This morning Lilly had a check-up with the doctor to see if she’s still gaining weight like she should.  So here is her report:

On her last visit Lilly weighed just over 10 pounds and was in the 25th percentile.

Today Lilly weighed in at just over 13 pounds, and she has moved up to the 50th percentile.  The doctor commented, “It doesn’t get more normal than that.”  :-)  I was so pleased with her good report!

What a relief to have good news from the doctor and to go away with a smile in my heart.

Thursday is piano-lesson day. Piano is one of the only educational things that we pay for, so I take it very seriously.

Today as I was sitting with Laura and Amelia at their lessons, I decided to snap a photo of Amelia playing a duet with her teacher. They were both so intent on the piece, and neither of them even blinked when I took the photo.

I love seeing my daughters develop their piano skills. It’s my dream to have each of our children taking music lessons, so this is a good place to start.

Recently we got a silicone cupcake pan in the shape of a car. Once the pieces are cooked and removed and arranged back together, they are in the shape of a car.

Last night I made another variation of a carrot cake recipe I’m trying to perfect, and Luke convinced me to try the new pan. It was fun to scoop the muffin batter into the various spots.

This morning Isaac helped me make a frosting experiment, and we assembled the cupcake pieces and frosted them. Of course, it doesn’t look exactly like the picture that came with the mold, but we were pretty tickled with our car-rot cake breakfast.

I was most impressed with my frosting experiment, so I’ll share it with you here:

1 stick butter

1 package cream cheese (8 oz.)

2 cups powdered sugar

a splash of vanilla (1-2 tsp.)

Cream the butter and cream cheese until the child running the mixer interrupts your daydream with the question, “How long does this need to mix?”

Add a cup of the powdered sugar, incorporate thoroughly, then add the second cup of powdered sugar. Once that’s mixed in a little, splash in the vanilla, and again let the child running the mixer have a grand old time chasing the frosting around with the beaters.

What you’ll have in the end is a fluffy mixture that is very smooth and easy to spread and that is not so sweet that it overpowers your carrot cake.

Update: The cream-cheese-butter icing stays spreadable even when it’s kept in the fridge. Now the challenge is to not eat it by the spoonful when the children aren’t looking.

I remember when Laura was six years old and had a baby sister. Now I’m seeing many of these same things again as Amelia is six years old and has a baby sister.

Lilly is at a perfect age for her siblings to get a good response from her. She gives them huge smiles and doesn’t argue with them about much of anything.

Our three birds haven’t ever complained about their lodging arrangements. They have seemed very happy with their little bit of real estate. However, today Laura and Isaac asked if they could make a few modifications to the bird cage. I agreed, on the condition that they would put it all back the way it was before if I didn’t like what they did. With that settled, they started creating.

I was shocked when I came into the kitchen some time later. The birds’ new lodging was amazing! It was now three cages combined using cable ties to stabilize the structure.

Often people express concern over children and birds. I suppose all animals are at risk with children, but birds are especially vulnerable since they are caged so much of the time and not able to escape their tormentors. However, in our home, the birds don’t suffer much at all. Not only are there very strict rules about how we treat animals around here, but our animals are a tad bit spoiled. The birds especially are almost always free to explore outside of their cage. They are often on someone’s shoulder or sharing someone’s shower. They are frequently offered nibbles of whatever we are having to eat, but only after the children ask me yet again, “Is this safe for the birds?”

I’m so proud of the kids for being kind to our little feathered friends. Now that the birds have triple their former space, I’m interested to see what other interesting things the children rig up for them. If nothing else, our birds are never bored! Oh, and you’ll have to notice the little walkway going from the cage to the hanging perch on the right. What next?

Happy April Fools Day!

I really wanted to do something to trick the children today, but I couldn’t think of anything that was just right. So instead, I explained to them what today was, and what sort of jokes they could try to play on each other. After I went on in great length about all the ways they could NOT play jokes, I then turned them loose to have their best shot. All day they mused over what sort of jokes they might be able to play on various people, and we also pondered what sort of terribly mean things we could do to each other if we wanted to be cruel. But by the time the day was almost spent, no one had been successfully tricked. I found it fascinating that Isaac was the most intent on wanting to play a trick. I think he’ll be ready for next year way too early for my taste.

This evening, as I was checking Isaac’s math work, I made note of several things he needed to change, and then I checked a page that was absolutely perfect! I couldn’t believe it: not one item needed any fixing. I was impressed! It was then that inspiration struck. At the bottom of the page I wrote: “This page is all wrong. You will need to re-do it. See page 19 for more information.” And then on page 19 I wrote, “April Fools! Just joking. Page 17 was perfect!” Then I called Isaac over to see what he needed to do. I showed him the first pages that needed correction, and then I turned to the final page. I pointed to my note, and he read it quietly. He immediately got defensive and asked what was wrong with it. I pointed to the direction to see the next page, and I even turned the page for him. He read the next note, and then got rather upset. I burst out laughing.

“That’s not funny!”, he said.

“Yes it is!”, I replied

Then Laura wanted to know what I was laughing about, and Isaac hollered, “Nothing!” He was rather peeved at me, but I was insistent that it was a wonderful joke.

Every time I think about it, I have to smile again. I’m hoping that eventually Isaac will smile again too.

So, what fun things did you do for April Fools Day?