Oh Captain, My Captain

9 Apr 2008

These are some pictures of Jared's Air Force Officer commissioning ceremony. He did very well.

A Warning!

8 Apr 2008

Don't put a glass pie plate on a hot unit.

Oh the humanity!

For All You Skeptics Out There!

7 Apr 2008

For all you circus folks out there who think that moving to Texas is a bad idea because of the heat - take a look at these pictures I took of my yard in Utah last week! It wasn't even this snowy at Christmas. Oh wait, yes it was! It's been snowing for 8 solid months!!! Arrrgggghhhhh!!! I can't wait to get out of here.

Easter Egg Hunt!

6 Apr 2008

I know that this is a little late but we really did have a fun easter egg hunt on easter. We all went to Grandma James' house and found eggs full of candy. Then we ate lots of candy and probably went to bed without brushing our teeth. Yay for dental insurance!

This is William. He has a pink basket because he forgot his and had to borrow one from Grandma.

This is Derek. Notice the Thomas the Tank Engine toy clutched firmly in his left hand. Even candy cannot make Derek forget about Thomas.

This is Tyler. He of course found the most eggs. We made him share.

This is Jared. I guess his egg had a dog in it.

A Fish Out of Water

2 Apr 2008

Tyler did his first book report! I am so proud of him. I am also amazed that they are assigning out book reports in kindergarten now. When I was in kindergarten all we learned how to do was color on paper instead of walls and pronounce our own names correctly. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I'm sure that I didn't do a book report. Anyway, Tyler chose to do his on a book called "A Fish Out of Water." I don't know if it's his favorite book, but it's by far my favorite book to read to him so he might have picked it to make me happy. It's about a boy who feeds his fish too much and it turns into a giant fish.

Jared and I helped Tyler to make a paper mache fish sculpture and type out 5 sentences about the book. It was a big hit at parent night! Unfortuneatly, all the other kids had posters and so Tyler felt left out and wished that we'd done a poster instead. So here's advice for all you budding parents out there - don't be creative or awesome, just help your kids make boring old posters.

Going to Bed

29 March 2008

A few weeks ago, Tyler called me from his bed to tell me that his tooth was loose. I came in to find him jumping all over the place and being really silly.

I got a good grip on his bottom front tooth with a washcloth and pulled and pulled (it wasn't really all that loose) and finally it popped out! Yay! Tyler lost another tooth. He got another $1.25 but this time the dollar bill was folded into a flower that holds the quarter in its center. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the dollars.
Apparently Derek wanted his tooth pulled out too so he helped himself to some nitrious oxide that he found just lying around.
Fortunately, he snapped out of it just in time to cuddle himself to sleep in his sleeper with his Home Depo Pez dispenser car, his Thomas the Tank Engine book, 2 sippy cups filled with water and 1 million blankets.

Tyler's 6th Birthday!!!

21 Mar 2008
Tyler made out very well for his 6th Birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Cooper gave him a cowboy costume to match the cowboy hat and horse he got for Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa James bought lots of cool sciencey stuff they found at the planetarium, including a chemistry kit, bubbles, and color-changing slime. Tyler's Mom and Dad got him an official, Star Wars lightsaber (this one lights up in either Sith or Jedi colors, and these sweet blades shoot out of the sides of the hilt when you press a secret button!), and the dart gun shown above. There's no better way to describe the gun than to just hit 'play.'

Kay's Postcard Quiz

We're really proud of how Kay's illustration career is taking off and now she even has her very own website! Some of you may have received postcards in the mail advertising the site. When we received ours, we thought it was beautiful AND thought-provoking!This is the thought that it provoked, please vote and lend your voice!

Pita Pockets

2 Mar 2008

I know that my pizza dough recipe makes good pizza crust but Joseph suggested that it also might make good pita pockets. I baked three pizza crusts in a row and they all poofed up like balloons. I think Joseph might be right. I got the recipe from my new favorite cookbook "The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook." It quite litterally is the perfect cook book. Though the recipies are not for the faint of heart, they make the best food I've ever tasted. Here is the pizza dough recipe:

4 c. flour

2 & 1/4 tsp. rapid-rise yeast

1 & 1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbl. olive oil

1 & 3/4 c. very warm (almost hot) water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixer with the dough hook attachment and all the wet ingredients in a large measuring cup. Turn on the mixer and drizzle in the wet ingredients. Knead in the mixer for 5 minutes - add flour 1 Tbl at a time if needed. The dough should stick to the bottom of the bowl but not the sides. Make the dough into a ball and put back in the bowl with plastic wrap on the top. I turn on the oven to 350 and let the dough rise on the top of the stove for 1 hour. Turn the oven up to 500 and make sure you have a baking stone inside. Divide the dough into balls and roll out about 1/4 inch thick. To make a pizza crust make sure to poke a lot of holes in the dough with a fork or put on the toppings before you bake. For the pitas, just plop it in on the stone as is (no holes). Sprinkle the baking stone with corn meal - flour will burn - the corn meal does too but not as much as flour. Bake for about 5 min.

Welcome RALPHIE!

1 Mar 2008

Yesterday we picked up our new puppy Ralphie. He is a Bichon Frise and he is such a good dog! He came already paper trained and is starting to like is crate more and more and care about his new collar less and less - and after only 1 day. He and Derek are pretty much soul mates and take turns leading each other all around the house. Earlier today, I saw them each chewing on different corners of Derek's favorite blanket. Tyler likes to organize all of Ralphie's toys and make sure that he gets to play with each and every one. Here are some photos:

This is Ralphie.

Tyler and Derek are so excited to have a dog!

More excitement.

Dad was not so much excited as he was sleepy.

Cute little video of our cute little dog.