More Pictures

Seeing the manatees at a state park nearby is always a fun thing this time of year. Hannah and I had to miss this fun outing because she wasn't feeling well but everyone else went.


Another bad picture of me--I am really not photogenic at all. Actually, I'm unphotogenic. It's not usually something I notice so much because I am always the one behind the camera but I'm getting a good laugh out of some of the pictures of me showing up on Gabi's camera. Maybe one of these days I will do a post of just all the bad pictures of me. :0) On a positive note, below is he chicken Gabi made last night. It was so good! He deboned it raw and then cooked it partially and then stuffed it with spinach, mushrooms, and onions and finished baking it.

Here's the origami that Steph and the girls did. They turned out great! Now what do we do with them?


Joe is so sweet with his younger cousins, he is very nurturing and patient.

Busy, Busy, Very Busy...

It's a rainy Saturday here in Florida but we are occupying ourselves with all sorts of different activities. Gabi and Ollie are working on a project. They are making a chopping block sort of thing that will fit over our sink to add counter space as well as a cutting board. Our kitchen is tiny and lack of counter space is always a problem so this will be really helpful. Gabi is also the cook of the day. He made hash browns for breakfast and has deboned two chickens and is boiling the carcasses with onions and celery to make a broth. Then tonight he will grill the chickens and make pasta. I can't wait for dinner! I'll take pictures and share them with you later so you can be jealous.
The rest of us have been doing art and science for much of the day. Above Grace and Hannah are painting suncatchers. Kea and Corrie painted a few too. Below Kea is working on a puzzle--that's not art or science but the picture was cute so I had to share.


We made some headway towards working our way through the 101 Science Experiments book. We probably did 10 experiments and I'm happy to report that most of them worked. In addition to science experiments, Grace and Ellie have done a number of the projects in an electrical kit--you know one of those where you connect the wires to turn on a light bulb or make a sound.



Here, the girls are working on another art project. First we used crayons and white paper and made textured papers. Then the kids painted over the crayon with watercolors to make a resist. Once these papers dried we cut out rectangles and made rowhouse pictures. Hannah and Grace aren't done yet so I don't have pictures of the final projects. So far they are pretty cool.
Below is our breakfast--hash browns the Julia Child way...they were soooo good and crispy!
I am taking a crafting break to blog and waste time on the computer but the fun continues in the living room--Steph and girls are doing Origami now. Woohoo for Saturday school!!

Pictures...Real Live "Rock Band" and More

The fun continues with our guests here...today we went and made cards for a local hospital. It was a volunteering project through Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day." We made cards for about an hour and in return we all get Disney tickets! Pretty cool, huh?
Gabi is a great cook and we are benefitting from his culinary skills. Tonight he made two different risottos and they were both wonderful. Steph made some really good shrimp too--awesome meal!! Gabi has a "foodie" style blog with some of his culinary experiences documented. Check him out at Mamaliga. Below he is sporting my favorite apron. The one that says, "Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Deal With It."

The other night we played some real life "Rock Band." We had karaoke going in the Florida room with guitars and even drums. We were doing some serious rockin'. Above are Melissa and Josh, she's a great singer and he's multi-talented singing and playing guitar. Hannah did some drummin' and we all took turns singing. Even me. I stunk but I had fun. I sang "Eye of the Tiger" and had a hard time not laughing through it because the lyrics were messed up so it told me to sing--"it's the eye of the tiger it's the cream of the fight"--they changed the words since last time I heard that song I thought it was "thrill" of the fight. Anyway, I hope we play live "Rock Band" again sometime soon. It was a ball!

Some Park Fun With The Cousins

We went to three parks today with our Chicago cousins--they were loving the beautiful weather! I wasn't the one behind the camera for a change. Gabi took all of these pictures--he got some great ones. Except the one of me below. I look so old and stressed but it also makes me laugh. I'm thinking of making it my FB profile pic.

Wow! What a Weekend...

Well, I would have to say that the weekend got started with a bang when I decided to have a Venti (the biggest) Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks at about 3 Friday afternoon. I then proceeded to come home and clean out the bunny hutch, clean out the carrier I had borrowed, clean both bathrooms, do all the laundry, completely organize the school area, completely clean the FL room, do all the dishes, and totally pick up and straighten the entire house. I finished my whole weekend "to do" list in a matter of about 5 or 6 hours. I was still up folding laundry at 11:30 when I got a call from our neighbor and friend, Joel, telling me that his wife, Amanda's, water had broken and she was in labor. They have 6 dogs and 2 cats and the kid who was supposed to "babysit" was camping for the weekend. So, at about midnight I met them at their house and got the instructions for taking care of Louie, Oliver, Hula, Kiwi, Henson, Squirrel, Pele, and Ruby. By the time I got home and in the bed it was almost 1 and I didn't fall asleep right away. Then Joel texted me at 2 to let me know how things were going (I had asked him to). I finally went back to sleep around 2:30 or 3 and had to get up at about 7 or so to go let the dogs out. I was going to go back to bed but it just wasn't happening so I made breakfast and read for a while. Then I took the kids over to let the dogs out and play with them for a little while. That was really crazy but really fun.


Hannah preferred to stay safely behind the baby gate. Joe and Grace however jumped right in and had a ball. I spent the rest of the day resting, falling asleep and then being awakened by the phone. I didn't want to turn it off because I was waiting for THE CALL which finally came around 4.

Landon had been born! I went back to let the dogs out and feed the cats and again later to pick up something for Amanda and then last night I went to the hospital to see this sweet baby for myself. He is such a sweet, sweet baby! Julie and Mike came while I was there too.



On the way home I stopped back at J and A's house and fed the dogs and waited while they ate and then let them out one last time. I was home and in bed by midnight, ready for a good night's sleep. Until I get a call at 4 that I need to pick Hannah up from the sleepover she was at--she was sick. So, I go and get her and she is now feeling better after tossing her cookies and all ready to talk and talk and talk. We finally fell asleep together (comfy) on the couch and slept there until Joe woke me up at 7. I went and let the dogs out again and came home and went back to bed and amazingly slept until about 10:30. So, we didn't make it to church but I did have a church function I was in charge of starting at 1 so I got dressed and was out the door by noon so I could go get ready. After my church thing I came home, cooked dinner, cleaned up dinner and then we all went to visit Aunt Harriet and Uncle Billy. Then home and now here I sit blogging. How's that for a weekend??? I am so thankful that I plowed through my whole weekend to do list on Friday night. We have company coming tomorrow and if I hadn't gotten all that done I would have been seriously scrambling in the morning. These next two pictures have nothing to do with my weekend but I wanted to share them anyway. My dad is now a college baseball umpire and for those of you that don't know it--it's a big deal. He had to work hard to get to this point and I'm proud of him. He's been playing and or coaching and or umpiring baseball or being involved in some way since he was a little kid. Does he look happy or what?

The next two weeks should be a lot of fun as we entertain our Chicago family. I have lots of ideas that include a lot of time outside enjoying the beautiful Florida weather. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to come...

Funkadoodledoodoo

I have been in a funk today--I have lots to do, but I'm not motivated to do anything but also have a hard time relaxing because I have lots to do.  Does anybody else get like this?  Some of what I need to do is fun like making a quilt, starting a new puzzle, reading a book but nothing satisfies.  I'd love to read blogs but my peeps aren't posting much...

I spent some time today thinking and scheming about time lines.  Last year I put all of our timeline stuff in a big book and made a book style timeline.  The problem is that nobody ever looks at it nor do we use it or add to it.  I've been revisiting the idea of putting one on the wall but can't find a style I like.  If I had a roll of paper and could do a seamless wall hanging sort of thing I'd do that but I don't have a roll of paper and am trying not to buy anything new.  So, after thinking and stressing I just decided to stick with what I already have.  Not worth the stress...

I realized today that it's been a year since I went to the doctor and really started looking into diet changes  to help my arthritis.  I am not healed but I have had no progression and actually I am better than I was.  I can bend my fingers, my knees don't bother me at all, my feet don't bother me at all, and I'm taking half the dose of anti-inflammatory that I was on this time last year.  I do not regularly stick to my "diet" but overall we are eating healthier and I'm regularly taking a big handful of supplements including fish oil and Vitamin D.  I've discovered that I have a dairy allergy which is the thing I struggle most with.  I love coffee with cream!  I love ice cream!  I love pizza!  I'm finding substitutes and cheating occasionally and doing okay.  Maybe by this time next year I will be more consistent and dedicated to doing what's right for my body and be even better.  

I'm excited that the Office is on tonight.  Until then I'm going to try to get into a good book.  That might cure the funkadoodledoodoo that has hung around all day.  The kids are playing somewhat nicely and Ollie will be hanging out with them once he gets done with the dishes so I think I have some me time--woohoo for that!

Gracie Got a Haircut

Getting Up Early and Other Stuff

I just can't do it anymore.  Ever since about Thanksgiving I just can't get up before 7:30 or 8.  I set my alarm and then just hit snooze over and over and over until I either give up and turn it off or until it's 7:30 or 8.  Even when I determine the night before that I will get up early no matter what, I still don't.  I have all sorts of groggy excuses that win out over responsibilities and guilt and everything else.  I've finally about decided to just go with it.  The only thing is that the main reason I get up early is to have a quiet time of prayer and Bible reading in the you know, quiet.  So, I think it's time to change that and start having a quiet time later in the morning or in the afternoon or something.  Maybe it's the cold weather...

In our homeschool we are working on a "Story of Jamestown" lapbook and it's going really well.  I got it from In the Hands of a Child and one thing I love is how it is designed to be used with multiple grade levels.  For example, in the book about the three reasons why the initial location for Jamestown was a poor choice--Joe traced the three reasons, Grace copied them, and Hannah wrote them in her own words.  We should be done with it by Friday so it's fast too.  I really love lapbook learning, I think the kids retain more when they make all the little mini books, and it's something to go back and look at.  We are going to Williamsburg in April and we will be taking our lapbooks (next we are doing one on Colonial America) to review once we are there.  I'll post pictures this weekend when we are done.  

I am loving American Idol!  I think having a different girl judge each city has made it interesting.  I'm sure things will really get interesting once Ellen starts up.  Does she know anything about music though??  Or is she just there to be funny?  Last night was too short though.  I'm sure they could have stretched that to an hour and showed more funny auditions.  

I really want to do a post about books but the only thing I've been reading is some old copies of Reader's Digest I got from Debi.  I LOVE Reader's Digest and have had a subscription forever but cancelled it last year to save a little money.  Thanks to Debi for passing on old copies.  On my bedside table is a book by Kristen Hannah called "Between Sisters,"  I'll post about it if I ever get it read.  There are so many books on my "to read" list...

Well, I've got a snotty boy in my lap who needs some attention.  I think he's come down with a cold overnight--joy, joy!  He has some kind of disgusting little habits  when he is snotty.  Like sticking his fingers up his nose and blowing out all the snot and then licking his fingers.  EEEEEEWWWW!!

Lego Mania

The kids got a few new Lego kits for Christmas and we've had legos, legos everywhere ever since then. We used to keep all of our legos in one big bin but they would no longer fit in the bin and I wanted to keep sets together once they were taken apart so they could be rebuilt. So, we sorted them by color and by set and made a Lego station. The little bins were on sale at Target so I bought a lot and re-organized this big shelf we have in there.

Craft Hope for Haiti

Hi guys--I read about this on another blog and thought it was a great idea...there is a "store" on Etsy called Craft Hope and other Etsy crafters have donated items to sell.  All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.  

Saturday Evening Post

How has your Saturday been? Ours has been just right. We were productive--Ollie and I got the garage cleaned out and I went to Julie's and ground a whole bunch of wheat. We relaxed--I read a whole book between an hour or so last night and an hour or so this morning. It was actually a "young adult" book that Hannah H had read called "Prairie Whispers" and it was really good. I got it from the library for Hannah to read but couldn't resist reading it myself. It's about a young girl on the prairie whose mother goes into labor and the baby dies. The mom doesn't know because she is too weak. The girl goes for help and comes across a wagon with a dying woman in it who has just given birth to a baby girl and begs Colleen to take the baby and keep it a secret. Her husband is really mean and she doesn't want him to have the baby. So, Colleen switches the two babies and then has to keep it a secret. It was a great, suspenseful story with a happy ending. We had fun (back to our Saturday)--we went to the mall as a family (we NEVER do that) and that was fun. I had a gift card to FYE and the one at this mall was closing and was having a huge sale, everything 60% off. Thank you to Kris for letting me know that. I bought Season 4 of Little House on the Prairie and was quite thrilled. With the extra money we also bought a couple of other DVDs. I also hit a big sale at the teacher's store--40% off the entire store. I bought 3 wall posters of birds, butterflies, and beetles. I plan to frame one and hang it on the dining room wall. Our house is already decorated in "early childhood education" so it should go nicely. I also got two Daily Paragraph Editing workbooks that I've been eyeing. It's a $20 book and I wanted one for each girl so this sale gave me an opportunity to buy them. I'm sure the girls will be pleased. They both LOVE grammar (in my dreams). We also shopped the 50% off calendars at the stand in the mall and Joe was traumatized by seeing a calendar where a woman was practically showing her whole butt. He would not stop talking about it and wondering why anyone would do that! He was sure she didn't have panties on either. Fabulous. Thank you calendar store for putting this image in my son's head that he will likely not forget for a long time. I bought one of the day planner style calendars and plan to do my "scrapbook calendar" again this year. I used to do one of these every year and they are so fun to look at. All you do is get a planner that has the week on one side and a picture on the other. Use the week side to record things the family does and anything you want to remember about the day and on the picture side you tape in pictures, ticket stubs, invitations, keepsakes, etc. I haven't done it the last two years and miss it. It's such a fun way to look back at our year. On the way out Ollie paid $2 for Joe to stand in the Hurricane Wind Tunnel thing and it was hilarious!! He had to withstand 78 mph winds in this tunnel thing. It was a riot. Ollie videoed it so I'll see if I can get it on this computer and post it. Now we are home and Ollie and I combined our culinary skills to make pizza. We made two kinds--one is a veggie pizza with just tomato sauce, cheese, and veggies. The other is a Thai Tempeh pizza that has a peanut butter/red chili sauce and red onions, tempeh (kind of like tofu), and broccoli. It looks delicious. If it's good I'll post the recipe, it's hopefully a good vegan alternative to traditional pizza. I'm hoping to wrap up our day with some family time--we have 4 new Nancy Drew computer games and we are all eager to start one. Especially now that we are pretty much all home most nights.
Well, the pizza is about ready...
Peace out my peeps!

Winnie the Pooh Stew

I recently combined a couple of soup recipes and came up with a REALLY good soup. I've served to a number of people and everyone raves about it and wants the recipe and I say, sure, I'll get it to you. Problem is...I made it up and so I don't really have an exact recipe. I am going to attempt to come up with one though so here goes. Just remember that this soup is very forgiving so exact amounts are unnecessary.

2 small or 1 large onion, chopped

1 head of broccoli, chopped (I discard the stems, actually I feed them to my bunnies)

4 to 6 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 med potatoes (not the baking kind but the ones in the bag)

butter

spinach

rice (optional)

cooking sherry

chicken broth (I prefer "Better Than Bouillon")

Melt the butter and add the onions and saute until soft. Then add the carrots and potatoes and toss in the butter and saute for a few more minutes. Add the broccoli and fill with enough water to cover the vegetables. Keep track of how many cups you use and add one bouillon cube per cup or you can just use chicken broth instead of water. Add about 3 Tbsp. of cooking sherry. Bring to a boil and then turn it down to simmer for about 20 minutes until veggies are pretty soft. Use a blender or hand blender to puree the soup. Then add a few handfuls of spinach and if you have some leftover rice that is good as well.

That's it!

Chocolate Fix

"Chocolate Fix" is a game we got for Christmas and we finally got it out of its box and played it the other night. It was an instant hit with all five of us! It is a logic game and you have to "fill orders" by following clues. It has 4 levels--beginner, advanced, intermediate, and expert with about 40 challenges in all. I think I am the one who likes it best but probably every one of us would say the same thing. And, one of my favorite things about this game is that it is ONE player. Too often around here somebody wants to play a game or something else and needs to have a partner but no one else wants to play. I love something that the kids' can do on their own.