Things my Kids Say (and do!)

First up, I want to wish Nate a very Happy Birthday!  Hard to believe that little guy turns 4 today!

* The boys and I made cookies last weekend - Peanut Butter Kiss cookies.  On Sunday, I was putting some in storage bags to add to neighbor goodie plates this week when I noticed that all of the tips were gone on the Kisses.  At first I just thought they melted like that until I took a closer look . .. and discovered teeth marks on every single cookie. Yes, the boys had bitten the tops off of ever single Kiss on every cookie.  Seriously???

* The boys and I were outside shoveling snow and hanging some lights on Sunday.  We were finally done and heading back around the house when Josh laid down in the snow and said, "Mom, I just ran out of gas, you will need to pull me back to the house." LOL

*Nate will get sick if he drinks our water (don't worry, we are getting a new well) so one night, after drinking bath water and getting an upset tummy, he told us that the people that live in his stomach, choke on the water and then make him choke.  I had a hard time not laughing especially as the story grew to a whole house living in his stomach with a mom and dad that look just like his real mom and dad.  :-)

*I recently asked Josh if he was 15 (because he was acting like a teenager) and he very seriously replied, "No mom, not yet, I'm really only 6".  Now what makes that even more funny is that he is only 5 but ARGUES with us that he is 6.  :-) 

* I mentioned in yesterdays post that the boys love Dot-to-Dot books right now . . .so much so that this is what I found one day last week: 

 Yes, dots.  Everywhere.  His face, hands, legs, feet.  Thankfully it was washable marker but I will say it sure was hard to take him seriously all day long - especially when he got mad about something . . .it just made me want to laugh!

And.  .. . .the latest Train Circle - they boys had a lot of fun with some new train supplies :-)

Our Book Advent - Week 3

December 16

Several years ago, a blog I followed prepared a set of drawing pages to go along with this book.  We may only do 1or 2 pages this year but I think it is a good introduction for the boys into this type of craft.

I knew going into this project that the boys would not draw much ;-)  I just wanted to use this to introduce the concept of drawing pictures for a story . We WILL do this again next year.  This book tells the Bible Story almost word for word from the Bible which is such a great thing. 


December 17

Today we started working on some Christmas presents so while I worked with each of the kids individually, the others worked on putting together a cute Elf. 

December 18

We worked on a fun beading project.  Well, I thought it would be fun . . the boys could have cared less.

 Ok, not beads - but this shows how interested he was in the project - he went and got a cheese stick HA!

 Nate's ornaments - he started with just two beads on a pipe cleaner but then made a couple more that were better.

 Josh Filled his pipe cleaner but really was glad to be done with this one.

December 19

So, we skipped this book - Today was Nate's Birthday party with the Grandparents so we didn't do class.

December 20

We tried a new style craft today and it did not go well.  Thankfully this book was fantastic :-)

I wanted a nativity scene . . .so Popscicle sticks seemed fun . . except this is what I heard, "Mom, I'm done now" LOL  Oh well.  My boys are not crafty at this point.  They are more into Dot-to-Dots right now. 

They really enjoyed the books, though, and I look forward to doing this again next year.  I do want to pick out a few new books for next year and maybe steer it even more towards stories surrounding the Manger verses Santa Claus . . .not that Santa Claus isn't fun :-)

Food Friday - Turkey Spring Rolls

Turkey Spring Rolls
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

I was watching an episode of The Pioneer Woman recently and she did a bunch of "left over Thanksgiving dinner" recipes.  This was one of them.  I loved the asian flair and the fact that it used Cranberries for the sauce.  Now, lets keep it real.  I had to get past a few things in this recipe.  The noodles kinda reminded me of worms (sorry) and as much as I love alfalfa sprouts, seeing them through the "skin" wrapper made them look a little . .. wormy!  Uuggg!  A couple fo things I would do differently next time - 1)I would not use the noodles and 2) I  would cut the Soy Sauce in half in the Turkey mixture and maybe leave it out in the cranberry sauce - or cut it in half as well.  

 

Ingredients

2 cups shredded leftover Thanksgiving turkey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot chile oil
1 package cellophane noodles
Eight 8 1/2-inch rice paper wrappers
3 leaves green-leaf lettuce, torn into pieces
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
1 carrot, cut into julienne
1 cucumber, cut into julienne
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

Dipping Sauce:

1 cup leftover cranberry sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Hot chile oil

Directions

Place the turkey in a bowl and drizzle in the soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and the hot chili oil. Stir to combine and give it a taste. If you'd like a stronger flavor, add a little more of any of the ingredients.

Next, place the cellophane noodles in a large bowl. Cover them with boiling water and let them sit according to the package directions.

When they are tender but still have a nice bite, drain and set the noodles aside.

Soften the rice paper wrappers by placing them one by one into a bowl of warm water and taking them out when they're soft but still hold together.

To assemble each spring roll, lay a wrapper on a plate. Lay a small line of noodles in the center. Add a small amount of lettuce, turkey, alfalfa sprouts, a few carrot and cucumber strips, and top with a sprinkling of cilantro.

Fold in the sides of the wrappers and roll it into a tight roll. Repeat to make the rest of the rolls.

For the dipping sauce: Combine the cranberry sauce, soy sauce and a few dashed chile oil.

Dip the rolls into the sauce and dig in! Best if eaten within 1 hour of preparing.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/turkey-spring-rolls-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

 

Weekly Menu - The One with Christmas and Nate's Birthday

Welcome back.  I'm kind of amazed that it's time to think about Christmas Food.  Josh asked me recently what we eat for Christmas - he saw a cartoon that talked about special food and, had to find out what we eat that is special.  I did a lot of baking this past week so we have lots of fun Christmas goodies for the week and are looking forward to a wonderful holiday week.

Friday - Goulosh, Green Beans and Rolls

Saturday - Tonight we are going to eat out.  We want to take the boys to do their Christmas shopping and then drive around to see the lights.

Sunday - Today is Nate's actual birthday.  I'm going to mix it up a bit and make Chicken Nuggets and Fries ;-) That will make him happy :-)

Monday - I'm not sure yet - it is going to be a "Freezer/Pantry" meal.  With Christmas Eve and Christmas, my grocery budget needs a break so I'm trying to just shop from home for most of the week.

Tuesday - Christmas Eve :-)  It is our tradition to have snacks in the evening but this year I've had to get creative due to Darryl's stomach issues.  Plus I wanted stuff the kids will actually eat ;-)  So, we are having "tea sandwiches" - PB and J, Egg Salad, and maybe Tuna.  (I'll cut the crusts off and cut each into 4 . . .they will be cute.), Cheese, Crackers and Pickles, Fruit and Dip, and Christmas Goodies!

Wednesday - Breakfast is always special . .. .well, as special as it can be with two toddlers HA!  Unless something changes drastically with Darryl's stomach, we can't have our traditional food so, at this time, I'm planning Waffles, Sausage, and a nice fruit bowl. Christmas Dinner!  Ham, Cheesy Potatoes (and a Sweet Potato for Darryl), Pioneer Woman Green Bean Casserole, Roasted Carrots,

Thursday - What is best the day after a holiday?  Leftovers, of course!

Merry Christmas from our Family to yours!

So here it is!  Our Christmas card :-)  I ordered from a new company this year, thanks to an groupon where I got a $70.00 package for $20.00.  I'm not going to share the company name because I found that their templates were NOT easy to use at all and, when I opened the envelope with my photo cards in it, I discovered, well, that they weren't mine.  I had someone elses cards which included their address, phone # and e-mail address on the confirmation!  (And mine had been shipped to someone else . . .).  The company made it all right but I won't order from them again!

Anyway - if you feel like reading, our Christmas letter is below!

Christmas 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello!  For me personally, I always enjoy this time when I get to sit down and reflect on our past year in order to share just a little bit of our adventures with each of you. 

Our Animals – China, our wonderful dog, is still doing great J  She is just as much of a couch potato as she has ever been but has also become quite the “guard” dog with the boys.  During the summer she is outside with them often, seemingly sleeping in the sun, but if someone approaches the yard, she puts on her “mean dog” face and lets them know they can’t enter the yard.  Nate especially loves her and often sits next to her on the couch, resting his hand on her back.  Misty is really showing her age but she still has spunk.  Sure, her jumping isn’t quite as high; her hearing isn’t quite as keen; but she still loves to snuggle in and stay warm!  It’s hard to believe she is about 18 years old.  We did lose one pet this past year – Stratocastor passed away not long after Christmas last year.  We noticed the day after Christmas that she was having trouble walking; we were trying to decide what to do when she made the decision for us, curled up and went to sleep forever.  We are thankful for that but I sure missed seeing her on the porch this summer, stretched out in the sun!

Our Kids – Josh and Nate are doing great.  We worked on homeschooling this year with Josh in K-4 and Nate in preschool.  Both boys enjoy learning and, more importantly, enjoy learning at home J  They also attended a weekly homeschool co-op where they were able to enjoy gym class as well as other learning classes.  We have moved on to bikes with training wheels this year – Josh and Nate both love their new bikes and their new freedom to ride in the drive-way.  Josh continues to entertain us with his stories, jokes, and take charge attitude (He often asks me if it is his time to be charge . .. ).  Nate continues to have that sweet spirit that coincides with his “all boy – not afraid of anything” attitude.  I’m his best buddy right now and I wouldn’t change that for anything! 

Our Work – Darryl continues to drive a Taxi for Calder City Cab in Grand Rapids.  It is something he enjoys most of the time but does get a little stir crazy sometimes.  So far, God has not opened any other doors and has supplied for our needs through this job.  I am still helping a friend out and watching her children – ages 3 and 10 months.  We added a Girl to the mix with all of the boys as the 10 month old is . . well, a girl ;-)  My boys love her and would like her to live with us . .. except now she is ‘on the move’ and they really don’t like that at all! 

Our “fun” – Darryl continues to play with the group “Alive” and has enjoyed that more this year despite his long hours at work that make it hard to stay awake during practice.  He also enjoys writing and recording his own music too.  Scrapbooking is still my main hobby and I had the opportunity to take a weekend away with friends to do just that in the fall.  It was a great get away and I got a lot done!!  I have also enjoyed singing in the Lakewood Choral Society again this year and am looking forward to an upcoming Christmas concert. 

Our “Not so much fun” – As I write this Christmas letter, Darryl has been off of work for over 2 months.  At the end of September, after struggling with a very sore back, he ended up flat on his back due to a back injury.  After a trip to the ER, some awful pain meds, and an MRI he was sent to a Neurosurgeon to see what could be done.  It continued to get worse so he was sent for a CT scan as well where they found that the L4 and L5 Vertebrate had “tipped” and were severely irritating the nerves making walking very difficult and causing his legs to go numb.  During this time, he started dealing with stomach issues that turned into pain so severe that I had to take him to the ER again; after several tests it appears that he has gastritis and a possible ulcer.  Thankfully, a very, very plain, simple diet has helped that all heal and he is doing much better (and has lost 30 pounds!!).  We are still working on the back issues but, again, some good news is that it seems to be less painful and the numbness is not so severe.  Having Darryl home has been great – we’ve always joked that we wish he worked at home so we could always be together but, he is technically self-employed so we’ve had to really trust God to supply our needs, which He has done.  It hasn’t been a stress free 2 months by any means, but I can say that our faith is stronger J We are hopeful that he can slowly return to work over the next month and going to hold off on any surgery to see if it continues heal on its own otherwise surgery will have to happen at a later time.

Our Home – If you have read this letter through the years you know that I often have a “water” story.  Well, I don’t want to let you down!  This spring, this area experienced severe flooding – some of the worst that has been seen in a very long time.  All of our neighbors had water filled basements and ran sump pumps for weeks to get water out.  We did not J  We did end up with just one small “puddle” in a low area in the basement but I think that was from all of the neighbors adding water to a water logged ground.  We did have a “flood” of our own, though . .. our water softener broke and flooded our basement.  Not once, but twice.  Seriously.  Uuuggg!!!  After the second time, we replaced the old girl and put in a new system (Thanks to the Cullegan Man!) which, after almost 3 months, is finally working the way it should – the secretary knew my number because I called that office so many times!! 

Our Vacation – This year we enjoyed a fantastic family vacation with the boys.  We decided to stick close to home and headed to Mackinaw City for a week.  The boys were beyond thrilled – we even made a countdown chain to hang so the boys could keep track of how many “sleeps” until we left.  I can’t even express in a letter how much fun the boys had but on the morning we were packing to leave the boys cried, ask to be left behind, requested that we take the pictures off the hotel walls to take home with us and we had to drive over the bridge one last time.  Even now, 6 months later, Josh will ask when we are going back because Mackinaw City is his favorite place.  Can you guess where we are going on vacation next summer??

Christmas Decorations - the rest of the House

I'm not sure what happened but I've run out of days HA!  I had it in my head that I could post once a week and get through the house but . . .then I looked at my blogging calendar and guess what?  I can't.  Between Advent Posts and Homeschool Posts not to mention one little boys birthday that is coming up . . .well, I'm running out of days.  So this post will include the rest of the house :-)

If you missed the last two posts, please take a look at our Kitchen and our Dining Room.

Now, on to the Living Room!

 After I had finished decorating the Living Room, I glanced at the photo boards and noticed they looked out of place because they held all of our recent photos . . .taken in the midst of a beautiful fall!  The fall pictures just didn't work so I went through last years Christmas photos and picked out some favorites, had them printed and have put those on the boards.  Such a small thing makes such a big difference!

 The boys stockings.  I'll be honest, they are never big enough HA  But, we love them.  We purchased them at Bronner's in Frankenmuth before each of their first Christmas'.

 A favorite spot of the boys - the candy dish! 

 I used to wrap the pictures on the walls but, as nice as it looks, it is alot of work so instead I'm slowly adding Christmas artwork.  In this case, these are paintings the boys did last year.   The shelf holds a couple of special decorations.  The Christmas Tree was a gift Darryl brought me on our very first date.  It is supposed to light up but it doesn't anymore - I still love it though!

 Then there is this Reindeer Noel - I bought it for my first apartment and have never found anything else like it.

 The Trees are a new addition this year.  I found them at Walmart after Christmas last year for just a couple of dollars.  They look great by my special snowmen.

 Another thing I love to do is hang ornaments from the ceiling.  I think it adds dimension for not a lot of effort!

 Donald Duck.  This is something we picked up at Frankenmuth years ago.  I will admit that he often stays up most, if not all of the year. 

 Our Christmas Tree (and it is snowing really hard outside too!)

 I left some things for the boys to decorate with (I decorated while they were at Papa and Nana's) because I know how much they love to help.  I even left this whole stand empty for them and this was Josh' creation. 

 Such a pretty photo of the tree and all of the snow outside!

I picked up this house through a Home Interiors party quite a few years ago.  I like that it is whimsical - and it is made of Tin verses the classic Glass houses.

 Another picture of the tree to showcase the lights. 

One last photo - see the guy in blue?  That is a toy from my Husband's childhood.  (Not HIS toy - he and his brother destroyed their toy like that making it do all kinds of things HA).  He resides on the cabinet all year long but at Christmas he gets a hat and some jingle bells :-)

Now, on to the bathroom!

 The Christmas shower curtain - an all time favorite.  And the rug :-)  Those two things alone make the bathroom much more festive!

 The shelf in the bathroom is home to some more of my favorite snowmen!

This, once again, is Josh's handwork - he felt the tree would go perfectly right on the bathroom cart and who am I to argue? ;-)

I love wreaths on the doors.  This is the bathroom door and then in the distance is our bedroom door.  This year, that is as much decor as our room got.  I usually change out the bedspread but my husband is using that quilt on the couch to sleep most nights and, after cleaning out all of my stuff this summer, I ended up without stuff to use in a few rooms.  That's ok - our room right now is "filled" with boxes holding Christmas gifts, or at least it FEELS that way!

Finally, the boys room.

 Their door decoration.

 Each of the boys has a tree.  They love them (and they will probably be up until April!!)

 This year the boys are really beginning to understand what Christmas is - that there was a special baby born just for us.  I love the Nativity Sets they each have and, it is even ok if they play with them!

 I used wreaths as wall decorations in their room - there is one hanging over each of their beds.

Some ornaments from the ceiling add lots of fun for them too.

A nice shot of their trees and nativity sets.

That's our home this year!  I've mentioned before that I've had more fun this year because I have less stuff and have been able to add a few new things.  Next year I want to add more lights and wall decor more than anything else.

Merry Christmas!

Homeschool Corner

The boys are really enjoying "school" this month.  The advent Bible reading has gained their interest as have the Christmas Books and Crafts.  I realized one day last week that I need to start prepping for January.  Printing, planning, cutting and prepping all take time.  I want to do something a little different for the rest of the year and that is I want to print everything now and put it in file folders so that each week I just have to pull papers that I need.  I'm also starting to look at curriculum for K-5 next year.  I think I have it narrowed down to what I want to do and am looking forward to a Homeschooling Conference in May so that I can do some looking and shopping for curriculum there as well as attend sessions.

This is what we did this week!

The Grinch Advent
Monday - We had originally planned to take the boys to see Santa; there is a local Husband and Wife that are "official" Mr and Mrs Claus and they set up a really cool Santa House for free photos.  Well, I asked the boys if they would actually sit on his lap or stand by him and they said NO!  My kids are very shy when it comes to new people or characters . . .so I'm letting go of that "tradition" for now :-(  Instead they opened up a small stamp set . . . which they loved and made fingerprints and hand prints.  I obviously didn't think that gift through :-)

Tuesday: Nuetlla snack cups with cookie stix - a favorite treat of the boys!
Wednesday: Starburst Candy Books
Thursday: Christmas Pez Dispensers
Friday: Stuffed Animals - to which Nate promptly said, "I do not like it; do not give me stuffed animals as gifts. Geesh!
Saturday: Airplanes
Sunday: Ring Pops (a big hit!!)

Our Bible Advent
Using the Storybook Bible is fabulous.  Once we finish with the advent, I plan on using it at Bedtime - we have started reading stories at night so I think we can add reading one of the Bible stories as well.  We are not doing this advent 7 days a week . . .so I am picking and choosing some of the stories/ornaments we are doing in order to make sure we get to the end of the stories on time.

Just a sampling of what we are doing.  I mentioned to my husband this week that, well, our boys are not artistic.  It isn't that they aren't creative - they are - they just have no artistic talent HA!  Their coloring consists of one solid color and it drives me bananas.  Oh well.  They must get their non-artistic talent from me - I can't even draw a stick figure!

And since these posts have been a little less than exciting, I thought I would include some misc photos from our week.

On Saturday, the 7th, it started Snowing and the boys were over joyed.  They slipped on some boots and went outside in their PJ's Saturday morning.  Nate went out first and it was just too cute to NOT take photos! 

 Notice the glove on one hand?  He started with two gloves but realized he couldn't feel the snowflakes with the gloves on so he took one off.

 Of course, once the camera came out, Josh had to get in on the fun!

 Then, the snow really started to amp up on Sunday.

 First up, the boys found some new cookie cutters I had picked up for making Christmas cookies (remember we were going to make them last Friday but I was SOOO sick!) and they BEGGED to make cookies.  Darryl took on the task on Sunday afternoon.

 Now, really, this is all they did - they cut them out, we baked them, they ate a bite or two and that's it.  No decorating.  The cookies were made with sugar cookie dough (refrigerated) and I didn't realize that it wasn't really meant for cut out cookies . . .. they spread and the cookies had no shape.  Plus, they weren't really that tasty.  I plan on making some real cut out cookies this next week so the boys can decorate them.

 Once the cookies were made, they headed outside and played until it was dark. 

Monday brought even MORE snow!

The boys used bowls to make snow forts, got their bikes and out played "crash" in the driveway (they would fall over and the other one would rescue them) and again, played until almost dark.

The weather turned bitter so on Tuesday and Thursday they couldn't go out at all; on Wednesday, I let them go out at about 3:45 and Josh stayed out until 5:00 - he's warm blooded like me, though, so he can last a long time in the cold ;-)