Poof

I am trying for the first time to poof up my hair.

The finished product was not as poofy and spectacular as you might think.

It would have helped if I had more than just ONE bobby pin.

Easter Fun!

Emogene's teacher invited us over for an Easter party.

Emogene's favorite part was keeping up with Reagan.

 Hattie and Lydda tried to dominate on the air hockey table.

I have a confession to make.  I had never dyed eggs with my girls before this day.  

I am embarrassed to confess it.

 Lydda was a little sad that I didn't get a picture of her egg.  

That was because she devoured it right away.

She was looking at her tummy.

Emogene and Hattie thought they were raw eggs.

Hattie's egg is still sitting in my cup holder in the van.  She is refusing to allow it to go in the trash.

Emogene reluctantly threw hers away after one day.

 The Mad Hattie

 They were waiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Where is Lydda?

 There she is!

Popping In

 My niece bought a house in our neighborhood.  They haven't moved in yet, but we are still super excited.  She was concerned it was too close to us and would cause the children to just pop in unannounced.  We decided to go take a look.

Before I could even get around to the back of the house, they had already found Jessica's "pet" frog.

That has sealed the deal.  They will want to come popping over all the time.

Jessica's "pet" frog hopped onto Hattie's face.

Good times!

 The frog didn't want to be caught.

They kept trying anyway.

Crimped Hair

It was picture day, so Hattie had to have her hair "curly."  I worked even harder this time and made tinier braids.  It looked fantastic!  She wasn't so sure about letting me photograph her at recess, but I got a few shots of it.

In a couple of weeks, Emogene and I will head out on our own to take pictures.  She was sick on picture day.  She also wants to go out to eat with me.  I guess it's a date!  I'm excited!

Another Paleo Winner

Eric spent a while fixing us an amazing gluten free, Paleo meal.

Chicken Pot Pies!

I was the one that found the recipe here.  

By the time I got home, Eric had decided to double the recipe because he didn't think it was going to make enough.  He was wrong.  We will be eating chicken pot pie for three meals.

 At this point, the looks he was giving me were not kind.

He said, if we thought it was yummy, I had to make the next batch .

Lots of pie

 This is what they were supposed to look like.

We only had three pretty ones.  The girls got these.

 the finished products

It was delicious.  I suggest you make the crust super thin.  The crust will overtake it if you make it too thick.  The crust has no wheat products in it (almond flour and coconut oil) but tastes VERY much like gluten full crusts.  We will have it again on one of my days off.

The girls liked it enough.  Hattie said, "That is a lot of fruit."  Ha!

Emogene said, "I hope the pie daddy is making isn't that one with all the fruit in it that is kind of cakey (dump cake).  I don't like it too much."  

They were very surprised to find that we were not eating dessert for dinner.

Lydda again tried to convince us she was a vegetarian. 

Even after all that, I think they liked it.  If not, they will be highly disappointed about Sunday's supper.

Yum Yum!

We are dabbling in the Paleo fad.

This recipe may not look too good in the picture, but that is the photographer's fault.

Here is the recipe.  You won't be disappointed.

3 ingredients: 1 jar of Salsa Verde

1 large chopped onion (I do big chunks.)

2lbs of stew meat

Throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker.  Be careful when throwing them, you don't want to make too big of a mess.  Cook it on low for 8-10 hours. 

That is it.  We served it over fauxtatoes (turnips).  If you are a Paleo dabbler, totally use real mashed potatoes or delicious, dreamy, fluffy rice.  It would also be incredible wrapped in a soft corn tortilla with some sour cream, pico de gallo, and avocados.  I might try it with butter lettuce wraps and shredded pork.  I'm getting a little too hungry right now.  We are big fans of this meal.  The girls loved it too. 

Turnips are a hit and miss with us.  For this meal, Lydda was the only one to question them.  She kept asking me if it was real potatoes.  Like all good mothers, I lied.  

The next time we made them, it was waaaaayyyy too turnipy, and I hated the fauxtatoes.  I think the smaller the turnip, the milder the flavor.  I could totally be wrong about that though.  That is my possibly nonhelpful tip.  I also know that I used a lot of fake words in this post.  I'm ok with that.

I Want Long Hair Like Isabel

Then why on earth did you cut a huge chunk of it?

Lydda has mad scissor skills.

big kid on a little bike

Why?

What strange thing did you find in your fridge this week?

Deoldify Cream

As I am getting older, I'm starting to see those pesky lines on my forehead and around my eyes.  I'm trying something new.  I'll let you know how it is going.  I took a before picture and HATED IT!  We shall see if that picture makes it onto the blog.
Just like many people today, taking out a real camera is toooooo bothersome, so I used my phone camera.  You can imagine the quality of the picture.

If you want to check out Nerium go here.

Puppet Theater

I wanted to make an awesome doorway puppet theater for my niece for Christmas. 

I collected the materials and called my mom.

This wasn't the complete finished product, but you get the idea.  I sewed the bobbles to the top and added a curtain rod for the bottom too.  My girls LOVED it.  I have to make them one soon.  They have a whole box  of puppets waiting to be used.

Hunk of Junk

What will I be doing with this hunk of junk?

We shall see.

FYI:   I recently found out that a dear loved one thinks some of my furniture is junk, a piece of junk to be exact.  I guess they don't appreciate side of the road, dumpster diving, second hand furniture.  I'm glad I'm not like that!

Hattie's Meteor

Hattie was super excited to show me the meteor she found on the playground.  

She told me she also found some space rocks too.

Emogene the Soloist

Emogene did such a great job singing a solo in chapel. 

 She said she had to beg and beg and beg and beg to get the part.  I'm glad she did.

Favorite Low Carb Dinner (right now)

I made chicken fajitas without the tortilla.  We used butter lettuce as our "tortilla".  The girls had beans on the side.  I snuck some beans later (tssk, tssk).  I need some willpower when it comes to this meal.  It was way too delicious.  Emogene loved it and although she threw up all night and doesn't want it again, I'm pretty sure the meal wasn't to blame.  Hattie about licked her plate clean and asked for seconds of the avocados.  Lydda did her usual things.  She pretends to be a vegetarian at home and doesn't like to eat dinner.  She isn't fooling me.  I see her eat at school.  I'm not worried at all about her skipping dinner.  She eats breakfast at home and then again at school.  She CLEANS her plate for lunch and will sometimes get the chance to fill it up again.  She occasionally is sneaky and grabs the plate next to her (finicky eater sits next to her) and eats all of that kid's food.  So, I am ruling this meal an A for awesome and appetizing. 

You can find the recipe here.

I added mushrooms and salt at the end.

A Moment Like This

Sometimes I just have to capture a moment in my life.

 Bat Girl

She had to have "curly" hair for her field trip.  She loved it!  I know the picture says otherwise.

Seuss Us!

We made the Cat's hat.

 We made green eggs and ham and practiced rhyming words and writing sentences.

Wordless Whatever

The Big 4!

She finally made it!  Lydda turned 4.  It only took her a few minutes of being 4 to ask when she would be 5. She is wanting to grow up way to fast.  We celebrated in her classroom, and we also took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese after school to have our own celebration.

 Cupcakes for her friends

 Super excited to get presents at school

 I love watching her interact with her classmates. 

 She is definitely not a wall flower.  She is quite bossy.

 Hattie made her an Indian hat for her birthday and made her a coloring book.  

Emogene gave her some candy.

 They didn't want to stand still and pose. They were ready to play.

 presents, presents, presents

 You get a lot of Chuck E. time when you are the only kids in the place. 

Going on a Monday at 4:00 is the best time to go.

 so cute

 We let her open one before going to play.

She said, "DOC MCSTUFFINS!  I knew I would get this."

 Free tickets!

 She was concerned that it wasn't her present.

She doesn't usually get Lalaloopsy.

 I wasn't too much of a gold medal winner in the present picking contest.

I'm not even sure what was in this bag, but she got a large floor puzzle, small puzzle, fancy dress to play dress-up, Lalaloopsy bus, and a new purse with her name on it.  I thought I did a good job.

The puzzle didn't excite her either.

Later that night she told us thank you for taking her to Chuck E. Cheese, and she said she liked all of her presents.  She even wanted to put on the dress. I was finally a winner.

Happy Birthday Lydda!  We love you!