A Long Wait

I can't believe I haven't posted since the end of February!

Needless to say, my life went into overly crazy mode for a couple of months. But, now that things are returning to just the normal crazy I want to catch up. Well, my computer, now going on 6 years, has decided it doesn't like to download my pictures. I've figured out how, but it is more time consuming. Also, because of it's age - it doesn't like the newly updated Blogger and uploading pictures take SO LONG!! 

We are looking into getting a new computer . . . . SOON! and will then catch up and blog with ease (or so I'm hoping). Keep us on the sidebar of your blog and see when I pop back up to the top with a new post. 

If I find a bit more time I might try making another post and even put up some pictures. A lot happens in two months you know.

Girls Weekend!

With Alyssa making GA All-State Chorus this year, we got to have a girls weekend in Savannah! This year we brought my friend Sara along as well - so much fun!

It was cloudy, but mild for the most part (back home it was raining and cold).

It's a fun and exhausting weekend for Alyssa with rehearsals from 9am to 9 pm, with breaks for lunch and dinner. While she rehearsed, the rest of us walked around town and up and down River Street.

We love the architecture of the area - 

all the old buildings.

And Natalie now knows what she wants on her balcony someday.

The streets are full of shops - candy shops, 

 that have samples ready to pass out.

Something is always cooking and the smell wafting out the doors draws you in.

We love the honey store.

And there are always way too many trinkets to choose from.

Even with the gloomy weather, we rushed down (during Alyssa's longer dinner break on Friday) to the beach.

No matter what, Natalie was planning on getting in the water. . . .

and she did. And had a blast!

It was a little to gray and cold for the rest of us.

It made me wonder if ships can always see the lighthouse.

Our hotel was in a perfect location - one block from the top of River St. one way and from Market Square the other way.

The weekend was of course for Alyssa and ended with going to watch her performance.

 They professionally recorded and taped it this year, so there was no recordings of any kind for the rest of us. (Sorry, no snippets of songs on here.)

We did order the DVD and it will be fun to show the boys when it gets here.

Here they are getting ready.

They were wonderful!

With all the great eateries around the area, we celebrated at Tubby's Tank House. It was so fun and everything was delicious!

We picked up dessert at Lulu's Chocolate Bar and enjoyed them at our hotel.

The perfect ending to our weekend.

 

The boys had a great time at home without us, with a couple of parties and a Star Wars movie marathon - all 6! (Logan kept falling asleep.)

I love spending time with my girls! And I was excited that I look taller than both of them in most of the pictures!

I LOVE BOOKS!

Anyone who knows me at all knows I love books! And I'm passionate about children's books - especially the ones I grew up with, ones you often can't find anymore.

As I was driving home, I caught the end of an interview with an author. He was asked what books he loved when he was little, to which he responded that when he was in elementary school they were leveled, 1, 2, or 3. He was in level 3 - the stupid ones, the ones that would be flipping burgers. They didn't have many book and weren't really taught to read. One day a teacher came into the room, took him by the hand and brought him to her level 1 classroom. She sat him by her desk which was stacked with books - all below the grade level, but he still couldn't read them. She taught him how to read. One of the first books he loved was "The Big Jump."

 I was so excited I let out a little cheer! I have that book and I LOVE that book. It is well worn with love and use.

I was so excited to hear a story about a great teacher who took a boy who would have been continually looked over and allowed him to succeed!

Valentine's Day

We started a tradition, sometime, to have pink pancakes for Valentine's Day breakfast. The children also get a little something at their plates.

 This year, the girls each got a rose and everyone split some chocolate covered strawberries. 

They were mostly for Jacob. Whenever the commercial would come on he would come into the room and say, "those look so good. Don't they look really good?" So, I thought it would be fun to order some as a surprise for him.

He loved them and said it was the best Valentine's Day gift - even as great as the year they got Lego spinners for their Valentine's gift. . . . Now that's pretty good! :)

Logan loved the pink heart shaped pancakes and pink syrup and asked for them for dinner that night and breakfast the next day!
Breakfast was a hit!

Robert and I went out to dinner with some friends that night and had a really nice time.

That Saturday we went to a Valentine's Day Sweethearts party at a friend's and were asked to bring a dessert. I made a raspberry-lemon icebox cake. It was very fresh and light. Robert thought I should have gone with the Belgian chocolate cream pie, but I thought there might be a lot of chocolate desserts there and decided to bring this one.

I'll just have to make the chocolate pie another night!

Cub Scout Blue&Gold

February is the month of the Cub Scout Blue & Gold banquet. I found way too many cool ideas on-line and started feeling a bit overwhelmed.

It's nice to have a bunch of leaders to divide up assignments. I took care of the cake and table decorations. I found a great cake and adapted it to my abilities.

For den meeting, the week before the Blue&Gold, the boys helped put together some of the table decorations. They were very helpful and it was fun to see what they did on the tables.

I saw an idea for blue chocolate dipped marshmallows with gold sprinkle. I found some light blue melting chocolate and tried a few out to see how they would turn out. 

They turned out great and weren't very hard to make. Alyssa and Logan did most of them for me on a Sunday afternoon.

We had a great turn out and everyone had a great time.

The boys helped in an activity that talked about the three important parts of Cub Scouts - the boys, the leaders, and the parents -

and how we all support each other.

It was a wonderful night and celebration.

Waiting Rooms

 When waiting in a waiting room, it's hard not to glance at some of the magazines they have laying on all the tables. The ones with food on the cover caught Alyssa's eye and we started flipping through the February Family Fun magazine.

They had some great ideas for dinners made in muffin tins. I had to get the issue.

We tried out the sweet potato shepard's pie (pictured below) - a great blend of flavors. Jake and Alyssa loved it (Alyssa said eating it made her smile), Natalie and Logan - liked just the bottom meat part, sort of.

 I also tried the homemade mac&cheese recipe for the muffin tins - the kids weren't too keen on the breadcrumb topping (just cheese next time) - but they all loved it, even Natalie! and she hasn't liked any mac&cheese she's tried until this one.

They also had a great idea for a Groundhog's Day dessert! So we celebrated last Saturday with a bit of sweetness.

I forgot to get the chocolate wafers to crumble on the top, so the groundhogs had to come out of mud instead of dirt, but it was still yummy!

If you have to sit and wait for appointments, I'm sure glad they provide great reading/idea material!

Catapulting for Science

 It's that time of year again when the science fair rubric comes home - this time for Jake.

He had it in his mind to do something with a catapult and over coming gravity. He decided on determining potential energy of a spring - measured by how far the projectile is launched using a spring catapult.

He and Robert build a simple catapult to measure distances using different lengths of spring at different angles.

 The projectile - an Angry Bird!

There were many launches,

 lots of landings, 

 and lots of measuring.

One of the springs got really stretched out and the bar stopping the arm at the given angle got a bit bent out of shape from all the force.

 Data, graphs, pictures and coming up with analysis and conclusions and the project and tri-board is complete! We hung one of the springs on the board as well, since he couldn't take his catapult to display with his project (it's a weapon).

 I like when they are done and turned in - early!