Pancake Sunday - Banana Yogurt Edition

A while ago I started making pancakes for Toby and I (me?) on Sundays.  It's a favorite thing of mine.  It kind of fizzled out a bit now that the girls are in to everything.  Today I'm bringing pancakes back (sing that a la Justin Timberlake). 

Via Weelicious, I was reminded how versatile pancakes are.  She has so many variations.  I grabbed our trusty copy of Joy of Cooking and got moving.  The additions really worked nicely.  I hope you've made pancakes before.  It's helpful to know how you like your batter.  My mom always like batters really thin for pancakes.  I like them a bit thicker, but not as thick as some recipes call for.  That's why there's no real measurement for the milk here.  You add enough to get the consistency that you like.

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients:

1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tsp double-acting baking powder

In a separate container combine:
2 large eggs (beaten)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain non fat yogurt
a splash of milk
splash of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and add milk a splash at a time until you get the right consistency.  Mash up some bananas and stir that into the mix.  I ended up using three smallish bananas.  I'm very exacting about this recipe, no?  I think I will add some walnuts next time.  These turned out really moist.  I cooked them in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Really, the dial was set just lower than medium.  I have a tendency to rush things and burn the pancakes.  While they cooked I did the dishes and tidied the kitchen.  I also chased two toddlers around.  Calliope insists that she has a bee in her ear today.  Swim ear? 

What were the girls doing while I cooked?  They watched some Dora and ate cookies.  I don't do it often, but sometimes I honor Grandma P's memory and give the girls cookies for breakfast.  Ok, I give them oatmeal cookies for breakfast a lot.  It's no worse than the sugar cereals and donuts available. 

 Yes, they are on the counter.  That's how I get some cooking done.  They will sit and watch for ages on the counter. 

 Yum!  Pancakes fresh off the skillet...well, after a few minutes.  I never know how many a recipe will make because we eat them as they are done.

I'd love to know if you try these and if they work out for you.  Happy Pancake Sunday!

Meet Calliope

This is Calliope.  We call her Calli.  She'll tell you she's Calli.  Sometimes she'll joke around, but she always lets you know in the end.  It's easy to tell because usually she says, "I Mommy" or "I Nana" if she's joking.  Thalia is a little tricksy on that one.

Calli is a goofball.  She is silly and crazy and just a little chimpanzee.   She is very sad that these glasses don't fit anymore - not even when they're upside down.

Calli can be ornery.  Really, really ornery.

Calli might be stubborn, but she's is also a sensitive and sweet little girl.  She loves hugs.  She loves her sister.  She is always there to kiss Thalia's boo-boos.

Meet Thalia

Thalia introduces herself to everybody now.  I think it may be a response to people asking "Which one is this?"  Really, people? Which "one"?  They're little people.  They know their names.  Just ask.

This is my sweet Thalia.  She's a thinker.  You can see it happening.

She's curious and all about exploring.

She loves her "rabbit bunny".  She hugged that bunny like a long lost friend the very first time Aunt Angie gave it to her.  She's very, very talkative.  She likes to make up songs.  When Thalia dances, her hips shake like a little hula girl.  She introduces Calli like this: "This my sister friend."

I love her to bits and pieces.  She is so special in all her Thalia ways.

Super Saturday

It has been one busy day!  The girls and I had a nice quiet breakfast.  Then they played with the paper plate masks I made.  Nothing fancy at all, just some faces on plates.  Toby got this picture while the girls "arred" like pirates:

This morning we wrangled two frustrating two year olds into their clothes and the stroller.  We walked up town to the farmers' market.  Toby hit the baked goods as always and I found some mint.  I also got a free bar of soap because my name was the name of the day.  Surprise!  It's a lovely handmade soap and is scented with barberry spice.  The girls munched on blueberry muffins while we walked to the grocery store for the veggies we didn't find at the market.  It's too early yet, I guess. 

After unloading the stroller, we had lunch - complete with time out for Thalia.  She really likes to throw her food around.  Then a lovely, long naptime.  Snack and Caillou led into going to Nana's.  Nana was gracious enough to watch the girls so that we could have a date night.  That turned into a "let's redo the front flower bed" night.  As an added bonus, Nana cut the girls' bangs tonight!  WE ADORE NANA!

This:

Is now this:

I still have to dig out the dead weeds between the flagstones.  That is one disgustingly slow task.  I should be able to get it done in a few nights, though.  I really only get to work out front when the girls are in bed or at the sitter's.  We have a busy street running out front.  I can't watch the girls and get anything done.  Fenrir has been my yardwork buddy.  He's getting better about not freaking out when people go by.  For an 80+ pound lab/husky mix, he is one big weenie.  That's about all for now.  I hope that some of that gardening makes up for the muffins and raspberry bread we had today.  YUM!

Painting with Toddlers

At the beginning of the summer I stocked up on art supplies and simple things to keep us busy.  I bought a set of Crayola paints (washable, of course) and the girls mostly demolished that today.  So, how do you paint with two year old twins?  This is what we did and what I would do differently next time.

First, think mess.  Two year olds are all about exploring everything: color, texture, taste, etc....  I covered the table with a piece of cheap plastic drop cloth.  My mom had a vinyl table cloth that worked great.  A friend of ours went to the fabric store and bought some clear vinyl to cover her pretty table cloths.  I thought that was a great idea.

Table covered, check!  One color paint pot open, check!  Paint brushes, check!  Bed-headed toddlers, check!

This is how we started out.  One color.  Nice.  Neat-ish.

This is where we ended up.  Not too bad, but there are two t-shirts soaking in dishwater.  Dishwater is a miracle cleaner.  I learned that from some awesome parent friends.

Now, what I plan to do next time:

• Save the empty paint pots
• Refill empty paints with homemade cheap paint (water, corn starch, food coloring, and liquid soap)
• Could put paper inside a cookie tray to contain the mess (don't remember where I read this, but I've read it on a few mommy blogs)
• Buy some t-shirts at thrift shop for artsy activities
• Set them up at the table and let them go! I could have gotten some work done nearby because they were so into the painting.
• Thought about a paper plate "palette" instead so that I don't have to open/close colors for the girls.  Read several places that you can recycle bottle caps into a palette by gluing them onto a paper plate or cheap plastic plate.  I think I'll just put some blobs of paint onto a paper plate and let them go.
• Sponge-painting!  Probably way easier for them to manipulate than the paint brushes. 

Overall, it was a good way to kill an hour and the girls had lots of fun talking about colors.  They were very impressed with the water changing colors.   It's now 9:20 and we have a long way to go until naptime.  Next up:  bike ride around town, park and playground, haircuts?, lunch!  Then it's sweet, sweet naptime. 

A Trip to Grandpop's House

Yesterday we went to see my dad.  It's a shame that it was so chilly outside.  The girls still had a blast running around in his big yard.  They ran out to the old chicken coop  to explore.

Sometimes they hold hands, but it's more of a game than an affectionate gesture at this point.

They got to take a ride in Grandpop's lawnmower cart.

We went to see the neighbor's steer.  The girls happily cried, "cows!" and were really interested when Grandpop held out his hand and the cows licked his gloves.  I couldn't get a good picture in the barn since it was really dim.  It was great to see the girls exploring the way I remember exploring.  It used to seem like everything was so big when we went to visit my grandparents at "the farm".  We went to lunch with Grandpop and picked out some flowers at a greenhouse.  Overall things went well, but they are two and there were some whiny times at McD's.  The girls settled in for a nap while Dad and I drove around.  After dropping him off, we had the whiniest car ride home evar.

I am not a SAHM

I respect SAHM's a lot, but I just can't be one.  It will make me crazy and the kids will be miserable.  I'm feeling a bit guilty about being so delighted to drop the girls off at the sitter.  However, I have gotten things done today and I still have time and patience for more.  The bushes in the front beds have been pruned, clippings raked, weeds sprayed with poison, potted plants moved to their new locations, dressers cleaned out, lunch made, and I'm still going.  It's so much easier when I don't have to referee two little ones.  Again, I feel a bit bad for not being the supermom who can handle it all and whip up a beautiful cake, but not too bad.