It's a . . .

 

 healthy, really active, baby girl!!

A Peek at Last Week

This pretty much sums up last week:


Oh, and curriculum nights and the beginning of homework and football camp. And AYSO calling me to see if I would coach Sweetie's soccer team. I told them I'm pregnant and have a crazy 3-year-old, but it didn't stop them from calling again. Clearly my reputation for superior soccer skills precedes me. I mean, I'm sure they aren't calling every parent and begging them to coach. Right? :) Should I cave? Or is that my I-think-I-can-do-more-than-I-really-can complex acting up again? There is some appeal in the ability to choose the practice time and place . . . Oh, the dilemmas, the dilemmas.

And in random news, tonight's dinner was a pancake bar. We had chocolate pancakes with frosting, patio pancakes (healthy), Laura's cinnamon roll pancakes and buttermilk syrup, and blueberry pancakes. Can you tell which was the least popular, even with Sweetie's arm blocking the big pile of leftovers?  Everyone is pointing to their favorites.

Yes, surprisingly, it was the chocolate pancakes. But it's probably because I must have made a mistake when I wrote down the recipe because they were WAY TOO salty. I liked the patio pancakes the best, J the blueberry (surprise, surprise, Mr. No-Adventure-With-My-Food), Mister, Sweetie, and H all liked the cinnamon roll the best. Recipes?

Patio Pancakes (I halved the recipe)
Beat 3 eggs. Add 2 c buttermilk and 1 tsp vanilla.

In another bowl mix:
1 1/2 c oats
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda

Mix wet and dry ingredients together. Drop small spoonfuls onto hot, greased skillet. Serve with maple syrup.

Chocolate Pancakes
1 1/2 c flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt (DON'T actually add this much--it's too much)
6 T sugar
1 c warm milk
2 beaten eggs
2 T butter
2 sq chocolate or 3 T unsweetened cocoa and 1 T butter

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients.

Frosting Topping (I just used 1/4 c butter, softened, and then added the other ingredients to taste)
3/4 c butter
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla, added a few drops at a time
1/2 T hot water
Chill and spread generously on pancakes.

Buttermilk Syrup

2 cubes of butter (1 cup)

2 cups sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

In a large pot heat 1st 3 ingredients to a boiling point.  Take off heat and add last 2 ingredients.  This syrup will foam up so make sure the pan is big enough.

Laura's Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 eggs beaten

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla

combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon with a whisk.  In a separate bowl beat together eggs, milk, corn syrup, butter and vanilla.  Stir in flour mixture.  pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle.  brown both sides.

Random Summer Pictures

The temperatures dropped into the upper 90s this week. With the 20-degree drop, it gave me a little hope that I might actually be cold again someday (not counting inside restaurants). And it gave me enough energy to pull out the knee-high weeds in the garden and go through the pictures from this summer and see some of the random ones I missed posting. 

One of the only "crafty" type projects we did this summer:  making and painting wooden airplanes when the carpet cleaner was here and we were stuck in the kitchen ALL MORNING.

We had only 1 learning time this summer, which makes me sad in retrospect because I love learning new things with the kids and making stuff that goes along with it. We learned about Mesa Verde in preparation for our family vacation. We read a lot of books and the kids made their own cliff dwellings. I supplied the play doh and the gummy artifacts to be hidden in the dwellings.

 Sweetie also had her end-of-summer Broadway choir performance. They performed once at an assisted living facility and then once for families.  Sweetie's favorite songs were "For Good" from Wicked and "Hold On" from The Secret Garden. The theme for this summer was "You'll Never Walk Alone," and all of their songs were about friendship and love.

First Day of School!

Mister's first day of fourth grade, Sweetie's first day of second grade, and H's third year home with me!

 

 The traditional back-to-school individual cakes, hopefully giving us a glimpse of the future :)

 Sweetie wanted her nails painted to match her outfit on the night before school. H was fascinated and insisted that I paint at least 1 of his toes red and another green (not pictured). "Santa will be so happy when he comes at Christmas," he told me.

Like H, I am also looking forward to Santa coming and the end of this craziness.  118--pic taken by J on his way home from work. Ugh!!

Sorry about the Genes, Dude

I do think you're looking pretty stylish in your new specs, though. Since you drew the short stick in the eyesight department, maybe luck will be yours (and ours) and you'll get your dad's braces-free, straight teeth. 

Look Who's 3!

Taste-testing his icing: 

 Present time! He was jumping up and down for hours with excitement.

He requested a school bus cake. I'm obviously not a pro. This was his first time eating cake because of his egg allergy. I've been letting him try more baked goods this summer, as long as the eggs are cooked and there aren't many of them. He hasn't liked anything, though (maybe because of the eggs?) But he does love icing!

We love our funny, bossy, good-natured, loud, happy, loving, determined H!

August Poem of the Month: Some Exciting (and slightly scary) News

This poem was written by my lovely and talented friend Shelah. She has graciously allowed me to use it to announce our exciting, and slightly scary, news: 

Chemistry

Whitney was married to Allen,
But sometimes it seemed
That Allen
Was married to the lab.

Late at night,
Long after the fellows, residents,
And lowly med students
Had tucked in their patients

The midnight oil burned
A flourescent glow
From a thousand windows
In the towering lab building next door.

At the time I didn't understand
Why Allen babied his experiments
Leaving Whitney at home
To baby their son.

Were mice better conversationalists
Than Whitney?
Were beakers and test tubes sexier
Than the breast pump on the kitchen counter?

But I've been experimenting long enough
That the beep-beep-beep of the thermometer
Sounds like a waltz.
And my palms get sweaty
When I'm waiting for test results.

Finally I understand the obsession.
The hours may be long,
And the payoffs far between
But when the experiment finally works
It's the best feeling in the world. 

~Shelah Miner

I can't hide the truth any longer:  the fourth (and hopefully final!) baby #4 will arrive sometime around January 9, which makes me 17.5 weeks (and, yes, I count the .5 week!)

Catching up: Monsoon Season!

Who needs a swimming pool when you have monsoon season in the desert? Mister and Sweetie joined the neighborhood kids in their swimming suits, while H huddled with me in the garage to watch the show.