Happy 5th Birthday, George

We had the most perfect day.

We bought George three gifts. A pair of shorts, a pirate hoodie and the third Harry Potter book. Nana and Baba bought him a hula hoop, which he claims is the best gift ever.



He celebrated with his two best buddies.



And for the cake, I put six ramekins of colored cake batter in pans.





And, presto. RAINBOW CAKE!



Happy birthday to our favorite five year old!

We've Been Busy... Very Busy

Tonight I called Clay's dad just to hear his sweet voice. First he accused me of wanting something and then berated me for not posting anything on my blog in the last 11 days. I've been busy! Very, very busy.

Here is proof.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our favorite Irish friends.



We built a vertical potato box in our front yard with our good friend Jack.



We had one of our many garages removed. We previously had garage space for 5 cars, and we park on the street. Don't fret, we still have three spaces left, just in case.



The weather peaked above 50, so the P'kini made another appearance. She even insisted on wearing it to the coffee shop on 15th.



We made George wear Swiffer pads on his feet and "skate" around our house.



We went on a ferry boat ride to San Juan Island. Goldie was very disappointed to discover that actual fairies didn't drive the boat.



We attended a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride.



During the reception we were surprised to suddenly see acrobats tumbling across the room.



Oh, and Car seats? Nah. We decided to do away with those and just let George feel the wind in his hair like we did when we were kids.



And we picnicked in our backyard and ate the world's best turkey burgers. Seriously.

Here's Clay's talking to his dad, the one I called to say hello to because it seemed like he should be outside with us and our very good meal. So, THAT's why I haven't posted in 11 days.




And don't forget our lovely day in Tacoma.

Pizza Rolls

After taking a bread making class, Goldie and I tried out our new skills and made pizza rolls for dinner. (Don't I have some cute friends?)

Here are the highlights and a recipe so you can try it at home.

Step one
Occupy your other children so you can concentrate.



Add 3/4 cup warm water and 2 teaspoons yeast to mixer.



Have your assistant add 2/3 c. yogurt, 3 T. honey, 4 T. oil and 1 c. hot tap water in a dish and mix with vigor



Dump the yogurt mixture and 6 c. whole wheat flour in mixer.
Don't add everything at once or you'll create a big mess and your husband will get very mad at you. Alternate adding the ingredients.

Let it mix for 20 minutes. I know. Long time. Now cover it and put it someplace warm.


After it rises, punch it down and let it rise until you can poke it and still see the hole. It should look like your belly in month 5 of pregnancy. (I should have removed Goldie's apple for the photo.)


Let it rise again, 35-60 minutes. Take your hunk of dough and cut it into two hunks. Roll one flat, as if you were making cinnamon rolls. The other can be baked in a loaf pan. Slash the top and brush with butter. Yummy.


Spread pizza sauce, chopped veggies and cheese and roll up. Then, slice and put on a baking tray. I added a sprinkle of extra cheese 'cause I'm like that.



Bake both in oven at 350 until brown.


This recipes makes one loaf of bread and one batch of pizza rolls. Two for the price of one! You can thank me later.

If you want the recipe in a better format, just let me know!

Why I'm Getting an iPad

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

The Truth

I love making fun of Clay.

And I love it even more when others make fun of him for me.

Last night we had dinner with our dear friends Margot and Anthony. Clay offered to help Margot and she had the following comment.

"You are more decorative than functional."

That's my Clay. More decrative than functional.

How many is too many?

Clay: Did you forget about the refrigerator we have downstairs?
Me: No, why?
Clay: Do you know how many sticks of butter we have in this house?
Me: 18?
Clay: No, 96.