Camping

There are two times a year that it's actually nice to go camping in Houston. Early spring and late fall. We took advantage of the cooler weather in April and set out for Huntsville State Park just north of Houston. Stacia did all kinds of prep work such as shopping, packing the cooler, getting all the gear and food ready - so we could send out right after I got off work. It was a quick drive to the site, and what a beautiful place.

After we got the tent set up we started on dinner. Stacia is the camp director for our ward so she is an expert on alternative cooking methods. We used the box oven to cook some enchiladas Stacia had made during the day. After getting some charcoal nice and hot we simply put the enchiladas on a raised rack under this box with tin foil stapled to the sides. 30 minutes later we were eating hot and spicy enchiladas. Way to go Stacia and girl's camp cooking!

We started a small fire after dark and did the required roasting of marshmallows - the real reason Stacia wanted to go camping.

After a nice night sleep (air mattress) in the tent ("castle"to Samuel) we had an exciting day ahead of us. We made pancakes and eggs for breakfast, but all Samuel wanted to eat was a donut.

We set out for the nature center after we had cleaned up camp to take in a demonstration on alligators - which included an overview on how they act in the wild, how many are in the park, and a touch and feel event at the end where Samuel got to touch a live baby alligator's tail. How cool!

Before leaving we spent time in the hammock, went for a walk to the lake to see the fishermen, and saw an alligator hanging out in the lake. It was a great trip - and we can't wait until late fall to go again!

3 boys in a closet

We rode the train to visit cousins at the hospital yesterday. Ethan, Nate and Samuel were a riot. At least it sounded like a riot. A magic wand turned them into various animals, but they hid in the closet to avoid being turned into a bowl of oatmeal or a fairy princess. They rode in cars up and down the hall, giggling and squealing all the time. As we left (through a different door than we'd entered) I looked back and saw a sign on the door that read "Quiet, entering research area." Oops. Too late.

Chocolate Marshmallows

I celebrated Easter by making homemade marshmallow eggs. My mom sent me the recipe and I was motivated to try it by Grandma's reminiscing of how inferior store bought marshmallows are compared to the real thing. I was also motivated by the fact that I didn't need to go to the store - I already had all the ingredients.


Well, they were the real thing -the the best Easter candy I have ever tasted... that is, until the chocolate hardened. With the humidity it was taking forever to set, so I accelerated it by putting them in the fridge. The chocolate became crumbly and the texture was horrible. So much for using Ghiradelli's. I will definitely try this again using different chocolate and more patience (and hopefully less humidity).





I thought I was too messy spooning it into the flour mold and the eggs wouldn't be perfectly shaped. But after it set, I just trimmed the shapes down with scissors.


For my first foray into this sphere of candy-making, it was a success!



Samuel agreed.

Samuel's Dyed Eggs

Four used to be the jilted number when Samuel counted, but now it's five that gets the shaft.

Once in a Blue Moon...A Tax Refund!

We sent off our taxes today. Joseph filled out all the schedules and I plugged the numbers into the 1040. Joseph proposed splitting our refund three ways - $800 each for Samuel, him and me. I spent about 30 minutes shopping online for an enameled dutch oven pan like the one I admired at Kari Hansen's. I found a deal on ebay, but then realized that I could get free shipping on Amazon and that made it cheaper. Bad news for small business that Super Saver Shipping is. In the end, I decided against it. I don't have anywhere to store it and we are postponing most decisions until after we decide if we are going back to grad school. But in true "less is more" fashion here's a picture to admire in all its blue heat-preserving splendor.

Speaking of blue, I am listening to Round of Blues by Shawn Colvin. Many of my favorite tunes have blue in the title, Blue Moon being my favorite. I first heard the Marcels doo wop version in elementary school. As a direct result, I like about any song that has any kind of ding dong shoo bop shoo bop, even Mariah Carey's- "Always be My Baby." Another fun blue song with ding dong shoo bop is "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65. Back to Blue Moon though - Melanie Morrow choreographed a dance to it in Orchesis in high school and I since then I was hooked. I should collect all that I can find (like dad's "Nessun Dorma" collection, only not so regal). I also have Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, and Rod Stewart singing it, even though I can't stand his raspy voice. I can also play it on the piano, but that's not collection worthy - just fun. Dad also introduced me to Nanci Griffiths, a folk singer in Austin who has a lovely song called "Once in a Very Blue Moon." This song inspired me to copy Laurie Oldroyd's Blue Moon party in the Timpview 10th ward. That was a really special party for me. We were just married, new in the ward and the only people at the party who didn't have kids. Laurie was probably the closest in age to Joseph and me, and she is in my high school year book as a teacher! There were also people at the party who were our parents age. It was a fun mix and a killer party. Ever since I haven't hesitated about having friends and guests that weren't close to my age. I started planning my own blue moon party last year, but I got the month wrong and missed it altogether. (The projected blue moon date I found was based on Greenwich time putting the blue moon in June, but it should have been May in the Western Hemisphere. I learned this on June 1st. Charming.) I started collecting any songs that had the words blue moon in them for the party and found Patsy Cline's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and Van Morrison's "Once in a Blue Moon." I always perk up when I hear the words "blue moon." When I read "Winter of Enchantment" in February, I noticed that the author repeatedly refered to a blue moon but defined it improperly as the lack of a moon - which should have been called a new moon.

That's all I've got on Blue Moon.

Uncle Paul's Birthday

While Mumsie was in town to help out with Ethan (because he's starting chemo again), we had a birthday party for Uncle Paul. We had pizza, wrestled Paul, played duck, duck, goose and Samuel would get up and run around the circle when anyone was the goose. But when Samuel was the goose, he was angry that someone took his seat and burst into tears more than once. Paul got a monster truck so that he could bring his own over when he comes to play. He also got a picture frame from Ethan "to remember me by" but we hope that won't come to fruition.


Nate Samuel & Ethan on Paul; Ethan, Nate & Samuel eating cheese pizza

Uncle Paul being "it"

Nate's House

Samuel is obsessed with his cousin Nate. And not just Nate. Also Nate's house and we think this translates most literally to Nate and Ethan's toys. Nate's closer in age, and his name is easier to say, so he tends to get more credit than Ethan. If we so much as get on the freeway, he asks "Nate house?" And "Nate's house" gets top billing in many of his prayers. In our limited square footage we haven't invested in toys much (less is more, right?), so Nate's monster trucks, train set, and sandbox are divine when we go to visit. Thanks Nate! I did just buy a bag of sand and put it in a tub on the balcony. But nothing beats the contents of this tub.

Samuel, Nate and Ethan and three little ducks that went out to play.

Intense focus on that dump truck and track