Quotes ;) collected by Mom

Tert provides our family with a steady dose of comic relief, yet he's also really thoughtful and expressive.  Recently he has become extra affectionate toward me.  Last night, he came out to the garden where I was mulching in the dark and kissed me goodnight on my forehead.  I apologized for being so sweaty, and he said, "Mom, I don't want to get emotional here, but you're even prettier when you're sweaty!"

The other day Rus was complaining about having to push a stroller on a walk with Stella and the little ones.  Tert's pep talk was as follows:  "Let's look on the dark side, Rus.  It's boiling hot outside, Filia is fussing, and we have to go on a walk..."  

Filia saw that her big sister was feeling kind of low, so she gave her one of her sweetest smiles and suggested that they watch an "I Love Lucy" and "Dick Van Dyke" show together.  (Tert calls it "Dick Dan Dyke."

Tert - Noticing the overgrown, puffy dandelions on our neighbor's lawn exclaimed, "It's not fair that they get ALL the wishes!!"

I explained that Rus would be learning how to make some lunches this summer.  Tert thought we should leave well enough alone, saying, "Mom's better at cookin' and Aidan is better at bookin'."

Tert - "Rus is writing a story about a dazzle (damsel) in distress!"

When I checked up on a game the kids were playing on the Kindle, Tert assured me, "Mom, we're not playing anything disappropriate.  Just minions in normal bathing suits."

Filia - "Our window is officially cracked."

Filia - "I'm not praising myself, GOD IS!"

Filia loves to "babysit" baby Lux when I'm busy teaching the kids.  One day he woke up from his nap crying, so I sent her in to entertain him (hoping to buy a little extra time while I finished a math lesson).  They were in there playing happily for quite a while before I had a chance to check on him.  Evidently he was being surrounded with toys in his crib and coated in miracle salve (his sister was treating a rash).  I thanked Filia for her help, and she said, "Yup, and I showed him that there were no monsters in his closet."  :)

At nap time, Filia asks me to pray that she will not be afraid of "monsters or ghostses" and that she will have "pleasant thoughts and pleasant dreams."  One day she woke up with a huge smile and the announcement, "I had a good nightmare about new dresses!"

I'm trying to be better about slowing down, ignoring some laundry mountains, and playing with my kids a little more often.  The other evening Rus asked if I could jump on the trampoline and go on a walk with him.  When I told him how much I enjoyed our conversation, he said,"Mom, I've barely scratched the surface of everything I want to say to you."

I've had fun showing the kids the albums from my international travels as an adventuresome, unencumbered 18 year old.  Rus told me that I had a "pretty big life," and was impressed that I had turned down nannying job offers in both Australia and France.  Tert chimed in, "But then you married Dad and got to babysit for life!" 

Rus has been crazy about his online medieval history program through Veritas Press.  I am thoroughly impressed by their classes and amazed at how they manage to engage young kids in such a fun way while teaching about complex (and often dry) periods of history.  The other day Rus said he'd like to go back and redo the most interesting lessons he learned, "like the story of Henry VIII and the Act of Supremacy."

I called into the bathroom to be sure the kids were staying on track with their morning chores, and Tert replied, "Nope, I'm not doing my chores.  I'm just talking to the kids.  Wait...did I just say that OUT LOUD?"

Tert has a pretty impressive vocabulary for a 6 year old and loves to try out big words.  He announced that it was "timid" (humid) outside and smelled like "maneuver" (manure).

With 8 of us sharing one bathroom, we have some frequent traffic issues and close calls with potty.  Filia's advice to me when I was anxiously awaiting my turn was, "Mommy, if you have to pee, just cross your feet!"

We've had a LOT of repair work these past couple of years.  All of our appliances conspired to quit at once, and we have made good use of all of our warranties on the new stuff.  Usually the disruption of workers coming in and out of our small home in the midst of homeschooling and caring for crying, messy little ones with noisy pets and a houseful of broken stuff makes me feel incompetent and embarrassed.  However, this last experience was a pleasant exception...

One of the TDS workmen walked in on our group reading time while the three youngest were snuggled up to me listening to a novel in rapt attention, and he said that it was so great that I ran a daycare.  I explained with a smile that all 6 were mine and that I was teaching them Pre-K through high school at home.  He kept exclaiming about how cute they all were and was amazed by our efficiency. For some reason everyone decided to cooperate beautifully while they were here, so the image of a cheerful mom in makeup and a skirt with 3 children eagerly doing independent work and Connor reading aloud, while Shaila meticulously painted Van Gogh and Brandan cooed in his seat might have been just a little misleading.  It's nice to see that things CAN go smoothly every now and then. ;)

Interview By: Rus

My grandmother gave me the answers of the questions I asked her. She was born in Illinois and she met grandpa at his girlfriends house. Her favorite subject is English. Her favorite food is watermelon. Her favorite room in the house is the living room. Understood Betsy is her favorite book. Her favorite song is stayed upon Jehovah. Her favorite movie is Noah Dearborn. And her hobby is sewing. She hates coffee. She likes people who like her. She went to Greece. She would go to Turks and cacaos if she could go anywhere. The person who influenced her the most was John. Her proudest accomplishment was raising her family. Her words of wisdom for me are love and trust God.                

By: Rus
Age: 8
Grade: 3

Happy Mother's Day 2014! By: Siobhan aka Stella

Happy Mother's Day!

We printed the above picture in Mom's Mother's Day card because, as many of you know, we are going on a road trip in June! In three weeks we are going down south to visit family. We will be gone for two weeks. 

For Mom's Mother's Day breakfast I made Overnight Blueberry French Toast. To see our post with the recipe, click here.

Yum!

Lemon Chia Seed Scones By: Siobhan aka Stella

Hello Everyone! Today I have another recipe for you, that I found on Food'nFocus. These Lemon Chia Seed Scones are delicious and incredibly healthy. The chia seeds are full of nutrients, and they are about the size of poppy seeds, so these scones don't have a weird texture at all.

Now, to the recipe...

~Ingredients~

Scones:

4 cups flour plus
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
¾ pound of cold unsalted butter
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of one lemon
¼ cup chia seeds

Glaze: 

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put all the dry ingredients in your KitchenAid and blend. 

Cut butter into cubes, and add a few cubes at a time until mixture crumbles into pea-sized bits.

Combine cream, lemon zest, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the butter mixture and mix until well blended. 

Add in the chia seeds and mix briefly to combine.

The dough will be incredibly STICKY. Pour onto lightly floured surface. Roll out into desired shapes and cut with cookie cutters or a serrated knife. April cut hers into small squares, but I rolled mine into 8 inch circles, then sliced them like a pie. I got about two dozen scones.

Let scones cool completely before icing them.

Combine lemon juice, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth. Drizzle lightly over the scones and let the glaze harden.

Here they are! The lemon flavor comes mostly from the glaze, which is very lemony and delicious! Since the scones have no sugar, the glaze gives them a nice touch.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you have any questions feel free to comment below or email me.

Van Otis Fieldtrip By: Rus

Hi. I'm Rus. We went to a chocolate factory this week. We learned about the founding of Van Otis. It is  74 years old this year. As we went along in the tour we went up to a huge kitchen were they make all the good treats that you eat when you go into the factory. We started out with a Rice Krispy treat and covered it with chocolate and got a Rice Krispy pop. Then we coverd it with sprinkles and continued the tour. As we walked through we saw some delicious treats like almonds covered with caramel and we saw jelly and then we saw how they made the things that they fill treats with. Then we saw how they make chocolate covered treats. Then we saw what happens when they fill the bags with chocolate. After that we got to see how they make fudge and see how it tastes. Then we saw how they make shapes like shoes and dinosaurs. Then we went down stairs and got the treats we made. That's what I call a Delicious adventure.        

Here are some pictures...

The tour was led by the owner of the chocolate factory. He did an awesome job and kept 21 kids and adults busy for an hour and a half.

We started off the tour with a piece of chocolate.

The kids got a kick out of the hats we had to wear in the factory. Little Lux wasn't so hot about wearing one.

                                     

We were taught how to make 'Van-Krispy Pops' (rice krispy treats dipped in chocolate and sprinkles)

We were also taught how to make creme-filled chocolates.

Whenever anyone got an answer to his questions right, the tour guide would give that person a chocolate. :)

Tert and his buddy, Jake 

      

We learned that the moving conveyor belt of chocolate was hard to keep up with!

We also got to try absolutely amazing Swiss Fudge! It was delicious because the fudge was solid chocolate.

These slippers are made entirely of chocolate.

We will definitely go back and take another tour at the Van Otis Chocolate Factory.

Learning About Lobsters - Science Experiment with Rus

Hi. I'm Rus. This week we bought a lobster for an experiment. There's more to lobsters than you think like did you know that the largest lobster was 3 and a half feet! And the biggest lobster was 44 pounds! And the most amazing lobsters can live too be a hundred years old! Now that's one cool animal. A lobster is not a boring creature. A female lobster will carry 100 thousand eggs inside her for a whole year! To tell the difference between a male and a female you will see that the swimmerets on a male lobster are bigger than the females. You will find them on the tale. What is that you ask? What do the swimmerets do. What else, swim. Also did you know lobsters have compound eyes. Compound eyes make the lobster see lots of you if it is staring at you. Okay now get ready for this lobsters have teeth in there stomach. Imaging chewing in your stomach. Like I told you lobsters are not boring creatures.

The bottom of the lobster...

 ...and the top.

 Lobster dipped in butter: yum!

 Tert got a huge kick out of the fact that in restaurants people eat lobster with bibs.

By: Rus Age: 8