Patrick's Birthday

                                               

Yet again, my baby is one! How does the first year always pass so quickly? 

The other kids decorated big cupcakes for Patrick...

 Patrick wasn't sure if he liked all that frosting! We will have to teach him how to get messy!

 Presents! Patrick had tons of help opening everything!

 Patrick especially loved his cell phone! Thank goodness he got two! I have a feeling he is going to need both.

 This is the only picture I got of the water table. All the kids loved it! I had to hold them back so Patrick could have a turn with his own present!

Patrick's actual birthday was not super fun. It was the last day of our drive to Utah so he spent most of the day in the car. :( We did our best to make it special by getting him his very own Happy Meal! He wasn't sure what to do with all that food...

Oh, wait! Now he figured it out!

Trying to get out all the fries...

Happy boy!

Our last stop on the trip was Little America where they have a playground. Patrick was eager to get out, stretch his legs, and show that he can be a big kid too!

Now that he's one he can join in the age old tradition of tackling brothers...

The sun was so bright, but we had to try for a picture of Patrick eating his ice cream birthday treat!

A Year in Retrospect

June 8, 2011

1 month- Patrick is very concerned with modesty.

2 months

3 months- Just chillin'

4 months- He's thinking "You sure do point that flashy thing at me a lot!"

4 1/2 months (because he is just so cute!)

5 months (sadly I couldn't find a good one of him all by himself, 

but it's fun to see how much the two littlest already look alike!)

6 months (Merry Christmas!)

 

7 months (impromptu photo shoot with Aunt Lori)

 

8 Months- showing off his new crawling skills

9 Months - not only can he crawl (and stand on his own), but he can crawl OVER things. 

(I was actually trying to get a shot of his first tooth, but he was being a little tight lipped.)

10 months old and toddling around already! Trick loves water and wants to play whether it's his turn or not in the bathtub! He has taken a few steps over the last month, but he needs lots of applause and encouragement from the family to go more that a step or two. 

11 months and going strong! Catching him standing up is hard to do with a camera. He sees it and starts laughing so hard that he falls down every time! He has the most amazing giggle though. He has a true belly laugh and can make the saddest day turn bright and happy.

ONE YEAR OLD!!!!!!

He made it! He survived all his siblings for an entire year! Patrick is such a sweet baby. I can't imagine life without him. 

Baptism Buds

Evan's best bud, Adam, was baptized and we got to go! We are so proud of Adam and so glad the two boys could be reunited for a short time. Such sweet silly boys!

Spring Break in Huntsville

Our trip to Huntsville yielded some new surprises! We discovered the most beautiful park near the library that Eric is currently working at.
The kids had so much fun feeding ducks and trying to catch fish.
The birds were varied and beautiful. And so nice! Not a mean mallard among them.
And the fish were amazing! Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful fish.
Couldn't catch Logan, but the three oldest were willing to give me a grin.
Patrick was too busy looking at the ducks to smile at me, but he's still so sweet!
I'm not sure why this bike was so fascinating, but all the kids took a turn!
I think this is the only picture I have of Logan actually looking at the camera while we were at the park.
Proof that I was there too... :) Patrick is our big boy! Almost walking and he's only 9 months old!
Early Works Museum
We discovered a very interesting Children's Museum in Huntsville. Sort of a mishmash of history and fun for kids. It seemed a little eclectic, but it was very interesting and the kids had a great time!
Pulling Cotton
Biscuits Backyard. The kids had such a great time in this little play room!
Reid had so much fun putting eggs in the chicken coop. He thought it was so funny when they came tumbling down the bottom.
Patrick was so tired, but he managed to have some fun in the toddler corner.
Fishing...
My cute little milk maid.
Peek-a-boo!
Checking out the river boats.
I thought we were leaving for the day, but the boys found one more thing they just couldn't pass up...
Lorelai worked hard on her pyramid!
The most amazing quilt tree I've ever seen! I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but we were headed out the door and the kids were done!
All in all it was a fun little trip that really helped break up the week! We had so much fun!

Matching Profiles

This was so sweet. My two babies fell asleep cuddling on the couch. I don't usually think they look alike, but when you see them in profile...

Must try...

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/224191/tempered-white-chocolate-panels

Tempered White Chocolate Panels

• YieldMakes enough to cover a 4-tier wedding cake (with 12-inch bottom tier)

Add to Shopping List

Ingredients

• 4 pounds white chocolate
• 10 pints golden raspberries

Directions

1. Cut food-safe acetate (Kerekes, bakedco.com) into 32 strips, each 2 1/2 inches wide and 24 inches long. Lay them all out on a clean, flat work surface with a little bit of space between them.

2. Chop chocolate with a serrated knife. Place 3 pounds in a dry metal bowl; set remainder aside.

3. In a saucepan, bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a simmer. Set bowl of chocolate over saucepan. Let chocolate melt, stirring gently with a rubber spatula, until it reaches 115 to 118 degrees on a chocolate thermometer (do not let thermometer touch bottom of bowl, and do not let any water get in the melted chocolate). Turn off heat, and remove bowl from saucepan. Add reserved chocolate pieces; stir until mixture cools to 78 or 79 degrees; remove unmelted pieces. Place bowl back over pan of warm water (do not turn heat back on); stir until thermometer reaches 86 to 88 degrees. Use immediately, before chocolate cools (setting the bowl on a heating pad will keep it from cooling too quickly).

4. Spread about 1 1/2 ounces of tempered white chocolate over the first acetate strip, spreading chocolate back and forth with an offset spatula until it is smooth and strip is completely covered; some will overlap the edges. Repeat with remaining strips. Let set, about 15 minutes. Then lift each acetate strip (excess chocolate will peel away at edges), and transfer to another flat surface (do not stack).

5. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut through the chocolate layer of each strip at 3 1/2-, 4-, 4 1/2-, and 5-inch intervals (cut a roughly equal number of each height). Let chocolate panels set completely, 1 to 4 hours, at room temperature.

6. Once chocolate is thoroughly set, gently flip over each strip so chocolate is facing down, and peel acetate away from chocolate, leaving a smooth, shiny side to be the outer surface. Use an offset spatula to carefully move panels to a parchment-lined baking sheet (do not stack), and let sit until ready to adhere to cake, up to 3 days.

7. To apply to buttercream-covered cake, spread a thin layer of buttercream onto one side of each panel below the edge of the cake (for a fondant-covered cake, you can also use a thin coating of melted and cooled white chocolate). Starting at one corner of each tier and moving to the left, adhere panels, overlapping slightly and varying heights (see number of panels, below). When ready to serve, fill tops of each tier with golden raspberries.

Cook's Note

Number of panels per tier for a square cake: 12-inch tier (4 inches high), 28 panels; 10-inch (4 inches high), 24 panels; 8-inch (3 1/2 inches high), 20 panels; 6-inch (3 inches high), 16 panels.

Patrick is crawling!

My baby! My dear sweet baby who has not really gotten any time on my poor neglected blog... is crawling! He just turned 7 months so he is easily my youngest crawler. I guess being the youngest of 5 has it's perks!