Funny Guy

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this little guy. He keeps me on my toes. He is so pleasant and easy-going, but he is full of mischief. I'm waiting for the day when I have to take him to the Emergency Room because he's stuck something up his nose. As I type he is trying to put a rock in his ear.....now it's a marker.....now a frog. I mean really, is that NORMAL? It's fairly constant with him.

He still really loves to be naked. Luckily while on vacation he was pretty good at not streaking around, but since we've been home it's been a little bit of a problem again. Yesterday morning by 10:00,  I had already had to put his diaper on multiple times. By that point I was tired, needing to get ready myself so I got him fully dressed and sent him into his room to play with Hailee so I could blow-dry my hair. Not two minutes into doing my hair be came back in the biggest smile on his face and completely naked. Up to this point he hadn't been able to take off his pants and shirt by the look on his face he was very pleased to find out that he could.

Even though he is somewhat of a naughty little guy he can be quite polite. He is always good about saying 'peese.' At least he is good about saying please when I tell him no. If he wants something and I've told him 'no' he puts on his cutest little face and with squinty eyes and nose he says 'peese.' Seriously. How am I suppose to say no to that adorable little face?

Last night when Todd got home we were down in the garage playing. After Todd had changed and came back down James went straight to him. When I was leaving to start dinner James just looked over at me, puckered his lips and looked back to what he was doing. It was such a quick little movement that it cracked me up. Just a quick little kiss to say good-bye.

He still doesn't have any hair to speak of, just one little patch in the back. Todd thinks we need to cut it so it's the same length, but he's worked so hard to grow that little patch. I just don't think I can cut it off quite yet. His hair still looks quite dark, but the longer patch in the back is looking lighter than the rest. It will be interesting to see if his hair comes in lighter.

This is how James spend most of his day. Walking around in his diaper and getting into trouble. He loves the iron that I use when I am sewing. Shortly after this pictures was taken I told him he couldn't play with it. To which he responded "peese"

Happy and content since I gave in and let him play with the iron.

I don't really give in all the time, it just looks that way on my blog. Who really wants to see a 1-year old throwing a fit. These pictures are much cuter. The other day when I wouldn't let him have what he wanted he laid down threw a fit. Right in the middle he paused to look up to see if I was still watching. When he saw the answer was still now he cried again until he gave up and got happy again. It usually never lasts long and he's pretty happy right after. So far so good.

I've Created a Monster

Early in our marriage Todd and I would go grocery shopping together. In the very very beginning Todd would pick out things that he was used to cooking. Pasta in a box, rice in a box, and just about anything else he could find in a box were on his list. After about 2 or 3 times shopping together the honeymoon finally wore off and I asked him if we could get something that didn't come in a box. Not sure what to think he said okay (he was still in the honeymoon phase after all).

I started making such delicacies such as spaghetti, hamburgers, chicken enchiladas, etc. He was in heaven. I remember one time after a few weeks of me 'cooking' he told me that he liked my cooking so much that he didn't feel the need to go out to dinner anymore. Ha ha, but he was very serious. He thought I was an amazing cook. I really wasn't doing anything fancy at all, he had just become used to the bachelor living. (After a few weeks of eating his way, I really don't know how he survived.)

Fast forward a few years, 3 to be exact, Todd was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease. The first course of action was to limit his salt. After a few weeks of eating plain chicken, plain rice, toast with no-salt butter, and plain vegetables I thought I was going to die. I finally broke down and found a low sodium cookbook that taught me a lot about cooking with different herbs for flavor. I started experimenting a little more from the basics I knew.

Now almost 8 years after we've been married my husband has become somewhat of a food snob. Who would have thought that they boy who ate everything from a box would turn out to be a foodie? Now instead of getting excited about spaghetti he gets excited about Grilled Salmon with Spicy Honey-Basil sauce. I kind of miss the days when he thought everything I made was incredible, because let's face it I don't make Lamb Chops with Red Current and Rosemary sauce every day.

Now I have to wait for his brother to come visit to get the kind of reaction I used to get from Todd when I make Soy Chicken. Todd is always appreciative and nice after dinner, but he's been a little spoiled for too long. Meniere's Disease made it so I had to cook everyday and now it's something I really enjoy. I love finding new fun recipes and I have to say I love making the ones that take a little time. It's just a shame that my daughter and son still really do enjoy Macaroni and Cheese and Papa Johns pizza. Hopefully one day they will enjoy Salmon and Lamb as much as their mom and dad.

Picture from dinner last night. It's a little fuzzy because it was taken on my phone camera. This spicy honey-basil salmon was to-die-for. Here is the recipe if you want it...

Grilled Salmon with Spicy Honey-Basil Sauce

Cook this grilled salmon with spicy honey-basil sauce on the backyard grill or under the broiler for a quick and easy dinner. Cook salmon that's 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick for 5 to 8 minutes total; cook salmon that's 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick for 8 to 12 minutes total. When broiling, keep fish 4 inches from flame. You can buy salmon as fillets or as steaks. Skin on the fillets comes off easily after cooking. Aficionados consider king (aka chinook), sockeye (aka red), and coho (aka silver) to be the tastiest types of salmon.

Per serving: 253 calories; 27 g protein; 14 g fat; 4 g carbs; 1 g fiber

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 small red chile or 1 medium jalapeno, chopped (include the seeds if you like it spicy)
* 4 skinless salmon fillets, 4 ounces each

1. Place pine nuts, honey, lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, basil, garlic, and chile in a blender and process until the mixture is pureed. Spoon the sauce over the salmon, and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours, turning twice.
2. Oil the grill rack and preheat the grill to medium-high. Remove the salmon from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides.
3. Place the salmon on the grill rack and grill until opaque throughout, 4 to 6 minutes on each side. Brush occasionally with reserved marinade.

I just broiled the salmon in the oven and used red-pepper flakes instead of the red chile.

All good things...

... must come to and end. All too soon it was time to say good-bye. Hailee was very sad the week was coming to an end, before we even arrived at Aspen Grove Hailee was complaining that Family Camp was only 1 week long. "Why can't it be two weeks long?" That would sure be nice, but we did make lots of memories that will last longer than the week. It was so good to visit with family and have fun together.

Todd with Grandma Layer

Playing volleyball

There is just not enough space on this blog to put all the fun that was had during the week. We took over 400 pictures were taken.

 I'll just leave you with a video of James dancing at the family dance on the last evening. He really loved to dance.

Frontier Night

One of Hailee and James' favorite evening activities was Frontier Night. The first thing they had to do was ride the train. They loved it so much they each rode it a couple of times. 

 

Hailee also got to pan for gold. She was thrilled to find quite a few 'gold' nuggets.

Annie and Hailee were very serious about the rubber duck race. I couldn't get them to smile for the camera at all.

Hailee getting her face painted. Most little girls were getting flowers, butterflies and such. My little girl wanted to be a dog. She was just about the cutest little puppy ever. However, that night I had to tell her it was time to stop barking and get some sleep. She was a little sad when she woke up the next morning and most of it was rubbed off.

James on the last train of the night. He enjoyed running around Cowboy Village and riding the train.

Hailee and Todd on the train.

James at Aspen Grove

James had a great time at Aspen Grove as well. There were six babies born around the time James was born. He had plenty of cousins for him to play with as well, but at this age they weren't quite as friendly as the older group. They did have some cute moments together and I have no doubt that in the years to come they will be the best of friends.

Seth is just a few months older than James. At one point Seth went and played a 'buzzing bee' game with James that his mom always plays with him. Later James went up and rubbed Seth's head just like Todd always does to him. Seth lives fairly close to us so I am hoping they will be good little friends as they grow.

Blake and James are just a few days apart. They also had some cute moments together. Here they got to play with Grandma Layer.

The triplets were staying a little ways from where we were so they didn't have as much time together, but they were pretty cute together. Here are Cliff and Jenny with James. Below is James and Ava. As you can see all of his cousins his have quite a bit more hair than he does.

James didn't really go to his class so he had plenty of time to play with everyone. He loved playing with his Aunt Kristy and Aunt Ruthann. Todd just loved having all the extra time with him. Hailee was too busy playing with cousins, but James enjoyed his time being spoiled by everyone.

Aunt Ruthann and James racing down the hallway.

When Hailee was rock climbing he kept getting in trouble for trying to climb as well.

James learned two new phrases while at Aspen Grove: 'uh-oh' and 'let's go.' It was so cute to hear him say 'let's go' all day long. He just couldn't get enough of exploring Aspen Grove. Here he is having some good dad time. He loved throwing rocks into the stream. He would jabber something that sounded like 'one-two-three' and then throw the rock in.

Hailee at Aspen Grove

There were seven babies born within a few months of each other in the Layer Family. Hailee is lucky enough to be born in the middle of that group. With an extra one just a little older and one a little younger there were 9 cousins in her 'bobcat' class. It was so fun to see them all playing together. With 8 of her cousins in her class there was always someone to play with.

Hailee and Annie running off to class together.

One of her favorite things at Aspen grove was swimming at the pool. She got to go every day in her class.

Another thing she was looking forward to was the rock wall. She was a little nervous when she started climbing.

Hailee loved playing with Annie. Even when they weren't in class the cousins were playing together.

Hailee and Joel were born on the same day. Amber and I were due the same day, both went a week late.  They were born within a few hours of each other, weighed within a few ounces of each other, and were exactly the same length. When we got to family camp they both were even missing the same tooth.  They had such a good time playing together.

Joel loves catching bugs so Hailee grabbed her camera and off they ran to catch bugs to take pictures of them. When Todd went to go get them for dinner he found them running up the trail, wet and without their shoes on.

Todd: Hailee did you lose your shoes?
Hailee: No dad, I know exactly where they are.

They decided they needed to walk through a little water so they just left their shoes there.

Hailee and most of the cousins her age (we were just missing Joel). It was really fun to see them all playing together. Hailee created so many wonderful memories with her cousins.She is already counting down the days until we go again.

Aspen Grove

We just returned from Aspen Grove. Todd's family has been going to Aspen Grove since he was 4-years-old. It's so fun to see the kids enjoying the same thing that Todd did as a kid. Hailee informed us that Family Camp just isn't long enough, she wished it was two weeks. I'm pretty sure that even if they did extend Family Camp it would never be long enough.
 
Twenty minutes outside of Portland Hailee asked if we were at Aspen Grove yet. Needless to say it was a long wait for her, but both kids were amazing on the car ride. We stopped in Boise the first night and had a good rest. James was completely amazed at the couch turning into a bed. I wish I would have gotten a picture of his face. He also totally enjoyed the elevator and was so pleased to find another elevator when we got to Aspen Grove.

We such a great time visiting and playing with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Almost all of the family were there. It was so great to catch up and have a good time together. When it was time to leave we were all in agreement with Hailee, Family Camp wasn't quite long enough.