Taste of Home

Last night I went to a Taste of Home cooking class with some friends. Here we are. Word to the wise: don't attend a cooking class on an empty stomach, or you will suffer. I have never been so hungry... the aromas from those 8 dishes were making my stomach ache and my mouth salivate for 2 hours. Needless to say, we went to dinner afterwards, even though it was 10 p.m.! :) It was great!

Ephraim's Birthday

Since Ephraim has a summer birthday, we hosted his birthday party before school gets out for the summer. He and 5 of his favorite 8-year-old friends played outside, played Wii, and hiked to the neighborhood cave.

Running back up the hill after going in the cave.
Ephraim blows out his candles while his friends/siblings look on.

A little about Ephraim: He is a sweetheart! As his teacher has written numerous times, "Ephraim has a heart of GOLD!" He is always looking for ways to help others. He will immediately run to Jane to comfort her or play with her when she is sad. He helps new children at school. He has a lot of friends. He just LOVES people, and they love him! Ephraim is a high energy child. Sitting still is not his favorite thing! He is great at math. He plays piano. He enjoys comic books. He loves visiting Grandma & Grandpa. He loves hugs. Ephraim, you are a special boy and will touch many lives! We love you!

Soccer Star

Silas just finished his soccer season. He had a great time!

Don't these soccer players look tough? I love the little guy in the hat! Silas is on the right...

Discussing strategy? Or Saturday morning cartoons?

I snapped this photo of Silas kicking a goal... Too bad it was half time! :)

Pals

It's always so fun to look out the window and see everyone playing so nicely together. (check out the boots, too!)

Music Concerts

Ephraim and Silas recently sang in their end-of-year concerts at school.

Ephraim is in the orange shirt in the back row.

And Ephraim played "Mortimer" for a little skit (he's the boy on the floor wrapped in a blanket and playing the bongo drums).

Silas is also wearing orange. In this photo he is playing the big drums while some classmates dance in front.

We were so impressed! What a fun concert!

Joyful Jane

Jane is happier lately. Especially when she has sweets! :)

Stick 'Em Up Silas

Stick 'em up!

A Princess Party

Yesterday we celebrated Lorelai's birthday with a Princess Party. Lorelai wore her favorite princess dress, and even got to wear sparkly nail polish and glitter makeup on her face.

The princesses, each dressed in her finest gown, had a great time with the balloons.

Prince Charming (Mystery Man) helped the royal court with their festivities.

Time for cake! Azael, Ephraim, and Silas had to be forced to attend. Silas was reeling at the thought of sitting at a table with so many "yucky princess girls" and surrounded by pink balloons. Happy Birthday, Dear Lorelai!

Princess Lorelai with her finery.

We gave Lorelai a new bike. Later she went out to ride, dressed as her true tomboy self. Love those boots!

A little about Lorelai: she LOVES people. LOVES LOVES LOVES people! She loves having playdates with her friends. For 6 months straight she prayed almost every night for her friends. Pretty cute. Lorelai has a cute smile, a chirpy high pitched voice, and a beautiful face. Her favorite activities are playing outside, watching Dora the Explorer or Diego, playing board games, baking with Mom, and hugging/kissing her family (which her brothers hate). Lorelai can write her name, even remembering to use lower case letters after the first L. She starts preschool next fall. She'll love it and we're excited for her! Loreali, you are a special little girl and a huge blessing to our family! We love you!

"The Guys with Guns Said We Could Go"

Yesterday Azael invited a few boys over for a Wii/Lego/Pizza/Soda/Oreos Party. Azael didn't want to call it a birthday party because he's in 4th grade, afterall. Azael's party happened just one hour after Lorelai's birthday party. Having 2 parties in one day worked really well. I was "in the mode," and the house only needed to be cleaned once. I may try that again. :)

Azael and his friends (and 2 tag-along brothers, Ephraim & Silas) were playing outside. Mystery Man was out there with them. At some point, a neighbor was talking to Mystery Man and he didn't have the presence of mind to stop the troop of boys as they walked up the road. Five minutes later her came in and said, "Where did they go?"

"Probably to the cave," I said. "That's not good because they're going to get all muddy and their parents won't like picking up filthy kids after the party."

The cave is 10 minutes away on foot, not on our property, and a prime area for 4-wheelers and hunters.

Mystery Man took off to find them (and never did). About 30 minutes later, the muddy boys returned to the yard. They had walked through the woods this time, missing Mystery Man, who was walking on the road.

After my brief lecture to Azael ("You are never allowed to go to the cave without a parent and without asking a parent - what were you thinking?"), the boys came inside to eat pizza and Azael gave me the story:

We walked past Dad, who was talking to a lady. He looked at us and didn't say anything, so we figured it was OK. When we got to the cave, there were 3 guys there with guns. They said, "Can't you see we're hunting?" I told them, "We're just going to see the cave." They finally let us go check out the cave and promised not to shoot anymore until we left."

Mystery Man returned at that point, happy to see they were home and I told him everything. Azael walked up, got another lecture from MM, then defended himself with, "The guys with guns said we could go."

Well, in that case...

At least they'll have something exciting to talk about at school Monday. It's a relief somebody wasn't shot at our birthday party. That wouldn't impress the other moms. It's the small things, right? ;)

Azael and friends, Bergen, Mathew, & Max.

Easter Bunnies

For Easter this year, I made 2 Easter Bunny cakes.

My mother-in-law asked that I post my "how to" photos here.

1. Make a cake in 2 9" rounds. Cut each round in half.

2. Stand the rounds up together and stick them together with a bit of frosting (I used buttercream frosting).

3. Cute a notch out of one side, like this.

4. Frost the whole cake, including the notch. Sprinkle toasted coconut on the entire cake except for the notch.

5. The notch is for the face. Cut a large marshmallow in half diagonally to make the rabbit's ears. Cut a large marshmallow in half width-wise to make 2 circles for the cheeks. Use 2 small marshmallows for the teeth, 2 black jellybeans for the eyes, and 1 pink jellybean for the nose. Add green coconut for the grass (I just stirred a little green food dye into a small bowl of coconut).

Voila!

Happy Jane!

I've blogged in the past about 18-month-old Jane's tendency to be a bit grumpy sometimes.

Lately, Jane seems to be rounding a corner and spending much more time being happy!

We love it! She is more confident, less afraid, and is perfecting an adorable "cheese" grin for the camera.

Here she is modeling Lorelai's shoes. She LOVES to put on everyone else's shoes.

Jane also likes to eat standing on a chair at the table (rather than in her high chair). This makes her very happy because she feels "big" like the rest of us.

Here's to Happy Jane!