Natalie's own recipe

The other day, Natalie asked what baklava was. So I told her. And based on that description, she decided she wanted to make her own special desert. She was very specific in what she wanted to put in it and how she was going to make it. So, that evening, we followed her instructions:

Ingredients:
Half a pack of phyllo dough
A large pack of cook-and-serve vanilla pudding
2/3 glass of caramel topping
one apple, sliced
one pear, sliced
one banana, sliced
Frosting (icing made of confectioner's sugar, water, and red food coloring)

Procedure:
In a baking dish, put down in the following order:
Some sheets of phyllo dough
Pudding
Apple
Pudding
Pear
Pudding
Banana
Pudding
Sheets of phyllo dough
Caramel
Sheets of phyllo dough
Caramel
Sheets of phyllo dough
Pudding
Sheets of phyllo dough
Caramel
Sheets of phyllo dough
Spray with cooking spray to brown the top
Bake 35 min at 350F.
Decorate with frosting.

The result:

Delicious!

We had it warm with some whipped topping.

And the next day we had some of it cold, also with the whipped topping. We couldn't decide which was better!

I'm really surprised at Natalie's first attempt at making up her own real recipe. She was so sure of what she wanted to do, and needed very little help. And the result really couldn't have turned out any better!

The first picnic of the year...

...well, at least the first outdoor one... After all, we have lots of picnics in the living room and in the basement over the winter. But alas, I digress...

This weekend we had one of those beautiful, sky-blue days where you just have to get outside. So we had a family picnic in the afternoon in front of the house.

It was the perfect opportunity to get some cute photos of Natalie.

 This girl has an attitude!

This girl can be super-silly!

And this girl has the prettiest smile ever!

Happy Easter - part three

Natalie's Easter basked had a new Barbie movie in it - Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. It had lots of music in it. And in this house, we usually say that "there should always be time to dance!"

So here is Natalie's latest dance moves, complete with a sommersault and the but-wiggle:

Happy Easter - part two

Of course, we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

I love Natalie's outfit: Monkey jammies, jacket, and purple rain boots - perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

There was an Easter egg in the playhouse.

And another one - wow, that's a big one!

Yay, another one in the flower boxes!

All in all there were thirty two Easter eggs to find. Natalie did such a great job. She was very patient, and very thorough. And she loved the hunt.

Afterwards we went inside to open the eggs and see what was inside:

Candy - yay!

A pair of socks - or are they ear warmers?

Hope you had a happy Easter, too!