So, this morning we tried some strawberry muffins. In person, these muffins looked so much more like the cars and trucks from this pan.
If you look past the rather rounded and bulging bottoms, they totally looked liked cars and trucks. Ben whipped these up with me and was so excited to use the pan we got from my aunt for Christmas. He was very pleased with the results (thankfully). With his super powers of persuasion, he willed his pick-up truck muffin to cool ultra-fast and then tore into it with glee. Then, he looked at me with a deadly serious expression and told me, "Never make strawberry muffins again, okay Mom? These taste really bad." Ah well, at least he enjoyed the making. And, just for the record, they were actually pretty darn good. Dan and Lily agreed!
This is a pic of Lily sporting one of her super-cute, hand-embroidered onsies. Don't ask me why I wait until the child is wearing it to attempt to get a good, detailed shot! Grandma has been on quite the embroidery jag and Lily has scored lots of handmade goodness. This picture cracks me up...such a little crazy monkey. For some reason, she is fascinated by this nursing stool. She will spend 10 minutes climbing around on it.
Yesterday, was a crazy day. Mostly, in a good way. We had a couple of trees removed from our yard as part of the backyard reclamation operation of 2008. The trees were way too close to the house with dangerously broken tops and they competely precluded the sun from hitting (and, thus, any sort of vegetation from growing) our backyard. The end result was a LOT of leaves , no grass, lots of loose soil blowing into our little screened porch and tracked into the house. Less than ideal. So, out with the two trees and in with the sun and a new patio. We are VERY excited to rehab the yard...there has been talk of forts and hideouts in addition to patios, vegetable gardens, flowering trees, and picnic tables. 'll keep you posted on progress.
So, anyhoo, the whole tree removal and trimming process was positively riveting. I purposely scheduled it for a day Ben was off from school and I'm so glad I did. He was in heaven. I wish I had recorded some of the conversations we had- priceless! They spent hours perched at the windows...so much so that they both got quite a bit of color from the afternoon sun! Actually, all three of us were plastered to the windows watching them scale the trees (50-60 feet, maybe), rope up large branches belayed by crews on the ground, and wield chainsaws to sever them from the tree. Oh, and the earth-shaking thuds of the trees being felled...really impressive. I'm even more impressed (and thankful) that these 20-something dudes didn't drop one of them on my house...particularly when they were bickering about whether the one had made the appropriate angled cut to fell the tree between the house and the fence, rather than on said objects.
I did go the licensed contractor route with loads of liability insurance...and moved the children back from the living rooms windows that would have been directly in the path of a wayward tree, just in case. Walking around the yard afterward, I had mixed emotions. I was very sad to cut the trees down. Right now, in particular, as they leaf out, I really enjoyed looking up at the canopy and shade is a good thing.
We left up a healthy large tree in the other corner of the yard and we have some trees just outside the fence that will shade the yard much of the day. However, we will also get a few hours of direct sun at the peak of the day so we can grow some groundcover and vegetables. And, construction of the backyard oasis that will be the place we spend the most of our time can begin! We were already out there mucking around today! And, when I say mucking around...I mean it....lotsa muck ended up on the kids. I'll save those picks for another day.
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