We’re almost to the end of the school year! Monday is a holiday (Memorial Day) and then then there’s just three days before summer vacation hits. Hurrah! Joseph had his drive-thru awards ceremony and also got to have a fun foam party with the rest of the third graders. A foam party is exactly what it sounds like. They had a foam machine that generated a ton of foam bubbles set up on the black top and the kiddos could run around and play in it to their hearts’ content. We’re having a low-key weekend, though. Joseph came home on Friday feeling a little warm and was a bit congested. He didn’t have a fever this morning, so we loaded up to go to the shoe store, but right as we were getting there, Abigail threw up. :/ We headed home, got her cleaned up (and her car seat and the car) and we’ve been cuddling since then. Tomorrow, I’ll stay home from church with the kiddos and Paul will go on his own. Always an adventure!
I actually put on lipstick for church last Sunday because we were told that if we were fully vaccinated, we could forgo wearing a mask. Hurray!This is what happens when Momma closes her eyes for a few minutes.I made my chicken and rice in the pressure cooker and it turned out so, so good!A homemade roll with homemade honey butter made the perfect side.I saw this guy walking around while I was watering. I zoomed in super, super close (he’s probably an inch long or so) to get a good picture. The Internet helped me figure out that it’s a wheel bug (also known as assassin bugs) nymph. I’ve seen wheel bugs before, but this guy was missing that characteristic “wheel” on its back (it kind of looks like half a cog sitting straight up on the bug’s back). I found out that when wheel bugs are in their nymph stage, they don’t have that wheel. It was so cool to watch him crawl along (I didn’t pick him up because they are known to give nasty puncture-type bites).Yeeeaaaahhhh…She offered me some lemonade.This is what she gave me. 😀 The spatula was supposed to be my straw. 😀Getting his award (Most Studious).With his teacher, Ms. Cummings. She has been an amazing teacher!The foam party.He had a blast!Foam muscles!This is where she’s been all afternoon. I hope she feels better soon!
This week just sped by! In fact, time seems to be speeding up. We’ve got two weeks of school left before summer vacation (yay!) and I’m just sitting here trying to figure out how we’re already almost into June. We didn’t do too much out of the ordinary, and thankfully it didn’t rain as much as was predicted (it was predicted that it would rain all day, every day, but it only rained once or twice).
It started pouring just as I pulled in to pick Joseph up from school. Luckily, by the time he actually got out, it had slowed to a sprinkle.Well, that’s one way to hang up your sweatshirt!We’ve had something coming and munching on our tomatoes as soon as they start to turn, so we put some wire around the pot. Hopefully now that’ll stop. I could tell it wasn’t bugs (though, I did just pick another tomato that I could tell was gone after by a bug, so we’ll need some food-safe bug treatment)Paul was at the park spreading mulch and stumbled across this huge stick bug. So cool!This morning was definitely a cuddle-puddle.They were like this for quite some time.
We had another good week. There was a little rain, but it was mostly dry, which was good, because we have rain in the forecast for the next ten days. It’s pretty typical for May. Paul was busy with work, I was busy with house stuff, students, etc., Joseph was busy with school (he had state testing this pas week), and Abigail was living up the pre-schooler life, haha. I did get to go to book club, which was fun, and today I took the kids to the zoo (Paul is at a Libertarian conference this weekend, but he’ll be back tomorrow before church) before the rain started in earnest. I also made some yummy food and treats, which is always fun. 🙂
Joseph’s Mother’s Day card. It starts out like this……and then opens up to show this. It’s a technique he learned in art at school. 🙂Abigail’s card (Joseph helped her).She was pretending to be a cow with a bell…except her bell was full of her plastic eggs from her play food. 😀Yummy meal #1: Parmesan chicken pasta. I made the whole thing in my pressure cooker! I cubed and browned the chicken and then added the noodles (uncooked), some water, and sauce. Once it was done, I mixed in Parmesan cheese, topped it with shredded mozzarella (then covered the pot to let it melt), and then sprinkled some toasted bread crumbs across the top. It was so good!I love the sky after it rains!Step one for yummy meal #2: homemade rolls……seasoned pork shoulder in the pressure cooker……shred it up……add some BBQ sauce……put it on the roll……add pickles……and cheese……and, ta-dah! BBQ pulled pork sandwiches! I went easy and served canned baked beans on the side.We’ve got a couple that are almost ready! In fact, I might go out and look at that bottom one a little more closely…I was out watering the bit of the lawn around the tree (the shade from the tree makes it a little harder for the grass there to grow). I looked up and was struck with just how much I love where we live (that, and I don’t have many pictures of the front of our house and thought it might be fun to throw one more in).Abigail and I both needed new shoes, so we decided to get matching ones. So fun!It is imperative that she take a picture at the butterfly wall.Can you spot the lion (it’s a girl lion)?Some type of African antelope (and Abigail). 😉Rhinos! Abigail was sticking her arm out, trying to feel the raindrops (it sprinkled on us a bit while we were there).The okapi was using its long tongue to get something off of the leaves (not sure if it was water droplets or bugs, but it was clear that it wasn’t eating the actual leaves).Checking out the hippos (and the fish).This is one of their favorite parts of the zoo (it may or may not have to do with the fact that it’s air conditioned). 😉There are cave walls that they like to climb.I got her to look at the camera!Yummy treat: I decided I wanted to make some donuts.It was fun to pipe the dough into the pan.Baking away!All done.Now to get them out of the pan (which was easy since I brushed the wells with oil and it’s a nonstick pan). I like my little tool that helps me get them out. Since it’s nylon, it won’t scratch the nonstick coating on the pan.Cooled and ready for icing!All iced. I’m so glad I have an offset spatula…that made spreading the icing way easier.Ta-dah!!
