Green belts and temper tantrums

 The boys now have their green belts and can begin training for sparring. James is super excited since green is his favorite color. David will probably be the same when they move into the blue belts. They get their gear bags today.

I had to stay at home from the belt ceremony with a couple of still sick kiddos. Really hoping that was the last of it. I am getting some things more organized which is good. But really I am sick of this house! Ready to be back to our normal crazy schedule.

Katie Rose and John Micah go back and forth with their moods. One minute, they are playing happily together. The next, they are at each other's throats. They were fighting over a mylar balloon that had lost its string. James came up with a clever solution and added a piece of yarn and a paracord to the balloon. They were long so both could take the balloon in opposite directions and hold onto the balloon without being in each other's face.

Yesterday, I was organizing some school and arts & crafts supplies. I am making the entertainment center into an activity center. Not long ago, I found a huge disc organizer that looks like a photo album. I think it holds like 250 or so discs. I was able to put all our DVD's, most of our CD's and even our computer discs all in one spot with space to spare. Most awesome thing ever! In the process, that left a lot of space empty in our entertainment center. So I am organizing it to hold activity books with dry erase markers, phonics books and flash cards.

I have two slightly bigger than a shoe box plastic totes that I used for worksheets and coloring books. I stacked them on top of each other and set beside the entertainment center. Little did I know that it automatically became the favorite seat in the house. John Micah sat on it. When he got up, Katie Rose swooped in with her pillow, blanket and kitty telling John Micah to go away. He became distressed. A screaming match ensued. Nevermind that there are many other much more comfortable seating areas all over the house.

I guess all kids have some ridiculous arguments. But it's these nonsense things that can drive you a little crazy. Knock-down drag-out temper tantrums over things that are intended to prevent disappointment or keep them safe, like giving a new piece of gum instead of allowing them to put the piece that dropped in the mulch back into their mouth or making them stay in the van til everyone is strapped in the stroller when you are parked near a busy road. I guess it's a reminder to teach them that in life, you won't always be praised for doing the right thing. You may even be ridiculed for it. But it's important to do it anyway.

Pizza party

After spending several weeks without going to a restaurant in order to save up for gear bags for the older boys' taekwondo lessons, we treated ourselves to lunch out. We had intended on going to Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe. They have a location near the Birmingham Zoo that we had visited before. As we were walking to the Cafe, we passed Bob's Victory Grille. We changed our minds and decided Americana sounded better. 

The staff were very attentive. They seemed intent on making this our favorite restaurant. They fried up some dough and covered it with cinnamon and caramel for a dessert to share. No charge! The little ones had coloring pages with a little container of fruit loops cereal or something similar. Several people came by to see if we needed anything.

The most memorable part was the older boys getting to play with dough at the counter. They played and played. Their food came. They wolfed it down. Then went back to playing with their dough. Once they were done, a staff member baked their dough and then covered it with olive oil and Parmesan (or something similar) cheese. The boys were tickled and exclaimed that this was the best restaurant ever. 

Now we need to try to get some swim lessons this year so we need to eat at home as much as possible. Last night, I decided to make pizza. I converted a recipe to make three crusts. I made two for the little ones, my husband and I. I divided the third and let the boys make their own. The rising time of the dough allowed us to gather all the ingredients to let them customize it to their tastes. 

James said, "I'm so excited I could burst!"

With this week that we have had with illness and not being able to get out to do anything fun, it was a great activity to counteract the blahs. 

 

What we are reading

 Homer the Library Cat is a cute little book for my daughter who loves all things cat. We've read it several times since checking it out last week from our library. She is four and we've also begun Hooked On Phonics. Listening to the sounds are also helpful for her two year old brother who has trouble repeating some sounds. Because this is something special for Katie Rose to do, John Micah doesn't want to miss out and is following the audio of the letters and phonics. Because John Micah is trying to do her thing, Katie Rose is motivated to focus on it. Competition has it's benefits.

We love Eric Carle! His books are always so fun and creative. The Greedy Python has entertained all the children from the oldest (10 yrs old) down to the youngest (9 mo old).

Last week we were able to see Tommy John at our local library's summer reading program. The children loved it! We had to leave a few minutes before the end for ENT checkups and they hated having to leave. This week we have a tummy bug plaguing our house so we missed the reading program this week as well as VBS and other things. Hoping we get back on track next week and don't miss any more fun programs. 

The older boys have a goal of twenty books read by the end of summer. I'm trying to get them interested in some sort of youth fiction. They tend to gravitate towards non-fiction and smaller books. Week before last, I tried some books from the How to Train Your Dragon series. They loved the book with all the dragons but they wouldn't read the book, How to Twist a Dragon Tale. May have to add a pizza buffet reward if they finish a chapter book in an interesting series. I'm not above bribing my kids to get them motivated. 

Their school also gave links to 50 free ebooks. The disadvantage to it is that it is an audio recording as well. It entertains them but not so sure it is really improving their reading when the audio is doing the work for them. But regardless, we have a reading-filled summer. 

Easter Feast

I got the April 2014 issue of Better Homes and Gardens in the mail. The recipes in One Happy Easter Feast intrigued me. They had taken all sorts of Easter classics and gave them new spins. I normally don't like to try a bunch of new recipes at once but hey, there's a first time for everything. I wouldn't do this often especially when it's hard to gauge time with a lot of unfamiliar recipes. It would be awesome if these special meal plans would also have a timetable on what time to start each stage of the recipes.

The raspberry glaze for the ham was perfect. I'm not a huge fan of raspberries. But the glaze with it's honey and orange juice made the ham scrumptiously sweet.

The garlic potato rolls were made with roasted garlic and purple potatoes. The recipe called for 2-3 bulbs of garlic. I'll admit that I thought it said cloves when I went shopping. So I roasted one bulb. I think that was wise especially with younger children. I don't think they would eat it if it was packed with 2-3 bulbs of garlic. My husband agreed that 1 bulb seemed just right. These rolls tasted like they were from some specialty bakery. Yummy!

I thought the pink deviled eggs would tickle my daughter and have her eating more. No such luck. The relish was replaced with pickled beets which didn't really change the flavor, only the appearance.

The asparagus with lemon sauce will be made tomorrow night with the leftovers. The lemon sauce seems a bit involved with folding and monitoring temperature. I didn't feel like I could get it done with the major meal cooking. We steamed some brussel sprouts instead.

The Happy Easter mashed potatoes was the only fail. It tastes ok. The idea was to add a secret ingredient that would keep people guessing. Yes, it would be hard to guess that it had white chocolate in it. But it didn't add any great flavor. Only a little sweetness which seemed out of place with the rosemary. If I could do it over, I would make the potatoes without the chocolate and only a splash of cream instead of a whole cup.

Hope everyone is having a Blessed Easter celebration. We've had a wonderful Easter Vigil last night (the kids were pretty awesome to be up past bed time), an Easter egg hunt this morning, an Easter feast and a nap for the cook.

Good Friday

Intended on making a Greek lentil soup but my yogurt didn't handle being frozen as well as I had hoped. So I will make a Black bean and quinoa enchilada bake. This will be my fourth time making it. Super scrumptious and quite filling!

I think there is something completely beautiful and powerful about millions of people all over the world fasting (partial = two smaller meals and one regular meal) and praying.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB

 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I just know that has to change lives if nothing but our own.

Holy Thursday

Today is my second Holy Thursday as a confirmed Catholic. I love the liturgical year and how we can place ourselves in the mindset of the particular events in the Gospels.

Today we celebrate The Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples. It was Passover so the disciples spent much of this day finding the location Jesus told them about and preparing the Passover meal. This night, Jesus would go to the garden to pray. Before dawn, he would be arrested. By tomorrow, the only disciple that hasn't betrayed him, denied him or run for cover will be John.

How heavy his heart must have been! At least as a human, you could hope that against all odds that the ones you love the most will stick by you no matter what. But as God, he knew better. What deep love it had to have been to still go to the cross! Knowing how so many would fail you. For even those who would never call your name.

Friday and Saturday will be much more somber days. We will contemplate the cross as we bear our own. Remembering through all the trials and hurt feelings that life may bring, resurrection is right around the corner. And I'm sure that Jesus' resurrection was nothing like any of the disciples imagined his victory.

Today I spent time preparing. I don't want to be running errands that aren't absolutely necessary so I went to the grocery store, gas station, etc. I will make some Greek lentil soup for the fasting and abstinence from meat. Preparation of our space and time to be a little more reflective. I will still have young children to tend to so it won't exactly be quiet. But I will do what I can at this stage in life. And offer up my service in my vocation of motherhood in lieu of prayers that may not get said.

Have a blessed Easter season!

Crocheted trim for towels and bathcloths

I went to the Black Friday sales last year. Hardly worth the effort but I did get a few cool things. I knew I wanted socks and pajamas but they also had yarn and plain towels on sale. I bought a bunch of white towels and planned out five colors of yarn to fit my five children.

Davy and James were easy. Davy likes blue. James likes green. Katie Rose got the girly pink color. The two little boys are based on their bedding. John Micah got red for Lightning McQueen. Joseph got Thomas the Train blue.

Flu and RSV prevented me from finishing them before Christmas. So I wrapped yarn, bathcloth and towel together and told them what a creative idea that Santa must have had. I finished them in a few short weeks and they have been making good use of them. 

They were so cheerful looking that I had to make some for the master bathroom. I found a red that coordinated with my towels and trimmed some of the beige bathcloths that were packaged in a stack with the white ones.

Here is how I did it.

I used a small steel hook that would poke through the cloth and still be able to grab the yarn. I single crocheted all the way around the bathcloth and on each end of the towel.

Next row. I switched to a F hook and chain 3 and slip stitch (I used a slip stitch instead of a single crochet that other patterns may call for because I didn't want huge holes with the added height of a single crochet) all the way around or along the length. This sometimes meant that I skipped two stitches and sometimes I skipped three. I just tried to have it spaced evenly. If it is too tight, it will ruffle up the edges.

Last row. In each chain three space, I worked this pattern; single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, half double crochet, single crochet.

Cut your yarn and pull it through to finish with a small knot. Then weave in your ends. Easy Peasy!

I have several more that I plan to do. I found a coordinating green hand towel for the master bathroom and I have several more towels and bathcloths in my stash that need cheering up.

These hold up very well even in regular wash cycles. I actually used a similar stitch on some homemade pillowcases. The seam has come apart a little after nearly five years of use and washes but the crocheting is still perfect! So I figure that the towels will probably wear out long before the crocheting will.

Happy Crocheting! I will try to get a pic of the Hello Kitty hat that I made for my daughter. I hate having to wait for her birthday to give it to her. Maybe sharing it on here will help me keep the secret from her til May.