Thanks, Mr. Postman

Lookie what the mailman brought for me!

Is there anything better than getting fabric in the mail?
It's like a little taste of Christmas right in the mailbox.

Some stripes and dots . . .

A stampede of animals . . .

And some just for fun . . .

It's all washed and folded hanging out in my fabric closet.
I can't wait to cut into it and see what it can become!

She Did It!

My Olivia has done it.
She finished reading the ENTIRE Harry Potter series.

I can't even remember when she started . . . was it the beginning of the school year? 
Probably somewhere around there, at least.

We own the HP movies 1-4, and she wanted to watch them all of the time.
I finally had enough of the asking and told her she couldn't watch them anymore until she read the books.
Oh, boy!  She was a little mad at that.
BUT -- after reading #1 and #2, she was OK and really got into the groove.
In fact, she finished Prisoner of Azkaban during Christmas break.
And then she just kept reading and reading and reading.

I would go upstairs in the mornings to get the kids up for school only to find her already awake . . . with the light on . . . reading.
I also found out that she would do some reading after bedtime.
Sneaky girl.
She reminds me of a little girl I once knew who would stay up late reading The Bobsey Twins or Babysitter's Club.

Her reward for doing an absolutely amazing job reading through these books is that when the HP #7 (and subsequent #8) movie is released at the theater, we will go see it. 
Probably just us two.
You see, I've put the challenge to Isaac now.
He can't watch any HP movies until he reads the books.

Sheep Shearing

This past weekend we went to watch sheep get sheared.

This couple opens their land to the local community to watch their sheep get a hair cut.

And boy did those sheep need a good cut!

One little guy had already been sheared by the time we arrived.  He was all alone and kept bleating for his friends.
Or, perhaps I'm just assuming that's what he was saying.
His name is Obama.

When we arrived, they were just putting a new one up on the stand.
His name was Biden.
I found out later that the owners got those two sheep just before the election in 2008.

A couple of other sheep were being held in a pen for their turn.
I liked their little jackets they were wearing and the kids liked petting them.

The owners had a really big dog (Great Pyrenese?) who was so gentle.
The kids really liked it (with so much fur, finding the gender was next to impossible without being too invasive!).

The owners called in a professional sheep shearer.
I thought she would be using an electric trimmer, like the one I use to cut the boys hair but designed for sheep.
Nope.
She used actual shears.  Scissors.
It was impressive watching her work.
And Biden felt much better after the trim.

Look at all that wool just from one sheep!

I wish I knew how to knit.  I'd love to learn one of these days.
The owners teach classes on how to spin the fleece into yarn.
Interestingly, they had a sign posted that read, "Create a memento of your pets fur."
Hmmm . . . maybe I could take some of the cats' fur and make some yarn with it.
Christmas gifts for next year! Ha!

Pre-Gardening and Little Random Lazy Sunday Doings

This weekend Chad busted out the soil sampling kit he bought last year on super sale at the end of the gardening season.
It looked like fun, it is science after all.

Olivia loves science and was an exellent helper at determining the pH of vaious locations around our garden.
Look at how she wields the pipette like a pro!

Insert tablet . . .

Add soil sample and invert 10 times . . .

Watch the soil settle for one minute . . .

Check the results . . .

She got a little bored after the pH because Chad was being a science hog.
And to do the other experiments, you had to wait five whole minutes until doing something else to it.
So she left to read Harry Potter.

All the while, the boys joined the science table . . . but not to partake in sciencing.
No, they wanted to draw.
What else but Mario and Luigi?!

Oh, and Isaac wanted to show off his giant Lego Man made from Legos.

And Ezren wanted to show how cute he is.

Purple Pride

We're not big into the whole March Madness thing.  In fact, we've been known to go an entire season without watching a single game of basketball.  But this year we've taken a slight interest.  Growing up in Kansas, everyone has their favorite -- you either root for KU or K-State. 

We're K-Staters in this house.  And last week the arch rival KU lost to UNI.  They shouldn't have lost, but they did.  K-State didn't lose though and is still in the competition. 

So, in honor of our favorite school playing tonight, the kids and I dressed in purple K-State gear today. 



Go Wildcats!

Carrot Cake Cookies

The other day perusing the world wide web, I happened upon this recipe.
I thought, "I like carrot cake.  The kids like carrot cake.  She says they taste like Oatmeal Cream Pies.  Let's go."

And go I did.



I didn't follow her recipe exactly -- added a few things to make it "better".

Ingredients
1/2 c. plus 1 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. plus 1 T. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. flax meal
1 c. oats
5 teaspoons cinnamon (because I like me some cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 c. plus 2 T. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. plus 2 T. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup coarsely grated carrots (3 medium)

Glaze (I didn't do the glaze but am putting her recipe here anyway)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 T. powdered sugar, plus extra if needed
2 T. milk, plus extra if needed to thin glaze
1/4-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. sift together flours, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Add flax and oats to flour mixture.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until pale and fluffy, about 2 min.
3. Mix in carrot at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Chill dough in freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Drop 1 T. batter per cookie on lightly greased baking sheets.  Bake until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12-16 minutes total (I found it's closer to the 12 minutes, maybe even a little less depending upon your oven). Cool on sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to wire racks.
5. Spoon glaze onto warm cookies and dust with cinnamon if desired.  Store in airtight container in the fridge. Makes 35 small cookies.

Next time I might try adding less sugar, more flax, more whole wheat flour, and perhaps halve the butter and use applesauce in place of the missing half.

You want to make these.
They'll make your house smell a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
We took two cookies and a little dollop of whipped cream, creating our own Oatmeal Cream Pies.
They are phenomenal.

The only down side is that they just don't last long enough!
I made 35 little cookies yesterday . . . and now they are all gone.

A Favorite Stop

Since we were out near the Reuse Center, we decided to stop in.
Usually we have to make a special trip because it's pretty far and don't like to take the kids (they get into everything and don't like spending an hour looking at stuff).

I love this place!
You can find virtually any home improvement item you might need right here in this store. 
And it's good for the environment because people donate their stuff (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). 
And the proceeds help Habitat for Humanity.

It felt a little weird taking photos inside. 
People gave me that why-does-she-have-a-huge-camera-and-why-is-she-photoing-this-junk look. 
A little embarrassing and nerve wracking at first, but I moved past it (obviously because I took the pictures).

They never seem to have a paint color I like, but it's nice to know I can look.

We were actually here to look for light fixtures.
We had taken down our old, seriously ugly, and ineffective fixtures from our stairwell and hallway upstairs when we made the loft wall into a half wall.

Wow . . . look at all that brass.

Right around this time, Isaac needed to go to the bathroom.
I took him (and the camera).
Don't worry, no one else was in there.
And why yes, that is a K-State jacket I'm wearing.
I found that at my favorite local thrift store -- here in NC, believe it or not!

More things you can buy here . . .

Any kind of throne you could want.

I also love that they have a furntiture section.
Found this baby . . . (sadly, did not buy it)

$5 chairs!  Most of them.   But not that swivvelly nice one.  She was $30.

So many cabinets . . .

Isaac checking himself out in the mirror . . .

And by far the coolest thing at this shop was not in the store, nor was it for sale, but rather, it was in the parking lot.
On our way to the Lego Club Meeting, we had seen this old blue car driving up the highway behind us. 
Natually, I melted a little as it passed us all the while brainwashing explaining to Isaac how cool old cars are and how he should think about getting one when he's a little older.
Low and behold, it's in the Reuse Center parking lot.
Suddenly, the sun's a little brighter and what's that?  angels singing?
Of course, we park right next to it.
I was so excited, I cut off one of the headlights in this first picture.

Don't you just want to sit inside?

I knew you would like that.

Isaac's Special (Lego) Day

We had a special day for Olivia.  And a special day for Ezren.
With all of the hoopla of birthdays and holidays and life, well, Isaac's special day kinda took the back burner.

But we finally got our act together and gave the boy what he wanted . . . a special day with just mom and dad at a Lego Club Meeting.
The night before the meeting, we ate Isaac's favorite dinner (corndogs), took an evening walk to a new house being built (envious attic space), and watched one of his favorite movies (Speed Racer).
I have never heard the kid talk so much! 
He just kept jabbering on and on and on . . .
It was really nice.

By 7:00 am on Saturday, Isaac was up, dressed, and ready to go to the Lego Club Meeting.
He was so excited!



At the meetings they each get a T-shirt and a bag of Legos to take home with them.
He wore the shirt for the rest of the day and told everyone (and I really mean everyone) he saw where he got it and how awesome it was.
Isaac also chose (surprise) to wear his T-shirt to school today.  He'll probably ask again tomorrow and the next day and the next day . . .

The Lego people (store employees) asked the kids trivia questions before the meeting started.  If someone answered the question right, then they got a little Lego flower which they could exchange for a mini figure at the end of the meeting.

Isaac didn't win one, but that's OK.

Do you see the Lego creation next to him?

That is the bottom half of Mario.

It took him about 2 minutes to do it. 

He was still working on it while they were asking questions, which is probably why he didn't get a little flower.

There were only seven kids (including two 10 year old girls which surprised me), so they were broken into two groups to play two of the different new Lego games.

Isaac's group started with the game Minotaurus.  It's sort of like Sorry.

There were four kids in his group, ranging in age from six to nine.

This is by far the game Isaac has been most drawn to on the Lego website, so he really enjoyed playing it.

It's funny, he's seen it on Lego.com so much that he feels he knows all of the rules.  So while the instructor was explaining it, Isaac kept jumping in and trying to explain it himself.  A couple of times they had to say, "OK, Isaac, hang on."

Then the groups switched games, and Isaac's group went to play Monster 4.  It's a little like Connect 4.

As they were playing, I walked around and took some random shots of the store.
The Pick-a-Brick Wall is probably the coolest thing ever!
It has lots of little buckets attached to the wall and filled with Legos.
You can buy a small cup or a large cup and fill them to the top with any random assortment of the Legos on the wall. 

Keychains . . .

These little holes are all over the store.
Each one has a different scene to peek at.
I like the Sumo guy.

This was up by the cash register.
Not sure what's going on but pretty sure I don't want to be involved!

I found this magazine (for sale) on a shelf somewhere in the store.
Looked at the front . . . Lego this, Lego that.
Flipped it over and saw . . . WSU!  With a little Wu-shock on top. 
In a magazine, in a store, in NC.
Just weird.

Finally it was time to go.
Our time at the Lego Club Meeting had come to a close.
And although Isaac didn't win a mini figure, he still played around and built one.