James loves his Dad

From the minute James was born, he was searching for Shane, craning his neck in the direction of Shane's voice. There has been an unmistakable bond between the two of them right from the start. James loves his Dad. If Shane is in the room, James will just stare at him until Shane looks over at him, and then light up with a big smile. It is a beautiful thing to watch, and the feeling is mutual. James is Shane's pride and joy. He takes him everywhere with him, talks with him, teaches him, and plays with him every chance he gets.

Dear Shane,
Watching you transform into a Dad has been one of the happiest experiences of my life. You amaze and surprise me everyday. Thank you for for taking such good care of our baby. I love you.

Happy Father's Day.

Peppermint Pie by Shane

Shane is my sous chef in our kitchen. In fact he is wearing one of two aprons he made for us the Christmas we were engaged. They have our names embroidered on them, and our titles - Lauren: Chef, Shane: Sous Chef. Did you know that Shane could sew? He's very good.

Yesterday Shane made a Peppermint Pie to take for dessert at my Sister-in-Law's house (start to finish all by himself). I used to have this dessert during the summers at my Aunt Marianne's house when she would make it. But, peppermint ice cream is only available during the holidays around here, so it's become a winter time treat

You start by making the pie crust out of Double Stuffed Oreos - 1 bag. Don't be afraid of the "stuff" in the oreos, I promise it won't hurt you. All the cream in the middle is what makes the crust stick together - no baking involved. I usually use a food processor, but Shane crushed the cookies by hand in a ziplock bag with a rolling pin - more fun and less clean up. You want to get the pieces fairly small so the crust sticks.

Let the ice cream soften for a few minutes so you can fill the pie crust without destroying it.

Then smooth out the ice cream, cover the pie with plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer to set up.

When you are ready, serve it with a hot fudge sauce, eat, and be very happy.

German Pancakes and a Birthday Breakfast

I extended my weekend trip back east to a week-long visit, which usually happens when I go see my family, but I finally made it home last night. Just in time too, because today is Shane's Birthday! He is 29 years old! And, he is the toughest, strongest, cleverest, most loving, most sacrificing, most brilliant, handsome Husband and Father to be around. I grow more in love with him every day. So, to kick start the celebrations, I made him German Pancakes for breakfast.

I love German Pancakes. They are soft and eggy with a little crisp around the edges, and it's really fun to watch them blow up in the oven into a fun big shape. This recipe comes from my Uncle Scott.

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 c milk
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter

Method
Pre-heat oven to 425
Put all the ingredients except for the butter in a blender, and blend for 8-10 seconds - no more than that or the pancakes will be tough. There will be flour etc. sticking to the side that didn't get incorporated, but just ignore it, and let the batter rest while the oven heats.
When oven is ready, slice butter into pads and place evenly around the bottom of a 9x13 non stick pan. Place pan in the oven.
When the butter is just melted, pour the batter in the pan, shut the oven, and set the timer for 25 minutes.
I have a very hot oven, so I usually have to adjust my cooking times down. I also like to crack the oven for the last minute of baking, so the pancakes don't collapse so easily when I take them out.

Squeeze with fresh lemon right out of the oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. We like to serve ours with bananas, whipped cream, and syrup as well.

Shane

This is my Husband Shane. If you have seen our "family blog", you have seen tons of posts (written by Shane) about how great he thinks I am, and you (the reader) are invited, and sometimes required to leave a note telling me that you think so too.
He spends a lot of his time thinking of ways to make me feel loved. His secret wish list that he keeps on his computer, which I saw the other day, is full of things he wants to do for me or have for me.
I don't want to be "mushy" or "cheesy", but I want to share with everyone (or just my family members who are obligated to read this blog) just how wonderful he is. The picture above is a good representation of who Shane really is. After waking up early and doing the dishes for me before leaving, and after a long day of work, and after a soccer game (because he is still a kid who loves to play) in which he Broke his nose!! He rushes home to take a shower, create a make-shift nose splint, and put on a white shirt and tie because someone said they might need him for a blessing.
He waited on our couch like this for three hours, getting up every now and then to ice his nose and see if there was something he could do for me. Every day I think to myself, "Wow, I am a very lucky girl."