No Noah Yet!

I would like to be blogging about the new addition to our family, that we thought would be arriving last night, but decided not to come. Sarah was up all night with contractions and thought for sure this was it. 11:00 = 10 minutes apart... midnight = 7 minutes apart... 1:00 AM = 5 minutes apart... 2:00 AM = 4 minutes apart... 3:00 AM = no more contractions... WHAT!!!

So instead here are some other events that have happened lately. Lizzy was so excited to lose her first tooth. It was quite loose and the new tooth was quickly growing in behind so she came to me ask me to pull her tooth out with my leatherman. She has seen me perform this feat with her two older siblings so she knew I was competent. I grab on to the tooth with the promise that I will not pull it until they tell me it is OK. Then when they give the slightest indication that it is OK, the tooth is gone. Each time I do it they don't even realize the tooth is gone until they stick their tongue in the empty space. This time was no different. She didn't stop dancing around with excitement for about 20 minutes. I am surprised we got her into bed that night.

Every morning about 9:00 our backyard is covered with these little lizards. This one stuck around long enough for me to snap a shot. One of favorite activities is catching these little guys. Although the bigger ones are much easier to catch.

12 to 16 Hours!!

When you decide to purchase a new playset for your kids and the instructions inside the box says that it will take 12 -16 hours for 2 adults to put it together... put the instructions back in the box and return the entire set to the store!

I think this is what happen to the previous owners of this playset before we found it at Costco for a "great price". Only the instructions and one of the other 6 six boxes had been opened. I was not smart enough to take my own advice. When I read that it would take 12-16 hours for two adults, I thought to myself, "Hey... I am a fairly mechanically inclined guy. I bet they are just being conservative. I am sure it will only take me about 6 hours."

15 hours later (over the course of two weeknights and a 10 hour friday) the set was complete. You might be thinking that is pretty good for one person, but please don't be mistaken, without the help of my wife and father it would have taken much longer.

If you decide not to take my advice and want to embark on this adventure, here is some advice:

1. Make sure that your wife is willing to help out. Mine was a life saver. She stayed 2-3 steps ahead of me the entire time, locating wood and hardware so it was ready when I needed it.

2. Make sure that your wife is perceptive enough to know when you are over your head and is willing to call your father to have him come help you, because you are too "manly" to call for help yourself.

3. Make sure that your 5 year old daughter isn't sitting near by with her play cash register and makes you "buy" everything before you can assemble it. It's very cute, but will also add significant time to the process.

4. Wear lots of sunscreen and drink lots of water because you are going to be out there for a long time.

With all that said, the kids love the new playset, and I am a sucker for seeing my kids having fun. Given the choice, I would probably do it again, but I'm sure this time I could do it faster.

Madeline's Cooking Madness

We have learned that our oldest daughter has a talent for cooking. So we decided to make a cooking video of Madeline making her mom's delicious chocolate chip cookies. MMMMMMMM! My favorite!!!!!

In case you are interested here is the recipe:

Cream together:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter (not margarine, and yes it makes a difference)

Mix in until creamy:

2 eggs

Mix in:

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

2 cups old fashioned oats (not instant, and again yes it makes a difference)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Scoop dough into golf ball size balls and place on baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11 minutes or until the edges just start turning brown.

ENJOY!!!!