Flashback Friday: Cotton Candy Beard

Friday:

The last day of our first week of school and I was SO ready for the weekend!!!

Kees found this workbook and had so much fun circling words that began with each corresponding letter.

Sight words!

I have loved homeschooling so far (it's been 4 days for this first 'real' year, since Kees is doing Kindergarten).  Kora has participated so much more than I expected and when Kees is working, and she wants to work too, she grabs her art bucket and stays busy right next to him.

 She knows how to hang her work on the fridge.  And for the record, she chose the elf outfit sans pants.  And we can wear whatever we want because it's homeschool.

And we can put marker lids on our toes, why not?

I say the words and then Kees turns them over. After a couple rounds that way, I have him say the words and I turn them over.

At lunch, the kids had chicken.  Kora decided she needed mayonnaise with hers.

She got the spoon and the mayo.

As she was climbing up into her chair, she was saying, "Me dude it, me dude it!"

Well, I walked out to this scene. If you look closely you can see my kids threw streamers (from a pom-pom) off the balcony. They were watching them fall (i.e. LITTERING!)  So, we grabbed a sack and went down to pick up the mess we made, and discussed AGAIN, how we don't throw things off the balcony.

 Good job Kees, thanks for cleaning up!

After we cleaned up, we enjoyed some amazing weather.  And the grass is so marvelous!

I had to run back up and grab drinks for the kids.

They decide to "help" me drink my tea.

Kora wanted help to get up.

After we came back up, they took turns swinging the duck.

And Kees decided to make some silly faces.

Kora joined in...

When Doug got home, he wrestled with the kids.

Doug wasn't feeling great, so we left him to rest, and watched Robin Hood.

Kora fell asleep watching the movie, and as soon as it was off, Kees went to sleep too.

Saturday:

Game Day, Game Day, Game Day!!!  The OU game was at 9 am our time.  Our church was having a block party from 11-2, but we were late because we had to watch the game.  We won! Hooray!  And of course we dressed in our colors.  I wanted a picture with the kids before we left, and Doug figured out a way to get himself in the picture too.  So funny!

 YES! Sno Cones!

This was the first time we'd been back behind the church, yeah, we're new.  Anyway, they have a fire pit, and the best shady area!  So gorgeous!!!

Cotton candy!!!

Look at that string of cotton candy, then look at those eye lashes!!!

 Cotton candy beard!

All the boys were dousing themselves with cups of water (the ice bucket challenge).  One little boy, saw an opportunity to splash Kora.  He looked at me first, to make sure I didn't mind, and I nodded okay.  I was kind of curious how she would react and it wasn't that much water, just a tiny cup full.

  First she yelled at him...

 Then she cried.  (I snapped the picture and then picked her up, poor baby.)

As soon as we got home, Kora needed to take her shoes off.

And Kees needed to ride this cart like a skateboard.

Relaxing back at home.  My leg makes a great runway for their airplanes.

And she's out!  We had been listening to Taylor Swift's song "Shake It Off" the last few days.  Kora snuggled up, watched the video twice, then rolled over and went to sleep.  Sweet baby!

I decided to go shop.  I found Frosted Flakes on sale for $1 at Big Lots, AND for every 3 boxes I bought, we got a free book from Scholastic.  When I got home, I opened all the boxes, punched in the codes, selected my books, and they are on their way!  I know, I know, I'm such a hoarder.  But it was a great deal, and I just have a tiny grocery store in my closet.  When we run out of something I go check what I have hoarded up.  Cereal for a $1, that's hard to beat!!!

Sunday:

Kees and Kora went to Sunday school, still having no problem with that.  Kora goes to nursery during church, and the bigger kids go to church through the song service, and then go to children's church.  Kees usually just stays with us and takes a nap.  This week I decided to go with him to children's church, hoping he'll get used to it and go without me.  So far, he'll only go if he is with Kora.  Baby steps...

The lesson was on creation.

Since the weather was amazing, they got to play outside.

After church, Doug was going to take me for street tacos because I haven't been in forever.  Unfortunately they were closed, so we found a different street truck.  Doug got an elk burger, I got a pastrami sandwich, and the kids shared a grilled cheese and ended up getting a second one.  We also got FREE curly fries.

Doug squirted mustard all over himself.  He's telling us about it...

  Yum!

The street truck was in the Goodwill parking lot.  So I HAD to go in.  Some of the children's books were half off. They are normally 49 cents, so half off makes them just 25 cents.  We ended up with 43 new books for just $14.  AWESOME!!!

Monday:

Homeschooling in our jammies!  Kees loves his pajamas.  He's gonna be so sad when he outgrows these.

Yes, at lunchtime, we were still in our jammies....

Monday was a good day for a nap.  We don't do this everyday, but somedays it's just necessary for my sanity.

Monday night was the first night of my ladies bible study.  And I stopped on the way home to look for blackout curtains.  We got a projector, so we need to make it dark during the day, so we can watch football!!!  (I didn't buy anything)

When I got home from bible study, I got the kids to clean their room.  Kees does most of the cleaning, but Kora helps some.

Tuesday:

We did school in the morning, and I guess I forgot to get pictures all morning, but we played outside in the afternoon and I got a bunch of great ones!

Kora decided I should wear her bow, and then kept insisting on fixing it for me.

Kora says, "Me dude it!"  all the time.  It's one of her favorite phrases.

Kees wanted to take the baby swing outside with us, and my rule is they can take what they can carry, but they have to bring it back up.  Kora carried the swing to the stairs, and then Kees carried it up the stairs.  He was getting tired, so Kora went back down and helped him.  Such little sweeties.

On the balcony, playing with the pine cone family.

I made Bowtie Festival for dinner.  It wasn't as good as the last time I made it, but I used mozzarella instead of parmesan and I didn't have milk.  It was still yummy.

After dinner, I ran to the store and bought curtains.  Kees always waves goodbye when I leave.

Wednesday:

Kora woke up before Kees, and she had so much fun playing with the tripod that goes with the projector.

Breakfast!

Another random day, where I forgot to take pictures, until dinner time.  Our kids got mail from Gramee and Grampa. They were so happy. Gramee sent stickers!

We watched Anastasia!

We had mexican for dinner, but I was attempting to make a yummy pulled pork for BBQ and street tacos for lunches.  It did not turn out as anticipated.  I was so bummed!!!!  I followed a recipe, and it has been good in the past, not sure what went wrong!

Thursday:

Sight words, he is doing so well!

Kora has been doing really well too.  She likes to sit by Kees while he works.  And sometimes she just gets her art bucket and does her own thing.

Playing pizza restaurant.

Well, my Wednesday blog post was about how we've been so mellow lately.  Just hours later, Kora fell backwards off her Minnie Mouse car (pictured above). She fell back into the wall and the car came up and whacked her in the face. She had a busted lip and a cut on her eye lid.  She barely cried, and then when I tried to sit down with her to comfort her, she started wailing because she didn't want to sit down. She wanted to go back and play.  Tough girl!

Doug had bible study Thursday night, but we ate dinner and he did sight words with Kees before he left.

Kees loves school work!

Eating her third helping of yogurt.  I gave my kids a small portion of fish to eat and promised popcorn if they ate their dinner.  Kora didn't eat her fish.

Marshmallow Popcorn, YES!

We watched Dumbo, so good, and more sad than I remembered.

I was telling my parents about our popcorn and movie, and my dad was so offended that I fed my kids, what he called "boiled fish".  I did not boil our fish, and it was similar to what you see here, seasoned well and cooked in a foil packet in the crock pot.  My dad said any fish that isn't fried is GROSS!  So I asked Kees, who did eat it, what he thought it tasted like, he said, "It tasted like fish toot-toot"  (Toot toot is what Kees calls pee/urine)

And in random web surfing news, WHAT?!  That is NOT Ohio State.  I'm not an Oklahoma State fan, but I'm still offended by this!

Thankful Thursday: The Mundane

I am ecstatically stupendously thrilled and thankful to be going through a mundane phase of life.

I'm in a ladies bible study and our topic is "The Frazzled Female". On Monday night we all shared about our "hectic" days.  Only my day was SUPER boring and normal.  I was tempted to make something up, and I'm fabulous at that because my sister loves lying...er, I mean making up stories.  But I didn't, I just told some funny frazzled days I had in Thailand with the jing joks.

And then last night, we had a mellow evening at home and I was soaking it in. We got a projector so we can host movie nights (we don't have a tv).  And we played a couple wii games as a family and then watched one of my favorite movies EVER, "Anastasia" (the cartoon).

In unrelated, boring news, my freshman year of high school, I got to go to my first BIG dance, the "Tinsel Ball".  I had a long blue sparkly dress.  I remember watching this movie in the theatre over Thanksgiving break, my cousin Kandalynn got us in for free because she worked there.  When I saw Anastasia in her blue dress, I was so excited to about wearing my blue dress!

And Kora loved this movie, she asked to watch it again.  Can't wait to introduce her to all my favorites. Do you think she's too young for "Pride and Prejudice"?

Some people long for adventure, but right now, I'm very content with my boring life.  And just give me a couple minutes, I still live with a 2 year old, so it won't stay boring for long!

And if your life is crazy and hectic. Do your best to embrace it, and tackle what you can.  One thing at a time, and when a mundane day comes,  CELEBRATE!

Wordy Wednesday: Don't Be a Lone Ranger

Community?

Earlier this week I was trying to decide what to post about for Wordy Wednesday.  And I'll be honest, I was drawing a blank.  So I put "Community?"  as a back up idea if nothing else came to me.

So, here goes: What does community mean to you?  Do you feel like you have "people"?

We're still relatively new,  with GoodSeed and in our area.  At times, since we've moved here, I've felt isolated.  Not because there aren't plenty of lovely people around, but because I'm still new, and I have two tiny people that I am taking care of.

I remember growing up, wondering why my mom never had friends.  I mean, she had friends, but it didn't seem like she saw them that often.  And when I was a teenager, and with my friends ALL the time, I thought it was so strange that my mom wasn't hanging out with friends.  My mom is a pastor's wife, which makes it difficult to have friends.  You're often seen as "the shoulder to cry on" and you're not really supposed to cry on anyone else's, cause you're the strong one.  Can I just say...QUIT IT!  (Mom that's for you!)  Just ask someone for help already!  I'm sure there are people in existence who think you shouldn't be allowed to need help or have feelings, but it's less than you think, and you NEED a listening ear too.

I spent at least a year in Thailand, fully believing I wasn't allowed to have feelings or struggle.  It's called culture shock and paranoia.  I kept telling myself, "All you need is God, you don't need people, be strong."  I neglected to realize that God never intended it to be that way.  God loves the church, he wants us to be a part of a body. Now, don't think for a minute that I wasn't taught this growing up.  When you're an emotional basket case your logic and reason are skewed, no GONE.  And unless you get some outside perspective and TRUTH (from scripture!), you'll fall further and further into that black hole.

So, can I just say, again..QUIT IT!  Be a friend, be a listening ear and a crying shoulder.  And sometimes, more importantly (if you struggle with PRIDE), ask for help or grab a friend and go for coffee.  They may not have any real solutions to offer you, but talking through what's going on, and getting encouraging words goes so much further than you realize.  Especially if you've gone without those two things for a while.

This week, I was able to go to the first meeting of a ladies bible study at church.  And I left feeling refreshed and like I had people.  The same way I felt when we left bible camp.

Can I encourage you to join a small group, or start one in your area.  Please, find a group of people and don't isolate yourself.  It's not healthy!

And on that note, I'm getting ready to go have coffee with friends.  Kees did sight words while he ate breakfast and I'm blogging while the kids are in the bath. May be a little crazy at our house, but OH SO WORTH IT!

Now, go call or email a friend.  Be a shoulder or reach out and ask someone to be one for you.  Seriously...GO!

Taco Tuesday: Orange Chicken

You Will Need:

Chicken
Orange Marmalade
Soy Sauce
(*BBQ sauce optional)
(Coconut)

Okay, Doug's grandma posted a link for this recipe.  It called for 1/2 a cup of BBQ sauce, 1/2 a cup of marmalade, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  You cook the chicken in the crockpot with 1/2 a cup of water. After several hours, you drain the chicken, put it back in the crockpot, mix up the marmalade, bbq sauce, and soy sauce, and put it over the chicken. Then cook it for 30 more minutes.

I followed the recipe.  It tasted like BBQ chicken to me.  I made a second batch with significantly less BBQ and still wasn't in love with it.   I think the best bet, is to just cook your chicken, then top it with marmalade that has a splash of soy sauce mixed in. Serve over rice, and top with some baked coconut chips (or shredded coconut).

I like orange chicken, in theory.  My mom makes a curried chicken, that is chicken with curry powder, rolled in shredded coconut, then it's baked.  You serve it with apricot preserves.  So, I think a simple chicken, lightly seasoned, then topped with marmalade that has a splash of soy sauce would be yummy.  

I should also add, that through this adventure, I was educated (through facebook friends) about the difference between a slow cooker and a crock pot.  Who knew???  You can read about it here.

The dilemma I have is that my crock pot cooks way faster than directions typically give.  It cooked chicken breast WAY faster than the directions said.  On low, it took 2 hours!  The directions said 8-9 hours.  HUH?!   So if anyone has any helpful tips for me, I'd love to hear them.

Manic Monday: Hydrating Beads

If you have $3 and access to a Dollar Tree, you're set.  Just buy the "Folding Vase" that comes with hydrating beads (jelly beads...um I made that up).  If you don't have a Dollar Tree handy, you can find something similar on Amazon, here is a link. 

The tongs were by the food at my store and the package came with 4 tongs, they are semi-disposable, but I think they'll last, they're not flimsy, by any means. Here is a link for a set of 12 tongs on Amazon. Not quite like the ones we have, but great, none the less.

 And the test tubes are seasonal, they have them out for Halloween, there were 6 in the package.  They are basically really tall communion cups.  And here are some similar test tubes on Amazon.

My kids had so much fun last week with the "jelly beads".  You just add water. We checked on them frequently, watched them grow, and even had a few we took back out and watched them shrink back down.  The possibilities are ENDLESS!  

Of course, these are not for eating, so if you have little ones that might put these in their mouths, watch them closely or wait till they are a little older.  One of our favorite discoveries while watching these, was the brain shape they had about half way through hydrating. They ended up being perfectly round, but at one pointy they looked like tiny brains!

Tiny, tiny, tiny.  These grow to 500 times their original size.

Just ADD WATER!

Brain stage.

Getting bigger

We added test tubes one day, and then we added the tongs.  It's fun to add new things to re-spark your kid's interest.

Love this so much!  His hands and brain are working!