Party time!

Happy birthday, sweet Nikki! She waited almost a whole week for her party, but it sure was fun. I must say I was really pleased with how her cake turned out. For the past six months she has been talking about the kitty cake she wanted. Then last week she decided she wanted a flower cake. I told Alli that it was fun to say that I made everything from scratch (except the gumdrops and toothpicks), but she said I sounded too country. So, I'll call this a homemade cake instead. How's that sound, Alli? :)

Umm, Hannah?

Poor Jay got a white flower, which certainly wasn't the color he wanted.

Cute Brenna, or Budha, as I heard Alli call her. :)

What great cousins we have!

Nikki wanted a swim party, and even though the weather forecast called for rain, the kids had a great time in the water.

The birthday song. I bet she gets her wish anyway. What's one little candle?

The girls tracked back into school yesterday, and Ryan and I have been pretty lonely. It's really sweet and kind of sad to see him look around for them when he wakes up from his naps. I'm glad they had a good day at school, and to be honest it was nice to clean a few rooms of the house and have them stay clean for a while. I guess I need to do a better job teaching them how to clean up after themselves. If you know Nikki then you know what a huge and exhausting task that is. I can't believe how quiet the house is when they're at school. What would I do if I didn't have Ryan? What will I do when Ryan goes to school? I know -- read, crochet, nap, go to the gym, go for a walk, write in my journal, cook in my kitchen that isn't being dirtied by hundreds of drinking cups, enjoy a little solitude. Of course I can always volunteer at school when I get to missing sticky fingers and interrupted sentences. I was just thinking yesterday that my routines are always changing. My life is definitely not stagnant, and I'm so happy about that. That's part of the challenge and excitement of motherhood, I think. Something new is always happening.

A little rant

This news story about a Chicago family deciding to only buy products and services from businesses owned by black people frustrates me so much. What would happen if I decided to only patronize businesses owned by white people? The ACLU and NAACP would descend upon me faster than I could blink. In no way do I consider myself a racist. A person's skin color certainly does not determine that person's intelligence, success, or worth. Are there differences in cultures? Yes, but I think all cultures have good and bad customs, traditions, and norms. In electing a black president was America really showing that it has overcome racism? I don't think so. I think the very fact that his race was mentioned proves that our society has a long way to go. Why should his skin color even matter? If we were beyond racism, it wouldn't have been mentioned and it wouldn't be a continuing news story. Was there anyone in America who voted for him just because of his race? Is that not a form of racism? I don't think the white population of America are the only participants in racism in our country. I think the African American community contributes to our division by continuing to make it an issue. So there, now I've gotten my rant out for the day.

Happy Birthday, Nikki

The festivities are just getting started, but today is her 6th birthday! Where did the time go? We love you, Nikki -- especially when you're smiling!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

For Mother's Day, I usually get breakfast in bed and it's great. Yesterday they brought in a tray of pancakes shaped into the word "MOM." It was really cute, and very yummy. Nobody else had eaten breakfast yet, so after a few minutes of looking at cards and such, they headed back downstairs to eat their breakfast while I ate mine. At first, I thought maybe being left alone to eat wasn't the most family-friendly tradition to have on mother's day. Then, I heard what was going on downstairs. Ryan started fussing because he wasn't getting fed fast enough. Someone started whining that the syrup was gone. Nate was trying to reassure them that he could make more syrup, it would just take a few minutes. More whining because it was taking too long. Ryan still wasn't getting fed quick enough. And I decided I was really enjoying my pancakes and milk in solitude.

A couple of months ago I got a Kitchenaid for my mother's day present, so Nate and the girls made me this chocolate cake with my mixer for my present yesterday. Yummy! They did such a good job, and I stayed within 1500 calories even with eating a really good-sized piece. I saved some calories by just sprinkling a little powdered sugar on top instead of putting icing on it. But here is my trusty delicious and easy chocolate cake recipe. I like it much better than a mix. It's very moist and just delicious. I had Nate make a few modifications to it yesterday to make it a touch less unhealthy.

One Bowl Chocolate Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat & 1 cup white)
2 cups sugar (I substituted in 1 cup of brown sugar b/c that's supposed to be a little better, right?)
1/2 c. baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oil (I used 1 c. applesauce but could kind of taste it, so next time I'm going to try 1 c. pureed black beans b/c they don't change the taste or texture)
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup water +3 T. dry milk + 1 T. vinegar, let it sit for 5 minutes)
2 eggs
1 cup hot water

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir in oil, buttermilk and eggs. Add water and stir until combined. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake @350 for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

I usually use this great buttercream frosting for it: 1/2 c. softened butter, 4 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/4-1/3 c. milk. Cream butter. Beat in sugar & vanilla. Add milk until frosting reaches desired consistency.

With the changes I made one serving (1/12 of the cake, which is a good slice) only has: 2 g. fat, 55 carbs, 5 protein, and 242 calories. I could have cut that slice in half and then had some fat-free ice cream on the side. Speaking of which, Breyer's Double-churned fat-free ice cream is not missing any of the flavor. Good stuff!

It was a great Mother's Day. I love being a mother. Thank you so much, Nate, for all of the service you gave me. (It must be pretty hard being Mr. Mom because he went to bed at 9 pm.)

Camping

The girls have been begging to go camping for so long. Nate took them last Friday night to a campsight closeby, and they LOVED it! Well, except for the huge brown spider that got in between the rainfly and the tent -- Nate said that caused some pretty loud screams. I stayed home with Baby Ryan and told them to take lots of pictures to show me what they did. I think they had too much fun and forgot to take many pictures. Or maybe they just spent too much time trying to get the fire started (it had rained pretty much all week and all the wood was wet). Hannah kept telling Nate that JW & Alli were much better firestarters than him. :) I think it hurt his pride a little bit, but he did get it going and they enjoyed their smores.

Looks like Nikki wasn't too excited about Nate's cooking -- not much made it on her plate.

They came home very tired and very dirty and excited to try it again sometime.

Cooking Day

Last Thursday we had cooking day, and it was a lot of fun. Hannah wanted to make pizzas that she had learned how to put together in Activity Days at church. You just assemble the pizzas on tortillas and bake them, but I didn't have any tortillas so that was our first item to make. Maybe it was because I haven't had a white flour tortilla in forever, or maybe this really was a great recipe, but they were fabulous!! The girls had fun making them and did great rolling them out. I was very impressed. And then they topped them with pizza sauce, cheese, and lots of pepperonis. I put ham on mine.

And here is the best part of cooking day -- licking the spoons and bowls! We also made No-Bakes after lunch.

That's about all of the cooking we got done because we ended up going somewhere that afternoon and evening -- can't think of where off the top of my head. My memory is just about as good as Dad's.

Growing up

Nikki has decided that she is not having just a birthday but a birthday month! She just happens to be lucky enough to have a sister that is excited about that. Hannah has made her several presents and even let her open a couple. She has to wait for most of them, though. This is Nikki's present collection so far, and she still has another week to go. I don't know if our mantle is going to be big enough.

Just threw this picture in because everyone should be able to see this ball of chubby cuteness.

Go, you can do it! Wait, not yet! I feel so torn between cheering him on and wanting to pull him down and hold him back. If he keeps learning and growing he won't be my baby much longer. Can he really be learning to stand?

Here's a clip of his crawl. He's a little unorthodox with his one knee and one foot, but he's quick. Especially when the refrigerator is open, or as you can see, someone leaves some form of contraband out in the open.

A couple of month's worth of pictures

This is my first attempt with fondant. I made it myself from marshmallows. It was really neat and fun, and I'm excited to try it again. Maybe on Nikki's birthday cake next week.

Cute baby with lots of bruises on his forehead. I took a video clip of his crawl the other day. I just can't help smile every time I see him do it. I'll post it sometime.

Still cute and making a mess.

Here is a little St. Patrick's Day. Those crazy leprechauns must have been pretty busy (or rather forgetful) because they didn't make it to our house over night. They did leave a little something for when the girls got home from school.

Here are a couple of Easter pictures. We dyed eggs, and then the bunny sent the girls on an egg hunt that was really fun -- even had to go to the mailbox in their PJs.

Craft day

He's just growing so fast I can't believe it. I love how he smiles every time he sees me. There isn't anything better than that!

Our creative Hannah made these creatures out of erasers and straight pins and pipe cleaners. This is a fox, pig, and a giraffe. She also made a fish and a hippo.

More craft day pictures. They had fun and did a great job with these paper flowers.

We've been having lots of good times during track out. It's been more low-key than our last track out and that has been okay. We are reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, and Hannah always asks to keep reading another chapter. It's a fun book. Today is movie day, and that was a good idea because Nikki is laid out on the couch with a fever.

Pictures!!

My amazing husband figured out how to get the pictures off of our camera!! Here's just one really cute video. I messed up by trying to get a shot of his face. Then he just wanted to come get the camera. I have lots of other pictures, but I'll have to decide later what I want to post.