The oven and I are BACK!

Guess what arrived in the mail today??

Yep! A new element for our oven from GE.

It was easy to install, after much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and two trips to Home Depot.

Guess what's in my oven right now?

Chocolate chip cookies.

Through this trying ordeal, I have learned a lot about myself. I've learned that apparently, I can't blog unless my oven is in order. I'm sure my schedule had nothing to do with it, or the fact that we went to Coronado, or that Adam, Lizzie and Ivy were sick or that I am feverishly trying to prepare for this concert...it was all because of the oven.

The universe is aligned once again. Bloggers beware.

A special THANK YOU to the many kind readers who posted non-oven chocolate desserts!! Some of you even went so far in your sympathy as to bring us baked goods. Truly, you kept us going. How could I ever thank you? And, Leslie, how did I forget about Scotcheroos??!! Shocking, to say the least.

I have to go now. The oven timer is ringing, and the smell of warm chocolate is in the air. :)

Coronado, 2010

Click on the picture to see a whole album! :)

I'm on a Diet

The name of my diet is the No-Baked Goods Diet. And I am an unwilling participant.

Our oven broke three weeks ago (the bottom heating element cracked into two!) and neither Adam nor I have been able to bake anything since. The oven is fixable, but things have been rather crazy at our house, and fixing the oven has been put on the back burner. ;) It's not too big of a problem for dinners - we have the grill, the crockpot, the stove-top. But it's wreaked havoc on our desserts. Ice cream is a popular option with the kids, but unless I'm pregnant, I really don't care for cold creamy desserts. I like my desserts hot and chocolatey.

The first week was the hardest. Every evening after the kids were in bed, I would stare vacantly into the pantry. Ah, me. No chocolate, no warmness, no nothing. We did have some unbaked cookie dough in the refrigerator, though, looking forlorn with no hope of being baked. What was I to do? I took care of that cookie dough within a few days.

But after that dough was gone, it seemed gluttunous to make a batch of cookies that would never see the heat of the oven. I resisted the urge.

So here I am three weeks later. I made a chocoate pudding pie last week. It was fine, but cold. :( I've polished off any extra Easter candy, but you know it's mostly the waxy chocolate and it's kinda gross. Tonight, there is just nothing nothing nothing yummy for dessert.

Ho hum. Boohoo. I guess I'm on a diet.

Cousin!

Hi there, sorry it's been awhile since I've posted...I was knocked flat with a flu for several days, and it's been catch-up ever since!! Anyway, here's my darling cousin Tamara who I got to see for a few fun hours last Thursday. Just wish she lived closer - we had so much fun and probably fit in more words per minute than is humanly possible.

Stud Alert!

Little League Opening Day was Saturday. During his first game, I kept looking for a super-short kid in outfield to find my Eli, but it turns out Eli's grown a lot this year, and I'm going to have to start looking for the rather lanky kid on 2nd base. Oh, how these baseball pictures tug at my heartstrings!
(Eli's front row, third from right)

How Does your Garden Grow?

Spring has sprung here in the desert and we are enjoying our front yard flowers so much!

Look what else we found in the garden, sporting a Robert Pattison 'do:


I love the spring!

New Expressions

Trying to get the big O to smile while I snapped the camera made for some "artistic" pictures today!

Yes, it's true. He does cry - but just once in a while. Like when he's had enough of the photo shoot already!

Get to know Eli!

Do you know what Eli wants to be when he grows up? Do you know what Eli's favorite food is?

Well, here are the answers to all these questions you've been pondering,thanks to Eli being the Student of the Week!

Age: 7
Favorite Animal: Cheetah
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Food: Asian Brown Pear
Favorite Place: Disneyland
Favorite thing to Do: Look at and play with Screens (computer, DS, TV, etc.)
What does he want to be when he grows up? A Dad.
One Wish? That he could be a Wizard!

Skiing at Sunrise,AZ

Here's Ivy's 1st day of skiing

Here's Eli and Lizzie going down an intermediate run. It was such nice weather and so much fun to see the kids having a good time!

And here's one Happy Dad:

Lizzie's Potter Party

I think we're partied out for at least the next two years. Whew!
Check out our fun day:


At 1 o'clock, Lizzie's friends apparated, and some arrived by Floo Powder through the fireplaceThey brought gifts that were deposited in the Gift Trunk:Then they went to Diagon Alley. They received their Class Schedules,
Their wands,And Dragon Eggs, to be hatched later...

Eli, excuse me, I mean Professor Trelawney, gave individualized fortunes from the crystal ball.
The witches and wizards were each sorted into houses, via the sorting hat (equipped with a baby monitor inside with Adam speaking into it!) (The hat will make an appearance further down...)And given House Badges to wear.Whichever house had the most points at the end of the party would receive this:First Class was Potions: Professor Snape taught them how to make Root Beer with dry ice.Cauldrons were bubbling before too long.

The Ravenclaws won House points for their brew.

But the other houses didn't seem to mind too much.Time for Care of Magical Creatures!

The best wizarding minds conferred to hatch dragon eggs (complete with flubber inside!) Then it was time to apparate to Hogsmeade and Honeydukes' Sweet Shoppe. A contest was held to guess which flavor jelly bean they were eating.
Lizzie rocks the Sorting Hat as she prepares to blow out her Golden Snitch Cake.

Oh no! The Witches and Wizards find out they must retrieve the Sorcerer's Stone by following a Treasure Hunt.
They decide they're up to the challenge.Following clue after clue eventually leads them to the Green Belt
And to the Sorcerer's Stone. Good Work, Hogwarts Students!

Next, we played "Hoo's Hedwig?"

Then, finally, the class they'd all been waiting for, Defense Against the Dark Arts. We had no choice but to have a Wizarding Duel. With Silly String.

Happy Birthday Lizzie!