Sock Lambs

John and I are trying to teach our Sunday School kids about sacrifice and covenants, and yesterday, we made lambs out of socks. I invented these in a desperate attempt to get the kids interested in the lesson and keep them focused for a stretch of more than 30 seconds, and I think it worked. Plus, they had evidence to take home to their parents that we really are trying to teach something. If you want to try this, just follow these handy pictorial instructions (is pictorial a word? If not, I have invented two things this week - sock lambs and pictorial):

Materials (per lamb):
White sock
5 cotton balls
2 googly eyes
2 rubber bands
1 sheet of red tissue paper (the blood)
Black permanent marker
Glue gun

Step 1: Get your sock.

Step 2: Wad up a ball of red tissue paper to make the head.

Step 3: Put the paper in the sock and use a rubber band to "seal" the head.

 

Step 4: Wad up the rest of the tissue paper to make the body. Stuff it in the sock and seal it with a rubber band.

Step 5: Glue 4 of the cotton balls on the body to make the legs/feet.

Step 6: Glue on two googly eyes.

Step 7: Tear off two small pieces of the last cotton ball to form the ears.

Step 8: Glue the ears on the head.

Step 9: Draw a nose using a black permanent marker.

Step 10: Watch in admiration as your children solemnly absorb the concept of the sacrificial lamb.

Aunt Ann's present and Pillowla

First, I have to show off Aunt Ann's present, which consists of three (awesome) parts:
1. A Nutella cookbook, which contains 10 or so of the best Nutella recipes I found online.
2. Some of the supplies needed for the Nutella recipes, including, of course, Nutella, all wrapped in some cute Easter wrap from Wal-Mart.
3. The Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies I made, wrapped in Saran Wrap, sealed with a silly cat sticker (Aunt Ann loves cats), and stuck in an Easter treat box from Wal-Mart that matches the Easter wrap.

Is she going to love it? I think so. Am I now her coolest and favorite niece? Sadly, the answer to this is probably still no. But that's not the point.

(I think those are headphones, not earmuffs. There's also one of a cat smoking a pipe, which is hilarious, even to those of us who don't like cats.)

Next, I have to introduce the newest member of the family, Pillowla (rhymes with "Lola"). This is John's mistress, with whom he snuggles during the night. I added the face. John doesn't seem to think this is as funny as I do.

PILLOWLA

Did he meet her in a club down in old Soho? Does she walk like a woman and talk like a man? Good questions for another day...

Yummy Times Two

Banana (and Raisin, because I have a ton of raisins) Rice Pudding

Are you admiring my garnish? I am. I would give this an 8 for flavor and a 7 for texture. Not even close to the delicious baked rice pudding my stepmom makes, but a great breakfast or snack on a chilly day, and a nice alternative to banana bread for using up icky bananas. I'm sure my children would rather die than eat this, but they don't eat my banana bread either. Maybe if I called it "Trix Rice Pudding"...

Nutella Peanut Butter Brownies (for Aunt Ann)

I actually made these from scratch - with flour and cocoa powder and stuff - with some help from Isaac and Esme. They were excellent measurers and scoopers, and as spoon-lickers, they are unsurpassed. These are the moistest, tastiest brownies EVER. If you don't like peanut butter, you might not like them, but if you do, you will be tempted to eat until you barf. You can get the recipe from the World Nutella Day site (February 5, if you were wondering). Happy birthday, Auntie!

Max

Isaac has told me he loves me 85 times in the last 24 hours. Why? Because I'm so lovable? Um, no. Because I bought him a hamster. It (he?) survived night #1 in his new home, which is right next to Isaac's desk in the school room. I couldn't get a good picture of him, because he's about the size of a large grape and I didn't want to try to hold him with just one hand, but he's in there (rest assured, Michele, this thing will NOT get loose...wait, did I close that cage door?).

I checked out a book on blogging from the library yesterday, so be on the lookout for some major improvements around here...I'm not sure what those will be, but surely, you'll notice.

This weekend is going to be an exciting one for us; Aunt Ann is visiting, as are Kristin AND Brittany. Aunt Ann's birthday is tomorrow, and I'm struggling to come up with a present that is both cool and nearly free. I put together a bunch of Nutella recipes (our mutual favorite condiment), and my plan is to make one of them for her & give it to her with the recipes, some Nutella, and some wine. I have to get my buns in gear, though, because she gets here this afternoon.

My plan for this morning is to attempt to make some banana rice pudding, because I have some almost-icky bananas and found a yummy-sounding recipe here. Hopefully, it goes over better than the rotisserie chicken pita pizzas did. My children all scraped off all of the chicken and cheese, licked the ranch dressing off the pita, and claimed to be full. I, however, thought they were delicious. I made some with ranch (mainly for the kids, who claim that my honey BBQ sauce is spicy) and some with BBQ, and I liked the BBQ better.

One last random thought - I bought some cute new jeans a couple of weeks ago, and I cannot find them anywhere! I only wore them twice, and then they disappeared. I think I've looked everywhere, but obviously, I have not. Please, leave a comment and tell me where you think I can find them. If I find them where you think I should look, I will bake you the treat of your choice and deliver it to you.

Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

I found some recipes for leftover rotisserie chicken: http://family.go.com/food/pkg-quick-easy-recipes/rotisserie-chicken-recipes-pg/view-all/.

Now remember, you MUST eat the wings WHOLE and HOT. And you must gnaw on the wing bones for at least 5 minutes or until you've grossed out everyone else at the table. Then you can debone the rest and use it in one of these dishes. I cannot emphasize enough how yummy the wings are and what a tragedy it is to try to debone them.

If you make one of these recipes, let me know! I think we might try the chicken BBQ pitas. I actually have all the ingredients for this, including the green onions! (Be impressed - I never have all of the ingredients for anything.)

A Few of My Favorite Things

• Yoplait Greek Yogurt. Honey Vanilla flavor. If you like yogurt, you will freak out over this stuff. It is absolutely the best yogurt I've ever had, and I have kind of a yogurt obsession. It has 27% of your daily protein requirement too, so if you're like me and don't eat a lot of meat, it's even more awesome. You can print coupons from here: http://www.yoplait.com/products/yoplait-greek-yogurt.

• Watching Monk reruns on Netflix and discussing the possible crime solutions with Isaac. We got rid of our Dish Network last month and have not missed it at all. I have no idea what's going on in the world anymore because I'm too lazy to actually READ the news rather than watch it, but I think you could argue that this is not such a bad thing.

• My house. I was afraid I'd get sick of it being here all day, but I love it even more than I did when I was working. And I'm much more familiar with its quirks and mysteries now, like how dust bunnies thrive under the green chair in the living room, and no matter how many times I wipe it up, the pee spot always reappears on the left side of the upstairs toilet.

• Grace's smile. I've only seen it a few times, but it is unquestionably the cutest little baby smile EVER. Don't tell the others...

• My family. All of them. Including my parents, who have been so loving and supportive (always, but especially during this latest stay-at-home transition/adventure), my sister, who will always be my best girlfriend and is the funnest, funniest person I know, my husband, who is simply amazing in so many ways that I can't even pick just one to mention here, and my children, who are coming into their own special gifts and personalities and turning into real people whom I truly enjoy being with. When they're not whining at me, that is, which is approximately 50% of the time.

• Another food one - rotisserie chicken. Is there a more versatile food? I think not. Last night, we had it in pita pockets with salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Tonight, it will reappear as something totally different  - a casserole, perhaps? Or maybe chicken salad sandwiches? Fettucine Alfredo? Some kind of soup? They're $1 off at Fareway right now, so go get one! And make sure that you save the wings for yourself. And be sure to eat all of the skin and fat that's on them, or you're going to suck the joy right out of the wing experience. They are deeelicious. Click here for the Carroll weekly Fareway ad.

• Crystal Light decaf iced tea with lemon mix. Almost no calories, no caffeine, less expensive than pop, and way better than water. I wish it had bubbles, but still, it's good stuff.

• When Simon tells me how warm I am and snuggles up next to me in the morning. Even with extreme morning breath, this is a great way to start my day.

• The song Closer by Shawn McDonald, and listening to it on www.klove.com. 

• Not having attended a meeting or conference call in almost 3 months. And, frankly, not being able to think of anything I miss about the "work" part of my job. Although, if someone wanted to purchase all of the cool e-learning software I had at AHS so I could play with it at home, I would not object.

End of the First Term!

Isaac's first official term of homeschooling ended on March 4, and all of his report card information is available on Isaac's Homeschool Page. He did a wonderful job - check it out! Woo hoo!