Kitchen Remodel Go

We were making plans last year to remodel our kitchen, but decided to shelve the project or just got distracted by the myriad of other tasks that we wanted/needed to complete around the house. However, we picked our plans back up these past few months and are preparing to actually get the work done in April. It is my hope that we can get the bulk of the work completed before the heat of the summer sets in. Many of you who know me that I am not a huge fan of change, but it is something that I have really been working on for several years. I am very excited for our new kitchen, but at the same time not very excited for the mess and hassle of having to pack up and dismantle the current set-up. Our tentative plan is to set up a mini-kitchen in the basement with the crock-pots, toaster oven and microwave. I pride myself on being adaptable and ready for a challenge (at least in the kitchen), so I think that I should be able to maintain a decent amount of mealtime normalcy with this set-up. I am sure that I will be pulling my hair out around week 4! Anyway... the kitchen remodel is a big job that I am sure will become more of a blog topic in the next few weeks. I am posting a photo of our cabinet choice. 

First Campfire 2012

We enjoyed some beautiful (and unseasonably warm) weather last week, as did many places. Darren took the opportunity to finish putting together our raised beds for the garden and got the swing set ready for the kids among some other outdoor chores. Though we had a few showers, we decided to enjoy an evening around the campfire.

We grilled chicken sausages and I put together "banana boats" filled with chocolate chips & marshmallows and wrapped in foil for dessert. Unfortunately, the wood was just a little too damp and we ended up with a whole lot of smoke and not a whole lot of fire. The kids did not seem to mind as they tend to like their food warm, and Darren still managed to eat 3 sausages, though not without some good-natured complaining about the cooking conditions. The best part was just being able to sit down at the end of the day with the family surrounded by the signs of an early spring!



Girl Scout Cookie Taste-Off

When Kyrie was selling Girl Scout cookies, she was frequently asked what her favorite kind of cookie was and since she had never had a GS cookie, she could not give an answer. I thought that it would be nice for her to be able to try all the flavors of cookies so that next year, she would be able to answer that question. And thus began my plans for the "Coble Family Girl Scout Cookie Taste-Off." It would be a fun activity for our family and a nice way to kind of celebrate the end of our GS cookie sales for this year! (Thanks to all our family, friends & neighbors who bought cookies to support Kyrie & her troop!)

Kyrie had been waiting for the cookie taste-off from the moment we brought home our boxes of cookies. Of course, we made the kids wait a few weeks and then until after dinner and after I had cleaned the entire kitchen. I prepared a plate of cookies for everyone, one of each flavor that they got along with a 'ballot' and a sheet of stickers to award as they saw fit to each cookie.

We all dug right into our cookie plates, each with a different methodology to the tasting. Degen picked the cookie he thought looked best and ate it all up. After that he tried a few bites of the others and left a few untouched. Kyrie gobbled her first cookie right up, but then started to take small bites of the rest. Darren & I chose a more traditional single bite of each approach.

Kyrie liked the Thin Mints the best, but also scored Savannah Smiles, Tagalongs & Do-Si-Dos quite high. She was not a fan of Thank U Berry Much or Trefoils.

Degen just had fun putting stickers all over his chart! The only cookie he ate all of was the Tagalong, though he did try several bites of Thin Mints, a little Samoa and gave the Savannah Smiles a single lick.

This is my dear husband being a dork! In the end he chose the Thin Mint as his favorite, and it really does have a great mint flavor. It was close though, he was highly impressed with the quality of the Do-Si-Do and its peanut buttery flavor!

My favorite was the Samoa. That chocolate, caramel & toasted coconut flavor combination is just too good to deny! YUM! Do-Si-Dos, Thin Mints and Tagalongs all earned runner-up positions for me. As did the newcomer: Dulce de Leche. I was pleasantly surprised by the cinnamon & caramel flavor of this little cookie. It wasn't my favorite at first bite, but the more I tasted the more I appreciated its flavor.

Overall, the big winners of the night were: Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Tagalongs & Samoas! And, of course, our taste buds & tummies which walked away full of sweet, cookie goodness!



Degen at Age Three

 This has been a BIG year for Degen! At age 2, he was still so much a baby, but he has really grown up a lot in this past year. Degen was just getting his words a year ago, but now he is a talker. Trust me when I tell you that this boy will tell you exactly what he wants when he wants it and loud enough for everybody to hear. In the past year, he started gymnastics and dance class. He is also taking his first art class, is joining in on homeschool lessons and regularly attends Sunday school. He had his first broken bone (arm) this summer and was Christened in October. We got rid of the high chair and put the crib/toddler bed in storage. He is weaned, sleeping through the night and hooray-hooray: potty trained himself this winter! These are all things that make for one happy momma!

At age 2, Degen was still pretty easy-going, but as we got closer & closer to age 3 he got a lot more and more...how do I put it...opinionated. We have entered the land of fits and tantrums. One minute he wants love & attention and the next minute he is angrily shouting, "Stop talkin' a-me." He refuses to hold my hand when I want him to, but begs & cries to be carried when my arms are full. He is not always the best listener and we are working on sharing with our friends. Sigh... Degen loves the color red. His favorite foods are hot dogs and cottage cheese. He is crazy for technology, especially the iPad. He can count and is learning his colors and shapes. He likes to play with his cars and his trains. He loves his sister! Degen does not always make being a parent easy, but he does make it worth it: every smile, mischievous grin, hug, laugh and 'I love you' makes it worth it! We love you, Degen Richard Aurelius!

Degen at Age Three

Height: 3 ft. (25%-ile)
Weight: 28 lbs (10%-ile)

Get a Lil' Closer

These are the "headshots"! I cannot believe how green Degen's eyes look in these pictures. He has Darren's blue-hazel eyes that can appear any shade of blue, gray or green depending on what he is wearing and/or his surroundings. I am in love with this boy!

Kyrie is looking so grown-up, and I love her sweet smile in these photos! This shade of pink was just perfect for her complexion and gives her honey-colored hair a bit of strawberry! My sweet, baby girl!

A Spring in Our Steps

My darling duo were like old pros at our spring photo session! They had down all the smiles and the poses and were generally cooperative and in good spirits. Degen looks very grown up this year, and these were our first professional pictures since Kyrie got her glasses. The spring background is not my favorite thing, but the photographer didn't get any shots of the kids together on another background, so I will go ahead and ignore the background and be happy for my babies' sweet smiles!

Girl Scout Day at the Columbus Museum of Art

We stop to play an art game in one of the exhibit rooms.

Girl Scout Day at the Columbus Museum of Art was another great family activity (thank you, Girl Scouts)! We had never been to CMA before, and we were very impressed by the museum, especially all the kid-friendly activities available in the exhibits. There were also some special activities just for the Girl Scouts.

Kyrie put art on the walls of this dollhouse located in one of the exhibit rooms.

Kyrie with the trophy she made (she could only use tape and condiment cups). She has on her "Mommy is making me take this photo" smile!

Kyrie practicing drawing still life pictures.

Unfortunately, the kids were still too young to really appreciate most of the exhibits. No matter how interesting I tried to make it, Kyrie wanted to go straighaway to another room and Degen just wanted to play with the IPad and have a snack. I gave in and let Degen sit in the stroller with the IPad, but found that many of the exhibit rooms had tables with family and/or kid activities. There were games, puzzles, a dollhouse and art activities. In some of the rooms, we were able to let the kids play happily at one of the interactive tables while we walked around the room looking at the art. In other rooms, we all sat down to play games or try our hands at being creative. Kyrie's favorite activity was the still life drawing table. She set up a half dozen different food arrangements and practiced sketching them. Her favorite thing to sketch was a loaf of challah bread.

Kyrie builds her own creature in the Wonder Room.

Degen makes a face using kitchen items.

The last place we went before we had to leave (too soon) was the Wonder Room. This room is set up just for kids and filled with several interactive art activities. There were pegs & tents to build forts, an area to make mobiles, kitchen objects for creating faces and wooden pieces for building animals. The kids LOVED this room and there was much fussing when we announced that we would have to leave (Darren had an appointment that afternoon). I had to make several promises that we would come back to the art museum again. Once again, I found myself grateful that we live in such a family-friendly city!

Kyrie & Darren work together to make a mobile.

Kyrie Kittredge

Kyrie loves all things in the realm of American Girl! She has a Bitty Baby and a Molly doll and frequently asks to play with my Samantha doll. A few months ago, we started reading our collection of AG books at bedtime. We had found many at a local children's resale shop (though our collection makes just a dent in what is available), and Kyrie has really enjoyed getting to know all the characters. I have been impressed with the wholesome quality and historic detail of the books, too. 

The Kit Kittredge doll & book



For Christmas this year, Santa brought Kyrie a DVD of the Kit Kittredge movie (the 1930s doll). At first, the story seemed a little complicated to her, but she has watched it multiple times in the last few months. This past week, Kyrie was watching the movie and decided that she wanted to be just like Kit. She went through her clothes and did her best to put together an outfit... and she did a pretty good job, too. We debated about her not wearing her glasses because Kit does not wear glasses, nor do any of the other girls in the movie. She also wanted to get her hair cut like Kit's hair. I told her that any decisions about cutting her hair would need to be discussed for one full week (and soon after that she seemed to drop the idea). It is nice to see Kyrie having so much fun with her American Girl things!

Our little doll!

A Cosi Afternoon

I always plan to take the kids to Cosi on our "days off," but often end up getting wrapped up in things at home or just wanting to enjoy the day off (we have so few of them). Still, the kids love it, and I hate that we do not go more often.

Degen putting on a puppet show!

Last Friday, we needed to drop Girl Scout cookies off to Darren at work. We decided to have lunch with him and visit the office. Everyone on his team is always welcoming when we visit and we enjoyed being able to spend a few minutes talking after we had lunch. The kids love visiting Daddy at work... again, something that we need to do more often! Afterward, I took the kids to nearby Cosi to spend a few hours playing.

Of course, a few hours at Cosi just never seems to be enough! We spent most of our time in Little Kidspace where the kids built, made music, explored and had some creative play. Kyrie asked to try out the Adventure exhibit (which is not included with regular admission), and I agreed. It is a very cool exhibit in which you have to find clues in the "Valley of the Unknown" to unlock the "Secret of Knowledge." The exhibit is made to look like ruins in the jungle with lots of mood lighting and the such. Degen was pretty nervous straight off and graduated to flat-out scared. It wasn't too much longer into our exploration that the spookiness of the exhibit had Kyrie crying to be done, too. Oh well! I told Kyrie that we could try again in a few more years, or maybe it was something she could do on a special occasion with Darren (she agreed that things aren't nearly as scary when Daddy is there to hold her). After we hurried out of Adventure, we went back up to Kidspace for the rest of our time. Of course, Kyrie fussed at me when I told her we had to go. I promised her that we would be back soon, and I meant it!