Mothers Day = Cupcakes

Boy, I got spoiled this weekend! Saturday, Jon took the kids to see Speed Racer and when they came home, they had one of my favorite sites in the world - the unmistakable pink bakery box full of my favorite cupcakes (the picture on the left: 2 Black Forest, a flowery vanilla, "plain" strawberry and a "chocolate covered strawberry")

Yesterday I got woken up with breakfast in bed and new slippers. I got to lounge around and read (undisturbed !!) in my room and when I came down the house smelled so good with dinner cooking. Grace had suggested they make cupcakes for me for dessert (like I needed more!) and they were so good - chocolate coconut cupcakes (picture on the right). I was sick by the end of the day, but felt very loved. Thanks guys!!!

Moms

Since tomorrow is Mothers Day, I will take this opportunity to say THANK YOU and Happy Mothers Day to my mom and Sue - my Mother-in-law! I don't think words could encompass all that I feel for them, so I will just share the first thing that comes to mind when I think of them . . . 

Sarah, Laura, mom, baby Ems and me (the one with feathers in her hair) in clothes that I am sure my mom sewed . . . 

My mom is the most all-around crafty person I know. She can cook, draw, paint, crochet, sew, hook rugs, lace, knit and the list goes on. I like to tell people that she knits from scratch. Meaning that she starts with a bag of dirty, newly sheared wool, cleans it, cards it, dyes it, spins it (on her very own spinning wheel), makes her own pattern and THEN knits the item. Unfortunately, none of these talents passed through the gene pool to me, which is why I am always amazed at what she can do. I love you mom!

Howard, Sue and Jon at our wedding. One of my favorite pictures of Sue (she doesn't like to be photographed).

Although I don't call Sue "mom" she definitely is my second mom. The thing that I can't imagine Sue without is a smile. She is such an optimist and is always in a good mood. That is a rare quality and one that I hope to have some day! I love you Sue!

Onolicious

We had a fun weekend - at least food wise. Jon found a Hawaiian restaurant called Aloha Grill that he wanted to try out. I was less excited about it since there is usually nothing I can really eat. I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually pretty healthy Hawaiian! Yes, they had Spam Musubi (which should show you the joints authenticity) and other traditional fare, BUT you can choose between white and brown rice, and you get your choice of two types of salad - the traditional Macaroni, green papaya or green salad, which was really green. They also had Malasadas which were not Leonard's standard, but were still good. The highlight of the meal though seemed to be the Pineapple Mango Pearl Tapioca Smoothie we got. The kids LOVED getting the chewy balls and are already talking about which smoothie we are getting the next time we go to Aloha Grill.

P.S. Sorry about the bad pictures. I didn't want to make a scene by taking them. The one of Grace is her trying to suck up a HUGE pearl of Tapioca through a regular size straw.

The Stars at Night . . .

We had a very all-American, Texan, Pee Wee adventure this weekend. We went to our first ever professional Baseball game. The Houston Astros were playing the Colorado Rockies. We weren't very happy with the outcome of the game - the Astros lost, but at the beginning of the 7th inning, everyone stands up and sings, "The Stars at Night, shine big and bright (clap, clap, clap, clap) . . .". We probably would have never known about this song except for Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but we were glad we did and could sing right along with all the other Texans there. 

These baseballs line the entrances to Minute Maid Park so we took advantage of them while waiting for our friend Tom and his daughter Emma to show up.

I liked the Texan flag flying over Texas street sign.

The sweet potatoes waiting for the game to start.

It got cold towards the end (in the 60's) so Grace and I were sharing our warmth.

The kids loved watching the game, but I think the highlight for them was eating peanuts (ok, peanut M&M's) and Cracker Jacks . That's why I loved going to games when I was little!! Akshee, I still do!

Grace's 6th Birthday

Grace absolutely loves Chuck E Cheese for birthday parties, so this year was basically a repeat of last years party, but with different people and a different location. I have learned my lesson about making cakes for the kids parties since the guests don't care and usually don't even eat much of it anyway, so we got her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and strawberry mousse filling that she was really excited about. 

Grace has always loved Clifford, the big red dog as you can tell. . . 


More fun and games. Jon was too busy playing to be taking pictures etc.

The gang eating . . . 

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

I don't know when, but at least 10 years ago my mom, the craftiest and most talented person with her hands I know,  learned the art of Ukrainian Easter egg dying. These eggs are either raw or have a hole pricked in the end and the inside blown out. They are then dyed in the most elaborate and detailed patterns imaginable. Of course Jon jumped right on board because he is the ultimate Renaissance Man, artist and designer and he can do all the detail that makes me want to pull my hair out. To me it's utter frustration. I am a perfectionist and if it doesn't look PERFECT, I get so frustrated and mine never do look perfect. My only one that did got dropped right after I finished it. 

Anyway, we have our Ukrainian Easter Egg boxes (2 now) of gear and a whole room dedicated to it for about a month around Easter. The kids really got into it this year. Collin seems to be following Jon's footsteps with the geometric designs and Grace was into swirl and bug motifs. My personal favorites are of the one Collin did of me (at the top of the basket - there is a close up of the basket at the bottom) and the one Jon did for me - the littlest egg in there full of detail that took him about a half hour to do. The rest of the pictures are pretty self explanatory . . . 

These are some of the eggs drying. You coat them in wax to keep the color you want left before you put it in the next dye, so these still have the wax on them.

An up close shot of the different designs. The black with white designs is one Collin did of a popcorn being popped in a popper. Not the most traditional, or very Ukrainian designs, but they reflect our style.

P.S. The kids made Egg Books of dozens of different designs they wanted to do, but ran out of time and eggs to do them all. I guess there's always next year!!

Spring

Spring has been here for about a month or more, but I guess we've been enjoying it too much to be posting pictures. This is all the Azaleas blooming in our front yard - they looked like this until about a week ago. Here are a few other recent pictures I really like:

We have a water fountain in our backyard that attracts all sorts of animals and birds. This is the kids watching out the window with their binoculars. (Can you see Grace's outfit? Refer to the post entitled "Personalities". You can also click on these pictures to see a bigger version)

The fam taking a break at the Memorial Park Arboretum. It is so pretty here!

Kolaches - a roll filled with either savory or fruit fillings - are really big here and we love them. Obvious by the one-in-each-hand approach Grace is using. I love how she looks like she is just relishing them. 

Spring Break '08

This picture pretty much sums up our last week. I had all these big plans for having a great, fun week and none of it, and I mean NONE of it happened. First it rained so we took advantage of that and cleaned up the house so we could have fun the rest of the week. Next, our fridge went out, so we waited for it to be delivered all day. No big deal, we went to lunch with dad and watched some movies. Then Collin slept for 13 hours and woke up crying with a fever of 102.5 and after that we basically didn't leave the house for 5 days. Jon even got Good Friday off and we got to do taxes and plant some trees. The only thing that saved us was our Ukrainian Easter Egg box. We have been doing them for about a week now and have some great ones. I will post some pictures when we are done. 

By the way, this is the lunch that Grace made for us that we took up to Collin. She has been quite a little chef lately, which is it's own blog in itself. So, stay tuned . . . 

A Little Bit Country . . .

We're pretty much Rock 'n Roll sort of people, but this weekend we got a little bit country at the Houston Rodeo. It touts itself as being the worlds largest Rodeo event and anyone who's anyone in the Rodeo scene knows about it. Jons company, CMA Design gave us tickets to the event. We knew about the Rodeo from when we lived here a few years ago, but had never been and we ended up having a great time.  Basically all we did was eat, walk around, eat and watch the rodeo! Who knew Rodeos were so fun!! In the bareback bronco riding division, there were quite a few Utahns, which we cheered hard for. In fact, the announcer said, "Utah is hot tonight!". 

Our favorite, and everyone else's it seemed like was a guy named Houston Hutto. I think that is the coolest name I've heard in a while. We weren't really sure what to expect, so we got there in the afternoon and we definitely regreted getting there so late. As we were leaving, Collin was already choosing his outfit for next year by saying . . . "Next year I'm not coming unless I wear my cowboy boots and get a cowboy hat" - even though Jon threatened to disinherit him if he turns into a cowboy.

      

These are us feasting on beignets and Jethro on a smoked turkey leg. 

                                     

This was my favorite attraction at the Rodeo - a diesel that is one big, ginormous BBQ!! Everything's bigger in Texas!

Generations

I got some great pictures when we were in Utah. I went to my Grandma Pridays house for lunch and she had this picture on her fridge. I love it. It is my Great Grandma Farnsworth baking rolls, at 91 years old,  after she had come home to Beaver after having a stroke. On the back of the picture she had written, "Yes! I have made bread today! I am happy!" I guess I have a lot of her genes in me because 1. I LOVE BREAD!!! and 2. I have been on a quest for the last 2 or 3 months to find a perfect roll recipe. I hope I am still baking and that happy and healthy at 91!!

      

These are both 4 Generation pictures. The first is Collin, Jon, Grandpa Bybee and Great Grandpa Bybee. The second is Grace, me, Grandma Peer and Grandma Priday.