Baby Flower Hat

Our pastors' daughter had a baby girl last week, so of course, I had to knit a hat. I'm not sure whether this is the right size for a newborn or not, and I finished it after Grace went to bed last night, so I haven't tried it on her for size yet. Even if it's too big for little Clara now, since it's a flower, it'll work for springtime, right? My new favorite thing is knitting with different colors of yarn at the same time, which I had to do to make the "stem." Maybe soon I'll be ready for a Fair Isle pattern. Maybe.

John got a picture of the kids with their "travel buddies" that I made them for Christmas, and (much to my shock and joy) the kids love them! Whew. Here they are on Christmas day:

Aren't they cute? All six of them.

Mindware

We had so much fun yesterday playing with Isaac's snap circuit set that he got for Christmas. It was easy to snap together, the instructions were wonderful, and we didn't need any special tools. I found a link to something like it on the MindWare website, but if my sister really spent anywhere near this much money on it, I will be ticked: http://www.mindware.com/p/Snap-Circuits-500/20158. If you've never been on this site before, take a look around! Isaac also got a crystal-growing set, which we were all excited to start yesterday until we realized we need a kitchen scale. Here's a link to that one: http://www.mindware.com/p/Space-Age-Crystals/44130. I was looking through the catalog, since Isaac's (11th!!) birthday is coming in a couple of weeks, and I really want to get him the Intelliglobe: http://www.mindware.com/p/Intelliglobe/48173 - but I think he'd cry. How cool, though - a talking globe that updates itself on the internet. I want one. Maybe I'll get it for me for my birthday. Or for Grace...hmmm...that way I could still get another present for me...

Adult Children?

Is that an oxymoron? You know, like jumbo shrimp? I've been thinking a lot lately about my role as an adult daughter and about my role as a step-parent to John's adult children. I don't know whether it's the step part or the adult part that makes it hard, but these are definitely the hardest roles for me to fill in my family. I feel like I'm constantly and unwittingly offending someone, or disappointing someone, or making someone feel left out, even when I'm making a distinct effort not to do any of those things. I've even been checking out books on it from the library, which are so wildly different from each other that they're not really all that helpful. One says it's your duty to give your adult children whatever they need/want at the expense of your own finances; one says it's sink or swim and you have to watch from a distance...I guess at least no matter what I do, I'll be able to find a book to support it. All I know for sure is that it's strange to be on both sides of the adult parent thing, especially over the holidays. One day I'm in charge of coordinating everything and being the host and buying the good presents and being the grown-up; the next, I'm feeling twelve years old again and trying to be a good daughter. Maybe I'll figure all of this out and write a book about it that is actually useful. In the mean time, if you have any sage advice, send it my way.

Blog posts are no fun without pictures, right? Here's David, celebrating his 25th birthday (Dec. 12 I think - why don't I have this in my calendar?) with his little sister Grace (11 months - birthday Jan. 14!). They are totally in love. Grace is a huge fan of his beard (now gone) and ear-hole thingies. And of course, of him in general.

No more Exercisetv.tv

I am now hooked on P90X (although I don't do the workouts in order or follow the diet, so don't expect me to start looking like the Terminator anytime soon), but I still like finding workouts online. I just discovered that ExerciseTV.tv is NO LONGER in existence, which makes me very sad, so I had to find a new source for free videos. Instead, I've been going to Hulu, which has a bunch of free workouts - yoga, pilates, and even cardio workouts with The Firm. None of my favorite Firm ladies are still around, apparently, since my DVDs are way old, but The Firm still exists, and you can check it out at http://www.hulu.com/, on the Health and Wellness page. You don't need any of those blue and purple steps for these workouts, which is nice. I even found a few of my old favorites from ExerciseTV on Hulu, although Hulu has commercials, so you have to figure out what to do for 60 seconds while the commercials are playing. Standing around works just fine for me. I wonder if anyone else cares about this...am I the only one who gets up early to bounce around in her living room and develops a bond with the so-fit-it's-disturbing online trainers, or are there more of us out there?

Dinner Time Devotions

John has been wanting to get more involved in homeschooling, and we decided he needed to teach a daily Bible lesson to the kids. We found this great book at the Christian book store in Ankeny: Dinner Table Devotions by Nancy Guthrie. It has a lesson for every day of the year, including a message, related Bible verses, and discussion questions. We've been doing them after dinner, while everyone is still sitting at the table, and I LOVE it. The lessons would work for anyone from my kids' ages to teenagers, and the discussion questions are really good. It's a lot easier than trying to come up with your own lesson, and I'm pretty sure we could use this for several years in a row, since the kids' understanding will evolve and they'll continue to get something new out of the material even after seeing it a couple of times. I like that everyone doesn't just get up and run away after they finish their meal, and it only takes 5 minutes or so to do the whole thing, so the kids pretty much stay focused on it. The book looks cute too - check it out:

Cute Fuzzy Bags!

If you're in the mood to make gift wrapping a little bit softer this year, I have a brilliant idea (which was not, originally, mine). You can make drawstring pouches from a little bit of fleece and some ribbon - and it's not that much more difficult than wrapping, especially for odd-shaped gifts. Here's what you do:

1. Buy enough fabric that you can cut at least one, 20-inch circle out of it. I can't remember how much this is...a yard? Maybe 2? I remember that the fabric all came in 18-inch width, so I had to get more than I had wanted to. I got two bags out of each swatch that I bought.
2. Buy a lot of ribbon. One bag used one spool of the ribbon I bought at the craft store.
3. Cut your circle. I tied a 10-inch piece of string around a piece of chalk to trace my circle, but if you have a gigantic bowl, that might work too. None of mine were big enough.
4. Cut slits for the ribbon to go through. I cut mine about an inch and a half from the edge of the fabric at 3-inch intervals. I wouldn't go any more than 3 inches apart.
5. Weave the ribbon through the slits. Use enough ribbon so that you can go all the way around the circle (with it laying flat) and tie the ribbon in a bow. I hot-glued my bow together so it wouldn't come untied. And because I use every excuse I can to get out the hot glue gun.
6. To create the bag, just pull the ribbon at the point where you tied the bow. When the bag is cinched up, you have a perfect little carrying strap.

John's Presentation

John has to give a presentation at work today on "how to do something." He has to train his team on the new computer system, so to practice, he has to do a brief presentation to a group of fellow supervisors & managers. He picked "how to get started in homeschooling," which is so cool, I think. Maybe we'll inspire someone. Or just convince them that we're not crazy. Here's what we came up with for an outline:

How to Get Started in Homeschooling (in Iowa)

1.     Once you’ve decided that you want to homeschool, seek agreement from your spouse.

a.     Procedure: Schedule a quiet evening with your spouse to present the reasons you want to homeschool and discuss the pros and cons.

b.     Reason: Homeschooling will not succeed unless both parents are on board.

2.     Next, choose a teaching method. Some examples of teaching methods are unit studies, Charlotte Mason, Classical, and Unschooling.

a.     Procedure: Research teaching methods online, at the library, and by discussing them with other homeschool families. Evaluate your children’s learning styles and personalities, then choose a method that you think will work.

b.     Reason: For your children to learn effectively, you need to teach in a way that works for them.

3.     Purchase teaching materials, such as textbooks, literature, furniture, paper, and art supplies.

a.     Procedure: Consult other homeschooling families, websites, and catalogs, and attend homeschool conferences to determine what you need. Order online or locate a teaching supply store in your area.

b.     Reason: Most parents and households need to purchase additional resources to successfully homeschool. You need the right tools for the job.

4.     Choose how you want your children to be evaluated by the state.

a.     Procedure: Decide which of the following three options you want to use for your children’s evaluation:

                                                              i.      Annual standardized testing (i.e. Iowa Tests of Educational Development)

                                                            ii.      Hire a supervising teacher to perform regular evaluations throughout the school year

                                                          iii.      Submit a portfolio of your children’s work to a supervising teacher

b.     Reason: Iowa law requires you to choose one of these options.

5.     Choose your level of involvement with the local school district.

a.     Procedure: Decide which of the following three levels of involvement you want to have with the local public school:

                                                              i.      Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) – you will work with a teacher who is employed by the school. The teacher will evaluate your children’s progress and administer standardized tests, as well as share resources and advice.

                                                            ii.      Dual-Enrollment – your child will be able to participate in classes and extra-curricular activities at the school.

                                                          iii.      No involvement.

b.     Reason: Iowa law requires you to choose one of these options (you can also do both the HSAP and dual-enrollment).

6.     File the Iowa CPI (Competent Private Instruction) form. This must be done every August.

a.     Procedure: Download the CPI form from the internet, fill it out, and type out a list of the basic topics and resources you will be using. Keep a copy and send a copy to your local school district.

b.     Reason: Iowa law requires you to file this form once a year.

7.     Enjoy the freedom of instructing your children at home, according to their interests and learning styles and your values as a family.

a.     Procedure: Start by teaching with the method and materials you’ve selected, but be flexible and make changes as you go along.

b.     Reason: Because you want homeschooling to be a successful, enjoyable experience for you and your kids.

The best part is his icebreaker - he's going to start naming famous/historical people who were homeschooled and have people guess what they have in common. My favorites? C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie, and Benjamin Franklin.

We put up the tree!

I have nothing useful to share today, except that the Carroll County 4H group is adding "Clover Kids" this winter, a club for K-3rd graders, so get registered! You can hang out with Simon and do 4H-y things, like...well, really, I have no idea. But I'm sure it's wholesome and educational, and you only have to pay $30 per year for your child to be in as many 4H clubs as he/she wants to be in. Isaac is doing "Outdoor Adventures" and the "Health Careers Club," and I think there will be a book club later this winter. The ISU Extension office, where you register, is by Anytime Fitness and the laundromat.
Anyway, we did put up our Christmas tree, which is aggravating for me (perfectionist, not sentimental, annoyed by broken lights and ornaments without hooks) but enjoyable for everyone else (non-perfectionist, sentimental, like to touch and look at shiny things). The evidence:

 Isaac mad; Simon happy and pre-nosebleed.

 Isaac happy; Simon mad and post-nosebleed (see shirt).

Grace was napping and missed the fun, so here she is eating a Pop Tart. Could be her last; this was the worst mess to clean up ever.

Pictures

 Trick-or-treating at Grandma & Grandpa's. We debated whether this was an anti-Christian holiday or just harmless fun and decided on the harmless fun, but I'm not sure we're going next year. Family fun night might become our new Halloween tradition.

 Esme the Princess.

 Isaac the pirate (no eyepatch - he thought people would laugh), Esme the bobcat princess, and Simon the "ghost face," as he called it.

 Just about ready to go out & get candy. And oh my, the candy.

 Lego City - part of the reason I've been finding it difficult to exercise. The Lego people have overthrown my workout space and built an empire on it. I feel like Gulliver. Or maybe Godzilla.

 The TURKEY. Stuffed with caramelized onion and cornbread stuffing and rubbed with sage butter. It was good. Oh, so good.

 Kristin and Esme on Thanksgiving. Esme can't always remember her name, but she loooooves Kristin.

 Esme, Kristin, Grace, and Nick.

 The whole gang. (That's David holding up Grace.)

 David and Brittany enjoying Thanksgiving dinner.

 See the paper plates? We had a plumbing stoppage in the kitchen that we had to get cleared Thanksgiving morning, so we were afraid to do too many dishes. Thank goodness for Knobbe Plumbing.

Dylan, Brittany, David, Jennifer, Nick, Kristin, and Grace.

What a great holiday! And it's only Friday. Gotta love it. I never thought I'd have a big family - certainly not seven kids - and I couldn't be happier about the way things have turned out. Good thing God's in charge and not me.

Thanksgiving is Coming!

And I think I'm ready. I downloaded this wonderful workbook for the kids from http://www.scriptureadventures.com/ called "Give Thanks" - 102 pages of activities, crafts, memory verses, games, journaling, and other cool stuff - for only $7. I bought the Christmas one too. I think these would work for any elementary-aged kids; ideal age is maybe 2nd - 5th grade. I haven't fully explored the website, but it looks to be full of good stuff for homeschoolers (and church school too - pretty denomination-neutral from what I saw).

I also have our Thanksgiving dinner all planned and the cupboards all stocked. I raided the Food Network website and came up with the following:
Oven Roasted Turkey with Sage Butter and Carmelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing
Classic Stuffing
Grainy Mustard Mashed Potatoes (you boil the potatoes in milk and cream...yum...)
Creamy Sweet Potato Casserole (topped with marshmallows and candied pecans - no, there is no such thing as "too sweet")
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes (obviously a Paula Deen one)
Then, the piece de resistance: my grandma's green bean recipe. Beans, onions, bacon, vinegar, and brown sugar.
Have been depressed lately about the lack of time to do any of the following things: exercise, adequately plan school and church lessons, dust, read, knit enough to stay on schedule for Christmas presents, sleep, blog, pray, maintain my childrens' toe and fingernails, etc., etc. I'm not sure what I actually have been doing, but it's been keeping me very busy. One neat thing we did last week was to deliver our church's shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/) to the drop-off site in Boone with our pastors. It's too late for this year, but if you've never been involved in this, you should check into it for next year. You pack shoeboxes full of goodies for kids in impoverished countries, and they receive the gifts, along with the gospel message, as Christmas presents.
I'm in the middle of knitting John's birthday present and it is going SLOWLLLLYYY, but I do have seven gifts done and another almost done. Scarves, cowls, gloves, toys, and more. Next year I'm starting way earlier. I wonder if anyone is interested in a knitting all-nighter sometime soon. Would that be fun? I'll have to ask the Yarnivores (my knitting companions). (Isn't that a clever name? I thought of it while I was feeding my way-too-old-to-be-getting-fed-at-1-am baby at 1 am the other night.)
My goal this week is to blog every day. Something useful. Can I do it?

Knitting Retreat!

My favorite knitting friend and I went to a knitting retreat this Saturday at the yarn store in Carroll, and it was heavenly. We knitted all day, learned three new scarf techniques (one of which was horrible and frustrating, but still a wonderful time), and ate like queens. I bought new yarn, which I shouldn't have done, but I think I'm all set for knitting my Christmas presents. It's impossible to just look at all of that gorgeous yarn and not get something. I may have to stay up all night for a few weeks, but everyone on my list is penciled in for a knitted masterpiece this year - scarves, cowls, hats, fairies, gloves...how exciting.
I also was eavesdropping and heard about a website for knitters that I didn't know about: http://www.ravelry.com/. Membership is free, and you can search zillions of patterns - some free, some not. There were all kinds of neat things you can do that I didn't look at, like mark your patterns and rate patterns and other stuff.
This was the busiest weekend ever. It started on Friday night with our First Thanksgiving, which I prepared for to the nth degree and was attended by...one other family and my supervising teacher. And my ex-husband. Sigh. Oh well, I guess I'm super-prepared for next year. And I learned all kinds of interesting things about American history. Then, the knitting retreat on Saturday, followed by shoebox preparations at church for Operation Christmas Child (it's not too late to fill up a shoebox with goodies for children across the world; go to http://www.samaritanspurse.com/ to see what it's all about). Sunday was church, my 31 Gifts party (much better attended than the First Thanksgiving), and a church leadership meeting. I haven't had two coherent thoughts in a row for days.
The kids had a great time with Grandpa at the Iowa Hall of Fame. They got to ride in the Mini-Cooper and eat out for breakfast and lunch, so this one was pretty much in the bag no matter what the actual hall of fame was like.
I've been forgetting to end with a Bible verse - today it's Psalm 100. The whole thing. So you'll have to go and look it up, but I'll give you a hint: it's about thanksgiving. The lower-case kind.

Iowa Hall of Pride

Did you know that there is an Iowa Hall of Pride? It's in Des Moines, attached to the Hy-Vee Hall, and it showcases famous Iowans of all kinds - athletes, historical figures, actors, and so on. You can check it out here: http://www.iowahallofpride.com/, or take a trip there like Isaac, Simon, and Grandpa are tomorrow. So, you're thinking, are there really enough famous Iowans to fill up a hall? Why yes. Here are a few famous Iowans; I'm not sure whether all of these are in the Hall of Pride, since I haven't been there. I'll have to let you know next week.

Famous Iowans
Bess Streeter Aldrich author, Cedar Falls
Bix Beiderbecke jazz musician, Davenport
Norman Borlaug plant pathologist, geneticist, Cresco
Donald L. Campbell inventor, Clinton
Wallace Hume Carothers inventor, Burlington
Johnny Carson TV entertainer, Corning
William Buffalo Bill Cody scout, Scott Cty
Gardner Cowles Jr. publisher, Algona
Lee DeForest inventor, Council Bluffs
Simon Estes bass-baritone, Centerville
William Frawley actor, Burlington
George H. Gallup poll taker, Jefferson
Susan Glaspell writer, Davenport
Herbert Hoover U.S. president, West Branch
Ann Landers columnist, Sioux City
Cloris Leachman actress, Des Moines
William D. Leahy fleet admiral, Hampton
John L. Lewis labor leader, Lucas
Glenn L. Martin aviator, manufacturer, Macksburg
Elsa Maxwell writer, Keokuk
Glenn Miller bandleader, Clarinda
Harriet Nelson actress, Des Moines
Nathan M. Pusey educator, Council Bluffs
David Rabe playwright, Dubuque
Harry Reasoner TV commentator, Dakota City
Donna Reed actress, Denison
Lillian Russell soprano, Clinton
Wallace Stegner author, critic, Lake Mills
Billy Sunday evangelist, Ames
James A. Van Allen space physicist, Mount Pleasant
Abigail Van Buren columnist, Sioux City
Henry A. Wallace statesman, Adair Cty
John Wayne actor, Winterset
Andy Williams singer, Wall Lake
Meredith Willson composer, Mason City
Grant Wood painter, Anamosa
Ashton Kutcher, actor
Elijah Wood, actor
Dan Gable, wrestling legend
Kurt Warner, football legend
Jerry Mathers, actor

So, to everyone who thinks Iowa is uncool, PTHTHTHTHTH. (That's me sticking out my tongue.)

Coin Collecting

Isaac is ecstatic over his coin collection, enhanced this weekend by a bunch of cool coins and bank notes from Grandpa. We've started looking them all up online, and we discovered a bunch of coin-collecting websites in the process. Who knew? You can catalog your coin collection and swap coins online for free! Cool. Of course, I had already started a spreadsheet, which Isaac doesn't want to give up, but eventually, I'm making him put the whole thing online.
Here are a couple of the sites we saw...I'm not sure which we'll use or which is better, but they all looked neat:

Numista:  http://en.numista.com/
Collector's Society (this one has paper money too - not sure if the others do or not): http://www.collectors-society.com/default.aspx

UCoin: http://en.ucoin.net/
Nostomania (this one can be used for other types of collections too): http://www.nostomania.com/servlets/com.nostomania.HomeServlet

Routine, shmoutine

We have been terrible lately at sticking to a schedule. Grace is wailing in her crib right now because I know it's not naptime, but she's so crabby that I don't know what else to do with her. I had forgotten how high maintenance almost-one-year-olds can be. She is everywhere, and she only likes to play with stuff she can choke on (especially paper, legos, and hair bands), and she falls and hits her head ALL the time. So if she's fussy (read: awake), doing anything else with anyone else is almost impossible, including school. And, as you've noticed, blogging. I never get to work out in the morning anymore, because she gets up early and smiley and fights to climb all over me while I try to vinyasa. And now, Isaac and Simon always want to get up "early", so mornings to myself are totally out. I think I'm going to start getting up from 2-4 am to enjoy some "me" time. I read somewhere that "me" time is selfish anyway, so I suppose I should be willing to get up at 2 if I think I need it.
The only useful information I have to pass along today is that you must read the book, Free Range Learning, by Laura Grace Weldon. It's an excellent book on homeschooling. You also must read As Always, Julia, which is a collection of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. I will probably never get to the end of either of these books, because of the aforementioned problem with me-time, so don't expect me to be able to talk intelligently about either of them. I can only vouch for the first 30 pages or so.

It costs HOW MUCH to take guitar lessons???

I've been fairly decided on the idea of getting guitar lessons for Isaac for Christmas. I was eventually going to get around to checking the cost, but, remembering the $5 a week it cost for piano lessons when I was a kid, I figured cost would not be an issue. I keep forgetting that "when I was a kid" was 20 years ago. So John was talking to a friend from work at our Halloween mask making class at Swan Lake last night, and she said her son just loves his lessons. He goes to the same place I would send Isaac. His lessons cost $70 a month. That's for one 30-minute lesson per week. So, what do we do? I'm debating whether I could learn guitar with him at home, for free...but part of the point of the lessons is for him to get out of the house, and perform with other kids, and for him to be taught by someone perhaps a bit more patient than his mother. I can't imagine finding $70 a month to spend on this, especially when I was going to get art lessons for Simon, which surely cost this much as well. Argh. If I have to revisit my food budget and start trying to extreme coupon again, I will cry. Give me your opinion - is this something I need to do, or is this an outrageous luxury that the kids can do without? And what about the school band? Can I dual-enroll him in band and get free lessons at the school?

Clickschooling

I just signed up for another free e-newsletter, but I'm pretty sure I won't just be deleting this one every morning. (Sorry, all of you devotional and homeschooling newsletters that I currently get. I just don't have time to read you right now.) It's called ClickSchooling, and it includes a new, free lesson every day, based on the day of the week. Monday is math, Tuesday is science, and so on. They include a bunch of great website links and ideas, and I've learned that having a backup plan for your normal daily lesson (and a backup for your backup) is a good idea. If the kids start pouting, throwing tantrums, running around like wild apes, or otherwise getting distracted from what you're "supposed" to be doing, it's awesome to have other ideas handy to try to reel them back in.

Pumpkin Pie Baked in a Pumpkin

It works! You really can make a pie in a pumpkin. The trick is knowing whether your pumpkin is ripe, because one of mine was a lot riper than the other. However, I have no idea how you judge this without cutting open the pumpkin. The ripe one was a lot easier to cut into, so I suppose it must have felt a little softer from the outside? It was darker too. I found them at Wal-Mart in the fruit section...make sure you don't try this with a carving pumpkin. They're too big and too watery.

Here's what I did:

Cut open two pie pumpkins and scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff. You won't be able to get all of the stringy stuff - at least I couldn't - but get as much as you can. I roasted the seeds with salt and pepper, but that requires a lot of washing and picking off slimy pumpkin guts, so if you're going for speed, just toss the seeds.

Next, put some butter (a tablespoon or so) in each of the pumpkins and stick them in the oven at 350 (without the tops). Put them on a cookie sheet, because stuff will ooze out the bottom. Bake them for about an hour.

Take one of the pumpkins and peel off the skin. This should be easy to do; if not, stick it back in and cook it longer. Cut the pumpkin flesh into chunks, then put it in a bowl and beat it with a mixer. I strained mine, but that took forever and I'm not sure that it really did anything. Add two eggs, a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 cup honey, and 1/4 cup brown sugar (substitute maple syrup if you're going for an authentic pilgrim experience, because they didn't have sugar when they first arrived). Beat until combined.

Pour the mixture into the other pumpkin until it's about 80% of the way full. You can use the extra to make a traditional pumpkin pie, or pour it into small glass or ceramic dishes and bake them like custards. Put the top on the pumpkin, slightly askew, and stick it back in the oven. Bake at 400 until the filling is set (pudding vs. soupy consistency), which took about an hour for mine.

Peel the skin from the pumpkin and slice it into wedges. Serve with whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon. If you don't like squash, you won't like the pumpkin flesh, but I thought it was great. It tastes just like acorn squash except maybe a little bit sweeter.