I Heart Faces – Pout!

 

I thought Mr. H’s feeling about the dreary weather outside today qualified as a “pout” picture.

Head on over to iheartfaces to see lots of other pout pictures!

Grab a Book

Yesterday as I was folding socks I glanced over at my bed and saw a beautiful sight. . . a child lost in a book.  Mr. C has been reading a series we found at our local Christian bookstore called Dragons in our Midst by Bryan Davis. He’s on the third in the series of four. 

Excerpts from the back cover: “This series inspires young people to pursue faith, courage, and love and to dig deep within to find their God-given strengths, no matter how difficult the circumstances.”

This series would be classified as a contemporary fantasy novel for pre-teens and young adults.

Outside as the wind blows, the snow/rain falls and the sun is hidden behind the clouds, it’s a good day to curl up with a book. (And a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie, or two. :o)

Happy Tuesday!

Heather

Simple Woman’s Daybook, March 30

 
FOR TODAY March 30, 2009

Outside my window… the sun is shining brightly and it’s 32 degrees.

I am thinking... we have a busy week ahead.

I am thankful for...my dishwasher.

From the learning rooms...Mr. J figured out each step of his story problem by himself today!!!

From the kitchen...I have a big pot of chicken noodle soup started.

I am wearing...my pumpkin colored sweatshirt and jeans.

I am creating...thank you cards for Mr. A to color.

I am going...to Wal-Mart tonight. (Blech!)

I am reading...Mr. J’s “In the Woods” story.

I am hoping...to get more sleep tonight.

I am hearing...Miss A. “telling us” she wants to go outside while watching Mr. A shooting hoops outside.

Around the house...it’s a bit cluttered with AWANA Grand Prix car paraphernalia.

One of my favorite things...a refreshing glass of orange juice in the morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Two basketball games, Dr. apt, soccer registration, piano lessons, swimming lessons, sports co-op, AWANA Grand Prix race, and food pantry.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To read other daybooks or create one of your own, go HERE.

Have a great Monday!

Heather

From Grunt work to Game time!

Saturday started with some grunt work:

1 toilet cleaned

6 heads buzzed with a #2

1 vacuum filter changed

1 light bulb changed

1 load of laundry cleaned

and . . .

1 bedroom dusted

PHEW!!

Now I’m ready for some fun!

And fun we had watching the boys play in the yearly AWANA Games competition.

The results? (drum roll please). . .

They Won 1st Place!

Yippee! Woo Hoo!  Yeee Ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you had some fun in your Saturday too!

Heather

P.S. AWANA has been a big blessing in the lives of our kids.  If you’d like to find out more about the AWANA program and to see if one is taking place near you. . . Go HERE

Trademark

Tammy at Garden Glimpses recently asked a curious question.  What would your trademark be.  . . what is something that people would immediately associate with Y.O.U.?

I thought it would be interesting to ask the kids and get feedback regarding each other.  Here’s what I found out:

 Mr.Z (age 11):

His KK crossing hat, his blue sweatshirt both of which he wears every day and. . .

his camera.

 

Mr. C (age 9):

His sunglasses, his football and. . .

his much loved dvd’s and audio series.

Mr. J(age 9):

ESPN, his treasured sports trading cards and. . .

his Bible.

Mr. H (age 7):

His “sparkling eye” smile, his white “TT” blanket, and. . .

his blue rain boots.

Mr. A (age5):

His bead projects, yogurt and. . .

his Jeff Gordon hat.  (which is funny since he doesn’t know who Jeff Gordon is but he bought the hat with his AWANA dollars and he is sooooo proud of it!)

Little Miss A (19 mo)

Her polka dot shirt, her hair bows and. . .

“Bunny” – with which she could never fall asleep without holding and sucking her thumb.

Daddy?  It would have to be his bow and arrows, his slippers and. . .

his Stormy Kromer hat.

 

Mommy?  Her necklace, her camera, and her . . .

cookbooks.

 

And there you have it.  This may only be interesting to ME but I know I will especially enjoy looking back at this post one day.  Thanks for listening! And thanks Tammy!

Happy Thursday!

Heather

Pancakes

 

One day. . . I’ll have a weekly meal plan.

One day. . .  I’ll have dinners in the crock-pot by noon.

One day. . .  I’ll pull meat from the freezer every Monday so it’s thawed and ready to go for dinner preparations every day of the week.

One day. . . my kids will cook me dinner. :0 (And I’m not talkin’  pureed in a blender and spoon fed either!)

Until then. . . dinner is often a question mark till 4:00 in the afternoon.

Tonight the consensus was banana pancakes!

I have stopped purchasing the “just add water” mix since my husband needs to watch his salt intake and I’d rather eat a bit healthier and easily blend up the batter from scratch.  I’ve tried a few recipes but the one I made tonight is now our favorite.  It comes from one of my most loved  cookbooks, Crème de Colorado, which was a gift several years ago.  You can check it out on Amazon HERE.

 

Here’s the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 egg

1 C buttermilk

(I purchase the dry buttermilk you add water to so I always have it on hand.)

2 T oil

3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour

(I’ve also used buckwheat which is tasty)

1 T brown sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

In large bowl, beat egg; add buttermilk, oil, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Beat until smooth.  (I put all the ingredients in a blender)

Pour batter onto lightly greased pan or griddle. 

I added 1 ripened banana. Blueberries are also tasty.

Serve with warm pure maple syrup.

This makes 10 4-inch pancakes.

(I quadrupled for my hungry family!)

Try it. . . I think you’ll like it!

Happy Wednesday!

Heather 

(Above pancake photo courtesy of  Flickr Creative Commons)

I Heart Faces - “No Flash”

 

Go to i heart faces HERE to see other “no flash” entries or enter one of your own!

Little Miss A with the toothless grin that is no more.

Taken outside, no flash, at the lake, August 2008 (1 yr. old)

Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY Monday, March23, 2009
Outside my window...it’s overcast and cloudy & rainy, 32 degrees

I am thinking... it’s nice to be feeling better this week.

I am thankful for... the patience God gave me this morning.

From the learning rooms...we had a productive morning as we worked to get back into the full-time school routine.

 
From the kitchen... Mr. J is making turkey and cheese sandwiches on the griddle.

I am wearing...a brown chenille sweater and jeans.

I am creating...a mental to-do list for the day.

I am going... to the grocery store tonight.

I am reading... Homer Price to the kids.

I am hoping...our squabbling boys will be lifelong friends.

I am hearing... Mr. H read his special words to me.

Around the house...we’ll be eating lunch and then having a group clean-up in the family room.

One of my favorite things... is being able to say “Yes” to a child’s request.

A few plans for the rest of the week: schoolwork, piano lessons, the kids working on their AWANA cars.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

The turkey talk has started.  Mr C was daddy’s partner in the turkey blind last year.  This year it’s Mr. H’s turn. . . is he 7 already?!

Go HERE  to create your own daybook or to read other daybooks. 

Have a great Monday!

Heather

19 months!

I realized little miss A is 19 months old today!

Time for a bright spring dress.

And how ‘bout mommy take a few pictures. . . .stand right here, look at mommy and smile . . . peeeeek a boooo . . cheeeeese. . . . pleeeeeease???

(this is what I get. . . she deliberately did not look at me!. . . a very non-cooperative 19 month old!)

I was able to snatch a few while she was continually on the move!

But this mommy didn’t just fall off a turnip truck. . . no, no, no. . . this mommy had a plan.  Wait till bath time & crib time. . . then I’ll get ‘ya!

You can’t run away from me now. . . gottcha!

Happy Saturday!

Heather

Where did you go?

Spring, where did you go?

We’re now looking at falling snow!

The birds at the feeder were welcoming you this week,

but now there’s no sound of the chickadees. . .  tweet, tweet.

The red sled. . . once so cute and fun;

Needs to give way to green grass, flipflops and sun!

We won’t loose heart; we know you really will come to stay. . . ~~sigh~~. . . one day;

Meanwhile, we’ll bring springtime inside and with Easter decorations we’ll play!

 

(Easter table-top decorations courtesy of Mr. Z!)

Happy first day of spring Friday!

Heather

Rainy Day Ideas

Today has been another spring break day for our homeschool.  The temps suddenly dropped into the 20’s and we woke up to a snow covered landscape.

The kids spent most of the morning listening to the Jonathan Park audio series.  They really enjoyed it.

You can check it out on Amazon HERE.

The product description from Amazon:

Product Description
The Jonathan Park Radio Drama is a unique audio series that became an instant hit on Christian radio with the release of the show’s first twelve episodes. Each fast-paced, half-hour episode gives families an example of how their Christian worldview plays itself out in everyday life. Though the stories are fictitious, the creation data presented in each broadcast is based on real research gathered from creation scientists worldwide, and the settings for the stories are based on actual geographic locations. Featured on more than 750 radio outlets around the world, Jonathan Park presents creation science in an engaging story format that the whole family can enjoy.

Volume I: The Adventure Begins

The Adventure Begins features the first twelve episodes that launched the Jonathan Park Radio Drama (4 CDs). Meet the Park and Brenan families along with the Eagle’s Nest Gang as they uncover the secrets of the hidden cave and embark upon a journey of discovery that forever alters the course of their lives.

Each album comes packaged with a free 64-pages Study Guide that features fun facts, trivia and Bible studies on each of the twelve exciting episodes.

We only have Volume 1 but the kids are already requesting the others.

They have also had fun playing Doodle Dice.

You can check that out at Amazon HERE too.

Just a few fun ideas for upcoming spring rainy days.

Heather

Note to Self

While my cold has now landed in my throat this week I've learned a few things which I hope to remember once I'm feeling better.

It hurts to speak in a "regular" voice so I've had to whisper when speaking to the kids. Whispering means I need to be close enough to their face and look them in the eye when I speak. (It's funny. . . they then respond in a whisper too)

I've learned once again that I don't need to be harsh or raise my voice in order to be heard.

Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

Look in their eye. . . don't be harsh. . .look in their eye. . . don't be harsh . . .

OK Lord, with your help, I will listen and obey (without delay). . . as I say to the kids.

Doughnuts!

Taking my lead from Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers we have been reading the delightful adventures of Homer Price by Robert McCloskey. The author also published one of my favorite childhood books, Make Way For Ducklings.

This morning we read the famous chapter entitled “The Doughnuts” and since. . . we’re adding some fun to this spring break week amongst doing some school, and since. . .all the kids waited so patiently in the Dr.’s office while I found out little Miss A has an ear infection, and since. . . mommy just so happens to L.O.V.E. doughnuts. . . I decided to try Laura’s whole wheat doughnut recipe. You can head over to her website which is full of wonderful healthy recipes and many how-to inspirations. Here is her recipe for:

Whole Wheat Cake Donuts

3 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
¼ t. nutmeg
2/3 cup rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice)
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
Oil for frying (palm kernel oil or coconut oil)(I used Smart Balance Omega)

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter. Knead dough a few minutes to make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
On a floured surface, roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with donut cutter, or biscuit cutter. (I didn’t have a donut cutter so we made donut holes.) Heat oil in skillet or electric skillet…enough to cover the bottom of the skillet about ¼ inch. Place donuts into the hot oil to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle a mixture of rapadura and cinnamon, or sprinkle organic powdered sugar over the hot donuts.

We thought they were delicious. More filling than bakery donuts. I liked the crunch on the outside.

Thanks for the inspiration, Laura.

Happy Tuesday!

Heather

Mom. . . you’d never guess

"When we were coming home from the Awana Olympics I was looking out the window and saw a backpack and someone laying in the snow. I told Dad and he asked if the person was moving. I said no. So Dad turned the truck around and we went back and found where the man was laying. Dad got out of the truck and started running towards the man. . . the man was unconscious. The man was breathing and Dad called 911. The ambulance came and they got out a long stretcher and strapped him in. Then when they were putting him in the guy started to wake up and didn’t know what was happening. They asked him how old he was and he said 54. Then dad got back into the truck and we drove home. It was kinda scary and I wanted to know if he was OK. We prayed for him on our way home."

This made quite an impression on all 5 of the boys who witnessed this scene. Because of the privacy laws we will probably never know what happened to this gentleman. My husband said there was no smell of alcohol on his breath. I remember that morning when my husband was leaving he could not find his cell phone to take along. I was about to encourage him to just leave without the phone since they were running late but he was pretty insistent on finding his phone. Then he found it. Good thing too. He was able to call 911. The man was about 20-30 feet into the woods. I told Mr. C. that God used him to take notice of that man. Who knows how long he had been there.

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lords determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

I have my plans for the day, but what are God’s plans for my day. I want to be sensitive enough to His spirit so I can be used by Him, however He desires.

Heather

I Heart Faces

The theme is “GREEN” over at I Heart Faces this week. And the green can be anywhere on the picture so I decided on this one. It captures the intensity we often see when Mr. J is playing a sport. (AYSO Soccer 2008)

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY Monday, Mach 16, 2009

Outside my window... the sun is shining and the temps are rising! (Maybe to 50!)

I am thinking...how refreshing it is to sense that spring is on its way!

I am thankful...to be able to be a stay at home mom.

From the learning rooms...we are taking a "spring break" day today.

From the kitchen...my try at homemade bread was a major flop!

I am wearing...jeans and a black square neck top.

I am creating...Easter place cards.

I am going...to be home most of the week.

I am reading...some fun new blogs! ;)

I am hoping...to clean up the office today.

I am hearing...the kids playing outside since 7:30am at the snow covered basketball court.

Around the house...the clutter piles have mounted since I was a bit under the weather this weekend.

One of my favorite things...is a warm shower.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I'm hoping to get some schooling done even though the kids know this is spring break for the area schools.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... My hyacinth bulb has bloomed! It is so fragrant too.

A Simple Woman's Daybook is hosted by Peggy Hostetler. You can go HERE to create a daybook of your own or read other entries for this Monday.

A Beautiful Sight

Yes, it was a beautiful sight. . .

My husband made dinner tonight!!

And not the ordinary frozen pizza either!

Since I was feeling a bit “under the weather” today, my husband decided to take over for dinner. Yes!

He found this cookbook:

And chose Mario Batali’s Linguine with Crab, Radicchio & Garlic. Delicious!

Here’s the recipe:

Linguine with Crab, Radicchio & Garlic:

Linguine al Granchio

2T salt

1 pd. linguine

1/4 C evoo

3 shallots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1C dry white wine

2T unsalted butter

1/2 pd. fresh crabmeat (we used shrimp)

1/2 head radicchio, shredded

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil and add salt. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, until just al dente, and drain, reserving a little pasta water.

2. Meanwhile, in a 12-14 inch saute pan, heat the oil until smoking. Add shallots, garlic, and crushed red pepper and saute until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, then add the butter, and remove from heat.

3. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the wine mixture and return pan to heat. Add crab, radicchio, and scallions and toss until radicchio is wilted, about 1 minute. Add a little reserved pasta water, if necessary, to thin the sauce. Pour into a warm serving bowl and serve.

A kitchen break. I love it!

This was a first. . . maybe the start of something good, huh?

Heather

Eagle Eye

We rented this movie last night. Usually when my husband rents a movie ( he LOVES to watch movies!) it is not necessarily my kind of movie and it never keeps my attention. I’d rather be on the computer or at the craft table. But he really wanted me to sit down and watch this with him. . . so I did. And it definitely kept my attention.

It will keep your attention too. . . I guarantee it!

It’s rated PG-13. We were surprised at one particular scene and the foul language. Why do they have to do that? It’s unnecessary.

This is a Dream Works picture. . . Steven Spielberg’s production company.

If you’re looking for a weekend flick. . . I’d recommend Eagle Eye.

Happy Saturday!

Heather

Spectacular Pop-up Book

Mr. A received this book for his birthday and I just had to share it with you.

It's the most spectacular pop-up book I have ever seen!

And each page has smaller pages which open up with more pop-ups.

The book truly comes alive and the kids love it! You can go to Amazon HERE to check it out. There are several other books by this author as well.

It makes for a very special gift!

Happy Thursday!

Heather

Split Pea & Potato Soup

I love soup and Split Pea is one of my all time favorites.

When I made this recipe last week I was reminded of a favorite restaurant we dined at when I was a kid.

It's called:

If you ever find yourself in Santa Barbara, California, (lucky you!) you must stop for a bowl of this famous soup they've been serving for over 75 years. Or go HERE to read all about it.

My recipe may not be as good as Andersen's but I do think it's delicious.

SPLIT PEA AND POTATO SOUP

3 T unsalted butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 medium carrots, cut into 1/2" rounds

2 celery stalks, cut crosswise into 1/4" pieces

1 pd. green split peas, rinsed and picked through

2 quarts chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 pds. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

salt & freshly ground pepper

1. Melt butter in a 6 quart pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in split peas, chicken stock, and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

2. Add potatoes, and simmer until they are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

At 18 degrees and fresh snow on the ground, it's a good day for soup 'round here! (Bet it's a bit balmier in Santa Barbara)

I hope this Wednesday finds you in more spring-like conditions!

Heather

Happy Birthday

We're celebrating a birthday today,

Turning 5 is Mr. A!

A yearly highlight is making his own cake,

that charming smile certainly is not fake.

Always ready to play with "the brothers",

Just make sure he's tucked in by mother!

Proud as can be that he's learning to swim

and each Saturday morning it's just Daddy and him!

His frequent "I Love You" never grows old,

couldn't be prouder God placed him in our fold!

Thanking God for blessing us with our 5 year old son,

Heather

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Hip, Hip Hooray,

It's 43 degrees today!

Time to have some fun in the sun,

get out the balls and hit a home run.

Little Miss A will have it no more,

I'm goin' outside. . . mom won't stop me like before!!

Hope your Monday had some sunshine, too!

Heather