Three Year Old Photo Shoot

Here is a sample of the pictures I took of Ruby and Eliza Claire on their birthday. The rest of their pictures are below or can be found here larger.



So which picture was your favorite of each girl individually and together?

Don't you just love their dresses? Cici made them.

Well Check

Ruby and Eliza Claire had their well check. They were such great patients! They knew they might get shots but were completely OK with that idea.

Ruby weighed 32.5 lbs. (75th percentile) and was 38.5 inches (75th percentile). Eliza Claire was 35 lbs. (85th percentile) and was 39 inches (90th percentile).

Unfortunately while waiting for the doctor, Eliza Claire fell and busted her lip, again. Poor kid. She is so prone to re-injuring her poor lip. This made her sad enough that she did not enjoy getting to see her doctor. She loves going to see him and fakes illness anytime one of her siblings has to go see him in an attempt to see him herself. And she finally gets to see him and she is too sad to enjoy it.

They had to have a finger stick and a shot. Neither one cried. The most I heard was Eliza Claire say "ouchy!"

Who's that girl?

Here are the before pictures for comparison. These were taken after an up do and swimming.

Typical Ruby

Three Already!

Ruby and Eliza Claire are three! I can't believe it! No more babies, no more cribs, no more toddler beds, no more diapers (at least not during the day), no more pacis, no more sharing a room. I have two big girls!

Ruby is rambunctious, precocious, dramatic, and sweet, sweet, sweet! Her favorite color is pink. She can not walk, she runs, skips or jumps. She stutters because she gets so excited to tell you something she can't get it all out. She talks all the time. She is my Ruby Roo, my Roo Roo, but not my Bee. She is Daddy's girl.

Eliza Claire is stubborn, cautious, sweet and snuggly! Her favorite color is blue and she is constantly reminding everyone of this fact. She likes to fly under the radar and quietly get her way. She loves cars, and balls and watching how things interact. She is my Eliza Piza, my Eliza Claire Bear, my Eliza Piza Claire Bear, my Stinker, my Lie Lie.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, smart, wonderful girls!

Bread, Hair and Fashion

This is random at best but it's what I've got today.

I had a couple of requests for pictures of the Five Minute Bread. So here they are. The first batch I had issues getting the bread in the oven and ended up with flour in the bottom of the oven. The flour burned and smoked but the bread turned out great.

The first batch

The second batch I got in the oven with no problems, it spread a bit more and was flatter, I think it could have cooked an additional five minutes or so. Again it tastes great. The kids love it.

Don't you love the little hand trying to grab the hot bread?

I did a hairstyle today I've never done before and it turned out perfect. Eliza Claire asked for two ponies. Her hair is getting long enough that I think two ponies look kind of weird. She likes braids so I asked her if I could braid her ponies and she agreed. I think the result is cute on her. It was a simple and quick do this morning.



Ruby, apparently with the help of Charlotte picked out her clothes and got herself dressed this morning. Not what I would have put together, but it is summer and I'm having to pick my battles. I did fix her hair and make her put on real shoes before leaving the house. I'm assuming people who saw her today knew she dressed herself. Otherwise I might be a bit embarrassed.


I'm sure before having children when I saw a child dressed like this I made some comment about never letting my children out of the house like that. But you know what I'm glad I could provide another childless person with this particular future lesson.

Off to finish dinner, put away laundry, wrap presents and get ready for two special girls' birthday tomorrow.
Jenn

Making Bread

Yesterday I took the plunge into bread making. Even though I like to cook bread is something I've never had a desire to do. It just seemed too involved and like there were too many things that could go wrong.

I am using this basic recipe. You mix the four ingredients, let is rise and then refrigerate it until you want to make bread. My biggest complication so far has been finding the right size container to keep the dough in. Right now I am using my rubbermaid cake caddy, but today I purchased a cereal storage container that should be big enough and take up less room in the fridge.

I made my first loaf today. I used 1/4 of the dough I had. It took me only a couple of minutes to get the dough out, shape it, and get it ready to go in the oven. Then it had to rest. My only problem in baking was getting flour in the bottom of the oven when I transferred the bread to the baking stone. It burned and smoked and eventually I had to wipe it out mid cooking. The kids were very concerned that there would be a fire, but I assure you there was not!

We timed the bread baking so that the children could have a slice of warm bread for snack time. It was a big hit.

I'll be interested to see how the flavor changes as the dough ages. Today it was good but basic. The crust was very crunchy and the bread was very soft inside.

Happy baking!
Jenn

My Much Needed Break

Now that VBS is over I have vowed to work less for the next couple of weeks. And I have not actually done any work for the church today, but I sure have not taken it easy. Here is my day so far.

Get everybody dressed and hair fixed.

Make breakfast - eggs with cheese and fruit

School time - Rehm did reading comprehension, timed math drills and handwriting. Charlotte did shape recognition and handwriting.

Art time - stickers, markers, water colors, tape, scissors and construction paper for all

Cooking time - made Five Minute Bread dough. I do not have the book but would like to get it. I got the basic recipe from here. I had considered starting a sour dough starter this summer as part of our science time but found this and thought it seemed much more simple. Having four helpers and a new recipe about drove me insane. That and the fact that I could not find the yeast I had just bought in the last two weeks especially for this project. I did find one package of yeast, which was enough, but somehow never located the other package.

More cooking - made banana muffins from a Blue's Clues book recipe while the kids destroyed the front room (you know the formal living/dining room turned play room/holding tank). I'll have to write more about this recipe when I have more time.

Room organizing - we are still in the process of moving all of Rehm's things from his old room to his new room and settling Eliza Claire in her new room (Rehm's old one). This morning we moved the drawers out of the front room into the dresser in Rehm's room. Then we moved all the books from the front room into the book case in his room. The kids were cute. They used the Little Tykes shopping carts. Rehm loaded the books into the carts, they brought them to me in his room and unloaded them, then I organized the books and put them on the shelves.

Lunch - nothing special Ramon noodle soup, cheese, crakers and fruit.

More cooking - Baked brown rice. I made enough to have spanish rice out of some for dinner tonight (we have left over steak and fajitas), cheesy rice for Rehm (he requested it) and to make Baked Rice Salad with the rest. Side dishes are basically done for the week.

After lunch the three girls further destroyed the front room while Rehm washed dishes, without complaining, and I cleaned up the kitchen.

I have now gotten everyone in their room for quiet time, which ends any minute now for the the big kids and gotten load of laundry started. I have 3 more loads that need to be done and probably 2 or 3 that are done that need to be folded and put away.

Now it is time to get back to my week of taking it easy. Wonder what I will get done with the rest of the afternoon?

Oh joy, Charlotte is done with quiet time, Rehm is five minutes away, and the timer just went off to tell me the tea is done. My break is officially over.

So glad it is summer and we all get to take it easy! Ha!
Jenn

Little Fishes

Ruby loves the pool and loves to swim. She is really learning how to hold her breath and move in the water. She reminds me so much of Charlotte at this age. It won't be long before the floaty will be a thing of the past.


Eliza Claire is getting over some of her caution and starting to really enjoy the pool. She loves to jump off the step in the pool and go under. I think she loves it so much because she is completely in control and knows exactly what to expect that way.

Braids and Ponies

I did a variation of this hairstyle first on Ruby. I liked the idea but wanted something more symmetrical. I intended to do all three types of braids but on both sides of the head. However, I miscounted when I parted and put in the ponytails and did not have enough spaces for all three types of braids. Thus I skipped the fishbone braid. I forgot to snap pictures when I finished with her hair. You can still see the idea in these pictures from later in the day when we were swimming, though the twist braids are definitely starting to come out.


Later in the week I decided to do this style on Charlotte again with the intentions of doing all three types of braids but on both sides of her head. This time I got the parts and ponies right on the side I started with, but ran out of time due to it being VBS week. So I actually ended up doing exactly what was in the original post and just adding the unbraided side into the last ponytail for a side pony finish that I turned into a messy but. The asymmetrical style really suited Charlotte.




Can you tell Charlotte was not thrilled about having her picture taken in the garage while trying to get in the van to go to VBS? I was afraid if I waited to take the pictures after we got to VBS she would have ruined the style in the car so I snapped them while I could. The fishbone braid gets hidden behind the messy bun in the picture but it was definitely visible and distinct in real life.

I will definitely be using this technique again in the future.

Tired Girl

After VBS today we went to a friend's house for lunch and then went to the pool with them. Ruby and Eliza Claire both fell asleep about five minutes before we got home. Eliza Claire was not at all interested in waking up. Poor girl. What a very long, busy, day. Surprise, surprise she was asleep by 8pm.

Vacation Bible School - Crocodile Dock

We have had a blast at VBS this week. All of the kids have had interesting things to say about it.

Me: What did you talk about today in story time?

Ruby and Eliza Claire: A BIG fire and Jesus!

Me: Do you mean Moses?

Ruby: Yeah, him, too!

Rehm's comments are here.

Charlotte is a dancing, singing star. She is loving it. Her big experience she talked the most about was when the snake from the reptile demonstration went to the bathroom all over the place while the snake guy was holding it. Apparently snake stuff is extremely stinky!

Ruby and I had a funny conversation today at the pool about VBS but now I can't remember what it was. Hopefully it will come back to me.

Oh, and I overheard Ruby and Eliza Claire arguing over whether Pharoh was a "Mean King" or a "Nice King." Ruby says nice, Eliza says mean.

On the way to VBS this morning, Charlotte announced that she was going to tell the "Mayhem Mania News" and proceeded to give us a detailed weather and traffic report.

There is never a dull moment around here.

Passover

Yesterday's story at VBS was the Passover. I think our storytellers did a great job of telling the story in a very age appropriate manner. Last night at dinner, Rehm informed me that if we had been there for Passover, I would not have needed to paint my door as he was not the first born son. He was confident that it would not have been necessary and that he would have been perfectly safe. I, on the other hand, told him I though just to be on the safe side I would have been painting my door anyway.

It is amazing how his mind works and how often his brother, Sam, comes up in unexpected ways.

Always Sam's Mommy,
Jenn

Atempting a picture of all four

I decided it is impossible.

Did you notice Rehm's "Church" clothes. I am not sure what made him think this shirt and short combo was a good choice. Apparently I need to help him pick out his church clothes from now on.

Swimming

No pictures of Rehm, he was still in school. We were playing with our friends the Kildays and Weatherbys, who were already all out of school.

Yum!

The girls and I needed a little yummy goodness last week. Krispy Kreme for breakfast! It must truly be summer.

Fancy Dinner for Straight A's

Rehm made straight A's on his report card for the year! Barely! He got one B the whole year but his average for that subject was a 89.5. He just eked out that A by the skin of his teeth and thanks to rounding. We are so very proud of his hard work!

As a reward for such good grades the family went to dinner at Johnny Carino's - one of Rehm's favorites.

We decided to make it a "fancy" dinner - an idea we borrow occasionally from Fancy Nancy.