Sun is shining all around.....

The kids had great fun this afternoon in the backyard with water going most all of the afternoon. Steve came home and shot 500 photos of the girls on the Slip-N-Slide. He then edited his 500 shots down to the few in the video. The other day Emily told me she needed to wear her swimsuit everyday. She may just need a new swimsuit to have one that will fit all summer. A little Chopin in the background completes this water fun! (Chopin Etude in C minor, Op. 25)

Preschool...

(Emily is in the ladybug costume on the right)

We had our last day of our preschool playgroup at our house yesterday. I wanted to do water games outside but the weather did not cooperate. So we just drew with chalk, jumped on the tramp, and played with the trucks in the dirt! I had to apologize to the moms when they came because their children weren't wet from water games, just dirty from head to toe from dirt games!

(Emily is now in the Lion costume on in this set of photos on the bottom of this page)

The kids have had so much fun each Wednesday going to each other's homes. Emily LOVED her school and friends. We will continue in the Fall when the big kids go back to school too.

Spring Choir Concert

Katie had a lot of fun singing in her Spring Concert last night. They had some fun music too!

Easter 2011

Let them eat cake....

I have a new love, cake decorating. Last summer I was in search of the perfect white cake recipe for my sister's wedding cake. I tried all the cake mixes on the shelf at the grocery store and none passed the test. I had to have the perfect white cake . I did find a couple of good recipes passed on to me from a reliable source and they were good, I tried those recipes for the bridal shower cakes. Since the wedding I have found my one and final recipe from America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I have the perfect buttercreme frosting recipe and I purchase the raspberry filling from Cash & Carry or from Hobby Center. Anyone need a cake? I LOVE to make them.

These are the two cakes I did for my sister's bridal shower. I had two different recipes I tried and experimented with a little color too(I didn't like the color at all)

Here is my sister's wedding cake. My good friends Naomi and Carol Ann moved the cake from the room where I decorated it into the cultural hall. I couldn't watch...I just had to have faith it would make it. It was a heavy cake, 4 double layers with a lemon flavored filling.

One of my family's favorite shows is Cake Boss on TLC. I had ordered the discs from Netflix since we don't have cable tv. I was perming the girls hair and the entire family came in and sat and watched all the episodes on that disc. We have since watch all the three seasons of that show. Now the kids want fondant cakes, Cake Boss style....

Chicks...

We are growing some chickens with our friends, doubling their flock to provide enough eggs for their family and ours. The kids were so excited to go and see them. We bought 20 egg layers and they got a couple of ducks too, just for fun. Our friends already have 20 or more birds full size. We will be out taking care of chicks and cleaning out the coop every few days.

Emily Lion...

These days Emily takes on a new animal persona many times a day. Sometimes she is a cat, a lion, or even a jaguar. One of her brothers is a leatherback sea turtle, she has an animal name for most of her siblings. She will show her "sharpie claws" to anyone standing around her. She has gone to her preschool/playgroup and told the mom in charge that she is a cat/lion/dog. She claps using her "claws" and will hold her drink or your hand with her "claws", she makes us laugh!

Daddy-O-EE...

Emily now calls Steve "Daddy-O-EE".

"I love my Daddy-O-EE" she will say as he walks out the door.
"Thank you Daddy-O-EE" when he gives her something.
And Steve loves it too!

(Photos taken by Logan)

Bond, James Bond (aka Jon Murphy)

Bond,

James Bond (aka Jonny Murphy)

Jonny donned his first tuxedo for his first concert in Men's Choir at Rocky Mountain High School. He joined choir second semester having never sung in choir before. I was really proud of him standing on stage, very seriously, and performing! It warms this musical mom's heart! Not to mention he is a good looking young man!

Now all the girls have curls...

Katie has been bugging me to cut her hair. I kept putting her off. Then she started asking about perming her hair. I should have just given her the hair cut! :) Last Monday they were out of school for President's day and we went to three stores to find a perming kit. You cannot buy them at Walmart or Shopko. I was going to go to Walgreens next when I thought of Sally's Beauty Supply. That is where we found our kit for all of $5.99! I got two kits and a bunch of rollers and we were out the door with enough perm solution for two girls! I did one perm on Monday and one perm on Tuesday. They don't have the tight poodle perm, just a nice wave giving them some nice body and they feel like they have some curl. Lucky for Emily she was born with naturally curly hair, perfect ringlets. I just get hers a little wet and she is good to go!