No more braces!

Well...for now at least. After a year and 3 months Maddie is nearly metal free! She has a small retaining wire at the back of her front four teeth and she will get a retainer next week to wear after dinner and while she sleeps, but otherwise her mouth is back to normal. :o) She is sooooo excited to eat corn on the cob and she has yet to stop smiling since they came off. Here are some before, during, and after pictures for your enjoyment.

Before

During

After
She doesn't look happy or anything does she? ;o)

And another sleeping child......

I think we will be having early bedtimes tonight.

All tired out from a long (?) walk

Mom's helpers

Today we made banana muffins. Lots of banana muffins. Lots. It would have ended up being about 6 dozen but I made a pan of mega muffins for Jas. Anyways-Brianna and Alyssa helped me with the muffins and with lunch. Here are a couple of pictures of my helpers. :o)

Brianna cooking on the stove for the first time-She doesn't look proud or anything does she?

Brianna and Alyssa waiting to dump the cheese into the macaroni and cheese. Why that is such a big deal, I'll never know. ;o)

They are both such good helpers-Pretty soon I won't have to set foot in the kitchen!

First attempt at making tortillas

First of all, let me preface this by saying that pregnancy has turned me into a wuss!!!!! I roll out dozens of lefse each year at the holidays with nary a complaint and rolling out a mere 8 tortillas has exhausted me. Sad.

Anyways, I've been wanting to try my hand a tortillas for quite some time and today was the day. I found a good recipe online and went to town!

Rolling them out-yeah I know, this one isn't so pretty, but I can make them nearly perfect. ;o)

Cooking on the griddle.

The finished product. Aren't they pretty?

Mmmmm. Cheesy Quesadillas for lunch!!!

We really enjoyed these! They were really tasty and it's always nice to eat something homemade. The only complaint I had was of my own doing-I didn't roll them quite thin enough so they were a bit more like a flat bread. Easily remedied next time!

Chewy Flour Tortillas

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup lukewarm milk (2% is fine)

Stir together the flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and whisk briefly to incorporate. Gradually add the milk to the flour, and work the mixture into a dough. It will be sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead vigorously for about 2 minutes (I just used my KitchenAid and let the dough hook do the work!). The kneading will take care of the stickiness. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rest for 15 minutes. (This dough will not rise, but it needs a rest.)

Divide your dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them, and let them rest again for about 20 minutes. Avoid letting them touch, if you don't want them to stick together.

Dust your work surface with flour. Working one at a time, remove each piece of dough and pat it into a 5-inch circle. With a rolling pin, roll out the tortilla, working from the center out, until you have a 7- or 8-inch tortilla a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the tortilla to a hot, dry skillet or griddle. It will begin to blister. Let it cook for 30 seconds, turn it, and let the other side cook for 30 seconds. Remove the tortilla, place it in a napkin-lined basket and cover with aluminum foil. Repeat for the remaining tortillas.

Not feeling very motivated today

It is one of those mornings where every time I think about what needs to be done my head screams "Do I have to??". I seriously don't want to do anything-not even the fun stuff. This doesn't mean I'm not going to of course, but it does mean that unless something amazing happens and I have my camera within reach, this may be the only posting I make for today. Exciting, huh?

Day at the zoo

With Jas being gone I'm always looking for ways to pass the time so it seemed like a good time to take advantage of our MN Zoo membership. It was a bit on the hot side after lunch but as you will see we had a solution for that!

Lissie and Andrew waiting for the Rileys to arrive.

Much to Madeline's chagrin, she and Andrew were wearing matching shirts. Naturally I had to get a picture. :o)

Lissie and Seth. Aww!!!

3 families, 11 kids (so far). Love it!!

Tessa and Meg.

Lissie riding the wagon to the farm.

The highlight of everyone's day!!

Completely soaked and ready to go home.

How'd she get in there?

Today Uncle Paul thought he would be clever and asked Alyssa how Baby Kate got into Mommy's tummy. After a minute or two of confusion on Lissa's part I jumped in with "God put her there, didn't he Alyssa?". She agreed and went back to her playing, but after a moment of thinking on her part she turned to me and said, "Papa put the baby in your tummy!". Oh dear!! :o)

Hubby's gone 'till Sunday

Jas left today for Sonshine. I'm glad he gets to go because it's a nice break for him, but we sure do miss him while he's gone!

What's that smell???

For the past week or so, Jas and I have been noticing a not-so-pleasing aroma coming from our fridge. (yeah a week, yeah I should have done something about it way before this, so sue me) We assumed it was from some chicken enchiladas Paul made quite some time ago that have unfortunately been sitting in there waiting to be tossed. Yeah it wasn't. Jas is leaving tomorrow for Sonshine and promised that he would take care of the stink before departing. So he did, and what did he find? Two whole fryer chickens rotting away in my fridge. I could cry. I thought they were in the freezer but apparently they were accidentally placed in the refrigerator following a shopping trip. What a waste (and what a smell!!)!!! :o(

Busy weekend

Sorry-the batteries in my camera are dead and I'm having a hard time finding the re-chargables (surprise surprise) so no new pictures today, but I'll tell y'all about our weekend anyways!

Friday was horrible! Hot, hot, hot and a bit more hot on the side. I knew it was coming in advance so I called my long-suffering brother and asked if we could stay at the hotel if it wasn't too busy. He graciously complied and the kids proceeded to go crazy. I don't get it-the hotel is in town, we've stayed there before (heck in January we were stuck there for 4 days while our furnace was broken and we all went crazy wanting to go home), and yeah, it's nothing new, but still my kids were so excited they wanted to start packing 3 days in advance. I'll never understand them. :o)

So Friday rolls around, and we head out to the hotel earlier than planned because it is so darn hot in our house. It was wonderful! I cranked the air in the room and turned it into an icebox, and sat on the bed and read a book in cool and quiet while the girls watched t.v. in the other room. After dinner we went swimming for a couple of hours. Great way to tire little ones out! While I was in the pool a dad came down with his daughter to swim. She got into the pool and he got into the hot tub where, while watching to see if I was paying attention, he proceeded to do push-ups in the hot tub. As if this is a difficult thing to do in water and he is a totally macho guy. It was hilarious and I am still laughing at it!

Anyways, that night we had a lovely storm roll through-our 3rd severe storm in 36 hours or so, nothing too bad, just knocked down tree branches, but it sure did look impressive rolling in! If I had a picture of anything this weekend I wish it was that! Thankfully the hotel walls are thick and the storm didn't disturb the girls too much so they drifted off to sleep while I had a nice, long bath in the hot tub!

The next day we headed home with Sara and kids hot on our heels. They stayed at the hotel too and Sara brought the kids over to play while Scott was sleeping. We had a nice morning/afternoon and as a bonus, the weather cooled off dramatically so the kids could go outside. Yay! After they left we decided to make a quick trip up to Unique (our favorite thrift store!) to pick up some things for Jas and for me, the pregnant lady with no clothes to wear. While there I found Meg a pair of Heelys (usually anywhere from $30 to $60) in near perfect condidition for 4 bucks! Making it totally worth the $10 of gas we had to use to drive up there.

Saturday was finished off with watching a movie with Caleb and Jolene (Be Kind, Rewind-not excellent, but a good way to kill 2 hours). After that I guess we headed to bed, but I was so tired I don't really remember actually doing it.

Sunday was the usual-Church, hang out with Sodens before softball (2 games this week actually due to the All-Star game), and then going to softball which, we actually won this week. (lol-sorry guys) After that we watched another movie with Brett and Katie ( a classic this time-North by Northwest, another not amazing movie, but a good way to kill time). Then we stumbled off to bed yet again and now we start a new day. As I'm sure you can imagine, I didn't get anything done this weekend so now I'm off to clean up the house. Have a great day!

Conversations with kids

Yesterday Brianna was a bit frustrated with Alyssa always following her, and copying her, etc, so we had the following conversation.

Mom-"Little sisters like to do what their big sisters do because they think their big sisters are SO COOL!"

Brianna-"But I'm not cool Mom. Maddie and Megan are cool. "

Mom-"When you are a big sister you are automatically cool! When Kate gets here, you will be twice as cool."

Brianna-"Oh. Ok, well Lissie can do stuff with me, but not today, because sometimes bigger sisters need a break" :o)


This conversation was with Lissie and it was too sweet.

Lissie (poking at mom's belly)-"Is that you baby?"

Mom-"Yep, that's our baby Kate."

Lissie-"Mommy, baby Kate is perfect!" (Awww)

Names

Naming a child is hard work-So much pressure! What if you give them a stupid name? Or a boring name? Or one that is just a fad at the time of their birth? You can go with a classic, but often they are really popular and if you know my husband, you know that just isn't an option. Let me fill you in on our naming journeys.

Madeline Grace. Maddie was named when, believe it or not, her name was NOT popular. We thought it was pretty and how were we to know that there would be 1,000's of other Madeline's (or Madison's-also nicknamed Maddie) born that year and the next and the next. Jas still cringes when we are out and he hears the name Maddie called over and over. Oh well, I would have picked it anyways, because, come on, can you really see her being called anything else?


Megan Alliah. Megan was so named because I love the name Meg and also for one of our youth group kids at the time. Nothing super-fancy, which fits her just right. Nowdays she is called any number of names, including Monkey, Muggie, Muggins, Megs, etc. Meg and Muggie are my favorites. :o)

Brianna Laura. Named of course because it was pretty and also with the influence of another of our youth group kids. The Laura is of course for the girls' favorite auntie! ;o) Brianna's name also fits her really well-a bit more fancy, Brianna is rarely seen in anything but a dress. Find her a pretty pair of princess pajamas and they won't come off for a week. She likes having her hair put up and she cried the time she begged to have it cut and then realized it was short when we were done. She is just all around girl. Her nicknames include Bri, Teeny-Beanie, Teeny, and from Uncle Paul-Nini.


Alyssa Jean. Alyssa's name was chosen just because we liked it. Her middle name is for our friend Sara Jean. We would have used Sara as the middle name but it would have made for some unpleasant initials. lol! Anyways. Miss Alyssa, as I most often call her, is......really nothing like her name. Hee hee! She is however, very like her nickname, Lissie. She is cute and fun and mischevious!


And now we come to our last baby. Baby girl #5. We have done very little name searching for this little one so far, but we have had a few stick out here and there. Monday we found out she is a girl. Yesterday we more or less decided her name will be Kate. And since just Kate doesn't go well with our last name, it will probably be Katharine after our good friend Katie. So for now we are calling her Baby Kate, or Papa's nickname for her, Kit-Kat. (yes you may call her Katie if you wish) I know-We already have 3 Katies in the extended family. I don't care. This name feels right and we like it, so there. Of course until she is born anything could happen but for now here is our little Miss Baby Kate. :o)
(sorry, pictures of unborn babies are limited!)

It's a girl!!

Yes, we will be rounding out our family with yet another girl. No disappointment here! Besides, now I won't have to change the name of my blog. ;o)

Meet baby girl #5!



Hand


Little feeties!!


Now we just have to wait another 4+ months until we actually get to meet her. *sigh*

Ultrasound today!!

If baby cooperates I'll have an update later with the sex of the baby. I'm still thinking girl, but most people seem to disagree with me. Wishful thinking of course! ;o)

No air conditioning

Due to skyrocketing gas prices and the prospect of an astronomical heating bill this winter I decided we would forgo putting in the air conditioners this year and live with the heat. Thankfully we have had a very nice, cooler than usual summer so our suffering has been kept to a minimum. Today, however, is not a nice cool day. Here is what the mother of the house looks like on this lovely warm day in the main floor of the house-

(self-portrait, not pretty!)Very hot, sticky, and sweaty. Ick!!


We do have a finished basement though, where the temperature is at least 10 degrees cooler and that is where the rest of the family is spending the afternoon!

Don't they all look comfy and cool!

I am ready for fall. *sigh*

4th of July

Yesterday was the 4th and as always we celebrated by grilling with friends. For years we did this at our house because we were the only ones who had a house (lol) but now everyone else is settling down and we are able to pass around the hosting duties a bit. Very nice for me!

Sara set the kiddie pool up for Allie since she didn't want to run through the sprinkler with the other kids and then of course the other kids decided the pool looked way more fun!

Miss Madeline chillin' in the backyard. She is growing up before my very eyes!

Megan-Covered in chocolate and not smiling. This is a typical look for her. ;o)

Mmmm. Grapes!!!

The 4th just wouldn't be the same without Katie's Jello cake!

Playing with sparklers at the end of a busy day.

Happy 4th everyone!!

Cinnamon Oat pancakes

We eat alot of pancakes. They are cheap and easy and the kids love them. Unfortunately if you make regular old pancakes they just aren't very filling. My kids will eat 4-5 each and come back for snacking on the leftovers. I found this recipes awhile ago and finally gave it a go today. They were very good, healthy, and filling! The girls gave up after about 1 1/2 each. I was shocked. Even I was unable to eat more than two. Now we wait and see how long they stick!


Cinnamon Oat Pancake Mix

4 cups oats
2 cups flour
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup non-fat dry milk
2 T. cinnamon
1 ½ - 2 t. salt
2 Tablespoons baking powder
½ t. cream of tartar

Combine pancake ingredients in a large bowl and blend well. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. Make 4 batches of pancakes.

To make the pancakes, beat 2 eggs in a mixing bowl. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup of oil. Alternately stir in 2 cups of the pancake mix and 1 cup of water. Cook on lightly greased griddle. Yields about 12 5-inch pancakes.

A new hat

Today was one of our many library days. I love going to the library and, thankfully, most of my kids do also. We have a great summer reading program that the oldest two go to and while they are at that the younger two and I hang out in the children's section and visit with other families we know.

This morning Lissa got dressed in a cute little red and white checked dress. And a pink and white striped top. Needless to say she looked ridiculous, but I let her wear it while we were bumming around the house. When it was time to go though-that shirt had to go! Lissa protested so I pulled up until it was over her head, but not fully off. Then came my mistake. "Now you have a new hat!" I said, and oh boy was she excited! She wanted to wear that thing to the library. Thankfully a 2 year old is easily distracted and we were able to remove the offending piece of clothing and head out for a pleasant trip to the library!