Brady visit Feb 23 & 24

Brady is visiting the relatives this weekend.  Here are a few photos of his visit.

Our couch has become a "school bus" with Brady as the driver.  Not sure if he is really hungry, or if this is a delaying tactic to avoid going to bed but he seems to want "Chex Mix" which is really Rice Chex when it is time to go to bed.  He also wants Cheerios.  Grandpa is reading Brady "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?"  This book can be read multiple times in a row and still delight Brady and keep his interest.

Brady slept until 7:00 AM Friday morning.  Once he was up the first thing he did was go to the school bus!

Grandma made Brady a Mickey Mouse pancake.  Mickey Mouse is a favorite of Brady's at the moment.  You may notice his Mickey Mouse pajamas.

 Nothing like a quick game of hide and seek to get the day started.  Notice the Mickey Mouse pancake is in Brady's right hand.  He eventually did eat it.

 Brady is tall enough now to see over the table and onto the kitchen counters.

Whenever Brady comes to Grandma's house he likes to play the piano.

 Brady is adjusting "Ted-Ted" so he can hear the music better.

The highlight of today's activities was a visit to the Eau Claire Children's Museum.  Notice the small plane in Brady's right hand.  This little plane has become a favorite "clutch" item along with the key on a "Holiday Bus" key chain.

The highlight at the Children's Museum was this little car.  Notice it is parked by the Drive Through Window at the bank.

Brady spent as much time as he could sitting in the car and exchanging money through the drive up window with other kids.

There were a couple of young girls that seemed to enjoy being the bank tellers.  Brady and the two girls would endlessly pass the play money back and forth to each other through the drive up window.

After an hour at the bank drive up window Brady branched out and started exploring other parts of the Museum.  There is a lot here.  We stayed over two hours and never even went to the lower level where they have crafts and things to do with water.

This is the part of the Children's Museum devoted to children 4 and under.  Brady is harvesting the garden and bringing the produce to the boat.

 He has his arms full.  The yellow things are ears of corn.

Another area of the Children's Museum Brady found fascinating was the grocery store they have.  The check out was always busy so it wasn't until noon when most of the other kids left that Brady could access the cash register and scanner.  The whole museum is set up nice and it seemed like it lent itself to kids sharing and taking turns and getting along with each other.  Remarkably peaceful for as many children as were there for the first 1 1/2 hours.  We got there at 10:30 AM and the place was packed.

 This is the "garden" area for the 4 and under set.  Brady had a great time pulling up the flowers "planted" in the garden.  The garden is on the side of the fence Brady is on.

Of course, with that many kids at the children's museum one should wash their hands after they leave the museum.  What better way to wash your hands than in a sink full of soap suds!

Texas Sheet Cake

We just can't get enough of Texas cuisine! Brisket, BBQ, breakfast tacos...and now Texas Sheet Cake! This is a recipe from Cooking Light from the Jan/Feb 2012 issue. It was the number 2 best chocolate recipe featured in the past 25 years of the magazine. I also made the number 1 recipe which was classic-walnut brownies. But the Texas Sheet Cake was the best by my estimation. So here we go....

Ingredients:
2 tsp. all purpose flour (to dust the 15 x 10 jelly roll pan)
2 cups all-purpose flour (or if you are really into it, 9 ounces of flour)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, divided
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 Tbsp. vanilla, divided
2 large eggs
6 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cut fat-free milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 375.
Coat a 15x10 inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; dust with 2 tsp. flour. Set aside.
Weigh or lightly spoon 9 oz. (2 cups) flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the 9 oz. flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Combine 3/4 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/3 cup cocoa in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Pour into flour mixture. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add buttermilk, 1 tsp. vanilla and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 375 for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack.
Combine 6 Tbsp. butter, fat-free milk, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually stir in powdered sugar; stir in 2 tsp vanilla and pecans. Spread over hot cake. Cool completely on wire rack.
This recipe makes 20 servings and really is delicious! Hope Y'all love it!!

February update

Hi gang,

Sunday morning and the sun has risen to a clear blue sky day.  Just the type of morning to do a little blogging.

For Christmas we were given a 2012 calender of our children's favorite "Barnes-isms"  These are things we say that have become part of our family lore.

I thought I would share the start of the year with you.  These are pictures of the pictures from the calender we received.

 Brady graced the month of January.

 One of Mary's sayings, shown here in earlier days with Tim on the left and Adam on the right.

 In January Andrea, Adam and Brady paid us a visit.  Andrea and Adam went to a Robinson wedding.  One of Dan's grandsons got married.  We took care of Brady while they went to the wedding.

 This was back when we still had a fair amount of snow.

 Brady watching the deer from out our window.  Brady "fed" the deer by putting corn on the ground earlier.

 Brady loves peas!

 He just can't get enough peas!

 Brady loves to help Grandma in the kitchen.  Here they are making cookies.

 Yesterday, Saturday, February 18, Mary and I paid a quick visit to Madison to see Andrea, Adam and Brady.  We got to their house about 7:30 PM Friday night and were there when Brady got up on Saturday morning.  Here he is with two of his favorite things, the dump truck and the school bus.

 Brady is helping Mary brush her hair.

 I received equal treatment.

Saturday morning we went to Cambridge.  We each had a sweet roll and something to drink at a local bakery in Cambridge.  Brady was fascinated by the process of making the specialty coffees, chai tea and the general activity behind the counter.

 Grandpa provided the perch so he could watch what was going on behind the counter.

Brady in his car seat on the way back from Cambridge.

In honor of President's Day tomorrow:  Edwin, Greg, Tim and Chelsea wearing their "I Love History" shirts from the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois.

From the archives, Edwin and Adam in Austin preparing to go for a run on one of the mornings before the wedding.

Wedding potpourri

Hi guys,

We haven't fallen off the blog-o-sphere.  Here are a few pictures from Chelsea & Edwin's wedding.  Enjoy!