Theo Turns Seven

Theo turned 7 on May 4th, and one thing is for sure, this kid loves his birthday. Of course what child doesn't? But he comes up with very specific plans and ideas for celebrating, none of which could possibly be fully realized! However, he makes it fun and as he gets older, he is more understanding of grown-ups' limitations (such as us not truly understanding what is in his head, money, etc.). His enthusiasm is contagious, so we had fun planning a party.

The weekend before his birthday, we had a Super Mario Brothers (the current obsession in our house) party. He got to invite a "few" friends, which turned out to be a lot more! But it was fun. Theo discovered some amazing cakes online and showed me a few pictures of what he wanted. Ha! I did what I could and ended up with a squished (thanks to Adrian's decorating help) Super Mario cake.

The cake attempt. There were supposed to be clouds, green hills, and question marks on the cake, but they didn't quite make it. 

Party kids

Theo with his cousin

At his birthday party, the kids took turns in the "VIP lounge" playing the Wii. We played pin the mustache on Mario and a few Minute to Win games. Theo's favorite is "Suck It" where, within a minute and without using your hands, you use a straw to transfer Skittles or M&Ms and balance them on other straws. The kids just had to transfer them to another little cup. But they all seemed to like it and I was surprised how quiet it got while they were trying to transfer their Skittles.

The kids trying to transfer their Skittles

"Pin the Mustache on Mario" aka "Weird-looking Bats Attack Mario's Face"

Terry was able to take Theo to the last playoff game for the Jazz (where they won the series), and Theo received a Super Mario Brother's chess set (a great combination of his favroite things) from his grandparents that he loves! 

Egg Crazy

I know, enough with Easter already! But Theo and Adrian were very excited about this one. We have never dyed Easter eggs with the little kids before (you know, because I am a mean mom). We just never got around to it. But this year, we went a little crazy and dyed numerous eggs, numerous colors. Theo was very happy and his favorites were the tie-dyed ones.

We also dyed eggs for Greek Easter, the goal being a deep, red color. I tried the onion skin method and the fabric dye method. The ones dyed with onion skins turned out more brown, but were still pretty and actually edible. While it took a large amount of onions to obtain all the skins (you want the brown skins, not the red onion skins, which dye the eggs a very nice purple), it was fun to use such a "natural" dye.

The onion skin dyed Greek Easter eggs

vs

Eggs dyed with fabric dye for Greek Easter

Of course we played the egg cracking game. The owner of the uncracked egg is the winner. 

Theo and cousin Megan trying their best to crack each other's egg.

Stelios & Ashley

Adrian successfully cracks Terry's egg! He was very proud.

The last egg standing.
My niece, Sarah, had one very indistructible egg!!

Fourth Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Can this really be our fourth Easter here!? My mom's sister, Jane, has hosted a wonderful Easter egg hunt four years in a row! The kids love the hunt, and it is the highlight of the weekend for them. Thanks Jane!

My mom's sisters who live nearby, Jane & Jenny

Adrian and his cheesy smile

Theo with his cousins

Nora tries to keep up

I can't get enough of Theo's toothless smile.

Happy Easter

Fresh snow on Easter Morning.

I can think of no better way to spend Easter morning than with the amazing messages from LDS General Conference (my favorite messages were those by President Uchtdorf and President Monson). 

Names?!

I get so excited when hearing new babies' names and especially love the stories and thought process behind those names. Out of all the names in the world, parents select that very special one for their precious little baby, and to me this makes that particular name, whatever it is, so wonderful. Even when not pregnant, I read a few name blogs and love to get in on name discussions.

But I CANNOT decide on a first name for our little one. I just keep adding names to an already long and varied list. So I am asking for your suggestions. Due to an intense superstition, I will not name her until she is born, but I would love to hear your ideas. Please?

Some must-haves:

Basically it must be a name traditionally used for girls, not contain creative or phonetic spellings (the child already has to spell out Xanthos for everyone), and sound good when said with Xanthos (you can make some good tongue twisters).

A few other things (but not necessary):

I do gravitate toward names that are considered old fashioned, but I am VERY open!! Nothing too common, but there are many beautiful names used often. I am also interested in "international" names (i.e. Greek, Italian, Hispanic, French, and Scandinavian).

Wedding dinner

I was lucky enough to be asked to help cook for our neighbors' son's wedding last Friday. With the bride's recipe in hand, my mother-in-law and I spent the afternoon making coq au vin. Because neither of us had made this before, we were on our best cooking behavior! The tricky part was making such a large quantity and deciding how to divide it up since my kitchen (specifically the stove top) does not accommodate enormous cookware. 

I had a blast! After delivering the food, we took our stations in their kitchen to prepare salad, serve, etc., until the evening was over (the dinner menu also included strawberry and balsamic salad, roasted asparagus, and icebox butterhorns). The wedding took place in their house and the bride was gorgeous. She did all of the decorating and made her cake, not to mention all of the other wedding details she planned. I wish I had had my camera with me so you could see her amazing dress, so simple and elegant. I know, what kind of a boring blog is this with no photos! Who doesn't love photos of a beautiful bride as well as wonderful food?

It was a very fun evening and a much needed break from the routine.

While we were cooking I searched other recipes and photos to make sure it was turning out correctly.  People said they liked it and some requested the recipe. Here is the recipe we used:

Coq au vin
32 servings (someone else made another 32 servings)

32 Bone-in chicken thighs (skinned)
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
2 c. flour
Dredge thighs in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper until well coated.

1/2 c. olive oil
Heat; add chicken and brown. When brown pour off all oil except 1 T. Set aside chicken.

4 onions, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
16 c. baby carrots
16 c. mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
Add onions, mushrooms and carrots to pan and saute for 3 minutes

1/2 c. Tomato paste
5 T Garlic, minced
Add garlic and tomato paste and saute for 2 minutes

6 c. red wine (cabernet sauvignon)
Deglaze pan with wine and reduce for 3 minutes

6 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. fresh thyme, chopped
Add chicken broth and thyme to pan along with chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat and simmer 20-40 minutes or until chicken is tender.

6 T butter
Kosher salt and pepper
Add butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Note if sauce still needs more flavor at the end of cooking, add undiluted chicken base and mix into the sauce to taste. Can also thicken sauce with cornstarch if needed.

Bun in the oven . . .

Yep, another bun is in the oven.

We are excited to be expecting a baby on August 5th!

Terry spilled the beans on Facebook. I was keeping it under wraps for a while longer (I'm 14 weeks) . . .