Friday, April 28, 2017

A Balancing Act with Sickness

We have had an interesting week!  I thought I would use pictures to tell the story today.

Pipalicious and the Goob balanced our "Easter Eggs"

Binks stepped in and decided he need to help...it fell shortly thereafter :)

Remember this shot of Chugger-dude?  We think it is actually a reaction to poison ivy.

He decided to make it a whole body adventure...

At church, one of the missionaries wanted to take a picture with him, calling him a "zombie"

It inspired him for our "Science March" hat decorating activity.   He didn't even have to use any make-up!

For the march, Jackie had the great idea of decorating hats as a way to "dress up"

She helped Liliputian by creating a "brain hat"...so many great jokes came from this one!
No.  Don't give the Goob the caulk gun.  Just don't do it!  (You can see the table of creative awesome-ness behind.)

Our sweet cousin modeling an early version.





This had became a world with clouds all over it...pretty cool!


The longer it went on, the more stuff was added to each hat.


The mad genius behind it all...yay for Jackie moments!

Q-dawg provided a more supervisory role :)

Papaya's hat was not only cute, but deadly.  She nearly stabbed a couple of people during the parade with her star sticks :).
Finishing the brain...everyone should have their brain done every once in a while :)



Liliputian is such a brainiac

Here we have Measurement Girl

And our lovely Einstein 
The March for Science was a fun experience.  We went to Uncle Zy's work for a Nature Show for Earth Day that the kids loved.  Lots of hands on exhibits and activities.  They had face painting, build bird houses and could actually reach in a big tub and catch little fish! (That was Papaya's favorite part.)

The next week, we got sick :(.
I found these two on the couch. I tried to take a picture but Spooner didn't want to stop talking. 


When I finally got him to stop talking to pose, he decided to "employ" other openings on his face.

Papaya has been waking up dry more and more from bedtime.  Super awesome!  She came up with a system where she gets to pick out a candy from my treat jar when she does.  Blue suckers are her favorite.  This picture was priceless :).
We have been trading off coughs, fevers, sore throats, congestion...sickness with a healthy measure of allergies just to keep us guessing.  Unfortunately it is a "grumpy" sickness, when those sick are short tempered. (Bnks and Spooner have been at each other's throats all week.)  I like this sicknesses better when they are sweet and snuggly :(.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Visit to the Jello Factory in Leroy, NY

Image result for picture of jello factory
We have discovered some unique places here in New York.  Yesterday was a real treasure ;).  Apparently the birthplace of Jello is here in Leroy, NY, 45 minutes away.  We met up with some friends and toured it.

I think the following was the highlight of the museum for me:
-Salt Lake City, UT has the highest purchase rate of Jello






My friends overheard a tour guide telling a group of people that in Utah, you need to be careful when people offer to bring you a salad.  They might mean green jello with shredded carrots in it instead. My friend considered walking up and offering to show them his horns as well :).  Personally, I have never even seen a green Jello salad with carrots in it.  Somehow, I don't feel any less...although I am considering making some up just so I can say I have :).  Funny!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Cupcake Party!

The girls were very disappointed when Activity Days was cancelled last night.  I have been thinking a great deal lately about memories and fun and how important they are in happy families.  Sometimes I get so locked into worrying about preserving routine and order that I lose sight of that.  Q-dawg is great at helping out.

So last night, I thought, "What would Jackie do?"  My sister-in-law is so great at spontaneous and memorable excursions. (I am grateful for all the wonderful examples of motherhood in my life!)  It hit me...let's make cupcakes!  Hava loves to cook and what little girl doesn't like to create and decorate!  

I didn't really have a cupcake recipe that I liked so...computer search time!  And we found a winner, winner, winner!

PERFECT MOIST AND FLUFFY VANILLA CUPCAKES

Yield: 12-14 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

CUPCAKES

1 2/3 cups (217g) all purpose flour
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup salted butter (170g), room temperature 
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120ml) sour cream
1/2 cup (120ml) milk

ICING

1/2 cup (115g) salted butter
1/2 cup (95g) shortening
4 cups (480g) powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp (30-45ml) water or cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

CUPCAKES

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add butter, egg whites, vanilla, sour cream and milk and mix on medium speed just until smooth. Do not over mix.
4. Fill cupcake liners a little more than half way.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes.
6. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

ICING

1. Combine butter and shortening and mix until smooth.
2. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add vanilla extract and 1-2 tbsp of water or cream and mix until smooth.
4. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
5. Add a little more water or cream until desired consistency is reached.
6. Top cupcakes with icing.

The girls helped me put the dough together, put them in the muffin wrappers and then...yumminess!





The smiles indicate that it was a success where it really counted :).  The boys enjoyed sampling them while I played "Legends of Andor" with them.  Sigh. I cannot help but multi-task, I guess.  At least the little boys were calm.  At one point it had been silent upstairs for some time after Binks got out of the bathtub.  A little worried, I asked the girls to go up and check on him.  He was sitting on our little ledge at the top of our stairs...looking at books.  Love it!

Spooner told me the other day, "I am little but when I get big, I will read!  And then I will get bigger, and I will read!!  And then I will get bigger and I will READ!"  Children after my own heart :).