Monday, April 6, 2015

Baby K

Baby K is one of our nicknames for Catherine.  Not sure how or when that started as is the case with many things.  In January I switched Baby K to Tuesday/Thursday school instead of MWF.  I want to spend as much one on one time as I can with her because she will be doing 5 day a week pre-K starting in the fall.

Catherine is a me do/ I do/ leave me alone mom child.  She wants me to be there with her but she wants to do absolutely everything herself.  While I am excited to have a confident kid who will not hesitate to communicate her feelings, there are times where I really just need her to understand that my answer is not going to change.  I realize this may just be the case for a while.

Our conversations often include discussing what letters are used to spell a word.  Most of the time she agrees with me but sometimes she flat out spells, or attempts to spell, things her own way.  This does not bother me but it does bother Logan.  She is into rhyming words but is confused sometimes.  Just today she was saying taco rhymes with taco salad. I was trying to explain to her that those are technically the same word but she was not having it.  Dog park rhymes with dog.  Football rhymes with foot.

Her absolute favorite thing in the world is Winston.  She adores him and is constantly taking care of Ton.  This includes feeding, bathing, walking, educating, disciplining, and dressing. She likes all pets she comes into contact with and often talks about them in reference to Winston.  We were cat sitting the other day and she wanted to know if Onyx (the neighbor's cat) went to the same school as Winston.







Cat enjoys playing school. She is the teacher and reads to all of her animals and then puts them all down for naps.


On Wednesdays we both play basketball at the Y.  After my workout, we go into the gym which is empty and roll basketballs in every possible direction.  Then we run, skip, jump, and even walk backwards to retrieve them.  If you get confused about the rules to this game, fear not as Catherine will correct you.  She loves to listen to the echo that her voice makes and it is precious.



Her favorite board game is currently a Hello Kitty game. All you do is spin a wheel and it lands on an article of clothing and you dress your HK accordigly.  I personally CAN NOT STAND this game. Catherine is not very consistent at following these rules and can get quite upset if things don't roll her way. We often have to put the game up seconds after we begin.  


She is a great partner at the grocery store 65% of the time.  We are trending in a positive direction so this is good.


We enjoy dining together and sneak in a lot of lunches during the week.  It is truly a blessing to share these one on one meals with her.  I realize that it won't be long until she won't have to ask what the menu says or why the bird outside can't come in and sit with us.






Monday, March 16, 2015

Pleasant Valley Sunday




NOTE This entry was made by Brian.

Spring Break started this weekend and we were blessed with near perfect weather.   It allowed us to enjoy some rewarding gardening /planting in our yard on Saturday.  On Sunday, I set out with the kids on an adventure and gave Joan some needed time off.

Houston really has a lot of interesting things to offer when you are looking for entertaining children.  Some of these things are unique – like the San Jacinto State Park in SE Houston, which is where I took the kids.

San Jacinto State Park sits on the battleground site where Texas won its independence (http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/san-jacinto-battleground).  We ran up all the steps and circled the tall monument that is quite similar to the Washington Monument and even has a reflecting pool.  Next time, we will take the elevator to the top.





San Jacinto State Park is also the spot where the USS Texas is proudly anchored.  This was our main draw for coming here.  The USS Texas is a dreadnought battleship that was commissioned in 1914 and served in both WWI and WWII.  It was the first battleship to become a permanent museum and national historic landmark (http://www.usstexasbb35.com/introduction.htm).

I enjoyed seeing this grand lady through the eyes of the kids.  They did not appreciate the history or significance yet, but they were amazed at the size and features of the ship.



They were ready to climb up or down any ladder and peer over the edge into the water below.  They enjoyed the “hands on” activaities such as the gun turrets and the displays throughout the decks.




We took the scenic route on the way there (through the ship channel refineries and plants) to the Independence Trail.  On the way back, our adventure continued on the Independence Trail, but up the portion that required us to cross water by way of a ferry boat.  It was the kid’s first ferry boat ride and we had a front row seat.  They could not fathom the idea at first but were wide-eyed as we took the five minute ride across the water.







Friday, March 6, 2015

Always Smiling







I had a very interesting conversation this week with a teacher at St. Rose who administered Catherine's pre-K assessment. She noted how Catherine's personality appears to be a bit more assertive than Logans and I was like um yeah clearly!  She also noted that Catherine had leadership skills.  I laughed and asked if that was the politically correct word for bossy.  I mean leadership skills at age 3, seriously, how are you going to measure that? As our conversation ended she commented how Logan and Catherine are always smiling from ear to ear.

I have been ruminating about this comment since she said it and the truth is my kids do smile all the time. They laugh so hard sometimes it makes Brian and I laugh because laughter is indeed contagious.  Since I am in the details and the every day sometimes I fail to see these giant grins.  Sometimes the grins are covered up by the mental pictures of screaming hysterics when they are fighting over bath toys.  And obviously I don't stop to take iPhone pics of the screaming scenes.

So this week I am learning a lesson from my kids: smile, get excited, stay excited, and seize the day.









Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Birthday Party Fun

Logan and Catherine are all about some birthdays these days.  We went to three this month and they were completely adorable.  The first was at the Houston Fire Museum.  The kids got to play with real and pretend equipment. They even had full firefighter gear that fit little bodies.




The second party was for a boy in Logan's class who turned 5. It was Star Wars themed and the invite told them to report to the Jedi Training Facility.  From the day he got the invite, Logan was counting down the days on his calendar for Connor's party.  They had a bounce house with light sabers made from pool noodles and the boys had a blast.  I should probably make some light sabers like that as the "real" ones we have are always on the time out shelf as Logan and Catherine are a bit too wild for them.

And the third was a friend of Catherine's who was fortunate enough to have Elsa and Anna come all the way from Arendelle.  Logan was even excited to hang out with the girls!






Saturday, February 14, 2015

On the Road to Shambala...

We met with our favorite (and only) family photographer back in October and had a blast. Kimberlee is gifted when it comes to capturing the energy and expressions of our children.  These first photo's capture Logan and Catherine's energy.

I can tell my sister by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala
I can tell my brother by the flowers in his eyes
On the road to Shambala

Ah, ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ah, ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
















Some black and whites...




And these are my other favorites.


 























Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Creamy Italian Chicken

This month I am sharing some of my favorite recipes and will give, in my humble opinion, the pros and cons to each dish.  Cooking is an interesting art.  It is essential and there are a lot of factors to consider: number of ingredients, prep time, healthy or terrible for you but tastes oh so good, cost, freezable, and I guess at the end of the day....will my family actually eat it.

I have to give Brian credit because he is very open and easy going with meals.  I know he has some favorites of which I am certain does not include my quinoa enchilada casserole. And I am ok with that. In fact, Catherine and I are the only ones that do enjoy it.

So we will begin with a new family fave, Creamy Italian Chicken.  This one is a hit because everyone enjoys, it is incredibly easy to assemble, and there are healthy options for substitution.  This recipe is a crock pot recipe that includes pasta and cheese. It's ironic because I am not a huge pasta or cheese fan as I tend to opt more for creole rice dishes and avoid cheese if possible.  I do use a crock pot but not often as I find the texture is off on so many dishes.

However, this one is a keeper.

Creamy Italian chicken
**this recipe makes two meals
1 16oz bottle Italian dressing
1 pack Italian salad dressing mix
2 8oz cream cheese (softened)
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
3-4 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts
Shredded Parmesan (optional)
- whisk Italian dressing, Italian dressing mix, cream cheese, and cream of chicken soup until smooth
- divide into two gallon size bags
- divide chicken into bags, press out air, freeze one bag and marinate the other bag over night (in fridge)
- place contents into slow cooker on low for 4 hours until chicken is cooked through
- once chicken is cooked you can shred it to smaller bite size pieces
- serve over pasta with parm cheese on top



And our silly photos...