The Church Fam

Out Mike's Window

2012-01-26T21:56:00.000-08:00

With his new job Mike spends a few days a week out on the road. He occassionally brings the camera because he gets to see some amazing landscapes.
The other day he called me from Granger, WA. I'd never heard of it, but after he told me there were dinosaurs all over the town, I looked it up. Granger's slogan is "Where Dinosaurs Roam." And there are massive dinosaur sculptures everywhere! Apparently some kind of bones were found there. Fun fact huh?! I think Asa would loove to eat at this park!

Post Bath Playtime

2012-01-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hanging out by the fire post-bath.

Crazy times before bed!

Celebrating Amara's Bday!

2012-01-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

Asa took Amara out to Starbucks for treats. (Grammy, Ida, and I came too. And Grammy treated so it really wasn't Asa, but it's the idea that counts right!?)

Asa Too

2012-01-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

Asa's becoming quite the goof. When I tell him to smile or say cheese I get a squinty eyed toothy grin.

This pretty much sums him up! Any of these work for you mom?

Love you Grandpa Chief

2012-01-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

When you wake up early from your nap...

2012-01-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

and you're this cheerful, I can't help but take oodles of pictures!

Looking at Dada

2012-01-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

Her first word was "Dada."

Ida Cute

2012-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Cecilia came up to Ida Mae on day one of vacation and told me, "I don't call her Ida Mae. I call her Ida Cute." Such a sweetie and I think she's right on! Ida sure is cute!

Ida 8 Months

2012-01-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Ida hit the 8 month mark! And boy is she growing fast! She's got three more teeth coming in on top, gets into anything and everything near the floor, attempts to crawl up the stairs to play with Asa (hasn't mastered that yet thankfully!), and is really starting to babble. She says, "da da" and, "ba ba" frequently. We're not sure if she's referring to Mike and her bottle - but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Happy 8 months baby girl!

Spring in January

2012-01-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

45 and sunny!! That means park play time for Asa and figuring out my new lens!

He's got his arms out because he's shouting, "To infinity and beyond."

Oooohh!

2012-01-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve morning!!

Happy New Year!!

2011-12-31T21:47:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to 2012!!

My Nephew: Colin Robert Wilson

2011-12-31T10:40:00.000-08:00

After a super long labor Colin Robert Wilson is finally here!! Way to go to my sister Carolyn and Mark. 9lbs of cuteness.

Cousin Time is the Best

2011-12-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas Goons

2011-12-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning!! Thank you Oma, Opa, Chief, Great Grandma, Grammy, Grandpa, Nana, and Poppy and everyone else!!

The Grinch Tradition

2011-12-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

Asa loves the Grinch (he's been singing "da boo doree" for a couple weeks). And Aunt Naphtali is the one to read it!

(last year)

Nativity Set

2011-12-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

The kiddos love playing with Nana's wooden nativity set, so we started looking for something for them to play with at our house. I found this felt one on Amazon and they love love it! It all goes together with velcro and Ida can't break it - win win.

We've got a little boy who's extremely excited for Christmas!!

Mexican with the Graukes

2011-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Mike made some delicious deconstructed fish taco bites for an appetizer! (That's Katie's beautiful brand new kitchen!)

sorry I didn't have the camera settings quite right

Kelsey's yummy cilantro rice and pulled pork from the Grauke's pig.

I took a bunch of short cuts on the yule log and turns out that my cake recipe didn't work great as a roulade, but we were able to reconstruct it.

Shoveling

2011-12-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

We had a light dusting of snow last night so Asa was set to get out and shovel. (He's been begging for days to use the shovel Great-Grandma got for him!) He busily set to work.

It's been a little while since I've posted some Asa Sayings so here's a few!

Last night he came into the kitchen wearing only his scivvies, wooden Dutch shoes, and Santa hat exclaiming, "I'm Santa Claus!" He then went over to Ida's bouncy seat, "I'm Santa Claus Ida. What do you want for Christmas?"

This afternoon I handed Asa Ida's diaper to throw out. (He does this all the time.) He paused at the doorway and turned around, "Momma why does this smell like poo?"

"because it is."

"oh." And headed out.

He went on a "date" with Miss Rachel to Starbucks for donuts. "I like your car Miss Rachel."
I love this crazy boy.

Love Them

2011-12-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

Happy St. Lucia Day

2011-12-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

Ida 7 Months

2011-12-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Mae is growing up! She hit the seven month mark on the 5th. She's gotten very mobile with her inchworm crawl, loves playing trains with Asa (although this mainly involves breaking the tracks he just laid and eating the cars), and eats everything we've thrown at her! We just want time to slow down a little bit - I tell yah! With Asa we couldn't wait for each milestone - but Ida's hitting them and flying on to the next almost before we notice or can grab the camera!

her inchworm crawl in progress

Hunting for the Tree

2011-12-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

We trekked out to our local tree farm last week to cut down our tree! It was cold cold cold - but Asa cheerfully went from tree to tree measuring to see if it was tall enough.

Ida and I tried to stay warm and take pictures - but it turns out it's really hard to adjust the camera settings one handed so most of them didn't turn out. (Notice Ida's cute hat!? Mom C whipped that up for her and Dad did the pom pom!)

Gingerbread Houses!

2011-12-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

It's a tradition for us to do gingerbread houses, but this year they went to a whole new level! And since the kids aren't really interested in decorating (as much as eating) the houses, the work ends up getting done by the adults.
Seth told me that this year he wanted to do a cathedral. I was thinking a small church - he was thinking Notre Dame. He kindly offered to help me bake and brought over all his plans. Mike, Seth, and I made 7 batches of gingerbread to make everything! So here's the results:

Seth at his table. There's a bunch of pictures so I added a break - click below for more.

TaDa!

The only bummer is that you can't see the "stained glass" since we thought of getting lights inside a little late.

The Creasons' Easter House. (Maggie was the only kid really helping decorate!)

The Shaws' House - complete with Brian's alligator (made from flavored tootsie rolls).

Our Barn - we had roof structural issues - but somehow it managed to stay up.

My favorite part was the pig Mike sculpted out of starbursts. I didn't know what a talented sculptor he was!

The candy thief.

Toy Story break.

Winning team - no question.

The seed bags by the hay in honor of Mike's new job. And I tried out marshmallow fondant (thanks to help from Kajsa) for the snow.

Mike picked up a refrigerator box and we made a house for the kids to play in.

Fun stuff! And Seth's already working on designs for next year!

Cancer Update on My Mom

2011-12-01T10:18:00.001-08:00

In light of all the things to be thankful for, we're very thankful that all of my mom's latest round of tests (mammogram, ultrasound, bloodwork, etc...) came back clear!! Praise God!

Christmas Lights

2011-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

We got our tree up and decorated! Which turned into quite an event in itself, but Ida loved the lights!

And, this little girl is basically crawling! She gets up on all fours, shakes around for a bit and then launches herself forward. Then does it again. It's a pretty effective way to get places!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day was pretty relaxed. Mike and the kiddos watched the Lions' game while I went on the first annual Freeze Your Buns Fun Run put on by the Ryans. It was a really fun way to start the day - of course, I wasn't going for any record time or anything! Then appetizers and oodles of games at my folks while we waited for the turkey. Followed by more games and dancing for the kids. All in all pretty perfect - soo much to be Thankful for!

Great Grandma gave rides on her walker!

oh Grammy and Grandpa danced too!

Baking

2011-11-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Seth and Amara came over to help work on baking all the gingerbread we need to make our houses. Except they aren't going to be houses this year! Seth brought over a file full of plans and templates that he created for his cathedral. (Mike and I are doing a barn.)

6 batches of gingerbread later and we were done!

My cookie decorator. Asa and I made turkey cookies for Thanksgiving!

And after painting with Grandpa (not saying that this has any connection or anything...) Asa came home and decorated our couch pillows!! (Thankfully it came out.)

Asa thought Ida needed to wear a hat.

Great Grandma Visits

2011-11-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

Great Grandma (my dad's mom) came out for the week of Thanksgiving! Ida got some good GG time in and the kids got some good snow time before it melted.

Grandpa and Asa's snowman, which ended up looking more like a snowpenguin

I saw the idea to color water for "painting snow" on pinterest- of course I didn't think about how all the colors would look on the snow and made the standard four. The red just looked like a massacre and yellow- well you get the picture. My poor parents' backyard. The kids had fun with it though!

Old Pictures

2011-11-22T14:27:00.001-08:00

I'm cleaning out some old pictures on our computer and look who I came across!! (the date stamped on the picture is wrong)

Any guesses who this is??

Family

2011-11-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Transformed

2011-11-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

2011-11-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

Christmas Card Shots

2011-11-19T19:19:00.000-08:00

We took some pictures for our Christmas Cards today in the snow! A little chilly but oodles of fun! (Thanks to Dad and Hope!) Now to just figure out which one (out of about 300) to use!

On Top of the World

2011-11-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

or at least the Palouse

Pasta Man

2011-11-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

Fall Sunset

2011-11-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

Ida 6 Months

2011-11-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

This adorable little candy corn is 6 months now! Half a year already! She's been working hard on growing tall. She suddenly chunked out and I had to work to pull her pjs over her thigh chub! Then, a week later, they slid on no problem with a couple inches of ankle sticking out the bottom!

She was a champ at the doctor and barely cried for her shots. She's now 15lbs (25th percentile) and 27in tall (75th percentile) with a pretty big head (17in).

She is smiley! I sometimes wonder if she realizes her mouth is stuck like that. We like it!

We're so thankful for this baby girl!

(Speaking of Thanksgiving - the doctor said she could try some ground up turkey on Thanksgiving! Lucky girl - saltless turkey paste in a jar - but, she'll probably love it!)

Birthday Shopping

2011-11-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Bday Rach!

Juliet the Gnome

2011-11-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

We met up with Amara and Seth and Naphtali downtown! Every little kid knew who she was!

Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat

2011-11-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Asa loves Curious George. Originally, this was the plan for his costume. And to make sure people knew he wasn't just any monkey, I thought we should make Mike the Man in the Yellow Hat. Asa was set on this idea! For days he would go around telling everyone, "I be Curious George and Dada be the Man in the Yellow Hat! What you be be?" Yes, two "bes." Then Naphtali mentioned Johnny Cash but Asa was set on George, so we did one for the Fall Carnival and one for Trick or Treating. And Mike dressed up!

Mike was quite the hit with little kids downtown. Every kid we'd pass would point and say, "Look the Man in the Yellow Hat!" What a great dad.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have oodles (and oodles) of pictures of the kiddos but here's just two. Ida Mae is our sweet little candy corn!

And here he is folks, the man in black, Johnny Cash. (Dad C took this shot)

Italian Drip Beef Sandwiches

2011-10-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

This recipe, via Baked Bree originally from Pioneer Woman, has been on my "to try" list for a long time. I had leftover chuck this week so I finally got around to making some for lunches. Wow - I'm just sad we didn't try it sooner!!! This is incredibly easy and, just ask Mike, ridiculously good!

(We've really struck gold on a lot of our new recipe attempts this week so there's more food posts to share.)

There's no exact measurements for any of this. You just throw it in.

chuck roast (I only had 1lb left)
pepperoncini
beef broth
italian seasoning
salt and pepper
hoagie rolls
pepperjack cheese

The original recipe is here. She uses the oven but I just did all this in the slow cooker. We made it the day before we planned to eat it.

So here's what we did:
Spray the pot with cooking spray.
Dump in the meat.
Season with salt, pepper, and italian seasonings. Almost cover the roast with beef broth and a little water.
Put a bunch of pepperoncinis on top and dump in some of their juice.
Put it on low for 6-8hrs (depending on your crock) until it falls apart.
Cool and refrigerate.
Remove hardened fat on top.
Reheat meat and juice. Pour juice into ramekins and meat on the hoagie rolls.
Top with pepperjack and some sliced pepperoncinis. (I topped my sandwich with sweet peppers just because I really like them but Mike did the pepperoncinis.)
Place under the broiler for a minute or two.
Dunk and enjoy!!!

Ratatouille like the Movie

2011-10-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

I finally pulled out the mandoline Mike bought me for my birthday (in March). And I completely, 100% take back all the bad thoughts I had about it! I had read a bunch of reviews and put thison my wish list but then when it arrived I thought it didn't have enough options and the plastic didn't seem very sturdy. It was sitting down in a basement closet, waiting to get returned to amazon when I finally decided it wasn't worth the hassle of calling them up to get a special gift return and pay shipping. And I'm soo glad I didn't send it back! All the great reviews were true. All that to say we finally tried out Ratatouille's ratatouille! This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and it is amazing. Easy. Pretty. And oh so delicious!

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille

from Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced - I just used a garlic press as I was rushing
1 cup tomato puree - I couldn't find any and substituted tomato sauce -worked great
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. I used a round pan and just kept filling up pans as long as I had veggies left!
Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.
On a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil (I was really generous with the olive oil and yes, it's delicious) over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)
Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes (mine took less as I used smaller pans and convection), until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain. This was fantastic with lots of goat cheese. I used it as a side dish and the leftovers made amazing lunches just served in bowls!

And if you're curious, here's Thomas Keller's version (much more involved but I'm sure delicious).

Just Too Much

2011-10-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

This boy makes me laugh. He must say, "I help you!" every other minute! And boy, he's a great helper! Granted, dishes can take almost an hour, and baking well.... time isn't an issue for him. Ida's diapers might end up in the trash or halfway there. But it's soooo worth the extra time. (I do have to remind myself of that especially when my mom keeps telling me it'll be gone before I know it!)

Pumpkins and Donuts

2011-10-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

Asa's cookies!

Yes - they carve the best pumpkins. Always.

Seth and Naphtali's, Mine and Mike's (yes he picked the elk design), Paige and Brian's

It's not a Saturday without mini donuts! The farmer's market's going to be ending soon - poor Asa!

The Donut Gang

2011-10-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Beautiful

2011-10-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Asa and Amara had a super fun day today! Naphtali and I dropped them off for lunch with Grandpa (he got them happy meals) in the Logos lunch room. Then we came back, picked up Grammy and headed out to the Cutting Garden to find our pumpkins! I told Asa about the plan at breakfast and he got together his drawing to show Grandpa.

Naphtali commented in the car that these kids are really growing up. They sit back there and have conversations, real conversations about movies, and animals, and trucks, and food. I love what good buds they are. (Here they are two years ago!)

Ida came too!

Ida's Eating Real Food

2011-10-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

To be honest, this wasn't Ida's first time trying some food. Her first food was some mashed pears from her friend, Lucy, when we all went out to eat with the Cohens (and kids) in Portland. Ida was super fussy and pears worked magic. The life of the second child I guess. But, to show that we really do love her as much as Asa, here's her first time eating cereal! ;)

Asa and Ida have really started "playing" together. He'll sit and push toys, dance, and sing to her and she LOVES it. Things were quiet while I was doing laundry last night, but I came out to this. So so sweet! Melts my heart. (granted, we're still working on gentle.)

I dug up some old shots of Asa's first food. It looks like we started him out a little younger. Ida's had such a sensitive stomach we haven't been too adventurous.

Cancer Update on my Mom

2011-10-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

October is breast cancer awareness month. Apparently one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. But they've also made leaps and bounds with treatments. My mom has been clear for over a year now. She's still on medication and frequent check ups but we're very thankful. She heads in Wednesday for another mammogram so you can be praying that it comes back clear! Thanks!

More Ida

2011-10-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's more shots of Ida wearing her little outfit from the VanEverys. Thanks!

Ida 5 Months

2011-10-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

We were in Portland when Ida hit the 5 month mark!
She's darling. There's no other word for it!
She's chubbin' out, smiles constantly, and is basically a super easy baby. She's anxious to get on the move - kicking constantly and rolling all over the place. And I'm pretty sure a tooth is just waiting to pop through the surface.

We love you baby girl.

I took a bunch of pictures of her wearing a little crocheted set that some MI friends sent when she was born but picasa is acting up right now so this is all for now.

The Portland Epidemic

2011-10-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

We're home! Mike started his new job in Portland last week and we went with him. My gracious (incredibly gracious!) aunt let us stay at her place. The first half of the week I caught up with friends and family, got some shopping done and Mike worked. The second half of the week we all caught the flu virus. My cousin, aunt, Asa, Mike, Ida, and I all got it! (Apparently this virus is ravaging all the schools down there.) We were all finally recovered enough to come home Sunday. Despite that, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone!

Asa loved playing with Elliott. (Although it wasn't Asa's shining moment for sharing or not tackling.)
We went over to their house and every day afterwards Asa prayed that, "Elliott would come over and play for hours." And, "Please find Elliott's Buzz and Mater." (These were missing that day.)
After reading in Asa's Cars book that Mater was Lighting McQueen's best friend he told me, "Elliott's my best friend."

Fun times for these second cousins.

VanLaar Thanksgiving 2010

2011-09-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here's some old footage! I went to grab the flip the other day and the battery finally died (which is why I was using the iPad for the kiddos) but it forced me to plug it in and start downloading a whole backload of videos!! Aack - a lot to go through and edit! Here's Thanksgiving at Grandma VanLaar's house.

Ida Cracks Up

2011-09-28T16:42:00.001-07:00

Ida only laughs this hard for Asa!

Asa Dancing

2011-09-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mike had country playing while we were cleaning up the kitchen and Asa got up on his table and started rocking out and echoing along!! (he could see his reflection in the window) Mike caught this with my iPad. This kid is tooo much! He threw his hat after he stopped filming.

Hurray something grew!!

2011-09-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

This was not a great year for our vegetable garden. We had high hopes when we ordered our heirloom seeds back in January. But a windstorm knocked over our little greenhouse and only some of our seeds recovered. The rest we put directly in the ground late due to a cold cold spring. The peas and beans didn't really produce but the pumpkins and tomatoes have made up for it! They're going crazy! Tomatoes and sugar pumpkins galore!!

I'm attempting to save seed from all this stuff so we'll see if any of it grows next year! I've never saved seed before any seed saving tips?

Baking Buddies

2011-09-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Owens were in town for the Grace Agenda Conference and I got to babysit some of the cousins!! Boy was Asa thrilled to have more big kids around! He'll do ANYTHING George does! George occasionally would come down from the playroom and the cheerful (or not so cheerful screaming) to tell me, "I need a break from the fussiness, I'm going on the porch."

They all helped with the important job of dumping in the chocolate chips and licking the bowl.

Yes, Asa is without pants...again. He's gotten to the point where he'll come in and tell me, "My pants were too hot Momma." Ahh yes, but we still need to keep on the underwear...

Latah County Fair

2011-09-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

The fair's already come and gone! I can't believe how the summer has flown into fall! (My dad took second place with this painting!)

We went to the fair opening night with the Eiferts. Asa made great strides in bravery this year about seeing animals up close. He was super excited to go with his buddy Brody. He kept running to our front door and telling me, "Brody's here Momma!!" whenever a car drove by.

We love Thomas!

The Owens came into town!!! And we went to the fair with them too!

And then my camera died.

Handsome Guys

2011-09-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

So, it's official

2011-09-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

After five wonderful years at EMSI, Mike's accepted a job offer from Western Packaging in Albany, OR! No, we're not moving. We'll be staying in Moscow just making some regular trips down there. We're really grateful for EMSI and excited about this new opportunity. Our families are particularly glad that we won't be leaving the area!

(I have a hard time doing a post without pictures. Mike took these at the cutting garden last week.)

Cutting Garden

2011-09-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Last week was a little more hectic than normal. The kids both got hit with some colds, I had a couple weddings, and Mike was prepping for a business trip. I honestly don't think I could keep my sanity without Mike around. I discovered billy balls at the cutting garden last week and I really wanted to get some for one of the weddings that was happening this past Saturday. I just didn't know when I could get out there. But Mike decided we should all go. He packed up the kids and we all headed out after dinner. Asa loves coming to the cutting garden any chance he can. Dirt. And lots of it.

Asa and I went to work on the billy balls - (I really can't get over that you can go pick these by the bucketful right now! They can cost as much as a rose when you ship them in!)

Mike even thought to bring the camera and took the opportunity to get some fantastic shots of the late harvest fields.

And, of course, our darling little girl.

Thanks babe! I love you!

Ida 4 Months

2011-09-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ida Mae hit 4 months! Really. I can't believe she's this old already! I've already started packing up the clothes that don't fit her anymore which makes me a little sad but also really excited to get to see her personality continue to unfold. She's crazy smiley now, loves to play with her toys, chew on everything, roll over (both ways!), and sleeps like a champ.

We got shots this morning and found out that she's still right on target at 13lbs 10oz, 24.5 in long, and a head size of 16.5in. This puts her in the 50% for weight, 55% for height, and 75% for head size. Yup - she's got a big noggin.

Don't you just want to smooch those cheeks!

(Asa's about to tickle her - and she loves it!)

Homegrown homemade pickles

2011-09-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

Asa Sayings

2011-09-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Me: Asa you need to go potty?
Asa: No I finish preaching first. I like church, huh!?

Asa was playing with Mr. Potato Head.
Asa: You're a funny guy potato head.

Asa was "talking" on the phone.
Asa: Haha. That's really funny man. Yep. (guess he's been listening to Mike)

"Talking" on the phone to Maggie.
Asa: Hey Maggers, Asa here, I'm a big boy, umm ... just tootsin.. yah, go to Michigan, okay? Bye.

My Two Goons

2011-08-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

They sure have fun together! No one can quite make Ida smile like Asa.

Happy 1st Anniversary Mark and Carolyn!

2011-08-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Happy first year you guys!

Mark and Carolyn's Wedding from Mike Church on Vimeo.

The Whole Church Fam

2011-08-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Little Buds

2011-08-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

Asa's taken over the responsibility of watering the porch flowers. He takes it very seriously.

Ida's extremely fond of Amara's old swing and giraffe animal.

Mike as a Baby

2011-08-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering who our kids look like...

Who's who?

2011-08-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to some comparison pictures of the kiddos! Can you tell who's who?

Well this one's really obvious- but I hardly have any pictures of Ida without a bow. Poor Asa had the baby acne bad at 2 months.

Ida Meets Opa and Oma

2011-08-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

While we were in Michigan Ida got to meet her Oma and Opa (Vicki's parents, Ida's great grandparents). Ida is named after Opa's mother, Ida Dekker. It was a quick trip so we need to get back soon!

Michigan Sunsets

2011-08-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

And I didn't enhance these at all!

A Taste of Michigan

2011-08-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

I'm going through our pile of pictures - but here's Mike out on the paddleboard! The lake was perfectly calm that evening.

And we're off...

2011-08-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

Time for Lake Michigan!! See you in a week!

Ida 3 Months

2011-08-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ida Mae is 3 months today! She's chunking up with a double chin and thigh rolls. She's cooing, talking, and smiling like crazy. I'm incredibly grateful that she's now been sleeping consistently through the night for a month! Asa loves helping out by throwing out diapers, alerting us the moment she starts crying, getting her burp rags to wipe her mouth, and covering her with blankets.

Can't imagine life without this darling girl!

"I cookin like Bobby!"

2011-08-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

This funny kid loves Bobby Flay! He's the only Food Network star that he'll actually sit and watch from start to finish. He even postponed his breakfast to finish watching him!

Mike grills a lot and Asa observed this morning that, "Bobby's grillin like Dada!"

When I asked him what he was doing he told me he was cooking like Bobby.

New Lens!

2011-08-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Mike and I had been discussing getting a new lens recently to improve our camera. Well the other day Dad C decided to get a new camera (the Nikon D7000!!! ) and as a result we inherited his wide angle lens!! I started playing around with it yesterday and we're already loving the improvement. Perfect timing - a really fun blessing! Thanks Dad!

More Seattle Fun

2011-08-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Jerry's amazing Water BounceLand!

Wine tasting at William Church Winery

Lots of cousin time

The wonderful Owens!

Nana and Poppy with the Grandkids

2011-07-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Here they all are!

Blue-Eyed Boy

2011-07-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Ida 2 Months

2011-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Ida had her 2 month check up last week. She's healthy as can be and growing like a champ. She's now 22in long and 11.2 pounds which puts her between the 25th and 50th percentile. (A fair bit smaller than Asa who's never been less than 90th.)

Asa loves her like crazy and helps by throwing out her diapers, giving her oodles of kisses, and making sure that she's never forgotten. "You bring Ida Mommy you bring Ida?!" Is a worried question I get whenever we load up the car.

Isn't she a sweetie?

Cuties

2011-07-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

This photo is a little washed out, unfortunately, but aren't my nieces such cuties!?

Asa Sayings

2011-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

I turned around to see Asa picking his nose:

Asa: "I fixin my nose Momma"

Mike was at work late so it was just me and Asa for dinner.

Asa: "You're my best friend Momma"
Me: "I'm your best friend?!"
Asa: "Yes, best friend."

I don't know where he learned it but it melts your heart (especially when it's said from a spaghetti stained mouth)!

4th of July Family Shot

2011-07-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Shelbi took these while the Ls were doing pics. Just missing Mark and Carolyn!

All the greats with their shirts 1-8!

Some July 4th

2011-07-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here's just a sampling of some of our Fourth of July fun!

champagne poppers!

looking all patriotic with Aunt Maggs

not enough dessert....

mom's AMAZING homemade ice cream - wouldn't be the 4th without it

some of the rels

some great friends

some fireworks

Only Amara

2011-07-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

"Yeah Aunt Kathryn, I know I'm cute."

Tea with Rachel

2011-07-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

I have so many oodles of pictuers to edit and footage to go through it's a little ridiculous! But we're having the best time with the cousins in town - Ida even got to attend her first tea party! Thanks Rachel!

Ida's Smiling

2011-07-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well Ida's been smiling for a little while now but I finally caught it on film! She actually smiled for the first time at Asa - pretty cute.

My Beautiful Grandmother

2011-07-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

My Grandma got to come up and meet Ida Mae! We also got to celebrate her birthday while she was here. She's a pretty special lady! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grammy and the Girls

2011-06-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

Cutting Garden with the Girls

2011-06-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hip hip hooray

2011-06-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

The cousins are here and more arriving tomorrow!!!

Such a Two Year Old

2011-06-29T15:12:00.000-07:00

After refusing to use the bathroom at my mom's house (claiming he didn't need to go despite his little dance) we began the drive home. Asa started reciting what he would do, "Go home, drive car, use potty."

He wasn't able to make the drive.

I put Asa on the potty while I cleaned up only to come back and find him enjoying splashing his feet in the potty.

So I moved him into the tub only to come back and find him wearing a soaking hat.

He's two alright!

Asa Sayings

2011-06-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Driving in the car:
A: Mom I need my phone. (I hand him his Woody and Buzz phone)
A: Uh, Hi Dada. We're driving. Yeah, gotta go talk to Buzz. (hangs up the phone and opens it again)
Hi Buzz. Yeah uh huh - go play with Amara.

In the tub:
A: momma I cookin
Me: whatcha making?
A: oh water
Me: can you make some birthday cake (his normal request in the kitchen)?
A: no momma just water! (as if you could make anything else in the tub...)

I took Asa to the track with me assuming he could just ride in the stroller or play in the middle. But he was only content to ride for a couple laps. "I run momma I run." And he ran over half a mile in jeans and his fedora! Every time I'd ask him if he wanted a ride he'd just say, " oh no I run!" And if I ever got a little ahead,"wait momma! Wait!"
Too cute! Not the best workout by any means, but so cute!

Tuckered Out

2011-06-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Asa's been making great strides in potty training !! but major set-backs in sleeping. I'm guessing (and hoping) that this is just due to learning his new skill. It's been very tiring, I must admit, but this just made me crack up. I found him completely conked out in Ida's room on her bouncy seat.

And I have to say - I love the iPad for many many reasons but it has been a fantastic potty training tool! I won't go so far as to say that Apple potty trained Asa but it sure helped!

Baking Night: Parmesan and Prosciutto Mini Muffins

2011-06-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Rachel and I have begun a weekly tradition of Baking Night. Depending on when the kiddos go down we can end up baking into the wee hours but it's been loads of fun. Granted the late night makes mistakes more likely but so far everything's been edible. We started out with some sweets - we made a killer chocolate cake that also freezes really well. Freezing was an attempt to keep us from eating it all at once, but it turns out that frozen chocolate cake is also really delicious. We've started shipping out the baked goods.

This past week we did a Weight Watcher Muffin recipe. Rachel had a really cute pan from IKEA that we had to use which made them really tall and skinny. I wasn't able to eat it due to dairy affecting Ida, but they smelled amazing and both Rachel and Mike claimed they tasted just as good. So here you go:

Parmesan and Prosciutto Muffins: (our version should be titled Pepper Jack and Ham Muffins)

4 spray(s) cooking spray

2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour

2/3 cup(s) whole wheat flour

1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (we didn't have this so we used pepper jack)

4 tsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

2 large egg white(s), at room temperature (we used one whole egg)

4 oz Casa Italia Prosciutto, or other proscuitto crudo, thinly sliced, minced (we didn't have this so we used 2 slices of leftover bacon and ham)

1/2 cup(s) part-skim ricotta cheese (didn't have this so we used neufchatel cream cheese)

1/2 cup(s) low-fat milk

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

(I also think a bunch of chives or sliced green onions would add nice flavor and color.)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Spray two 12 indentation mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, cheese, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper.
In a second bowl, whisk together egg whites, prosciutto, ricotta, milk and melted butter until the mixture is fairly smooth.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients; stir with a wooden spoon just until there are no pockets of dry flour in the mixture. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, about 1 1/2 tablespoons per indentation.
Bake until browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 12 to 14 minutes. Cool in tins for a couple of minutes before turning muffins out and cooling them on a wire rack. Yields 1 muffin per serving.

Bathtime

2011-06-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Look at that little chub! She's getting some cheeks and a belly!

Just want to smooch that little face!

Ida One Month

2011-06-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ida is actually a little past one month but it was just too crazy when we hit her one month bday! She's growing like a champ, getting a full belly, and managing to put up with her older brother. Asa loves her like crazy which means that her little hands and arms and toes get yanked and "high-fived" and kissed frequently.
We already can't imagine life without this sweetie!
(unfortunately this picture is a little fuzzy but here she is meeting her cousin Helen)

Ida got to meet our neighbor Emily!

And her nursery is ALMOST done - I've returned one set of curtains and we're waiting for the next ones to arrive. It is soo hard to find cute/classy blackout curtains!