Saturday, April 30, 2011
Going Green
It was a very green kind of day. Neal woke up early to pick up our produce order from our local farmers. Took the kids to drop off recyclables such as old electronic equipment and clothes/household items for the Goodwill at Allen's Great American Clean Up. Took a free tree home from the event. Neal and I then attended a rain water harvesting class and made our first rain barrel. Then we piled the kids in the car and attended the Green Expo at the Heard Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
A Hunting We Will Go
We wanted to reserve Easter Sunday for religious observance. Throughout the week we have been explaining Christ's suffering and atonement in the garden, his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection in the simplest of terms and with appropriate visuals.
This Saturday morning, we did our Easter egg hunt just before Grandma J left for the airport. It went about as expected.
Rhys did not know what he was suppose to do. When we got him started with an egg he was quite delighted by it. So much so that we could not interest him in searching for other eggs without much chagrin. In his frustration, he threw his egg--busting it open, revealing all it's sugary bounty. He sat down right there in the grass and ate the candy.
This was old hat to Sophie. She collected all but two of the eggs and had fun doing it. Fortunately for Rhys, Sophie was willing to share her spoils.
Once the candy was consumed from his first egg, Keri tried to engage Rhys into opening his second egg. He didn't know what to do, got upset and wanted to be held so he pushed his dear mother over, turned himself around and had a seat. Then when all was well in the world, he could more fully devote himself to candy eating once again.
Hope next year is a better experience for him. At least Sophie enjoyed herself.
This Saturday morning, we did our Easter egg hunt just before Grandma J left for the airport. It went about as expected.
Rhys did not know what he was suppose to do. When we got him started with an egg he was quite delighted by it. So much so that we could not interest him in searching for other eggs without much chagrin. In his frustration, he threw his egg--busting it open, revealing all it's sugary bounty. He sat down right there in the grass and ate the candy.
This was old hat to Sophie. She collected all but two of the eggs and had fun doing it. Fortunately for Rhys, Sophie was willing to share her spoils.Once the candy was consumed from his first egg, Keri tried to engage Rhys into opening his second egg. He didn't know what to do, got upset and wanted to be held so he pushed his dear mother over, turned himself around and had a seat. Then when all was well in the world, he could more fully devote himself to candy eating once again.Hope next year is a better experience for him. At least Sophie enjoyed herself.
Earth Day
We decided to head out to the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary on Earth Day. We were gifted with an annual pass this year and are so glad. It's great! We meandered through the museum which was very hands on. Then we decided to try one of the shorter trails (1/2 mile) given our young companions. 
We had to tell Sophie to stay where she could see us or she would have left us in the dust. Rhys did very well on the dirt trail and only wanted to be carried for a short time at the end.
We saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and lived and another tree that had been attacked by a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker Woodpecker. These woodpeckers peck the holes, let them fill with sap, and then suck it out.
Earth Day was the perfect day to get out of the city, smell the fresh air, and pay attention to the details in God's handiwork.
We had to tell Sophie to stay where she could see us or she would have left us in the dust. Rhys did very well on the dirt trail and only wanted to be carried for a short time at the end.We saw a tree that had been struck by lightning and lived and another tree that had been attacked by a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker Woodpecker. These woodpeckers peck the holes, let them fill with sap, and then suck it out.Earth Day was the perfect day to get out of the city, smell the fresh air, and pay attention to the details in God's handiwork.
Ovumania!
Coloring Easter eggs is a favorite tradition! To the parents that is. Sophie lasted maybe 5 minutes and Rhys never showed interest especially when the other option was to have Grandma push him on the backyard swing. Neal and Keri decided to go super vibrant. Fun as always. Can't wait for those egg salad sandwiches!
Busy Busy Busy
Because Grandma J is in town and also to use up some vacation time, Neal took a week off from work. It was no vacation though--he worked on the house and yard all week.
He accomplished a ton: installed an irrigation system for the vegetable garden, installed surround sound (thanks K & D!), mowed and weed treated the lawn, replaced light and fan switches, replaced door stoppers, shimmed the toilet so it wouldn't rock, planted a variety of flowers, plants, and aquatic greenery, stocked the water lily pot with fish and minnows (pictured releasing them)...
cleaned out rain gutters, put up vinyl lettering and artwork in two rooms, installed a rain meter, cleaned out the garage, attempted to repair a used swing/play set we recently acquired.
Keri was busy spending time with her mom, tending the kiddies, and having some fun of her own. She baked an amazing pie, including the crust. It was a pie featured on Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives and she found a recipe copying it online. Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie with basil in the list of ingredients. It was crowned with a lovely topping of sliced almonds, sugar, and butter. It was very good and not as weird as we thought it might be.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Keri Parties with the Preschool Crowd
Keri always enjoys teaching preschool when it is her turn, even when she had the letter Q. This week was a lot easier to prepare for because it was our Easter party week. The co-op preschool started with 6 kids and we are down to 4 but this week we only had 3 because one was on vacation with his family. So Keri's job was even easier although the more the merrier still rings true.
Day One:
We sorted plastic Easter eggs by color and then matched upper to lower case letters.
Then we lined up the letters in alphabetical order. Following that we played a game to see how many eggs we could toss into the not-too-distant Easter baskets. Everyone got at least one egg in.
For snack we had bunny and carrot shaped pretzels.
After snack the kids cut and glued bunny ears out of construction paper and wadded up white tissue paper to make their own bunny tails. Once properly trimmed in bunny garb we enjoyed a playful rendition of the hokey pokey and put our paws, ears, and tail in...
Here are James, Ben, and Sophie cute as can be.
Still donning the ears and tail, the little bunnies toured our backyard garden and sampled foods rabbits would eat like cabbage, lettuce, kale, and arugula.
Day Two:
We started with making hand print Easter bunnies with paint and later embellished them with googly eyes, pom pom nose, and bow.
We talked about the different items we see around Easter regarding the secular side: chicks, bunnies, baskets, flowers and the like. We decided before Easter week that the parents would address the religious significance of the holiday in our own homes as a family.
We practiced number recognition and 1:1 counting up to the teens with jellybeans. They got to eat several for work well done.
Following that we played a guessing game and tried to figure out what was in each of three plastic eggs. We compared weights, shook them and listened, and held them up to light to see the shape.
Near the end of class we decorated cupcakes to look like Easter baskets. We colored shredded coconut green by shaking it in a bag with a couple drops of green food coloring. They loved that! They topped their frosted cupcakes with the coconut grass, added several jellybean eggs, and a chenille/pipe cleaner for an mock handle. They made one for themselves and one for their sibling to eat later. Then they got to sugar-up on a plain one before their parents came to pick them up.
We filled in the last few minutes with more games of egg tossing and egg balancing (on a spoon).
Day One:
We sorted plastic Easter eggs by color and then matched upper to lower case letters.
Then we lined up the letters in alphabetical order. Following that we played a game to see how many eggs we could toss into the not-too-distant Easter baskets. Everyone got at least one egg in.For snack we had bunny and carrot shaped pretzels.
After snack the kids cut and glued bunny ears out of construction paper and wadded up white tissue paper to make their own bunny tails. Once properly trimmed in bunny garb we enjoyed a playful rendition of the hokey pokey and put our paws, ears, and tail in...
Here are James, Ben, and Sophie cute as can be.
Still donning the ears and tail, the little bunnies toured our backyard garden and sampled foods rabbits would eat like cabbage, lettuce, kale, and arugula.Day Two:
We started with making hand print Easter bunnies with paint and later embellished them with googly eyes, pom pom nose, and bow.
We talked about the different items we see around Easter regarding the secular side: chicks, bunnies, baskets, flowers and the like. We decided before Easter week that the parents would address the religious significance of the holiday in our own homes as a family.We practiced number recognition and 1:1 counting up to the teens with jellybeans. They got to eat several for work well done.
Following that we played a guessing game and tried to figure out what was in each of three plastic eggs. We compared weights, shook them and listened, and held them up to light to see the shape.Near the end of class we decorated cupcakes to look like Easter baskets. We colored shredded coconut green by shaking it in a bag with a couple drops of green food coloring. They loved that! They topped their frosted cupcakes with the coconut grass, added several jellybean eggs, and a chenille/pipe cleaner for an mock handle. They made one for themselves and one for their sibling to eat later. Then they got to sugar-up on a plain one before their parents came to pick them up.
We filled in the last few minutes with more games of egg tossing and egg balancing (on a spoon). The kids had a good time and Keri had a blast as well! The fact that these kids rock and are well behaved is icing on the cake.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The Past Little While in Pictures
Grandma J (Judy), has been in town. 
Our handsome boy got his first "salon" cut. He did great. Still gets a bit dreamy when getting his hair cut. He likes it. 
Rhys gives himself a butternut squash pasta sauce facial. Those eyebrows are like magnets for sauce.
We attended the grand opening of Cabela's. We have never seen so many men in one store and with the giddiest of smiles on their faces. Cabela's never fails to display grotesque amounts of stuffed dead animals throughout thier stores. Neal did not appreciate my blatant comments about how the animals are even more beautiful when alive. Shockingly, these fish were actually living.
See, here is a perfect example of taxidermy overload in these stores. Here a bear drags a dead sheep. A dead dead sheep. Isn't this a little bit redundant?
Today we enjoyed the Easter Eggstraviganza down at our city hall. Fun for the kids-airbrushed tatoos, pictures with the Easter bunny, balloon twisting artists, plastic eggs generously handed out with more toys than candy (thank goodness), crafts, games, and the like. We were happy to see our friends the Goodes, Garvins, and Voges.
Tonight we went for an evening walk down at the old stone dam. There are abondoned train tracks there so we took the kids across them and then on a little trail to the dam. Instead of heading back we felt rather daring and climbed down, over, and up the other side of the dam.
The nice thing about the abondoned tracks is that the bridge has only positive graffiti on it. Nothing distasteful, just scripture, inspirational thoughts, and the usual declarations of love.
Our handsome boy got his first "salon" cut. He did great. Still gets a bit dreamy when getting his hair cut. He likes it. 
Rhys gives himself a butternut squash pasta sauce facial. Those eyebrows are like magnets for sauce.
We attended the grand opening of Cabela's. We have never seen so many men in one store and with the giddiest of smiles on their faces. Cabela's never fails to display grotesque amounts of stuffed dead animals throughout thier stores. Neal did not appreciate my blatant comments about how the animals are even more beautiful when alive. Shockingly, these fish were actually living.
See, here is a perfect example of taxidermy overload in these stores. Here a bear drags a dead sheep. A dead dead sheep. Isn't this a little bit redundant?
Today we enjoyed the Easter Eggstraviganza down at our city hall. Fun for the kids-airbrushed tatoos, pictures with the Easter bunny, balloon twisting artists, plastic eggs generously handed out with more toys than candy (thank goodness), crafts, games, and the like. We were happy to see our friends the Goodes, Garvins, and Voges.
Tonight we went for an evening walk down at the old stone dam. There are abondoned train tracks there so we took the kids across them and then on a little trail to the dam. Instead of heading back we felt rather daring and climbed down, over, and up the other side of the dam.
The nice thing about the abondoned tracks is that the bridge has only positive graffiti on it. Nothing distasteful, just scripture, inspirational thoughts, and the usual declarations of love.Here Neal is swinging my dear baby boy over the spill area of the dam to my mom as sweet Sophie walks on totally unattended. Who's earned the parenting award?!
Here's what we crossed. Not too big a deal but fun!
Here's what we crossed. Not too big a deal but fun!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Public Speaking
Sophie had her first opportunity to speak in the children's primary at church this past Sunday. She was chosen to prepare and share a scripture focusing on the theme, "Jesus is my Savior and Redeemer." She did great! She marched right up to the podium, spoke into the microphone, and recited from memory Articles of Faith 1:3:
"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
Quite a mouthful for a three-year-old! She only needed a quiet prompt of "We" to get her rolling. Sophie did beautifully!
Rhys is also enjoying the gift of gab. A reminder that he started speech-therapy, about 2 months ago with only 3 consonant sounds. He is now approximating the words baby, bye-bye, dada, kitty, more, milk, TV, juice, Opa (Dutch for grandpa), and mama. Rhys is working to shake his head "no" rather than throw a fit to decline or reject. He is working very hard and we are so happy it is paying off.
"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
Quite a mouthful for a three-year-old! She only needed a quiet prompt of "We" to get her rolling. Sophie did beautifully!
Rhys is also enjoying the gift of gab. A reminder that he started speech-therapy, about 2 months ago with only 3 consonant sounds. He is now approximating the words baby, bye-bye, dada, kitty, more, milk, TV, juice, Opa (Dutch for grandpa), and mama. Rhys is working to shake his head "no" rather than throw a fit to decline or reject. He is working very hard and we are so happy it is paying off.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Foolin' Around
For April Fool's Day, today, we had breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. My kids were totally cool with having macaroni and cheese for breakfast. For dinner I made super yummy Chunky Monkey pancakes with peanut butter maple syrup also known as dessert for being so sweet! Want to see it?! Want the recipe?! Click here. The only changes I made were including cinnamon chips as well as chocolate chips and slipping a little whole wheat flour in the mix.
And for my sweetie--I played a sweet little joke placing a "parking ticket" on his windshield at his work, with a little note inside saying, "I'm a FOOL for you!" It was a simple and fun day!
And for my sweetie--I played a sweet little joke placing a "parking ticket" on his windshield at his work, with a little note inside saying, "I'm a FOOL for you!" It was a simple and fun day!
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