What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

On Friday we went to a fire station with our play group. Isaac got to play in a fire truck, shoot a fire hose, and learn about 'stop, drop, and roll.'

Lego my Lego

Ever since we had Isaac, Marshall has been dreaming of reliving his boyhood with the toys he used to play with: action figures, Legos, army men, etc. Now Isaac is finally old enough to appreciate an exploding action figure or a Lego fighter jet.

For our Family Home Evening activity this week we had a contest to see who could build the coolest spaceship out of Legos. Of course Marshall took 1st in all the categories, but that's only because he hogged all of the cool pieces for his ship. His years of Lego-building experience paid off.

Are we obsessed?

Wow, I just noticed that our last three posts are all about food.

The Best Pizza for the Birthday Boy!

Marshall is now on the other side of 25! His 26th birthday was yesterday, September 18th. We celebrated today by getting a babysitter for the little ones while we went in search of the best pizza in the Philadelphia area (which is Marshall's new quest in life), and I think we found it at a cute Italian place in Malvern, PA called Anthony's. Thin crust, delicious sauce, yummy cheese. It doesn't get much better.

Best. Cookies. Ever.

Ann Freeman's Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup Crisco
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water

Cream together above ingredients.

3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Mix dry ingredients together. Slowly add to cream mixture. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet. Do not overbake. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move to rack. (Thanks to Julie Nance for recipe)

Knock Me Over with a Tomato!

We had tacos for dinner last week. Our supper proceeded uneventfully until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Jennie had put some of my chopped tomatoes on her taco! After nearly 4 years of marriage, Jennie continues to wow me with pleasant surprises.

Maybe in another 4 years I'll see her eat a pickle.

Isaac's Alphabet

Isaac has a toy laptop with alphabet and number games that we got for him about six months ago. He wasn't quite old enough for it, but he seemed entertained by the sounds when he pounded the buttons. Last week or so, Isaac and I were playing with his alphabet blocks and I casually asked him, "Isaac, what letter is this?" And to my surprise, he told me. I picked up another letter, "Isaac, what's this letter?" He knew that one, too. In fact, he knew almost the entire alphabet and numbers one to ten. And I wish I could take the credit, but I'm afraid he learned it all from his electronic toy.

Vance Blog Redesigned

Recently Marshall took notice that our blog was just shy of the worst blog ever. So he took it upon himself to redo our blog, which included all different shades of gray, a picture of Frank Thomas, the Bombay Stock Exchange, and the score of the most recent Dodgers game. I wasn't too keen on his blog either, so I spent a little time to spruce it up. It still is pretty simple, but much improved nonetheless.

Here are two recent pics of Meili to satisfy the demand to see her. I just love the double chin - Isaac didn't have one of those.



Meili's first bath in a real baby bath. Up until now I had to give her sponge baths because of the brace she had to wear.








Meili has the sweetest smile and loves to share it with everyone. She especially loves to smile when I put her down after a 5 am feeding. It's as if she's saying, "Thanks mom, now I'm ready to play!"