Evening Entertainment

Snow Weekend!

When snow was forecasted for this weekend, I have to admit that I didn't really believe it would happen. However, I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. And it came on a Saturday when Nate didn't have to worry about working at all. Nice!

Poor Ryan, we don't have gloves for him. He was happy outside for a few minutes, but he didn't want to keep the gloves on that we gave him. When he got his fingers in the snow, it didn't take him long to start crying. Then he did a face plant pretty soon after that. But he wasn't happy to be inside while everyone else was outside, either.

Nikki and Hannah had fun outside even though we still haven't acquired anything that will serve as a suitable sled. We tried a trash bag this year -- didn't work.

Notice the plastic grocery bags on Hannah's feet? That's what we used to do when we were growing up. It seems silly to have snowboots for kids when you live in NC and may or may not get snow at all in a given year. Somehow, wearing grocery bags on our feet just seemed a little different now that we are city dwellers. I really felt like a redneck.

We also made snowcream, but I didn't get a picture of that. It was really good, though. Even Nate was impressed I could do that. FYI -- food coloring doesn't really work too well in snow cream because the coloring freezes before it can spread evenly throughout the cream.

Church was cancelled today because of the snow. We had our own little primary sharing and singing time. It was a lot of fun, and Nate really enjoyed not having to contain Ryan for 3 hours of church.

We got this art book from the library the other day, and with all of the extra time we've had we have tried a few projects out. Here is one that everyone ended up having a lot of fun with. You start by filling a blank page with dots. Then you connect pairs of dots to make different kinds of lines in all directions, some curvy, some straight, make some triangles, squares, circles, whatever. Then you try to find a funny creature somewhere in all the shapes you have made. Erase all the extra lines and then add in whatever details you want. This is my camel ice skating while flying a kite, although Nate says it doesn't look anything like a camel.

Here is Nate's. It's sideways -- I forgot to rotate it before I uploaded it, but he says it's a fire-breathing dragon with wings and a bat flying behind it. What a boy picture. :)

Nikki's girl reading a book. I thought she did a great job.

And Hannah's frog prince. I have no idea how she found a frog out of her lines. I never would have seen it.

It was a lot of fun doing it together.

The Robe

I went to book club last night, and we talked about this book. It was a really good book. I definitely recommend it. It's not a quick, easy read. It's a historical fiction novel about the Roman soldier who crucified Jesus Christ and then won His robe that they gambled for. It's the story of how his life changed because of that. It also develops the story of his slave, Demetrius, who is a really cool character. Lots of applicable life lessons. It also visits the people who were affected by Jesus' miracles, such as the woman with an issue of blood, the family that was holding the wedding when He changed the water to wine, a woman who learned she had a singing talent after Jesus visited with her, a boy who had a lame leg healed. It was interesting to read about what it was like for those early Christians in the immediate times following the Crucifixion. What an incredibly tough time it would have been to live through. Anyway, very good read.

Sunday Will Come

I was up in the attic the other day trying to decide if there was anything up there that I really cared enough about to take with us when we move. I was going through a box of mementos with the thought that I was only going to keep it if I thought my children might be interested in it when I died. I came across a letter from my mom and one from my dad that they each had written to me. It's amazing that they have been gone for almost 14 years and yet the emotions can still come so quickly to the surface. My emotions aren't quite the same as they were when I was 16, though. I do feel sorrow for what my children are missing out on without my parents in their lives, and yet I feel so much hope and joy for the life that is to come. I feel an incredible amount of gratitude that I have such loving parents who were great examples to me. They were just good people, and I feel so blessed to be a part of their family. And I feel more gratitude than I can express for my Savior who overcame death and hell for us. I recently heard a talk by Elder Wirthlin from a few years ago that is just beautiful. Here is an excerpt if you don't feel like clicking the link to read all of it, but it is definitely worth the time to read through it.

The Resurrection is at the core of our beliefs as Christians. Without it, our faith is meaningless. The Apostle Paul said, "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and [our] faith is also vain."5

In all the history of the world there have been many great and wise souls, many of whom claimed special knowledge of God. But when the Savior rose from the tomb, He did something no one had ever done. He did something no one else could do. He broke the bonds of death, not only for Himself but for all who have ever lived—the just and the unjust.6

When Christ rose from the grave, becoming the firstfruits of the Resurrection, He made that gift available to all. And with that sublime act, He softened the devastating, consuming sorrow that gnaws at the souls of those who have lost precious loved ones.

I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross.

On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.

Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.

On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.

On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.

On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled.

It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.

I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world's history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.

The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.

And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come. (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Sunday Will Come, Ensign, Nov. 2006)

Granola Bars

Posting the recipe for the yogurt made me think about my granola bars. I really like these, too. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a little bit.

3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 cup wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 c. honey
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (or dried apples and cinnamon, or raisins, or whatever you want)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 dish.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips. Then stir in the chips.
3. Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown (I have a wimpy oven and have to bake it for 24 minutes to keep them from being too crumbly). Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completley in pan before removing.

Yogurt

So one of my favorite snacks has become yogurt mixed with granola.  This really isn't hard to do. It just has to sit for several hours, and it's always hard for me to remember to put it in the fridge later. It's pretty forgiving though. The other night I was supposed to put it in the fridge at 7 and didn't remember until 10, and it was just fine. I only like Yoplait yogurt -- no generic stuff, but I think this is really yummy. The original recipe that I saw was for double this amount, and she suggested getting one of those styrofoam coolers to put the jars in. Then you fill all the extra room in the cooler with a heavy blanket. We don't need that much. I make half of that and just use a small cooler that I think is for picnic lunches, and I stuff extra dish towels around it to fill up the empty space in the cooler. Anyway, this is the recipe that I use:

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups milk with 1/4 cup powdered milk (3 c. water, 3/4 c. + 1 T. dry milk). Whisk til smooth. Heat to 200 degrees or until milk starts to bubble on the sides and crawl up the pan. Remove from heat and pour into a glass bowl. Allow to cool until warm to the touch (100 degrees, and it takes a while). Add 1/2 cup yogurt starter (you can either use some from your last batch, or if you forgot to save some, use Dannon plain). Mix until smooth, then fill 2 pint jars.

Immediately place in thick blanket and cover. Allow to sit 9 hours before refrigerating.

For vanilla yogurt, add 1/4 cup sugar  and 1 Tablespoon vanilla to the heating milk. For fruit yogurt, place a few tbsp. of your favorite jam at the bottom of the jars before filling.

Will you unload the dishwasher, please?

Last night as I was cooking dinner, I asked both Hannah and Nikki to unload the dishwasher. Guess who did it? Nate and me. So, we didn't use dishes for dinner. The food was too hot when I got it out of the oven to go on our table, so we washed up some leftover vinyl tiles from when our floor was redone and put them at our places. They thought we were crazy. Kellee does Neanderthal dinners (you eat off of plastic on the floor with no utensils) with her family a lot, but we haven't done it with our kids. My mom did it a few times when we were growing up, a couple of times it was a youth activity, and it is always a lot of fun. They don't look too excited in this picture, but I think they were just still in shock.

I don't think they got the message I was going for until they realized I really wasn't going to get out cups for drinks. Dishes are important! I love my Aunt Nell's quote about chores around the house -- "If you consume, you contribute." If you plan on using them, you should think about helping keep them clean. I told them they could get a drink out of the faucet, or they could drink out the water jug. Hannah thought that it was disgusting to be sharing out of the water jug! She finally did it, but she wouldn't let me take a picture of her. Nikki thought it was hilarious.

Ryan had a bewildered look on his face through the whole dinner.

It turned out to be a really fun dinner, I think they got the message, and I didn't even have to get upset or deliver a lecture (at least not a lengthy one). Plus, there wasn't much to clean up after dinner!

Oh, happy day!

We have had a beautiful afternoon, and this baby was SO happy to be outside! Spring is going to be so much fun. If only we can make it a couple more months. I'll take this little respite from the cold weather as a tender mercy for my baby.

On the Move Again

The last time Nate and I moved was when Ryan was two weeks old. You know, he is almost 17 months old now. That seems to be an awfully long time for us to be in one spot. So, why stay? We wouldn't want to actually grow any roots or anything. All kidding aside, I really am ready to grow a few roots, and the house we are currently renting isn't suitable for that. We have a contract on a house in Garner that we are excited about. We are supposed to close on it at the end of February, and we are really hoping it all works out. So, once again .............. time to start collecting boxes, say goodbye to good friends in our neighborhood and church and great teachers at school, and get together a really good supply of cleaning tools -- it's a foreclosure and needs quite a bit of elbow grease, paint, carpet, and lots of other things that we can have fun fixing up.

Midafternoon Snack

Ryan woke up from his nap on the wrong side of the crib this afternoon. He wasn't interested in anything until he saw the bag of chocolate chips, and then he had this look:

 Why do my kids have to inherit my bad traits? He got his dad's beautiful blue eyes and his mom's not-so-lovely disposition upon waking and weakness for treats. Oh well, at least chocolate is part of my emergency supply of food.

Maybe it's January, but that's enough!

It was supposed to snow the night before last, so the county school board delayed school yesterday by two hours. Turned out there was no snow and temperatures actually began falling late in the morning, making ice more of a hazard after the regular school day should have begun. Living in NC sometimes makes me laugh. I do, however, feel like complaining about this cold is justified for me even if there are other parts of the world that are colder than where I am. It's still colder here than it usually is. My neighbor emailed this news story to me:

Think Antarctica Is Cold? Try America

By Jeremy Kaplan - FOXNews.com
Inhospitable, barren, and covered in snow and ice year round, the North and South Pole epitomize frigid conditions. Yet it's currently colder across the United States than at both. poles. The North Pole is normally significantly warmer than the South, but it's a chilly -17 up there right now, a temperature that must sound positively Caribbean to anyone living in, say, Bismark, North Dakota (-33 Fahrenheit at present). ................

To Make a Piggy Bank

This was one of the Christmas presents I gave the girls. I thought they would have more fun making it than just getting it, so I wrapped up the instructions on how to do it.

1. Spread newspaper over your table. Tear several other strips of newspaper. Blow up balloon. Mix glue mixture (1/2 c. flour, 1 T. salt, 1 c. water) in a bowl. Dip the paper strips in the glue mix and cover the balloon completely with two layers.

2. Tie a piece of yarn to the knot of the balloon and allow to dry by hanging it up.

3. Cut the paper towl tube into 5 short pieces and tape them on for legs and nose. Add cardboard ears.

4. Cover with one more layer of paper-mache. (Whew, this is hard work!)

Hang to dry again.

5. Tear white paper towels into pieces. Dip the paper towel pieces in mixture and cover so that no newspaper shows. Let dry.

6. Pop the balloon and throw away. Cut a slit in the top to drop in coins. Paint the pig.

The finished product!

If I were an animal, I would be ...

As I have thought about what changes I want to make during this next new year, I have also thought about the changes that came about in 2009 for me. I think I can say it was a year of progress. I did learn a lot, and I accomplished much of what I set out to do at the beginning of the year. It makes me excited to continue that progress throughout this year, too.

Have you ever played that get-to-know-you game where everyone goes around and says "If I were an animal I would be ...", and then you have to explain why? I used to always say I would be a sloth. Sitting still and sleeping and eating sounded pretty good to me. But if you ever see the term slothful in the scriptures, it is not used in a good context. For example Matthew 25:26 "Thou wicked and slothful servant" or Proverbs 15:19 "The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain." So, I decided I don't want to be a sloth anymore. I think I made some headway in 2009 in being less slothful. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't just LOVE to take a nap, or when I didn't dread getting out of bed in the morning. I have always been so amazed how Nate can just get right up when the alarm goes off. Well, a few months ago we realized that I have become the one who turns the alarm off and hops out of bed first. I don't know when exactly that changed, but I have come to believe it is, in part at least, because I have been exercising and eating well fairly regularly this past year. I've never regularly exercised for any significant period of time before, and if I'm putting the effort into exercising it just seems kind of silly to fill up with chocolate and ice cream. So, if the scriptures say we shouldn't be slothful, what should I be? Proverbs 6:6 says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise." And I do feel like I have become pretty busy. There is so much to learn and do. This year I want to learn how to knit, and Hannah's piano teacher told me she would teach me how to sew if I can get a sewing machine.

So, I'm excited that it is 2010. I plan to stay busy. I plan to learn a lot. I plan to accomplish many good things. I'm sure Ryan would appreciate it if I start by getting up and getting him out of the crib.