'Max,' Ruby asked, 'what is in your pocket?'

We read Max Cleans Up by Rosemary Wells today, just TICKLED me! If you don't know, Ruby is the older, bossy, type A big sis and Max is, well, a typical little brother. She had helped him pick up his room, throw away some junk, etc. Then sees that he's been stashing it all in his pocket. I don't know why, I was just TOTALLY tickled by it! :)

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Hard to believe Honey is one already! We celebrated Saturday with family (20 of us!) and some good home cookin' (meatloaf, green bean casserole, fruit salad, baked potatoes, rolls, cake & ice cream). I made two cakes, just to be sure we had enough!

She had plenty of help blowing out the candle and opening presents, and seemed to enjoy all the activity. :) She has been walking for a couple weeks, now is starting to pick up speed, and LOVES being able to almost keep up with her siblings running around.

Eeny, Miny, Mo

Princess' version of the rhyme she's been chanting all week:

"Eeny, Miny, Mo. Catch a tiger on your toe. If you holler, let him go. I pick YOU!"

We've been trying to read from a 'chapter' (i.e. chapter book)each night at bedtime (when the kids are in bed by 9. Doesn't happen as often as one might think!) Anyway, This fall we read Charlotte's Web, then watched the movie. (In the past week or so, Wilbur has reappeared as a stuffed dog in our house.) Last week, we finished Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (or as Speedy says, Prs. Wiggle Wiggle.) As soon as we finished, they were asking if we could go get the movie from the library. I can't find it!! A good picture book we read last week was Mailing May, true story of a 5 year old girl who was mailed to visit her grandma because train fare was too expensive. Neat illustrations, too!

Shenanigans

Oh, is it only Monday morning? How can three kids 4 and under have SO much energy?? They're very worried about the trail of ants along the hall--an after-effect of a pop incident on Friday--I dropped a can of pop, it must have hit a cabinet handle and was punctured, it started shooting out of the can and the can was careening and ricocheting all over the kitchen, spraying pop up to 10 feet away (I am not exaggerating, ask the kids!) Needless to say, even after wiping the floor several times, the ants have found some sugar I've missed. I squirted them with vinegar water. Honey was on her way to emptying a Kleenex box this morning; pulling TP off the roll in both bathrooms (we had them back on the rolls for company this weekend, and it only took her about 3 minutes to find it); chewing on the kids scissors; we're working on Valentines and Princess has been asking non-stop how to spell different names, including hers--she gets stuck on the G and H. I'm glad she's doing her letters, of course. :) And Speedy has been needing something or other all morning. He's very persistent, and impossible to distract. So it looks like if the only thing I get done today is the laundry, it will be quite an accomplishment! Although even that is relative: last week 2 pieces of double bubble went through the washer & dryer--of course I blamed Hubby, but he denied it. 3 days later Speedy was asking me for his gum from children's church, because he was ready to eat it. RRRRrrrrr. A different piece of gum caused a ruckus at lunch today. Speedy would NOT finish his PB & J for 40 min. or more, but didn't want to be excused because he wanted gum for dessert. He FINALLY finished his sandwich and put the desired gum in his mouth. 30 seconds later he was done with it and spit it out. Go figure. We're working on not lying with Princess right now. I think she knows exactly what she's doing. For example, after the bathroom, I'll ask her if she washed her hands. "Yep." "Okay, let me smell them." "Oh, actually, I forgot!" And she runs off to wash. I'm really liking our new house, it has more room. But I'm realizing it's a lot longer trip across the house when Princess yells, "Mom, Honey's about to play in the toilet!!" :)

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48

I am thankful for my 3 little blessings, I HAVE been given much! Sorry for this super-long post about relatively little, but I suppose there are some other moms out there who can relate!

Night Owl

I reverted back to my younger days--staying up till too late last night finishing another George MacDonald book, The Shepherd's Castle. Not as good as the first one I read, this one was a little dark--hidden chambers in a castle, a drugged madman of an earl. It did have some truth in it, but I had to finish it so I wouldn't be too creeped out to sleep! :) (and I didn't get my 2 scrapbook pages done, either!)

and a little more today...

So there's another little girl in PAT with the same birthday as Honey. Found out today that her mom went to school with Hubby K-4th grade. Funny! Not as funny: last night I couldn't find my toothbrush. I had 2 suspects in mind, woke one up and he hadn't moved it. The other had spent a little too much time in the bathroom before bed. She (Princess) was the guilty party, I found out this morning. She had 'hidden' my toothbrush in a different cabinet. So I've got 2 girls working against me--one who thinks it's funny to hide things, and the other who just likes putting things in crevices and trash cans. Scary.

I thought it'd be a fun time to post some of our favorite/most used recipes, so here's a start:

Peanut Butter Snack Mix

Melt 1/4 c margarine, 1/3 c PB and 2T brown sugar on stove.

Stir well. Pour over 7c of bite size cereals and mix well.

Bake on cookie sheet 45 min or so at 250 degrees.

Let cool on wax paper. Add m&m's and raisins, if desired.

CORNFLAKE TREATS

½ c light corn syrup

¾ c sugar

½ c peanuts (optional)

¾ c peanut butter

½ tsp vanilla

2 c cereal (we often add more)


Mix corn syrup and sugar in large saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts, peanut butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Fold in cereal flakes until completely covered. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on waxed paper. Refrigerate 5 min. or longer before serving. Serve at room temperature. Makes about 30.

LASAGNA BAKE Freezer-tested; Kid-approved

1 lb. Ground beef

¼ c chopped onion

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper, divided

1 lb medium shell pasta, cooked and drained

4 c shredded mozzarella, divided

1 carton (24 oz) small-curd cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 c grated parmesan

2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes

1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce


Cook beef & onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Sprinkle with salt and ¼ tsp pepper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine pasta, 3 c mozzarella, cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, and remaining pepper; stir gently. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 or shallow 3-qt baking dish (or two smaller dishes—then put one in the freezer to cook another day!) Top with the beef mixture and spaghetti sauce (dish will be full). Cover and bake at 350 for 45 min. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake uncovered, 15 min longer or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 10 min before serving. Makes a LOT!

YEASTED WAFFLES

1 ¾ c milk

8 Tbsp butter or margarine, cut into 8 pieces

2 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp instant yeast

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract


Heat milk and butter in small saucepan over med-low until butter is melted. Cool until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in large bowl to combine. Gradually whisk warm milk mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Whisk eggs and vanilla until combined, then add to batter and whisk until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 and up to 24 hours. (or less, it just gives it time to rise). Heat waffle iron. Whisk batter to recombine. Bake according to waffle iron instructions. Makes four 9-in squares or seven 7-in round waffles.

Laundry Detergent (NOT edible!)

1 bar ivory soap, grated

1 c Borax

1 c baking soda (or washing soda, they're not the same thing, but I've tried both)


Mix together; use 1-2 Tbsp per load of laundry

It's too late tonight, but maybe next time I'll get the play-do recipe I use on here. :) And I see that this shows up on the blog all condensed, not nice and neat like the preview shows. Something to tinker with later, sorry!

Good Intentions

Funny, I thought I had so much that would be interesting to put on a blog, but once again, it seems like my good intentions have been squelched by the actual number of minutes in a day. It would be nice to be able to drop everything and run to the computer when I had a thought, but, not going to happen. Oh well.
Here's a pic of the kids and I with the snow cheerleader we made. See the pigtails? I need a snowman tutorial or something, I guess, I looked out the window about an hour later and she had already fallen down. Unless that dirty dog is the culprit--the black one that's always running at large through the neighborhood--I thought it would've been a K-state fan (it has a purple collar!) but apparently not.



I think Honey's going to have a lot to say when her voice starts coming out in understandable words!

Go here and scroll down to see what my kids called the 'scary wasp' http://www.fredoniaks.com/High%20School.html

I've made a new goal to finish a 2-pg scrapbook layout each night before I go to bed--that should get me caught up in just a few months. ;) We'll see how long I can keep it up.