The Talens' Tales

The kids were all on the late side of getting teeth when they were a babies. So, it makes sense they are the later end of losing their baby teeth. Joash just lost his first tooth this weekend and he was pretty excited about it.  He did it all on his own and said that didn't hurt one bit. I think he was rather surprised by how easily it came out in the end. Joash is also really into putting fresh fruit on his cereal. He is pretty proud of his creations.

One of the our Christmas traditions is making a gingerbread house. I always pick up a kit as soon as I see them out in the store and save it for a day when we need something to do.  Well, today was that day. We were stuck inside with some crazy winter weather, so out came the kit. After breakfast we assembled the house  Then during Gideon's morning nap, we put the candy on. Well, the kids put the candy on. I was on icing duty and Joash and Mataya put all the candy on.  It was a great snow day activity and they were pretty pleased with final results. We will see how long it stays whole. Joash and Mataya are pretty eager to eat it.

It is March Break (or Spring Break to you Americans) this week. We are having a pretty relaxing week mostly hanging out at home.  I have been busy doing some pre-baby freezer meal prep. Here is three meals of Sweet Potatoes Burritos ready to roll up and go in the freezer.  But, not everything goes as planned. Today's bread for lunch accidentally unleavened. Fitting for Maundy Thursday, but not so great for lunch. We have been doing all sort of fun things at home to pass the time. Today we have Super Joash and Super Mataya!

I have been doing a poor job blogging lately. So, here is a glimpse into Mataya. Mataya, the melon monster. This girl loves to eat melon, especially watermelon and cantelope. She is pretty artsy already. So different from her brother. The humid summer weather gives her super cute curls that melt my heart. We tried braids for the first time today. They worked so well and stayed in much better than pigtails. We have found our new go to hair do. Tomorrow is Joash's turn.

Our actual Christmas celebrations were pretty low key. We opened gifts with the Talen family on Christmas eve. My goal this year was to take pictures of the kids with their grandparents and this is what we got.  The rest of the gifts of all of the family that live far away we let the kids open slowly over the days following Christmas. We gave the kids a play kitchen and most of the gifts this year were accessories to that. Chef Joash is ready to cook up some tasty food!

 Mom: Mataya, here I am for you 15 month interview. M(ataya): What! Late again, Mom? I don't know about this. And only one picture? You are slacking off a bit mom, aren't you? Mom: Well, I have posted all of the good pictures of you already in all of the posts about what we have been up to the last little while. And then our computer decided to stop working and we are just now getting back on track. Sometimes life is like that Mataya. But I am here now, so what is new with you? M: Not too much really. I love to play, crawl around, be outside and eat yummy foods. And I like to talk and try to say new words. Mom: You certainly are getting more vocal and that is fun. I like to know what you are thinking. What about walking? M: Walking?!?! Why would I want to do that? I can get just where I want to and do everything I want to by crawling. Walking is so slow. And I fall. Crawling is much better. Mom: Well, we will keep working on it. Anything else new? M: Oh I did fi...

I am not a mom who spends a lot of time at parks and playgrounds with her kids. This is for several reasons.  1) I have to drive to any park and we all know packing up everyone in the car takes a bit of extra effort 2) Joash doesn't have a really good relationship with playground equipment yet. In the past, he has never wanted to go and explore a playground structure on his own, he didn't really like to swing and he didn't really like slides. So, that kind of limits the amount of fun one can have at a play ground. Why would I drive somewhere to have my kid pretty much want to just sit on my lap the whole time. We can do that at home. 3) Joash doesn't do well when there are too many unfamiliar kids around. Yeah, he is a bit shy and timid. So, he doesn't really like to go on anything that another kid is using. And if he is on something and another kid comes over, he gets off right away and runs to me. But, a new year has come and I thought we should try out...

Well, life on the farm is kicking into high gear. The first fields for silage were cut today. The one across the road from our house was the first cut, so Joash watched the tractor for a long time. Then later in the afternoon, he got to go along for a ride, so that was very exciting for him. There will be many more tractor rides in the upcoming days as well. Chilling in the chair, watching the tractor roll by. Taking a dandelion fluff blowing break  Mataya is doing very well. She had her two week check up a the doctor yesterday. She now weighs 8lb and 3 oz, so she has passed up her birth weight, which is great! We also started her in cloth diapers today. Here she is sporting her farm girl side. What a cutie. I love my kids!

We have been so blessed to have a few members of our church family bring us some meals over the last week. They have all been delicious and Joash has tried most of them. One of the meals we received earlier this week was a beef pot pie. Joash saw the pie plate and asked me what it was. I told him it was for supper. "We going to have pie for supper?" he asked. You see, Joash, like his mom, has quite the sweet tooth. And, like his dad, pie is probably his favorite dessert of all. So, I said, "Yes, we are having pie for supper." I hoped this would lead to Joash eating a lot for supper. When Wilbert came in for supper, Joash ran up and shouted, "We having pie for supper!" There was no fight to get him into his chair to eat this meal. We prayed and Wilbert started to scoop the pie. Joash asked for his piece and Wilbert put some on his plate. Joash quickly saw this didn't look like a pie he was used to. He poked it. He studied it. He smelled it. ...

I made these brownies for Wilbert to take to the congregational meeting at church last night, and apparently they were a big hit. He came back with an empty platter and a few requests for the recipe. So, here it is. Cream Cheese Brownies Brownies: 1 cup butter or margarine 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate 2 cups sugar 2 teaspoon vanilla 4 large eggs 1 ½ cups flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional) Cream Cheese Filling: 2-8oz packages cream cheese softened ½ cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 egg   1)    Heat oven to 350. Grease and 9X13 pan.   2)  Melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool while making cream cheese filling.   3)  For cream cheese filling, beat all of the ingredients together. Set aside.   4)  Beat chocolate mixture, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl. Beat in flour and salt. Stir in nuts....

So, you now know of of Joash's love of pineapple. However at one point last night, I didn't know if that love would continue. Joash pointed to me and said, "Help," and then pointed to his mouth where his tounge was pushing up a little piece of pineapple. I checked it out and discovered this little piece of pineapple was wedge between two of his teeth. Well, now what do we do? I went to get some floss and his tooth brush. Have you ever tried to floss a not quite two year-olds teeth? It does not work. He kept wanting to feel what was going on with his tounge, which made it rather impossible to see the teeth, let alone get the piece of floss where it needed to go. Wilbert tried to get Joash to say "Ahh" and we wished we had something to use as a tounge depressor. I think we worked on it for over 15 minutes. Finally, I mangaed to grab that slobbery peice of pineapple and pull it out. Phew...that was a lot of work, but Joash continued to happily eat after that....

Wilbert and I enjoy pineapple on our pizza. I know, some people find that really gross, but we both find it really yummy. And we have passed on our love of pineapple on pizza to Joash. We are also a family who as a Saturday pizza tradition. I know, some people will say this is not healthy, yada, yada. I love it because it is one day where I don't have to think about supper. We have pizza on Saturday's and that is that. Plus, it is one supper that Joash actually eats. I make homemade pizza with dough that I make in the bread maker and fresh yummy toppings. I make a half for Wilbert (with bacon) and a half for me (without bacon) with a slice from my half for Joash (right now just cheese, pineapple ande sometimes little bits of meat. Joash is starting to like helping make the pizza. He likes to help shake the seasonings on the edge of the crust. He likes to poke the dough and push the sauce a bit with his finger. But his favourite part is helping with  eating the pineapple. ...

Well, Joash has now decided that spaghetti is a good thing to eat for supper, which is very nice. It is  so easy to hide vegetables in the sauce, so I am pretty happy when he eats his supper. The other night we were having spaghetti, but Joash refused to wear his bib. So, we just took his shirt off and then put him in the tub right after supper. He had a great time! "Spaghetti is yummy!"

Last week, I had a little get together with some friends. It was a lot of fun to do, especially since our new house is a bit more suited to entertaining. I do enjoy having people over and making great food for them to enjoy. A few people wanted some recipes, so here they are. Rhubarb Torte Crust: 1 cup flour 2 T. sugar pinch of salt 1/2 cup margarine Combine ingredients. Press into a greased 8X10 pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 325. Filling: 2 1/4 cup chopped rhubarb 1 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup heavy cream 2 T. flour 3 egg yolks Cook ingredients until thick. Pour over crust Topping: 3 eggs whites 6 T. sugar 1/4 t. cream of tartar Beat together until stiff peaks form. Spread over filling, Brown 10 15 minutes at 325. Heavenly Bars  These were very popular bars in Edgerton, so I made sure and got the recipe before we moved away. 1 pkg (4 serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix. 2 cups brown sugar 2 sups peanut butter 1 cup corn...

Joash and food . I think I could write a book about this. When he was born, he wasn't getting enough. Then he was getting too much. He has gone from being a bread monster, to a cheese monster, to a fruit monster and now we are back to the bread monster. And he currently is a vegetarian. He will not even lick a piece of meat. But, I cannot complain really. My child eats for the most part. He is growing and healthy and strong. He does eat a decent variety of things. And he likes to share his food: Today we did our first baking together. Joash kept sticking his finger in the bowl, so I let him have his first spatula to lick. I think he liked it!

Today at Coffee Break, I took part in a Christmas Sweet Swap with several other in the group. I now have a /2 dozen of 12 different yummy goodies. How fun is that? I made Cake Balls for the swap and I hope that people enjoy them. We also got the recipes for all of the sweets, so now I have even more ideas for great things to make. During our social time at coffee break we were talking about different sweet recipes, and I mentioned the Cookie Bar recipe that I make. I got this recipe from my mom. She made it one time when we were in Michigan and Wilbert just loves these bars. He could eat the whole pan in one sitting, I think. So, my friends at coffee break wanted me to share the recipe, so here it is. Cookie Bars 1 box yellow cake mix 2 eggs 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup margarine - melted 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips Combine first 5 ingredients - mix at medium speed for two minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 375 for 20-25 minutes or...

I brought these bars to a get together last night and some people wanted the recipe. So, I thought I would share it with all of you Mississippi Mud Bars Beat together: 4 eggs 2 c. sugar Add: 1 1/2 c. flour 1 c. margarine 1/3 c. cocoa 1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. coconut (optional) Grease 9x13 pan and back at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. As soon as it is out of the oven, spread 7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream over the top. Then swirl on the frosting. Frosting: 2 Tbsp. cocoa 1/4 cup margarine 3 Tbsp. milk Bring to a boil and add: 2 c. Powdered Sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla Enjoy!

Now that I am home most of the time, I have been experimenting with a lot of new recipes. I am probably also a bit inspired by the different cooking shows I have been watching while I feed Joash. If I had a TV, and I could only have one channel, I would pick The Food Network. Anyway, to give some structure to my experiments, I picked one of my cook books, marked all of the recipes that looked good, and then when through and tried all of them. I think that my husband would say it has been a fun and successful experiment. Some dishes are certainly better than others, but for the most part, we have been trying things we never would have before. But last night was my first big flop. I made a Cheesy Polenta Bake and I was pretty excited about it because they make polenta all of the time on Iron Chef. It is basically a cornmeal based batter and cheese. It looked pretty good from the outside. When I stuck the spoon in to dish some on to my plate, I was surprised by the...

I am really enjoying being a stay a home mom. But I know some people wonder what I do all day. So, I thought I would give you a little glimpse of what occupies my day. 1) Feeding, Playing, and Caring for Joash. This obviously takes up the most time and it is the reason I am home. Joash still is not a long napper, but he is usually quite pleasant while he is awake and has enough changes in his activity. Thankfully he plays well independently and can be entertained for a long time with his gym and swing. Since he usually naps in 1/2 hour chunks, I need to have some freedom to do some things while he is awake. 2) Laundry and Housework. Since we are using cloth diapers, I have at least one load of laundry every other day. And since I don't really like cleaning the house, but I also don't like a dirty house, I have to clean sometimes too. I have currently broken my house up into five pieces (Dusting up stairs, dusting down stairs, etc.) and I make myself do one section a day, so tha...

Apples. My favorite apple in the world is Cortland, which I discovered in college at this great orchard that let you sample apples in their barn before you went and picked. And my friends and I sampled all of them and nothing beat the Cortland. It is slightly tart, very crisp and a good ripe one has the most pure white inner fruit I have ever seen. And they are good for everything. Eating, baking, pies and sauce. So imagine my delight when the orchard that is just down the road from us put "Cortland" on their sign of what is available. So, I went apple picking and came home with probably way to many apples. But, they are so tasty. So far I am made some apple sauce, an apple pie and an apple crisp. ( You also get to see the lovely shade of our counter tops in our house. It boarders some where between pink, coral and rust, I think.) Thanksgiving makes me think of pumpkin too, so I also made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and a Pumpkin Roll. However, we finished the pie before I...