The Wonder of Discovery

We took the kids to Discovery Gateway this last weekend for the first time. It was such a fantastic place and I really think we enjoyed ourselves as much as the kids. At least I know Troy did . . .

Tidbits

In the world of Baking:

I got a fun mini-egg cake form on sale the day before Easter and made these cute eggs for dessert. I thought they turned out very cheery :)

After much frustration, I finally got my whole wheat sourdough starter to work! Yahoo! It only took me 7 tries, but it is worth it! I've been studying up on the health benefits of sourdough vs. quick-rise breads and commercial yeast breads and it is amazing what a little starter fermentation can do to help your body absorb and breakdown the nutrients in whole wheat! I still have some experimenting to do to get it just exactly how I want it, but I'm in the home stretch now!

In the world of Exercise:

Thanks to all your fantastic advice, the last few months I have actually taken up running.... for Fun! I never in a million years thought I would say those words. I have always maintained a firm No-Run policy, to the extent that I traded in my Fight-or-Flight instict for an Unconditional Surrender policy. Now I not only love the challenge and the health benefits, but I enjoy running. I'm not very good/fast yet, my best effort was a 27 minute 5k, but I'm not giving up!

In the world of Aliyah:

The result of all my running is that I have lost 9 lbs, and it's finally noticeable. I was feeling pretty proud of myself until after my shower, Aliyah started poking my stomach with her fingers and a very confused look on her face. Finally she looked up at me and said "Mom, I think there's water in there!" (referring to the squishiness) I guess there's nothing like a two year old to readjust your motivation!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Which would be great, except.........

IT'S APRIL PEOPLE!!!!!

I mean seriously? 14 inches in one night? This is not funny anymore. Especially considering it was 70 degrees monday. Is it too much to ask Spring to act at least a little bit less like Winter? Especially for these poor teenagers who spent their precious spring break snowblowing driveways. I've never seen such woeful faces. Except when I look in the mirror :)

I Love This Man

Allow me to introduce you to at least a few of the many million reasons why I love my husband, and why life with the man I love will be an eternity of wild entertainment:

Troy found this little bike at DI for $3 and had to get it for Aliyah. He bought some training wheels and totally pimped it out Princess style for her. He spent hours cleaning and fixing it and woke her up early the next day to show it to her. She can't pedal it yet, but enjoys sitting on it while it is safely parked on the grass and admires the stickers on her "daddy bike" :)

Can you guess what is happening here? (The answer is not Painting)


The answer is Quarantine. This would be the result of Gavin getting the stomach flu, Aliyah getting Croupe and me arriving at the end of my rope trying to keep them apart so they wouldn't get each others sicknesses. Troy quickly analyzed the problem and went to work dividing our apartment into separate quarantine chambers. Brilliant! I laughed the whole time he put it up, but you know what? It worked! I love that Troy never wastes time complaining, he just looks for a solution and gets to work.

Like, for example the other night I looked up from the computer to see a cute little mouse literally tapping at our window to come in. Troy quickly rigged up a contraption using painters tape, a tupperware and the end of a broomstick to catch the mouse so he could show Aliyah before releasing it back into the wild. Needless to say, Dad is her constant Hero.



Have I mentioned he can cook?



And wow, can he cook (you 147th warders know this from activities we were in charge of)! The same day as our quarantine experience he disappeared into the kitchen for an hour or two and emerged with this mouthwatering Thai dish. His other specialties are Venezuelan arepas & empanadas, and cream cheese Chicken Rolls. Yum!

And to top it all off, he is a great teacher. Granted, I may want to wait a few more years (14 maybe....) before teaching Aliyah to drive, but this video goes to show that Troy can teach anyone to do just about anything. (watch the video until she makes the second loop around the driveway, it's so cute the way she watches her turn). Most of all, he loves me and cares for me and supports all my dreams and ambitions. I couldn't have married a better man

When Life Gives You Lemons.....Snuggle!

Poor little Gavin got some kind of flu bug this week. He has been puking and pooping nonstop for the last 2 days. He's pretty much the most miserable kid on the planet right now. Not to mention the fact that in 24 hours of puking, he lost the pound I fought for a month to pack on the skinny boy. Sheesh! So last night he was doing his best impersonation of a slug on the couch when for no reason whatsoever, Troy handed him a peeled lemon to chew on (??????). To my absolute amazement, he ate the WHOLE THING! When we tried to take the pulpy remnants from him, he would scream and cry. So Troy swapped out the juicy goo for an unpeeled lemon and Gavin cuddled with it for the rest of the night. He would totally break down if we tried to sneak it away from him! My only theory was that he was using it as an all-natural air freshener but beyond that, I'm stumped. Or maybe he's gotten in touch with his Latin side and was trying to cure himself with a little limon (said to cure everything from hepatitis to pink eye....) I think secretly I'm hoping his superstition will pay off :)