5 for Swim team

I do not know how many times this will happen but this year all 5 of my kids are swimming on the swim team this year. As a swimmer growing up I always hoped my kids would swim on the swim team and love swimming as much as I do. I am happy they are all swimming and learning the strokes. The older kids are all really good at breast stroke which was my best stroke growing up. I try not to slip itno coach mode too much, but I really want to help them all improve. S made it across the 25 yard pool without any help this week. R is getting closer, he likes to use the lane rope to breathe, so as soon as he figures out how to without it he will make it. I am just happy they all enjoy swimming!

Preschool Graduation

My youngest have now finished preschool. It was hard to get a good pic because they were so excited they kept moving and playing with their diploma's. It was a good day. R will miss it he tells me he want to go visit his teachers. S is happy to have his freedom.

Easter

Easter has come again so we must dye eggs and find baskets filled with Easter candy. In our house (per tradition) the bunny hides the whole basket and the children must search the house for it.

Dyeing eggs is just another creative outlet for this artist! I think some of her brothers are steering that direction too since we had some detailed eggs. Not only did we dye but we also sponge painted and used q-tips to paint them this year. It worked out well.

We did have a Mema easter egg hunt and drop...and I left my camera at home! We also went swimming that day which you can do when the week before Easter is 90 degrees everyday! We also got to visit the bunny, and S would take a picture with him, but R was too scared and hid around my legs.

The twins did have a playgroup egg hunt and I love this picture of R. He was sad because he did not like any of the candy he got in the eggs he found. None had chocolate. His brother was nice enough to share and he ate the chocolate cake roll I had packed for snacks that day.

Gardens

Look, do you see the red amongst the green.

Those are my strawberries. Two years ago I planted the first plant. It gave me 2 or 3 berries that year. The next year we had an overactive squash plant grow over top of the berries blocking some of their sun and a hard freeze in the winter did not help. I got very few berries and the birds usually got them before me. But this year has been awesome. We have already picked over 40 berries with more to come. We put up a net to keep the birds away. These berries belong to all the strawberry loving members of this family.

The rest of our garden looks good this year. I expect to eat some squash in the next few days and for weeks to come. We have several green tomatoes so salsa, tomato soup and sauce are all on the menu. The green beans....well we will keep watching them. A little rain from above would help the growing too, but for now we use the sprinkler.

The other garden are the ones we saw this week at playgroup. I never knew my little boys would like seeing the flowers at the arboretum so much. They wanted me to read the name of each one so they knew what to call it. They liked the pretty colors and the fish in the pond. After our time checking out the flowers we sent to the park which they thought was cool as well. I love this spring time weather when it is great to be outdoors.

Like this pic of Me and S. His 5 year old brother took it. Pretty good, huh?

Another Spring Break camping trip

The weather we have had is wonderful. It makes me love springtime in Texas. Wildflowers are coming out and green is co everywhere. When the weather is this nice I always look forward to camping.

We tried a new place this time, dragged our feet a little too long to get a usual spot, but then I always like to try new places too. This one was a nice spot on the lake, where the fishing was good. There was a playground nearby and nice hiking trails. We had a good time with our campfire cooking, fishing and other outdoor activities.

C was especially happy to have a girl friend come and not just be with the boys this time.

Then when we came home I made a few adjustments to our packing and we set off again to camp with our ward. Kids really wanted to stay overnight with all their friends which had not done before due to various reasons. Even this time, Daddy had to go to work in the morning so we went without him. I'm sure he slept better in a comfy bed then in a tent with lots of families around and a road nearby!

Birthdays and baptism

We have had a busy 2+ weeks with 3 birthdays and a baptism squeezed in amongst the weekly and daily jobs that must get done. So I will try to summerize our busy time.

A had a big 8 birthday. He got his breakfast in bed and picked where he wanted to go to dinner. He got a bit of an interesting birthday cake...I forgot to buy candles (thought we had some!) so we found whatever we could light. A few candles, toothpicks and popsicle sticks. It worked.

The first Saturday in March, A was baptized. We are so proud of him making this decision.

Just a few days later and the twins turned the big 5. They were excited to have a birthday. Simple happy face pancakes and bacon for breakfast in bed (S got his favorite strawberries!) Then off to preschool followed by MacDonalds for lunch and CiCi's for dinner. We were having a tough time agreeing on one so we went to both to make everyone happy!

Now with 2 boys I dreaded making 2 birthday cakes. That is a lot of cake especially after A's birthday and blue and gold banquet where both cub scouts made cake....I was still in a cake hangover of sorts. I was so glad when S said he wanted an ice cream cake. That was a great idea. I made the traditional chocolate for R, and he requires sprinkles!! Then I froze some softened ice cream in a cake pan. Then I made quick work decorating it. It was not perfect or smooth since the chocolate ice cream wanted to melt as I moved the frosting, but it turned out good, tasty and S liked it.

Field trip back in time

4th graders in our school district get to go on a field trip to visit a farm museum as part of their Texas history curriculum. As part of the historical foundation many items have been gathered from the founding families in our area and now they are on display for us to learn from. Many old houses have been moved to the site including an old school which has the same name as our current school.

I went the first time with my daughter as a chaperone where I walked with 1/2 a class and read from a manuel at each station. Only 2 of the 12 stations had docents that day. A docent is a volunteer who dresses in peiod costume and specializes at a station to make it more insteresting. Stations range from a smoke house where to talk about caring for animals for meat and branding them, to all the farm equipment they might have used in 1800.

You walk through an old house and tell the story of a family of 14 living in this tiny 4 bedroom house. You talk about their beds stuffed with corn cobs for mattresses and how the wood stove heated the house. On the back porch you describe the one wash tub and what order the family would bath in about once a week.

I found it very interesting the first time. I like history! Then last year I took the opportunity to train at a station to become a docent. I picked my favorite station...the clothing and sewing room. The room is actually the family room of the house but for museum purposes they put all the cloth making equipment in the room. I did this station again this year and maybe when the twins go off to Kindergarten I can volunteer on a more regular basis.

I talk about picking cotton and shearing sheep, then spinning it into thread. You had to dye the thread using things like flowers, walnut shells and Cochoneal bugs. They had an old treadle sewing machine and a quilt frame to talk about. Even a yarn winder which is related to the song Pop goes the weasel. Then I get to demonstrate on the loom where I show them how fabric can be made. The kids love it and I enjoy it.

I have lots of pictures of the groups visiting (taking them for the school scrapbook) but for the sake of these kids privacy I will just post the one picture of me and my son. You can't tell from the picture but I have on my pioneer clothes, including skirt apron and bonnet. He is holding a branding iron that has a TH. And he still loves me!