Ice Cream and Bananaz

Thanks to an email and a phone call from my sister-in-law, we didn't miss this years free cone day at Ben and Jerry's. Sadly, papa wasn't able to come with us, but after the big kids got home from school and the little kids woke up from naps, we loaded up and headed to B&J's for a scoop of ice cream.

The weather was perfect, we found a great parking spot not to far away, and the line was totally do able given the weather!

This year they narrowed their selection to roughly a dozen flavors, so Sam wasn't able to get his berry sorbet, and Becca wasn't able to get her mint chocolate chunk, and I know I didn't ask for a scoop of macaroon chocolate chunk or something like that, so we're planning a return trip to celebrate the end of something ... maybe the end of soccer season, or the last day of school deserves to be celebrated with a trip to B&J for cones.



Because of soccer practices, and needing to eat dinner, we ate our cones in the car. Sam some how managed to trip going down the stairs from the ice cream shop to the parking lot, most of his little body was going up the stairs, his chin was in the dirt at the bottom of the stairs, and his hand holding his barely touched cone was straight up in the air like the Statue of Liberty. Thankfully he wasn't hurt badly, a little banged up but no scrapes or cuts or gouges. And his cone ... amazingly not a drop of ice cream left his cone. Thank goodness for small miracles!



Emily brought home her classroom pet yesterday. Bananaz will be staying with us until tomorrow when he will spend a few days with another classmate's family. He has a backpack, journal and lots of changes of clothing.

Déjà Vu

Last year we had a really good time going to the fireworks product demo put on by the group GR purchases all his commercial fireworks from. And having gone before, we felt more prepared this year to invite friends and turn the event in to an official tradition. The weather was picture perfect and we had a fabulous evening!



We packed a simple "camp fire" dinner (aka, hot dogs to warm on a couple disposable charcoal grills), drank pink lemonade, talked and laughed and relaxed, made s'mores, used up odds-and-ends paper goods from previous parties, watched the kids run and play and laugh, and then oooohhed and ahhhed at a beautiful, breathtaking fireworks show. Most of the kids piled into the back of Joe's truck to watch the show; making up their own names for each of the displays.

It was so nice to escape to the country, leaving the stress of "real life" behind and be with good friends for a couple of hours, living totally in the moment.

For your viewing pleasure ... two videos from the evening ...

6-8-10-12 inch shells from Willi Wild on Vimeo.

AERIAL FX Mini Pyro Musical 04/18/09 from Willi Wild on Vimeo.

Welcoming Committee

Yesterday morning, Alex collected a few of my favorite garden creatures and lined them up on the front step. I couldn't resist taking this picture ...

The Reward

Kansas State Assessment testing for the 3rd - 6th grade happened the end of March, early April. And while the kids weren't stressed out about it, they were very focused and really wanted to do their best. One of the reasons they really wanted to do well on the state assessment tests, was because if they did well, there would be a teachers vs. student basketball game. Rebecca was very excited about the prospect of being able to play in this game. And no one was more shocked than I was, when she came home breathless with excitement that SHE had been picked as one of the students to play.

Illegible kids names were placed in a hat, and drawn for spots on the court. Each grade would play one 15 minute quarter (two teams of five would play for 7.5 minutes each) against a team of teachers. Each quarter was followed by a second group of 10 kids throwing one free throw each.

The game was incredibly fun and exciting to watch, an absolutely perfect way to celebrate a job well done by the students. GR was able to take off work a little early and came and watched the game with Alex, Anna and me. Rebecca (the one in the blue t-shirt looking to the right) did really well dribbling the basketball and passing to her team mates. I was so very impressed with how well she and her classmates played. Overall, the 3rd grade did just as well as the other grades competing against the teachers. They all had so much fun with this reward!

And, the score ... it was very close ... 155 to 153, in favor of the students!

Anna's lightening fast, super quiet Stealth Powers

And I was 3 feet away with my back turned, making dinner.

CAN you say CHEESE?

We have an amazing food storage, provident living guru in our ward. I love her dearly and she is so willing and eager to help others store food, preparing for hard times. One of her best qualities, is that she is amazingly practical. She looks at what her family needs, and finds ways to achieve the desired outcome within the limitations of short and long term food storage. She is who turned me on to TVP - love it! - amazing stuff! She discovered you can can butter or margarine - no hot water bath needed, no pressure cooker needed - and it doesn't have to be refrigerated after it's opened - amazing I tell you, amazing.

Her latest discovery is canning hard cheeses.

I have to say that while this ranks right up there in the category of weird home storage things with canning butter, the idea of having cheese that does not need to be refrigerated or frozen and will last ~2 years, and can be eaten straight from the jar or shredded on pizza or melted into a casserole, really appealed to me. And frankly, freezer and refrigerator space is at a premium here and it isn't going to get better as the kids get older. I figure if I can get this to work, it will be a benefit all around! So, on a Sunday afternoon, while the kids were playing with GR, I tested it out for myself, using some shredded mozzarella and cheddar I had in the freezer.

What you need:
wide mouth pint size jars
lids and rings
hard cheese, shredded or cubed.

1. Pack cheese into wide mouth pint jars. A 5 lb bag of shredded cheese filled 6 pt jars. You can also use cubes of cheese, but the shredded was cheaper when I purchased it at Sam’s/Costco.
   
   
   
   
2. Put jars into a pan of water. Bring the water to a slow boil, allowing the cheese to melt. Continue to pack and fill the jars till ¾ inch from the top. This took 20 minutes or more.
   
   
   
   
3. Put on hot new canning jar lids and rings.
4. Water bath the jars in gentle boiling water for 35 min.
   
   
   
   * I found that the mozzarella comes out of the water bath looking a bit burned - light brown on the bottom and around the sides. Denise said the same thing happened to her. The outer layer more than likely is burned. I personally don't think it needs as much time as the cheddar. On my second batch of 3 pints of mozzarella, I reduced the time to 30 and the cheese looks better. That being said, I haven't popped open a jar yet, so I may change my mind once I've opened a jar and tasted it.
   

Denise, let the jars set for a week before trying them. "I opened the lid on the mozzarella and it came right out onto the plate. It sliced great and tasted great. I can use this to shred onto a homemade pizza. This was easy to do and you don’t need a canner, just a deep enough pan for the water bath. "

Happy Easter!

Our Egg hunt Saturday was a fun, laid back, good time, nestled between a busy Saturday activities. All the kids went home with candy filled eggs, and the mama's went home with enough beautifully decorated hard boiled eggs to use for sandwiches and salads over the next couple of days. Easter Sunday brought colder weather and constant rain! The kids had an indoor egg hunt ... the boys hiding eggs for the girls and the girls hiding eggs for the boys. We all enjoyed hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's playing, eating good food and taking a load off before heading into another busy week.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Easter - or will have since some of you are on the Orthodox calendar and will celebrate this coming Sunday.

Here are pictures from our weekend:









Everyone decked out in their Spring best:

Today in Pictures

Anna is 9 months old today ... she is eating massive amounts of food ... 12 ounces at lunch and dinner. I'm quickly moving more toward "table" food for her. She's certainly enjoying the texture, "real" food provides. Another little Anna tidbit, she loves to stick out her tongue. It is long and pointy, and she has it sticking out like this constantly.


At some point during the night a flock of flamingos descended on our neighbors lawn. They were there less than 24 hours, but before the left, Alexander had a fun time talking with each one of them, and learning their story. He got such a big kick out of walking amongst the flamingos.




Sam didn't have school yesterday ... Kindergarten roundup, so the kindergartners got a day off school ... so he helped me fill lots of Easter Eggs for tomorrows egg hunt. Plastic Easter eggs must be like Crayons and miss matched socks ... they multiply when the lights go out. I haven't purchased eggs in at least 2 years ... my estimate is that there are about 130 eggs in this basket, and I still have 6-8 bags of unopened eggs left in my box of Easter supplies.


GR's going to take the kids up to the pharmacy Sunday night and let them hide eggs for the Pharmacists and Techs to hunt for Monday. They had a great time when he did this two years ago.

Fast Learner

On Monday, Anna discovered the stairs. Pushing herself up into a standing position on the first step of the landing. Tuesday, she crawled up the two steps to the landing. And today ... today, she started up the stairs.



Once again we have a determined little kid who knows what she wants and will do everything in her power to get it ... and will not be persuaded to do otherwise. Finding every possible alternative route to her destination, regardless of obstacle. ... sigh ...

** Don't you just love the fingerprint smudge smack dab in the middle of my little point-and-shoot's lens ... stunning visual isn't it ... fantastic quality don't you think ... 100% courtesy of Alexander. If only it could have better hid how desperately our carpet needs to be replaced.

Friday Sewing

I haven't done any serious apparel sewing in ages ... the little PJ pants I've made for the girls over that last couple years, totally don't count. Last year, Heather made this adorable shirt for her daughter. I loved the shape of the shirt ... light, breezy, comfortable, and thought that not only would this style look cute on my girls, but they'd find it comfortable to wear.

The pattern Heather used, was of course for little girls, not for girls the ages of mine, but she turned me on to a Project Runway, Simplicity pattern with these pictures on Flickr. Where it not for real examples of the shirt made up, I'm not sure I would have given it a try simply seeing it in a pattern book. I purchased the pattern late last Spring and have been collecting bits of fabric here and there to make it up in. Nearly a year later, things have settled enough (and I finally got the girls measured) that I could sit down and make the shirt this afternoon.



I am really pleased. It has turned out super cute! I'm hoping to find some simple white or yellow buttons to put in the center of the yoke, between the pin tucks. And I'm already planning what fabric to use next. One thing I have learned though about the Project Runway patterns which is a bit annoying - on this pattern, their yardage requirements are al-a-cart. This particular pattern allows you to mix and match elements ... this neckline with this hem length, and those sleeves. Great for my kind of sewing since I am always adding or subtracting something from the written way. But the yardage isn't straight forward like it typically is ... for view A, get purchase __ yards. Instead, yardage is listed element - sleeve, shirt/dress front+back+neckline, etc - separately. Of course I didn't notice this minor detail when I purchased the fabric, so now I'm finding myself using every blessed inch of the fabric I did purchase, and a little extra from my stash!

Hopefully I can keep up the momentum and make a few more cute shirts for their spring/summer waredrobe.

35 years on the road to forever ...

Today is my parents 35th Wedding Anniversary. I am so grateful for their example of love and devotion, friendship and companionship, service and sacrifice. I found this picture from their wedding day on my computer and thought I'd share.

General Conference Survivial Helps

Saturday and Sunday is our church's Semi-Annual General Conference. I am so grateful we have the ability to listen (and sometime watch streaming video) to the Prophet, Apostles, and other church leaders from home. It makes it so nice and easy to listen and focus on what they have to share with us, rather than wrangle with the children. Plus GR and I get to sit next to each other, something we get to do only 2-3 times each year.

In my Tuesday email to my ward, I included some links for General Conference Activity packets for kids of all ages (and let’s face it sometime we need a little help during the afternoon sessions!). Last year my cousin Allison emailed us a conference activity packet my kids loved! That packet has been updated and I've included a link to it, along with a few others. Hopefully you'll have some time tonight to create your own customized packet tailored to your kids likes and interests.

For those with teens, my friend Korianne, created something for her Young Womens aged daughter based off the young women's theme and personal progress. I created a companion one for Young Men, based off the Duty to God pamphlet. They aren’t fancy, but hopefully they will be of help for some of your kids.

One suggestion for these printables for Primary aged kids, print these out tonight so you have time to print them front and back to save paper.

Friend Magazine Coloring Pages - This website lists coloring pages from the Friend magazine, complete with descriptions and links directly to the coloring page on lds.org. This would be good for younger children, Jr. Primary and young Sr. Primary.

Here are directions for a full blown lap book you can create if you want to for General Conference. If you don't want to take the time to do that, consider just printing pages 5, 6, 8, 9. Page 7 is the same puzzle already in the conference packet listed below.

Conference Packet 1 - This packet is a more for Sr. Primary, and Jr. Primary children who are strong readers. The puzzles are harder so it is not something will breeze through in 2 seconds. Also, the packet looks more at them paying attention to the talks and taking notes. You could add in some coloring pages to give them some break time.

Conference Packet 2 – Deseret Book’s conference packet, more of a Jr. Primary/young Sr. Primary packet. 6 full size pages of things to watch for, pictures to color, pages to cut, etc.


And, I’m sure you’ve all seen this article in the March Ensign … "Preparing Our Children for General Conference."

Hello Birdie

Last week on our way home from soccer practices, we drove past this amazing site, and had to pull a U-ie, take pictures and just watch for a few minutes:



Just in case you can't make out what the photograph is of ... all the black masses, those are hundreds and hundreds of birds, covering the trees, grasses, water, etc. The next picture is a closer up crop of the picture above. I should have taken some video so you could get a better sense of how much noise this many birds make. The chatter was unreal! The next day, the trees were totally empty, not a single bird anywhere. Enjoy!

Spectacles

Over Spring Break, one of the boys managed to break Becca's classes. If you remember, last year when she picked out her very first frames, she choose a super cute half rimmed frame. Sadly the lenses haven't held up well at all. They are very chipped all around the edges. While playing, either Sam or Alex (she could tell me who, but she's asleep), knocked them off her face, snapping the little piece of fishing line that holds the lens to the frame.

GR took them to the optometrists, got them fixed and scheduled Rebecca for her annual eye exam, which was today. Given that she's been having a little trouble reading the playlist on the radio in the car from the back seat, I wasn't surprised to see that her perscription has changed over the course of the year. Not significantly, but enough that new glasses are in order. While we waited for her eyes to dialate, we did a little frame shopping and she found a very chic new frame for her new lenses.



Rebecca and I made an afternoon of her eye appointment. While the other kids spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa, she and I had lunch with Papa at work and did a little Spring clothing shopping. Although the schedule was a bit tighter than I'd hoped, we had a really good time together. And found some super cute clothes. We're finding it harder and harder to have quality one on one time with our kids.

Family Responsiblities.

Last week, Rebecca was given the assignment to give a talk today during Sharing Time in Primary. Her topic ... Family Members Have Important Responsibilities. I encouraged her to think about the responsibilities of each member of our family, to remember the new song they learned for this year in January, The Family is of God, and to read a couple of paragraphs from the March Friend magazine. And then I asked her to type what she could of her talk, promsing to help her edit it into a talk once she was done.

She did such an awesome job! Here's what she wrote, I've put what I helped her add in italics, other than a few gramatical word choice changes made, it's all hers!:

Family members have important responsibilities.

In a house of order, everyone has a responsibility.

I will refer to “Family is of God,” in my own words.

Mother: She helps to care for her family. And she provides food for her family. And she nurtures and strengthens her children or child. One way my mom nurtures me is by helping me do laundry and teaching me to put my clothes away.

Father: He leads in family prayer. And he teaches his children or child to share and to care. My Dad teaches me to share by helping us set time limits on our favorite computer games so everyone gets a turn.

Children: We love and serve our family. And are good examples to each family member. I love and serve my family when I help my younger brother and sister, and when I help with family chores like loading the dishwasher and picking up my toys.

When I am a Mom, knowing what the song ‘The Family is of God,’ teaches will help me in my own family. I am thankful God gave us families.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

* * * *

Are you as blown away as I am!? She did an awesome job delivering her talk too. Since Daddy wasn't able to make it in to hear her, I suggested she use it to teach Family Home Evening. Tonight we have two soccer practices, so we had FHE last night. We had a great little discussion about each of our responsiblities and how when everyone does their part, our family is happier, the house is cleaner, and everyone has more fun.

Spring Break, end cap

We finished up our Spring Break week with a quiet weekend at home. I have to say I'm sad to see it end, but I'm also pleased. We had a lot of fun adventures, there were moments of stress and ciaos (it wouldn't be our home without it), but over all I think it was fun and relaxing for everyone.

Saturday morning the sewing group came back to life ... it's the group that over the last 5+ years has tried to put itself into extinction many times. Each year in an effort to keep it afloat I try a different teaching/project approach. This year the plan is to meet quarterly-ish and work on a different project each time. Many people said they wanted to learn to use a pattern, so yesterday we started with a skirt. Pretty simple, not too many pieces, a good beginner project. I had six people show up with more who wanted to come, but couldn't because of Spring Break traveling. We went over the basics of patterns and lingo, everyone showed off their fabrics and patterns and some even got started cutting out their garments. We've scheduled a second session for next Saturday morning so I can keep help everyone along at their different stages of the project. I'm hopeful this will be a successful year for the group. Everyone is excited about this project and doing future projects. My goal is to make sure that whatever project we work on in the group, that everyone walks away having learned valuable techniques that will translate to other sewing projects they want to do later on in life. Hopefully we can achieve this and we're able to keep up the momentum.

When I got home, Becca pulled out my scraps and decided she needed to make a little quilt, similar to her McKensie quilt. She's decided this one needs to go to a little guy who's due to arrive any day! She got the top sewn together, designed the quilting and we figured out the binding. Now I need an hour or so to help her learn how to stitch down the binding. It turned out really cute. I'll post pictures once she's done sewing down the binding.

We had amazing weather all weekend long. Mild, breezy weather that called us all outside to enjoy the fresh air. Sunday, GR got home earlier than usual from his bishop duties, and after some relaxing and basketball watching, I suggested a family hike. The kids enjoyed the hikes earlier in the week so much, and Sunday's weather was so perfect for an outdoor stroll, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. We saw some beautiful things ...











After our walk, we came home for a dinner of hamburgers done up on the grill, eating them picnic style in the living room while watching BOLT (a redbox rental). We all really enjoyed it, and it made a great little end cap to our week of at home vacationing.

Spring Break, day 5

Today the kids had another outdoor adventure with Grandma and Grandpa, but this time it involved their bikes and a different park. They were gone just long enough for me to finish sewing up the nuzzie and get it ready to hand off. They got home after lunch and spent the afternoon playing Around the World in 80 Days, a little Wii, exploring the creek* and of course, listening to my book with me. Rebecca has decided she likes the storyline. Sam on the other hand can't stand it ... but that may also be a bit of sleep deprivation talking too.

* I've decided every house with kids should have a creek of some kind near by. While ours is technically in the neighbors backyard and is extremely small - hardly ever having real water trickling through it - over the last couple of weeks when the weather has been warm, it has provided lots of fun and enjoyment. They throw rocks in it trying to divert the water ... they search for fossils, bringing them into the house to wash the rocks in the bathroom sink to see what else they can discover under all the mud ... and they look for local wildlife ... frogs, turtles, etc. to catch.

Growing up we had a similar creek, only it was much bigger than the creek my kids have access too and a bit further away. My younger sibblings would play in that creek daily, doing exactly the same thing mine are doing.

Today we lost Alex for a very long split second. When GR and I realized neither of us had seen him and he wasn't in the house, we all split up in different directions looking for him. I walked through the backyard heading straight for the creek, holding my breath the entire time. I found him crouched at the edge of the creek - remember our creek is very, very small, a trickle of water no more than a couple inches deep and maybe at it's widest 6 inches across - in his socks, sand colored pants and train sweater vest, throwing rocks into the water. My water loving boy was totally in his element! His socks were black with water, dirt, and sand, as was his little bum.

* * * *

ETA ...
I totally forgot to mention GR's adventure today. While I'm driving up to visit my friend, GR calls.

"Phil (boss) and I are thinking about trying to get tickets to the basketball games today at the Sprint Center. And we realized we should probably let our wives know our plans." ...

"Well do you think you could do it for less than $100?" ... "If you can do it for less than $100, have fun! Dang, I wish you had the camera."

As we're trying to head home from our visit, sitting in the driveway, waiting for Rebecca to work through a major 20 minute meltdown in the car, GR calls. They'd gotten tickets for the daytime session (two games first round games), parked the car and eatten lunch for under $30 each! They were really good basketball games and they had a blast.

Spring Break, day 4

Tonight I introduced my family to banana boats. An old camp favorite.

Earlier we spent a few hours with my very good friend Amy Lynn who is in town for two weeks with her three kids visiting her in-laws. Banana boats were on the lunch menu - as the dessert of course - but we never quite got to that part of the menu. The kids were having a great time playing outside, and inside, and outside and inside, that the idea of dessert wasn't even considered.

The boys and I put them together for dessert tonight while the girls finished up their homework. I split the banana in thirds the way my grandmother taught me, laid the skinny banana sections in a tin foil "boat," while Sam and Alex piled handfuls of marshmallows and chocolate chips on top and then melted the chips and marshmallows in the oven for a few minutes.



Sadly they did not go over quite as I'd envisioned. Maybe it was because we were lacking in the campfire atmosphere department. Anyway, here's how they played out, Rebecca ate the chocolate and marshmallows, but totally and completely refused to touch the banana. Emily ate hers without complaint, score one for mom! Sam and Alex ate about half of their boats, and probably should have just split one. And GR did see what I was so excited about ... guess he didn't like they so much. He did say that maybe he'd like them more if he'd gotten a chance to eat his while it was still warm. I guess cold banana boats aren't that fantastic. Sigh ... oh well. The boys and I had fun, and I'm thinking they might make a fun after-kids-go-to-bed snack for me, cause I thought they were great!

Spring Break, day 3

The winds shifted and brought much cooler temps with a bit of rain today. Unfortunate since the four big kids were scheduled to spend a few hours with Grandma and Grandpa exploring new trails. Everyone bundled up, Becca took her camera and they all had a blast hiking a local mountain bike skills course. Perfect for little feet!









While the kids hiked, Anna and I supported the local economy with a visit to two of my favorite quilt shops. I found the trim for this nuzzie, a fantastic yard of flannel for a baby boy blanket bundle, and just enough of a really cool jungle boarder print for two bibs.

Spring Break, day 2

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The three big kids have been spending a lot of time with a family up the street. They have three children all exactly the same ages as our three big kids. We first met when the girls attended preschool. They never were in the same class, but over the years the six have become good friends, and recently started playing together for an hour or so here and there after school.

While they were at our house over the weekend, I learned that they were planning to attend the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. Their mom and I decided to meet at one of the near by parks for lunch so we could snag a decent parking space and then watch the parade. We met up with so many different friends. Friends from church, friends from preschool, friends from soccer, friends from school. While we do not live in, what I define as, a small town, I love how at functions like this, it feels like a small town because you run into so many people you know.



The weather was beautiful, perfect parade weather ... clear, sunny and warm, nearly hitting 80. Consequently, the parade was packed with sight seers and participants. I've decided I like parades that last 30 minutes. After 20 minutes you've basically seen all there is to see, the kids have gotten candy ready for it to be over, but 30 seems a little more practical for all involved. From what I hear, this one went over an hour. Anna was thankfully able to seek refuge from the sun under a canopy with Grandma, Alex lasted an additional 20 minutes, and then he and Grandpa both retreated to the canopy. Once the five of us had absolutely positively had our fill of St. Patrick, I was able to convince Sam, Emily and Rebecca that we needed to head for the car and have ginormous ice cream cones at home.

We ate our ice cream cones, relaxed for what only seemed like 5 minutes, and then it was time to welcome Papa home and eat dinner. After a day out, no one felt like making dinner, so we took advantage of $.99 kid meals at the local all you can eat pizza buffet. You can't beat $15 for the six of us to eat.

Tonight, I also attended a Cooking Class (a new HFPE Group) at my friend Shannon's. We had such a good time! I have pictures of all the yummy things we made, that I hope to get posted next week.