Julia's Kindergarten Program

Today Julia had her last kindergarten program. It was SO cute and sad at the same time. I can't believe that she is going to be in first grade next year. She has grown up so much and learned how to do so many new things this school year. Brian and I are very proud of everything she has accomplished.

It was a beach program so she had her swimming suit top, sunglasses, Crocs and a towel.

We are so proud of you Julia!!

Pack N' Play

Sometimes our littlest one needs to be contained so we can get a few things done. In this case it was sanding and shop vacing the ceiling that was patched 18 months ago. Nothing like getting right on those things!! It's so hard when no one notices it to get it done. If it was in our way or everyone saw it I'm sure we would have gotten to it sooner.

Anyway, little did we know the older ones would want to join in.

Big Sisters are the Best

Sarah Grace loves her big sisters. She get so excited when they come home from school. She smiles and waves her arms, it is so cute. When they are outside she will sit at the patio door and pound on it "talking" to them the entire time.

Last night Julia had Sarah Grace laughing.

Marshfield

Brian's family had a memorial service in Marshfield on Saturday. The kids did great on the 3 1/2 hour car trip. I think after the 24 plus hours in the van going to Sanibel a few hours in the car doesn't seem like much. A video and a half later and we were there.

The biggest draw was that the hotel we stayed in had a pool with a water slide. All the kids enjoyed time in the water!!

Bleeding Heart Story

Grandma Weber was over a few weeks ago and showed my girls how to take apart a bleeding heart flower.

I found two different stories about the parts inside the flower.

Here's the first:

A prince was wooing a peasant girl with bunnies, slippers, and earrings, but she refused his love because her mother had taught her that kindness was not necessarily reflected in such gifts. He then found a magic wand and created the bleeding heart flower to remind the mom of her daughter's love and so she married him and they lived happily ever after.

Here's the second:

There was a prince who was in love with a princess and tried to woo her with gifts. First, he gave her a pair of pet bunnies, but she refused his love. Then he gave her a pair of bedroom slippers and she still wouldn't return his love. Lastly, he gave her a pair of beautiful earrings and she still wouldn't love him so he took a sword that had poison on the end and killed himself!!

We like the first story better!!

Yummy Muffins

I found this recipe for Orange Rhubarb Bread in a magazine and tried it a few weeks. Much to my surprise all my kids love it. It was a bigger hit as muffins than it was as bread.

Here's the recipe:

Orange-Rhubarb Quick Bread
2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
¼ Cup Yellow Cornmeal
2 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 ½ Cups Granulated Sugar
¾ Cup Butter, melted or cooking oil
3 Eggs, lightly beaten
½ Cup Milk
2 tsp. Finely Shredded Orange Peel
2 Tbsp. Orange Juice
2 Cups Finely Chopped Fresh or Frozen Rhubarb*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly coat two 8x4x2 inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl stir together granulated sugar, butter, eggs, milk, orange peel and orange juice until combined; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Gently fold rhubarb into batter. Divide and spoon batter into prepared pans; sprinkle Streusel Topping evenly over tops. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely and drizzle loaves with Powdered Sugar Drizzle.

*Note: To use frozen rhubarb, measure 2 cups frozen rhubarb; thaw just enough to finely chop. Thaw completely; drain in colander before using.

Streusel Topping: In a small mixing bowl combine ½ cup flour, ½ cup packed brown sugar and 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg. With a pastry blender, cut in ¼ cup butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in 2 tbsp sliced almonds, if desired.

Powdered Sugar Drizzle: In a small mixing bowl stir together ½ cup powdered sugar, ½ tsp finely shredded orange peel (if desired) and enough milk (2 to 3 tsps) to be drizzling consistency.

LSW: I make it without streusel topping and powdered sugar drizzle. I like to make muffins instead and it makes 24. Bake for 15 minutes or so. I also used 1/2 cup butter and not ¾ cup and didn’t notice a difference. I used 2 egg beaters and 1 real egg and it turned out fine. I just added a little more orange juice.

Canon Baby

A photographer in training...

Sup-p-per troup-p-per

Julia has always loved to dance. She will dance whether there is music playing or not. We had her in dance through our park and rec, but it was more ballet and tap and not the hip-hop type dancing that she likes to do.

After much resistance from Mom and Dad, we did let them watch Mama Mia a few weeks ago. I wasn't so sure about them seeing the story line, but they must not be old enough to put two and two together and we didn't get any questions about why the main character might have three Dad's. :)

So, I found my old ABBA Gold CD and we've been playing it. It is great music to do cleaning and the kids love dancing to it. Here is Julia doing her dance to "Super Trouper". (Sarah Grace as in my arms while I was taking the video and she started clapping after awhile...it was so cute! Go Julia!!)

Only Four Weeks Left

Wow, it is hard to believe that the kids only have four weeks left of school. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were taking pictures before their first day.

This summer Diane, my mother in law, and a teacher from day care are watching them on the days I work. Caroline and Julia are very excited to be doing different things each day. On Thursday and Friday when I don't work they will be home with Mommy and Sarah Grace. (Sarah Grace is still going to day care...we can't mess with her schedule :))

Soon they will be starting swimming lessons, art class, VBS, gymnastics, library programs, zoo visits, etc. Ah, to be in school again.

In my mind they are still little babies which is so far from the truth. I'll have a 1st and 2nd grader soon. Even harder to believe is that Sarah Grace will be a year old in a few months.

Look at the World

"Look at the world, everything all around us;

Look at the world, and marvel every day.

Look at the world: so many joys and wonders,

So many miracles along our way."

Caroline sang this song on Sunday with the adult choir. It was beautiful and brought a tear to all our eyes. The video doesn't do the music justice, but at least you can hear the kids sing.

I think it is good that we all are reminded about the good around us and the miracles that happen each and every day.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone has a special day and remembers that every Mom is special in Gods eyes and should be thanked for the love they give.

Apple Pie

I was going to make Chicken Pot Pie the other day, but didn't get around to it. So, I had a pie crust in the fridge and thought I would make our favorite apple pie instead.

Here is Sarah Grace having her first taste of Mom's apple pie! She loved it!!

For those interested here is the recipe:

Apple Crunch Pie

1 Ready Folded Refrigerated Pie Crust

Crumb Topping

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 Stick Margarine or Butter, cut into small pieces

Filling

7 Medium Tart Apples

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

1/2 Cup Sugar

3 Tbsp. Flour

1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1. Place oven racks in lowest position and heat to 450 degrees.

2. For topping, combine dry ingredients and cut in butter.

3. For filling, peel and slice applies, coat with lemon juice and toss with rest of ingredients.

4. Layer slices in pie shell. Pat topping evenly over apples to form a top crust.

5. Place pie on a cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer.

6. Cool completely before serving.

Note: If top begins to brown too fast, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

Serves: 8

ENJOY!!

Spring is here!!

A bleeding heart bush in our backyard.

It is so wonderful to have the signs of spring around and the temperature warming.

Ah....Da!

Sarah Grace has found her voice!

Now, I would love to say she was saying Ah Da about the DUCK, however she says it to just about everything so I'm thinking this is her newest noise she figured out how to make. :)

Lots to Update!

I was busy last week and didn't get a chance to update our blog, so tonight I'm posting three different entries. Make sure to scroll to the bottom to read them all!!

Toothless

At the birthday party today Caroline came out of the bouncy house saying she lost one of her front teeth.

Little did we know the other front tooth was lose too and she lost that one an hour later.

She is having fun adjusting to talking without two front teeth!!

Natalie's 5th Birthday Party

Natalie, my niece, had her 5th birthday party today. It was a great time for everyone. The kids really enjoyed the bouncy house they rented.

Happy Birthday Natalie!!

Swamp Swimmers

Last weekend we had so much rain our back woods flooded. Quite a few of the houses around us have their land graded so that the water flows into our back area. With two days of solid rain, there was a lot of water in the back. Not as much as last spring, but enough to make it fun :).

The neighbor friend, Grace, came over and the three girls were using the top of our sandbox as a "boat" in our "sea" of water.

All was going well until the boat got stuck.

Good thing we still have our yellow rubber boots from when we put our lawn in our Grafton house. The kids loved walking around with those on.

After dinner, I took Sarah Grace upstairs to put her to bed while Brian and the big girls were finishing eating. Little did I know that after they were done Brian let them walk around in the swamp one more time in the yellow boots. Julia did fine, but Caroline fell down on her bumper and was soaking wet! Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera around to capture that moment. Brian has now started calling Caroline a Swamp Swimmer!!