Catch and Release Policy

Hello Spring.  Hello lizards.  We have a strict policy of do no harm to our little friends.  So they get some love and then let go.  I'm sure they love the love part.  The naming ceremony.  They best friend pledge and handshake.  

Poor lizards.  ;)

They do love the body heat they soak up and sometimes don't want to leave. . . or maybe it's the best friend pledge really taking effect.  ;)

7 years

I don't think we've colored eggs in 7 years.  Yep, seven.  I don't believe it was that fun when we did it 7 years ago and so it never happened again.  Ahhh.  Oh well.  We decided to give it a shot this year, because the girls were experiencing serious emotional distress from having Grammy go home after spring break.  They can't handle the let down from visits with any type of composure.  Anyway, DISTRACTION.

They were a big fan.  We tie-dyed and we rice speckled the crap out of those poor unsuspecting eggs.  Which by the way the pressure cooker totally hard boiled in no time, since this was a last minute decision.  Two thumbs up pressure cooker.  I can't plan anything ahead of time these days. . . except Dave's birthday poster which I made, ordered, and printed up last fall before I got hurt and stopped making things on the computer.  The one time I planned ahead and it worked out. . . or it facilitated my injury.  hmmmmmmm??  I shall no longer plan ahead just in case.  But I digress, this was about Easter.

So Easter stuff. . .

 Miley thinks any video I make is some sort of youtube tutorial so here is her Easter egg commentary.



And then came the egg roll.  We rolled.  We smashed.  We left egg guts across the yard for the dogs to clean up.  And then we save some to make deviled eggs for us to clean up.  Everyone except Jo, who does the dry heaving when presented with eggs to eat.  Weirdy.

 And whose egg did the winning. . . . well no surprises but I picked the winner.  Dave the sad loser in the background.  I picked the the least flashy one, and it held up like a champ, beating six eggs before hitting Miley's knee and meeting it's end.

Easter morning and April Fool's. . .



My girls didn't think anything of finding their baskets empty.  I guess I can remember that for next year.  Ha.


 Easter dinner at Anne's house with cousins.  Love having cousins to hang out with.

Easter egg hunt with cousins where Jovey found the golden egg and $5.  Big win.  I think she found it last year too.  I didn't take a single pic while there, so thanks to Anne for documenting the fun on this one.

selfies

I don't usually take our fam photos anymore.  I have a great friend/photographer for that job.  This year, however, in a pinch I grabbed my tripod and we struggled through.

First with the weird faces. . .

Then, with the kids moving while the camera focuses so that the best pic in the whole bunch is BLURRY.

So we take what we can get, weird positioning and all.  It's a better representation of us than anything perfect anyway. ;)

Or we just resort to phone selfies.  Those work for me.  

And hiding Dave's pale arms that reflect too much light.  ;)

Miley's toothlessness forever documented.  ;)

Well my girls are pretty cute, so we'll be happy with these pics.  Until next year. . . I am storing away the tripod indefinitely. . . but probably not my phone.

And in the middle of pictures we had to cross the river to save a stupid kid who got his leg stuck under a boulder.  I don't even know how, but that kid sure could scream and panic.  Dave lost the coin toss and ventured across.  Chivalry is not dead, but it is cold.  Brrrr.  

That ended our photo session with some soggy shuffling to the car.  ;)

Hummingbird shower

IMG_3031 from Mindy on Vimeo.

A little friend came and played in the sprinkler with us.

GOAL!! And done.

One goal for her team, multiple for the other teams and the season of the White Ghosts has come to an end.  

The takeaway. . . Jovey loves playing soccer, but she needs to work on being aggressive and not watching ALL the peoples, which are far too interesting for her to ignore.  ;)

 Now it's on to a summer of tennis. 

Parenting vs Vacationing

 We put our girls to work over fall break, unlike most everyone else who posted tons of photos of their vacations.   I'm not going to say whose plan was better or anything, but. . . ;)

 . . . I think my pictures of some of their hard work are way cooler than beaches and amusement parks.  ;)  ha.  I'm sure my girls totally agree.

Thank you Fall Break for the child labor/character building opportunities.

*I was kidding about the vacationing parents, I'm sure they are still good people.  ;)

Let Freedom Ring

Some Independence Day pictures. . .

 We decided to make some fruit pizza.  I had blueberries to make them patriotic, but forgot to get them out of the fridge.  They were delicious anyway.  The thing that makes fruit pizza delicious is the orange sauce.  Before you ask. . .here is the recipe:

Fruit Pizza       

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough (or homemade which is what I prefer)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Slice cookie dough and arrange on greased pizza pan, overlapping edges. Press dough flat into pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool. (Yeah, I used cookie cutters instead)

In a large bowl, soften cream cheese, then fold in the whipped topping. Spread over cooled crust. You can chill for a while at this point, or continue by arranging the fruit.

Begin with strawberries, sliced in half. Arrange in a circle around the outside edge. Continue with fruit of your choice, working towards the middle. If bananas are used, dip them in lemon juice so they don't darken. Then make a sauce to spoon over fruit.

In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours, then cut into wedges and serve.

We went and saw The BFG.  Miley was so excited since she read it this year.  Jovey was less impressed, but the scene with the frobscottle and the queen really saved it for her. . . and all the kids in attendance.  Miley cried at that particular part.  ;)

 Time for some selfies. . .

Long hair problems.

We made homemade ice cream as well, and waited so patiently for it to be done while we started our fireworks.  We actually did fireworks after it got dark this year. . . but not the sparklers, the girls couldn't wait that long.

Firework pictures were taken with Dave's phone since mine was streaming some Americana music.  Ambiance ya know.  Jovey was not afraid of any firework and wanted to be up close.  We purchased conservatively since last year the girls were still freaked out from previous experience.  We didn't need to worry, their PTSD has waned.  Thankfully we had neighbors in all directions who shot them in the sky. . . and a neighbor who came and gave us some too.  He may have been disappointed in our little show.  ;)  Ha.

We enjoyed our ice cream right before our big finale fireworks, and then the night ended in tears as Jo spilled some ice cream on her dress and proclaimed it 'RUINED.'  Oy ve.