Muffle Muffle Moo

I have been trying to assess the little twins verbal skills. This is difficult, because they are on the move, and I have the echo in the house. The "Echo" is named Matilda. She either is repeating what I say very loudly and in dumbed down tones to the little twins and Lucas, or, she answers the questions I ask before anyone else has an opportunity.

For instance, yesterday I was sitting with an open book of animals. Rowan seems to know most of his animals, and earlier that morning I thought I heard him say "cockle doo" for rooster. I held out the book and said "Rowan, what does a rooster say?"

Rowan opens his mouth to reply, but then Tilly blurts out "cock a doodle doo".

"Tilly, I was asking ROWAN what a rooster says. Rowan, what does a rooster say?"

Rowan opens his mouth, but, Tilly blurts out "COCK A DOODLE DOO."

"Tilly, are you listening? Mommy wants to hear if Rowan knows what a rooster says. OK?"

"OK" (I am glad toddlers reply to redundant questions).

I make strong eye contact with Rowan and ask "Rowan, what does a rooster say".

Rowan doesn't attempt to reply. Tilly screams "COCK A DOODLE DOO!!!"

I then clasp my hand over her mouth. Regain eye contact with Rowan and ask, "Rowan, what does a rooster say?"

Rowan opens his mouth, but, before he can reply beneath my hand Tilly says "Muffle, Muffle, MOO!!!"

I give up.

Here is Tilly first thing in the morning, and Lucas with his 7 pacis.

At the Blue Willow Inn

While my sister was visiting we made the long drive to the Blue Willow Inn. This was the first time I have not put Lucas and Tilly in high chairs at a restaurant. I think this probably won't be attempted again for a loooong time. Tilly kept twisting around and squirming and climbing out of her chair, and Lucas wanted to stand up in his. Lucas probably ate an entire chicken, and Tilly ate only raw tomatoes and sweet potatoes. She is so picky when it comes to food- she prefers vegetables and fruits.

Lucas is now a "cat". He went two days last week without uttering a single word. He meows when he wants something, shakes his butt like he has a tail at the end of it, growls when he is angry, and swats you with his "paw" when he is mad at you. The only way to get him to come to me when I want him is to say "Here, Kitty, Kitty". One day I meowed back at him and Tilly laughed and said "Silly mommy. You are not a cat, you are a mommy!".

I have now made those pumpkin scones three times and Duane has "placed an order" for himself and his coworkers next week. They are so good, and to keep them fresh, I freeze small batches. Scones- like most biscuits- are the best the day you bake them unless you freeze some back to have on following days (The pumpkins scones are the best the first two days you have baked them).

I am baking a blackberry cake for Thanksgiving. We are going to my sil's home. My sister is traveling down to spend the holiday with us and we will be cooking a few things together to take with us. Is anyone else working on their Thanksgiving menu? I am going to bake a Blackberry Cake (from my aunt and grandma's recipe), make a Broccoli Casserole (not your "broccoli cuts and sticky rice" one- I use only the fresh broccoli florets, fresh mushrooms, add celery and onions and its very good), and my sister is going to make Deviled Eggs I think. I am still tinkering with this. I am also tempted to try a few new recipes I have come across recently that use steamed veggies.

And I received a wonderful crock pot in the mail! It is "Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookbook" revised addition from 1995. This has some interesting recipes in it that I can't wait to try! There is a recipe for crockpot caponata. A recipe for Beef Stroganoff, a recipe for cabbage rolls that you basically "fix and forget" ("Fix it and Forget it" is also on my crockpot cooking wishlist), a recipe for rice pudding. Reynolds Wrap also has crockpot recipes on their website. Right now the crockpot is the ONLY way we have a homemade meal in the evenings. I just can't find the time to cook anymore. All the twins are in the "witching hour" and I can't cook with meowing and whining in the background.

Here are some recent pictures of everyone- I have Lucas and Tilly in the blue and yellow again. I love them in those colors for Autumn!

Rowan likes to make faces and roar like a lion:




Ewan walking around with gladware on his head, and later jumping on the bed.




Lucas and Matilda at the Blue Willow Inn:

Halloween pictures

My sister came to spend Halloween with us and the kids, and we took the kids in their Halloween costumes to the center of town where they were hosting a local "Trick or Treat" by the merchants.

Ewan was the local favorite in his "Dumbo" outfit, loaned to him from my friend Melanie's son Xander.

Lucas- dressed as "Captain Hook"- got the best candy, because he stared at each merchant all ga ga (they were dressed up as well) and I think they thought he was hinting for more candy. He was completely fascinated that people dressed up as goth witches and pooh bear were putting little wrappers of candy into his Elmo Pail. Also into his Elmo pail were added a GI Joe found along the way, and a lovely rock of a shade of gray that Lucas found irresistible.

Matilda - as one of many "Tinker Belles"-did not do so well. She glared at the merchants and stomped along on her way, a little repulsed by the audacity of STRANGERS to put forth their hand into her lovely Princess pail. They had to fling their dum dum suckers into her pail as quickly as possible. To which she snarled. She wound up giving me the pail to carry.

Rowan - as "Tigger"- still has some stranger anxiety, and didn't enjoy Trick or Treating very much. He and Ewan stayed in their twin stroller and were photographed often.

Then, the candy was forgotten, so its now in mommy and daddys care for safe eating..ahem, I mean KEEPING.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

I had the best scones at Starbuck's and decided to see if there was a "Copy cat" recipe online. I think this one pretty well duplicated the scrumptious scones I had Sunday!

Starbucks Pumpkin Scones Recipe #214051
These are great for the holidays...or any other time of the year.

30 min | 15 min prep

6 scones (Lizzie's notes: I made 8 with this recipe)

Scones

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 7 tablespoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* 6 tablespoons cold butter
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
* 3 tablespoons half-and-half
* 1 large egg

Powdered Sugar Glaze

* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze (Lizzie's notes: I omitted the regular glaze and just used this one)

* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons whole milk
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 pinch ginger
* 1 pinch ground cloves

1. TO MAKE THE SCONES:

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball. (Lizzie's notes: I refrigerated the ball of dough for thirty minutes before patting out and cutting)

5. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle (about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide). Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet.

6. Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

7. TO MAKE THE PLAIN GLAZE:.

8. Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.

9. When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.

10. AS THAT WHITE GLAZE FIRMS UP, MAKE THE SPICED ICING:.

11. Combine the ingredient for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.

These were very tastey, and I hope those of you who like autumny flavors get a chance to bake them!

Here they are beside the vase of flowers Duane brought home for me over the weekend.

Yellow and Blue!

I love to coordinate the kids clothing. It serves two purposes.

1. I think matching is cute! *snort*
2. I can easily identify my kids in a crowd if they are color coordinated.

How sad is that? Well, we were invited to a birthday party for a set of twin girls turning 1 over the weekend, and I figured there would be plenty of kids there, and with it just being Duane and I attending, the easier to spot our kids the better. It turned out that Ewan and Rowan were the easiest to watch this time. they mainly sat, just as you see here, Ewan in a G.Q. pose, and Rowan looking slightly nervous beside him, looking at blades of grass (and occasionally tasting), and playing with party favors (PPPST, take note of Rowan's bangs. He has had three haircuts since he was born, and he throws his head, screams, and tries to push the scissors away. The outcome of this is slightly jaggedly and crooked bangs. Hmpfh).




Lucas and Tilly are now impossible to photograph together. It is as if they are murmuring "Will you stop touching me!!!". They will sit together of their own accord when there isn't a photo opportunity, sure, but if I want to pose them. FORGET ABOUT IT. Hee, hee.





Lucas has a mouth full of ice in this last picture. Its a shame I didn't notice it before and get him to "spit" which he would of no doubt enjoyed and began doing at home for fun. Ugh. So, the picture with a mouth full of ice is probably preferable.



Not much new here, but wanted to share these lovely pictures with you.

Botanical Gardens

We spent the gorgeous autumn weather weekend at the Botanical Gardens. We went both Saturday and Sunday, and all the kids had such a lovely day!

We began the day Saturday with "Carrot cake pancakes" with a buttercream drizzle and maple syrup, then after some play and a nap, went to the gardens.

Here is Lucas and Tilly enjoying the Orchid Centers flowers- pssst, its my favorite place, too!



Here is Ewan and Rowan as "scarecrows". Right now they have over 100 scarecrows decorated throughout the center for children of all ages to enjoy!



Here is Matilda and Lucas as scarecrows- Tilly is trying to see Lucas as one instead of posing for us!



In the childrens garden, they have some pretty sculptures the kids can pose on.



Here is Rowan on a chicken:



Ewan on the same chicken:



At the end of the garden there are some sprinklers that children can play in on warm days. We just stripped Lucas and Tilly down to their diapers, and brought a towel to dry them off with. They had so much fun!!!




Lucas loves water and immediately took to playing in the sprinklers.



Matilda was hesitant at first, but by the time she had a few minutes of skirting them and getting used to the water, she was ready to play.





We were all exhausted by Sunday evening, and crashed early. :-)

Spelling and innocent looks

Our playroom is a "catch all". Probably the saddest addition to this room is a 100 year old antique sleigh bed that is propped behind the sofa. Its a full size, we will never use it again because it can't withstand children jumping on it, and I have no illusions about being able to prevent four toddlers from jumping on beds.

Case in point:



Beside a Chippendale ball and claw sofa (that has seen better days) that for now is the playroom sofa, are the mattresses that were once on said sleigh bed. I was trying to photograph Lucas looking all innocent sitting on the bed, when Matilda flipped off the sofa to the mattresses to join us. I should sale the sleigh bed, but I don't want to have people calling about it, don't want to deal with bargain hunters trying to lower the price, and don't have the truck to haul it away. Hence the room being our "catch all". In the spring of next year we hope to finish the remodel of this room and do away with the sleigh bed, the aging sofa, and a few other things. Perhaps by then we can have a nicer sofa, and not worry so much about washing sweet potato off of it, of fishing gold fish crackers out of the cushions.

Matilda's hair is finally long enough for pig tails. Here is both of us sporting them.



She is spelling up a storm. My aunt gave Lucas and Tilly a drawing board that has large alphabet letters on it, and when you press them it says what the letter is and what sound it makes. I gave it to them last week. Its for a 4-5 year old, as you can also practice writing the letters beneath them. Well, Tilly played with it a week solid, and now she asks me constantly how to spell words, and when she sees one of her alphabet blocks she will point to it, accurately identify what letter it is, then tell me what sound it makes "K. K is for "kah". And on top of that, she can spell hers and Lucas' name. She recites as if preparing for a spelling bee. "Tilly. T-i-l-l-y. Tilly". She was asking me today how to spell "Cat", "Dog", "Elvis" (one of our outdoor cats names), "mommy" and "Dada". She can spell "Cat", too.

I asked Lucas how to spell his name, and he stared at me for a moment and then said "Cake". :-) A boy after my own heart!