Yummy Noodles

For the last two nights during dinner, where there is usually all manner of lively conversation, it has been mostly the glorious sound of slurps and grunts. What, you ask could be the cause of this and why would I be happy about it? Well, I have invented the most delicious food known to man apparently. Even the one who would like to live solely on bacon and Skittles had seconds! You see it all starts with a turkey; of which I still have three or four in the deep freeze since we could get them at around 25 cents a pound in November. So, I’ll cook up a turkey every week or two and we’ll live off the leftovers for many a day. Makes for cheap eating, and I have gotten rather creative with said turkey meat so that we have yet to get tired of eating it. This recipe is for Asian style noodles and you could substitute any of the ingredients really, it’s kind of like fried rice and it goes like this:
1 pkg angel hair pasta
½ a green cabbage, sliced thin
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
Teriyaki sauce to taste
Leftover meat, cooked
Mung sprouts if you are lucky enough to have them
Heat a large pot of water to boiling; meanwhile, heat a large frying pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Chop garlic, and slice onion and cabbage. Sauté onion and garlic, then toss in cabbage and cook until fully wilted. Adding ¼ cup water or broth to the pan will help to steam the vegetables. Add the leftover meat to the cabbage mixture long enough for it to re heat. Put the angel hair pasta in the water and cook it according to package directions. Strain noodles and return them to the cooking pot. Add cabbage mixture to the noodles and stir, while you mix in teriyaki sauce to taste. I usually use about ¼ of the jar when I make mine. Add mung sprouts last and serve hot. A little chili garlic sauce as a garnish is not bad at all.

A Review of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

I finally finished the book I have been reading since July. At 542 pages it took me six months, as I am not one to sit still for long periods of time. The title is Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy; by Eric Metaxas.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian and pastor who lived in Nazi Germany during World War Two and watched the fall of his beloved country and people.

I found it interesting how easily Hitler grasped an unhealthy amount of power before anyone noticed what was happening. It is a warning for us to look into the future when contemplating allowing our government officials to hack away at the constitution which protects our precious freedoms.

Bonhoeffer really did live life to the fullest with freedom in Christ Jesus. Ultimately it was he who had the courage to stand with a very few against the evil that was taking place. It cost him his life but his obedience to God was not in vain.

It is important for us to read biographies like this one and learn what is in our history. I would recommend this as a good read. You will not only learn about a great man, but you may learn some things about World War Two they didn’t teach you in school, and some church history to boot! I think a good history book is one that makes me realize I need to learn more about one thing or another and this book does just that. If you need me you will find me at the end of this trail of books!

Advent Week Four

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth...From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The Law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
John 1:14-18
Merry Christmas!

Birthday Parties

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to accessories, boys get the short end of the stick? I began to see this as soon as I started having boy babies. No one wants to shop for little boy clothes, or make delicious knitting patterns for handsome boy sweaters. Boy toys consist of guns, cars, and gooey things. And try to have a party for your boys. While there is a plethora of fun party ideas for girls, boys get to have an army theme, a car theme or a pirate theme. I think that makes things boring. Ever since my guys were little I have been on a mission to right these wrongs.
Well, it was birthday time for Texas this week and I wanted to have a fun party for him and some of his friends. Texas happens to be a seven year old motor head, so we went ahead and called it a car theme party, but then we took it a little beyond that. We purchased Hot Wheels plates for the cake and fake moustaches instead of party hats.

We centralized our theme around his favorite Hot Wheel, which is a silver Delorean. So we played pin the exhaust pipe on the Delorean,

and made a Delorean cake. The cake turned out to be slightly ugly, but hey, that kind of thing happens sometimes when you are working outside the box. We made place cards for the table that were also a little gift for each guest. Each place card was a Hot Wheel car with a name tied to it with yarn.

Since it is Christmas time Texas also wanted to decorate graham cracker houses. Graham crackers work a lot better than ginger bread and are quicker. We dipped the crackers in melted sugar and stuck them together the night before. Then everyone got to decorate them as a party craft and took them home.

It turned out to be a very laid back party and a fun time was had by all.

Advent Week Three

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:10-13

Advent Week Two

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."
John 1:6-9

A Good Movie

Last night we were lucky enough to get to see a free screening of the new movie War Horse which will come out on Christmas day. You may want to go down to the theatre to see this film. It is very good. It has history, valor, love, beauty, and ugliness. It will make you laugh, cry, and some other things too. See the trailer to the right.

The Naturalist

Earlier this fall, Mechanism pulled some little green caterpillars off my broccoli plants and saved them from my evil caterpillarcide rampage. He put them into a jar with some of the broccoli leaves and they lived on to form cocoons. Two of them actually turned into butterflies. We figured out that they are both females since they each have two dots on the forewing so alas they will not be having babies. He has been keeping them alive on sugar water in a giant plastic water jug. They looked a little weak this morning so we took them out and fed them in the dish garden. They immediately unrolled their little proboscises and started drinking. Here is the picture we took of them this morning.

Cranberry Cherry Scones

After a morning of playing in the snow, the boys bumbled into the house for warm scones before settling down for a day of studying. I had pulled them from the freezer last night and simply put them in the oven this morning. They made for a trouble free cozy breakfast. Here is the recipe incase you want to make them too. I used dried cranberries and cherries but you can add any kind of dried, fresh or frozen berries that you please. I also made the recipe dairy free, but you can use butter and milk if that's what you have on hand.

2 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
3 tblsp sugar
1 tblsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 tblsp coconut oil
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup coconut milk or coconut cream
1/4 to a half cup dried or fresh berries, cherries or the like
For glaze an additional tablespoon of coconut milk and 2 tsp sugar are needed.

Combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in coconut oil or butter. Combine egg and coconut milk. Stir just till moistened. Add the berries. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead just till nearly smooth. If you are going to freeze the dough, shape it into a disk, put it inside double freezer bags and lable it with the name, oven temp and baking time. I like to make a double batch and freeze it for those wintery mornings when I don't want to spend time baking but I want to eat fresh scones.
If you freeze them, put them in the fridge the night before and let them sit on the counter for 1/2 hour before rolling.
Roll out your dough until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into twelve wedges or squares. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush the scones with coconut milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees.

Summer Investments Winter Payoffs

On my gardening page, you will note that I planted carrots in July. It is now snowing outside my window on this cold December day, but the dirt inside my sad, old, broken greenhouse is not quite frozen yet. Today I trudged up the hill to find I can still pull out perfect crisp and juicy carrots!

There was only a little kale left and my broccoli is frozen, so next July I think I'll plant an extra heap of root veggies for winter. I'm throwing these into my magic soup that is bubbling on the stove today. I'll post the recipe and the story that goes along with it at a later date.

Advent

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning wtih God. All things came into being through him, and wighout him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
John 1:1-5

Giving gifts is nice. Sugar cookies are divine. Tinkling bells, green trees and colored lights are hard to do without. But don't let the Christmas season slip by without taking time to acknowledge the reason we celebrate the season.

Advent Begins with the coming of December and goes through Christmas Day. It is the time that we sit together in the darkness of winter and light candles as we meditate on the coming of the true Light into the darkness of our sinful world. A light that leads us to truth, to God and to salvation. And a light that is for now, burning in our own hearts and will one day come again to judge the quick and the dead.

Yes, this December we will sit shivering in the darkness and we will hold our lights high for all to see while we wait with bated breath for our Savior to come again.

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I still remember the green tasseled table cloth at my grandmother’s house; how I always tried to sit right next to my favorite aunt and that I could never get anyone to pass the olives or the butter once the food had all gone around once and the grownups started talking. I would get so full I really couldn't move for a few hours. When I was finally able to move my legs again, I'd go back for another piece of pie.
These days I still use the very same dishes we used to use at my grandmother's house, and now I get all the olives I can eat...if the kids don't get to them first.
The more history I learn, the more I enjoy this holiday. Mechanism is preparing a report on the colonies while my husband will be reading George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation. I also like to read excerpts from William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation".
Here is a link to a website that contains Both George Washington's and William Bradford's Thanksgiving Proclamations.
http://holydays.tripod.com/brad.htm

Family Nights

Spending time as a family is essential for so many reasons. It helps us maintain an open relationship with our children and builds happy memories for them. I have also found it helps restore that playful spirit marriage often loses through years of struggle, responsibility, and work. A giggling child's enthusiasm is contagious and just the thing to put the spring back into my step. After a great family night I find myself laughing, and being just plain thankful to be a part of this little group called my family.

We never schedule things on Friday nights anymore. That night is reserved for our famly time. We make sure to eat dinner together, even if we have to wait for Dad to come home late from work. Sometimes we eat something special that the kids helped to make, but often it's a pizza or something easy so we don't have to clean up.

We keep a running list of ideas handy and usually Friday morning I'll pick something from the list. If Mom and Dad had a rough week we just snuggle on the couch and watch a movie, but there are so many more adventurous options. Here is a list of our ideas. Most we have done and a few we have yet to try. You may find some inspiration here and then start your own list and add to it! Each activity listed costs between nothing and $15 for a family of four.

1) Movies: Don't just stick with the latest block buster hit, but sometimes try a favorite movie you and your spouse love to watch like "The Princess Bride" or some of those wonderful old calssics, "Singing in the Rain", "My Fair Lady", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"; or pick a theme for the month, 80's movies, "The Star Wars Trilogy" The "Back to the Future" movies, Christmas movies, check out a ballet from the library, etc.

2) Have a Poetry Night. Have each family member work on memorizing a favorite poem or Bible verse during the week. Then give each person a chance to recite while the others look on encouragingly.

3) There is always game night to consider. That is self explanatory. We usually choose a game our youngest member can play pretty well so no one gets left out.

4) Work on a puzzle together. My parents used to serve sparkling cider and popcorn to make these kinds of things special. There is great opportunity for conversation while working puzzles as well.

5) Music Night: This one may take some time to plan, but if you home school, preparing for family night can become part of the curriculum. Learn to sing a hymn, a patriotic song, or a Christmas song. If you are really talented someone can play an instrument as well. Over time, learn several songs and you are in for a major jam session!

6) Puppet Show: On Monday read a simple fairy tale or other short story to your children. Then during the week let them make popcicle stick puppets to fit the story and have the performance on Friday night. It's amazing what you can do with a little paper and crayons. Make a theatre from a cardboard box.

7) Play an impromptu game of flashlight tag or hide and seek. Autumn is great for this because it gets dark early and you still have some pleasant evenings left.

8) Visit the local observatory to see the stars through a lens.

9) Build a fire and read out loud, or tell stories.

10) Make a craft.

11) Play in the snow.

12)Have a math or spelling contest

13) Go for a flashlight walk around the neighborhood, or in summer, take an evening bike ride.

Well, those are thirteen of my best ideas, so if you are feeling crotchety or disconnected, grab your kids and go have a family night!

"It's Autumn! Full of hot chocolate mornings and toasty marshmallow evenings,and best of all...jumping into LEAVES!"

-Whinnie The Pooh

Comfort Food

On a blustery autumn evening, it is finally time for some comfort food. Here is my favorite comfort food recipe (or recipt as Laura Ingals calls them). I got this recipe from the Delaney Farm Blog last summer and my five year old told me he loved it so much he wanted to eat it for every meal of the day for the rest of his life. If you cook the squash a day before hand, it is a cinch to make.
Mashed Coconut Ginger Squash

1 large winter squash
1 Cup coconut milk
2 tblsp chopped ginger
2-3 garlic cloves, plus 2-3 coloves minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Put on a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Put 1-2 cloves garlic in area where seeds used to be. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until soft when pricked with a fork. Remove from oven and cool. Scoop out squash from skin.

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium and saute chopped garlic and ginger until lightly browned. Turn heat to low and add coconut mild and squash. Once warm, remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper and optional cilantro.

Math Alive

Math Alive is a concept invented and taught by Elaine Gaines. She has been a math and science teacher and a home schooler for many years. I took one of her work shops last year and have had a lot more fun teaching math since then.
She takes math concepts and teaches them in ways that students can make their own discoveries about math and thus, really understand the concept. One thing she stresses is pattern. We use these ten squares to do addition and subtraction problems so that the pattern of fives and tens is instilled in our minds and counting on our fingers becomes a thing of the past.

Always fill in your ten square the same way. The first five from top to bottom and then the next five from top to bottom. Use different colored markers for each number in the problem.
For example, four plus three is seven. You can see your four and your three and you can see that it fills up the first five spaces on the ten square and the next two, so that is easily recognised as seven. As a student continues to solve problems this way, it becomes easy for him to visualize the ten square in his mind and he soon should no longer need his fingers for counting.

Texas and Mechanism really love using this method, and it gives a break from all those sheets of math problems.

Proverbs 24:13-14

"My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

We started school again this week. It is so sweet to see how much the boys have matured. We now have peace and quiet as they study with a good attitude. It is a far cry from a few years ago when mostly one could hear wining coming from our school room as someone wiggled on the floor in protest to being educated. Finally, the persistant prayer and discipline is paying off.

Loving Books

I have a special sentimentality for books. I still go back to my parents house and look through the books they used to read me when I was a child. I grab up my favorite copies of books at garage sales(no matter how many copies I already have)and I love to lay in bed at the end of the day with a good biography. I am so enriched by the books that other people write and illustrate. I guess that's why I thought it would be important to pass my love of books on to my children. Then also,if you watch PBS, you know that "experts say reading with your child is the best way to help them learn to read".

So, as soon as Mechanism was old enough to sit in the stroller, off we went to the library. We went to story time, and checked out more books than we could carry. We didn't stay in the children's section either. While children's books are very wonderful, my kids love to peruse the adult science, nature, and engineering shelves as well. We sat on the sofa and read them all...again and again. I enjoyed it as much as he did, and we started collecting our own books when ever we could.

I set up little reading nooks all over the houses we lived in. No matter where we lived, there had to be a low, soft spot with all kinds of books on shelves or in crates or just stacked on the floor, and Mechanism was attracted to these reading nooks like a little magnet. He spent hours looking at books. It never seemed to bother him that he couldn't read the words.

Then came Texas. He didn't like to be held, let alone sit on my lap for a story. But I kept reading aloud while Texas played cars or colored, and he started coming over to see the pictures. Now he likes to be read to almost as much as Mechanism.

Now, learning to read is a whole nother issue! It can be very hard work, unless you happen to have one of those kids who teaches themselves to read when they are three. But I had to teach both of mine the hard way. We learned phonics, which helped a lot, and we did a lot of snuggly, mommy and me reading time. Texas is still struggling through the mommy and me times, but I have patience and hope knowing that Mechanism
struggled also. Then he found a serries of chapter books he really wanted to read and never looked back. I think that when the hard work of reading came for my boys, it helped them to already love books. They already knew reading as a comftrable, time they enjoyed with me, and the having to learn to read part was softened by that.

Now we try to take at least a half an hour a day for quiet reading time, especially in the summer. It kind of replaces nap time. We all lay down somewhere after lunch and enjoy a book or two. I don't get to read my own books at reading time yet, but as soon as Texas gets off and running, I'll be able to enjoy that too.

Proverbs 12:11

"Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense."

Soup

I know that the middle of June is a strange time to be writing about soup; but my husband came home two nights ago craving it. So, in scuttering about trying to make something to suit his fancy, I have been thinking a lot about soup! If we are wanting it even on a hot summer evening it must be pretty special. Check out my page on soup to the right. I'll bet you will go down to the kitchen and try one of the recipes.

Swinging

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
-Robert Louis Stevenson

We went to the park this morning. My boys ditched their bikes at the playground and scampered up the jungle gym. I sat on the bench like a "mom" and watched them make beleive in their little matching camouflage outfits. Soon, my back started to hurt from sitting on the metal bench, but the boys were still having fun. I looked over at the swings. The soft rubber seat looked inviting, so I walked over and sat down. My back immediately started to feel better. I swung my legs and noticed how perfictly blue the sky was, and how perfectly green the trees and grass were.
Pretty soon, before I knew it, I was flying high up in the air. I could see my little shoes against the chrystal blue sky. My hair was brushing the ground as I leaned back on the way down. The air was soft and cool. The sun was warm. it was a perfect moment. And so much better than sitting on the bench! The boys soon came over and wanted to swing too. I can still hear Texas' bubbly giggle as I pushed him higher and higher.
How do YOU like to go up in a swing, up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing ever a mommy can do!

Men In the Kitchen

I enjoy cooking, but when I cook, it is usually for necessity and I do so much of it, I try to do it quickly. Maybe that's why the men in my life surprise me when I see them cook. They aren't burdened with the fact that a household of hungry people are depending on them for sustenance and that frees them up to take their time and enjoy themselves. When my dad found himself living away from home for his job years ago, he started baking in his spare time. He got really good at making bread and pie. I remember watching him carefully roll his dough into a perfect ball and thinking, wow, I never take the time to do that. Mine is always kind of half kneeded when I throw it into the bowl to rise. I have actually become a little self concious offering up any pie for his finely tuned senses to critique.

Sometimes the methods men use are unconventional. I'll bet if I took a survey, I'd find it isn't uncomon for garage tools to double as kitchen utensils. In high school I dated a guy who liked to poach salmon in the dishwasher. It drove his mother nuts, but it did taste pretty OK. And my Aunt can tell you stories about the way my Uncle likes to tinker with his giant espresso machine, and marinates strange meats with exotic sauces. He even deep fries several turkeys each Thanksgiving for families around his town. My Aunt stands by with the fire extinguisher since the whole thing is rather flamable.

Now Mechanism is learning to cook and bake. He questions the way I do things. They seem difficult to him and he can think of an easier way. I guess I never thought about an easier way to clean the counter for example. Today, after kneading his bread, he asked if he could use the vacume cleaner to clean off the counter. I told him "no". Actually, it might be a nice idea if it wouldn't gum up the vacume cleaner. I guess that's one more thing he'll have to invent. A counter top vacume.

So, I think this summer, I'll take a lesson from my guys and cook less. But when I do, I'll try to take more time, and enjoy myself. I might even get a little more creative with my problem solving. And hey, if I'm not cooking as much, we can just eat cerial and enjoy more time spent together.

An Adventure in the Park

Peanut has been begging to go to Wheel Park to run his RC car.  So yesterday, we drove on down there and let him drive to his hearts content.  He really needs a gas powered one to rip up the course, but that can wait since he's only six. 

Mechanism brought his bike and I brought my skateboard.  We brought Peanut's scooter too, and took off from the RC track up the sidewalk to Olympic Park and around the loop.  It must have been near a mile and I have to say, that's about as far as I want to go on a skateboard.  A bike is a lot less work, but it was fun sailing down the hills and swooping around the turns.

Then we headed home for some slip and sliding and reading time.  This summer we will also be checking out some 80's movies from the library.  Yesterday we watched Back to the Future.  I forgot how much bad language that movie has.  Too bad.  They really could have left it out.  We are waiting to get ahold of Big. 

Today, I'm sad to say, we have to clean our rooms. 

Summer Vacation

We finished school for the year on May 26th, but today feels like the first day of vacation.  I guess we've been pretty busy catching up on things.  The garden is planted, the lawn has been mowed, the house is...cleaner.  I'm looking forward to some summer reading, playing in the sun and eating from the garden again.