My Girls

Olivia: Queen of the mountain (or huggies box)

I was on the phone during a quick cloudburst. The three oldest kids ran out to play in the rain (I mean gutter) and got soaked. While I gave Adam a bath and changed his clothes, the girls decided to ROLL in the dirt. No one came the first time I called them to come in to change clothes, but when they finally came running they looked like this:
... and I made them stand still so I could spray them off with the hose, and then change clothes in the garage before coming into the house.

I love this picture of Emily.

I love this picture of Miriam

Couldn't resist taking this picture of Michael weeding with Olivia on his shoulders.

Swimsuits

It's June and that means kids want to run through the sprinklers

but first they need swimsuits...

And water guns!

- even if they won't go in the cold sprinker water -

Strawberry Jam

School is out for the summer and the kids needed something to do.

Costco had strawberries at a really good price, so I decided to teach the kids how to make jam.

Emily stemmed all the strawberries and handed them to Miriam to smash with the potato masher. Then, they had to measure the sugar. I can't count how many times they lost track of how many cups of sugar they measured into their bowls and had to start over. Once they were sure they got it right, they got to stir in the mashed berries and pectin.

This is a picture near the beginning of the project BEFORE we spilled juice and sugar all over everything.

Miriam let the boys help - by holding her spoon while she stirred it.

So, in all we made 8 1/2 QUARTS (not pints) of freezer jam - just over 2 gallons!

it only took 8 lbs of strawberries, about 10 lbs. of sugar, 6 boxes of pectin, LOTS of dishes, and a couple of hours. Don't forget baths too.

While we made jam, I also made a batch of bread to go with it. Can you believe we ate half a quart of jam that night?

Happy 4th Birthday Adam

We celebrated Adam's 4th birthday last week!

When did he get so old?

Adam wanted a truck cake for his birthday. I tried to make it look like a truck. I even followed a pattern. But in the end it came out looking like an el camino instead. Adam wanted white frosting for his truck cake with strawberries (also his idea). We tried to get him to pick a color for the frosting, so he picked his favorite - green. I just couldn't get it any greener. It matched the mint chocolate ice cream perfectly. Wheels are chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Adam LOVED it - especially his name on the back for a "license plate."

Here is the front view - with M&M headlights.

Time for presents! What 4-year old boy does NOT need a battery powered squirt gun?

He never tired of squirting the girls, and they LOVED it too.

More presents...

... a race track!

Just too much help putting it together.
All done! Let's see how fast the cars go.

The boys couldn't take their eyes off the cars!

Got to have the "blow out the candles" picture.

Later, I asked Adam why he kept squirting the ground. His answer: "I was squirting bugs!"

And after all that, I forgot to give Adam the one present he had been asking for for a month! A red phone (a.k.a. the play phone in the checkout line at Walmart I always say no to.) I actually did buy it and it was sitting in my sock drawer. I just forgot to wrap it. So two days later, when I remembered, I wrapped it up and gave him his LATE present. Joshua thought Adam's birthday would NEVER end.

Michael's workout

Who needs an exercise routine when you have kids?

The Third Grade RECORDER Recital

It takes a very special person to be able to teach 150 kids (6 classes of third graders) to play the recorder.

I'm not that special person.

Emily has one dedicated music teacher at her elementary school!

And now, what you have all been waiting for...

...THE VIDEO!  (just one of 9 songs)

the rest of the story:

Emily came upstairs this morning in a PANIC.

"Mom you HAVE to come to my recorder recital.  IT'S TODAY!"

I had no idea when or where this recital was taking place.  I had not seen any note, nor heard anything about a recorder recital today.  So after emptying the enormous quantity of paper from Emily's backpack and not finding the "purple note she forgot to give me last week," I made a few calls.  "Luckily" the three youngest kids and I made it to her school for the grand performance.  Wish I would have known sooner so I could have sent out INVITATIONS!

:O)

Great Job, Emily!

(Dad, does this top attending my 4th grade violin recital?)