Sunday Afternoon

by:  Landen Erickson

all photographs taken by Landen, age 4 1/2 ... just wish I had one of him holding onto my Canon, camera strap around his neck, asking his whole fam to "smile!"

Friday by 5's

5.  The number of times Layne tried to eat sand or saltwater, or some combination
     of the two at the beach today.  She is determined to figure out how to eat and enjoy.

10.  The average number of minutes the Ericksons were late for things this week.
       Things such as school, preschool, preschool graduation, swim practice, swim meet,
       school pick-up, etc.  It was a busy week!

15.  The number of items Landen has asked for for his birthday this week.  He only
       knows that his birthday is "after summer" and since summer has now begun,
       he expects it will be any day now.

20.   The number of rocks that Abbey collected to make her sandcastle.  That filled
         a BIG sand bucket.  That I had to gracefully lift and carry up the beach for her.  

25.  The number of extra sleep minutes!  In just 2 days of summer, my early riser
        Landen, has slept in until 7:30 both mornings...wahoo!

Five Favorite Photos!

Teacher's Gifts

We bake.  It's what we do around here.  And then we get some brown paper packages and string.  Well, almost.  Some ribbon, a cute container, and we have got gifts!  My poor visiting teaching gals might wish I could think of another process around here!  Think outside the box maybe.  A non-edible drop-off every now and then.  I am not sure that my creative juices extend that far outside of the kitchen.  We just bake.

We made a big batch of big, chocolate chip cookies.  We like them big, chunky, and crisp-on-the-outside-soft-in-the-middle.  Not every recipe yields such results.  We found a good one, and we have stuck to it!

And, we auditioned these Blueberry Crumb Bars, which were really great!  See Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. 

And then, we put together some super sweet gifts for the 2 teachers who made my kids' year super fantastic!

Dear Mrs. Zinc,

Thank you for making Landen's preschool mornings so fun!  

Sometimes I was really dragging him out of bed to get there.  

Not always with the happiest face.  

But, every time I picked him up, he was smiling and happy and proud of his 

little artwork, and excited about the bugs he got to see, and the plants he watched grow, and I know he enjoyed every minute of being at "his school."

Dear Mrs. Fotch,

Abbey can be one tough cookie...please eat these cookies and think of her!

We are so grateful to you for making her first grade year so amazing.  
She came home every day with story after story, and much praise for 
her favorite teacher in the whole wide world!  She learned tons and always 
wanted to do a good job to please you.  She knew she was special to
you and that made all the difference.  

Meatballs, Cakeballs, and Great Balls of Fire

The meatballs were delicious.

A crowd-pleaser at my dinner table.  Find the recipe here.
The Pioneer Woman has some great stuff going on over there.

The cakeballs were...

 a Layne pleaser!  and an Abbey, Landen, and the co-op kids pleaser!

I was not in love with these little puppies.

These never looked like a good idea to me.  Not even when everyone was making them.  Not even when everyone was having kitchen parties with their friends to make them.  Not even when they were the centerpiece at every kid's birthday party.
But yesterday, I up and decided to make the cakeballs.  The cuteness got to me.

At 10pm last night, I was rethinking my decision.  I had mudballs on my hands.  Not cakeballs.  I followed the recipe perfectly.  Straight from Bakerella.  9x13 baked chocolate cake + one cream cheese icing = mudballs.  I knew better.  My baking friends knew better.  Just a few hours earlier I sat at the beach with my family and friends and heard the disastrous results from letting the cuteness get to them.

Of course, these were meant to go in a birthday box for my friend K's birthday, the next day.  So, cakeballs out, macaroons right into the oven.  I almost tossed the mudball batter into the garbage, then I just couldn't stand to be defeated, so into the fridge it went.

This morning, with my friend K's birthday treat wrapped and delivered, and being stranded home with a few extra kids to watch, I dragged out the mudball bowl.  I am a determined lady in the kitchen...ha!  I rolled the mudballs.  Put them in the freezer.  Melted chocolate bark.  Melted white bark.  Dipped.  Sprinkled.  Done.  But, not before making a ginormous mess of my kitchen.  

I'm good with all of this aggravation if the end result is the best thing I have ever tasted.  I bit into the hard chocolate shell and tasted mudball.  Alright, not mud, if I even knew what mud tasted like!  More of a mushy, chocolatey, mush.

But Layne here, couldn't keep her hands off them.
Neither could my other kids.  Or the borrowed kids.

They are kind of cute, aren't they?

From my non-professional opinion, don't let the cuteness get to you.  Go dip a strawberry in chocolate.  Bake a cupcake.  Put cute frosting and sprinkles on top.  Then eat and enjoy.  And enjoy all the work you saved yourself.

Oh...the great balls of fire were avoided.  Miraculously.  The carpet cleaners arrived while I was browning meatballs on the stove.  I think the phone was ringing, the kids fighting, and the baby crying all at the same time.  Really.  Luckily, the cakeballs were finished or they would have really made it into the garbage this time.  I left the stove.  And the hot, greasy, meatball skillet on the stove.  My house is still standing.  Miraculous.  I told you.  

Friday by 5's

5.    The number of baths the little one here should have taken today.

10.  The number of minutes it takes to get my 1st grader from the breakfast table to the car to leave for

       school.  To hopefully make it there on time.  These last weeks of school, we are shooting for more      

       like just a minute or two late!

15.  The number of times a day Landos asks to watch cartoons.  I only give in a quarter of the time.

       Alright, maybe half the time.

20.  The number of injuries I sustained today (and every day) by tripping on toys, stepping on toys,

       being smacked in the face with toys, or bumping my head trying to put toys away.

 25.   The number of NO's uttered from my mouth a day...really, more like 25 million.  Aaahhh...Motherhood.     

My 5 (or 5 1/2) favorite shots from this week!

landos dreaming of watching cartoons

just asking for a bath...especially when she swings off into the dirt

swim practice...outdoor playtime for all of us

right before I start yelling, "Run! Run!  Run!  You are going to be late!"

 "I dare you to not let me watch cartoons today!!"

Going to the Tide Pools

1st Grade Field Trip...by Abbey Erickson as interviewed by Mom

How was your day at the Tide Pools?
Good.

That's it?
I went with Isabella's Dad. I slipped on a rock. Isabella's Dad said, "Are you o.k.?" 
And, I said yes.

What cool things did you get to see?
I kinda saw a cool thing. It was a dead seal.

Ooh.
It didn't have eyes. We saw it by the rocks. And then I saw another dead seal in the 
water with a dead bird on it's nose.

Gross. Did you see anything alive?
Yes. I saw a sea urchin moving in the tide pool.

That's cool. So, you walked around outside the tide pools and you went into the 
Ocean Institute.
Yes.

What did you do in there?

I got to watch a movie about if I was in the tide pool. It showed us around the 
tide pool. It was fun. I had a good time. I got to touch a starfish. My first time.
 \They showed us a big red sponge in the tide pool and that's how they made 
SpongeBob Squarepants. They made it yellow. There's Sandy. She is supposed 
to be a sea snail, but she's just a plain snail. And Patrick is a pink starfish. 
(So glad you got all the facts about SpongeBob Squarepants.  It seems so much
more educational now!)  The thing that was so scary was to see a lobster with it's 
sharp things and it tries to get you.

Where did you eat lunch?
I ate lunch at the tables. You go up the hills and then you go to the tables, almost 
by the Ocean Institute.

Did you like the way I wrote your name all fancy on your lunch bag?
What? Oh, yeah.

(That was a big success :) How about the special candy treats in your bag?
I didn't get to eat them.

(Lesson learned for Mom.)

Anything else exciting you would like to tell about?
I got to touch a bug thing and it's baby and the mommy was by it. I letted 
Isabella hold it. And then we put it down and the baby was going wild without 
it's mommy. (Sounds like the babies at my house!)

How did your hat and rolled-up pants work out?

My shoes got a little wet. I wore my hat. It helped.

Was it o.k. that we forgot to put sunscreen on?
Yes.

Oh good.  Thanks for the interview.
Now, go get on your new swim-team swimsuit (that fits perfect no thanks 
to my hancicapped-parking-space-police-woman friend).
Ah.  Ah.  Aaaahh.  I had a hard day.  Mrs. Fotch said we would be very 
tired today. And...


You are just taking a picture.  No swim practice.
Oh yeah!  O.k.!

Please Note:  Abbey edited my typing as she was talking to ensure accurate
representation of her words. She is quite the stickler about some things.  Like
the information sheet that went home about her field trip....that suggested the
kids wear comfortable clothing, bring a hat, wear sunscreen, and wear tennis
shoes that are o.k. to get wet.  So glad we followed instructions to a "T."  Super
glad the sunscreen foul-up didn't have any lasting effects!

Confessions of a Traveling Husband's Wife

Up until a week ago, I really didn't think anything of my husband traveling. Then, in my circle of friends, and friends of friends, a few stories have surfaced about cheating husbands. Wow! My husband travels. Enough said. So, I looked at R and asked if he realized how scared he should be if he ever even considered such behavior...really scared. I gave him a few examples of what might come from the wrath of his wife. Enough said. I'm now back to not really thinking anything of my husband traveling.

There are some benefits to having a husband away. I have not watched the history channel, once. I have complete control to watch as many "Housewives" as I can fit into an evening. I clean up my bedroom, and it remains clean. I don't hear any comments about the laundry...whether they be spoken directly to me or uttered under breath. As long as my kids can find a pair of undies with their favorite character on them, everybody's happy. I can go lighter on the cooking. I do cook for my 3 kiddies, but I create a kid-friendly menu...the path to the least resistance. So, it's less cooking, and as an added benefit, less whining. I shop. It's silly really, because the money all comes from the same place, but I somehow don't feel quite as accountable when R can't visibly see the shopping bags come and go. I don't go crazy, because I don't want anyone else to go crazy when they should return. But, I have a little fun. And, when cooking kid-friendly food is not that appetizing, and you have to pick up your daughter from swim team at 5pm and be out the door for Enrichment at 6pm, I might do a little drive-thru dinner. It's only fair. And besides, El Pollo Loco is no comparison to Morton's Steak House. Dear R, go ahead and text me to help you decide which $50 steak you should order. And which delicious dessert will best finish off your delicious meal. But just know that we are headed on over to El Pollo Loco to place our order. And, we might even order a Foster's Freeze chocolate coated cone. A cone for everyone. So there!

1st Grade Open House

Just a couple of shots from our tour through Abbey's classroom.  She was a great tour guide.  She has loved 1st grade.  Loved Mrs. Fotch.  Loved her class.  I'm a little sad to see her leave such a great year!

Abbey with the class tour checklist!  We saw it all and she checked off each item!

She says she wants to be a policewoman when she grows up, but look at the little teacher here! 

Just visiting!

Bye Bye Playgroup Buddies

Landen and I love hosting playgroup.  And, we do a smash-up job too...if I do say so myself!  For the last day at our house, we chose an all-American summer theme...baseball.  I will give R the credit on this one.  Our scheduled shape theme was the diamond...and I didn't have one fun idea in my head!  R said the baseball diamond, and we ran with it.  The kids colored baseball fields, counted numbered mitts, had popcorn for a snack, and ate hot dogs for lunch.  We threw in a trip to the park, and the day was a hit!  A homerun!

Here are the boys at the park.  We will miss ya coming around, every 7th Thursday!

It's beginning to look a lot like summer

The summer laundering has begun!