Happy Birthday Wheeler!

Dear Wheeler,
Today you are two. What fun it has been to watch you grow and change in the last year. You are such a fun little dude and we are so glad to have you in our family!

Here is a little bit about you on your 2nd birthday...

You are a very happy kid, with lots of energy. You wake up very cheerful and EARLY in the morning ready to play. Most mornings we hear you singing to your bunny and calling out "mommy/daddy, where are you?"  You like to be sure to know where we are at all times. But you are starting to play very well on your own. Your favorite things to play with are cars and trains. You know all the names of the Cars and Thomas characters and we like to eavesdrop on your funny dialogues between the toys. (eg. "Hi Francisco, lets race. Ok Lightning, get set go!") You also like to paint, play with your tools, legos, and read books. You have an awesome little memory and can recite your favorite books along with us while we read to you. Your favorite book is called "Little Blue Truck". You are learning your ABC's and like to point out W for Wheeler, M for Mommy, and D for daddy.  You know all your shapes and colors and can count to 12.
Your favorite foods are cheese, raspberries, scrambled eggs and fish.  You are a very good eater and have a big appetite. You love to help mommy bake. And you are definitely all about doing things yourself. "I do it!" Cracking eggs is your favorite task and you can make toast all by yourself. (this is after we had a flour explosion baking cookies. Wheeler learned not to turn the mixer on high without asking first!)

 It is a good thing we live in Texas because you love to run and play outside, and will climb and hang like a monkey on anything.You are very proud that you can use the big kid swings at the park and taught yourself to climb backwards up the big slide.
Your daddy is teaching you all about sports. Your favorite is football and you will only play it with him. ("no mommy, you just watch") You like to be rough and to tackle and push and dog pile. You also love baseball and can hit the ball off your tee and run around the bases. You like to swim. And are getting braver on your own in the water.

Your best pal is your dog Murphy. You play hide and seek together, and you insist on holding his leash all by yourself on walks. You are very silly with Murphy and like to ride him, pull his tail and ears. You tease him with snacks, take his blanket and toys away from him, and make him chase you for them. He is very gentle with you, and you get most of your "breaks" from forgetting to be gentle with him. You make up for it in kisses and milk bones ( which have to be hidden from you as you will use the entire box making him roll over, because it makes you laugh)
You are talking a lot now and come up with the funniest things to say. "Mommy I like peas! Make you tall," and you call peanut butter "peanut chocolate". Your favorite expression lately is "I need it." Which you say very dramatically.  You are also quite the backseat driver and scold us if we use the horn or  hit the breaks too hard. You go on pretend trips to Nana's and Grandma's house a  \lot. You will tell us "bye bye I go go Nana's now", exit the room, then return and say "hello I home now."

As you have closed in on your terrible two's you have shown your turkey side. You are no stranger to temper tantrums, and  we often find you hiding under the bed sneaking the Ipod, or under the table sneaking chocolate chips or cereal. You think you are so smart, and if ever get busted and scolded you will sweetly smile, give a hug and say "hi mommy, mommy happy!?!" You like to take your time getting dressed, and lately it is more of a wrestle process. You also bargain with everything asking for "2?" when handed any snack or treat. You try to extend bed and nap time routines to the last second, requesting additional songs, use of the potty, rubbing your tummy, or if all else fails you will even fake a cough and ask for medicine.
However, the good by far out weighs the not so good, and most of the time you are our sweet, handsome, and funny little man. You make us laugh every day, and are the biggest joy in our life. We are so grateful for you. We love you buddy. We hope you have a great year as a 2 year old!
Love Mommy

*Here is a video clip we took this morning. It is a pretty good glimpse into two year old Wheeler.

Cozy Christmas.

This year marks the very first Christmas spent with just our own little family. With circumstances quite out of our control, trips cancelled, and work projects having delays, we made the most of it being just the three of us this Christmas, and were pleasantly surprised at what we found. It was quiet and cozy and quite wonderful.
We enjoyed the usual treats, new pajamas and random assortment of classic holiday movies on Christmas Eve. We left cookies for Santa and a carrot for each of the reindeer. And I had to laugh at my husband who meticulously chewed each carrot to make it look as if a reindeer had nibbled it. I am sure Wheeler will appreciate his efforts more in Christmases to come. Such a good dad!
On Christmas morning we didn't bother to remind our clueless 2 year old that Santa had come and there were piles of presents to open in the front room... and instead brought him into our bed and let him watch an hour of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we could get more sleep. Genius parenting! The rest of the day was spent in low key fashion opening and playing with gifts, and chatting with family on facetime. (Some serious Merry Christmas wishes to the late Steve Jobs and Apple Co. for the modern marvel of facetime. I know I am technologically challenged, but can't help but be seriously impressed by the fact that within an hour we saw family in Malaysia, Canada, and West Texas. So completely awesome.)
It was definitely a Merry Christmas in our house. We hope that it was in yours too!
*Sorry, no pictures... maybe I will do better for Wheeler's birthday or New Years.

Baking Therapy

When I am under stress I like to bake. A batch of muffins is my typical medicine of choice. My mom made them quite often when we were kids, and I remember the best mornings were when I would wake up to the smell of freshly baked banana muffins... I still crave that recipe today, so warm and comforting, which I suppose explains why I gravitate to it when upset.
This past month has brought a storm of baking therapy into our kitchen. For those of you unaware my younger brother has been very seriously ill. We have done our best as a family to keep details off of web pages and facebook, and to respect his privacy I wont include any here. But the truth is that I am a mess. I am very protective and emotional about my family. And his sickness, although definitely enough to cause much stress and worry on its own, is untimely happening when Matt has an important work project that takes him out of town for a week right during Christmas, and while I am undergoing another round of infertility treatments/hormones. So in an attempt to put on a brave face and weather this holiday season alone in Texas... I am baking. A LOT.

So far my baking therapy list has included;

Christmas candy popcorn (cherry & lime)
Nuts and Bolts
White Chocolate Almond Fudge
Sugar cookies
toffee
Snicker-doodles
Gingersnaps
Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares
and of course 2 kinds of Muffins.


With pinterest it is almost becoming obsolete to pass along recipes... but in the spirit of Christmas here is my gift to you. 10 great recipes to help improve your  mood and expand your waistline!
(And if you only try one go for the gingersnaps or the Christmas popcorn... delicious!)

Candy Popcorn
20 C popped popcorn
1/2 c margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pkg. Kool-Aid
Melt margarine, add syrup and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add Kool-Aid and baking soda. (mixture will foam) Pour over popcorn, stir until coated. Put on large cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 15 min. Remove and toss like a salad to break up chunks.  *I made cherry & lime flavored... so yummy!

Nuts and Bolts (Grandma Edwards recipe)
2c Cheerios
2c Chex or Shreddies
2c Pretzels
2c Bugles
2c Peanuts
2c Almonds
2c CheezIts ( I used goldfish for Wheeler)
1/2 c marg-melted
2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp onion salt
Combine all ingredients dry, then wet and mix. bake 30 minutes at 250. Stirring every 10 minutes.

White Chocolate Fudge ( with almonds)
3c sugar
3/4 c butter
2/3c evaporated milk
1 pkg. white choc. chips
1 jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp vanilla.
Combine sugar, butter, milk in sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly until reaches soft ball stage. (234 degrees) remove from heat add chocolate until melted, marshmallow creme. Mix well and ad nuts and vanilla. spread in 9X13 pan, chill 2 hours.

Old Fashioned Soft Sugar Cookies
1/2 c soft marg.
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c thick sour cream
3 1/4 c sifted flour
1tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
Combine first 4 ingredients, beat on med for 2 minutes. Add sourcream then flour/soda/salt. Cool in fridge for 20 minutes, roll out to 1/4" thick, cut with cookies cutters. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Grandma Jensens Toffee
1 can eagle brand milk
3 c brown suar
1 cup syryp
1 cup butter
1 cup nuts (optional)
Mix ingredients, bloil 20 minutes, stirring constantly until hard ball in cold water. Put in a greased pan- cool.

Snicker-doodles
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 T sugar + 2 T of cinnamon for rolling
Mix first 4 ingredients on med. for 2 min. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.  Shape dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. bake at 400 on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Grandma Leavitt's soft Gingersnaps
3/4 c butter
1 c sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
melt butter and cool it. Add sugar, molasses and egg. Mix in dry ingredients and chill. Make into balls and roll in white sugar. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes (or until they crack).

Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Squares.
Make Rice Krispie treats according to recipe on the box. Mix in 2 tbsp of your favorite hotchocolate mix to the butter/marshmallow stage. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins- Fairholme bed and breakfast in Victoria Canada
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups carrots grated
1 apple peeled and grated
1 cup crushed pinapple drained ( I usually leave this out, but it is good in as well)
1/2 cup pecans (optional- I leave out for Wheeler)
3 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
Sift together flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg and salt. Add the cocounut raisins, carrot, apple, pinapple and nuts. In separate bowl mix eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Combine slowly. Divide into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Favorite Fall muffins
3 eggs
2 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup apple sauce (or veg oil)
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 cups zucchini grated
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pecans (optional)
Beat eggs, sugar on high until fluffy and light in colour. Mix vanilla, apple sauce (or oil), pumpkin and zucchini. Slowly combine dry ingredients and mix on low. Don't overmix. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Must be Santa...

Our neighborhood had a Christmas Park day last weekend. They had a train to ride, a snow-maker (Wheeler was NOT impressed with the cold snow- such a wimpy Texan), some great bounce houses and a visit from Santa. It was a fun outing, and nice to see that our 2 year old is not the only kid on the block that a)is obsessed with trains, b) has full blown tantrums and c)thinks Santa is a little creepy... but still wants the presents anyway.
 Here are our family pictures with Old St. Nick!

The fam