! Please see Exhibit A, the above photo of delectable chocolate-y strawberries.

And, here is just a random adorable shot of Elora playing with her toes, and another of her sitting in the Bumbo, trying to pick up her teddy bear. She was keeping me company while I folded laundry, and she was being so cute that I had to go get the camera.