It's 1:30 am

I am beginning to believe that parenting young adults is far more a stretching task than when they were little ones crawling around on the floor.

butterfly fun

Today we made butterflies, balancing butterflies! (note: there's real life on the floor behind Quayde...please excuse)  Last night I was trying to relax a little and doing some blog browsing and was on Childhood Magic.

My littles are getting all grown up a little to rapidly for my comfort. I still cherish all the fun that we can squeeze in while they still want to craft and make creative toys from paper. So I thought today that we would make butterflies and play. I found the templates at this site that was linked from the blog. We had a blast dumping blue watercolor all over and trying to make sure no paint got on the carpet today.

These were so much fun and we have been balancing them everywhere. On your nose is the best balancing place, then trying to walk around the room to see how long it will stay there! I love my kids.

toothpaste

Way back when, in Jr. high, I created a science project to test toothpaste. I even made my own paste as part of the assignment. It was horrible! I got a B on the display even though looking back it probably did not deserve that grade.

In my quest to become ever self-sufficient, I wanted to try again. Several weeks ago I found a recipe from this site. Thank you Rachel!  I made up a batch with a little alteration. Wow, it is fantastic! All the kids are brushing their teeth more and I even love it. I had to make up a second batch this morning. My alterations are not using the stevia and using mint tea instead of water. For our batches, I also didn't use peppermint eo as the kids think that it is too strong. I do want to experiment a little more to see if I can get it more 'pasty' and less liquid.  You should try it and do a little experimenting yourself.

Ahh it is Summer!

Let Wet Towel Season Begin!

Wow What a Carnival Party!

What do you do when your little boy has been inviting the whole town to his birthday party for the last several months. The only thing Thayne wanted was a BIG party. We invited 30 kids and their parents to our backyard for a Carnival!

When everyone arrived they received a wrist band and a bag. The bag had their names on them just in case they got "lost". Inside the bag were tickets and a blower.

One of Thayne's party highlights was the food! Popcorn from a real machine was a treat!

We even had calliope music playing in the background.

Some of our games included the following: Knock down Cans, ring toss, bean bag toss,

and a funny one, where you shot mini wiffle balls off golf tees with a water gun. The kids exchanged their tickets for prizes.

Chaiya created amazing bugs, dragons, butterflies etc.. on the kids' faces

We had just a small little puppet craft for them to create a lion, money or tiger.

Thayne ate his dinner so very fast. Seriously he took dino-sized bites. I think he was afraid that he might miss something!

Notice that I left two dangerous things within reach as I took the picture.

He was just too happy about his birthday cake to care. We made vegan cupcakes so Lydia could

enjoy too. Most of the kids liked the cupcakes better. Thayne wanted a regular 'rainbow' cake.

The nice breeze was not so nice if you are trying to blow out your candles with a wish!

Thayne had to be patient as I relit and relit them a few times so he could wish.

As he received a gift from his friends, he presented them with cotton candy and expressed his gratitude for them coming and bringing a present. After he gave them their candy, he could come back to the birthday chair and open the present.

It was the BEST Birthday he said!!

We really had so much fun. The weather was perfect. I think everyone had a really great time.

Thayne ran around to all the little games and had a lot of fun with his friends. As night fell and our guests left, a satisfied hush enveloped the backyard as we tidied up. Everyone was happy and content. Our little boy is growing up. When Nana called this evening after the festivities, his first question was to ask if she was feeling better. He was so concerned, more about her than all the birthday party stuff. He will not be our snugly little one for too much longer. Happy 5th Birthday Thayne!! We love you so very much and hope your party was everything that you wanted.

lovely bunch of coconuts

Last night was coconut night! We have several...okay more than several. So my handy dandy husband brought out his drill and the children gathered round. Now the first step can be accomplished with a smaller implement but you know men and their power tools. So here we have a perfect round hole.

The amount of coconut water that came out of that small one was amazing. There was nearly two cups full. We all tried it. It was not very tasty straight out of the nut.

Now before you get alarmed... we did wrap it up to protect everyone's eyes. Lydia thought she could just take one whack and open it up straight away. After we wrapped it in a towel, everyone took little whacks with the hammer.

Until yummy success was achieved!

The boys all took pieces and scrapped the meat off with their teeth.  Then they all ran off and left me to do the rest of the work. We broke open two of the five and it took some time to get it off the shell.

Since we only have a hand shredder, it took a little while. The meat shredded up beautifully. Michael took some and toasted it to taste.

Out of just two coconuts we got about 5 cups of shredded. I also have a bunch of little pieces that are too small to shred. I am looking for yummy recipes now. It should stay fresh in the freezer for at least three months. Now I only have 3 more coconuts to go but I think that they can wait a little while until I can talk the older kids into breaking them apart. This really was a lot of fun and the littles loved hammering and breaking it. Anybody have a great fresh coconut recipe?

Movie Night

Every summer since I was a child, the essential summer weekly activity has been the community "Movie on the Lawn". We dragged all our blanket and fluffy pillows down to the library lawn. Vying for the best position or maybe the best position where we will bother the least amount of people, is part of the excitement. We bring snacks or sometimes a light (late) supper. Everyone gathers, checks out who else is there, shouts the hello's to old friends and settles down to enjoy some entertainment.

This year the program has been cancelled!

Budgeting and licensing problems forced our beloved summer pastime to go the way of memories. So very sad!

So we made the choice to have a 'movie on the lawn' night of our own.

Now this takes some serious hauling of equipment down the deck into the yard. We have a television that weighs way more than Lydia. Michael is a good sport. Then we have speakers and extension cords and finally we have to get the laptop to hook it all together. We do not have regular television programming (if that is still what it is called) but have the smallest subscription to Netflix.  First we had to come up with a theme. There is always some kind of theme for Summer Movie Nights!  We started tonight with the movie The Great Race with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood. It is quite the comical tale. Truth be told...we only made it half way through before Lydia and Chaiya were asleep. We will have to finish it next week. It was getting a little chilly, Maliea and Michael went and put on jackets. Those weather wimps! Will Professor Fate or the Great Leslie win the race?  Can't wait until next week to find out the answer.

Now before our movie we indulged in the most simple and delicious meal. Bok Choy! No seriously people...even though I have been joking about the bok choy thing on facebook, it is so good!

First you clean and cut it. Blanche it in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes. Take it out and place it in ice water to stop the cooking. We drizzled ours with garlic olive oil, salt and peppered then cooked it on the grill for about 2 minutes each side. DELIGHTFUL!!!

Lydia who is our pickiest eater (well, Quayde's not to keen on green)...Lydia ate 5 of them and declared them delish! We grilled two batches, oh so yum. Our Bountiful Basket order last week had about 5 cases left over so we have been eating it in a lot of things. We are now down to the last few. I love getting the baskets, it is always worth the money and it makes us stretch and try new things.

I also made my own toothpaste this week. I am just loving the beginning of Summer, it makes me feel so alive and creative!

QOTD

Chaiya:  " Mom am I a winner?"
This is what I heard her say.
Whoo HOOO! Sis Boom Ba! All Right!Yes of course you are a winner Chaiya!
Oh that's not what you said?

This week at our house

Baulder died this week at our house. Everyone was very silent as I read about Hodur being tricked by Loki into throwing the mistletoe. We all felt like we were watching the ship burn and saying goodbye. We finished our Norse mythology block with Ragnarok and I am certain it was the perfect timing to use for the end of the year. We will still be finishing out through June and then take off July. Quayde and I are going to be working on constellations and other perfect summer time learning.

Thayne is loving how long the sun is still staying up. Oh the joy of being four and climbing trees! He has had so much fun digging in the dirt and just really enjoying being outside for most of the day.

He will not be four too much longer. We have a big party planned and have been working on some fun invites! This will be his first party with other friends. I think he has basically invited the whole town but we are cutting the official list down a bit.

 

Two months ago I purchased this little gnome. It was in the dollar section at Target. I pulled him out yesterday because I thought I could get a little 'me' time and paint him up. You know ...one of those I don't have to think too hard, things. I just wanted to relax. Well, what was I thinking? Within about 5 mins all children had found me on the back deck and were painting too. Now I am not an artist with paint and the table was unlevel and being tilted mucho times but I think he came out okay.

He needs a name though....any ideas?

Second step

This has been the first really lovely, delightful, warm week! My spirits have been lifted and I am feeling so much more like myself. We took our little sprouts and transplanted them to pots. It will still be at least another week I think before we can get them in the ground. The deck has rows of little pots like this.

The littles and I have a little rhythm of watering each morning. I love to see how much they have grown each day. It is really such a simple pleasure to be grateful for. If all of those watermelon plants produce , I might be knocking at your door to deliver some.

Last Saturday was the kick-off for the summer reading program. Lydia always wins something.

This time she won a six pack of petunias. They are now in several pots gracing the back deck.

I think it might be a good summer!

breakfast!

This morning's breakfast!

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast!

Take cream cheese, powder sugar and a little almond extract and blend together to create the creamy goodness for the inside. Spread this on a piece of bread then cut diagonally.

Add a layer of sliced strawberries.

Put together like a sandwich then dredge in egg/milk mixture. Cook on a griddle until golden brown on the sides. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and strawberries. Be on a sugar high for the rest of the day!