DALLAS DREAMS

Again, not a lot to report other than today was VERY beautiful weather.  And because the only thing we can really do right now out of our house is go for walks, we went for some walks today and they were beautiful.    I also got a lot more baby holding time.  Today was a time where the twins really did a tag-team on their naps.  They hardly ever slept at the same time.  These day can be hard, like having one baby that never sleeps. Tomorrow will be better.                                                      Here is a little snap-shot of our days: 

 Today everyone was home and didn't go anywhere... At some point I played "Kush-Ball" with Alice, I walked the babies in their double stroller. Worked on Potty training Lucy, cleaned the kitchen, and read some books with Emma.  Normal day at home while in quarantine: Playing with Alice: We tried to get the twins to play with some toys today:

 Well, even though my test was negative, it turns out Amy's Covid test came back positive!  So...I found out today that this mean I cannot go back to work for a long, long time.  Everyone here is fine.  Amy was a little sick earlier this week, but she seems to be recovered now and I don't  think any of the girls are showing any symptoms other than a few of them being a little extra tired.  It just means that we have to really shut down for a few weeks so that we don't spread Covid around.  We go outside for our daily exercise, but other than that we are always home.  Today was a lot of baby holding.  The babies have had some trouble sleeping the past couple days.  This make it hard to get a lot of things done.  Perhaps it has been good for me to be home and help Amy for this...  Instead of a run today, I decided to go roller blading Amy got me a pair of nice roller blades when we lived in Utah, and Amy and I used to go before w...

 I just got my test back, NEGATIVE !!! Hopefully that means I can go back to work soon.

 Another Saturday, another pie.  This time I decided to go with a Lemon pie, one of my favorite flavors.  I went back to the first crust recipe I tried and I did a much better job rolling it out.  I guess crust just takes practice to get good.  I thought the lemon flavor turned out really nice on this pie. And I used real whipped cream for the top, definitely a better choice than the spray cream I used on my banana cream pie. I don't think my children liked the lemon, but I thought it was one of my best pies to date! Also some fun facts about the making of this pie.  First off, I got a new rolling pin to roll out the dough, I no long have to use the baby one I had been using.  Second, while Emma was whipping up the cream for the top, she got her hair stuck in the mixer.  I slowed down the high speed video so you could better enjoy that moment!  Here's the video

 Well, I thought that I wasn't going to have anything to write about today... but it turns out that my day definitely was not what I expected when I woke up.  After I had been a awake about 15 minutes, Amy told me she just got a text from her brother saying he was tested positive for COVID19.  This of course was big news for us since he was just at our house over the weekend while he was sick.  I called my work and told them this development and they told me I couldn't come to work for 2 weeks. So, I guess my COVID time off work continues.  Today was actually a pretty good day.  After I went to get tested for the virus, I was able to help clean up the house and watch the kids so Amy could run and get some other things done she was dying to do.  I had fun with the girls, here are some silly photo we took while Amy was running:

 Twenty days ago, I received a text message from my sister on the family text thread asking if anyone was interested in doing a goal with her.  I'm always looking a good challenge,  so I responded "I will go and do."  It was a push-up challenge...my most hated exercise.  Today I completed the challenge: 20 push-ups for 20 day.  My arms are very very not strong, so this was pretty rough and by day 20, I did know if I was going to make it, as you will see.  I may never do a pushup again.  Today, you get the video of the final day, I had some kids do them with me for moral support...

 I have three things to post about tonight: Teeth, cribs and  Guitar. I was woken up today by Emma who lost a tooth last night!  This is her third tooth to lose and she is only five and a half. It is also the 3rd tooth she has lost in the last month. The first tooth she lost, we didn't even know that any of her teeth were loose, and she woke up missing one of her bottom teeth.  She didn't even remember losing it, it just disappeared (She probably swallowed it).  But after she lost that tooth were wondering if she had other loose teeth, she had 3 more loose, all her front teeth and top and bottom!  About a week ago, she lost the second one and today the 3rd. There is still one that is very wiggly ad probably going fall out any day.  Here is Emma showing off her missing-teeth smile and showing her tooth: Second, today was my first guitar lesson.  One of the girls in my neighborhood wanted to learn the guitar and I agreed to teach her.  I'm not ...

 It is hard to believe that fall is already here.  Finally night time has also gotten a little chilly here.  We decided today we need to open up the box of winter hat gloves and most importantly... warm pajamas for the girls.  They were so excited to see their footie-jammies that had been put away since last winter. Here is a picture of them in the jammies:

 Every time family comes to visit out house, Amy says "Lets go see Annapolis," and every time she gets outvoted.  So imagine how happy she was today when Jenny says " I would love to see Annapolis...So, we went and i was pleasantly surprised by how nice of an experience and was and I said to my self " how come we have never come down here before. We only live 25 minutes away." So we drove down.  We stopped at a fun park on the way to play on an awesome playground and see some goats and baby pigs. Then we just drove the rest of the way to Annapolis.  Walked about the dock that is right downtown.  Looked at the boats, did some quick window shopping and bought some dinner at a deliciousrestaurant called the Iron Rooster.   I got some kind of "crab bowl" with crab, potatoes, eggs, asparagus, peppers. It was very taster. Fun times were had by, all, we will probably be back someday. 

We LOVE when people come visit us.  We don't see a ton of family out in Maryland, so it is always a treat when people come.  Amy's brother and his wife flew out to visit us this weekend, and it has been a lot of fun.  Especially for our girl who love both of them.  Even Lucy who is often very hesitant with anyone who is not Mom or Dad has enjoyed playing with the family.  Yesterday, we went to walk around DC and see the monuments around the mall.  We wanted to go see some Smithsonian Museums but there were all closed for virus reasons.  But it was still fun to get the girls out of the house and on a field trip.  We learned (from Emma asking a lot of questions) that we need to learn a lot of history.  Today we got dressed up for church (Emma, Alice, and Lucy did a Christmas theme), had home church, went for a walk to some parks, ate some pie and/or zucchini chocolate muffins, had family planning, and then after the girls went to sleep, we play...

 Today was Pie #3.  My wife's brother is visiting and he requested a berry pie, just like his mother use to make.  We used frozen berries, (raspberries, blackberries and blue berries).  It turned out ok.  I though the crust looked better, but Amy said it did not have as good of a texture as the apple pie crust, so I might go back to the apple pie crust recipe from Pie 1.  I thought the filling was very tasty. Its hard to go wrong with berries and sugar.   You can see the high-speed cooking video at  Berry Pie Video  . Here are the pictures:

Today was Friday, but it was also my last day that I have off of work for the Corona Virus. Starting Monday, I will be back to work everyday, every week.  Today, I just want to reflect on how I used this time to remind future Dallas how I spent my months at home. -- Twins were born!  This is of course on the top of the list.  I had been home about 2.5 months when they came.  It is a good thing I was at home before during and after this event.  It was crazy even without having to go to work.  Olive and Mabel arrived on May 21, 2020 late at night.  An experience I will never forget ( and hopefully write about in a future post) -- Completed a very long list of home projects including: painting a bathroom, fixing a deck, fixed up and painted a table, and many little things. In this picture you can see the deck and the table I painted -- I grew a tomato garden.  In the end, it was horrible. But if was fun to try and it was my first attempt.  Next ...