Too Big . . .

Seriously, this kid is getting too big, too fast . . . 

Trying so hard to stand, but it's tough on a toy that's on the floor.

Much better toy for his posture . . .

He can pull himself up to this tall toy, and sit himself back down when he's done.

I didn't get a picture of it this time, but he likes to let go completely and stand without any help.  Little show off.  :-)

Crawling all over the place.

Yes, I realize this diaper is HUGE.  He wears Ellie's size 5's at night. :-)

He's not a fan of the toys that roll away and make him follow, but he's getting better and better at it.

And then, just for fun, here's our new favorite recipe:

WHOLE WHEAT TORTILLAS 2 c. whole wheat flour • 1/4 cup oil • 2/3 c. hot water • 1 heaping ¼ t. baking powder  •  3/4 tsp. salt

Throw everything in a food processor and pulse it a few times until the dough forms into a ball.  Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let sit for 15 minutes or so.  Then roll into balls and let the kids go to town smashing them flat in a tortilla press.  Or for those of you who's husband's didn't bring back a tortilla press from Mexico, we had great success just rolling these out with a rolling pin too.  Then we threw them on a hot skillet, flipping over once bubbles formed on one side.  The kids LOVED them . . . I'm not sure if they enjoyed eating them more, or using the tortilla press.

Oh, and edited to add:  I REALLY hate Blogger now.  All the funky spacing and stuff that I can't get rid of . . . it looks bad and I can't do anything about it.

Recipe Exchange

We had my parents over for dinner and dessert tonight. Our dinner was Greg's world famous homemade pizza. Just for fun, I'm gonna share our recipe.

First, the dough:

2 1/2 C. Medium Hot Water
5 tsp. SAF Instant Yeast*
2 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp. Oil
1 tsp. Salt
6 C. Flour (we do this 100% whole wheat, it's a bit chewier, less crispy on the bottom, but still really good)
Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees or so.
2. Add all ingredients into our Kitchen Aid. Gradually add approximately 6 cups of flour.
3. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the pan.
4. Allow to double in size (About 10-15 minutes)
5. Roll out dough in two cookie sheets (we do just over 1/3 of the dough in one for my 'thinner' pizza, and the rest in another for Greg's thicker pizza -- we have a lot of left overs or we have people over when we make this. You could easily half the recipe as well.)
6. Top with pizza toppings.

Our topping preferences:
A very thin layer of alfredo sauce on the dough.
Baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped or whole, covering the sauce.
Top with mozarella.
Cook up sausage (we prefer Jimmy Dean's Hot -- great flavor with almost no fat) then saute onions in fat.
Spread sausage and onions on the pizza, then put in oven (one at a time -- bottom shelf) until crust is done.

Mmmmmmm.

For dessert we made homemade Reeses Miniatures. These are possibly the most addictive substance known to man. And the kids sure had a good time rolling out the peanut butter mixture and dipping them in chocolate:







They're the simplest things to make too . . . you just start with the centers:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 c. melted butter
1 package (10) graham crackers (crushed fine)
2 c. peanut butter

Mix all ingredients. (The graham crackers seemed weird to me at first, but they totally give these the Reese's peanut butter texture.) Let is sit in the fridge for awhile, then roll small balls and dip in chocolate (we just used chocolate chips melted in the microwave.) Then you're supposed to let them cool and set up, but we just ate them with warm chocolate dripping off them. :-)

Then, just some other pictures from this week.
Annie goofing off for the camera the other day.

Ellie and Daddy watching Dumbo on the computer. This is her favorite past time while sick.

Ellie really getting into the movie.

Annie still mugging for the camera.

Annie wanted to help me take pictures of my pregnant belly. I didn't know until I looked at it later that it really was just my belly she got in the shot. :-) This is the only picture she took, and my face isn't anywhere near in frame, but it wasn't a bad shot of the belly (at 22 weeks).