These Boys Have Talent!

Our church has a family talent show each spring, and this year, Mason juggled and Morgan rode his unicycle.  ...wonder what Maddox will do in the coming years?  :)

New Shirts!

My dear friend, Audrey, in Scotland sends the boys shirts for birthdays, holidays... and just because she loves them so much.  Well, I know that most boys may not be too excited about getting clothes as gifts, but make no mistake... MY boys LOVE to get shirts from Auntie Audrey!  Here was the latest design:

Thanks, Audrey!!  xoxo

Michael's New Toy

Michael's been wanting one for a long, long time... and now he finally has one:

He found a deal on Craigslist and one thing's for sure... I'm glad we didn't have to move that thing!

Notice Maddox supervising?  Surprisingly enough, he loves to get in the hot tub... and we thought he'd hate it since he always complains that his bath water is too hot.

It has become a new family activity that we all enjoy!

Easter 2012

For Easter this year, we drove up to Estes Park to spend the day with Michael's cousins, Nancy & Tommy.  It has been a long time (too long) since we've seen them, so we thoroughly enjoyed spending the beautiful weather - and yummy food - together!

Nancy and Tommy hid a few eggs for the boys... but it was quite a bit harder than the boys expected!  It took them nearly an hour to find 5 eggs!

Of course, we took some time on Saturday afternoon to dye Easter eggs...

...and then the Easter bunny paid us a visit!

 It was a lovely Easter... hope yours was too!

Help Name Him!

Here's another picture of my new little guy... he was sitting here so sweetly this morning when I woke up.  His tail is all curled up, but you can't see it in the photo.

In any case, I'm still working on a name for him... I have some possibilities - thought I'd take a vote.  Leave a comment and tell me your top three:

Murdock

Clyde

Rupert

Sydney (Syd)

Gonzo

Quinn

Benson (Benny)

Miko

...or suggest your own favorite!

I'd love to hear your votes!!  This little guy needs a name!

Michele's New Baby!

Michele has a new baby in the house... a Panther Chameleon!  He's only about two months old, very tiny, and doesn't have his spectacular colors yet, but I wanted to document his arrival.  Click on the photos to see him up close.

I do not have a name picked out for him yet - have any ideas?

A Day at Soda Lake

This day was actually March 25th - don't know how I overlooked posting it... but we had a lovely family day down the hill at Soda Lake.  The boys took turns on the kayak...

 ...Morgan skipped a bunch of rocks.

Where was I, you ask?  Well, I set up a camp chair, had a good book handy, and just observed the goings-on.  Here's a self-picture to prove that I was as happy as a lark just watching!

Then the boys finished off the afternoon with a little ride...

 ...Force style.  :)

Ahhhhh, happy days.

Mango Sheds

What an amazing show we were treated to this past week!  Mango, one of our crested geckos, successfully shed his skin and we were able to watch!  I've NEVER seen photos like these in any of the gecko books we've looked at!


We learned why we've never seen shed skin in the cage - they EAT it!

Here he is tugging at the skin while he pulls his back legs out.

SO COOL!

Tree Casualties

Most of you have heard about (and probably even seen on TV) the horrible wildfire that has been raging here in our neck of the woods.  Fortunately, we were unaffected by it, but we did go through an evacuation drill with the boys so they could be familiar with the items we need to gather in the event of a true evacuation.  It was a necessary exercise, and we feel better having done it.

Although we were not affected by the fire, we WERE affected by the wind that caused the fire to grow so quickly.  That same wind took down FIVE of our trees last week.  We've lost trees before, but never five in one day.

If you click on the photos to enlarge them, you can see what happens... the wind simply uproots them.  They literally sway and sway until they just fall over.  The root structures of these tall pines are not deep enough to hold them in the ground.

This will keep my brood of lumberjacks busy for a few weeks.  I guess you could say we're set for firewood for next winter.

Homemade Apple Pie

Tonight was Morgan's choice for dessert and he chose Apple Pie with homemade crust... Yum!  Click on the photo to see it bigger... can't you just smell it?!  I hate to admit this, but my family of five can finish off this entire pie in one night.  Funny thing is, if my daddy were here, I think I'd have to make TWO pies!

Apple Pie
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I grind mine fresh!)

Combine the above and set aside.

7 cups thinly sliced peeled apples
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Double Pie Crust (homemade recipe below)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 egg white - beat until foamy
1 Tbsp. sugar

Toss the apples with lemon juice.  Add the sugar mixture and toss to coat and pour into the bottom crust.  Dot with butter, place second crust on top, and poke holes to vent.  Brush the top with the foamy egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.  Increase temperature to 400 and bake 10-15 minutes more until golden.

Double Pie Crust
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 sticks cold butter (cringe now, but you'll get over it when you taste the end result!)
6 Tbsp ice water


Whisk the flour, salt, and sugar together in a bowl.  With a pastry blender, cut in the cold butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Drizzle 4-6 Tbsp ice water over the flour.  Mix with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.  I use my hands toward the end to incorporate all the flour and knead it into a large ball.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough ball in half and roll the two smaller balls out to form your bottom and top crust.  Below is my technique for rolling out pie crust - it's easy, not messy, and makes a wonderfully thin crust that is very manageable:

Lay out a piece of wax paper on a counter or bread board.  Place the chilled dough-ball in the center and smash lightly with the palm of your hand.  Place another piece of wax paper on top and then begin to roll the dough with a roller.  After a couple of rolls, peel the top paper off, lay it down again, flip it all over, peel the bottom paper off, and lay it back on the dough again.  Then roll a couple more times.  Continue doing this until the crust is thin and large enough to cover your pie plate.  When it's ready, simply remove the top paper, and use the bottom paper to transfer your perfect crust to your pie plate, flip it over onto the plate, and peel off the paper.  Voila!