A Spring Break

The last couple of weeks have been rather "blah" weather wise, so I decided we needed something "Springy" to perk up our rapidly dwindling sunny dispositions. We made our usual trip to the Grocery Outlet and picked up oodles of fresh fruit. The kids were happy to help me choose from the wide selection. We grabbed a big bunch of bananas, a box each of peaches and strawberries, several apples and half a dozen kiwis. A couple days later the kids were once again happy to help me process the fruit we had gathered. We sliced several of the bananas into a bowl, peeled and coarsely chopped the peaches, adding them along with the washed and sliced strawberries. Then they eagerly grabbed the long strings of apple peel as it fell from the apple I held above the table so none of the precious treat would inadvertently fall to the floor and be wasted. As my children happily munched, I chopped the apple into the ever growing bowl of fruit before me. The Kiwi was peeled and sliced over the top before I mixed in just enough whipped topping to cover everything with a thin, creamy layer.

For supper that night, Pa fried up some cube steaks, which he'd dredged lightly with seasoned flour, while I cooked up some frozen green beans. Along with the fruit salad it made for a delicious, colorful, pleasing blend of textures, which lent just the right touch of Spring we needed to lift our spirits.

The next evening, I added some colorful mini marshmallows to the fruit salad, along with more whipped topping, which Pa and the kids happily gobbled up for dessert.

Since we changed our Library/shopping schedule a while back, we've all been missing the Librarians we had gotten to know in the years we've been going there, so we decided to change back again. The familiar crew seemed happy to see us again, and this last week really surprised us by presenting each of our children with a book they knew they'd enjoy. They were books that were being phased out of the Library's system, but were still in excellent shape. The kids were just tickled to know they were thought of in that way, and the books are now treasured additions to their home library.

Since I neglected to post last weeks movie review I'll try to make up for it by posting two reviews this week!

Saturday Night At The Movies!

Last week's choice was a surprisingly delightful film, The Game Plan. The kids had seen previews for it, and we were actually rather surprised when they were both excited to see it, as neither of them is really into sports. Pa and I were apprehensive due to what seems to be a trend in "modern" family movies to attempt to entertain the whole family by inserting "adult" themes throughout, which in most cases results in a flop all the way around. The Game Plan was refreshing, in that it actually managed to pull the whole thing off. It was cute, funny, sensitive, and you could tell, even before the end where the cast got together for some antics while the credits ran, that it was as much fun for the actors as it is for the viewers. This movie got 8 thumbs up from us, and the maximum 5 stars allowed at Netflix.

Last night's event was another great film. A Bear Named Winnie is a British film, based on the true story of a soldier and a bear that is at times sad, at times funny, and throughout the film, heartwarming. It also turns out the bear in the story was the inspiration for the much loved classic, Winnie The Pooh, by AA Milne. While I'm not sure the story would hold the attention of the very young, my 10 and 11 year olds loved it, as did Ma and Pa.

Today was an odd weather day at our house. We dubbed it a four season day. Early this morning, as we all drug ourselves out of bed thinking it seemed much earlier than the clock said (thanks to Pa, who remembered to turn the clocks ahead last night), the sky was cloudy. It was cool, but not really cold. A bit later it started raining, which given the cloudy sky and the time of year was not really a big surprise. Then the sun came out! It was beautiful, and provided just enough hope for me to opt for lighter weight garments when I dressed for the day. The kids rushed outside and set about enjoying their sunny Sunday. All of a sudden they came rushing in. They hadn't donned their coats when exiting the house and so weren't prepared for the downpour that came in such an unexpected rush. As they were explaining their predicament, their eyes got big, as they pointed out the window. When I looked out I was amazed to see huge flakes of snow descending from the sky! It snowed for a bit, then the sun came out again, before we were treated to a short bout of hail, more rain, and more snow before the sun returned once again. The only thing we were missing today was the wind. Somehow it wasn't missed ;-)

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!