Birthday Celebration

First of all, thanks so much for all the sweet comments on Daniel's office. It was a fun "project." Really, you can't go wrong with Ikea. On another note, we had a fun family day celebrating Daniel's birthday. My sweet guy actually worked around the house a bit, while I took an afternoon nap. Then we headed to Upland for the Lemon Festival!

The highlight was the elephant ride, which Daniel had never even done before. It cost even less than the pony ride, though nothing about the festival is cheap!

The girls also got to ride the equivalent of the Dumbo ride, which they loved.

And, then there was the petting zoo... not Natalie's favorite! Poor thing kept getting her sweater eaten by a deer. I was yelling for Daniel to put the camera away and pick her up, because she had the sad quivering lip. But, in hindsight I am glad we have the video. Check it out:

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

It's my Sweetheart's birthday, today! We have a running joke that he always returns the gifts that I give him. Well, not this year! I finally did it... I finally not only got him something he likes, but I surprised him. He had no clue about his "office." He had been mentioning off and on for some time how nice it would be to have an office. Of course, our 3 bedroom home doesn't have an extra room, but we do have a lot of space. So, I began to ponder. And, this is what I came up with....

First, I had the girls work on a sign for him. The idea was to have them cut out letters from a magazine spelling "Papa's office" and glue them onto a piece of paper. Apparently, they are a bit too young for this concept, but they did have fun cutting and gluing a special picture for Papa!

And, now for the "office..."
Here it is:

Technically, it's in the family room, but as you can see it's right next to the kitchen, directly across from my "computer / office." It's also right next to his filing drawer, (the bottome left white drawer), which is perfect. Do you like his "mail holder?" It's actually an Ikea pot lid rack, but it works great for mail, too! Allison has already written Papa several letters, and put them in there.

Here it is with Daniel's laptop on it. I had to run an errand, and was so happy to come home and see it already in use!

Details...

Volcanoes!

Such a simple "science experiment." Yet, so much fun! Allison actually picked this one out of her "craft" book, and I thought she'd be disappointed that it wasn't really a craft. I was WRONG! She actually had a blast with this and played for quite a while. It's just baking soda, and vinegar with food coloring. (Food coloring, optional!) And, as you can see, it has a sort of volcano effect! One word of advice, though. Clean this up right away, or it becomes a sticky MESS!

FREE Cone Day

How should we spend another scorching April Day? Why, eating ice cream and running through fountains, of course. We actually hit the Victoria Gardens fountains by 9:30 this morning, and it was already hot... and nobody was there... it was perfect! The girls didn't hesitate to run right through!

I promised the girls we would get ice cream afterwards, knowing it was free cone day at Ben and Jerry's, but sadly it didn't open until noon. (I thought it opened at 11!) The beauty of it is, a worker there had pity on us and gave us this pass. So, as soon as Natalie wakes up from her nap, guess where we're going? :) They're open until 8pm, so if you're reading this before then, hurry down to your local B and J's! If it's after that, sorry I missed ya!

Pad Thai

Need a new, yummy recipe? You should try Pad Thai! Seriously yummy! I've made it twice now, and liked it even better the second time. The best part was the flowers on the table... Allison went out and picked them herself, and came in SO proud!

Pad Thai

1/2 pound dried rice noodles, linguine width

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 pound shrimp (about 10 to 12 medium or 14 to 16 small)

1 cup shredded carrot

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup chopped scallions

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Chopped peanuts
Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and turn off the heat. Let them stand for 10 minutes, using tongs or two forks to separate the strands as they soften and turn from translucent ivory to white. Drain the noodles, rinse them well in cold water, and drain again. Set them aside.

Step 2
In a small bowl, stir together the Asian fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, water, and chili flakes if desired, until the sugar dissolves and everything is well mixed. Set aside.

Step 3
Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the egg and scramble it as it cooks just until it is no longer runny, about 30 seconds. Transfer the egg to a plate.

Step 4
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl it around. Add the garlic and toss well. Add the chicken and cook it until the edges have mostly changed color, about 1 minute. Toss it well and continue cooking to brown it, about 30 seconds, then push it to the sides. Scatter in the shrimp, spreading them out, and cook until the edges have changed color, about 1 minute. Toss them well. Add the carrot and cook everything about 1 minute longer. Scoop the chicken, shrimp, and carrot into a bowl, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan.

Step 5
Swirl the last tablespoon of oil in the pan. When it's hot, add the noodles, spreading them to the edges. Cook for 1 minute, until the oil sizzles. Scoop up the noodles and turn them over in a big mass. Cook them another minute, then turn them again.

Step 6
Pour the sauce mixture around the sides of the pan. When it sizzles, place the cooked chicken and shrimp on the noodles, along with the bean sprouts, scallions, and cooked egg. Gently scoop the noodles from the bottom and turn them over. Continue tossing them to mix in the chicken, shrimp, and egg. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lime juice and toss the noodles well. Serve the Pad Thai hot or warm, topped with chopped peanuts if you like. Serves 4.

Feeling Blessed

Remember the sticky paint from a few days ago? Well, I decided to save it in case they wanted to use it, again. However, today I noticed it was getting a little "extra sticky," so we brought it outside in the shade to enjoy our 92 degree day!

Soon, our sweet neighbors were over painting with us! (And, blowing bubbles, flying a kite, riding bikes, and playing on the Yehground). I just love our neighbors! They also brought us some cupcakes to enjoy. So, it started me thinking of all the blessings God has bestowed on us. I couldn't begin to list them all for you! But, I have always wanted to live on a cul-de-sac with great neighbors, and I don't think I even ever prayed for it, but God still blessed me with the desires of my heart. What an awesome God we serve!

Sweet Hair Clips!

Oh, how I love having girls. Being pregnant for a third time, everyone assumes I want a boy... and I did, once upon a time! However, I feel totally excited at the prospect of another girl, as well. I'm so glad God makes the decision, and not me!

Anyway, here is one reason I love having girls: Look at these adorable felt hair clips! "Make it and Love it" offers a free tutorial on how to make them here. I just got my jo Ann's 50% off coupon in the mail this week, and I think I will be heading there for some felt tomorrow!

Jello, corn syrup, and... painting?!

We've filled the fridge and freezer with groceries, put away the suitcases, and finished a bazillion loads of laundry! That means today was back to feeling like a "normal" day, and it was SO nice!

Since I've been pregnant, I've had to take a nap each afternoon, and Allison has been so sweet about playing by herself. So, today I decided to do some afternoon crafts with her instead of nappping. First came "jello paint..."

As you can see, jello paint was quite messy and didn't work all that well. (It sure smelled yummy, though!) If you are brave enough to try it yourself, here is the recipe:

1 pkg. sugar free jello

2 Tbsp. hot water

Mix and let sit 2 minutes. Then use as finger paints on aluminum foil, shiny side down.

Considering the jello paint a sort of "flop," we moved on to "sticky paints." Let me tell ya, these live up to their name! But, they're a lot of fun! The colors are so vibrant! It's simply corn syrup and food coloring. Simple. Fun. And, surprisingly not that messy, though very sticky!

See the painting hanging below? The red circle in the middle was originally not filled-in. Allison then commented, "I made a hole! I am going to fill it in with Jesus' love." Awww...

Once Natalie woke-up, she joined in the fun as well. (I'm glad she slept through the jello part!) I always love Natalie's artwork. She uses lots of color, and it always seems so interesting. I even have her first painting ever framed!

Easter in Pictures

How did I get so far behind in my blogging?

Sick.

Yucky!

I hate being sick. But, I am very grateful to not be sick from my pregnancy. The whole family and I have had a nasty cold/ sinus infection. The girls don't seem all that bothered by it. That's another blessing! And, of course, I had my mom to play with the girls while I took naps!

Poor mom called today and is sick.

So sorry Grandma!

Highlights of our trip include a session at Gymboree, a tea party at the neighbor's, playing at the "spider web park," and of course coloring eggs and doing the egg hunt. So, here is a quick overview of our vacation in pictures: