Celestial Show and the Invasion of the Barbie House

How's that for a title! It just seems to fit New Year's Eve. I'm excited about the celestial show tonight. It sounds better than the New York ball dropping at midnight. And it's a great chance for a "science lesson" with the kids. Jordan got a great astronomy book from the Creation Museum bookstore for Christmas. We might work that into our "lesson" too! Here is a link detailing the "celestial show", and you can watch it for free without leaving your home! That's the best part. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081230/sc_space/celestialshowsetfornewyearseve



Now for a slight subject transition. Get ready for "The Invasion of the Barbie House", starring Buttons, alias Baby, the cat. I heard Emma laughing in her room, and so, like any inquisitive mom, I had to check this out. Laughing can mean a lot of things. Emma was playing Barbie dolls, and Buttons decided to join the fun. She invaded Barbie's penthouse apartment. I hope Barbie likes larger-than-life sized cats. If not, I don't think the cat will be leaving for awhile. Buttons has got that ornery look too. Probably not a good time for Barbie to attempt a cat eviction.


Yesterday, Josh came running in the house, frantic, because there were "big black things" running around in the woods. As I was trying to find my shoes, I thought about coyotes. But I don't think they're black. And they really aren't THAT big. Could it be this elusive bigfoot the boys have been telling me about? Or maybe a herd of bigfoot? No...it was five wild turkeys, and they certainly WERE big. Turkeys fly too. They were about 100 feet away from us. I did briefly wonder what they taste like, and if an airsoft gun would take one down at that distance. LOL. Instead we admired them for a few minutes as they walked down the deer trail. They really are beautiful birds. I wonder what they were eating. It's nice to look out into the woods and still be able to see wildlife, even as there is more development in our area.


Happy New Year!!!

Christmas 2008

Wow...it's been a while since I've blogged. I've got some catching up to do :) First of all, I've got a short clip from Josh's 5th grade program, which was during the week before Christmas. He is in the back, looking really excited about singing (NOT). Unfortunately, this turned out a little dark because the auditorium wasn't well lighted. Or maybe it's my camera. Jordan also had a band concert, and did so well playing his trumpet. The boys are both so talented! Of course, I'm probably a little biased.

The next fun activity we did together was to go to the Creation Museum. There was a live nativity, which got moved inside for the evening, since it was only 2 degrees outside (not counting the wind chill). We did go outside for a quick look at the lights, but it was a really quick walk. The nativity was called "Road to Bethlehem" and had shepherds, Roman centurians, markets where you could buy food or souvineers, animals, and the manger scene. It was so well done, and the kids had a great time, although I think Jenna might be allergic to donklets.

This next pic is for Frost, Stacia, and Ruth. It's "Ethan the Centurian" alias brother-in-law/brother. He made all the Roman spears, which really looked authentic. Ethan scowled alot and pretended to attack us. LOL. We had to pay a denarius to pass. The kids loved eating veggie/rice soup and gyros in the cafeteria area. I think this will make a good tradition to do every year.

I guess the next thing I should write about is Christmas Eve. We went over to Aunt Stac's house and spent the evening with Rich's family. We had a wonderful dinner. Then almost everyone went for a ride to see Christmas lights (in a several car caravan)! When they all got back, we opened gifts together. It was pretty much non-stop eating, but I really tried to be good.

Christmas Day was spent at our house. Rich's family, Mom and Dad, and Holly came over. We had egg casseroles for breakfast, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and then assorted snacks. I saved some Troyer Trail bologna and swiss cheese from our Holmes County trip in August, which we all enjoyed. Then it was time for more gifts to open. We all missed Jeff and John, but got to talk via the phone in the afternoon. We also talked with Joe a little too. He actually had to work.

With the economy being bad for the past several months, Rich and I tried to spend less money for Christmas. We spent mostly cash, which cuts down on the credit card bills. I think it's really hard to keep track on spending when we charge gifts. I also bought several smaller gifts for the kids, so they'd have plenty to open and play with. Josh told me that his favorite part of Christmas is family, not presents. I'm so glad, because this is what I've been trying to teach the kids. I was also happy to see that they bought small gifts for each other at school. This picture is of the girls and their baby dolls before bed on Christmas Eve. I bought jammies for them that were on sale and so amazingly cheap! They were so excited to match their dolls. Emma lost another front tooth and looks so cute when she smiles.

Holly was a little disappointed on Christmas Day, because the kids wanted to play wii so much, but then they got her involved. It was hilarious!! She "unleashed the force" on the kids. Today the girls are playing the Outdoor Adventure game. They've been playing for almost an hour, and it's wearing me out to just watch. I played last night, and actually did pretty well at the kayaking, jump roping, and the other games we tried. Maybe this counts as exercise. It should. LOL.

I'm so thankful for our family. I know I really loved making others happy at Christmas. It's funny how that makes me feel so good. Sharing kindness is a great gift to give!! I received alot of that this Christmas too!

Buttons and the Bigfoot in the Woods

Due to popular demand, I'm posting a short video of the new kitten. We've named her Buttons, but she REALLY likes being called "Baby Kitty" or just Baby for short. I was talking to Mom on the phone about this a few weeks ago, and she seemed surprised. In fact, Mom was amazed at the coincidence, because that's what SHE used to call the kitty before she gave her to us. LOL. Smart cat. The kids LOVE her, and I think she's already grown quite a bit. Buttons, alias Baby, has already gone through 4 pounds of cat food. Smokey is getting a good workout. I think he might actually lose some weight, because they chase each other through the house and play alot during the day.



The boys are down at the creek playing survivorman. This may SOUND like innocent fun, but last time they built a fire, boiled water, caught several small fish, cooked them, and then ate them. Luckily nobody got sick. Since then we've had several talks about food safety. We also talked about water purification. I'm not too worried about the fire, because they built it on rocks in the middle of the creek, and kept it small. I can thank Boy Scout classes for that!

Jordan just came up to get some food, so that's a good sign. It's easier to get it from the house, than to catch and cook it.

Once the boys decided to go down to the creek at night with some friends. It's not that far, and we can see them from the deck, so we decided to let them go for an hour. It is a little steep though. I'd bet it's a good 300 ft elevation change from our yard to the creek. Well, about 20 minutes later, four boys came CRASHING up through the woods into the yard. Two of them had to use their inhalers. Get this...they said that bigfoot was down in the woods...and they BELIEVED it. They heard what sounded like a tree falling, and decided that it would take a bigfoot to knock one down. Since then, Josh has decided that it's ok to hike in the morning, or even early afternoon, but NEVER at night. LOL. Works for me.

Thanksgiving

November has truly been a month for family! I like the time around Thanksgiving better than Christmas. I got to see my cousin Joe from Florida earlier in the month. We had a fun visit and worked on some family tree research. Joe has so much info on the Wright side of the family. Now I know where to go when I get stumped!

Last week we had full Thanksgiving celebration. It started with lunch at our house. It was actually supposed to be a light lunch, but something happened. I'm not sure how it evolved into an entire turkey meal, complete with casseroles (to the culinary delight of those from CA)! And of course, everyone brought extra food. We had a great time visiting with Jeff, John, Holly, Dad and Mom.

Later in the evening, we all met at Rich's parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. I certainly couldn't eat much more! It was such a fun family day.

This is a pic of Josh, Jenna, Emma, and Jeff. Come on Jeff, Emma can't be THAT heavy!! I posted more pics on my facebook account and also on Shutterfly. There are WAY too many to include here. And that's how Thanksgiving should be. Absolutely full of family and fun. I'm so thankful for children and family. Maybe that's why this is my favorite time of the year. It's a time to reflect on blessings. The only let-down at Thanksgiving is when everyone has to go home.

Tea Party

Today while I was sitting in my room enjoying a brief "time out" (lolol), I heard the sound of water... in the girls' room. This is what I found:

The girls were having a tea party with Buttons. Fortunately for me, they were only using water (whew).

I'm so glad it wasn't the red Hawaiian punch that stains hands. Jordan was playing with some of that punch in the sink this morning, then was mortified to find out it stained his hands red. That's traumatic for a 12 year old. Especially when he found out we were leaving shortly for parent/teacher conferences. It came out after he scrubbed his hands for about 10 minutes (in total desperation - lolol). Some kids just have to learn by experience.

At least all the school conferences went well. :) Just a few things that the kids each need to work on. Good conferences are definately something to be thankful for!!

I'm also thankful for a few minutes to read. Maybe. If nothing else happens. When I got home from the grocery store this afternoon, we found Buttons with pee and cat litter caked really thick on her tail. Good thing I'm keeping her in the bunny cage when we're not home. She had bath #4.

Well, back to "The Story Girl" by L.M. Montgomery. I think Jenna would LOVE this book.

Thanksgiving menu and other demotivational topics

I've been planning my Thanksgiving lunch menu (since we're having dinner at my mother-in-law's house), and I've come to the conclusion that casseroles are good. I'm going to make a turkey/stuffing casserole, and I'm asking other family members to bring casseroles too. This ought to be memorable - lol. Especially since Jeff and John are from California, where casseroles are like eating foreign food. Maybe if I make one of these, or even just show pictures of them, then my meal will seem oh-so-much-better. http://www.daniellespencer.com/graphics/projects/various/jello_turkey/2007.htm

I've also been looking at demotivational posters tonight. I didn't even know that they existed, but I like them. My favorite is "MOTIVATION: If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon."
http://www.despair.com/viewall.html

So....that's my evening. Turkey jello molds (the lime jello mountain dew one is certainly interesting) and demotivational posters. Like I need any more demotivation :) Christmas shopping is NOT even going to be mentioned on this post. Not this week. Maybe not ever.

On a brighter side: we got our new kitten last week. The kids have decided to name her Buttons, and she is SUCH a cutie. She was born on Mom and Dad's porch during the weekend of that hurricane that went through the area. Here's a pic of Emma with Buttons:

The Scariest Pumpkin Ever!!!

These pumpkins are no doubt the scariest I have EVER seen. WARNING: Do not view with small children around. My kids are still crying out of fear. And they'll probably be having nightmares for the next 4 years. Thanks Jeff, for sending the pic:

Here is a cute pumpkin pic. It's Jenna blowing out the candles on her pumpkin cake last week. The cake just looks like a pumpkin, it's actually CHOCOLATE!!! The BEST!

And last but not least. Here's a great fall picture of Holly with turkey feathers. I think the feathers might make a great Thanksgiving table centerpiece (lol).

I think that's just about all the pictures I can handle for one night!!

Jenna's Birthday and Holly's Giant Sweet Potato

Yesterday was Jenna's birthday!!! Now she's 9 years old. I know this because I got it wrong at the store last week and Jenna corrected me - lol. We certainly had a weekend full of parties, and it's not over yet. Since the entire family couldn't get together, the birthday celebrations could last for at least a week. I don't think Jenna will mind.

Saturday she had some of her friends over for a party. We had a Wii bowling tournament, and other games. It was alot of fun for everyone, well, except maybe the boys. Afterwards, Jenna, Emma and I went to see High School Musical 3. They were thrilled with the free tatoos. Those things have lasted for 3 days. Hope they weren't made in China out of melamine or lead or something.

Sunday we had a party with Dad, Mom, Holly and her dogs. The kids love Shelby and Abby (the dogs). Holly says they usually sleep all the way home since the kids wear them out. Kenai likes visiting with his doggie cousins too. Holly grew sweet potatos in her garden this year and gave us a few. I took a picture of her holding the biggest one (that she gave to Mom). The thing looks big enough to be an internal organ. Doesn't it look like a stomach, or maybe a liver? Bet that would make a HUGE pie.

We all pitched in and got Jenna an American Girl doll (Molly) for her birthday. Actually I bought the doll on ebay, and got tons of accessories with it. I think Jenna is thrilled with it. She named her doll "Jennifer" and takes her everywhere (and that's no exageration)!

I think the look Jordan has on his face in the background of the above pic is PRICELESS. Such a look of utter boredom. It's too funny.

Today I made an acorn squash/pumpkin/sweet potato pie! It is DELICIOUS. I just used a pumpkin pie recipe, then substituted the "secret mixture" for pumpkin. I love the flavor. I didn't get any pictures though. I think everyone liked it, except for Josh, who really doesn't like any kind of pie. What is wrong with that kid? Bet he'll outgrow that and make up for it when he's a teenager.

This is the FIFTH day in a ROW that Jenna has worn the sweater that Uncle Jeff gave her last week. We had a talk about it this morning, and she agreed to let me wash it. I think she'll be wearing something else tomorrow. Wow - that was a great birthday gift!!

Apple Butter, Pumpkin Bread, and Black Belts

Apple butter, pumpkin bread, and black belts really do go together. They're all things that our family has been involved in this week!

Jordan got his black belt in a ceremony on Saturday. Unfortunately, my camera broke after the first picture. And that's no joke. I think I can get pictures from the tkd website when they're posted, and then I'll share those too. This is the only picture I got. Luckily I didn't include Jordan's feet in this shot. Then you would have seen that his uniform looks like capri pants. The kid is eating like crazy, but only keeps getting taller. It's time for a new uniform. I'm so proud of Jordan. He worked hard and persevered to get his black belt. What an accomplishment!

Speaking of accomplishments (on a much smaller level), I made apple butter for the first time. The three apple trees in our front yard had a bumper crop, and this year the deer didn't eat them all. Making apple butter wasn't hard, but it certainly took a long time. First I chopped up all the apples into quarters. I boiled them for a few hours in 2 HUGE pots until they were soft, then ran them all through a food mill. This separates the applesauce from the seeds/skins. I added spices and sugar to the applesauce, and boiled that for a little over an hour. It thickened and got darker, and POOF. . . apple butter.

While all those apples were boiling I got bored - that's a joke by the way. There's ALWAYS something to do around here. I couldn't sit still while the apples were boiling, so I decided to cook a few small pumpkins. I cooked them whole in a pan with a little water (about an inch) in the bottom of it. After an hour or so, the pumpkins were soft on the inside. I split them, took the seeds and pulp out, and scooped out the insides into my blender. I added just enough water to puree them. Eight cups of pumpkin later, I realized that I'd need to bake something. The pumpkin was begging to be used. I made pumpkin/apple butter bread. Why not? It just sounded like it would go together somehow. Here's the recipe:

3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups suger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 beaten eggs
1 cup apple butter
1 cup pumpkin

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, apple butter and chopped pecans. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Spoon batter into two greased 8 1/2 inch bread pans. I've made this in round pans too. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. YUMMMM.

My kids DEVOUR this bread. I didn't tell them there was pumpkin in it at first. They're still tramatized by the pumpkin soup episode. Whew. . . that soup was bad. I've improved that recipe but the kids still won't try it. I don't think onions and pumpkin were meant to go together.

Here's what a slice of the pumpkin/apple butter bread looks like with some apple butter slathered on top (after I took a bite - lol). I couldn't help it. Good thing the kids weren't home. I actually got a slice. There's just nothing like warm bread with warm apple butter. (Sigh of contentment)

LOTR

Do you know anyone who takes the Lord of the Rings series MUCH too seriously? I do... EVERY time we ride in Rich's car, he listens to the soundtrack. Let me make this perfectly clear. This happens EVERYWHERE WE GO. While the kids are fighting in the back, while the cat is throwing up, while we're going on vacation and spending HOURS in the car, we listen to LOTR.

While I like the soundtrack, there comes a point when it's JUST TOO MUCH. When I hear certain songs, all I can think of are Frodo and Sam with pitiful looks on their faces, struggling through Mordor. There is only so much of that a person can take. ENOUGH ALREADY. Let's listen to something a little lighter. My husband acts like LOTR really happened. Guess what....IT'S NOT REAL. Here is a clip from youtube that I think Rich would enjoy. I'm going to show it to him and let you know his reaction...just a sec...

He wasn't impressed. No sense of humor at all. I think it's hilarious. Well, back to work. I can probably get a few hours in while the kids are sleeping. :)

Maybe Jeff will take his next turn in Scrabble (facebook). Not that I'm determined to win or anything....but I gotta win!

Late Night Blog

It's 11:30 at night, but I'm determined to blog. The kids are in bed and it's finally quiet. Well, almost. Here comes Rich. I have a mental-blogging-block. OK...got rid of him by turning on the TV. He immediately stopped talking and his eyes glazed over. Now I don't have to hear complaints about "no milk in the fridge" or anything else with a slight whine to it. Back to blogging.....

Since it's late at night, I'll make this short. But it still counts as a blog.

I'm going to turn over a new leaf and blog on a regular basis...really. This actually isn't such a good day for bloggin though. I told the optometrist I was having problems reading, and he suggested trying monovision. For those of you over 40, you know what I mean. It's a cheap alternative until you absolutely have to get bifocals. The idea behind monovision is that I wear a regular contact in my right eye (dominant) for distance vision. Then it gets interesting. Instead of wearing my normal presciption strength contact in my left eye, I get to wear a lesser prescription, which will help me read. So today I can't see. To top it all off, the optometrist dialated my eyes too. AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I've got a headache and the kids are wild.

So...with all of this going on...I decided to make turkey chili, beer bread and an apple/blueberry pie. Yes, the pie combination is unusual, but it's the fruit I have on hand, and it sounded strangely appetizing. The apples are from one of our trees. The blueberries are from Krogers. It actually turned out wonderful, and I think it helped my headache. I'll probably need another piece to make sure :) Here's a picture of my new creation. Yummmmm.


I think it's time for the kids to get ready for bed. Definately.

NEWS FLASH: My Wii age is 42. Well, at least I beat Jenna (age 9). Her Wii age is 54. LOLOL

Jordan's Tae Kwon Do Test

Today Jordan tested for his temporary black belt. I'm posting the video of his breaks, and hope to have the video from his sparring and forms later. He did so well! I think I was more nervous than he was - typical "mom" response. In this video, Jordan practiced a few time to make sure that the boards were placed correctly and then completed the breaks on his first try! I'm fairly sure he passed. If so, he'll get his temporary black belt at a special ceremony in a couple of months. As usual, we kept up with our "after promotion test" tradition of going to a nearby ice cream parlor. Wow! Pre-teens can sure put away the food.