All Boy

The last couple posts have been rather girly, so I thought I would post a video of Charlie to even things out and he is definitely all boy! If he isn't playing baseball or golf, playing with his cars, trains or trucks, he is either chasing imaginary monsters around the house, shooting things or jumping from high places (I am trying to prepare myself for seeing Charlie with a broken bone, I imagine he is going to have a few of them in his childhood.) He prays for the "ballgame" when he says his prayers, every single time. He is especially excited about getting to go to the ballgame with Daddy by himself in a couple of weeks and the other night he prayed "Thank you God that I get to go to the ballgame with daddy....and not Macy." Seth and I tried to correct him afterwards and tell him that wasn't very nice, but we were laughing, so I doubt it had much impact.

Here is a video that I took a few weeks ago:


He is definitely our favorite little boy!

Recital

The big recital was this weekend! I was the stage mom, so I wasn't able to take pictures or videos from the audience since I needed to help get the girls on stage and stay with them in the back, etc. (they only allowed pictures and videos during the dress rehearsal, so Seth couldn't get them either, boo.).

Anyways, here are the ones I did take. Macy and her classmates getting ready backstage to go on stage during the dress rehearsal:

Waiting on the side as the big girls are dancing:On Stage! I was standing right where the teacher was standing doing the motions, so that is why they are all looking at my direction:The day of the recital, Macy and a friends twirling in their dresses backstage in our room:We were back there for 2 1/2 hours, so we kept busy coloring and playing with toys and games. They were all really good:Getting ready to go on stage:Seth's parents were able to come and see Macy performance and we were able to all go out to eat afterwards. Macy was so excited to get to wear her dress to the restaurant!:Family shot. Too bad Emma wasn't looking: I wasn't able to film at the performance, but I did film on picture day a couple weeks ago as they were practicing. Enjoy!

Way to go Macy! You are our favorite tap dancer!

Dance Class Picture Day

Macy has been in dance class this year and has loved it! She had her pictures this week, and I was the cheapo parent and didn't pay for individual expensive pictures, so I just snapped a few before we left. Look at this one and notice Emma on the left. Haha. The whole time I was taking pictures Emma was right up against Macy, wanting to touch her dress and saying "Ohhhhh Pretty, Ohhhhh pretty", She was quiet impressed with the dress and I could hardly keep her away from it. I cropped her out of the top pictures, but I thought this one was pretty funny.

Her recital is this weekend and I will try to post a video of it on the blog. (Don't worry, it will not resemble the "Single Ladies" Dance performed by 6 year olds that was in the news a few ago. ) They are tap dancing to "Rockin' Robin". The studio we have used is a Christan studio and many of the songs that are performed by the older kids are church songs.

It is has been a good first year of Dance for Macy!

Spalsh Park Fun

First Swim of Summer

We have actually been a couple times, but these are pictures from our first swim.

The kids were sooo excited when the neighborhood pool opened a couple weeks ago! We like to go first thing in the morning since 1) it beats the blazing Texas heat and 2) there aren't a bunch of people there to see me in my swimsuit. (Which by the way if you are looking for a modest swimsuit that doesn't look weird, visit www.christa-taylor.com).

Anyways, here are a few I took of our first visit. It is hard to take pictures with one hand while the other one is holding a 19 month splashing, so I didn't take a but a few.

Emma's first real time in the pool:

She was a little leary at first, but now I can hardly hang onto to her! She is either splashing or trying to go around the pool by herself. She doesn't like that I hold onto her. Too Bad Emma.

Charlie in action getting out of the pool: He likes to lay on the ground outside the pool and hang his head upside down in the pool.

Macy:

She kept asking for me to take her pictures like this.. Ha. She has gotten a lot better since last year about going under water and will even swim underwater for a few seconds.

One last one of Macy and Charlie doing what they love best (look at Charlie's tounge!):

Microwave Potato Chips

I came across a recipe to make potato chips in the microwave and gave it a try and they turned out great, so I thought I would share!

Ingredients:
Potatoes, sliced paper thin
pam spray
parchment paper
salt or whatever seasoning you want

All you do is put is a piece of parchment paper directly in the microwave, spray it with a little pam. Lay the potato slices on it, make sure they aren't touching. Spray with some more pam and then cook for about 3-10 minutes, just until they are crisp and not all brown. Take them out and season with salt or whatever you want and there you have it! A cheaper and healthier alternative to bagged potato chips! You can also use veg. oil or olive oil in place of the pam.

I did it today for lunch and sliced one potato for all of us, everyone really liked them. Seth said he liked them better than bagged potato chips. The only bad thing is you can't do a large batch at once. For our 1 potato, I did two batches in the microwave. I have made "chips" by frying them in oil on the oven, but that takes so much oil and also probably isn't that heatly since they are soaked in them.

Enjoy!

Hail the Conquering Hero

Look at what Seth did at work today: The other day Seth had hit a snake when mowing the church property and it got away before Seth could get it. But today he was out mowing and came across another snake. After battling the snake while it was climbing a tree, Seth was victorious and he killed and decapitated it. We went after dinner to show the kids; Charlie was really excited and even brought his pop gun to shoot the snake in case it wasn't already dead. Macy wanted nothing to do with picking up a dead snake (as did I), but Charlie didn't hestitate at all at the chance to hold it.

Bluebonnets

Seth has the camera on the Men's retreat, but the kids and I went to look at the bluebonnets this morning. So I thought I would just film a little bit incase we didn't go back this year to take pictures.

Charlie wasn't interested in the flowers, he wanted to play in the car. What kind of boy wants to play in the car as opposed to looking at flowers? :)

Branson

We took a vacation to Branson this past week and had a great time! We left on Wednesday and came back Sunday. We got a deal to go up there to check out Bass Pro's time share resort, and Seth's sister and her family live about 45 minutes from Branson, so it worked out well and we needed a little time off.

We drove up on Wednesday and had dinner at Lamberts! It was good and we were expecting a long wait, but got there are a good time, so we didn't have to wait at all! On Thursday morning, we did the tour of Big Cedar Lodge, which is pretty awesome, but there was zero chance we were buying a time share.

That afternoon, we headed to Silver Dollar City. This was our 2nd time to Silver Dollar. If you haven't been, we recommend it! It is a great family-oriented park with hardly any waiting for the rides. The kids loved it!

Last time we went Charlie wasn't big enough for rides, but he really enjoyed getting to ride them this time. Last time I was pregnant with Emma, so it was my first time riding the rides too.

Macy is in the front, Charlie and Seth are a few rows back:

Emma even got to ride a few!:

On Friday we went back to Silver Dollar City and then headed to Republic to see Seth's sister. We all went out to Fantastic Caverns, the only drive through cave in America.

We stayed with them until early Sunday Morning and headed home.

It was a great trip! One last picture of Macy at home enjoying her Silver Dollar City souvenir:

Waffles

The kids love waffles with butter in the morning. Especially Charlie, he asks me about every morning if we are having waffles for breakfast. I use to buy Eggos or Wal-mart brand Eggos, but for the last couple months, in an attempt to make them a little healthier, I have been making a big homeade batch and putting them in the freezer. The kids haven't noticed a difference, except the homemade ones are square and not round, and I enjoy them as well. They are easy to pull out in the morning and throw in the toaster just like the Eggos. Here is the recipe I have been using:

1 C. All Purpose flour
1 C. Whole Wheat flour
4 t. baking powder
1-2 T. Wheat germ
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 cups skim milk
6 T. Vegetable oil
2 eggs, separated

1, Preheat waffle iron. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and wheat germ. Stir in milk, oil, and egg yolks until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks. Gently fold in egg whites into batter.
3. Pour into greased waffle iron, cook, and enjoy!

I normally double this recipe and make enough waffles to last about 2 weeks, give or take.