Still Breathing

This may look weird, but this is often how Emmit will look when he's sleeping...yes, he's still breathing so don't bother him.

The Mermaid

Gerrit put his pants on (all by himself) so he could go outside.

He didn't make it across the living room w/o falling.

Still working on getting those clothes on right!

Milestone

Emmit woke up in the middle of the night (not needing to eat), so I nudged Adam to put his pacifier back in seeing I wasn't needed. Adam came back a few minutes later and said that Emmit had rolled over! Yep, he's mobile now. I was beginning to wonder because Gerrit rolled over at 4 months and Emmit is now 5 and hadn't yet. Now I can quit worrying about that and on to the next thing.

I confirmed Emmit's new trick today after school. I put him on his blanket and he rolled over right away and looked like he was trying to crawl (a long ways away from that - I hope!). He wasn't liking the tummy position for very long so I rolled him back over.

Fun to see the new tricks he can do!

[Oh, and he didn't scream thru his whole bath tonight! He's growing up!]

Gerrit's milestone: getting a blister on his hand from golfing tonight. Glad he likes the foam golf balls he picked out - he no longer insists on using real ones. I sprung for the expensive ones but they are cheaper than having to replace an antique window in the church!

Memorial Weekend 2010

Here is a glimpse of our Memorial Day weekend. Top right: Adam having dinner with Gerrit and the 2 granddaughters of the neighbors. Lexi and Bea (Bay-ah) visit their grandparents quite often and lately the 3 kids have played together outside quite well. The girls are not exposed to sports much so playing at our house consists of mostly sports and playing in their grandparents' yard consists of pretend (they have a playhouse). They enjoy riding bikes/scooters together too. It is nice for Gerrit to have a few 'friends' in the neighborhood.

The 2 photos of the Great Dane crack me up. Dahlen's dog sat Maddie over night and said we had to bring Gerrit over to see the 'horse'. He was a bit intimidated by her, but she is very mild mannered. It is funny to see her set her face on the table w/o stretching! We tried to get Gerrit to 'ride' her but he didn't like it.

Emmit was sporting Luker's hat while we visited them and met Maddie. Love the one of him smiling!

The pool pictures are from Lake City at Wilkinson's from Mon. afternoon. We enjoyed lunch with the neighbors at the block party next door and then headed to the pool (the beans were a big hit - thanks mom). Gerrit is getting his 'sea legs' back. He enjoys hanging out along the wall now instead of just the steps. He won't jump in to us like he did last year, but it won't be long. I think I'll sign him up for swim lessons and see how he likes the structure and being with strangers (he can be quite shy).

Emmit didn't mind the water. I was a bit hesitant to put him in because he HATES the tub. He didn't mind it as long as he was not splashed in the face. However, there is a picture of him getting splashed by Gerrit - guess he better get use to that. I guess there is hope that he might like his bath, or at least not scram bloody murder the whole time.

As much as I missed being at Sandy Pines on opening weekend (felt a bit homesick when talking to Mom), we had a nice weekend with our friends too.

Mistake?

Last night we ended up at Dahlen's and Adam planted the idea of going golfing into the boys' mind. All thru dinner that is all the boys could think about. Seeing the rain looked like it was over, they went golfing in Wanamingo. The boys are free and its only 16 bucks for 9 holes and a cart (not much more than a few bucket of balls at the driving range!). Adam agreed to take Gerrit with and Gerrit insisted he take his 'big club' (driver which he can barely lift). So Emmit and I stayed with Anne and the dishes and they went golfing.

They only got caught in a little down pour but nothing major. Gerrit LOVED the whole experience. He has really large foam golf balls (compliments of a misorder at school) but didn't like them b/c they did not stay on the T. By the end of the round he was the first one off the cart and said he was first to T off. He is still learning when to talk and when to be quiet but otherwise was pretty good. He didn't want to take Adam's golf glove off the rest of the night either (or all day today).

This morning he was ready to go back to the course at 7 30am! All morning he wanted to play golf and didn't like the idea of playing in our yard. He hasn't quiet figured out that going to the golf course is a 'special' thing. Adam did give him a real ball to use in the yard which scared me. After a few hits from a T (which he found in Adam's bag), he was hitting them across our yard fairly straight! He even tried to use Adam's clubs!

We love how he takes in everything about sports and wants to do it like the big kids.

I'm a bit nervous to take him to a baseball game this summer!

The Fine Art of Tiramisu

Today I had the luxury of learning how to make Nick's famous Tiramisu!

Nick is our next door neighbor and an excellent chef/cook/baker. We get the benefits of leftovers or when he makes too much food (which is often). Nick has made Tiramisu for both boys' baptisms and it is better than any restaurant and now I have the secret to making it! Below are photos taken by Connie who also learned how to make it today. She took them with her phone so the resolution isn't the greatest. Here goes:

Nick, our teacher:

Nick giving instructions before we begin:

Step 1: dip the lady fingers (forgot the Italian brand we used) in very strong coffee:

Making more espresso

the 'bulk' espresso maker (I want one of these - much easier than our machine, and am thankful I live next door to someone who has a lot of them!)

the filling: stiff peaks - almost glue like consistency:

1st layer complete, ready to dunk more lady fingers and start the second layer:

not so fast on dunking more lady fingers - need to sprinkle chocolate 1st!

the finished product(s) [we get them tomorrow at the block party]:

Nick making us a special post-Tiramisu treat: espresso with creme' (basically, its the 1st few teaspoons of the espresso saved and lots of sugar added to it to make a paste, pour 1/2 cup full of espresso and add a doll-up of the creme')

mixing in the creme':

Surprisingly I loved the drink! I think I need decaf next time, but could get use to drinking them. What a fun little treat to learn to make and taste.

Up next: biscotti! (not until winter)

New Vocab

Gerrit's new phrase he used in the pool yesterday with Adam:

POOP BUBBLES

(aka: fart)