creme brulee

I was cleaning out my cookbooks this week and found one on creme brulee. When I saw the excited look on Rob's face I knew I'd be making some soon!

Rob enjoyed the good excuse to use the torch (oh, and he enjoyed the dessert too!).

Cute!

These two are just too cute! Miss J can often be found holding Miss C's hand saying "like me" as in -she likes me- She even does this in the car, and tries to grab Miss E's hand too. She sure loves her sisters!

Spring cleaning

We've taken a break from our normal school/cleaning schedule to do some cleaning out, organizing and spring cleaning! Last week we went through a few rooms really cleaning out and going through stuff, this week we're doing more of the same but also some deep cleaning.

Yesterday we worked on the kitchen. The big kids were assigned cleaning jobs while I went

through the cupboards organizing and de-cluttering. Mr. S had the job of cleaning (wiping down) the play kitchen and Miss J wiped off the school table and then did puzzles.

In the next couple of days we hope to get to the play room, bathrooms and the van. We'll see how much we get done this week and if other spots are found that need work.

chart, hard work, and rewards

We use a chart to help our kids improve some behaviors, and give them a chance to earn rewards for good behavior. They all have a chance to earn rewards for consistent good behavior, but the child with the most points at the end of the week gets to stay up an extra half hour on Saturday evening. For the last three weeks Miss E has been the winner, this week Mr. M was determined that he would be the winner. It was so cute to see him working so hard thinking of ways to serve and encourage his family.

Well, he did it! His big plan for his extra half hour was to play a game of "Sorry" with us. We surprised him with mochas and biscotti as well. It was a fun evening with him and a well deserved reward for Mr. M!

Just hanging around

This last week-end we spent quite a bit of time just hanging around relaxing and resting up getting over our colds. The kids wanted to use their new ear buds they got at Mac world, so we pulled out ipod/iphones and they listened to Jonathan Park or music. Rob also pulled out some mini speakers to use on the ipods. Mr. R was so cute, he asked if Miss C could sit with him. They had a good time sitting together. I love that our kids love each other, enjoy being together, and seek out each others company!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We've had Valentine fun all week here!

The kids made Valentines on Monday to send out to Grandparents. All of the kids enjoyed making the cards but Mr. S really got into using the ink pad and glue. That was a fun, red, sticky mess!

G'ma and Grandad sent a gift certificate to See's so on Tuesday we went to get our chocolates. The kids had fun picking out their own chocolates, it was fun to watch them as they made their choices. They each got to choose one row in the box and then we marked their rows so that they would be sure to get to enjoy their own choices.

Rob brought pink roses home for me earlier this week and pink carnations for the girls to share! Miss J enjoyed walking around with a couple of them for a while before she put them in the vase too.

I made some little "pillow case" dresses for the girls. Miss E and I had fun going shopping for fabrics, she did a good job picking out some cute Valentine prints. The girls looked so cute in their dresses, but I did not manage to get pictures of them in the dresses. These dresses should fit them for years, since as they grow they can just be worn as tops!

 

Rob makes pancakes every Saturday morning, but he drew on the griddle with pink batter to make the pancakes special for Valentines day. Most of us got hearts, but Mr. M got an MP5, I guess that was in honor of the St. Valentine's day massacre.

This morning I got up early (thanks to Miss C who is still stuffed up), and made doughnuts.

Miss E was up early too, so we had some nice time together and she helped me make the doughnuts. They were even better this time and the doughnut holes turned out very well also! We had a fun morning, and then Rob headed off to church while the rest of us stayed home since we are all still sick, though everyone seems to be past the worst of it.

Mac World

Rob took us all to Mac World yesterday! He had fun showing the kids around the expo. The kids had a great time checking things out and picking up swag! I think it was fun for them to see how these things work since Rob goes to conventions from time to time.

Rob made sure they all had backpacks to put anything they picked up in. The kids all did a great job of following Rob and sticking close to him. They were all so well behaved and polite. Miss J got to ride on Rob's back most of the day in our new Ergo. It worked out very well, except that at first she was not impressed with it. She did not mind after a while

and I think she enjoyed the day too. I'm sure it did not hurt any that many of the booths were handing out candy!

We were there for a few hours and the little ones had started to get tired, so we rested for a while (or in Miss J and C's cases, they got to get out and stretch their legs), but Rob took some of the big kids back in a couple of times. While we rested the kids got to play with some of their swag like the little spinners, flashlights, and the ear buds (had to borrow an iphone from mom or dad to use those though).

 

We headed home late in the afternoon and stopped at a Mimi's Cafe on our way for dinner. The kids were so excited, we don't go there often, but it is a place they love.

Miss J had had a cold a couple of days earlier, and by evening we could tell she had been very generous in sharing her germs. Miss C, Mr. S, Mr. M and I were all feeling very stuffed up last night and Mr. R was complaining of feeling a little sick this morning. I guess we'll be having a quiet week-end resting up and getting better.

Reuben rolls

Miss E saw a recipe for these and just had to make them for her Daddy! She loves her Daddy so much, and knows that this would be something he would like. She made dinner for us all on Friday night with only a little bit of help from me. What a sweet, thoughtful girl she is!

Christmas mouth and tea

At lunch today Mr. R was biting into a green gum drop when he found that he had a loose tooth! It was ready to fall out. I commented that since he had been eating the green candy his mouth looked like it was ready for Christmas. He thought that was so funny and told me I should blog about it! ;)

Friday afternoons we have tea. For the last bit of nap time the big kids set up for a tea party using the good tea things. It is a fun time, and a way to make sure my nice things are used and enjoyed! The kids work on their good manners and handling the dishes carefully and they usually hand wash the dishes after tea. We try to have special goodies in the house for these days. Today was cheese, crackers, salami (favorites of Miss E's) and P. B. cookies. We often have some sort of pound cake, muffin or scone.

Today instead of the china tea sets we got out the "elephant trunk" tea set. This one is fun to use with the kids, and the boys like it a bit better than all of the flowery tea things.

playing dress up

With all of the wedding anticipation over the last few months and then all of the fun a couple weeks ago Miss E was wondering about my wedding dress. We've been talking about pulling it out and were able to have some special time on Monday looking at a bunch of my wedding stuff. She was so cute putting my dress, shoes, and veil on and then we looked at wedding pictures. After that we started pulling out some of the baby books and other baby things I keep in the chest. It was such a sweet special time with her!

Sisters

It is nice to have big sisters....

...when your two year old sister notices that Mommy and Daddy have neglected to give you the yummy treats everyone else has, she will take care of you!

Yep, we keep catching Miss J trying to feed Miss C. First it was just pretend with the empty baby doll spoon, or a binky that we don't use but is still around. Then she moved up to pepperoni pizza. Twice we've found her trying to slip a red vine into Miss C's mouth. At least once she was able to get a good taste too, she was licking and smacking her lips for quite a while.

*the bright pink smudges at the left side of her mouth are from the second red vine.