Lunchtime!

I am trying to spend less time on the computer (namely, the Internet) for Lent. I have my ups and downs, but have been doing okay for the most part.
Yesterday morning the kids and I got up and got going right away. We had our breakfast and the dishes cleared and school finished in no time at all. We were nearing the end of the month ($$$) and so our fridge and cupboards were looking rather bleak. Lunch was vast approaching and I was ecstatic to find some frozen chicken breasts in the freezer downstairs. I don't why I hadn't used them earlier in the week, but I was glad to see them. We had some leftover turkey stock and onions and carrots and so I started making a most delicious chicken and rice soup. Soup was on and the kids were playing nicely so I whipped up some homemade angel biscuits and was feeling quite proud of my accomplishments. I cleaned up the kitchen and went downstairs to visit my usual Internet sites for "a few minutes". When I came up, a couple minutes before Brett arrived home for our marvelous lunch, I was not greeted with the same welcoming smell I had left in the kitchen. Instead I smelled something burning, more specifically, burned rice. I ran over to my (large) pot of soup on the stove and tried to rescue it, but it was too late. The burned rice "flavor" had permeated the entire pot.
Brett was so sweet and ate his bowl of soup, doctored up with a lot of salt and pepper jack cheese, I ate about half of my bowl (I've never had the stomach Brett has), Aidan ate almost all of his while declaring, "really, mom, it's not that bad", Emma choked down a few bites. Gianna, however did what we all wanted to do. She took one nibble of her soup, made a face that said "how could you offend me by putting that junk in front of me" and proceeded to spit it out.
Brett was feeling bad for me until he heard what had happened, then he just laughed and said, "Serves you right!" So much for compassion.
I am happy to report however that the kids were completely okay with feasting on as many biscuits they could hold smothered in honey!
P.S. Update! Before I could even hit "post" to this I had to run upstairs to check on my rice that was on the stove for our dinner tonight....yep, you guessed it...burned! Now, I'm way beyond burning things (especially rice of all things), so I think I need to take this as a not-so-subtle hint.

In My Home

A boy lives here:

And so does a girl:

Heat Wave!

The kids have been begging to play outside for several days, but it's been way too cold. So, today, at a balmy 26 degrees we are heading out...just as soon as we get back from our library errand!

The Karate Kid

I'm so glad I wasn't blogging a year and a half ago when Aidan was doing soccer because had I been I would have had to disclose the utter torment that the experience was to all of us.

He's had a year and half to mature, and has expressed a lot of interest in karate (his good friend Bryce in TX does Tae Kwan Do and Aidan loved watching him). So...we signed him up for karate

and I think it is a great fit for this very serious little 6-year-old.

The Martial Arts Academy that he will be attending does things just the right way to fit Aidan's personality. For the past two days we've gone to the Academy so he can work one on one with the head dude (with countless stripes on his very black belt...very cool!). Tomorrow he'll join the rest of the students who have his same belt color for a group session, but now that he's been there a couple of times and knows the instructors he will be a lot less nervous to just jump in. Ambiguity is something he does not handle well. He has the option of attending up to 6 sessions per week, but we'll probably just have him do a couple. I refuse to sacrifice precious family time, however, this academy is very strict and expects a lot from their students (unlike one of the ones in Brenham that put equipment on 5 year olds and let them beat up on each other...zoiks!).

Here he is...our very own "karate kid"

Do you think he'll scare anyone with his toothless grin?

The back is way cool and he was so excited that he gets to be a "white belt". "I know it's the lowest color that you can have", he says, "but that way it'll give me something to work towards! His friend in TX will be testing for his black belt in a couple of weeks, so Aidan definitely sees that as a tangible goal! Hai-YAH!

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Gianna is two!!! She had a wonderful birthday filled with much spoilage and a store-made birthday cake (sorry, Gigi). Quite a big year this is for her. She talks like crazy, is potty-trained, and we solved the mystery of those darn spots that she had last year! Yay!
She is the sweetest little gal that ever was (truly, I'm not just saying this because she's ours...really). She's snuggly and sweet and full of spice!

And how can you resist that bedhead!

She thought I was taking a still picture, hence her new and crazy two-year-old smile...oh, and she says "welcome" instead of thank you!

Creative

Remember the picture of the Kleenex box from a couple of days ago? Three sick kids and a couple of days later and we had two empty Kleenex boxes in the house. I was going to use them for a Valentine's craft (remember the Valentine's boxes from elementary school), but I decided not to.
It didn't take Aidan too long to grab ahold of the boxes and this morning they were sitting on top of his dresser just taking up extra space. This afternoon however he came down the stairs with them, put them on his feet, and started "box-skating" on the livingroom carpet. It didn't take long before Emma had one and Aidan had one and they were doing all sorts of silly tricks.
I had a sleeping Gigi on my lap otherwise I would have grabbed the camera, but you will have to believe me when I say that it was a very funny sight with lots of giggling!

Motivation

Who says bribery is a bad thing? I like to call it motivation.

"We have one hour to get this house in order or we won't get to go to the library and get new books!"

Did it work?

Why, yes it did!