June 3, 2009
Yesterday the girls started swim lessons. They are all doing well!
Katelyn already moves through the water and easily holds her breath and puts her face under, so she is learning to blow out the air and how to correctly move her arms and legs.
Emily finally got her face wet yesterday. They have to reach into the water and grab a ring. She would stretch her arm as far as it would go and turn her face up so it wouldn’t get wet. After several brave attempts, Emmy put her face in the water. She is working well with the instructors on the swim movements too.
Madison was so cute about putting her face in the water. You could tell she did not want to do it and way psyching herself up. Then she just went for it. When she got that ring and pulled her face back out of the water, you could see her beaming! She was so proud of herself. Mama was pretty proud too!
The lessons run for 2 weeks and I can’t wait to see how they are doing at the end of next week.
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May 31, 2009
Today Melissa, Gibran and Sofie were in town so we took advantage of the opportunity to take some pictures. There is a cute, cute, cute little park downtown that we thought would make a great place to take some pictures of the girls. Last year Mom got the girls all coordinating outfits and that is what they are wearing for the pictures.
Here is the park. It has several nice areas to take pictures. It was a hot and sunny day, so we did not get to take advantage of all the little areas. We’ll be back!
Group shot of all the girls
Sofie was not in the picture taking mood. We tried several times and she just wasn’t going to go for it. Look at the tears!
So the rest of my pictures are of my girls. We’ll catch Sof next time.
Daddy’s girls
Sweet individual pictures
This picture makes me smile. They just look so happy.
Their favorite thing was exploring the little stream. They found all kinds of little leaves, rocks and even a couple of pennies. They are always up for an adventure.
We get this look from Em all the time!
Finally, a family shot.
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May 23, 2009
Wow. Our baby turned 3 today!
She requested a Barbie party, complete with a standing up Barbie cake. We invited family over and had a wonderful party.We grilled out hot dogs…her favorite food and let the kids play.
They jumped in the garage.
They colored on a huge Barbie coloring page.
Of course there was also the Barbie pinata. This picture also reminds me that I still really want to change that light fixture out!
Then it was time for cake and ice cream. Madison blew out all three candles with no help even though Barbie was towering over her!
The birthday cake. I really enjoyed making it!
Time for gifts. Madison got some really fun stuff!
She even read the cards.
Madison had a wonderful day and she claims it was as fun as she imagined it! She has been waiting not quite so patiently for her birthday to arrive.
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May 22, 2009
We went to Katelyn’s moving up ceremony. I cannot believe that kindergarten is over already! It seems like my baby just started at that big school and now she is going to head off to 1st grade. This is going too fast for me! Here she is waiting in line to be seated for the program and one of her waiting for her turn.
She went on stage when her name was called and she received a certificate for completing kindergarten. Then all the parents ate hot dogs and we had a little picnic in the cafeteria. When that was over we took her home and started our summer vacation!
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May 22, 2009
This year for Katelyn’s teachers, we gave one of them a journal with a jar of questions to write about. All of the questions are related to teaching. I got the idea from a website…I need to find it again and I’ll link it. For the other teacher we gave a set of coasters. They are photo coasters. I found some quotations and sayings about teaching and printed them off to put in the coasters.
For Emily’s teachers, I went in with a friend to get a joint gift from both kids. I do not have pictures of them because Jennifer got it together for us. It was a cute set with a key chain, mug and something else (for the life of me I can’t remember now what it was). They all had their initial on them.
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May 20, 2009
How does your garden grow?
I am quite happy with my garden this year. I know I did not plant much, but what I did put in the ground is doing quite well. My strawberries are big, plump and red. They are sweet and delicious. I just need to figure out who is eating them before I can get the off the vine. It appears to be a squirrel or something. I put moth balls in the area tp help ward them off, but the rain melted them. I need a new plan.
My two tomato plants are doing great. I have lots and lots and lots of tomatoes growing on them. I cannot wait for our first home grown tomato sandwich of the season! I had to buy tomatoes while grocery shopping today…that bites when I have so many hanging out just waiting to ripen at home.
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May 19, 2009
Our girls love their sidewalk chalk.
I love their chalk drawings.
Now that Katelyn knows how to read, we also enjoy writing chalk messages.
This afternoon, we also tried out sidewalk paint. That was fun too. The paint we have came in a cute kit Melissa gave Katelyn for her last birthday. I need to see if they come in other colors. The girls love their painting time and I would love for it to happen outside!
Although the all enjoy “chalking” (that is what they call it), is is definitely one of Katie’s favorite things to do. Along with drawing pictures, we draw and play hopscotch, play tic tac toe, sudoku, and trace bodies.
Here is a glimpse at our chalk fun.
On Easter, while at Mom and Dad’s the girls got out the chalk. We also flew kites that day.
A family favorite-mermaids:
We love to play games!
I make up and draw Sudoku puzzles and Katelyn solves them. She is so good at them! I drew it in blue and she filled in the puzzle in red.
Some days Aunt Poo gets in on the fun too.
On Mother’s Day, Katelyn got Uncle G out there with her and they drew and drew. Then Katelyn came inside to get the rest of us. We all had to hop on the “World Famous Longest Hopscotch Ever” or something similar to that. Melis watched us from upstairs and laughed her hinney off at us. We must have been quite a sight! I didn’t have my camera that day so, no pictures of the world famous hopscotch.
Our final bit of chalk fun comes in the form of body outlines. The kids pose, I sketch and they fill in the clothes and faces. It is a blast for them, but it must look a bit odd when there are several that look like this left in our driveway. Makes people wonder the safety of the neighborhood!
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May 14, 2009
Last week was Katelyn’s Field Day at school. She had a blast and was one tired girl when she got home that day. It was very well organized and it turned out to be a cooler day for them to be out. We enjoyed getting to go spend some of her school day with her.
Shooting hoops
Soccer Skills
Here her class is winning at Tug of War. They were so cute, but they did not know when to stop. They were dragging the other class on the ground. I also noticed Katelyn must concentrate better with her tongue sticking in the empty space once occupied by teeth.
Today, Emily had her turn at preschool field day. They celebrated the end of school with an icecream party after the field day events.
Three legged race
Potato Sack Race
It was hot and sunny, so she borrowed my sunglasses.
It was a wonderful way to end the school year and we are looking forward to the best summer!
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
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May 14, 2009
I got popsicle molds the other day and I have been busy experimenting with different recipes. I am looking for good and healthy ways to stay cool this summer.
The first ones I made were watermelon. They weren’t too good. They looked pretty though.
Then I made some orange flavored ones. I took frozen orange juice and let it thaw a bit. Then I mixed it with vanilla yogurt. They were really good. I like these the best so far.
Today I made chocolate pudding pops. I had some fat free, sugar free pudding in the pantry. I accidently bought it one day. It ended up being taste free too. The girls seemed to really enjoy them though.
Up next is blueberry!
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May 13, 2009
Oh yum!
I was trying to get my last $100 from ChaCha tonight and I got a question about a girl scout cookie movie quote. It lead me to bakingbites.com and this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!
Homemade Samoas Bars
Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.
Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)
Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes 30 bar cookies.
Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.
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