Orthopedics and Dance class.

Bentley had his follow up appointment yesterday. His foot is all healed. :) Of course its a growth plate fracture, so he has to go back in 3 months to check it out. The doctor doesn't have any worried about his walking as of now. He said if he isn't walking properly within the next month, then there is a concern. 
And of course, Bentley's appointment fell on a dance class day so it was a long day all around. But this week was considerably better than last. Last week we witnessed an accident on our way out the door to dance class. Thankfully it wasn't a bad accident. We live on a scary corner. There is a hill on one side that makes it impossible to see far enough. There was a tractor trailer turning right, towards that hill. Unfortunately a motorcycle came over the hill. The man on the motorcycle ditched his bike and skipped across the pavement. As a neighbor called 911, I ran out to check on the man on the motorcycle. He was unconscious, but breathing. I was able to provide him with a couple of blankets (it was raining on top of the fact that he had just been in an accident). When I left him (surrounded by many  neighbors and a nurse who happened on the scene), the man was conscious, talking, and able to move all his limbs. Thankfully one of my neighbors brought my kiddos up to her place while I was running after the blankets. But Emmalyn was quite shaken by the accident and Bentley was quite shaken by the fact that Mommy ran off to help leaving him behind. 

Emmalyn picked out her own outfit for the first week of class. However, she wasn't a fan of getting her picture taken. 

But dance class is going pretty well for Emmalyn. She has had 3 weeks and is already improving. She has a difficult time following along and that leads to her not paying attention. Some of the movements they are trying, she doesn't quite get how to do it. But we are working at home to help. And this week she paid attention as well as any of the other kids. Its a class of 3 to 5 year olds, so she is a bit on the younger side. She is also becoming a little more open with the other girls. She tends to just stand and stare at other kids instead of approaching them to join in. 
This week I brought along some toy animals to keep Bentley entertained while we waiting on Emmalyn. Several of the other girls were interested in playing with them before class started. Emmalyn easily handed over the two animals she was holding. Bentley was not a fan of sharing with strangers - esp his lion.

Goats

So much for keeping up with the blog. :) Only 3 posts in and I fell behind. And 2 of the 3 I didn't actually publish. Oops. I think I've got it figured out though. 

Bentley no longer has his cast. We go back to the doctor next week for another set of x-rays. It has been 5 weeks since he broke it and will be 6 weeks when we go. His cast came off 2 weeks ago and the doctor said it wasn't as healed as he had hoped and expected, but healed enough to remain cast free. I'm anxious about it healing well. While wearing the cast, he developed a habit of walking with his foot turned out and putting his weight on his heel. He has continued to walk like that. I don't know if it is just a habit he formed or if it is still sore. He still has a lot of trouble walking on uneven ground (when we play outside). Again, not sure if it's because he is walking the way he is or if it is because it hurts. 


 September was a big month for us. We learned all about Farms. We had a lot of fun making animal noises, playing with our tractor, and our farm. We also colored picture.

 


We also made some apple trees and some apples. I had meant to keep these activities tucked away until after we went apple picking, but I needed something to keep Bentley entertained until we got his cast on. But the kids had fun with it anyway. :) And we actually didn't end up going apple picking until this past weekend (October).  We went really late this year. Next year we'll go early I swear! 

We were able to make a trip back to Ogdensburg in September as well. It was wonderful. Josh has been quite busy at work the past few months so it was a nice relief for us all for him to have a week away from work. Of course we had to take a trip to Old McDonald's Farm in Sacket Harbor, NY. We went last year as well and it is a wonderful place. The kids love it and so do I! There are tons of animals for the kids to look at and interact with. They have a "goatville" where you can go right in the fence and play with the goats! And of course, you can buy some pop corn and feed them.

 They have a wonderful hay ride where you get to feed pigs and cows. They have a "poultry university" full of chickens, etc that you can feed, bunnies to pet, a horse barn, reindeer, sheep, a camel, and others. On top of just the animals, they had bounce houses, a miniature golf course, and corn maze. For a small extra fee, they even have pony rides and a dairy barn tour. While on the dairy barn tour, we got to see a new born calf - just minutes old. So amazing. 
And of course, the trip to Old McDonald's Farm fit perfectly into our farm unit for preschool.

Wow, Its a little rocket ship

Emmalyn is always cracking us up. She is just so full of life. Like all 3 year olds, she says some of the funniest things - and she's got some great timing! I'm hoping to blog some of the funny things her and Bentley do and say so I don't forget them.
When we were at the doctor's office, the medical assistant was talking to us about putting Bentley's cast on. When she said she would "be right back" Emmalyn came out with "Are you kidding me?" The MA stopped dead in her tracks to laugh! 
Tonight at dinner, Emmalyn was telling a story with some wild hand gestures and her sippy cup went flying. She looked down at the ground and with all the seriousness of her 3 year old self she said "Wow. Its a little rocket ship." 
And of course our little Monkey (monkey see, monkey do), Bentley threw his cup down and exclaimed "ock ip" and giggled. I'm not sure my "Don't throw your cup" was all that effective seeing as I couldn't stop laughing. 

I can't forget about little Bentley boo either. While attempting to replace the mat by the front door, he ended up deciding it was a blanket and took a "nap" on the floor. Emmalyn of course had to join in. Tonight he decided to help Daddy putting around the living room. He would go fetch the ball for Josh and then stood there so he could shoot it through his legs. When Josh wasn't paying attention, Bentley was pointing and trying to get his attention.

Baking Spree

A few months ago, I came across this on Pinterest. The cute flowers caught my attention and I've been meaning to try it out since I pinned it. However, it seems the only cookies we bake over here are chocolate chip cookies. We need to branch out. 
So I did! First off, I started by making my sugar cookie dough. I used this recipe for my cookies, but I know there are a million great recipes out there for sugar cookies. Next I pulled out all my sprinkles. I had a set of red, blue, yellow, and green, as well as a bit of pink, some pearls, and some multi colored "ice cream" sprinkles. I also pulled out some cinnamon and sugar to make some snicker doodles.

One of the test cookies - rolled in the ice cream sprinkles.

I was worried about the sprinkles melting and sticking/catching on fire (or at least getting really smokey) so I started with a test batch. I rolled 5 one inch balls and rolled them each in different sprinkles. 3 of the colored sugar, one of ice cream sprinkles, and one of the pearls. I did cut 2 of the colored sugar sprinkle cookies into flowers, but they did not turn out that cute for me and I thought the non cut cookies came out super cute anyway. 
I baked the cookies at 375 for 7 1/2-8 mins. The cookies were done, but still soft and I didn't have any problems with the sprinkles. I did not get any pictures of my test batch because my kiddos ate them all! "Mommy, can I have a cookie." "Sure" turn around to get more cookies in the over and turn back around and the two of them had eaten all 5 cookies. But they said they were good. :) 

 But I did get some pictures of the other cookies I made. 


 Cookies with the ice cream sprinkles - these were the only ones I had any trouble with sticking. But they weren't bad.

Here are my snicker doodle cookies. They happen to be one of my favorite cookies. And they are delicious! I ran out of the cinnamon sugar mix I had so I didn't make too many. I was just too lazy to mix some cinnamon and sugar together myself. ;)

The colored sugar ones. I didn't have a lot of pink or green so I ended up mixing the two together to use the last of it. I thought they might mix together and make an ugly color, but the color stayed separate, so I tried the yellow and blue mix. I'm excited to do this for Christmas and for any future parties. You can easily pick the color combos to fit your theme!

And lastly, the pearls. They look adorable! I only made a couple because it took so much of the sprinkles to cover them. In all honesty, these were not the best cookies. The sprinkles sort of taste like nothing. And they crunch weird. Cute, but not tasty!

Joshua also decided to get in on the baking action and made some peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. Yummy! Overall we had way too many cookies.