Fanning the Flames

There is seriously something wrong with our oven. Whenever we bake in it, then open the door, it sets off the smoke detector (no, Liz is not burning the food)! We've cleaned it again and again, but the problem persists.

Anyway, we've gotten pretty good at grabbing a towel and fanning the air around the smoke detector to get it to shut off.

David and Analeigh apparently have been watching us because, when Liz opened the oven tonight and set off the alarm, the kids came running into the room heading straight for the towel drawer. They grabbed one for each of them and started fanning the air all by themselves. Interestingly enough, it worked.

What Can Happen in a Minute

Liz has recently been working extra hard with David on his schooling, as he has been struggling with some of the things being taught in school (writing letters more clearly, coloring inside the lines, etc.). Per the recommendation of David's pre-school teacher, Liz now sets aside about 15 minutes each day for Mommy School.

Given the fact that no one is keeping a close eye on her, Analeigh has taken advantage of Mommy School and gotten in to things she really shouldn't. Today's target: the powdered sugar.

Buttermilk!

Growing up Ben learned to love the taste of buttermilk. Yes, just plain buttermilk. Both of his parents drank it and all of his siblings did too (with the exception of one). In honor of Ben's upcoming birthday, Liz bought him some buttermilk. Then she did the most amazing thing - she used it to make pie!

It is about the consistency of pumpkin pie and roughly the taste of awesome! Even those who do not drink plain buttermilk will enjoy the taste of this pie.

A New Friend

Liz has been doing some babysitting lately for one of the sisters in our ward. Even though her daughter is David's age, this has resulted in Analeigh having a new friend. Analeigh is so obsessed with her new friend that she asks us every night if Kylie is coming again the next day. Here they are enjoying the nice weather today:

Analeigh is Three!

Analeigh turned three today. Her mother was busy this past week making things she knew Analeigh would love - such as these two new dresses:



So this morning, Analeigh got to pick one present to open so that she would have a new dress for church. She randomly opened the white one and happily showed it off to everyone she met.

When we returned home, we ate lunch and let her open the rest of her presents. First she got a backpack (also made by her mother) so that she could be more like her hero: Dora the Explorer.



She also received her second dress (which she changed in to shortly thereafter) and a Fisher-Price Little People Fairy Treehouse.



Later on, Analeigh got to decorate her birthday cake. She went crazy on the sprinkles! Maybe that is why she was so excited to see it on the table later.



And then we sang...



Just in case you were wondering what type of cake Analeigh had - it was rainbow cake. Check it out:

Fat Tuesday

When we lived in Michigan we loved to celebrate Pączki Day (otherwise known to the world as Fat Tuesday). A pączki (pronounced: poonch-key) is essentially a jelly-filled donut - only more so! You can read more about them on wikipedia.

Since we cannot buy pączkis in Kansas (or at least have no idea where to even begin looking to buy them), we decided to make the next fattest-tasting dough-based thing we could: beignets (otherwise known as fry bread with powdered sugar on top).



Of course, we know that people love beignets, because that was one of the important lessons learned in The Princess and the Frog:

Finishing Touches

We have finally finished our remodel of David's room and have moved both kids in so we can start working on Analeigh's room. If you look closely in the pictures below you can see Ben's awesome work of installing molding around the base boards.

Anyway, the most significant improvement to the room (at least in David's mind) is the new rug. Take a look:



We found the rug at Lowe's for a pretty stellar price. We also found this one that Analeigh liked for her room.