Cooking with Zsolt

We're going to start a tv show on food network.

It's going to be an amazing hit, just wait and see!

Tonight Nate is out of town, Zsolt was cranky and I was searching for ways to keep him entertained. I was also experiencing a major sweet tooth and thus inspiration was born. Let's make cookies! And I'll let Zsolt help so that he'll have something to do.

So, here's how we make cookies in our house.

Add the first few ingredients and start stirring.

Taste testing is okay too.

(I guess it's good we're going to be the only ones eating these cookies.)

Really get in there and mix it well!

Add the proper amount of flour.

(Check out the expression on Zsolt's face and I'm sure you can see where this is going.)

No need to taste test this one first. Zsolt did it for you and assures you, you're not missing out.

Now stir in your flour.

Some spillage can be expected.

Now chocolate chips, that's another part you'll want to taste test - make sure it's up to your standards.

Hmmm....

Yup! These ones are sufficient!

Of course, it is then time move your dough to the cookie sheet.

Really squish those cookies on there to make sure they stick.

And if you think a cookie is a little big, just grab little chunks out of it and start putting them back in the bowl.

Bake and eat, first testing to make sure the cookie's not too hot.

Really stuff it in!

If you hitch your foot up onto the table, it makes for a little extra room in your tummy.

It also helps you stretch out those thighs when you reach for another piece.

Wash it down with warm milk.

And that's it! Making cookies with Zsolt. It may be a bit messy, but there's no better way!

Bath Time Fun

Water Bowl

Tonight I filled the dog's water bowl and put it on the floor. I turned to fill up the pitcher we keep in the fridge, but when I turned back around I saw this:

Check out the looks on the poor pup's faces.

Uh, mom, we kind of wanted to drink that.

I'm Thankful...

For this beautiful country that we live in.

For my faith which shapes and gives purpose to my life.

For our wacky, small town life.

For our house which we are lucky enough to call a home.

For old friends.

For Rachel who I've known since 2nd grade and who has been with me through thick and thin for many years.

For Jodi who I met in high school and I will always be grateful to for helping me feel like I belonged.

And for many giggles with both throughout the years.

For new friends who make a whole extra thanksgiving dinner just so that we can have it together.

For neighbors who are incredibly generous and help us feel truly welcome in our new town.

For my father who is so charming and wonderful. Whether he's giving me advice or driving 7 hours to help whenever I need him, he has always been there for me. He is my rock.

For my sweet, fun-loving, incredible mother who gave me life and then made it worth living. She added zest and spunk to the every-day things and always made me feel loved.

For darling Kristene who has brought a spark into our lives. She is so giving and caring and fun.

For my older brother, Thaddeus, who let me hang around with him when I was a young pest and was always willing to explain things to me.

For his sweet wife Michaela who has so much love to give.

For my cute nieces who are full of energy and love to laugh and play.

For Cole who was the wackiest little kid I've known. I still can't believe that he has grown so much. He has become a great man who is few in words, but large in heart.

For Chelsea who fit so easily into our family with her own wacky ways.

For my lil' sis, who is as different from me as night and day, but I love her with all my heart. She is gorgeous and charming and always keeps life interesting.

For Doug, he has such a big heart and is a great example of what a good man should be.

For Teddi who is the glue that holds her family together. She is an incredible mother-in-law who has always been willing to listen and offer advice. She is truly devoted to her family and will do anything for them.

I couldn't ask for better in-laws.

For Jake who seems so quiet one moment and will have you rolling on the floor with laughter the next. He is always full of surprises.

For Katie who is so much like me it's almost scary. I love that I can talk to her about anything and I feel she would understand.

For Tiara who is so sweet and lovely. Anyone that meets her can't help but love her.

For Derek, who is so smart and is an incredibly hard worker. He strives to achieve greatness and I know he's going to do amazing things with his life.

For Brett who is always full of spirit. He is weird and wacky and wonderful!

For this little goober who brings joy to my life each and every day. I love him so much!

And for this unbelievably marvelous man. He is my everything. He does so much for me every day and I will forever be thankful to him for choosing to spend eternity with me.

And for the many other people who have influenced my life for good. I would not be who I am today if not for you.

Life is good.

And for that I am thankful.

Chair

I'm not sure why Zsolt feels the need to open our file box, push aside papers, and climb inside it to sit.

He just does.

Third Time's a Charm

Remember how I recently sent off my camera for some repairs? Well, it was missing 2 pixels in the upper corner. When I got it back I quickly checked to be sure that those pixels were repaired - and they were. Good! However, within the next week I was disappointed to notice that there was now 1 pixel missing in the lower left corner.

Seriously??

Yesterday I took it back in, ready to ship it off again to be repaired. But since I kept having issues with it, they chose to trade it in for a new one. Yup, that's right, this is now my 3rd camera. Sheesh!

The only problem is that my camera, the very nice Nikon D60, is no longer in production.

Good grief!

So I had to pick from one of the newer models that Nikon has out. After some debate and online comparisons we settled on getting this one.

Meet my new camera:Hello beautiful!

It's the Nikon D5000! It's actually an upgrade from the one that I previously had so we paid a little extra for it, but with Nate's in-store discount it wasn't too bad - especially considering all of the new features that come with it.

I only hope this one sticks with me for longer this time.

The Zoo

To celebrate our 5 year anniversary, we took a family trip to the zoo. There wasn't anybody else there, for some reason people don't just visit the zoo much in November. So we had a nice time wandering around and taking some family pictures (which I will post later on my photography blog).

Zsolt liked looking at the tiger.

Here's Nate and me. Oddly enough Nate was the one who was really cold.

The first of many strange photos I got of Zsolt man.

And another...

And another...

Checkin' out the bear.

We can't see!

We kept trying to put Zsolt in his stroller, but he was very unhappy - always trying to escape.

And so he mostly just wandered around by himself while we tried to direct him in the right direction.

Checking out the baby mice. Zsolt kept trying to open the cage.

Mirror image. Hehe

Wow, they both have the same expression on their face.

Taking Pictures

Anyone who knows me knows that I take a lot of pictures.

The last several days I've been taking even more because I'm trying to familiarize myself with the manual settings and make sure I can get a proper exposure as needed.

It's been a nice exercise for me, really stretching my photo skills.

However, there are a couple in the household who aren't so fond of all the pictures.


This is how Zsolt feels about the picture taking:

And this is apparently how Nate feels:

It's a good thing my guys love me... at least, I think they do.

Apparently...

Someone in our house is expecting a flood.

I don't know why he's suddenly taken to walking like this, but it's happening with increasing frequency.

So get out your waders and prepare for the water. It's apparently coming.

Popcorn and a Show

The other day Zsolt and I spent the afternoon at a friend's house. The girls there wanted to put on a "parade" for us to see.

We had some popcorn popped and sat down to watch.

I got down low to take a picture.

Zsolt got irritated and leaned so he could see around me.

Sheesh! Down in front!

My Boy is so Good

Today Zsolt was playing with daddy's stereo.

He knows he's not supposed to play with daddy's stereo, but he does it anyway.

I told him, "Zsolt, you're going to have a time out if you continue to play with that."

Zsolt turned, looked at me, and gave me a big grin.

He then walked over to me and gave me a hug. I was so proud of him for walking away. But I was downright stunned when he proceeded over to his regular time-out area where he promptly sat right down.

Seriously?!? Did my child just put himself into time out?

He sat there for a bit and just babbled away happily to himself while I laughed so hard I almost had to wipe tears from my eyes.

I went over and gave him the biggest hug. It doesn't get any cuter than that.

A Stitch in Time...

Somebody was playing outside today and fell into the metal latch on the fence.

*warning: slightly nasty pictures*

He hit it right on the edge.

It may look like a simple little cut here, which is what I thought at first. However, as I cleaned it out and started looking closer, it really split open and was much deeper than I expected.

I went next door to my neighbor and got her opinion - definitely a deep little cut.

I called the Dr. office to see if I could bring him in to have it checked. Apparently, a normal Dr. office doesn't deal with this situation at this age. That means it was off to the emergency room. Oh goodie!

One time when it's not fun to live 30 minutes away from town. Poor Zsolt had missed his afternoon nap and tried to sleep on the way in, but I kept sticking my finger in his ear to keep him up. He just had a nasty bumb - no way was I letting him fall asleep.

Poor little man had to have three stitches. Turned out that the cut went down to his fat. Ick.

He was such a good little boy about the whole thing. He kept wanting to run everywhere and check out the hospital. That is, he was good until they wrapped him up so that he couldn't move, shined a bright light in his face, stuck a needle in to numb it, and stitched - then he screamed bloody murder until it was over.

My baby's first stitches. His daddy was so proud. While waiting in the ER he started showing Zsolt all of his own scars.

Boys....

A Thanks to Jake and Katie

Zsolt was eating his snack today when a package arrived from his Aunt Katie and Uncle Jake.

He was very intrigued when shiny things came out.

Ooh, bubbles!

He quickly grabbed what he knew to be food and stuffed it in his mouth.

Who cares about wrappers anyway?

Here mom, gimme more of these! (bubbles)

Awesome

Halloween Fun

Here is our little Luigi. Apparently he got hit by a turtle and is much smaller than Mario.

Love the mustache!

Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach

Mario saves the princess!

Luigi and Mario

The gang.

Love my little Luigi.


Trick or treating at his first house - the Gansel's home next door.

Getting his first little Halloween treat.

Thanks Natalie!

Then we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat.
Zsolt loved watching the kids play this game.

He thought the golf balls were fun. At first he just poked at them, but he soon got up the courage to grab some and run.

All the Trunk-or-Treat goodies!

Happy Halloween!

Who is that lurking around our house??

Seems a tad creepy.

But nope! It's just our Mario all dressed up and heading to work this morning!

Here he is eating Jack-O-Lantern pancakes this morning.

Oooh...I never realized before how good looking Mario is!

This is right before he left- once he put his mustache on. So funny!

I love my husband! He is such a good sport about dressing up.

Zsolt and I aren't dressing up until this evening, but don't worry, we'll have more picture for you then!