Summer is here

Remembering back to a week ago? If not for photos, I might have forgotton... Here are some we took as we just hung out together as a family.

Play-doh in the kitchen:

Undies on the clothesline after the kids ran through the sprinklers:

(yes, there are four kid's under-roos there. We spent a day practicing using the potty rather than diapers.)

Hanging a wire trellis for the jasmine (stay tuned for a later photo when the vines fill in a bit more):

Caribbean Tea Punch recipe

This is a recipe I found in Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer (Martinez, Howell, & Garcia, 2009). Because I couldn't find one of the original ingredients, I made a substitution and I loved how it tasted. The recipe below has the ingredients I used and the changes I've made because that's how I liked it. I made a few notes at the bottom about assembling it. The nice thing about this recipe is the main part is frozen -- make it up for a brunch or party for tomorrow, or make it way ahead for the one at the end of the month. I kind of like having it on-hand for whenever I'm in the mood for a vacationy flavor that I can't buy in the store.

Caribbean Tea Punch (10-12 servings)

6 cups water
1 cups sugar
4 regular-size tea bags
1 - 12oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 - 6oz. can frozen limeade concentrate
1 - 10oz. can frozen fuzzy-naval cocktail mix (12 oz is fine if that is what is available)
16oz. pineapple juice
chilled ginger ale

In a  large pot, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags and cool. Add thawed lemonade, limeade, cocktail mix, and pineapple juice. Mix well, the pour mixture into a freezable bowl with lid. Freeze mixture overnight.When ready to serve punch, fill a serving glass 1/2 to 2/3 full with frozen mixture. Add ginger ale and stir (but just a little or you lose the fizzy.)

A few other notes:
If you don't have a lidded bowl large enough to hold almost a gallon, put a large ziplock bag in a bowl or pitcher (to support bag) and pour liquid into bag. Seal bag and freeze while still in bowl. After mixture is frozen, you can take the bowl out of the freezer and continue to freeze baggie. Another option is to freeze the mix in several smaller (lidded) bowls -- that works well, too.

I made a double batch for a party. Half was frozen in a large bowl, and half was in a ziplock bag. There we pros and cons to both. The bowl was easier to move around since I didn't have to worry about leaks. The bag was great because I could mash the mix with my hands. The ice turns slushy very easily in the bag, but that is what makes the punch so good. In the bowl, I found it easiest to take it out of the freezer about ten minutes before I needed it and use an icecream scoop to get the mix out.

If you don't have ginger ale on hand, club soda, Sprite, or 7Up would be tasty, too. My favorite was with plain water. Since the frozen part is so concentrated, adding water still made it a refreshing drink, just not as fancy and as a fizzy. The kids liked the punch, too; except for the little bit of caffeine in the tea and the tons of sugar throughout, it is pretty kid friendly. I know I SAID my favorite way to prepare it was with water, but really I meant that adding a little rum makes it quite tasty, too. It made me want to sing out "RRrrrrum Punch" and roll my r's just like Mary Poppins. :)

Party in the House

As the school year is ending, so are so many of our other activities, and the last two weeks have been extremely busy. Two weeks ago, I hosted a brunch for my Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) table. I have been blessed to have been the discussion group leader for a table of eight other moms of preschoolers and our mentor mom. We have become close friends through our meetings, our playdates, a few dinners out (sans kiddos), and several shared hobbies. I love these ladies, and I had a great bunch of reasons to have a party.

Several times I had applied to host a Shutterfly party. Shutterfly is the company I use to print almost all my photos, several photo books, personalized thank you cards, and even a beautiful Christmas ornament with a photo Allen took of a church in Santorini. This is a company I use, I love, and for which I often advertise. I was thrilled when my application to host a party was accepted -- I KNEW it would be fun and easy since I already like the products. What I didn't realize is just how much stuff would be sent for the party. Not only did I get a free album that I created ahead of time to show an example, but each of us got a free album and a set of personalized cards, a tote bag, and a pen. I know I don't get any commission, but I had fun -- they even sent balloons!

All my MOPS gals brought a dish to share, and the kids all played outside with my babysitter so we could visit without many interruptions. I've always wanted to have a girly party, and get girly decorations, so I tried tying the theme into the colors that Shutterfly sent to decorate with (orange & brown.) I loved going with the tropical theme (Will's nursery had a similar theme and you can ask any of the students when I taught what I decorated with --they'll roll their eyes and say it was always tropical or jungle-themed in my classroom.)

The week before, my mom-in-law shared a fruit bouquet with us when we visited. I took all the skewers so I could make another. Here is what I came up with:

I started with a head of iceberg lettuce in the bottom of the bowl. I skewered the strawberries, leaving the leaves on and going through the leaf/stem, but not all the way through the berry. For the other fruits, I had some long decorative (hibiscus) picks. I put three grapes or one pineapple chunk through each. I arranged the fruit picks around the head of lettuce and created this cheerful version of a fruit tray -- total time, about 30 minutes, but that includes cleaning the fruit. I did purchase the pineapple precut.

...and since having a party meant I should perk up a few more areas, I splurged on a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store. I did one arrangement for the kitchen, but I had a few leftovers. For the powder room, I had the pink carnations left from the other arrangement, but mixed them with basil, mint, lavender, and daisies from my garden. I love having fresh cut flowers all over my house, and its been a few months without. Now that the garden is in bloom, I'll have them around for awhile.

Well, our party was fun. We enjoyed plenty of tasty food. I taught my friends how to make a photobook through Shutterfly. We had fun talking and giggling -- you know? girl stuff.

The next day was actually our last MOPS meeting of the year. It was bittersweet, but since we plan to continue playdates, bookclub, and scrapbooking through the summer, I know we'll still see each other often. Our last "meeting" was at a spa and almost all of the group (about 35 women) had pedicures. It was a nice, relaxing way to start summer -- especially since now my toes are ready for sandals.

In the Garden

Last night when I posted the stories of the week, I forgot one that I meant to write about. I have been enjoying my garden. Sadly, I've had to lock the gate and just climb over the fence to get into it. The little ones were pulling up the plants, roots and all, so I locked them out. Ben has tried climbing the three foot fence a few times. Once he got his foot stuck between the rods and I had to help him out. Another time, his shorts caught on the top and he just kind of hung by the seat of his pants until I came to free him. I hate having to do that, but for now, that's how it is. I hope that after a few months the plants will be stong enough to hold their own roots in, but for now, I'll protect them.

The other night, Allen and I were walking around the garden plucking a few stray weeds. The kids asked if they could come in and we lifted each of the four over the short fence. I thought it would be a great chance to let them have a taste of the garden -- literally. We didn't taste the lavender, which is supposedly edible, but they sampled chamomile, stevia, lemon basil, cilantro, pineapple sage, oregano, and chives. Next time, the sweet basil and thyme should be ready to try, too. I think they had fun even though they didn't like all of what they tried. Allen and I plucked a few more weeds and turned around to check on the kids. They were all lying on the grassy path gazing at the clouds. We looked at each other with confused looks, then laid down and joined them. We all listened to the birds, the wind in the trees, the kids on the street laughing, the lawn mower and weed eater several houses away. It was nice. Quite nice. To lay in the garden with my family and enjoy the peaceful sounds.

This morning, I sat out there reading. Since it rained a lot last night, the ground was wet, the flowers were refreshed, the birds were belting out their glorious tunes, and the sun was shining throught the trees. It was beautiful! It reminded me I needed to post the happy family time we had the other night. I really hope for many, many more days and evenings like that.

A Week at a time

TUESDAY, May 4th
I'm an aunt again and I'm just as excited as I was the first time! ... and it would have been a happy day just because it was book club girls night. We have chosen the next six months of books. In case you want to read along with us: May - Where Angels Fear to Tread (E.M. Forster), June - Beneath a Marble Sky (John Shors), July - People of the Book (Geraldine Brooks), August - The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield), September - The Measure of a Man (Sidney Poitier), October - Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett ). And as for the aunt part, Jason and Jenn had a little boy tonight just after 8 pm. Jenn and Beckham are doing well!

THURSDAY, May 6th
Maddie had a day out with me today and we enjoyed it. We found a plant nursery I hadn't been to, went to the bookstore for a princess book, went to CVS to pick a new color of nail polish, grabbed lunch at Chick-Fil-A, ate outside since she wanted a picnic, read her new books, came home to paint our toes and take a nap. When we got the little guys, they group hugged her like they hadn't seen her in a week. That always makes me smile. :D

FRIDAY, May 7th
Of the three little kiddos, one refuses to take off PJs, the other two are outside in nothing but a diaper. If this keeps up through the summer, I may actually get caught up on laundry. Will's was coloring and writing after school. He wrote: "Dear, God I Love you more then anethaing." I was smiling really big -- at what he meant and that he writes his Texan accent.

SATURDAY, May 8th
What a busy day! My parents came so they could see Will playing baseball. He had two games today, and, like always, we found plenty to keep us chuckling. Balls bounce off heads, kids run to the wrong base, others play in the dirt while the balls rolls by them. Meanwhile, Ben, Maddie, and Jon were attending a birthday party, and they had a lot of fun playing with another little girl and the birthday boy. After baseball and birthday party, Mom and I went to several plant nurseries (shopping is so much easier when I'm not trying to keep up with little kids while I carry plants.)

SUNDAY, May 9th
I had a great mother's day. I got to sleep late and Allen made pancakes for breakfast. We had a very laid back day and I read a bunch. In the evening, we all played outside. Jon has been determined to figure out how to throw the frisbee. Each afternoon this week, he would practice, and finally tonight, everything clicked. He can now throw it as well as I can; which is to say, he can make it soar, but not necessarily in the direction he intended. Allen and I were talking about how much more he seems to like sports than the other three, so we tried a little experiment. . . .I handed Jon a bat and told him to get ready. He has been paying attention to Will, because he immediately got the stance right. Allen tossed him the ball. He missed, but not by much. Allen tossed it again, strike two. Allen tossed it, and that three-year-old hit the ball right over Allen's shoulder! Then we had to let everyone else try, too. We all had a good time together!

MONDAY, May 10th
The three little ones are outside playing... Ben's attire for the day: diaper, orange construction vest, yellow hard hat (from the birthday party.) It's really hard NOT to laugh, so I decided I would just laugh all day. I laughed until I had my second cup of coffee (just after lunch). We've had a big fly buzzing around our house the last few days. The good news is it's now dead. The bad news is he ended up in my coffee and I didn't know it until I pulled the crunchy thing out of my mouth. There is nothing like squished fly parts to start a diet.

TUESDAY, MAY 11th
When I came into the kitchen this morning, the kids said, "Good Morning!" Jon added, "Today is a HAPPY day -- it's sunny today." I asked if he said it was a happy day, he nodded, and Maddie said, "...and I'll make sure of it." They can say the sweetest things! Ben was grouchy most of the day. Maddie nicely reminded him that it was a happy day. Ben frowned and grumbled, "YOU have a happy day with Jon, I want to have a angry day!" He frowned for a long time.

WEDNESDAY, May 12th
The diaper bag was packed, shopping list was made, dinner was cooking in the crock pot, lunch was planned with friend, book packed just in case . . . . I love Mother's day out. I enjoyed my day and realized it is kind of my last one until fall. I still have another day in two weeks when the little ones will be at the church, but Will and I have dentist appointments.

THURSDAY, May 13th
Jon had a day with me. We had a few errands to run, then he got to visit the dentist for his first teeth-cleaning and check-up. Several months ago, he was introduced to the dentist, hygienist, and equipment, but this was his appointment. He was the perfect patient and got a new toothbrush, a pencil, a blue bouncy ball, and he got to choose a small toy. I was a little confused that he picked a purple jelly bracelet, but only because there was a green lizard next to it that I thought he would go for. He held onto his baggie of prizes the rest of the day as we went to Chick-Fil-A, the playground, and the cupcake bakery. When we went to get Maddie and Ben, Jon explained it to me: "I'm gonna give Ben the blue ball and give the bracelet to Maddie." He melted my heart and I asked what he was going to keep. "I'll keep the teethbrush, Mama! I'm good at sharing and I want to make Ben and Maddie happy!"

Sometimes you discover good with the bad... Jon's dirty clothes have been disappearing. Turns out he can fold clothes so well, I can't tell which ones he folded and which were the clean ones I folded and put away. Now we have a drawer of perfectly folded dirty clothes that I need to clean, but I am really excited about this!!!!

FRIDAY, May 14th
Somehow I made it through this week. The kids seem to bounce off the walls when they are inside, so I try to get the out into the yard as much as possible. Today I tried that, but it didn't work out too well. First of all, Ben, Maddie, and Jon are all coughing a lot and just cranky. I sent them out to play but they cried and whined and opened the door and slammed the door and locked each other out and opened the door and shut the door and let the cat out and locked the cat out and hit each other with sticks and poked each other with sticks and that just starts the crying and whining and opening and slamming all over again. That wears on this Mama's nerves, especially since I wasn't feeling great either. Tonight I'm planning to go to bed early to see about stopping the headache that I've had most of the day. The windows are open a little bit to let the fresh clean air in, and the rain is watering the garden. This is the way I like to sleep, so I'm heading that way now. I just wanted to get all the sweet and silly things written before I forgot.

Couplehood

♥ How long have you been together? 6066 days (...or approximately 16 1/2 years) We have been married for about 10 1/2 years. ... Happily married all those years, with just a few grumpy moments.

♥ Who asked who out? That part I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure I started the flirting.

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most? His

♥ Do you have any children together? Four awesome kids

♥ Did you go to the same schools? Yes - starting our junior year of high school at Texas Academy of Math & Science at the University of North Texas, then through three years of college at Texas Tech. Both of us studied chemical engineering. Yes, we are nerds.

♥ Are you from the same hometown? Not originally.

♥ Who is the smartest? Allen is... or at least I let him think so.... except when I'm right. :)

♥ Who is the most sensitive? Definitely me!!

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? There are few places we won't take kids: Breakers (seafood), Julians (Asian), Villa Montez (Mexican), and Fish City Grill (Cajun-style seafood). Of those, we've eaten at the last one most frequently in the recent past.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Istanbul, Turkey

♥ Who has the worst temper? I do.

♥ Who does the cooking? Usually, I try to have dinner ready when Allen gets home; but Allen is a great cook, too.

♥ Who is the most social? If you don't count work as "socializing," probably me. But, on those rough stay-at-home-mom-days, I feel like Allen gets to talk with more adults. After dinner, I'm the only one who goes out with friends (Moms of multiples, book club, game nights or coffee with girlfriends -- that sort of thing)

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Before kids, I was. Now, messes bug me, but I can't seem to get caught up on the house work. I don't know that we have a neat-freak anymore.

♥ Who is the most stubborn? I think Allen is; he would say I am. Neither of us would change our mind, and we'd both be right.

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Allen... and thank goodness he does!

♥ Who has the bigger family? He does -- kind of. We both have two parents, one brother, one sister-in-law, and one neice/nephew. My grandparents have all passed away. Allen still has his granddad, two grandmas, and great-grandma who is nearly 104!

♥ Do you get flowers often? Not too often, but Allen helps me keep my garden flowers in great shape and that's what counts.

♥ Who do you spend the holidays with? We alternate Thanksgiving, but spend Christmas at home. All our family is invited to our place for Christmas, but we don't go anywhere. We still seem to spend about the same amount of time with each around the holidays, though.

♥ Who is more jealous? Me... especially of the computer.

♥ Who does/did the laundry? I do... when I feel like it. I'm great at washing and drying, and about once a month Allen helps me fold and put away all the loads that got left behind.

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Allen

♥ Who drives when you are together? Usually Allen, unless it's at lunchtime.

♥ Who picks where you go to dinner? One of us.

♥ Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? I am. ... but to be fair, I'm also the first to admit when he is wrong.

♥ Who eats more sweets? ... well, Allen would ADMIT to eating more, but we both have sweet tooths (or is it teeth?)

♥ Who cries more? I do.

♥ Do you go to church together? In the right seasons (as in NOT flu season, because we have to be super-careful with our preemie kids.) I really like when we go to church.

♥ Can you predict your spouse's moods? Often, but not always.

♥ Are you still on your honeymoon, figuratively speaking? Yes, except for the four kids who weren't with us in Costa Rica. ;)

♥ What do you call your in-laws? Randy and Shelley or Papa and Nana

♥ Do you agree politically? For the most part

♥ Who spends the most money? Allen makes it. I spend it. Not just the shopping, but I pay the bills, too.

♥ What are you most likely to fight about? How we communicate about planning our back patio expansion...

♥ Is your spouse your best friend? No doubt about that -- ABSOLUTELY!

♥ Will you grow old together? We are already on our way. Nothing would make us happier!

♥ What is the secret of your togetherness?

1. Taking care of what matters -- each other
2. Unconditional love -- showing it & practicing it, even when we don't feel like it
3. Treasuring each other
4. Being each others cheerleaders
5. Respect each other
6. Doing what we can to make the other one happy
7. Good communication -- right now it is usually via email throughout the day so that we can share thoughts and information without the kids interrupting
8. Making time for each other -- we go on weekly dates weekly, go on at least one vacation a year without kids, and we share several hobbies
9. ...and much, much more we are still learning, discovering, and improving upon.

Marching for Babies

This year, I decided to head a March for Babies team again. When I brought it up to my friends in our Mothers of Multiples group, I got a great response. When it came time for them to register for the walk, there was not a great response. I started feeling like a stalker sending reminder emails and phone calls a bit more often than what I liked. 

Eventually I let it go. I decided that anything we raised was better than nothing so there was no reason for me to stress over it. There was a bit of (what I consider) a last minute scramble, and we were lucky enough to have some other friends get involved who were not parents of multiples. A lady at Allen's office came to him one day and asked if she could do a fund-raiser and walk with her husband on our team -- SURE! In the end, our team came in second place for family teams raising money in our city. We raised $2,833 for March of Dimes, and that was more than we raised last year!

 

I appealed to family and friends and had such an overwhelming response to sponsor our team. I am truly grateful for all those donations. Thank you so much for supporting me, my family, and this cause that means so much to all of us! ... and thanks to Nana and Papa for helping us wrangle all the kiddos during what they are calling "The Parade!"

The weather was beautiful. The kids walked part of the way, but rode in the wagon or my friend's stroller the rest of the way. Afterwards, they enjoyed having their faces painted. Ben wanted a basketball; Jon, a purple balloon; Maddie, a pink and purple butterfly like Amelia's; and Will, a bowl of fruit.

California Dreamin'

Lately we've had so much going on that I want to blog about before I forget. . . but then I get busy and I forget. I don't forget the big parts of the story, but I tend to forget the little things that seal it to my mind as "THE best time!" which is how I felt as it was unfolding. Sure, I remember I loved it, but I forget those details that, at the time, were the crux of the event for me. So, let me dig into the depths of my mind and see what I can recall. Allen and I went to California two weeks ago and we had "THE best time!"... at least for that week. We headed out to Sonoma County, California, for the wedding of our dear friend. Ines went to high school with us and she was one of the bridesmaids in our wedding. I couldn't wait to see her and several other close friends from that time of my life.

We flew into Oakland on a Thursday and took our time driving north to our hotel in Windsor. We took a scenic route and stopped for some letterboxing along the way. We stopped at a scupture garden at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa and toured the sculpture gardens. Not far from there, we stopped for pictures of a beautiful round barn. When we got to the hotel, we met up for dinner with Kamal (another friend from high school) and her husband Bill.

Friday, Kamal, Bill, Allen, and I went on an all-day journey. We went hiking in the Armstrong Redwoods State Park -- well it was supposed to be a "walk," but after climbing (what I was told was) a small hill, I decided to call it "hiking." The size of the trees was amazing (even though I know some redwoods are bigger.) I enjoyed getting caught up with Kamal, and the guys had fun teasing us when we were talking so much we forgot to pay attention to which way the trail turned. We had a picnic lunch of cheese, bread, apples, and chocolate.

We told our friends about letterboxing, and their curiosity was piqued so we found a couple on the way back to the hotel -- I think Bill had a lot of fun treasure hunting. After a quick change we were all ready to head to the rehearsal dinner in the wine cave at Lancaster Estates Winery. It was a wonderful dinner, but the best part was being with old friends. It is awesome that we can go so long without seeing each other, yet after only a few minutes we are just as comfortable together as we were as teenagers. From left to right, here are the girls who lived in the same hall in high school: Jenn, Kamal, Chrissy, Ines, Jamie, and me. We all went on a vacation together right after we graduated 15 years ago, and we promised (then) to get together often. Last time all of us were together was at my wedding ten years ago.  

And here I am with that guy I met in high school way back when...

Saturday we hiked some more -- this time Jenn and Thomas joined Kamal, Bill, and us. When we were deciding where to go for the day, we chose Sugar Loaf Ridge State Park because there were supposed to be four letterboxes along a six mile scenic hike. Now before you go thinking we are obsessed with finding these treasures, we are not. But, when we travel, we often take the directions for some so that when we don't know where to go or what to see, we can turn to these letterbox instructions for some ideas. That's how we ended up at a beautiful park, by the beautiful waterfalls, taking some beautiful pictures (well, Allen did, anyway.) We found one of the letterboxes, but we ran out of time and patience looking for another, and didn't get to find them all. However, the trip was successful -- we enjoyed each other and the scenery. We had a super-fast-(tip-that-guy-well-for-rushing-our-food-to-us)-lunch and got back to our rooms with just enough time to clean up for the wedding.

Ines and Sandjeev married at Trentadue Winery and the weather was perfect. Actually the entire weekend had perfect weather: just warm enough to not need a jacket, cool enough we never got sweaty, pretty sunshine dancing in the clear blue sky, wildflowers painting the green hillsides. The outdoor ceremony was about 12 minutes long including the procession -- definitely the quickest I've attended, and the setting was wonderful.

I had such a wonderful time with my friends that I wasn't ready for the weekend to end. Luckily, we still had another day to enjoy the area. Again, we hit the road with Kamal and Bill, but this time in separate cars. We headed out to the coast and found one last letterbox for this trip. It was a gorgeous drive down a one lane road -- over the rivers, up and down the bright green mountains, out to the Pacific. Gorgeous! We did get run off the road, but that was only muddy -- no one got hurt. We walked around the beach and got some pictures, then we had a tasty lunch in Bodega Bay. We lucked out and happened to be in the same town as the Jelly Belly bus so we stopped to play the BeanBoozled game. We flicked the spinner and it told us what color jelly bean we had to taste. Kamal went first and landed on the red bean -- was it strawberry jam or centipede flavor? Her frown told us it was not strawberry. I ended up with booger instead of pear. Bill had baby-wipes instead of coconut. Allen got three black licorice in a row -- lucky he didn't get skunk spray flavor. We laughed a LOT and got some sample bags of regular flavored jelly beans. I asked the lady if the moldy cheese jelly bean was like blue cheese. . . she let me try. . . it was nothing like blue cheese, and may have been the nastiest thing I've ever tasted. After that, we said our sweet goodbyes and went our own ways. Allen and I continued on Highway 1 down through San Francisco and headed home the next morning.

After we picked up the kids and were almost home, I pointed out to Allen how perfect the trip was: neither of us got sick, neither of us lost luggage, every plane we rode was on time or early, the weather was lovely, the fellowship with friends was awesome. It was just a great trip! Just minutes after I said that.... BANG! As much as we cringed at the drivers in California, it was when we were almost home that we got rear-ended. At a stop light. Three times. By the same lady...who had already stopped. No one was hurt, we got home a little later than planned with about $1400 damage to our bumper.