Family Pics

Here are some of my favorite pictures we had taken today at Portrait Pros Elite in Colleyville.  I like how he has his arm around her in the second one!

Best Video EVER

Doctor Visit

I still can't believe my babies are 9 months old!  We went to the doctor for their check up today.  Bethany weighs 18lbs, 2oz, and is 28in long.  That puts her in the 50% for weight and 75% for length.  Her head circumference is 18in, which is 90% for girls.  It's totally different for boys!  Zachary weighs 19lbs, 1oz, and is 27 3/4in long.  He's in the 25%-50% for weight and length.  His head circumference is 17 1/2in, which is 25% (smaller than Bethany).

The other day I let them play together in Zach's crib after their naps.  They're really starting to "talk" to each other and interact more!

We borrowed a gate system from my brother and sister in-law...I call it the play pit.  Now I don't have to worry about the kids rolling or crawling to weird places while I'm out of the room!

I also snapped some pictures yesterday afternoon after we went on a HOT walk.  All of us (including Rudy) needed to get out of the house for a little bit.

Asian Slaw

This is one of our favorite salads! You will need:

2 pkgs. (3 oz. size) beef flavored ramen noodle soup mix

2 pkgs. coleslaw mix (8.5 oz. size)

1 cup toasted sliced almonds

1 cup sunflower kernals

1 bunch green onions-chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 white vinegar

In a large bowl, place slaw mix, toasted almonds, sunflower kernals, and chopped green onions. Whisk together contents from ramen noodle flavor packets, sugar, oil, and vinegar. Pour over slaw. Cover and chill for 24 hours. Right before serving, crush the ramen noodles and add to slaw. Toss before serving. What are some of your best salad recipes?

9 Months

Another month has flown by! We'll be going to the doctor next Wednesday for their check up, so I'll find out then how much they weigh, etc. We've also got an appointment on Friday to get 9 month pictures taken, so I hope they smile as good as they did last time! These days, Bethany and Zachary are perfectly content rolling around to get where they want to go. I think they could start crawling any day now! Bethany still just has her two bottom teeth, but Zachary's got his two top coming in as well. They both like to pull their bumper pads down, and the other day I caught them both looking at each other through the bars of their cribs. So cute! They still enjoy watching Baby Einstein videos (Zach especially likes watching tv...even Ranger games). Bethany wants to be picked up when she sees me, puts her arms up, and cries when I leave the room. She doesn't always do this, so hopefully she'll move out of this stage soon. They like to eat Puffs...her more than him. I still haven't been very successful at getting them to use sippy cups. They like to chew on them more than anything. Both of them enjoy cradle roll class at church and playing in the nursery. We're SO blessed to have a loving church family who treat our children like their own! Here are B and Z before church today :)

Blessed

First of all, check out the picture of Katie and I from VBS two summers ago! It's hard to believe now Katie's 4, Randal's 2, and I've got TWO kiddos of my own. Anyway, tonight was the last night of HERO camp...and we tried to get some pictures of all the kids. They cooperated pretty well!

Vacation Bible School

Not much going on around here! It's VBS at our church this week, so we took the kids the past couple of nights. It starts at 6:30, and Zach was tired when I took this picture...Aaron's mom went to New York a few weeks ago, and she brought back some onesies for the twins. They look a little bit happier today!

Appetizers

One super easy slow cooker recipe is for cocktail sausages. You only need:

2 lbs. cocktail size smoked link sausages

1 (12 oz.) bottle chili sauce

1 (10 oz.) jar grape jelly

Put the cocktail sausages in your crock pot. Pour the chili sauce and grape jelly over the sausages. Cook either 3 hours on Low OR 1 1/2 hours on High. It sounds weird, but they're really good!

Another easy appetizer is for a cheese ball. There are many recipes out there, so if you have a good one, please share! This calls for:

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

3 tbs. mayo (Miracle Whip works too)

1 envelope dry ranch dip

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese

1 small bag chopped pecans

Mix first 4 ingredients together, form a ball, roll in chopped pecans. Refrigerate overnight, and serve with crackers.

Magic Movies

I love my Flip video camera! Aaron's parents went with him to the kids' swim lessons today, and Sharon took lots of great pictures. I put some different videos together...what do you think?

We also went to the Fort Worth Cats baseball game with Aaron's co-workers last night. This was Bethany and Zachary's first baseball game, and they actually lasted a couple of hours. I think we stayed through the sixth inning. If you've never been to a Cats game they're a lot of fun, and the tickets are much cheaper than Ranger games.

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday! It's playtime for Bethany and naptime for Zachary. She slept in this morning, so now they're on different schedules. O-well!

Rollin' Around

The kids got their exercise after breakfast today. They rolled around for a while...I just have to make sure they don't roll into each other!

Desserts

It's always nice to end a meal with desserts. Please share your favorite recipes, and here are some of mine!

Dump Cake (thanks to my Grandma Billie):

1 (16 oz) can crushed pineapple

1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with Pam. Dump pineappe, then cherry pie filling over pineapple. Spread cake mix over pie filling. Cut butter in slices and place over top. Add pecans. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Indoor S'mores:

8 cups Golden Grahams cereal

6 cups miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup light corn syrup

5 tbsp. margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

Measure cereal into large bowl. Butter a 9x13 inch pan. Microwave 5 cups marshmallows, chocolate chips, corn syrup, and margarine uncovered in a large bowl on High 2 to 3 1/2 minutes, stirring after every minute, until melted and smooth when stirred. Stir in vanilla. Pour over cereal in bowl and quickly toss until completely coated. Stir in 1 cup marshamallows. Press mixture evenly in pan. I usually leave it out for an hour or so before cutting into squares.

Swimming

We're about half way through our swimming lessons this summer. Bethany and Zachary enjoy splashing, kicking, going under water, and "singing" the songs. We got a little bit on camera today. They're not really doing anything, but you get the idea. Zach falls at the very end...he was okay :)

Swim time with Mommy!

What's wrong with the first picture?

Sick Baby

Our 4th of July didn't go as planned. Bethany was running a fever when we got to Granbury (about 101), and she definitely wasn't acting as happy as usual. After giving her Tylenol every 4 hours or so, she's finally doing better. I think it's the teething, but we'll see how she feels tomorrow...and Zachary's top tooth came in this weekend, so we're having lots of fun in the Rader house! We still had fun with the kids, and Katie had lots of fun seeing fireworks, spending the night, and FISHING. Here are the pictures you came to see!

Katie ready to go fishing.

Cool Randal

Aaron and Zachary watching the waves.

Mom with sick baby Bethany.

Katie driving the boat!

Going for a ride :)

Breakfast Time

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods? Here's one of mine!

Egg Casserole:

3 tablespoons butter, melted
5 large eggs, beaten
1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 4oz. can diced green chilies

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8 inch square baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, chilies, flour, baking powder, salt, and butter. Pour in baking dish and cook uncovered for 35 minutes. You could also double the recipe to feed more people!

Super Daddy

Aaron took the past couple of days off work, so yesterday he let me sleep in! He got to feed the kids at the same time, and did a pretty good job. I'm just thankful for the extra sleep :)

He also gave Bethany, Zachary, and Rudy baths today while I was at Wal-Mart. I think he's trying to earn some brownie points!

Friday Photos

Trying strawberry apple PuffsWashing down our snack... Mmmm, Mmmm, Good
Ready for swimming lessons!