bad blogger, bad, bad!

Have you been disappointed in me the last two weeks? I understand, I've been disappointed in myself too. To make up for it, I'll give you a whirlwind tour of the last few weeks:

1. Hayden photo shoots. I've been trying my best to be an equal opportunity photographer for my children. I don't want any of them to grow up and say "you loved _____ more than me because he/she has more pictures." I'm trying, but gosh darn it, some kids just love the camera a little too much:




2. My birthday. On the 15th I turned 32 years old. I'm not crazy about the fact that every year the number gets higher, but I do like a day where I get presents and eat cake. I guess I'll compromise, just give me an extra slice of cake...We all went out to dinner at Chili's ("I feel God in this Chili's tonight") and then went bowling. It was a great evening, very fun and the kids keep asking to do it again.

3. Guests. Last week we hosted our friends Mark and Stacie Wheeler and their three kids, Cy, Caleb and Abi. We were glad to see our old friends (Mark and Darren were college roommates) and the kids were glad to play together.

4. Staying cool. The temperature is finally rising after a dreary beginning of June. We've been staying cool in our little pool and slip n' slide. Hayden looks cute in her swimsuit but isn't a fan of the cold water.Again, couldn't get a picture of her alone, Miss Cam needs to be in every shot!

last day of school

Today was Jason's last day of first grade! Well, technically we finished our work yesterday, but honestly, the last day of school is usually just a party day anyway. So today, our scholar requested an In-n-Out lunch and then we went to see the movie Up.



This was Cameron and Hayden's first movie theater experience... Hayden had the more enjoyable experience! Cameron's favorite part of the movie was seeing Cinderella's castle during the Walt Disney tag. The movie was very good, but to all those who told me that it wasn't scary... you were wrong according to Cam's standards.


We are very proud of Jason for all his hard work this year. His favorite subject was history with science following in a close second. I've already started making my list for next year of things to try differently, curriculum to buy and places to go. Year 1 of homeschool: success!

mmmmmm..... toes!

hayden's big week

Hayden had a really exciting week. She'd like everyone to know that she can sit up now... almost on her own. She prefers this position to lying on her back because now that she's seen the view there's no going back.

WWWAAAAAAA!!! I 'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm very discontent, I'm....

I'm sitting up!  Hey this is great, this makes me so happy, why haven't I done this before?  I'm, uh-oh...

I'm down!  Baby down!  

In other news, Hayden sat in the highchair and had a few bites of applesauce this week.  Attention grandparents: this is not a declaration of open season on feeding the baby.  Please refrain from giving her "just a taste" of ice cream, popsicles, marshmallows or any other non-approved foods.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Also this week, Hayden put on her super-cute bathing suit and took a dip in the pool.   Jason snapped a few pictures for us.

Sorry about the angle here but I censored most of the other pics of Hayden in the pool because I was directly behind her, in my bathing suit... and you don't need to see that!

tortillas

Saturday night I taught Jason how to make tortillas. He and Darren had been to a restaurant earlier in the week that made fresh tortillas and Darren reminded me that I used to make homemade tortillas ages ago. So, to appease my hungry guys we made a batch. For those who would like to give it a try, here's the recipe:

3c. flour
1/2 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tbs. salt
1/4c. shortening
1c. hot water

If your lucky enough to have a Kitchen Aid then just mix up the dry ingredients and slowly add in the hot water until a smooth dough forms on the dough hook. If you don't have one then just mix it up in a big bowl with your hands and pat yourself on the back for being so authentic!


Knead your dough on a floured surface until it has the consistency of a fresh can of play-dough (Jason totally understood this point). Divide your dough into 12 golf ball sized balls and put them under wax paper or saran wrap to keep the dough from drying out. Roll out each ball into a thin round (or mostly round) sheet and cook on a dry griddle about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. A done tortilla has a few air bubbles and a few brown spots. Keep the warm tortillas between two towels until ready to serve, again, to keep them from drying out.

abalone farm

Yesterday we went on a field trip to the abalone farm in Cayucos. What's that, you didn't know there was an abalone farm in Cayucos? It's no wonder, the farm is located down an unmarked dirt road, off the highway, past several No Trespassing signs... it's not exactly a place that wants a lot of attention. Abalone is pretty special stuff, and this farm has about 4 million creatures in various stages of life all with the goal of being sold for a handsome price. We met up with several other home schooling families for the tour which was led by a guy who had obviously handled school groups before. The kids got to see all the tanks, learn about the life cycle and even hold and feed an abalone. At the end of the tour they got to pick out shells to take home. We completed our escape to the coast with lunch and some time at the park before heading back over the hills to the heat of San Miguel. Our guide shows the kids the underside of the shell where on the females, a greenish sack lies, burdened by the million babies she is about to have.Jason holds a one and a half year old abalone... we forgot to wash his hands before lunch...eeeeeewwwwww!Jason and his lady friends feed kelp to the mature abalone... he really needs more boyfriends...er, BOY friends! Ha!
Where were the girls? Hayden was strapped to my chest, against her will and Cameron was clinging to my leg, against my will... she was not happy with the field trip, it was getting in the way of her time eating and playing, and this was not the trip to the beach that she had anticipated.

friends, Romans, countrymen...

Lend me your ears! Yesterday I gave Jason a mini-lecture about finishing strong. We have 4 more weeks of school left and I want them to be great, not a half-hearted struggle. My speech was inspiring... or at least, I was inspired, so today I added in a craft project that spurred a full-blown dress-up session. We are studying the Roman empire and the craft was a simple broach. Well, every good Roman had a broach in the shape of an animal to represent one of their gods. Jason chose a giraffe... I'm not quite sure which god that represents. Since he had a broach, he needed a cloak to pin it to and since he needed a cloak, he needed a toga to wear underneath. Pretty soon, little sis was in on the action and we had two Roman kids in our living room. We did a little math lesson on our slate (chalkboard, not beeswax) and read poetry (James Whitcomb Riley, not Euripides or Sappho). We'll be reclining to eat lunch today and I'll be supervising a dagger fight and perhaps some wrestling later this afternoon.

In other news... Hayden rolled over today, on her own, completely! She's so cute!