No Laughing Matter

A month ago or so, Ella laughed for the first time.  It happened to be the same day we found out the disappointing news that Landon didn't pass his test.  He got a five; six is the glorious passing grade.   SO close, yet so far.  Ella's little laugh was a bright spot in the day.  I wasn't able to catch it on video though.  

The other day, she started laughing for no apparent reason.  She laughed and she laughed and she laughed!  By the time I had Landon grab the camera, it had toned down a little, but we still caught some on tape.

Pre-Kindergarten Interview

I thought it would be fun to interview Jonathan about going to KDG.  He was super excited (if you can't tell)!  I think he is going to love it.  He has two little friends from church in his class.  We felt pretty lucky since there are seven or eight KDG teachers.

It'll be fun to do a post first-day-of-kindergarten interview and compare his expectations with reality.  

Lil' Yogini

 Constantly on the move, our little Ella is a Yogini in training.

Here she is doing downward-facing dog:

She's working her way up to one-legged downward-facing dog:

And sphinx:

Attempting to get into sukhasana:

And at last resting in child's pose:

Tuesdays with Dorie: Tropical Crumble + Dimply Plumb Cake

I made this TWD dessert for family night and my husband and kids loved it.  I thought it was pretty good, but a little too rich for me to want to make it again any time soon.  If you'd like to give it a try, stop by Law's of the Kitchen by Gaye for the recipe.

We also had an abundance of plums in our Bountiful Basket last week so I made Dorie's Dimply Plum Cake.  This recipe was the first of Dorie's that I had ever encountered.  I first saw it on Cristine blog, Cristine Cooks, and the name intrigued me.  I've wanted to make it ever since.  Two and a half years later, here it is:

I thought it looked beautiful; it tasted great just out of the oven after cooling slightly.  I guess you'll have to buy the book to get this recipe.  :)

Hide and Go Seek

This girl loves to hide under the bed.

She loves to "back crawl."  She's been doing it for a couple of months now.

                                           

And that is how she gets under the bed.

TWD: Carrot Spice Muffins

These Carrot Spice Muffins are quite lovely without the carrots!  My family liked them so much, I made them three times in the space of a few days.  The third time I added in the carrots.  Still good, but a lot of work for something that, in my opinion, downgrades the flavor of the muffin.

Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat Crumbs for choosing this week's recipe!