Um, what happened to SPRING????!

This is what's happening in my backyard as we speak!  Now, snow is pretty and all, but goodness sakes, the grass had just finally emerged again.  It's supposed to be SPRING!  Come back Spring, come back!

A view of my grill that was supposed get put away before the snow fell, but it never did.  We got dumped on so heavily at the beginning of December that we couldn't get it out of the back yard and into the garage.  Actually, because the back has the privacy fence, it is about the LAST place the snow actually melts, so there sits my grill.......

Yes, Elise, you CAN have a banana split for breakfast!

Those were my words to Elise this morning when she told me she'd like a banana split for breakfast.  My version is "almost" vegan (I say almost because I don't bother buying vegan sugar--too expensive--and there's a small drizzle of honey) and quite healthy!  Banana split boats would make it even prettier, I suppose, but the girls really didn't care.  They ate it right up anyway!  

We also had a tea party at breakfast this morning.  It was quite fancy.  The girls wore "their best."  Leah was hamming it up today!  

Lily looks like maybe she needs a nap....

"Take my picture now, Mommy!"

Recipe for Breakfast Banana Splits:

Make hot cereal of choice (we used Malt-o-Meal sweetened with a bit of brown sugar or pure maple syrup).

Slice bananas in half length-wise and width-wise.  Place 2 quarters in each bowl.  Add a dollop of jam, crushed pineapple, or frozen fruit, slightly thawed (raspberry & cherry jam were our choices today).   

Then top with whipped cream.  Today I used whipped coconut cream sweetened with a bit of powdered sugar, so it would be a little sweeter for the girls.    (To make whipped coconut cream:  just buy unsweetened coconut cream--I have the Savoy brand--and whip with an electric mixer.  Sweeten or add flavor as desired.)  

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago, my friend, Amy, asked me if I'd take some pregnancy photos of her.  Of course, I happily agreed.  Her neighbor is a professional photographer, and she also took pics.  It was a very fun experience, and here are just a few of the pics I took.

This one was completely candid.  Amy's neighbor went up to show her the pics she'd just taken, and I had to capture this moment.  It's one of my favorites.

Here's another favorite of mine.  I loved the angle on this!

It's extraordinary the changes your body makes when you're pregnant, and it all (mostly) goes back again afterward.  A true miracle!

I once read somewhere that God makes babies so cute so all the memories of sickness during pregnancy and a painful labor and delivery will fade as soon as you look at their precious faces. Amazing how that works, isn't it?  ~smile~ 

Searching for Spring Pt. 2

A cardinal!

Sitting on snow chairs.  I should also mention that on our expedition we crossed "raging streams" (puddles), and scaled the Himalayas (mounds of snow), and searched for the Abominable Snowman (Ryan's idea).  I love listening to the kids' imaginations at work.  

Elise and Ryan were planning to use this big branch to help them climb the tree, until I foiled their plans by telling them I didn't think the branch would work that way.

Leah

Searching for Spring

A friend of mine (and fellow blogger) posted recently about taking her girls on a "searching for Spring" walk.  I thought it was such a great idea and one that my kids would also enjoy (thanks for the idea, Rebecca!), so yesterday we took our own excursion into the woods.  I watched my friend, Amy's, little boy, Ryan, for a couple of hours yesterday, and he was able to go with us.  If you look carefully, you will see that Leah is holding a big stick in her hands.  If that isn't just a "Mark" thing, then I don't know what is!  

  

Lily walked much of the way on the pavement, but I had to carry her over a lot of the snow and some of the rougher areas on the path.

We found buds on the trees, but I didn't get a great pic of those.  Here's an old nest we found.

The mushrooms on this tree almost looked like steps you could climb!

Elise

Leah the Grape

Leah:  "Will you tie my blankie around me?"

Mark:  "Sure."

Leah:  "I'm a 'gician."

Mark:  "A what?"

Leah:  "A 'gician.  I'm Leah the Grape!"

Translation (She's a magician.  Leah the Great.)  

The blessingway

I made this cake for a friend of mine who is also expecting her second baby.  It's a chocolate mousse cake with coconut buttercream icing and topped with chocolate ganache.  The silhouette is done with a frozen buttercream transfer.  

I'd never been to a blessingway before, so I really had no idea what to expect.  It ended up being the neatest shower I'd ever been to.  It was just so empowering for my friend, and anyone who's been through childbirth.  We all brought food and talked about what we'd brought and what we wanted it to represent for the baby-to-be's life.  (My lovely cake was there because my friend had asked for it, but also because it represented richness and decadence, and who can't use some of that, right?!)  We also created a web with ribbons, and each of us will wear the ribbon around our wrists until after the baby is born.  It was truly a heartwarming experience.  

Mark's Birthday

Tarica took this picture of Mark and I at the conservatory.  It's one of the first pics we've really gotten of Mark since he's lost 50 pounds! 

Mark also had a birthday this week.  He's 39 now!  We had a nice, quiet birthday at home.  I made chili and cornbread (chili is his favorite), and his favorite cake, which is angel food with 7 minute frosting.  Elise decided Mark needed to have a "proper party," so she insisted he wear a crown (it was a Happy New Year hat she'd uncovered somewhere, but whatever).  She also found some noisemakers and favors (a Christmasy kaleidoscope).  After we sang Happy Birthday, she blew the noisemaker.  Then, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, she herded everyone into the living room to do the Limbo!  It was soooo cute!  I just love how their little minds work.  She really wanted to make daddy's birthday special!

Later, she asked Mark why Jesus didn't do anything special for his birthday.  Mark told her that He did.  He gave him a wonderful family to celebrate his birthday with.  Sweet, how someone so small can melt your heart into a puddle like that, isn't it?!  

Tarica's belly shots

My sister is expecting her second baby, a boy this time.  Here are a couple of pics I took while they were here.  Doesn't she look fantastic?!  

More conservatory pics

The trees were all bearing fruit that day.  We saw these oranges, bananas, and papayas.

Keatyn really wanted to help push the stroller!  

Here are some kind of cherry as well.  In the past, we've also seen star fruit, but I didn't see those this time.  

Leah had a blast riding in the stroller, while Keatyn helped to push her.  

This was in the Tropical Rainforest Room.  Elise and I just finished studying the Congo Rainforest in Africa, then the Amazon Rainforest in South America, so it was pretty cool for her to visit this room.  The sloth wasn't on display that day, but we did get so see a not-so-furry friend (the anaconda).  

My sister and niece came for a visit last weekend.  It was so nice to see them!  Here's a pic of all 4 girls in the bathtub.  They had a blast in there, just playing and giggling!  

This next set of pictures was taken at the Como Park Conservatory.  It was so busy that day!  

My sister, Tarica, and Keatyn.

Everyday life

Lily is getting better this week.  She's still on steroids, but is currently weaning off of them.  The girls have been showing us their very active imaginations and are making us laugh at every turn.  

The weather roller coaster we've been on in MN is just INSANE!  One day it's in the 40's, and I'm outside in a short sleeved shirt, and the next day it's snowing!  At least it was a pretty snow! I'm just so ready for Spring now though.  

Elise and Lily playing Chess, well, pretending to anyway.  You'll notice Elise is in her jammies. That's because she just wanted to wear a sweatshirt over her PJ's and I opted not to fight her on it.  I'm picking my battles....  

'K'up Mama, it's mo-nin!

This is usually how my sweet Lily greets me in the morning.  She's the one always telling me it's awake time or the sun is up.  Before all the sickness this winter, I was doing really well at getting up early (before the kids wake up at 6 am), and now I'm trying to get back there again, as it really does make the day go by much smoother if I'm getting up and going earlier than they are.

This would be a Mr. Potato Head hat on the cat.  And, no, we do not condone dressing up the pets!  This would be all the girls' doing!  

This pic was taken this morning while Lily was getting her neb.  The girls were all mesmerized by Caillou.  

Cute thoughts by Leah:

Leah:  "Mama, I had a good dream last night."

Me:  "Oh?  What did you dream?"

Leah:  "I dreamt I was a good girl helping you."

Me:  "Oh, sweetie.  I love that dream!"

Leah:  "Do you want to have good dreams mama?"

Me:  "Oh, yes, I love good dreams."

Leah:  "Like dreams of baby monsters?"

Ummm....WHERE does some of this stuff come from?  I guess they watched way too much TV (ie:  Sesame Street) during those weeks Lily was on O2 and getting all the nebs.  That's why we basically haven't been watching any except the occasional show during a neb.  

Strudel THE FINALE

Part 3 of 3 of strudel making...

Lily WAS doing better, but she caught Leah's runny nose and cough, so it's been back on oral steroids since yesterday.  I'm looking forward to 45º today, so I can air out the house!  Mark is picking up his BMW motorcycle from the shop (it broke down last summer after a month of riding and putting on 1000 miles) today, so he's a little excited and already chilled at the prospect of driving it home!  

Otherwise, we're excited for my sister and niece to visit later this week.  The girls are still loving on Zoey, and Elise and I are still catching up with homeschooling.  She wrote her first letter to her pen pal last night (I wrote the last one), which was really cool!  I had to talk her through the whole thing and spell all the words out, but she wrote all the letters herself.  

Making Strudel Part 2

Making Strudel Oct. 07

My MIL and 2 of her friends get together every fall and make strudel together.  Here are a couple of videos of how they get the dough so thin.  This is part 1, and I'll post the other 2 video clips later (maybe tomorrow).  

I'll post more family stuff soon too.  This week has been really busy with homeschooling, since I've got until April 2nd to get Elise where she needs to be by the end of 3rd quarter.  (We've taken several weeks off due to all the sickness around here).  I figured it out, and if I did 2 math lessons, 3 phonics lessons, 2-3 language arts lessons, and 1 history lesson 4-5 days a week, Elise would be caught up.  But, that's a LOT of lessons!  EEK!