My Little Reader

Ethan has always been interested in numbers and letters. Anything that has rules and patterns, he loves. A few weeks ago, he just started to read simple sentences. I’ve never really tried to teach him to read, I taught him the sounds all the letters made a long time ago, and he has just sort of figured the rest out on his own. He has a photographic memory of sorts that has always amazed me.

Last Tuesday, as I drove up to pick Ethan up from preschool, his teacher walked with him to the car. She had a funny smile on her face as she said, “I didn’t know Ethan knew how to read.” I never told his teacher, I guess because I really didn’t think that much of it. I guess I didn’t realize that what he was doing was actually enough to really be considered reading. She said he was doing really great and offered to send books home with him the next class. I told her he would love that.

So Thursday came and after preschool, Ethan came out with a book. His teacher told me that the little book used to be her daughters from Kindergarten. She told me we could take it home and when he was done with it we could bring it back and she’d give him a new one. I thought that sounded great. As we climbed in the car, Ethan asked if he could look at it on the drive home.

What can I say? He read the entire thing out loud on the drive home! I only had to help him (he read the letters to me as I drove) with two words in the entire book. I seriously couldn’t believe it. He’s been 4 for less than two months! And he won’t be going to kindergarten until the fall of 2011. Hmmm, needless to say, I’ve been doing a little research on preschool programs for this fall. I certainly don’t want him to get bored with school before he even starts.

My little reader boy . . . wow!

Here are a couple pages from Ethan's book:

Birthday Party

We had a great time last night for Todd's birthday. Thanks for coming everyone! It turned out to be a fun party. Here are just a few pics from last night . . .

Todd opening a present from Ethan, Strawberry Poptarts:
And an even cooler gift . . .

Mmmmm, cake and ice cream . . .yummy!

Happy Birthday again, Babe!

Kirby

Todd's favorite cake is cherry chip. I've always thought it was fun to try and figure out a way to make a pink cake not look girly. Last year I made his cake with a skull and cross bones, but I like this years even better! Take a look at Kirby:

I usually prefer cupcakes, but this was pretty fun.

To My Hubby

Happy Birthday!

I love you!

Toy Store

Ethan opened his very own toy store this week. I wanted to be a good and supportive costumer, but his prices were a little steep. Here is some of his merchandise:

Bear: "twenty nine hundred dollars"

White Tiger: "twenty dollars and ninety quarters"

Lobster: "ninety-six cents and eighty hundred dollars"

.

Hmmm, needless to say, he put himself right out of business. But don't worry, he says he'll open another one again someday.

February Recipe

Ramen with Beef, Shiitakes, and Spinach
The Best 30-Minute Recipe (From the editors of Cook’s Illustrated)

Ramen noodles are cheap and they cook quickly making them a convenient dinner for the time-crunched cook. By pitching the seasoning packets in the trash and pairing these noodles with fresh ingredients, you can enjoy a quick and flavorful meal.

12 ounces blade steak, sliced into thin strips
8 tsp soy sauce
2 TBLS vegetable oil
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBLS grated fresh ginger
3 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 (3-ounce) packages ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded
3 TBLS dry sherry*
2 tsp sugar
1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach

Pat beef dry with paper towels and toss with 2 teaspoons soy sauce. Heat 1 TBLS oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over med-high heat until just smoking. Add beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up clumps, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to clean bowl.

Add remaining TBLS oil to skillet and return to med-high heat until shimmering. Add mushroom and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in broth. Break bricks of ramen into small chunks and add to skillet. Bring to simmer and cook, tossing ramen constantly with tongs to separate, until ramen is just tender but there is still liquid in the pan, about 2 minutes.

Stir in remaining soy sauce, sherry, and sugar. Stir in spinach, handful at a time, until spinach is wilted and sauce is thickened. Stir in beef and serve.

*I just omitted the sherry completely. I don’t have any and didn’t know a substitute. It turned out wonderfully!

Black Apple Dolls

When I saw these dolls a few months ago, I just fell in love. So naturally I was extremely happy to find out that the free pattern (along with more information about them) can be found here. I ended up making seven. Most were given as Christmas gifts, and a couple for other things. Aren't they just adorable:

In the end, this one turned out to be my favorite: