Countdowns to Christmas

Why just have one way of counting down to Christmas when you can have three? Last year, after receiving an Advent calendar from a friend, we did our first ever countdown and this year I decided to add a couple of more.

First, is something I have wanted to do for several years, but never quite got it together. It is something my mom did several times for my brother and me when we were growing up. It is really simple actually. She glued Hershey's Kisses to a ribbon and hung it on the wall. We ate one Kiss a day until the big day. Here is my version. I used a velvet ribbon, mostly because that is what my mom used, but also because it is sturdy enough to hold the weight of 25 Kisses. I used a hot glue gun and it is working pretty well, but the Kisses are a little hard to get off and it leaves a bit of the wrapper on the ribbon. I think next year I will try Elmer's.

Second, is the Advent calendar. It is a really cute one, but the little compartments came empty so it falls upon me to figure out how to fill them. Taking a cue from Amy at The Idea Room, I have printed a list of Christmas related activities and put one in the calendar each day sometime before Spencer gets home from school. Once he is home all the kids open the door together - they physically open it together. This is what they came up with to make it fair. This method works well because I am not committed to anything ahead of time. Like tonight we had a piano lesson, an evening trip to Target (picked up more short wrapping paper by the way), and Bruce had his garage band over. So I threw "Watch the Grinch" in there and we were set for an ever popular, yet very easy Christmas activity. Also, if something last minute comes up I can add it in. We would do most of these things anyway, but finding out about them through the Advent calendar seems to add an element of excitement for the kids. Here are some of the other items from our calendar...

• Write letters to Santa Claus.
• Take a drive to see Christmas lights.
• Go see the lights at Temple Square.
• Watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.
• Read the Christmas story from the Bible and set up the Nativity.
• Act out the Nativity scene.
• Make Christmas cookies.
• Make gingerbread houses.
• Camp out in front of the Christmas tree.
• Clean out old toys and donate to Deseret Industries.
• Go to the store and buy a new toy to donate to Toys for Tots.
• Watch “Rudolph”.
• Watch “Frosty” shows.
• Make a treat and secretly deliver them to two friends.
• Talk about Jesus with our family.
• Do a secret service for someone in our family or neighborhood.
• Sing Christmas carols together.
• Play a game and eat a treat in front of a fire in the fireplace.
• Read the Christmas story in the Book of Mormon.
• Have hot chocolate with candy canes.
• Do a Christmas craft.
• Watch Polar Express.

Finally, I wrapped all of our Christmas books, placed them under the tree, and we are unwrapping one each night. Last year, the boys read a few of their favorites over and over, but there were several I couldn't get them to listen to. This way, each book gets at least one night of glory and I make sure that they are exposed to more of the messages I want them to hear. Again, just wrapping the books and rationing them makes them so much more alluring.

So far all three countdowns are working out well. The boys go straight to the Kisses each morning (Emmarsyn gets around to hers eventually), the Advent calendar is the after school priority, and we unwrap a book after dinner so Bruce can join us. So even though there are three different things going on, the rountine of it all actually seems to be making the Christmas festivities run a bit smoother.

Somebody at Target is a Genius

Not a great picture, but these short rolls of wrapping paper are very cool. And they were even in the dollar section. Usually when I cut a small piece of wrapping paper off a regular roll, the remaining half is in pretty bad shape by the time I need to use it. I only got two rolls and wish I had gotten about ten.

Spencer's Opus (An awesome word I don't get to use very often.)

Spencer entered his school's Reflections contest in the Musical Composition category and received an Honorable Mention. The theme was "Beauty is...". His composition is called "Spencer's 9th Symphony - Caves Ahead". He related his work to the theme by saying "This song makes me think of all the beautiful things in caves like stalagmites, stalactites, and all that sort of stuff." Although he wasn't too excited about having to go up in front of the whole school to receive his medal, he did not take that thing off all day long.

Click the play button to hear his song - it is about 2 minutes long. If it doesn't work through the embedded player, you can click here and download it or just press play on the Box.Net player.

And since this post is all about Spencer, I thought I would throw this in...Spencer finally (his word) lost his first tooth! He is one of the oldest kids in his class, but was the last to lose a tooth. Personally, I say keep those baby teeth as long as possible - less time for the permanent ones to get cavities - but he did not agree.

A Five Year Old's Perspective on Fasting

Today Matthew's Primary lesson was about fasting. This is what he came away with...

"It's when you go really, really fast to the hospital without even eating or drinking and serve your grandma in the hospital to help her get better."

Yeah - it's something like that. And in case anyone is wondering, to the best of my knowledge none of his grandmas are in the hospital.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday of the "holidays". Although I love Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving really seems to have stayed true to itself - a fairly hype-free day that celebrates gratitude, family, America, and - of course - food!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(The idea for our Thanksgiving banner came from Parents magazine, which I am grateful I got for free!)

The Binki Fairy and a New "Bed"

Emmarsyn had a big week. The Binki Fairy paid a visit and she moved out of her crib - all within about 24 hours and a couple months ahead of schedule.

The Binki Fairy first visited us about 2 1/2 years ago when Matthew turned 3. Our binki policy is that when you turn 2, the binki is only for bed and when you turn 3 it goes away completely. (Emmarsyn's nighttime binki privileges were cut off a bit early since it was causing really dry, irritated skin around her mouth.) Shortly before Matthew's 3rd birthday, I saw an episode of Super Nanny in which she helped get rid of a little girl's binki. The girl collected all her binkis, put them in a bag, and hung it on a tree. The next morning the Binki Fairy had taken all the binkis and left her a present. We used this method with Matthew and now with Emmarsyn and both times it has worked like a charm -no crying for the binki, no sleepless nights. Emmarsyn got a Tinker Bell cell phone from the Binki Fairy. Above she is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

The new "bed" is just Emmarsyn's crib mattress on the floor. I really did not see this one coming. Here's how it happened...My mom was supposed to babysit Friday night so I mentioned to Bruce that we should put Em's travel bed on the floor in her room so my mom wouldn't have to try to lift her into the crib. That idea quickly went to why don't we just take down her crib and have her sleep on her mattress. I kind of like having a place where I can sequester her once in a while, but I'd had a lot of battles with Matthew and Emmarsyn that day and I didn't have it in me to fight this one too. So Bruce - apparently needing something to tinker with - took down the crib and it has all worked out just fine. In fact, she is like the proverbial elephant that grew up with a fence and even when the fence is removed won't leave the previously enclosed area. I still have to go into her room every morning to calls of "mom, mom, moooommmm, mooommmeeeee" and get her out of bed. (And by the way, turns out it was all for naught since the concert that we were supposed to go to Friday night was postponed until February. Maybe by then we will have an actual bed for her.)

Spencer's Belated Birthday Questions

How old are you? 7 years old
Who is your best friend? Isaac, Eric, Eli, Ryan
What is your favorite thing to do? Science experiments, inventions, and collages
What is your favorite color? Red
What is your favorite food? Cherries
What do you like to do with your family? Go to the planetarium
What is your favorite toy? My science tools
What do you want to be when you grow up? A scientist and an inventor
What makes you happy? Being with my family
What makes you sad? When I have to be dropped off at school instead of having someone walk me in
What is your favorite show to watch? Star Wars, Phineas and Ferb, and Chicken Little
What is your favorite book? Secrets of Droon series
What do you love to learn about? Science
What was the best part of your birthday? The experiments at my party
Where do you like to go? To recess at school
Who is your teacher? Miss Lisa
What was your favorite birthday present? All of them
What do you think about before you fall asleep?The Secrets of Droon books because I read them at bedtime
What is your favorite treat? Vanilla cake, donuts, and cherry squares
If you could meet someone famous who would it be?Thomas Edison
What is your favorite animal? Tiger
What are you grateful for? My Millennium Falcon toy and my family

(The photo was taken on my birthday - hence the hat - when Spencer was showing us some of his cool secret agent moves.)

Fun with Leaves

According to Spencer, this little "invention" of mine is so cool that he is going to keep it in his science kit. Actually it wasn't my invention - I saw it in Family Fun magazine. But when I saw it, I knew it was exactly what we needed for bagging leaves. I just got the really cheap stretch gloves (2 pair for $1 at Target) and hot glued them to coated paper plates. The example in Family Fun used aluminum pie plates which would be more durable, but I just went with what I had on hand to keep the cost down. The kids had a great time picking up leaves this year and they were much, much more efficient and actually bagged more than they dropped. Bonus!

Halloween Pictures

It's been a while since my last post, but I got to hang out with my friend Heather at the zoo today and just being around her always inspires me to try to better at pretty much everything. So here is an easy one...Halloween pictures of the kids - all 4 of them. This year we had a mad scientist (not a big stretch for him), a vampire (not Dracula - he was "just a vampire!"), and a princess (again, not a big stretch). And at the last minute, Bruce threw together a cowboy costume for trick-or-treating.

Bruce's Band's Big Debut

There was a talent show at our church last night in which Bruce and his garage band buddies made their big debut. The program showed that just the children of all the band members were going to sing a medley of songs, but after they did the first verse of the first song the curtains opened to reveal the real act. It's hard to tell because of the wigs, but Bruce is the drummer (Aaron Mehrley is playing guitar and Matt Neddo is doing vocals). The video is somewhat choppy but it is already quite large and better quality would have made it ginormous. Yes, it is a little long (about 7 minutes), but if you persevere the singer gets a better microphone, there is a great little bit when Bruce drops a drumstick, and a bunch of kids come on stage for the last song. While I may be a bit biased, I must say that Emmarsyn steals the show.

(In the interest of full disclosure, it is me butchering "Give Said the Little Stream" on the piano. It was all going so well until about two lines in when I started thinking to myself that I was already half way through and hadn't messed up once. Then, of course, it all fell apart. But at home when no one else is listening, I can rock that song.)

"Hurry, Get the Camera"

Whenever I hear Bruce say these words, the disappointment sets in almost immediately. 99 out of 100 times, the magical moment that prompted the words will be over long before I arrive with the camera. But a few days ago the 1 in 100 odds paid off and we got this great candid shot of Matthew and Emmarsyn. Matthew had been lounging in the Elmo chair while watching a movie. Em was on the couch for most of the show but at some point moved down and made herself comfy. I'm not sure how long they stayed like that, but I loved the way they seemed so perfectly comfortable with each other.

Gettting Into the Spirit of Labor Day

Here is a brief recap of Bruce's Labor Day weekend...

• Took boys to a minor league baseball game.
• Went to Home Depot, didn't find what he needed.
• Went to Lowe's.
• Bought a shed to store all of our bikes, bike trailers, and random other items.
• Assembled the shed until midnight (only stopping when I convinced him that losing the drill's screwdriver bit was a sign that it was time to let it go for the night)
• Fixed the leaking bathtub faucet (yep - same night)
• Broke the shut off valve when turning the water back on after fixing the leaking bathtub faucet.
• Got up every hour and a half to dump the bucket of flood waters from the broken shut off valve
• Went to Home Depot, didn't find what he needed.
• Went to Lowe's.
• Ripped out some wall and cut away part of a 2x4 to get to the broken shut off valve.
• Fixed the broken shut off valve.
• Helped a neighbor with a computer crisis.
• Put up half a dozen rain gutter bookshelves.
• Finished assembling the shed.
• Moved furniture out of Spencer's room.
• Is currently ripping out the old molding in Spencer's room.

Since it is Labor Day, I just thought I would take a chance to say "Thank you, Bruce!" He is one of the hardest working people I know and I am very grateful for all he does for our family and many others.

(We are going to a friend's house for a BBQ tonight so Bruce will get some time to relax.)

Encouraging Reading - One Rain Gutter at a Time

Recently, rain gutter bookshelves have shown up on several of the blogs that I watch. I love the idea of displaying children's books in such an inviting way. I get a lot of my books through the Scholastic catalogs sent home from school. It is a good way to get some excellent books for about $3 each, but the downside is that they are paperback and hard to keep track of on a traditional bookshelf. We have several great books that we hadn't read in a long time - out of sight, out of mind.

Family Room (The bags underneath hold all of our dress up clothes.)

So we decided to go ahead with the rain gutter bookshelves and we love them. Now, with one quick glance we can see all of our reading options. It is also VERY easy to put books away. Emmarsyn spent some time pulling books out to read in her bedroom and put every single one back on her own - I didn't even have to suggest it. Besides the functionality, I think they look great. The big, empty wall in our family room has become a fairly dramatic focal point. (And a lot of nail and screw holes have been completely hidden!)

The price is great too - it was right around $5o for all the materials. Enough for the family room, each child's room and the floor puzzle holder in our toy closet.

If you are interested in making some, you can search for rain gutter bookshelves and find plenty of links. Click here for one of the best step-by-step tutorials that I came across. Or you can just ask Bruce. He has become an expert. (One tip - get your gutters at Lowe's. Home Depot only carries the kind with brackets that wrap under and in front of the gutter. While our brackets aren't completely hidden, I prefer the cleaner look of the Lowe's gutters.)

Matthew's Room (Spencer's room is currently under construction, but he will also get a shelf.)

Emmarsyn Enjoying Her Books

Rain Gutter Puzzle Holder in the Toy Closet

I LOVE Spray Paint!!

We have grown weary of the old light fixture hanging down from our dining room ceiling (see previous post) so we finished up the makeover on our "previously owned" chandelier. I got the idea from Lowe's free Creative Ideas magazine. It has lots of little and big project ideas for around the house. It is amazing what a can of spray paint can do. The little crystal prisms add a nice touch too, but it really did look pretty nice with just the new paint job.

Before:

After:

We Should Have Done This Years Ago!

(But of course time and money are always constraints - and there was the small matter of children sleeping in there.)

Last night we had the first dinner in our new dining room. It was perfect timing since my mom got home from her mission yesterday and stayed with us last night. This is the latest phase in our game of Musical Rooms/Extreme Home Makeover. Once we got Matthew's room finished downstairs we started the process of converting his old room into a dining room. We are pretty sure it was once a bedroom but the previous owners took out the closet and put in french doors that open into the living room. Most of the homes in our neighborhood have little if any eating space in the kitchens and this was their solution to the problem. It is now ours as well since meals in the kitchen had become essentially intolerable. We were so crammed around the table that we ended up just eating and getting out of there as fast as possible. Having friends or family over for dinner was almost out of the question.

Thursday night Bruce stayed up way too late setting up the table and chairs. We got the table at a "Seize the Day" sale at Ikea last October. It has been sitting in the box until last night. The room is not done - we are doing a small makeover on a good but slightly dated chandelier donated by a friend (although I love what Bruce has done with the current light fixture), I've got some ideas for curtains and decor, and we will probably put in a buffet that has been in my mom's storage shed for a few years. But even though there is still much to be done, dinner with a little elbow room was a whole new world. We actually lingered afterward. I was fairly giddy about it all night.

And the bonus - I don't have to look at the mess in the kitchen while I eat!

It's Officially a Tradition!

We started the "Birthday Questions" last year on Matthew's birthday and since we are now on his second round of questions, I believe I can safely call it a tradition. (The picture is Matthew watching fireworks a couple of weeks ago - he really likes them now but still watches with his hands on his ears.)

How old are you? 5
Who is your best friend? Everybody in my family.
What is your favorite thing to do? Play with Spencer.
What is your favorite color? Green
What is your favorite food? Apples
What do you like to do with your family? Have fun.
What is your favorite toy? The Jungle from my birthday.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A real inventor because I am a pretend inventor right now.
What makes you happy? My mom.
What makes you sad? When I get in trouble.
What is your favorite show to watch? Phineas and Ferb
What is your favorite book? Bob Books
What do you love to learn about? Words
What was the best part of your birthday? Cake
Where do you like to go? To ToysRUs.
Who was your teacher? Miss Fidge
What was your favorite birthday present? The detective game (Clue Jr.) because I am a detective.

Matthew's 4 year old questions and answers.

The Doughnut Conundrum

The doughnut conundrum stemmed from our decision to hold Family Home Evening on Sunday nights instead of Monday nights. Between t-ball games and baseball practices we could no longer even pretend that FHE was going to happen on Mondays. All was going well until Spencer wanted doughnuts for the treat last week. We don't shop on Sundays, nobody wanted day old doughnuts, and I am afraid of yeast - hence the conundrum. As I pondered the situation, I recalled a friend mentioning that they made "doughnuts" with refrigerated biscuit dough. So I got a couple of cans and last night we gave it a shot. I must say it was awesome. They were fun, easy, yummy, the perfect size, and there's not much cuter than miniature doughnut holes. The only part that added a little extra effort and clean up was the request for glazed and chocolate donuts as well as powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar donut holes. But since the rest was so simple, I felt I could oblige.

Here are a few pictures of the process and the results. (It wasn't my best work aesthetically, but I am getting over strep throat so I was just thrilled that it happened and that everybody loved them.)

A couple of tips if you try this: make sure the oil is very hot so they don't get greasy - ours ended up being around 400 degrees; watch them closely - they took only 15-20 seconds to cook; using the spoon-like spatula really helped with the holes since they had to be put in separately and gathered up within about about 10 seconds.

Not Just Cheap Magazines - A Free One!

I follow a couple of "cheap/free stuff" blogs and there are tons of deals to be had. Here is a free 2 year subscription to Parents magazine. I always like browsing through them in the pediatrician's office but wouldn't spend the money for a subscription - and now I don't have to. You can even check a box so that they don't send any other offers. Hopefully that part works.

Father's Day Cupcakes

The boys and I made these cupcakes today while Bruce was taking his 3 hour Father's Day nap (probably his best gift of all). I found the idea here. The nap may have extended to 4 hours had the boys not been so excited for him to come up and see the cupcakes and his cards and gift. After we all had a cupcake, Bruce proved that he was in fact "World's Best Dad" by cleaning all the crumbs and frosting smears left by Emmarsyn - not to mention the boys.

Happy Father's Day Bruce!

Spencer's First Recital

Spencer had his first recital a couple of weeks ago. He got to play his favorite song, Beethoven's Ode to Joy and a little piece from one of his lesson books. He did a great job and we were definitely the stereotypical proud parents.

Matthew's New Room

We are kind of playing musical rooms in our house. The first big change is that Matthew has moved downstairs into what used to be the guest room (which has moved down the hall). It was one of the last vestiges of wallpaper in our house so we took that down and got a little crazy with the paint. The blue and orange combo was a bold move for us but we absolutely love how it turned out.

Besides the paint, we all really like the "desk". It is actually a small fold-away dining table from Ikea. The metal bar and hanging cups for his supplies are also from Ikea (not to mention the stool, garbage can and light by his bed). I love that place! You can do quite a bit there on a small budget. Plus the rooms in our house are not exactly huge and the space saving products at Ikea really come in handy. (And of course there are the cinnamon rolls.) I still want to get a magazine rack to hold his paper and a magnet strip so he can display some of his masterpieces, but this is a good start.

The best part is that Matthew likes the room so much that moving to the basement was not traumatic at all. It helps to have Spencer right across the hall. Spencer, by the way, is pretty put out that his room make-over has to wait for our new dining room (Matthew's old room) to be finished. But since we already sold our table and chairs and now are working with only a small pub style table with 4 stools, we really need to get the dining room done. Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures of that in the relatively near future.

Custom Chore Charts

I wanted to give the boys some extra jobs during the summer (although they will most likely continue with the new responsibilities even after school starts) so I did a quick search and found this really cool site. I created custom chore charts for each of them in about five minutes. You can even pick a fun character - I went with Scooby Doo and Spongebob.

Garden Wars Episode I: A Time of Peace

We were feeling rather ambitious this year...not sure why...but nevertheless we were. So we decided to plant a rather sizable (at least for us) garden. The size really was dictated by the large dead spot in the backyard where Bruce just hadn't gotten the sprinklers quite right last year. So we thought "Hey, why not just dig it up and plant a garden there." So we did. And here is our lovely little plot.
Turns out that gardening is one of the things Bruce gets a bit passionate about. Except maybe the weeding part - that is left mostly for me. And since we dug up our weed-ridden lawn to plant the garden, it is not a small job. Of course he did most of the tilling and planting so all is fair in love and war.

But even with the weeding, it has been fun. The "spring mix" lettuce that we planted has been great. The boys are especially excited for the corn - although we have been trying to lower their expectations since many of our neighbors say it doesn't do so well around here. Personally, I will be happy with some tomatoes in the summer and some pumpkins and gourds in the fall. And the fact that the scarecrow really freaks out our neighbor at night has brought endless wholesome family fun.

So far it has been a relatively peaceful time in the history of our garden. But not for long...

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You -
Garden Wars Episode II: Attack of the Moles

Emmarsyn and My Dad

Just a picture that I took of Emmarsyn with my dad last summer. I finally got around to doing something with it. One down...about a million to go. Digital cameras are one of the best and worst inventions known to woman. So many pictures - so little time.

MSIA, CISSP, and now...ISSAP

Bruce has just added another professional certification to his resume. Since this isn't the type of thing he would share with any family or friends (it's nothing personal - it's just his way), I thought I would take the liberty of doing it for him.

So congratulations Bruce. The kids (well the kids don't really have a clue about it, but if they did...) and I are very proud of you!

For those that aren't familiar with the acronyms (I myself just had to Google them) -
MSIA - Master of Science in Information Assurance
CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional
ISSAP - Information Systems Security Architecture Professional

Easter FHE Idea

Ok - so maybe I am a little behind the times, but I thought I would post this idea just in case I am not the only one that didn't already know about it. "It" would be what apparently is commonly referred to as "Resurrection Eggs". You put little symbols of the Easter story in numbered plastic eggs and have the kids hunt for them. Then open the eggs in order and talk about each one of the symbols and how it represents part of the story. There are scripture references to go with each egg.

There are many versions of this floating around the web - click here to download the one that I like.

Free Cone Day!

(and mine too!!!)

On April 1 my Google calendar has a reminder to check the date for Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. This year I couldn't wait and checked on March 31. The big day is Tuesday, April 21.

Here's how it works for any Free Cone Day rookies. Ben & Jerry's serves nothing but cones from noon to 8pm. You get in a remarkably fast line and when you get to the front, you pick your flavor. No shakes, sundaes, etc. But really - aren't B&J's flavors kind of like a sundae in a scoop?

Find a participating location (or perhaps two) in your area.

Enjoy!

Kid's Magazine Deals

I periodically get an email from a magazine subscription site called Deekins.com. I got one today with some pretty good deals for kids' magazines. (I don't know when the coupon codes expire.)

Family Fun - $3.99 - Coupon Code: BLBFFM (10 Issues)
Jack & Jill - $7.49 - Coupon Code: BLBJAJ (6 Issues)
Boy's Life - $6.49 - Coupon Code: BLBLM (12 Issues)
Humpty Dumpty $6.99 - Coupon Code: BLBHDM (6 Issues)
National Geographic Kids - $12.99 - Coupon Code: BLBNGK (10 Issues)
Turtle - $6.99 - Coupon Code: BLBTUM (6 Issues)

Family Fun and Boy's Life seem like the best deals. I haven't heard of Jack & Jill, Humpty Dumpty, or Turtle but I think they are Highlights kind of magazines.

I did order Family Fun for this price a couple of years ago and even though it seems almost too good to be true - it wasn't. It's just a really good deal.

Bruce's BBQ Pork Quesadillas

Thursday night I sprained my foot playing basketball so Bruce came home early Friday to help with kids, make dinner, etc. That afternoon I came across a recipe for BBQ Chicken Quesadillas on one of my favorite food blogs. I happened to have leftover BBQ pork and tortillas in the fridge so I gave Bruce a few instructions and he came through with an amazing dinner.

Bruce's BBQ Pork Quesadillas
Leftover BBQ pork (recipe below)
Shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
Corn (we used frozen white corn)
Black beans
Flour tortillas
Butter
Butter your tortillas. Pile on other ingredients as desired. Grill until golden.

BBQ Pork
This is one of my favorite recipes because it is so easy and versatile and it makes a ton.
3lb boneless pork roast - trim as much fat as possible (you can use a beef roast if you prefer)
1 envelope onion soup mix
20ish oz Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (I suppose you could use another brand but personally I don't think it would be as good and Ray's is actually a really good deal if you buy it at Costco.)

Put roast in a slow-cooker. Sprinkle with soup mix and then cover with BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 10-12 hours until it shreds easily with a fork.

We also use the leftovers to make "pizzas" on pita bread. They are really good with cheese, garlic bread seasoning, and diced tomatoes. I have thought about doing a "Hot Pockets" kind of thing with the leftovers too, but haven't gotten around to it.

He may not be the next Mozart...

but he can play a little Beethoven...a section of "Ode to Joy" from his 9th Symphony to be exact. Spencer has been taking piano lessons for a couple of months and is doing great and having fun. This particular song is really cool for him since he recognized it from Little Einsteins.

Click here to listen.

Stranger Danger FHE

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend and asked her if she had any good Family Home Evening ideas. She told me that her kids' favorite was their Stranger Danger FHE. We had talked to our kids about strangers, but had never done a formal sit-down kind of thing. So I decided we would do our own Stranger Danger FHE, and it looks like it is going to be a favorite at our house too. Matthew is already asking for a repeat performance. Since it was one of our more successful FHE's, I thought I would share.

We started with a little slide show with pictures of family and friends and also pictures of strangers. (My friend did this portion with family photos and pictures from magazine. I kind of liked the slide show route since we can use it over and over without more paper to store.) For each slide, the kids had to answer the question "Is this a stanger?" Some of the strangers looked scary and some of them looked nice to illustrate the concept that anyone you don't is a stranger regardless of how they look.

We went over some stranger danger rules. The kids especially like practicing the one where they get to scream, kick and even bite if someone tries to grab them. Then we did some role play scenarios. Finally, we read "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Stangers".

Although I didn't do this, an idea that I got from the Berenstain Bears book was to make a treat that looked really yummy, but tasted terrible - again to illustrate that you can't judge something/someone just by appearances. Perhaps some chocolate chip cookies using way too much salt. Since Matthew wants to do this lesson again next week, I'll probably try it then. (I'll make some good cookies too of course.)

Click here to download the slideshow. I took out our family pictures, but left in the strangers. Hope somebody else can get some use out of it.

(It is saved in MS PowerPoint 97/xp/2000 format. If you don't have PowerPoint, you can download Open Office as I did. Perhaps I'll do a quick post about Open Office since it would make Bruce oh-so-happy.)

My Favorite "Go-To" Treat Recipe

Yesterday at 3pm I knew I needed a pretty decent treat for my Cub Scout den. They are all just about ready to get their Webelos badges and we were doing some pretty boring stuff to pass off the last few requirements. So I pulled out my trusty brownie recipe and before they got to my house at 4pm, the brownies were out of the oven and well into the cooling process.

I love this recipe because -
1. it calls for melted butter - no remembering to take the butter out of the freezer 12 hours before I actually want to make them (this is a huge selling point for me)
2. i can use chocolate chips which I always have around
3. it is very quick to get together and only takes 25 mintues to bake
4. the brownies are just plain yummy and always come out perfectly

So I just thought I would share this family (and Cub Scout) favorite. If anyone has a great recipe to share, post it on your blog and leave a comment with a link. I love getting new recipes - especially when they are tried-and-true.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Brownies:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter (you can use regular butter - just decrease salt to 1/4 tsp.)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted (This is part of the original recipe from Kraft Foods. My boys won't eat nuts so I have never added them. But I bet it would be tasty.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 6 oz. of the chocolate chips and the butter in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 2 min (stirring every 30 seconds) or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar; mix well. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and pecans until well blended. Stir in remaining 2 oz. of chocolate chips. I usually throw in about half a handful more just to be safe.

Spread into greased 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. (Here is a little thing I do...after spraying the pan, I coat the bottom with a thin layer of sugar. Same technique you use when flouring a cake pan. The brownies come out very easily and it is a nice treat on the bottom of your treat.)

Bake 22 to 25 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. (For me it is exactly 25 minutes.) Cool in pan on wire rack. (The original recipe says to melt the remaining 2 oz. of chocolate chips and drizzle over the brownies. I prefer to just mix them in like I wrote in the recipe. Seems like the drizzling method would exponentially increase the messiness factor with my kids.) Cut into 16 squares to serve.

Matthew's New Look

Introducing...the new and improved Matthew! He has been wearing the glasses for about a week and today for the first time he actually got up and put them on himself without me reminding him. I haven't been able to determine if they help him much. His eyes aren't terrible without out them and since he is nearsighted I don't think they make much difference for the stuff he usually looks at - books, Legos, worksheets, computer games, more Legos, all the food that I make for him that he refuses to eat and oh - did I mention Legos? So until we go back to the eye doctor in a few weeks, he'll just keep wearing them - silver today, gold tomorrow, silver the next day, etc. He insists on alternating them. So much for the back up pair that I was going to stash away for that inevitable day when they mysteriously disappears. Oh well - I suppose I should just be happy he wears them without putting up a fight. But then again why fight over glasses when you have a perfectly good brother to fight with over all those Legos.

A is for Astigmatism

Kind of a big word for a preschooler, but Matthew learned it this week. After failing a vision screening at school a couple of weeks ago, he had an appointment with an ophthalmologist yesterday and we found out that he needs glasses. He has astigmatisms in both eyes. The real issue is that the astigmatism in the left eye is worse and the nerve that connects it to his brain has started shutting down. It is basically an internal lazy eye - since that eye has to work harder to keep up with the other it just stops trying. But since it is a nerve issue and not a muscle issue there are no visible symptoms on the outside. So while I am saddened by the thought of that cute little face hiding behind glasses, I am very grateful that we found the problem while it can be treated and could possibly be corrected.

Tomorrow Bruce (just got a new prescription) and Matthew will both head to the optical shop and pick out new glasses - with a little help from me. And with a little luck, 4 year old Matthew won't break or lose them for at least a few weeks.

A Duck in New York City

While I'd almost always rather be listening to NPR in the car, I am usually listening to kid's music or books on CD. So when I come across a CD that I love as much as my kids do, I get pretty excited. Last week at the library I picked up a CD called "A Duck in New York City" by Connie Kaldor for no other reason than that I found the title and cover art intriguing. It is the best kid's CD I've found since "Here Come the ABCs" by They Might Be Giants". We all love to sing along and the kids giggle through almost every song. Our favorite tracks are:
1. A Duck In New York City
2. If You Love A Hippopotamus
3. Laundry Bag
4. Belly Button
6. Seed In The Ground
8. Honey, Honey, Honey
9. I Love Tomatoes
10. The Nose Song
11. Quack, Quack, Quack

So if you are relegated to listening to kid music like I am, check out this album!

Words of Wisdom from Phyllis Diller

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.”

The Elmo Cake

I must admit I was pretty pleased with how the cake turned out. I was really not ready for Elmo to be sliced and eaten a mere hour and a half after I finished him. Oh well, I suppose that was the point.