Archive | August 2009

Sugar Cookies, Long Walk and Rambling Typing

Well the end of the week is here and the end of the month in sight. Once again it is a strange feeling, the fact that summer has shot by (stress induced or not) and now the kids are working on their next school level. Where did the time go? Even with all the government issues, the frustration with money, Ken’s stressed out attitude and the fact that 90% of my summer plans (out of necessity) went up in smoke it was a rather good summer. We managed to go to the Little House Museum, the conservatory, a zoo, ride a city bus, a food festival, go to the park, the splash park, picnics… and oh so much more. We found a place to  get fresh produce and I have become much more creative with my cooking. I actually would like to think that this summer we have set a better example for our kids. We didn’t eat out, we found affordable family activities and taught the boys how to have fun without having to buy things or spend massive amounts of money. All these things are valuable on many levels and have reminded ME that I need to slow down and assess what I do and what I spend BEFORE I do it.

I crammed an awful lot into our morning in hind sight. I had each of the boys make up a picture for my Grandma for her birthday that was this month. Zander drew a spider with its web and a heart, Gavin a purple tractor and Emanuel some cars! These were glued into a folded blue page with love for Grandma and our names. And Ta-Da instant reason to go for a nice walk!

Happy Belated Birthday Great Grandma R

Happy Belated Birthday Great Grandma R

We moved onto the letter C. Emanuel was still a little hung up on perfecting his car – apperently he is just not happy with the way it is coming out lately. So I helped him make the capital C on his page into a car! What a terrific coincidence that he was drawing cars on our C day!

The only real confusion what with the C is for Christ as they learned in Sunday School Jesus only. But they had a great time doing the little 4 piece puzzle and each one drawing their own picture. Gavin drew a cow, Zander a caterpillar and Emanuel a cat. Then we decorated the capital letter in there with coloured googly eyes.

Letter C

Letter C

Our walk down to the post box was extended on to the gas station again. On the walk we saw quite a few things of interest. This time it was pink and white flowers that drew the attention! A nice little round garden of them.

Pink and White Flowerbed

Pink and White Flowerbed

The boys were aghast at this house with its apples ON THE GROUND! They were sure we should pick them up and take them home to make applesauce out of. Gavin specifically wanted to know if “those boys” (aka the people who lived there) made applesauce out of those apples. I had to tell him that I wasn’t sure but that I hoped so. Gavin is my apple hunter, he is very clear on what a “good apple” in the yard looks like and brings them in any time he comes across them.

Wasted Apples According to Gavin

Wasted Apples According to Gavin

There was a lovely more diverse garden at another house that was “oohed” over.

Summer Flowers

Summer Flowers

We walked by a large vegetable garden which had SQUASH… somehow I think we may not get any actual squash off of our plants in their tiny pots too long but being able to show them one while there was an identical flower on that plant was a great way to illustrate the plant’s whole cycle. And now this has caused an interest in us growing our own veggies next year. I figure pots and small plants so the boys can really have their own garden regardless of where we are living. It is this spontaneous interest that excites me. I love it when it is THEIR choice to do something new. It really does make me more motivated to make it happen!

Acorn Squash?

Acorn Squash?

Our trip to the gas station meant goodies again – we got two kinds of chips, twizzlers and this time ORANGE slurpee (definitely NOT my first choice but they loved it). Trinity could not make it home awake though, even with her brothers stealing her binky from time to time!

Fast Asleep

Fast Asleep

Our afternoon craft was Zander’s choice this time. Styrofoam snowmen. I got out all the supplies, preglued the two pieces together and then had the boys come up one at a time and do their own thing. We ended up with 3 delightfully different snowmen. I have enough supplies to make 3 more bodies so maybe in a week or so we will do up 3 more. I am not sure how I want to have these ones hang up but I am sure whoever receives them will enjoy them! I hope.

Snowman Supplies

Snowman Supplies

Completed Snowmen (Zander, Emanuel, Gavin)

Completed Snowmen (Zander, Emanuel, Gavin)

Poor Trinity had an accident in Emanuel’s room and slipped on his wool rug. Smack right on the forehead! A nice little goose egg and some big tears later and she is ok. Emanuel gave her a kiss better and she had a little sit with Gavin. Amazing how time with her brothers can be so positive when they spent almost ALL of today fighting.

Hoping the Bump is Better Tomorrow :(

Hoping the Bump is Better Tomorrow 🙁

Today I made my mom’s favourite cookie recipe – Sugar Cookies. The recipe SAYS you should get 5 dozen 2 inch cookies but we used a wine glass for our cookie cutter which was bigger than the 2 inches and got a little over 2 dozen. I froze 12 for later and have the rest for snacking. It is a great recipe:

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk slightly beaten

3 tblsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 F

Combine dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream butter, gradually add sugar beating between additions. Add egg yolk; mix well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk; add vanilla.

Chill dough until firm. Roll very cold dough to  1/4″ thickness on lightly floured board. Cut with fancy cookie cutters (I used a round wine glass).

Back for 8-10 min on greased cookie sheets. Cool on racks and if desired frost and decorate cookies.

Yield: 5 dozen 2″ cookies

Mmm Sugar Cookies!

Mmm Sugar Cookies!

I also made another dozen apple muffins – couldn’t resist! Tomorrow I plan on making more apple leather, this time to freeze as defrosting enough applesauce to make it later would be time consuming. My focus now has moved from stuff to try now to stuff to freeze for later.

Before bed we managed the time to do our “o” sound – the second book in the phonics set and then the little song off the website I linked yesterday. Not as catchy a tune as the “a” one but the kids had fun with fox and box. Emanuel and Trinity are totally hooked on the “a” song… over and over and over again today! I swear last night I DREAMED about it!

Upon Request - Song Repeated

Upon Request - Song Repeated

I have to say I absolutely love my time online lately chatting – Ada is a great conversationalist and has a  terrific sense of humour. She filled me in on her saga with visas and such to get here. Ada is a GREAT story teller. I have been working on her Christmas gift today during my down time so it was great to work on it while chatting with her. I just hope she loves it as much as I like making it. I actually took this piece from a much larger Teresa Wentzler piece and changed the colours – 793 and 792 which are both blues to 3607 and 915 both shades of pink (all DMC). You may recognize it (once it is further along) from my dragon piece. It is really nice to have a reason to do part of that piece again!

Actually Loving the Colours!

Actually Loving the Colours!

Chris and Chris came over for D&D tonight. Weekly gaming at the end of a hard week sure is a nice pick me up. Especially with these two. They are so much fun and great to talk to! I sent them home with a batch of applesauce so I now have my large pot empty for tomorrow’s applesauce (the batch with the bought apples as well). Tonight Ken was a little too tired to play for too long but we managed an encounter.

Tomorrow is a bit of a nervous day for us – Emanuel finally gets into the heart murmur clinic for the little guys. Once a month they have the clinic so there is no rescheduling. This is to take a peek at the murmur with an eeg and then a talk with the specialist. Apparently the appointment can take 1-3 hours and they could just decide to close the file. Ken has to remember to bring up the accelerated heart rate but in all honesty it is going to take an awful lot to convince us he needs some sort of treatement. He is the healthiest of the bunch. The specialist he shares with the twins was surprise the murmur even existed as he is such a healthy child – and so big… he is about the size of a 4 yr old. So please keep a positive thought and say a prayer for the best outcome.

My afternoon should be fun. Karyn is coming into the city and Ken squirreled away enough for me to go with her to the da Vinci exhibit at the Science Center. I have wanted to go since it got here 3 months ago and it is leaving on the 7th. There is a 3D exhibit on the Mona Lisa which I have wanted to see among other things. I am not sure if I will be able to take any pictures, but I am hoping so! It has been a while since we have seen Karyn so the boys are going to be in heaven regardless!

I am hoping to hunt down some more free events to sign the boys up for as the library doesn’t have nearly as much going on over the school year (the local branch is not overly homeschool oriented). The monthly gym day we went to in the past is back up so I am hoping we can make that a regular occurance – 2.00 per kid is really reasonable. With the corn maze on the 12th and plans for continuing the park dates as well as with our signing up officially with HLSA checking out what they offer I am sure I can figure something out. Or at the very least do my best!

The silver lining is still there – just mildly tarnished and battered but I refuse to cave. I will have my cry later but for now Ken and I are working toward the future and keeping true to our children and our relationship and that is what is important.

Sharing the Love

Sharing the Love



ABC’s and Company!

What a day what a day. We started with the letter B. Again the total excitement over the puzzle and Emanuel had a burst of creativity with decorating his capital letter. He took inspiration from the bee picture and had me help create a somewhat matching one on his letter. We spent some more time watching the letter B on the new favourite website and the soft a sound video (check it out here: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm?f). Trinity and Emanuel are in love with the soft a song. Trinity especially wants it played over and over and over again.

Finished Page! (Gavin right)

Finished Page! (Gavin right)

Emanuel's Bee!

Emanuel's Bee!

We also started a new story series. The first book deals with the soft a so tied right into our song!

Does Hamm Get That Hat?

Does Hamm Get That Hat?

Our squash has finally flowered. Just one pot but the boys were VERY impressed. I am hoping this weekend Ken will manage to plant them in the little bed next to the house. Maybe we will get some squash?

Celebrating the Flowering Squash! (Zander left)

Celebrating the Flowering Squash! (Zander left)

For our ornament for the day we did Gavin’s choice – candy cane pipecleaners with bows. I did the bows of course but each boy did his share of curved pipecleaners. Definitely a craft I would suggest for tiny fingers.

Candy Canes

Candy Canes

Our park date was cancelled for the family today. Ken had an appointment or two. One with the dreaded government. And actually, due to the involvement of more outside forces we got a phone call today from an actual AGENT instead of what Ken terms a lacky who is giving us the somewhat trustworthy promise of monetary appearance in two working days… do we believe it? Set our trust in it? Not so much… BUT it is something, and for once something NOT horribly detrimental or heart breakingly negative. So could things be looking up for us? (knock on wood and say a prayer) Perhaps?

I decided while Ken was out on his errands and meetings that I would mow the front lawn. We have a push mower (a green one or whatever they call it now) so it is quite the work out. It took me 30 min as I had to run over everything twice and the weeds still need to be whacked but I am darn proud of myself. Granted it is no perfect manicured lawn like the neighbor’s who has a company come in every week but little tiny Lisa mowed a whole lawn on her own! I so should have taken before pictures!

Cut Lawn!

Cut Lawn!

Push Mower!

Push Mower!

Tired But Triumphant!

Tired But Triumphant!

Tonight we had company. The guys had their weekly D&D and Fydo’s wife Kristen came over as well. So for the evening I actually had in person company! What a treat! So no sugar cookies tonight but instead lots of chat and story sharing. So worth it! Which is also the reason I am so slow posting tonight. Too much talking and no typing!

So the plan for tomorrow is relatively simple. Ken has tons to do of course, so I am going to work on the letter C in the morning and maybe the letter D in the afternoon. Zander got to chose the ornament and he wants to make snowmen. I am hoping Ken and the boys can make up a birthday card for my grandma in the morning so the kids and I can walk to the post box and mail it. Maybe even make the extra walk to the Husky station and get a treat? Who knows. For a day that has been quite stressful and all the evening turned out just right. I even got a start on a Christmas gift for Ada… no pictures yet but I am enjoying working on linen.

Say Cheese!

Say Cheese!

Muffins, Letter “A” and Homeschool Gift

Stress stress stress… but at least life goes on. Thank goodness for the kids – no matter how stressed WE get they keep going – life is still a total adventure, the smallest things are exciting and amazing and the backyard a magical wonderland. Trinity wanders around the house creating havoc but being endearing as she does so. Not to mention sneaking some story time out of Daddy while he is SUPPOSED to be cooking dinner!

Story Time!

Story Time!

I continued baking up a storm today with a recipe Ken actually LIKED! BONUS! Applesauce Muffins… YUM!

Cat’s Own Applesauce Muffins

1 1/2 Cups of Unsweetened Applesauce (either store bought or homemade is fine)

1 cup white sugar (reduce if using sweetened apple sauce)

1 slightly beaten egg

1/3 cup melted margarine or butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix the applesauce, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together. Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake in 350 degrees oven for approximately 20 minutes. Enjoy! I got one dozen with this recipe (could have made maybe 13 if I hadn’t snitched a few tastes. I made TWO batches!)

Absolutely Yummy!

Absolutely Yummy!

Two batches of the applesauce today with all the apples that fell off the tree last night with the wind. The boys are beyond excited with all the baking.

I had a terrific gift come today. A homeschooling mom off my local egroup gave us a bunch of their little guy (K-gr1) homeschooling books and teaching printing and cursive supplies. Science books, all the hooked on phonics up to the gr.2 stuff they are still using… such a HUGE help! Things we really couldn’t source out and buy right now. What a God send.

Thank You!

Thank You!

We did our first letter of the lapbooks. The boys thought the best part was the 4 piece puzzle they had to glue onto the paper. I loved the A pictures they drew – Emanuel drew an apple and the twins each and ant… Emanuel traced the letters himself AND then made his A into a person! So creative! I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow and the letter B. I am not sure we would get the letter C done as well… there is the park date tomorrow and I know that Gavin chose the next pipecleaner ornament… that and the cutting I have to do to prep is a bit tiring… when they are a little bigger maybe they can do it themselves but for at least for the first few I will be doing it (or Ken).

Drawn By Gavin (working on lower case!)

Drawn By Gavin (working on lower case!)

Proud Completion! (Zander left)

Proud Completion! (Zander left)

I have to admit getting up at 7 am to make it to my appointment on time to have blood taken – not so much fun. It is funny, they only took two small vials and the wait to get in was way longer than the actual blood taking. The nurse told me my doctor will get my results within TWO days while my doctor’s office said it would take up to two WEEKS for them to contact me? Always with the discrepancies! At least my “battle scar” is small and passing. She did an excellent job on quickly getting the vein.

Tiny Battle Wound!

Tiny Battle Wound!

The most unheard of thing happened last night – I had to TURN DOWN a slurpee – fasting so sucks! But Ken made it up to me, not only did I get a sausage mcmuffin after my needle (lack of food for 12 hours makes me feel horrible) but he went out this afternoon to get some groceries and run errands (semi happy errands for once) and came back with my cup filled… BLISS.

Future Slurpee Addict? If She Could Get the Top Off LOL

Future Slurpee Addict? If She Could Get the Top Off LOL

I have started looking into different curriculum and set ups for homeschooling. I am hoping to get some idea of other people’s experiences. The new one I am looking into is Sonlight. But the price is like 200.00 more than Calvert which without funding this year is a bit of a hitch. Most of the people I talk to don’t use one but our twins are very schedule oriented. They REALLY want to know what is next and have that set daily experience. Sometimes it is beyond frustrating when all they want to know is what is next and for up to a day or more in advance – no go with the flow with these two! Thank goodness we are only into K and not Gr. 1 and needing to register!

Ken had a better day today. His errands were productive as was his time in the basement (which is where he is right now). I sent him out to send a little care package to Ada and Nathan as a mid week pick me up. Snacks for the newlyweds. I am so glad people are enjoying my cooking! Makes me feel so good! I think tomorrow I will make another batch of the cookies to freeze. Gotta wait until I have the large ziplocs to freeze muffins (Ken accidentally got me the small which just don’t fit more than a muffin maybe 2 if I am lucky.). Maybe this is the start for better things? I can hope – I just want better for EVERYONE. Magic wands anyone? Myself, I am off to listen to the rain… a severe thunderstorm warning for tonight but the rain sounds terrific on the roof!

Hanging With God-Mommy Esther in Spirit!

Hanging With God-Mommy Esther in Spirit!