Birthday Choices

Daniel's Birthday Lunch. Our kids always choose their own special meals for their birthday supper. Tonight for his birthday meal Daniel has chosen: mac and cheese, cheese pizza, and grill cheese sandwiches. Do we see a theme here?

Top view of Daniel's birthday cake, we kind of sunk in the candles so they will look like bombs have exploded.

Okay, it is gory, but he wanted dead guys with blood in the battle. Boy cakes - such fun. I miss those sweet Barbie dress cakes I used to get to make for the girls.

A Seven Year Old!

Today our youngest is 7! Seven is old enough to do big chores, take out trash, unload dishes, cook grill cheese and soup, do the laundry, READ & write, take care of the dog, take things apart with tools, and take a shower with no help. Seven is still little enough to climb in mom's lap and be read to, to be carried sometimes, and to hide in small places.

It doesn't seem that long ago we were welcoming that boy into the world! Gracie called him Bub for years. On a side note, look how good I look after just having that 9 lb baby boy!

Daniel got an early present from Grandma and Grandad, a Wii Indiana Jones game, and more parts to his favorite Christmas gift - a Lego pirate set.

Such a handsome and sweet boy. He has such a humor and wit like his daddy. He loves to see everyone happy, make people laugh, and those big brown eyes are going to make the girls go weak in the knees someday. I love to see him growing in his faith, learning so much about the world, and developing such strong friendships with his sisters. Happy Birthday Daniel!

Christmas Fun

We made a fun blanket for a family trade game using all the kid's hands made into birds or butterflies. We had fun making it and it made a really neat blanket.

Ally embroidered the initials of each kid into the edge, and we worked together on all the sewing.

This is a Christmas morning picture taken at 5am. Yes, they woke up at 4:30 am! Man, were we beat! Mom and Dad took a morning nap after everyone was occupied with presents and fun. Ally was very excited about her new Bible and lots of crafting goodies, Gracie got a great new horse and cowboy hat. Daniel got a new bike and more Legos. We have all enjoyed our Apples to Apples Bible Edition and other fun games too.

Gracie got a tire horse from Grandma and Grandad! She was so excited! She got some great western-looking cowgirl clothes too.
The girls enjoyed playing with Shyanne and their other cousins. We went to Byron's parents on Christmas Day and stayed until Sunday afternoon.

Daniel with his GG (that's short for Great Granny). I got big pressure canner, but my favorite gift of all is the most interesting book I have read in a long time, a gift from my sister.

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour. Such a neat book!

A Texas White Christmas!

It started snowing this afternoon - yesterday we were riding bikes with the cousins in 75 degree weather. That's Texas for you! We went to my parent's house for Christmas. I can't seem to get pictures of that -the kids acted out a backyard Christmas pageant and we shot off fireworks and sparklers.

Fun in the snow - it may not stay for a white Christmas tomorrow, but we are having fun in it today. We are going to curl up with hot chocolate and a nice fire! Merry Christmas to all!

All He Wants for Christmas

Yep! You know the rest... he can sing it - "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Free Shake at Whataburger

Click here for a free Whataburger coupon for a free shake or malt today only! I guess there will be one more of these for the 24th.

Girl Sleepovers

Tag Necklaces Craft Project

Disney Scene It

I don't know much about boy sleepovers - that is a scary thought. I hope my husband handles those - maybe in tents far away from home? But we have had our share of girl sleepovers.

Girl Sleepovers:

• You know early age sleepovers (8 to age 10) weren't so bad - you can generally turn on a movie about 9 and 90% of them just fall asleep.
  
• About age 11 that all changes and sleepovers become this marathon who can stay awake longest contest.
  
• You have to get them home ASAP on the morning after (10am maximum)-or they will all hate each other because of lack of sleep crankiness.
  
• 3 P's: Pizza, Popcorn, & Pancakes - in that order - large amounts too.
  
• Always even numbers of girls - very important. 4 is good. 6 almost unbearable - and more than that and you are out of your mind!
  
• Coach your daughter carefully on including everyone and taking the lead in letting the girls know what is acceptable (that way you don't have to be the bad guy the whole night). Anticipate potential problems and discuss them with her beforehand. My daughters know that they are responsible for their guests -waiting on them and making sure they get cleaned up after too.
• Keeping busy is important! I always have my girls plan 5-6 activities to suggest -crafts and scavenger hunts, flashlight tag, Dance Praise, board games, and a good movie to calm down to. Makeover fun is good for girly-girls; fingernail painting, etc. They won't get in trouble if they have plenty to do.
  
• Don't be afraid to get firm. Most of their mothers will appreciate you making them mind AND go to bed.

Not Smartness

It has been fun getting to know many of these saavy mamabuzz bloggers who blog about coupons and frugal living. They often show photos of their amazing grocery conquests. They'll have these piles of food and explain how they got it all for $1.50! I left the grocery store Friday thinking, "How did I spend that much?" Then I had to go back only 2 days later! I would not get the frugal mama award this week for sure! I think I have a stocking stuffer addiction.


2nd on the not so smartness list, I planned to have a baking day the day after Ally's sleepover. There's no sleep at a sleepover, I know that. Especially for me. The day after a sleepover, you should just plan for sleep -no activities requiring thought or excessive movement.


So ANYWAY here is our list for a scaled down version of baking day:

• Mexican Manicotti x2
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Starter for quick stew
• Peppermint Bark
• Massive muffins for quick Christmas breakfasts - blueberry, cinnamon
• 1 taco seasoned ground meat browned for quick use
• Cookies - Chocolate Chip
• Mini loafs of homemade bread and honey butter for gifting

I would make ahead waffles if only I had a waffle maker that would make 4 square waffles at once. Maybe one with removable plates. hint hint. How boring am I that I want a waffle maker for Christmas?


With no school going on, do you suppose I can get all that done + laundry and squeeze in a nap? That sounds awfully ambitious. We'll see!

Must Have Christmas Goodies

Most families have those 3 or 4 food things they HAVE to have special for Christmas (I'm talking besides the normal turkey and meal things). Usually it is dessert or snacking stuff. For us it is grandma's chocolate chip cookies, and during my childhood it was dinosaurs (homemade fruit turnovers like these) for breakfast, and Mamaw's bear shaped cake for Christmas dinner. I never liked the bear cake because most years it was covered with coconut.
In our family I think my husband takes advantage of the season and claims he has to have certain desserts. We have to have a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie (even though he's the only one that really like them). And we have to make a birthday cake for Jesus for the kids(even though no one wants cake when there are so many other more interesting desserts).
We do like to do a lot of extra Christmas baking for gifts and snacking. The girls and I love to make pretzel wreaths - we make them like that, except we do not use M&M's, but instead weave ribbon through the holes when dry. Click on this pretzel wreath variation for an interesting concept- picture frames made the same way. Although the lady in the video is using GLUE - how strange is that! I think you could put a picture in the edible kind, just punch some holes in the picture and weave onto the wreath as you are weaving the ribbon around. Another husband requested must have is muddy buddies - you know the recipe on the Chex box - they also make great gifts in a cute container.
My husband's family used to love to make a concoction they called briny barrel for the holidays and I love it! I always craved them in my 3 Christmas season pregnancies. They combined all kinds of neat stuff in a gallon jar: green & black olives, baby dill pickles, pickled okra, red peppers, pearl onions, California hot mix, and cocktail weenies. You combine some of the juices, then fill with vinegar.
What other special foods do you HAVE to have at Christmas? Leave me a comment or a link telling me what special foods you are looking forward to.

Ally Is 12

This is what my 12 year old terror of the pitcher's mound used to look like. She won't even wear a shirt with a slightly pink stripe on it these days, much less a dress! In those days she wouldn't leave the house without a bow in her hair. Today, she can hike 17 miles with a heavy pack and throw a 50 mph fastball.

The Big 1-2

Ally age 2

Ally turned 12 today! I can't believe that little chubby cheeked baby has grown up so fast! It seems like only yesterday she renamed her pacifier a baboosh and slept with her Sweetbear! She has truly grown into a beautiful young lady - inside and out. Most of all, she is devoted to God with all her heart, and she has such a passion for reaching others for Him.

She got a great very "professional" art table and some great art supplies from the grandparents. She also got the Mandy movie - based on her favorite book series - a wonderful Christian series by Lois Leppard. She had a great birthday and had supper with both sets of grandparents which was really a great treat! And of course her requested special meal of chicken noodle soup, grill cheese, lima beans, and olives. We made an ice cream cake, and she was in a rush to get to presents, I was in a rush to serve the cake somewhere between thawed and frozen - and I totally forgot the candles! You know she is at that age where she wants it simple. She is to old for one of my fancy decorated cakes, so I didn't think about candles! We had made some plain yellow cupcakes (her favorite), so I stuck a candle in one, and we sang to her, but I felt really bad for missing that kind of important part! She's such an easy going kid!

Happy Birthday Ally - the Apple of our Eyes! May this be the most blessed year of your life so far, and only the new beginning of all the wonderful things God has in store for you!

Review: The Potluck Survival Guide

Product/Book Name: Potluck Survival Guide

by Cherie Kimmons

Price: $18.96, regularly $24.95

Put out by: Five Star Publications

Okay, this is what happens to me...I am at a church or family dinner and there is this wonderful dish that my family loves -and I just have to the recipe. So, you track down the cook and ask about it. And this might be just me, but I get so confused -it starts out with, "oh, it is just so simple," then there's a rapid list of ingredients and all this talk of, "just a pinch of..." or "until it gets just right." Isn't that the way it is with the really good cooks? You can't blame them, they just have this natural sense of what to do - but, I need it in writing ...and most of the time even that's not enough. I end up on the phone with my sister where she explains the cooking for dummies version. I have a lot of cookbooks, but they just overwhelm me.

That's what this cookbook made me think of - having Mrs. Kim Watson, the greatest potluck and event queen of all time, right beside me telling me what to do. This cookbook is one I can actually use-it's like you have that great natural cook right beside you. There are some fabulous recipes, but what I love most is her little notes to the side - they tell you things like, "if you don't have this, use that," and "I tried this, but that tastes better," "to make it less spicy add this." She will have little notes that say, "do not substitute this ingredient - it won't taste nearly as good." That's what I hate about cookbooks - I don't have the natural cooking sense to know these little side things. I find the recipes I do use are the ones where someone explained some of these kinds of details to me.

The book was written to help with feeding large groups, especially athletes. Hence the subtitle which my husband giggles at every time he walks by it in the kitchen. The book is called Potluck Survival Guide: Care and Feeding of the Athletic Supporter. Byron thinks that is really funny because an athletic supporter is ...well, you know. Feeding huge groups of teens is something we know a little bit about in this house with all our years of feeding football teams and groups of students! My kids will always associate the smell of garlic bread with football teams. There is even a huge chart at the back that tells you how to prepare items for 12 and 25. I could go on and on about this book! There are all kinds of neat lists and ideas in the front, buffet tips and ideas, kid-friendly menus. I have tried several of the recipes, and they have been great! One I am anxious to try is the recipe for Fried Bread!

This is truly a great cookbook to have - so worth the price! If you would like to purchase one - go here:
http://www.fivestarpublications.com/book_detail.php?recordid=95 or here:
http://www.fivestarpublications.com/potluck/book.html

*This book was provided by Mama Buzz and Five Star Publications for the purposes of review.

Christmas Tour of Homes

Welcome to our home! We are trying to catch up on a good day of school since this will be a crazy week. The dog is drooling at the window wanting so badly to catch a squirrel just once! Ally is eagerly waiting to turn 12 tomorrow, and we have laundry piled up all over my bedroom for an afternoon chore-fest.

Here's what things are looking like at our house this Christmas. The kids are old enough to really do a great job with the tree, evenly spacing ornaments and everything.

I try my best to completely separate the birthday presents from the Christmas festivities. All 3 of our kids have birthdays within 10 days of Christmas - so keeping the holidays separate is always a concern. We are trying to put more emphasis on the birthdays, and make Christmas less about presents.

2 out of 3 stockings are hanging by the chimney with care. We are continually taking them down to build a fire. And since I forgot to make a loop hanger for them, it is a hassel. These were my very first quilting project over 12 years ago, and I am afraid to wash them b/c I am pretty sure they'd fall apart. I made them when our family only contained 3, but as it has grown, they are now only for the 3 children. I know, I should make two more - it's on my do list.

Each child's first baby shoes, my favorite ornaments. So neat to compare them to their big feet each year.

One of the many homemade Christmas gifts I shouldn't be showing you. This sign is for a cousin who is a cheerleader, hence the "be of good cheer" verse. We had a lot of fun digging through our Bibles selecting just the right verses for these. After Christmas, I'll have to have a gift reveal blog post to show you all my fun projects, but this is your only peek for now!

The school room has a lot of different decorations spread all over. Pappel Picado over the windows and everywhere else (we got rather carried away with that).

That's pretty much it! Christmas projects and birthday cakes go hand in hand in this family. I remind the kids, "Hey, we can share our birthdays with Jesus, can't we?"

Great Deals

Yankee Candle has a great coupon out right now, just until Sunday. A great coupon like this is a wonderful thing in itself, but I have a deal idea or you -go here for a $10 off Yankee Candle coupon - and use the Halmark $5 off coupon here together at Halmark. You'll have to spend $20 on Yankee candle products to get the $10 off, but you should be able to get it for only $5.00, which is pretty incredible. I know they have these great holiday scented candles, but I have this thing for Yankee Candle Home Sweet Home scent candles - sweet cinnamony -smells like the holidays to me!

I am LOVING these Whataburger coupons go here and get a coupon for a free breakfast sandwich tomorrow only. We have a Whataburger pretty handy here, so it works for us!

Trip to Mexico- Pappel Picado

We had fun making pappel picado today as we visited Mexico learning about Christmas traditions around the world. Little scraps of paper were everywhere! Pappel picado means cut paper and is used as a decoration for Christmas and other fiesta times. It is basically just making a snowflake out of a rectangular piece of tissue paper. We learned about Las Posadas and read some neat books about Mexico. Learning about the tradition of Las Posados is really neat because it is a very "Christ-centered" tradition, and in many parts of Mexico, they celebrate 3 Kings Day, and the Magi bring gifts instead of Santa Clause. I like that idea. Tomorrow, on to Israel.

Free Whataburger

Free Whataburger Today between 4 and 10pm! Go here for details.

Christmas around the world and a Way Easy Meal

For our homeschool study of Christmas around the world, today we "traveled" to Sweden, and Ally, dressed as St. Lucia -as the oldest daughter does in Sweden, brought Gracie and Daniel breakfast of cinnamon buns and hot chocolate. Sorry, I forgot the pictures. Each day we stamp our passports:

We learn about a country and their Christmas traditions, eat their food, and we make a craft. Today we made Lucia wreaths, except Daniel who thought that was kind of a girly craft project. On the 13th, as is Swedish tradition we will eat pudding, and whoever gets the almond with determine who gets to pass out the Christmas presents under the tree on Christmas. Ally is taking the lead on this creative project, researching, planning food and crafts, dressing up as a native of the land to be visited, and telling us about her country.

You know how it is when you discover a great, long lost kitchen tool? I found my Pampered Chef press and seal today. I used to use it a lot to make fun uncrustables pb&j's for my kids, but somehow they feel they have "outgrown" pb&j's, so it hasn't been used in a while. So, tonight we made some super easy empanadas, which fit in well because tomorrow we will travel to Mexico (pretend-like) for our homeschool study of Christmas around the world. These empanadas had no resemblence to Mexican food, however. Brown ground beef and pour in spaghetti sauce -

Cut out circles from pie crust or pizza dough.

Fill, add cheese, and press and seal. Perfect meal for a kid to make! This meal goes on the list of meals to be entirely made by kids 8 and up. I love that list, and it is growing! We are working that into to my chore list, 2 meals a week to be entirely prepared and cleaned up by children! Yea! Viva La Independence!

Knights and Castles

Gracie and her friend Anna got a little carried away making dog bisquits in the kitchen. They sure made a mess, but the dog bisquits are cute. The girls tried them and said they taste alot like communion waffers.

Daniel hung out in the knight section at the library and came home with ALL KINDS of books on knights and castles. I wasn't planning to go into a study of such things at this point, but I think sometimes with boys you have to use their motivations. He has plenty of motivations right now, and they can easily be channeled into an educational idea or topic.

Dad helped alot making all the knight stuff out of cardboard.

He also made a castle out of a box. So, that's where all the tape went! That boy uses more tape! Daniel and his friend Andrew had some great battles with it. Makes all the Christmas shopping seem kind of ridiculous. Who needs Christmas presents and new toys when you have cardboard boxes and tape? There is nothing like the creative playing that comes from making something yourself. I love to make him figure it out too, how to construct or design something, learning from his mistakes. Gotta love that creative learning!

Review: The Terrestria Chonicles

Product/Book Name: Terrestria Chronicles, Books 1-7
by Ed Dunlop
Ages: 10 and up
Price: $7.99 per softcover book or $47.99 for the series
Put out by: Ed Dunlop



Now, if you read my blog regularly, you will remember that I wrote about The Tales from Terrestria about a month ago -here. I don't want to lose you here, but this series; The Terrestria Chronicles are the original series on which the Tales from Terrestria are based. The Terrestria Chronicles are a set of 7 books about young Josiah, who is taken prisoner by the evil Argamor. When he finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble, King Emmanuel sets him free and actually adopts him into his own family. With knights, castles, and dragons, this series is sure to keep the attention of any child (or adult!). All 7 books continue Josiah's travels as he prepares for the return of the king.

These books are a clear allegory of the struggles of Christians to live as a child of their Heavenly King. The one thing I said several times in my previous review of Ed Dunlop's work, although the books are allegory - they are so clear! That is the problem with allegory -sometimes writers get so allegorical, you can't even remember what they are allegorizin'. It is clearly an encouragement to young Christians, and clearly an admonishment to fight for right, and to stand firm in their faith. So many teachable moments in these books!

My FAVORITE thing is the study guide that goes along with this series! We are using the Study Guide to turn these books into a family Bible time. It forces students to apply the book to their own lives with questions such as; What weapons are being used today by our enemy to destroy lives and families? Just incredible from a Biblical teaching perspective, but also academically to break down an allegory and apply it - higher level thinking. Daniel and Gracie (soon to be 7 and 9) got lost occasionally, (hence the 10 and up age suggestion), but I believe this series can be read aloud and worked through with younger children 6-10 as well.

These books are going to be a valuable part of our reading (and Bible) curriculum for a long time. They are probably the best choice for a family read-aloud I have seen in a long time! You can get free shipping AND the study guide free (normally $5.99) if you order by the 20th, and these books would make an excellent Christmas gift! I highly recommend this series! I have had several people ask me recently about books to hold the interest of boys - this would be at the top of that list - lots of action and adventure.

Links: http://www.talesofcastles.com/terrestria-chronicles.htm
Main site: http://www.talesofcastles.com/

Great Books!

What a great book review week! The 2 best series the kids and I have experienced in a long time, both reviewed on the same day! You must know that I get to choose our reviews, which explains why I love, love, (most of the time) the books we are asked to review. The kids are really enjoying putting their input in as I review a book! They are becoming excellent critics.

In the meantime, school is trucking on - and we have been making candles, making bubble gum, making all kinds of craft projects, making big fires in the fireplace, and making lots of messes in the kitchen. The kids are taking advantage of all the cool kid's workshop projects at Lowe's and Home Depot to make LOTS of cool Christmas presents (sorry Grandma). Lowe's will have workshops the next two Saturdays in December from 10-11am.

Ally and her friend Bethany made really nasty blue bubblegum and decided that they will only chew sugar free gum from now on - there's a lot of sugar in gum!

I have almost finished my shopping for Christmas. I have been finding some neat deals like this one from Hallmark, good for $5.00 off any purchase. I printed my coupon and went and bought a stocking stuffer for about $6 - (only paid $1 for those of you who are slow). I do have a thing for those stocking stuffers! It appears you can print this Hallmark coupon several times, too. Sears and Bealls have both had similar coupons for $10 last month. It is a good deal if it says no minimum purchase!

Timberdoodle -Stories from History - Review

Product/Book Name: Stories From History - Set of 11 Graphic Novels.
Price: $16.95

Put out by: Timberdoodle

We have had such a good time reading Timberdoodle's Stories from History Graphic Novels. The kids have just devoured them all week long! The girls loved them, but I think these are especially appealing to boys! Daniel (at 6) is now fascinated with gladiators and pyramids. The girls were highly impressed with all the great facts in the books -the whole series has a depth of information which was really surprising - not dumbed down for the comic format at all. You would NEVER get your kids to WANT to read a non-fiction book with this much information - but because it is illustrated with comics, they are begging for more.

What is so great about these books is I can see them really spanning a large age range of kids from 5 on up. I can also see this series as one my kids will return to again and again. Ally talked me into dropping her history curriculum for a while and taking one book at a time and reading it, writing about it, and if interest allows -looking up additional information. I can really see expanding each of the books into a week or two study in place of a traditional history book. It has made for easy curriculum for me during a busy month because they want to read them, I don't have to be as involved as I would if they were doing a traditional "lesson." It's no secret that kids learn more when they want to - and that is the true beauty of these books.

Timberdoodle is a great source for some really cool educational toys, homeschool curriculum, and generally interesting stuff! The book about the discovery of t-rex was written from a secular perspective only due to the one line of "65 million years ago," (which my kids are used to) and we had to put some white out on a painting in the DaVinci book, but other than that - I think these books just might go on my top 10 most valuable homeschool library list - and that is saying something!

I must say these books have caused some problems as Daniel keeps carrying them off to his bunk bed so the girls can't find them.

This is the site that will link you to these books:
http://www.timberdoodle.com/Stories_From_History_Set_of_10_Graphic_Novels_p/332-600.htm
This is a neat link - it contains a list of all the other Timberdoodle graphic novels - they even have some really interesting looking science ones! I've got to get Daniel some of those! The stories from history can be purchased individually, but if you'll notice the $16.95 for 11 books comes to around $1.50 a book - that is an incredible steal for these books!
http://www.timberdoodle.com/graphic_novels_s/346.htm
and this link will get you to their main site for all kinds of unique homeschool curriculum and toys:
http://www.timberdoodle.com/

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Timberdoodle for the purposes of review.