You will remember from this post that we had these.

Well thanks to this industrious pair we now have blackberry jam.

Lots of jam from the Sure-Jell freezer recipe inside the box.

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Two thoughts to share from Cousin E’s 4 year celebration this past weekend. 

First, isn’t this the cutest wrapping paper ever?

My little sis made it using sheets from one of those monster size coloring books.  Love this idea. 

Second, if you’re ever stumped for a birthday party activity try letting the kiddos decorate the cake.  I have yet to find an age that doesn’t enjoy expressing themselves with frosting.

The only caveat, of course, is that you must let go of your ideas about beauty.  Kids look at cake decorating from an entirely different perspective. (Namely, how much frosting can we get on here before the grownups make us stop.)

Let me help you out.

From the time the kids are able to put on their own clothes I tend to let them pick out their own clothes (unless we are attending some super special event like a wedding or some such).  Letting kids be autonomous means that sometimes you get shoes that don’t match, stripes with polka dots or sweatshirts in 90 degree weather.  And while I occasionally catch the sympathetic “tsk, tsk” from some well meaning stranger I just smile and shrug because I like having children who think for themselves.

Do you suppose he thought they were real flowers?  Maybe Dora is just too sweet to resist (Certainly, we all think so.)  Whatever the reason, this little butterfly hung out for about ten minutes and in all that time Dora never even noticed he was there.

P.S. About the stain ~ greasy chocolate ~ finally, got it out with this.  Good stuff.

From 9-3 everyday this past week Sister’s been at horse camp.

The instructors were great. 

The facility was top notch.

The horses had the best dispositions. 

She had a blast.

Throughout the week the campers not only had a chance to ride but they also learned about all sorts of “horse-y” things (parts of horse, types of bits, names of equipment, how to groom a horse, etc.)

Today the girls put on a little show for the parents.  Besides being the youngest, Sister was the only one who hadn’t taken any lessons before camp started.  I was really proud of how hard she worked to catch up.

( I’m not that great with the video setting on my camera but you get the idea.)

Brother is addicted to Legos.  In addition to actually building with his own collection he spends time on Lego.com not only playing the games but watching the videos where the creators tell why and how they built particular sets.  He’s five but they interest him to no end.

All of this is well and good as far as creativity and engineering skills go but the Lego disaster that was his room had reached a critical mass.  He wouldn’t let anyone in for fear they would “mess something up”.  Even he would only go in to sleep or to quickly pick up a piece for play elsewhere.

This picture (where I was really trying to catch our visitor from the other night) doesn’t even begin to capture the amount of pieces on the floor and in the bed and in every available nook and cranny (including the closet).

Last night, Will made the suggestion that perhaps Brother wasn’t being obsessive as much as he was overwhelmed and trying to deal as best he could by simply spreading the Lego’s out into groups which to us seemed like a mess but to him was order.  Hmm.  I pondered this and today the room looks different.

First, I asked Brother to pick out 15 of his very favorite creations.  He immediately burst into tears.  I immediately backed off. 

Take two, I waited until Brother was absorbed in a game elsewhere; then I stealthily entered his room and began to place his best, most elaborate creations in a small box.  I took the box to him and returned to the room to stuff every remaining Lego in a large bin for storage.  I worked as quickly as possible because I knew if he caught me there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But no, he came in at one point to ask for a rock monster, which I dug out of the growing mass, and then left without a word.

Later I set up a small table and arranged the best creations on it telling him, “Now you can have all you Lego’s out at one time, k?”  His response, “This is the shiniest room ever.” followed by a sigh of relief.

It took 45 minutes for him to notice that the rest of his collection was missing and while he briefly looked for it he quickly settled in to my explanation that they “are on vacation until we can figure out a way to organize them.”

Now, he’s playing with his trains which haven’t seen the light of day in many moons.

Amazing.

I am of the opinion that truly great recipes are delicious, easy to make and have a cup of sugar in the ingredient list.

My proof?

Aunt Linda’s Lemonade - In a 2 quart pitcher add 1 cup sugar and 2/3 cup “Real Lemon” lemon juice then fill to the 2 quart mark with water.

A cool glass of Sweet Tea – Add 1 cup sugar and tea bags to tea pitcher.  Pour in hot water and allow to steep. Remove tea bags.

and this:

Blackberry Cobbler (click through for a mouthwatering picture)

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blackberries (do not use blueberries)

1 cup sugar

1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

Cream, whipped cream or ice cream, if desired

1. In medium bowl, stir together blackberries and sugar. Let stand about 20 minutes or until fruit syrup forms. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. In large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Stir in melted butter until blended. Spread in ungreased 8-inch square pan. Spoon blackberry mixture over batter.

3. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until dough rises and is golden. Serve warm with cream.

I dare you to disagree with me.

Brother:  I can’t eat the rest of my ice cream.

Me:  Give it to the cats, then.  They’ll like it.

Sister:  NO!  Don’t give it to the cats.  It will make them sick.

   Discussion ensues on cat health and cream during which Brother sits his remaining ice cream outside.  Just as Sister is about to make her final point ….

Brother:  Look!  They’re eating it and they’re not dying.

Case Closed.

Tonight I asked Brother to go get in his pajamas and moments later he emerged from his room with this to share.

“Mom.  There. is. a. bird. in. my. room.”

He’s been telling knock-knock jokes all day and I think that he’s stepped up his joking to include trickery … anything to postpone bedtime, right?

Wrong.

It was a real bird and it was really in his room.  (Later we determined it must have entered through the entrance to the attic which was slightly ajar.) Much excitement followed but in the end Dad was able to open the window and the bird flew out unharmed.

Sister’s comment?

“Maybe tomorrow I can have a bird in my room.”

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On Thursday our local homeschool group met for blackberry picking.  We did not go with them.  We tried but Little Miss Wake-Up-Every-Hour-Of-The-Night made for a grumpy and not very together Mom Thursday morning.  Also, Dad works from home on Thursdays and tends to make breakfast for everyone to eat … together.  He cooks an awesome meandering sort of breakfast that’s great for drinking coffee and having conversation ~not so great for getting three kids out of the house.  Sometime around 8:30 we realized that berry picking needed to be taken off the day’s agenda but that was okay because just talking about it made Dad jealous of all the fun we were going to have and consequently we planned our own family outing for Saturday.

We loaded up a little after 8 and headed to a nearby doughnut shop for nourishment.  What? You don’t consider doughnuts nourishing?  Anyway, we arrived at the blackberry farm high on sugar and ready to pick.