23 Months

Little Miss Aubrey continues to change quickly. This month, some things I want to remember: 

* Aubrey can now say Tyler's name, or calls him "bubba."

* She recognizes most colors, and some numbers and letters. She has started her version of counting. "2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10"

* Often, her expression of agreement is "uh huh, do." For example, "Aubrey, do you want some milk?" Nodding, "Uh huh, do." She beckons with a wave and, "come on." But "thank you, Mommy" melts my heart.

* She loves anything soft and snuggly.

* She continues to love anything Sesame Street. Occasionally, she has yelled, "El...mo's...Song!" Though she is generally angry about something when she yells it, this always cracks me up.

* She loves reading books, doing puzzles, and dancing to music.

* She is still quite attached to her stuffed lamb, "Lambie." She has started pretend play - covering Lambie up, "feeding" Lambie, and sweetly talking to Lambie.

* She loves to paint, draw and color

* Aubrey is active, clearly independent, opinionated, and quite a sweetie pie.

Grandpa Henry

Photo by Lynette Polinder

Friday afternoon, my Grandpa Henry Yoder passed away in his home. This past week was especially rough. My Aunts and Uncle stayed with Grandpa and Grandma and gave lots of wonderful care. I was thankful for their frequent communication to the rest of the family, which made me feel like I was not so far away. I grieve especially for my Grandma Polly as she has lost her partner of 66 years. It's hard to imagine her without him.

I've been thinking about my memories of Grandpa, and I've been thinking a lot about childhood memories. Grandpa passed on his love of games, and I distinctly remember him teaching us to play games (specifically Rook). He liked to do tricks to amaze us, like "blowing up" his bicep. Or pulling a string between his nose and mouth. He was frugal, and I remember a reunion when he told us we could use one square of toilet paper for #1 and two squares for #2. Of course, there are lots more.

I enjoyed reading reflections by my mom and her siblings. 

I have appreciated my loving, supportive, generous, and down to earth family. We are blessed to have such a warm and supportive community here. Grandpa would be so happy.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels

I have a recipe to add to your holiday baking list. I saw it on Pinterest and made it this weekend. It's super easy. So easy, in fact, it's almost embarrassing. And, it doesn't take many ingredients. It's sweet, salty and crunchy. Addictive and delicious.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels

Ingredients:
1 bag of pretzels (16-18 oz)
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Pour pretzels into oil mixture. Stir until coated.
3. Microwave for 1 minute, remove and stir. Microwave 45 seconds more.
4. Spread pretzels evenly onto two cookie sheets.
5. While still warm, sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously.
6. Melt white chocolate (on low heat, be careful not to burn) and drizzle over cooled pretzels.
7. Store in an airtight container.

oops

I was working on my Thanksgiving post right as it was time to leave for The Muppets this afternoon...I just now realized that I posted the wrong video. Mistake corrected. :)

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving weekend. I've had a chance to do a little cleaning, a little shopping, and a little cooking. Tyler and I had a chance for a few activities too.

First we made these turkey cups. They were easy and (I think) cute.

We also made these pilgrim hats (to hold crayons at the dinner table) and pilgrim and Native American decorations (made from TP rolls).

Yesterday, Tyler and I went on a Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt.  It was my secret ploy to get him to burn off some energy. Even though it was nice and warm, it was very windy outside. We found everything but people throwing a football and another family on a walk. The only people we saw outside, in fact, were men working with their grills or smokers or fryers. :)

I also made a Treasure Hunt for him. I got a kick out of Aubrey "reading" his clues.



In the evening, we joined Ted and Sue at Hesston College for dinner. I am so thankful for family and friends near and far. Love you all! I hope you enjoyed the blessing of good food and good fellowship too.

Paci

22 Months

Aubrey is 22 months old. She loves to do puzzles, color, watch Sesame Street or listen to an Elmo CD, jump off of anything she can, climb onto whatever she can, play "side" (outside), and read books. She is working on asking "nicely" for Elmo (instead of screaming...repeatedly). Oh, and did I mention that she loves Sesame Street? :)

She is ready for the cold weather that just blew in...

She is talking in more two to three word sentences. Many of them start with, "Mommy, need..." Though more words are clear, she still doesn't say Tyler's name...



Another milestone we are celebrating is my sister Lynette in her pregnancy. She is 33 weeks and a couple days along. Hooray!

The fox

Written on one of Tyler's school sheets today:

4. Why didn't the fox have food for the winter?
Tyler: He did not gather food!

5. If you were the fox, what would you do next?
Tyler: I would go to Dillons.

Smart boy I've got here. :)

Giggles

Tonight, Tyler was working on sight words, and Aubrey got the giggles. I just caught a little on video.

Halloween

Last night, we enjoyed spending the evening with the Pankratz family. Of course, we enjoyed delicious food. Besides the big pot of yummy chili that Michelle made, we both made some sides, including a few "themed" items.

This spider cheeseball

Michelle's peanut butter spider cookies and my owl cupcakes. 

Followed, of course, by trick or treating. It was a gorgeous evening to be out. The high was in the 70s yesterday, and the evening was still mild and pleasant.

Aubrey can't say "trick or treat," but her thank you and bye bye earned her lots of smiles.

We didn't stay out too long, and everyone was still in good spirits when we returned. Abe was eager to hand out candy at the house, and was quite sweet - looking for trick or treaters to offer candy to.

The little ones wisely gathered around Wayne to enjoy some of their loot.

Aubrey trying on Abe's Harry Potter glasses.



We had a great evening! :)