Making Butter

John wanted to make homemade butter. I had some leftover cream from making a fabulous peanut better pie, so I said we’d give it a try. It actually was really easy. I was so glad daddy was here when we did this, because we shook the container for 30 minutes. We used these directions.Above is what our butter looked like after shaking it for 30 minutes, and then rinsing it until the water ran clear. We then added some salt. I only used an eighth of a teaspoon though. John really enjoyed shaping it down into the bowl. He told me it was going to be our butter mold :) Anyway, we tasted a little on our fingers and it is really, really good. We didn’t try it on bread because we ate the last of it this afternoon. I was the only one too chicken to try the buttermilk, but I’m not a fan of milk to begin with.

John insisted that we save the "recipe" to do it again later.

It's Snowball Cookies and a Tea Party

We've been doing everything wintery around here. So we decided to make some snowball cookies. Now I'm not the best cookie maker in the world. My best is giant chocolate chip cookies, but that's only because I have a wonderful "secret" recipe. I definitely include the kiddos. They're learning about fractions while they're having fun.

John is like a major cook. He enjoys all of it. Gracie hung with us for awhile, but eventually petered out.

I had never made these cookies before, so I sent John for his ruler. I just wanted to measure one and make sure they were 1", then I'd eyeball it from there. Well, John wanted to measure every single one. Even after we were done with the cookies, he went around the house measuring things.

After the cookies were done, it was time for our tea party. Doesn't Gracie look cute? She loves to dress up.

My mom bought Gracie this beautiful tea set for Christmas over a year ago.

Tea parties are fun, but they learn so much from them too. They have to be careful with such delicate things.

Gracie is serving daddy and using her manners. She said, "What can I get for you, sir?"

In our house tea parties aren't just for girls. John enjoys them too. He pretends he's a Sheriff.

The cookies actually turned out fine, but great-grandma has a better tasting recipe that we need to get from her. We also enjoyed watching Treasures of the Snow.

Teaching Children to Work

I've always thought it's important to teach children to work. My philosophy is that if they've always done it even when they weren't much help, they would have more of a chance to do it happily when they are a big help. If you wait too long when they can be a help, then they'll have an attitude wondering who you are asking for help. For example, a two year is not going to be able to unload a dishwasher, but she can sort things. Right? Our children have always unloaded the silverware from the dishwasher basket (excluding sharp objects) and they really have enjoyed it. Plus it helps them with their sorting skills. :) My kiddos just come when I call and say it's time to unload the dishwasher. We don't usually wash dishes by hand, but at times there's some left over and I'll wash them by hand. John saw me about ready to wash the dishes. He told me he wanted to help. I needed to scrub the sink first, and he told me he'd do that too. John is a big help to me. He'll help me with whatever I ask. He's a big help to his sister too. Many times Gracie will call for her brother when she needs help. I know he's not the momma or daddy, but one day I think he'll make a good daddy and husband.

The picture above is of my granny's (my great-grandma) thinga-ma-bob. I don't know what you call it. She use to put her rings and necklaces on it. I juse it for my brush and scrubber. I know, it sounds terrible, but this way I use it everyday and can think of her and it's not just collecting dust in my bedroom. John told me he wanted it when I die. :) Gracie then pipes up saying she wants it too.

We sing a lot when we work. We listen to music. We work TOGETHER. It's a lot of fun. In the picture above John was dancing around with his Shaklee cleaning cloth singing, "He Gives Me Joy". It is a joy to work with my children. I made up a little song for my kids when they work with me. I know you can't hear the tune (and it's original), but here are the words.

"John's a hard worker bee, zzzz.

He works so happily, zzzz.

He loves to help mommy.

John's a hard worker bee,zzzzzzzzzzzz."

Here's his job well done. I should give Gracie credit for the bowl. She washed it for about ten minutes, I think.

Growing up we never had a hand vac like this and to be honest I thought people who did were rich. I don't need a hand vac, but my kiddos do. Gracie is sweeping up tortilla chip crumbs off the couch. She loves it!!!

My ultimate favorite household machine is the Swiffer Sweeper. Click on that link too, it's for a money back guarantee if you want to try the Swiffer out and you don't like it. I use it every single day in my kitchen and hall. John sweeps the very tiny bit of tile inside the front door with it everyday. Does it need done everyday? Probably not, but it gives him something to do when I'm busy working.

I have more thoughts on children working. My children know that they are a help to our household. I tell them so. They know they are valued and that they have purpose. I don't have to pump them up with some false self-esteem mumbo jumbo. I tell them that they are my "Big Helpers" I tell them I'm not as tired as I would be if I had to do all this work by myself and it's true.

Now is their work perfect or is as good as I would do? Not at all. They're in training for real life and we're having fun at the same time.

Blueberry Picking

Some friends from church invited us to go blueberry picking when Aunt Christy was here. Now Gracie loves blueberries more than anyone I've ever seen. This makes this momma happy. So we jumped at the chance to go.

We now know why blueberries are so expensive. It's a lot of work picking berries. We had a huge bounty of them. This is what everyone in the group picked and they were so gracious to let us buy them all to bring home to store for our family. I would have never been able to pick that many with two little people with me.

Our Trip to Krohn Conservatory

Last week we got to go to the Krohn Conservatory on my Birthday. My birthday started at rainy and very gloomy. I do not like gloomy, I love the sun. I originally was planning on making the trip in the morning, but it did not work out. God knew what He was doing, because the afternoon was gorgeous. We got to spend time outside that otherwise may have not happened in the morning because of the rain. John smelling the flowers.
God's beautiful creation.
Gorgeous tulips.

This is me and my munchkins. I finally have a picture of me. I'm the one always taking the pictures, so there are usally no pictures of me. So this is for those who have been wanting to put a name with a face.A beautiful waterfall inside of Krohn. This is one of our favorite spots. It's just gorgeous.

A little lady bug. Isn't God amazing?

Gracie with her Powder Puff.
This is a flower clock outside of Krohn. It is always amazing to me.

I love this shot. It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables.

You can see Gracie is still holding on to that Powder Puff.

I knew most of this post would be pictures. The children were so excited and kept saying taking a picture of this. What else can I really say when so much of God's creation is just amazing. I am so humbled by the things He's given us. This reminds me of
I Timothey 6:17, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;"

God has truly given us so many good things to enjoy. We just have to stop and take the time to look around.

Hodge Podge

I have been taking a little break from so many computer things. I can see the blessing in the computer and also the curse if it all gets out of balance. Anyway, we have been very busy around here with school and the holidays.

Now to be honest, I'm not a great player and really wasn't when I was a child. I could read all day to my children and teach them things. I can get them involved in working and cooking with me. Right now I'm working on playing with my children or should I say enjoy playing with them. I've always enjoyed playing games like Chutes and Ladders, I guess because I felt like it was teaching them something. I've never really enjoyed doll house or playing trains.

We've been playing with balls in our basement and I've really enjoyed this. We toss them, bounce them, throw them in baskets, try to dribble them. Today we are going to go outside and try our hand at kick ball. Best of all, I'm enjoying playing with my children.

A Fun Idea

We are back from our short trip to Kentucky. I'm hoping to post some pictures on this blog from our trip, that is if I can figure out how to do it. Anyway, I thought I would post a fun idea that I sometimes do with my children. I don't know where I got this idea, but it is not original with me. The winter has been long, so sometimes when it's not nice enough to go outside then we do outside things inside. One of these is blowing bubbles. When the children are in the bathtub for their baths we will all blow bubbles in the tub. It's so much fun. So the next time your littles are in the tub don't forget the bubbles.

An Idea I Had

Last week we went to the Dayton Air Force Museum and Amos wanted to purchase John a model airplane. While they finished up in the museum I headed to the gift shop. I found the Skill 1 models after awhile, but had no idea what to purchase Gracie. Most of the stuff was geared for boys.

I continued to hunt and found a book for Gracie. She loves to read. Here is what I bought her. The Curious George book with the tape cost $9.95. I normally would not spend this much, but couldn't find anything else. I'm sure glad I got it though. She listened to it 3 times in a row the first night when we got home.

They both really loved it to be truthful so I put several books on hold at the library that I know they love that come with a cassette tape or CD. They just love it. Now I should say that I'm not using this as a substitute for reading out loud to them. We still read aloud for about one hour a day.

I got to thinking that maybe we need some more books on tape around here, but for $9.95 they weren't going to be getting many from daddy and momma. So here's my idea: I could make up some books on cassette. I'm going to take some of their favorite books and read the stories on cassette. I'm going to use a little bell or whistle when it's time to turn the page as neither one of the children read yet. Plus I think it's sweet that it's my voice and it's something that we can always save.

There's more though. They are listening to the tapes on this. Amos doesn't understand why I don't let them just use the stereo. The little cassette player uses batteries, but thanks to CVS we got a ton of free batteries and I'm not so worried about it. Plus I would have loved to have one of these when I was little. It just makes you feel so big and grown up.