picnic

Grace and Heather were not feeling well enough to go to school today, so they stayed home. One glass of ginger ale later, they were almost 100 % better.
The weather was great, so I decided that we should eat lunch outside. O.K, the truth is the girls were arguing, and I sent them outside to play! But, still, we did eat outside, and the girls quickly forgot their disagreements and got busy finding a blanket and helping out with the lunch. This is simply the school lunch I packed for the girls, before they told me they were "sick". It's PB&J sandwiches, peach yogurt, apples, and sesame snaps. Trinity made some lemonade, too.Some little cuddly friends joined in the picnic.
How are you feeling, now, Heather?
It really was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was warm and we saw the eagles flying right overhead. Yes, that tiny speck in the sky is an eagle!
The girls were really interested in this spider and ladybird on this leaf.Trinity picked a dandelion for my hair. Loverly. After lunch Grace & Trinity played hide-and-go-seek, while Heather sat in the sunshine and read a book. I just relaxed, and enjoyed watching the girls play.

yay, Trinity

Trinity is the only one of our kids that had trouble staying in her own bed at night. (O.K,so maybe I spoiled her just a little bit) Everyone else has always slept through the night (in their own bed), well before they were a year old! I never thought it would take four years for Trinity to get it!! Anyway,I made this simple chart to help motivate her, and it totally worked! I wish I had thought of this three years ago!In the morning, if Trinity had stayed in her own bed all night, she got to put a sticker on her chart. Once she had 10 stickers, she got a special treat.
First, she chose a trip to the toy store, where she bought a cute playmobil set.
Second, she wanted an apron so she could help Mummy in the kitchen. Aww...
well, I had trouble finding a really cute one, so I decided to make one for her.
So, Trinity, Grace, Heather each chose their own fabric, and I made an apron for each of them. I have to admit that the aprons were so adorable, it was actually fun to make.
Third treat was a purple, star shaped pillow that came with a unicorn toy. I think you can see it in her bed, in the picture below.
Fourth and final reward was a rainbow heart necklace and bracelet set.
We don't need the chart anymore,as she stays in her bed all night.
Here is Trinity in her apron. Isn't she sweet?
What's in your pocket, Cin-Cin? I spy with my little eye, a tiny toy hamster and a rainbow heart necklace.
She said it is her pet hamster. Good, girl, Cin-cin, for finishing your reward chart!

Highland dance test

The children were tested on their highland dancing skills. This is a big deal as the adjudicator flies in from Scotland. The kids all passed with flying colours, and will be getting their medals from Scotland in a couple of months.Trinity is as cool as a cucumber. This is her first test.
Heather and her friend are waiting for their turn. Only three girls are sent in at a time in front of the judge. We are not allowed to watch them dance.
A sea of kilts! Grace didn't have a test this year, as she has already passed all the levels for her age group. I remember last year Grace came out crying because all the other girls in her test group were so much bigger than she was.
Mary Margaret also did a great job. She is at the 'pre-gold' level, which obviously gets more difficult. Mary was nervous, but did a fantastic job, and her teacher was really proud of her. Me too.

Trinity's tent

Trinity spent most of the morning in her 'tent'. She has it all set up with some food, a lantern, Kleenex, pencils & paper for drawing, and behind her is her little feather duster. She really wanted to sleep here last night, too.
Trinity has always liked to make little houses for herself. When she was very little, maybe 2 yrs. old, she would go under her bottom sheet of her bed and would say she was in her 'Buddha'. I have no idea where that came from! She also liked to be on the couch and surround herself with cushions and call it her 'coconut house'.

Cookies & milk

Is there anything more comforting than a cookie jar full with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? yum. This weekend I baked a batch of cookies to take to a 'Latin Mass Meeting', but the cookies never made it to the meeting. The kids ate them all! Oh, well, I just couldn't refuse the children's pleading faces. Especially since I had an order for a black forest cake, which they did not get to taste.
This is the forbidden cake!

R.I.P. old laptop

I have lots of pictures to post, but I am not too sure how to use this new program that Peter put on my new computer! I have to figure it out now because my old laptop (which I was still blogging with) is officially dead! Some *dear* little child placed two powerful magnets on my computer. Oops!
Today is miserable out - rain, snow, hail, thunder. A perfect day to bake cookies and read a book, or try to figure out how to post my pictures.

Happy Birthday to me

I had such a great day on my birthday. Not only did I get the greatest gift from my wonderful husband (check out the post below) , my Mum took me (& Cin-Cin) out for lunch and a shopping trip, but Gregory also made me a delicious dinner. Veal with a wonderful caper sauce, sauteed bok choy, roasted potatoes, and a salad.
So good!
Dessert was ice cream, with fresh strawberries drizzled with Grand Marnier. Yum.
And lots of hugs and kisses from the children.
I think I must be the luckiest woman in the world.

I heart Hermes

These orange Hermes boxes always make my heart beat a little faster.
I am so spoiled...Even the card is from Hermes.
A gorgeous black enamel bracelet.
And I love love LOVE this scarf. A few days before my birthday, Gregory asked me what my favorite Hermes scarf was, and I said "The one with the hearts, swans, and flowers." Little did I know that Greg had this beauty hidden away for my birthday.
De tout coeur
Hermes, Paris
The designs are totally cool, yet sweet and romantic at the same time.
Heart with roses. So Beautiful.
I really couldn't imagine a better birthday. Thank you so much, Gregory.

pancake zoo & God's juiceboxes

I was making pancakes for breakfast on Saturday, and the kids love to ask me for special shaped ones. Sometimes, I can get away with a happy face made with chocolate chips.Just in case you can't tell...here we have a monkey, a smiley face and..um...a flower?Here come the requests. Trinity's favorite animal is the elephant. O.K, the trunk is a little thick, but trust me, it's an elephant.
Only Grace Helen would ask for a BAT!!! ??
Aw. Of course Heather asked for a bunny. Her favorite animal.
Here you go, Sweetie.
Trinity liked the monkey.
After breakfast, Trinity wanted to drink an orange. She thought you could just stick a straw into the orange and drink it. However, that doesn't work too well, so I helped her out. Cut the top off of an orange.
scoop out the orange, squeezing out the juice. I also had to cut up another orange & squeeze that too.
Pour the juice back into the orange.
Put the top back on the orange, and enjoy some fresh orange juice.
We called these oranges "God's juice box".

soft pretzles

Gregory found a recipe for soft pretzels in a 'Home Hardware' magazine. I thought that was kind of funny, but the pretzels were really tasty.To make the soft pretzels you will need:
2 cups warm water
2 -8 g packages quick rising yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp cold water
coarse salt

Measure 2 cups of warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast & stir until dissolved

Add sugar, salt, margarine, egg and only three cups of flour. Beat until smooth then add in another 1 -1/2 cups of flour.

Knead the dough, adding additional flour, if necessary, to make the dough smooth and elastic, not sticky.
Gregory also added about 1 cup grated sharp cheddar into the dough.
Place the ball of dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.
Lift the dough from the bowl and place on lightly floured board. Cut the dough into 40 equal pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into an 18 inch pencil thin strip.Shape the dough by folding it like human arms with a hand on each shoulder. Place the pretzels on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush each pretzel with the egg & water mixture & sprinkle with the coarse salt.
Bake in 350*F oven for 15 -18 minutes or until golden brown.
We had so much fun making these! I was making the soup, Greg was making the pretzels, and of course all the kids wanted to roll and shape their own pretzels! Try the pretzels with a bit of mustard - delicious!