Rockin Out

Here is a video of Kristen playing her guitar (she calls it an untar) while Paul was playing Guitar Hero. She was totally enjoying herself and making us laugh. I just love her...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxdsVBPXBDU

(copy and paste the link and it will take you to it)

Tangled

We have been waiting for a while now for Tangled to come out. I put it on hold at the Movie Stop and went to pick it up today. That was the highlight of Kristen's day. Since I put it on hold we got a pack of Tangled silly bands, so that was a hit too. We came home, popped some popcorn, got some candy and watched the movie. It is such a good movie. One of my favorite Disney movies. It's WONDERFUL and highly recommended!

CHEESECAKE

I made my first cheesecake last week and it came out wonderful! I thought I would post the recipe and a picture. I highly recommend this recipe, especially if you like caramel. Paul doesn't like caramel all that much, but he still enjoyed this cheesecake. I probably wouldn't use all the melted caramel next time because it ended up being so much it ran over the sides of the cheesecake. I can't wait to try my next recipe!



Nilla Praline Cheesecake

Ingredients

66 NILLA Wafers, divided
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 (8 ounce) packages PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
25 KRAFT Caramels
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup PLANTERS Pecan Pieces, toasted

Directions

1.Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Finely crush 50 wafers; mix with 1/4 cup sugar and margarine. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Stand remaining wafers around edge, pressing gently into crust to secure.
2.Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
3.Bake 45 to 50 min. or until center is almost set. Run small knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Microwave caramels and milk on HIGH 1 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring every 30 sec. Cool slightly. Pour over cheesecake; top with nuts.

Content to rock

This week while I was cleaning up from lunch and Kristen was playing with the refrigerator magnets, I heard this consistent banging coming from the girls bedroom. I went to see what Lauren was doing and found her in a little red toy bin rocking back and forth to the music on her play keyboard. I am surprised she didn't flip over backwards.

Here is a video. I couldn't get the video to upload through the website so I had to upload it through youtube. Just copy and paste the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIb8XvURi7g

She's got the hang of it...

Lauren has finally conquered eating with a spoon. I think she is going to be a lefty, but there is no doubt she knows exactly what she is doing. It is so good to have her feed herself independently. And to think they told us she wouldn't be doing this. God showed them!



Lauren very proud of her accomplishment

Creative Mind

Kristen came running into the living room wanting to show me what she made. When I went into their bedroom she had made a slide using her Dora blocks and her Princess table. What a creative mind she has.







Lauren was content to just watch and sip out of her new cup.

So Tired...

Yes, she was asleep standing up. Church is just so tiring.

Embracing Independence

Kristen is starting to do more and more things on her own. Some days it is great, others...not so much. Especially when you are trying to explain why she can't wear this to the store (although she looked really cute).



Or why we might have to take a few of the hairbows out before we leave.

Randomness

Not much has been going on in the Harris house. We have been enjoying this nice weather, but haven't been able to go outside because of Lauren's cast and the fact that the ground is still wet. I will be so happy when Lauren gets her cast off. Just two more weeks! I know she will be even happier, although she hasn't seemed to mind it too much. I am in the process of thinking of some fun things to do over the summer. My aunt mentioned maybe getting a pass to the Children's Museum instead of Kings Dominion. I think I might check into that because I am not sure how functional a season pass to Kings Dominion will be for us or how much use we would get out of it. Lauren is so short she probably will not be able to ride any of the rides while Kristen enjoys all the fun. I don't want her to be left out, so I think the Children's Museum is the way to go. We are planning on going back to Shennedoah and renting a cabin. This time we are taking the kids and Kristen is so excited because the cabin we are renting has a room decorated with Hello Kitty. After school starts we are going to the beach. Kristen is already talking about it. She can't wait. We will go to the fair when it comes to town and I am planning on taking the kids to the zoo. If anyone has any fun, fairly cheap idea's, let me know.

I haven't taken many pictures of the girls, but here are two that I thought were cute. Maybe I'll put picture taking on my list for this summer.

Here is a picture of Kristen I snapped while she was sleeping. She looked so cute and peaceful. I just love her to pieces.


Lauren ready for a day of shopping.

Happy Birthday Paul!

Today Paul turned the BIG 30. I forgot that today was his birthday, so I felt really really bad. When you stay at home you barely remember the date, just the days of the week. I knew it was Thursday, I just didn't remember it was Thursday the 10th. Then I called the speech therapist to see when she would be coming out today and she informed me that it wasn't Friday, so maybe stay at home moms don't really know what day of the week it is either. I am just so confused!

We didn't have anything special planned. We did go to Walmart and got him a fishing pole and some other fishing things. We had went out of town last Friday and ate at a place called Brixx. They had wood fire pizza's. We got a pizza with Italian sausage, prosciutto and Gorgonzola cheese. The cheese on it was so good and the whole pizza was scrumptiously delicious. We decided to retry the recipe at home. Paul was really looking forward to his birthday pizza. Well, it turned out to be a total FLOP. The Gorgonzola that they sell at Walmart tastes nothing like the Gorgonzola that was on our pizza at Brixx. It was horrible and not edible at all. A waste of perfectly good Italian sausage. We ate the bread sticks I made for dinner. Paul had birthday cookies instead of cake. We put a candle in a cookie for each girl so they could blow it out and Lauren and Kristen both blew out their candle all on their own.

Overall it was a very good evening. I am so blessed to have been able to spend the last 10 1/2 years of his life with him. He is a wonderful dad and an even better husband. Happy Birthday Paul, we love you!

Lauren's little pink cast

On Thursday we went to see the pediatric orthopedic specialist. While the pedatrician thought that fracture was in the lower fibula, it turned out to be in the ankle. The good news...she didn't need to get a cast all the way to her hip. She has adjusted well and was walking on it very soon afterward. It hasn't slowed her down one bit. I was a bit puzzled because when adults get a cast we have to use crutches, but Lauren is able to walk on hers. I just don't understand it. Now she clanks her little cast all around the house. The only issue we had was last night when I put Kristen in the bath, she didn't understand why she couldn't get in. I pray everything heals properly.

Lauren's Leg

On Saturday Lauren started limping when she woke up. She limped all weekend and woke up limping on Monday. I made her an appointment, figuring it had something to do with a bruise that had showed up on her foot a week ago. We didn't know exactly how the bruise got there. The pediatrician examined her very thoroughly and then off we went to get an x-ray of her foot and ankle. Yesterday the pediatrician called me back and said that Lauren has a buckle fracture in her distal fibula. (I think I got that right). Well, she is going to see a pediatric orthopedic specialist tomorrow at 10. She is still limping and I think it has gotten worse. She doesn't cry, just limps herself around and has complained none about it or been fussy. They said it was a common injury in toddlers because the bone that the buckle fracture is in can only withstand 5 lbs of pressure, so if she falls the wrong way or on something it can buckle in. I have started giving her Tylenol regularly for any pain, but she will not stay put. I will update everyone on what the doctor says tomorrow.