Kids

S’More Trouble in the Kitchen

May 17, 2013 · 4 comments

in Bad Things, Baking, Birthdays (everyone else's), Craziness (hildie's), I'm Not So Great, Kids, Recipes, Why Hildie's tired, Yum

Arabella loves to read my cookbooks and pick out things for me to make. My kids are all sugar addicts like their mother so her recipes are usually in the dessert category. A couple of weeks ago she picked out this beauty from my Cooks Country magazine that she wanted me to make as her birthday cake; it’s a S’mores Ice Cream Pie:

I seriously love s’mores.  Not the biggest fan of ice cream, but it was a hot day yesterday, so I was OK with it. Birthdays are always a huge deal around our house and require a massive amount of work: make the requested breakfast, take the child lunch at school, make a birthday cake, make the requested dinner (or hope they want dinner out) and usually buy/wrap a bunch of presents.

I figured an ice cream cake means no baking or icing so it would be a lot less work. Uuuuggggh. This dessert was so much trouble! The graham cracker crust needs to be baked, so the oven does have to be turned on. Then there is a layer where chocolate is melted and combined with heavy cream and corn syrup. But because I was making this when the babies were walking in the door from school I forgot everything but the chocolate which, when frozen, became hard as a sheet of metal. Then a layer of marshamallow fluff was spread over that. Do you know what a pain it is to spread marshamllow fluff? A horrendous pain, not to mention incredible messy and sticky. It tasted super yum, though, so everyone ate their ice cream off the top and then held the crust like a sloppy chcolatey cookie to eat at the end.

Also, when the pie is ready to serve, the ice cream is covered with marshmallows and broiled quickly to brown them. It was a delicious step and one that really made the dessert taste like s’mores. Unfortunately it also made the pie start to melt and by the time the graham crackers were affixed to the outside and candles were lit, the whole thing was melting like crazy. I ended up throwing the dripping pie onto the table and screaming at everyone to hurry up and sing, for Pete’s sake the stupid dessert is getting chocolate everywhere.

So if you have all day with nothing going on and really feel like undertaking an arduous task (and you like s’mores a lot), this might be a good dessert to try. Also, make sure that there are a lot of people who will eat this instantly because an ice cream dessert in a springform pan with the sides removed is probably not the best idea. It was super delicious, though. I mean, it tasted really good and was very smore-y.

Arabella was extremely happy with this, even though I put the leftover pie in the freezer, slammed the door and yelled, “I hate everything!”  (good thing Arabella had scurried off to look at her presents). Not my finest cooking moment but the birthday girl felt loved and that’s the whole point.

 

 

 

 

 

Arabella, The Birthday Princess

May 16, 2013 · 4 comments

in Birthdays (everyone else's), Kids

Today child #4 (otherwise known as Arabella Claire) turns twelve. She is such a delight. She, of course, has those lovely teenage years ahead of her but today she is just a pleasure to have around. Well, 98% of the time. The other 2% she is fighting with Ada. So far I am mystified why all these cultures in the world value sons. My girls give me hardly any trouble, they get straight A’s, and they’re way funner to go shopping with. Someone please explain.

Arabella used to like to be called Bella until there were a million Isabellas who decided to use that nickname too. Now she Arabella all the time. She is distinct in the family as having the darkest eyes, the biggest dimple in her chin  (all the kids have them courtesy of Mister), and the longest leg-torso ratio (Despite being 12 and only 5’4 I have to buy her pants with a 32″ inseam). Her Love Language is touch and she is always trying to be as close to me as possible. She would probably climb back into my uterus if I let her. She is quiet, deliberate and gentle. And, lucky for us, it looks like she’ll be a stellar baker one day.

Today we will celebrate Arabella by making copious amounts of goodies. showering her with presents and treating like the princess she is (plus I have to go eat lunch with her at the Middle School, joy of joys). She has been a sweetheart since she was born and we love her for it. Happy birthday to our little Ara-boo-boo.

Adventures in Strawberries

May 15, 2013 · 3 comments

in Family, Hildie Likes, Kids, Making Stuff, Photos of Hildie, Texas, Things We've Done, Why Hildie's tired

Picking strawberries in an annual tradition in our family. It’s one of my favorite things to do not only because it makes me feel like a farmer, but I just flat out love strawberries. There’s a u-pick farm near Austin that we go to every Spring. Well, “near” meaning an hour away in a lackluster town called Marble Falls. We travel to Sweet Berry Farm to pick strawberries first thing in the morning, then head over afterwards to Peete Mesquite, a really excellent hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint (Texas has a jillion of those).

Yes, the boys picked strawberries too. But they don’t like to stick near their mom. Especially when there are pet goats nearby.

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We aim to pick about 14 lbs of berries. I’m an avid jam-maker and this will make between 25-30 jars of jam. That’s enough to last us all year.

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The kids are put to good use. Ada’s especially good at hulling strawberries.

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It takes me about a million years to chop everything up and make the jam, but eventually I get these jewels all ready to be put up in the pantry. I don’t do freezer jam for a few reasons: it’s kind of watery and I don’t care for the texture; freezer space is at a premium in my house. I can’t waste the square footage on jam!; the preparedness person in me insists on something self-stable.

 

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These jars are made by a German company called Weck. They’re a little spendier than the ho-hum jars available at the grocery store but look how crazy cute they are! I’ve had these for about eight years and I’ve totally gotten my money’s worth out of them. I do a few Mason jars too, for giving away to friends/teachers. I’m not about to part with my Weck jars! You can get Weck jars from the company website here –which is the cheapest option. (I use the 1/5 litre Deco jars. If you buy Weck jars, they work a little differently than regular canning jars. You’ll need rubber gaskets instead of flat lids and and metal clips instead of screw-on rings.I happen to think Weck jars are superior to Ball or Kerr brands. And not just because they’re European!)

 

That’s What I Get For Bottle Feeding!

May 12, 2013 · 6 comments

in Funny, Holidays, Kids, Mister

I worked until my second child was a few months old but I made sure that I only worked hours that Mister was home so we didn’t need to put the kids in daycare. One day when India was a baby I forgot to restock the formula before I went to work but I figured it wasn’t a big deal; Mister was perfectly capable of going to the store. Capable, yes; did he want to? That was another story. I got home from work that night to find baby India drinking a bottle of chocolate Slim-Fast. Pretty much the same thing as formula, right? But it could have been worse. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

 

Airhead

May 11, 2013 · 2 comments

in Bad Things, Embarrassing, Family, I'm Not So Great, Kids

This is where I park my minivan, Betsy, every day. Right here in the driveway. Yesterday afternoon I walked out to get in my car to pick up my kids from Middle School. Only, this is what greeted me. No car. Before you ask if it was stolen let me assure you that it wasn’t.

I met my friend, Anna, at the Middle School in the morning after we dropped off our kids. Anna and I go to an exercise class together most mornings and it’s better to take one car instead of two, right? After the class we played hookey from our motherly cares and saw Ironman 3 in all our sweaty, stinky glory. We were so busy talking afterwards that she drove me home and I completely forgot about my car.

Until the afternoon when I went outside and there it wasn’t. Mister’s old truck was in the driveway so I jumped in with the babies and made it over to pick up the middles in time. I drove up and found them milling around Betsy peering in the windows and trying to open the doors. They were thoroughly perplexed. “What happened? Where were you? Is the car broken?” Finn asked.

No, Finn, the only thing broken around here is my brain.

The Promenade

May 9, 2013 · 4 comments

in Church, Cute and/or Pretty, Family, Good Things, Hair, Kids, Makeup/Beauty, Nails, Other People, Why Hildie's tired

It’s been Prom time around here. We have a no-dating-til-age-16 rule which means this was the first year that York and India were both old enough to go. India went with her boyfriend, Ethan, to both the school Prom and MoPro (Mormon Prom) where there aren’t so many skanky dresses and hoochie dancing. York just went to MoPro. Boys have a really easy time as far as the Prom is concerned: we bought him a nice suit, got his haircut, picked up a corsage and voilà! He was all set. For girls it is another story entirely. First there is the dress. It’s bad enough finding a dress that is cute and affordable, but when you’re Mormon it’s supposed to be modest too, meaning no crazy cleavage and shoulders must be covered. Choices are very limited locally. (I wish there were some sort of modest Prom Dress Excahange!) One of India’s friends loaned her a really pretty navy dress that we managed to modest-ize and I think it turned out well. Now that the Prom’s over we have to unpick all the modest additions so we can return it. Good thing they were just basted on.

It’s also a good thing that I know how to do nails, hair and makeup. There were a lot of girls who didn’t even bother to put on lipstick! For the Prom! It’s a good teaching opportunity to explain the difference between daytime and nighttime makeup. Of course India’s face showed up the best in all the pictures. I don’t take my beauty responsibilities lightly! Because India went to two Proms, that meant I got to spend two Saturdays in a row getting her all ready. (Luckily I used Angel Pro nail polish–with some silver glitter on the tips–so her manicure looked just as nice the second weekend as the first.)

Mister waited for India’s date to show up.

India’s boyfriend is the nicest boy. Terribly sweet and gentlemanly. Even so I had a little chat and told him that I’d punch him in the face if he drank any alcohol. I like to make sure that we’re on the same page.  I was sort of kidding, but not really.

The Prom was pretty nice and a good time was had until things started to get crazy and everyone was grinding on the dance floor.

The next weekend was MoPro. Since York doesn’t have his driver’s license yet, India had to drive him to pick up his date, Taylor. It was like some sort of bad Brady Bunch episode. Taylor is a pretty low-key, casual girl and York likes hanging out with her so they had a fun time.

I especially love this picture because York never–and I mean never–smiles for pictures. But lookie here! What a nice smile! I knew he could do it. York is not really into looking good (I picked him up from track practice a few weeks ago and he was wearing a dark green t-shirt, orange silky basketball shorts and black knee-high dress socks. He wears this ugly stuff proudly!). Finn, who is 14, is super into his looks. He actually had to tie York’s bow tie for him, help York style his hair and loaned him a nice watch to wear. It was pretty funny to see.

All the people going to MoPro together came over to our neighborhood and took pictures before heading off to dinner. What a cute bunch of kids!

Tequila Mockingbird

May 8, 2013 · 2 comments

in Bad Things, Family, Kids

I dearly love birds. To me there is nothing more cheerful than listening to the sound of them; throw in a lovely sunny morning and a tidy house and there is nothing more delightful. Mockingbirds have one of the most beautiful songs around, particularly since it’s varied; they have a whole repertoire that they sing out–something like 20 different sounds. Jasper, in particular, loves mockingbirds. So much so that he insists that I sing the song “Mockingbird Hill” to him when I tuck him in every night.

We have a mockingbird that lives in our yard and sings his sweet little heart out all day long. He sings from the highest point in our yard which is on our chimney. You may or may not know that when a bird sits on your chimney, his song carries down into your fireplace and into your house, sounding like he’s got a big old megaphone. It is quite charming except when it goes on all day long for weeks at a time. I don’t know if he’s just not managing to get a girlfriend but the mockingbird will not shut up.

In other words this little mockingbird is driving us crazy. Finn, who is 14, came downstairs yesterday with his BB gun offering to get rid of our noisy pal. “No way,” I said, “You are not allowed to shoot the mockingbird.” He couldn’t understand why, especially since the bird has been annoying us for a while. “Because the bird is completely harmless. All he’s doing is singing.”  I replied. This conversation was starting to sound a smidge familiar.

Next thing you know, my daughter’s going to pay a black man to bust up her chifferobe.

(Click on this to hear a mockingbird singing:)

Mockingbird Singing

Blogging Every Day in May

May 1, 2013 · 2 comments

in Blogging, Kids, Serious

I have blogging for five years now and much like a marriage, the conversation starts to lag after a while. Life gets busy and things happen and blogging seems like more of chore than a joy. Also, I love posting short funny little things on Instagram that I might have posted on my blog a few years ago. You can’t really blame me, though, because Instagram is so quick and easy. (Not following me on Instagram? Shame on you! I’m @heyhildie. Follow me and I’ll follow you too. Unless all you do is post pictures of your kids or dogs. Not that I hate your kids/dogs but if I don’t know the kids/dogs, it’s not so interesting. Even if I do know your dog, I still don’t care because dogs looks the same in pretty much every picture. Kids at least can have a funny expression.)

Jenni over at Story of My Life came up with a challenge to post every day in May. Even on the weekends (I’m going to need to find an app for that). She was clever enough to include writing prompts, since everyone knows the hardest part of blogging is coming up with an idea of what to write about.

Today’s prompt is to tell you my life story in 250 words or less. I don’t even know how long that is. About a paragraph? Oh, look! There’s a word counter right here in Word Press. Fancy! So here we go: Day 1 of the Every Day in May.

I was born and raised around Detroit, Michigan. It’s a grimy place and I never liked it. I have one younger sister and one younger brother. My sister was my worst enemy growing up but now she’s my best friend. We talk most days. My mother is pretty weird and eccentric and I think a lot of who I am is both because of and despite her. That’s true of most mothers, though. But my mom is particularly bold and strange.

I am pretty smart and have always been proud of that. Sadly I am also lazy. I always had terrible grades because really, who cares? Now that I’m grown up I realize I was spot on. Grades have nothing to do with anything when you’re a grown up. Confidence is about a million times more important but you can’t teach that in school. Good thing I’m confident too. I went to college and majored in Art History and Geography. I met my husband when I was 19 and we got married when I was 21. I was a tiny child and had no business getting married so young, but it’s worked out pretty well. We celebrate our 21st anniversary next month. That’s as long as my parents had been married when they split up.

I graduated from college when I was enormously pregnant with my first child, India. I adore being a mother which surprised everyone because I was a pretty mean person growing up. But you know how it is when you have kids: your heart cracks open and love floods your soul. I ended up being pretty decent at motherhood and decided to make the world a super awesome place by having lots of offspring. There were many complications along the way but I finally ended up with three boys and three girls.

Now everyone is in school all day and let me tell you, it’s the best. If you’ve got toddlers just keep going. You’ll get there and it will be wonderful. I spend my days now doing I don’t know what. Lots of church stuff and service. Guess I wasn’t really a mean person after all. I still try to learn things all the time. Grades may not be important but nobody likes a dummy.

 

Hey, that was way more that 250 words! Easy peasy! If you feel like perking up your blog, join in the Blog Every Day in May challenge. Even if you get a late start, just do it!

 




Baptism Girl

April 16, 2013 · 6 comments

in Birthdays (everyone else's), Church, Family, Good Things, Kids, Mister, Serious, Why Hildie's tired

Adelaide Amelia Clementine turned eight last week.

Turning eight is not just any birthday if you’re Mormon. That’s when we get baptized. Mormons believe that babies and children automatically go to Heaven if they die, so baptism isn’t a requirement until kids are old enough to really understand the difference between right and wrong. Which we have interpreted to be eight years old. So although Ada’s birthday was a big deal, it was the baptism that took center stage. All the grandparents flew into town, which was nice. I don’t think we’ve ever had that happen before here in Texas.

Ada was the only person in the ward turning eight this month so we asked if the baptism could be held when it worked out schedule-wise for all the relatives. Which turned out to be on Ada’s actual birthday. It seemed a charming idea for the baptism to be held on her birthday but let me tell you, NOT the best idea.

Baptism traditions differ from place to place but here we have the baptism which is followed by cookies and punch. Since the baptism isn’t part of church, not as many people come. We had about 60 people which is a pretty good turnout. Being a snobby baker I made all the cookies myself. All 250 of them. Interspersed with cookie making I had to make a birthday cake and a birthday breakfast. Mister made the birthday lunch, so that was one less thing for me to worry about. Then we had to do presents.

Basically by Sunday evening I was bone-tired.

I had been planning all along on making Ada’s baptism dress. After doing hours and hours of research, however, I just couldn’t find a dress/pattern/fabric that I liked better than the dupioni silk dresses I’d made for India and Arabella. While most Mormon girls wear a white dress for their baptisms, that’s nothing more than a tradition. Our family likes to be just a smidge different. Heaven knows it would have been a jillion times easier to find a white dress with Communion season upon us. Pretty white dresses are a dime a dozen. But that’s not how we roll, so I talked Ada into wearing India’s old dress. (It wasn’t hard. I just said, “Doesn’t this blue dress match your eyes perfectly?” And Ada was all over it. She’s very proud of her blue eyes.) The hem had to be let out a bit since India had been so shrimpy, but it worked out perfectly in the end.

Here’s the silly thing about the dress: the girl doesn’t actually get baptized in it. Since we do what Jesus did, that means actual immersion under water. Dresses usually float to the top of the water so years ago the church switched to providing white jumpsuits for the baptizees. The dress (or suit if it’s a boy) is worn to the baptism and changed into immediately after the baptism itself for the rest of the event. It’s not like they’re expected to walk around in some soaking wet thing all day.

The service was just lovely. Mister performed the baptism and the confirmation afterwards where the gift is given of having the Holy Ghost as a constant comapanion. There was an awkward moment during the talk about baptism that my mother was giving where I halfway expected her to start talking about the birds and the bees, but other than that it was perfect. Mister and I tried to get a few pictures with the birthday girl but after only one my iphone decided it had had enough. So here is our one memento that Mister and I were both at our sweet Adelaide’s baptism.

 

 

Girls in Blue Dresses with White Satin Sashes

April 4, 2013 · 8 comments

in Cute and/or Pretty, Family, Good Things, Kids, Texas

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OK, so it’s only one girl. And it’s not exactly the dress Maria von Trapp was enivisioning. But here is sweet little Ada amongst the bluebonnets. She turns eight on Sunday and this is the dress she’ll wear to the baptism (not during the actual baptism because it’s blue and she has to wear white during the baptism itself. It’s also silk and the water would ruin it).

Now that I think about it this is a really braggy picture. Look at my beautiful daughter in her beautiful dress! Look at this lovely scenery! Isn’t Texas the best? Aren’t you super impressed that there’s a horse in the picture?

The horse isn’t ours, neither are the bluebonnets (thanks for letting us come out to your Ranch, Lisa!) I did make the dress–true–but I made it for India’s baptism and so that makes it a hand-me-down more than an heirloom. (I got Ada to wear it by telling her it matched her eyes.)

There’s a lot of weirdness surrounding posts and pictures on blogs/facebook/instagram. It’s hard to tell where information turns into bragging which turns into obnoxiousness. This is what I’m discussing over at Segullah today. Come and give me your 2¢!

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