A Royal Tea Party

Peyton has been looking forward to today since yesterday.

What can I say? A two-year-old's world is small. :)

Anyway - we arranged to have our satellite reconnected at midnight so that we could get up and watch the wedding at 3:30 this morning. For all the cynics: it's history. The Royals are history - which has always fascinated Kurt and I - so it was worth it. :)

Last night, I made the Devonshire cream, and Kurt made the scones. Smoked up the whole house and had a little adventure trying to keep the smoke detector from waking up our kids - but that's another story. :)

The scones with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam! I was texting Jessica in Ontario who checked to see if I really got up as planned. :)

This morning, Kurt was the first one to get up - and had a little MI when the satellite wasn't connected yet - but the advantage of it being 3:30 am was that it was super-easy to get through to Shaw - and he had it hooked up by 3:45.

He and I watched Kate arrive, marveled at her super-classy dress (okay, more me than him - but he did say, "Yeah. That's a pretty nice dress, I guess.") and watched her walk down the aisle before Tenley made noise. She joined us for the actual service. :)

Playing with Daddy's face because she was bored waiting for the balcony kiss.

My Royal wedding watchers! :)

Anyway, Peyton woke up just after the kiss - but there were enough replays going around that she got to eat her scone and drink her tea (special for this morning) and watch the "pincess" get married.

Picnic: complete with tea and scones!

It obviously impacted her, too. 'Cause later she was crowning Tenley with a teething ring and announcing, "Oh Pincess Tenley - you look bee-u-tiful!"

I - for one- enjoyed the reading of scripture and the music (thought of you, Julie C.!!!) and seeing a young couple not greeted with overwhelming cynicism was a treat. They both exuded class and elegance - so different from Hollywood. To quote Kurt, "Kate Middleton is no Paris Hilton." Understatement, anyone? (lol)

It really is important to me to take joy the happiness of others. "Rejoicing with those who rejoice" is something scripture commands us to do. Heaven knows there's plenty to weep about on a regular basis. Especially lately. But having experienced people willing to do both - weep and rejoice - for our family - it feels good to wish a new family all the best. :)

So there you go! Fun times in the Manz house - even it was ridiculously early! :)

She Bakes!

Some kind of strange phenomenon has taken over our house. It's one of those "wha...???" kind of things - where no such occurrence has ever happened.

I've started to bake.

Toffee. Cookies. Popcorn variations. Cakes. Muffins.

And - here's the truly strange part - they've been turning out. Ridiculously good stuff.

other then the batch of one dozen chocolate chip banana muffins that may
*cough*.... (waving hands dismissively)...
... have been made with salt instead of sugar ...

What was that? My conscience demanding truthful transparency?
Pshaw.

Moving on!

Previously, if Kurt wanted something of a baked-nature, he kinda had to pull out the ingredients and go for it. I watched cautiously from the sidelines - lest by my simply entry to the kitchen I should cause something to burn.

I think the door opener was the toffee. For those of you who check my links at the side, I've been liberated by the "Girl Who Ate Everything" blog. When I saw the title "saltine cracker toffee" I thought to myself, "I love toffee. What the heck. I'll go look at the recipe."

And when I looked at it, I thought, "Wow. That looks easy. Foolproof, even. What the heck. I'll see if I have all the ingredients."

With all the ingredients located, the children appropriately distracted or napping, and Kurt on the phone in the other room so as not to discourage my crazy thinking with a "YOU'RE going to bake???" comment, I found I was - indeed - baking. And you know what, folks? It was freakin' delicious toffee.

What the heck???

Last night, I was waiting for Kurt to get home and was almost falling asleep on the couch. To show how truly radical this shift has been, I'll illustrate my thought process while my eyes were closing:

"Geez. I'm sleepy. I should make some cookies to stay awake."

Augh! The insanity!
It's even infringing on my subconscious!

When Kurt came in, he said something along the lines of "total silence" which was - as it appears - a big dramatic nothing.
I didn't even know he was in the kitchen until I turned around and saw him standing there with his jaw slack.

(Okay, okay. That was an exaggeration, I guess. :)
But he was shocked enough to say, "What are you doing?" even though I think it should have been somewhat obvious what with the bowl, hand-mixer and the evidence of chocolate chip cookie dough around my lips...)

To his credit, he didn't say a whole lot more after that. Even though it would not have shocked me to hear to hear:
"Where was this woman the first 8 years of marriage??"
or
"I like my new wife!"
or
(gently and with concern) "Do you think you could be having hormone issues, honey?"

I think he should just sit back and enjoy this phase. Yes. Phase. Cause I really can't see myself keeping this up. Baking is expensive and time consuming. Oh - and not to mention it completely flies in the face of that whole treadmill thing I'm trying to maintain.

And it's stressful, people! Fold this, beat that, cream slowly for an exact amount of time... use baking soda not powder, poke things with toothpicks, let it sit, take it out right away! Yada, yada, yada. Baking is so bossy and exact.

It's crazy. And I'm crazy to attempt it!
(taking a deep breath, and a mental step back from pre-bake-master Kendall's angst...)

Sigh.
All that being said, though: seeing Kurt's eyes close in satisfaction as he slowly chews one of my chocolate chip cookies - and hearing him say, "Wow. These are the best cookies I've ever had." is pretty gratifying.

So I guess - for now - I'll just go with it. :)

The Kids Are Napping...

We're slowly recovering from my bout with a true flu these past 2 weeks. It started with aches and pains, and progressed through the entire respiratory tract. Kurt and the girls all got sick to - but I'd like to think I cleared the path through the rough stuff 'cause none of them got as sick as me.
--
Kurt and I have a new nephew as of this morning: welcome to Kempton Gordon! :)
--
I cannot believe it's been a month since we came home from Arizona. At least the 6-foot drifts are gone...
--
We ditched all television in favor of Netflicks. So far, so good. And who can doubt the total value of unlimited movies and various documentaries and tv shows for only $7.99 a month? Really. Who??
--
Did I mention that Peyton is going to be a flower-girl for Cody and Ashley in July? Picked up the pattern (just before I got the flu) and have arranged for a lady in town to make it. Hope it all works out - all of a sudden we only have a few months left!
--
C'mon summer - we're ready for you!!!

The Sound of Silence

My mom sent me a text me this morning with the news that the music player on my blog was no longer working due to licensing restrictions in Canada

When I checked it out - I was even more sad than I thought I would be to see the player refuse to load up.

I added that play list very shortly after Autumn died. The songs I chose to put on there reflected my heart - my grief and struggles to believe that my God was sovereign and loving in the midst of tragedy. In fact, the initial songs were the ones we played at Autumn's funeral before and after the service. Each song has always been purposefully added - each has meaning to my life as the last 3-and-a-half years have gone by.

I've often - over the years - simply tuned to my own blog site and let the music play while I go on other websites, walk on the treadmill, scrapbook or talk on the phone. And the funny thing is that I'm not the only one who has done that. Many of you have let me know what a blessing you've found it to be in the seasons of your life. While I'm well-aware that many people will pause the music player to read - enough of you have let me know how God has spoken to your heart to encourage me to keep it up.

It really has been the reflection of my heart: and I'm genuinely sad to see it 'gone'. If you read this blog from the States, you'll have to let me know if the music still plays. If not, I'll take down the player until I find another Canadian-available option to add to the blog.

Thanks Lord, for the time it was there.

You Know Spring Has Arrived When...

Evening walks resume (even while I have a horrible cold! :-P)