Summer Turns Six Today!

Yesterday, Summer was counting down the hours until she would be six. I'm not sure if I've seen such birthday excitement yet.

Hooray! Her Birthday is here! She's six!

Summer wanted a "kiss cake" and a kiss party for her birthday. I wasn't sure where to go with that, so I made up Mom's Kiss Cafe' and put kisses in all of the food. For her "kissy cake" I frosted a round cake in yellow frosting (her favorite color) and then put a few sets of wax lips on it. It turned out cute (you'll have to take my word, I forgot to take pictures!) and she thought I was the best Mom in the world for being so ingenious. T Jay had a little bit of a hard time with the attention directed at Summer. When the issue came to light, he said," nobody's ever made me a cafe'." Maybe this will be a continuing theme.

Me and my girl. Love you girlie! Happy Birthday!

A Month in Pictures

We have had a ton of rain. Playing in the rain gutters is apparently a must.
A new favorite

Kite fliers

Seated kite flying

Scanning was their favorite part of the Publix tour that we did. By the time they were done, those three candy bars cost $57 and some change!

Super Dad!

Lexi's first tea party

Summer thinks these jammies still fit her. They don't, they're Lexi's!

Look at those dimples and those eyes!

she loves it, I love it- we all love it.

Sillies at Downtown Disney

Isn't he love-ly?

This stool has taken her to new heights!

When she is finished eating, she starts to put food on top of her head. It's kind of a game to see how much she can get up there at once.

Age

So far, age has just been a number that I generally ignore. I mostly just base what I think my age is on how I feel, while embracing the awesome-ness of actually being in my 30's. In case you are wondering I "feel" like I am in my early 20's, and really if you count my "real age" I am! The other night Jess and I were talking about how old I was going to be this year on my birthday. In my head the answer was quick and easy, 33. When Jess gave me a screwy look at that answer, I recalculated and was flabbergasted by the reality that I was, indeed turning 34 this year. I lost (or gained, depending on how you look at it) a whole year! I think it's the first time, other than being in theaters with noisy teens and thinking, "stupid, noisy teens", that I have felt old. I think that my short lived fountain of youth is due to the fact that I have failed to keep my profile updated. Each time I view my blog, my profile's "32 year old Mom of 4" greets me as I read. So after a minor, "How'd I get so old, so fast" derailment, I'm back on track. I have made the updates and am determined to catch up and make the most of my 33rd year. Luckily I caught it now and not on my birthday. Who wants to age two years, all in one whack?! Phew, catastrophe averted. Back to "age by how I feel," hello 20's!

Salmon Cakes with Lime Sauce

I tried a new recipe for dinner yesterday and it was really good. It is from the Pampered Chef It's Good for You Cookbook. Here is the recipe, go on try it, you'll like it!

Salmon cakes with cool lime sauce:

Sauce:
1 lime
1/2 c. light mayo
1/4 c. light sour cream
zest the lime until you get 2 tsp. of zest, then squeeze 2 tsp of juice into a bowl. Add the sour cream and mayo, stir and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Salmon cakes:
2 cans of salmon drained and flaked
1/4 c. finely diced red bell pepper
1/4 c. thinly sliced green onion, including the tops
1Tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
3/4 c. unseasoned bread crumbs, divided
1/3 c. light mayo
1 egg white

Combine salmon, bell pepper, green onion, cilantro, breadcrumbs, mayo and egg white. Mix well. Sprinkle remaining breadcrumbs on a plate (I used more) and scoop (I used a large cookie scoop) the salmon mixture onto the crumbs and press it down. Turn it over to coat the other side with bread crumbs. Repeat until salmon mixture is gone. Cook in a skillet on med. heat for 6-8 minutes, turning once. I served it with cous cous and steamed broccoli. It would also be good with rice of some sort. I made extra (like 14 or so cakes) and we (6 of us) ate all but three of them, which I had for lunch today.

Cheater, Cheater

On the way home from the store today, Matthew was singing, "cheater, cheater pumpkin eater" over and over. On one of his rounds, he sang, "cheater, cheater pumpkin patch (short pause with a chuckle) oh, cheater, cheater pumpkin eater." Funny he knows that already at three. I guess this is where I congratulate my older children on a job well done teaching him the school house tunes.

Fifty Nifty United States

If any of you are wondering about the decrease in posts as of late, I can explain. One computer, 5 people waiting in line for it! All three of the older kids are obsessed with PBS kids! We have had to start locking the computer when we are away from the desk to ensure that Matthew doesn't hack into the Pentagon when we aren't looking! I am left with limited, odd hours to do (or not do) my thing.
On Wednesday night while eating dinner, T Jay asked me if there would be anymore report cards sent home during this school year. I told him there would be one more.
"Promise me that if I get an "N" (needs improvement) in Social Studies that you won't get mad?" he said. I then asked him why he thought he might get an "N". He told me how his class has been working to memorize the 50 states in alphabetical order using the "fifty nifty" song. You remember the one? If not, listen to it here. Is it stuck in your head now, too? :) He told me that his teacher said that if they didn't have the states memorized that they would get an "N" in Social Studies. (Remember-this is a 7 year old take on what she said, her exact words and meaning could be way off! Trust me, I've been a victim before!) I asked him when he had to have it ready by. Of course his reply was, "Tomorrow." Great! So to work we went. The first time through, he got maybe 40% of it right, but after about an hour to an hour and a half, he had it down! He now serenades me throughout the day with those darling nifty fifty united states! It's fun to watch them struggle (not this part), practice and then master something (this part)! Now Summer has had the You Tube video on repeat and is determined to learn it herself. I swear I was much older when I didn't learn it in school! I could only ever get through the A's!

Here on the farm...

Hello friends and family, it's been a while! We've been busy here on the farm.(Funny farm?) We started out with a fun short week (the kids were out Thursday and Friday), then Easter and into spring break. When the kids are out of school, life is really busy.
On Thursday, we had friends over to play in the bouncy house. Tons of fun. They alternated between jumping, hiding empty plastic eggs for each other and playing in the toy room for hours! The whole time I got to gab with my friend. A great day. I don't remember Friday, let's face it, that was a week ago! I don't remember yesterday. Well, there's a reason for that, I'm getting there!
Easter weekend was great with tons of family time, Church and fun.
Monday was a bike ride with the kids that ended up being too long. Why? Oh, the whining and fainting started when we still had about a half of a mile to go. Not even the lure of playing at the playground got them to ride happily. When I say they, I mean Matthew and Summer. Matthew, poor thing has a good excuse, he had to ride three times as far because his wheels are so tiny! Summer, well, all things are better with a little drama aren't they? We ended the day at the beach. A nice start to spring break, right?
Which brings us to Tuesday. A friend set up a tour of Publix for the kids. We went. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed seeing the different departments display their talents. Scanning items at the check out was their favorite. I, on the other hand, felt like I was carrying all four kids on my shoulders during the whole tour. I wasn't, but tell my body that and I'm not sure it would believe you. I was pretty sure that was my punishment for staying up way too late the night before. As we took our party to the park for a picnic, I was beginning to wonder if I was coming down with something. In all honesty, I never get sick, so it was hard to consider (I think it has been 4-5 years since I have been stay in bed sick, maybe longer.). As I drove home, I informed the kids that they would be watching TV for the rest of the day because I was going to take a nap with Lexi. As I woke up, it was all there. Fever, sore throat, body aches, headache, extreme exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and tonsils. Yikes! I went to bed a 7pm and slept until 8am and then stayed in bed all day except to go to a walk -in clinic to confirm my case of Strep! So basically I slept for 2 and a half days and here we are. I kind of ruined, but maybe improved the kids spring break. Since I was a zombie, Jess was able to work from home for 2 days and play with the kids. (Bless family sick leave!) They would probably say it was more fun with Dad! So there you have it. Now I am just playing the waiting game to see if I infected any of the kids. It'll be a miracle if I am the only one. I like miracles.