Marianne loves Mickey Mouse

Happy Birthday, Annie! She LOVED hearing the Birthday song!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake, made by Mommy, with help from Daddy and "Broboo" (Andrew)

Annie's party dress. She loved looking like Minnie Mouse, and Andrew loved doting on his sister!

Annie had said for weeks that she wanted a baby for her Birthday. This one from Nana and Papa was immediately loved! Her new Curious George tea set and her purse set, complete with phone and camera, from Andrew were also big hits! Andrew was so proud that Annie loved what he picked out for her...he might like it a little too...

Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet, tender hearted, fun loving, mischievous girl! We love you so much!

Must be doin' Something right

We have been glued to the Chilean mine rescue today. Andrew is fascinated. We were watching as they lowered the capsule down for the 20th miner and Andrew randomly started praying, here is his prayer:


"Jesus loves me. Thank you for today. Thank you for my mom and dad. Please can you be with the miners so the lions in the pit don't hurt them. And can you keep them safe because my mom says there aren't any lions. Jesus loves me, Amen."

He begins and ends every prayer with Jesus loves me...which we think is fabulous!

Lucky Ducks!

So I was going to name this post "Marianne's Big Announcement" but I didn't want anyone to get carried away...so Lucky Ducks it is!

It does so appear that the cute little girl that lives at this house is . . . do I dare say it out loud? . . . POTTY TRAINED!!! Paul and I have been blessed with two early and easy potty trainers! I can hardly believe it...but she does have a big brother to keep up with. So in just a few days (when her potty chart is full) Annie will be making a trip to the store to pick out a new baby doll! She is so cute and loves getting stickers and treats.

I hope you all have a fabulous day...I'll be looking for ways to spend money on things that are fun...not diapers!

Big Girl Room

Before: Yucky yellow paint over a dingy gross green that still showed through. Plain Jane and boring!!!
After: Soft baby pink and totally turquoise. Daisies and Butterflies everywhere! Must say, it turned out better than I had hoped.


I have been wanting to do Annie's room all girly as soon as she was born. I am in love and pretty excited. She is very excited too!!! Andrew is very proud of being a big helper today. Start to finish while Paul was at work today...and now he doesn't have to deal with it!

Mountain Standard Time

Ok, I know, it's been a really long time since I posted an update. So here it is:
We've been on vacation and we wish we still were.




Hows that? Ok, so for real, we just got back from our annual pilgrimage to Clark Canyon Bible Camp in Southwest Montana. We love that place...we really love that place! We also spent a week with my family in the Dillon area. It was a good vacation and none of us were really ready to leave, but alas, reality called and here we are back in Michigan.

The kids did great on our 25 hour (one way) drive. Of course they are kids and we had our rough moments, but all in all we were quite happy with their performance! I promise to post pictures soon.

Dutchness

Three not so Dutch, Dutch kids and a pretty young lady.

Better late than never, right? Tulip time was last week. I took the four munchkins shown above to the Wednesday Parade. We had a great time and I managed to come home with all of them...and no extras. Lizzy is really becoming an amazing helper with the younger kids and I was grateful for her on this trip to down town madness. Katie thought it was special to dress like Marianne (who in her eyes will probably always be a baby!) We ate some yummy food, Annie downed a giant corn dog, and Andrew ate all of one bite of the burger he wanted (along with a handful of fries, and some of Peggys Funnel cake.) The kiddos also experienced their first taste of cotton candy. That was....messy.
All in all a good trip.

Flour...and Tortillas

Last night was taco night at our house. It really is a family project as my kiddos LOVE to help cook. We had a lot of fun. Some of the hi points....Me "teaching" Paul how to roll a tortilla. (He did it his way...not mine...but got-er-done.) Andrew washing himself with the juice from a freshly sliced tomato...that he later ate. And poor innocent Marianne getting a flour shower. (Or crazy mischievous Annie dousing her self in flour....) Note to self...never put a measuring cup of flour near the edge of the counter... I promise I wiped away the flour that was getting in her eyes before reaching for the camera....yeah it was pretty funny!
So for all of you who are waiting for my tortilla recipe...here it is...super simple..once you get the rolling down.

Flour Tortillas
1 2/3 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. butter
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup VERY HOT water

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in Butter (I put the butter and some of the dry stuff in my food processor) Add hot water and mix. Dump on counter and kneed. (When you mix the water in you will have to form the ball by hand to kneed it.) Let stand for 10-15 minutes. Separate into balls and roll very thin. I get about a dozen tortillas. Heat frying pan on medium. Cook each side about 2 minutes. (Watch for blisters to form on first side then turn and guess how long it should cook...that's what I do and it works!) Put into tortilla steamer (which at my house looks exactly like a hand towel) while you continue to cook the others.
The trick to these is to have them steam each other so they are soft.