Ice Skating

Yesterday we were blessed with the opportunity to go ice skating at Massanutten.  A friend from church was having a birthday celebration and invited us to come skate.  I had not been ice skating in quite a long time, and this was the first time for the girls.  (Charles stayed home to finish painting the dining room.  Pictures of that to come later.)  We had a great time!  By the end of our time there, both girls were skating hesitantly on their own, rather than holding on to the wall or to me.  Neither one wanted to leave!

Snow Day and Popcorn Balls

This past Thursday I got up as usual and was in the midst of my morning workout when my phone beeped with a text message.  Knowing that there was a chance of flurries the night prior, I expected to find a message that school would be starting late.  Boy was I surprised to learn that school was cancelled!

At first I was bummed.  We didn't have that much snow (though it's been absolutely freezing), and I was really wanting to be at school.  My students are doing interesting things, and I've been energized by getting into other teachers' classrooms to observe.

But, since we were home, we made the most of it.  I baked two loaves of bread to freeze for the annual Soup and Arts Fest, and the girls and I made popcorn balls.  Blue popcorn balls, no less.

They do tend to stick in your teeth pretty badly but are quite yummy anyway.

We also experimented with our first ever online learning day.  This is something the school planned before Christmas, when we missed some days of school due to a hurricane.  The idea is that students have work to do at home on a day off, and therefore the day can count as a school day and not need to be made up.

So bright and early (once I was done with my workout), I got my assignments posted on Haiku for the students.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that most of them did the work they were supposed to do.  Others will get it done this weekend to turn in to me on Monday.

The girls each had a "snow day" folder that had already been prepared by their teachers with assignments for them to do.  They had been itching to do this work and were so excited that they dove right into after eating their breakfast.  They dismissed themselves to their playroom to play school while doing their real school work.

All told, it was a successful day, though it certainly was hard to return to school for just one day before the weekend.  (Turns out it was only a half day since we were released early due to yet more snow.)

Cinnamon Twists and Shark Skin

We had a fairly typical weekend this weekend.  Lately I've been trying to get our weekly grocery shopping done on Friday afternoons after school, which frees up Saturday for other chores and tasks.  This weekend was a baking weekend, so I made three loaves of bread on Saturday, as well as doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, checking my parents' mail, and going for an afternoon run.  It was windy Saturday, so the first half of my run was very difficult running into the wind.

Charles started painting the dining room in the color scheme that he and his coworkers worked out.  The trim is called shark skin.  While he was painting, Hannah was conducting her science fair experiment.  She tested which candy dissolves fastest in a cup of water.  She checked each cup every few minutes, as well as taking pictures and recording observations along the way.  She's quite the budding young scientist!

Hannah found a recipe for cinnamon bread sticks that she wanted to try.  We found a similar recipe for Sour Cream Twists in the Mennonite Country Cookbook, so we gave that a go today.  They turned out quite well, as you can see by the photograph above.  My neighbor group will enjoy some of these on Tuesday as well, since the recipe makes 36 twists... far more than we can eat!  I even froze eight of them that I didn't have enough icing for anyway.  I'm sure Hannah will enjoy spreading Nutella on them instead.  She does love her Nutella!

One final photograph, leftover from a couple of weeks ago, of a couple of very adorable shepherds:

My Birthday

Wednesday was my birthday, and it turned out to be a wonderful day.  It started with cards from my favorite two little girls:

Left is from Hannah, right is from Sophie

I wasn't at school for too long in the morning before Charles showed up with a dozen beautiful roses to color my desk.  My school day was busy, with not a moment to myself all day long.  Things began looking up, however, when the girls and I got home to find Charles already here.  He was planning to make dinner for me and came home early to take care of business.

It was in the upper 50s, so I treated myself to an afternoon run since Charles was home to stay with the girls for homework time.  After my invigorating run, we all enjoyed a meal of burritos, salad, grapes, and birthday cupcakes from Shank's Bakery.

Before dinner I was escorted to my seat by these pretty little things:

The sign on her shirt says "Wait here to be seated"

My birthday gift (other than the flowers and cupcake) was a nice, big, sturdy shelf to hold canned goods in the basement.  Charles lovingly put it together for me last weekend.

All in all, it was a great birthday.  Sophie is now looking forward to celebrating her half-birthday tomorrow.  She seems to think that this celebration should be as big a deal as a regular birthday.  I hope she's not too disappointed!

Sweet Moments in Pictures

Enjoying a moment together before church one Sunday

Shepherds tending their sheep

My Workout Buddy

Sophie is my workout buddy.  If we go out for a walk or head down to the park for some outdoor play, she'll often want to jog with me.  Sometimes she'll join me for a morning circuit workout inside as well.  Here are some photos of one of those mornings, as she was sharing her routine with Dad, who had the camera.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves!

Notice the workout clothes: shorts, undershirt, socks, tennis shoes, and hair pulled back ready for sweating.  That's my girl!

Tea Party with Grandma

For the last several years, Grandma and Grandpa have been spending the bulk of the winter in Florida.  This year, mom decided that she wanted to treat us girls to a formal tea party before heading down south.  She thought it would be fun for us all to dress up and drink tea, have treats, and use the formal silver tea set that she's never used before.

There are no pictures of me in these scenes because I was a party pooper and did not dress up for the occasion.  Yes, I am no fun at all!  The girls worked very hard to say please and thank you, eat their food daintily, not slurp their tea (hot chocolate for them), and keep their elbows off the table.  We even read a cute book about a little girl who is invited to have tea with the queen.  She tells everyone all about how she's going for tea with the queen, who as it turns out is her grandma.

Receiving their hot chocolate and adding lumps (of marshmallow)

Enjoying their high tea treats of sweet bread and sugar cookies

Homemade Gifts: For Fathers and Brothers

Somehow I managed to get zero pictures of the gifts that I made for my father, brother-in-law, and father-in law. I used the website below to make log carriers for my father and brother-in-law.  I figured my dad could use his at the cabin for bringing in wood and my brother-in-law could use his when he goes camping with my nephews.

http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2011/04/how-to-make-canvas-log-carrier/

For my father-in-law I made a pair of fleece pajama pants in a Yankees pattern, his favorite team.  I also made a pair of these for Charles (in a NASCAR pattern for him).  Charles' pair were the guinea pig pair, where I was learning what I was doing, so they have a few flaws.  I think I got them right the second time around for Papa's pair.

Homemade Gifts: For Nephews and Dogs

Well, I can only take credit for the idea of this gift, not it's actual execution.  Technically I guess I can't even take credit for the idea, since I found it here.

Charles took the idea and ran with it, the end result being two very unique, one-of-a-kind hat racks for our nephews.  One likes to skateboard and one likes the Yankees, as you might have guessed from the photo above.  They didn't know what these were when we first gave them, but they soon figured it out once they opened their other gift, a new hat for each.

I even decided to make something for Jaxs, Granny and Papa's new puppy.  He received some homemade banana-carrot doggie biscuits.  Since he's still eating puppy food I told them they could freeze the biscuits for later, but apparently he loves them!  I round the recipe for the doggie biscuits here, which also includes a link to some apple-flavored ones.

Homemade Gifts: For Sisters

Awhile back I saw an idea for making an oil lamp out of a mason jar.  I knew this was something I wanted to make for my sister since she doesn't have an oil lamps that I know of.  I first thought I would give the jar an etched glass look and somehow put a "K" on it for the first initial of their last name.  After investigating some other options, however, I decided to cover the jar with photographs of Carter, their son.

The finished product

It works!

Homemade Gifts: Nightgowns and PJs

By far, the most time consuming homemade gift I crafted this year were nightgowns and pajama sets for the girls.

I thought that I would save money and have a fun little project with these.  The "fun project" part turned out to be true, but not the "saving money" part.  I ordered a pattern set from Amazon that included the nightgown and the PJs, as well as a short-sleeved nightgown and a robe, which I didn't make.  The fabric itself (flannel for the nightgowns and fleece for the PJs) was more expensive than just going to Wal-Mart or Target and buying sleep attire.  Then when you add in my time (which was about 6-7 hours per set), I certainly did not come out ahead money-wise.

I did enjoy the process immensely and learned quite a bit about sewing and using my machine.  I admit I am ready to let it sit idle for a little while, but the satisfaction gained from completing these projects is huge, as is seeing the girls in them and enjoying them.  Sophie keeps telling me that her nightgown and pajamas "really look like they came from the store," which I think means that she thinks I did a good job.  I'm taking it as a compliment anyway!

Homemade Gifts: For Mothers

This year I decided I wanted to make most of the gifts we give at Christmas.  In this series of posts, I'll show you what I made for everyone.

My mother in law loves purple and she loves crafts, so I decided to create two gifts for her, both involving jars.  First I made her some storage containers for her craft items.  I washed out some repurposed jars, removed their labels, and painted their lids with chalkboard paint.  She can put whatever she'd like in the clear jars, be able to see what's in them, and can label the lids using chalk.  I purchased a box of colored chalk to give her with this gift.  I got the idea here.

The second gift is a hanging flower display filled with lots of purple.  I used baby food jars, a purple embroidery hoop, lots of purple ribbon, and silk flowers.  I got the inspiration here, and this is what the final product looks like:

For my mom (who's a bit more practical-minded), I made a bulletin board out of cork covered in fabric.  I am envisioning that she might want to hang this in the cabin, aka her second home.  The idea for this project came from here, though I decided to do cork rather than a magnetic board.

Both sets of grandparents also received a Snapfish photo book with pictures from 2012.  We used to make these consistently but hadn't done one in a few years.

Hendricks Christmas

Yesterday we had a special Christmas celebration with the Hendricks side of the family.  We always celebrate on New Years Day, and we went down to Granny and Papa's house on New Years Eve afternoon so that we could stay the night and spend more time there.

Granny challenged Charles in Just Dance 3

Our New Years Eve was uneventful (other than the Just Dance challenge mentioned above).  The girls were in bed by 8:30, I was in bed by 10pm, and Charles followed soon after.  You can't stop these party animals!

The next morning we enjoyed a breakfast casserole and then Granny, the girls, and I took a walk while waiting for Chris and the boys to arrive.

Sophie's pitiful face after falling while on our walk

Once everyone arrived and the many and various dogs were taken care of, Granny gave a little speech to start off the festivities.  She explained that they didn't buy many gifts this year but decided instead to pass along family heirlooms, some that had belonged to her boys and others that came from Papa's side of the family, specifically his Granny Moore, who raised him as her own son.  Granny and Papa both got very emotional during her speech, and this became a very special Christmas because of the many items and stories that were shared.

Granny giving her "speech"

Each person received a photograph of Granny Moore and a bag that contained various items within it.  Charles got coins and stamps that had been collected by his parents years ago.  I received Granny Moore's old apron, as I am continuing her legacy as the "family cook."  The girls received old coins, hankies that were Granny Moore's and various small items "just for fun."

Sophie opening her bag

Hannah showing off her hanky

Chris received this gun that was Granny Moore's.  Legend has it that she slept with it under her pillow and once shot an intruder on the back porch at night!

Zach sporting the 1980s crop top that used to be Chris's when he was a boy

Chris wasn't the only one to receive a gun at this family affair.  Papa got a gun from Chris and the boys as his gift, and Zachary got a .22 rifle that belonged to Papa from way back.  A story was told of Charles learning how to shoot and coming dangerously close to shooting his father during target practice... yikes!

The girls and I received gifts from the store as well.  I got some cooking gear I had been wanting, a Victorio strainer for making applesauce and other sauces for canning and an immersion blender for pureeing soups and sauces without having the mess of transferring them into a blender or food processor.  The girls each got a Kindle Fire as a combined gift from Granny, Papa, Chris, and the boys.  As a birthday gift I also got a Kindle Fire, Granny's that she decided she didn't really need.  So now Charles has his iPad and us girls have our Kindle Fires.  We are officially a wired (or is it wireless?) family!

Opening their Kindle Fires

Yes, this strainer does deserve a big smile!

Charles also received some of his favorite UVa golf shirts from Chris and the boys

We had a wonderful time, and I'm sure it's a Christmas we'll not soon forget.  But before I go, a few more pictures just for fun:

Gangsta Papa wearing Zach's new hat

Not sure why we all look so bored