Easter 2015

The kids and I were out of school for Good Friday so I let Elle have a friend spend the night Thursday night. This is only the second time she has had spend the night company. I'm not a huge fan of spend the night company, but I also want our house to be the house where kids {specifically my kids!} want to hang, so I guess I should be a little more open to having other kids around.... And it went great and they had a great time. I made spaghetti for dinner {her friend's favorite--score #1!}. When the boys went to bed, I let them watch a movie on the computer in bed {very cool to them--score #2!}. They fell asleep about 9:45 {score #3 for me!} and didn't emerge until about 7:30 the next morning. I made chocolate chip pancakes and sausage for breakfast {always a score!}. Later on in the morning, we used peeps and made play dough. A very sticky, but exciting and interesting adventure {I'm up to about 5 points now!}. Overall, a great time for everybody!

I can't remember now what we did on Saturday but it probably involved playing outside, getting the gardens ready, yard work, etc. I had no candy or Easter Baskets for the kids Sunday morning. They have so much as it is! After a great morning at Sunday School {I played Easter Story Jeopardy with my 3rd and 4th graders--another score!} and worship, we came home and I made a traditional Easter lunch of popcorn shrimp, corn on the cob, and roasted brussel sprouts:). We all ate on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We did boil about a dozen and a half eggs to dye. We used six of our own chicken eggs to experiment and see how they would turn out once dyed. I also never picked up an egg dying kit, but thanks to the 'ole world wide web, we made our own dye with vinegar and food coloring! We even tie-dyed a few by using some olive oil.

Then we hid the eggs for the kids about 267 times in the front and back yards:). OK, maybe not quite that many times, but it sure seemed like it. Whatever the case, they had a blast finding them and worked together and were content to find their designated amount of eggs. It was one of the most relaxing, enjoyable Easter weekends I can remember, popcorn shrimp and all!

Baseball season begins!

Here we go again! But this year we have TWO players. They are both very excited about playing and have been practicing for the past couple of weeks.

They both had practice games this week. Unfortunately, opening ceremonies was cancelled Friday night due to bad weather. But Saturday was sunny and beautiful and a great day to play some baseball. 

Reese had to be at Heard Magnet School at 8:00 to take his test for entrance in to Montana next year. We were there until about 10:30 which meant he missed his first game?! Grady played at 10:30 and then they both got to play in the afternoon. It was a fun day at the ball park!

I wish I could say Elle has been a supportive fan, but she mainly loves to go so she can run around with friends:). And they all love to get fries. There are few things better than ball park french fries....

My favorite quote was from Reese on practice game night. I bought some powerades for them to have after their games {they don't drink soda, so the post-game free coke doesn't appeal to them}. 

On the way to the game, I say,
"Reese, are you so excited?"

Reese: "I can't wait... to taste that Powerade!"

Ellary Anne Phillips

My sister-in-law gave birth to a precious baby girl by c-section, a little over 7 weeks early. She was 4.8 pounds and they are both doing well at Sacred Heart in Pensacola. So thankful to the Lord for NICU's and medicine and doctors and nurses who help make things go well with potentially scary situations. Can't wait to meet this beautiful baby girl!

Welcome to the world, sweet Ellary! We love you!

Taking care of business, teeth edition

This week seemed to be all about teeth. But thankfully, Grady's teeth were not involved. Monday was a first for the Salter kids with Reese having a cavity filled. Boo! I've always held my breath each dental visit for the "all clear" from the hygienist at the end of the appointment. I had lots of cavities growing up {and still continue to deal with issues from silver fillings--although I'm almost at the end of the teeth fixer upper tunnel} and I hoped the kids would get Steven's strong teeth. Anyway, even though it seems as though Reese may have gotten my teeth genes, he was a champ and was not scared or upset at all.

Then Wednesday was another first when Elle got braces. Unlike the cavity, which I hope will be few and far between, our future with the orthodontist is looking pretty promising. Elle gets very nervous and anxious about things when she doesn't know what to expect. We were praying for God to help her, and other people were praying for her not to be anxious. And God was so gracious to answer those prayers! She did awesome! She was sore for several days and we are still eating softer foods and cutting things up in to very small bites, but overall, she is doing great. And for the record, she looks adorable with braces, if I do say so myself:).

 

 Last night, Steven and I took Elle to see Chris Tomlin in concert here in Dothan. The tickets were part of her Christmas present. The boys stayed with Dad and Sandi. We took her to eat at Cracker Barrel--she wanted pancakes and cooked carrots?!--then on to the concert. Rend Collective and Tenth Avenue North opened for Chris Tomlin. It was a great night of worship. We had a great time doing that with Elle, too. She was getting tired though and we needed to get the boys, so we slipped out before it was over. But we made it two hours and 45 minutes!

The bathroom renovation is complete and I hope to post before and afters of that soon. We are so happy with the finished result! Baseball season has started and with two boys playing this year, we are spending lots of time at the ballpark. Grady moved up a league and is playing "coach pitch" and Reese will play his first season of T-ball!! And it has NOT been nice, pretty baseball weather yet. Rainy, cold and cloudy hours of practice so far. But, we are looking forward to two fun baseball seasons!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Yes, yes I did. I went to Universal Studios for a long weekend. Valentine's weekend in fact. Without my husband. Without my kids. But with my sister! This was our Christmas present to each other. I am not ashamed to admit that I am a huge Harry Potter fan and knew one day I would make it to Orlando and experience the books come to life. And I was not disappointed!

We made it down there Thursday night. I didn't get in until about 10:00. We booked a hotel right across the street from the park, so early the next morning, we walked over for the adventure to begin. We headed straight to the newer "Diagon Alley" and the "Escape from Gringotts" ride. AMAZING! So amazing that we would ride it a total of 5 times over the next 2 days:).

 

We went hard that first day and quite possibly logged several hundred miles walking, but we experienced and explored all the magic we wanted to. We ate lunch at The Three Broomsticks, had butterbeer in line for the ride in Hogwarts castle, perused all the wizard shops, jumped through the brick wall onto Platform 9 3/4, rode the train back and forth between Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.

We crashed back at the hotel around 5:00 and spent the rest of the evening chilling in bed watching TV. Saturday we started over again, but spent a little more time riding some of the other rides Universal has to offer. I loved the Transformers ride, too! After eating lunch at The Leaky Cauldron,we took a mid-afternoon break and went back to the hotel for a nap. We headed back to the park around 5:00 and tried to get in as much as we could before it closed at 9:00. However, we failed to realize there was a Mardi Gras parade scheduled so at one point, I felt like we might be in New Orleans. We were shoulder to shoulder with people, pressing through, trying to move. Not necessarily my idea of fun. But we got through to open space and made it on to a couple more rides while a concert was starting up {Jessie J? I had no idea who that was, but my knowledgeable college freshman sister filled me in!}. We ended up at Hard Rock cafe for dinner. It was crowded--it was Valentine's night--and took awhile but the crowds and people were entertaining to say the least. We got back to the hotel close to midnight!

Sunday, we got up and hit the park for a couple more rides and souvenirs before heading back home. It was such a fun trip and a sweet experience to share with my sister. I can't wait to take my kiddos back for a weekend there. It will be awhile though, because they have to read all the books first. And they're not old enough to read them yet:). Thanks Maddie, for a wonderful dream come true!!

An Unforgetable Weekend

We had the best time in Atlanta this past weekend. For Christmas this past year, Mom got the kids (& their parents:) tickets to see Wild Kratts Live in Atlanta. Two brothers, Chris and Martin Kratt, have a TV show on PBS called Wild Kratts. My kids have enjoyed watching the show over the past few years. We planned to arrive late Friday night, visit the Fernbank Museum on Saturday, see the live show Saturday night, and finish with a Sunday trip to IKEA before heading home.

We got off a little later than we anticipated Friday night {we've started renovating the boys bathroom--another post in itself?!}, so it was close to 10:00 when we finally got to the hotel. Mom was already there and checked into our room. We breezed in and went straight to the elevator. Our family of five was in the elevator and another man got on with us. We start going up and Steven says:

"Do y'all not know who this is?"

We stare blankly for a few seconds before we realize we are IN THE ELEVATOR WITH CHRIS KRATT!!!! After totally losing our cool and telling him he was the reason we were in Atlanta, Grady immediately asks him a question about why deer come to the sides of roads at night. He was so nice and gracious and sounded exactly like he does on TV. We got off on the same floor and started walking away and I said, "Steven, we've got to ask for a picture!" Don't think I didn't watch to see what room he went in, because I did:).

The show Saturday night: it was hilariously entertaining

We even saw him down at breakfast Sunday morning. He and his son, who is around 5 I think, sat at the table next to us. We told him how much we enjoyed the show and chatted with him a bit. The kids played around the atrium with his son. It was so cool and so neat that we got to meet him. I'm an even bigger Wild Kratts fan now!

Saturday morning at the Fernbank Museum

Mostly about donuts

The girls have started laying again after taking some time off to molt and deal with the shorter days. But Thursday! Oh happy Thursday, I found a beautiful egg in the nest box. And another on Saturday. So I'm hopeful we are heading back in to full egg production. We got three 4 week old chicks last March and it has been such a fun experience. But after some time {and beautiful tail feathers and crowing!}, we realized we actually got 2 hens and 1 rooster. We did a quick exchange with our farmer friends where we originally got the chicks from and now we have Applejack, Hazelnut and Penny. They lay blueish-green eggs and tan eggs.

We recently watched a few episodes of a show called "Donut Showdown" on the cooking channel.  So Friday night, we thought we would try to make donuts:). For our first attempt, we took the shortcut and opted to make them out of pre-made buttermilk biscuit dough. Reese and I were on frying duty, while Steven, Elle and Grady made the two glazes: original and chocolate.

Steven garnished a few with some banana slices.  Sometimes a good presentation helps. In this case, it didn't. Reese bit in to the chocolate and was like, "Ehhh, I don't like this." And then the rest of us tried it and had a similar reaction. They were fun to try and we learned some things about glazed fried biscuits--they are not donuts. Now that we have some experience under our belts, we just may be ready to tackle real yeast donuts!

Please notice the chocolate donuts still on their plates.

Saturday we went to the beach for the day to look at some beach places with Mom. She is looking for her retirement home and we gladly helped her look for it! After raining all day Friday, the sun did come out and it was a gorgeous, though windy, day. We got to eat lunch at The Donut Hole and  have some real donuts. I can attest there were no issues with their chocolate glaze. I love eating here when we are at the beach.

 

In other news, Elle went to the orthodontist for another consult this past week. And she is scheduled to get a first "phase" of braces on February 25th! She is both excited and nervous. Which is exactly how I feel about the bill. Kidding.... Elle also begins communicants class at church tonight. AND, we start renovation on the boys' bathroom this week!!