Gift Craft

I decided to have the kids help make some little gifts for our neighbors and friends this year.
We found this one in one of the kids' magazines.  First they sorted some Fruit Loops by color into baggies.

 Once separated, they crushed the cereal into a powder, or close to it at least.

 They might have had a little fun smashing them to bits...

 ...just a little!

 Then they filled cleaned-out baby food jars with layers of the powdered cereal.

 The only thing I would do differently is to have the kids make thicker layers of each color so the rainbow layers are more pronounced.

 And if you decide you are crazy enough to try this project, make sure to have your vacuum hose handy, as I found it the fastest way to clean up the crumbly mess.

Then I finished it off with a label that says: "This happy little jar of sweet toppings is perfect for your yogurt, ice cream, or oatmeal.  Whichever way you choose to eat it, gobble it up quickly!  Hope you enjoy and have a blessed Christmas."

Ready or Not...

My Christmas countdown is almost finished.  Because we're going to California this year, I've had to get all my Christmas shopping and wrapping and card-making and crafting done by our departure date.  So I have just three days left and I'm almost there!

Here's Abby showing me three links left on the chain.

 I had to include several pics because she just keeps getting cuter.

 Silly girl.

Also, because I knew we would not be here for half of the month, I decided to do very minimal Christmas decorations for our house.  I did have Adel get down our tiny Christmas tree from the attic.  And then, the kids have spent some of their days after Isaac gets home from school making Christmas ornaments for the tree.  I first read them "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies."

At one point the mouse gets excited to make ornaments for his tree and I wanted to use that to motivate the kids.

I think their tree turned out pretty cool (also with the help of some ornaments given to them already as gifts).  And some of the best creations will be going out to some very special family members and friends (shhhh...don't tell, it's a surprise!).

California here we come...

Reading Skills

Isaac just completed reading his first-ever book.  I just off-handedly suggested that he read to Abby (as a way to keep them both busy while we cooked dinner).  But Adel and I started to hear him sounding out the words and actually making sense.  We grabbed the video camera and sat in awe as Isaac, with some assistance from us, read an entire story book.  It was an easy reader, made especially for moments such as this, but we are so proud that he is learning and applying these skills.  Just another in a long line of milestones.  Parenting is so cool.

Perspective

If you've been a regular blog reader of mine (all two of you!), you know that I like to record my little epiphanies as a way to foster my own growth and encouragement when I'm struggling.  If it encourages anyone else to read my thoughts, that's a double blessing!  So here goes my latest:

I have been in a bit of a funk lately, as I am inclined to do when life throws me curveballs.  Ever since the chaos of Mom's surgery has ebbed and I have been back at home trying to press on with life while she prepares for her chemo, I have been fighting off the blues.  It has been really easy to dwell on how life is hard.  I have been thinking a lot about this lately and feeling pretty sorry for myself.

And I have been, because I am by no means above it, turning to some pretty shallow pleasures to get me through.  I have been eating a lot of melted cheese...grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, quesadillas, enchiladas...because melted cheese makes me so warm and happy.  I have been seeking to rest my weary mind with some numbing, brainless TV and my old friend Spider Solitaire has again become a habit to help me drift off to sleep.  Add to it all a glass of wine here and there (or there and here) and you get the picture.  I am waffling between wallowing, pressing on, and coping.

As I did my bible study yesterday (Beth Moore's Daniel...awesome, inspiring study), I felt like God spoke to me through the mourning of Daniel.  Daniel (chp 10) was morning the loss of his homeland during a time of traditional remembrance.  Many of the other Israelite exiles had returned to their homeland and begun rebuilding the temple, but faithful Daniel was too old to make the journey.  He was mourning the fact that he would never again see his beloved homeland.  He also, with his visions and prophecies, was mourning the difficult future his people would face.  I found the grief of this pillar of faith to be very heartening: so real, so human, and so relatable.  Even one who has such great faith can mourn.

And then I felt like God was, through Beth's words in the study, reminding me that even in our grief, He still has a purpose for us.  I have a strong belief that for this time in my life my purpose is to grow my faith, support and love my husband, teach and nurture my children, and inspire and minister to my friends-in-faith.  I feel so inspired at this moment to stop the in-dwelling of my thoughts on my own suffering and turn outward once again to pour out God's love on those around me.  He gives me so much and honestly I receive so much more when I let His blessings sift through my fingers to the family and friends in my life.  It's when I clench my fists tight and dwell on my problems and my needs that I keep God's mercy from flowing in me and through me.  I'm so thankful for this reminder.

More Decorating Help?!?

I love the rearrangement I did moving the comfy couches into the TV room.  It has created an awesome, cozy space for my friends and family to hang out in.  (I still want to add some color to the walls and some curtains, but that's in the works).

Since the furniture swap, I have felt a bit concerned for my "formal living room."  It used to have my comfy couches and so it was the place where both my small groups gathered weekly.  But as a "formal living room," it really doesn't get used any more.  The kids play in it every now and then but the grownups never go in there and it feels like a wasted space.  That's really a shame, because it's a great, big room.  One of my friends was trying to sell her grand piano and that got me really inspired to buy a piano for that room and make it a friendly music/reading space.  I really need you to come to my house and see this for yourself, but since you probably can't do that, hopefully you can help me from just pictures.

I really like the window-wall...the couch between the end tables and plants looks nice to me (still needs window treatments, but again, that's another work in progress).

This corner I don't love.  This nook, between the two grand columns, is where I can see a grand or mini-grand piano really completing the room.  The round end would fit nicely between the columns and the keyboard end would face the rest of the room.  (And I do play at a basic level and would like to practice and improve as well as teach my kids).  Unfortunately I can't afford that kind of piano.  

Then another friend offered me a low price on an upright piano.  It sounded like a great idea but then I considered the space where I had envisioned my piano.  While I think a grand or baby-grand would look great in this nook, I think an upright would see odd here because of the space behind the columns.  Don't you think an upright needs to be against a wall?  Or is there some way I could decorate the space behind it so that it didn't seem odd?

Another option is to completely rearrange the room and put the upright in this corner. But that would mean uprooting my happy red couch/table/plant combo.  If you look back up at the pic of my TV room, I could also put the upright in place of the china cabinet.  The china cabinet really doesn't belong there but when I turned my formal dining room into a game room, it had to go somewhere else and that's the only place.  If I replace it, it will have to be sold and I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do since I still have the matching table and chairs (I'd be fine getting rid of it, but I would have guilt at not keeping the set together...they were my moms).  

My final option is to pass on the piano for now...start saving for a used mini-grand...and use that money for paint and curtains.  This would not solve my "formal living room" problem, but it might be the smarted move.  What do you think?  Why is this so hard and complicated for me?  I love the idea of decorating but I hate the reality.

In case I totally confused you with too much information, here are the questions/options:

1. Do you think an upright needs to be against a wall?  Or is there some way I could decorate the space behind it so that it didn't seem odd? Basically, should an upright piano go between those columns?

2. Should I rearrange the room so that the piano can go in that corner and move the red couch/table/plants somewhere else?

3. Should I get rid of the china cabinet, even though it matches the table and chairs, and put the upright piano in it's place?

4. Should I hold off on the piano idea and spend my $ on paint and curtains for now?

Recipe #10: La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup

Mmmm...I loved this dinner, super rich, just my style.  Adel cooked up the La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup recipe from copykat.com.  We served it up with some grilled cheese (muenster on sour dough), perfectly grilled by yours truly...I can't say much for my cooking skills, but I can grill a mean cheese sandwich!  This meal would have actually been well-rounded with a salad on the side, but we were going for comfort tonight and we got it...mmmm!  (And notice I'm not calling it healthy...way too much butter for that...but sometimes, who cares, right?!)

La Madeleine’s Tomato Basil Soup

4 C. (8 to 10) tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped, or 4 C. canned whole tomatoes, crushed
4 C. tomato juice and part vegetable stock or chicken stock
12 to 14 washed fresh basil leaves
1 C. heavy cream
1/4 pound sweet, unsalted butter
salt to taste
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper

Combine tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes. Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan).

Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

Our Scores:
Adel - 7/10, not nearly spicy or exciting enough for him
Megan - 10/10, perrrrrfection!
Isaac - 3/10, ate the grilled cheese but no so much the soup
Abby - 10/10, just like momma

Fall Camping

We headed up with the Sharps earlier this week for a couple days of adventure.  We just love being outdoors for a day or two, cooking on the campfire, going on hikes.

We found this really cool frog pond.  Every step you took, dozens of tiny frogs hopped away.  The kids (and grown ups) were fascinated.

Uncle Andy caught a frog for the kids to hold. 

We also discovered a playground.  Yippee!

For the most part, the kids were great troopers.

  

We did some longer hikes than we've accomplished before.

The Sharp girls bargained and begged to hold Bitsy...fine with me!

Uncle Andy helping the kids balance on a big branch.

Abby in her usual spot during long hikes.

The only complaint was the weather was much warmer than we expected (or packed for!).  We were pretty toasty when we were hoping to be snuggled up next to the warm fire.  Oh well...here's to next time!

Gobble, Gobble

This is a random collection of Thanksgiving-related pics.

Here's the post I wrote about Thanksgiving on my Mom's blog.

Isaac's Kindergarten class made place mats and Indian vests and headbands for their Thanksgiving feast.

Abby got to make one too since we were there to help Isaac's class with the projects.

Our front window has been filled over the past month with their seasonal crafts from school and the YMCA.

Isaac made his very own, self-inspired Thanksgiving book, as follows:

Cover Page: Turkey

Page 1: Pilgrim

Page 2: Indian

Page 3: Mayflower

Page 4: Pilgrim and Indian sitting down for a feast

Page 5: pilgrims deciding they're going to have the feast every year

Family Thanksgiving photo at DD's house.

The whole fam.

 The cuties.

DD and the little ones.

Lindsay and I helping the kids make their Thanksgiving place mats.

Isaac is thankful for...

Abby is Thankful for...

Lily is thankful for...

Aubrey is thankful for...

Amelia is thankful for...

Travel Countdown

For the first time ever, this year I will spend Christmas away from my Mom and Dad and sister.  While that's a sad thought, especially in light of my mom starting chemo in December, it is for a very good reason.  We are long overdue to visit Adel's side of the family.  Once we purchased our plane tickets and told the kids we would be going to California, they got so so excited and started asking, "How many days until we leave?"  So, to count down the days until our exciting trip, we have made the old, reliable paper chain with one link for each day they have to wait.

Now, every day, they take off one link from their chain, anticipating the day we get to hop on a plane to California and our family there.

We have big plans for our trip to Northern California.  It's the first time we've been there with the kids (we usually go to San Diego).  And one of the coolest things is that my family here in Houston is going to wait for us to celebrate Christmas when we get back...so it's like the best of both worlds and TWO Christmases!

So, we'll miss you, Mimi and Boppa...and we're coming soon, Lolo and Lola!