Talking Points

If you can't get a word in edgewise .... try Nathan's approach!

Josiah had been talking to me in the car for a few minutes when Nathan demanded, "Be quiet! I'm talkin' to Mommy." He then proceeds to parrot something that Josiah had just said as if it were his own.

No, it wasn't polite but it was effective... and it made me laugh.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with the story. I just like it.

The Grudge

My brother invited us to join him on his boat. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon! We got our swimsuits, our sunscreen, our snacks, and our drinks then we met Matt and the kids and followed him to the boat launching place.

John helped Matt get the boat into the water.

The kids and I waited in the grass until loading time.

We saw a lot of boats.

Then Matt and John told us that the boat wouldn't start and they took it back out of the water!

That boat has a grudge against me! This was the second time I had planned to go on that boat. The first time was thwarted by a blown out trailer tire. This time it was the boat itself plotting the demise of my plans.

Well, I'm not one to let someone or something's grudge effect me negatively! We just did what we did after the first thwarting; we went to the beach. Again.

And we played in the sand...

With our makeshift bucket which was originally a container for animal crackers.

We did some building, some burying, and some swimming.

We even played a little Frisbee. It's a good thing my car is kid friendly. The trunk provided the the Frisbee, shovel, rake, "bucket", and ruler. Yes, that's right, a ruler for, you know, smoothing the sand. Hey, I had to have three sand tools for my three boys.

Unlike the other sandlubbers, Josiah and I went in the water. I showed him all the different swimming techniques that I know how to do. Though not impressive to most any swimmer, my techniques and abilities were superb to Josiah who is just getting interested in learning to swim. Superb.

It was a fabulous day of family fun! The only concern I have is that my boys may start to believe that "going on the boat" actually means "going to the beach."

I'll get you next time, Boat.

Play Ball!

We went to the Seawolves' last home game of the season.

We got there early enough to enjoy hot dogs, chips, and drinks before the game began.

Grandpa and Grandma met us at the game.

Mmm... chips.

The crowd was big since it was the last home game AND buck night!
Hot dogs, popcorn, pop, and beer were only a buck.

The game was fun. The Seawolves' first two points were home runs.

Oh yeah, this is niiiice.

I find it humorous when John talks to the players as if they can hear him. I also enjoyed the contests and entertainment between innings. The dancing grounds crew was hilarious!

I asked Holly to take a picture for me. Tah dah! Here's Noah and me hanging out while Josiah, Nathan, and John were getting ready to storm the field. That gentleman beside me had a beer that Noah was convinced was lemonade for the taking. I had to do a lot of blocking during the game. Noah was not impressed with my blocking skills; he found the blocks annoying.

Here it is! The Kid Stampede! Oh the joy of running across the baseball field! Can you see Josiah and Nathan? Neither could I.

Since it was a school night, we left before the game was over but I checked back with Mike and he let me know that the Seawolves won 4-3. Hurray!

Thanks for the tickets, Dad. We had a great time.

It's Football Season!

Go Steelers!

Chocolate Mug Cake

My friend, Kathy, shared a recipe with me. It's called "5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake". I have now tried this recipe two times. The first time I did it was with four little boys at my house. Each of them took a turn measuring the ingredients or counting out the spoonfuls depending on their skill level. They added ingredients then stirred, then they added more ingredients then stirred, and then added the remaining ingredients then stirred. By this point, I realized that their perception of "all mixed up" and mine were really two different things so I did the final stirring.

Cooking it themselves was great fun. They would delightfully watch it "bake" in the microwave because the cake will rise at least 50% out of the mug.

When we removed it from the microwave, the cake would settle and the eating could begin. The cake is so rich that I gave them all a scoop of ice cream on top. If fact it is so rich that one mug would be enough for two people but then not everyone would be able to make their own cake. When I asked Isaac if he liked making the cake his response was, "That was awesome!"

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
Ingredients:
4 Tbs. flour
4 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbs. milk
3 Tbs. oil
1 small splash of vanilla extract
3 Tbs. chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add chocolate chips and vanilla extract and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool a little and tip onto a plate if desired.

Both times I did this I didn't bother to find out the wattage of my microwave and do the math to make sure it cooked at 1000 watts.

I'm perfectly capable of doing the math; I just didn't.

Some day I will and I highly recommend it if you don't mind moving the microwave and looking for the wattage sticker or plate and dividing the amount to determine at what power level you need to set your cook time and then replacing the microwave after cleaning the dust bunnies you now must deal with and reorganizing all that may be on and around your microwave.

Okay. Good.

Because I'm just saying that if you do not know your microwave's wattage already, this is NOT going to be a 5 minute chocolate mug cake; it will be closer to a 30 minute chocolate mug cake and then you may as well have baked a 9x11 cake and then your diet is shot.

Also, it's really hard not to call it a mud cake. Maybe it's just me.

But really, Enjoy!

A Hiking We Did Go

With a short time remaining until the beginning of school for Josiah, we endeavored to make some fun, adventurous memories. Wintergreen Gorge is beautiful and just the right amount of adventure and challenge for our young hikers. My brothers and their children joined us for the hike. Almost as soon as we walked in the woods Nathan exclaims, "OH MY COW!" Have I mentioned that Nathan cracks me up? This delightful merging of "Holy Cow" and "Oh my goodness" has become my new favorite phrase of astonishment.

Let the climbing begin!

Micah and Eli

Isaac, Katherine, Josiah, and Uncle Matt

The kids noticed a memorial along the path and I heard some whispering a few steps up the trail about a dead body being in here. We had to let them know that a memorial is in memory of someone who died but it is not a grave marker. No dead bodies here. (At least not right there.)

I love this hill but it's really difficult to climb with a camera in hand.

As Nathan was walking through the middle of the mud he told me, "Be careful. Watch out for the mud. Oh no! You're stepping in the mud!"

Most of us picked up a walking stick. It just seemed the thing to do.

Even Noah carried a stick for the duration of the hike.

We splished. We splashed. We slipped.

Josiah was a hard one to catch on camera. He was at the front of the group most of the time.

Sometimes Noah got tired of carrying his stick...

I think it was after climbing this last hill that Isaac saw a pop can and immediately picked it up to take a drink. No, it wasn't one of our pop cans; it was just sitting in the woods. OH MY COW! There was much spitting.... and probably some gagging by the adults too. "And that is why we don't drink from cans that are not our own..." Thankfully, there was no long term damage.

After reaching the end of the trail, we took our sticks and started walking back with Josiah in the lead again.

Sometimes being carried is just what you need.

Hey, what's this?

What fun! A wet, dark tunnel to conquer.

Josiah tackles the big hill one last time on our way out. He's that speck in the middle, right.

After we returned home, I gathered everyone together for a group photo.

From left to right: Sarah's sneakers, Josiah's sneakers, Nathan's sneakers, John's sneakers and Noah's sneakers are in front.

Ratted Out

Sometimes Sarah gets behind on her blogging.

(It is during times like these that I like to talk about her as if it is not completely my fault.)

I'll try to goad her into catching up with all the stories of the fun things we've done and heard but first she needs to do studying, laundry, dishes, housekeeping, and more studying. There really is quite a bit that she has been holding out on you. Perhaps if she needs a little break today, I'll have her post a story rather than try to beat her cousin in a word game.

Get on the ball, Sarah!

P.S. If you enjoy a story or relate to it, feel free to leave a comment. I think she likes that kind of stuff.