Bluebonnets at the wrong time of day

The bluebonnets were beautiful this year and this picture does not do them justice but it was the only time we could take pictures even if it was on a Saturday morning and I took it.  20 minutes and we were done.  I got some good ones of the kids.  None that I want to put on canvas but some that I love.

Bucket head

Good to know we have other uses for the Easter buckets.

Butterfly

Notice what’s on Linden’s head.  I think it loved his orange hair.

Quiet

 

We’ve dropped the afternoon nap most days but the girl still really needs it.  I was working on school with the big boys while Gibson was napping.  I could hear Channing talking away and then nothing, quiet.  I went in the living room to find her like this.  She was out!

Hello deliciousness

This is what we made in our cooking class that Stefan did not get a large enough serving of.  I made it for our family and gave Stefan a large serving this time.

It’s a little high maintance but well worth it.

Chocolate Pot De Crème

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp corn starch

1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups milk

4 large egg yolks

1 cup whipping cream

4 ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 ounce unsalted butter

Combine the sugar, corn starch, cocoa powder, salt and about 1/2 cup of the milk in a medium mixing bowl, whisking until mixture is smooth.  Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, until well incorporated.

In a medium sauce pan, heat the remaining milk and cream until they just come to the boil.  Slowly add the hot milk and cream to the egg mixture, whisking as you pour.  Slowly bring mixture to a simmer, stirring all the time.  Slowly simmer for about 1 minute until thickened.

Remove the pudding from the heat and add the semisweet chocolate, vanilla, and butter.  Stir in until the chocolate and butter have melted and are completely incorporated.  Portion the pudding into small ramekins and place into refrigerator to cool.  To serve, garnish with a small dollop of whipped cream and grated chocolate.

The tadpole tradeoff

New fish for the new aquarium.  We’re trading up from the bull frog tadpole that was sent home from school.

The tea party

Instead of a standard birthday party I talked Channing into having an all girls tea party.  The five of us went to Madhatters and had high tea. 

One on one date

We took Channing out for her one on one birthday date.  Her request for lunch? Somewhere with bread, chips and ice cream.  We talked her into Zio’s and cupcakes afterwards.  It WAS her birthday.

Decimal city

Hadley started a new thing in math called decimal city.  I thought it was lame but he loved it.  I’m glad he got a kick out of it, maybe decimals and fractions will be a breeze.  We can always hope.

Playing quietly

Sometimes it can mean trouble but this day Holden and Channing were having a ball riding their bikes around the basketball court, circling over and over.

The birthday girl

I can’t believe she’s 4!  We started the day with a strawberry cake with strawberry icing.  All pink of course.

Early morning

Well if you have to wake up early, camping in a beautiful place is the place to do it. 

Camping while sick=little patience

Note to self: it’s not the most fun to go camping when you are not feeling well.  However, we had promised our children that we were going and we’d had this trip booked for months.  We went and I’m glad we did.  It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. It would have been helpful to have had the remote instead of me running to beat the timer on the camera, maybe Gibson would have looked at the camera instead of me, but I think we were lucky we’d packed our four children that’s how unprepared we were for this trip. 

Good intentions

I had lots of good intentions about what I was going to do during our first Spring Break but somehow I got caught up in cleaning the house every 5 minutes waiting for a showing.  To be fair we did have 3 showings on Monday which meant we had to be out of the house for 3 1/2 hours but still…..  We could have gone somewhere fun.  Instead I made them do the things I still have to do, Spring Break or not, like go to the grocery store and Costco.

However, here is my shining moment.  Can you tell?  Doesn’t it look awesome?

 

We made Play-doh.  Oh yes we did.  Homemade.  Mostly because all our play-doh was old and dried out and this was a cheaper alternative plus the kids thought it was cool.  They really did, and honestly, it kept them busy for a good while adding food coloring to it and trying to get it the right color.  After we did this I tried not to die on the couch while Gibson napped and I sent Hadley, Linden and Channing upstairs to watch a movie because I was feeling horrible and then had to get up and clean again before a showing.  Good times.

A visit from Xavier

My good friend Marisa was in Corpus from California and was good enough to drive to San Antonio with her brand new baby so we could love on him.  She was such a good sport as I ran through the house cleaning like a crazy person trying to get ready for a showing then made her walk to the park with all our children during the showing and pretty much just hang out around the house with a bunch of curious children infatuated with her 10 week old. In addition to that, Stefan was sick and I started feeling awful the night she spent the night.  It was not the best of all visits but we were all happy she came.  While I got lots of pictures of Xavier somehow we didn’t get a single one of the two of us.  Ugh!  That’s frustrating on many levels  Oh well, here is our offspring….

We woke Channing up by laying Xavier next to her. 

As promised

Since Hadley found out he could get his own library card he has been asking to go.  We filled out the form at home and then took it up there to obtain the coveted library card.  He was excited to check out a new Magic Tree House Book but of course they didn’t have the number he wanted so instead of finding a different book, he left empty handed, well, with the exception of the new library card which he is insisting he needs a key chain to put it on.

Freddy’s

What’s a birthday without a dinner date to Freddy’s with Gamma Gicki and Pa?  Vicki was going to be out of town on Channing’s actual birthday and for her tea party so we celebrated early.  Here she is opening her present from them.  A movie with the two of them but she opted for a movie at their house and getting to spend the night.  She was also allowed 3 bowls of ice cream.  I’m pretty sure I would have chosen 3 bowls of ice cream over movie theater popcorn too.

I love it

Do you see what he wrote on his muscles with body crayons?  BIG.  Work it almost eight year old!

Fancy lunch

It’s not often that we go to a sit down restaurant with the kids and after church on Sunday we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse which use to be one of my favorites.  It was so/so.  I think I’m over them.  The kids were excited though.  Where else do you get as many peanuts as you can eat as well as hot rolls with butter?  Why do we even bother with the kids meals?

A visit

Justin and Thatcher came down for the day to get out of Bobbie’s way and this picture just cracks me up.  It’s an awful picture but I was trying to take one of just Justin and Thatcher and Channing stood right next to Justin and wouldn’t move out of the way.  Look at that expression on her face.  T was already done taking pictures at this point.

A rough day

I took this picture at the beginning of the day when the kids were happily building forts made out of Linden’s favorite umbrella.  You can see that it’s bent at an odd angle, tucked into a suitcase.  Hadley kept messing with it which made Linden angry and then when we undid the fort and found out that the umbrella was broken, he blamed Hadley and it set Linden off.  For hours, I did everything I could to get Linden under control.  It’s becoming less prevalent these days and I keep trying to find different ways to cope with his outbursts.  This day in particular will be one that I can imagine I won’t forget for awhile.

Funny guy

The digital picture frame is still a hit with the kids.  It never ceases to amaze me how long they will sit and watch old pictures go by.  I love it.  I also love Gibson’s sandals with his pants.  He LOVES these sandals!

Unexpected guests

Tuesday Sarah had something she needed to do which meant that Griffin and Brooks had to endure some off the cuff cooking for two extra boys.  It was fun to have a full table.

Healthy competition

Griffin has started reading on his own and has been really excited about it which got Hadley interested.  This was the first time I saw him pick up a book and read it cover to cover.  He loved it!  His excitement has since died down a little but I’m still encouraged that maybe he’ll find the love for reading that I have.

The lot

We went out to the lot on Saturday to try and scope out where we might like to put the house.  Stefan was examining trees.  This is looking from the house towards the street about where the driveway will go.  Maybe someday we’ll look back and can’t believe it looked like this. 

The belated present

I love getting late birthday presents, it just makes your birthday last that much longer.  I guess Gibson feels the same way.  He enjoyed opening a new set of superhero costumes.  Thanks Aunt Heather, Uncle Kevin and Tyler.