Rainy Days and Playdough

Today was one of those rainy days - a glorious, cloudy fall day that wasn’t too balmy or cold. Perfect for putting on the raincoat & boots to go outside and discover the wide, wide world. Feel the rain on our faces, stomp in puddles of water and send boats made of leaves floating down the “river” rushing by below the curb.

Only we didn’t.

I’m not sure why. I only know I didn’t think of it until I heard the rain falling once again on the roof as we went through our nighttime routine. I guess the morning just escaped me, I was a little sleep deprived and still getting over my cold. Next time.


What we did do is make playdough. I decided it was a great day to make play dough! We’ve made playdough a couple times already – with perfect results. But today didn’t go as smoothly. It’ seems now that Harrison has done some cooking with me, pumpkin pie, oatmeal cookies, quesadillas; he wants to taste everything. All. The. Time.

Measuring out something as simple as a cup of flour has become a challenge with Harrison repeatedly dipping his finger in the flour claiming, “Mmm, it’s good Mommy.” Between Harrison’s finger-dipping and trying to remember that I’m cutting the recipe by half, I added too much salt – way too much - and not enough red food coloring. (Red being the color of choice today) I got a grainy batch of pink playdough.

Well, I wasn’t satisfied with my failure and proceeded to make a second batch – with red tempra paint and without Harrison. (He was finished with this project and was off munching on carrot sticks.)

Ten minutes later and too much paint yielded a nice sticky batch of cherry red playdough. Just not my day for playdough. I added a little flour, kneaded it some more and called it a day.

Here is how it all came out. The pictures aren't the best so colors are off; bu you can see the pink gritty playdough and cherry red smooth playdough.


Harrison is happy.

And for the heck of it I’m sharing the recipe.
It yields enough to fit onto a ziplock sandwich bag. And if you have more than one child, double the recipe. (just remember to double ALL the ingredients!) Oh, and DON’T USE BLUE tempra paint.

In an old saucepan, boil 1 cup of water
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt and 1 tbsp Cream of Tarter
Mix ½ tbsp oil and 1 tbsp food coloring or tempra paint into rapidly boiling water and pour quickly over dry ingredients
Stir carefully and knead into playdough

Have fun!

Favorite Phrase Friday - Looky Here!

An Award!

Bradley over at The Egel Nest honored us with his Egel Nest Award. Okay, how cool is that!?

You like me!...oh wait, that's someone else's speech.

So how does Harrison feel about it?
Well, Looky Here!



And one of Harrison's FAVORITE expressions when discovering something new (or again - as only children can), "Looky Here!", says it all.

Another word we love:

Baps - When it's time to take a bath...

"No Baps, mommy. 10. More. Minutes."

I've heard that one before.

In fact, I've heard a lot of things he's says lately quite often before - coming from my mouth to his ears!

Yesterday morning I say, "Time to go bye-bye, Harrison."

Harrison responds, "Um. Maybe. Later, Mommmy."

'Doh!

Thursday Theme - Cozy Coats on Winter Days

Cozy is - is being in a big ole coat and hat in 20 degree weather!


Or in your mommy's arms.

"Aah! I can't put my arms down!"

Um, mama, I NOT feeling the COZY, here!


Just another Cold winter in South Dakota! Oh how I love to visit!
See who else is feeling cozy over at Picture This.

Best Shot Monday

Okay, I have two shots the first is another of Harrison at Travel Town looking out of the side of the train car on our ride at Travel Town train museum.



The second is a tribute to our nice Thanksgiving meal at our dear friend's home in San Diego - thank you!!



Now head over to see more Best shots at Picture This!

Fav Phrase Friday - Let's do games...

Live From San Diego - It's Favorite Phrase Friday!!

"Let's do games, Mommy."

"Daddy. Do games?"

"Let's do games!"

That's what we've heard quite often in the few two weeks. It's Harrison's way of saying, Let's Play or Play with me! But just when I think that the word play is not in his vocabulary for some unknown reason, out pops, "Let's play catch!"

We do lots of games...
We play catch by rolling cars and balls across the floor, we chase each other around the house, we play with playdoh, have tea with the Tea set, play on the train table or drive cars around and around the sofa for half an hour - just to name a few games!

But it always starts out with "Let's do Games!"

And then, of course, instructions from the 2-year-old on HOW to do the game.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was commenting on another blog about baking and thought I had better finish my story here.

Pumpkin Pie, that's what Harrison and I made tonight.

That was AFTER I made a Rosemary-Lemon Leg-of-Lamb with Roasted Red Potatoes and Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash for dinner.
Yeah, no. I don't usually cook like that. Not sure what came over me...

But Harrison had anticipated Pumpkin Pie making all afternoon. Well, actually since last night when he asked to make Pumpkin Pie out of the blue and I said Okay, why not? We had most of the ingredients.

During his nap I went to the store and bought some frozen pie crusts. When I arrived home one can of milk was missing from the counter. Curious. I mentioned it to the GID, he turned and called to Harrison, “where did you take the can of ice cream, Harrison? You had it with you while Mommy was gone, go find it.”

Can of ice cream? I'll ask later.

The rush of dinner began. I was on some kind of roll, had I eaten an abundance of sugar I was unaware of? Hmm. No. I wish I had. Mmm. But I digress.
Just as dinner was about done, I opened the fridge to pull out the… NO EGGS! No eggs?! How can I NOT have eggs!??

Oops.

I broke the news that we couldn’t make pies tonight. Well Harrison was NOT OKAY with the possible cancellation of said project. So off dad went to the grocery store, 10 minutes before dinner he runs to the store for eggs.

My hero.

We made pies. Harrison had a great time breaking the eggs and tasting the sugar and spices. And tasting more sugar. remembering how I break eggs, he hit it against the inside of the bowl. All right, great start, and then he moved it from over the bowl and broke it open with his fingers. I caught the egg in my hand before it hit the floor and the GID came running to lend a hand – or a bowl to catch it. (Don’t worry, I tossed that one.) Than the second one, this time I moved the bowl right under Harrison. Well he squeezed the egg and it exploded, egg white hit him in the right in the face – but hey, the rest of it landed in the bowl! (Yup, Harrison tasted the eggs, too) I added the last egg, with him watching closely, and then as I spent the next 5 minutes picking out tiny shell fragments, Harrison did some more sugar taste-testing. Of course.

Now, how the pies turn out, we have yet to see. We’re taking them to our friend’s house tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Whether she wants us to or not. And, yes, there COULD be a microscopic shell fragment – or 2 – in the pies. (Okay, not really.) AND she could be reading this right now! See you tomorrow with kids, pies and dog!

Just for the record, my cooking frenzy has now passed. **phew**

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Pictures from Travel Town...

BSM - CARS, CARS, CARS!

Cars EVERYWHERE!

As the GID and I climbed into bed the other evening we were surprised by a bumpy welcome under the covers, little cars tucked deep under the feather comforter. “Going nappy!” Harrison would later explain.

That’s not the only place we find little cars, they are in the GID’s shoes, on the bathroom sink, the kitchen counters, the dog bed, in sofa cushions, under beds, parked on the vacuum cleaner, inside empty Tupperware containers, behind books, in my coat pockets, and of course, just randomly abandoned on floors throughout the house for innocent family members to step on and yell out, “OUCH!!, @#$@#%@#$!" In which Harrison responds, “What happened, Daddy? I kiss your boo-boo?”

So in honor of his love for cars, or making his parents crazy by strategically placing them in all the wrong places, my best shot this Monday is a picture I took earlier in the year. (and a couple more…)



Cruise on over the Picture This for more Best Shot Monday pictures!

Theme Thursday - Halloween 2007

I posted a Halloween series...but late then never. Maybe.

This is my child.


This is my child on candy.


Sugar kicking in...



This is my child eating MORE candy!


This is how he views the world during his first sugar rush.

This is my child crashing.


Okay, so you want to know what REALLY happened on our Halloween? Harrison got up from his nap and announced, complete with a ghostly sound, that he wanted to be a ghost (you know that kind with the sheet over their head.) Later, after a good meal in his tummy and time to fully wake up, I asked him again; after all, we had a nice little Rooster outfit AND his Fireman outfit.

Nope.

Then half way through the process of an impromptu ghost outfit he decided he was done with the entire idea. Well, off we went down to the pier for trick-or-treating and other activities - the GID, Big Brother, me and Harrison dressed in white pants, white shirt and looking like an Orderly from a Psych Hospital!

We ate dinner, trick-or-treated and then Harrison got his first taste of a Tootsie Roll pop. Talk about eye-opening - if that didn't make him giddy enough, I don't know what would! To finish off his evening, Harrison got right down to business doing the funky chicken on the dance floor; yes, he even did some Break Dancing and no, I don't know where he learned those fine moves!

After 45 minutes of burning up the dance floor with his new pint-sized friends, we all headed home. It was a good evening.

Who needs a costume anyway?


Go check out some other giddy people at Picture This!

Wordless Wednesday - Visiting Mt. Rushmore

A picture-perfect day.

I'm a Big Brave Boy

The GID tucked Harrison into bed tonight as I had snuck away for a little mommy-time at the spa with friends.

They sat together reading books and drank milk, brushed teeth and got into pajamas. Then Harrison, freshly dressed in pajamas & ready for bed, announced, "I need to go pee-pee on the potty chair, Daddy."

The GID's (who literally just zipped up the PJ's) response? "Your kidding, right?"

Nope.

So off came the PJs, off came the diaper and on to the potty chair. "What a Big Boy, Harrison."

Twenty minutes later, Harrison was finally in bed.

As the GID said goodnight, Harrison became tentative for a moment. A concerned look crossed his face. "Are you scared?" The GID asked, as lately Harrison stops at the oddest time to shiver and say, "I'm scared." and shiver once more. But Tonight?

"No Daddy, I'm a bid BRAVE boy!"

Yes, indeed.

So next time will you let us know you need to go potty BEFORE we get the Pajamas ALL the way on?

Time with Daddy

I have had a few deadlines that have kept me busy over the last week, and when that happens sometimes the GID is able to step in for a while - or the day - or how about a week, honey, while I go on a short vacation, no?

Today was (exhaustively) no exception.

Harrison headed out for a walk down to the pier with daddy, they played in the park, saw an octopus in the water (alive and FREE!), ate ice cream and shared an apple Snapple. Harrison also gave daddy a run (literally) for his money and chose to leave the listening ears at home as he ran away from daddy at the pier and in the park and all along the way. But they had fun. Well, at least one of them did, the other one came home and collapsed into the sofa as the first ran around the sofa yelling, "Let's do games, daddy, let's do games!"

On the way home Harrison did get tired of walking and asked to be carried.

The GID picked him up and said, "Your tired."

Harrison replied, "Yes, I'm tired. But I'm not napping today. No more naps ever again!"

There was no nap today.

Yikes!

Stay Tuned for More...

True confession, Harrison and I (or daddy) often start out our bedtime routine with sitting on the sofa together and watching some silly TV show as he drinks his milk in the evening.

Last night we were watching "Funniest Home Videos", and Harrison lets out his fake I-know-what-I'm-laughing-at laugh that he uses when he hears an effective laugh track on the TV or someone starts to laugh and he doesn't REALLY know why. Well "Funniest Home Video" has a nice little laugh track to keep Harrison rolling. Until a commercial break.

Last night when the show cut to commercial, Harrison got back to the business of drinking milk. Then the commercial ended.

With a shriek he yells, "IT CAME BACK!!

"Look! There's More!!"

"It's on! Ha Ha Ha!! Mommy, There's More!"


I had NO IDEA it meant so much to him.

Best Shot Monday - A Day Away

Harrison, what are you going to do now that you are over being sick for 10 days?
"I'm going to Disneyland!!"



Photos taken at Tom Sawyer's Island - A little boy's paradise!

Go see other best shots at Picture This!

Fav Phrase Friday - How 'bout a boodie Mama?

Boodie? What the HECK is Boodie?

"Pease mommy, pease boodie?"

A couple moments of pondering that word slip by.

"Boodie? Boodie. Show Mommy boodie."

That's what ya gotta do. Ask them to show you. So he walks me to the kitchen and points at the blender and says, "Pease mommy, make boodie?"

"SMOOTHIE! You want a Smoothie!"

"Yaas, pease boodie...now."

Alas, I understand "boodie"!!
But wait.
Did you say, NOW??

Now, that's a new one!!

Thursday Theme - Happy Mama Day

When Harrison was an infant I sang a couple different songs to him as I put him down each night, one that I sang most often when he cried was "Baby Mine" from the Disney classic Dumbo. I originally fell in love with the song when I first heard it on the album Stay Awake.

Over the months I stopped singing to him as often for many reasons, and then with new found language, Harrison began requesting Twinkle Twinkle and Happy Birthday and if I started singing one of my other "lullabies". he would say, "No Mommy." After all, he knows what he wants. Period.

A couple of weeks ago, we rode the Dumbo ride at Disneyland and I thought it was time for us to see the movie. Heck, I don't think that I even saw the entire movie as a child - or young adult...

We watched it. Harrison loved it and requested it again. And again.

A week ago, I was tucking him in and he asked, "Sing Ummo Mommy?"

"What?" I asked

"Sing Ummo my, Mommy, Please"

"Dumbo?" I asked, "Sing Baby Mine?"

"Yaas"

There it was. That moment pierced my heart as deeply as the first time his said, "I love you, Mama." unprompted.
The song that I sang so often to my baby-boy, came back to him as he watched Dumbo. That night to find his happy place, his place of peace and comfort, he didn't ask for Twinkle-Twinkle, Happy Birthday Airplane or Cookie Monster Song. He asked for Baby Mine.

And then He asked me to sing it again.

That's a happy MAMA day.



Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine

Little one when you play
Don't you mind what you say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine

If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you

From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine