Spring Update

We have been too busy for me to keep up my normal pace of writing on the blog, so here is an update from the last few months!

To see sets of photos from the last few months, go to our Flickr site and click on the sets of photos called:

- JC/Annick Visit Part I - Trip Out West
- JC/Annick Visit Part II (various photos of the family)
- JC/Annick Visit Part III - New Mexico Trip
- JC/Annick Visit Part IV - Great Sand Dunes

Select "View as Slideshow" to see each in slide show format.

(Scroll down for bonus photos!)

In March and April, for 5 weeks, Reynald's parents visited us and we had a great time together. It was truly wonderful to have them here with us for those weeks and we were able to do a lot of things together. They helped me A LOT at the house with watching Axel and making lunches, and cleaning the house. They also gave us good ideas for some improvements we could make (they have great taste). And, Jean Claude worked hard being Mr. Fix-It around the house, fixing things we didn't even know were wrong (you can tell how "fix it" we are - not very!). Annick and JC took Axel on lots of "bike rides" after they bought him a new push trike and lots of walks. They took Luka to school every day and picked him up. With all this busy-ness, we still were able to get in a few good trips.

Reynald, Luka, Annick and Jean Claude took a memborable trip March 11 - 18th to points "out west" such as Capitol Reef, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and the south side of the Grand Canyon, and Monument Valley. They saw other great things too, but Axy and I stayed home, so Reynald will need to edit this to put in more details! See more pictures from this trip here and select the set of photos called "JC/Annick Visit Part I - Trip Out West " to see the slide show.Their good friend, and ours, Edith, also came for the last two weeks of their stay. She was the perfect house guest too and we had a wonderful time with her as well. The last week of their stay, we went to Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. We rented a great house (over the Internet!) in Taos and stayed in the well-placed TraveLodge (yes!) in Santa Fe. Everyone seemed to have had a good time exploring all the artists' displays in these towns, having fun meals together, and visiting museums. Axel and Luka even spent a few hours as the Georgia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe! On the way back from New Mexico, we also spent a night/day exploring the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the southern part of CO. We had an adventurous hike on the dunes as our last hurrah. See more pictures here and select "JC/Annick Visit Part III - New Mexico" or "Trip - JC/Annick Visit Part IV - Great Sand Dunes". We also had a lovely Easter dinner with Eve's brother Steven, his father-in-law, and Uncle Jack visiting for the afternoon. (JC's birthday below.)During their visit, Axel also made a lot of progress. He went from "barely walking" to walking just as well as any other almost-two year-old. Walking seemed to have opened up a whole new world to him and he is very excited about exploring it! He also was weaned by the week before they left (so around the end of March). I was sad, but it was very helpful to have them here during this time to distract him, and now, I know it was the right thing to do: he is a big boy now!

Axel says a lot more words now. He tried to say "Jean Claude" before they left, and he would practice with Annick pointing to Annick, himself, Jean Claude, etc. He also currently says many French words, despite Reynald's fear that he would speak much more English than Luka did at the same age. Luckily, this is note the case! He says: eau (water), propre (clean - yes, like father, like son on this one...!), doudou, hi (in English), Yay! (in English), Mom, Mama, Dad, Dada, Papa, Uddle (that means Luka - go figure), balloon (lolo), and other fun stuff.

Axel's favorite book is "T'Choupi fait du vélo" (T'Choupi rides his bike) - that he can pick out from all the other books (that look exactly the same to me!); he also likes other T'Choupi books and still really likes all the Coco books too. Luka's new favorite book is the ABC dinosaur book his grandmother bought him at the Great Sand Dunes book store. I am learning more about dino's than I ever thought I would!
Axel also skiied for the first time - yes, it's true! - on May 4, 2007 at just two days shy of 21 months old! Every time he saw Luka on skis, he wanted to try them on. So, this time, at A-Basin (still open!) we made sure to bring Luka's old skis (strap on boots, scales on the bottom, no edges) for Axel to try. He didn't like it for the first 10 seconds or so as I strapped them on his boots, but after that, he loved it and got mad when we took them off at the end of the day! He skiied around between our legs at the bottom of the mountain and he was also able to shuffle along without falling, on his own, at the end of the day. Go, Axel! Olympic champion in the making! Luka is a true little skiier. We were so impressed with his skiing abilities, taking him to A-Basin two weekends in a row. We had not really seen him in action since he had completed his Eldora ski lessons on February. It is a sight to behold! He is totally in control and has a great time skiing down either doing the pizza (snow plow) or french fry (parallel). He has no fear and just skis along with Mommy or Daddy, though he may take on the persona of Spiderman or Superman to get down the hill! He went on the bunny hill at A-Basin with Mommy April 28 during Daddy's randonnée ski race, and then, we took him on the greens the next weekend (May 4). Those greens are the toughest I have ever seen, and are pretty steep. So, I'd say Luka is good for blues at most other major ski resorts! Go, four-year old ski man!

Both Luka and Axel love riding their bikes around. Axel on the push-trike (he can't reach both pedals at the same time yet to pedal himself) and Luka on his "big boy bike" with training wheels. Mommy is happy too, because she finally got her "comfort bike" - a 7-speed, upright black and white Giant. We still need to pick it up from the shop in Boulder, but I can't wait! Reynald also got a new fancy-schmancy mountain bike. He deserves it, though, after all these years on his old one. What adventures does he have in store for us on that thing?

Here is a blog bonus. This is Luka's drawing from the Mother's Day Tea at school. He said it was "Mommy on the couch watching TV" - you know, that activity I often do during the day (NOT!). Maybe that was his dream for me - "relax, rest a bit and watch some TV!" ha ha.

Luka and the Beanstalk, oh no, that's "Bead"

Today, Luka stuck a bead up his nose at school. Yes, we have now experienced that legendary event in parenthood when your kid sticks some weird object up his nose. It was a bright blue bead that was just out of our reach. Luka also has trouble mixing up "blowing" his nose and "inhaling" so that was pretty tricky!

We'd already had "the talk" about how he is not to stick stuff in any of his bodies "holes" or any of the openings in Axel's body. You know - nose, eyes, ears, belly button and other unmentionables.... But, to no avail, I guess. (However, I think this incident may have cured him, at least for the next few years.)

We called our doctor. They were booked for today (!) and told us to go to the emergency room (!). We then called urgent care run by a Children's Hospital clinic near our neighborhood and they were not open till 5 p.m. (it being 2:45 pm at the time). It just seemed ridiculous to go to the ER for this (not to mention quite costly), so I, luckily, remembered the walk-in clinic at (hold your breath, are you ready?)....Wal-mart!!!!! OK - that will teach me to be a snob. I had noticed it the other day on one of my few forrays to Wal-mart. Luckily for us, it turned out!

There was not much waiting (compared to the ER, anyway), and the nurse practictioner was able to reach in there with a special tool and get it out for a mere $65 (no sarcasm here - the ER would have been over $500 I am sure)! That was a real relief and we were sooooooooooo happy to avoid the ER.

So, I ask you, what is wrong with our healthcare system that I am thrilled to get care at a clinic in Wal-mart? I know the healthcare system needs fixing all right, and if I knew how, I bet I could be president (oh, now that I think about that more, I guess not...). All that matters right now is that Luka's nose is in good shape and bead-less for the time being and hopefully forever into the future!

Axel man is growing up - or is he?

Today, I took Axel to the grocery store and thought I'd let him walk next to me like "a big boy" - he is now 21-1/2 months. He is walking well and loves to do "big guy" stuff. However, he also likes to be a little imp and sometimes run or walk away on purpose and start giggling when we say, "Come to Mommy/Daddy, Come back here!" etc. So, today, he runs down one aisle away from me and then starts pulling bottles off of the bottom shelf and throwing them hard on the ground! I don't think he did that part to be a stinker, I think he just thought it was fun to grab and toss them, not realizing really what it all meant. But, of course, out of the four bottles he threw down within about 5 seconds, before I could get to him, two of them broke! He was just happily grabbing them and tossing them! In any case, the guys who worked there thought it was funny and were really nice about it, but I was horrified! He had salad dressing on his shoe afterward, but otherwise, he was okay! ...Those crazy kids!

Recipe: Zucchini Pancakes

The kids like cooked zucchini with a bit of salt and pepper a lot (yes, it is true!), but we were getting a bit tired of that this week, so I decided to use our zucchini for a different and quite tasty purpose. We ate them for dinner with some sausage and Axy and Luka agreed that these pancakes were very good too! You could, however, eat them for breakfast too.

4 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS olive oil
4 tsp baking powder
butter for the skillet

In large mixing bowl, beat eggs, add shredded zucchini and mix well with fork. Add flour, sugar, salt and olive oil and stir to blend well. Finally, add baking powder and mix well using a large spoon, scraping sides with spatula as necessary. Do not overbeat.

Spoon batter on to cooking surface. Cook until there are no longer bulbbles forming in the pancake--about 2 minutes. Turn over and cook for a few minutes longer. Serve with butter and maple syrup if desired. Sit back and think how smart you are for getting zucchini into your kids unnoticed. :)

Luka's Show & Tell Presentation: Movie!

A few weeks ago, it was Luka's turn to be the "star" student at school and he wanted to talk about pilots. He had decided that he wanted to be a pilot during "career week." The kids had a great time with that. Even today, Luka got very excited when we saw a plane in the sky and said, "Hey - that is what I want to do - fly planes!" Well, that must be in his blood - just like his grandpa!

He did a version of his presentation at home by narrating the slides I made for him. You can access the movie and his narration by clicking on the image below. I am not the greatest at editing sound, so be aware that the sound goes from soft to loud. But, Luka is a real star! Have fun viewing his 2-minute masterpiece.

Axel and Mommy Party Down

Well, not really... We were holding down the fort for a week (yes, a whole week, from Sunday to Sunday!) while Reynald, Luka, Jean-Claude and Annick went on a trip to visit various national parks and other interesting parks in Colorado, Utah and Arizona (the Grand Canyon). Tonight, they went to the South Rim when they heard the North Rim was closed for the season. They have also been to Zion, Bryce, Colorado National Monument and other sights. We will have to get the full scoop from them when they get back and post their pictures. Sounds like Luka is having a great time with them.

Axel and I are "riding" his bike a couple of times a day, going to the park, sometimes eating out (the Mediteranean place at the mall and Noodles), and just hanging out. Not so bad, but we miss our guys! :)

Laura's Banana Bread

(by way of Laura, Silver Palate and Margaret D)

8 TBS (1 stick) butter - softened
3/4 cup sugar (or substitute Rapadura)
2 eggs
1 cup of white flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3 ripe bananas - mashed
1 tsp of vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

350 degree oven. Use greased loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar (with wooden spoon). Add eggs one at a time (with whisk). Mix white flour, soda and salt together. Then, stir in whole wheat flour to the dry mixture. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir only till combined. Fold in mashed bananas, vanilla and nuts. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes until done. Cool for 10 minutes on rack. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Variations: Add 3/4 to 1 cup of (frozen or fresh) blueberries or raspberries with the bananas. Will take a little longer to bake.

Oh Madeleine, oh Madeleine

Reynald's parents brought us two big bags of Madeleines de Commercy (and often send us these in packages). These divine little cakes are coveted at our house. I make a pretty good recipe too, but the "real deal" are these from Commercy which are reputed throughout France as being "it". See this article on Wikipedia for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madelines

This article does not mention though that they likely were created for Stanislas, the exiled king of Poland, who was living in Lorraine, and then made for the French king as well. See
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Madeleine.htm.

Here is the recipe I use:

MADELEINES

(Makes ~12 and recipe doubles well)

- 1-1/4 cups regular flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, plus some for dusting
- the grated rind of 1 lemon or 1 orange
- 1 TBS lemon or orange juice
- 6 TBS unslated butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a 12 cup madeleine pan. Sift (yes, sift) together the flour and the baking powder.

Using an electric mixer (preferably a stand mixer), beat the eggs and confectioner's sugar for 5 - 7 minutes (even with a standmixer it still takes a while) until thick and creamy and the mixture forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted. Gently fold in the lemon or orange rind and juice.

Beginning with the flour mixture, alternately fold in the flour and melted butter in several batches. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, then carefully spoon into the pan. Tap gently to release any air bubbles. e

Bake the madeleines for 12 - 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Tip out on to a wire rack to cool completely and dust with confetioner's sugar (optional) before serving.

Note: if you do not have madeleine pan, you can use a mini-muffin or other such pan. They will still taste great even though they will not be in the traditional shape. Adjust the cooking time as necessary.

Luka's Birthday Count Down

Yup, it is still a long way off, but the minute he got in the car after his 4th birthday party, he asked, "When is it my birthday again?" But, he is "mature" now and happy to give his friends their gifts in the meantime, rather than wanting to keep them for himself. :)

In honor of his upcoming special day (no matter how far off still), here is a count down just for him:

Grandparents arrive and new photos

Jean-Claude and Annick arrived earlier this week from France for their 5-week stay in the US. The kids enjoy them and we are glad to see them as well as appreciate their help. Some pictures below from the past two months. More of the grandparents as their visit progresses.

Luka in the "baby" swing at the park.

Axel on his new "bike" - with push handle to protect Mommy's and grandparents' backs!

Axel having fun at the home improvement store.

Go, Horsey! (Favorite activity of the boys, unfortunately for Papa!)

Luka qui fait le fou dans le jardin.

Luka, Axel, Annick, JC in Eldorado Springs (cold day for a hike!)

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I have not made this recipe, but the Chocolate & Zucchini food blog is awesome, and I love flourless chocolate cake, so am putting it here so that I can whip it up when I have time.

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Source: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2005/08/announcing_wbw13_like_wine_for_chocolate.php

Flourless Chocolate Cake

- 2 sticks minus 1 Tbsp) butter
- 7 oz dark chocolate
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- a rounded TBS flour

Note: best made a day in advance (or at least in the morning if you plan to serve it in the evening).

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper (don't need to if using a non-stick pan).

Melt together the butter with the chocolate (in a double-boiler or in the microwave slowly and for just a few seconds at a time, blending with a spoon between each pass). Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl. Add in the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and let cool a little. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Finally, add in the flour and mix well.

Pour the dough into the pan, and put into the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven off but leave the cake inside for another ten minutes, then put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving. Garnish with whipped cream, raspberrry coulis, or other.
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Axel's First Steps

Yahoo! Axel's long-awaited first steps solo were today. It was at the doctor's office for his 18-month check up showing her he really COULD walk! Now, we just have to get him to do it more on his own... stay tuned!

Axel's current stats:

Height: 32-3/4 inches
Weight: 22 pounds and 7.5 ounces
Head circumfrence: 19 inches

Axel/Luka Update

Axel stood up for the first time (that we saw, anyway) on his own today! I turned around and Axel was on top of the wooden kid table, standing up all by himself, just looking at me! Look, ma! No hands! Then, he was all excited at me taking his picture, so would then again balance on his two feet (no hands) and smile proudly for the camera.

He has a new word too: "Encore". Papa was very happy he has a French word as one of his first ones. He loves saying it and says it over and over (but does use it appropriately). He also says "Luka" pretty clearly now and is very proud of that too.

Speaking of Luka, this week he pretty much stopped wearing "slips spéciaux" to bed and now just sleeps in his underwear like a big boy. Yipee! He has done at that at nap at school for years, but I think he liked wearing the PullUps at night because sometimes he was too scared to go potty in the dark! Now, as long as he goes wee wee before going to bed, everything is fine.

Picture below of Luka in the cowboy hat and boots he made at school the week they studied the Stock Show (big event here in Colorado in January). He was very proud! (He's holding a basket of safari animals!)

Galette des rois - 2007

Here are pictures of the kids this year celebrating Epihpanie French style. Axel and Luka both got feves and they played with their crowns for weeks. Luka decorated his and Mommy made Axy's. Next year though, I am sure he can do his own.

Go here to see the recipe I have been making for the last two years.

If you read French, try this one. Or, this one. These look pretty easy too and I notice that they use more eggs than the one I used above, and use powdered almonds instead of almond paste. If I remember to look this up next year, I will try one of those.

And, some history about the tradition of the galette des rois and epiphanie in France to be found here (my blog) and here (a well-known French recipe blog).

Axel's new words

Tonight as the tub was filling up for Luka and Axel's bath, Axy looked at it and said (unprompted), "Bubba" for all the bubbles that were filling it up, and he said "aught" for "hot". Then, we kept asking him repeatedly to say those words and he thought that was great and smiled while he said them for us several times. He was kind of shy, but repeated them for us and we all had fun laughing together.

Luka/Axel Update

Luka's favorite song (still even though Christmas is over): 12 Days of Christmas, all of which he can sing all by himself! He also considers "Ne pleure pas Jeanette" his "favorite" song and has me play it over and over on the iPod. I knew we'd like the easy repeat feature!

Axel's favorite song: any of the ones in the three French song volumes with fun pictures; any song to which he can boogie down (movin' to the music!)

Axel's favorite book: Any Coco the elephant book (Cocol Vole, Coco et les autres, Coco et Sidonie, Coco Mange, Coco tout nu). Actually, of these, his definite favorites at Coco Vole and Coco et les autres. He loves the part where Coco, Gigi, Nana and LuLu dance (see below) and the all of Coco Vole - that plane is just so cool!

Axel's new words: he likes to say l'hippopotame ("pippopa" or "popopo") and "tralalalalala" as in "Coco, Gigi et Nana dansent...tralalalalala!"

Luka's current favorite game at school: tag!

Luka's first day of ski lessons!

Luka getting ready to ski - first day of lessons!

Saturday was his first day of ski lessons at Eldora Mountain Resort. It was a family affair with all of us there. The wind at Eldora was crazy -- the closed the lifts - but the kid lessons went on anyway and Luka got to ride the "magic carpet" and do the pizza move! He really liked it and we are looking forward to more skiing fun.

Axel having fun at Eldora too

Learning to Walk and Art work

Axel learning to walk - happy man!

Luka's artwork from school when they studied health and safety. He dictated the text to his teacher. It says, "I was running on the street; after I hurt my thumb so my mom picked me up and said "What happened, Luka?" and she got me a bandaid." (See picture and band aid below.)

Jill's Buttercream Icing Recipe

Buttercream Icing

(Jill's notes below.)

2 lb. bag of powdered sugar
1 ½ cups Crisco (butter works great too)
2 tsp. clear vanilla extract (I use real vanilla unless I want really white icing, for that you need this clear stuff)
7 Tbsp. water or milk

Put Crisco, water and extracts with a small amount of powdered sugar in large bowl. Mix on medium speed and gradually add the rest of the sugar. Mix for 10 to 12 minutes (this is why I use a stand mixer) until fluffy.

Axel Talking

Axel is very discerning about the words he says and repeats sounds that he thinks are fun. Ask him to repeat something, and sometimes he will, but he may just laugh mischeviously and choose to say it later when he is good and ready.

"Words" he said on his own with no prompting include "Wahoo!" after Mommy said it to express excitement. Today, after reading "Coco et les autres" he also said "Coco" on his own and also "Tralalalalalala" after the part where Coco, Gigi and Nana dance together and sing that. He really liked that word!

He says his famous word "ooos" (or however you spell it) less, but here is a funny video of him saying it for us at Disneyworld.