Making cupcakes....

Jetta made cupcakes for Valentines day to take to daycare and wanted to help from start to finish. As I posted a few posts ago, she is quite the helper. She loves to help whenever she can. Whenever I'm cooking, she wants to pour in whatever she can, stir whenever she in can and just help however she can. Of course I let her help if she can, but I also have to remind her that the stove is hot and that she must be careful.

However, when it came to making cupcakes, I figured, she could help quite a bit and it wouldn't hurt anything, unless an eggshell landed in the mix and we could always fish that out - so let her bake away.

So, I sent her to her room to get her apron, which she gladly did and out she came, already with it on, just needing me to tie it and she was ready to go. So, we started the process and without much incident. I even let her hold the mixer (assisted of course) and she did a pretty good job. She is definitely in that independent stage, until she tires and then she's done. She of course had fun, but was the happiest once she found out, that once you get done mixing it all up, you get to lick the mixer and then she was ready to make more!

Now it was time to put the mix in the cups, which she eagerly placed in the muffin pan and did a good job. Now it was time to bake them and wait. Well, that was another story - waiting is not her best attribute. Patience is something I think we'll need to work on. I think it will be best summed up by a couple of the pictures Shannon took - I'll let you insert your own caption.

Anyway, all in all the event was a success and I think she had fun. She took them the next day and they were a hit and when I picked her up that night, she was very excited to tell me how they were all gone. So, I think she was excited about that.

So, here are some pics from her Better Crocker day!

Jetta's first real snow...

This past year we got more snow that we got the year before and so Jetta got to build her first snowman and make her first snow angel. She was very excited to be able to get out there and actually play in it. So, we got her all bundled up in her coat and snow pants and Shannon took her out.

They got out there and got started on the snow man and she realized the snow was pretty bright, so I took her out her sunglasses. Which by the way are so darn cute on her. However, I love when she tries to put them on. First of all, it really doesn't matter which way which she puts then on, because she doesn't have much of a nose, so they really don't stay up on her face either way. It's quite comical. However, once she got them on, she looked like she could take on the slopes. So, now they were ready to build the snowman. Of course we didn't have alot of snow, so he wasn't real big, but they got one built.

After a few snowballs were tossed, mostly by daddy and Jetta laughing and of course wondering where the snowmans eyes were, I stepped out and said, have her make a snow angel. She of course had no idea what that was, so Shannon had to show her. She thought that was pretty darn funny. What I thought was funny, was watching him trying to get up - only because it wasn't me trying to do it. So, we got her to get down and start waving her arms and legs and of course since she doesn't weigh a thing, Shannon had to help her a bit. And then it was time for her to get up and again he had to help her, cuz she wasn't able to get herself out of the angel she just made. So, Shannon grabber her by her jacket and just picked her up out of her angel. She was just giggling and of course wanted to do it all over again.

Needless to say, we got some good pictures of her enjoying the snow, donning her sunglasses (right side up mind you), making her first snow man and her perfect snow angel. All in all, I think she enjoyed her first real snow. Either way, I marked it down as a success. One I will remember for sure.

Cleaning and Handy Work....

At this point Jetta thinks helping me clean and doing chores is fun. She always want to be in the middle of what I'm doing and in the way. Every week when I go to clean the house, she always wants to help.

When I go to sweep the floor, she waits for me to get a pile of dirt and then will stand in front of it and stand with her feet apart, hands on her hips and want me to sweep the dirt between her legs/feet, so it goes thru her feet, behind her. She thinks its the funniest thing. She insists we do it and would want to do it over and over if I'd let her. So, to humor her, we do it once and then I ask her to move out of the way. Then she will let me finish sweeping, but has to hold the dust pan for me as I sweep up the pile of dirt. Sometimes, I get lucky and that pile makes it to the trashcan on the dustpan and other times, well, as I'm sure you can guess, it doesn't and I have to sweep it all up again.

From there, as I try to swiffer the floors, she'll let me get that done, but then once I finish and move onto something else, she will go back and pick them up and start spraying the floors and pushing the swiffer around cleaning the floors all over again. Oftentimes, creating a huge puddle of the floor, telling me, "mom, look I cleaned the floor", with a huge smile, all proud of herself and I just look at all the cleaner in a puddle on the floor. Knowing I need to go get a paper towel to wipe it up, so neither of us slip and fall as we walk thru the puddle she claimed to have just cleaned up.

Then, when I clean the bathrooms, she has to always help me "wipe and spray". She will wipe everything, from the toilet, to the cabinets, to the walls. It doesn't matter, what it is, she will wipe it. She tries so hard and is so proud of herself when she is done.

She also loves to help put the dishes away from the dishwasher. The trick is to beat her to the sharp knives before she gets to them. She will grab them and say, "mom, no knife" and will hand it to you holding the blade, because I have always told her that she can't have the knife with any silverware we have. So, she knows, but doesn't realize that the blade is the reason why.

Now, just for her to continue to have this interest and drive, but I'm sure the fun will wear off when she really can help. But for now, it's very cute and allows for some good pictures.

Now, for those of you who know me and are wondering.....yes, she does wipe out the sink after she brushes her teeth - most times! I don't even ask - she just has seen me do it some many times that she thinks is part of the process!

Okay, now for her handy side. A few months ago we noticed that one of the pieces of quarter round on the kitchen island was broken. Not really sure how it got broken, but nonetheless it was/is broken. Jetta, too also noticed it was broken. So, she being the child she is, didn't like that and she decided that it needed to be fixed. So, she asked me for some sticky tape (this is what she calls scotch tape). So, I said, okay, just to see where this was gonna go. Well, pretty much a whole roll later and a true 2 year old repair job, the quarter round was back on the island and wasn't going to go anywhere. I think enough can be said with pictures, so I will leave it at that and will post pictures of her handy work, along with some of her cleaning.

I'm thinking her future as a handy man may need some moe training.

Jetta reading....

I've been reading to Jetta pretty much every night since we've come home from China. I try to read 3 to 5 books to her each night so we can spend some quality time together and also for her to learn from the books. I think she has benefited from it in both ways. One, I think she really enjoys the snuggle time, cuz she asks if we are going to read books and two, cuz she knows alot of her books and her vocabulary is very good for a year old.

It is 20 minutes of my day and I think a benefit of a lifetime for her. One day I was somewhere else in the house doing something and I came back into my room to check on her, to see what she was up to, cuz it was a little to quiet and when I came in, I found her standing beside my chair, reading a book to her bear - Fred, telling him to listen. It was very cute. I asked her, what are you doing and she looked at me and said "I'm reading to Fred" - like I was a complete idiot. Like, mom, this is what we do everyday, why are you asking me.

She continued to read her Chinese New Year book to him, as if he was interested. The interesting part was - she had a lot of the story right, but did add some of her own story to it, but regardless, it was very cute.

Anyway, I went back out and grabbed the camera, cuz I thought it was so cute I wanted to capture a few pictures of her doing it. It was very sweet and it made me smile, cuz it made me feel good that she enjoys reading and the time we spend doing it.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Family Christmas Pictures....

It seems so strange to be posting these pictures as the year is nearly a quarter over already, but as I promised in my post, I hope to get caught up.

We had these pictures taken just before Christmas. We decided we should get an updated family picture, as the last one we had taken was when Jetta first got home and needless to say we have all changed a little. Jetta the most of course.

I was pleased with how the pictures turned out and very happy with the one of Jetta and I. I don't even remember what exactly she was laughing at, but I fell in love with the picture and think she looks absolutely adorable. Everday I am just amazed at how much she is growing and how beautiful she is.

I will attach several of the pictures we had taken. Hope you enjoy them and again sorry for my delay, but still wanted to share.