Congrats Lucy and Maya

Congratulations to Lucy for tying for first place in science idol and to Maya for placing second in the spelling bee.  Proud Mama!

Maya was in the local newspaper.

Lucy's winning video.

Spring

 Mark and Ed were working on birdhouses for awhile in the "workshop".

 Ooooh so hard to find the egg...

 I had to put a random shot of our french radishes.  This is the first time we have grown radishes.  Maya grew some at school last year and really loved them when they were fresh from the earth and no so much when they were store bought.  Radishes are fun to grow because they only take a month.  I planted two varieties french and perfecto.  The french ones are longer and skinnier and the perfecto ones are supposed to be perfectly red and round.

Our neighbor really cracked herself up with this hiding spot because of the "grill marks". Hee hee.

Sorry for the blur but this trade was moving quick!

VICTORY!

Jenny has been practicing for days for this big ten lap race.  She won with a time of 3 minutes and 15 seconds.  It should be of no surprise that with a time like that she came in first place! -Maya

Happy #5 Budders!

That's right what better way to end my blog drought than with some pictures of my favorite little man on his 5th birthday. I could gush all day about my buddy but I won't because anyone that knows me knows how much I love this boy. He had a great birthday and for some reason he wanted a "round, yellow sun cake with sunglasses on". For his birthday dinner he requested pizza so we made some awesome homemade pies. I tried a few times to talk him into staying four but he insisted on moving on up to the big five. Happy Birthday Ed!

Rumor

I just thought that before word got out too far I should let everyone know at once that the rumor is true- I am taking Wilton Cake Decorating lessons at A.C. Moore. Lucky for Aida her friends were able to catch me leaving A.C. Moore with my second creation in the series and they could let her know that they saw her mother carrying around "a white cake with orange dots all over it" on a Friday night. Aida taking it like a real mini-Sara just accused her friend of being a stalker. I don't mind because I was super proud of myself and my cake. Mark never wanted me to take a class because he thought it would ruin my mad cake style, I think that when I returned home with this beauty his fears were put to rest. I like to think that I am the star of the class but I think Leo the teacher would say it is my friend Carolyn. I admit Carolyn is my biggest competition in the class and I am afraid because not only does she have crazy decorating skills but she also has Leo's heart and gets some special attention. That is okay - I like a challenge. So here is my first cake. One of these days I will have to get my cake gallery going because my cakes really are amazing. :)

Mallomar Love

On a recent trip to Shoprite I discovered Mallomars.  An oldie but goodie.  I never would have thought to try one if I hadn't formed a mild addiction to Mallowpuffs when I was in NZ.  Actually, in all honesty, I think I loved Mallowpuffs more when I couldn't have them.  Mark started to bring them back to me from his annual NZ trips and their rarity made them taste that much better.  They really started to grow on me.  I found similar products here in America but they weren't as good until I found the Mallomar.
 
Last week I went to Shoprite only to discover Mallomars on sale for half off WITH an additional one dollar off coupon.  I bought two boxes.  I was tempted to buy more when I read the sign informing people they were a seasonal item and to not get upset if they weren't immediately available.  Are you kidding me?  A product people would get upset about being sold for basically 75% off? I already knew I would be back.

The history is intriguing (maybe not to all but junk food history fascinates me).  Apparently practically every country has their version as seen here.  The Mallomar was first sold in a store in West Hoboken NEW JERSEY.  Even today 70 percent of the supply goes to the NY and NJ area. The Mallomar is made in Canada and is the cookie that "comes out in the cold".  Back in the day the chocolate coating would melt so the factories only started to crank them out in September.  Modern technology has remedied this situation but Nabisco continues with it being a seasonal item as it originally was.  I like the idea.  We are so used to having everything readily available to us.  I like seasonal things to look forward to.  I like the dilemma of deciding how much of an item constitutes  a "hoard" -do I need to "stock up"?  Inevitably my hoard disappears within hours of a season ending but that is why there is always a new seasonal treat to draw me into its sugar evils.  So, thank you boxed smore Mallomars for providing me with a fall treat to accompany my candy corns. Yum. 

Strawberry Pickin'

I took the kids deep into South Jersey to pick their own strawberries.  I have to admit that it is a lot faster to get strawberries than blueberries.  We weren't there long but we managed to take away 20 pounds of strawberries.  Ed overheated pretty quick and decided to hang out by the van.

The Difference Between Girls and Boys

I know I have three girls and only one boy to base this one but these two videos TOTALLY sum up the differences between the two genders in my house.  TOTALLY.

First the Boy



Now the Little Girl note the band-aid on the knee