Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday we made our way to the library to stock up on books and movies before the holiday. The objective was to make sure that both Tessa and Kali had enough to read for the whole weekend. I think we came close. Kiah of course found some interesting cookbooks and Toran got a couple of Cam Jansen books, so overall I think we are good. With Tessa and Kali it is all about quantity, yes quality is important but if you don't have enough, these two can become a problem. They will begin with the nothing to do whine and head right into the can you craft something plead, and it just generally is not good. So the solution is to make sure we have plenty to read all weekend.

a weekend of reading

Wednesday we bake, we are baking pies, rolls and starting a couple of side dishes. This is Kiah's favorite holiday, mine too. We made two pumpkin, one apple and two chocolate cream. Sounds yummy. Anique made aunt Stacey's rolls, these have become a favorite. They can't be good for you because you just want to eat a 100 of them but boy are they fabulous.

Thursday or Turkey day we are crafting, watching Christmas movies, putting a puzzle together, smelling the turkey cook, setting the table and generally having an easy going family day. Later we will make a list of the many things we are thankful for and eat until we can't move. We will share scriptures of thankfulness and stories of pilgrims looking for religious freedoms, we will share accounts of God's hand in our lives and be grateful for His love.

Doctrine and Covenants 98: 1-3
1) Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;
2)Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord,
3)Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord.

When we give thanks for everything we are promised that the things we ask for will be granted if it is for God's glory. We find joy when we give thanks to God for all He does in our lives.
May everyone have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Mormon Helping Hands in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Mormon Helping Hands in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

About 150 people from our stake went to New York this past weekend. Some of whom are in this video.

It's Thursday and we have a plan

After a very disappointing Tuesday night and a Wednesday of feeling hopeless and wanting a change. We have made a plan to put ourselves into a better place come the high water and the hot place we know is coming. We have decided we are going to become preppers. It is true, we will do most things with the thought of how does this help us 1) pay off debt, 2) add to the food/product stockpile, 3) make our home more energy efficient, 4) in a disaster. Disaster defined as anything that makes life more difficult to deal with.
The plan is obviously in the early stages and we still have a lot to decide and figure out but for Christmas we are all getting 72 hr. kits and we are drawing out the plans for the food storage room. I am going through all of the lists and figuring out what we need to add to our food storage so we are not as affected by rising food costs. The girls are planning the garden for this spring and we are making plans to butcher chickens and order baby chicks. I wish I could get a milk cow or goat. That would be so cool. The Lord has said, if you are prepared ye shall not fear. I think that means physically and spiritually, so we are doubling our efforts in the spiritual realm as well. We are stepping up our scripture study and understanding, scripture memorization, more meaningful prayer and looking for ways to have meaningful family service.
This week I am making the master plan for the year and we will start the prep. I hope to have a years worth of food and supplies by this time next year. I will be adding to our skills list as well. We already make our own laundry soap and would like to add bar soap, shampoo, chapstick, lotion as well as learning to can. This is a skill that I believe will be very important to have and the girls will be much better off if they learn it young. I hope to receive canning jars and a canning pot for Christmas. I am thinking about a pressure cooker as well but that may take some time to get my nerve up.
I also hope to stockpile fabric, patterns, school curriculum/supplies, cleaning supplies, first aid and paper products. This will take time but we have a new determination and zeal to follow the Lord and the prophet in being prepared for whatever comes.

Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment.
Doctrine and Covenants 121:7

The Pumpkins are finished and...

they look good!

Anique, Kiah, Tessa and Kali all carved a pumpkin by themselves. I carved three. Every year we get comments on our pumpkins, this year was the first year that people asked to take  pictures of them. I find it fun that the little kids stop and look at the pumpkins and loose track of the fact that they are there for free candy. I even heard many kids say things as they walked away like "why don't our pumpkins look like that?", "when are we going to carve our pumpkins?". It makes one feel pretty good about one's pumpkin carving skills. As a side note, does anyone else think it is funny that for 364 days of the year we tell our kids don't take candy from strangers and once a year we march them around in silly clothes and tell them to take the candy and say thank you? It just feels wrong(as I eat peanut butter m&m's).



I carved the two at the top, Kiah the one in the middle, Kali the one on the bottom. That tree took 3 hours to carve.

Tessa carved the one on top, Anique the one in the middle and I did the one you can't see.

Here is the one you can't see up top. I loved how simple it was to carve.

Sandy update

The day after...

Monday started like most Mondays, with a few exceptions. The governor cancelled all schools so Micah had a day off. I still went to tutor and we had piano earlier that day but still we went. By three o'clock we were all home for the day. It was about that time that the wind was picking up and the rain was getting heavier. We had rain and wind. Imagine that, it was a herdacane (hurricane in Toran) and we had rain and wind. Thankfully we did not have it to bad. We spent the evening carving pumpkins and waiting for the power to go out but it never did, not even so much as a flicker. Movies, pumpkin carving and chocolate chip cookies, that is my idea of riding out a storm. After 3 hours of pumpkin carving the kids went to bed and I followed closely behind them. Tuesday morning we woke up to life as usual, school, orthodontist appointments and the like. Nothing and nobody floated away, at least not from our neighborhood. I will post pictures of the pumpkins later tonight when they are a light and glowing.


Sandy is coming to visit

Thanks to all who have called in preparation of this storm to make sure we are ready. We are as ready as one can be without a bunker. We have spent the last couple of days grocery shopping ( I would like to note that this was regular grocery shopping, we have plenty of stores at home to get through this storm), laundry and dishes catch up, leaf clean up (note that it no longer looks like we have done anything because of the leaves still on the tree or should I say the ground now), putting away all objects that could become a flying missile, cleaning up decks and all sort of other jobs. Today (Monday) we will be cleaning up the house and getting all jobs that require electricity, done. All activities (except school at our house, yes my kids still have school today) have been canceled and we will be home to ride it out over the next two days. The kids are hopeful that trick or treating will continue as scheduled. I will post after the storm with any updates. I hope and pray there will not be any pictures of snow in that update. www.myfoxboston.com for local updates and news.

                 I will leave you with a picture of the proper use of trunk or treat candy.

Tessa's breakfast oatmeal

Random pictures on the phone

Tessa, Kali and Toran helping to cut up a big log in a friends yard.

 

Toran after a sleepover with friends while mom and dad were in New York.

Micah's vest I made for him to wear to cub camp on dress up day.

Kiah made this for her friend Emma's birthday last year.

There was a baby explosion and I made these for two of the little girls. Don't you just love baby shoes?

Tessa's version of Fairytopia on the white board.

What's better than homemade bread?

HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE BREAD

This bread was the moistest quick bread I have ever had. I thought it could use a little more chocolate.  Next time I will add mini chips into the mix (which I didn’t have enough of too add this time) and use a darker chocolate bar to melt. I would also add the glaze (left it off this time around). It tasted a little salty; in the future I will use ½ as much salt as called for. This bread would be a great gift for family and friends for the holidays. It makes the perfect chocolaty snack. This is one recipe I will definitely try again.
Enjoy, Kiah.

 

Triple-chocolate quick bread

1 ½ cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

½ cups butter, softened

2/3 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Glaze:

½ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

2 to 3 tablespoons half and half cream

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips; set aside to cool. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and cooled chocolate; mix well. Add applesauce and vanilla; set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips.

Spoon into four greased 5 3/4in x 3in x 2in loaf pans. Bake at 350* for 35-40minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.

For glaze, melt chocolate chips and butter in a small heavy saucepan; stir in cream. Remove from the heat; stir in confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and salt. Drizzle over warm breads. Cool completely.

Makes 4 mini loaves.

Taste of Home, January 11, 2012, pg.25 recipe by Karen Grimes of Stephens City, Virginia

The booklist.....

I am frequently asked "Can you recommend a good book for me/my child/my class?". I have also become the "Oh, ask Stefanie, she will know which book to recommend." My favorite is trying to recommend books for boys ages 12 - 16. Do you know how long ago I had a boy aged 12 - 16? It was a long time ago. Well, in an attempt to pull all of my book lists together and make it easier to find and recommend books or authors, I am making a master list of "De Voe Family Favorites". This is by no means a complete list and it will probably change and be added to over the coming days, weeks, months and years.  Here is an attempt to put some of it in one place. And yes we have read all of these, as a matter of fact I'm reading them again with the younger set of kids. As for the appropriate age and/or grade of each book that is up to you the parent. If there is something that you don't feel is appropriate for your kids don't read it. The final decision is yours. Let me know what your favorites/must reads are. Enjoy.

In no particular order:

PICTURE BOOKS/ EASY READERS/FIRST CHAPTER BOOKS
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
The Jolly Postman by Jan Ahlberg
Paddington Bear by Michael Bond
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Very Busy spider by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban
Best Friends for Frances by Russell Hoban
Owl and the Woodpecker by Brian Wildsmith
Miranda's Smile by Thomas Locker
There's a nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer
The story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Brave Irene by William Steg
Mama, is it summer yet? by Nikki McClure
The old woman and the wave by Shelly Jackson
Mama, Do you love me? Barbara M. Joosse
When I was built by Jennifer Thermes
Priscilla and the hollyhocks by Anne Broyles
Violet the pilot by Steve Breen
Owen by Kevin Henkes
Through moon and stars and night skies by Ann Turner
The funny women  by Arlene Mosel
The purple coat by Amy Hest
From Dawn to Dusk by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Mrs. Rose's Garden by Elaine Greenstein
Cora Cooks pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore
V is for von Trapp by William Anderson
The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
One Morning in Maine by Robert McClosky
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McClosky
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClosky
Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christian Bjork
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel
Cam Jansen by David Adler
Magic Tree house by Mary Pope Osborne (series)
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Winnie the Pooh by A.A.Milne
Dr. Seuss series
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Little Engine that could
The Little Red Hen
Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Princess and the Pea
Rapunzel
Rip Van Winkle
Rumpelstiltskin
Cinderella (not the Disney version look for something with amazing pictures)
Sleeping Beauty (not the Disney version)
Chicken Little

CHAPTER BOOKS
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (if you have a son start with Farmer boy)
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
The Gift of the Magi by Carol Lynn Pearson
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Stuart Little by E. B. White
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater
The Great Brain by John D Fitzgerald
Homer Price by Rovert McClosky
Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary
Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary
Ramonia (series) by Beverly Cleary
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The American Girls Series
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
 Matilda by Roald Dahl
 The B.F.G. by Roald Dahl
 The Witches by Roald Dahl
 Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Misty of Chincoteague; King of the Wind by M. King
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Heidi by Johanna Spry
The Adventures of Tom Swayer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Little Women; Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
The Jungle Book
King Arthur and the Round Table by Thomas Malory
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle
The Wizard of OZ by Frank L. Baum

The Borrows by by Mary Norton

Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton
The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgkins Burnett
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath by Helene Boudreau
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
Song of the Wanderer by Bruce Coville
A Glory of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
Dark Whispers by Bruce Coville
Goddess Boot Camp by Tera Lynn Childs
The witch of Blackbird pond by Elizabeth G. Speare
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene (original series not the rewrites)
The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon (original series not the rewrites)
Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls; Best Friends and Drama Queens by Meg Cabot
Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls; The New Girl by Meg Cabot
Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls; Moving Day by Meg Cabot
                                                                                                                                                                                   

Kiah's english assignment

In an attempt to excite Kiah about writing (you can stop chuckling now Jonna) we have decided to take a new approach. She will be choosing a recipe, making that recipe and writing a review of it. I hope that she will gain a few things from this. 1) a vast collection of tasty recipes, 2) a new found confidence in herself that she can do many things well and 3) find joy in writing. I know that is asking a lot of a simple task but if it works I am all for it. I hope I can continue with the weight loss and not have it turn into weight gain. So with out further ado here is Kiah's first public (of sorts) recipe and review.

Root Beer Cupcakes

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

2eggs

2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup root beer

1-1/2 cups whipped topping

12 root beer barrel candies crushed

 

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with root beer, beating well after each addition.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350* for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Just before serving, combine whipped topping and crushed candies; frost cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yields 1 dozen

This recipe comes from “Taste of home” magazine, fun food August 2010

 

The root beer cupcakes were very good but next time I think I would choose a different brand of root beer. Maybe A&W. I would also change the frosting from whipped topping to a more traditional vanilla butter cream and sprinkle the crushed candies on top instead of mixing them in.  This cupcake tasted very similar to a spice cake. That took us by surprise.

Enjoy, Kiah

Summer Astronomy

This summer we have been exploring the space beyond our atmosphere. It has been a blast!! As partners in our journey to outer space, our friends the O's have joined us. So in age order we have Kiah, Tessa, Kali, Lana, Logan, Toran and Laci. With Anique, Micah and Dan looking on from the wings. We started at the sun and have journeyed to Saturn. Over the next few Saturdays we will finish our study of the solar system. It will bring the official end of our summer and start of fall. My kids were just beginning to understand what that meant and I heared a chorus of "WAIT, WHAT, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE THE O'S EVERY WEEK". Not fun for me either. We just love those guys! Of course right after the whine fest came the "what are we doing next summer with the O's? Oceans, insects, rocks, anatomy, botany, fish" you get the point. So what have we done/learned.

                       1) God is great and has made an amazing universe for us to explore.
                       2) If you can use food to make the point, it is sooooo much better.

Phases of the moon in Oreos

Making models of the Earth in rice crispy treats, gumdrops and mini chocolate chips

                         3) Volcanoes are really cool whether they are on Earth or Mars.

building of the volcanoes

ERUPTION

  4) Shooting off rockets in the driveway is a ton of fun.
  5) Shooting off soda bottle rockets with Dan's air compressor is even more fun. Sure wish we had taken pictures of the rocket blasts. Sorry, we will have to have a take two and post pictures later.

Beyond that we have learned that meteoroids and asteroids are pretty much the same thing they just differ in size. Comets are dirty snowballs streaking thru space (imagine that, even God has snowball fights). Jupiter has a mini solar system all its own and it has rings(I know right). Mars is home to the largest and tallest volcano in our solar system(bonus points if you know the name of it). The sun on Mercury looks white because Mercury has almost no atmosphere. Venus rotates in the opposite direction of all other planets. Isn't that amazing? God spun Venus backwards, that is just so amazing to me. It was almost as though He was adding His signature to His creation. Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that is less dense than water. That means that if you could find a body of water big enough to put Saturn in, it would float! No, I don't know how they know that, I'm sure math was involved. We have talked about Curiosity; the rover that is on Mars as I type.   We have even looked at some of the pictures it has sent back to Earth. Totally cool!!

I have to say I'm not really ready for all of this fun to end. Fall will be a major let down after all of this fun summer schooling. I am looking forward to the future adventures for the summer school gang!! Hope your summer was as far out as ours was.

Christmas Already

Is it to early to be thinking about Christmas? Well, I have already started the thinking about and planning process of this never ending holiday. My list has been started and I'm looking for sales. I've started cutting and sewing and soon we will draw names so that the kids can work on gifts all fall for their siblings.  Anyone who knows me, knows Christmas is my least favorite holiday. I love the spiritual side of Christmas and the hope and joy one can feel during this time of celebration. What I don't like is the santa, buying frenzy, it's never enough crazy part. I know that most people won't agree with my desire to tell my kids that late last night santa died in his sleep very peacefully and his funeral will be next week, but that is exactly how I feel. So instead of killing the old guy off we have decided to have him come on St. Nicholas day. This is the day that St. Nicholas visits good children in parts of Europe and now in parts of the United States as well. This year he will come on December 6th and I will be done with him for the rest of the month and we can get on with the study and celebration of Christ's birth. The real reason we celebrate CHRISTmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Tessa's Birthday Trip

Tessa's birthday was so two months ago and I still have written nothing about it. So I have finally decided to put all else aside and get to the business of blogging about it. Tessa decided that for her birthday she wanted to go to the Worcester Art Museum in (get this) Worcester Mass. It is a museum started by a very wealthy family back in the day and of course they thought it would be a great idea to gather a bunch of artsy stuff and put it in a building that they paid for to show the community that they were something special. Isn't that how most art museums start? This one is pretty cool. They have three levels to cover different time periods, downstairs was the ancient to medieval time period. They had Romain mosaics that were very interesting, there were pictures of the mosaics being taken from Italy (I can't remember what part or Italy), as well as the story behind the removal and transport of the mosaics. They also had the explanation of the story being told with the mosaics, which was good because I sure didn't know the stories. There were Roman statues, busts and coins. There were Greek urns, metal plates and clay dishes. Jars and offering plates for the Greek gods. They had a room from an old monastery chapel called the "Chapter House" complete with stained glass windows. Tessa really liked the window and the fact that the only furniture in the room were long wooden benches that the monks would sit on and discuss the financial business of the town and church. There were many wood carvings of Christ and His apostles. The people in the 1500's were very fond of the Crucifixion and enjoyed portraying it in all of its horror. One of the coolest things we saw was a carving of the Jesse tree that was done in the mid 1500's. It shows the lineage of Christ and has many intricate details and carvings of each person. I guess that is what you did before Polaroid. There was also ancient oriental art, glass, jade, porcelain and china as well as many statues of Hindu gods and Buddhas galore.  They have several Japanese rice paper prints that are amazing. They carve a scene into wood (the negative), paint it with ink and press it onto the rice paper. They do this over and over to layer the colors, think silk screening. It was amazing. Apparently the very wealthy would have some of the panels of their rice paper walls done with these rice paper prints. Early wallpaper anyone.

The next floor up got a little boring for very little girls it was a lot of paintings of people, some of them looked very scary and angry, more crucifixion art and dead animals. I think the live ones moved to much. There was a full suit of armor that was pretty cool. On the third floor we discovered that we are not fans of modern art, if you can call it art. My personal opinion is, if I can do it, it should not hang in a museum. No kidding one of the pieces had tape on the floor around it telling people not to sit on it because it was art. It looked like a bale of hay done in paper decoupage. Yep, I could do that. Another one was three orange ovals on white canvas. Yep, I could do that. Water bottles hung from wire in the shape of a tree. They weren't even new water bottles. At my house that is called trash. But my all time favorite was the one titled black canvas. Yes you guessed it, it was a white canvas painted black. It wasn't even painted well because you could still see some white peeking out of the black. Give me the old stuff, that's all I have to say on that.

After walking the museum for a couple of hours we headed to the cafe and had an amazing lunch. Some where I have a picture of the sandwiches we ate and if I can find them I will post them. Of course no trip to the art museum would be complete without a trip to the gift shop where everyone found a trinket to remember the day by and then we headed back out into Worcester traffic and made our way back home for cake and ice cream. What kind of cake did Tessa want this year? Asparagus. That's my Tessa.

Next birthday trip will be planned by Kiah. I think New York will be at the top of the list and Dylan's candy bar will be a must see.

Yoga anyone?

The young women at church (girls ages 12 - 18) did yoga last night for their combined activity. The beehive's ( girls ages 12 -13) were in charge, so Kiah was asked to bring a "healthy snack" to share. Of course being us we began the whole "we don't believe in healthy snacks, only nom yummys" silliness. We all helped her decide on making brownies as her healthy snack. Yes, you read that right, brownies. These brownies weren't just any box mix or throw together typical brownies. Nope, these where good for you brownies. How can brownies be good for you, you ask? Well these brownies were made with whole wheat (that we ground ourselves), milled flax seed, pureed blueberries and spinach. Yep that's right spinach and a lot of it. The young women were amazed and mildly freaked out with the thought of spinach in their dessert food. But as Kiah put it, "I totally brought the best healthy snack". That's my Ki.

Birthday parties

Birthday parties, who needs 'em? I know kids love them but as a mom, I can really do without them. Now I would like to make it clear that I don't have a problem with a family celebrating the birthday of a family member. I even think it's fun to invite some family friends for cake and ice cream. The thing I really don't care for are the parties my kids get invited to year after year for the same kid. Do kids really need friend birthday parties every year? I say, no they don't. If you can afford it and want to have a party go ahead, but every year? Am I the only one who can't afford birthday presents for the same kids year in and year out? I have taken to making most of the gifts we give at parties. Something simple and inexpensive. I am also finding it very freeing to just say, I'm so sorry we just won't be able to make it this year. I for one know that my kids don't need any more crap to store in the middle of their floor. So from now on I am going to ask kids to please bring a donation to give to some other family or service that actually needs things. Because after all it's the party that IS the present, time with friends, crafts, games and cake. Maybe it's time we started giving our kids less, less crap and stuff, less material expectations, less want for material things and more time with family uninterrupted, more service to others, more looking outside themselves, even on their birthday. Please tell me I'm not the only parent who thinks this way. I can't possibly be. I would rather spend the day doing something fun that will build memories rather than using the money to buy more stuff that we don't have room for. Our kids don't go into public naked, they have shoes, they eat us out of house and home, they have books and toys a plenty. So why not spend time at an art gallery or an armory museum or an insect house, or going for a hike or to a clothing museum and a fabric store (it might surprise you to know that this one is a huge hit around here). All of my kids would love to go to the Boston public library and walk around the public gardens. So here is to a year of no gifts, instead we are using that money to make  a memory or help someone else. All those who wish to join us say, aye!

My yearly vacation

This past April I was able to attend the Masshope homeschool conference. I look forward to conference every year. It is a time when I can learn, be renewed, encouraged, strengthened and see thousands of other people who are as crazy as I am. It is also a time when I can see first hand the tender mercies of the Lord. I am always amazed at how He answers my prayer for my kids. I have been learning and studying about the
Charlotte Mason style of education the past few years. I have found that it works really well with my girls and especially with Kiah. This year I was able to attend many classes about this style of learning and all of its how too's. My favorite speaker was Sonya Shafer. She has used this method for many years and I was able to learn quite a bit from her. I was also able to ask her some specific questions I had. If you are interested in finding out more about what I'm talking about you can visit Mrs. Shafer's website at  http://www.simplycharlottemason.com/. I have watched many of her video's and have employ many of her methods into our homeschool. Both the girls and I love it. It has really helped to make learning enjoyable. I am grateful to a Heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer and is concerned with what some would call trivial matters. And since I'm talking about it, I also loved the five days of staying in a hotel and eating out and the long quite walk in the art museum. Of course in true homeschool mom fashion, I spend the whole time taking notes and pictures so I could show the girls when I got home. The phrase, they would love this, came out of my mouth a lot. I think the art museum in Worcester is at the top of our to do list. Becuase they really would love it. I also love spending time with my friend, who found an amazing mexician resturant that we ate at. I love guacamole and they make the best I have had in a very long time, maybe ever. They made this devine mix of guacamole with pepper honey and dark chocolate. Yes you read that right. Dark cholocate. It truly was the best guacamole I have ever eaten and the entree was good too.

Round one

Sickness has hit the house or more correctly the family. Usually these things begin with the younger ones and work there way up or Dan so kindly brings something home from some trip. This time it started with Anique and moved to Micah and now Toran has it. What is it you are wondering? It is a nasty cold like illness that hits hard and lasts a long time (or so I am told). We have quickly added vitamin c, echinacea and elderberry. Anique has been sick for four days and we started seeing an improvement on the morning of day three. She isn't what I would call well but she can function. Toran has been hit hard but I think it is because she won't take the vit. C as well as everyone else. I hope I can keep from getting it. Colds and asthma don't mix well and I just don't want the hassle. I am grateful that this weekend is general conference and we can stay home to watch it may help break the cycle of spreading this wonderful fun. I foresee Lysol and laundry in my future. It just isn't fun when sick comes to visit.

It's a hard day when...

Toran's birthday was last Sunday. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said she wanted a bike with rainbow colors and glitter. So that's what she got. Oh and a helmet of course. Can anyone tell me why the helmet is so expensive? It's almost as expensive as the stinkin' bike. Anyway I digress, back to the bike. Toran invited some friends to join us for cake and ice cream and presents, it was great fun. When she opened the bike she was very excited and Anique started right in on putting the bike together for a late night ride. She demanded that there be no training wheels. Well after the first five minute biking adventure she was ready for those training wheels. She was very proud of her ability to ride all by herself. After many days of riding her bike from the first possible moment of the morning to the last glimmer of sunlight, she came in one afternoon and fell on the couch. She burst out saying "I am soooo exhausted! I've been puddling and puddling all day."

Taken by surprise I asked "what did you say?".

"I've been puddling and puddling on my bike and I am tired, I need a brake."

"Puddling and puddling, huh."

"Yes, I was turning this way and that way and puddling as fast as I can (arms and legs moving in a wild and fast motion to demonstrated just how fast she is) and now I need a brake."

"Oh, ok then." I say trying so hard not to laugh out loud to much.

So if you are puddling and puddling as fast as you can, you may need a break and a Popsicle according to Toran.

Christmas

With Christmas landing on Sunday this year the timing of opening presents changed. Instead of getting up at dark o'clock and ripping through every gift then having breakfast, we leisurely looked through stockings at about 6:30 and then proceeded to a fantastic breakfast. After which we all dressed for church and headed out the door. The gifts remained unopened, untouched and unspoken of. When presented with options of how we would be handle Christmas morning, they decided to wait to open things until after church. Which meant they were choosing to wait many hours before ripping into those presents. Even Toran agreed that it was a good idea to wait. So they waited until about 2 o'clock that afternoon to open gifts. All of the pictures still show them in their pj's because when we got home from church they quickly changed right back into them before eating lunch. I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.