Muffin and Me

Princess took this picture a few days ago. I love it.

Morning Greens Smoothie

So I just posted this over at my new blog I started with my sister:
http://www.outofmysisterskitchen.blogspot.com
Check it out! We are just getting started, but already have some yummy recipes- see you there!

Morning Greens Smoothie

1 cup water or juice (I use juice)
1 handful cabbage (I used red cabbage)
1 handful collard greens
2 huge handfuls fresh spinach
1 fresh banana 
1 peach or 1 cup frozen peach slices
1 cup fresh or frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen blueberries

Blend the juice and greens in a blender until smooth. Add banana and blend til smooth. Add the frozen fruits and continue blending til smooth. Add more fruit juice if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Serve immediately. Makes about 4-5 cups.

Yum!

Seaside Rendezvous

We flew to Portland with our friends to go clamming. It was Muffin's first time on a plane. She was happy and/or sleeping the whole time. Perfect!
We drove to Seaside and ate at a little pizza place.
Our hotel was right off the ocean. This is the view from the balcony.
That night we went clamming. It was Freezing!
Unfortunately, it rained and the wind was howling and it was freezing cold. Oh yes, and our boots got filled with water. Did I mention that it was FREEZING? We got three clams that night and lots of good stories. We actually had a lot of fun.
While our friends slept in the next morning, Mr D. and I went for another walk on the beach. It was (yes) cold, but a gorgeous morning.
We saw several rainbows.
And tried our luck with clams again. We got one! (Yes, just one.)

Later that day after steamers and a shower, we drove up to Astoria for some amazing smoked salmon at Josephson's. We drove out to the south jetty observation tower. You can see the Pacific on one side of the jetty, and the Columbia River in the other. It is breathtaking. Here: the Pacific.


We clammed again that night with no luck with clams, but more luck with rain and hail. Luckily it cleared up and we went to a beach with no light. The setting was perfect: ocean waves lapping, amazing stars in the sky, and even slightly warmer without the wind. It was wonderful!

The next morning, we ate our hearty 4 clam catch for breakfast while it hailed outside. Enough to coat the ground like snow. This is us on the beachfront "promenade." This us saying goodbye to Seaside- hopefully for not too long.

While driving back over the coastal range to Portland, there was a first- class snowstorm. We only feared for our lives a few times. And got to the airport an hour late.

But we did get home okay, and even on our original flights- in time to celebrate my birthday with my parents.

Last Year's Blessings

Last night Mr. Man offered our family prayer. We reminded him to thank Heavenly Father for our blessings this past year. This is what he said:

"Thank you for the celebration of Jesus' birth. Thank you that [Muffin] was born. Thank you for all our blessings."

I couldn't have said it better- I am grateful for the Savior, my sweet family, and the multitude of blessings I have been given.

Happy New Year!

I wish I was...

Even- keeled (in all areas of my life).

and would it be asking to much if it was even-keeled on a high level?

Sigh... I am still working on this happy stuff.

Term A, Week 4

Last week was more exciting- thankfully!

The typing program, (Typing Instructor for Kids) is going well, the kids "save it" for the last thing they do at school, as a treat. I think the voices are annoying, but the kids seem to not mind.
In the program, you are trying to find all the treasures on Typer Island, so that you can be the ruler. They take you through lessons, and then games that reinforce the lessons to win the treasures. It seems pretty fun.

We started a new reward program where if the children complete their work without having to be reminded to stay on task, they get a sticker for the day. When their chart is filled, they get to buy a book from the Half- Price bookstore. (Which is an awesome place.) This has helped with the motivation part of things, and I haven't had to remind/ask/beg/cajole/badger for them to get their work done.

This was our "art and craft" for the week. Although we did have a formal lesson in art about outlines and shapes, here is the other project we did- leaf rubbings with pastel chalks:
We read the Mad Hatter Tea Party chapter in Alice's Adventures this week. I decided to forgo a tea party, as I just put one on for Princess in the Spring, but we did make these fun Mad Hatter hats. On Friday, we decided to go camping, so I abbreviated school that day. I had the kids help me make a list of things we needed to camping. We went through each "activity" that we would do and made our list that way. I wrote most of the list, but I should have had the kids write it, as it would have been a great spelling/writing lesson. Oh well. I'll do better next time.
I also had the kids look at a few websites that explain how and why leaves change color in the fall. They can explain the process fairly well now and even have a few new stellar vocab words.

While camping, we collected leaves and a bunch of hickory nuts. The nuts are on the deck drying and I am hoping to use them in some fun recipe this week.

Term A, Week 3

This week seemed to be one that we just got through. We did have school everyday, which is great. We accomplished much. I did realize that we will need a little change-up now and then, as I already feel bored with the same system we have been using for a while.
A few successes: Princess loves reading Half Magic and Mr. Man is reading Dinosaur Hunters. They are both doing well and often read past the point that they are required because they like it so much.
Alice's Adventures is going well, also. We are taking an accelerated pace with it, so we can start Little House in the Big Woods before Christmas.

Mr. Man is writing so much better this year. We have started doing daily journal entries. He is still working on lots of things, but it is much improved. He loves that in his journal he doesn't have to worry about spelling.

Next week we will start a typing program.