Monday, December 22, 2014
Ruthie's Big Girl Bed
With Ruthie turning 3 (birthday party pictures to come), we felt it was time to move her into a big girl bed. To say she was excited would be an understatement. I can't believe how big and grown up she's getting!
So here's Ruthie and Daddy at the beginning of the process - breaking down the bed.
Here she is, "vacuuming" behind where the crib was. She got that vacuum from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas yesterday at the Sunukjian Family Christmas and has vacuumed the whole house multiple times.
Crib out!
Ruthie helped Daddy bring in the frame pieces of her bed. Such a helper. =)
And, here's the new bed!
Ta-dah! She's so happy!!
We had to rearrange the room a bit to make everything fit, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Such a big girl! We still plan on getting her a Frozen comforter, but that won't happen until Christmas. Don't tell her. =)
3rd Week of Advent Special Advent Dinner
For our 3rd Week of Advent Dinner, Ruthie and I started by making Christmas cookies. It's important to make sure the dessert is all taken care of. Priorities, people! We had a lot of fun. I let her do all the sprinkles and she thought that was pretty great.
And here we are, having spice pork tenderloin with apple and thyme sauce, scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole. Ian read from Matthew, a few verses about the birth story.
And here is the final product of the cookies. Very fun!
Last Advent dinner is Wednesday- tortilla soup (a Sunukjian Christmas Eve tradition), tangerines and another batch of Christmas cookies - which we'll be enjoying with the Marsh and Matthias families. Such a wonderful season! Merry Christmas to you all!!
Friday, December 19, 2014
2nd Advent Dinner
I know, I know, it's the 3rd week of Advent. I'm a little behind in posting, but believe you me, we're right on schedule as far as celebrating goes. I'll post this week's photos soon.
But last week, we celebrated the 2nd Week of Advent with a roasted lemon rosemary chicken, roasted potatoes, asparagus sauteed with red onion and mushrooms, strawberries and a key lime key for dessert.
Here's the chicken with soft lemon butter slathered all over it.
And here's the bird (and potatoes), all perty and browned!
The key lime pie was Ian's request.
Here's the family, getting ready for our Advent reading. Jonah always needs a snack to sustain him for the reading, even though it's only a few verses. You can see that he's happily munching away.
We are really enjoying our new tradition. More to come!
But now, it's time to get serious about celebrating our girl, who turns 3 today and has her very special Winnie the Pooh party tomorrow! We can't wait.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
New Advent Traditions
There are so many ways to celebrate Christmas. As Ian and I were thinking about the traditions we wanted to begin in our own little family, we did research, talked to other families, and talked to each other about what sorts of things were meaningful to us that would also work well for our family.
We knew we wanted to do something, so that Christmas didn't just feel like presents and decorations, but we also wanted to be realistic about the kind of traditions we were trying to start - something sustainable and enjoyable. Ian said he wanted it to involve food; I felt like I needed it to be something that wasn't everyday. As wonderful as the Jesse Tree is, it just didn't feel doable for me with our kids the ages they are.
So, we decided to do a weekly Advent Dinner. This means that on the four Wednesdays leading up to Christmas (the fourth being Christmas Eve), we're having a special advent dinner. This dinner includes a fancy meal, a special dessert, candles and an advent reading. Ian's in charge of the reading and I set the menu.
We had our first Advent Dinner last Wednesday. We also wanted part of the tradition to be that Grandma and Grandpa come to the first Advent Dinner, so we invited them and they accepted quite willingly. It was a great night and Ian and I feel really excited about this new McCurry Tradition.
Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the actual evening, just leading up to it. Here is the fancy chocolate cake that Ruthie and I made together.
We knew we wanted to do something, so that Christmas didn't just feel like presents and decorations, but we also wanted to be realistic about the kind of traditions we were trying to start - something sustainable and enjoyable. Ian said he wanted it to involve food; I felt like I needed it to be something that wasn't everyday. As wonderful as the Jesse Tree is, it just didn't feel doable for me with our kids the ages they are.
So, we decided to do a weekly Advent Dinner. This means that on the four Wednesdays leading up to Christmas (the fourth being Christmas Eve), we're having a special advent dinner. This dinner includes a fancy meal, a special dessert, candles and an advent reading. Ian's in charge of the reading and I set the menu.
We had our first Advent Dinner last Wednesday. We also wanted part of the tradition to be that Grandma and Grandpa come to the first Advent Dinner, so we invited them and they accepted quite willingly. It was a great night and Ian and I feel really excited about this new McCurry Tradition.
Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the actual evening, just leading up to it. Here is the fancy chocolate cake that Ruthie and I made together.
Here is the table - part of the festivities include using cloth napkins and fancy plates. So fun!
And we had appetizers! Nothing says "Party!" like appetizers. For this first meal, I made ground lamb kabobs, pilaf, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and grapefruit. So for hors d'oeuvres, we had an assortment of Mediterranean food - olives, feta cheese, pita and lavash bread, and wild pickles. So yummy!
Whatever your family does to make this season special, I hope you really enjoy it!
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Miracles Can Happen
Today while I was in the kitchen cleaning up the breakfast dishes, I heard the toilet flush and the sink run in the bathroom in Ruthie's room. She had taken herself potty. All. By. Her. Self. Amazing! She is growing up, this awesome girl of ours.
Monday, October 20, 2014
A Glimpse Into Our Lives
Can you see this? It's a photo of our cell phone bill from a few months ago. I took a picture of it not because it was unusual, but because it is a perfect reflection of how it always is. And it's a perfect reflection of how Ian and I both use the phone. I'll give you one guess as to which one of us uses 10 minutes and which one uses 641. So much for the "shared" 700 minutes!
How does that man survive on ten minutes of talking a month? Actually, it's not even ten minutes, because the 25 second conversations he has go down on record as a whole minute, even though they aren't. I'm sure you're thinking, "Well, this doesn't count minutes spent talking to Esther, since they share a plan." This is true; but those minutes wouldn't even double his count. He's just not a phone guy. Good thing I live with him!
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Last Week It Was 100 Degrees
September is usually a hot month of us, but this past week was particularly brutal. I was VERY thankful we had fixed our AC last fall and believe you me, I ran it without guilt.
Well, maybe there was a little guilt, because each day during the hot spell, I tried to do something with the kids out of the house, so I didn't have to turn the AC on until nap time. One day we went to the Aquarium, one day we went to my parents, and one day, we went to Mother's Beach. I love Mother's Beach because there are no waves and it's not crowded and I can easily watch both my kids by myself.
On this day, the kids and I went pretty much first thing in the morning, and then Mary's kids joined us around lunch time.
We did a lot of this:
And this:
And I really enjoyed seeing those buns peaking out of his big boy swimsuit:
Here's a shot of Ruthie that also gives you a good idea of the beach. It's perfect, the water feels great (I pretty much laid in the water that whole day), and we love going there.
Hopefully your fall is a little cooler than ours (and actually, this weekend has been lovely so far) but if not, I hope you have a Mother's Beach of your own!
Friday, September 12, 2014
More Ruthie Sayings
Ruthie continues to amaze us with her speaking, both in what she knows and the hilarious things she says. Here's a sampling from the past week or so:
Ruthie: Ouchie, my nose is ouchie!
Me: What happened?
R: I got a cut.
Me: You got a cut on your nose?
R: No, it's itching.
Me. Oh, yeah, that happens sometimes. Daddy gets an itchy nose in the morning too.
R: I want a bandaid.
Me: Well, a bandaid won't help with the itching and it will make it hard to breath.
R: Then I want to itch it off.
Ah, how many of us have felt that way when we start to scratch...
A few weeks ago, we went to Disneyland during the day. We stayed all morning and into early afternoon, so that kids feel asleep on the way home. When we got home, we put Jonah to bed without too much fuss. Ruthie, on the other hand, didn't want to go to naps. She told us she wasn't tired, which was clearly not true, if you could have heard the tone in which she said it. Ian asked her when she was going to nap if it wasn't going to be then. She replies, "Sorry, Daddy, I can't answer that question." Only two years old and already pleading the 5th.
Ruthie is also in this new stage where she's aware that some of the things she has might be desirable to other people. She was eating a cookie one time when we were getting in the car recently; she does her own buckles now but needs both hands to do it. She handed me the cookie and told me, "Don't eat it, Mama." She also hands me her purse and tells me not to touch any of the things inside. I wouldn't dream of it.
As you know, we've been potting training. We are done with the pee but still working on poop. She has a tendency to save it for naptime. We've talked a lot about the things she'll get for when she does it in the potty. Just to make sure everything is straight, we often have conversations that go like this:
Ruthie: I'm going to get a popsicle for poop in the potty.
Me: Yep.
Ruthie: If I do my poop in the potty, I get a popsicle.
Me: Mm-uh.
Ruthie: No, you say it.
Me: If you do your poop in the potty, you will get a popsicle.
Ruthie: That's right.
And finally, we've begun discussing Ruthie's birthday party (we like to plan in advance here, as birthdays are a big deal).
I said to her, "What kind of party do you want to have?" "A Clifford party." (Cousin Abbie just had one.)
Me: "I was thinking of a Pooh party - what do think about that?"
Ruthie: "Yes, a Pooh party."
Then I proceeded to tell her a few things we could have - we could make our backyard into the 100 Acre Wood, we could play Pooh Sticks, we could have Eeyore and Owl and Tigger.
A few minutes later, she came back up to me and said, "You talk about it, Mama. You talk about the Pooh party,"
Ah, a girl after my own heart. Loves to plan, loves to brainstorm party ideas, loves to look forward to things.
Hope you're not as hot as we are here in Long Beach - it's going to be 99 this weekend! Look out beach, here we come.
Ruthie: Ouchie, my nose is ouchie!
Me: What happened?
R: I got a cut.
Me: You got a cut on your nose?
R: No, it's itching.
Me. Oh, yeah, that happens sometimes. Daddy gets an itchy nose in the morning too.
R: I want a bandaid.
Me: Well, a bandaid won't help with the itching and it will make it hard to breath.
R: Then I want to itch it off.
Ah, how many of us have felt that way when we start to scratch...
A few weeks ago, we went to Disneyland during the day. We stayed all morning and into early afternoon, so that kids feel asleep on the way home. When we got home, we put Jonah to bed without too much fuss. Ruthie, on the other hand, didn't want to go to naps. She told us she wasn't tired, which was clearly not true, if you could have heard the tone in which she said it. Ian asked her when she was going to nap if it wasn't going to be then. She replies, "Sorry, Daddy, I can't answer that question." Only two years old and already pleading the 5th.
Ruthie is also in this new stage where she's aware that some of the things she has might be desirable to other people. She was eating a cookie one time when we were getting in the car recently; she does her own buckles now but needs both hands to do it. She handed me the cookie and told me, "Don't eat it, Mama." She also hands me her purse and tells me not to touch any of the things inside. I wouldn't dream of it.
As you know, we've been potting training. We are done with the pee but still working on poop. She has a tendency to save it for naptime. We've talked a lot about the things she'll get for when she does it in the potty. Just to make sure everything is straight, we often have conversations that go like this:
Ruthie: I'm going to get a popsicle for poop in the potty.
Me: Yep.
Ruthie: If I do my poop in the potty, I get a popsicle.
Me: Mm-uh.
Ruthie: No, you say it.
Me: If you do your poop in the potty, you will get a popsicle.
Ruthie: That's right.
And finally, we've begun discussing Ruthie's birthday party (we like to plan in advance here, as birthdays are a big deal).
I said to her, "What kind of party do you want to have?" "A Clifford party." (Cousin Abbie just had one.)
Me: "I was thinking of a Pooh party - what do think about that?"
Ruthie: "Yes, a Pooh party."
Then I proceeded to tell her a few things we could have - we could make our backyard into the 100 Acre Wood, we could play Pooh Sticks, we could have Eeyore and Owl and Tigger.
A few minutes later, she came back up to me and said, "You talk about it, Mama. You talk about the Pooh party,"
Ah, a girl after my own heart. Loves to plan, loves to brainstorm party ideas, loves to look forward to things.
Hope you're not as hot as we are here in Long Beach - it's going to be 99 this weekend! Look out beach, here we come.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Dart Casualties
Ian and I played a rip-roaring game of darts last night. We have a board hung up on our back patio, a lovely spot to retreat to in the evening when it's been a hot day. Anyway, I made a not so great throw and took out one of our hanging lights, popping it and sending sparks flying (at least the glass bulb didn't break); and then that errant dart hurtled toward the grass, landing in the hose. What are the chances? I cant' hit a big round board but I can hit a thin hose?
As I walked over to pick it up, I said to Ian, "It's stuck in the hose. Maybe it didn't puncture it all the way." I was just getting "way" out of my mouth as I bent down to pull it out. What I didn't realize is that the hose was on, so water shot right in my face. Guess that answers that question.
So now we need to buy a replacement bulb and a new hose. Sheesh. It was just supposed to be a friendly game of darts.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
First Dry Diaper After Naps!
Hooray! Potty training has actually been going really well, despite my earlier complaints. Ruthie has been pee trained during the day for about a month now. I have been trying to motivate her to not pee during naps and today, she woke up dry for the first time!
Her treat? A chocolate cupcake! She was happy and very proud of herself! And I was very proud too.
Good job, big girl!
Sunday, August 24, 2014
2nd Annual Long Beach Transit Adventure Day
With summer drawing to an end this next week, we've been busy completing our "summer bucket lists." Last Sunday, we went to El Torito for brunch, one of Ian's summer picks; tomorrow, we leave for a week in Huntington Beach, something that's always on my summer list.
Last week, we had our 2nd Annual Long Beach Transit Adventure Day. Last summer, we began this by taking a trip on the AquaLink, a boat that's part of our local transit system that runs just during the summer months. Since it was our first time last year, we didn't know what to expect (or really how the system worked), so we had a long "lay over" once we realized you couldn't exactly go round trip on the boat. =)
But this year, we upped our game. We drove and parked at the Queen Mary (which Ruthie is currently obsessed with, who knows why) and hopped on the AquaLink for our first leg. The kids loved being on the big boat, especially when we got past the slow wake area and starting going fast.
Ian and I love boats of any kind, so we enjoyed ourselves too!
We took the boat to the Belmont Veterans Pier; from there, we walked a little ways to have a picnic lunch in the grass. Then we walked a few more blocks to catch the 121 bus to Downtown Long Beach, where we walked just one more block and then caught the Passport (free in Downtown!) back over to the Queen Mary.
As you can see, Ruthie was very excited about the bus too. It was such a fun adventure and the kids did great. We're already planning our 3rd Annual, which might include a ride on the Blue Line! What a fun city we live in!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
A Big Fat Mexico Post
I finalized organized my photos from the past few weeks, which means I'm ready to do a big ol' Mexico update. As I was making files for the trip's photos, I discovered that my categories pretty much summed up the whole trip - kickball, eating, pool, Baja Jr (a local restaurant we go to for lunch each year), talent show, beach and spa afternoon. Sounds like a fun trip, right?
It really was. We had a great time, as always, and eagerly anticipate next year. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for such a wonderful vacation!
Here we are at Tacos Baja, Jr. Ruthie picked that seat by Grandpa - the girl's smart. She knows who pays the bills (and who hands out copious amounts of guacamole). =)
On the beach day, we let Jonah skip his morning nap so we could join the rest of the family. It was a great time, full of watching the kids dig in the sand and run away from waves. Jonah did a little bit of lounging himself, perhaps to make up for his missed nap.
Naturally, we spent LOTS of time at the pool. In fact, our condo this year was literally right across the way from the pool, so we could run back and forth easily and even leave Jonah napping and use the monitor. It was great, because we could always see which cousins where there!
Of course, there was the traditional (maybe 9 years running?) Girls Spa Afternoon. It's a pretty formal affair.
First, you start with the foot soak and scrub, which you can see Clare demonstrating.
Then you get your toe nails painted, hopefully by a cousin! Here Ruthie is getting her toenails painted by David and Gina's youngest girl, Kara.
We had a great afternoon and I so enjoyed seeing all the girls together. Here's Sophie, Abbie and Kara together, picking out colors.
And Mom, enjoying her "chilled" cucumbers - she didn't complain!
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