Cross-Country Skiing

Hubby took the boys cross-country skiing last night. They had a lot of fun and burned some energy at the same time! Thats a plus in my book!

Will Spring ever get here???

Last night a major snow storm hit. I saw a news report this morning that said we got around 14" of new snow. In northern Maine areas they got around 20"...that is a lot of snow! Last night as I was getting ready for bed (around 10:45pm) my neighbor called asking me to move my hubby's truck so that he could plow. The snow was coming down so hard and so thick that it was really hard to see anything. Even at that point there were tree limbs done around my driveway.

I cleaned off the truck as best as I could to see, and tried to move it out of the driveway. It would not budge. So I raced back up to the house (hopping through the snow) to get a shovel, and then raced back to the truck and started to dig out the buried tires. I was trying to get the truck moved before my neighbor finished his road, but the truck still wouldn't move. By the time my neighbor pulled up I was so out of breath, cold and soaked to the bone from the wet snow. We figured the truck was not moving because of all the ice under the snow (the pitfalls of getting a melt before another snow storm); so he used his chain to pull my truck out of the driveway. Thank God for good neighbors!!

Here are some pictures that I took of my yard this morning.

You can't really see it too well, but on the right hand side is a lilac bush that is completely ruined now!! Hopefully it will recover.

A view from my front door.

A view down my driveway. Newly plowed.

Non-Fiction Monday: Cows

Last night Ehric and hubby visited Too Tall's farm to return a milk jar. Too Tall is the cow that we get our milk from twice a week. While they were there the owner of the farm was doing chores in the barn. Ehric wanted to help milk Too Tall but it wasn't milking time. But the owner invited Ehric back next Saturday to come help milk Too Tall. Ehric is now very excited to say the least.

When he got home he asked me, 'How many udders do cows have?' I told him that in the morning we would read a book on cows to learn more about cow parts. So today we read the book, Cow by Jules Older and Illustrated by Lyn Severance.

Cow is a funny and kid friendly non-fiction book. Each page is filled with bright photos and honest to goodness talk about cows. One new fact that I learned is that cows are only females. We learned where cows originated and when. Ehric really liked saying the names of the cows four stomachs.

Now back to Ehric's original question, "How many udders do cows have?' Ehric learned that they have only one udder, but they have four teats. I figured last night that he was asking more about teats, but I wanted to have graphics to answer his question. So hopefully now when he goes back to Too Tall's he will know what the things you squeeze are called:)

At the end of 'Cow' there are directions for making chocolate milk, ice-cream sodas and other treats. So the boys and I made an icecream shake to drink along with our lunch. Yummy!

If you would like to take part in Non-Fiction Monday please visit:
http://6traits.wordpress.com/nonfiction-monday/
This week's Non-Fiction Monday round-up is at The Miss Rumphius Effect

Ehric's Day Out With Daddy

Yesterday Ehric and Daddy went on an adventure together. It was special because Ehric got Daddy all to himself without little brother tagging along. Which meant that Momma and Aiden got to spend the day alone together as well. It was good to seperate the boys for a while. They have been fighting a lot lately. Too cooped up together.

Eating BBQ at Buck's (Daddy's favorite food).

Ehric and Daddy went out for lunch and then off to LL Bean for their Kid's Week activities. They tried to watch a magic/juggling show but the room was jam packed. So Daddy let Ehric be the leader and they had a big adventure around the store.

Inside the see through fish tank at LL Bean.

Ehric and the other child in the picture remind me of little pixies in a garden.

Daddy and Ehric getting a picture with LL Bear

Outside of the store Ehric got to pet some sled dogs, and drink hot chocolate. They had a really fun time together. I think Ehric really needed that special attention. I can tell by the pictures that hubby took that Ehric had such a great time!

Lego Day 2/20

Yesterday we attended our Lego Day at the local library. I was so nervous the night before. The mom that had arranged for the room and that was helping put this day together, had emailed a few nights before with news that her children were sick. Since I do not have any Legos and she has about 60 lbs worth, I was freaking out. I knew we had about 32 kids signed up and I didn't want to show up empty handed if she couldn't make it to the event. So I stayed up cleaning Thursday night and gathered up several different plan Bs: Lincoln Logs, a Lego Board Game, Mega Blocks and Duplo Blocks.

My stress went away when I got to the room. The mom (I mentioned above) was there with all her Legos. Another mom had brought a bin with her as well. We had more than enough building toys for everyone to play with. Apparently she was so nervous as well that she got up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep.

My real frustration for the day was Aiden. I was constantly having to chase after him; and apologize to the older children when Aiden decided to knock down their houses or other creations. He also loved to run out of the room. Despite my frustrations, Aiden was having a really great time. While he was knocking down buildings or running around he was flying a Lego creation he made and dramatically saying, "Blast off!" He was apparently flying a rocket and making destruction in his path. Even when I am stressed I can still read between the lines, and catch little glimpses into his imaginary world. He is all boy!!

Aiden's Rocket!

Ehric always loves to play with older girls (above 6 years old). When he wants to play with them though they are usually not willing to play with a four year old boy. So as he is trying to play with them, they are trying to run off with another girl friend. To get their attention he has this horrible habit of roaring at them and putting his hands in their face like a lion (must be a cave-man thing). Which of course they definitely don't want to have anything to do with him then. Since I know that he has this tendency I try to keep an eye on his whereabouts and try to give him some lessons in how to be a better friend. After awhile my message gets through.

I found one thing that really focused Ehric in a positive way was allowing him to use my camera and take pictures. He looked like a little photographer going around the room taking picture of all that he saw. After that he seemed more relaxed. I think that he just gets so excited when he is around other children and people (because he is so social) that he wants everyone to share his excitement; and wants them to be his instant friend. Hopefully, in time he will understand that some kids need to warm up to other kids before they play.

The Photographer's Self-Potrait

Overall, I think that our first Lego Day was a success. But I am thankful that it is going to be another month before another one. I was so exhausted after yesterday's event that I ended up lounging the rest of the day!

Aiden was exhausted too!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

The boys and I made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies this week.

A few changes I made to the recipe:

• I used homemade pumpkin puree (I have a bunch in my freezer from growing pumpkins last summer).
• I used home-made brown sugar (white sugar mixed with molasses).
• I substituted Organic Cane sugar for the white sugar.
• Instead of 1/2 cup of butter I used 6 tblsp butter and 1/4 cup natural applesauce.

These cookies were cake-like and really delicious. I ended up making 34 cookies (I used a large table spoon and just dropped the dough on a cookie sheet). The boys and I really liked these alot! By the next morning I am embarrassed to say that they were all gone! That is how much we liked them. What is great is that they were filled with pumpkin!!

Egg Rolls

I made some really yummy egg rolls a few weeks back and wanted to share the recipe:

http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50572

Enjoy!

Kid's Science Fair

On Tuesday I took the boys to a Kid's Science Fair at the University of Maine at Augusta. They had all kinds of hands-on exhibits and activities for the kids to do. We checked out architecture, touched star fish in a touch tank, watched a shark presentation, measured sugar, and touched bones. Although we didn't do these particular activities: they also had crafts, making oobleck, and cow and pig dissections.

We did have our normal two year old tantrums with Aiden, but I think overall we had a lot of fun. I plan on taking the boys again next year!

Not All Idyllic Moments

Today was a rough day. Aiden was very teary eyed and cranky. If big brother looked at him wrong; if you didn't do as he said...you name it...he began to cry. When Aiden is not happy, no one is happy in our house. He is a very spirited child. When he is not his happy self (which when he is happy he is utterly and completely happy), Ehric tends to find ways to push his buttons even more.

Tonight we got the boys up to bed at a reasonable time. As we were heading upstairs I had this beautiful family scene running through my head 'We will all lie down and snuggle and I will read-aloud to my family. ' What happened in reality, 'There was an argument over who was going to be where in the bed; what book was going to be read; who was going to get to sit on Momma/near Momma; who got to see the picture better; Aiden was blocking the book; Ehric tried to push him out of the way to read; Daddy needed to go to sleep and was getting impatient; Momma started to read, was interupted; started to read again, and again and again; the lights were turned off several times; Aiden ripped the book out of my hands; and finally we did not get to read.'

I love that my boys are young and I don't want them to grow up too fast. But in some ways I can't wait until the toddler tantrums are gone and we can actually sit down and read a book! I know that life is never exactly how we envision it, but I still hold on to my dreams of that ideal family moment.

Bradbury Mountain

Today was unseasonably warm in Maine...we were blessed with 50 degree weather in February! I wont hold my breath though, because I am sure the weather will change soon. But for today we got to enjoy the sun. My neighbor and her son invited us to go hiking at Bradbury Mountain State Park. We took her up on the offer and went for a winter hike.

When we first got there we had all the boys in just their snow pants (because it was 50 degrees after all--didn't want the boys to roast), but once we got into the shade of the trees Ehric decided that he had to wear a coat. I am glad that I went back for the coats, because it got chilly on the way up.

The boys all had fun climbing up the mountain. Momma realized how out of shape I am! When we got to the top the boys ran around playing tag with one another. Ehric started a snowball fight, but the boys realized quickly that the snow was cold without their gloves on. Guess we should have brought their gloves with us too!

A woman and her adult son joined us at the top. My neighbor and I spoke with the woman while Ehric decided that he was going to play tag with the adult son. He was a good sport about it and played tag right along with him. Ehric got a little rambunctious and Aiden was antsy so we decided to head back down the mountain.

We decided to take another way down...we thought it would be shorter to the ground but we were wrong. Aiden got tired after a while so my neighbor and I took turns carrying him down. Her son got a little jealous of Aiden so of course he had to be carried too. We were all relieved when we finally got back to the bottom.

The kids played on the playground while I got snacks and drinks. We all chowed down on teddy grahams before heading out. I know that we all left there feeling both tired and rejuvenated. I hoped that the boys would nap after all the excitement but no luck! Regardless we had a great time!

Full Snow Moon

Last night if you had a chance to step outside you would have seen the Full Snow Moon. Here is what the Farmer's Almanac has to say about February's full moon,

'Full Snow Moon - Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February's full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.'

I got a chance to see the Full Snow Moon in the middle of the night (had trouble falling asleep). The moon was somewhat hidden by clouds, but other wise still very visible. It was actually so bright that I was able to look out my window and see things outside my window quite clearly. The whole sky was very lit up. It was beautiful!

It is my plan in the future to have the boys help me keep a Moon Journal. I want us to record where we see the moon in the sky, to draw what it looks like, and record any other pertinent info that would help us track the moon throughout the year. I also would like us to celebrate the full moon by baking a round cake or dessert. I think that would be a fun tradition to add.

Cardboard Bricks

For the past few months one of the boys favorite toys has been cardboard bricks. Their favorite thing to build with them are sheds (garages) for their cars and trucks. They also build the occassional house or castle. But what I love most is that they have provided lots of imaginative play and hands-on learning opportunities. The other day they used the bricks to see how tall the three of us were. They especially loved to see how tall the bricks were compared to how tall Momma was. They kept adding more bricks and calling me over to see where it was height wise on my body. We also learned that Ehric is two blocks taller than Aiden.

When they make a house or shed, they use their matchbox cars or little people and make up stories. Sometimes I will listen in on their fantasy world to see what they are saying. Since they are big into the Cars movie right now they sometimes make race tracks and have races around the bricks. Other times they retell parts of the Cars movie.

The other day the boys and I made an aluminum foil bridge and they have added that into their play with the bricks. I love that for the most part they play cooperatively with the bricks. But unfortunately the boys have discovered that cardboard bricks make a great weapon to hit our brother with. Then the bricks get put off limits for a while. Fortunately, that doesn't happen too often.

Organizing Sunday

I know that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest; but today wasn't very restful for me. I awoke with an urge to create an area for all the kid's craft supplies. I got an idea for a kid's craft closet in a magazine and decided to kind of create something similiar. I have a plastic storage cabinet that I thought would do. But to put the cabinet where I wanted I had to move a few things. So I started moving some of my pantry items to the kitchen. As I moved those items I thought that some of the storage containers I had those in would be a good container for my toiletries. So I left the pantry items to straighten up my toiletries. After spending time straightening up my toiletries I then go back to the pantry items. Once I moved those items off a little plastic shelf, I moved the shelf into the kitchen for the time being.

I then emptied out the plastic storage cabinet that I had upstairs. Hubby was busy doing something so I carried it down stairs by myself. I have moved quite a few things by myself over the years. Then I brought it downstairs. We had to move our baker's rack to fit the cabinet in the spot I wanted.

Then I got the idea to put two-drawer style containers next to the cabinet. I spent quite a bit of time adding supplies to the cabinet and the drawer-style bins. I added papers, markers, stickers, clay, playdough, bingo daubers, and whatever other craft supplies I had. The drawer-style bins worked perfectly for the different types of papers, stencils, watercolor books, coloring books, etc that I have for the boys.

Of course, as I was putting things into the craft cabinet I had to rearrage some of the storage containers they were in. I ended up moving several items to different storage containers to better fit into the cabinet. On top of the drawer-style bins I added a container of Family Fun Magazines, craft books and how-to draw books.

The shelving unit that originally held my pantry items was moved next to a matching shelf that held our winter boots. It gave me a spot to put the boys bicycle helmets, cross country ski boots and other items. To do that I also had to move a bureau holding VHS/DVDs and cleanup some of our recycling. After all that was said and done I still had to find new homes for all the pantry items. That was no small feat.

I put together a Sunday Box for the boys. I took a plastic storage container and added: a toddler Bible, a children's prayer book, a soft prayer book (contains pictures of family to pray for); our Noah's Ark toys; a dry-erase book about Jonah; a binder on creation I made that has a creation game; a Jonah and the Whale dry-erase book; and a few story books. The boys used the Noah's Ark characters with their aluminum foil bridge we made yesterday.

Amazingly, I also finished the book I was reading, Daughter of Jerusalem by Thom Lemmons (Great fictional book about Mary Magdelene) and watched a few of our shows that we have on tape.



I also helped hubby cut his hair. I absolutely hate cutting hair because I am always afraid of really messing up the cut. But I think it came out pretty good. I planted a seed during the cut by telling hubby that he should shave his beard off too. For anyone who hasn't seen my hubby... he has been growing an Amish-inspired beard for the last year or so. (I miss seeing the clean cut version of my husband.) But he obviously thought about what I said because he really trimmed his beard up. Much improved I say!

Hubby took the boys outside to go cross-country skiing but plans were changed because our dog, Nanook (a siberian huskey) was trying to escape from his pen. Nanook was caught in the fence and hubby had to do some digging to get him out. So Nanook spent some time inside the house playing with the boys while Daddy fixed his fence.

The boys had a playdate with the neighbor girls so hubby and I relaxed and caught up on some of our shows. Overall it was a very productive and pretty good day.

Beekeeping and Master Gardener Program

I am getting really excited for Spring now. Next month I will be taking a beekeeping class with my hubby. We would really like to have our own hive so that we can make honey. I am both excited and a little nervous about keeping bees, but it is another step towards self-sufficiency. The class will meet for five weeks and then this summer we will have one field day to work directly with the bees.

I just found out also that I was selected to take part in our Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program. I am super excited because we are going to learn about growing fruits and vegetables. We have several apple trees on our property that need attention and have plenty of land for gardening. Usually hubby does all the gardening and I deal with the preserving. So I am really looking forward to being a part of this program.



As a child I spent most of my time indoors and it takes a real effort as an adult to get myself outdoors. So I am hoping that through these courses I will become more acclimatized to being outside which will benefit my children tremendously. Right now I kind of rely on Daddy to be the one to expose them to the outdoors, because I always feel lost and uncomfortable outdoors. I really want us to become self-sufficient as well and to do that I need to take more of an active role. I don't want hubby to be the only one with the outdoor skills.

I can't wait!

Elephant Ears

This morning Aiden wanted "water and a cookie." I tried to tell him several which ways that we did not have any cookies. Since I was craving cookies the other day I decided to relent and make some cookies. What a push over!

I decided to look in one of the kid's cookbooks for a recipe. We have a really cute cookbook, called Alpha-Bakery by Gold Medal, that has a recipe for every letter of the alphabet. I settled for the E recipe, Elephant Ears.

Here is the recipe for Elephant Ears:

1/4 cup of margerine or butter
1 cup of all-purpose flour (of course it called for Gold Medal but I use King Arthur flour)
2 tblsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/3 cup milk
3 tblsp of sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Sugar

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Grease a cookie sheet with shortening (or use a coated cookie sheet or parchment paper)
3. Heat margerine or butter until melted; set aside.
Stir together flour, 2 tblsp sugar, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk
and melted butter until dough forms.
4. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour and knead the dough 10 times. Roll dough with a rolling pin or pat with hands into a rectangle, 9x5 inches.
Brush with remaining melted butter, using a pastry brush; sprinkle with mixture of 3 tblsp sugar and the cinnamon.
5. Roll dough up tightly beginning at narrow end. Pinch edge of dough into a roll and seal. Cut into 4 equal pieces with a sharp knife. Places sides up on a cookie sheet; pat each into a 6" circle.
Sprinkle with more sugar.
6. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 4 elephant ears. (I doubled the recipe to make 8)

I always like to make notes in my cookbooks when I make a recipe. I write down the date, what we thought about it, and what I might do differently. For this recipe I wrote, 'Reminds me of a biscuit. Very mild flavor..not too overly sweet (probably perfect for kids tastebuds). Aiden said, "Thank you Mommy" several times. Ate for breakfast with hot chocolate. Not something I would make all the time, but occassionally.'

Its been several hours since I made them and the boys are still nibbling away at them. So now I am thinking that they are a hit with the boys. I even like them a little bit more. Ehric told me that he thought they were really good. So I guess now we will be making them again!