dave & janet horsman ::: keepin’ it real since 1998

I’m outa here…

Spring break was super! …Minus the twenty minutes that Noah went missing in “The Largest Indoor Water Park in America.”  Oh my.  Terrifying to say the least.  We finally found him in the arcade (of course) and later discovered that he had went in search of a bathroom.  What a kid.

Here are a some highlights in photos…

We crossed the continental divide.  Pretty exciting.  Really, it was.

I turned 31 in South Dakota and now think that it would be fun to celebrate each subsequent birthday in a different state for the rest of my life.  If I live to be 80 I could actually visit all the states.  He he. 

This photo was taken just minutes after we found Noah.  Notice his approprietly remorseful expression.

Now for some photos for all the Horsman relatives in far off places….

Our super-cute and very photogenic niece, Ruthie Mae.  Isn’t she adorable? 

“The Osbornes”

All the kids on the morning we left, bed-head and all.  Out of a couple of dozen photos, this is the only one in which everyone looks kind of normal.  Photographing seven kids is quite a challenge!

Hey all, I spent some time updating our “about” page over the weekend.  Check it out!  I’ll be taking a break from blogging for the next little while.  It’s Elijah and Zeke’s spring break this week, and we’ll be traveling to South Dakota to visit Dave’s sister and her fam.  Fun fun!  Have a great week!

P.S.  We’re getting a winter storm today.  Yuck!

*An inside joke for any Canadian that has ever spent long enough in the U.S. to be teased about how they say “out” and “about.”  I’m proud to say that I’m still often told how Canadian I sound!

We found our lost book!  Zeke did, actually.  It was, if you can believe it, on the bookshelf.  Imagine that. I think our very wonderful and helpful babysitter put it there the other night.

We just read chapter 12, the chapter in which the never-ending winter starts to come to an end because of Aslan’s return.  I wish he’d come here. 

Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!  Happy St. Patty’s Day to you all.  I’m proud to say that I have Irish blood coursing through my viens.  My dear grandmother Campbell was, as far as we know, about as pure Irish as one could be; her maiden name being Ryan, and her mother’s maiden name being Flannigan.  So I guess that makes me 1/4 Irish, and my kids 1/16.  I’ve always loved being able to say that I’m part Irish!  The Irish, I think, have a wonderful sence of humor and whimsy…and also just the right amount of melancholy.  (I like a little melancholy, don’t you?)

Anyway, we had my “fabulous flapjacks” for breakfast on this lovely St. Patrick’s Day morning (with green mashed potatoes, corned beef and cabbage on the menu for supper tonight!)  I suppose the name would imply that I’ve concocted this recipe all on my own, but I guess it’d be a bit of a stretch to say that.  I just combined and reinvented a couple of my favorite pancake recipes…and came up with a new favorite!  These flapjacks are so light and fluffy and yummy and filling.  (Are your kids like mine?  Are they hungry an hour after a meal?) When consumed, these will keep my kids away from the kitchen for a good two hours.  Guaranteed.

Janet’s Fabulous Flapjacks
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tsp aluminum free baking powder*
1/4 tsp salt

Beat the eggs until light and fluffy.  (You can use an electric mixer to do this if you like.  I just use a wire whisk and lots of elbow grease. :))  Then throw all the other ingrediants in, and mix just until they’re all combined.  Cook on a nice hot griddle (like 400 F), a couple of minutes on each side.

This makes quite a few pancakes, but my brood has no problem polishing them off all at once.  If you have leftovers, they’re great kept in the fridge, and toasted for an easy breakfast or afternoon snack. 

*Could one of my Canadian readers answer me this?  Is there aluminum in Canadian baking powder?  I never had this problem till we moved here:  if I use normal baking powder, I can actually taste aluminum in my baking - it’s nasty.  I never remember that happening in Canada.

How anticlimactic. The boys and I are about 2/3 of the way through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and now the book has gone missing! Grrrr. Things have a way of disappearing around here, and then reappearing when I’ve forgotten I’m supposed to be looking for them. Sorry Tumnus, you’re stuck as a statue indefinitly, till we find our book!

Elijah, Zeke and I went to see a delightful little show at the Children’s Theatre yesterday evening. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is playing now through April 6th, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who lives around here! It was good, clean, knee-slapping, side-splitting, fun…

The whole theatre was in stitches the entire show. It felt so good to laugh boisterously with a theatre full of 4-10 year olds and their parents!