Chef Gramma

Rylee had her first baking lesson with Gramma the other day.

 

The above artwork was created by my very talented Aunt Judy who is trying to convince my Mom to write a cookbook. It must be a good likeness because Rylee took one look at the drawing and said "Gramma." Then she looked at the dog and paused. "Rio?" she asked. She tends to think any white dog is Rio! After I told her it was Gramma's dog, she managed a weak "Ang?" (She still hasn't quite mastered the word Angel.)

Anyway... they made sugar cookies. You can see here that Rylee had excellent form when using the cookie cutters.

 

(The girl has 4 darling aprons, but did she wear one on her first cooking expedition? No. Bold move to cook without one in all the finery too!)


Of course I have to leave you with her sampling one of her creations - yum!

 

Princess Rylee

Rylee is amassing quite the jewelry and makeup collection. Trying to find all the bits and pieces in their various locations was starting to annoy me so I decided to buy Rylee her very own Caboodle. I had one as a teenager - I'm feeling very nostalgic!

 

Not only does she have a lot of pieces, but she likes to wear all of them at the same time (of course!).

I came up with two options for this photo...

Caption 1: Rylee is taking a page out of Mommy's "Fancy Nancy" book. At least she's wearing her tutu on her waist and not her head! or...

 

Caption 2: Cousin Maddie would be so proud of Rylee's bold fashion choices!

I guess dress up time is over... for now!

 

Laptop Love

Blogging has been difficult lately. Rylee's naps are short and to say she doesn't like it when I go on the computer would be putting it mildly. I guess my computer time is to Rylee what my Mom's romance novels were to me. "Stop reading those romanicals" I used to say to my mom. :)

So I came up with a plan. Give Rylee a computer of her own! I'm pretty sure they say the family that surfs together stays together.

 

What do you think: a blogger in the making? Or will blogs be extinct by then?!

 

*Here's another photo from first thing this morning (setting up her Facebook account no doubt). :)

 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Rylee here. Sorry Mommy has to post this blog for me so late in the day - I didn't give her any computer time until I went to sleep tonight. :)

I can't wait to see you in "Cosby" this summer. We need to take more photos together!

 

It was great talking to you on the phone today. I miss you!

 

Daddy taught me a new word the other day: "par-ty!" I only wish I was there to party with you. My party face will have to do I guess. See you in a few months!

 

Beachy Sunday

We've had an uncharacteristically cold winter this year (I know, you northerners are groaning at my calling 50 degree weather "winter"... but it has been weirdly cold!). This weekend we finally had a return to sunshine and perfect temps. What did we do? Go to the beach!

This is only Rylee's third visit to the ocean (I'm actually not a huge fan of the beach in all honesty) so she wasn't all that stoked when we hopped in the car. But she knew we were going outside and that she loves (as evidenced by her new fondness for wearing hats and sunglasses).

 

It was beautiful outside. We didn't plan to swim - the water temps are too cold and there were jellyfish all over the sand (a sight that doesn't make me want to dive into the surf), but we did walk the pier and take in the coastal landscape. Bonus: the pier didn't even stink today. :)

 

We walked the beach (or shall I say dodged the jellyfish) and then went to a little park (which was probably the highlight of the trip for Rylee). I would elaborate, but Rylee just woke up from her nap so mommy duty calls. All in all, a fun adventure.

 

Grandma Sandstrom

My Mom and I are in the process of scanning old family photos into the computer so you can expect some bad fashions and bizarre hairdos to pop up in the coming blogs. :)

Today I'm starting with a post about my great-grandma Esther (or Grandma Sandstrom - what I knew her by as a kid).


I've posted about her before and the special Swedish sayings that we still continue to use in her honor. Here's one that I haven't had a chance to blog about yet. It's a little Swedish ditty that you act out on a baby's toes (like the piggies & market one).

lilltaa (pinky toe)
tatilla (next toe)
tillerosa (middle toe)
mack frua (next toe - means something like wife)
och gubben stor (big toe - means something like big old man or farmer)
opp'i vare (big toe again - means something like proud man or standing up in the air)

Rylee loves this game. She makes you do one foot and then the other over and over again. And if you ask her to find her gubben stor... she grabs her big toe. Too cute!

I always think of my Grandma Sandstrom when we play this. I can't wait till I can teach Rylee to shoddish - a dance my great-grandma loved to do when we all got together. Rylee just needs to learn how to hop first!

One last picture: this is Grandma Sandstrom and my cousins Ben, Katie and myself. In case you don't recognize me, I'm the one wearing the rainbow shirt. :)

Foto Friday

Glam Girl

 

Da Plane, Da Plane!

 

Nothing But Net