Gardening - Round 2

Well, it officially feels like spring. The temperature has been in the 70s for a couple weeks now. The daffodils have come and faded. The tulips have tried to smile at us only to become food for the bunny families we share our land with. This is the lone survivor.
Our wisteria bush is in bloom. We've tried to kill this thing at least three times since buying the house five years ago. This year, while inspecting and photographing it, I can't remember why we found it so offensive. I think we'll enjoy it as long as it will tolerate our neglect.
And the backyard is greening up which is a relief as this is its first spring. We even planted a spring garden complete with lettuce, spinach, broccoli and snap peas.
Now if only we could find a way to make spring cleanup and weeding more palatable.

Mmmm...rice dust

We introduced Harrison to his high chair yesterday. He was all smiles. We were too as this move means that he will no longer be able to clear the table while stretching out of his Bumbo.
Then it came time for his daily ration of iron-fortified rice dust. He was a bit unsure to start.
But he was the star of the show so it couldn't be all bad, right?
I love looking at everyone else's mouths. They're all so encouraging.
A couple bites later we hit the gagging phase.
Then the look of betrayal and the plea for someone to rescue him.
That ended yesterday's session. Harrison immediately wanted to nurse. Not sure if it was to reassure himself that it was still an option or to wash down the cardboard taste in his mouth.

More fun with food scheduled for later today.

Spring stock-up

We made our annual spring pilgrimage to buy sandals on Friday. We shake our heads and snicker in disbelief and wonder every time we SEE the impact of raising six children.

Flashback Friday: First Bites

Our little Harrison will be six months old on Monday. That's about the time we introduce solid foods in our house. I thought for today's 'flashback', we'd look back at those precious first bites of rice cereal.

I don't think this was Madelyn's first bite. Of course, this child learned at a very young age to smile at any and all cameras so maybe it was. I remember my response to her first meal better than her first bite. I remember being so worried that she was going to stop nursing all together in favor of eating food. I was so nervous and anxious as a new mommy as I anticipated and participated in Madelyn's many firsts. I loved every second of it though!
Catherine was next to take a first bite. This was and is a typical 'What are you doing?' look from her.
Chloe's first bite.
Sam's first bite.
Seth's turn. He changed his mind after a few bites. He was unstoppable. I remember visiting my parents a few weeks after the boys started on solids. They asked me when I knew he was done. I told them, 'when the food is gone'. And to think that now he only eats bread and an occasional fruit.
The cheering section for the first feeding. It gets larger and bossier with each round. Madelyn, Catherine and Chloe are already working on a feeding rotation for Harrison. My response sounded a lot like them: "I WANT A TURN!"

What's for Dinner?

Madelyn loves raviolis. She gets them whenever we go to a restaurant that has them on the kid's menu (which is not very often). She'll eat them frozen or from a can. She'll take them any way she can get them.

So, when she got the recipe for homemade raviolis from Grandma Jo she was pretty excited to get in the kitchen and get to work. I, on the other hand, asked for time because I could tell from the recipe that making raviolis from scratch without a pasta machine was going to be rather time consuming. Madelyn had resigned herself to asking me regularly, like daily, when we were going to make them. I'd supply her with some time constraint....ok, excuse...for why not today.

With Dad out of town, the calendar was clear for Easter dinner. No pressure to make a ham. We got to work at 4 p.m. yesterday. We made the filling and put it in the fridge. We made the sauce and set it to simmer. Then we got super messy making the dough, rolling the strips and stuffing the raviolis. At 6:30 p.m. the last of the raviolis came out of the pot.
Madelyn loved them.

I loved seeing my girls work as a team to get this job done. Catherine entertained the twin boys while Chloe worked at keeping Harrison happy so that Madelyn and I could tackle dinner. I'm so proud of my growing girls!

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny came hopping up our trail early this year. Mark had to fly out last night for a business trip. Training never ceases for his company, even on Easter.

So, I have a confession to make. I have NEVER done Easter baskets for my kids or anyone else's for that matter. I thought about it when Madelyn was small but it seemed like too much candy. It's about this time of year that I hit candy burnout as it's been invading my home at a fairly steady pace since Halloween. I also feel like the whole man-size bunny delivering eggs image kinds of dilutes the real reason Christians celebrate Easter, even more so than Santa does at Christmas.

But last year we went to an Easter egg hunt with our D-L cousins and, well, my kids had fun. Aunt Heather put together baskets for them and they delighted in them. And who am I but an advocate for my children's happiness and well-balanced life. So, I've chalked Easter up as just something we Americans do, a cultural tradion of sorts.

Ta-dah! My first attempt at Easter baskets!
The kids were pretty excited.
We dyed Easter eggs. I bought an ambitious kit complete with glitter, sand and sequins. We stuck with the stickers. The rest will have to wait a year. My Easter spirit was waning a little at this point.
Then we did an Easter egg hunt. It is so nice having such a big backyard to do a hunt in. It was also nice to be able to take our time and not worry about pushy parents encouraging their kids to trample mine in order to pick up a ten cent egg filled with penny candy. Sorry, bad memories of competitive Easter egg hunts from our Texas days.

Harrison thought all the festivities were pretty great! He especially liked watching his sisters and brothers find Easter eggs in the yard.
Happy Easter to you and yours!

Flashback Friday: First Easters

2003 -- Madelyn's first Easter (9 months)
2005 -- Catherine & Chloe's first Easter (6 months)
2007 -- Seth & Sam's first Easter (one month)
We moved into our Texas house Easter weekend. We were more into survival than family pictures that year.