Pics

Ask and ye shall receive:

Pics of Chief's new desk...

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And pics of Red's soccer game (Red is getting ready to line up, his fans are watching from the sidelines):

We only stayed for the first half hour. Red had to REALLY use the restroom, but since I couldn't find the lightswitches in the park restrooms, he refused to use them (even with me holding the door open for light). I gave up and took the three kids home. Red wanted to return after, but the game would've been ending by then anyway. The poor coach didn't know why we'd left, and concerned I had left upset over something--like her coaching--she called me to find out what had happened. I assured her it was nothing like that, but I definately need to remind Red to take care of that before leaving the house.

Can my house actually hold more stuff?

We found out today. After Chief came home from school he went to his room. Despite several reminders to do his homework, he was sorting his money and exchanging me smaller change for bigger change. Then I found out why. Down the block a family assistance organization had some furniture outside for sell the last few days. There was a bookshelf, some filing cabinets, and a couple of school desks. Chief and his friends all liked them and his friends told him they thought they'd buy them first (they thought they were $5. I don't know who told them this.) Anyway, Chief was determined to get one for himself. When my hubby and I found out, we asked him where he'd put it. He actually had a good idea about moving some of the furniture around (some of which my hubby had already wanted to do). He had $5, so my hubby went to make sure the quality of the desk was worth spending any money over. Once there Chief went in and asked (all business-like) how much they cost. The lady at the reception desk asked how much he had (yes, they are very sweet!). Chief said, "I can pay you $5!" The lady then told him he could have it for that. Needless to say, they came home with the desk (and a lamp that Dad had to buy for him from Walmart). Now we just need to get him a chair.

Friend birthday parties

So we planned on surprising Chief with a friend party this afternoon. We have a family party tomorrow on his actual birthday, but thought he'd love the surprise. Boy were we surprised when only 1 of the 5 classmates showed up (the only one who came knew about it because I talk with her mom all the time). I had dropped off letters for the other 4 on Tuesday for the teacher to put in the kids' homework cubby. They were in cursive and were addressed in print to the kids' parents so that the kids wouldn't be able to read them and tell everyone about it. Either the kids didn't get the letters, the parents didn't get the letters, all 4 kids were busy with other things, or a combination of the above. I did make the mistake of not requesting an R.S.V.P., but left my phone number for any questions. Anyway, it worked out in a way. Chief got slightly injured by a thorny bush during the first activity, a treasure hunt, after which he hung out with us, but didn't participate in any activity. Plus the one friend had to leave halfway through to go to a church activity, so we dropped a lot of the activities. I was thrilled when our two little neighbors, friends of my younger two kids, joined in the fun following the hunt. Since we lost our guests after the cake-on-a-stick activity, we jumped in the car to go to dinner at the place of Chief's choosing: McDonald's with the slide. After stopping at the grocery store on the way home we told the kids to get ready for bed. Chief had been looking forward to an ice cream cone--which we told him he could have at home, but before we realized we had to go to the store to get ingredients for his b-day breakfast (his choice was to have abelskivers and sausages). So we got to hear what a horrible day it had been.
Okay, wait a second. We brought candy to him at school for him to share with his class, we attempt to throw a surprise b-day party (it worked out--just not the way I thought it would), and we take him out to eat wherever he wants. On the other hand, he gets attacked by a bush and doesn't get the ice cream cone of his choice. So...good day or bad day?
Honestly, my hubby and I get tired of trying. A little while ago we had been feeling like we were neglecting the kids, thereby possibly resulting in some restless fighting amongst them. We took a very busy Saturday (at least for the parents who had lots to do) and changed it to taking the kids to the museum and the park (well, Daddy did the park while Mommy accomplished work). The verdict: that day was a horrible day because they didn't get to ride bikes at home with their friends.
Are my kids the only spoiled rotten ones? Do your kids ever take EVERYTHING for granted?!?! Was I like this as a kid? Oh wait Mom--don't answer that one.

Chocolate Party

I went to a delicious chocolate party tonight. There were tortes, fudge, cookies, bars, pies, cakes, hot cocoa, chocolate balls, and even chocolate facial recipes with samples. I brought one of my favorites: Valentine berries and cream--featured below.

I found the original recipe years ago in a Taste of Homes. This is what it usually looks like. I made a few modifications by making it bite-sized:

Here's my hubby's creation from the leftover chocolate, chocolate cream, whipped cream, and strawberries:

I had fun, but quickly reached my chocolate limit. Here's the recipe:

Valentine Berries and Cream

8 sq. (1 oz each) semisweet chocolate

1 Tb Shortening

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 Tb. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped and divided

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries

Line a 9 in. heart or square shaped baking pan with foil; set aside. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Pour into prepared pan, swirling to coat the bottom and 1 1/2 in. up the sides. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then swirl the chocolate to reinforce sides of heart or box. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm. Using foil, lift from pan; remove foil and place chocolate heart on a serving plate. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Combine confectioner's sugar and cocoa; add to creamed mixture with milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gently fold two-thirds of the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into heart. Insert star tip #32 into pastry or plastic bag; fill with remaining whipped cream. Pipe around the edge of heart. Garnish with strawberries.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Soccer Season

I'd like to post some pics of Chief's first soccer game of the season, but it was raining and cold, so I didn't bring a camara. He had a good time. It gets pretty tough by this age though--I saw one kid on the opposite team that kept receiving some accidental kicks that looked like they might leave bruises.


I will post a few belated pics though. Hope ya'll don't mind.


Here are pics of my boys and their friends with their leggo creations (or being eaten by a dinosaur). Usually my kids take things apart, but with the building creativity of their friends, they actually made stuff. By the way, the airplane featured by the second child below was put together by the boy holding it without instructions. There's no way I could do that!!!


As for the pics below...Red cracks me up. I always thought my daughter might borrow my clothes, but I had no clue my son might also (notice the boots). The other pic is Red's idea of a perfect nightlight. He brings a lamp from our bedroom into his some nights, plugs it in, and presto--the perfect solution for dreaming about sandy beaches! I should try it sometime :).

Pics to come

I've been taking more pictures lately. But I'm too lazy to upload them right now. So I'll just post a little of the conversation Chief had with a friend of his today. Chief was showing his friend his Hovercraft and explained: "It can go on concrete, water, and snow. Yep, this baby can do cool things...This baby flys like an eagle. It's a beauty." I'm not sure if this is typical "toy" talk for males or if he's likely to be a salesman.

Endings

Today was the last day of Red's home-preschool, which I taught. I won't miss the 1-2 hours it took to prepare each lesson, but I liked feeling that he was really learning something important each time. I feel like the sacrifice I made in time was definately worth it. I also loved seeing what the other teachers came up with on their lesson days. I have grown from this experience in that I won't be as unsure of how to teach Punkie as she grows. I felt lost when Chief was this age and I was more than happy to have him at a private-preschool--but then again Chief never has liked learning from me. I thought of a way to help him when he was having problems with his homework a couple of weeks ago and he just didn't even want to listen to me at all. I guess some things never change. Let's just hope Punkie doesn't mind Mommy School.