You're Four!

So big in some ways.  So little in others.  Being four means that you are able to express your thoughts so much better now.  You are starting to ask questions like never before--questions like, "Why is Jesus God?"

Until today, for about the past four months, your daily question was "Is TODAY my birthday?!?"  I'd say that no, it wasn't, but that you only had x-number of months or weeks or days to wait.  The day finally came!  You were so pleased.

You woke to find a blue, helium-filled balloon tied to your chair.  You got to pick your lunch (ham, cheese, mayo and liverwurst--on a bun), and your dinner (rigatoni).  Thanks to your big sister Holly, Team Umi-Zoomi greeted you from the top of your cake.

At four, your version of the ABC-song is terribly cute, but not entirely accurate.  You can spell and write your name, and the names of your siblings (with a little help).  Suddenly, you desperately want to go to (home) school like the big kids.

You remind us sternly that you "are not a baby anymore" if anyone refers to you and your younger brother collectively as "the babies".  Dinosaurs are your favorite thing to talk about, draw and pretend to be.  I am still "Mommy Brachiosaurus" much of the time, and you are "Liam Brachiosaurus".  Sean is "triceratops", and Declan is a "micro raptor".  Not sure what the girls are!

You're a happy, sweet boy with curly blonde hair (hair that you wish was not "yellow and curly") that tells me at least once a day, "Mommy, I love you and my Dad".  Whenever you intercept Daddy's morning phonecall, you assure him that when he gets home you will "give (him) a big hug, and a kiss".

Pure sweetness.  That's what you bring.

Happy Birthday!

One Down

January is OVER at midnight tonight.  How the heck did that happen? 

My babies are growing up too fast.  The boxes are getting unpacked too slowly.  It's all a blur.  I'm waiting eagerly to unpack the rubberstamps!  My beloved art supplies are packed away in the cold and dark.  sniff.  Not that I have time to use them...

Progress on the basement has begun!  Unlike the other house, this time we're using sound-deadening insulation in the basement ceiling and walls.  "Soon" I will have a sewing/stamping room and a brand new classroom--with a sink!  Very exciting.

January in Pictures
Waffle-making helpers.  Liam pulls up a step-stool nearly every time I'm working in the kitchen.

Patrick got another year older.  This is the sorriest looking cake I've ever made.  We referred to it as the "Dr. Suess Cake".  Wow.  Embarrassing.  But it was tasty.  He requested "chocolate, non-ganache icing".  I used the recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa container.  Very yummy. It had four layers.  Four very crooked layers.

Laurel also had a birthday.  She requested ganache--good girl!  She also requested "oreos".  Note the birthday plate--a new family tradition begins this year.  We cut the oreos in two and placed them cut-side down around the top of the cake.  They soaked up the ganache and were so delicious!  See those packing boxes?...full of art supplies.  sniff...

Holly performed an eight-minute long concerto with her teacher at the biannual piano recital.  She did very well!  Laurel and Sean also performed and did great.

 

Progress on the basement whine cellar.  This place will not be finished for some time, but it will be far enough along soon so that the kids can play--and keep their whining away from me ;)
This view is from the future sewing room looking into the future classroom.

 

...and a Declan photo, for good measure!

 

Two Years

Liam is two! He is stringing together words now. My favorite Liam-phrase is, "Thank you much". He is still very, very stingy with kisses! He gives a lot of hugs though :)

His birthday celebration happened in the morning, since the girls had a dance competition that day. We started with the official height-measurement by Daddy.


Then came the presents. Only two this year--deprived child!


...and then we sang and ate cake!


Happy Birthday, Cutie-Pie :)

Happy Birthday Laurel

You're ten! I won't say that it went by quickly. The first three years of your life were peppered with more ER visits and doctor's appointments than one kid should have to endure in a lifetime. But, you pulled through (more than once), thank God, and today you are a spunky, healthy, happy and very artistic young lady.
Happy Birthday, hot wheels!

Make a wish.


Blow out the candles!


Cardiovascular delight.

Building Laurel's Cake

She requested "yellow cake with chocolate ganache". My pleasure!

The birthday-girl wanted to help make her cake. Here she is mixing the batter. I always put the mixing bowl in the sink because it's easier to reach that way.

Into the oven.


Thirty-three minutes later and voila!


Since the man of the house had a birthday earlier in the month, I had a half-batch of ganache already whipped up and ready for Laurel's cake. Unfortunately the whipped portion, which is used as a crumb coat, was too dry to spread.

What to do? Heating it on the stovetop would turn it into a runny mess. After some thought, I channelled Duff Goldman and "busted out the power tools". A few blasts of the heatgun was all it took and the ganache was workable once more.


Crumb coat applied.


We let the cake chill for a few minutes in the fridge to harden the crumb-coat. Next, we drenched the cake in warm ganache and allowed it to cool again.

I normally decorate birthday cakes with whipped ganache, but I was out. Instead, we placed mini-marshmallows around the bottom of the cake, and used melted chocolate for the rest.

We started by standing a disposable piping bag inside a glass, then filling it with melted chocolate.


I piped out some butterfly wings onto waxed paper, then sent them to the fridge to cool.


I piped the words onto the top of the cake, and arranged the butterflies around the cake using melted chocolate "glue" where needed.

Ta daaaa.

Pinky

Laurel will be turning (gasp) ten soon. She wanted a "pink streak" in her hair to celebrate the occasion. How could I say no? It suits her style perfectly.

Step one. Take a "before" shot:


Step 2: Bleach the to-be-dyed strand


Then sit under the hair dryer for a few minutes.


Rinse out the bleach


Apply the pink dye, then wait and wait and wait...


Getting excited (she didn't want to look in the mirror until it was dry):


Beautiful!


Side view:


The whole process took about ninety minutes. She is loving it.

Thirteen Is

Sweet
Thoughtful
Hopeful
and Fun!

You are the busiest thirteen-year-old I know. This year you are taking dance, voice, and drama. You are involved in FIRST Lego League, flag football, confirmation classes, youth group, and piano. You're best subjects are...all of them. You want to be an author when you grow up, and to be a mom. You love babies and wish that I would have more of them (!).

You write, knit, draw, sculp, stamp, and bead.

You are a sincere and loyal friend, and you have a big heart.
Your birth changed our lives forever, and for that we Thank God every day. I can't wait to see what the next thirteen years bring you.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Party Day

Sean's party was yesterday. We had a beautiful, sunny day and held the festivities in our back yard, under the shade of the neighbor's trees.

The guests played lots of games. I was inside for a lot of the action, but did manage to have a few laughs as I watched this sweet group of homeschooled five and six-year-olds learn to play duck-duck-goose. Holly and Laurel were in charge of the games, and they did a fantastic job.

We served individual pizzas, a fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, and nectarines) and chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream. And lemonade. Lots of lemonade!

The kids had an egg race (boys against the girls, of course):
Notice the intense concentration required, as evidenced by the sticking-out tongue.




















The pinata was a huge hit (har har). It took many, many, many strikes to get the paper mache beast to give up his loot. I thought he possibly might have been constructed of reinforced concrete, but no, he did eventually succumb to the kindergarteners' relentless beating.



































We gave out goody-bags filled with cool stuff that Sean picked out: bubbles, dinosaurs, horses, stickers, a pinwheel, and a pen that writes in a bunch of different colors depending on which switch you push. There was a parachute-guy, too. Oh, and a party blower. Someone recently informed me that you can't have a party without party blowers. I was not going to argue with the guest of honor over that point, no way.

Here's a picture of the boy-version of the (empty) goody-bag. The girl-version is almost the same, except instead of a blue beetle, there was a red ladybug.















Here's a shot of what I was doing at 5AM on party day.

Today is Sean's actual birthday. His choice of dinner is prepackaged chicken kiev. Blech! I can only imagine the load of preservatives and fillers it contains. We'll have fresh green beans, pasta, and fruit salad to accompany it. Dessert will be the other chocolate-with-ganache cake that I prepared on Wednesday. Holly wants to decorate this one, and I'm happy to let her do it. I don't like working with frosting at all (especially since discovering the joys of ganache). She's planning to draw Superman on the top of the cake. I'll post the results later.

First I have to mix up some frosting, and she needs to finish her reading assignment.