Briam's Family Blog

Every generation has its little differences.... Ok... maybe they have a lot of differences... but I guess from time to time they find some common ground...

Here is Sophia and Cousin Ricky checking out his tunz collection.  Chillin in the mini cuz his peeps aint got wheels baby!

Look at Sophia... she is very serious about her music... no games here.

This past Sunday we went to Matthew's Graduation!  Check him out in his cap and gown..... Cap and Gown???  ....when did they start doing this before you went to Kindergarten???

Sorry for the dark pic, ... I have some more, but this one was in hand and from a scan of a real picture the school gave us.  Look at him!!  They grow up so fast!

Nothing like a lazy Saturday morning to catch up on some much needed rest.... (That is my usual unrealized wish).... 

...but before I sink too deeply into my "Lazy Saturday" dream.... My kids help me to wake up from these dangerous dreams... with a little horse play.  Sure, who does like to play fun games like .... "Knock Daddy Down..." .... or "...Giddy-up horsy"... or everyone's favorite... "kick um where it hurts!"  

So I am a little late posting the valentine day's pictures.... Paola and the kids made these little heart cakes for the school valentine day event.  And .... for those of you that where watching your weight.... but still want to get your hands on one of these cakes.... Follow this simple recipe and just tell your self that it was fat free, sugar free, guilt free....

 Step 1:  Get colorful box of love and three willing chefs to make the magic.  If they do not choose to participate, threaten them with no TV for a week.  Also you may wish to mention that they can lick the left over cake mix.

Step 2:  Open box and gather ingredients.  Make sure that you use care when using scissors.  Try to discourage running around with scissors even after the mix bag has been opened.

Step 3:  Add mix to bowl, and make sure that your siblings don't try to eat the ingredients.  If they try, make sure you run screaming to parents to put a stop to this undesired behavior.

Step 4:  Add in the eggs.  At this point you may be wondering if it is the right time to tell your children that eggs are really little unfertilized baby chickens... that will never be born.  This of course might put a damper on the cooking festivities... so you may want to mention this at a later date.

Step 5:  Mix in the rest of the ingredients.  It is also a smart choice to carefully watch your kids so that they don't throw in any other unwanted items, such as small toys, or remote control.

Step 6:  Time to mix the ingredients together.  Make sure that they are blended together evenly.

Step 7:  OK, so the mixing is really done, but at this point if you don't let the second oldest also mix, you may cause a fight that may end with cake mix all over the floor.

Step 8:  There is no doubt now that the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, but to not let the youngest also participate in the mixing would lead to some crying and whining that would add even more delay in to the process.

Step 9:  Now that the mix is done, Mom steps in to assist.  The kids help clean the bowl for good measure.

Step 10:  The mix goes into these cute heart cake pans and are ready for the oven.  Add time and love... and you are almost done.  Almost... because from here they go to the school for an extra addition of the artistic touch.

I am speechless...  As a parent I am supposed to say how beautiful it looks... but those eyes keep staring at me... and I just don't know what to say. 

I often wonder what my family is up to while I am hard at work... (or hardly working)...  I know its not all roses and caviar....(or is it).  Well, luckily my wife takes at least 1,203,239,192 pictures a day so I get to get a little glimpse of those moments I miss.  ...digging back a couple of weeks I found a good bunch.

Start the day with some light reading.  Something useful that may one day save your life....

...A cousin visits, and one must have some TV Time to share the favorite show... notice how Matthew is the first to grab the remote... he drives that thing like nobody's business...

A couple of toy tests to determine what political party you may be a part of later on in life...

Then its Play-dough time.... A test of hand eye coordination?  .... a test of artistic representation skills....?  ...some kids just pound on the play-dough to get out their daily frustrations...

...I have no idea why Matthew and Megan are screaming on this one.... but I am going to go ahead and blame it on global warming.

...and Here is Sophia... several times I have caught her talking on a cell phone. I think she is secretly planning something.... something big.

Ornaments.... cheap ... pretty .... imported.... I think Matthew took this picture.  Not bad.

Another Matthew original picture.  There is something demanding about King Kong's presense... something that demands respect.  Well at least it would be if he wasn't just slightly larger than my hand...

I am pretty sure I took these white hat pictures.  I think I had said "Say Cheese"... not "... love the spoon!"

....the only thing I am missing is a white hat pic with little Sophia...