Mystery Lunch

Kent's reading program suggested having a mystery meal as part of the kick-off for the new genre he started today.  So for lunch the kids got to choose what they wanted to eat from their menu.  I served them a 3 course meal which they did not get the interpretation of the food they were ordering.

The menu consisted of:
Course 1 (they got to choose 2):
Blueballs (frozen blueberries)
Yellow Smoothie (peach yogurt)
Shovel (spoon)
Clear Quencher (water)

Katy and Kent choose Blueballs and Yellow Smoothies.  Katy ate her yogurt with her fingers and Kent drank his.  Kaomi chose a shovel and clear quencher.  She was sad because she didn't get anything to eat (so I gave her a couple of blueberries).

Course 2 (they got to choose 2):
Brown Bubbles (pinto beans)
Rows of Ears (corn)
Refreshing Squeeze (Caprisun drink)
Pointy Peaks (fork)

Kent and Kaomi both chose Pointy Peaks and Brown Bubbles.  Katy chose Brown Bubbles and Refreshing Squeeze.

Course 3 (they got to choose 3):
Everyday Pie (1/2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich)
Puppy in the Sun ( hot dog and mustard)
Steaming Surprise (Chicken Noodle Soup)
Shallow Bowl (spoon)
Seasonal Flavor (Apple Cider)

Kent and Katy both chose Everyday Pie (Katy was disappointed).  They all chose Seasonal Flavor and were thrilled.  Kaomi chose Steamy Surprise which I served in a cup (she drank the broth and left the noodles).  Puppy in the Sun was everyone's favorite though, they talked about it for awhile.

They had a lot of fun and I had fun serving them.

December School

I've been having a debate over how to do school for the rest for the month and I came up with a plan.   We are going to be having school two days every week up to Christmas.  We plan to have school on Tuesday and Wednesdays.  Then we can have Monday to run extra errands, go to the library and get ready for school the next day.  On Thursdays we will have crafts and hopefully I will be able to get a little sewing completed.  On Fridays will will stick to our usual schedule since we don't have school on Friday's anyway.  Hopefully by using this type of schedule we will be able to have lots of holiday fun, get rested up and be ready to start again full time with school after New Year's, the kids won't forget everything they've been learning, and the pressures of the Christmas Season will be small.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You Practice

This week as a kick off to Thanksgiving Day we have been having thank you practice as part of our school lessons.  On Monday, everyone had to think of someone they were thankful for and why, then they wrote that person a thank you letter and we put it in the mail.  On Tuesday,  everyone had to think of something they we thankful for and then they made a "I am thankful for..." paper, which they mailed to someone to share the things they were thankful for.  Today they had to make a paper thanking God for somethings that he has given us or let us have.  They've had a lot of fun thinking of different things to be thankful for, working on their papers and putting them in the mail.

Felicity's Balancing Act

Felicity has just recently started a balancing act.  She lays on her back and plays with a toy.  Then she puts her feet up (like a shelf) and balances her toy on her feet.  Then she'll either play with her hands for a moment or pick up another toy.  After that she takes the balanced toy off her feet and plays with it some more, before beginning her balancing act all over again.

It's Hard to Explain about Death to Children

Jeff's grandmother passed away last week and we went to the funeral which was a "Celebration of Her Life".  Since we've been home I've been bombarded with questions from Katy about death and heaven.  Questions about: why do we put the body in the ground since she went to heaven? or if she went to heaven how come we could see her? or when we die will we be able to see in heaven, since our eyes are in our body?.  How do you explain that it is their soul that goes to heaven and their body stays behind to a five year old?  And have them understand.  Katy also told me just a little while ago, "I'm glad I got to see what Daddy's grandma looked like, she was cute.". 

Precious Baby!

Felicity Sleeping!

A Little Bit of Fall

One of the things I miss most in the fall is the vibrant color changes that take place where I used to live in the Northeast.  Yesterday this bush in our front yard was a deep red, and today it is orange and yellow.  Wow!  What a change.

November Picnic

The kids are building a house.

They wanted to have a picnic, too.  It's November, 75 degrees and not windy.  How could I resist the plea for a picnic.  I found some veggie burgers in my freezer and we had a picnic.  I'm not sure why I bought veggie burgers at some point, but they were good, even the kids liked them.  I guess they were just for today.  Even Felicity liked being outside trying to grab everyone's plate and Katy's pickles :)

Date Night!

My wonderful husband took me on a dinner date last night.  He arranged babysitting and everything.  We haven't been on a date since...(I don't remember.).  He took me to an Italian Restaurant that we had never been to, but had eaten take out from several times.  The ceiling was really interesting.  It was made of lattice and beams and was really pretty above it was a fancy tiled ceiling.  The food was really good.  They messed Jeff's order up and it took longer to fix than they told us, so they gave us our whole meal for free.  That means that he should be able to take me on another date soon since he didn't have to buy me dinner.  Thanks, Jeff for the night out.

Our Field Trip

This morning we went on a field trip.  It was nothing planned.  Kent started it when he said to me this morning, "Mommy you should come and look at what is outside my window.".  I'd been hearing strange sounds this morning, but thought they had to do with a drilling rig that is nearby so I hadn't investigated them.

I went to look out Kent's window and I saw...

 

We went over to see the Hot air balloon after breakfast.

They let us take a picture.  Isn't it great that we live right across the street from the Early Education Center.  The kids enjoyed it, even though it was windy and a chilly 42 degrees.  Kent and Felicity were the only ones who didn't have to be bothered with the wind blowing their hair in their faces :)

Sorry

It's been awhile since I've posted.  I've been trying to come up with what to write about our Halloween ministry event, I hope to post about it soon.  It seems that we have been so entangled in life the last few weeks and I haven't thought of much to blog about.  I have a few things I'd like to post about and hopefully I'll get to them soon.

Egg Salad

I love a good egg salad sandwich.  I didn't used to care much for egg salad, but one day I was trying to come up with something for lunch that was different than the usual peanut butter and jelly.  I'll tell you what I do, but I won't give any exact measurements, as my recipe varies most times I make it.

I start with enough hard boiled eggs, for how many sandwiches I want to make (1-1.5 eggs/sandwich).

While the eggs are cooking I start chopping veggies with my Pampered Chef food Chopper.
I use whatever I have on hand and feel like eating at the moment.  I've used onion, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, hot peppers, celery, broccoli, etc.  I use a small piece of each veggie I chose, again the size of each piece varies for how many sandwiches I am making.  I like to chop carrots, celery, and onion very fine and everything else a little chunky.  I like the crunch it adds to the sandwich.  I also use dill pickles and chop them a little chunky, too.
When the eggs are done, yes I usually use them still warm.  I slice up my eggs both ways with my egg slicer plus, so the pieces are not very small.  Then I add salt, fresh ground pepper, a pinch of cayenne, a little dill and any other spice I am in the mood for.  Then I add just enough mayonnaise to get everything wet, but not drippy.  Mix well and serve on your favorite bread or eat with a spoon.  I try to only make as much as we are going to eat at that meal, as it gets a little juicy later in the fridge.

My children even like my egg salad sandwiches.

I'm sharing this at http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/

It's a beautiful day!

The sun is shining.  It's warm.  The birds are chirping.  We went outside this morning and played some activities to help impress Kent with his history lesson.  The kids played nicely outside, and came in muddy after lunch.  The sky is so blue.  The leaves on our sweet gum tree are turning yellow.  The front yard is full of dainty white flowers.  Thank you God for the beautiful day.

Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers beat the Yankees tonight and they are going to the World Series.  How cool is that?

Katy's Birthday

Katy's Birthday on Monday.

She wanted a Hello Kitty Birthday Cake.

First thing, before anyone had a chance to get grumpy.

Special place setting

We took her to the American Girl Store.  She had a lot of fun looking at all the dolls and stuff.  She picked out an new outfit for her doll and a Mini doll - Emily Bennet (From the Molly books).

 Kaomi got to pick out a Mini-doll, too.  She chose Kit Kittredge.

Boots just like Kaomi's, now they can be "twins"

Overall it was a fun day.  We also took her for ice cream at a Coldstone Creamery.  Grammy came over in the evening for a little while to share in Katy's special day.  Thanks Grammy.

Happy Birthday, Katy.  I love you. 

Ramblings

I'm watching Sound of Music it's a good time because Jeff and Kent are on the Christian Service Brigade camping trip this weekend.  I hope they have a great time.  I can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy clothing.  YEAH!!!  I have for a few weeks and it has been great.  I took the girls out tonight.  Katy's birthday is Monday.  I'm afraid she saw most of her presents and knows they are hers, though I didn't tell her they were for her birthday, but it was either that or not have any.  I don't have a clue when I would have been able to shop without her.  I was supposed to make her a dress, but there is no way to make it right now and keep it a surprise, so I gave up.  It's hard to get much accomplished lately.  Jeff is gone so much studying for his test.  He only has two weeks left.  Pray he passes it.  I do not want to go through him studying like this ever again.

Lamentations 3:22-23
"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

The scriptures I've been reading every morning have definitely been an encouragement this week.

Quiet Time

Today, during quiet time I got to sit on my bed with Felicity.  She sat reclined next to me playing with a toy and my hand, while I read a book.  I was savoring the moment as I know that she will soon want to be too mobile to stay on the bed next to me.  She is eight months old today.  I love my bundle of happiness.

Then I heard a loud crash and Kaomi started crying.  I had to put Felicity back in her bed.  The girls are supposed to be in their beds, resting, during quiet time.  The crash I heard was Kaomi's shopping cart and she hit her head on the play refrigerator.  When I was able to find out why she was in the shopping cart (that isn't supposed to have children in it) I had to hide my laugh.  I guess she and Katy were going to North America.  I'm not sure, but I think the shopping cart was the boat :)  If so it must have sprung a leak and sank.

Awana Night

Kent and Katy were invited to go to bring a friend night at Awana on Sunday.  Their cousins invited them and they were able to go.  They had a lot of fun at the Awana program and spending a little bit of time playing with their cousins afterward.  They have been so excited since then.  We have an Awana program at our church though we haven't been able to be involved in it, as we have had other commitments at the time it meets.  Maybe one day they will get to be involved in it and I am sure that they will love it.

Psalm 92:1 & 2

"It is good to praise the LORD, and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,"