Quick Takes Sunday

~1~

30:  The number of games Demi-Sky won, straight in a row, against the Bible College boys.  The game: Connect four.

The boys, they were humbled.

~2~

The hens will not sleep in their coop anymore.  At dusk, they now roost in various places. Sky's garage-workshop is a favorite, comfy, safe spot.  Here is Dapples making herself at home on the skill-saw. (I'll share more in a later post about why the hens will not roost in their coop anymore)

~3~

Sky recently finished a bench with a slate-tile top.  It now sits underneath our big window in the front room.

I love this man <3

~4~

Christmas Eve with family.  We spent the evening with my dad and step-mom, and then at Sky's big/ginormous Family Christmas Eve Party.  We are talking big family plus cousins plus their children's big families.  It is big, noisy, fun, familiar.  Tamales are served every year.  It's tradition.

~5~

Sky's sister also makes those peanut butter blossom cookies. You know the kind, the ones with a hershey kiss in the center?  Yum. There is a reason I do not make these at home.  I would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Amen.

~6~

The grand-kids and cousins shared their musical talent.  Most involved the piano (hard to get a good photo of a little noggin peaking behind the piano)  Here is Meg playing her fiddle.  She prepared traditional Christmas music to share, but the crowd demanded music from Lord of the Rings as a finale.  Yes, she can play them by heart.

~7~

We just ended our week-long Bible conference.  Our final guests have packed up and departed, it was a very busy but full week.  Full of love, family, friendship, fellowship, music, worship, deep Bible truths.  The topic this year was the second half of the book of Psalms. New Year's Eve was the last night of the conference.  Something about ushering in a new year makes things seem so much more urgent, more pressing and more personal.  I'm struggling to get my thoughts into sharable order.

We begin the new week, getting our house in order, catching up on lost sleep, and preparing for the New Year.  I am looking forward to new resolve, new routines, new school work.

I hope you have a Happy New Year!

* 7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted every week at Conversion Diary, click over to join up!

7 Quick Things -red kitchen edition

it's {red}

~1~

Finally, a photo of our mini-kitchen remodel.  The most obvious part- we painted it red and took the cabinet doors off, giving it an open shelving look.  Sky also demolished the old white tile and replaced it with a wooden butcher-block counter-top and a new drop-in sink.  He also put in new subway tile on the back-splash area.  I love it all :)

~2~

My man-child had a birthday.  He is almost as tall as I am.  Love the all-boyness, but still sighing after the chubby toddler days.  I love watching him grow up, but I miss my baby-boy.

~3~

Science experiments. More homeschool fun.  It became obvious that I cannot follow directions. I got 3/4th through the experiment and realized the measurements for the dry ingredients were supposed to last the entire experiment...I did not have to measure them out again and again.  I blew through a whole can of baking soda...sigh..... Sky was not surprised. He says I manage to ruin boxed brownies. (which is why I am not allowed to make them...)

~4~

I was trying to follow the directions on this bag of frozen french fries...the directions were only for 1/2 the bag or 3/4 the bag...leaving me to think we must be pigs for needing to make the entire bag.... some things puzzle me.

~5~

Fall was here. And then it wasn't. I was sorely tempted to hit the beach today with the kids, but I had a learning record meeting to prepare for...rumor has it that Fall will be back by Thursday.  Here in So. Ca, you have to keep your eyes wide open for Fall, otherwise you miss it.

~6~

Rubio's lobster burritos are back. Oh yeah.  I am suspending my no-wheat rule for these. I could eat them with corn chips, but I can't resist the whole giant flour tortilla full of lobster and avocado scenario.  It's gotta be all or nothing.

~7~

Turkey sandwiches. Another reason to suspend the no-wheat rule.

:)

Hope your Thanksgiving was brilliant, bloggy friends!

7 Quick Takes Friday -stuff at home

~1~

We started REAL Science Odyssey by Pandia Press this week.  Teddy was sick one day, he is not here on Wednesdays and then this Friday was a holiday, so we only got one day in...but it went really well, the kids enjoyed it and were excited about upcoming experiments.  I chose the Chemistry book in level 1, which goes up to 5th grade. With my boys' aversion to writing much, I thought it would be a good fit.

~2~

The #Occupy My Kitchen siege has mostly ended. It was a 16 day ordeal, but I was finally allowed to use the sink again.  Today, Sky sanded the walls a bit, put up a grey-tinted primer and then began painting the kitchen walls red.  This is kind of huge for us.  I love, love, love red- but as far as our home goes, we are kind of white/beige neutral people.  I had a really hard time getting Sky to paint the dining room grey.  So, red is a big step for us.  I also really want open shelves in the kitchen.  We decided to try taking the cabinet doors off and painting the back walls of the cabinets red, to get the feel of open shelves before fully committing to them.  So far, I am in love. <3

{you can see the grey primer on the shelf-walls here, our yellow pantry and part of a red wall-and the new subway tile in this photo}

 

~3~

This is, I think, day 13 of Amie and I being Gluten- free. Sky is on day 14.  The other kids are mostly gluten -free, but indulge a small bit.  It has been much, much easier then I ever imagined it would be. If you looked up the word "follow-through" in the dictionary, my photo would be there with a line slashed through it...ha!  I have never ever really been able to stick to a diet.  This has not been hard, once I decided to go ahead and do it.  I have lost only 2 lbs so far, but the first week I snacked quite a bit on trail mix with m&m's...I had to rethink that snack option!  I haven't been exercising.  I feel really good, no more bloating and the shakes I would get between meals and snacks, are gone.  Wheat really was my crack...  The book, Wheat Belly, convinced me to try this path, the author also has a blog~ Wheat Belly blog, which is very interesting.

 ~4~

Did I tell you how much I love my new red kitchen?!

~5~

We were at the Orange Circle the other day, and we ran into this statue in the doorway of an antique store.  The kids immediately began mock screaming and running away from "The weeping Angel"!!

Yes, we are Dr. Who fans, big-time! {geeks}

 ~6~

I really enjoyed having this Friday off. What a blessing!  I'm kind of thinking, a free Friday every couple of weeks would be a really nice thing.  Luxury? Probably. Practical? No. A girl can dream.

~7~

I started this hen painting months ago, over the Summer.  It sits, unfinished.  I am the queen of unfinished projects.  We had some Bible college girls over for dinner, they saw this canvas and thought it was a line of hens I was doing with no faces.  Hmm, a thought...should I start a trend of faceless hens? Make it some kind of deep, philosophical statement about the sexes, or women's roles in society?? (I'll be sure to let y'all know if I open an etsy store full of faceless hen paintings!)

*7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted over at Conversion Diary. You can link up there and join the fun!

Camp Spooky -fun for the littles

We had the opportunity to visit Camp Spooky for a special blogger-event.  I was very excited to take our two youngest to Knott's Berry Farm for this event.  You see, Sky and I have many happy memories of Knott's from our high-school dating-days. (yes, we are high-school sweet-hearts)

We started the day with Breakfast at Lucy's Lunchbox.  The breakfast burritos were very good.  Time with Snoopy was a special added bonus.

Snoopy gave the youngest nuggies, and fist-bumped Sky.

I had the chance to meet Sugar Jones during breakfast- Squee!  (It's a blogger thing, we love the not-norm instances of being able to exchange blog business cards, swap twitter handles and talk blogging-stuff!)

As you can see, the stroller-set dominated this early morning scene!

We enjoyed Camp Spooky (Camp Snoopy) before the park officially opened.  The kids were able to ride several rides as the only riders, and were asked on several occasions if they wanted to go around again. {but of course!}

Camp Spooky was festively decorated for the Fall and Halloween Season. {I heart Fall, my very favorite time of the year!!} But, it was pretty tastefully done, and really, your little ones will not be alarmed at all.

The kids enjoyed the rides and the trick-or-treating, I enjoyed the beautiful California weather.

Honestly, as homeschoolers, we are a bit spoiled as far as dealing with crowds.  I really prefer to go to public places during the week, if I can.  When I realized the Camp Spooky event was scheduled for a Saturday...I wondered how much we would really enjoy the day.  I was very surprised to find the whole day [Saturday] not crowded at all!  We hardly waited in lines.  I could see the park filling up after it opened, but it remained very uncrowded.  My theory is that the crowds must be waiting for night-fall and the whole 'Halloween Haunt' event.  (Which by the way, Dh and I were at the very first ones...history...)

We really enjoyed our day, I encourage you to visit this month, your little ones will love it :)

never look a gift-horse [lunch bag] in the mouth

alternate title:  teens are hard to buy for...

A package arrived at our house. 

I opened it, very excited.  Amie had asked for this very cute painted ponies backpack last year and when I finally got around to ordering it, they were out of stock.  So, this school year I was pleased to see they still had them, and they were throwing in a free matching lunch-bag, too.

So, the lunch-bag arrived (the backpack is on back-order) and I unpacked it with glee.  I had escaped sub-par mom status with this successful purchase....  Anyway, I unpacked it with glee, then put it behind my back while I went searching for Amie- intending to ask her to "pick a hand".

Meg saw me pull it out, saw me approaching her direction with an excited smile and the bag behind my back...and she assumed with much alarm that I had ordered it for her- since she loves horses.  She pasted on this frozen sort-of-terrified look on her face.

I realized that she was afraid it was for her,

and she was frantically trying to figure out a way to tell me she really did not want a pretty ponies lunch bag~ without hurting my feelings!  I put her fears to rest.  After having a really good  laugh at her expense...first.

I had to make her pose with it for the blawg....

Alternate title: dumb teen tricks...

Trader Joe's ~ a list

We are unlucky in that our closest Trader Joe's is about 10 miles by freeway from our house.

We are very lucky we have a Trader Joe's as close as 10 miles from our house!

eh, some days it's the former or the latter...

I love Trader Joe's...but I only get there maybe once a month.  When I do go, I try to stock up on our must-haves.

Trader Joe's I love you!

Things I have to take home with me from Trader Joe's,  A list:

• TJ's cinnamon raisin bread.  -do I have to explain?
• cage free eggs.  I cannot look my hens in the face and then go and buy the regular kind
• canned artichoke hearts for pizza or pasta or chicken...it's very versatile...
• 3 cheese tortellini -it's a simple lunch or dinner.
• pizza dough and pizza sauce and bag of mozzarella cheese.
• spicy hummus.  I pick up 2 or 3 and put the extras in the freezer, cuz- a month is a long time to be without hummus!
• blue chips to eat with your hummus
• chocolate covered pretzels. I don't have to explain that one, either!
• green juice.  I use it to make popsicles for the kids :)
• this apple walks into a bar- breakfast bars...who can resist?
• goat cheese
• salsa
• big lavender bar soap. It's heaven in a bar
• molasses cookies. They burn your mouth a bit, but who can stop??
• midnight moo chocolate syrup.  For chocolate milk with no HFCS..imagine that!

So, what are your Trader Joe's favorites? 

Planet Jenn ~OC Fair edition

Goodness, I haven't done much blogging lately, but I've been busy doing a lot of living!  ...and just hanging...reading...whatnot....

oh the places I've gone and the things I've been doing when not here on the ole' blawg...

Who's the biggest loser now, Jenn??

The Home crew went to the Orange County Fair.  It's tradition!!

Sky entered a wood-working project for the very 1st time.  It was a console cabinet for the
flat screen t.v.  We were so excited to see if he won a ribbon.  And, he did!!

He won an honorable mention :)

Josie entered her wood burning project.  It's not the sun in the photo, but it is laying down next to her, looks like a log.  She won a blue ribbon! 

Winner!

Here's a closer photo of her entry, back when she was working on it....

Dragons. She is an artist, even with wood!

The fair is a family tradition for us.  Sadly, we go mostly for the food.  And to look around at neat stuff...and to people-watch.

I'm embarrassed for you all, Orange County...

This shocked me.  People were sitting in chairs having their teeth whitened.  Sitting there in the middle of this big exhibit room, with something propping their mouths open, for all the world to see. Has our society lost all sense of dignity??  I think the answer is yes.
Lucky for us, I had my iphone handy to catch all the scandal. 

We ate:  Greek Gyros.  Chicken strips. Fries.  Corn dogs. Beef steak sandwiches.  Funnel cake. Chocolate drizzled popcorn (which I'm pigging out on in the top photo...) I have to admit, no vegetables were consumed.  Usually we have the roasted corn, but we peetered out. I did have a chocolate frozen banana- I'm all about healthy eating...

So lovelies, what have you been up to this Summer?? 

7 Quick Takes Friday, June 24

 ~1~

Goodness, where to begin?  Summer got an early start here with Meg's birthday.  Not just any birthday, but her sweet 16.  We had a small party of friends and family.

~2~

 We never got around to the prizes and hula-hoop contest, and the waterballoon toss was nixed..in favor of a massive water balloon fight!

~3~

Our school year ended, all paperwork completed and put away :)  We are now on a very relaxed schedule of Math and writing work.  I need to organize my homeschool closet and sell some curriculum we are through with.  I just haven't gotten that far yet....

~4~

Sky's truck was in the shop, and then my van began to have problems.  Sky fixed it, but we decided to go car shopping.  My van is 10 years old- I had my heart set on a new, smaller cross-over car that seats 5 or so.  My thinking was that with Meg driving I wouldn't have all the kids with me anymore.  Also, I have this inner rage against the mini-van.  A girl can dream, right?

~5~

So, I did some research and pretty much had my heart set on a small crossover in chai brown.  How could I not get a car in the color chai??  Funny story for another post...but I came home 

with a 5 year old minivan in silver.  I continue to {{ rage against the mini-van...}} 

I keep trying to leave, but they just keep pulling me back in....!

  (there is an awesome blog with this awesome name, as soon as she makes a bumper sticker, I will be putting one on my van!)

~6~

Meg had an Irish dance competition (called a feis) at the Irish fair.  I think this is my favorite feis {pronounced "fesh"}  It's so much fun, so much to see- and great photo opps!

~7~

BlogHer '11 is coming up...anyone else going???

7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted every week at Conversion Diary.

**This week, however, it is hosted at Betty Beguiles. Click over and link up!