habit : July 3

The storm held off long enough for the parade. This year, 2 of my boys got to march. Soon it will be all 3.

Topher is 9!

Topher is 9! I can't believe it! It's just not possible! Happy Birthday Super Topher!

A Few of My Favorite Things
By Topher

Favorite Color: yellow
Favorite Food: pasta
Favorite Musical Group: ??
Favorite Song: "Temperature" by Sean Paul
Favorite Movie: G-Force
Favorite Sport: baseball
Favorite Season: Fall
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: strawberry
Favorite Subject in School: art!!
Favorite Number: 4
Favorite Holiday: Halloween
Favorite Game: Scategories
Favorite Hobby/Past Time: playing pretend
Favorite Book: Little House on the Prairie
Favorite Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Favorite Type of Book: pioneer stories and comic books
Favorite Toy: Legos and stuffed animals
Favorite Animal: lions

He's 10!

Charles is 10 - double digits! Happy birthday, Chaz!!

A Few of My Favorite Things
By Chaz

Favorite Color: Red!
Favorite Food: Lasagna
Favorite Musical Group: Veggie Tales
Favorite Song: "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A" by John Mellencamp
Favorite Movie: The "Spiderwick Chronicles" and "Matilde"
Favorite Sport: Baseball
Favorite Season: Summer
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla or Cotton Candy
Favorite Subject in School: Social Studies
Favorite Number: 18
Favorite Holiday: Christmas (and my Birthday!)
Favorite Game: The Scrambles States of America
Favorite Hobby/Past Time: Making the "Chazo Newz" (my own newspaper)
Favorite Book: Geronimo Stilton books
Favorite Author: Roald Dahl
Favorite Type of Book: Adventure and sometimes a little mystery
Favorite Toy: Legos
Favorite Animal: Hippos and Monkeys

Day 26

Requested dinner:

Hamburgers with lettuce, tomato and bacon
Homemade onion rings
Tangy baked beans
Apple pie with vanilla ice cream

12!

Edmund is 12! - nearly a teenager!

A Few of My Favorite Things
By Edmund

Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Anything with bacon!
Favorite Musical Group: Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne
Favorite Song: "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, "TNT" by AC/DC, "Love in an Elevator" by Aerosmith
Favorite Movie: The Star Wars series
Favorite Sport: Skateboarding
Favorite Season: Summer
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Strawberry or Moosetracks
Favorite Subject in School: English
Favorite Number: 3
Favorite Holiday: 4th of July
Favorite Game: Monopoly
Favorite Hobby/Past Time: Drawing and Skateboarding
Favorite Book: "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George and "In Ned's Head" by Soren Olsson
Favorite Toy: Tech Deck
Favorite Animal: Elephant

Day 21

Topher is 8!

Happy Birthday Topher, we love you! You ARE our SuperTopher!!

8 Things about Me!
by Topher

1.  Macaroni and Cheese is my favorite.  I like it the way my mom makes it.

2. I love yellow. It makes me happy.

3. The Yankees are my favorite baseball team.

4. The Longhorns are my favorite football team. I like those big horns.

5. I miss living in Connecticut because I miss having a snow fort and visiting my cousins.

6. I like living in Texas because I really like my school and I can play outside a lot.

7. I like cowboys and I want to be one when I grow up. I already have a hat, and boots and a cool cowboy belt.

8. I really love my whole family.

From Chris

For our anniversary!

Have I told you lately that I love you?

July 17, 1993

"You fill my life with laughter,
somehow you make it better,
Ease my troubles,
that's what you do."


July 17, 2008

Happy 4th of July!

Our morning was spent at the town's 4th of July Parade. Edmund and his Boy Scout Troop led the parade which was very exciting. The parade was followed by a town picnic with a band. It was really loads of fun but so very hot (100º)! We ended up leaving early because there just wasn't any shade to be found.



The rest of the day was spent with some friends and their pool. There was a lot of swimming and splashing. Plenty of grilling and a few Mai Tai's.



Our night was filled with fireworks! The sky was clear and warm so the fireworks were just brilliant.

It was a wonderful way to spend the 4th. It was also a great way to celebrate 1 full year in Texas! One year ago today we arrived in Texas ready for a new and exciting adventure in our lives. It's been a good year and I'm looking forward to lot's more.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

missing tooth courtesy of a foul ball at baseball practice

Today is Chris' birthday! I didn't make him write out a list of interesting things about himself. We did have a nice little family celebration, though.

We went out for burgers and wings (birthday boy's choice) and came home to blackberry peach cobbler. Chris isn't a cake eater but he loves pies, crisps and cobblers so cobbler it was. I love peach cobbler but I never make it because all the recipes that I have make a bicuity type topping that never really cooks properly. The tops is dry and bland and the underneath is raw and gummy. Then I found this recipe! It is now officially my favorite cobbler recipe. Stephani really knows her way around the kitchen! Last night we made her tomato pie which was also wonderful.

Chris likes to keep his birthday simple. The boys made him some paintings and we gave him new grill tools (we caught the last set on fire!) He had a good birthday and that is all that matters, really.

Saying Grace

Sadly, we had gotten out of the habit of saying grace at dinner. We had a little grace that we would say but I never really felt "connected" to it. With the thee and the thou, the boys didn't really "get it" either. We just sort of stopped and for awhile I let it go.

But I missed this little dinner time ritual.

So the search began and you know, it didn't really take much time to find a couple of blessings that we all really liked. I wrote each of them out on some cards on which the boys had been experimenting with watercolors. (we were seeing how the paints flowed on wet paper)



The boys love saying grace again. They get excited each night at the prospect of choosing exactly the right one for our meal. The cards sit on a little tray in the center of the table and sometimes one of the boys will sit and look at them during the day. Just reflecting, I suppose.



I love the little bit of calm this simple ritual brings to our dinner table.

Chaz is 9!

NINE! Already! You are growing too fast. Happy birthday, Chazmataz! We love you, loads.

9 Things About Chaz
by Charles T

1. I'm funny because I make people laugh. I make them laugh by being silly. I like to be silly

2. My favorite foods are pepperoni pizza and spaghetti. But not at the same time! I like my mom's spaghetti and meatballs the best.

3. I like monkeys because they are just like me! I can climb like a monkey and I like to eat bananas. My favorite monkey is Curious George!

4. I have cool hair because it is red. Not a lot of people have red hair. People like my red hair and they are sometimes jealous that I have red hair and they don't. I don't have curly red hair, though.

5. I really like school! It is fun. My favorite subject is Language Arts and Reading.

6. I love to read. A lot! I could read 4th grader books in kindergarden. I didn't always like that though because no one else in my class could read yet. Now I don't care about that. My favorite kinds of books to read are mysteries and adventures. I like to read the same books over and over again if they are really good. This bugs my mom.

7. I love the Red Sox! I really liked it when they won the World Series. My Mom, my Grandmom and Grandpa, and my Grandma Mimi all like the Red Sox too. That's because they are real smart like me!

8. My cousin Licia calls me NASA. She thinks I look like the boss at NASA. Licia is an astronomer, I think. She's pretty cool and she is the only one allowed to call me NASA. (She likes the Red Sox, too!)

9. When I grow I am going to be an inventor. I want to work with my friend Travis. He's my best bud. We are going to invent the Hover Disk (don't steal that idea!)

Happy Easter

and Happy Spring!

11!

Today Edmund is 11! I can't believe it has been 11 years already. Happy Birthday, Edmund. We love you.

11 Things About Me
by Edmund

1. I play the Alto Saxophone. I started in 4th grade but I got put in the 5th grade band because I was good. Now we are in Texas and I'm still in the band but I have to play the recorder. Everyone does.

2. I want to be an astronomer when I grow up.

3. My favorite football team is the Patriots. I wasn't happy when they lost the Super Bowl. My friends sometimes tease me about liking the Patriots because they all like the Dallas Cowboys.

4. My favorite baseball team is the Yankees. Topher and my Dad like the Yankees, too but my Mom and Chaz like the Red Sox.

5. I have a lot of friends. I miss my friends in Connecticut, though.

6. I like to play outside. I ride my bike and skateboard a lot and I am learning to ride a RipStik. My friend has one that he lets me borrow.

7. I have my own email address. My mom won't let me tell it to people though.

8. My best subject in school is English. My favorite subject is Science. School is boring sometimes, though.

9. I really like Star Wars. I don't have a favorite movie because I like them all but my favorite character is Anakin Skywalker.

10. I like to build with Legos. I have some Star Wars Legos that are just mine and a bunch of regular Legos that I share with my brothers. I thought we had a lot until I went to my friend's house. He has a LOT!

11. I collect baseball cards. I have 3 binders full and a bunch that are in a box. I sort them by team and the teams are sorted by league. Each league has it's own binder. I also have a binder for minor league teams.

Merry Christmas!

Warm wishes for a wonderful Christmas from our home to yours.

Celebrating the Season :: Advent (Week 4)

Week 4: Love ... The fourth Sunday of Advent is the one just before Christmas. All four candles are lit. The prayers acknowledge hope, peace and joy, and then add one of love.

Our Prayer:

"God of love, You so loved the world that you sent Jesus to be with us. Help us to love others and to welcome Jesus into our lives."


We were not home last night to light our candle so we lit it tonight. Last night we had a very special dinner with two of my Aunts and my Grandmother - perfect for this Sunday of love. I did not seen my Aunts or Grandmother too much while I was growing up so it has been wonderful getting reconnected now that we live closer. This is our first Christmas away from "home" and it is so nice that we were still able to celebrate with family.

Wishing you all Hope, Peace, Joy and Love this Christmas and all year through.

37!

Last night we celebrated. Dinner out - BBQ, hushpuppies, fried okra and, of course, margaritas. Dessert at home - red velvet cake made by my men. There were presents - useful things, thoughtful things, and touching things - and lots of laughing. Lots and lots of laughing.

Now I am 37. The next year will be a good one. I can tell.

Gifts for the Teachers

The teachers' gifts are lined up and ready go. We give (basically) the same gift every year to all of our teachers - Hot Chocolate Mix and something else homemade. I try to keep it kind of simple and it's always something consumable. I know the teachers get a lot of gifts over the years from their students so I don't want to add any clutter (I've got plenty so I just assume everyone else does too!) This year the boys and I made Cranberry Almond Granola to go along with the Hot Chocolate. So good!



Holiday Hot Chocolate Mix

25oz powdered milk
3 cups powdered sugar
3 cups powdered non-dairy creamer (like Coffee-Mate)
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder

Mix all in a big bowl. Store in an airtight container. Approximately 3Tbls per mug of hot water or milk.

*You can also add a 16 oz bag of mini marshmallows and a 12oz bag of mini chocolate chips. We usually add the marshmallows but not the chocolate chips (they don't melt well). This year we found little star and tree marshmallows so we packaged them separately.

Cranberry Almond Granola

Original recipe can be found here. I've used several different granola recipes over the years and I like Stephanie's formula the best.

8 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
1 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup almond butter
1 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups dried cranberries

Gift Tags

We used this list compiled by Bella Dia to print ours.

Topher liked these, Edmund preferred these, and Chaz (always the Jan Brett fan) liked these.

Celebrating the Season :: Advent (Week 3)

Joy!

This week we light the pink candle as a symbol of joy. This lesson is a good reminder to us all to find a bit of joy everyday. I know it's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and sometimes it gets the better of us. I know that, here, there has been a little crankiness creeping in lately. So today we step back a little and think about joy!

Edmund got great joy from lighting the candles on the wreath. (Finally, his turn!) Dinner was Rigatoni with Sausage Portobello Ragu, a tossed salad, and crusty bread. Wonderful!

Our Advent prayer for week 3:

Loving God, we thank you for the joy you bring us. Help us prepare our hearts for this gift. Bless us and help us to bring joy to others through our thoughts, words and deeds. Amen.