Spirit Day? Or Sprite Day?

Ephraim brought a letter home from school, which read: "Don't forget to wear your pajamas to school for Spirit Day tomorrow!" He read it, then shouted loudly and very excitedly through the house, "AZAEL! Tomorrow we get to have Sprite at school!!!!!!"

Soccer Star

Ephraim had his first soccer game this week. All the kindergarten teams have Harry Potter names. Ephraim's team is The Muggles. For this game, they played the Wizards. I'd like to say the non-magical folk won, but as one would expect, the Wizards exercised their amazing magic and witchcraft against us (they scored 17 goals, clearly some magic at work). Ephraims says his team scored 3 (poor defenseless Muggles-never knew what hit them). Despite the loss, Ephraim was so happy to play and is thrilled for the next game. He was impressively athletic during the game (especially in comparison to preschool soccer 2 years ago, when he just stood near the goal and chatted with the cute girls). Here are some photos.

Team Cheer!

An opposing player chats it up with Ephraim:

Going after the ball...

Taking a break:

Oops, is the teammate taking the ball from Ephraim? Uh oh.

Water Break:

More aggressive play. Yay Ephraim!

Chattin' with his teammates.

"Good Game, Good Game, Good, Game..."

A Rockin' Fun Yard

Our yard is pretty cool: Sandbox. Swingset. Two climbers. Two toy ride-in cars. And a city-mowed greenspace (ask me sometime about being a vigilante in relation to this greenspace). Oh, and lots of fun neighbor kids. Here they are, in our yard, creating an "Alien Mothership" out of the two climbers, the basketball hoop, and one of the toy cars.

salsa for dinner

I walked in the kitchen the other day and found Lorelai eating her dinner. Guess what it was? A bowl and a plate of salsa. Her utensil? An ice cream scoop. Oh boy...

Pirate Silas

Silas went to a birthday party on Saturday. He got a pirate hat and treasure box as favors. He has worn the hat and kept the treasure box with him ever since.

Cub Scout

We have a new Cub Scout in the family... Fun times!

Fruit Pizza

We enjoyed this for dinner (yes, dinner) one night last week. I made a pretty and orderly pizza, shown below.

The second pizza had a more random look.

Which would you take?

Allergic to Mom

Silas didn't want to do his chores today, so after twice ignoring my request, he turned to me and said, "I'm allergic to you, Mom."

Some Random Photos (catchy title, huh?)

SOME RANDOM PHOTOS, so that's my catchy title. Yay!

Grandma & Grandpa gave Lorelai a beautiful dress (and headband) for her birthday, which is actually next week.

Azael cuts the first piece of cake (a tradition in MM's family)

Enjoying the cake

Remember those balloons Lorelai got at the store 3 weeks ago? they're still good. And her new favorite thing is to wrap them around her body and walk around. Since I fear strangulation, I think I'll pop them today.

Lorelai & Grandpa

My parents visited this past weekend for Azael's birthday and baptism. Lorelai had a blast lying on the couch with Grandpa for about half an hour. Here's a cute photo. (click on it to enlarge)

Kindergarten Circus

The Circus came to our school this week. That is, Ephraim's kindergarten class put on a circus for all the parents. Ephraim was a lion. It was super cute and I was even teary-eyed some of the time!

Ephraim doing his lion routine. He even jumped through a hoop!

Ephraim the Bravehearted Lion. And a happy lion, too. :)

Azael's Baptism

Azael was baptized this past weekend. Everything went smoothly and Azael said, "It all felt good." Grandma & Grandpa from Iowa were there. He received lots of nice letters from friends and family. It was a nice experience for all of us!

Grandpa & Grandma (Jen's parents) with Azael.

Brazilian-style Chocolate Pizza

This is the best dessert ever. Except for cheesecake. It's called Brazilian-style Chocolate Pizza. Mystery Man ate pizza like this in Brazil, and we perfected a recipe that comes close. But we add marshmallows. Do they have marshmallows in Brazil?

Our kids enjoy it too...

Brazilian-style Chocolate Pizza

Crust:
¾ c warm water
1 package active dry yeast
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 T. sugar
¾ t. salt
3 T. olive oil

Topping:
2 T. butter (melted)
¼ c. chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella)
½ c. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped bars)
2 T. chopped high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt) (optional: use ¼ c. marshmallows instead)
2 T. chopped toasted hazelnuts (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 450 degrees (note, many ovens take 20 minutes to get up to this temperature, even if your oven says it’s ready, keep heating a little longer or use an oven thermometer).

GREASE pizza pan or baking sheet with olive oil (optional: line pan with parchment paper instead of oil).

POUR ¾ c. water into small bowl; stir in yeast and let stand 5 minutes.

BRUSH large bowl lightly with olive oil.

In food processor, MIX 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt. ADD yeast mixture and 3 T. oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball (we use our bread kneader instead of our food processor).

TRANSFER dough to lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute.

TRANSFER to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

PUNCH down dough. ROLL out dough on lightly floured surface to 11-inch round (start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them).

TRANSFER dough to prepared pizza pan or baking sheet. MAKE indentations all over dough with fingertips. BRUSH 2 T. melted butter over dough.

BAKE until pale golden, about 10-15 minutes.

SMOOTH chocolate-hazelnut spread over hot crust.

SPRINKLE both chocolates (& marshmallows if desired) on top. BAKE only 2 minutes until chocolate begins to melt (don’t go longer or the chocolate-hazelnut spread dries out!)

SPRINKLE chopped hazelnuts (if desired) over top, cut into wedges and serve.

Playgroup Friends

Every Wednesday we have the option of going to Playgroup. Now that it's getting warmer out, we're having playgroup at parks. In case you're tired of only seeing photos of our kids, I added several photos of my playgroup mom friends (after the kids). Amber P, don't be too sad you had to move away, my friend! I LOVE my friends... I am so lucky to know all these wonderful moms!!

Lorelai prepared to go down the slide.

Lorelai really LOVES the swing!

Nicole

Shannon (and baby Liam-her daughter Whitney's pigtale is visible, too)

Yes, I was there.

Lorelai stays warm

Silas tries to master the digger

Jen

Erika

Baby Ellie... you've seen this cutie before

Valerie (expecting her 4th in May)

Abrey

Heidi (moving to Jersey for the summer, but luckily back in August)

Ann (she brings her granddaughter to playgroup)

Marianne, Ellie's Mom

Yes, I have the BEST friends in the world. Sometime I'll post the fun we have at bookclub.

And to all my friends who didn't make it to this playgroup, watch out, my camera will be ready!

Easter '09

A colorful Easter '09

outdoor egg hunting

thrill of the find

siblings share treasures of eggs and each other

Sunday morning indoor candy hunt

Chocolate!!! Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate....

?

Oh, the Easter Bunny brought some cool stuff, including water guns...

Beautiful Easter morning before church

After church we enjoyed ham, scalloped potatoes, and more with friends.

Easter '09 was really pleasant. Each year just keeps getting better as I get my life figured out. Either things are running more smoothly, or I just don't get as flustered by confusion. :)