Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Today is my Dad's Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Isaac has a message for you.

(A short one. Then he gets a wee bit distracted.)

Hope you have a great day, Grandpa!

We love you!

The Nah-Night Game

I think you can't hear it that well, but John is pretending to sleep, and when he wakes up and says "Morning!" Isaac shooshes him and returns to his book. So funny.

We do sometimes sit and read in his room while he is going to sleep, but generally, it doesn't go down like this. Just in case you were wondering.

Lately he's also into roaring at you when you are pretending to be asleep.

This is very similar to a very popular game my nephew Andrew once very cleverly dubbed

"You Go Nah-Night and I Will Roar at You."

A Little Unstable

Ok, not really. I think we were just making faces at each other.

Africa Cookies

Once upon a time, I got an Africa-shaped cookie cutter here. (There is a button on the side if you are so inspired as to purchase your own.) What's better than cookies, Africa, and supporting someone else's adoption!? :)

Also note, my actual cookie cutter is more complicated than that one, with curves along the edges, and much more realistically Africa-looking. Except that Somalia is tilted a bit northeast. But I digress...

Obviously I had to try it out! And... It's super-awesome!

(Also, I love cookies!)

And since I am feeling so generous, I will include my favorite Cutter Cookie Recipe: (Compliments of Betty Crocker circa 1969)

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

1 c butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 c sugar

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1/2 t almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 t soda

1 t cream of tartar

Mix together. Chill 2-3 hours. Preheat oven to 375. Roll out dough over lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3/16 inch*. Cut into shapes, and sprinkle with sugar. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes* or until lightly brown on edges.

Note: I like mine thicker, and chewy instead of crisp. Therefore, I roll it out thicker, and it has to bake a couple minutes longer. Maybe 9 or 10 minutes.

Anyway. Here they are:

Yummy.

When I Grow Up...

Today at "school" they talked about firemen, and Isaac brought home this lovely hat.

Dapper, eh?

In Which We Procure a Satisfactory Ride

So once upon a time, we bought this bike seat. I couldn't pedal without hitting my knees, and I couldn't turn my handlebars past 15 degrees.

I thought to myself, "Self, this will not work."

So we sent it back.

Then we found this seat instead. We gave it a try. It was a winner.

Isaac is a big fan.

Here we are just back from a spin.

Isaac is a cutie pie.

The Ride gets an "Awesome" rating,

complete with two "thumbs" up.

Sadly, bike helmets, as a fashion statement, do not.

Buh-Bye Zeeba: A Trip to the Zoo

Saturday we went to the zoo! We saw Birdies, Buckeys (Monkeys), Fooshies (Fishies), Kitties (Lions, Leopards, Tigers, Mongooses... Generally Anything Furry and Four-Legged), and Zeebas (Zebras). Lots of other animals as well, but they mostly went by one of these names.

Take, for Example, the following conversation:

"Hi Zeeba"

"Honey, that's a Giraffe."

"Yeah..." (mumbles something that vaguely resembles 'Giraffe')

-one minute later-

"Buh-Bye Zeeba."

Also, there water. Rain, you say? Oh, no. It was sunny and mid 80s. But I think the water was his favorite part. Not picky, this one- Streams, waterfalls, ponds, and water bowls, all deserved an equally excited "Water!!!"

Anyway. We had a good time. Also, my camera battery was mostly dead. So we have very few pictures. But we are members now, so I'm sure we'll be back. :)

Here are a couple we got before the camera died altogether:

The Wildebeest Zeebas

Look! A Real Zeeba!

Also, I couldn't get my previously posted video to load, I think because it's the wrong file type after I edited it in Windows Movie Maker, or whatever it's called, and I can't figure out how to change the file type. Anyway, Blogger wouldn't upload it. So... sorry about the fake teaser post earlier. :P If you know how to remedy this situation (Nathaniel???) feel free to advise. :)

Thirsty

Mmmmm.

Here Kitty Kitty

Here is Uncle Marlin's Kitty.

Nice Kitty.

Here Kitty. Eat a Yummy Rock.

I'm Pretty Sure the Kitty Loves Me.

The Homeland's New Pool

Once upon a time, I worked at the Municipal Homeland Pool of Rural Nowheresville. Now, they have a Municipal Homeland Aquatic Center of Rural Nowheresville, and we went to check it out. Aside from making me feel like an Oldie, we generally approved the Aquatic Center.

Wading in...

Jump!

Splash!

Make a Basket!

Yay!

And then we hauled him away, shivering.

Just the way he likes.

Take Me For a Ride on The (Medium-Sized) Green Tractor

Amber and Isaac go for a Spin

Knee High by the 4th of July?

And Now an Oldie.

I can't believe how young he looks in this video (from the end of January)! I didn't realize he'd grown up that much in the 6 short months since he's been home... And how much more he talks now! (Meaning real words, and not just jabber.) He's the Man!

Also, it's sort of boring to probably everyone but me. So... watch, or don't. :)

Unfortunately, I don't have many videos, since there is low motivation when you don't ever get to view them bigger than the 1.5 inch screen. But... hopefully I'll remember more regularly now that I have a new cord. :) They are fun to watch! (But load really slowly... Sorry! They are humongous files. If anyone knows how to shrink them or do this more efficiently, feel free to leave a suggestion!)