pizza and butterflies

It's getting harder and harder to find time to post. I feel like it's been months since the last one and the pics are piling up in my phone. So this post is a bit long...

March was full of big things happening. We used the pizza oven for the first time ever that Dan has been building for months. We got to see the life cycle of a butterfly and actually witnessed it hatching. That may be the highlight of the year for me personally. At least at the top. The kids went back to school on a hybrid schedule and are going back full time in a week. And I turned 40! My mom came to stay with us for 3 weeks and my sis was here for a week. Dan and I and a few vaccinated family members and close friends went to Newport Beach to celebrate me walking the earth for such a long time. And I'm kind of feeling like I accomplished something simply by enduring the last year with most of my sanity intact. A great reason to celebrate.

I don't know how to categorize the following. Just a peek into my life last week:

Monday: I borrowed $60 from Mya. Not the first or the last time.

Tuesday: I pulled out Addie's tooth while eating my breakfast, tried not to look at the blood and sent her to the bathroom to handle the rest herself.

Wednesday: While I was showering, Angus came in to ask me for a mailbox for Christmas. His OWN personal mailbox where he would get his own mail.

Thursday: Angus raked the car. In his defense, there were leaves on it.

Friday: Addie wanted to see what would happen if she took some scissors and made a little cut in her favorite Lion King shirt. To her surprise, it now has a hole in it.

Saturday: Winter sat down to pet the very frisky neighborhood dog and it climbed on top of her and started humping her in the street. She thought it was hugging her and didn't stop the dog until I told her to get up 5 times. With each time, my voice getting louder and me getting more embarrassed.

Sunday: In the front row at church, Angus got really into the worship songs and started dancing. I looked down and he was spanking his butt and grabbing his crotch Michael Jackson style. "Angus! Inappropriate!" I yell whispered. I use that word a lot. The people behind us laughed uncomfortably.

Good times.

Angus found some balloons at the park. 

"I don't know who's this is... but they're PROBABLY six." -Angus

Helping Dad...

That got boring so they decided to look for ducks instead.

Angus is reading a book about police officers to Brian, the only boy baby doll of the house. Bro time.

Getting creative.

We visited our Baker fam in Santa Barbara 💗

We made domino towers. A hidden useless talent of mine. I have lots of those actually.

Angus and Addie went back to school for a few hours a week. This was Angus's first day of school on the actual campus. I made him wear athletic pants he could easily take off in case of a bathroom emergency. Side note. The kids are going back 5 days a week April 12. I could not be more excited. 

I love Addie's profile.

We did drive-through class portraits this year. We literally drove up, the kids hopped out and the photographer snapped their pic and they got back in the car. 

Pizza oven time!

We learned a lot. For one, the pizza oven takes 5 hours to come to temp. 

The kids prefer store-bought pre-shredded mozzarella over the fancy cheeses at the Italian market. 

Angus is lactose-intolerant.

We only need about one-tenth of the amount of toppings we bought. 

The next time around will be much smoother I think. But all in all it went great and the pizza was good.

Winter wore this to church a couple of weeks ago. I like the black and white theme.

I love seeing these neighborhood kids grow up together. They're like family at this point. And it has been a huge blessing in the last year to have a built-in community for them.

Grandma came and stayed with us for a while. Mya changed the sign on her door from her room rules to this:

She and Addie had bible studies every single morning. 

Mom was here for the butterfly transformation too. We camped out and watched two of them hatch. So awesome.

Oh Addie. Mom got this fab pic.

I've been trying to take each kid out once a month and have a "date" with them. Winter wanted to go to Bonelli Park and feed the ducks followed by Yogurtland. Her helmet looks weird because the top fell off. I'm sure it still works right?

This is the most amazing pic I've ever taken. The bread is in the air and the large goose-looking creature is just about to catch it.

Sometimes Angus still falls asleep watching TV. It's so quiet when that happens. If you don't know Angus personally, he's non-stop. If he's not talking, he's singing. If he's not singing, he's making truck noises. At least I always know where he is.

I took a pic on the morning of my 40th birthday to document what I looked like at age 40. I'm not ashamed of the wrinkles and bags. I feel like they're well earned.

Newport shenanigans... Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't post things like this in case anyone feels left out. I would have invited everyone if it wasn't Covid days. We had to keep it small. But I want to include pics because a big part of me posting on this blog is being able to look back at the pics.

Mom did an amazing job of holding down the fort, which included zoom school with Angus. 

They took this the morning she left. It's blurry but cute.

We miss you Grandma! 

Angus said 3 days after she left, "I weally miss Gwamma. I'm already stauting to fowget ha name." 

Mya is doing an amazing job in school this year. This is like the 4th or 5th nomination. Her teachers love her.

She's even patient with her sisters.

Me: How did Addie get so tiny??

Winter: She had a shrinkspurt.

This pretty much sums up Winter and Mya:

Dan: Okay everyone outside!

Winter: Ugh no it's too hot!

Mya: Yay I get to wear my summer clothes!

Angus: Hey Mom?

Me: Yes Officer

Angus: Mom, just call me Angus.

I have a little belt hack if you will. You know how sometimes your belt has a leftover piece that is too long but too short to fit into the next beltloop? I use a little rubberband to fasten it so it doesn't stick out. You just put it on the non-buckle side before you fasten your belt then slide it through after you fasten it. We have a bunch of black little rubberbands for braids and tiny ponytails.

I have a recommendation and a giant life hack. These pistachios are awesome. And the kids don't like them so more for me and Dan. Are you ready for something that will change your life? Well, only if you like pistachios. I like to snack on pistachios at night while watching TV because it takes a while to eat them. For those stubborn shells that don't open, use a shell that you've already opened to wedge it into the stubborn shell. It totally works. No more sore thumbs. Let me know if you try it. It has brought so much joy to my evenings.

Well, that's it! 

Happy Easter friends! Mya made this at church. Love it.

 

henry danger, rainbows and chrysalises

It's been a while since I posted so I have lots of pics. 
Nothing much has changed around here. Same ol' same ol'.

Angus says amusing things all day long. Here are just a few:

Being a grandpa looks scary. - Angus

Mom, this bagel is hot. Can you grab me some mittens? - Angus

Me: (eating my homemade quiche) MMMmm this is so good.
Angus: You should try toast. It's amazing.

All the kids love cooking dinner with Dan. He taught Mya how to make burgers. I don't know what he puts in them but they're delicious.

Then she made strawberry jam. It's the same one we made before from the Joanna Gaines cookbook. The kids love it so much they won't eat any other jam now. So I guess we'll just have to keep making it. 

Mya found Henry Danger on Netflix. It's love.

Dan teaching Addie to tie a bow. 💗

Speaking of bows. When it rains, I look for the rainbow afterward. It's been nice staying home because I never miss these beauties. This one was a giant. Then I looked at it a minute later and it was a double rainbow. Love it.

I'm still very slowly cooking my way through Joanna Gaines's cookbook. This was the last quiche. I only sprinkled chives on half of it in hopes that Angus would eat some. But he smelled it and left the room. Oh well. I enjoyed every bite.

Addie made veggie pigs in a blanket. It's a staple around here. We use morning star sausages and wrap them in crescent rolls. The kids don't like regular sausages because they say they're too spicy.

We have lots of kids between the 3 of us (mostly Mari) so we took a very well-deserved break from them and ate and drank overlooking this amazing view. The ocean always resets my inner peace.

Mya and Winter are unfortunately growing out of the stage of mismatched adorableness. But Addie's still very much not. And that makes me happy.

Dan found a milkweed plant with a bunch of caterpillars chowing down on it. He brought it home in hopes that the caterpillars would form chrysalises. It's always been a dream of his to watch the metamorphosis at home with the kids. We have all been pretty obsessed with it I must say. 

We currently have five chrysalises. We tried to catch them mid change but it's pretty fast so we missed it. We are going to borrow a GoPro so we can hopefully catch them turning into butterflies soon. It'll be about a week until it happens. It has been a highlight of the year so far for sure.

Mya organized Angus's drawers for fun, Marie Kondo style. Normally, I just throw his clothes in the drawers so we'll see how this goes...

Me: Awe Winter, I just love your little dimple on your cheek.
Winter: 

"Okay, don't move Addie. Is that too tight?" 

Angus is going to be the nicest police officer.

An awesome neighbor dad took these lovely ladies for a long bike ride. We have so many photos of these girls posing on their bikes over the years. They're all using grown-up bikes now. Well, except Mya. She's still tiny.

They went for a hike the following weekend.

And took pictures of each other.

Well, it's the dead of Winter here and the days are rough.

Mya got a 4.0 the first semester of the school year and the school staff delivered these signs to the kids. I'm so proud of her. Some subjects don't come easily for her but she tries her best and even asks the teacher if she can redo an assignment if she didn't get a good grade on it.  

Slime making in the backyard. They were so excited about it that they forgot they were wearing helmets. We usually wait until Dan goes to work to make slime. It makes him nervous just thinking about the mess.

Caroline came into town and spent her birthday thrift store shopping with Mya. Mari and I have raised thrift store shoppers for life.

The only way Dan will eat hot dogs is cooked over the stove until they're black, then he covers them in mustard. The kids think it's the most disgusting amazing thing they've ever.

I discovered a way to make chicken enchiladas easier. I didn't have any chicken defrosted so I heated up some chicken nuggets and diced them up and put them in the enchiladas. They were actually really good. The toasted chicken nuggets add texture. So for all you moms that always have chicken nuggets on hand, put them in your enchiladas next time. So good.

*Dan does not endorse this shortcut. He believes in cooking things with extra love. He didn't try them though.

I stopped drinking coffee in the mornings. It was causing shortness of breath. I think caffeine affects me more than it used to. And maybe life right now is a bit more stressful so I don't need extra anxiety. I found this at Target on the shelf on the coffee aisle. They may or may not carry it at the grocery store. I mix it with oat milk and it's quite delicious. I realize it has caffeine in it. Just not as much as coffee.

Happy Thursday!