It's Gonna Be May

 May is by far the busiest month for us. It always starts with a bang with back-to-back celebrations. May the Fourth, which was on Free Comic Book Day this year. Followed closely by Cinco de Mayo, we don't celebrate Revenge of the Sixth, but you could. I won't judge you. This year we also had several end-of-year celebrations including skating at Rink Ratz. 

We really appreciated the helper rollers. My kids have not had much exposure to roller skating. They had a blast though! For the fourth, I attempted Rey's hair. I'm not sure it succeeded, but at least I tried. 

  Henry made a green lightsaber! We had chicken kababs for dinner. Our Sarlacc cake was a hit as ever. I love that this holiday is so easy. Just dress up and eat cake. You can't get much better than that!

    For Cinco de Mayo we had Lizzy's friend come over and had our pinata and enchiladas. I found these adorable tiny sombreros for everyone to wear.

Teddy had some fun.

Charles had his last concert of the year. His band is so good!

He almost disappears he's so short.

    Grandpa came to watch him perform and I snapped this pic as we were leaving. It is so sweet seeing the kids with him. We are so lucky to have him close. 

The next night was Devon's circus skills event. He had been in the club for several months and this was the final show. It was amazing! Crazy, chaotic, and yet somehow still organized. It was a spectacle.

Devon was the fastest on the unicycle. 

I am so proud of Devon for working so hard to master these skills.

Henry got to have a police officer come to his class.

    We went to World's of Fun and have since returned many times. We have learned that Devon is not a big fan of rollercoasters, while Teddy, Charles, and Henry really like them.  

We have been the designated driver for a few of the priests in the ward. 

Here's proof I am alive:

More to come...

Sunshine in My Soul Today

  Mourning is a weird thing. It catches you by surprise in the most interesting moments. Last week we had run out of lemon curd. I had bought the lemons to replace it. I'm no stranger to the recipe, but for some reason it was taking longer than normal to set up. I had Devon take charge of it since I had my institute class to attend. He has helped me make it in the past and eats more of it than anyone else in the house, so I felt confidant in letting him take charge. My mistake. He came down and told me he didn't know when it was done and took it off the heat. I said that I would look at it when I was done. 

  I came up and discovered that it had gone well past the curd stage and was well on its way to cough drop. I was upset over its loss, but Devon was more upset. Oh well. I waited for life to bring me more lemons, but it was not hurrying up so I had to purchase more.  

    Let me tell you about this lemon curd: years ago when I was visiting my Grandma, my Uncle Armin mentioned that Grandma had been making lemon curd for several weeks and I should try some. I am so glad I did! It was like sunshine in a jar. After I had been home for some time I found myself pining for some sunshine and called my Grandma for the recipe. She happily obliged and I have been making it ever since. I do a triple batch so I only make it twice a year, it freezes beautifully so I always have a jar on hand. 

    Today I decided to make more curd. I put on the apron my Grandma had bought me forever ago and set to work. As I was zesting the lemons I was overcome with a feeling of nostalgia and heartache. I missed my Grandma so much. I don't know if she particularly liked cooking, but I remember she did a lot of it in her 95-odd years. She understood my love of cooking early on. She sent me a recipe box on my 12th birthday filled with handwritten recipes and plenty of cards waiting to be filled. I still use it. 

 So here I am making Liz's Sunshine in a Jar, and as the sweet and tangy citrus scent fills the air, I find a little more sunshine in my soul as well. Thank you, Grandma!

Grandma Elizabeth Murphy’s Lemon Curd

 Ingredients:

2 Large lemons or 3 med. Use the zest and juice.

3 Eggs or 4 egg yolks

¼ cup melted butter

½ cup sugar

Directions:

Put Lemon zest, juice, eggs, and sugar into a blender and blend until smooth. You can add the melted butter with the other ingredients, or you can melt the butter on the stove in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and pour the blended ingredients into it. In either case, pour everything into a sauce pan and cook over med heat until it thickens, stirring constantly for about 5 min. Take off the heat and let cool a bit. Strain (if you like) into jars or containers. Let cool completely and then cover and refrigerate or freeze. 

Notes: if you are just using the yolks, it will decrease the amount by ½. But is a much creamier consistency.  If you would like to make a big batch for freezing, I triple the recipe as follows:

9 Lemons

9 eggs

¾ cup melted butter

1 ½ cup sugar 

This makes about four 12 oz jars and can be frozen for up to a year. I thaw them overnight in the fridge. 

April Shenanigans

 Teddy keeps life interesting. He loves posing and asks for his picture all the time.

 

Lizzy decorated a cake at Young Womens.

Meanwhile, I helped the Activity girls do some fun science experiences.  

Henry wanted his picture taken, he posed exactly for it and Teddy kept photobombing him. He was not pleased.

Teddy was thrilled of course. Here he is posing with Emily's new church bag I sewed for her. 

This next one was all Teddy's idea.

Charles had a trombone duet test and here they are practicing. 

Several of the FoE's were preparing for various activities that needed sewing. So we held a virtual sewing party. I had a chimesette and ball gown to sew for a Jane Austen ball at the end of the month.  

    I finished the dress just in time to get ready for the ball. I was so proud because both garments were stash busters. I only had to buy some ribbon to finish the edging, but the rest of it was material I already had on hand.  

It was a wonderful evening.