Pumpkin Pie

I made pumpkin pie with the pumpkins we grew in our garden. I eat pumpkin pie for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, so these two didn't last long...and so I had to make two more.

Due Day

Today is my due date but baby boy hasn't made his appearance. Is he waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to come? Is he waiting for Christmas Eve? Maybe he is waiting for us to decide on his name. What is your vote: Ezra Sean or Zane Michael?

At least we are lame together...

If you celebrate something without realizing it does it count as a celebration? Last night I put the kids to bed fairly early and Mike and I enjoyed pina coladas before going to bed. This morning Mike was checking his email and then he looked at me with a funny smile on his face and asked "Why didn't we celebrate yesterday?" I was puzzled, "What are you talking about?" He replied, "Yesterday was our anniversary...your dad just reminded me in this email."

We've been married 12 years. We are both so lame.

I think I'll make pina coladas again, tonight.

And the take home message is...

I asked Abby (age 4) to tell me about what she learned in Primary today at church. I will quote her to the best of my memory.

Abby: In my little class today my teacher tied a cloth over our eyes and then we had to find our seat, but I didn't have a turn because I didn't want a cloth over my eyes.

Me: So what was that supposed to teach you?

Abby: It was supposed to show us how easy it was to find our seat when we can't see.

Me: Oh

Read this book!

A year ago my mother in law lent me "Three Cups of Tea". I finally read it last week and I wish I had read it a year ago. It is the story of a man's mission to bring schools and education to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg Mortenson was a mountain climber who was separated from his group on K2, the highest peak in the mountain range between Pakistan and China. He stumbled into a small village where they took him in, fed him, let him sleep and recover from near death. He noticed that the village had no school. The children met outside and scratched their lessons in the dirt...without a teacher (the teacher split his time between several villages). Greg Mortenson promised his new friends that he would build them a school. It is amazing that he was able to fulfill that promise and then go on to build many many more schools throughout the country and Afghanistan- schools for boys and girls. These schools offer a moderate Islamic education. They give the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan an alternative to the radical madrassa schools that the Taliban recruit from. He is fighting terrorism in the best way.

https://www.ikat.org/three-cups-of-tea/

Kitties

Abby's friend has a cat that had kittens. Abby had it all arranged with her friend that when they were ready to leave their mommy we would take two kittens. So here they are.
Violet is the white and black one. She has the cutest face ever.

Midnight is the black one. He has white tips on his longer hair. It looks like he brushed up against wet paint.




Watching kittens pounce and explore and wrestle together has been keeping us highly entertained!

Look what I got!

I walked into a little shop today and this cute little purse said, "BUY ME!" So I did. Doesn't it look like a great tourist purse...hmmm, vacation anyone???


check out www.baggallini.com to see all their great styles.

No Cake!?

On April 15th I took my four year old and 1 year old to a TEA party on the steps of the capitol building. We protested the excessive government spending that is putting our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren into DEBT.

Later that day Abby told my aunt, "We went to a tea party but we didn't eat cake."

At least she got an American flag.

My Artists

This photo was taken awhile ago but I thought it captured so many of the reasons why I love homeschooling. I bought the kids new sketchbooks and they decided together that they wanted to go sketch. I love to see my children learning together.

First sewing project

This is Marah's first sewing project on the sewing machine. Mom helped a little but she did most of it. She is ready for warm sunny weather!

I did it!!

I was ready for a hairstyle change...and so I got BIG change. I aimed for an Audrey Tautou look. By the way...what is up with her one earring? Is it supposed to match her one sleeve?




Anyway, I think I might take a little more off the top. What do you think?

Happy Groundhog Day!

I saw these on the Family Fun website and I couldn't resist. Marah thinks we have definitely found a new tradition. We will be munching Phil while we watch the movie "Groundhog Day" tonight. Yum yum!

Amelia

To my little Amelia,
You are my little girl. We call you by a multitude of nicknames: Mia, Meemers, Curly Girly, MiMi, to name a few. I love to watch you play, but to you it is very serious as you investigate cupboards and drawers and rearrange things to your liking. You have recently discovered where the chocolate chips are kept and I sometimes find you helping yourself to a treat. Who can say no to a request for more when it is said in sign language?

I love how you carry around your baby dolls and give them hugs and kisses. Any scrap of cloth you find becomes a blanket to cover your baby of the day. You very gently pat and kiss the baby and instruct me to do the same with points and gestures. You are very pleased with me when I do it right.

I think it is adorable how you are so interested in any animal whether it is a horse a dog or a fish. You will not rest until I acknowledge the animal you have spied and name it for you. Our dog loves you because you are the only member of our family that welcomes his licks of affection.

I melt every time you wrinkle up your nose and eyes with a big cheesy grin and an irresistible giggle.

You love music and you ask for it often by pointing at the speakers and tilting your body from side to side like you are dancing. You especially love Marah to hold you and dance and twirl as the bluegrass fiddle and banjo sing away.

You are a joy little one. Sadly but surely part of the magic of childhood is knowing it doesn't last forever. I know I must cherish your golden baby curls and your little hand and feet now because all to soon they will only be memories.

"Tis the Season

We pulled out the Christmas music this afternoon and this was my children's first choice:



This is a collection of original Christmas music by my talented mother!
There are some fun songs for dancing around the living room and some spiritual songs for that special Christmas spirit. If you are in the mood for something new you can listen at CDBaby here.
Merry Christmas!

In control

Last night E. was invited to go out to dinner with my aunt and uncle and his 2nd cousin. They went to Happy Jing's, the local Chinese food joint. During the meal E. and Uncle P. had a heart to heart. I have gotten word that this is how the conversation went:

Uncle P: "So, E., who gave you that haircut?"
E. : *sigh* "My mom"
Uncle P: "Did you want your hair cut like that?"
E. : "No."
Uncle P: "So why did she give you that haircut?"
E. : looks down and with hands on either side of his head he shakes his head and laments "I just can't control her..."

(In my defense... I admit I may be too controlling at times- what mom isn't?- but the buzz was plan b when my less than optimal hair cutting skills failed. We'll go to the barber next time, okay E. ?)

Salty tears for the Ocean

I love the ocean. Tidepooling, boogie boarding, snorkeling, even sand between my toes and crusty sea salty hair, I love it all! So when I read articles like this it wakes up the activist in me. I already have blogged about the floating graveyard of plastic in the Pacific Ocean... here is some bad news for the Gulf of Mexico, a dead zone created by agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/30/AR2008073002943.html?hpid=topnews

It takes two to tango...

...and to make tomatillos.
I planted a tomatillo plant several months ago and I have been so excited to make salsa verde. The plant has hundreds of blossoms and many have developed into the characteristic paper husk that surrounds the tomatillo fruit. I became suspicious that something was wrong when none of the husks seemed to grow fruit. I searched for tomatillo on Wikipedia and sure enough it says the tomatillo is "highly self-incompatible" It needs another tomatillo plant to pollinate. Bummer!

A typical day

Have you ever noticed that the difference between a typical day and an atypical day is just a fraction of an inch? Just for fun I thought I would give you an outline of a typical (or maybe atypical) day in our home.

Today...
I got up and did my morning routine: morning prayer, get dressed, hair, clean my toilet and take dirty clothes downstairs.
I read a couple of blogs and made a few comments. (This was a distraction)
Then the kids started waking up so I changed baby's diaper and said good morning to everyone. They got dressed and made their beds while I went down and started breakfast which was scrambled eggs, toast, leftover baked french toast and hot chocolate.

After breakfast we had family scripture study.

The kids did their chores while I did breakfast dishes. M- straighten and dust bookshelves, E- vacuum hall closet, A- empty silverware from dishwasher

Then we went upstairs for school around 9:30 am- later than I like to start.

Marah had her spelling test while Ethan played on a phonics computer and Abby played with toys.

Marah watched a video from the Institute for Excellence in Writing which we just bought (so far it has helped so much with Marah's attitude toward writing).

Ethan and I played a memory game that drilled 'ay' and 'ai' sounds. Abby played dinosaurs, Mia played with Twistables (a type of crayon) on the floor.

While Marah started writing a story, Ethan and I read a poem together, played animal memory and mancala.

I laid Mia down for her nap and then practiced the ABC's with Abby while Ethan did a puzzle and Marah was still writing.

Marah and Ethan played Mancala.

Marah went back to writing (Can this be the same girl who claimed she hated writing earlier this year? Usually we would do history at this point but she wants to write so we’re writing today!) Ethan did his math (learning what a line segment is and how to draw one with a ruler). Abby worked on a puzzle,

For lunch we had leftover homemade pizza from last night, quesadillas, and grapes.

After lunch Marah and I worked on her Math while the other kids did puzzles and played.

I had a few errands to run so I left the kids home to play (Mike works at home so they aren't alone)

When I came home we hung our hammock on the porch and the kids played on it while Mike and I made dinner- Sesame Peanut Noodles with Veggies.

We took our dinner over to Grandma's to eat and share with her. Friday is movie night for the kids and so we watched "The Indian in the Cupboard" and ate popcorn and Junior Mints for a treat.

Home for jammies and prayers and kids go to bed.

I read a bit and wrote this post and now I’m off to brush teeth, read my scriptures and go to bed at 12:30am- Past my bedtime, Goodnight!

Pajama Day

When I was in elementary school our school declared "Pajama Day" once a year. We thought it was so novel to be able to wear our pajamas to school.

Earlier this week, in my efforts to be a "fun mom" and make homeschooling even more exciting than it already is, I told my kids that Friday would be Pajama Day. "We can wear our pajamas all day!" They were very excited. So today as I type this post it is almost 1:00pm and I am still wearing my nightgown...and I am going absolutely crazy! I feel unprepared, lazy and uncomfortable! (It doesn't seem to bother the kids a bit) We haven't been lounging around- we have done our school work and jobs, my bed is made, I even cleared out a box of office supplies that has been sitting in my husband's office- one of the last remaining boxes from our move last fall. I guess the past years of dabbling in Flylady has rubbed off on me. I want to be dressed to the shoes! So what makes you feel ready to tackle the day? Shower? Make-up? Clothes? Shoes? Cheerios?

When you can't afford the opera...

...get your culture from yogurt instead! I can't believe it but I am a homemade yogurt maker now! I have made several batches so it is not just a one time thing. (I also make my homemade bread now too! Woo hoo!) So how do I do it? I'm sure you are itching to know. First I fiddled with my electric skillet to see where to adjust the knob so it would heat water to 100*F. Then I heat a quart of milk to almost boiling (180*F) Then I let it cool to 100*F. I whisk in about 1/4 cup yogurt (from the store or my previous batch). Pour the yogurt into several small jars or ramekins and place them in my warm water bath in the skillet. I then cover with the lid and walk away for about 7 hours and when I come back I have yogurt. I cool my culture in the fridge and enjoy it with maple syrup. Yum Yum!