Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Chicks in the House = Spring

It must be spring at our house when there are sounds of peeping coming from the kitchen. We ordered 3 French Cuckoo Maran chicks. These chickens lay "chocolate" eggs and will bring our flock to 13! Who knew I would take after my mom and love chickens?




Well since this is not a chicken blog, I would like everyone to know that I am finishing up my final exam for a Statistics (the other "s" word) class. This class was hard and generally sucked but I did learn how to use practically every function Excel has!

Chile plants and tomatoes go in the ground this weekend. I jumped the gun and planted too early and some of my plants froze. Should've consulted the Farmer's Almanac. My tulips are almost spent and the jonquils are coming into bloom now. Andres and I planted a cherry tree, a purple plum tree and two more blueberry bushes. Can you tell by now that I LOVE spring?

Buddy, our cocker spaniel, is getting surgery tomorrow for kidney stones. This is his 3rd and hopefully final surgery. I'll let you know how it goes. The boys are a little worried.

Love Marcie

At The Pool

Last night Ann took the boys to the pool while I worked on some statistics homework with a fellow teacher. This was quite brave (not doing stats--taking 2 boys to the pool!). While I tried to explain how this outing could wind up a disaster, Ann was insistent. So, on went the new trunks, the towels were packed and with a kiss and a wave they were off. . . . .
I WAS WRONG. The boys had a GREAT time and did not try to drown each other (or Ann) after all! Andres even swam with the boogie board across the pool by himself, while Cruz the daredevil jumped in several times. That's all they talked about last night and today. I am so proud of all three of them. Ann has guts or is atoning for something since she is planning another pool trip on Thursday for Andres and Cruz AND their cousins Mario and Matthew. . . . .

Here's a pic of the boys washing up after their pool outing:






Wednesday, April 23, 2008

They're Not Babies Anymore

Cruz age 3 1/2

Andres age 5

I can't believe how much they look like kids instead of toddlers!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Andres Soup

Andres has always been a great connoisseur of foods. Here is a quick, fresh soup I made with all his favorite things. He LOVED it! It took 30 minutes start to bowl.

Andres Soup

1 pkg tortellini (he likes the dried kind)
3 cans chicken or veggie broth
4+ cups FRESH spinach
1 jar roasted red bell peppers (chopped)
1/2 red onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
Parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini. Drain. Add everything to pot. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Enjoy.

Love Marcie

Sunday, April 13, 2008

A New Toy for Ann

What a weekend. We were busy and productive. Saturday we got out the grill and campfire grill ring. We had to fix the campfire ring, so after 3 trips to Lowe's, we finally had all the parts we needed to fix it. On Ann's 3rd trip to Lowe's she came back with a power washer. Now normally I don't get too excited about a new tool, and the thought of spending $250.00 on a tool to wash cars had me feeling slightly perturbed. However, in the next 2 hours Ann proceeded to strip peeling paint, clean the grill inside and out (no noxious oven spray needed), and yes, wash the cars, including her mom's. Not a bad 2 hours work. Sunday that power washer was humming all day. What sold me on it was when Ann began "peeling" vigas (log ceiling beams) with it. With 50+ vigas to peel, previously by hand, this machine was worth its weight in Ibuprofen! Ann's sister Geri picked up the boys for a play date at her house and Ann and I managed to clean out the chicken coop, plant lettuce, beets, onions and potatoes, drink a few beers, wash the pop-up trainer--including the upholstery and Ann even washed the flagstone patio! Overall an enjoyable weekend in which we got a lot accomplished. Good since I will not be doing much when Ann is out of town next weekend.

Love Marcie

PS Ann says it is a Briggs and Straton 3000 psi pressure washer not just a power washer!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Let Them Be Friends

YYesterday and today the boys were friends. I had to take Cruz to the doctor for an asthma follow-up and Andres wanted to go too b/c he has been having nightmares. So, at 9am I loaded them in the SUV and Cruz grabbed this fleece Thomas blanket. Andres, upon seeing the blanket, wanted one too. I steeled myself for the inevitable fight when to my surprise, Andres simply moved his booster seat right next to Cruz and said "Let's share Cruz". Wow!
I kept glancing in the rear view mirror on the way and seeing them cuddled up together just made my week. 15 minutes into the trip they began a conversation just between the two of them about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Andres, of course, said he wanted to be a superhero. "You can be my sidekick, Cruz" he said. "Nope" Cruz replied. "I want to be a flag worker." This perplexed me, but before I could ask a mom-like clarifying question Andres stated "A flag worker is a great idea Cruzer. All the flags will be fixed and beautiful."
To which Cruz answered, "Yup. And red, white, and blue and rainbows."
I wanted to pull over and hug them both. Instead I just smiled and crossed my fingers that more moments like this will be coming.

Why blogger?

I want to start this blog in order to record the daily life of our family, especially our boys Andres and Cruz. Andres is 5 now and Cruzer is 3 (almost 4). Although my time is limited and over scheduled, I think this is important and will hopefully be fun! After reading my cousin Amber's blog "cookinandsippin" I was inspired. Hope you enjoy it!

Love,
Marcie