“The cost for family coverage has risen 78% since 2001, while wages have risen 19%”

The granola turned out pretty darn good! I might add more almond extract next time but there was just the right amount of cinnamon and sweetness. I really thought all that honey and brown sugar would be overpowering but it wasn’t in the least. The almonds in it are terrific. It took 9 hours to dry.
I started churning out some more stuff this morning. It was a great fruit week at the grocery store so my dehydrator is currently playing around with watermelon wedges, rainbow applesauces fruit leather (one tray = five 1/2 cup containers), strawberry halves sprinkled with Splenda, whole red grapes and grape tomato halves from the garden.
The watermelon is supposed to end up candy like- I am guessing like fruit leather. The applesauces I used were 2 orange colored fruit punches, 1 blueberry, 1 strawberry and one cinnamon. The book suggested chopping up the dried tomatoes for on salads.
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Here are some recent bits and dotes:
7/15 Brendan- “Andy hurt me on the finger. That was shark!!” (as opposed to “sharp”) LOL. Makes perfect sense though.
8/16 Andy is currently naked and very pleased with himself. He just took off his diaper. He also pulled out all the wipies. He’s been mimicking all the sounds he hears.
8/20- Bedtime advice from Brendan:
“Don’t eat the floor” (Bwahahaha- he meant off of it.)
“Don’t sleep in the ‘streep'”
“Call me if you need me”
8/29 Andy stood up from sitting on a step and took 2 steps to me. Wheee!
Bren has taken to calling little cups of water (that he gets for himself from the tub) his “tea”. Took me awhile but he gets that from Uncle Iroh in Avatar. He also often calls Anthony “Uncle Anthony” now. He really took a shine to the character!
8/30 Andy says “pat, pat, pat” and will pat you on your arm or back. I love it! He also says “hello”- especially when the phone starts ringing. 😀
9/2 Andy is scared of the vacuum cleaner. One of us has to hold him or take him out of the area. Tonight Darrell had set the vacuum cleaner down in the kitchen for a bit before bringing it all the way into the garage where we keep it. Totally unsuspecting it, Andy crawled through the door from the living room and around the corner into the kitchen. When he saw the vacuum he gave out a scream, raced back into the living room and shut the door behind him! We almost wet our pants it was so funny!
Andy was fascinated by me chewing gum and blowing bubbles. He kept moving his tongue around and tried so hard to do it too, giggling all the while. Bren still loves to pop my bubbles.
Andy is currently teething- he has at least 2 pointy bits on his gums, is uber-whiney and has weird mushy (and stinky) teething poopies.
9/5 Andy can pull the tops off of markers.
9/6- Andy screeches and wails when Bren and I do “school” work so I gave him some markers and put him in his high chair and he drew his 1st picture! It is hanging on his door now.
Bren identifies 2 of the same objects in a row easily but has trouble with locating the “different” object. Three sparate teachings and he still doesn’t understand.
9/9 Andy is really good at getting down off of the couch by himself now. He rolls onto his tummy and puts his feet first over the side.
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And the traditional 12 month in the washer pic…

And to compare… this is Brendan.

I’m making homemade granola today. Mmmmm! Gotta love the heart healthiness of oats! 😛 Here is my stock recipe + today’s changes.
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup melted butter (I used butter spread made with canola oil)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 t vanilla (today I used almond extract)
2 t cinnamon
1/2 c honey (I made 2 T of this butter pecan syrup)
1 c slivered almonds (6 oz container honey roasted almonds)
1 c dried fruit pieces (3 small grated granny smith apples)
18 oz container of rolled oats
Mix all the ingredients except the oats together. Stir in oats until coated. Spread onto racks. Dry at 145 degrees until crunchy. Crumble and store in an airtight container.

This is my favorite picture of my boys together. It amuses me to no end. 😀 After largely ignoring Andy in the beginning, Brendan sure is making up for it now. They are constantly playing together! I’ve suspected it for awhile, but now I am quite sure that we had Andy for Brendan. I am so glad they have each other. I love my boys!!

This pic of Brendan was the first picture I ever did in the “black & white with a colored object” style. I love doing these and I love how they turn out! 😀 One thing about them- the picture has to lend itself to this method. Many times I have taken pictures with the intent of doing this with them but they didn’t work out right.
We just bought our Christmas cards for this year- we got a fabulous deal on them at Big Lots. They are white frames that you slide a picture into and the border around the picture is silver snowflakes. They are perfect for black and white photos and I’m am trying to think of something the kids can each hold that I can leave in color. Something seasonal. Any ideas?

This is me getting my hair braided at one of the Mexican ports we stopped at during my grandparents’ 55th wedding anniversary cruise (Jan ’01). It was very similar to having my hair pulled back with a headband. Every braid had a pretty little jewel at the end and they lined up across the top of my head. I absolutely loved it!! It was very odd to wash my hair with it still braided. I didn’t make it but a few days before I pulled them out but I sure enjoyed having it done.

In the beginning of our relationship, we used to stay in a cabin just a few yards away from Darrell’s parents’ house when we came for a visit. I loved it there. It was just a tiny little house but it was private and perfect for the 2 of us.
One morning in that cabin, a year or two into our marriage, I got up in the wee hours to take a wee. I stumbled through the darkness towards the bathroom. Just as I got to it, I stepped on something squishy. I immediately knew what it was. I snapped on the bathroom light, flew into the shower, slammed the shower doors closed and watched in horror as this snake slithered in after me. I screamed and Darrell came running.
Gawd, I was so scared that snake would climb up the shower door.
Darrell got on the phone and called his Dad who came racing into the cabin with a hoe about 5 minutes later and dispatched him.
While I waited for him to arrive, I watched the snake slither underneath the door that leads to the living room, up a wall and into a 2 inch hole in the little door to the air conditioner. Apparently this little area was warm. It was obviously his home.
It was never our home again.

I swear it was bigger. ::shudder::

This picture represents some things I love about my husband. He is silly, fun to be with, pays attention to me and- probably most important- he rubs my feet. LOL. 😉
I am trying to remember where we were… my memory says at Lin’s house (where I lived when I first started college). Yeah, it had to be there because that hat was our friend Tara’s and one summer she lived there with me. We liked her teddy bear too, as I recall.
This was the time when Darrell and I were just getting to know each other and fall in love. Mmmm….

50 things about Andy now that he is a year old.
1. He loves anything small
2. He loves playing peekaboo
3. He loves chasing Brendan- and being chased by him
4. He likes lots of fruits- apples, bananas, peaches, oranges, strwaberries…
5. He likes to pat you on your arm and say “pat, pat, pat”.
6. His hair grows so fast!! I need to cut his bangs for the 2nd time!
7. He loved to be told “good job” and clap with us.
8. He loves outside and can’t stand it when you walk out the door without him.
9. He is not a very good car traveler yet- he gets bored.
10. He loves his bottle and does not want a sippy cup yet.
11. His favorite way to sleep is with his nose pressed into me.
12. He loves Baby Einstein shows
13. He loves music
14. He loves for me to hold him and spin in a chair.
15. He’s Mimi’s boy- they have a special bond.
16. He’s shy but sometimes he will wave to strangers.
17. He goes to sleep by rubbing a blanket on his face or holding my shirt sleeve.
18. He loves to climb onto boxes or onto the couch.
19. He loves playing in the sand.
20. He likes to swing outside under the bubbles.
21. He is easy to grin and smile.
22. He loves to dig is cupboards and drawers.
23. He loves to take a bathe- especially with his brother.
24. His favorite foods are sausage, ranch style beans, bananas & canned mandarin oranges.
25. He is fascinated by soda cans.
26. He loves to pull off Daddy’s glasses.
27. He loves to look at things on the computer and bang on the keys.
28. He loves to chase Mimi’s dogs
29. He loves his pacifier
30. He loves to close doors but hates it when he shuts himself alone in a room. Silly boy.
31. He is ecstatic when Daddy comes home and crawls as fast as he can to greet him and get hugs and kisses.
32. He loves balls
33. He likes to drink from straws.
34. He loves his baby Ipod.
35. He loves to be held- and hates to be put down.
36. He does not like potatoes or pieces of cheese or carrots.
37. He’s beautiful.
38. He always smells so good.
39. He likes to poke at eyes and noses.
40. He likes to sit on steps and then stand up too.
41. He likes to be shown things.
42. He likes to turn off the lights.
43. He likes to sneek in the bathroom.
44. He likes to be tickled.
45. He loves to take silverware out of the dishwasher.
46. He likes to go around in just his diaper.
47. He loves Daddy’s cell phone and tv remotes.
48. He has 8 teeth and is working on some more.
49. He’s smart & playful.
50. He is very much adored by his parents and brother.