A Week of "Firsts"

The last couple of days have brought several "firsts" for Nate and Elin, and it's been a lot of fun to watch.

Nate's first soccer game... he had a smile on his face the entire time! He was having so much fun on the field, he would forget what to do with the ball when he got it. I can't believe I have a child old enough to be in a soccer league! This soccer game was one of the funniest things I've ever seen... kids running every direction, doing sommer-saults, wrestling, day-dreaming- quite fun to watch.

Nate's first dental appointment... calm, cool, and collected (is this really Nate?). Check out the sweet sunglasses! And hey, why don't they ever let me hold the saliva sucker thing?

Elin's first haircut... it was getting a bit frizzy and unruly. I wasn't there, but I heard she sat fairly still and was a good girl (a far cry from Nate's first haircut).

Pics from San Diego!

Here are some pics from my friend Sarah's wedding. Lots of fun and little sleep!

Just Me and the Kids (but not really)

The kids and I had a couple of days together while April went to San Diego for her friend's wedding, so we made the most of it! We lucked out with beautiful weather the entire time, which really helped. There was lots of playing outside, several parks, art projects, baking cookies, McDonalds AND Dairy Queen (Nate was ecstatic), hiking in the forest preserve, and yes, even Monkey Joe's (although there are no pictures of this). And to top it off, my parents flew in and spent a night with us (thanks Mom and Dad, we had a great time!).

Nate's animal adventure art project (lots of cutting!)

A warm afternoon at a nearby park... Nate made a "girl" friend there, and at one point came to me (with her Mom near) and asked, "Dad, what's our phone number?" Ugh- it starts!

A perfect day for hiking... and the kids loved it. Especially snack time. The frog and snake were a little scary for Elin, though.

My Mom and Dad spoiled us with Dairy Queen. They also brought the kids a "treat"... a bubble machine that makes a gazillion bubbles at a time, and of course they couldn't put it down.

Swedish Pancakes

So, Nate has been rather persistent about me making these Swedish Pancakes. I didn't have milk one day, and didn't have eggs another. Last night I was supposed to make them and I completely forgot- I had promised too. So when I served the ham and roasted potatoes, it did not go over well at all. Last night Nate even had made me write note so I could remember to make them this morning. Anyway, I finally got my act together and made them. Nate ate 4 and Elin gobble down 3. Thought we would share one of our favorite breakfasts!

Swedish Pancakes

½ c margarine or butter (you can cut or use margarine, but butter always tastes better)
2 c milk
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 c flour
2 ½ Tbsp sugar

1. Melt butter in fry pan. Mix, in blender or medium bowl, 1 cup milk, eggs and salt. Add flour and mix. Add melted butter and mix. Add remaining cup of milk and sugar. Mix.
2. Use 1/3 cup ladle (you may need to adjust amount for size of pan) and swirl batter to cover hot pan. Flip pancake when edges start to brown. Flip onto a plate. Roll with jelly or cinnamon and sugar and butter (or nutella or carmel or anything else that would taste good).

Tips:
 You will almost always throw out the first pancake you make.
 These absorb other flavors very easily. If you have enough pans, designate one the Swedish pancake pan. If you don’t have a specific pan just avoid using the one you cooked onions in the night before.
 Prior to flipping, when the edges start turning golden, I take a knife or plastic spatula and run it around the pan loosening the pancake and making it easier to flip.
 You can fill like crepes with cheese etc.

Easter Fun

So here are some pics from our Easter weekend. We dyed eggs, had a treasure hunt at home, went on a egg hunt at our friends home and had easter dinner too. It was a fun weekend!

Road Crash

Nate can ride his two wheeler pretty well now. He and one of his pals were racing fast-fast, and got into a pretty good crash. Nate seemed to be the worse for the wear, and got his first taste of road rash. Now that it is done hurting - he is pretty proud of his injury.

Animal Adventures!

Nate has an animal learning game called Animal Adventures. He absolutely loves learning about crab regeneration and ant eaters! Look at that smile.

Spring has Sprung - finally!

A picture is worth a thousand words! So here are three thousand words.

General Conference Weekend

This weekend we watched our Church's General Conference... at least, we tried to watch the conference. With a pre-schooler and toddler, there's little watching and more playing. But with the help of nap time and computer, April and I were able to catch a little more of the conference. Hmmm... maybe someday!

This picture is a bit deceiving... it lasted maybe a few minutes (but oh so sweet).

Nate and Elin working on projects and coloring.

Nate's very proud of his pinwheel game that he made during the conference.

It's a Dirty Job...

Nathaniel, despite strong efforts otherwise, sometimes has difficulty with his potty aim. This is especially the case in the middle of the night when it's dark, or when he's running his legs off to get to the potty on time. In these situations, the walls and floor may get a little shower. There have been a few times, in the middle of the night while he's apparently still asleep, that we've ended up with a small puddle next to the toilet. Well, for the past few months, I've noticed a strange stench near his toilet, so I finally took the toilet off and... surprise! Those aren't rust rings! I had to scrape that stuff off the ground. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

Nate and Elin were a little confused about how the toilet got in the bath tub, and especially about why we had a smelly hole in the ground where the toilet was.