Sand, Steam and Pisco, and Pandas

Just a few things that appeared during our weekend.  We had a really fun, very busy, and somewhat productive weekend!

Thomas won tickets to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, which is a three-day food and drinking extravaganza that runs from Friday morning through Sunday evening. We only participated in a small fraction of the events, but really enjoyed everything we did. We got a sitter and went to a dinner Friday night, but on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, we got together with the other Fowlkes' and each gender got an afternoon away.

Thomas' company also hosted a festival on a property they own on Saturday, so we also did that.

And Carter performed at church on Sunday.

And I did some much needed shopping.

And I made a lot of baby food.

And John learned to crawl.

That doesn't seem like TOO much in words, but really, it was a crazy weekend. So I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Friday Night: Food & Wine Festival (FWF) dinner at JCT Kitchen.
Where I met my new favorite cocktail: vodka, lime juice, maple syrup, white pepper and a tequila floater.
Seriously. So, so, SO good.  

Saturday morning: Festival at Riverview Landing
Playing in the sand ring
Carter says, "Mom, is there anything better than sand?"

Exploring the river
Anything to distract Carter from his demands that we take a dog home with us
(it was a dog-centric festival)

Saturday afternoon: the Fowlkes men head to the FWF
Ashley and I take four children under the age of 6 to the mall
All children survived and were allowed to ride the train
John opted to skip it in favor of milk with mom
Ashley and I actually manage to shop (briefly)
And we only buy one thing that's exactly the same (pretty amazing for us)

Thomas sends a photo of his point-of-view from the FWF
The "wine" part of the name is a bit misleading
There was wine, but there was also an abundance of beer, bourbon, pisco, vodka, tequila, moonshine, etc etc etc 

Later that afternoon, the cousins had some good outside fun

While I got busy steaming a LOT of veggies in preparation for smushing them for John
I'm pretty sure that this was my last batch of mush
By the time John eats all of this, I think he'll be on to all finger foods!

When Thomas returns from the FWF, the glass around his neck is empty

He takes a nap in the midst of the chaos
(remember: 4 children under 6 running about)

It really doesn't seem to bother Thomas

He did eventually perk up in time to eat again

Sunday morning: We're all up VERY early for Carter's last choir performance
(in my opinion, a big mother's day scheduling failure on the part of the church)
Carter did great, in part, (I think) because his ability to choose whether or not to be part of the choir again next year was predicated on him doing well. So he did. And I suspect that was his final performance.  

Saturday afternoon: Our turn at the FWF
Happy Mother's Day to us! 

Thomas and Park weren't able to do this on Saturday, so we got our glasses waxed by the Maker's Mark people 

Can we do this for Mother's Day every year?
Seriously. 

He Makes Me Laugh

A couple of recent funnies from Carter...

A few weeks ago, we were eating ice cream and I told him about "brain freeze". After dinner tonight, he was eating one of our homemade strawberry popsicles when he gripped his head and said "Oh no! Mental cold!"

This evening, Carter was telling me that a friend in his class has broken his finger. I ask "How did he break it?" and Carter responds by bending his finger back, "Well, someone said it was like this." Next he bends his finger to the side, "But someone else said he did it like this." Okay, I asked the wrong question. So then I ask, "What was he doing when he broke his finger?" Carter says, "Hmm. I think it hurt really bad. He probably had to go to the clinic!" Silly me. Always asking the wrong questions.

Carter sees me writing this, asks what it is about, and asks me to add, "I hope that he gets better soon."

John Recents

John is doing well. He has three teeth now (all on the bottom) and we suspect a couple more will be making an appearance soon. Probably on top. 

John can't get into a sitting position on his own, but if you sit him up, he can stay up pretty well by himself. It can be a challenge to sit him down, though. He much prefers to stand (which requires someone to hold him) and he does NOT want to bend at the waist.  

He's getting up on his hands and knees, but doesn't care for it (especially because he only goes backwards), so he tends to get where he needs to go by using a barrel roll or his vocal chords. 

He continues to love to eat, but, given that he's a member of this family, he much prefers feeding himself to being fed. So, he really loves eating puffs (baby crack) and has developed the fine motor skills needed to feed himself very quickly. He's up to about 85% accuracy. We're also trying other easy finger foods. Tofu seemed to go over pretty well recently. 

More Fun with Food

When I was in Chicago recently, Stubbie said something to me like, "You guys sure do have fun with food." It occurs to me that that's very true. We like to celebrate holidays with food and enjoy coming up with ways to make cooking and eating fun for Carter. (Plus, I enjoy making foods into colors they shouldn't be.) In any case, that comment reminded me that I've been meaning to post these pics of some fun we had with food a couple of months ago. I can take no credit for the idea. Thomas found it on a blog. But it was fun. Carter thoroughly enjoyed helping to prep - and eat - this!

St. Paddy's Day

We enjoyed a lovely, green-themed, spring day today.

Thomas and Carter started the day with a 1 mile fun run

Then we tried to fly a kite, but there wasn't enough wind

So Carter put the weather to good use and played in the fountains

Then we had green dinner

And green dessert!

More Mush!

John loves food. He's eating rice cereal, butternut squash, carrots, green beans and broccoli so far. And he loves it all. And wants more, more, more!

No! Don't take it away!!

This is good!

Ten Years of Valentine's Day Tradition

As we prepared our traditional Valentine's meal of chicken fried steak, fried okra and steamed artichokes, it occurred to me that it is our tenth Valentine's Day together, and our tenth artery-clogging, delicious V-day feast. A look back at our photos revealed that we only started taking pictures a few years ago, and that every picture we have of our Valentine's Day dinner consists of Thomas, wearing a green shirt, looking up at the camera from in front of his full plate. So, this year, we decided to mix it up. You get me, wearing a green shirt, looking up at the camera from in front of my full plate. 

First Mush

It was his first try with "solids", and he did great! He ate the whole bowl and really, really wanted more!

Easier Mornings

There is not a morning person in this family. We really, really hate mornings. One day this week, Carter literally punched Thomas in the face when Thomas attempted to wake Carter up for school. (He was pretty much still asleep when he did it). And I totally understand how he was feeling.

So, naturally, mornings are hard around here. We tend to sleep as late as possible and then rush to get out the door. We've taken a few steps that have helped our mornings run more smoothly. Buying a coffee maker with a timer was a great move. I've also recently started making an entire week's worth of breakfasts on Sunday afternoons. Egg and cheese sandwiches get assembled and refrigerated, ready for 40 seconds in the microwave before we run out the door.

It may not be the best routine, but it's getting us out the door. And until my mom decides to move in here and start waking us all up gently with a glass of OJ or coffee in bed every morning (please?!), it's going to have to do.

Fastnacht Day

On Fat Tuesday, while Thomas was in Orlando, Carter and I spent the evening at friends Kirsten and Al's house celebrating Fastnacht Day. 

According to my good friend Wikipedia:

A Fasnacht, sometimes spelled Fastnacht or Faschnacht, is a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day (Shrove Tuesday), the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent....Basel, Switzerland conducts an annual fasnacht festival. The Pennsylvania Deutsch territory surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, celebrates the custom as well.

Kirsten & Al are from PA, and it has always been a big tradition in her house. Kirsten's mom was even there to help with the Fastnacht making and eating!

Carter observes how to shake on the sugar coating. Moments later, he became the most vigorous sugar shaker that anyone has ever seen. We had to quadruple bag the sugar lest he shake the bottom out of it!

By the time Carter and I left, we had the record for most Fastnachts consumed!

Pi Squared

In honor of pi day, we had shepherd's pie for dinner tonight with berry pie for dessert.

Yum!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm not that Parent, Right? Right?

I was reminded of a classic comedy stand-up bit from Eddie Murphy today as Carter and I were at the grocery store (while Eli is stuck somewhere between Maine and Boston). It is worth the watch before reading on, but beware it isn't kid friendly. For those of you in my age bracket, you will likely recall it as the McDonalds vs. Homemade White Bread Hamburger bit from "Raw."

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/nx0

While Carter did not ask specifically for McDonalds, (though he does that more and more often now and rarely gets his wish), we were finishing up the grocery shopping, it was late, the store was about to close early for renovations so it was crowded, poorly stocked, and full of contractors itching to get going once all these pesky shoppers got out of their way. We were in the last aisle, frozen foods, where was I re-stocking our depleted ice cream stores, and Carter, of course, spies this "fun" dinner:

After several minutes of cajoling, discussing, distracting, ignoring, I finally managed to get us out the door without the Kid Cuisine, but with a promise to make this dinner at home (pizza, corn, chocolate something). Fine, pizza isn't ideal but it's still better than this frozen meal. I knew I had corn and figured I could wing a chocolate something. Feeling confident as we got home, Carter races to the kitchen and says "Where are the sprinkles shaped like stars? Like on the box? You said we were making what was on the box!" I think my parent-of-the-year response was something like "Wha.....?" More cajoling, discussing, distracting, ignoring and voila! Fun dinner just like on the box!

No sprinkles, but Oreos can hold their own in the "fun" category apparently, so all was well. He ate every bit and even seemed to have a little fun while doing it.

Thinking back to Eddie Murphy, I'm not that parent, right? Right?

Salad Days

Apparently Carter has been learning about healthy eating at school recently. Today he told me that carrots make you strong and the ONLY healthy foods are apples and broccoli.

I asked him if the salad he was having for dinner was healthy...



"No," he said, "just crunchy."

- Posted by T using BlogPress from my iPhone

Snow Day

This snow day actually provided snow, and winter activities!

Sledding

 Maple Syrup Real Snow Cones!

Yes, that's Carter in a Spiderman costume with enhanced pecs. It's the only thing he wears indoors these days...

Also - I was supposed to be headed to Maine today (and then drive to Boston on Wednesday). Needless to say, that didn't happen. Between the Atlanta storm and the upcoming northeastern one, I'm not sure if I'll make it out this week or not!

Gingerbread Time!