Outside

Mr. 1 wanted nothing more than to be outside this morning. He stood at the front door and banged until I gathered up some books and took him on the front porch. You can see from the book in the background that I was trying to get some reading done as well. He was enjoying reading until he spotted my phone and then he realized he had a few calls to make. Nothing makes our baby happier than forbidden electronic devices!

Baby birds

I am supposed to be reading right now - my elective ends Wednesday and I haven't finished my book on the history of allergy (it's actually very interesting but a bit technical) but I've been fascinated by the bird family that moved into the birdhouse this year (thanks Papa).

Spring concer - Mr. 7

Spring concert - Mr. 5

Baby dance

LoveForBrother2010.txt

Mr.7 was programming this afternoon and this is what he wrote:
>>> import sys
>>> sys.stdout="LoveForBrother2010.txt"
>>> import bonus
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
ImportError: No module named bonus
>>> import math
>>> print u"\u03D3=", math.pi
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'write'
>>> sys.stdout=sys.__stdout__
>>> exit()
(saff@buckley:~)$

There's probably more too it but I just copied what I saw. I have no idea what any of that means but this is what Mr.7's program printed out in the end:
Isaac, you are the best brother in the whole wide world.I love you.Go Isaac in the SPRING CONCERT!!!Asher the Dangermouse, you are awesome.Good Baby!I love my Brothers so much.Awesome Guys!

That I understand.

Love of the laundry basket

All of the boys have gone through stages where they love sitting in laundry baskets. Mr. 1 was thrilled to hang out in the basket with a blanket and a pillow. Especially since it was next to the train table so he could play while still inside the basket.

 

Nothing is safe

Mr. 1 can climb. He can't yet walk but he can climb up on the couch. He can push Mr. 5's chair back from the table and use it to climb up to see what's on the counter (typically our laptop so we'll have to do something about that). He's working on the climbing wall. And of course there is a step stool by the fish tank so he can climb up and see watch the fish and the frogs. He really is the danger mouse.

 
 
 

We think one of our frogs is not doing so well. He's lived about 18 months which is pretty good for a little frog but the boys are upset about his illness. We changd the filter and gave him some bloodworms and I think that's about all we can do - I don't know much about frog medicine. Mr. 7 wanted to pray for him tonight which we did. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Saff fashion sense

This afternoon we found Mr. 7 on the porch reading his Python book wearing this rather creative ensemble. The glove is his "klagon hand" - from a science fiction book a friend of our loaned him. I think it may have some sort of powers but I'm never sure about these things.

 
 

Reading together

 

Granola Bars

We're enjoying having everyone old enough to hop on a bike and go for a ride. Last summer Master 0 was too small for the co-pilot seat so there was lots of chasing 2 boys on bikes with a baby in a stroller. Somehow not nearly as fun as all biking but definitely good exercise. Now that Mr. 1 can ride along we're going to make the most of the warm weather and living a few feet from a great bike trail and get out whenever we can. Unfortunately we've developed the habit of biking to one of the nearby bakeries and enjoying a snack before heading home. I have definitely encouraged this habit while working nights as ice coffee is often necessary to make it on the return trip. I would prefer not all of our biking involves cookies and scones both for our health and our finances so I decided tonight that I would make homemade granola bars and take juice boxes and have a snack on the trail. We have a wide collection of snacks - everything from fruit strips to crackers to cheese sticks to pretzel sticks and hummus - but in order to break the habit I thought we needed something special. I've not mastered granola bars before despite my weekly granola making so this is a new venture. Here's the recipe I tried from Alton Brown. Loosely followed as always.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
• 1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
• 3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
• 1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
• 6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
• 1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
• 1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Directions

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Summer is here

Watermelon for everyone!

 
 
 

A good day

An hour ago I don't think I would have said today was a good day. I worked last night and I left work feeling tired and dreading a day of too little sleep and patience to deal with three small kids. I came home and decided to read a bit before napping. I only have about 5 hours from the time I get home until I have to get ready to get the kids from school so even a few minutes of reading is time away from precious sleep but I'd gotten a new book from the library on Wednesday and had enjoyed the first 30 pages on the train. Two hours later as I heard Mr. 1 stirring upstairs from his morning nap and our lovely nanny going to get him, I realized I was only about 30 pages from the end. It was a wonderful book - the perfect book for after a long tiring night - but this left only about 2 hours before I had to be up. Two hours later my alarm went off and I was off to pick up the boys. They were in generally good spirits initially but quickly fell apart as I tried to stop for groceries on the way home. They argued with each other, tried to push the cart into people, wouldn't listen to me, and I had thoughts of leaving them in the store and going home for some peace and quiet. Instead I tried to gather my sleep-deprived patience and get us out as quick as possible. We got home and the arguing continued. It ended with Mr. 5 in full scale temper tantrum after losing his new toys for the rest of the day. It was then that I just about gave up but we had company coming - a family in difficult times who shares dinner with us two nights a week - so we somehow all pulled ourselves together.

I put together a rather tasty dinner of cha han and gyoza and almost everyone liked it (our young friends can be a bit picky), Mr. 5 set the table (although took a good bit of prodding), we went to the park after dinner and played a great game of baseball and everyone tried even though batting can be frustrating when you're still learning, and best of all the kids cleaned up the playroom and the office while I put Mr. 1 to bed. I emerged after snuggling a sleepy baby to a clean house (minus the kitchen which looked like a cyclone hit it and the dining room which looked like a rice explosion had occurred) and we ate apple cobbler and giggled at Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic. We read about Jesus healing the Centurion's servant, prayed together, and snuggled. Now I'm sitting in a clean kitchen and my children are fast asleep. And I'm happy - despite my sleep-deprived state. Despite losing my temper at the store. Despite temper tantrums and rice explosions and whining. It was a good day - filled with craziness and grace - just the way we like it.

Afterthought: The book I was reading is called "Step, Ball, Change" by Jeanne Ray. I had read Eat Cake last year and really enjoyed it and enjoyed this one just as much. It's about a happily married couple that is trying to make it through some crazy family drama and they're the kind of family that I hope my family will be. Anyone welcome anytime, whatever the circumstances. There's a great scene in the book where they're having dinner and different people keep showing up and she just keeps getting out more plates and finding more chairs. I think it was worth trading in the sleep to read a good book - sometimes you just need to curl up with a good book.

On the trail

We took the opportunity while Nana was visiting to take a break from our typical hectic schedule for a day off. We all slept in (including the boys who didn't get up until almost 8), went hiking, made a trip to Home Depot for some garden supplies, ate lunch out, did some gardening, took a walk and got some ice cream, and generally had a wonderful time together. The boys have been amazing together recently - supportive of each other (Mr. 7 told me that when his brother isn't doing the right thing he tries to encourage him and pray for him), creative (space is not a safe place from these brothers), and generally having a grand time together. it makes such a difference to have such a peaceful household - if you can call our household of 3 wild boys peaceful.

We decided to show Nana our favorite hiking place and headed out to the Panther Cave. As we're standing outside waiting for our brave explorers, Nana pointed out all the poison ivy right in front of me. I knew what poison ivy looks like but really just hadn't been paying attention. We're definitely going to need to be a bit more careful although the fact that neither of the boys have gotten poison ivy is a good sign. Then we hiked up to Wright's Tower for our snack - our favorite place to pause and look over our city while refueling. Unfortunately the tower was locked and surrounding the tower was tons of broken glass I didn't remember from last Sunday. I'm hopeful we're just out earlier in the season this year and within a few weeks it will be cleaned up and the tower open. In fact, I might try to find time to go back with gloves and a broom and dustpan because I want our boys to be able to enjoy the view this summer without worrying about broken bottles. It amazes me to think that someone would really be able just throw their bottle out onto the rocks destroying such a beautiful place.

Gardening

I took advantage of Nana's amazing gardening talent to get a bit of help in the garden this weekend. I've tried to redo one part of the garden at a time - last year we put in some garden boxes and a small patio. Nana had brought us some raspberry canes and we may have some raspberries this year. This year I had wanted to put in a herb garden and thought I would take advantage of the space in front of the berries. So my mother's day present from my mother was herbs, markers, and help putting it all together. It turned out great leaving just one area of meadow left which our neighbors are claiming for their own garden boxes. It will involve moving all the tulips but is worth it. The yard has certainly come a long way from when we moved in three years ago - I'll have to find a before picture.

I also planted perennial flowers last year which have come back with abundance including lupines which are about to bloom and these lovely orange flowers which I can't remember the name of. It's been fun to watch the flowers come back and bloom in such glorious colors with so little work! Even the clematis survived and I'd given up on the smaller last summer so this has been a wonderful surprise.

The herb garden

 

Welcome to our house

 

We're so glad you came!

Chores

We go back and forth on chores and allowance. For quite some time, we give out allowance (or mostly forget to give out allowance until the kids find something they really want and then want to know why they haven't gotten it - it's really just forgetfulness on our part. And then there are chores you do because you are part of the family but not necessarily related to allowance. Due to my inability to remember allowance, I made a chore chart for each of the older boys last week. It's their job to remember allowance and if they get a certain number of checkboxes then they get a little extra. It may not work at all for us but it's worth a try. Thank you to Grandma for the laminator!

One of the things on Mr. 7's chart is his homework. Mr. 5 thought he needed homework as well and Mr. 7 offered to make it. So Mr. 5 now has math homework from his brother. Sometimes Mr. 7 overestimates Mr. 5's math abilities - he's learning to add and subtract but still has some trouble with multiplying and dividing anything but the smallest numbers. He gets the concept of squaring a number but isn't ready for logs quite yet. For now they're both having fun!

Art Show Part 2

 
 
 
 

Art Show Part 1

 
 
 
 

He's cool in the furnace.