Spring Break Day 3-The National Zoo

Today we went to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park or we just like to call it the National Zoo.

We saw animals that you can't see just anywhere.

Sea lions, (or were they seals? I forget.)

pygmy hippos,

pandas,

cows,

(What? You don't believe they have cows at the zoo? They do, it's true and you can't see them just anywhere. I know for a fact that if I look out my front window, I will not see a cow. So we make sure to see them when we go to the zoo.)

and my favorite, cuttlefish.

I used to be an intern an the invertebrate exhibit where the cuttlefish lives. That was right after I graduated from high school. About a million years ago. Have you ever fed a cuttlefish? I have. It's fun. I've even fed baby cuttlefish. That's even more fun than feeding big cuttlefish. I've also fed an octopus, brittle stars, sea anemones, and lobsters. You know what we fed all those things? Shrimp. Like the kind you buy in the store. No kidding. Well actually we fed the baby cuttlefish glass shrimp (otherwise know as ghost shrimp) and they were so fun to watch, grabbing the shrimp that was as big as they were, shooting ink all over the place. I guess you had to be there.

Moving on.

In addition to looking at animals, we also climbed on top of statues that look like animals.

We ate lunch.

More climbing.

Watching.

We took lots of pictures.

Kate was upset because everyone had a camera except her. I lent her mine and here are some pictures of the animals she enjoyed (starting from the top left corner, going clockwise) zebras, cheetahs, tigers and the pandas. Kate has quite the view from her stroller doesn't she?

This was the last picture of a busy day. The zoo was crowded, but not horribly so. Minimal whining and fighting over who could climb on which statue first. Even Kate did a super job considering she couldn't really see much. On the agenda for tomorrow? Lunch with Dad!

Spring Break Day 2-Monsters vs. Aliens

We went to the movies today. We saw Monsters vs. Aliens. It was cute. The kids liked it, even Claire and she scares easily at the theater. Kate was a handful as most of my children were at this age. That's why we rarely go to the movies, that and it costs so much. We usually just go to the free summer movies or check them out from the library.

This is how I feel after two days of spring break. Tomorrow we go to the zoo!

Spring Break Day 1-Cupcake Bites

It's Spring Break in the Palmer House and that can only mean one thing. Five children at home with nothing to do! I, their crazy mom, had this great idea that we would make cupcake bites like Bakerella. It looked so easy. Even Pioneer Woman made them with her daughters, so of course I could do it with my children. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Okay, stop laughing. It wasn't that bad. Let's take a look shall we?
First we made the cake and crumpled it up into a bowl and added the frosting. We used a white cake mix and vanilla frosting because that's what the kids wanted to use. Besides I had those on hand which I bought with double coupons. They were cheap!

Ben doesn't look to sure about this. He never was one to play with play dough. Come on Ben, it's not that bad!

Much better!

The girls have always liked to play with play dough, so they dug right in.

Here they are ready to go into the freezer. The next part is to form the bottoms. I wanted to take the easy road and use candy molds for the bottoms, but Michael's was out of the candy molds I needed. The cashier said they were unloading the truck right now and I could come check next week. Yeah right. So I bought some tiny cookie cutters that looked like flowers and formed the bottoms myself. It was tricky work and even then they looked terrible.

Then came the dipping part. Everyone had fun with that part. Well Kate didn't because she was taking a nap for part of it and Claire would just throw the whole cupcake bite into the bowl. She's a bit of a wild child.

Here they are with the bottoms coated. We dipped the tops after they hardened a bit.

Then we added an M&M and some sprinkles.

Here's the first one we finished. Not Bakerella, but not so bad.

Here's a few more.

Here's Kate. She woke up from her nap about halfway through the process. She helped us by eating M&M's and watching the Wiggles. She wants to know when the cupcake bites will be ready.
Here's the older four hard at work. The kids really enjoyed the bites, but to be honest I think you could cover a dirt ball in chocolate and they would eat it and think it tasted good. Trent and I thought they were just okay.

I would like to make the easier version with the candy molds and use red velvet cake mix with cream cheese frosting like Bakerella does to see if I like that flavor better.


Here's Claire explaining how to make the cupcake bites. If you need more info, go visit Bakerella. She's the queen of the cupcake bite. If anything, just go to see how many wonderful ideas she has come up with.

Girl Scout Camping

Last weekend Macy's brownie troop went camping for the very first time. Okay, not real camping, just sleeping in a large cabin on a Girl Scout camping facility, but for all intents and purposes, camping. I thought Macy could go without me like she's done on every single brownie outing since I had Kate, but this one required parent participation. Since I am still nursing Kate, an overnight was out of the question.

Macy was the only girl who wasn't going to be able to go, so they bent the rules a bit and let us come for crafts and dinner. Woo Hoo! They did this because Macy is a sweet and wonderful girl. Everyone likes her-kids and grown ups. I even like her. She's very popular in an unassuming way. If she had been born in a hospital, I would swear they switched babies on us.

When we arrived the girls had already been there since early morning. Everyone stopped what they were doing and shouted "Macy!" just like they used to say "Norm!" on Cheers.

Macy's first craft was to make a candle nestled in some plaster of paris with some sea shells.

They turned out very cute. We love ours. The kids fight over who gets to blow out the candle after dinner.

The next craft was to paint a bird house. Since they didn't think Macy was coming, we had to buy ours and bring it with us. They just said to pick up one that cost five dollars. There were a million bird houses that cost five dollars, so I just had Macy pick one. Of course hers is the Taj Mahal of bird houses. Everyone else's looked like this:
You would think everyone would be saying, "Why does Macy have that kind of birdhouse and I don't?" Or maybe you would think that Macy was concerned that hers didn't look like everyone else's? Nope. Everyone admired hers and Macy could have cared less if hers was different. Again, I am amazed that she is my child.
Finally she finished up with the traditional peanut butter on a pine cone and rolled in bird seed bird feeder. Fortunately for the troop, no one is allergic to peanuts.
Between craft stations the girls colored bandannas. Bandannas are a big deal in Girl Scouting when camping. They are great for all sorts of things. I didn't know about the wonder of the bandanna until I became a girl scout leader myself. Now we never go camping without several of them.
Macy's favorite thing to do with her bandanna is to wear it on her head. Her new leader is putting it on her. Her new leader is great. Everyone loves her and she does the neatest things with the girls. Her leader last year never did anything fun. The leader's excuse was that she was sick and pregnant and then she had this new baby. She was so lame. Oh yeah, that was me. Moving on . . .
Finally, after making dinner, almost burning down the cabin with an electrical fire and eating, the girls washed the dishes. Macy and I soon left to go home. It was so much fun, that we wished we could have stayed to spend the night. Maybe next year. It's a good thing we came home though because Kate decide to start throwing up at 4:00 in the morning. Now that would have been a shame to miss.

This is one cheesy ride

Behold the Cheesemobile.

This is Ben's entry for this year's Pinewood Derby. The Derby is tomorrow. Let us not forget that Ben can also enter this in the fair. I definitely think it is fairworthy.

Ben came up with the idea himself and did most of the work, although we had a neighbor cut the wedge with his electric saw and I helped hold the car while Ben drilled his cheese holes. I also helped with the wheels. He put them on, but I directed and held the car in place. It can be tricky! We glued the axels in place this time because last year one of his wheels fell off during a race and he never won a race after that happened.

We waited too late to get enough weights and when we went to get more last night, there was none to be found. We had some left over from last year, but needed to add a whole ounce to the car! We used magnets, but some are not fully attached and they need to be for his car to qualify, so I'm going glue them on tonight.This is a picture from Richard Scarry's book "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go". It was Ben's favorite book when he was little. He insists he didn't get the idea from the book, but I can't help but think this picture has been sitting in his subconscious all this time.

Edited to add: Ben didn't win anything at his pinewood derby, but he had a good time. The cheesemobile awaits it's summer entry in the fair, where I'm sure the judges will be impressed and amazed.

WANTED: Various Household Items

If you are like me (I know, a scary thought, but stay with me) then you belong to your local Freecycle Yahoo Group. Everyday many e-mails arrive in our inbox with the titles of OFFER or WANTED. The WANTED are my favorites. I like them because they are often an easy way for me to give something away without actually having to post on Freecycle myself. I have given away carseats, clothing, lawnmower and even a computer after reading the WANTED postings on freecycle.

A week or so ago, a WANTED e-mail arrived in my inbox that totally redefined the term "household items" for me. The e-mail is printed below, exactly as it was sent to Freecycle.

WANTED: Various Household Items

I recently have moved into my first apartment and I am in desperate need of the following household items;

a 19" or bigger color televison,

working dvd and vhs players,

a microwave,

dining room set,

wooden hangers,

and pushing it but hopefully will be possible to have a working (could even be outdated) laptop that could be used for school and work.

Any of these items would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately I was unable to help this person, but hopefully she was able to get some of those deperately needed "household items". Makes me wonder how I ever survived in my first apartment, since I thought all I needed was some sheets, towels and pots and pans! :)

Snow Day!

A snow day! Not an "Innauguration" snow day. Not a "we got an inch of snow and we were supposed to get more" snow day. Not an "1/2" of ice all over the place" snow day. A real snow day with real snow. We had to wait until March, but who cares. Lots of snow! Woo Hoo!

Of course the temperature is 24 degrees but the wind chill makes it feel much, much colder.

Claire, how about you shovel off the deck?
Doing a great job!
You missed a little bit over there.
What do you mean you're tired of shoveling?
Eleanor isn't feeling too well, so she's just relaxing in the snow.
Kate's just happy she's inside where it's warm.
Ben wants to know if 8:30am is too early for a cup of hot chocolate.