My Budding Little Artist

Mr. and Miss Fruitatarian

Today I have decided to document how much fruit I go through every week with my little fruit addicts. While grocery shopping today at Henry's we discovered great deals on some produce, so we had to buy loads and loads and loads of fruit to make it through the week. This is what we bought:

5 lbs clementines

6 apples

7 mangoes (49 cents!)

2 pomegranates

This joins the 8 or so little apples, a few oranges and some lemons that we had in our recent CSA share as well as the bag of frozen raspberries that we pick up from Costco every week. That is 3 lbs of raspberries every week. We also have 3 bunches of carrots, with the tops still attached of course!, that the kids chow down on on a daily basis.

By the end of the day, Teigue alone had eaten 2 apples and maybe 6 clementines, not to mention the large clamshell of raspberries that each kid has to have just so I can get through Trader Joe's. Lets see how long all this lasts. As my dad says, he would rather dress Teigue than feed him. Me too.

Update: After 2 days, the clementines were all gone. We said goodbye to the mangoes after 4. Day 5 showed a crisper drawer empty of apples. I think we need to get our fruit trees in gear and have them start producing fruit. Soon.

Day Out With Daddy

Yesterday while I stayed at home and cleaned up the chaos, Brady and the kids went out east with the Alexander kids to hike and play at Mission Trails. From what Brady and the kids told me the day went something like this:

They walked a couple feet and Teigue found a treasure. Then they discovered some water that was just begging to have rocks thrown into it. The Fox kids got into the water and explored all it's muddy goodness. Jayno saw 3, 4 doggies. More treasures were located and shared. Mr. Fox actually went and got berries off of the tree and freely gave one to each kid. Wow. My little man is getting all grown up.

From what I understand, I guess they all had a pretty good time. I don't know how they did since hanging out with good friends, water, rocks, sticks, a discovered digger to climb on, dirt, leaves and treasures everywhere usually is not very much fun for my kids. Thankfully yesterday it was.

The Next LeBron

Looks like someone will be having some scholarships in his future.

Santa's Cookies Dry Run

Teigue decided a long time ago that Santa would really enjoy some raspberry cookies. He felt that we should make them by mixing some raspberries and butter then add some mint ice cream and some flour. And, as he would say, that's it. I felt that flour and ice cream probably wouldn't go very well together, but Teigue felt that he was on to something. Today we did a dry run to see if the recipe I picked would be OK for the man in red.

These cookies were the first time that I really cooked with both kids. We have made boxed recipes before together, but nothing truly from scratch. I am proud to say that they did a fantastic job, and Teigue is very patient and a great teacher to his little sister. I also discovered that the key to a successful brother/sister/mommy cooking team is to have mommy do the mise en place before the baking begins. This makes for a much cleaner kitchen and less fighting and arguing between the pastry chefs.

As you can see from this last picture, Stella had a very fun time tasting the butter, batter, chips and raspberries. They were anxiously waiting for the cookies to be done to see if all the ingredients they tasted individually would taste good together. We decided that, phew, Santa would really enjoy the raspberry chocolate chip cookies that Teigue, Jayno and I made.

Cooking

From watching her big brother, Jayno has discovered how much fun "helping" in the kitchen is. Cutting mushrooms is a favorite task for both kids. Thankfully Teiguee was around tonight to show Jayno the exact way to do the job.

Prep and Landing

Teigue has been busy readying the house for Santa's arrival. Tonight he laid out lights on the deck so that Santa would be able to find our house and land his sleigh safely. He has been a tad obsessed with Prep and Landing and wanted to help the elves.

17...18...17...18...17

Jungle Bells

During the Christmas season here in San Diego, many of the high traffic tourist areas really go all out and get in the holiday spirit. We love to go to these places, especially at night, and enjoy the decorations and merriment. In previous years, the Wild Animal Park has been one of our key places to head to, but this year the Zoological Society decided to have the festivities at our wonderful, right around the corner, zoo.

We headed up there the other night and were greeted by some beautiful holiday lights, as well as San Diego snow (soap bubbles). Teigue was all about the snow and was trying to catch the flakes, but our little princess was a tad freaked by it and decided that Daddy's arms was a much better place to be. I think that if Teigue could have stayed there all night he would have. Notice the treasures that he brought to the zoo with him- two passion flowers from Max and Jill's yard.

We couldn't stay at the entrance all night- there was too much to see and do! We met Santa (again) and Teigue told him that a Rudolph doll like Jayno has would be much appreciated. Jayno held on tight to Brady and yelled "Candy canes!" from the safety of his arms. We searched and searched for animals that were awake and luckily found some elephants playing in some snow! How fun is that?

Directly across from the elephants was an ice skating rink. Although it was nothing like the ponds that I grew up skating on, or even the rink at the Del, for kids that live in a city where the weather is 70 degrees, it was pretty cool. It was actually some sort of material that needs no refrigeration and just snaps in place. Jayno was quite taken with this new feature at the zoo.

We had so much fun and are thankful that we have these places to go, so that we can pretend, if only for one night, that we live in a colder climate than we do. It makes the lights on the palm trees and the 70 degree weather (when the lights should be on evergreens and the weather snowy and cold) a bit more tolerable.

♥Love♥

"You tired Jayno? You want me? Come here, come lay down and I make you cozy. You want your Rudolph? Look I have a surprise for you as he pulls out a pacifier from behind his back. You OK Jayno? You warm enough? You want me to read you a story? Come, come wit me and I read you a story. I wuv you Jayno." I love you Teiguee.

BIrthday Before the Day

Yesterday the plan was for me to go Christmas shopping while Brady and the kids made a very special cake for a very special day for a very special me. It was also a cake for our anniversary since Brady and I were married a day before my birthday. As I was getting ready to leave, Brady holds up a pan and said, "So this is a 13x9 cake pan, right?". As the cake pan was in fact a 9 inchround, I decided that it would be best if I stayed, just in case he needed a bit of help.

I need not have worried. They were great. Brady was surprised on how great they did, as a matter of fact, and how wonderful Teigue is in the kitchen. He cracked the eggs, and all the shells stayed out of the bowl this time!

They licked the beaters to make sure it tasted perfect. Jayno decided that it would also be a good idea to scoop batter out of the bowl with her hand and taste it. She was on a bit of a sugar high afterwards...

Teigue wanted to make me a mint chocolate chip chocolate cake, but since that was a tad out of Brady's area of expertise, he felt that crushing candy canes and sprinkling them on the cake would be a much better idea.
Right after this picture was taken, Brady said, "Oh, the box says to use 2 cake pans. Oh.". Oops.

The cake turned out so very tasty (too very tasty, actually...must stop eating cake...) and everyone had a great time going through the process. I was able to finish my shopping and was serenaded with an early "Happy Birthday" on my arrival home. It was a great day.

Rainy Saturday

I think I may have an addiction to Christmas crafts. I can't stop. We have made ornaments, wreaths, stockings...there is just something about the holiday that turns me into a sort of Martha Stewart. Between making hand print ornaments and a large felt stocking, Teigue and I decided that we needed to make some cookies.

We were going to make the raspberry cookies that Teigue feels Santa would love, but I found a really tasty looking cookie in the last issue of Sunset that I really wanted to try, so we made those instead. My little baker is getting so good at his craft. He actually referred to himself numerous times as a chef. He cracked eggs like a champ (only getting a few shells), creaming the sugar and butter- no problem for my little monkey- he works the KitchenAid like a pro (well sort of, we have to work on the not turning the mixer on high after adding the flour...ooops). He listened really well and was all business. For an almost 4 year old, I am constantly impressed with how focused he is when he is cooking. He even sat and rolled out the dough into crescent shapes and placed them on the sheets. Most of them were the right size, too. A few were made small (for Jayno). Others were placed very close to mine. Well, the cookies are best friends, after all.

Want the recipe for a hazelnut cookie that is really easy to make with kids? Go here.

Letter From Santa

"Dear Teigue and Stella,

Christmas greetings from North Pole, Alaska! I'm thinking of you as I take a break from my work and relax by the fire with a steaming cup of Mrs. Santa's hot chocolate. I've been checking my list and I'm glad to see that you're near the top. This makes me very pleased. Soon I'll be ready for my big Christmas trip and a stop at your house.

Ollio has been sending back very good reports about the two of you. It makes me very happy to see how well you play with each other and how much you love one another. I will try to bring you some snow on Christmas morning from the North Pole!

It's been very busy here at the North Pole. The elves are working hard in my workshop as Christmas draws near. They are busy wrapping the presents in colorful paper and shiny ribbon. The reindeer are very excited as they see the sleigh is nearly packed;they know it is not long now until the big night. They have been practicing with the sleigh every day in preparation for our trip.

Mrs. Santa and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Your Friend Always,

Santa Claus"

Teigue felt the only place this letter could go was on the tree. I loved the idea.

Gingerbread Wednesday

Brady and the kids built a gingerbread house while I did some shopping. I think they ate more candy than they put on the house, but they had a really fun time. I discovered that Daddy time also equals Hooray! Candy after 7pm time.

Tuesday

Things have been busy here this last week so I haven't gotten a chance to post the goings on for the Fox family as much as I would have liked. So, I have time this evening and will be making up for lost time.

On Monday we had one heck of a rain storm. Not sure of the exact rainfall, but at one point the golf course down the street had a river running through it and the rain was coming down sideways. Anyhoo...rain on Monday means that we really didn't get a chance to get outside and run around, so on Tuesday we headed up to the zoo and walked and walked and walked. You know what else we saw walking? A camel. Right down the street in the zoo. How often does one get to see a camel walking down the street? Well, I guess if you live in Egypt you see them quite often...but here? Never! Well on Tuesday, we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of one on it's afternoon stroll.

Then, we almost got trampled by a herd of elephants!

And of course we had to make silly faces while sitting on the top of a huge saber tooth tiger.

And treasures? This was taken when Mr. Fox decided he could no longer walk and needed a piggyback. Since I could not carry the treasures, Teigue and Stella, some had to be left behind. Only the mushy yellow fruity thing was able to make the journey. Not to worry though, as Teigue was able to amass even more leaves and berries on the way out of the zoo, which I did not photo since we had to rush to the airport to pick up Brady!! Whoo hoo!! Daddy is home!

Rain

Torrential downpour equals a very happy almost 4 year old. Rivers everywhere.

Two

Pancakes, hot cocoa filled to the brim with strawberries, a red hibiscus from a loving brother and a nap. Maybe an afternoon trip to the zoo to see Clyde. Great way to turn two.

A heart, the number 2 and balloons with strawberry strings.

Swim Lesson Update

Here are a couple videos showing how the kids are doing in their lessons.

★ ★ Happy Birthday Little Lady ★ ★

If Jayno had her pick to do anything she desired on her birthday, I have no doubt that she would pick going to a park and playing with puppies, then going to a breeder to pick out a puppy of her own and finally ending the day by eating a puppy cake and watching a movie about puppies. Since none of those things are really accessible (well except for the puppy movie and the puppy cake), we decided to do the next best thing and head to SeaWorld.

We were greeted by all of our favorite characters singing to us in the Bay of Play. Immediately after the performance, the stars had a little meet and greet for all the kids. Although Stella was very excited to finally meet her favorite Zoe, she professed her love from afar and in the safe arms of Brady while she clung to him for dear life. Teigue, however, had no problems loving Elmo and Miss Zoe.

To make up for not meeting Zoe, Brady was such a great dad and won her a Rudolph doll in a arcade basketball game. This new buddy was very much loved on throughout our day and is now snuggled up next to her in her crib. I don't think he is as important as her Oggy, but he's pretty up there.

The highlight of the day? Going to see The Polar Express at the 4D theater and coming out of the theater to some San Diego snow.

Happy birthday my darling little lady. You have brought such an amazing amount of happiness to us, we are all thankful every day for your crazy hair, your silly faces and your spicy personality. There is nothing like waking up next to you every morning (although I wouldn't mind if you started sleeping through the night in your own bed soon...) and getting a perfect little snuggle monster demanding warm milk. Mornings with you are the best- you know it is just your time with us (ok, usually Daddy...) and you bring us loads and loads of giggles and smiles. We love you Baby Jayno. Happy Birthday baby girl. xoxoxo

Yes, I know that her birthday is technically tomorrow, but since a very important member of our family will be flying up to San Francisco for a few days, we felt it best to celebrate a day early.

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo

Since Teigue has been in preschool, we really have not headed up to the zoo as much as we used to. Even though it is right around the corner, we just seem to do other things on our days off and bypass the lush gardens, flowing waterfalls and, of course, the varied and awesome animals that we once treasured and loved so much. We just seem to have such little time lately and we have avoided it. Thankfully today we finally went on a long overdue proper zoo adventure.

We became very tired and hungry to start our adventure and, after walking all of 100 yards (which took 45 minutes to walk) we had to eat some lunch and take a rest while snuggling with each other.

After lunch, we were lucky enough to see a 2 day old baby giraffe snoozing in the corner. Finally seeing some animals on our adventure gave us some energy. We were able to explore and run (as a certain mom wanted from the very beginning).

Of course we had to pick up every stick and leaf that we found and throw them in any bit of water that we encountered.

On Tuesday, Teigue and I headed up to the zoo for about a half hour while Jayno took a nap. We had been stuck inside since Saturday due to an awful case of the sniffles and a icky fever. Since Teigue was on the mend and was a bit stir crazy I thought it would be a good idea to let him get some energy out at the zoo. While there we headed to the orangutan exhibit and looked for our buddy Clyde. He was not out, but Janey was and immediately came up to Teigue and sat by him and "played" with him through the glass. Of course I did not have my camera to photo the fun, but luckily today she was nice enough to come on over and say hello again, and Teigue tried to share some of his berries with her.

On the rock you see a glimpse of the treasures that Teigue accumulated at the zoo. Thankfully I only had limited space in which to hold the treasures since the zoo is filled with the best treasures around. We had a very beautiful multicolored leaf that was treated like gold throughout the 4 hours we were at the zoo. Unfortunately right before we were to leave, our leaf decided it wanted to stay and left us. As did a the smallest and fluffiest red and yellow feather we have ever seen. Thankfully we amassed quite a collection today, so both loses were soon forgotten.

I promise Zoo that we will be back again soon. I miss you.