Jake Turns Six-And-A-Half

We celebrated another half birthday over the weekend. Our oldest is 6½! Since Leighton's truck wasn't running and we were down to one vehicle when Jake's actual birthday came, we were not able to celebrate the day just the two of us. We  made up for it 6 months later.

Since he's not strange like his brother, we started the day with pancakes. Pancakes with syrup, cinnamon whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry, to be exact. 

Hours later, we dropped off the other kids at my parents' house and went grocery shopping. What a way to celebrate! Friday is always my day to shop. We spend the day at my parents' house every Friday, and they watch my kids so I can go grocery shopping by myself. It's my me-time for the week. Plus, it makes shopping much faster and less stressful. This week, I had only a couple things to buy so it didn't take long. We even stopped to look at the fish in the pet department. Then, I let Jake pick out his one half-birthday present. As we walked through the toy department, he casually said, "Oh, look - the LEGO aisle." Big surprise there. The real surprise came when he chose a small set within 2 minutes!

After Meijer, we headed to lunch at McDonald's. We almost never eat fast food, so Jake was pretty excited. This restaurant even had a play-place, but he decided not to "waste our time" there. He just wanted to get back home to spend the day together. 

Back at Leaf Manor (did you hear my Batman narrator voice???), we ripped into the box and assembled the new LEGO set. 

When I say we, I mean he. Jake loves to have people "help" him build and create, but really, he just takes over. I was content to hand him the necessary pieces as quickly as he needed them. For an hour, Catwoman zoomed around on her Catcycle, trying to get away with the precious diamond. Boxes and newspapers were flying everywhere. Batarangs were zipping through the air. It was not a pretty picture. In the end, Batman caught the thief and sent her to jail. All was well in Gotham City once again. 

That is until the Joker was on the loose . . . again. A Super Hero's work is never done. We helped restore order in Gotham City on the Wii until it was time to head back to my parents'.

We ate pizza for dinner before making the hour drive to watch my niece graduate high school. I forgot my camera (oh, the horror!), but I have this one picture of all of us.

It was late by the time we left, but we still had one more stop before heading home - doughnuts! It was National Doughnut Day, but since we already had so many other fun things to do, we bought them instead of making them. (Don't worry, we're making some today to celebrate!) I even took some pictures with the iPad of the doughnuts oozing with icing and sprinkles. Or at least I thought I took some pictures.  I never checked the settings and actually took videos of the doughnuts. Pretty exciting stuff.


Pancakes, McDonald's, pizza, and doughnuts - not the healthiest of days, but certainly a fun day filled with lots of Batman, lots of LEGOs, and lots of love.

Happy Half-Birthday, Jake! I'm glad I got to spend the day with just you!

30 for 30

{written by Erika}

I read about this challenge a couple days ago and knew I wanted to join. The plan is to spend 30 minutes every day in the month of June playing with your kids. Oh sure, I spend lots of time every day with my kids between schooling, crafting, cooking, experimenting, reading, talking. My kids are with me constantly. I call them my little ducklings since they follow me from room to room around the house. If I'm not careful though, I fall into the rut of not actually playing with them. I'm in their presence while they're playing, but I'm not partaking in the fun. I'm taking pictures, but I'm not actively involved. I try to justify it because of all that time that I'm with them each day.

You see, it's not that I don't want to play. It's just that I always feel pulled in so many directions. On top of the schooling and raising of the children, I have a household to care for. I have a newborn who requires much attention. There's laundry and cooking and dishes and cleaning - for 6 people. I really need to teach my kids (and hubby!) to clean up after themselves more. Trying to do all the work for a family of 6 with 4 kids ages 6 years and younger keeps me constantly busy. Sure, I could try to ignore the clutter. I could cook from a box or freezer bag. I could buy our cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and various other things instead of making my own. But I'd be unhappy. Instead, I try to juggle it all.

If I'm feeling overwhelmed by all that needs to be done and notice that I'm not taking the time to play, I'll implement the timer. I'll sit and play LEGOs or cars or babies with the kids for 10 minutes. When the timer beeps, I'll clean or wash dishes or fold laundry for 10 minutes. Then, I go back to playing and so on. It helps me get chores accomplished without neglecting the fun with my children.

This challenge will help me be more aware of the quality of time spent with my precious gifts from God. For the month of June, I vow to play!

Things That Make Me Smile 6/1/12

Today is a day for celebrating! It's Jake's half birthday! It's National Doughnut Day! It's my niece's high school graduation day! In other words, it's a busy day.  Tomorrow is just as busy. Life passes so quickly. Make sure you take time to enjoy the small, simple things. Make sure you smile.

1. Jake: "What could you buy with 3 houses full of money?"

Leighton: "You could buy just about anything with it."

Jake: "I bet you could buy just about anything, but you couldn't buy your way into Heaven."

2. Alyssa: "Mommy, can baby Tyler fit back in your tummy?"

3. Jake: "My nose tells me we're having biscuits and gravy."

4. Alyssa, laughing: "Tyler spit up and he's smiling. He's so proud of himself!"

5. Jake, talking about the lines on his wrist: "This is where God sewed my hand to my arm before I was born."

6. Me, trying to get Alyssa to cross the street: "Hurry, hurry, hurry! I don't want you to get run over."

Alyssa: "And I don't want to get flat."

7. Alyssa, while brushing her hair: "Look, I'm giving my hair a re-do."

8. Zac and I were blowing kisses back and forth. When I stopped, he said, "Mommy, hand kiss!" How can you ignore a command like that?

9. Jake was eating a cupcake from a bakery and said, "You can make better ones, Mom" 

10. Me: "I don't think so."

Alyssa: "Uh huh. Jacob told me."

Me: "And Jacob knows everything?"

Alyssa: "Yes. Well . . . Jacob thinks he knows everything."

What made you smile this week?

Dive Into Your Imagination

I am fascinated by the ocean. The fish, the animals, the colors, the variety - God's creation is amazing! My hubby got his scuba certification when he was a teenager and loved the experience. Since there are no oceans to scuba dive in Michigan, we have to settle for the next best thing - videos. We've had the privilege to watch What Makes A Fish A Fish? which showcases God's creation beautifully.

Annie Crawley, aka "Ocean Annie,"  is the founder of the Dive Into Your Imagination company and the producer of the video. Annie is an underwater cinematographer, educator, motivational speaker, scuba diving instructor, and boat captain. She's traveled all around the world and has created award-winning books, DVDs, and motivational art based on her findings. Annie created Dive Into Your Imagination to change the way the next generation views the ocean. She wants children and their parents to fall in love with all the animals of the sea "because we protect what we love."

What Makes A Fish A Fish? teaches children about fish from all over the world. The footage and quality are beautiful! It's very informative and fun to watch. My kids (6, 4, 2) had fun pointing out the things they recognized and loved learning about new things, too. The 37-minute video is divided into 8 chapters:

1. What Make A Fish A Fish
2. Sea Anemones and Their Friends
3. Hide and Seek on the Reef
4. Frogfish Are Funny Looking Fish
5. Bath Time for Fishes
6. Don't Be Afraid of Sharks
7. Dinner Time for Fish
8. Fishes, Fishes, More and More Fishes

Along with the DVD, we received the teacher guide. (We used the prek-k version, but there is also one for grades 1-3.) It's nearly 300 pages and is very extensive! It is written for the classroom setting, but can easily be adapted to use at home. It's not just work pages, coloring pages, and facts. The guide includes activities like painting a pillowcase to camouflage into the scene in the video, play acting like frogfish, and working together as a team like the sea anemone and clownfish.     

What Makes A Fish A Fish? is the first video in Dive Into Your Imagination. The series also includes Who Lives in the Sea? and Dive Into Diversity. Each DVD costs $19.95. The teacher guides are available for $299 as a printed version of the entire set or $69.95 for an individual PDF. Also, shipping is FREE until the end of June, and as a bonus if you purchase a DVD and mention that you are a homeschool parent, Ocean Annie will gift you a set of the PDFs for FREE as well! 

I recommend taking advantage of these deals now and experience the awesomeness of Dive Into You Imagination.

You can find more reviews of What Makes A Fish A Fish and the other 2 videos on the TOS Crew blog.  

* Disclaimer - I was sent this product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wordless Wednesday 5/30/12

Tasty Tuesday: Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

I asked Zac what he wanted to make for his half-birthday. Of course, he said, "Pupcakes! Blue ones with princess on top." Apparently he was pretty impressed with Alyssa's last birthday cake (pic toward the bottom of the post.)  I suggested these cupcakes instead. And though they're neither blue nor princessy, he was very excited. He's so laid-back and easy-going, just like his daddy.

Since it was his special day, Zac got to do most of the prep for the cupcakes.

 He did all the dumping.

 All the pouring.

 And all the stirring.

He even did all the cracking.

Kidding. Though he begged to crack the eggs, I figured he wasn't quite ready yet.

Besides, we had a big enough mess with one that Alyssa smashed.

This beauty was one of my Mother's Day presents. I had complained mentioned many times how my old mixer's lowest speed was not slow. Every time I used it for something like whipping cream, it splattered liquid all over my kitchen. Leighton took the kids shopping and narrowed down the choices. This is the mixer they chose. It's pretty, has its own storage case and 3 types of beaters. Best of all, it has 7 speeds with the lowest setting actually being slow. No more splattered kitchen!

Who am I kidding? I bake with 3 little kids. I should say, 'not as much splattered kitchen.'

 

As soon as Zac saw the mixer, he said, "Dat loud. I go sit on couch?" So he climbed down off the counter, and Alyssa took over.

 He made sure to come back to lick the beaters though. And he actually got both of them!

 Alyssa used our large cookie scoop to fill the liners with the cake batter.

Then, I used my Dessert Decorator Pro to add the brownie batter. I used a #199 star tip, but any one with a large opening will work to dispense the chilled batter. If you don't have a decorator or pastry bag, you could just scoop both batters in with a spoon, but the 2 layers will be very distinct. 

Yum! Chilling the brownie batter helped keep the centers fudgy, while still allowing the cake to fully cook. We didn't even add frosting to them since they're already pretty rich. 

The recipe is super simple to adapt. You can try it with red velvet cake with buttercream frosting or white cake with peanut butter frosting or pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Experiment and have fun!

Caramel Brownie Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 package brownie mix (prepared according to package directions)

1 package caramel cake mix (prepared according to package directions)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350° F (175° C.) Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Place in refrigerator.

3. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. 

4. Spoon the cake batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 1/3 full. 

5. Fill a dessert decorator or pastry bag with chilled brownie batter. Insert tip of decorator in the center of the cake batter and fill each liner until 2/3 full.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Two-And-A-Half and Twenty-Six Days

Zac turned 2½ years old . . . 26 days ago. I'd like to say that I'm just really late in getting this posted, but honestly, we were just really late in celebrating. Somehow, amidst all the hustle and bustle of life, I completely forgot about it. Maybe subconsciously I thought if I just ignored it, he wouldn't actually get older. Maybe time would stand still, and my babies wouldn't grow up so fast. Wishful thinking? Definitely. 

It was my mom that pointed out that Zac's half birthday had passed a few days prior. Since Jake keeps pretty good tabs on everyone's special days, we couldn't just skip the celebration. So, celebrate we did. And no one even seemed to mind that we were 26 days late. 

The kids always get to pick breakfast on their real and half birthdays. And they always pick pancakes. 

Always.

Corn on the cob??? Yep, Zac could not be convinced that he wanted pancakes or even waffles for breakfast. Trust me, Jake tried.

There's an educational site that we're currently reviewing. The youngest level is for preschoolers, but I've been working on the activities with Zac. He's doing so well and has fun doing it. After sitting on my lap for a few minutes, he told me, "I do it myself." 

We played, read a bunch of books, went to Jake's soccer game, and of course, made cupcakes. Caramel brownie cupcakes, to be exact.

The half-birthday-er always gets one present.

Do you know how long it took me to wrap that crazy package? Much longer than it took him to unwrap it.

His Stick-A-Doodle was a big hit. He loves to draw, especially on the dry erase board. This pack came with 10 reusable, re-stickable sheets and 4 markers. The kids had fun sticking (like static cling) the sheets around the house and creating masterpieces.

Happy Half-Birthday, little Zachy! You are constant energy, always happy, very loving, a little brute, and so silly. We love you bunches!