Towel Wraps and Pink Nails

Avery wanted her hair wrapped in a towel the way I put it on my hair up after I wash it.

 Then she danced a bit...

 ...and let me capture a few of her smiles...

 ...and giggles....

 ...and sassiness.

 The day prior we had painted her nails hot pink and she was quite excited about it.

Memorable Soccer Season

We had quite the first soccer season.  The boys weren't on their school team but a team with a mix of schools.  Their first coach was "removed" in the third week...the replacement coach quit after a few days (due to having drama with the previous coach whose son was still on the team) and finally Geoff and another dad took over as co-coaches for the last two weeks.  We ended up with only seven kids on the team.  Our last game was today and it was against our school's team.  So it was kind of fun for the boys since they knew lots of the kids.  I think it made them play harder.  They were running.... 

 Their game was at 8 a.m. and it was really bright when I was taking these pictures.  I didn't really look at them until we got home.  And this one made me stop and stare.  I know they are identical twins but this is exteme!

 Very proud of these guys for sticking out the season!

I think Avery is ready for soccer now too!

Snuggle Time all Around

Chasing Allergies and Chicks!

Avery had another allergy test a couple of weeks ago.  She was so excited to go and have an appt for her, versus tagging along for activities and appts for the boys; but then she was tricked into those back pricks and I felt so awful.  Even worse, I couldn't wrap my arms around her and hug her because it would mess up the test results!  I swear she was more upset over being tricked then the actual pokes themselves.  Poor baby. 

I thought her back looked pretty good...especially in comparison to how the boys' backs would almost fully swell up.  Her allergies this time:  milk and EGGS!  But...no NUTS or peanuts!  We aren't too excited about anything though because our doc said we are "chasing allergies" at this age.  That she is the perfect age to move in and out of allergies.  Kind of like how the boys tested positive for a milk allergy for that one year and got out of it.  She wasn't allergic to eggs before.  I think the doctor said she might be part of the 11% of kids to move out of a peanut or nut allergy.  That would be great.

The closer her allergies are to Jack and Wyatt's makes baking easier.  She hadn't eaten many eggs anyway bc of their allergy.  Speaking of baking, Jack found our cookie jar and put this post-it on it:

(these are mine.  and they are yummy)

 Eggs=chicks!  The baby chicks are here!

And excuse the mess in my car (this is actually a good day mess) I love how Avery is pointing her toe..totally random but I just love it.  Please indulge me.  :)

Easter Blessings

"Christ is Risen!  He has risen indeed!"

 Celebrate and dance little girl.  Avery loved wearing her Easter basket as her necklace.

I am so blessed with these four.  We had a fun Easter Sunday...the kids ran around filling their baskets with eggs first thing. 

The boys were up early.  And our littlest one made them wait and wait until she woke up.

Then Geoff brought out their Easter baskets.

 We went to church-our church holds Easter service in a theater to accomodate everyone at one service.  There was an Easter egg hunt in our sanctuary after.  The church hid over 1,000 eggs.  It was crazy!

We went to our friend's house for an Easter dinner.  Look at these cute kids. 

Easter 2014

Hoping all of our family and all of our friends had a wonderful Easter!  Would love to hear from you.

Nuts over Coconut

In regards to cooking and baking....coconut has been king for us this year.   There is still some controversy about coconut oil but all I have read has listed all the benefits of using coconut oil especially at high heat.  All I know is it has changed baking for us for the better!  I started trying a lot of vegan recipes bc they won't have any eggs or milk (our allergies) and I am so happy...most of the recipes are a little easier to make and are healthier.  Vegan recipes tend to use flax seed meal in place of eggs and coconut oil instead of butter or shortening; great for us bc the boys need the extra fat in their diet they don't get from nuts or eggs.  Rosemary chocolate chip cookies (we love with or without the rosemary).  The best banana muffins ever.  Chocolate zucchini bundt cake (all of those recipes from "Isa Does It).  The ganache is made from almond milk (we used rice), maple syrup and chocolate chips.
Maple pumpkin donuts.  Pear coffee cake.  Oatmeal raisin cookies.

And these recipes taste great-not just "great for vegan baking" but great in general.  I have been using coconut sugar in place of white sugar in all recipes too.  Sugar is sugar but coconut sugar is less refined and I think it elevates the recipes.  I made a recipe with coconut sugar and once with white sugar and we liked it better with the coconut sugar.

Here are some pics of Avery helping make a guacamole salad...nothing to do with coconut but cute nonetheless.

My favorite sources for recipes:  Ina Garten, Marina Delio at yummymummykitchen.com, Dana and John at theMinimalistBaker.com and Isa Chandra Moskowitz (great for vegan cooking/baking).  That crew never lets me down.  Happy Baking!