Too cool

Katy is a very loving child. She is very aware of the feelings of others. She has no problems showing her affection either. When I volunteer at her school, she always runs up and gives me a hug. Alexandra has no problems kissing or hugging me goodbye at the busstop either, however school is a different story. After volunteering in her class one morning last week, I asked for a hug and kiss goodbye. She looked appalled that I would even suggest that. After quickly glancing around to access her audience, she quickly hugged me, but firmly stated she was NOT giving me a kiss in front of her class. She's a funny little girl.

Over the river and through the woods...

.....to grandma's house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, through the white and drifted snow.

Growing up we always sang this song as we drove to PA to visit my grandparents. A few years ago we rented a Duplex in Avon that was literally over a river (or small stream in our case) and through the woods from my parent's house. Katy and I would sing that song as we walked to my parent's. Our house in Avon is around the corner from my parent's house. Although the song no longer was applicable, we enjoyed being able to walk to grandma's house whenever we wanted. The girls miss being able to do that. Today, as Martin was packing up his car to continue his drive home from college, Bella got out her bike and helmet. She asked which way Bunny was going and pointed her bike in that direction. She then told me that she planned on following Bunny on her bike to Mima's house. I told her it was too far away. She told me, "I can do it mom, I'll just pedal really fast, but I think I can do it" I love the positive thinking, but she doesn't even enjoy the 8 hour car ride!

Cow Tales

During a recent conversation in the kitchen, I began to be afraid that Xandy was deciding to become a vegetarian. The question had been raised as to where the different types of meat we eat come from. As the answers were being discussed, I could see Alexandra becoming more disgusted by the moment. Not that being a vegetarian is necessarily wrong, I just really love meat. It will make my live easier if my children continue to eat meat, at least while living under my roof. I'm not the type of mother that prepares multiple meals to cater if everyones tastes. Eat or go hungry is my philosophy. So, the thought of my 6 year old swearing off meat and such an early age was not appealing to me. In an effort to show her that it was really not a big deal where the meat came from, I blurted out that I had eaten a cow's tongue before. Yes, I really did. It was in some type of Home Economics class. The teacher offered extra credit to anyone who would try it. Not being one to back down from challenges or extra credit I jumped on board. In all reality it wasn't awful, it didn't have much of a taste from what I remember, but hey its been a long time since Sophomore Home Ec. Anyway, back to the main story. I informed my children that I had eaten cow's tongue. Alexandra stared at me and then, in an effort to not be outdone retorted "yeah, well I've had a cow tale before". Somehow I think she enjoyed her creme filled caramel goodie more than enjoyed the cow tongue!

Look Austin!

Austin, look at my new Spidey slippers my friend Tucker gave me!!

Future Lawn mower

Jacob enjoys helping his Dad mow the lawn. He evens mows under the slide and swings.

Easter week-end

Jared's cousin, John, lives in St. Louis with his wife and 3 kids. John's parents were in town for Easter so we met at the Cahokia Mounds and had a picnic and little egg hunt. If anyone ever visits the St. Louis area I would strongly recommend a visit to the Cahokia Mounds. Anyways, we had a very yummy and fun picnic. While we were eating, the Easter Bunny hid some eggs in a little forest grove near the picnic table. The kids had fun scouring the trees and brush looking for eggs. Afterwards, we worked off the food by climbing to the top of the mounds. Katy counted the stairs to determine we climbed 152 steps. I had my camera but forgot to take pictures (just like at the z00!).

Sunday was Stake Conference which happened to be a broadcast from Salt Lake. We weren't really thinking and got up, got dressed, and drove to the stake center. We were trying to figure out why there wasn't anyone else from our ward there, when I remembered that since it was a broadcast we could've just gone to our ward building. Oops! The kids did search for their baskets before we went to church. The Easter Bunny always leaves a series of hidden clues to help them find their loot. After church we had an Easter dinner and egg hunt with the Pearsons. It was tons of fun. The kids got new outfits for my brother's wedding next month so for Easter they just wore dresses/vests that we already had. Hats were an Easter present from Great Grandma Buchkovich

Spring break

The girls had off the week before Easter. We had lots of fun activities planned but neither the weather nor the little one's health cooperated. As it was, we did spend Monday at our friends' house which was a blast. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent as lazy days at home. Tuesday was cold and wet and Jacob was sick so we had a pajama day and just relaxed. Wednesday was a bit nicer and Jacob was feeling a little better. We stayed at home but did manage to play outside some. Thursday we actually made it to the zoo. I really like the zoo here. The habitats for the animals are very nice and this zoo has penguins which is a plus. Its a lot more spread out than the Cleveland zoo. My hopes of finishing the whole zoo in a few hours were quickly shattered. We spent a large portion of the day there and barely made it home before the skies opened and the rain fell. My only complaint is that the zoo is hard to get to and that problem is intensified with a ton of construction and road closures. Not as easy as taking 90 to 71!!
Jacob was hilarious. He really enjoyed the animals. He'd jump up and down while pointing and screaming. I love the Hippo exhibit since you can see through glass to their watering hole and watch them swim underwater. We never made it to the seals and sea lions which are some of my favorite zoo animals. We'll have to hit them first next time. We thought of all our zoo buddies in Ohio (and Colorado now) and wished you were with us! Friday Jacob and the weather relapsed (guess we shouldn't have gone to the zoo) so Friday was also spent at home. We colored eggs and made paska (a Ukrainian Easter bread) It was lots of fun.

Baking Bug

I've always loved to bake and lately have been trying some new recipes. I've made some things in the past month that weren't necessarily difficult, just things I've never bothered to make before. I made real shortcake for Strawberry Shortcake. Usually when we have this favorite treat, I make a really yummy butter cake. This time I decided to shake things up a bit and actually use shortcake. It was a big hit with the fam and has already been requested again. I think Xandy wants me to make it for her B-day next week. I also made a refreshing lemon cake that had lemon pudding between the layers and was frosted with cool-whip. For Easter I made a strawberry cheesecake trifle. I had leftover strawberries and poundcake so I made my own version of it later in the week that had.....you guessed it, CHOCOLATE in it. We met Jared's cousin's family and his Aunt and Uncle the Saturday before Easter for a fun picnic. I made the Easter basket cake I found in a magazine a few years ago. The kids love the way this cake looks, so I've made it every year since. This year I made it out of carrot cake (I thought it was appropriate since the Easter bunny was coming)



notice my little helper in the background of the pictures!

Catch up

I've been really bad at blogging and taking pictures lately. I will try to catch up on what I've missed this past month. I already posted about my April Fool's joke but once I caught the trick bug it was hard to stop. For dinner I colored water to make it look like lemonade. The kids were not amused when they took a big gulp expecting a sweet drink. Then I attempted to make "cupcakes" that were really meatloaf in muffin papers with mashed potato "icing" (Purple food coloring mixed with mashed potatoes does NOT make a pretty purple color!!) As you can see the cupcakes looked really sad, but I was able to trick the kids who thought I was actually serving dessert for dinner. Xandy was the first one to discover the truth about the cupcakes. Her expression was priceless and she mumbled "Ew, these are gross cupcakes, mom made them with real food. (Do I normally make them with fake food?)

April Fool's

My husband is very good at scary/startling me and playing tricks on me. Through the years, I have tried in vain to play a good prank on him. I have never really succeeded. He's too observant and usually catches me, or the pranks fail to elicit the appropriate hoped for response from him. At the bus stop today, my hilarious neighbor was telling me all the pranks she had pulled on her kids and husband already that morning. (I had actually forgotten the date until Katy tricked me.) My neighbor proceeded to tell me how she had to hurry home from the bus stop she she could stop at the bank her husband worked out before continuing to her work. She planned to move his car so he became confused and then panicked when his car was gone. She quickly waved and skipped back to her house, but the damage had already been done. The wheels in my brain were turning. Could it really work? Is it worth the drive? It would be perfect, its a new car. How mean should I be? (there's dozens of parking lots there) Can I remember how to find the lot he parks in? Is it worth it? In the end I decided on 2 things: 1) I should pay more attention to what he says and 2)It would definitely be worth the time and gas to finally pull off a successful prank. With keys and kids in tote, we started off. I had a little difficulty finding his lot, but eventually made it, moved his car, and made my get away. I was a little concerned when I noticed the new offices where right by the lot, it increased my chances of getting caught. I also was concerned when I noticed a sign that said "CLOSED SITE, NO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL" but in the end everyone was either too busy or too amused by the obviously out of place housewife with out of state plates to ask questions. I pulled away and pulled out my phone to call Tonya. As I was recounting my escapade to her, I got a beep in from Jared's cell. I wondered how in the world he had discovered it already. I quickly clicked over.
Jared: Did I miss a call from you?
Me: Phew! He's just returning my call! No, I started to call you but found what I needed. I didn't want to needlessly bother you so I hung up. I wonder if he realizes how close I am to him, hehe he!
Jared: That explains why I never heard it ring. What did you do today?
Me: Uh-oh, is he leading up to something? I then proceed to tell him a detailed account of the mundane things I had done so far today.
Jared: Did you happen to come to Wood River?
Me: Why on earth would I go to Wood River?
Jared: That's the last time I leave the spare keys home on April's Fools Day

Apparently, mere minutes (or maybe even seconds) after I pulled away, he came out to run an errand. He was a little confused but figured he'd just forgotten where he parked. When it became apparent his car was not in the row he always parks, he wondered if he'd left his keys on his desk and a co-worker was playing a trick. He quickly discounted this theory when he realized his keys had been in his pants pockets all day. Then the panic began to set in. He wandered through the lot with many thoughts whirling through his head. What had happened to his car? He hadn't even had it that long!! Seriously, where is my car??? He noticed a car similar to his parked in the last row but was certain he had not parked there. Eventually, he walked closer to it for inspection when he couldn't find his car anymore. Relieved to have finally found, he called me. He figured me moving it was the only logical explanation. I was relieved to hear that it had actually worked for a change. I wasn't sure I had moved it far enough but didn't want press me luck behind the gates too much.
Chalk one point in the books for me. Yeah!!! Its about time!!!