the chocolate frosting of the gods. seriously (sort of)

heavenly chocolate ganache frosting

 

1 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semisweet chooclate, chopped

 

1. Bring cream to boil in small saucepan. Place chocolate in medium bowl and pour boiling cream iver. Cover with foil and let stand 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool and slightly firm, 45 minutes to an hour.

2. Transfer cooled chocolate mixture to bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment; whip until fluffy and mousse-like and forms medium-stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.

you can thank me later. (you think i'm joking. but just wait until you taste this stuff)

sleepy baby

first day of first grade

today ava awoke early and carefully chose her clothes (some long pants and a short sleeved sweater. my guess is she'll come home warm because the forecast is 84) very early in the morning. she was excited for something...what was it?

 

oh yeah. first grade.

 

while ava helped me pack a lunch, gather her supplies, put on her new backpack and select some shoes, seth slept on. she left by 7:40 (got there a little early to play on the big playground with ryan) and about fifteen minutes seth climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes. he yawned and then seemed to notice the silence in our house that morning for the first time.

"where is everybody?" he asked.

"ava's at school and daddy took her there," i told him.

he looked around sadly and sighed. "i'm going to have to teach kate how to play with me," he said.

kate looked pleased.

a happiness list

1. this frosting. oh man. it's like heaven.

2. that summery feeling, when, at the end of the day, you know you've been warm all day. sometimes i feel like i'm an empty glass, waiting to be filled with sunshine. something about knowing i've been just a little bit too warm all day makes me feel so alive.

3. the anticipation you feel when school is just about to start. it's like the new notebooks you get: blank, clean, potential ready to be filled--potential you are determined to feel! i feel this way even though in two months i'm going to be longing for the freedom of summer again. isn't that strange?

4. the fresh berries from the farmer's market in a bowl of trader joe's vanilla ice cream. it. is. heaven (just the like frosting).

5. the way my body feels after a good run. like, it's stronger. and longer. i like it when i feel longer.

 

 

what makes you happy? send me a list with a happy picture at anchorandbird@gmail.com

holiday. celebrate.

this year we kept our annual hermansen family party (2012!) small. as in, we invited the hermansens and the packards. fifteen doesn't sound like a small group, but considering it's the smallest party we've had, it felt like a small group (that's right people, we're hardcore partyers over here. think kegger--but BIGGER). it was perfect: good food and family. and cake. with frosting that i am now obsessed with. NBD.

and that's it for the august birthday celebration! it's a two week family affair around here, with lots of cakes, singing, balloons, banners, presents and chatter about all of the already-mentioned. until next year. . .

sweet seth

dear seth,

if you'd like to break my heart even further, than i suggest you stick around for a year and turn five.

i love you so much i fight the urge to squish you each night when i bend over to give you a kiss as you wiggle and squirm in bed before you fall asleep. you are a sweetheart. a small, thoughtful, sincere little boy who is eager to do what is right and fight the bad guys (last night we had to talk about the difference between killing bad guys and rehabilitating them. you were all for killing them until you learned that batman rehabilitates them. so maybe you're not that sweet. . .).

my sweet baby boy, thanks for coming.

love,

mom

the seth song (there are many, but this is one of the most meaningful):

zoo pictures

we (plus james!) went to the zoo with friends so dear i consider them family. it was wonderful. i love santa barbara, i love the zoo and i love the lytles.

staycation 2012

for the first time in about three years, the packards were all togther again. for about two days. i guess that's what happens when you have six kids; no one can actually gather for more than forty-eight hours. it was a lot of loud conversation, a lot of swimming in the backyard and a lot of food. and a lot of angry children who did NOT want to do family pictures (mine. and seriously? what is the deal with that? they are the children of a photographer for crying out loud! what is it that makes all THREE of them so gosh darn STUBBORN all the time???).

helping gradpa make cookies

the best picture of kate ever

giving the dogs treats

uncle andrew bouncing everyone on the trampoline

an evening walk

birthday pictures

the same old story: i try to take pictures of my children together, they do something to mess it up, i howl with rage and then angrily write a blog post where i whine all about it.

my goal is to take pictures of my children on their birthdays. just once a year, try really hard to get some professional looking portraits.

this year, instead of fighting me, ava picked out an outfit, brushed her hair and then she POSED. unaided. willingly. more than willingly, actually. seth was a little more forced, but he's never been one for being in front of the camera. he'd much rather be behind it. it took fifteen minutes and now i have several photos that i aboslutely adore.

why can't it always be this easy?

this year for birthday presents everyone wanted a build-a-bear. seth got captain america, ava got tallulah and kate got a brown bunny. we call him (are you ready?) "brown bunny". i know, awesome.

i scream for sun screen

my computer broke. and then a heat wave hit. so kate was like, LET'S HIT THE POOL! and then she screamed. why? because that chid is a screamer. ask my dad.

the annual august 11th post

today, this little girl turned 6. and, despite the fact that my computer is totally broken, i'm finding a way to make this post so that years from now, as a sullen and dramatic teenager looking for evidence that we never really loved her, she cannot point to august 11, 2012 and say, "SEE? YOU DIDN'T EVEN POST ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!"

instead she will point to august 11, 2012 and say, "OHMYGOSHWHATWEREYOUTHINKINGTHOSEPICTURESAREEMBARASSINGTAKETHEMDOWNNOW."

dear, little ava: i love you. i love a million billion and more. you are funny and spunky. you have a great sense of humor. you are kind. you are emotional and dramatic and able to laugh at yourself and your brain produces the most interesting thoughts. ever. seriously. ask your grandma.

thanks for the faces you make, the threats you produce ("if you don't let me play on your phone then i will never leave you alone ever again ever!") and the deep-bellied laughter you bring to our house. seriously, you're a doll.

happy six.

obligatory mom moment (like the above totally wasn't): HOLY CRAP! do i really have a six-year-old? and how did she get so long? what does one do with such large children? they take up so much space!

more shakespeare

thought this was worth mentioning...

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