Spring is creeping in here, but we got a load of snow on Tuesday just to remind us that it’s still winter. Today was overcast and windy (of course) but warm enough to wear slides to church. Rich was so bummed about the snow because he was looking forward to starting our little woodshed and that third side of our fence to enclose our yard. This has moved to the top of our to-do list as our neighbor kids still treat our yard like a boulevard and we find them playing on our grass or peering in our windows quite often since the weather has improved (sigh—we thought moving would change our neighbor situation, but alas).
Last Monday we had a nice back-to-the-grindstone day. I am only babysitting Maren on Tuesdays and Wednesdays now because her mom is telecommuting the rest of the week. So Niles and I did some cleaning up and played some games. We watched “Ephraim’s Rescue” for family night. We really liked it and we pondered how we can listen for Heavenly Father’s direction so we can always be ready to be his hands. It was a great message for Preparedness month.
Tuesday began a spring cleaning project of organizing the linen closet and the guest room closet. Those two areas have kind of served as catch-alls as we’ve unpacked, so I tackled the linen closet Tuesday. The bottom shelf is the kids’ craft stuff, so I went through and trashed all the dead markers and glue sticks and mostly-full coloring books. Taking a cue from Jess and Kelli, I threw out all the crayons I could find then replaced everything with WASHABLE version. The kids were so excited when they got home, they all painted pictures. We had a great Hawaiian dinner of Kahlua pork, veggies, and pani-popo for dessert.
Wednesday night Rich had scouts and Addie had Young Women. Addie’s class planned a Mormon Message-style ad that they are going to film next week. James, Niles, and Heidi stayed home with me and instead of watching Nature and Nova, we watched the first episode of Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. It was beautiful. We look forward to watching the series on Hulu.
Thursday was a busy day. Niles and I made a Hummingbird Cake with our brown bananas that morning (I’m including the recipe cuz it was great!). Heidi’s school had a literacy night at the same time as the middle school spring concerts. Addie sang in the sixth grade choir and they did some pretty complex arrangements. It’s cool to see how much they have learned and progressed over the school year—the fall concert was all in unison. We got another tour of Heidi’s class room and her art work then went to the gym for a book walk, pizza, and Dr. Seuss pictures. We came home and I bathed the boys while Rich went on a walk with the girls to the Beaver Pond. As much as I loathe daylight savings come summer, it sure is nice to have a little post-dinner sunshine in the spring.
Friday morning Niles and I went to play at Sacajawea Park where he chased ducks and played on the playground. It was still cold, but sunny and nice to be outside. We came home and painted a big picture for Grandpa and Grandma Melin. We had clean-out-the-fridge left over night, then all the kids watched the “Free Bird” movie and Rich got them ice cream (I took a nice hot soak during the movie, and no ice cream for me!). It was nice to have all the big kids home together and getting along so well.
Saturday we did our regular chores and Rich got the garage prepared for fence- and shed-building over the next few weeks. After lunch, Rich took the big kids to see “Peabody and Sherman” while Niles and I napped. Saturday night was a huge milestone as we left all four kids home with Addie while we went on a dinner date. We had an Olive Garden gift card from the Westenskows, so we went over to Bozeman and enjoyed a really delicious dinner. We were happy to come home to a clean, quiet house. Niles was asleep, so we watched “Catching Fire” with the big kids and hit the hay around 10pm. Hooray for built-in babysitters!
Church today was nice, continuing the Preparedness theme in sacrament. Rich and I substituted in James’ class and it actually went really well. I can’t believe how big those kids are getting! Seven of them will be baptized this year, starting with Curt Denniston last month and Madysen Gonzales who turned 8 yesterday (poor James is second-to-last in September). We’ve enjoyed a quiet day—Rich and Heidi are getting ready for the fourth grade ski trip at Big Sky tomorrow. It’s supposed to be warm, so I think it will be a good day for them. I am glad Rich can go with the kids—they make great memories.
We wish you all a great week and HAPPY ST. PADDY'S AND BIRTHDAYS this week to Uncle Mark and Lexi-Lou Melin!
Love, Rich, Jamie, and Family
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HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs- lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup oil
¾ cup applesauce [or delete applesauce and use 1.5 cups oil]
1 -8 ounce can crushed pineapple -do not drain
2 cups bananas, mashed or about 3 – 4 large bananas
1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
Instructions
Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Mix together with whisk.
Add eggs, vanilla extract, oil, pineapple, bananas and nuts and mix until all ingredients are moistened
Spray 3 (9 inch) round cake pans or one 9 x 13 inch pan.
Cook in preheated 350 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes until cake is done in center.
Cool then Frost with cream cheese frosting or any favorite frosting you may have
(I used coconut flavored buttercream and sprinkled toasted coconut on top).
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| Niles chasing ducks at the park on Friday |
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| Sliding at the park on Friday |
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| On Wednesday, Rich encountered a Montana Traffic Jam near Gardiner |
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| Niles tasting frosting on Thursday morning |
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