Ready for Spring!

I must admit that I am very ready for the weather to turn warm! It seems like the flu season hit much later this year than usual and there are some nasty bugs going around, so I have been keeping the kids home as much as possible to avoid the bugs. But the weather hasn't given us much opportunity to play outside and Caleb is getting a bit stir crazy. We try to get out to the park and play in the backyard as much as we can on those rare sunny days. I was able to do a few fun pictures with Natalie last week when we made it to the park.

In recent news, Natalie is sitting up on her own very well now and her second tooth just popped through! She is also able to roll around to get the toys and other interesting things she wants to look at. I found her several feet from where I set her down yesterday after walking into the kitchen to prepare some food. Time to teach Caleb which of his toys can be dangerous to her!

I have been doing a lot of cooking, experimenting especially with beans. I found a recipe for lentil burgers that is very economical (under $5 to make 12 large burger patties). And the best part is, Jason loved them! Take 6 cups of cooked lentils and mix it with 8 eggs in the blender or food processor along with any salt until it is the consistancy of a runny hummus. Then transfer it to a bowl and add 1 chopped onion and and any spices you like. Stir in 2 cups of bread crumbs and let it sit for a few minutes to soak up some of the liquid. It should be pretty moist, but you can add more bread cumbs if it is drippy. Then just form it into patties and freeze or cook in a skillet with a little olive oil. I made a bunch and froze them to use as we want. Jason got me a food processor for Christmas and I have also been making many bean soups and dips. One really easy idea is to take a jar of salsa (Winco has some on sale right now for $.98) and process it up with a can of black beans. It makes a delicious, protein packed dip that tastes homemade!

An Overdue Update

I must apologize for the length of this entry right up front! I have not been as faithful in either blogging or picture taking recently. Our family went through a couple of weeks of sickness and it seems that after a good round of sickness it takes a week or more to catch up on things...the house, laundry, errands. We are all finally healthy and seem to be caught up. It is a good feeling. In recent news, Caleb is talking in full sentences now, three or four words at a time! I get such joy out of hearing him ramble on in the back seat of the car. He has also started making up stories about people he knows and the things he sees. His little imagination is blooming! Potty training is coming along, he makes it to the potty seat one or two times a day now. Natalie's first tooth, the front bottom left, poked through yesterday. The bottom right looks like it will follow in the next few days. She is handling teething a lot better than Caleb did. She has just been extra sleepy, so maybe she is going through a growth spurt at the same time! She is now fitting perfectly into 9 month clothes, and can even wear a handful of 12 month stuff (at only 5 months old!).

We did take a trip to the zoo with my mom last week. Because of where she works, she is able to get us all into the zoo free. We have been going often and only look at a few exhibits each time. It is nice not to be pressured to see the whole thing in one day (kinda draining for the kids) because we can just go back another day! I have a feeling we will be going to the zoo a lot this summer. Each time we go we always check on the baby elephant and then choose just a few other animals to see. This time we saw the sea lions and the NW exhibit with fish, a petting zoo, bears, wolves, and such. Caleb loves the water animals the best. He wanted to sit and watch the turtles for a long time.

My mom also found out that the public library has passes for area activities to check out for a day. These include the children's museum, Japanese garden, Gilbert House, Portland Art Museum, etc. So we checked out a pass to go to the Children's museum! I was unsure if Caleb would be old enough to enjoy it, but there are activities for babies all the way up through school age children. There is a water section where kids can play with different water toys (water-proof aprons are provided), a section just for 32 months and younger, a clay making studio (kids can make things free and only pay $1 to take it home), a full theatre where the kids can play with all sorts of props and put on an impromptu play and TONS more...it was great! I was very impressed and Caleb loved playing in a place where "no" is rarely needed.