Spring Break Updates

The week went faster than we thought it would, though sometimes it seemed to be creeping by. That's the way it goes, right? The kids spent a lot of time playing with friends -- thank goodness the weather has been gorgeous.

Sidney had Jessica over for a sleepover. Cody's friends were busy with family in for the week, so in lieu of a sleepover for him, we let him choose an "outing." He picked a matinée showing of How To Tame a Dragon. It was in 3-D and fan-tastic!!

One day when Sidney was bored, we decided to make homemade brownies. I promise you, they came out as good -- better, even -- than brownies from a box. And you know how good those are! Here are a couple pics of the kids:

When you don't have a bar of baker's chocolate, it's time to improvise! Three tablespoons cocoa plus one tablespoon oil for each square of chocolate the recipe calls for.

Part of homemade brownies includes melting baker's chocolate with butter. Looks good, tastes bitter!

Add sugar, flour, salt, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. The kids are getting really good at figuring out how much of each ingredient we need and measuring carefully. These brownies came out perfect!

The only way they could have been better was if we'd had scoops of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with fresh whipped cream. Yum!

On Friday, Christian had the day off. We got up early and drove to Atlanta. Rush hour traffic was mercifully light, probably a lot of people had Good Friday off. We went to the French Embassy in Buckhead and picked up Christian, Cody and Sidney's French passports. All three needed to be renewed for our upcoming trip to France in June.

After a late breakfast at Denny's, we were home by eleven. Christian and the kids went to a gardening center and bought a truckload of organic topsoil, while I stayed home and wrote a quick blog post on my professional blog.

Once they got home, some serious gardening took place!

First, we put in a new herb garden. In a couple months, we'll have thyme, rosemary, basil, chives, tarragon, and parsley.

Next, we planted various flowers in a new bed between our property and the Lowry's. That way we'll both enjoy them!

We're looking forward to the Easter weekend. Then, it's back to school with the kids, and back to more serious writing on my novel!

Hope your Easter is magical :)