T-Ball

I thought you had to be four to play T-ball.
Two months ago we kept seeing kids practicing at the ball field across from our house. We were walking around, making use of the double stroller, and I thought Annabelle had to be the same age as these kids. So, I butted my way into the dugout and asked some man how old the kids were and he answered, "Three to five."
Uh, hello. How did we not know about this? I interrogated him until I received all the important info and contact numbers for whoever was in charge. One day later we were on the team!
First practice went well. Second practice went okay; after she completed twenty to thirty minutes of crying. Her third & fourth practices were reminiscent of practice two. Maybe there is a reason why kids don't play T-ball until they are four.
Her first game rolled around rather quickly. I wouldn't say she was the superstar of the team, but she did keep her glove on and stood the entire game. Many other parents could not say the same.

Her game face

Second game was a total nightmare. She was getting warmed up and was pumped to play short stop (did I mention she's short stop?) and they did the unthinkable - made her bat first. Nope, she didn't bat, she didn't even hold the bat. Coach Justin bunted the ball for her, thinking she would run. She didn't. That's okay, if they lead her to the base she would follow. Wrong again, she stomped the entire way and made it known she was, "not playing baseball!" Second time up to bat, she did her thing and was fully ready to participate about the time the last runner crossed home plate.

She is probably deciding if she wants to play

Third game started out like the second. She didn't want to play, but with a little encouragement, (given through gritted teeth) she "hit the ball and run the bases."

Heading to second with Coach Matt

Fourth game she caught the first ball of the game. I mean she caught it with her glove and threw it to first base. It's a non-competitive league so I'm not at liberty to say if the person was out or not, but let's just say the applause was pretty heavy!

Getting a pep talk from very patient Coach Mark

Fifth game she didn't want to play, but after she got started in the field, she hit twice and ran to the bases holding tightly on to her helmet while running all the bases. She caught the ball again and threw it to first.

Look at that follow through!

These T-ball games are fraught with threats of cancelled Six Flag trips, the denial of ice cream privileges, an increase in spankings and/or timeout, and the most vile of all - no television in bed! I am happy to say we haven't crossed over to that side, but every ounce of my patience has been tested a couple times. But look at that picture up there; I think we got ourselves a ball player! And if not, that's okay too.


 Special thanks to Coach Mark, Greg, Matt & Justin for their kindness, generosity & unwavering patience!

Easter

Easter was only three weeks ago right? So I'm three weeks behind; not too bad.

We spent this Easter in Austin at my Grandma & Grandaddy's house, or as Annabelle says, "Grandma & Charlie's."

Last year Annabelle had an adorable dress, an Easter basket full of sweets & completed a solo Easter egg hunt - one egg at a time. It's now a custom to diligently & carefully grab one egg at a time & slowly walk back to the stationary basket. Looks like it will be a while before she partakes in a competitive Easter egg hunt; she'd be eaten alive. 

This year, Easter totally snuck up on us. No Easter bunny pictures; Annabelle is terrified of him & I don't blame her. No Easter dress pictures because there wasn't an Easter dress. No basket full of sweets because Annabelle doesn't like chocolate. 

What we did have was plenty of food, family & another solo Easter egg hunt. 

Grandpa tending to the ham

Annabelle giving thanks for her daily bread - just kidding, she was trying to get out of taking a picture

My delicious Easter plate

Annabelle's Easter plate...it's a bit non-traditional

Great Uncle Daryl & Ed

Annabelle & her Easter gift - an Airbender

Annabelle's solo Easter egg hunt - note the egg at the bottom left

Ed & my/our cousin Olivia

Grandma & Charlie - the best people I've ever met

Tonkawa Falls

You've heard of Crawford, Texas, right? It's about ten minutes from our house. Some folks call it the Western White House. Many remember it's where Cindy Sheehan camped in 2005 (I had to look that year up). 

Well, who knew it had a gorgeous waterfall & a well kept city park? 

On a day as gorgeous as today, there's no way you need to stay inside. We needed to get some bluebonnet pictures of Annabelle & Ed, and after the huge rainstorms earlier this week, the wildflowers are stunning. Growing up in the highly revered Texas Hill Country, I am well equipped to say the countryside in this part of Central Texas is close, if not better, when it comes to breathtaking views and rolling hills. 

We set out towards Crawford in search of bluebonnets and Tonkawa Falls. It was easy enough to find as it's a city park. Something else- it was free, with ample parking & less than ten people around. A little different than Austin, huh?

Tonkawa Falls    Crawford, Texas

Luckily, both Annabelle & Ed participated in a 3 minute photo session. Here's the proof. 

This is my favorite

Trying to coax some smiles

Ed, always a willing participant, in a bed of bluebonnets

We walked around and hiked up the rocks. Annabelle, fearless as ever, kept venturing out to the edge of the rocks to get a better look. To appease her adventurous spirit, Derek carried her closer to the falls.

Edge of the Falls

We weren't there more than twenty minutes, and we decided to call Grandpa. Tonkawa Falls seemed like his type of place. About fifteen minutes later, Grandpa arrived while we were sitting by the water. He wasn't holding a baby, yet, so he hiked down the steeper rocks and made his way across the falls. By this time, Ed was ready for some sun bathing.

Chunk of love

Baby D & Annabelle soaking their feet

 Oh, the bridge. There's a wooden bridge, semi-covered in asphalt, going over the Falls. The picture doesn't show it, but we were up pretty high on this ledge.

Annabelle is done taking pictures & ready to explore

Derek and Annabelle wandered all around and I sat on a rock with Ed. He was enjoying the shade and small breeze, but the paparazzi caught this shot of him fussing a little bit. 

Wilderness baby

 Can you believe this is less than 10 miles from our house? Wow, we need to get out more!

Annabelle Leigh

Townsend Edward

The Many Faces of Annabelle Leigh

Lately it seems like we've been living in the "Land of Ed." He is definitely ruling the roost, as of late, but there's someone who reigned long before he came along. 

Annabelle Leigh. 

So, what's she been doing lately?  

She's had some nightmares -  one about a scary tomato in Baby Ed's tummy & one where Baby Ed had three eyes & teeth.

She's a gardener - tending to her strawberries, tomatos, bell peppers, cilantro & green onions. 

She plays guitar - strumming while repeating, "I totally rock, oh yeah!"

She's an actress - playing with her dogs & barking at all who walk by

She's a baker - mixing

She's a baker - pouring

 She's a baker - tasting

She's a baker - sprinkling

She's a cook - gathering ingredients

She's a helper - cleaning up her own mess

She's a family girl - loves spending time with the Ebarb women 

She's a cowgirl - just look at those boots!

She's a big sister - and she's doing awesome at all these things, but especially this one. 

Annabelle's Friend

A few great things about living in a small town is the slower pace, less traffic, lower cost of living, and the sound of trains passing through town. One thing that's harder is finding friends for Annabelle. 

So, almost two years ago we were shopping at the Children's Place, and Annabelle started chatting up a cute little girl. Her mom was buying clothes, and we were buying clothes, so we just let them talk and play with each other in the store. At this time we'd been in Waco over six months and we'd made zero friends for Annabelle. It didn't help that we don't get out much, and it didn't help that Annabelle is "shy" when it comes to meeting new people. Well, Annabelle just gravitated towards this girl like we'd never seen. Being the sane individuals that we are, we just told the woman (Barbara) that we were new in town, didn't know anyone and if she ever wanted to get the girls together that we would love to do so. Luckily she didn't think we were crazy, and we met up soon after, and we've since become very dear friends. Her youngest daughter and I even share a birthday!

Last weekend we were so glad Barbara and the girls (we missed you Sean) ventured out to visit us. We had a fun afternoon of cake and cupcake decorating, Derek took the girls to the park while Barbara and I stayed back with the babies, and LOTS of dress-up and music playing. This year we will get Caitlin a harmonica for sure. She loved it! Even little Emily got in on the dress-up fun. 

It's hard for little kids to realize that we can't just drop everything, and drive a half hour for them to play with friends. It's harder for me to have to say, "maybe next weekend", when Annabelle wakes up so many times asking, "Are we going to the zoo with Cait and her family? So it's very nice to have wonderful friends that we can see...even if we have to arrange it 3 weeks in advance! 

The sweetest little princess, Emily

Annabelle & Cait at the park

Annabelle & Cait are little pastry chefs

Cait the harmonica playing cowgirl & Annabelle the princess

Playing in the tunnel

St. Valentine's Day Massacre

So, remember when I said I would share our cooking successes and failures? Well, we had a failure this week.

Red velvet cake is my absolute favorite cake, hands down; period. I've made dozens of them from scratch, literally dozens. Recently I had a hankering for red velvet, and thought it would be fun to do it this week, before my least favorite "holiday" Valentine's Day, when red velvet cakes are running rampant at all grocery stores and bakeries. I thought, I'll make this cake, take some gorgeous pictures and share a little anecdote about the recipe. I'm learning to be a cook, but I am already a baker for sure. Nope, I was wrong, and this cake humbled me.

Mistake #1- I turned a recipe for a three layer cake into a two layer cake. Wouldn't you know the edges turned brown before the middle of the cake was cooked?

Mistake #2- I trimmed the brown edges in a hurry and took a little too much off the top of the cake. No matter; I thought I would add a little extra icing to make up for it, and the cake would still be level. Fooled again, the damage was done and the cake began to mimic an unstoppable mudslide.

Mistake #3- The previous cuts made the cake crumble, and as I was icing it the crumbs began to stick to the icing. What I really mean is you couldn't differentiate the cake from the icing as evidenced below.

Mistake #4- I tried a new icing. Instead of adding a little milk, I added some left over heavy whipping cream. I'm not sure, but I think that made the icing too thick and sticky when it came time to ice the cake. It sure tasted good though.

 Mistake #5- I lost all patience and gave up. I placed the cake in the fridge to prevent further mudslide damage, but my efforts were futile.

Notice the left side is drooping/sliding. Also, notice all the crumbs on the plate and in the icing, and...oh forget it. I could critique this photo forever. 

 Maybe it will be okay once I cut into it. No, a disaster there as well. 

 Maybe I can salvage one piece. Alas, a definitive no was the answer again. 

To boost my spirits/ego, I added this picture of a previous red velvet cake I baked. 

I wish I could blame this cake's outcomes on a bad recipe, low quality ingredients or poor assistant (Baby D), but I cannot. This cake was all on me. I've used this recipe before with the same ingredients, but try as I might, I couldn't make it work. My ego when it comes to baked goods is a tad deflated I will admit. Once I cut into it though, it tasted great. The cake was moist and not too sweet, and the icing was thick and creamy. It looked like a hot mess, but tasted like the same old red velvet cake I love. This could be a metaphor for life, and I'll let you think on that one. I know one person for sure enjoyed it, and she didn't even complain that it was horribly disfigured. One of the many things I love about her; she can have her cake and eat it too.

Opening the S Den Ristorante

This year we made a commitment to cook more often at home. Living in a small town makes it easy to not eat out at restaurants, but we still found/find ourselves wanting to just eat a sandwich or make pancakes for dinner. Sad, but true. Adding a second child to the mix, we anticipated this tendency to build exponentially unless we remedied it. That's just what we plan to do in 2012. 

I believe food is something to marveled at, or at least enjoy. I don't quite enjoy cold sandwiches for dinner, and much prefer anything homemade as to store bought. Especially after Annabelle started eating solid foods, I found/find myself always worrying about what she's putting into her body. I figure the more things we make from scratch, I can more easily limit the bad stuff. So, as we try some of these new recipes, I will include you on the successes, but also the failures. Hopefully one outweighs the other by the end of the year, and I don't mean the failures. :-)

I happened upon this blog http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ via pinterest. She's has tons of recipes, with pictures, and has them broken down with cost per serving. Nice, right?

I saw the picture of the Pesto Focaccia Pizza, and I was in the car on the way to the store. Basically, homemade dough, it's easy I promise, jar of pesto sauce, cheese, and Roma tomatoes. Put it on a cookie sheet, bake and let me tell you Derek rated it 10/10 - I agree. The great thing about this recipe; endless possibilities. We can't have Austin's Pizza here, but maybe we can make our own version of their Stubb's BBQ Chick; more on that later. 

So, below is a picture of the pizza, and I've posted the link to the recipe if you would like to try it. You totally should, by the way. Next pizza, "Meat!" says Annabelle. 

Pesto Focaccia Pizza

 http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/09/pesto-focaccia-pizza-653-recipe-109.html