Flat Stanley

Marian's class read the book Flat Stanley at school. They then made their own Flat Stanley's, which they brought home for Spring Break. Their homework was to take him with them for the week and report back on the adventures they had with Stanley. I decided it would be so much more fun if we took pictures! Granted, we did not do much in the way of exciting adventures, but it was still fun to document everything we did this week. (I will develop the pix and we'll make a book for her to take to school on Monday. ) So, here are some shots of what we have done this week with Marian and her Flat Stanley .

I took the kids to a park on base that I've never stopped at before. They always beg when we drive by it, but I'm always in a hurry to get somewhere. So this time we went, and it was a beautiful day. They played for all of 20 minutes and then were bored. Well, not Marian. She loves the monkey bars, and she's very self entertaining.

My goal had been to hit about 4 parks this week. We only made it to 2. This is the park that's about 3 miles down the road. The kids had a great time, despite the fact that it was blustering wind and I was freezing!

Flat Stanley got to come with us out to lunch at Chevy's. I love, love, love their floutas! Yummy in my tummy. The children were all very well behaved and we got a bunch of free kid's meal passes on the way out! Yay!

You can't really tell, but Delaney pulled off his left arm just before we got to Home Depot. I do not like the HD here. I cannot find anything! Hauling all 4 children up and down every single aisle to find what I need was pretty rotten. And no, they did not have anyone helpful in there. I was grumpy. (And yes, we were able to tape the arm back on, good as new!)

We were going to go to the Zoo on this day, but it was raining. It looked beautiful until about 10am, and then the drizzle started. Then it continued all day long. Very dreary. The kids had a picnic in the living room and enjoyed that.

Heaven in my mouth!

I was telling my baby brother about this fabulous recipe I have. I made this Carbonara for dinner last night. It is so yummy and easy to make. Since I had to track it down for him, I decided that all my friends should share in my good fortune, so I am posting it for your enjoyment today. Or tomorrow, or whenever you manage ro run to the store and stock up on bacon.

I must thank my friend Jessica for this recipe. She passed it on to me and I adore it. I love it! I would totally marry it! It brings me such joy and happiness. And then I eat waaaay too much of it and have a tummy ache, and still, I am happy. Currently there are leftovers in my fridge, calling my name, but I have already overindulged this evening.

Dang it. Now I am thinking about it and I may have to eat the leftovers anyway.

Thank you Jessica, I will always remember you because of this recipe and I shall think fond thoughts of you as I gorge myself on this fantastically delicious food.

Pasta Carbonara

Spaghetti or pasta of choice (16 oz., will feed 6-8 people)
1 sm. onion, chopped and sautéed in butter
2 eggs, beaten
parsley
1 lb. bacon, crumbled or 1 cup (or more) cooked ham chunks
A package of Sargento Parmesan cheese (the real stuff) or 1-2 Cup Kraft Parmesan cheese (the powdered stuff)
2 Tbls. butter
Salt

Cook spaghetti according to package directions in salted water. While pasta is cooking combine cheese, eggs, parsley and onion in a bowl. After pasta cooks, drain it. Then add the butter, bacon and cheese mixture and stir vigorously to distribute all the yummy goodness. Add salt to taste.

Who LOVES clothes?!

Today we are going to talk about Delaney and her obsession with clothes. The kid LOVES to change her clothes. And now she has an opinion on what she wears, so it can be a trial to get her ready to go in the morning if she can't find something SHE likes and wants to wear. I wanted to document her fixation, and even more so, her multiple changes during the day.

This is her first outfit of the day. She is wearing Callie's Jammies, that Callie has barely outgrown and Delaney barely fits into. Delaney loves them. They are one of her favorite things to wear. I think she like the pink. She is showing her belly for some reason.


Then she spots her most favorite outfit and off come the jammies. She, of course will not immediately put on the clothes, she must wander around naked for a while, and drag the outfit with her. You can see the flowery pink pants behind her.

Ahhhh, finally she has put it in and I have helped with her "butties", (as she calls the buttons). She adores this outfit. It is size 24 months and is getting a bit small. I love it because I always know I can get her dressed if I have this in hand.

Uh-oh, she saw Marian's jumper from Sunday and had to put it on!

Well, everyone knows the zipper HAS to go in front! How else could she get it on?!

After her nap, Delaney saw Callie's spare clothes which I had just brought in from the car. She just HAD to put them on.... even the Dora underpants!

And she did it all by herself! She does NOT want help when she is dressing.

And then, its Off With the Clothes and they get heaped in a pile on the floor. Note that she has also become angry about something and pulled out her pony-tails.

And she is back into PJs. These are a 24 month size and you can see they are a bit snug. She had a little trouble getting them over her diaper. No worries, they won't last long!

Nope, it was back to the Jumper. She likes dresses a lot now. She likes to put on a "cuke dess" these days if she can find one. Watch her zip this up all by herself. I told you she liked to do it without assistance.

And she did it.

Its nearly bedtime, so she'll need to put on something else for bed.

Dan had to go off to YM that night, so I got to put the kids to bed by myself. That's why I didn't get a picture of Delaney in her last outfit of the day. I was busy and she was probably uncooperative till the last minute. Still, I think the rest of the pictures demonstrate the proper level of her obsession with clothing!

Taking a Poll

Dan and and I are thinking about what to replace our van with. While we are fully aware that the Odyssey and Sienna are head and shoulders above the rest, they are also significantly more expensive. We thought about all that before we purchased our current Mazda MPV. And let me mention how much I LOVE our van. It drives like a car (minus good get-up-and-go), has a lot of fun perks, and it has just been a great van for us. Some of my favorite features are these:

1. The second row captains chairs. They slide forward and backwards to give more legroom. Also, one of them slides sideways as well! This is nice because I can have both seats right next to each other, or I can have space between them. They both come out easily as well. I love the middle seats.

2. The back bench seat folds flat. I cannot tell you how convenient this has been for us. It makes life nice and easy sometimes.

3. The roof rack is fabulous. I'm so glad the van came with one, because we have used it a lot. Long and lengthy road trips have been made easier because we could toss all our stuff on the roof and keep the interior of the van a little less cluttered.

4. There are lovely pockets and nooks and crannies everywhere. I have a great sunglasses compartment in front, and there is a wonderful little hidey hole in the back- that's where I tuck the spare clothes for those unexpected accidents. Oh, and the passenger in front gets a little drawer under their seat. How cool is that?!

Anyway, I love this van. Still, I am going to have to get a new(er) one soon. We're coming up on 100,00 miles, and considering we've never done any maintenance other than oil changes, I think things are going to fall apart fast. What I want from you, my friends, is your opinion. If you have a van, what kind? What do you love about it and why? I admit I am leaning towards the Kia Sedona (after 2007 they get better). What features do you like? What can you not live without? Is there anything you hate? I need some advice here! I need to be ready in case the van has something catastrophically wrong before we are planning to buy something else. And no, we do not intend to buy new! Oh, and we are open to the option of an SUV, since we will be a family of 7 soon.

Mostly Pictures

This is Marian with her homework she did not want to do. Note the happy face she has. Ha ha ha.

This is Marian, giving an evil cackle. You can see her very scribbled picture here. She's a funny funny kid.

There was a Primary Activity on Saturday and it included an Easter Egg Hunt. the kids brought baskets and here, you can see what Joshua was doing with his basket.

Marian has the funniest faces!

Callie got to be a big helper during the lesson portion. It was really well done.

Okay, Joshua was not impressed with the lesson. This was his attitude.

Here is Callie, in her new favorite pink pants, with her haul of eggs.

And here we have Marian, being silly. Notice her super-cool frog basket?! It was a birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa and she LOVES it!