Look Out Meryl Streep!

To my sweet readers - all three of you - I am sorry I've disappeared from my little blog for so long. We came home from vacation very early last Sunday morning, had a HUGE and awesome Back-to-Homeschool party last Tuesday (more on that later), and started school last Thursday. Life has been full and a wee bit crazy... and I still have a few more posts from the summer that I need to get up before I start documenting our new school year (I get my blog published into book form as our family scrapbook each year, and like to start each new album with the beginning of our school year).

This past summer, Chloe, Max, and Sam took a weeklong acting camp through a Christian program called Saltworks. They had a blast, and Charlie and I enjoyed our mornings at home together while they learned the tricks of the theater trade. Here are a few memories from their end-of-camp recital:

Sam enters from stage right as a bird.

Some are blurry... darn iphone camera.

Chloe's play was called "Chocolatina," and was about a girl who loved chocolate so much that she woke up one morning and was a chocolate bar... pretty sure that screenplay is in Oscar contention this year.

Max was a zebra. Hilarious.

 It was great fun! We'll be doing it again next year for sure :-).

...And So the Days Passed Quickly By

My kids love the book Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, and one of my favorite lines has always been "...inside it was warm and dry, and so ten days passed quickly by." Weighted words, and never more appropriate than when describing a week at the shore.

Every morning the kids wake up and ask how many more days we still have at the beach.

We are playing in tidal pools, splashing in waves, flying kites, and napping in strollers as the ocean's gentle song plays a hundred yards away.


Life is good.

Beach Babies

Guess who loves the beach?

Marshmallow Fluff and Overprotection

This morning I found myself staring into three sad faces. We had planned on going to Idlewild, but rescheduled for later in the week when the (always wrong) weatherman predicted rain and chilly temperatures. The faces got even longer when the rain I had told them would come never did, and they spent the morning in the playroom with sun streaming through the windows.

A little before lunch, Chloe listlessly opened up the pantry and saw a half-used jar of marshmallow fluff. She and I had bought it this summer for a recipe we didn't really like, and she's been asking ever since if we could use it to make something else. It is, after all, a jar full of mashed up marshmallows... Why on earth would I not want to use up every last sticky drop? I'm trying to get my lesson plans done before Friday, but in a moment of Spirit-filled parenting (please note- not one ounce of credit can be fairly claimed by yours truly) I pushed my work aside and googled "marshmallow fluff and chocolate chips."

To Chloe's utter delight, my trusty laptop returned a no-bake recipe in three seconds flat, and a late-morning baking project commenced.

The boys returned from the backyard just in time to destroy my kitchen help. Oh goody.

We mixed and rolled and had a lot of fun together.

Despite the mess, I love being in the kitchen with my three musketeers.

An hour in the fridge, and the kids had a delightful dessert after lunch.

On another note, my sister told me about a blog post this morning that I really needed to read about the "danger" of overprotecting our children. Regardless of the path you've chosen to educate your children, I think this is a must-read for parents. Check it out if you have a minute: http://www.itakejoy.com/

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

John 6:63

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and we had a lot of fun celebrating her! This year my mom, sister, and I decided to start a new tradition and go out for lunch together for each of our birthdays. Last month they took me to the Springfield Grill, and for mom's birthday we decided to try the classic Pittsburgh Sunday brunch at the Grand Concourse. The three of us met there after church and had a wonderful time!



I purposely didn't eat anything that morning because I wanted to be able to eat as much as I possibly could at the brunch... Now there's a goal to be proud of, eh?



We had a beautiful table looking out across the river at the city. We ate and talked and ate and talked. My brother-in-law had asked my mom earlier how long she thought we'd be gone, and she told him to plan on us being gone the entire afternoon!

This was the view from our table:

After several hours of delicious food, we went home and relaxed, and then reconvened at our house for cake, presents, and general merriment :-)

Another one of Pittsburgh's classics graced our table last night - the inimitable Prandtl's toasted almond torte. Don't even try to copy this one people - go straight to the source on Walnut Street in Shadyside. A special shout-out is due to my little sis, who braved a screaming two-month-old and an unplanned trip through the Liberty Tubes in an effort to bring home this delightful dessert. To thumbs up, Cara. 100% worth it.

We dusted off our family tradition, the Fella Jar (that's a whole different blog post), and feted Mom with praise and accolades on  her big day. She had plenty of help blowing out her candles!

Happy Birthday Mom! Hope your day was as wonderful as you are!