little triathletes

The little dude participated in his first triathlon today. It was a fundraiser for some local schools, and he had a blast. He told me the last few steps to cross the finish line were the best steps of his life. What a great way to describe the rush of adrenaline you get when you push hard to accomplish a goal. My little guy inspired me today. ♥ 

9am

Hello Barry.

I've been playing along with a project called The Hours. Photographers contribute images taken during a certain hour of the day each month. January was 7-8am, February was 8-9am, March is 9-10am, and so on. These are my 9am images. There are many, many more contributions on The Hours' Flickr page. It's fun to see what is happening between 9am and 10am all around the world.

The nine o'clock hour, on days that I am home, is often quiet and peaceful. The kids are safely at school. Their toys wait for them. Meals are waiting to be prepared, but are wonderfully not being prepared at this hour. And if I'm lucky, the clouds part for some beautiful morning sun to filter through the windows and light up the entire house.

super bowl sunday

No big party. No junk food. Just one kid working on her origami valentines, the other making some rubber band bracelets, the Seahawks trampling the Broncos, and a healthy dinner. It was a quiet, pleasant Sunday at our house.

morning yoga

Even with the pretty morning light and the quiet house, it can be tough to clear my head when this is my view during my sun salutations. I know the house will feel empty when colorful toys no longer litter the floor. I just have to remind myself, when that colorful clutter overwhelms me, how lucky I am to have these fantastic kids around.

happy new year!

Happy new year! Do you have any new year's eve traditions? We don't really. . . but we're usually hanging out, playing newly received games and writing thank you notes. There's always some kind of tasty treat involved in the evening—an antipasto tray and baguette or a celebratory steak.

This morning we had a Lego Heroica Fortaan tournament. Three rounds and I won them all! Beginner's luck.

My Hero Pack at the beginning was pretty slim. It filled up quickly with monsters, a staff, potions, extra health, and gold. Mwahaha.

Me, the barbarian, victoriously standing atop the Goblin King.

This is in focus—it's just a cheap plastic ball instead of a fragile, truly mirrored one. Note Sweetpea waving in the back.

In the afternoon, Sweetpea and I played Bananagrams. It was a long, drawn out game because she's nine and has trouble thinking of words sometimes. I'm hoping she'll get faster with more practice, since she's my best bet for a regular opponent around here!

May your new year be grapey and wonderful!

owl cupcakes

My baby brother and his wife are having a baby! I guess I should stop calling him my baby brother. My SIL's baby shower had an owl/floral/woodland theme, and I was asked to make cupcakes. These are what I came up with. I love how they turned out!

The shower was a gluten-free affair, and I used Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes for the cupcakes. GF cooking from scratch is an obstacle I have not yet conquered. To make things a little more interesting, I made three different frostings. We had

• chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting,
• yellow cake with lemon frosting, and
• chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

I made marshmallow fondant owls for half the cupcakes, accenting them differently for the different cupcake flavors. One type had a pearl (sprinkle) flower, one type had (edible) glittery wings, and the last had glittery bellies. The pupils are mini chocolate chips.

The perfectionist in me sees all the flaws, but the cupcakes really were a big hit at the shower. The mama-to-be liked them, so that's a success in my book!

England

Hmm. . . I meant to post this last week after the Ireland pictures, but then Halloween happened and a last-minute craft project and then cupcakes needed to be decorated for a baby shower. (I'll show you those adorable cupcakes soon!) But today, Little Mister is home sick, so I have some time to catch up here, take down the Halloween decorations, and maybe get some other things crossed off my list. Or maybe Snuggle with the Feverish Buddy will rise to the top of my to-do list. We'll see.

Off to England!

Holyhead (Wales) train station

Beautiful Abbey Green in Bath, location of our favorite Bed & Breakfast on the trip: Three Abbey Green.

Roman Baths Museum

The Circus

The London Eye 

London's Natural History Museum

We had two non-sequential days in London, bookending a trip to Windsor for the castle and Legoland. On our last day in London, we had several hours to kill before our train back to Holyhead. One of our hosts recommended the Natural History Museum for the kids. Can you believe admission to this beautiful museum is free? We had a wonderful time.

star wars party

Little Dude had a Star Wars party last week. Thanks to people sharing ideas all over the Internet, I planned the party in about an hour. 

I'm not ashamed of using other people's ideas. Other people are smart and have more mental energy than I do! I did make a point to take only the basic ideas and really make them our own. That helps me feel less like I'm stealing. :)

Little Dude helping me prep the pool noodles for lightsabers

Little Dude loved our fun food labels, even though they were mostly ignored by the six year old guests. :)

The Jar Jar Drinks were my favorite. I actually came up with that one!

We played Pin (tape) The Lightsaber On Yoda and decorated pool noodle lightsabers with duct and electrical tape. Most of the time, the kids just played. I learned years ago not to plan too many activities for young kids. They just want to play with each other and toys they don't have at their houses.

The party was a great success. Little Dude had a blast. I had fun orchestrating something other than a vehicle-themed party, like his third, fourth, and fifth birthdays. He's already talking about a Lego party next year. I'm so excited!