I perfected it.

my brother's chocolate waffle recipe. He shared it with me 20 years ago and I think I have perfected it.

It was just the last little bit of waffle batter. And really, it's not chocolate (the picture doesn't show exactly how brown it was), but I burnt it. And yes, that's what my brother's recipe is. I was visiting his home 20 years ago and he had burnt one. He offered it to me as a chocolate waffle and I said it was burnt. Then his wife agreed that it was chocolate so I took a bite, because there were two witnesses. So much for that - it was really burnt! It was funny and my kids and I still laugh about it now. Especially when I do the same thing!

What is he doing?

Ben finished school and went outside for some free time and to take care of the chickens. I'm not exactly sure what he was doing but he ended up in the field behind our house. I watched him for a little while and then decided I needed to capture the moment. He was just out there, alone, doing his own thing with his own imagination. I was just glad he could enjoy some time outside in the wonderful weather.

Playing at the park

The girls all worked really hard to get their school done before I left for a doctor's appointment (which was at 11, so I had to leave just after 10 to drop off the little ones at a friend's house). They all wanted to go to the friend's house so they focused and got everything done. They had a great time at my friend's house and after lunch, we decided to go to a park to play. Another benefit of having school done early. It was a very nice day,so they had a great time. I just enjoyed taking pictures of them playing and catching Camdilyn at the bottom of the slide.

Domonique was really nervous about some of the things at the park. She would start but then want to back out. I kept pushing/supporting her to get her to over come her fear. She was successful and would then go back to do it on her own. She did great!

Harmonie is fearless and tried most anything. She's a lot like Xiomara. They are certainly full charge sort of girls.

Camdilyn ended up liking the steps the most. She would climb up and then down and then up and then down again.

Eating out.

This is how we eat out. They all enjoyed it and had a great time. It was hamburgers and we had all the fixens set out as well. It was another warm evening so it was really pretty perfect.

Dandelion Dilemma

I love watching the joy of exploration.

I love seeing her excitement.

I love her little face.

I love that she wanted to share it with me.

I love that she wanted to do it again and again.

I hate that all those wonderful fluffs are seeds.

I hate that they drift back to my yard.

I hate that they will grow into new weeds.

I hate that I want to stop her from blowing any of them.