Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always in search of "the best" recipes for the basics, and this one has come pretty close to the top in the Chocolate Chip Cookie category:

1/2 cup shortening (I like to use the butter flavored kind)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup (or more) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Cream shortening, sugars and vanilla...and when I say cream, I mean cream! Add egg and beat. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt (either with a "sifter" or a fork...whatever works). Hand mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop in whatever size cookie drops you like onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

This was my friend Kristina from Knoxville's recipe. Thanks Kristina!

I'd say Caleb is a fan:)

Like Father, Like Son

Good Morning, Sunshine

Vacation

Caleb and I have been on "vacation" for the past week and a half since my nanny family has been out of town. Michael likes to wake up every morning and ask us what we're going to do "since we're on VACATION?!" Meanwhile, he's been working his booty off taking a class and working every day. We've been missing him and feeling sorry that he has to work so hard while we're lazing around. He handles everything so easily and cheerfully though.

Even though Caleb's not been feeling great this week (shots and teething...not a good combo), we did get to go on a small berry picking adventure with our friends Kat, Laine and Mead. Kat got some cute pictures, so hopefully I can steal some soon and post pictures of our berry-juice covered children. Caleb was in HEAVEN...I think berries are his number one favorite food.

He's been picking up a ton of new words lately and doing the cutest things...so much so that last night I realized that I'd better start writing all of it down or I'm going to kick myself later.

Here's just a small funny story:

About a week ago I made cinnamon rolls with about 3x the legal amount of sugar. Needless to say, I was not really wanting him to have one. He was very upset about not getting a sugary treat and started screaming his head off. So we went downstairs to see Michael, and immediately he went into Michael's arms and started hugging and kissing on him...as if to say, "Mom, this is what you're missing since you won't give me what I wanted." Then to top it all off he turned to me, sweetly waved and said, "bye-bye."

What a stinker.

See what I'm talking about though?? So cute you can't even get upset!

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my family over the past couple weeks. My grandma's death was the most difficult thing I've ever experienced...especially seeing the pain and grief of my mom and grandaddy. I still can hardly go five minutes without thinking about her, seeing images of her face, replaying memories over and over. I am so thankful that she knew Jesus. The pain of missing her is so great, but there is definitely joy mixed in the sorrow, knowing that I will get to see her again. 

Caleb did much better on the car trip to McCormick than we thought he would. The picture of him in his car seat down below was actually after about 11 hours in the car!  For those of you who saw him in SC, he's much happier now that he's home. I'm sorry y'all didn't get to see the sweet, happy, normal Caleb! I think he must have sensed the grief in the house. I've heard that babies have a sense about things like that.

It's been a hot week here in St. Louis, so Caleb's spent a lot of time in this outfit:

Here's a snapshot of our car ride to South Carolina:
He LOVES to brush his teeth:
This is his new favorite game, ride the horse named Daddy:

Welcome Spring!

Bare feet

Crawling in the grass

Babies playing in just a diaper

Wagon rides

Zoo trips

Planting tomatoes

Hearing about finals and students being sick of school

Eating strawberries

Making the back porch a "room" of the home

Late evenings playing and talking with neighbors

The change of seasons brings such a welcome shift in the feel of daily life. Everything feels fresher and happier and more exciting. Isn't God so kind to give us seasons? I can never decide which I like better, fall or spring. To me they both give the same feeling. It's like a giddy excitement about what's to come. 

One of the best parts of spring at Gulf Drive is that people seem to come out of hibernation. Everyone wants to be outside all the time, and so bedtimes get pushed back, meals get brought outside, toys get shared, and conversations drift in and out of open windows. 

A spring photo gallery

Still a little chilly on this day...we're never without friends in the red birthday wagon! 

This one was tonight. Thanks for the purple dinosaur, Camilla and Catalina!

Fun times at the zoo...penguins will always be the favorite because of how close we can get to them. We literally have to hold back Caleb's hands to keep him from petting them!

Thanks for asking us along this week, Emily and Hudson!

Double-fisting the drinks. Gotta stay hydrated in all this 80 degree weather!

Peek-a-boo! Diaper boxes make excellent toys.

Caleb just hates getting dressed after his bath. He would prefer to live naked.

Bye-Bye!

Busy Boy

The last few weeks around here have been so much fun. Caleb has been picking up new words all the time and coming up with the funniest things to entertain us. Lately his favorite word is "bye-bye." The best thing about this word for him is that, combined with a wave, it can mean almost anything. It means "I'm done eating" or "nap time's over, bye-bye paci" or it means "this book is getting boring" or it actually does mean "see you later." If fact in the picture below he was probably saying "bye-bye, I'm going over here now." 

Some of his other new words are slide, ride, daddy, mimi (mama), milk, please, paci, night-night, hi, Daisy and bath. Every time he says something new we freak out and say it back to him all the time...he thinks we're pretty crazy. 

He's also become fascinated with balancing things on his head: sippy cups, books, hats. It's pretty hilarious. He thinks so too. 

That's all the brand new stuff I can think of for now...I'll try to be better about regular updates!

He LOVES riding in the back of his dump truck...as soon as he sees it, he climbs in the back and shouts, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" As you can see, he can't wait for me to push him around the house.

How sweet is this sleeping picture?! I love how he keeps his bunny right up by his face. What a sweet boy. He's been sleeping MUCH better recently. Praise the Lord!!