Category: Uncategorized (Page 25 of 201)

This past Thursday was Alisa’s Birthday–and Kumi asked if we would be willing to host a surprise party for her.  Of course, we were more than happy to oblige.  We’ve been careful to not spill the beans to her over the past couple of weeks (and we didn’t tell the kids, just in case, until the morning of the party).  Kumi dropped off decorations and food and I took care of cleaning and getting things set up.  I was anxious that everything would turn out well and live up to everyone’s expectations but I’m happy to report everything went awesome!

She was surprised.  Well, at least she acted surprised.  🙂  A handful of her friends that are still in the area were able to come as well, so they all hung out in the basement and ate tacos and cake and then they hit a pinata (mostly for our kids benefit) and then played Bingo for prizes.  Playing bingo is a birthday tradition in their family.  They are actually the reason that we even own Bingo now.  When we met them (11 years ago!) they were so excited to share how they played every Birthday and how much fun it was–so I thought to myself, “Yes! That is totally a tradition I could see our family doing and loving as well.”  So I went out an bought a set.  It will still be a couple years until all the kids can play it well, but so far we’ve been able to get some good use out of it.  (On a side note, I really need to buy a better set of bingo balls since mine only had the letters printed on the side and most of the numbers have rubbed off, making it VERY tricky to call out numbers! I think they have nicer sets out there with the numbers actually engraved in the side… maybe I’m wrong… I’ll have to do some digging. Or maybe I’ll need to learn how to etch into ours… haha!)

The only catch to the night was that it was also the evening of our school’s Art Fair that Chloe and Josiah had some art work displayed.  Oh, and I should mention I was still teaching as normal.  So… Tim couldn’t take the kids, and neither could I, so Jen was kind enough take them and even take pictures for us!  Then they came back and the big kids were able to hang out with Alisa until bedtime.  It all ended up working smashingly well.

I’ll post more pictures of the Art Fair later this week.

And just like that Alisa, is back at college. She left on Friday morning.   We sure enjoyed having her here for the past couple weeks.

I love the joy in their faces.  I’m sure it was something that Tim said or did to make them all laugh, but I love it.

I only took a couple pictures of the actual Easter Egg hunt… but here they are!

(And yes, Chloe did find an egg up in the tree!)

We had a fun filled Easter weekend.  Let’s see if I can bullet point things into a nice concise list:

• visit from Grandma Patsy (for the weekend!)  She brought blankets for the Big Kids that she had crocheted.  I’ll have to get a picture.  They’re so fun and colorful!
• dyed eggs with the kids (I let the Littles do 2 and then whisked them off to a quiet time–it was too stressful!)
• made sweet banana rolls again
• made layered jello eggs (which didn’t turn out very well, but left us with a boatload of leftover jello that I made into a pretty layered dish)
• Easter egg hunt for the kids on Saturday afternoon. This was mostly Jen’s doing. I helped fill all the eggs, but she does the work of hiding them all.  The kids love it.  I might have a picture or two that turned out on my regular camera.  I need to look…
• before church we sat down and read our new book (see photo below) that I just got for the kids.  I love it so much.  We’ve been reading it all week.  I highly recommend it.
• went to church for 2nd service and then stayed to help in nursery for the 3rd service.  Tim was playing so he had to be there early and stay for the morning.  The kids helped me in nursery for the 3rd service.
• enjoyed Sunday afternoon eating and socializing with Bakers, Patsy and Jen.  The kids had fun running around together.
• Sunday night, after eating way too much, the kids and I curled up the couch and watched The Little Prince on Netflix.  A great end to a fun weekend.

The other day during Levi’s morning quiet time, I could tell that he was getting upset about something.  I figured it was simply a toy that he was playing it.  He often gets frustrated when a toy won’t work in the exact manner he wants it to… so he’ll yell at it and then angrily throw it discard it before realizing that he actually does want it and then pick it back up.  Ah, the life of a 2 year old.

But after a while I could tell he was more concerned rather than angry this time.  So, I went to see what was the matter…

Apparently he got bored during his quiet time and decided it might be fun to take his shirt off.  Well, actually not off.  Rather he pulled it down… to his waist. And it was uncomfortable, since that’s the neck hole.  Haha!

Don’t worry, I saved him and the shirt was able to return (mostly) to the right size again.

Side note:  I just learned that it is in fact Brussels sprouts with an “s” a the end of brussel.  Huh.  I always thought it was brussel sprouts.  But thanks to red lines under my misspelled words, I am now wiser!  So, if you didn’t know that–now you do too!

I made a ham yesterday in my Instant pot in preparation for Sunday, which is EASTER!  Yippie!  It turned out quite well, so I am excited to make it again on Sunday.  And it was so fast compared to heating it for hours in the oven.  It had a nice flavor with crushed pineapple and honey and brown sugar smothered all over it, so really, what’s not to like?!

Family breakdown:  Josiah loved it.  The rest of the kids were just ok with it.  Tim and I both liked it a lot.

Then today I made Brussels sprouts.  It ended up being Brussels sprouts in sauteed onions with a little seasoning–and I’m still on the fence about it.  I am pretty sure I like it.  I just have to come to terms with little tiny cabbages.  It was a tad too peppery, so my mouth felt a bit spicy after I ate a few.  Maddie and Levi sampled it and came back for a 2nd and 3rd bite, so I can say that they approve.  I did like the convenience of the speed of cooking it in the instant pot.  It was a few minutes to saute the onions and then I put the lid on and pressure cooked it for 5 min. (which really isn’t 5 min. because it has to come up to pressure first which can take 5-10 min, but it is still unsupervised cooking time, which I can appreciate).

One of my friends suggested I saute the sprouts with bacon, so I’m going to try that tomorrow.  🙂  I can imagine that the bacon will give it a nice flavor boost.

I remember taking a typing class in middle school.  We would file into a very small room with computers along all the walls and then we take a little notepad and spend the duration of the class typing nonsensical words and sentences until we finished that book and could move on to the next.

I loved typing class.

Probably because it reminded me of playing the piano and I liked the way it felt to jab away at the keyboard.  I was also very competitive, so I wanted to be the first person done each day with our assignment.

With the advancement of tablets and phones and smart boards, we have lost the essential need to have typing classes in school.  So, I have decided that our children will learn to type the good old fashioned way, like I did.  I was able to find a library book similar to what I used in school so at swim lesson on Sunday nights the big kids are learning to type.  While one is in the water, the other one will sit at the computer and practice.  They both seem to enjoy it, although it’s harder than they both thought it would be…   Chloe has dabbled a little in typing before, but now we’re actually carving out time to make a bigger dent.  I know they are both very excited to (eventually) be able to sit down and write out their own stories and thoughts.  Not to mention how much this will eventually help them with homework and writing papers down the road!

Regardless of the lingering snow (don’t worry, it’s almost gone) Tim’s work season is officially kicked into gear.  He actually started about a month ago, but he’s now busy enough to merit having nannies come again after school.  So, today marks the first day of nannies again.

I know I’ve mentioned before my mixed emotions with having nannies come.  I’m so thankful for these girls, and I’m also so thankful for Tim and I both having jobs; but it is definitely a little more work to have everything prepped and cleaned every day.  I have to really be on the ball right away in the morning to get everything done.  But on the flip side–the kids simply LOVE having nannies come and the variety of people they get to see each week.  Plus there is the added bonus of getting to go the park and do fun activities with them.  Two of the three nannies we have are repeat nannies from the Fall, and one is new, so it’s even more exciting for them to be able to look forward to seeing these girls again.

And, like so many things in life, this is just a season.  Before long we won’t even need nannies anymore.  The kids will be able to come home from school and entertain themselves or work on homework or chores.  Granted, that’s still a couple of years out, but I’m sure it will go faster than I think!

Oh, and I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to my little brother, Luke!  I don’t think he actually reads my posts, but in case he does… I hope you have a FANTASTIC day, Luke!

And just when we thought we had moved into Spring……..

It snowed. Again.

We had school cancelled.  Again.

I thought about taking a picture, but I feel like you all can visualize snow in your head just fine.  😉  We got about 9 inches–but then it rained a bit on top so it squished down to a heavy 5 inches.  It was actually a really strange storm:  it snowed like crazy, then it stormed with lightening and thunder with hail and then it rained for a bit more and then it snowed bit fat fluffy flakes again today.  Oh, and don’t forget we still have flooding from the initial thawing… what a funny spring!

Ah, remember last week when it was Spring Break and we played at the park?  Yeah, that was great.  I know it will melt quickly, so I’ll hold on a few more weeks for Spring!