Monumental Milestone!

I just want to share a quick story about Akiko's latest achievement:


Akiko read an entire book to me with almost no help!! I could barely believe it!

You see, we were at the doctor's office waiting for some test results. While we waited, I read a couple of the books they had in the office there to her. As I read to her, she kept interrupting and excitedly pointing out words that she recognized. When she picked up the third book, I asked her to try to read it to me. I'm usually met with some resistance at this suggestion, but apparently she didn't feel like doing that, so she complied.

Wouldn't you know? She got through the whole thing with me helping only a couple times on some bigger words. I was absolutely floored. The doctor came in when she was just about finished and waited patiently for her. She was also thoroughly impressed.

As far as the doctor is concerned, I was just happy she saw that, and that it was a good thing. Usually when we're at the doctor and she asks me or one of the kids a question, the answer always comes out wrong or the kids say something that's not exactly true and then I feel like I'm falling short on my mothering skills. I think you all know what I'm talking about.

Example: At Akiko's 5 year well-child and pre-Kindergarten checkup the doctor asked if she rode a bike. "Yes!" Akiko replied. "And do you always wear a helmet whenever you're on your bike?" Then the little stinker responded, "Well, now that I'm 5, I don't need to wear a helmet anymore." For the record, I never said anything like that to Akiko, though I am, admittedly, a bit lax about the helmet wearing when she's just in the back yard.

I'm off subject now. The point is, Akiko is learning a lot and she's picking it up fast. Before school, we tried to teach her a little and get her excited to read, but we were met with... what's the word... apathy, unenthusiasm, complacency? Can't think of the right word right now. Since school started, she gotten really excited about it and that attitude has really made all the difference.

Akiko comes from a long line of bookworms on both sides of the family so today's incident was an extremely proud moment for me.

Funny Stories

I've got two funny little stories. Both of them involve The Mose. That boy has been getting a lot of press lately, hasn't he?

Story #1

I wasn't feeling very well yesterday. Joseph came home from work as soon as he could to help out and give me a break. When he walked into our bedroom, he greeted me with, "Hey sickie."

Moses, who happened to be in the room, replied, "She's not 'sickie!' She's 'Yuki.'"

This is coming from the boy who, when asked, "Why are you so cute/sweet/handsome, etc?" responds with, "Because I am so cute/sweet/handsome!"

Story #2

This afternoon, like every afternoon, we walked to school to pick up Akiko. While we wait for the bell to ring, I allow Moses to play on the kindergarten's playground equipment. I sat there watching him with Asher in my lap and, of course, in the two seconds I took to look down at Asher and smile, Moses bumped his mouth and his cry rang out across the courtyard.

I walked over to the playground to meet my crying Moses and proceeded to escort him back to the table where I had been sitting so I could get a better look to assess the damage.

On our way back to the table, we passed over a hopscotch court. Moses, still wailing and crying, "My mouth hurts!" proceeded to hop with his feet over the hopscotch squares: 2-1-2-1-1-1. Once we had passed over the court everybody who was there waiting to pick up their kids started laughing. I mean, how could you not laugh at that?

 

Oh, how I love that silly boy!!

Asher's First Laughs!!

I never post twice in one day, but this is an important event:

First of all, Asher was just chillin' out with me while I was posting the recipes. He was so happy and started "cooing" and "aahing" almost nonstop. I decided it was THE perfect opportunity to broadcast on Justin.tv. Asher got a little camera shy when he saw himself on the computer. Then Akiko and Moses decided to upstage us. They love being on camera. In case the embedding doesn't work, you may watch the broadcast here.



Right after I stopped the broadcast, Joseph picked Asher up and started playing with him and, wouldn't you know, he started laughing!! He's been grunting for a couple weeks now, but Joseph actually got some real belly laughs out of him! I'm so excited to share this with everyone.

Asher will be 3 months old a week from Sunday. What an exciting day!!

Conference Casserole

The first weekend in October. For us and our fellow LDS it means we get to lay around the house in our pajamas for two days and listen to our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson (whose dry cleaning I used to do waaay back in the day), and other men called by God to lead our church. I love General Conference!

In the Wecker household, it also means on Sunday morning we get to make Conference Casserole!! I love this recipe. I want to make it more often, but if I made it any other time of year besides the first weekends in April and October, I'd get in trouble with my husband for breaking tradition. So, I only get to make it twice a year and I relish it. However, that's not going to stop me from posting the recipe and sharing it with you! And unless you're part of Dave and Char's family, you are allowed to make it at your whim.

Conference Casserole

In a large bowl, whisk together:

10 large eggs

1/2 c. milk

Then add:

3 c. colby or cheddar jack cheese

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 c. cottage cheese

4 oz. can chopped green chiles

5 c. (28 oz. bag) cubed hash browns, thawed

1 lb. cubed ham

salt and pepper to taste

Pour into greased 13x9 pan and top with:

Crushed corn flakes

Bake at 350 for 1 hr. The center should be firm when wiggled.

Notes: I can only ever find 32 oz. bag of hash browns and it works out fine. The hash browns must be thawed or the cooking time will be a lot longer.

Joseph and I decided this would be great leftovers to make breakfast burritos, too! Warm up a tortilla, spread some reheated casserole, add some salsa, sour cream, whatever floats your boat, and enjoy! 

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 While I'm at it, I'm going to post another one of my favorite mother-in-law recipes. If you've ever been to Sunday dinner at the Wecker house on Maui, you should know which one I'm talking about. For those of you planning a trip to Maui, please feel free to stop by for dinner on Sunday evenings. Everyone goes there. It's not uncommon for about thirty people to show up. What's a few extra mouths? And you'll meet some fabulous people, too!

CharLee's To-Die-For Dinner Rolls

In a small bowl, combine:

½ c. hot water

2 t. yeast

sprinkle of sugar

Set aside. Referred to as "yeast mixture" later.

In a big (as in, the biggest one you've got) bowl, combine:

¾ c. sugar

2 t. salt

In another small bowl, combine:

1 c. water

1 c. shortening

Boil in microwave (covered). Pour over sugar in big bowl and stir until dissolved.

Add to big bowl:

1 c. cold water

4 c. flour

4 eggs, beaten

Mix, then add:

yeast mixture

3 c. flour

Knead in 1 more cup of flour (maybe a little bit more) until dough is moist, but not too sticky.

Let rise until double in size, about an hour.

Punch down and form into rolls on a greased 17”x11” cookie sheet (makes 24 rolls). Let rise about 15-20 minutes. Bake in a 350° oven for 16-17 minutes, or until light brown on top.

Note: These rolls make amazingly yummy sloppy joe buns. You can leave them roll-sized for mini joes or make them about 1.5 times larger for buns, which will obviously yield less than 24 (18, perhaps).

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  If I had pictures to post I would, so you can see what they're supposed to look like, but I can't make the casserole for two more days. The dinner rolls, on the other hand, I've been craving for a while and will make real soon, so I'll edit this post later with pictures. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!!

Birthday Girls!!

For Kristen and Chelsie:

Happy Birthday to two lovely, smart, amazing sisters. We love you so much and miss you. Before I post your birthday messages from the kids, let's go back in time to three years ago.

Akiko was two-and-a-half. Moses was not quite born.

Kristen's 2007 Birthday Message

Chelsie's 2007 Birthday Message

Wasn't Akiko the most adorable little girl you've ever laid eyes on?

Still is.

Then we've got some outtakes, but just my favorite ones.

And now we return to the present.

Here's what Akiko has to say to her aunties:

I'm having trouble uploading Moses' birthday message. The file may be too large. I've been trying for about two hours now. It's super cute though. I'll figure out a way to get it to you girls. The outtake is also having trouble loading. I'm super frustrated now.

Anyway, we hope you both had a wonderful day today. We miss being near you, but we're glad we are able to stay in touch with you. Happy Birthday Kristen and Chelsie!!

Second First Day of School!

Lucky little Moses gets two posts in a row!

Just last year, we celebrated Akiko's first day of preschool.

She actually got two first days of preschool when we moved in the middle of her school year and started attending preschool out here.

I never imagined that in just one year, Moses would be old enough to attend preschool, too. Here's why: in Utah, the cutoff is generally August 31 for the school year. Here in the South Bay, at least, the cutoff is November 30. Moses' birthday is early November, so he makes the cutoff though this means that he'll be the youngest in his class. But being the youngest in the class doesn't mean that he's knows any less than the older kids.

Moses already knows most of his shapes, colors and letters and can decipher the difference between a letter and a number (though he doesn't know all his numbers yet). He can carry on a pretty intelligent conversation and uses complex sentences, that is, if you can understand what he's saying. When he started talking, he was using simple sentences right off the bat. So when I found out he was old enough to enroll in preschool, I figured, "Why not?"

So, today he embarked on his educational career.

Here he is all dressed and ready to go.

When we got there, we walked through the familiar gate,

said "Good morning" to Big Bird,

and waited for the classroom doors to open.

 

Moses got signed in, got his nametag,

 

 

and went straight to work coloring.

When I picked him up, I was told he did very well, had a lot of fun and is really smart.

I can't believe I've got two in school already. These kids are growing way too fast. I guess I better get their college savings accounts started this week.

The Fortune Cookie was Correct!

Last night we ordered Chinese food for dinner. Moses was a little grumpy. He had just woken up from a long nap. He didn't really want to eat his food. He really wanted his fortune cookie though. I mean, it was just sitting there in front of him enticing him the whole time.

We kept telling him, "You can eat your cookie after you eat your dinner."

Every time he would whine and reply, "I just want to eat mine cookie!"

This went on for, oh, about fifteen minutes or so.

It was finally decided that perhaps he just wasn't hungry. Perhaps we just gave up because it had been a long tiring day for us too. Joseph and I had driven two hours to Sonoma and back earlier that afternoon, hence the take-out for dinner.

Well, the rest of us had finished eating and we were all eyeing our own fortune cookies. We relented and let Moses have his. It read:

People find it difficult to resist 

your persuasive manner.

We just laughed. Then laughed some more.

You see, we try really hard to not give in to tantrums and the like and we do a pretty good job at it these days. Moses certainly was not throwing anything like a tantrum. He was just tired. A little whiny, perhaps, but nothing terribly stressful. 

He was just our tired, sweet little guy. Very persuasive indeed. 

Besides, how could you say "No" to a face like that?