Ladybug Cake

L requested a Ladybug cake for her FIFTH birthday and this is what I came up with. She picked out the cake mix. It's a double layer cake(first time I've made a double layer.... I wanted to add a cool filling but refrained) The bottom part is chocolate and the head is made of chocolate cake mix( I bought 3 small round cake pans.. they came in a pack of three) and the top layer is confetti cake(my favorite). The extra confetti cake mix we made into 6 cupcakes that we attempted to make into small ladybugs but I'm not that talented. L insisted on antennas(which she called antlers) so I had J buy some black licorice while he went out to get more frosting. The black dots are Oreo cookies(It made me want a Oreo ice cream cake.. yum yum yum)

Ladybug cake from the side.

Happy Birthday L!

Make a wish.

Good Morning Sunshine

My morning wake up call.

J brewed some this morning. I could smell it upstairs.

This is how a little man eats his breakfast.. with his feet up on the table.

I guess when we go shopping we need eggs, milk, juice and a Micah...

even though we already have a Micah.

PBS Kids.. girls took turns playing on it in the morning.

This is our source of homeschooling at the moment because all the curriculum is still packed.

Little man love.

Nature

Banana Bread

BANANA BREAD

Who knew it would be so frustrating at first but I was determined.

We had one nasty banana that I had been saving for the past couple days to make some banana bread. So I found a recipe online. Mashed up the nasty banana with a fresher looking one then searched for our baking soda. Found out that it is either #1 missing or #2 we don't actually have any. So I searched online for substitutes. Found that you can substitute 2 teaspoons of baking power for the 1 teaspoon of baking soda. But then you have to take out the acidic liquid in the recipe and add a non-acidic liquid. I looked at the recipe again and the only liquid I was adding was vanilla. So I searched online to make sure that is acidic-it is. So then I searched for a sweet liquid that was non-acidic, that we had. I searched first for substitutes for vanilla. Came up with Maple Syrup but that is acidic too. Saw on the same site that honey is not acidic. I had honey so we added that. Phew! With all the researching done I could make the bread... praying that it would actually turn out alright and all my time wasn't wasted.

The small loaf was made for Ellie, we had a little bread pan.

I added chocolate chips to her bread.

We LOVE banana bread!!!

Hopscotch

The girl's first hopscotch experience.

It's a warm and sunny day.

There's no need to be inside.

So we went outside.

And I decided to show the girls what hopscotch is.

So I drew some up, with numbers and told them how it works.

Eventually they were counting while they hopped.

M tried counting backwards while hopping backwards

(a difficult task since she had to read the numbers upside down...

it worked for about four squares).

Then L hopped backwards.

Then M drew up a new course.

Moved In

Wow. Going to be real short and sweet here(yeah right). We packed the moving truck last Sunday(May 1st), drove all day May 2nd(heading out at 4:30 am and arriving at 12:30 am) on minimal hours of sleep(mine was like 3 hours) and unpacked the vehicles May 3rd. My days and times are still out of whack. I am finding it hard to believe that it is May 9th already. I feel like this first week of May has been a blur and soon we will be planning birthday parties(one next week and two in June), summer activities (swimming lessons, camping, conferences, retreats, reunions) and then the new baby(due in early August). Time is going by too fast.

This new town we live in seems to be the biggest city in the county(which is not saying much) , other than the Walmart, Meijer and Save-A-Lot I have yet to find a grocery store. The Walmart is a super Walmart.

The girls marvel at the quietness of the stores. I am amazed at the city streets being so quiet. We took a nice walk around our neighborhood. It was very peaceful. We found the community pool(3 blocks) and the elementary school that has a playground(4 blocks).

We are slowly getting everything unpacked.

We bought a grill and have grilled out a lot since we have arrived. I'm loving it.

Our dishwasher is not working right, we have yet to investigate the reason why. But I am loving doing the dishes(If you know me at all you know how weird that is... I LOVE dishwasher and HATE doing dishes). We still have two clothes washers and two clothes dryers. But the washer will be changed out soon.

Cloth diapers.

I started cloth diapering with Nathaniel. We have 8 of them. So it has been a wash every day process and trying to use the rest of the disposables that we have. I love them. I'm not sure why I didn't switch to this earlier. We have not had any leaks yet and we have had 3 poop filled diaper experiences. Still loving it. I know I will need to invest in a few more in order to do this full time with Nathaniel and probably soon, I'm trying to only use the ones we have today to see how many he goes through.

Well.. there is so much more to say but I've been online all morning.

It's Ours! and more...

YAY!!! We received the closing paperwork for the house we are buying in the mail today. Signed it and send it back to MI. Technically everything was dated for yesterday but it wasn't official until we signed it(in my mind). So...... we own a house!!!! It's ours! Our very own to do whatever we please with. Now, after two weeks, we will be moving in. I CANNOT WAIT.

Other than that N has decided to start potty training.... which can be a little frustrating when you are moving in two weeks and really do not want to start. But I can't discourage it. He takes his diaper off whenever it is wet or dirty(not fun)... he sits on the toilet and pees and poops. He has also taken to peeing on the carpet in random areas of the house if I don't catch him soon enough after he has gone commando. Frustrating is the word. Today the diaper came off multiple times and he peed on the floor in at least five places.

Other than that I've decided to do two things after we move to save money. One is to shop with coupons and shop with the sales trends and another is to use cloth diapers, which I've updated my other blog about.

Other than that we are moving. In two weeks. This weekend is my last weekend working. After than we have a homeschooling convention to attend, my Dad to pick up in Kansas City, a tumbling showcase, J's hooding and graduation ceremonies, packing, packing and more packing........... then the move. Is it creeping up on us? Yes. Are we prepared? No. Who can be? I'm leaving my best friend here. Who could be prepared for that? Four years went by way, way, too fast and although I am grateful for everything that has happened that has made our relationship grow into something that we wouldn't have had if we hadn't moved here. Separation is hard. Leaving is hard. Moving is hard. Although I look forward to the life I will have in MI with my new house, being closer to family and old friends and the starting of the church plant and campus ministry. Nothing can replace what I'm leaving behind here. And it's just not my best friend(although she is a major, major part of it) but all the other people that I've met that have changed my life. Changed who I am and my view on life's happenings. These things, people, can never be replaced. I will miss you more than I will ever be able to express in words or in person.