4:19 a.m.

R:  [awake, tossing and turning]
B: [chuckles in his sleep]
R: What's so funny?
B:  [mumbling]  The polymorphism of the node ... its behavior can [can't?] be explained... mrphmb mprhmb...
R: [Blog gold!]

What did you dream about last night?

Two more.

We borrowed an industrial snow-cone machine from friends for a mutual activity last week.  We haven't returned it yet for good reason.  Want to know a way to keep five kids content and busy for an hour?

It's hard to tell from this picture -- what fer the evidence of successful spring gardening (see that humungo zucchini????  That's on account of the "greenhouse" we built this year) and taking the picture through a window screen -- anyway, I digress with my com-brag --- but Clara is watering the garden and I thought it was very industrious of her. 

Hmm. Well, this crummy picture actually has another story to tell:  Note the graduation tassels Briton used to string peas.  Reminds me of the anecdote about Hugh Nibley praying for forgiveness in an opening prayer at one BYU graduation, because of something along the lines of being assembled, dressed "in the robes of the apostate priesthood."  Here, the honors of man, have found a more useful purpose.

June is for Strawberries

My, how the seasons roll 'round. Seems like these same pictures get posted every year. Tho' berry picking is a tradition worth keeping, eh?

 Clara looks hard at work ...

 ... but don't be fooled.

"Hmmm ... this one looks juicy."

"Yep.  Juicy."

"Ah! Caught red handed/mouth-ed ... quick ... get rid of the evidence!"

Grandma filled three buckets to every one that Clara ate.

The berries are always redder on the other side of the furrow.

Compare and Contrast.

 Clara's favorite part, besides eating the berries, was moving the yellow flags so people won't know which length of the row has been picked or not.

May and June Stuff

Cardboard is cool.

Memorial Day Weekend

We camped at Nehalem.

Clara.

The cuz's at the Rose Parade

Last game of the season at Alpenrose.  Pretty slick diamond.

Last day of kindergarten.

We love Mrs. Weber.

On Angry Birds and Turning Six

Talmage narrowed down his ultimate birthday party theme to .... Angry Birds (said the video-game-less, app-less son).  Angry Birds?  Why are they angry?  ... Which reminds me of a cartoon:
Whereupon he schooled his mother on the Angry Bird Cast of Characters and how it all works.  I assume his knowledge is a by-product of the Public Education System -- more specifically, "riding the bus."

His wish was partly accommodated.  I made him an Angry Bird cake and he made a Pig pinata -- but the rest of the party was pure Classic.  In summary:

1.  Kids painted potatoes and made potato cars while waiting for everyone to arrive.
2.  Flannel-board, participatory rendition of Three Billy Goats Gruff and then they dressed up and practiced their parts for a ...
3.  Movie version.  They did that three times, to get the various needed cuts and opportunities to be other characters, per their request.  After edits,  this will serve as an heirloomic party favor.
4.  Treasure hunt
5.  Pig Pinata
6.  Lunch/cake/etc.

Figuring out the clues

Treasure!!!!  Love Talmage's expression.

Disemboweling the Pig Pinata: scrambling for the loot.

A Polite, Delightful Afternoon Luncheon Turns Ugly: "Hand over your wallet, er, .. hot dog."

Look what the Internet can teach you to do.  My favorite one is the king pig.

And how does it feel to be six?  That's what I asked the Man of the Hour.  He said, "I'm not six, yet."

A Little More Blue

Got Wheels.

Cirque du Soleil

The trampoline finale was jaw-dropping.   

Photo Op: Spring 2012

Jordan and Ethan passed through town en route to Hawaii.  Jordan offered to take our family picture.

Good Day, Sunshine!

After a week of dragging children hither and thither, we needed this day.  A day with no agenda.  A day where kids could throw rocks into the river as long as their little hearts desired.  A day where they could run free on the beach and eat kettle corn covered in sand.  A day where Sydney could prowl around as a puma, stalking the edges of her imagination.  A day where Clara could go napless, climb a fire tower all by herself, and crunch ice cubes.  A day where Talmage could run and race his cousins, design seashell castles, and laugh at Joshua Giraffe.   It was a great day.

Roll Call, April 30-May 6

Last week in review:  good recipes. Make again.  Followed menu first half of week; for Super Date we just ate leftovers before we, uh, left; Can't remember what I did on Friday - maybe leftovers again - but didn't make the soup.  Saturday I ended up making something like this for a friend who just had a baby - and so we had the pasta, too.  Sunday was ... sandwiches for the picnic.  And Pirate's Booty.

This week thusly far:
Monday - Black Beans n' Rice; cornbread; green salad, steamed broccoli, dressing (Missionaries here.  Poor missionaries).
Tuesday - Tikki Masala and na'an (Ethan's goodbye meal)
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday -  Split Pea Soup with Barley (Crockpot)
Friday - Slow Cooker Italian Beef (Crockpot)
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Chicken Pillows for a Pillow-y Waistline.

Blogger has a new layout and so does gmail -- what's up?

That title has nothing to do with post content, so don't even try.   Lately, Sydney has taken to gazing adoringly at me (who doesn't?) and asking wistfully to do something "special".

The past couple of Saturdays have been entire days of "special".

For example,  we went to the zoo.  It happened to be Packy's 50th birthday. Clara can't stop talking about the elephant that lumbered toward her.  She sounds like this when she's talking about it: "Armpit! Coming! Big!" 

We played on this sunny hillside whilst Briton ran the Wildwood.  The slope-age was perfect for rolling down the hill.  Then we went to Pizza Caboose. Clara sounds like this when she talks about Pizza Caboose, "Lemonade!"

 

The following Saturday, Briton participated in a "low-key" (he emphasizes) 4.2 race called Pat's Run.  When I asked him how he did he sort of paused and stumbled over his words, "Well, ... I ... won."   He says it's sort of fun to be the first to cross the finish line.  Especially when the time keeper is using his iPhone to time the race and isn't sure if he started it on time so uses Briton's watch for his "official" time.  They gave him a $20 gift certificate to Foot Traffic.   This could prove a profitable way to keep fit.

Then he took the kids to a free movie.  IIAGPTW sponsored the movie and loads of treats.  The kids were downing popcorn, M&Ms and Root Beer at 10:30 in the morning.  That's definitely special.

 There's been a smattering of warm, sunny days lately.  The kids have been soaking up the Vitamin D.  Today I was watching them playing in the cul-de-sac: Talmage riding his bike, Clara barreling down the driveway on the Big Wheel, chortling with joy; Sydney immersed in imaginationland, narrating stories with random objects from the garage ... and I wished I could freeze time.  It was a perfect, happy moment.  This childhood of theirs -- it's all special.

 (Take such sentimentality with a nod to some other "less ideal" aspects of childhood:  I should admit that this morning I withheld all nourishment until they finished cleaning their room).

Roll Call, Review and as;dfklj

Last week -- wull -- that was a pretty gross week of eating.  In theory it seemed okay, but each day as I obediently followed the menu plan I wished I was making something else.  What, I couldn't say, but not what was prepared.   I think the recipes seemed appealing on paper, but ingesting them did not set well.  Like, the beef strogie recipe was fine and I was glad we had a crock-pot meal so I didn't have to think about it all day -- but by dinner time, after spending the day outdoors, I was more in the mood for something on the grill.  So this menu-planning has it's pros and cons.  This past Sunday was gorgeous and by then I'd had it with being a slave to some "menu".   We had a picnic at the park with the cuz's instead.  That was fun.  And tasty.  Clara had Cheetos for dinner. 

Fingers crossed for this week:

Monday - Tacos (Briton -- after enduring new recipe after new recipe: "What happened to the tried and true?"  So we had tacos).
Tuesday - Chicken Nuggets, asparagus, etc (except for Clara who only ate condiments)
Wednesday - Mediterranean Pork with Couscous (since we didn't make it Sunday)
Thursday - Super Date.  The kids can eat cereal or something.
Friday - Minestrone soup
Saturday -  something downtown with the kids since we'll be out that way.
Sunday - picnic with the cuz's (why mess with success?)

T-ball!

The first game. Talmage was excited to play and afterwards said he had so much fun.

I spy: Number 4. A texting parent. Sydney running in from the playground.

The kids play earnestly whilst the parents watch entertainedly.

Comin' on home.

T-ball parents. Huh. It shouldn't feel surprising. It's been so for 5 1/2 years now.

April 16-22, Roll Call

Review of last week: AS IF.

Tuesday and Wednesday did not happen. I might have made something else that was more last-minute and gross. Don't remember. Thursday we ate at Heidi's -- that yummy Tikki Masala and Na'an meal. Friday I cleaned all morning and didn't want to mess up the kitchen again -- so we ordered pizza. Saturday we were outside the whole day and played a lot - so it only seemed fitting to cap it off with going out to eat. Our poor kids' character ....
Sunday? Did I remember to thaw the roast? So, basically, we had fridge rummage for dinner.

This week I will try to do better.

The plan:

Mon: Crock-pot Creamy Soft Chicken tacos (and this will happen because it's already crocking away).
Tue: Creamy Spinach and Avocado Pasta
Wed: Sugar Snap Pea and Ham Risotto
Thur: Spring Penne Pasta with Light Butter Sauce
Fri: Best of the Week in Review
Sat: Beef strogie
Sun: Mediterranean Pork with Couscous


Well, we'll give this week a whirl, eh? The three slow-cooker methods will abet my low motivation to cook.

April 9-15, Roll Call

Monday: We had enchiladas from the deep freezer. Days like today -- That's what it's for.
Tuesday: Italian White Bean Soup (The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen)
Wednesday: Cozy Comfy Chicken and Rice (ibid)
Thursday: Pork Chops (Cook's Illustrated, p 398) and Quinoa Pilaf (TCFK)
Friday: Split Pea
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Crockpot Roast, etc.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Briton: I love watching what you choose to get excited about. It's so unpredictable.
Me: There's no rhyme or reason (or something to that effect).

Some holidays/birthdays I brush off with nary a trace of sentimentality. It could be any other day as far as I'm concerned. But then, for no explicable reason, there are other times when I go all out. This Easter I pulled out all stops (well, almost all of them) to make Easter dinner "count". Since I lack an inherent gene for how to make something count and haven't acquired a vast database of how-to's and what-nots, it was necessary to lean on the expertise of the More Knowledgeable on how to go about an Easter Dinner.

The menu was pulled from melskitchencafe. Jo and I salivated over her food pictures and decided on not one, but two desserts. We did have the traditional ham, potatoes, hot veggies, rolls, fruit salad, detail, detail, detail. And then Jeff volunteered to make ....

Cedar (seder ... ha ha ha) Plank Salmon.

Oh, my, it was gooood. It was way more delicious to eat than it was apparently pleasant to grill. (I appreciate that Jeff is wearing a loincloth in this picture. To be modest.)

Besides all-out food, we needed a fancy table setting. Who else to turn to for advice than Dear Alisha? She hammered me with all sorts of links and suggestions and generously lent her linen napkins (which I don't think anybody dared to actually use ... ruffians!) and offered servingware, etc.

The place cards were from one of her suggested links:


Hilary took these photos:
Sometimes at Downtown Arby's, they don't use knives or matching silverware or press their linens. It's considered shabby chic.

And again in color!
Wanna know how to make the jellybean vases? That was Alisha's idea. And Briton was the gopher late on Saturday night to find the beans.

Did you also notice the birds' nests with color-coordinated chocolate eggs in them? How could you miss them?! Martha Stewart. Yep. Stewart. And Briton. Same late-night, 3-grocery-store run for the eggs.



I swiped the cluttered family photos off the Museum shelf and replaced with some flower arrangements. I thought up the sheared heather in the trifle bowl all by my own brainsome. It was just a whim, a fancy, as I strolled through the yard on that beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon. Note: the centerpieces got thrown onto this shelf about 2 seconds into dinner because you couldn't see the person across from you, what fer all the foliage.


White blossoms and cherry blossoms and daffodils all stolen from the neighbors (which I'm counting as friends in this post title).

Then Briton and Jolynn were on deck. Briton was in charge of the kids' treat/craft. He made cupcakes and was thinking of having them decorate them into bunnies. But in the middle of stake conference he was hit with an Eureka!

He ended up telling the Easter story, using the leftover cupcake batter that he'd made into a round cake as the "stone" over the shoebox tomb. He engineered paper people of all the characters in the story that each kid got to play the part of/color. The kids really got into it. Clara was Mary and ended up decapitating her. But other than that it was relatively reverent.


Then he handed out the cupcakes as miniature "stones" for the kids.


Jo Lynn told the Easter story using Easter eggs with an item in each one that represented part of the story -- like a sprig of rose thorns for the crown, a tiny scrap of white cloth for the burial clothes. And the last egg was empty. There was a scripture for each item, and as she read it, each kid got to open their egg in turn. Pretty fancy stuff. It was a great Easter day.

For the record, though, we still did not give our kids Easter baskets.