Banana Cookies

Noah doesn't eat many things, but he likes to bake and these are one of our favorite treats.

Find the recipe here-

http://friendsfamilyandfood.blogspot.com/

Sometimes he gets distracted.

There is no broccoli in the recipe; we compost.

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Science Fair

Noah and a classmate submitted a project for the middle school science fair.  Mediocre project that he  wasn't all that interested in. He had to be coerced to show up for the fair.

Annabel wasn't a participant, but she is eager to go to any social event at the school.

It kills Noah that he and Annabel are in the same school; she loves it. He'll have 2 years in the High School without her, come September.

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Book Club recommendation

I loved this book.

This is from Amazon.com:
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Signs of the Season

The Witch Hazel is in bloom...

and the bulbs Bea and I planted are coming up.
Yippee!

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First Bike Ride of Spring

Bea came home from school with one thought on her mind. She was craving a bike ride.

Noah agreed to join her and they pulled out the bikes and pumped up the tires.

Have fun.


Noticed how much has melted in 6 days? It's almost gone.

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The Thaw Has Begun

The weather is warm and the sun is out. Bea and I decide to walk to Darren's office to walk him home.

The Spring melt is beginning.

The snow is beginning to creep back from the sidewalks.



Soon it will all be green again.
Headed home.

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Snow Day

Friday was snow day for the kids.  Noah was invited to a friend's house for hot-tubbing, and I took the girls and a few friends sledding. The plan was to go ice skating again, but the rink was snowed in--go figure.

It was a very snowy day.  The snow was wet and heavy.  I ended up in the car after a while, because it was so wet!
That didn't bother these girls, though.
They were drenched by the time I told them to load up.

We went to Star Bucks for a little liquid refreshment and warming up.

We had lots of snow this week and this is the pile from the neighbor's driveway that gets pushed up into our yard.  These two spent several days building a snow fort.
Just a little idea of how deep the snow is. It is up to the mail box.

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Pops Concert

Darren's choir performed with the Pops and the kids loved the concert-Annabel, especially. It was a night of movie themes and once again, Annabel has realized her love of Titanic...

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Winter Break

We had a staycation this year for Winter Break. Darren worked all week and we stayed home, but I tried to keep the kids busy.

I took the kids skiing at Bristol Mountain for the day. We went with friends and they said it was their best day skiing, ever! Noah used Darren's skis and boots and enjoyed having better equipment.

Annabel's hot pink ski pants were easy to spot from the lodge. One of my neighbors was there and she and I spent the afternoon visiting and watching the kids come down the mountain.

Bea skied earlier in the week, as well, with her friend Cameron. That was a hard day, but by Wednesday (when we went), she was much better and stayed on her feet more than her behind.

Christian and Drew were great skiing companions for Noah and Annabel. Noah is the tall one in the picture. I'm really glad my kids wear helmets. The day before we were there a dad was snowboarding and hit a tree. He didn't survive.

The girls did a card swap with our friends from church. We do this most of the the school breaks.

We went to Manhattan Square Park for ice-skating. The girls didn't want to leave by the time our session ended. They had finally gotten a feel for the skates. It has been several years since they had lessons.

Noah enjoyed Xbox with friends, and some down time without the girls, but that was spent out of my sight.
Overall, it was a pretty painless winter break and everyone had a good week and felt like it had really been a vacation.

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Burn

Bea burnt her arm on a space heater and it left a perfect grill pattern on her bicept.

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Valentine's Cakes

The Young Women baked cakes as a fund raiser for camp. We ended up with more than expected. Annabel purchased one for Darren and me and I ordered 3. We shared with our favorite missionaries and had a week of tasty cake for dessert every night.

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Church Ball

Noah loves playing church ball.

Most of the units in our Stake don't have enough boys to make a team, so this year the boys are randomly placed into teams.

This has been the best season because of the assorted teams. There is very little fighting and the boys are getting to know each other much better. It is a shame it is not like this everywhere.

Noah is 13 and 6'tall now.
Church gyms have crappy lighting.

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What a mess!

No names are used to protect the innocent (or guilty).
I'm pretty sure she is worse than I ever was.

On rare occasions, she will feel the impulse to pick up.

Every month or so, I feel the need to pick up.


And my friends have pitched in before as well.

Is there any wonder her teachers complain that she is disorganized?
Good thing we love her so much.

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Jump Rope for Heart

Every year Bea's elementary school participates in the Jump Rope for Heart to raise money for the heart association. For the last 11 years, French Road Elementary School has been the top money maker in the country.
The kids are divided into teams and take turns jumping for 1.5 hrs.
This is Bea and her group.

Lots of jumping kids burning lots of calories and building strong hearts.

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Dentist

We spend a lot of time at the dentist office, thanks to Darren's fine dental genes, and his good insurance.
This was always a happy place for the kids, until Annabel had 6 teeth pulled.

She now hates the dentist, but her lot in life will include more time in the chair.

Noah gets to visit every 6 weeks to get his braces rewired and new elastics. He doesn't hold a grudge for his 4 pulled teeth.
That boy will have great teeth in a few more years.

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