In a Slump . . ..

Sorry blogger friends.  I've been in a slump the last few weeks without many ideas of what to write about.  This is the first time this has really happened since I started writing several years ago.  We haven't been doing much and that is, I'm sure, part of the problem since I have no crafts or fun kid ideas to share.  My cooking has taken an nose dive so even coming up with new recipes and fun cooking ideas have been a little trying.  Hang with me, though, and I'm sure I'll get back into it soon!.

Homeschool Corner - Dinasaurs galore!

This past Sunday we planned a family fun day.  Without Football to watch (yes, we really are die hard fans of Sunday Football), we've found that planning fun activities on Sunday are the way to go.  We are already out for church and it's nice to have something to do.  Plus, this frees up Saturday for us to hang out at home and/or work on some projects.

On Sunday, the 16th, we headed to Church and Sunday School first and had a great morning at church.  From there we headed out to dinner and decided to try out IHOP since it would be easy with the boys.  Well, once is enough for us. HA!  We were both craving a place called Mega which is near my parents house and hoped this might be a half way decent substitute but it was not . . . .  oh well.  Next time we will eat somewhere else that is for sure.  Then we headed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to see the Dinosaur Exhibit.

We arrived at the museum and got THE perfect parking spot which is beyond amazing when you consider we had to wait 45 minutes in line to get inside.  Geesh!  It was worth it though.  Here's my confession - I haven't taken the boys to this museum because I find it kinda of, well, boring.  I've been many times and figured they wouldn't like it.  Boy was I wrong.  They loved it and now, I need to take them back where they can just explore the place.

 Nate was totally 100% intrigued by the dinosaurs from the moment we walked in.  They are, after all, his favorite animals!

 Josh, on the other hand, was intrigued by the windows and seeing how far up we actually were (it is very high due to the river that runs right by!)

 The exhibit was fantastic.  The dinosaurs move and make lots of noise.  Nate wanted to know the name of every one of them and also wanted to know what facts were listed on the display boards.

 On the other hand, Josh wanted to play.  His favorite areas were the hands-on areas.  Often times Josh and I stayed in those areas while Darryl and Nate walked through the dinosaur areas.

 Once we finished with the dinosaurs, we wandered through part of the museum.  The boys loved the old train car.

 Josh dared to get on the huge bike.

 The boys and I in "Old Town" Grand Rapids.

Darryl and the boys.  Yes, Josh always makes funny faces. 

We also rode the carousal.  The boys loved it and had huge smiles on their faces.  There was no way I could get a photo though.  I was just trying not to get sick from going in circles over and over and over . . HA!

I'm looking forward to taking the boys back.  I think going on a weekend day during the hot days of summer will be on our bucket list!

Things my Kids Say

* Nate was talking to Darryl one evening and Darryl asked him when he got so smart.  Nate replied, "Dad, that is just how God Made me!" and then he proceeded to show him how fast God made him too by racing around the house.

* I've mentioned before that Josh loves to be in charge.  Well, he was in his element recently.  On this past Monday, I went to choir practice.  Darryl called me at about 9:30  (I was then at the grocery store) and told me that Nate had gotten sick so both boys were still up while he was trying to get everything cleaned up.  I quickly finished the shopping and came home.  I pulled in the driveway and as I got out of the truck I heard Josh yelling from the house, "Mom, Nate is VERY sick.  I put my hand on his head and my hand is ON FIRE!  I mean, he is SICK so you need to get in here."  I came inside and he proceeded to tell me, "Mom, Nate cannot have any milk or anything to eat because he is so sick.  He can only have juice and water.  AND He cannot breath on any of us or we will get sick.  I mean, mom, he is SICK and his head is on fire.  I told him to go to sleep so he did.".  Josh was in his glory, let me tell you!!!  Twice during the night he came to tell me that Nate was coughing or he thought he had gotten sick and then, when Nate did get sick again, he came out to tell us and was beyond thrilled that he also got to stay up to see Darryl off to work HA!  I don't think that kid slept more than a few hours because he was "His brother's Keeper!"  On Tuesday morning it became Josh's job to pick out new clothes for Nate every time he puked.

* The boys often will exclaim the following, "Nate Alervis Nate Alerves" or "Princess Alervis, Princess Alervis"  What does it mean???  Well, it is a combination of an alert and an emergency!  So when Nate was puking I would here Josh yelling that or when the princess is getting into something she shouldn't, the boys will start yelling.  I have no idea where that word came from but they say it with authority so I just refuse to correct it!

* Another night this past week, Nate said that he wasn't feeling well again.  After several trips up and down out of bed, he went to sleep.  A few moments later, Josh came out and said, "Mom, I will be your helper.  I will get you if we need anything" HA!  He's such a helper (and boss . . .)

* We were packing to go to Papa and Nana's - I told the boys they didn't need to take pillows or stuffed animals because Nana had that stuff for them.  Nate looked at me with great concern and said, "But, Mom, my baby is too young to stay home, he needs me so I must take him."  How can I argue with that logic?   By the way, his "baby" is a Ernie toy that I have had for years and he claimed as his own.  Some days he remembers his baby and some days, Ernie is stuffed under the bed . .. for weeks HA! 

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

One of my March goals was to plan some fun things for St. Patrick's Day.  I almost totally failed but in the end I think I pulled out a few fun things and it was just enough for the boys.

 I picked up the shirts for the boys about a month ago.  They say, "I make my own good luck".  I think holiday shirts are the best!! 

Our morning started out with breakfast.  Lucky Charms, of course!  Now, Nate does not like the Marshmallows (say it isn't so!) but he loved picking out all of the cereal shapes.  He gave his marshmallows to Josh who loves them.  Lucky Charms were a huge hit!

For  lunch we had all things orange (since we are Protestant, after all!) so it was Mac and Cheese and Goldfish crackers for lunch.  I also put some "gold coins" (aka as Rolo's) on the table and told them the Leprechaun had visited and left them.  Well, let the stories begin HA  The boys wanted to know if I saw him and where he went and if he would leave more (which he did - they found them all over the house all afternoon). 

For dinner, we had our annual "feast" of Stuffed cabbage, Crash Potatoes, and Rainbow Jello. 

St. Patrick's Day (or as the boys say, Patrick's Day) ended with a bang, though.  Nate decided to toss his cookies at about 9:00 Monday night and keep me on my toys with a bucket near by most of the day Tuesday.  Hopefully that is one gift that does not keep on giving! 

Food Friday - Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut Cream Pie
Adapted from Boy Meets Bowl

  I never knew I liked Coconut Cream Pie until Christmas when my mom had one for dessert (or was it Thanksgiving . . . .) I came across this recipe and figured I might as well try.  All in all, this is a great recipe - very easy to follow and it comes together quickly.  My only "complaint" is that it needs more coconut flavor.  In the defense of this recipe, I felt that way with the first one I tried.  I think I might try this again but maybe use some coconut extract in it???  

 Old Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

makes 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake it, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt and mix well. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the toasted coconut and the vanilla extract. Reserve the remaining coconut to top the pie.
4. Pour the filling into the pie shell and chill until firm, about 4 hours.
5. Top with whipped topping and with the reserved coconut.

Weekly Menu

So, I forgot to take the turkey out last week.  Oops!  That's ok though because we actually had enough stuff in the freezer/fridge that I was able to just change some stuff out and not have to do any major shopping.  The turkey will get used next week!!

This coming week we are heading to my parents for a few days but otherwise it is a pretty typical week!

Friday - At my parents

Saturday - Dinner with family that are in town for the weekend.

Sunday - Enjoying my mom's cooking (i.e. going out to eat HA!  . . .unless she actually cooks!)

Monday - Turkey and the fixin's.  I took the turkey out on Friday and left it in the fridge all weekend to unthaw while we were gone so it is ready to cook!

Tuesday - Turkey and Dumplings

Wednesday - Darryl will be at practice so I tend to do something simple - the boys and I will probably have frozen pizza since we love it and it isn't something Darryl can eat right now.

Thursday - Turnkey Noodle soup!

That actually looks like an easy cooking week to me!

Phase one of the LIving Room Re-Do

I mentioned in my recent post about our Closet Switch that we had more fun coming and guess what, it's here!  After three years of planning, saving, needing that savings for unexpected things and saving again . .. . we bought new living room furniture.  I think I sat on about 400 couches over the course of one week not to mention chairs and rockers/recliners but we finally found the perfect furniture and it was delivered a week ago Thursday. 

We bought a couch with recliners, a chair that is also a recliner and a rocker with . . .yes a recliner.  I love to be able to put my feet up.  A couch just to sit on is not that comfortable :-)  We went to the Laz-Boy store after being mauled at Art Van by the sales people and found it so refreshing.  The sales clerk greeted us, told us to find her if we had questions and she walked away.  The boys played in the play area, the clerk never bothered us but was there the instant we had a question and the other sales clerk gave each of the boys a toy because they were so well-behaved.  It was cute because Nate saw a chair that looked like one that used to be "his" and said, "Look mom, that looks just like the chair I puked in!" (yes, he did, and yes, that chair was ruined.)  At that point the sales clerk told us about the fabric protection we could buy that WOULD cover puke HA!  (The best part of that is this particular store will refund the money if you never have to use the policy - how cool is that!).

Anyway, here are some photos - yes the kids were on it quickly :-)  I'm loving it.  I finally have a place to sit.

 I almost always forget to take "before shots" so this is a shot of the living room after we had cleared out most of the old stuff :-)

 The truck is here!!!! 

The couch :-)  It reclines on both ends and is so comfy!

 The sun kinda makes this photo difficult to see but there is a chair that matches the couch that has a footrest that kids out and beyond that is a rocker/recliner. 

Everyone loves it :-)  We all kinda claim spots but we've told the boys that the furniture belongs to everyone and anyone can sit anywhere they want!

This is only phase one.  We will be replacing our huge TV stand that we purchased about 5 years ago to house an "old" TV.  We need something much smaller now.  Also, there is paint in our future, new window treatments and new artwork.  Stay tuned!