what's goin' on in the hiz-ouse.

Some of these pictures are a month or two old, but come on...like you care. Cute is cute, even if it's outdated by a month or so.

Here's Reid after breakfast one morning and he got out a little clementine cutie, one at a time, and counted them. It was really sweet.

Dane at breakfast making spit bubbles.
Erik with our boys, seriously, could they all be any sweeter? No, I don't think it's possible. It's easy to see where the boys get their good looks from. I hope that someday one of our kids will hit the jackpot and get Erik's blue eyes.

At this point Alec still had one goopy eye, but they are both clear now. He's had issues with both of his eyes and blocked tear duct drainage systems, or something like that. He was going to have to have a small operation where they put him under anesthetic and just kind of pop out the blockage, but luckily both tear ducts opened on their own.
This is what it looks like after bathtime. Pure crazy. Limbs flying around and naked babies trying to get free and then running around while we're trying to lotion them up and get diapers and pajamas on them. It's like the most stressful 5 minutes ever.
Reid's joy in life: making new combinations of Mr. Potato Head. He does it all the time and comes up to me with a new creation, and he's always so excited and proud. It's adorable.
Most mornings the boys all get to play outside and just goof around for a while. Sometimes it's a little chilly, so they have to wear coats and hats, but it's getting warmer.
Some indoor play. Here's Dane after one of their favorite scores, finding Dad's motorcycle vest.
Big smile from Alec.
Another appearance from Mr. Duck. He's still so into Mr. Duck.
The huz had a birthday two weeks ago and turned 34. I say, 34 never looked so good. He got some more camping equipment for the many campouts he has planned with the scouts, some handsome new dress slacks, new cologne (that one may be more for me...) and lots of slobbery kisses. From the boys, of course.

Here's Erik with his cake, a Martha masterpiece.
Reid can't wait for some cake! I used this cake recipe and this frosting. It was intense, but very good. Next time Erik requests a chocolate cake, I think I'll try a different cake but stick with the same frosting. The frosting was dense, glossy, and heavenly. Of course it was, the two ingredients are cream and chocolate chips. 4 cups of cream! Crazy.

There were three layers and it was seriously huge. Ever since I was a kid and watched Pollyanna, I've always wanted to make a huge layer cake. It fulfilled a deep-rooted childhood Disney fantasy. Speaking of, Reid needs to see Pollyanna. He's seen the Parent Trap and Summer Magic, so he NEEDS to see Pollyanna.
Here are the boys enjoying a movie together. They love sitting here, each with a blanket, staring right into the TV. They last for about 8 minutes that way and then run around the room playing while the movie just kind of happens in the background.
Remember my spending hiatus? It's going pretty well, except for maybe my new obsession with Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics. Well, the obsession is not new, but the flood gate finally burst and I've been snatching up some fabrics on ebay. This is one collection of 6" charm squares that I didn't win, but wished I paid more attention to it and had won it. Look at that triangle pennant print in the bottom left! Perfection!
I did, however, pick up a little more than a yard of this gorgeous print, "Betsy" in green. This is probably my favorite, and will maybe end up as a dress someday. For my someday baby girl. I just hope she doesn't puke as much as Alec and Dane did/do, because puke doesn't belong on Liberty Tana Lawn. True business.
Lastly, have you seen this couch at Anthropologie? Like I would ever spend that on a couch, but come on, it's so beautiful! I can't even stand it. And imagine how lovely in a living room with our black piano and with my someday/dream house white glossy floors...

Then again, Alec puked all over our couch in the living room last night, and baby puke on a couch this lovely would cause me to cry for a full fifteen minutes...

So, I'll just keep this in my dream house file in my brain grapes.

good to the last bite.

The other day I saw this on one of my all-time favorite blogs. We're fans of chocolate chip cookies around here, but I almost always make the good ol' standard Toll House Recipe. I was interested in how America's Test Kitchen would improve what seems to be a pretty tried and true recipe.

Boy Howdy, did they improve it!

It really is a superior, chewier, fuller-flavored cookie. It's also more work. Natch. But very worth it, I say.

Reid says so, too.

Here he is enjoying his last bite while we play outside.

go here for the recipe:
America's Test Kitchen

Hot Dang!

As you might have predicted, one of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more. I'm shooting for no less than one a week. I've kind of missed it, and I get sad when I think on how much the children have grown and that you're missing it all.

So, here's a December recap:

Erik had a work thing in Texas for two weeks so we all drove to Tucson to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Traynor while Erik was gone. We got to help Grandma decorate for Christmas and Reid found a buddy in the dancing Santa. He loved it.

My mom had a big party at her home for her brothers and sisters, called "The Brother/Sister Party", natch. I love a party, and it was fun helping her prep for things and mostly making her talk about it for hours on end. I love thinking about parties and preparing for them at least as much as the actual thing. Especially when I'm not really invited to the party because I'm neither my mom's brother, nor sister. It's pretty exclusive. Here's her dessert table, and I made the caramel apples (my new obsession - want some tips? I've got 'em.) for party favors.
And here's the table that all of the siblings and siblings-in-law partied at. Oh, I love a good party. And I had the best time being a fly on the wall at this party. Those Arnetts know how to have a good time.
Dane and Alec celebrated their first birthday. They got to enjoy their first glass of milk (which they loved) and they chowed on pizza. Alec is a superhero eater. He usually just keeps his head down the whole time while he uses his hands like little shovels and just keeps shoveling it in. He eats at least 150% of what Dane eats. He also burns at least twice the calories. Or so it would seem.
Alec taking a brief moment to look up for a picture.
Dane trying out this sippy cup business. They are not fans.
Grandpa Traynor showing some love.
And then, it was cupcake time. They knew exactly what to do. Dane didn't mess around and went for the frosting.
Alec just grabbed the whole thing and shoved as much as he could in his face. He's never been one to be delicate or subtle.

Look at those eyes! Hot dang! (I think that's going to be my 2010 saying. It's funny.)
Reid getting in on the birthday action. He's the only one who was interested in wearing a hat.

And then, a few weeks later, we celebrated Christmas. Reid was obsessed with the whole Santa idea, even though we didn't push it very much. Even now, when the heater kicks on or the hot water heater makes a noise or something, he goes "Mama! It's Santa! On the roof! I can hear him!" He's so sure of it, and then we have to explain the whole thing over again. In Christmases yet to come I'd like to downplay the whole Santa thing, but I think it's something exciting that little ones really grab onto. We'll see how it goes next year.

This year Reid got a bookcase for his room and the babies got a table and chairs set that all the boys are really enjoying. Here's Reid checking out the stockings and new presents.
Grandma and Grandpa Olsen came up for Christmas and it was so fun to have them here. Here's Dane with his new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa.
Here's Reid showing us his new finger puppets. 2009 will go down in history in our home as the year of the puppets. Reid is cah-razy about puppets and I was so jazzed when I found some cheap finger puppets at IKEA. I was double-super-hotDANG-jazzed when Jan sent the boys some fancy finger puppets. I had actually seen these online and really considered buying them, but I'm frugal (cheap) and so I didn't. But Jan doesn't do cheap (a wonderful fact that has benefited me many a time) and so my boys got lucky.
Reid checking out the traditional stocking offerings: Hershey bar, candy cane, orange, apple, toothbrush, etc. Oh, also...check out his new Crocs. I showed these to Reid online and was trying to convince him into the blue color, but he was very clear and decisive that he wanted the green color. He's so into these shoes. He wears them pretty much all day, and when anyone asks Reid what he got for Christmas, his first answer is always "my green shoes."
Here's Alec modeling the crazy cute new pajamas.
A cute shot of Grandma Olsen and her boys.

So, that's what we've been up to.

Not pictured in this post but will be addressed in future posts:

Reid and his potty training successes and struggles (you lucky reader, you)

My tips for fantasmic homemade pizza

Erik and his dad as miracle superhero front yard landscapers

My future business (short-term)

And my future business (long-term), watch this fun video for a hint.

Oh, and my song of the month. Do you do that? Make titles for everything? I do. I have a song of the week, song of the month, song of the year, movie of the year, food of the month, all kinds of nonsense.

On my to-do list:

-Finally make the darn puppet theater so that Reid can really go to town with all of his puppets.

-Buy this pan
So I can make my own version (with this recipe) of these cuties from Williams-Sonoma.
-Buy this cool bird feeder thing (it's genius!)

-Focus on my one little word. How about you do it, too. And we can talk about it, and about how Ali is totally my guru. My word of the year is Groove. As in, 2010 is the year of "How Emily Got Her Groove Back" (just minus hooking up with some random dude in the Caribbean. I haven't seen the movie, but I get the impression that that's what it's about). Today is my first runner up word of the year. Focus is my second, and Hot Dang is my third. I have a hard time picking mantras apparently.

-Get going on my family's goal of each of us walking/running 350 miles by Christmas 2010. I have a love/hate relationship with Nike+.

-Get my sewing machine serviced so that I can make something already. Almost done with that quilt, Natalie! Hope you haven't been holding your breath! And Reid sure could use a little dude apron for helping me in the kitchen.

And the last thing for this post...a plea for help.

A while ago I came upon a cute children's clothing site and I saved some of the pictures, but I can't remember what the site is. I need help because it's starting to make me crazy. Do you have those moments? When something that totally doesn't matter, like not even a little bit, creeps into your head and you can't figure it out but you can't just forget about it and you start going crazy about it? Please tell me I'm not the only one.

So here's what you have to go on:

children's clothing site (maybe just boys, I can't remember)

and here are some pictures from a year or so ago, so these items probably aren't even available anymore.

And here's your mission...

The first person to put me out of my misery by finding this clothing site for me will win a dozen heart-shaped whoopie pies rush delivered to you. Made with love and gratitude for helping me not go crazy.......er.

Thank you.

edited to add: my brother William is the superfast superawesome winner! I had a feeling he would be. The website is bobinette, in case you were wondering.

Thanks William! Keep your eyes on your mailbox!