Popcorn and Other Good News

We just had a beautiful weekend. Once again, we spent most of the day outside on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday after church, Daryl came out to the van and asked if it's okay if some friends of ours come over for lunch. Hmmm...I have no food to cook, but sure, why not. So he ran back in to tell them to come on over. When he came back, he had a very sheepish look on his face (I know you all can picture which look I mean), and told me a few others were coming too. He proceeded to name about 5 families! O.K! I told him he better run back in there quickly and tell them that they're all bringing their own food along! So they did. And we had a great picnic in the back yard. Lots of kids running everywhere, beautiful sunshine, espresso, friends and good conversation!

I hope to post pictures soon of my cute kids. AC learned how to skip rope on Saturday, and she looks so cute with her freckles and glasses, skipping away. I didn't get a good picture of her yet, but I will try this week. She reminds me more and more of a first grader...

O had a blast in the rain today, all by herself. It was fun to see her getting wet and using her beloved rain coat.

Little A is her normal crazy self. She is walking faster all the time, which is nice for her...but I liked it when she walked slow outside! Not as much chasing to do. She has started throwing temper tantrums when she can't go out with her sisters. Her latest tactic is banging her head on the floor. Hmmm, be my guest. If you wanna bang your head, go right ahead. Can't imagine that one will last very long.

And last but not least...

WE'RE GOING TO MADAGASCAR!!!!!

Finally everything is in place: We have dates nailed down, we have a house sitter, we have plane tickets, we are not packed, we are starting to get stressed. BUT WE'RE EXCITED! Please pray for me/us if you can these next few weeks. It's a little hard to know what to do next!
Anyone wanna come and help???

Oh, and here's a little tidbit for you. Did you know that you can pop regular popcorn in the microwave with about...hmmm, let's say a quarter of the fat? Maybe I'm just behind the times, but I was so happy to read this. I have a huge popcorn popper and I'm just too lazy to get it out and have to wash it up after, etc. I love microwave popcorn, but I can eat the whole bag myself, and I don't have the nerve to check the nutrition fact label. So anyhoo, take a paper sandwich bag, pretty much cover the bottom of the bag with popcorn kernels, and roll it up a couple times. Keep an eye on it just like any old microwave popcorn, and when it's done, pour a little (or a lot if you really want a treat) of melted butter on and PRESTO! Perfect for 2, or one if you're like me. Oh, and don't forget the seasoning salt.

Summer Salad

Here's a recipe that I made last night for supper - credit goes to my friend Erin for sharing it with us last summer. I also posted it on our recipe site. Next time I will throw in some carmelized pecans or toasted almonds. This is SO yummy.

Romaine lettuce - however much you will eat!
Strawberries, sliced
Grapes, halved

Dressing:
1/2 C mayo
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C milk
1 Tbsp poppy seeds

(This seems to be quite a kid-friendly salad, since they usually like the fruit.)
Let me know how you like it!

Mystery Solved

Okay... what a let down. :-) If you want to know what happened, read comment #4 in the last post. Sisters these days.

Help?

Okay, something weird is happening. I'm on a mission to solve the mystery! Yesterday I received a brand new board game in the mail, called Puerto Rico. (I had to pay customs on it since it was from the States.) I paid, since I didn't know who was sending me a package. I couldn't read the signature on the customs sticker, and the return address was from Utah. Now, I don't know anyone in Utah, and I have no idea why someone would be sending me a brand new game. I came to the conclusion that someone must have ordered it for me off of eBay and had it shipped here, and forgot to tell me.

Then today I received the exact same game, brand new in the package, from the same shipping address, senders signature, etc.

If you know anything about this, can you please share??? My curiousity (and suspicion, now) is killing me!

I'm Lovin' It

I LOVE THIS WEATHER!
What more can I say? I love that the kids are outside all the time and making up games to play (yesterday it was Mary and Laura/ Pa and Ma). I love that I can look out my kitchen window and see my laundry drying in the breeze. I love that sometimes I can open my windows and feel warm air coming in, and that we can sleep with our bedroom window open and it's nice and cold. I love that we can get ready to go somewhere in less than a half hour, since there's no snow suits and boots to pile on. I love taking my kids to the park and going for walks and just sitting outside in the sun.
I love that I have energy! I'm so glad that God has promised we will always have seasons, no matter what anyone says about global warming. (Did I actually say that on here before, or did I just think it? Anyway, I'm glad.)


P.S. Oh yeah, I'm still pregnant, in case anyone was wondering. I just forget to mention it! I'm feeling great these days, and my belly is obviously growing now. The girls are fascinated with following the baby's growth in the book, so that's fun.

Dinner Entertainment

Here's our little show-off! She had all of us laughing and she loved it! She almost got her shirt totally off by herself. What a crazy kid. She keeps us entertained, that's for sure!

First ponytails! She hardly has enough hair to put in ponytails, but she actually sat still long enough to let me!

Just Try It. Today.

So tonight the girls wanted marshmallows. Now, I'm not a big marshmallow fan, but I had they were a little stale and chewy, which is better than pure puff. Anyway, I had this sudden urge to dip the marshmallows in (creamy!) peanut butter. So I did. And now I can't stop. Don't ask, just try it.

Obviously I'm not a faithful blogger like most of you out there. I love reading other people's new posts and check some of them every day. So I'm sorry for those of you who keep coming back here for news (I know you're desparate) and there's nothing here! I wish I was a better author and could think of exciting and interesting ways to tell my stories. But here is my life...

My mom and dad (and a coworker of dad's) came out Wednesday night, and dad and friend left Thursday morning for meetings out of town. So mom got to stay until Sunday night when they got back. It was fun to have her here! A few full days of being together and of course she helped out a lot. It is amazing to have my laundry room "mucked out" and my floors cleaned thoroughly - and I didn't do it!!! Daryl and I even got to go out for some wonderful Ethiopian food and had a relaxing evening knowing the kids were with Grandma. Then we got to see dad for a bit when he came back...had a couple hours to visit and eat pizza!

Today we are heading to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather! I am going to attempt hanging out my laundry too. It looks so nice outside I can't wait to get out there. On Saturday the girls spent over 7 hours playing outside. My back entrance was covered with mud, but that's a nice sight after snow! And it means the kids are happy!

Oh, one more piece of news - I cleaned out my closet yesterday!!! Now I have to sort through a bunch of old clothes, but hey, the closet looks good. And now it's filled with maternity clothes and I don't have to sort through old stuff I never even look at! Thank God for hand-me-downs/pass arounds.

P.S.

Forgot to mention that when we were talking about what to give up for Lent, AC thought she'd like to give up oatmeal.

Resurrection Buns

I got to help out at AC's school yesterday and they made these great little buns for Easter. I thought I would share the recipe because I like sharing recipes, and because they're a cute way to help the kids remember the empty tomb.

12 frozen dinner rolls, thawed
12 large marshmallows
1/2 C melted butter
cinnamon/ sugar mixture

Have the kids press the rolls down flat. Place one marshmallow in the centre, and wrap the dough around until it is completely sealed. Place on greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Let rise and bake as package directs (or recipe, whatever you're using). Your kids will be surprised - when they bite into the buns, they are empty!

We're back!!! I'm impressed that I'm actually getting an update done in the same week we got home! It's been rather crazy around here...needless to say. After approximately 60 hours in the van, there is a lot of cleaning up and unpacking to do!

It was so good to see family and old friends. I got to spend an afternoon with Sabrina, and we even found a cute little cafe that served us awesome sandwiches. What fun to catch up and talk eachother's ears off! (And thank God, we didn't get lost this time!) And our husbands have now met eachother!

Of course Mom and Dad S. were great hosts! It was nice to have some time to sit and drink coffee, to be able to watch the kids getting re-acquainted with their grandparents, to get some good ol' USA shopping in, to see Hershey's Chocolate World, and all the other fun things we did. Of course there was not enough time to do everything we wished, but we are grateful for what we had. Thanks too, to Kerry and Jennifer for your part in being hosts -we really enjoyed our visit with you all. I regret that I didn't get pictures to share of Kerry and Jennifer, Randy, Kenton, Marcia and Kirk and Karla. My camera batteries died and my spares were not close by.

Speaking of those people...
On our way home, we stopped in Ohio and had a very nice visit with Kirk and Karla, and Marcia. Of course Kirk and Karla were great hosts, feeding us wonderful food and taking us to the ZOO! (Yeah, just a little larger than the one here...) It was good to spend a bit of time with Marcia too, even though it wasn't long enough.

Our trip home seemed shorter, yet longer. Hmmmmm. Funny how that works. It was broken up by stopping in Ohio, yet the road home is longer because you just don't want to go home yet! We did take time to get a hotel with a pool and enjoyed some amazing Mexican yummies. :-)

And now we're right back into the swing of daily life. Daryl is back at work...AC is back at school. But thank you God for a long Easter weekend! D is off all weekend, so we plan to go to church for the Good Friday service, and then of course on Sunday for a Resurrection Celebration! We're having friends over for our traditional Easter meal of ham with all the works.

Our neighbor girl was here today and asked us if we had given up anything for Lent. Her and her little sister and mom all have, and she was telling us about it. I was glad she mentioned it, because I had meant to teach the girls about it this year, but with travelling it slipped my mind. I have given up sugar (but only this week), and the girls decided they would give up candy for these last couple of days. Do any of you recognize/participate in Lent? I really like the idea of it; even though giving up something like sugar is a small price to pay, I am reminded of the amazing sacrifice that Jesus gave many times throughout my day. What other meaningful celebrations or traditions do you have around Easter?

Hershey's Chocolate World! Here are Anna-Christina, Olivia and their cousins Jevon and Annika.

A delicious breakfast of banana nut baked oats, peach french toast and great coffee with Rhonda!

Bedtime stories with Grandpa.

Grandma had to help Adrienne with the eggs, of course...she wanted to keep throwing them back in the grass!

After the Easter egg hunt with Grandma. Some happy kids!