He is Risen!

hope you all had a very happy and very blessed Easter!

we did!

the dogwoods bloomed on Easter!

ringing the bell after church

we make homemade eggs every year and my favorite eggs this year...sharpie eggs and a galaxy egg!

the boys each have a "birthplace" egg...washington, dc, the beach for north carolina, and the alamo for san antonio!

and my favorite egg this year...we are excited to announce DeSa baby #4 is due this October!

lately...

honestly? this is mostly just a bunch of pictures of my boys outside playing in puddles in their undies :)

but we've had a good month and mama is starting to feel a bit better so we've been enjoying life a bit more!

enjoy our pictures!

mv was a biiiiiit tired after swim...

but isr is going so well! 

a beautiful day to pull your brother in the wagon

enjoying a day

building two new raised beds!

beautiful dirt from the banks of our pond

gabe mostly helped daddy on the tractor...but got to play in the dirt too!

can you see michael playing before the storm hit??

mike and i snuck a quick date night in!

complete with super spicy thai noodles!

Spring cleaning around the farm!
clipping chicken's wings

and tallying hens...

and cleaning out the fall garden...
michael was eating the raw tops of the seeded broccoli ;)

and harvesting the last of the winter kale

i think the house needs a spring cleaning too...
that's a perfect handprint in the dirty window ;)

girls' night out :)

discovering a beautiful luna moth!

the three amigos.
i think this was a bath-before-11am sort of day.
paint, glue, and mud.
all before 11am.

pond watching.

more beautiful dirt for my new flower beds!

in the midst of the EastTX monsoon of 2016, the thunderstorms relented for about 2 hours and i let the boys out to play in the puddles.

a hot bubble bath was in order after this.
and gabe was the worst!

"mommy, i need a stool."
"why?"
"well, my pants are stuck....in the fan."

swollen pond and creek

more playing in puddles...

while i am rolling out fresh biscuits...

to go with fresh pear and orange jam that our farm manager's wife made from our pear orchard in argentina!

love him.

fresh, Spring lettuce from the garden, radishes from the winter beds, tomatoes from the greenhouse, and fresh eggs from our chickens!
we just need to learn how to grow avocados and we'd be all set!

about a million homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast at church...

and almost 2 quarts of icing!

the return of Spring brings the return of jack's curls :) :)

brûléed cherry oatmeal

we love our oatmeal around here.
we add everything to oatmeal.
nuts, dried fruit, even eggs and scallions.
but it does get a bit tiresome at times.
so, let's brulee it!
i mean, what's better than a crunchy brown sugar topping with cream all over it?
maybe good quality michigan dried cherries or toasty almonds??
the cherries soak up the maple syrup and the almonds get toasted slightly from the broiler.
mmmm.
delicious and easy, its your protein, fiber, and nutrients to get your day going, all in one bowl!
enjoy!

Bruleed Cherry Oatmeal
serves 1.
1/2 cup old fashioned oats, cooked to your liking
healthy splash of pure maple syrup
handful of sliced almonds
handful of quality dried cherries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
splash of cream

Preheat your broiler or fire up your brulee torch.
Add the cooked oats to an oven proof bowl. Add maple syrup, almonds, and cherries and stir to combine. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top and even out with the back of your spoon.
Brulee under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or use the torch until dark golden brown and bubbly. Let cool slightly and pour cream on top. Enjoy!

homeschool wrap-up: February!

we had another great month in homeschool!

i've been feeling sick all month so we didn't get as much done as usual but we still had fun :)

letter practice for jack

a dinosaur unit! dino prints in play doh :)

dino "bones" art

lunch!

dinosaur paint stomping!

the presentation for cc that week was on facts about his favorite dinosaurs!

and we did dino valentine's cookies for our cc class to give out that day :)

we are almost to the end of our timeline cards in history!

addition help for mv

an interactive display of the types of ocean floor. kind of a fail but the boys had fun eating!

lots of valentines' activities!

heart candy sequencing too!

does air have weight?
our science experiment in cc that week...

a super cool geyser experiment in cc!

more cc science

relief making and art-ing in cc!

a study in magma...

how does gravity work?

and how does erosion work?

art class!

a study on Michelangelo!

and a celebratory breakfast for our wonderful cc director!

every day, after his nap, michael and daddy (or mommy) practice beginning readers with him.
or, on special days, mv gets to use mommy's iphone to type out beginner words :)

another great month!