Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Lovely Day

It is a glorious spring day today. I did some weeding in the garden and was pleased to see all sorts of our perennials, beginning to wake up for the season. The next two days are meant to be rainy, then some sun and warmth. Perfect for the garden. I have a few photos, eventually to be posted.

But, for now, here are some photos, snapped by Madeleine!

Last spring, Steve bought a baby swing for Clare. She liked it the first time and hated it ever after. This spring, we gave it another try; she still hated it. So, Steve put back the swinging bar that came with the swingset.

As you can see, she loves this! And never stops hanging from it.





Madeleine felt the need to capture these moments, too:


Lydia took her turn on the swing and Clare wasn't happy.


And when Clare fought back, Lydia wasn't happy, either!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

St. Patrick's Day, Part Two

Most of the photos from the St. Patrick's Day run didn't turn out well. Too dark, Steve was too far away, etc. Here's the clearest, even if Emily's not dancing:


We had our St. Patrick's Day dinner on Wednesday, because of Tuesday's hectic schedule: Irish stew, potato soup, and soda bread. Oh, and brownies with Bailey's-flavored frosting.

While Emily, Madeleine and Steve were doing the dancing thing that day, I took the youngest kids to a park district class about moss. Lydia loves moss. It's because of a storybook she loves.

We learned new things about moss and John was given permission, nay encouraged, by a bona fide, park-employed naturalist to roll over logs during treks through the woods, as long as he rolls them back after inspecting what's living underneath. After the class, he did just that. And found a centipede. As he was bringing it to me (because, surely, Mom wants to see a centipede up close), he jerked his hand away, as it appeared the bug was going to bite him. I guess it is a good thing he dropped it! According to a Texas A&M entomologist, one should never handle centipedes. Poisonous venom. Lovely.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

St. Patrick's Day!

Yesterday, I went around Dayton performing with some of the other dancers from Celtic Academy.

We went to four different schools, which was a lot of fun. We also performed at the Dayton Convention Center for a Democrat fundraiser, the Dublin Pub, and the Irish Club.

I woke up at six and didn't get home until around 9:30, but it was really fun!

(If I can find photos of me online I will post them)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dessert, again

After a long silence, I'm back. With photo and comments and about . . . food. One wonders if I discuss anything else? I've given food its own category label.

I'm especially pleased with the recipe I've adapted for tiramisu.



After one failed attempt, after much studying of various recipes, I've come up with my own. This recipe uses whipping cream, rather than egg. Therefore, no worries about eating raw egg. Also, I used marscapone, which makes a wonderful substitute for Philadelphia Cream Cheese & all its gums that I cannot eat. I'm looking forward to trying marscapone in so many cream cheese recipes I've had to give up!

We didn't have the correct sized dish to make it a 4-layered tiramisu, as most of the recipes called for. But, it was still just as delicious from a 9x13 baking dish.

So, I send family and friends a cyber cup of coffee and a wish that you could have been here to eat our lovely dessert with us!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Hello!

Hi, everybody! This is Emily, and now I can add to the blog. Yay!