FBF: Frog & Toad (Switching it up)

Normally I do a FMF, meaning Family Movie Fridays, but today I decided to go a different route: FBF  (Family Book Friday).  And apparently my Friday posts are rather "official" & "heavy" for some readers (ahem, Seth & Samantha, ahem).  So I am keeping it light(er) this time around.
     Okay, so I must say that I love Frog & Toad.  Frog & Toad is a book series by Arnold Lobel that chronicles the simple, yet amusing, adventures of two British-esque amphibians who are best friends.  The two go about their daily business, but in two very different ways.  Frog is the more mature, if you will, straight forward character; whereas, Toad goes about things in odd and rather round about ways.  I recently found out there was a clay-mation animated series about the two characters created in the 1980s, which I'll talk more about in a minute.
     This is a wonderful family book and is great for first time readers.  The suggested reading age for this book is 4-8 years old, but if your baby is like mine, he or she likes to listen to full sentences rather than stare at pictures while you read two words.  I read one particular book from the series called Frog & Toad All Year to Judah at least every other day and it makes me laugh out loud every time.  My favorite story from within this book is called "Ice Cream," from their Summer-time escapade of trying to enjoy a sweet treat on a hot day.  I could not find a good YouTube.com clip of this story being read aloud, so I will leave it to you do discover this amusing tale for yourself.
     Now, about their animated series,  I would not have chosen the voice actors the producers did, but I will say, the animation is quite good for the '80s.  Furthermore, it is full of the classic F&T humor that is presented throughout the books.
     The videos and books are short enough to capture the attention span of the youngest minds, and both are loaded with positive thematic development.  Whether the plot is discussing bravery, persistence,or the value of friendship, the stories always end in an uplifting manner, like in the episode "Dragons & Giants."

Some Recent Photos

Sixth & seventh month recent photos of our little boy. Enjoy!

Sweet boy.

Truly looking like a big boy.

Beautiful eyes.

Father & son OR twins?

Gotta get mom in there.

I love those fleece hooded sweat shirts, so soft.

Talking to the camera.

Waving bye OR rediscovering his hands for the hundredth time?

Judah's First Tooth

The tooth was discovered by Timm at church this past Sunday.

It is kind of hard to see, but its there!  At seven months old, the bottom left tooth is coming in!

A Schedule for Judah: Part 2

I decided that two weeks would be sufficient to record and come up with cumulative results as to how Judah's scheduling attempt worked out. Will we ever have a perfect schedule? No, because life happens and you can't stay inside the house all the time.  You would go stir crazy.  Does it get harder to keep schedules when you have more kids?  I don't know, I only have one right now, but I would imagine so.  That's why I always seek the advice of mom's who have much more experience.  Wisdom comes with experience. But, I will always try to keep some order no matter how many kids I have because God is a God of order.  With no further ado, here are the results:

WEEK ONE: 
Day 1 -Not too bad.  Only took two naps during the day.  Woke up four times at night. Needless to say I was tired the next day. 
Day 2 - Pretty much on schedule, especially with naps. Woke up two times at night. Not bad considering it was only the second day. 
Day 3 -On time with eating but kept being early with naps, therefore, he had an early bed time.  Woke up four times, ouch, little relapse. 
Day 4 -Pretty much on time with both eating and napping. Woke up three times, better than last night. 
Day5 -Same as yesterday.  Woke up three times again. Dear Judah, please stay asleep. Love, Mom. 
Day 6 - Ate a little more than usual today. Went to a friends house, so of course that threw him off.  He didn't get to bed until 9pm, therefore, he didn't wake til 9am the next day.  He always needs twelve hours for some reason.  Surprisingly, only woke up two times. 
Day 7- Church today, Judah went way off schedule.  Very hard to keep a schedule on Sundays.  Woke up three times tonight, small relapse.

WEEK TWO:
Day 8 - Had two long naps today instead of his usual three one hour ones.  Eating was on schedule for the most part, except he missed one of his solid feedings due to his long nap. I must have been really tired because I don't have the time he woke up written down.  I know it had to be at least two or three times.
Day 9 - Off on his naps, but his feedings were right on time. Woke up three times.  Mommy's still not giving up. Five more days to go.
Day10 - Feedings and naps were on time.  Ate a little more than usual today too.  Woke up three times at night.
Day 11 -Same exact thing as yesterday.  At least I'm seeing some consistency. 
Day 12 -Feedings and naps were on time.  He only woke up twice! Are we actually getting somewhere?
Day 13 -Slightly off on both feedings and naps due to running around doing errands on a Saturday. He went to bed on time, and I believe he woke up twice that night.
Day 14 -Some hard proof that trying to keep a schedule can pay off. After a very off day, being Sunday and spending most of it not at home, he slept nine beautiful hours in a row and only woke up once!

This is how he always sleeps; swaddled and under a cozy blanket.

As you can see, even though I attempted to keep a semi-strict schedule (the same one from "A Schedule for Judah: Part 1"), not everyday was perfect.  I did live my life as usual, but I really believe my conscious efforts to keep a schedule did pay off.

Currently Judah is napping in his crib in exactly the time I allotted him to have his third nap of the day and I didn't have to think twice about looking at the schedule I set up.  His internal clock seems to have caught on and it is great.  Most nights Judah is now sleeping eleven to twelve hours and waking up just once around 3a.m. and that is fine with me.

Will Judah's schedule change as he gets older, needs less sleep, & starts eating more solids?  Definitely.  But we will just take it one day at a time.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I decided to make pancakes since I am now allowed to have milk products again. Remember Judah had that milk allergy back in the "To Mommies" blogpost? Anyway, here I am to share another delicious experience and recipe in my culinary endeavors. Enjoy!

I thawed frozen strawberries and then cut them by hand.

Ingredients:

Dry

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ tablespoons baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

Wet

1 ¼ cups milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg

Goodies

½ cup cut up strawberries

½ cup chocolate chips

I can fit about 8 pancakes on my griddle.

Directions

1.  Preheat the griddle/fying pan to medium heat.

2. Mix together all of the dry ingredients. 

3. Then add and mix the wet ingredients & goodies with the dry ingredients.

4. Stir all until mixed well but still lumpy.

5.  Spray either griddle/frying pan with shortening or butter  to keep pancakes from sticking.

6. Pour ¼ cup of batter onto cooking surface & leave approximately ¾ inches of space between each pancake.  (I find on a griddle you can make approximately 8 at a time).

7. Flip pancakes over when they seemed to have stopped bubbling up.

8. Make sure each pancake is fully cooked.  You can do this by sticking the side of the spatula or a knife into the top or bottom of the pancake and see that it comes out clean or just hope for the best.

9. Finally, remove pancakes from cooking surface and top with maple syrup, butter, &/or powdered sugar.

10. Bon Appetite!

Finished product!

FMF: The Beauty & The Beast (Blu-Ray Style)

NOTE: First off, yes, its true, I did not put up a FMF last week, but just read my post "The Going's On as of Late" and you'll see why and you'll possibly give me some sympathy.  Please? Okay, thanks I knew you would, you're a good reader.

Beauty & The Beast - Rated G - 84 min - Released 1991

Now I am sure that most of you are familiar with this Disney classic, but watching it in Hi-Def really makes a difference; it was a treat.  If you haven't seen the movie in a long while (or ever, which is crazy) here is a refresher course.  The Beauty & The Beast tells the tale of a free spirited inventor's daughter who willingly takes the place of her father, Maurice, when he is imprisoned by the Beast after accidentally stumbling onto his castle property.    The Beast, who was magically transformed by a spell from a youthful handsome prince into the monster he is now, must find a girl who will fall in love with him before his twenty-first birthday.  His years are shown, ever passing, by a wilting rose that has nearly lost all its petals by the time he meets Belle, the beauty in this story.  Since the Beast agreed to let Belle intercede on behalf of her father, she is forced to live in the castle forever. As the story progresses Belle learns the castle is enchanted, and she makes some unusual friends with pieces of china, a candelabra, and a bossy little clock.  Initially Belle and her captor do not get along, mainly due to the Beast's fiery temper, but over time Belle learns there is much more to Beast than meets the eye. 

Of course there is a villain, as there is in every Disney story, he's named Gaston.  Gaston is a well known, handsome, yet very popular, pompous, and outright pretentious man who desires Belle to be his wife and will stop at nothing to achieve what he wants, even if that means, locking up her father in an asylum and killing the Beast. The importance of Gaston's obnoxious attitude is not to be underestimated because the thematic ventures of the movie are embodied in his characterization: what really makes a beast? Looks or Heart?

Anyway, you have all seen the film (hopefully) and know that just like every other fairy tale, the same five words are repeated at the end.  As for questionable content, there is a climactic fight scene that may have some youngsters crying for their mommies, but the happy ending will have them smiling in no time.  And, to top it all off, the amazing Blu-Ray update practically makes every aspect of the movie jump off the screen, and we don't even have 3D TV.  Also know, with the Blu-Ray edition there is an added song that did not take away from the meaning of the movie or from any of the original songs, which are all wonderful.  So, if you are 3-years-old or older and are looking for an excellent story and production, this one's for you.


Overall Rating: 10 out of 10

Goodbye Blue Aveo - You Were a Good Friend

As you can tell from the blog title, yes our blue '05 Chevy Aveo is no more.  One day we are driving a well running paid off vehicle and the next day, well morning actually, we find it is totaled in a freak accident right outside our apartment while we were sleeping.  Of course now this means we need to find a new car, luckily for me, my husband loves to play the negotiation game with salesmen of all sorts, especially car salesmen.  Whereas I would get eaten alive like live bait in a shark tank.  But, just ask my husband and he'll tell you the story about our $29 brand new car we bought in '08.  Well, sort of.  It was a trade in and the difference was $29, but still its a great story.  Anyway, to conclude this short farewell, I need to point out how thankful to God we are that we were not in the car when the accident happened.

The blue car served us well over these past six years and we'd like it's predecessor to meet the expectations our Aveo set, so if you know of any good deals out there on a family car, let us know!

One of the many memories we had with our blue car.