A Different Kind of Recipe

Today we made snow ice cream!  I am so thankful for the friend who emailed me the 'snow much fun' recipe.  The kids thought it was awesome to dig up snow and BRING IT INSIDE!  Of course I was very careful in where they got their snow from and made sure they didn't dig down too deep and get bits of grass or dirt.  I was very amazed when the process was all said and done.  I must say, snow ice cream was great.  It tastes a lot like homemade ice cream, was SO simple to make and the kids had a blast.  Here are the fun pics.  Poor Miss Thumb Sucker slept through the whole thing by taking a 3 hour and 45 min nap yesterday.

Add chocolate syrup and sprinkles and you have a child's heaven of sugar in a bowl!

Here is the recipe I used (adapted it a little from the recipe I was given)

1 gallon of snow

(I didn't really measure this is what the original recipe called for.  We just kept adding until it was the right texture/thickness)

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 c. skim milk (in my mind this made up for using the cream :)

Mix all ingredients minus the snow together in a large bowl (as you can see from pics, ours was NOT big enough - we switched to a bigger one).  Whip together well with a whisk.  Then add snow until it is your desired consistency.  Add chocolate and sprinkles and enjoy!!

State of the Family #28

Prepare yourself! This one is bound to be a doozy since I haven't posted an SOF for 2011 yet and we are 3 weeks in. Of course I might not be able to remember what has all gone on, so we'll see what transpires!

Miss Thumb Sucker has developed quite the personality over the past few weeks. We are quite opinionated, which she has decided to express through screaming and squealing until someone listens. And she just reminded me that another new expression is a quick "ehh" to let us know that she is in dire need of our attention and it will be repeated until such attention is given. She also uses fantastic vocal means by which to indicate that brother or sister is trying to take a toy from her or has a toy that she wants. Let me tell you, it has become quite noisy around here lately. Although, not usually in the best form, it is quite nice to have her communicating with us a little bit more. We do, however, have to get her doing so in a little bit more positive manner. She has added a few more signs to her 'vocabulary' as well and will use 'please' and 'thank you' when prompted. She has also decided that nodding her head 'yes' is quite fun and will tell you 'yes' in this fashion whenever you ask her a question. Even though it isn't always the most accurate answer, at least it is better than her saying 'no' constantly. 'No' is definitely a word that she chooses to not recognize in her vocabulary. We have quickly learned that "No, Miss Thumb Sucker!" does not get the intended response. She does, however, love to bring you things or (most of the time) come see you if you ask her to 'come here'. So, we have found that the best way to get her to stop doing what she is doing or to put down something that she has but isn't supposed to have is to tell her to bring it to you or give it to someone near, or tell her to 'come here'. Most of the time this works, but I can tell that in the 'orneryness' category she might just give her big sister a run for her money. On the sleeping front, she seems to finally have it all figured out. PTL! Last, but not least, she has decided she is a vegetarian. I have been unable to get this girl to eat meat in the last few weeks. I am even trying to be sneaky about it by slipping it in with things, but she is good. She will eat the part she likes and spit out the bits of meat I have added in. Chicken Nuggets have been the only meat I have been able to get down this girl in the last 3 weeks, and my jury is still out on whether or not these really qualify as meat. But, she'll eat broccoli and peas with the best of them, so I guess I'll have to live with that.

Miss Firecracker has been quite fun in the communication department as well. Her favorite new phrase is "I've got a problem" or "I'm having trouble". Such the big phrases from a 2 1/2-year-old. Although, they are not quite so 'funny' when they come from the bathroom after she just ran there saying she had to go poopy. That was a bit of a mess of which I will spare you the details. She handled it like a champ though. She is gearing up for her 3rd birthday, which is still 2 months away, but she is oh-so-ready to be older than 2! One of those "I am 2 going on 16" type of girls. She seems like the one I can't come up with much to write about. She has been pretty uneventful in the past few weeks, which, for her, is fabulous. I must report that she has been an angel at bedtime as well and hasn't come out of her room after being put to bed almost all year! I have been sure to praise her for this, in hopes that it will continue. She has had fun playing in the snow, although snowball fights seem to not quite be her forte. Poor thing always ends up with one smack in her face. As I sit here and try to think of what Miss Firecracker has been up to the only other thing I can think of is her infatuation with her sister. She is constantly trying to pick her up, sit her on her lap, pull her along somewhere or force her into some activity. Is this just a little mothering instinct coming out in her or what? All I know is that I can always tell when Miss Firecracker has Miss Thumb Sucker pinned up somewhere because Miss Thumb Sucker has a definite "Help me! My sister is attacking me!" type of scream as part of her new communication system. It has been quite the struggle to get her to lay off, but we don't want her to think that she can't play with her either. Oh the joys of balance!

Noisy Man. Now here is the one I will have to really try to cut back on my reports. The biggest news there isn't really with him, but his school and it is pretty public knowledge so I can spare you the details. Here is the link to the letter from the school and district health dept. In summary, 2 students at Noisy Man's school got bacterial meningitis, a terrible illness that can get to a level of severity of death if action is not taken. Thus, mass mayhem at his school with concerned parents and school staff. So, they closed school, cancelled all activities, gave all students in the ill children's classes the antibiotic shot and sanitized the entire place. I am really impressed at the school's response and management of the whole situation. Since Noisy Man is in the preschool (one of the ill children was in the morning session and he is in the afternoon) he had to have the shot and we, of course, were quite concerned. I spent almost all night Thursday and all morning Friday trying to figure out more about this illness and how concerned we really needed to be. My heart goes out to the preschooler who still is not doing well at all and his family. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. When things like this hit in your child's classroom, it makes you stop and think. On to a little bit of a lighter note. . . Noisy Man has discovered the joy my Cricut machine (it cuts out letters, shapes, etc) and the paper dolls and animals functions. He is having a blast cutting out pirates and cavemen, dinosaurs and lions. It is the first thing he asks to do when he wakes up and when he gets home from school. I LOVE IT. It is so fun to sit and create with him on this level. He has also been eating me out of house and home. Seriously, he out-eats me at most meals lately. He even amazed Gma and Gpa this weekend while he stayed there. Not even kidding, my 39 lb 4 1/2-year-old ate 2 entire pb&j sandwiches, 2 little cans of fruit and a helping of green beans, all in one sitting. To top that off, he was hungry again in less than 2 hours! Lord help my grocery budget!

the boys all grown up - well that might still be debatable!

Daddy was in a wedding this past weekend. He always looks so great in a tux! It was the last of our college friends to tie the knot and now we are wondering what we will do to get everyone together again. It was a wonderful time, we had way too much fun. I think both of us are still trying to recover. We just aren't as young as we used to be. He has also been doctoring his pick-up that should have been scrapped years ago. In fact, when some of our friends heard that the ol' teal-striped-beast was still running (It has over 350 thousand miles on it), they were amazed. Barely running would describe it a little better. It has some alternator problems, major oil leakage, and we can't keep tires inflated on the thing to save our lives. Now, evidently, the 4-wheel drive seems to be causing some issues. Just a few more months and we will retire the beast forever. It just has to last long enough for us to save up for a new (new to us anyway) one. Daddy also scored some major brownie points over the last 5 days. He was the knight in shining armor that took Noisy Man into the pediatrician to get his shot for the meningitis (I didn't think I could hold him down, he was crying before they even left), and stayed home with the kids on his (MLKJ) day off so that I could go to MOPS and not have to worry other mothers with the meningitis stuff and Miss Thumb Sucker's yucky nose. Even more, he emptied the dishwasher, filled the dishwasher AND did the dishes while I played with the other mommies! I told you this one was a keeper!

mommy and daddy at the rehearsal

Like I said, Daddy was in a wedding, so Mommy and Daddy got a weekend away! Granted, I was a nervous wreck to leave my kids after the whole meningitis scare, but pretty much everyone told me to go and I knew my kids were in capable hands (that and I made Gma promise to take their temperatures and check them for spots every morning and every night!). It was so nice to have a whole weekend to just have fun with good friends. It makes me want to start counting down the days to our ski trip to Colorado. I have also started officially training for the 1/2 marathon. Although, a training session with Hoss yesterday morning at MOPS followed by a 4 mile run last night leaves me a little gimpy today. I am trying out the intermediate training schedule this time, which will hopefully help me improve my time. But how can I not improve my time after how I ran the race last year? :) As long as I am healthy and still in shape I should be able to beat it. Lastly, I have noticed that my computer usage time is starting to rise once again, so I am trying to be very conscious of how much I am in front of its screen. Thus, the lack of timely posting of my SOFs. But, as you can see (if you even made it this far) if I wait to long it takes me way to long to cover all my bases. In fact I started this post yesterday and am finally getting it finished at close to 9 pm tonight. I guess I am succeeding in spending less time on the computer though.



the boys and wives



Snow Day!

Here is our day in pictures. . . OK so I didn't get a picture of us going to church, but this is what followed. What an awesome day!

                                 

hot cocoa in cool coffee mugs!

State of the Family #27

Oh dear.  This is bad.  3 weeks since my last post and so much has happened.  Hustle and bustle you know.  Now to just try and remember what all went on during those 3 weeks.  We'll start with Christmas and maybe I'll try another SOF to catch up on the New Year.

Christmas was good to all of us. It didn't feel like we had to be everywhere and do everything all at once this year.  Since my family did Christmas at Thanksgiving this year it eliminated one more celebration to attend.  We had Christmas with my mom's side on the 23rd and then spent the rest of Christmas weekend with Daddy's family.  Then the other extended family parties were the following weekend.

Miss Thumb Sucker was hard to buy for this year. Still too young to really be 'into' anything and already having all the 'necessary' girl toys from her big sister, her list was pretty short. She received many cute clothes, a Little People castle and a cute pink shopping cart that she loves to push around. Seriously, I can't even remember some of the other stuff she got.  Isn't that terrible?  She had a lot of fun opening presents. . . if they weren't hers.  She had a great time tearing into whatever she could find under the tree or the presents set in front of me or daddy, but give her one that she was actually supposed to open and she wanted nothing to do with it. 

Miss Firecracker received a playhouse (this was actually a combo gift for her and Miss Thumb Sucker, but don't tell Miss Firecracker that!). We will have to take it apart to take outside this spring, but it is probably a favorite so far. . . that and the box it came in! The box has been colored and played in more so far than the actual house.  But, I guess they will have time to play in the house once the box has been mutilated and thrown away.  Miss Firecracker's 2nd favorite gift was her new cowgirl boots. They are adorable! I am having a hard time keeping clothes clean that match them. . . or she will just wear her black and teal boots with a brown and red outfit with pride (for those of you that don't know me that well, this drives me bonkers - I am a 'matcher' to the T).  But you have to pick your battles, right?  Her hilarious moment on Christmas Eve had us all in stitches.  She was trying to see a new gift her new baby cousin had received and had to 'make her way' in a bit closer, thus stepping on a big gift box that was in between her and the baby.  Well, the box lasted about 1/2 a second before giving way and swallowing up her feet.  Thankfully, there was nothing breakable inside and tights-laden legs were well-protected from the paper and cardboard.   So, after she got over the initial shock of falling through, everyone had a great laugh.  Her other fun gifts included Polly Pockets (which she only gets to play with when Miss Thumb Sucker is asleep) her very own backpack and adorable clothes.

Noisy Man was also spoiled receiving a huge coloring set complete with markers, crayons, water colors and even oil pastels (which he has been instructed are only for use when he gets bigger). He also received an over 900 piece Lego castle set, which I am still trying to decide if this was for him or if it was really for daddy, and Mario Cart (a racing game for the Wii). Two other Lego sets were a big hit and a few clothes slightly impressed him.  His funny story comes from when he opened up his Mario Cart game and realized that the steering wheel for the game was not in the box.  Now, keep in mind that it was after 9 pm (which is over a 1/2 hour after bed time), had been a very long day of playing with his cousins and he is just a generally emotional child.  It was all we could do to keep him from breaking into tears.  We convinced him that we would go get him the steering wheel once the stores were open. . . Lo and behold what do you think was in his stocking on Christmas morning?  I have never seen him so excited!

Even mommy and daddy were spoiled.  Our big gift to the kids (or maybe more so to ourselves) was a dual screen DVD player for our van! Yeah for entertainment during long drives!

Daddy received a new impact drill thingy (that is the official, technical term for it), a range finder, and some other tool thing called a dremel or something like that and even some decoration stuff! Like I said, I think a lot of the Lego stuff was for him as well.  They spent 1 1/2 hous putting together our nephew's castle (and there were 3 of them working on it) the next day, and after we got home, Daddy and Noisy Man spent 2 hours putting his together.  Daddy always cracks me up after getting home from Christmas things.  He is just like a kid and has to get all of his new 'toys' out and test them out and check them over, but always finds a home for them right after the testing is finished.

Not so much for me.  It takes me forever to get things put away and readjusted. . . perfect example are my shelves still sitting full of pretty decor I received, but still haven't figured out where to place it yet, so they are all crammed together where you can't see any of it.  On top of all my great decor items I received my own pair of cowgirl boots!  They are awesome as well and I am totally excited about them.  I also got a complete set of Fiestaware!  Five in chocolate and five in ivory (I really wanted the awesome green color, but couldn't convince Daddy that this was a good idea).  I am super thrilled to get them all out and put away my cracked and chipped blue swirl plates we bought with our wedding money.  I was disappointed in how long those lasted (or didn't last) but it is fun to get new ones!  So, once I get them all out I'll have to throw a few dinner parties!!  And I always love a reason to have people over! And of course my fantabulous treadmill was my early Christmas present from Daddy.

Best of all this Christmas we were able to attend our church's Christmas Eve service and everyone came.  At first I thought it would just be our family while the rest of them stayed at my in-laws, but Daddy and I are set on having church be a huge part of our Christmas.  Since this hasn't been the tradition (not that it is wrong in any way, just different) in his family before, I was overjoyed when the entire family accompanied us to the service and it was a great one!  

The following week after Christmas consisted of reorganizing, trying to keep our composure while getting toys out of boxes and cutting all those darn zip ties and twist ties, a trip to the Children's Museum, the kids asking every day if daycare kids were coming (I had the whole week off!), Noisy Man asking when preschool started again, learning how to crochet again, some great movie nights for Mommy and Daddy, a very fun girl's night for Mommy with some friends, and an enjoyable, but laid back, New Year's Eve with some great Mexican food (compliments of my dad - if you have ever had his Mexican you know how great it was) and we were in bed by 10:30.  I heard a quote about New Year's this year that I loved "Optimists wait up til midnight to make sure the New Year gets off to a good start.  Pessimists wait up til midnight to make sure the old year leaves.  And realists just go to bed on time and know that it is going to happen no matter what you do."  Ha!  I love it!

Is it Over Already?

Things have been busy around here, thus the lack of posting.  Lots to update on, but I figured I would split it into two posts because a) you would get totally bored, I'm sure, reading a post as long as it would be if I didn't and b) it will probably take me a few days to write it all so it will be easier if I split it up.

Christmas with this family was fantastic!  We didn't have to run all over kingdom come and really got to enjoy our time.  The thing that made my heart smile the most was that by the time we got to Christmas my kids would remind me to do our ABC Advent story every night and they are still asking to do more even now.  It makes me so happy that we are able to really fill our kids' hearts with the true story of Christmas and that my 2 1/2-yr-old Miss Firecracker can tell you close to the whole story of how Baby Jesus came to earth and she ends her story with "and He died on the cross for us when He got big." It makes my heart so prou

d!

My other great Christmas story to tell is a proud moment from Noisy Man.  We were given some money for Christmas.  Money that didn't really need to be given to us but is every year.  We usually just turn around and spend it on the people who gave it to us since they should have kept it in the first place.  This year, after being given the money, we clipped it up on the refrigerator while we were trying to decide what to give them.  We came up with a few things but still needed more.  Then, at lunch after church, Noisy Man saw the money on the fridge and asked what it was from.  We told him it was some Christmas money.  He instantly said, "Is it to buy Christmas presents for kids who don't have enough money to get Christmas presents?"  Both daddy and I instantly said that was the perfect idea!  So, we called our church who in turn told us to call our local community food bank.  They were delighted we called and gave us a family of 4 kids to buy for.  Man, it is really hard to buy gifts for kids older than yours that you know nothing about.  But we did find gifts for all of them and dropped them off the next day.  I really hope they enjoyed them.  Sadly, when Daddy dropped them off, the coordinator told him we were the only people who donated in that way this year.  So proud of my little boy and his giving heart.

I'll post all the exciting Christmas gatherings and happenings in a SOF post!  I know you're anxiously awaiting!  Sorry I am a bit slow.  I started this post last Tuesday and am finally finishing it (with the exception of pictures which I'll try to add later today).  Hopefully, I'll get the SOF post done before the end of the week!

Word of the Year

I am not one to set resolutions. Why? They only last a couple of weeks or a couple of months as best. I come up with some lame excuse as to why I failed or re-route my original intention. I definitely am not dependable in this area and it really disappoints me. So, I have learned in the last couple of years to not set myself up for disappointment and have gone another route. This year, I have decided to have a word to go off of instead of an actual resolution. I must admit this is not an original idea.  They have been talking about it on KLOVE radio and I know another friend and blogger who does much the same thing (read hers here).  These two things inspired my thinking
My word comes from Ephesians 4:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."  Attitude!  That is what it is all about.  If your attitude is right it is hard to go wrong.  And when your attitude is modeled after that of Christ Jesus you're bound to be even better.  Attitude of the heart, attitude of the mind, attitude of life.
This will take some help from the One and Only for me, as many times I need to set myself in the corner along with my children for attitude checks, as we often call them in this house.  But even memorizing these verses myself along with my children will help me 'take every thought (and attitude) captive" and make for a better year.  I know I will need to turn to Him many times for guidance and 'attitude checks' but isn't that what He wants?  He wants us to depend on Him.  He wants us to turn to Him and realize we can't do it on our own.  I am ready for that.
How about you?  Do you have a 'word' you can work on this year?  If so, what is it?  You know my 'word' and can help keep me accountable. 
My other (a little less meaningful) word is run.  I am planning to run the 1/2 marathon again this year, so training will start soon!  But God has words for me in that too "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" Hebrews 12: 1b-2a