No snow allowed!

This morning I woke up to a sight that I wish never to see again for at least seven more months: snow. Yes, it was snowing outside my window in big, giant flakes. I knew it would probably melt in a couple of hours, but still, it's April 30th people! This is simply not the time! Anyways...
Mom cut some tulips today, as soon as they got in the warm house they opened up really big. I love tulips!
Anna and I just got in from riding horses. We spent twenty minutes brushing them and putting the saddles on and only ten minutes riding because it was freezing outside. Ha! At least I feel somewhat accomplished.

Laura's surprise party

This past Sunday, we had a surprise party for Laura G! It was so much fun.

Anna and Anneke waiting for Laura to show up...

me, Matt, Ellie, Jena, and Emily D.

We waited right in front of the bridge with a huge sign so when they pulled into the driveway it would be the first thing that Laura saw. Steve, Anja, and Olivia had gone shopping with her to get her out of the house for a few hours.

The two party planners with the birthday girl. (nice crown LaLa!)

Mrs. B and mom.

Laura and Olivia
We played volleyball most of the time and had the yummiest desserts ever: Tiramisu Brownie Squares and Lime Delight, it was so good!

Camp, Shakespeare, and melted ice cream

Saturday morning Anna and I got up at 7 o'clock, yes that would be in the morning. I really don't like getting up that early on Saturday, I usually sleep in until 9 or 10. The K's picked us up and we went with them to Camp Bayoca to help a bunch of other volunteers to help fix up the place before it opens up. Natalie, Anna and I got stuck raking leaves for three hours in the morning. Not fun. We were so tired, sore, and hungry, we were singing at the top of our lungs all the songs we could think of. After lunch we captured the gator and drove around getting mulch, watering plants, and bringing water to the workers. That part was actually fun. People kept saying that we needed to do real work, but I thought it was pretty important..:) We were really sweaty when we got to the K's house, so we all took showers and ate Popsicles.
After eating dinner, we got ready and rushed out the door to go to the Shakespeare play, "As You Like It." That was the main reason that Anna and I were with the K's all day, because the rest of our family was at a picnic and we had to go with our Shakespeare class to the play. The play was really good.
At the end of half-time, Mr. K said that he would treat us all to ice cream, so we all got in line and then the lights started flashing. We got our ice cream and were inhaling it as fast as we could with flimsy plastic spoons trying to dig into rock-hard ice cream. I got about four bites when people were signalling us to go. The lady security person wouldn't let people go in with their ice cream, but the guy said we could if we put the lid on, put the spoons in our bags and didn't eat it until afterwards. We took it. In the car on the way back we 'ate' our ice cream, which by this time was basically milkshakes. It was still yummy.

New Growth

Yesterday I worked in the garden for the first time (which is not my favorite thing to do). My job was to cut back a bunch of lemon balm that was overtaking everything else. Basically, the roots go everywhere, and you can't just pull one little part up. I used a shovel and had to jump on it for five minutes before it would cut through the mass of roots...not fun. I also mulched a little. Although I don't exactly like to weed and such, it is fun seeing new stuff coming up.

Bistro Chicken Recipe

I sort of combined two recipes to make this, and I sort of made up my own version. The first recipe is for the French bread, and I only used the first half of the original recipe:

Ingredients:
6 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 Tbs active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 c warm water

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Chicken Filling:

1 c chopped chicken
1/2 c dived red bell pepper
1/4 c snipped fresh basil leaves (or heaping Tbs dry basil)
1/2 c shredded mozerella cheese
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 garlic clove (I used 2)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1. Reheat oven 375 degrees F. Add chicken, pepper, basil, Parmesan, mozerella, mayonnaise, and garlic, mix well.
2. Divide dough in half and roll out in the shape of a rectangle. Roll out to 4 inches wide and a foot long with a hollow in the middle.
3. Spoon half of the chicken mixture down center of each loaf. Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal. Place loaves, seam sides down, in an "X" pattern on rectangle stone. Crisscross ends of dough to form a large figure "8," keeping ends of dough 1 inch from edge of stone and leaving two 1 1/2-inch opening in center of twist.
4. Combine egg white and seasoning mix; lightly brush over dough. Cut a 3-inch slit in each of the top ections of the twist to reveal filling. Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese over loaf. Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings

Bistro Chicken Twist

I got this recipe from a Pampered Chef recipe book and just made it tonight. It is so yummy! The recipe called for frozen French bread dough, but I made my own bread from a recipe off of allrecipes.com, and it was really good! I made the dough around two and let it rise for 2 1/2 hours, so the dough was huge by the time I had to make the actual twist.
I coated the top of the twist with egg white which made it really crispy on top, I'd never done that before. I had a big salad and two slices of the twist, and now I am stuffed!

Reflections on the Water

Last night we looked out the window and saw that there was a full moon, and it was reflecting on the pond. It was so pretty!

Nature Inspirations

Last Thursday in art class we were designing clothes that came from nature. I picked a leopard. It was really interesting, trying to take an animal and turn it into an outfit. It was really fun.

Emily did a fox, it is really cool!

Abigail did a broad-billed tody, which is a tropical bird.

Fire!!!!!!!

Yesterday, we were all going about our buisness, when Emily said "Um, our brush is on fire." We all looked out the window and our burn barrel (which we burn our paper garbage in) had a huge hole in it, and fire had come out of it and caught all the brush on fire! So I scream for mom, and rush outside. We hooked up the hose to the outside faucet, and started spraying. And of course our fire extinguisher was not working! I grabed a shovel and started to beat down the flames with mom, and the girls were getting water in buckets and throwing it on the flames. We finally put it out, after inhaling enough smoke to last us a lifetime! But we all thanked God for protecting us. Good thing we were home!

Expelled

The movie Expelled opened in theaters yesterday, and we all went to see it. Ben Stein hosts it and co-wrote it. It's a documentary about Intelligent Design and Darwinism. I know documentaries sound really boring, but it's actually very interesting and done really well! It gives both sides of the argument and just makes you think. Go see it!

In the sun

It was so nice on Monday! I got a lot more done than last craft day, but we also went outside.
Blogger is being a pain in the neck and won't let me upload more pictures, and I can't get it off of HTML mode. So here's one from Monday!

"Would you like a swan with that?"

Sarah went out to dinner a few nights ago for her friend's birthday, and the restaurant they went to wrapped all the leftover food up in the shape of a swan! It was a pretty unique idea I thought.

Pastels

(Anna's) (Abigail's)
(Emily's)

our oil pastel crayon drawings. this was probably my favorite finished product. :)

Shout To The Lord

Last week on American Idol, the top 8 sang "Shout to the Lord". We actually didn't see it, but found it on YouTube afterwards. It's really surprising that they would sing something like that on a secular show! But they did and they sounded pretty good.

Art Class

(Anna's, Emily's, Abigail's-top to bottom)

Our most resent work: a still-life pencil drawing. (we were all sitting around a table with the objects in the middle, so we all have a little different angles.)

National Sibling Day

Today is National Sibling Day! I found this poem written by Ann Stareyes, and it's so perfect because there are six of us kids.

Growing up as kids we were blessed

To have come from a loving home

Parents that guided and loved us

And never did us wrong.

We had a beautiful childhood

Many memories we all hold

We've always had that sibling bond

That's more precious than gold.

Mom and Dad had it hard

Raising six kids way back then

But we never went hungry or unclothed

And their love was Heaven sent.

I'm thankful that we were loved

Something money could never buy

This was the richness that filled our hearts

Because Mom and Dad always tried.

Now as I'm getting older

I've learnt to appreciate things much more

I'm thankful we loved each other

And each one of you I adore.

Today I want to say to each of you

I Love You with my whole heart

I'll Love You beyond this lifetime

And my love will never stop.

L-R: Teresa, Emily, Ted, Anna, Sarah, Abigail

Uphill Both Ways

For the first time this year, Emily, Anna, and I took a bike ride! It kept sprinkling on and off during the ride, but thankfully it never rained. It was really windy out. The wind would either be blowing right in your face, or trying to push you off the road.

Halfway through, one of Anna's pedals came off, but we screwed it back in. And that reminded me of the last time I rode bikes. Our oldest brother was living with us and went on a bike ride on this little bike that was really old, and the pedal completely broke off! It was really funny to us, maybe not to him, but he basically had to pedal with one leg or walk his bike. He was wobbling all over the road. At least we got a good laugh!

National Anthem

Okay, here's the video of Teresa and Sarah singing.

We're So Crafty

For several years now, we've gotten together with some friends of ours and done a craft day, either at their house or at ours. We went to their house today and it was such a nice day out that we spent most of it outside.Anna is knitting a scarf and Michelle is knitting an afghan made up of little squares. It's really big now, she's been working on it for years. I was making a scarf that is blue and white, when it's done it will match my knit hat.Here is Katie, me, Anna, and Michelle. It's a pretty bad picture of us, but it was the only one that I was in. (just say it, I'm conceted) :PThe beautiful moms! They were probably the only ones that got anything done today. My mom is the one on the left, she's knitting a cartigan, which is her biggest project so far.

I kept telling Laura and Emily to smile for the picture, so they did. Maybe they tried a little too hard!

Syracuse Lacrosse

Teresa and Sarah (my older sisters) got to sing the national anthem at the Syracuse Carrier Dome today for Men's lacrosse. They are #1 in the nation right now, so that was exciting. Teresa and Sarah sang really good and we won the game 13-6! I had never seen lacrosse before. It was pretty cool, it was just hard to keep track of where the ball was and minor details like that. :)I took a video of them singing and of course the camera man had to get right in my way, but thankfully he moved. I'll post that tomorrow.

Ready for a Change...

The beginning of this week was very exciting for me...I went to get my hair done! (at the same solon I work at. :) ) I've never had my hair colored before, so it was pretty cool. I got red highlights on the top, and a darker brown on the bottom. And she trimmed up everything too. I love it! It's a lot of fun to play around with, and the colors are fun too. ;) (top left-'before'/top right-'morning of'/bottom-'new hair!' right before I left for work) :D

Pencil and Paper

I've always thought that I was horrible at pencil drawings, maybe because Emily is really good at them and mine looked awfull. In art class today we did a still-life drawing, each one of us brought an item and then we put them all together in the middle of the table and sat on different sides. It was kind of cool, all of us got a different angle of the same thing. These were the items: an old book, a phone, a shoe, and a glass cup with a paintbrush in it.
The biggest thing I learned today was shading! It makes so much difference in the way the picture turns out. Some things that are incredibly hard to draw, like noses, are mostly shading. It gives depth to the picture and is way more interesting. Okay, maybe I'll stop now since you're probably falling asleep.
But it was really fun! I'll take some pictures and post them when we're all finished.

Baby Emily

A friend of my sister's has a little girl named Emily! She is soooo cute! She has the biggest eyes I have ever seen. Well one day she called and asked me and Ab if we would like to babysit her for a couple of hours. (Are you kidding! I would love to!)
We would hold her hands and she would walk everywhere! And I mean everywhere. She was a little fussy and so finally after a few minutes of crying Abigail made her a bottle of her formula. (It is the grossest thing) And she took it and was gulping it down. We were thinking why did we not try this sooner?!
But she was very adorable and we all had lots of fun.

April Fools!

Today was gorgeous! It was warm and sunny and breezy...of course that was right before it started raining. I got a good picture of our crocuses that are coming up.
I guess this is God's April Fool's day prank, it's going to snow on Thursday. :)