Kindy 500 and Field Day 2007

Last week, the boys' school, along with many other Indiana schools, kicked off the Indianapolis 500 weekend with a Kindy 500 parade and races, and Field Day.

For the Kindy 500, the kindergartners all got to make and decorate cardboard box cars at home. They then had a parade at the school for parents and some of the classes.

Here is Ethan with his Pikachu-mobile.

Sophie enjoyed watching her big brother.

Emma had fun with some of her friends.

Ethan participating in the "bear-walk" race. There were several different races the kids formed teams to compete in.

Afterwards the kindergartners got cake and juice back in their classroom.

Later in the afternoon Elliott went back to the school to watch Andrew and his class participate in the annual Field Day. This year the theme was "Survivor", and each "tribe" got to choose their own costume and team. Andrew's class was "Mrs. B's Bandits"! Here they are attempting to conquer the tug-of-war.

I am not sure what this was called, but it looks difficult!

Plastic for dinner

I make most of Sophie's baby food myself. I buy boxes of baby cereal, and a couple of the fruits, but everything else I make from fresh or frozen vegetables because a) it tastes better than the canned baby food, and b) it is much cheaper. It really is quite easy to make loads of baby food all in one afternoon.

This afternoon I was making Sophie some green beans. I had filled the blender completely full of cooked green beans, and just started to puree. I stuck the plastic spoon into the blender to push the beans down towards the blade and all of a sudden it made a horrible grinding noise, shot up into the air and got green bean puree everywhere! Note to self: remember not to stick the spoon down too far into the blender!

The whole blender of beans was lost, since a little piece of plastic came off the spoon and was lodged in the puree somewhere. Luckily, there is still plenty of peas and sweet potatoes for dinner.

Okay, you caught me! This post is really just an excuse to post another picture of my Marshmallow, but can you blame me? We can't wait for everyone to meet her in a couple of weeks!

Yum, yum!

Last night we went to a friend's house for a Crawfish Boil. It was our first time eating the little insects of the muddy bogs of the South, but we had a great time.

Andrew and Ethan were excited to try the crawfish until they actually saw what one looks like (a miniature lobster). We got them each to try one, but the first crawfish was exceptionally spicy for some reason, and the boys decided one was enough!

When it was time to leave the party, Andrew came wandering over to us with another crawfish in hand, and after peeling it, he popped the tail meat into his mouth and ate it! Then he decided he wanted another one, so we all went back over to the table where the crawfish were mounded. All of a sudden the boys were both popping crawfish like they were candy. They even sucked out the brains... that was Ethan's favorite part! I think we stood there for an additional 15 minutes eating the little mudbugs!

As we were getting in the car to go home, Ethan asked me, "Mom, can you make crawfish for dinner sometimes?"

Sorry doodle.... I love you, but that's just not going to happen!

For a tutorial in how to eat crawfish (or to be awed and grossed out at the same time), click here.

The best view in the house!

A New Look

For Mother's Day, Elliott gave our front yard a face lift. Well, more like plastic surgery.

This is the total view.

Previously we had some awful looking blue junipers, and a hodgepodge of assorted shrubs and perennials. We replaced the junipers with some yews, and these wonderful dwarf Alberta Spruce (Christmas trees, as Emma calls them.) Then we put in some dwarf korean lilacs, and my two favorite perennials for Indiana,

Stella d'Oro daylily


and some salvia (this one is called East Friesland).

Both of these will get quite a bit larger and really fill in the area, but still look neat and tidy.I added some stepping stones to make watering and pulling weeds easier, and plan to have each of the older 3 kids make stepping stones from the art kits I have seen around. Hopefully next year, when everything is grown in, we will have a nice little flower patch!

Overheard:

Emma: Daddy, watch me jump really high... (jumps)

Elliott: Wow, Emma, that was really high. Maybe you can be a high jumper in the Olympics.

Emma: No, I just want to be a Barbie in the Olympics.

My Big Eater

Andrew may be having a growth spurt.

On May 6th, I got a notice from the school that Andrew's lunch money balance was $1.76 in the hole. I sent him with a check for $25 add to his account, thinking it would last until the end of the school year.

You can imagine my surprise when Andrew brought home a notice again yesterday, saying that his balance was $0.30 overdrawn! Today I called the cafeteria secretary to find out if there was some mix-up, and she looked into the account for me.

Come to find out that Andrew has been getting his first entree, and then going back for seconds almost every day! He is quite a good eater at home these days too! He also told us he likes to get seconds of drinks, but unfortunately he isn't allowed to get seconds on desserts.

Just one more reason I am grateful to live in this beautiful land where we enjoy so much abundance. I am grateful that a child who is hungry can fill himself. What a blessing!

My Creations

One of my favorite recent creations:


My first ever floral arrangement. I looked at one I liked at the shop and kind of copied it. It turned out okay considering I have never done this before. We need more "stuff" in our house. You can see how boring the room is otherwise. I would repaint, but I don't want to have to buy new curtains!

Excuse me for just a minute...

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

ah, that feels better!