Wicked good

The day finally came. Four small pieces of paper sitting in my cupboard for 120 days never proved to be so enjoyable. If you get the chance, see it. You will smile for 3 hours straight. it's not easy being green - Elphaba has such a good heart

random acts of kindness- perfect strangers who offer to get the whole of you into the frame.

perma-grin gals

If my new playlist is working, you will hear some Wicked tunes. (Big ups to me for figuring it out all by myself.) If you listen long enough, you will get all John Mayer all the time. I encourage you to become a fan, or, just scroll to the bottom to shut it down if it gags you. Oh yes, Mr. Ihrig made me throw in a Pixie's song on the last track. I am not a fan, but whatever makes the boy happy makes me happy.

Happy Birthday Henry!

It has been a week of celebration. Somehow our family can really milk a birthday. It takes a lot of careful explanation to convince a four-year old that he will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday; a family party. On Tuesday; your "real" birthday. And, again on Wednesday; your friend party. Of course, he did not offer one complaint. Three parties? okaaaay! Well, the balloons have all popped, and the banners are put away for next year. It's official. My baby is 5. Sad? a little. Blessed? a lot.

Henry requested a Transformer cake. Granted by Grandma Nolene.

hillary lovingly assists

wait for it....Legos!

how many 12 year olds get up at 6:30 am to make an awesome sign like this? (love that girl!)

"Mom, could I have chocolate milk for my birthday?" (requested days in advance)

Maddi even took him kite flying with Sophie on his "real birthday."

what is more joyful than chasing a kite?

great pals

Such a good day!

The knobbiest knees in the west.

double click the photo for maximum viewage.

He's only four

3 on 3 is a great way to play. no goalie. how fun is that?

Here's a bit from today's game. Henry gives his best showing yet, and can finally lay claim to one goal. You'll notice that he throws the ball inbounds to himself, and scores a beauty. Also, note the fists-in-the-air cheer he gives himself to the two boys on the blue team. It's actually a classic H move from oh, about '87.

Next on the to do list today was the swim meet for Hillary. She is doing so great! Her cousins Sarah, Emily, and her friend Eva all competed as well. Go girls!


Here she is in lane three (from the bottom) rocking the freestyle. What a little worker!

This clip is quality videography. I was running my camcorder simultaneously with the other hand. Hillary is in lane one. As my camera continues to roll, you will get a lovely shot of my thighs and miscellaneous bodies around me. It's the work involved in this stroke that makes me tired just in watching it. I am so proud of your work, Hillary!

industry

The Saturday before Easter Sunday is always a marathon of tasks. Today we stuck to the fun projects and let the cleaning and scrubbing wait for another day. (That makes it sound like I clean religiously every Saturday... Ummm I don't) Anyway, let's begin with the coloring of eggs. I hardly have to do anything now that the girls can run the show. Where are you looking, Hillary?

Thank you Henry for unabashed joyfulness

Both Henrys on either side of the frame messing with my composition (see flying PAAS box)

ninnymuggins on egg ring display detail

The eggs are now nestled snugly in their chilly beds. Does every fridge in America smell like eggs and vinegar for the next week? Egg salad baby, I'm coming home to you. See you Monday around lunchtime.

Moving on to the next big thing. It's sugar cookies. They represent the height of culinary unselfishness. They take ages to make and I can't even look at one until the following day.

Maddi was upgraded to "Master Sprinkler" which also involves the task of mixing color.

Hillary went from "Assistant Sprinkler" to "Associate Sprinkler." She doesn't think that sounds like much of a promotion, but she is well on the heels of her big sista's position. She has patience as well as artistry and creativity.

bunches and bunches of bunnies

Thank you Easter Bunny!

Oh, and by the way, Little Henry brought me a collection of chocolate Easter bunnies that he somehow located in the crawl space. "What are these for, Mom?" Hmmm, not sure how to handle this one.

Happy Easter to all of you!

attention kmart shoppers

In recent posts, there has been some mention/debate of using the "good butter" in baking. See "med student cinnamon rolls" http://justahintofsalt.blogspot.com/. Adrianne recommends paying the extra money to use the really good butter in this recipe. I whole-heartedly agree with her. My first experience with the really good butter was on about week 11 of my first pregnancy. I would rate myself a 10 out of a possible 10 in the feeling of constant car sickness at the time. Little did I know then that the ranking system would reach past 20 in subsequent pregnancies.
Anywho, as I was saying... This lovely woman from across the street brought over a congratulatory/consolatory crispy baguette paired with a chilled cube of Land 'O Lakes unsalted butter. How seasoned a woman to know that white bread and butter would be just the ticket for me. I thanked her and went to work. On that night, I polished off the baguette and the entire cube of butter! Oh my goodness that was good butter! It tasted like fancy-shmancy hotel butter. And that was my first ah-ha moment with dairy. So, I would be totally remiss if I didn't alert as many good friends as I possibly could that the $4.89 "good butter" is on sale at Smith's for $1.99 !!!!!! You may select from salted or unsalted. (Martha really gets nasty about using that unsalted butter, you know.)

But wait......





That's not all.....





There's a coupon stuck on the boxes for an additional 55 cents off!!!





I'll do the math here. That's $1.44 for the $5.00 good butter!!! Ta-daa!! There should be some really majestic music playing in the background here.



All I'm saying is, friends tell friends when the good stuff goes on sale.



Sale goes through April 8th.


ps Did you know that you can freeze butter?