~Fresh from the Oven~

What better way to spend a rainy day than in the kitchen...

Sweet dough + cream cheese + blueberry jam = YUM!

~Easter Dress~

Finally posting...life just is flying by! I missed taking pictures of Kiersten on Easter and then it was too cold outside! I took her outside today to try to get some six month photos in her Easter dress (yes, she is seven months but we will call them six months anyway:-)

Look at that little tongue sticking out!

This is her "mom, what are you doing?" look

She is looking at a big bee

Such a sweetie!

Tiny feet sticking out of ribbons and ruffles is just too cute to ignore

Cuteness at every angle!

Picking her first flower
I'm in love with pudgy fingers

This is her "mom, I'm all done" look :-)

I had so much fun making her dress! Did you notice the butterfly buttons:-) I had asked Gregg if the buttons should be blue or white. He said they should be white butterflies! I was hoping to find some and sure enough, they were there! Cute dress made cuter!

~ Black Beans and Spinach~

Ever have a green smoothie?
or Black Bean Brownies?
I have! They come highly recommended from our family to yours... honest, even the boys loved them!

~Family Time~

Today was scheduled to be a busy day and since I woke up very tired, things were certainly looking dismal. On top of that, Gregg was away on another business trip last week so we have been seriously lacking family time.

I decided to redeem the day by making Gregg a birthday dinner... it is his spiritual birthday! I made some chicken alfredo and garlic bread for dinner and some funny cake for dessert. I really wanted a nap but didn't want to give in ;-) Gregg actually got home in time to eat with us which was an added bonus! I was scheduled to go get groceries after supper but Gregg mentioned a family walk along the mill race... I changed my plans . I'll get groceries tomorrow!

Before we left for our walk, Aaron launched his rocket. He had spent the afternoon with a friend who gave him a launching set... something Aaron has been wanting.

Since it was getting dark, we took some light sticks and enjoyed playing with them on our adventure... the moon was just a sliver.

The photos are in no particular order because I don't feel like fighting blogger right now.

~A Beautiful Foggy Morning~

It was very foggy this morning when I got up. I got the laundry hung out earlier than normal and was surprised to see the fog still so thick.I grabbed the camera and went back out. It was really neat to see the fog coming off the newly plowed fields.By the time the wash was up, the grass areas were clear but the field was still looking cool!As I walked passed the apple trees, I saw they were about ready to be in full bloom!

It's gonna be a beautiful spring day!

~Baking Day and an Audio Book~

A day like this doesn't happen very often! I promised a big batch of cookies for our church spring cleaning day tomorrow and thought I'd try to fit some extra baking in as well. The boys actually completed their school work at a good time...and Nathan and Kiersten took great naps this afternoon! That all adds up to some much enjoyed R&R while baking in the kitchen!

I made two chocolate chip banana breads, one batch of Neiman-Marcus cookies, and a double batch of big soft ginger cookies! I was able to stick the bread in at lunch time. I made all the cookies while Kiersten was napping. The kitchen was almost clean when she woke up and I only had two trays of cookies waiting to be baked! Not bad!

The R&R part came in with the bigger boys being kicked out of the kitchen:-) They kept themselves busy and out of trouble. I was also listening to this audio book...
I've mentioned these books before (you can find them here) but this is the first I have listened to the audio books! Very, very good! Not just "clean" books but ones that actually challenge your faith and make you think. My boys really liked it too. I see they have a free download on their homepage right now... and a new audio book... I am going to head back over there to check it out!!!

~Catch-Up Post~

Things get rather busy around here! Last week was full of all sorts of goodness. I've been cleaning out... that means I made one HUGE mess. Moving boys from one room to another, getting rid of a playroom, making an office, making a huge trash pile and even bigger giveaway pile! I have the last bit left in just about every room... that last bit is awful hard to get to between school and my normal schedule. Little by little:-)

Anyway, this is some of what was going on last week...

The all important Easter Dress for Doll Baby!

I had to unpack all my summer clothes... and sandals...
of course my toes needed a little re-do!

So many flowers blooming. I love that each year my bunches of flowers grow. I hate to separate them because I love the big burst of yellow! The boys have already brought me bunches of flowers. Nathan even brought me a rhododendron branch:-)

While cleaning out the toy room, we found this dress up hat and the boys had fun dressing up the dogs. Bullet has a bow in her hair. I'm wondering how different Kiersten is going to be with the whole dress up thing!

I hung wash out many of the days. The spring weather has been surprisingly warm this year! Wash is a never ending task that is much more enjoyable outside.

Along with our Road to Calvary, we tried some other Easter fun. I made resurrection rolls with the younger two boys. They LOVED it!

Too bad the rolls all opened up and the marshmallow gooped out. Next year I will make them with bread dough instead of biscuits.

We also made the cookies that you put in the oven overnight (I can't remember what they are called right now) but they flopped. I don't know what happened but they were not hard in the morning:-( Bummer.

We have been going for daily walks and enjoying the change in seasons. The boys got their gas powered scooter running and had some fun driving up and down our road. Unfortunately, Jared had a big crash and got scraped up. His face and elbows took a beating. I did take a picture of him but I had to promise not to post it :-) He is still in a bit of pain with swollen lips and a whole layer of skin ripped off his arms. We are thankful he still has his teeth!

I have a sock post, an Easter post, a Kiersten update, and a goal update to get to... sometime. For now, we enjoy the sunshine!