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!

 

Halloween 2009

Trick-or-treating in the new neighborhood was quite fun. It was the only time I have ever seen a ghoul proffering candy with one hand while balancing a glass of wine in the other.

We now have enough candy to fill a bathtub.


Here's the weird part: Liam won't eat it!

Here he is not eating some malted milk balls. He played with them for maybe ten minutes, then asked for "more candy". I gave him more, and it was the same with the m&m's, and the gummi bears after that. Whose kid is this, anyway? Not eating m&m's?! It's unthinkable! We'll see how long it lasts...


Super Declan! Here he is, obviously dazed by the kryptonite frames on my new bifocals (sad, isn't it?).

October

Some pumpkin photos before the season gets away. I'm not sure we'll find the time to carve these. I hope we do! Aunt Nancy brought us some beautiful pumpkins again this year.

Two-year-olds are very possessive about their pumpkins.
"This not your punkin. This my punkin."


Seven-year-olds want to know if they can please just carve it themselves this year?


Five-month-olds think big brothers who make faces are the best. With or without the pumpkins.

School Again

Three students, ready to tackle second, sixth and ninth (gasp!) grades.
Until our classroom is built, our work will take place at the kitchen table.

We're still missing a few books, but we started the school-year anyway. I actually ordered a new Latin book even though I know for certain that we have one somewhere among the remaining boxes.

Sean is eagerly anticipating the arrival of his new science book. The books recommended for his grade in the syllabus I'm using would bore him to death, I think. So we'll try this one and see how it goes.

We had Wendy's for lunch, to celebrate. Or maybe it was to reward the MomTeacher. Whatever works.

Happy Mother's Day

What fun I've had this morning!

The kids went to a lot of trouble planning and executing a Mother's Day Treasure Hunt. This year, they did it with almost no help from their Dad.

I did great with clues 1 through 4. Clue 5 though, had me stumped for quite a while. This brought peals of laughter from the girls. Sean however, got bored and couldn't believe that I took so long to unscramble a simple word like "c-o-m-p-u-t-e-r". Yeah, me either! Brain freeze, I guess.

I finally solved the mystery and found these presents waiting on top of the computer cabinet:


Jesus and flowers, what could be better?
A dinner of homemade pizza is also in store for later on. I am a happy Mother indeed.
Thanks kids! (and you too, Mr.)

Pretzels for Lent

My oldest gave up desserts for Lent. I've been feeling sorry for her ever since Ash Wednesday. She never complains, but I still find myself resisting baking cookies or serving ice cream so as not to make her Lenten sacrifice worse than it needs to be.

Today the kids and I decided to participate in that centuries-old Lenten tradition: pretzel baking. These could hardly be considered dessert, yet would be a bit of a treat. I dug up a couple of recipes and set my chefs to work.

Laurel and Sean took turns stirring the wet ingredients, while Holly measured out the dry ingredients.


We dumped the wet into the dry and then took turns kneading the dough. This was a messy endeavor!


Sean found kneading easier when the bowl was placed in the sink.

Eventually the dough came together into a smooth, elastic mass. When that happened, we transferred it to a larger, greased bowl to rise. We placed it in the oven to rise for thirty minutes with only the oven light on for warmth.


Liam really, really wanted the "light OFF", and so this step was a bit more challenging than I had anticipated.

"Off!"


"What's wrong with you? I said, 'OFF!'"

While the dough was rising, I got the soda-bath ready. This is where the newly-formed pretzels would be plunged until they floated back to the surface, ready for the oven.

Rolling out the dough was a lot of fun. Sean (6) had some trouble with sticking, so after a few attempts I rolled and he twisted.



The girls (10 and 13) had no trouble rolling out the dough.

Laurel's latest nail designs.


Each pretzel got a soda bath. This one looks more like a blob, but I'm sure it was yummy.

After boiling, they went into a 450-degree oven for 10 minutes. Once out of the oven they each got a slight coating of melted butter and were then sprinkled with one of three toppings: Parmesan cheese, coarse salt, or sesame seeds.


I found a recipe at allrecipes.com that I tweaked just a little. If I ever make these again (and the kids are already asking when we can do it again!) I will either use Reynold's Release wrap on the baking sheet, or else I will grease the baking sheet. I really hate the process of greasing bakeware, so I always use parchment instead. Usually this works great. This time, it was a bit of a disaster. The pretzels stuck like glue to the parchment. By the time I discovered the error of my ways, I had only enough dough for three more pretzels but those got the royal Reynold's Release wrap treatment. They slid off the pan like nobody's business.

These came out a little darker than I prefer, but I think it had more to do with the scant number of pretzels on the pan rather than what was used to coat the pan.

Not the most beautiful, but delicious nonetheless.

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.

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.

Very Busy

We lost power on Sunday, and now our (finished) basement is wet, wet, wet. Patrick is busy trying to get it all dried out before he has to return to work. So far the fans and space heater seem to be getting the job done, though slowly. I haven't been downstairs yet...I haven't mustered the courage yet.

Meanwhile Liam busies himself with his new nesting barrels. He spent a long time moving cheerios from one container to the next and back again. When he notices an audience, he'll say "Ta DAAA" and start the applause himself.

New Word

"Coo-KEEEEEEEEEE"




Eight tiny reindeer.

Snow Day

We had a snow day on Friday. Here's what some of us did that day:





Others of us didn't enjoy the snow quite as much.

The Portrait You Won't Be Getting

It went downhill from here very fast.

Advent Calendar

Here's a neat idea for a do-it-yourself Advent calendar. One of these years I'm going to do this.

Not this year, I fear.

Last Chance

...to play in the leaves this season.
They did eventually get around to removing the leaves.

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!

Happy Halloween

Sean's, Holly's, Laurel's, and Liam's
Thanks for the pumpkins, Aunt Nancy!!!