The Cooking Blog!

Here we go! I just started my cooking blog tonight and it is under major construction at the moment. I just got my first little introductory post written and I will hopefully have the first "cooking" post up tomorrow. So come on over to "See Chalna Cook!". :-)

Walking in the Woods!

Jer's trip got cancelled right before he was scheduled to airline over to London. There was a mechanical on the airplane when it landed in Zurich, so Jer's portion of the trip had to be taken over by another operator. The good news is that we now have an impromptu four day vacation with Daddy! We decided to celebrate the time together by spending the afternoon exploring a new place; the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge. The preserve is only about 30 minutes from the house and is MASSIVE. We shared lunch beforehand and then headed over for our walk. Colin did great and seemed to be most impressed with the large selection of rocks on the trail, as well as the centipede that we managed to cross paths with. They have a little visitors center that was full of turtles, snakes and even a precious little prairie dog! We also managed to to catch feeding time for their two owls, who were each handed a giant mouse to eat...it was really cool!! It was a good first hike for Colin and I think he is going to be a great outdoorsman just like his Daddy. I am always thankful for the random warm winter weeks that we experience here in Texas. Just when you think that winter is swallowing you up, the sun comes out and things heat up for a few days.


The time has come to truly say goodbye to a daily scheduled nap. I knew that Colin would grow out of it, but I am still shocked by how fast the time seemed to come. The progression is all but complete at this point. For the past week, he has not napped at all and gone to bed at 7:00pm. This is both good and bad at the same time. The great part is obviously a full evening alone with my husband. We get to talk, watch grown-up television and relax. It can't be understated how fabulous this is. The bad part is that by going to bed so early, we can't really do much in the way of evening activities. The hours of 5 to 7pm are spent carefully making sure that Colin stays awake long enough to go to sleep for the night rather than a very late nap. This is not a big deal right now...with short winter days, we are not trying to do much in the way of evening activities anyway. He sleeps for over 12 hours...still waking up at his classic 7:15am. That is wonderful. He even tells me that he is ready for bed (Mommy, I got the sleepies!). I can tell that he is happy with this new schedule because he won't even fall asleep in the car anymore. I thought for sure that he would doze off in the car after our hike today...usually his prime car nap time after a lot of activity to wear him out. He did not even LOOK tired once and made it all the way home with not even a drooping eyelid. That tells me that he is truly ready to stay awake during the day and just go down earlier for a long night. I know that there will probably be exceptions to this rule and that he will nap on occasion, but I think we are done for the most part. There is always something new going on around here, that is for sure!!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

This is the trail that we hiked today...it was BEAUTIFUL!


Our little family during the hike...I love Colin in this shot! (I don't love ME in this picture, but I have some pretty handsome men, eh?)

Colin was not exactly thrilled to stop and take a picture with Mommy.

The champion hiker! He loved it!!

One of my all-time favorite shots of my boys!!!!

A Jumble of Stuff

Let's talk tidbits!

*I made Tres Leches Cake yesterday and it is far and away the best dessert that I have ever made. I don't bake that much because it usually takes a bit more time and effort than I can afford with a two year old running around, but this cake was so amazing that I may have to do it again tomorrow. :-) The out of control cooking continues.

*I am going to start the food blog. I don't know that I will try to make anything "professional" out of it...it will be just like this blog, at least for now. I don't want to clog up this blog (which is for Colin to look back on) with cooking talk, but I do want to write about my cooking expeditions. I will also be able to catalog what I cook and then have the recipes all in one place, which will be great for me. As it stands now, my house is brimming with recipes on printer paper, pages cut out of magazines, cookbooks and grease stained napkins...all with random recipes. I cook so much that favorite recipes tend to get lost in all the mess. Jer noted that I need a place to keep recipes that we love so that I don't forget to revisit them. This will do the trick. I will post the link when I get it up and running!

*Colin continues to have strange tastes for a two year old. His new favorite thing is my hot tea that I drink in the mornings. It has gotten to the point that I brew a mug for each of us! I let his stand until it is lukewarm and then serve it in his cup, per his request. :-) I laugh every time I hear him say, "Mommy, you got hot tea for me?". Who knew? He also has taken to eating grape tomatoes by the truckload. However, make him a grilled cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he turns up his nose. Cooking for Colin has it's interesting moments, to say the least!

*The weather has turned around again here and it has been warm all week. Colin has spent a good deal of time outside with us and it is so wonderful! We spent Saturday morning out walking the trails around Town Center and even brought Enzo. Colin loves to hold his leash and it never fails to make him seem like such a big boy.

There is not much else to report at the moment. Jer has another trip coming up, this one to Pisa. As in "The Leaning Tower of". Again, if anyone needs me, I will be here watching Nickelodeon. hehe! I tease, but I am truly grateful for a husband who works so hard for us. These trips he takes are on top of his regular job, so he sacrifices his vacation time in order to fly the extra trips. I am incredibly thankful to be married to a man who is so wonderful...he is not only willing to work overtime, but he is such a brilliant pilot that lots of people want him to work for them. Jer values the fact that I stay home to raise Colin and works so hard to allow that luxury for our family. He is always the first person to point out how much work it is to be the full time parent and his constant support is what keeps me going when the mommy trenches get tough. Thank you, husband! We love you so much! (even if you do keep going to Europe without me!) :-)

A few pictures to leave with...Daddy's future co-pilot!

My precious bathtime baby!