What's Cookin': A Behind-the-Scenes Peek

On Sunday, Daddy and Osten whipped up a delicious breakfast. Daddy fried up the sausage and potatoes, and Osten was in charge of the eggs . . .

and the cheese.

You can never have enough cheese!

As promised, here's a behind-the-scene peek at my favorite little chef in his favorite Spiderman underwear!

Rainy-Day Escapade

It rained. No, it POURED all day on Sunday. We were climbing the walls in no time, so we packed into Daddy's car for a family trip to the mall. We went right to the soft-play area. Marci hung out with Daddy, while Osten burned off some of his pent-up energy.

After lunch in the food court, Osten made a beeline to the notorcycles.

The ride was captivating!

As usual, Marci was Osten's best audience, and she patiently waited while Daddy and I tried to convince him that it was a good idea to go home.

Leader of the Pack

Last night, Osten and I attended the dedication ceremony for a new observation room for a wolf exhibit at a local wildlife preserve. We have visited the wolf exhibit a number of times, and it is one of Daddy's favorite places to go. There is a large pack of wolves that reside in an outdoor, fenced habitat. For a completely unexpected and unplanned change, we were one of the first people to arrive, and we jumped right in the courtesy van to go to the exhibit. It was so nice to be out of the rain, and it was just a short ride down the trail to the exhibit. Osten lead the way and even got to sit shot-gun with his two new notorcycles and was the designated lookout for the wolves.

As soon as we got out of the van, we could hear the wolves howling. The new enclosed observation room was really neat. The wolves walk by right in front of the glass, and we got to see them up close and personal!

We had dinner there, too, and as a special treat, we brought along a package of M&Ms. They kept Osten entertained during the dedication ceremony. There were lots of speakers and consequently lots of clapping, which was lots of fun for Osten.

After dinner, Osten got to pet the owl and make owl sound effects. Despite the torrential downpour on the drive home, it was a very fun night. Unfortunately, Marci turns into a pumpkin at 6:00-sharp these days, so she and Daddy stayed at home.

Double Trouble

Osten and Marci have been quite the pair lately, and I think they have both started to realize that they are in this thing called childhood together! After church on Sunday, we took them downtown to meet one of Daddy's friends and his family for pizza. Since the double-stroller is double trouble, we put each of them in their own stoller. Ah, much better for manuveuring the sidewalks and crowded pizza places!

Now that Marci's seat is facing forward, I catch the two of them holding hands during car rides quite often. Sometimes, Osten will even pass Marci a cracker or a toy.

I think Osten was trying to teach Marci how to do a "high five" here. As usual, she was quite amused by him.

Usually, holding hands is a good thing. Except when one child's hands aren't so clean. Like when he suddenly starts rubbing his nose and screaming "boo-gars!"

Giddyup!

Daddy showed Marci how to ride her horsey this weekend. She was quite proud of herself. Piper gave her this horse for her birthday, and up until now, she has only been able to chew on it and watch her brother take it for a trot. Well, she's officially in the saddle now. (Look out Osten, here she comes!)

Giddyup, little girl! The best things about this horse is the trotting sound effects that it makes and the basket in the front. All four of us are enjoying it!

Helmet Head

Osten had a trike-a-thon at school last week for a local children's hospital. They sent home information about bike safety that talked all about the importance of wearing a helmet. We had not yet had this discussion at home, and in fact, Osten's helmet was still in its packaging. We decided to break it out for the trike-a-thon. Well, it was a real hit! He held it in his lap on the ride to school and as soon as he got into his classroom, he insisted that Ms. Brandi put it on his head. Apparently, he wore his helmet until naptime!

Here's my favorite helmet head with his favorite girl!

When I picked up Marci and Osten at the end of the day, there was no way Osten was going to let me tote his trike to the car. Oh, no. He strapped that helmet back on and rode right out the door.

It took a couple of laps around the parking lot before I was able to convince him that it was time to put the trike in the trunk. You probably won't be surprised to know that he wore his helmet the whole way home!

Tom Daddy

Just two days before Marci's birthday, we celebrated Daddy's birthday with a triple-chocolate "Happy Birthday Tom Daddy" cake. From time to time, Osten has been known to refer to his daddy on a first-name basis. However, lately when he's gotten confused or is just being silly, he'll call him "Tom Daddy." Daddy's not so fond of it, but it cracks me up! So when I saw these name candles, I couldn't resist.

We went to dinner at a neighborhood restaurant with Gramma Sue, and then we came home for cake and presents. While dinner was good . . .

the chocolate cake really hit the spot! (I think someone has a fondness for chocolate, just like his Tom Daddy!)