Apple Count 9:14 am

Three. That was the apple count as of 9:14 this morning. By 9:47 there were two more cores added to the pile. My kids are wild about apples, and I'm just glad they finally like to eat the skin. I was so tired of peeling apples, and really over trying to make a big deal out of how good apple skin tasted.

The Working Conditions...

...make it such that our productivity is very low.

However, we are compensated well.

Because...

...to be honest, by the end of a lot of days, the only creative thing I engage in is cooking our dinner. Stress reliever. And even though it is dark by 6pm, and I'm standing under florescent apartment lighting, I can think of summer time. Or some other distant and lovely time, when the tomatoes and basil might actually come from my yard. I love that Miss Lily sits on the counter to supervise and beg tomato pieces, and Zach comes in to tell me, "Mom, I still don't think I'm big enough to like spinach, but I'll try it again." I think it's funny that all the splatters and mess tend to land on my ever growing belly.

A few months ago Dave and I were reminiscing about the meals of our first year of marriage. All 3 things I knew how to cook involved some sort of creamed soup. But I was good at potatoes...baked, mashed, fried, Au gratin, twice-baked, scalloped, hash browns, wedges, potato soup, potato salad, potato pancakes. We ate hundreds of spuds due to the fact that a sweet older lady at Dave's workplace had a son who was a potato farmer. Pity potatoes for the college students. Boy I'd give anything to have a journal that chronicled those dinner days.

Mud Soup {for the soul}

It rained last night.

For Zachary and Lily that means one thing: mud soup.

They make mud soup for animals. There is lots of teamwork and interesting conversation as they prepare the culinary masterpiece.

Today my children reminded me that I adore the monotony and mess of this beautiful stage in our lives together. I love their simple requests, sweet little voices, and the seemingly endless amounts of time we have together in our cozy little world.

May mud be the soup du jour for many years to come.

Party On

{Chocolate-Almond cupcakes with fudge icing...my favorite part}

{The treasure hunt took us to fun places around town...Zach with a clue map}{sweet faced party go-er} 4th Birthday celebration got four chocolaty thumbs up.

FOUR

Zach is four!
We tried to make the day special by starting with his favorite breakfast.Daddy came home and took Zach to a park for lunch.

We went out to dinner and then Zach got to use his birthday gift card to find the toy of his dreams (a Ninja turtle action figure and a Baby Animal Encyclopedia)

The party continues on Saturday with a family treasure hunt ending with cake and gifts.

In the morning I told Zach the story about the day he was born. I listed all the people that were there to meet him and how he was the very first grandbaby for all of his grandparents. I told him I had tears in my eyes when I first saw him because I was so happy to be holding my little boy. He loved listening. When I was tucking him in last night he told me,

"Mom, I had tears in my eyes too, when I was born."

"Oh, you did? Why?"

"Because I was so, so happy that you were my mommy."

And right then and there, my heart melted.

Lake Livingston

Lake Livingston is an hour north. Not a long drive. But we stopped at two gas stations per "potty request" by Zach. The second we arrived at the campsite, he jumped from the car and ran to a tree. Not so much because he "had to go", I think it had more to do with the novelty of peeing on a tree!They called these their "relaxin' chairs"But we put them to work. Lily swept the tent site. Zach stacked firewood.

My {pregnant} shadow

Lake Livingston was beautiful. Camping is not generally at the top of the "must do" list for a girl going into her third trimester. Really though, it was all lots of fun until nightfall. There is absolutely nothing bony about the current state of my body, but let me tell you... sleeping on your side, on the ground, with extra weight, will make even 'cushioned' hips sore!

Also, we were the only campers in the entire state park. Yeah. It was pretty sweet, we camped on a Thursday night. And I was thankful no one could hear my kids at bedtime, because they were yelling and wrestling and having a good 'ole time in the tent. The seclusion was nice at first, but I didn't really think about my frequent nighttime bathroom breaks (I swear, for me, add one for each trimester!). Since we had the whole state park to ourselves, we opted for a lakefront campsite...which was amazing...which also meant that the bathrooms were a short hike through the woods. And even though I tease my husband MERCILESSLY for watching shows about Sasquatch and the Loch Ness monster...running into such a thing at 2am in deserted state park woods suddenly seemed very likely. The kids were slightly obsessed with the sporks, thought they were the greatest invention EVER. They said the name 'spork' over and over, and were sorely disappointed when we disposed of them.

Until next time!