A Tiny Photo Shoot

I thought the girls looked really cute today, so after church I made them pose for me.

I sure do love these girls!!! I'm so blessed to be their Mom!

Claire FINALLY Loses Her Second Tooth!

Claire's teeth are really funny- they get loose, and then take another month or two to finally fall out. But, her second tooth FINALLY came out!!!! Isn't she cute? (Can you even tell which one it is? It's her top tooth, but the bottom tooth is invading the space in this smile so you can't really see it)

Creative Cooks

As part of 4-H, the girls participated in a "Creative Cooks" Competition yesterday.

They were on teams (Audra with her friend Cameron, and Claire with Cameron's younger sister Liesl- they just recently moved into our ward and their family has become great friends of ours- and 4H buddies, which is way fun).

In order to participate in the competition, each team had to cook us a full meal- Audra and Cam made us dinner, and Claire and Liesl made us lunch. They had to choose a theme, create a menu, set our table the proper way, and then cook two of the menu items for the actual competition.

Cameron and Audra chose the theme Minecraft. Let me tell you, I did not realize how much a little boy could be addicted to Minecraft! That is truly the only thing he can talk about- it was quite impressive. Audra went along with it. I was in charge of their group. Cameron came over three times for a couple of hours each time to work on their foods. I could help them only up to when they made the foods for the competition- that they had to do completely on their own.

Liesl and Claire chose the theme of Butterflies because Claire has a butterfly costume that she really wanted to wear. Liesl's mom was is in charge of their group.

Here's Cam and Audra preparing their foods:

Here is their menu:

Minecraft Danger Zone!

Drink

Creeper Blood

Oozy, red, cool, and rare juice to drink

Appetizers

Power Bread

A medium snake sized loaf to power you up!

Super Fruit Salad

Tasty apples, crunchy cantaloupe, soft bananas, and powerful kiwi gives you a power boost!

Main Course

Creeper Pizza

Highly Dangerous! It has yummy pepperoni and cheese!

Dessert

Minecraft Math Problem

Jell-O plus Cookies plus more Jell-O-   A dangerous dessert!

For the competition they made Creeper Pizza and the Minecraft Math Problem dessert (which wasn't really gross, but it had a very strange texture. But, they came up with the idea all themselves so we went with it).

I wasn't involved with Claire and Liesl, so that's why there's not as many pictures of their project. But, they made cute caterpillars of grapes on skewers, butterfly sandwiches using a cookie cutter, and some other cute things.

Here they are at the competition:

Both groups were the only ones in their divisions. Because Claire and Liesl are Cloverbuds they were not in a competitive round so they got a participation ribbon.

Audra and Cameron, however, won Grand Champion! Yes, they were the only ones in their division (but we were told that even so, they actually had to earn the title- it wasn't just given to them), but- this means they get to go to state! I'm not 100% certain we will take them to state, but it is still exciting.

Man, though, it was a super long day! We were there for 5 hours for about 45 minutes of action. Thankfully, it was a sunny day and there was a playground for the kids to play on. Next time, though, I won't make Ben and Camille come with us. I thought it would be a fun family day, and it ended up just being LONG. I'm so proud of the girls, though. They really did work hard, and they learned a lot as well. If we do go to state, there are a few things they can work on to make it even better, but I am proud of them nevertheless.

Here are some of the other tables- some of them were so incredibly impressive.

You Might Be "Granola" If...

Several years ago when I was teaching a baby foods making class, a friend of mine said, "You strike me as being very granola." I didn't really know what she meant. I pictured a hippy liberal who lives up in the mountains all alone with her garden and cats. I didn't take it as a compliment.

But, sometimes life comes around full circle.

For years I have made our own bread, homemade desserts, mostly from scratch dinner. Very rarely do we buy processed meals, and we try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.

This year, however, I may have taken things to a weird and new level. I now make my own yogurt. Yes, yogurt.

I never thought I would. It describes how to do so in my "Super Baby Foods" book and the directions go something like this:

"Making homemade yogurt is very simple. Here are your 348 steps to do so. It will be finished in approximately 3 days, and be sure to follow all the steps exactly so as not to disturb the cultures and destroy your yogurt."

Umm, no thanks. Anything with more than 6 steps is too much for me. After all, I have children to raise and some semblance of sanity to maintain.

A friend of mine, however, makes her own yogurt and she insisted that it really wasn't hard. She sent me her directions, and strangely- I believed her. Maybe it wasn't that hard. Maybe I could do it. It was worth a shot.

What did I find? Actual success! I actually CAN make homemade yogurt! Instead of three days, it takes about two hours (most of it waiting for your milk to heat, then waiting for it cool down), with another 10-12 sitting in the oven setting.

Here are her directions (they may be different at sea level, I have no idea).

Heat 1 gallon of milk in a stock pot on medium.  You can stir if you are worried about burning the bottom - I don't need to stir. 

Heat milk to 180 degrees.

Cool milk to 110 degrees.  - I do it by sticking it in a sink of cool water.  You can do ice water, or you can just take it off the burner and let it cool. 

*I take it out of the cold water at 120 degrees - because after I add all the stuff and stir it is usually down to 110 degrees - you don't want it to get below that.  If you weren't going to add any sweetener or gelatin just take it out at 110.

Once milk is cool stir in sweetener - I do 1 cup sugar per gallon of milk (that is what you tasted today)

while sweetener is dissolving pour 1/2 cup cold milk into a shallow bowl and sprinkler gelatin over the top.  It will start to absorb the milk.  stir gently.  Add to milk once it is the consistency of baby cereal - if you wait too long it will get to thick to dissolve in the milk.  I add three envelopes of gelatin per gallon of milk.  Although I am going to just try 2 next time and see if 2 is ok - to try and cut down cost.

Whisk gelatin into milk.

Then add 3 tbs of plain yogurt with active live cultures to your milk.  (I like to have it at room temperature - so it doesn't change the temp of my milk that much - but it doesn't have to be and I often forget and add it right out of the fridge.)

Stir slowly!  I use a slotted spoon.  You don't want to disturb the cultures - but you want to break it up as much as you can.  Many web sites said not to use a stirring motion but a side to side and up and down - not sure why the difference?  But do not whisk.  (often times when pouring my milk into jars I see a clump of yogurt go in one - it hasn't seemed to make a difference.

pour into clean mason jars.  Do not screw on lids.  just put the top on and the ring around it.  Set them in an oven with the oven light on (I actually put my oven on warm for about 10 minutes and then turn it off.  if your oven seems too warm leave it open for a while - or if too old put a towel over the jars.  The yogurt needs to stay right about 110 - when I first did it I checked them often and they were always at 110.

Incubate for anywhere from 8 - 24 hours depending on your taste.  The longer you wait the thicker but also the more sour it will be.  I do it for 11- 12 hours. 

when done gently screw on the caps and gently put in your fridge to cool and finish incubating.  Ready to eat when completely cool.  (usually another 8 - 12 hours).

lasts 2 - 3 weeks.

I wouldn't say that it tastes better than store bought yogurt. Actually, I take that back. It is WAY better than the sugar filled Yoplait yogurt. But, it is not better than Noosa. I really, really like Noosa brand yogurt. But, it has WAY less sugar than any store brand, so it is worth making it just for that.

Today for lunch the girls and I ate a yogurt parfait- homemade yogurt with sliced banana and homemade granola on top.

Perhaps I am "Granola" after all- and maybe it isn't so bad. Even without the cats.

Poem Co-Op

For our second co-op this week, the girls went and learned about poems. They read several nature poems, then did a nature craft, and then worked together to write a nature poem. The girls could have spent hours on their craft- they loved it! They used a lot of different items to make nests, birds, and nature scenes.

And, here's the poem they wrote:

The leaves crunch under our feet as the birds peep

The leaves are swishing as they fall on my nose and head

The trees look bare and I know I'm there

I feel the cold wind

The smooth leaves swish over me

And I look forward to the taste of hot cocoa

A Hike, According to Audra and Claire

On Saturday the weather was nice and warm so we decided to take advantage and go on a hike. We let Audra and Claire be in charge of the pictures, and this is what they documented:

Notice her face. She cried the entire time. It was awful, and made us think twice about hiking in the future.

Funny Story

We just finished listening to the original Peter Pan on CD. Last night at dinner Claire said to Camille in perfect Tinkerbell fashion:

"Stop doing that you silly ass."

Who knew the Brits were so bloody improper?

Homeschool Odds and Ends

We have been exceptionally busy the last couple of weeks- and things won't be slowing down anytime soon. I signed the girls up for 19 co-ops this semester, which is a lot. It means we are all over town all the time doing a lot of different fun things.

I put together a Valentine's co-op for the kids to exchange Valentine's. I realize it's a little silly, but one of the cons of homeschooling is the kids missing out on school holiday parties. I end up doing a lot of holiday parties, and I have never regretted it. The girls were all super excited for the exchange (and were mad when it got bumped because of the Broncos parade). 17 kids came, and it was great. It was really simple- we met at a park, let the kids play, and exchanged the Valentine's. Perfect.

Then on Wednesday we went to an Egyptology co-op. That was awesome- the girls mummified Barbie dolls, made heiroglyphs, ate Egyptian food, and a whole lot more. It was awesome.

Lots of fun and exciting things- it should be a fun semester!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Tonight Ben took the girls to a Daddy Daughter Dance at their Options program.

I ended up going over at 2 to help set up. I was supposed to be done by 4, but they didn't have nearly enough help so I ended up staying until after 8. It's a good thing I did- there were only three of us for all of the food prep, so we were all running around the whole time.

Do you notice the chocolate strewn everywhere? I had a pretty bad mishap with the chocolate fountain. Thankfully, it was a bunch of men instead of women. Whereas women would have been all judgmental and worried about the mess, the men were all like, "This is awesome! What a great decoration!"

While decorating, I had visions/nightmares from homecoming 1996. Remember that, Danielle?

When Ben and I first started dating, I invited him to go to prom with me. I know that sounds weird, but I was teaching high school at the same high school that Ben graduated from (he likes to tell people that I was his teacher. That is false. We graduated high school the same year). Anyway, Ben never went to his high school prom, so I thought it would be cute if he came with me and got to finally go to prom. But, he turned me down. Something about graduating from college Magna Cum Laude and having an awards ceremony or something lame like that, so I went with somebody else. Anyway, I think Ben was glad to have an excuse not to go. He doesn't seem to like big dances like this, and he was nervous to take the girls.

Well, they ended up having a fantastic time. The girls were so incredibly excited to go with him- they LOVED it. The girls sure are lucky to have such an awesome dad!

Swim Lessons

I finally took the plunge (see what I did there?) and signed the older girls up for swim lessons at this really great swim place that we have in town. It's about a thousand times better than the rec center swim lessons.

I signed them up for semi-private lessons, but it works out that they are the only ones in their respective classes and so they are getting private lessons, at least for now. I am sure classes will fill up in the summer time.

Once they reach a certain level, they can join the swim team, and they happen to have a homeschool swim team which is pretty awesome.

So far, they are both doing great- Audra even started diving yesterday which was pretty neat.

Super Parade

We had to do some rearranging of our schedules, and Ben had to take the day off of work, but today we went to the Super Bowl Parade downtown.

What an adventure! We knew the crowds were expected to be about a million-plus (and it was), so we left at 9:15. We took the bus to the light rail, and the light rail downtown. Thank goodness we went this route! Because we took the bus, we could buy all our tickets for the day while on the bus. It took us a couple of minutes, and one rider was upset with Ben because the driver gave Ben the wrong tickets and it took a little time to sort that out. That meant we missed the train, but the next one was only in 6 minutes so it wasn't worth getting upset over.

Anyway, when we got to the light rail, the line to buy light rail tickets was over 100 yards (going with our football theme) long! It was insane- and we were very glad to skip over the line, believe me!

The girls started out pretty strong, but it didn't last. Thankfully, I was armed with snacks, lunch, plastic bags so they could sit on the curb, and my phone. Even so, though, there was a lot of whining. A lot of "I'm bored!"

Overall, they did really well considering. We ended up standing for over 5 hours! Plus, there was a lot of walking, a lot of loud screaming, and very little action. We asked a lot from them, and I can understand why they whined (even if it was annoying and I kept asking myself "Why did we have children?")

We got there a little after 10, and the parade was supposed to start at noon. It ended up not starting  until about 12:30. We found a great place along the parade route that had a direct view of a large TV screen. The screen showed highlights from the Super Bowl and from the season. It was a little emotional, I'm not going to lie.

Finally, the parade started!

I made Ben take a selfie of us, and he was not happy because he just wanted to enjoy the parade (which is why I never should have allowed him to be in charge of pictures). If you look incredibly closely with a magnifying glass, Peyton Manning is in the upper left corner wearing an orange shirt and dark vest waving at the fans.

Here's Emmanual Sanders (10) and Demarius Thomas (88)

And the runningbacks- CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman

My favorite part of the day was when the team made it up to the podium and then the whole crowd sang "We Are the Champions." It was awesome- I got a little emotional. It was just really cool to really, truly feel united with the million-plus crowd that was there (how do they know it was that many? No idea).

A couple more fun shots:

So many people! It was so insane!

But getting  home was a pain, to be sure. We should have found a restaurant a few streets over from 16th and killed a couple of hours. We waited for a train for about 45 minutes, and then poor Claire just about got crushed loading in- I had to yell at the people behind us to stop pushing. But, we made it home: EXHAUSTED!

I'm really glad we went. I know we would have both regretted it if we didn't. It really was a lot of fun, and it is something Ben and I will remember forever. And, in 20 years when the Broncos win again, my girls can say, "I was at the 50th SuperBowl parade, too!"