Easter at Grandma's house

Grandma's house:  quite possibly, the prettiest place on earth.

When it comes to Easter egg hunting, this boy don't play.

Opening Day

March's date envelope contained--surprise!--a scavenger hunt.

The requirement was to photograph as many of the 30 items on the list as possible, with Jason AND me in the photo too; prizes to be awarded based on how many items were documented.  

As I expected, Jason cleverly captured all 30 before babysitting ran out.  

Our reflection

A fire hydrant

Wearing hats

Something that smells good (pierogies)

The cleverest of all:  two kinds of sticks.  Get it?  I'm *sticking* my finger with a little *stick*.  Jason's idea, of course.

Something that costs $9.99.  [There was some dissension later over whether this picture also counts for "the number 9."  I maintained that although we took a picture of a $9.99 price tag, the 9's were not actually visible in the shot and therefore another 9 must be documented.  This was met with a fair amount of protest, but the problem was finally resolved by taking a picture of the list, which necessarily contained the number 9.]

Yesterday was Little League Opening Day.  Much pomp and circumstance ensued, as well as the distribution of uniforms.


Lizzy is playing T-ball for the Texas Aggies, much to Nana's chagrin (a Longhorns alum).

But who can object to a team sponsored by Dairy Queen?

After the opening ceremony, Jeddy took Caleb to get their free hot dogs.

Ada had a game immediately following the hasty consumption of free hot dogs.

Living at the park is such a luxury.  We don't have to fight for a parking spot, we can go back for a blanket once we realize how cold it is, and we don't have to stand in line for ketchup.

It's amazing.  

Lunar craters, baseball, ducks, and stir-fry

Caleb thoroughly enjoying Jeddy's asteroids-dropping-onto-a-flour-"lunar-surface" experiment.

Spring is here, and with it:  spring break (woo-hoo!), {container} gardening, and baseball season.

Beets or rainbow chard, I can't remember which

Official Opening Day is still two days away, but Jed had his first game already.  Caleb and Lizzy were pleased to learn it took place at the field with the big dirt pile.  Caleb was extra thrilled that there is now a gravel pile next to the dirt pile!

Baseball doesn't get any better than this.

Avid sports fan that I am, I spent Ada's practice looking at the ducks.

And trees.

And geese.

Also this month I'm taking an online cooking course.  

This is kind of embarrassing, since (theoretically at least) I've been feeding myself and others for 15 years.  But lately I've felt dissatisfied with certain aspects of my family's diet--for example, my one child who is steadily turning into a peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich.

Also, one would think--as I have always thought--that one huge benefit of working at home is that I can make whatever I want for lunch every day.  Which is true.  But with that freedom comes a lot of indecision at a moment when I am always mentally fried.  Then I either A) take 25 minutes to decide on something and fix it, leaving me precious little time to eat, or B) open the fridge and eat the first appealing thing I see, pizza or not.

And my kids eat peanut butter and honey for the 5th time this week.  

First world problems, to be sure, but I'm hoping this course will help me get breakfast, lunch and dinner on the table more easily and healthfully.

And if it can teach me how to cook fish in a way my family will eat it, it's worth the price of enrollment.

So, although this isn't explicitly touted as part of the Foodist Kitchen program, I'm hoping to make a habit of preparing lunches beforehand so we can grab-and-go something wholesome.   

Hopefully more wholesome than this ^, but it's a start.

One of the assignments is to take a picture of each meal I cook for the class.  Behold, Meal #1:

The course assumes zero knowledge, which has been encouraging in that I've already mastered some of the lessons.  This meal was meant to teach sautéing vegetables.  

Honestly, I've made better stir-fry.  But I did learn how to mince garlic gracefully.  

Hopefully it'll move beyond stir-frying into topics that still mystify me after 15 years--like how to open the fridge when you're braindead and pull something out and magically make it taste good.  

That's not too much to hope for, is it?