Monday, April 21

Monday April 21, 2008

One week without a pacifier, but where did it go?


Scroll down to see why Amelia doesn't have a passy anymore......























Dasher got it!!!!!

Not really, but it has been about a week and a half now. I searched the whole house even the garage at about 3 am one morning and couldn't find one so we (NOT Amelia)decided that was the night we would give it up! So, now she is sucking her index finger that she calls a thumb. I guess it doesn't help that your older sister sucks her thumb! Oh well, at least we don't have to go looking for a finger!

For those wanting to see new Dasher pictures, here they are!

BEFORE hair cut


AFTER hair cut


It was VERY difficult trying to cut around his eyes with a pair of scissors but we did ok. We are going to try using some clippers instead and see if that will be any easier. Now I know why they charge so much to have them groomed. Of course he is still a puppy and hopefully it will get easier as he gets more used to it.

Dasher goes tomorrow to the vet to get "noodled" as Mattie Grace called it. I'll let you figure that one out!

April 20, 2008 Passover

Below is a picture of the centerpiece the girls made for our table as we celebrated Passover. We invited another family and Monty's mom and dad to join us as we remembered what God did for His people many years ago and also remembering what God has done and is doing for us! Grandpa and Grandma cooked the lamb and we grilled out chicken and had different side dishes along with the traditional foods that were served at Passover. Many of us had never tasted lamb so it was a real treat! It was such a rich, encouraging night of celebration with our friends and family. I hope it will become a tradition for our family. It was so neat seeing how these events point to Jesus.







This is a close up picture of the lamb that the girls made that goes in the middle of the centerpiece.



These were supposed to be flags but this was a quicker and easier way to do it.







Mattie Grace colored the lamb







Amelia colored this picture

I just ordered this book after wanting it for many years. I wish I would have ordered when I first found it. It is so helpful. It also has unit studies that look so good and are designed for homeschoolers. I ordered it in book form but also where I can have it on a disc and print off the sheets easily. It also has activity worksheets that go with each Holiday.




http://biblicalholidays.com/

Wednesday, April 16

Tuesday April 15th Mattie Grace loses 2nd tooth!



As you can see in the picture she is pretty excited.


A few months ago we bought a dehydrator. We bought a 9 Tray Large Excalibur. Below are some pictures of some of the things we have been drying. We absolutely LOVE the bananas! The ones we had tried in the store were crunchy and not much taste to them. I did some research and found that they fry them in coconut oil before drying them. We like this way much better.




This is Abby cutting the bananas


Bananas before they are dried.It takes about 7 or 8 hours to dry them.



Bananas after they are dried. I think you can dip them in pineapple juice so they don't turn brown but the color doesn't bother us and they are usually eaten within a day so we don't bother doing it. The bananas are so sweet it is almost like eating candy!



Mushrooms



Apples

Monday April 14th Mattie Grace loses her 1st tooth!




We all helped to make dinner for our neighbors who just had a baby last week. Abby made chocolate chip cookies and they were delicious. Monty grilled pork chops that were so yummy and I made mashed potatoes, green beans and macaroni and cheese.

Here are pictures of Abby making our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!


Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup brown sugar firmly packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (12oz)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in bowl and set aside. Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened butter and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if desired). Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes.




Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened butter and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat.



Add flour, salt and soda and mix.



Add chocolate chips










Yummy!

Thursday, April 10

April 10, 2008 Co-Op Day

Today we went to our co-op group and it was fun. Amelia now goes to the pre-school class and calls it her "little class". I teach art the first hour with Mattie Grace and then I go to Amelia's class and help out with her class. In art today we used Perler beads and made them into magnets. Mattie Grace made a flower.




Here is the flower that Mattie Grace made.



My friend, Sarah, took this picture of me ironing the beads. We teach art together and we have a fun time even though both of us really don't like coming up with art projects.


Here is Amelia holding her paper she made about the senses. Her favorite song at school is about 5 little monkeys. We had to sing it ALL the way home today. She was so cute singing it. It goes something like this:
5 little monkeys swinging in a tree, teasing Mr. Alligator you can't catch me, you can't catch me, when along came Mr. alligator quiet as can be and SNAPPED that monkey right out of that tree! 4 little monkeys swinging in a tree.......It has cute hand motions that go with it.

April 9, 2008 Wednesday A Big Surprise outside!

Woke up today and was so surprised when I looked out the window! Here is what I saw.





It didn't stay long but it certainly did surprise us.

Today is appointment day!

Kendall at Primary Healthcare.

Kendall fell Sunday night and we thought he sprained his ankle. Here he is at the Dr. getting an xray of it to see what happened. The Dr. thinks he might have broken it but wanted the radiologist to look at it and will call with the results. For now, he is to stay off of it as much as he can!

Abby at the orthodontist!

Abby had an orthodontist appointment to make sure her retainer is keeping her teeth in place and making sure it still fits. As you can see, she has a beautiful smile!



Mattie Grace now has her two bottom teeth loose, so pretty soon she will be losing them!

Sunday April 6, 2008 Monty and Kendall Bogus Basin

Monty and Kendall went skiing probably for the last time this season. They have had such a fun time being together, laughing together, talking together, seeing the beautiful mountains together and last falling together! What an awesome experience that God blessed them with and I know Kendall will never forget these special times with his dad!





April 4, 2008 Friday - Park Day!

We met our P.E. Homeschool group at the park today. It was really cold but the kids had fun anyway. I saw a girl at the park who had on a top with spaghetti straps and I had on my heavy winter coat. I guess I haven't adjusted to Boise weather yet. They say that this is an unusually cold winter.







March 26, 2008 Celebration at Chunk E Cheese!

Monty passed both of his MCSE certification exams and we decided to celebrate at Chunk E Cheese (this is what Amelia calls it). It was Amelia's first visit. We had a lot of fun as you can see in the pictures.












Dasher

Dasher