Three Hours in the Kitchen

(And Joel spent an hour cleaning up). 

Black bean & quinoa burgers:

Roasted strawberry barbecue sauce:

Berry and spinach salad:

Berry vinaigrette:

Flag Football Week 2

I couldn't go to Ben's football game yesterday because of the sick girls, and also he had to be there at 8am for team pictures and it was 37 degrees out so I was quite happy to give Joel that honor. The game was against Steve Smith's team. It is his son's first year playing in the under 12 league, and Ben's second year playing in the under 12 league, so they didn't play against each other last year, but the year before that they did , and the year before that Ben was on Steve Smith's team. The first half was difficult due to the cold but after Ben got warmed up properly the game turned into the "Ben and James show" according to Joel, with Ben playing QB and James wide receiver. Ben threw four or five touchdown passes and James was catching balls all over the place. After the game (Ben's team won) Ben says Steve Smith came up to him and James and said to Ben "Nice to see you again. You got taller. Nice throwing." And to James, "I need to know where you got those gloves, boy." (Referring to James's wide receiver gloves).

Here is one of Ben and James's touchdowns, caught on video by James's dad. (Afterward he doesn't get the two point conversion).

Under the Weather

Becca came home from school yesterday and vomited impressively (only once but it was truly epic) so has spent the past 24 hours laying low. We finally decided she was well enough that we could all venture out for dinner together, and after we had driven about a mile Caroline started wailing "Something just came out of my mouth!!" I turned around to see her covered in vomit. Joel turned the car around and drove back home ;)

Caroline and the upchuck bowl:

My New Coffee Mug

Yeah, I'm that dorky.

Snuggle Time

High Tea

All dressed up for her first traditional South African high tea party ... With a little French braid help from Aunt Abby. 

Sangrias!

It's been a long week without Joel! Thankfully he comes home tomorrow evening. Abby and Mike brought a pitcher of sangria over this afternoon to help make the time go by quicker :)

Are You Ready for Some (Flag) Football?

Ben is! He threw 5 touch down passes in today's game and ran an interception in for a touchdown of his own. Final score was something like 56 to 12. Here he is running the interception in. I only got to see a few minutes of the game since I had to take the girls to dance class but in the short time I got to watch he scored this touchdown , threw another touchdown pass and threw a really long pass that would have been a touchdown except the kid's pants fell down or something after he caught it ;) great first game Ben!

Gluten Free Everything

You can find pretty much anything gluten free these days. Caroline's going to be in for a treat this Passover ;)

In Full Bloom

The trees at the JCC...

Spring Portrait Proofs

Look at this (somewhat disheveled) cutie pie!

Mid-Week Update

1. Joel is heading to his annual Vegas trip (Okay he hasn't actually gone on it since Caroline was born... tri-annual?) where we hope he will have lots of fun! And win some money? Probably too much to ask for. I am not looking forward to figuring out how to get the girls to dance , Ben to flag football, and do the grocery shopping (with three kids along??) this weekend (Joel does all the grocery shopping normally). He will be back Sunday night.

2. Last night was "Middle School 101" at South Charlotte Middle School (hereafter SCMS) Ben's soon-to-be middle school. I got to visit the school for the first time, take a tour, and learn a little bit about registration. There are elective options as well as a single-gender option, so there's a registration card that Ben will receive in April for registering for classes. There's another information session entirely about registration in April as well. It already seems a bit intimidating :) The school is nice and a lot bigger than I am used to :) Fortunately each grade level has its own hall, except for electives, so he'll be mostly mingling with other 6th graders during the day and confined to one section of the school. And, he'd better figure out how to use a combination lock because there are lockers :) SCMS is a pilot school for a 1:1 technology program , so every student gets assigned a Chromebook at the beginning of the school year that is theirs for the year. They check it out in homeroom and carry it with them to all their classes in their backpacks, and then return it to homeroom before they go home for the day. Ben carrying a laptop around with him all day makes me a LITTLE NERVOUS (do I have to buy it if he breaks it?) Loads more about the transition to middle school in future blog posts I am sure!

Pajama Day

Maybe slightly underdressed for the forecast high of 63 today but she wanted to wear her summer pjs :) and yes those are chocolate chips on that toast. That's just how we roll. 

S'mores with Cousins

Signs of Spring

Zipping Prodigy

I have a three year old zipping prodigy on my hands. Seems like I was zipping jackets for the older two kids until, I don't know, last week maybe... :)

Clara goes for a swim

With the warmer weather and a retractable leash, Clara has discovered the joys of going for a quick dip on our walks :) She did this at least five times yesterday.

SPRING!!

I think spring has sprung! What a beautiful day it was today-- 72 and sunny! 

Caroline no longer needs me to push her on the swings:

And a yummy quinoa fruit salad that has spring written all over it:

Saturday Morning Breakfast

I tried something a little different this morning -- raspberry chocolate chip muffins made with almond flour, honey and coconut oil (in place of regular flour, sugar and butter). In addition to being healthier (I think?) the texture and flavor of the almond flour was very good. Caroline and Ben enjoyed them; My picky eater Rebecca not so much ;)

Purim Princess!

Purim!

Becca shows off the grogger she made in religious school this week, and Caroline enjoys some gluten free hamantaschen -- happy Purim!

Rockin' It In the Dentist's Chair

Caroline had her second visit -- but first real cleaning -- at the dentist today and it was not at all reminiscent of the scream fests I used to enjoy with Rebecca. In fact she was very agreeable though a little shy and nervous, but didn't make a peep of protest during any part of the exam or cleaning. Way to go Caroline!!