Priceless moments in Walla Walla

Nothing fancy for this one, just tidbits of conversations while we were gone. It always amazes me how a 2 year old's thought process can really blow me out of the water!!! She/they are just SO honest and literally mean what they say.

*When we were on the airplane, way up in the sky, she turned to tell the lady behind us that we were "Up in the sky with Jesus."

*She then told the same lady that "Easter was coming to her home and then Jesus was coming up from the dead." I didn't know if she got it, Easter is kind of hard to explain - especially since I don't think she really has a concept of death or the resurrection, but she gets it in her own way.

*Riley didn't sleep the best while we were out there. Not sure if it was the time change, new bed, just being a thousand miles from home or what......but one night she woke up to say "I have two grandma's and two papa's." Then she laid right back down and went to sleep.

*One day while napping with Grandma Peggy, she had been sleep awhile, woke up and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, then laid back down and slept another hour.

*The next day, she woke up and said "Grandma, say Riley." Mom thought she was sleeping so she patted her back. Riley again said "Grandma, say Riley," so mom whispered Riley and again she went right back to sleep for another hour.

*She told the ladies at the front desk that the "little pool" (hot tub) was "Smoking hot." They loved it, but what they didn't realize is she meant it was literally smoking and really hot, they thought she was some super-cool two year old that new smokin' was a cool thing to say. She also loved that she left foot prints when she walked around.

*Riley was sure her Papa need a big rubber ball from the toy store. It was only $0.99 which was great, funny she thought that's exactly what he would want from the trip though.

*Riley was a great exerciser (and yes that's a word) with Grandma at Curves - she even held her purse while exercising which is pretty impressive!!

*She also liked "exercising" in the bathtub. I never quite understood what she thought she was doing exactly, but she liked it so much she'd get in fully clothed, with no water, to exercise too. Maybe one of you guys will understand this better than me - maybe its a push-up?

*Riley also loved Story-Time at the local library. Super cool if you ask me with all the things that they did - songs, coloring, reading a few stories, puzzles, playing on nifty toys - I want story time for big people!

Riley's real BIG GIRL BED

So after trying out the crib converted into a toddler bed for a few days we decided it was time to bring home the twin sized bed we had already purchased from some friends. I wasn't sure quite how her room would look or how much re-arranging would need to be done (not to mention how Riley would react as I tore her bed apart and stored it away in pieces) but man, it worked great......fit right in with no problems. And Riley......well she couldn't have cared less - she played and watched some of her movie, you'd think we move furniture thru the house everyday.

This pic is a little fuzzy, but this is what Riley looked like as she came in to her room. I think she was totally amazed at where her old bed was at and that she could probably jump on this new one since it looked like a real "big girl" bed!

Not a great pic - but she couldn't get her shoes off fast enough so she could go hop in





And yep - here is Riley jumping.......although she and daddy did figure out that they can't play quite like they do on Mommy and Daddy's bed or she bumps her head on the wall which isn't any fun.

our BIG trip

You just never know how little ones will travel. Especially when you leave home at 4:30am, will be on two separate air planes on which she will be required to be in her own seat (which has never happened before) then you have to ride in a rental car for an hour to get to your hotel. Add to it that you are potty training and well that has the possibility of being a VERY stressful day!!


I'm happy to report that Riley was the best ever two year old in the above situation. Our trip started so very early in the morning so early that I was sure she would be sleeping before we even had Grandma Peggy picked up, to my surprise she was awake for about 30 min before snoozing.......but she did sleep the entire way to the airport though - WOW! I actually had to wake her up around 7 for breakfast before making it to the airport which is unheard of for my early bird.


She flew like a pro - sitting in her own seat and not even fussing. No potty accidents, although she is NOT a fan of the automatic flushing potties, they nearly scarred her for life. She now refers to them as the "Scary Potties!" **And yes the picture shows it, she did buckle her kitty John in for the ride too.


Here is a pic of my princess in her own seat - she was just SOOOO good I can't even tell you how proud I am/was of her!! Yeah Riley!!

A "Waterfall"

We live on a lake and every so often (like hardly ever) they need to open the spillways to let water down the river if they aren't able to generate. It really is quite the site and it just so happens that we are lucky enough that they are doing it now. If you live by a real waterfall out West or something, this probably won't look like anything fancy, but for us Missourians it is pretty neat - here's a pic.

We took Riley to see this "waterfall" as she called it and she was super excited. She liked the white water, she liked the leaves swirling in the pool below, she liked getting to look over the fence.........and of course being outside in 70 degree weather was just a bonus. Here are a few pics of Riley enjoying her local "waterfall"

She just couldn't believe all that water........what a cutie!

Watching the leaf swirl with Papa

She couldn't look away even for a pic, but she smiled for the camera at least

I think I figured out the comment thing

There was a setting that I could change so now anyone should be able to leave a comment whether you have a google account or not - yeah, because not that many people do, or at least not that many people that I know (I didn't until I started this blog).




Just click on comments thing at the bottom of the post - then you can pick Name/URL or Anonymous in this section on the right of that screen (which is funny since I'm putting it on the left side of my blog - haha).......of course if you are anonymous I won't know who you are and that will make me sad, but either way works for me.

And it defaults to Google/Blogger and I don't think I can change that. But at least you can pick one of the others and still leave me a comment........cause you know we are voting on dressers for Riley's room :)

I haven't tried these........but they sound interesting

It seems that whenever I decide to make tacos, chili or something that I typically use Onion Soup Mix for.........I'm out of the seasoning packets. Yes I've tried my hand at winging it but my limited assortment of spices just never quite tastes the same for taco or chili seasoning. Now onion soup mix I can come close, but I love the convenience of just dumping a packet in when I'm making roast. So I found these recipes, I haven't tried them yet, but they look promising. It would be great to make up a batch and have them on hand rather than buying packets. Bonus - I have most of these ingredients on hand (except for Minced Garlic, Marjoram and Cumin)

Taco Seasoning Mix Recipe
1/4 cup, minced onion
2 Tbsp, chili powder
2 tsp, paprika
2 tsp, crushed dried red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp, dried oregano
1/2 tsp, dried marjoram
1 1/2 tsp, dried oregano
1/2 tsp, dried marjoram
1 Tbsp, salt
1/4 tsp, pepper
2 Tbsp, cornstarch
1 Tbsp, instant minced garlic
1 tsp, ground cumin
Whisk all ingredients together and store in airtight container. Use within 6 months.
**About 2 Tbsp equals one packet



Homemade Chili Seasoning Mix
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon for warm chili or 1 tablespoon for hot chili - crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a bowl stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container. Use approximately 2T for a small batch of chili (1lb meat) or 4T for a larger batch (2lb meat).

Homemade Onion Soup Mix
· ¾ cup instant minced onion
· 4 tsp onion powder
· 1/3 cup beef-flavored bouillon powder
· ¼ tsp celery seed, crushed
· ¼ tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients and store in an airtight container.
**About 2 tbs equals one packet

I must go back, Making a BIG GIRL BED is too important!

You should have seen Riley's face when I took the side off of her crib! Her first comment was "Mommy what did you do?" in an extremely overexaggerated way, because that is how most two year old's show their emotion, right? Well as soon as she realized that it was pretty cool not to be caged in, although I fell totally guilty admitting that, she was SOOO excited that she could get in and out of her bed all by herself.

Here's a sweet picture of her sleeping (wink wink)

which she does about 100 times a day now (but it is super cute you see!)

Even a week later she still takes me into her room at least twice a day and says "Ta-Da." Imagine how excited she'll be when we actually bring home her new twin-sized bed.......I can't wait!!!

I'm in a quandry though. The new bed (which we got an excellent deal on from some great friends) won't match her dresser, but we really don't have a use for her current dresser, so it seems very silly to buy a new one just so it matches. But should we go ahead and buy the matching one and store this one in the slightly full spare bedroom so they don't discontinue the one that does match? It would give her more room, although I would miss the shelves at the top of her dresser.

Here's her current dresser (pics old from our old house actually):
Do we store it or keep using it?

And here's the ones that would match her new bed - we would only get one:

What's your vote? Do we use the old dresser or store it? If we get a new one do we get the tall one or the wide one........so many choices!

My first post

Wow - I wish I would have started this when Riley was born so I could chronicle her life (she's 2 1/3 now). But I didn't, obviously, So I'm wondering should I just begin now or should I try and go back a few weeks and write about some cool things that have happened, like going to her first circus. We'll see what strikes my fancy the next couple of days, but for now - here's a fun picture of my future rock star.

I'm loving the capris since there's ice on the ground outside and the light-up princess shoes that are two sizes too big. They really complete the cute rockstar look. Oh yes and the messy blankets under her bed - priceless :)