Richard Williams in the Making?

Our up coming weekend is packed with back-to-back tennis. Neither Pai nor I play tennis and we are hardly the pushy sidelines sports parents, yet somehow more and more of our time is filling up with tennis. How did this happen?

Saturday we have a morning of lessons and then Zita has her first ever tournament in the afternoon. I don't think she has even played a proper game (match?-see I do't even know tennis terminology very well) from start to finish.

Sunday is much of the same, with  more lessons in the morning, and Moojie playing a tournament in the afternoon. I've seen some pretty crazy parents on the sidelines- yelling, arguing about whether it was in our out, and "coaching" their children through each match. (yes, match does sound better). It's true for every sport; although I never saw it in horseback riding where everyone stays quiet so as not to spook the horses.

We couldn't be more opposite, and I think it's because we aren't tennis people.  Pai usually has work with him and is half reading, half watching. I keep score so badly that I never realize if Moojie is winning or losing and I always think he does great. We are even relieved when he gets knocked out early because it means the afternoon is free and we don't have to keep the other two entertained by tennis courts for 4 more hours. So we really aren't those  parents at all, yet somehow we are now locked into commited to tennis tennis tennis.

I have no pictures of Moojie playing because like all things, that would be embarrasing, but here is our Freddy enthusiastically collecting balls a few weeks ago.

Rehearsing lines

Freddy came home from school ecstatic that he was chosen to be a narrator in the school Christmas play. Of the three school plays so far, Freddy has broken down and needed to be carried out before two even started. Last Christmas he was a sunshine (so appropriate for my happy guy!) and danced his heart out.
I'm still wondering if he knows what being the narrator means, but we´ll see on the big night I guess.

He got the paper from his backpack and immedeately pulled me aside to start his "rehearsal." This is my first mobile video upload from the iPad so apologies if it seems grainy or slow.
This is his first line, and you don't need to understand Portuguese to think it's cute. ( I hope!)

Caught in a Downpour

Moojie went for a run since tennis was cancelled due to expected rain. They were right; Halfway out, it started to pour!

Word Clouds- Christmas Gift Ideas

We've been having so much fun making word collages on wordle.net recently. The program picks up the most frequently used words in a text, and creates a collage where word size corralates to word frequency. The kids usually just type in silly words and watch what comes out. One can change the colors, font, design, and personalize most aspects.

 I asked Freddy to give me 20 words and these are the first that came to his mind.

(He was standing at the computer, and Zita's friend Sofia was over, the rest are predctable Freddy words)
 I find it interesting that only two words are in Portuguese and I'm curious what words would come out if Vasco had asked him.

I've since discovered an even better word cloud generator site called http://www.tagxedo.com/. It allows one to fit the word cloud into an uploaded shape such as an animal, country, your child's own photo, musical intruments,  a word, etc.  I was up until almost 1am fiddling with tagxedo last night. The possibilities are endless. I quickly made this image below linking to this blog and fitting them to the word "joy." I find it pretty hilarious that the word "cake" is as prominent as the children's names.

A Post Script: The Failed Photoshoot

I'm posting these in the order they were taken. The light and background were perfect. The kids were not so much.

As soon as I saw Moojie sit down to get sand out of his shoes, I seized the moment and asked the other two to sit with him. Not so hard, right?

First try: Not bad, but not great, and certainly not Christmas picture worthy.

 

 I was willing to overlook the fact that he's clutching his Crocs, but Freddy closed his eyes, and Moojie put on his get-this-over-with face.

Note that they've been sitting for 1 minute tops, and Zita gives up. So that was it.

I didn't give up. Where there's a mom with a camera in the pre-Christmas season, there's a strong will. This is a pefect opportunity to get just the boys, I think to myself.

Freddy: Eyes closed. Moojie: Eyes open

I finally get Freddy to open his eyes,  and Moojie closes his.

I still don't give up. "Just one more try boys. Moojie, open your eyes!"

 

Moojie did open his eyes, and even lovingly puts his arm around Freddy, who once again

HAS CLOSED EYES!

This long and photo heavy post was all a long and excuse driven explanation for why- if I do get a Christmas card out this year- the photo will be any photo I can get with 6 eyes open, three children, and at least semi-normal expressions. Forget wardrobe coordination, combed hair, or  Christmasy props. I have accepted defeat with a tip of my hat to all the moms out there who manage to do this.

Sunday Afternoon Tea at the Beach

After a warm sunny BBQ lunch on Sunday afternoon, we all decided that tea at the beach was in order. I packed three thermoses of hot chocolate and strong black tea,  1 bolo rei (traditional portuguese cake),  two blankets, and off we went to Guincho.

Miss Zita lead the way as we searched for the perfect picnic spot.

A picnic at the beach doesn't have to mean smack on the sand; wind, sand, and sticky cake are not a good combination.

Moojie was happy with the set-up too.

The wind started to pick up so off we went exploring while Pai took all the stuff back to the car. I sure do appreciate having Pai around to do all of those thankless background tasks like getting the car, hauling bags, carrying sleeping heavy children, checking tires and oil, and on and on. We each do our share of these tasks and the division has always been easy and clear. Now if we could just get the division of tasks a little clearer among the children, all would be right with the world.  

All three were climbers as babies and toddlers, and continue to climb into the most precarious spots available.

 We made our way down to the beach where I decided that the setting and perfect pre-dusk light called for a photo shoot and a potential Christmas picture session. Ha! Was I ever wrong! I'll post on that later.

I did catch my favorite girl unaware, but why oh why is it blurry, and where did her scarf go? I see glimpses of a teenager here and it hurts my heart.

My Freddy bear is also losing his baby face, but I still scoop up him up and smooch him like I did the day he was born.  

Freddy and Pai bravely walked the beach which was extremely windy by that point.  The big kids and I got the car and picked them up at the far end hoping all the while that they wouldn't be killed by the many kite surfers whose ropes whip up out of nowhere.

Another blissful Sunday ended with a breakfast-for-dinner of omlettes, bacon, and goat cheese baked with honey on puff pastry.

Baking With Children- Chocolate Truffle Cake

Let me start by saying that I am skeptical of all cakes that a) do not require egg separation b) allow one to just mix everything together with no particular order. 

It came as a great surprise that the choclate cake we made  for Pai debunked both 'a' and 'b' and was, to quote a famous food critic  and food lover also known as Moojie, "really good, as in wow this is good!"

So without further ado, I will share this easy, child friendly really-good-as-in-wow-this-is-good chocolate truffle cake: All credits on recipe to Jane Hornby. Thanks Jane!

1. grease two springform round cake pans, and pre-heat oven to 190 c (375)

2. Measure 300 grams (11oz) dark baking chocolate. Scales are so much more fun than measuring cups for kids.

3. Get a water bath going and let choclate slowly melt. I'm sure you could be lazy and microwave the chocolate, but again, it's more fun for kids.

4. Measure 225 grams butter (8oz) and 300 grams (11oz) sugar. I used muscovado sugar, but any sugar will do.

5. Add 4 eggs. I know, I know, you want to separate them and mix the yolks with the sugar first, and stiffen the whites.  Resist the temptation and just throw it all in the same bowl.

6. Many American recipes call for buttermilk. There is no buttermilk in Portugal so I use yogurt*. Add 150ml  (1/4 pint) of buttermilk or yogurt.  

7. Add 1 tspn vanilla, 1/5 tspn baking powerder, and a pinch of sea salt

*We used vanilla yogurt since we didn't have plain.

7. Mix everything together, including 150  grams (5oz) of self-raising flour.

7.. Stir the choclate, which by now should be quite soft.

 and then add it to everything else.  

 8. Everything should now be in one bowl, and mixed together.

Freddy loves to use the mixer and beats things to death, but the cake still rose and was fluffy.

Distract your child with these

while you pour the batter into both springform pans. Bake for 30 minutes and enjoy!


Gosh this was long, but I promise it was quick and easy. The kitchen didn't even get very messy. So next time you need to make a cake, don't reach for a cake mix, grab a kid and start baking!

Note: The real recipe calls for only 200 grams baking choclate and 25 grams coccoa powder. I omitted the coccoa powder and upped the chocolate.  I also shortened the baking time and upped the temp to 375 from the recommended 325 to keep the inside moist and fudgy, but not liquid or raw.