Saturday, December 10, 2011

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

It's Christmas time, which mean it's also time to bake oatmeal raisin cookies with my girls.

Amara watched me gather the ingredients.  I noticed that she seemed particularly intrigued by the oats.


So, I let her play with them.  I thought, "What's the worst that could happen?"


Oh.  That.

Well, we're in it now!  I'm going to have to get out the vacuum cleaner anyway, so I might as well let her have some fun.


Sifting...


Pressing...


Shaking...


Looking...


Throwing...


Oats went everywhere!


...And then she decided to eat them.


That's it for Amara and the oats!


So, we started actually making the cookies.  First, the ladies conferred on the appropriate measuring cups to use.


Then Kiran added the apple sauce and maple syrup while Amara continuing measuring, well, whatever she was measuring.  [Yes, Mom, I'm using a different recipe.  I can never get mine to come out as good as yours anyway, so I will just eat yours when you make them!]



It turns out that toddlers also like to play with the oats...


Kiran did a very good job stirring.


Amara took a break for a two-finger bink and then went back to measuing while Kiran got the raisins ready.



Kiran was very excited about the raisins.


She insisted on placing each raisin individually into the bowl.


Which I thought was just an excuse to steal a few raisins.


But, as it turns out, she was making a raisin masterpiece.  And she got REALLY upset when I stirred the raisins in.


I even got the dreaded evil eye.


I apologized, which didn't help much.  But, thankfully, when making cookies, there is an easy supply of cookie dough available to calm a crying child.


Kiran was back in the game, and did an excellent job forming the cookies.


She even carried the cookies to the oven all by herself.


She patiently waited, and then checked on the cookies to see if they were done.


And then, the best part!  Kiran enjoyed her cookies with a big glass of milk.  Amara, on the other hand, took a nap.  She's too little to eat cookies, anyway.

Playmates

Kiran and Amara are becoming wonderful playmates!

Kiran asked me to put Amara on the mat so she could play with her.  Then Kiran got them each a matching stuffed animal to hold, and she showed Amara how to turn the snowman toy on and off.




Saturday, December 3, 2011

'Mara-Bee in Black and White

'Mara-Bee is on the verge of both crawling and standing...and she looks super-cute doing both.




Sunday, November 20, 2011

Home-Made Apple Pie

We're getting fancy this fall...making an apple pie from scratch.

Here's Kiran hand-mixing the dough for the pie crust.

Amara putting flour in the pie pan while Kiran gets started rolling the dough.

Dough is fun to touch...

One of the apples didn't quite make it into the pie...

Amara mixing the pie filling while Kiran sulks because it's not her turn.

Kiran watching the pie cook.  She also took every pot holder out of the drawer so that she would be "ready" when the pie was finished.

Kiran colored for most of the time while the pie baked.  Then she enjoyed a slice with her crayons.

IMF Fountain

Playing at the IMF fountain.  Kiran got a little more wet than we intended...

Dada shows her how it's done (while staying dry).

Quick learner.  [Love how she's ducking like Dada, even though the water is three feet over her head.]

Dada's Office

Playing outside Dada's office.

"Yeah, yeah.  The White House is behind me.  But there's this AWESOME LEAF right here!"

Big Sissy showing Little Sissy how it's done.  Little Sissy still more interested in leaves.

Whoa, Amara.  Check out all these leaves!

"I'll happily dump them on you and rub them all over your head, Sissy."



Poor Amara...

More playing in the leaves.  They were so frickin' cute that tourists kept taking their picture.  :-)

"Good afternoon, sir."  "Good afternoon, ma'am."  [Pleasantries I imagine in that awkward moment right before the toddler yells, "KWIRRELLLL!!!" at the top her lungs and runs at it at full speed.]

Swingset

Amara out to play.

Swinging.

Chillin'.  And, no, she doesn't like to sit in the swing like a normal kid; she likes to hang off the front.

Peek-a-boo!

Sissies swinging.

Leaf angel!