Super Hero Down the Hall

I know I'm going to sleep better tonight.

As I tucked Samuel into bed he showed me that he was wearing his Spider- Man suit under his pajamas and that if anything bad happened it wouldn't take him that long to save me.

Can I just have this one that never grows up?

Game Review

Our daughter, Kirsten, sent us a new game for Christmas called "Ticket to Ride Europe" and last night we gave it a try.
Although it seems complicated upon explanation, after a few rounds we were playing like pros.
The game involves crossing from one city to another on railroads that you construct with cards drawn from various piles. There's a lot of strategy and equal amounts of luck. Kirsten said her kids are able to play but I would think 10 would be a good age to really "get it".
It's a little lengthy of a game but nothing like Monopoly (which I hate) and can be played in under an hour.
We all really liked it and we give it 5 stars.

Go Outside and Learn Something

Homeschool Learning with a snow man:

Bible - Thanked God for the snow and no school.

Math - Estimated the circumference of 3 circles and placed in order of largest to smallest.

Science - Learned about the 3 physical states of water and how quickly the sun melts the snow mans head. Also experimented with properties of gravity while rolling snow balls down hill.


Social Studies - Developed social skills necessary to work together on a group project. Discovered that girls are inherently better at being the boss.

History - Remembered the last snow man they made and did a better job this time.

Music - Listened to me sing "Frosty the Snow Man" off key and didn't complain.

Nature's Perfect Lesson Plans!!

Games

I love my 5 year old but his choice of board games is boring to say the least. He will always choose "Super Heroes Memory Game". I'm really bad at all the memory games but remembering if the card is the good Spider man or the Black Spider man is so beyond my ability to focus. I basically suck at it and Samuel wins every game. I'm not the best loser and he can brag like no body's business. Fun.


Tonight I broke out Candy Land. He still beat me but the Licorice Guy and the Fairy girl with the candy canes was a welcome change. And best of all the teens all had this nostalgic thing going on and agreed to play Candy Land with him, leaving me to do really fun stuff like Facebook.

B-3

Yesterday was our monthly BINGO night. This incredibly fun tradition started when Jeremiah received a BINGO game at his class gift exchange.

And it's a BIG deal at our house. The teens will even cancel all plans with friends to participate.

Everyone has to donate a prize to be eligible to play and the prize has to be approved by me. That leaves out most action figures and Bible coloring books. Boxed candy from the Dollar Tree is always welcomed and James usually has an old phone to donate which often is the Top Prize of the night.

We put out tons of junk food, which although not good for you, is way better than the chain smoking that usually accompanies Bingo games.

I always get to be the caller - because I'm the Mom.

Last night the grandkids were invited and not only did we have a fantastic time, but Jocelyn and Sam had some great reading number practice!

They're Back!

After a few years on the mission field in Chad, Africa, my daughter and her big wonderful family have come home for awhile. They are living next door in our missionary house which means we get to see them every day! Sweet!
Since Kirsten was last home we have added 5 new boys and 1 daughter to our family. It's been great having the kids meet their new nieces and nephews especially since they are all about the same ages. It's great having an uncle who'll play Spiderman with you.
This is going to be a great year!!

Cooking with Kate (Don't Come to Class)

Last night we had 21 people over for dinner. It wasn't really planned - people were asked at the last minute or they just dropped in. Not a problem. There was plenty to eat - I made Lasagna.
This all is basically boring, but you have to understand how far I've come.


When we got married 36 years ago I had a 5 item cooking repertoire.
It consisted of:

1. Pop-tarts (toasted or cold and I preferred the chocolate ones with the vanilla icing)

2. Lady Fingers (This was something my sisters and I invented. You take a piece of buttered toast and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar and cut it into five strips. We had this for lunch every day one summer while my mom worked and I think I actually had an addiction to it for awhile.)

3. Oatmeal

4. Hamburger Helper (This tasty meal I had learned to make while baby-sitting for my neighbor's kids. Their mom actually served this garbage on a regular basis. I can personally guarantee that no box of any kind of helper every made it into my mom's grocery cart.)

5. Okay there was only really 4 things I could make. I thought I could make hard boiled eggs, however, that wasn't entirely true. One of the first times I attempted to make them, I put them in water to boil. I waited patiently a full 3 minutes before getting bored with the whole process. That's when I decided to go out and take a swim in our apartment pool while waiting for them to finish. A few hours later when I returned there was a spectacular black smoking mess on the stove. 30 years later when they tore down the building on Claremont Mesa Boulevard in San Diego, there was still a lingering odor in my old apartment. So I won't count the eggs as one of my accomplishments.


We did eat back in those days - James did all the cooking. We both worked and until we had kids it was a great arrangement. I became a stay at home mom and it started to annoy James to have to work all day and then come home and start dinner.


But that was then. Now I make huge meals every day and people actually take seconds and sometimes thirds.
But I have a plan! I don't want my daughters to end up like I was, so I'm teaching them to cook. I'm thinking this could be my way out - for awhile anyway.