Thankful Thursday-FUN Daddy

Last year for their birthday the boys each received two kites. I can remember how excited they were! They had never flown a kite and could not wait!!!  They each flew a kite and it quickly became destroyed and ended up in the trash. But they each still had another kite. Those two kites were never flown.  And they made it from April 2012, through a 6-hour move and 2-months in storage still in the package and in perfect flying condition, until yesterday.

For months they have seen them in the garage and have drove us crazy begged to go fly their kites.  Honestly there just have not been any days for flying a kite.

Until yesterday. 

The wind was very strong with gusts of 25-40 mph.  It never dawn on me this was a kite flying day as I fought the wind while out running errnads.  But after a short time outdoors they quickly realized it was the perfect day to FINALLY fly a kite.  And the begging soon became my worse nightmare!  That is until my knight in shining armor pulled up in the driveway in his white truck!

He saved the day!!!!! Today I am thankful for an amazing husband that took the time (after working all day) yesterday to be a FUN Daddy and take the boys to fly a kite.  Not two kites, but one kite.  He was smart enough to save one for another day.

Making Math More Fun

Often as a homeschooling Momma I just want to start school, get it done and move on to all the other stuff hanging over my head.

So I stick to the books and worksheets for learning.  You know those harsh, cold and very stale books and worksheets for math???   

They are NOT FUN AT ALL!!!!  BORING!!!! Time for a reality check Momma! 

That is when I bring out the Math Manipulatives!!! And things seem to change.  Worksheets are FUN to do now.  We do our math lessons on the floor, in our pjs and it is our first lesson of the day.  Math is so much better as our first lesson of the day!!!!!

We take a break to eat our breakfast, have free time with all the toys math manipulatives, FINALLY brush our teeth and back to MATH we go!!!

The dishwasher can wait.  The towels to be folded can wait. Dusting can surely wait! Putting a load of whites on can wait. Ponytails are for this kinda of day! And who needs to make a bed everyday?!

Making math more fun is more important today.
 

Hairy Green Supreme

Yep, it's that time again!  Time for the green smoothies! When I drink green smoothies these take the place of one, maybe two meals a day.  I still eat real food!!! Real meals and real snacks! For me they are simply a quick, healthy meal replacement. I love smoothies in general, but green smoothies are so good!  And for a few good reasons.

1. They are pretty darn healthy.
2. They fill me up!
3. LOVE the color.
4. And for FUN I like to gross the boys out! 

GREEN is good!

I usually do not start on my green smoothie kick until the weather is warmer.  And since it feels like SPRING in SE Texas I am enjoying the green stuff. This is my favorite!

THE HAIRY GREEN SUPREME

3 handfuls of Baby Spinach(you can start out with less)

1 Kiwi-HAIRY skin and all!

1 cup pineapple

1 frozen banana

2 cups water

 

**You can always add ice if your fruit is not frozen. 

And add honey to make it a tad sweeter if you like.**

 

 

Are you a green smoothie lover?  What is your favorite? 

 

(Valentine's Day Smoothie coming soon!)

 

Little Reminders of Love

I don't go crazy with decorating for Valentine's Day.  After all it is NOT a holiday.  

It is simply a day to share and show love.  

But because it is important to a certain little boy who loves to see "holiday" decorations and have/ plan a party, I do my best to make him happy.

 

Yet in a small home decorations can quickly become too much.

The decorating needs to be kept to a minimum.  

So I set out to place little reminders of love throughout.

Simple, little reminders.

Inside the box-little hearts with Bible verses about love.

John 13:34

Real stuff to follow

Valentine's Day Subway Art-made by me

1 John 4:19

Happy Monday!

Progress

We are a few steps closer in our journey!

Read all about it over at The Poultry Record .
"A Chronicle of Two Families' Adventures in Raising Pastured Poultry"

Happy Saturday y'all. 

FUN Friday-Valentine's Day Recipes

Happy Friday!!!!!  This is going to be a FUN Friday (weekend) indeed! 

Tonight is our favorite time of the week PIZZA NIGHT!  Cheeseburger pizza anyone (we'll see how they like it)? Maybe watch a movie and sleep in tomorrow.  Ahhhh, I can't wait!

And then................................................................drum roll please...................someone has a birthday coming up this weekend! 

The ♥LOVE♥ of my life!!!!

And a birthday means a special meal and dessert for the birthday boy!!!  I don't know about you, but when a birthday falls on the weekend it is pretty much celebrated all weekend long! 

Now moving on to some FUN for YOU!  I said I was going to share a couple of recipes today so let's get to it!

The first one I shared last year for Valentine's Day and wanted to share again in case you missed it.

Chocolate Chip Scones!!  Oh they are so yummy.

After making this plate up for the boys' mid-morning school snack on Wednesday I thought what a pretty Valentine's Day breakfast this would be (minus the little green bowl of powered sugar).

Maybe just sprinkle the strawberries with powdered sugar.  Or make homemade whipped topping and have a dollop along side the strawberries.

A chocolate chip scone, fresh strawberries with cream and a small glass of OJ on a platter delivered in bed to your love would be a perfect Valentine's Day breakfast!!!!


Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients:
1-3/4c. flour
1/4c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4tsp. salt
1c. MINI chocolate chips
1c. heavy whipping cream( I have used tried half and half before and was sorry I did! Stick to the heavy whipping cream)

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in cranberries. Add cream, stirring just until soft dough forms. If too wet, add extra flour 1Tbsp. at a time. On floured surface, gently knead dough 5-6 times. Place on greased cookie sheet and pat into an 8" circle. Score into 8 wedges, gently separating. Sprinkle top with sugar. Bake 15-20 min. or until golden brown. 

And now moving on to the FUN for your littles. 

The boys love when it is time for a lesson with Science in the Kitchen!  I do too!!!! This little recipe proved to be a BIG hit for the boys.  And I thought it would make a super cute Valentine's gift/treat for little ones. 

Homemade Soft Clay:
In a pot, mix:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar

Combine the following and add to flour mixture:
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil (I used vegetable)
a few drops of food coloring

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture stiffens and forms a ball. Spoon onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes.  Be careful, it will be hot.  Store in an airtight plastic bag.

Then let the fun begin.  The boys found our container of cookie cutters and played for an hour at least!  I pulled all the Valentine's Day cutters out and had a little fun too. 

This is perfect for any occasion or just for fun any day of the week.  But what a super cute Valentine's Day gift! Chocolate is delicious, but is soon gone.  And way too quickly.  At least this will stick around for a day or two.  When it is covered in dirt and grass it is time to throw away. Boys will be boys.

Happy Friday to you all.  Enjoy you day and make the most of your weekend.  Now get OUTSIDE and have some FUN!

The Poultry Record

Is it Friday yet? With the holiday on Monday I have my days mixed up.....it feels like it should be Friday.  But alas one more day.

So Happy Thursday to you all. 

Monday was a holiday for Brant and we decided to make it a school holiday too.  Well kinda.  We did work on our organizational skills. We cleaned the boys' room.  It! Was! Awful!  But it is nice now.  And after we made a trip out to the country (Brant's brother's place). 

The boys always love running around out there playing with the dogs, chasing the cats and bothering the chickens.  They are usually getting into things and going places they are not suppose to be.  What a FUN time for two almost eight year old little boys! 

We went out to the country to see the progress Daddy and their uncle had done to the "chicken house".  Did you miss our news? 

We, along with my brother in law and his family, are going to raise chickens to later butcher and eat.  And we have started a new blog to document it all along the way!  

The Poultry Record .
"A Chronicle of Two Families' Adventures in Raising Pastured Poultry"

And Brant did a quick update last night.  Go check it out.

The Poultry Record .

And come back tomorrow for a FUN Friday post!  Two recipes for Valentine's Day.  One to eat and share with those you love.  And one to make for the little people in your life.....this one is to play with!

Beautiful

"A particular moment is so spiritually moving that we feel a sense of transcendent majesty within. Beauty suddenly captures us."


I have always been a lover of all things created by my Heavenly Father.  And can sometimes be a little over the top with my feelings.  Nature just does that to me. 

After reading "Eyes Wide Open" it simply justified all I ever felt about the thousands of gifts God has given us in nature.  In many other areas too!  Art, books, movies, music, cooking, baking, etc., but nature is where I see it most, but I am working on the other areas. 

If we open our eyes He is everywhere! 

Temperatures are slowly getting warmer around here in SE Texas.  The sun is out after lots of rainy days. We have had beautiful spring-like days! Oh how it gets me itching for that amazing time of year. Now that is not to say we are totally over winter. I know we will still have some cold weather here and there.  But boy oh boy does it open my eyes to see the beauty with the sun shining bright.

Beautiful.........

 

The Azaleas in our front yard have been teasing us with a few blooms here and there. These beautiful pink flowers so remind me of growing up in this area......right where we are now. They are a fond memory of my childhood growing up here in SE Texas.  But I can honestly say I never looked at them the way I look at them today. Nature means so much more to me now.

 

 

"Everywhere I look, everything I feel, hear, smell, and taste transmits the beauty of God through the beauty of creation. He is the beauty behind all beauty."

 

I love pansies.  And they are beautiful.  But that is not the beauty I see in this picture.  Look closely at the planter.  See the green?

Yep, that is moss growing. And that is the beautiful I see. A living, growing flowerless, spore-producing plant. 

 

 

"Nature is God's self-portrait. It is not God, since God transcends what He created, but it reveals in physical form what He is like spiritually. God creates beauty so we can know what He is like."

 

 

Last week as I was making my breakfast (eggcups-eggs, baby spinach and Feta cheese...you must try!) I cracked open an egg.  These are eggs from free range chickens Brant's brother and his family raise.  When I cracked open this light green egg I was in awe of the inside color.  It was beautiful!  It had me wondering which chicken laid the egg.  I wanted to thank her for this beauty.  And for making my breakfast special. 

But more importantly I thank God for the creation of it all.  The flowers, the moss and the chickens and eggs. I am thankful to catch a glimpse of my Heavenly Father.

"When we experience beauty, we are really experiencing a reflection of God's beauty."

**All quotes taken from "Eyes Wide Open" by Steve DeWitt**

Conversation Heart Wreath

This year I am not planning much for Valentine's Day since we will on the road. Ryan's check-up for his Infantile Scoliosis is on Valentine's Day in Dallas so we will be gone for a few days.....I'll give more details on that later.

But #2 insists we put a few things up, make Valentine's Day cards and have a party before we leave.  Well we all know you can't have a party without decorations so I better get busy!

Yesterday I made a Conversation Heart Wreath to hang up to show a little love.  This is SO easy!!!
Your older children can make this with very little if any help.  And with you cutting everything out even younger children can make their own.

All you will need is construction paper, cereal box for the wreath (or any piece of cardboard), scissors, glue and a marker or crayons.

I used a dinner plate to make my wreath.

 And then a smaller plate for the inner circle.

 Next you'll work on the placement of your hearts.

 I tend to like BIG puffy hearts.  My likes were WAY TOO big and I had to trim them down to fit.  Just play around with the placement before you glue them on.

Before gluing don't forget to write your "conversations" on the hearts.  You can go by the classic conversation heart candy or make up your own.  I did a little of both.   Next add a ribbon and hang for all to enjoy. Another option is to add magnets to hang the wreath on the fridge.

Either one is an easy little Valentine's Day craft for you and your sweet children to enjoy together.

Happy Tuesday y'all.

End table Redo

I started with this.  An old, far too modern, end table we bought years ago when our taste was WAY DIFFERENT than it is today.  We love to repurpose furniture if possible so I have kept it all these years.  And finally got around to giving it some love.

I first sanded down every little nook and cranny. Anywhere I could sand.  It is not real wood so I had to be careful not to sand too much.  We also "roughed" it up a bit with a hammer and a heavy chain. This is usually done after painting.

After it was cleaned up with mineral spirits it was time to paint.  I DID NOT apply a top coat of any kind.  Mainly because I wanted to see if the paint would hold. And I rarely do more work than I have to with old junky furniture anyway.  So I painted one coat and allowed it to dry.  It seemed to hold the paint pretty good so I moved forward.  I decided I would use what paint I had on hand.  And I had two colors that would be perfect!  

Last January I was itching to redo a bench in a bright blue. Remember this beauty?
Color: "All That Jazz" from Lowes

 Along with the bright blue I used a lighter blue from a room makeover that went totally wrong. 

I mixed the two together and ended up with this.  LOVE the country blue color I got.

 It really was pretty painted with no distressing, but it is just not my cup of tea.

After a second coat of paint it was time to distress this blue beauty.  Sanding, sanding, wipe, sand some more and so on and so forth.  Then wipe down entire area and let dry.  I then painted on a thin coat of polyurethane.  I almost didn't, but I know the top will suffer damage from everyday life so this will help it in the long run.

I like distressed furniture and want it to really looked distressed.  You do not have to sand and distress as much as I did.  It is fun to start out lightly sanding and see where I need to go back and add more or stop.  See that area on top that looks like a big scratch?  Well that is a result of too much sanding. So I went back and blended it a little.  It looks rough, but adds more character.

 I wanted to make sure the corners were well distressed because this is where most wear and tear is on furniture. 

And those spots where we "roughed" it up, I had to sand down inside the dents since we goofed up and did it before we painted. 

 Some dents I left alone.....see on the leg.

At one point I turned the table over to distress the feet.  I think this is important part that I almost forgot.

I love the way it turned out and am so glad I hung on to this table for so long.  It turned out old and worn looking with lots of character.  Just the way I like my furniture.

Talk about character.....nice crooked lampshade.