PB&J

One of the things that is so amazing about having 4 kids is getting to see just how different these children are - in big ways and little ways.

Such a  funny little difference of these kids is their peanut butter & jelly sandwich preferences:

Landon likes sandwiches with just peanut butter.
Ellie eats only sandwiches with just jelly.
Owen is happy with peanut butter and jelly.
And Porter (unless I cut his sandwich into bites) just eats the pb&j and leaves the bread behind.

Cute Passports

Ellie and I had a fun time one afternoon picking out our favorite papers to make our passports a little cuter (and easier to quickly identify). This was a project I'd planned to do on my own, but I'm so happy I went with a simplified version with Ellie - it was so fun. And these cute little covers make me happy whenever I see them up in our cupboard. 

(When I start to feel nervous or overwhelmed about our big trip, it helps to focus on little things like this that I know I can handle :)

I did it!

This month, I've finally been running again - and every day I've been just amazed and so very grateful for what I can do. (And it's not so much -- but it's so much for me!)  I have my usual walking route, and each week this month I've set my plan for where my running/walking breaks will be. Week 1 had about 1 minute running to 3 minutes of walking, week 2 a little more running, week 3 a little more...

Week 4 started Monday and I had in the back of my mind a goal to maybe just run the whole thing (!!) But then I found myself coming up with all sorts of excuses to even get out the door. My morning jobs took a little longer than usual so my schedule was a little late... it was a rainy day and I had just straightened my hair... we had yummy Old Grist Mill muffins for Ellie's after school snack and I told Jordan "I just want to eat my muffin... and maybe I'll go later?"

But, hooray for Jordan, he watched the kids even and sent me out the door. And I did it! I ran the whole route I had planned and I felt just exactly like this picture of  Landon on top of the mountain.  It certainly wasn't far or fast, but oh! I am stronger than I thought!

My little helper

(Ready to roll on the Alpine Slide)

I was on my home from a quick errand one evening last week when Ellie called from Jordan's phone, "Mom, what are we having for dinner? I was just getting the table all set and I wanted to make sure I had everything that we would need."

I feel so lucky to have this little Ellie as my daughter! Every day I am amazed at her ideas, her creations, her projects, her lessons and instructions for Owen, and her sweet help. 

A week of green

I had such fun making all sorts of green foods last week for St. Patrick's day. Looking online for ideas, it was tempting to set aside our treat plan and enjoy all the fun and fancy green treats I found... but I tried to make some healthier/non-food coloring snacks mostly (though we still had a few of those too!)
We had: green pancakes (twice), green fruits + green fruit dip, green (spinach) smoothies, green 'popeye' muffins, ants on a log, green fruit salad, green eggs & ham sandwiches, green trail mix, graham crackers w/ green milk (definitely the strangest one!), green quesadillas,  and homemade oreos w/ green frosting.

All the kids, and Ellie especially make celebrating these little holidays in silly ways just so fun!

Spring!

Landon brought this little tulip bulb home from school a few weeks ago when the green shoots were just coming up. We set it on our window sill above the sink and happily watched as the leaves grew taller and taller. Then just a few days ago, I twisted the little cup a bit to the side as I gave it a little water, and surprise! there was a beautiful little red tulip hidden behind those leaves! It has been such a happy site to see in our kitchen.  I'm thinking next year we will have to have lots of little indoor tulip plants - this one has been such a perfect little piece of Spring!

Pancakes

I saw this idea recently for 'addition pancakes' and thought it was a super idea.  Ellie and Owen both had fun practicing some math they're working on (Owen had chocolate chip pancakes for counting, and Ellie had addition and subtraction questions). And it was also a pretty challenging hand/arm/pancake-flipping exercise (especially since I laminated these, so they were extra slippery!) and I loved that part of it too.

Also, Landon has become our families official pancake maker. A month or so ago, he surprised me one morning by getting up early, finding our pancake recipe in the cookbook and mixing up a batch all on his own.  Since then, one or two mornings each week, he'll mix up  the recipe (and often slip in an extra tablespoon of sugar, a few shakes of sprinkles, or a handful of chocolate chips...)  and cook up a plate full of giant pancakes.   I love this great morning helper!