Something New Every Day

Grace can climb up on the couch without using any toys or pillows now. She's so excited about this new trick! :)

Weekend with the Kio's

What a fun weekend at Jill and Eben's! It was funny to watch Benjamin and Grace play together. Benjamin is all boy and likes to grab and tackle. Grace is all girl and has a definite bubble and needs her personal space. Despite this they played well together and seemed to have a good time. We went for 2 walks on Saturday because it was so beautiful out; we had to take advantage of the wonderful fall weather. We are already looking forward to going back down for Benjamin's birthday over Thanksgiving break!

Can I Help?

Steve was trying to grade papers on the floor before Grace went to bed. I'm not sure if he'll try that again.

On a separate note, I was on my way to pick up Grace after work today and all of a sudden I noticed a huge, black, hairy spider looking at me from the dashboard. After almost putting the car in the ditch I pulled myself together and tried to smash it with a water bottle. It sprinted into a crack and hid. I didn't see it for about a mile and then it peeked at me from a different crack - even closer to me than before! Again, I gathered myself and tried to throw the water bottle at it. Again I failed miserably. It disappeared and I haven't seen it since. If you can't tell, it's still bothering me. I know that tomorrow morning when I get back into the car I will still think about this massive spider and wonder in which crack it's now hiding. Yuck.

Easy Recipe

I made Crock Pot Pizza for lunch today. It's one of Steve's favorite meals and it's really easy to make!

Crock Pot Pizza

1 16 oz. box Rigatoni noodles

2 15 oz. cans pizza sauce

4 c. mozzarella cheese

3 oz. pepperoni slices

8 oz. mushrooms

Cook rigatoni noodles until done. Drain. Layer pizza sauce, rigatoni, pepperoni, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese in crock pot. Layer 3 times. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. 

Of course you can add other toppings and omit some of the above. I love fix-it and forget-it meals. Enjoy!

Stuck

Grace decided to scoot underneath her table and then was ticked off when she couldn't get back out. It was pretty entertaining. She then decided it was safer to crawl on top instead.

Giggles at 3 a.m.

I was just talking to Jill last night about how great Grace has been sleeping lately. I think I jinxed myself because at exactly 3:02 this morning I was awakened by giggling followed by "mama ball" followed by more giggling. Despite what time it was I had to laugh. How can you get annoyed when they are that happy-even if it is in the middle of the night?? I was just thankful that it was a weekend night and we didn't have to get up at 6. Luckily she went right back to sleep after I got her a drink. 

New things that Grace is doing: she now knows where her nose and belly button are; she can also zerbert your belly!

The Shoe Obsession Continues

Toilet Fun

I was in the middle of doing my hair and I turned around and saw Grace standing in her toilet trying to crawl up onto the other toilet. I was beginning to spazz out because she had just had a bath and the toilets aren't exactly sparkling clean but I quickly realized that that's why they invented soap and decided to capture the moment instead. :)

The obsession with climbing up onto the couch continues...

 

Big Day

We had a fun day Saturday. Steve got to go to the Notre Dame/Michigan game with Duane, Dad and David (thanks for getting the tickets David)! Mom, Grace and I got to hang out with Sara, Morgan and Adrienne. Grace also got to see her Grandpa Hastings. It didn't take her long to rope him into walking around the house with her. :) I'm really glad that the men got some bonding time to themselves. It doesn't happen very often so it's nice when occasions like today arise. 

Friday Fun...

Today Grace got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Chupp's! Mom had the day off so she offered to watch her. It sounds like they had a lot of fun together. :) Thanks Mom! 

Grace has recently learned how to use her toys to her advantage. She pushes her activity table over to the couch and, as you can see from the pictures, she can get up on the couch by herself. She was so proud of herself for figuring this out - she crawled all over the couch and laughed and laughed. It was so funny!

So proud and happy!

Climb Climb Climb

Grace has this obsession with climbing in things. She's constantly in her green diaper box and she loves the laundry basket. 

Stella

We (meaning Grace and I) decided that Tess needed a friend so we went on a catnapping mission this afternoon. Mom and Dad had a kitten show up at their house a month ago and it has been hanging around ever since. Dad doesn't particularly like cats and Mom didn't want to get too attached so I decided that it would be okay if Grace and I went and brought the cat home to meet Tess. Needless to say we now have two cats and they look very similar. We decided to name this one Stella although I'm already thinking it was a mistake since Steve is constantly saying STEEEELLLAAA!!! If you are a Seinfeld fan you know exactly what I'm talking about. Grace loves them as long as they don't get in her "bubble". She's warming up to them a lot. We enjoyed oreos again tonight so I had to include another picture of the aftermath. As you can tell she loved having her face wiped. :)

Tess

We have inherited a kitty that followed Jill and Benjamin home from a walk this week. Jill would have loved to keep her but it would send Toonces into panic-mode. She is a sweet little cat. She comes right up to you and rubs against your legs. Grace is not quite sure about her yet but is definitely interested. We've decided to name her Tess. I'm excited to have an  entertaining animal around here -- the deer and hummingbirds just don't like to play and cuddle! :) 

Girls Night!

Steve is helping Uncle Fred out at the beef booth tonight so Grace and I had a girls night. We played, cooked and pigged out on oreos. She had a great time gnawing on them with her 4 new top teeth! I love the weekends! :)

A Day in the Kitchen

I am lucky to have another 3-day weekend! I've decided to spend quite a bit of today cooking since I rarely get a chance to do that anymore. I promised Jill that I would post a recipe for granola since she made some last week. Here's the recipe that I received from Ariel's mom. 

Crunchy Granola Cereal

4 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 cup coconut

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix everything together, except raisins, adding oil and honey last. Spread evenly on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Add raisins after the mixture has cooled. Simple and delicious! :)  

Last month my mother-in-law and I tried a salsa recipe. It turned out to be really easy and really good! Here it is...

Freezer Salsa

8 cups tomatoes (diced)

2 medium green peppers (chopped)

2 large onions (chopped)

2 jalapeno peppers (chopped)

1 small can tomato paste

1 can tomato soup

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons salt

4 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 45 minutes stirring often. Pour into small freezer containers. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Freeze for up to 3 months. Stir before serving. Of course you can add more peppers or other ingredients. I thought it would be fun to try this recipe with corn and black beans. Make it your own and enjoy! :)

What a Cruddy Weekend

We had been planning on going to visit Jill, Eben and Benjamin for the long weekend but had to postpone our trip because of colds. Steve was sick last week and then Grace woke up with it on Friday morning. Now it's my turn. I guess the good news is that we had 3 days to relax and recuperate. Steve's brother Bret called and decided to risk coming up today so that helped too. Grace loves her Uncle Bret!