St. Pat's Survived

This past weekend was our annual St. Pat's party.  We are officially outnumbered by children now with everyone who stays at our house.  It's loud, it's messy - and that's just Pollard....but the kids overall did very good and played downstairs most of the time.  I still need to put it all back together but since it's downstairs - I don't see the mess so it doesn't bother me as much.  We also had spring break that week so I got some quality time with the kids and we tried a few projects and ran a lot of errands.

Every post should start with Emma's cuteness and her great smile.  We got her picture taken so I'm waiting for those to be ready.  She is the best baby for photos in terms of getting a smile out of her.  Our photos were done and paid for in less than 15 minutes.

Emma was due for some meat in her diet so I put together a little chicken, sweet potatoes, and apples for her.

It was pretty simple and quick to put together.

You just saute the chicken a little in some butter (non salted of course) then add the apples and sweet potatoes.  The recipe says to add a chicken stock (if you ever had time to make one) but I just went with a cup of plain water.  Bring it to a boil and then let simmer for 15 minutes.  I was a little concerned that the chicken wouldn't blend well but it was just fine.  Has the same consistency of sweet potatoes, but you can smell the chicken for sure.  The apples I think really just added some more liquid to it.  Emma likes it though.  I have more to work on this weekend as our frozen stashes are running low.

So the next thing was something I saw on Pinterest that I thought would be so cute for St. Pat's.....

Basically you make shamrocks out of pretzels and coat them with melted candiquik that you have dyed green and added a peppermint flavoring too.......and I have never used Candiquik before.

So I had the girls lay out the shamrocks with the pretzels.  At this time I think it's all going well and they will turn out so cute.

And there was some pretzel eating of course too.  We actually ran out of pretzels....but little did I know I would not need them all.

So - Candiquik - if you have not used it ever before I recommend just melting one block at a time.  Once you have over cooked it, it's a done deal.  Microwaving it for even longer does not melt it.  I ended up wasting a block and a half before I finally figured it all out.

And this was our sad attempt at the shamrocks.  I used a frosting dispenser I had but didn't know the spring was broken so we had some issues controlling the Candiquik coming out.  It still tasted good though which was nice. Maybe next year we will try again.  I at least understand the Candiquik a little bit better now and would probably invest in a pastry bag as was recommended.  We had fun trying though.

Overall St. Pat's was pretty laid back.  Late nights and early mornings make for laid back parents for most of the day. 

A little bit of catch up.....

Well the Schmidt family has been busy with travel and spring break.  Mostly me traveling and getting to spend time with the kiddos for spring break.  We did actually get quite a bit done during spring break despite being outnumbered 3 to 1 and still needing to do homework for my class.

Emma has discovered her activity table and as you can see has a lot of help with learning to stand.
She is still only crawling backwards but is very effective at it at least.  We hope she shifts into first gear and starts going forwards soon.

We survived another St. Pat's with minimal sleep and minimal damages so that is good.  More photos to come on that later......

Snow Day(s)!

The second snow storm has arrived - and may or may not be done.  I couldn't tell you, our cable is out and the wireless we mooch from our neighbors is sketchy at best (so I'm typing really fast).  Plus the power surges from the heavy snow that is taking out power lines throughout town are not helping.  I'm hoping we keep our heat!  My DC is actually closed due to the snow and ice that we have gotten and it's me plus 3 as Tim is planning to escape from to work once we dig out.

So here are a couple of photos from the first snow day.

Abigail and Megan after multiple snow angels and snow ball fights

Getting the sled working.  Had to make a path for it.

The Bovee family came out on Sunday since we had a little more snow than them and Betsy, BJ, Abby, Megan, and Theo made a nice snow family and did some sledding.  They went out to the farm and also did some 4-wheeling and tractor rides.  Owen, Emma, and I stayed home to nap, play, and cook.

Theo and Megan were the dedicated ones.  Theo REALLY likes to eat snow.  Megan was making snow babies, they are her favorite.

No photos from the snow day today as all we have done is shoveled.

Thank goodness, the cable just came back on.....

The Megan Celebration

Birthdays never seem to be a one day event with our family - they are more like a 4 day extravaganza with multiple celebrations, at least 3 cakes, and lots of FUN.

After their 3rd birthday I do not throw any organized parties anymore.  Just my decision and they are handling it.  So Megan got to pick a friend to have over for a sleepover on Saturday night.  She chose "Emma my best friend."

In addition to going out to eat for pizza at Shakespears and playing at Bonker's we did some crafts and made friendship bracelets.  The girls were all good at church and at brunch so the crafts were an extra special treat.

The girls had a good time with it - and I probably only have about 15 beads on the floor that rolled away that I can't find.

Emma feeding Emma - we thought that was a little funny.
Unfortunately we had to return "Emma my best friend" on Sunday.  Everyone wanted to keep playing but naps were very much in order.  After sleepovers, everyone is tired, including the parents!

Then the actual birthday day was upon us.

The distribution of cupcakes for preschool and daycare.  Hello Kitty was our choice this time.

Then there were finally presents after dinner at Lone Star (Megan's choice because she likes the "rollies").  Belle, Minnie Mouse, and Tinkerbell items were all in the mix.  There was a happy 4 year old who didn't want to go to bed.

Just chewing on a plate (that should be in the kitchen downstairs) watching Megan open presents.

Frank trying to be sneaky and get a bottle in.  Emma was too distracted by all the activity so he eventually had to pick her up.

Megan had a wonderful day and didn't want to go to bed since we had to open all of her toys.  Finally at 9:30 we booted them both to bed.  She received some wonderful gifts and cards and is going to start working on her thank you cards tonight......after she picks up her toys.

Happy Birthday Megan

Four years ago our family of 3 became Schmidt, party of 4.
Megan Rae joined us, looking much like her sister.....

Then the spiky bleach blonde hair came in, her need for her "paci", and many new things for us to adjust to that we didn't get with the first.  To say Megan keeps us on our toes is an understatement.  She is fearless in almost all aspects - and we have to keep an eye on her.  She will be that sneaky middle child - but we love her all the more for it.  She is still one of my best snugglers.

All she wanted for her birthday (and has for the last year) is this polka dot ice cream cake purse.  We celebrated a little early on the weekend (and will again tonight).  Of course, she didn't like the cake, she's not my sweet tooth kid.

She also keeps us entertained with her "Meganisms" - and this morning her quote was:
"Mom, yesterday I was so tired of being 3, it's a good thing I am 4 today."
She just tells it like it is.

Happy Birthday Meggers!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day from the Schmidt girls.

This was my morning photo from Tim as I am traveling for work.  Miss these girls!!

Emma's first Valentines Day.

Avocad-No

Avocados were my next attempt at baby food for Emma.  Something fresh you could just smush up sounded like a good plan to me.

We only bought 2 of them and I only cut one open not knowing how Emma would appreciate them.  She didn't like bananas so I was anticipating some issues.  So I removed the seed and scraped out the goods and smushed it up in a bowl.

It wasn't that smooth so I put it in the Magic Bullet and added some water/formula to smooth it out and it looked better.

Survey:
Emma:  Took about 3-4 bites and wasn't sure, then wouldn't eat any more
Megan:  NOOOOO!
Abby: Can we plant the seed?
Tim:  I think we should give the other one away.
Ann:  I'm glad we only bought two.

But we tried it and that is the point of it.
Anyone want an extra avocado??