Exotic Eating

My Bird by GroovyGirl

2011-01-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

On New years one of my plans was to buy a bird. I was able to get one that same day! My brother and I had already picked out the name Kiki (named after the bird in the Enid Blyton children's book series). As you can see from the pictures, Kiki is a cinnamon opaline violet parakeet. Kiki was unusual because he became tame the first day I had him.

Now he is incredibly tame for a parakeet, letting me pet him on his back. But he is young. I am not sure of his exact age but I know he is under 3 months old (a bar head). I am hoping to teach Kiki how to talk and do tricks soon. Kiki is pretty quiet, but some times he squawks to get attention. He is crazy about millet spray. So far Kiki has been a delightful pet and he is very friendly.

Christmas

2011-01-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

For some reason I did not take any "formal" Christmas Day (or even Christmas week) photos of the children. There are a few pictures of them opening their stockings and presents but nothing with them all Christmas-fied...

But here are some photos from the week of Christmas.

One tradition we try to follow each year is to spend an evening looking at Christmas lights and then go to DQ for a Blizzard. We reversed things this time and had a Blizzard first (the DQ has a fireplace so we enjoyed sitting directly in front of it) and then went looking at lights. Usually we do the lights and Blizzards on Christmas Eve but since we were going to be at the farm on Christmas Eve – we decided to do it all the Wed. before Christmas.

One of our favorite light displays is Dan’s Emerald Forest. His front yard is completely landscaped with a train scene…he hands out candy to the kids and on the weekends (which we missed out on this time) there is hot apple cider and hot cocoa.

We headed up to the farm Thursday afternoon. That turned out to be a great idea since there was a lot of snow that fell in the wee hours of Friday morning. When we looked out the window in the morning – the farm was covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow!

One of the first things on the mind of the children was to go play in the snow! The snow was of the perfect variety for making snowballs and snowmen. The kids and mom first went sledding out in the cow pasture. Going down was fun – climbing up wasn’t so much…but the exercise was good for those of us (well one of us) that needed to burn off some Christmas Holiday calories.

Of course everything didn't look so pure and white after the top layer of snow was lifted!

After our sledding adventure – the kids played outside for about another hour and a half! Even though it was snowy – the temperature was mild. They came in soaked but happy!

A Little Catch Up

2011-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well as usual I'm behind on my posting - but better late than never...if I don't post some photos of the kids now they won't be recognized by their Canadian kin when we visit this summer.

The girl wearing her father's farm coveralls as the snow arrived before I purchased her a new pair of ski pants.

These are a couple of photos from our first "real" snow. Maybe just a smattering of snow by Manitoba standards - but enough snow for the kids to have fun in.

Cookie Decorating Party

2010-12-20T05:33:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we had our annual Christmas Cookie Decorating Party. I think this was our 5th year.

Along with decorating regular sized gingerbread and sugar cookies - for the past few years I've also made a GIANT cookie for each child to decorate. One year it was a giant gingerbread person, the next year it was a giant Christmas tree and this year it was a giant rectangle. Rectangle??

The girl came up with the idea months ago. What if we were to make cookie sheet pan sized cookies that we could "draw" on - kind of like a large sheet of paper? It sounded a bit odd to me but decided to give it a try.

A week or so before the party I did a trial run on the gingerbread cookie recipe I had, to make sure that it would bake OK in the pan and not fall apart when I took it out. It worked fine - but I still decided to make some foil covered, cardboard "trays" to place under the giant cookies as they were being decorated and moved around - so as to avoid any disaster.

The boy's goal was to just get as much candy on his "paper" as possible - thereby creating some edible abstract art (shall we say).

The girl designed a scene with a house and snow.

The kids and I have already talked about ideas for the GIANT cookie next year...it's a bit too soon to make that decision - but I'm open to ideas - any suggestions???

New Addition to the Menagerie

2010-12-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here is an addition to the girl's menagerie.

Samson was found over Thanksgiving weekend.

The girl (and her dad) believe it to be a garter snake...I'm hoping they are right!

He was named Samson b/c of his strength :)

He arrived just in time as the menagerie has been thinned out a bit with the recent demise of the three bullfrog tadpoles found back in August :(

I'm sure the girl would LOVE a visit to this place.

Judging a Recipe by Its Magazine Photo is Like Judging a Book by Its Cover

2010-11-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago I saw a recipe for a delicious looking "tart" in a Martha Stewart magazine.

The recipe looked complicated (to me) and included lots of unhealthy ingredients like sugar, whipping cream, chocolate, and peanut butter... and even an ingredient I had never tried before - creme fraiche ("Crème fraiche is a delicious, thinner form of sour cream first developed by the French. It has a slight hold and tanginess because it contains bacterial cultures. But the amounts of cultures are minimal as compared to those in sour cream. Crème fraiche can be used as a topping, in sauces, or in a variety of other applications, and many prefer it to the standard and more commonly available sour cream because of its creamy texture.")

But it looked absolutely wonderful! I can't pass up a combination of caramel and chocolate. It reminded me of a ramped up version of Peanut Butter Pie (a family favorite).

I put away the magazine but came across it again last week. And this time I decided that I was going to try and make it.

I easily found the creme fraiche at Trader Joe's but could not find the chocolate wafers - so I ended up using a pre-made Oreo-crust pie pan. Other than that I pretty much followed the recipe - even using heavy cream for the mousse and full-fat cream cheese (usually on the Peanut Butter Pie I use fat-free Cool Whip and reduced fat cream cheese).

This afternoon the girl and I put together Martha's Peanut, Caramel and Chocolate Tart. It was pretty simple - but I don't really like recipes with multiple steps.

Now the tart (I'd call it a pie) is still in the fridge cooling - but of course I had to have a taste and you know what? I don't really care for it :( I tend to think something is going to be wonderful when the name Martha Stewart is attached to it...but I think next time I'll just stick to Aunt Jackie's Peanut Butter Pie.

Sometimes simpler is better.

Now if I was to try this recipe again, these are the changes I would make:

- I'd use Aldi caramel sauce rather than make it - I did not like the sourness that the creme fraiche added (and either add zero peanuts or break the peanuts into small bits)
-I'd use my traditional Peanut Butter Pie filling for the mousse
-I'd use milk chocolate in the chocolate ganache rather than semi-sweet

I guess I'll have to see if the rest of the family likes it or not...

A Cautionary Tale - Why You Should Never Stick Your Hand in a Hole

2010-10-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the weather was too beautiful to stay indoors, so after lunch I took the kids out to the park.

This is a park that has a large lake that the kids enjoy wading in and trails we enjoy walking on.

We crossed a bridge and walked along the sandy beach trying to catch frogs - well the girl was. On the way back over the bridge we headed on down to the water under the bridge. There is a trail through the woods next to the water and as we were passing we heard a funny noise.

The girl thought it was a frog but to me it sounded like the cry of a kitten. She could hear the sound coming from the edge of the water under some tangled vines under the turf that was overhanging the water (if that makes sense). She looked under the vines into a hole and saw a frog.

"It's a huge bullfrog!" "I think he is stuck." She put her hand in and tried to gently coax him out of the hole but couldn't see too well and she was worried she might hurt him.

"Are you sure it's a frog?" I said, feeling a bit wary. "Yes it's a frog!" she relied rather exasperatedly (b/c of course she knows what a frog looks like). The boy agreed as he also got a glimpse of it.

The girl used an empty plastic cup to try and scoop him out of the hole with. After awhile with no success, and wanting to continue our walk, I said "Just use your hands." But as I said she didn't want to hurt him and since his leg was stuck on a branch or something she didn't want to pull and end up with part of a frog in her hand.

After a little more tugging there was a quick motion, a scream and I thought I saw the frog fall into the water. I figured she was a bit grossed out by the GIANTNESS of the bullfrog.

But it wasn't so.

She screamed because, yes there was a frog. And yes he was stuck. Stuck in the MOUTH of a snake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She had been gently tugging when all of a sudden she, and the boy, saw the snake with his mouth on the frog's leg. And not just a itsy bitsy snake but a very large snake. I saw something too - just not sure if what I saw was the snake or the frog as it was so quick.

We're not too sure how much of what she was feeling in there was the frog and how much was the snake! How creepy is that??!

All three of us left that area rather quickly. I felt terrible that I had been encouraging the girl to just reach in and grab the frog. Everyone knows you should never stick your hand into a hole you can't see into!!!!!!!

As we were walking away the boy said, "It was the Providence of God that that snake had its mouth full of the frog." (meaning the snake couldn't bite the girl with his mouth already full).

At first the girl said the snake was a water moccasin, then she said maybe a copperhead. I'd say that due to it's location it was probably a water moccasin - but she said it wasn't black - so who knows!

What also totally creeps me out is thinking of that odd sound the frog was making - making b/c it was being eaten by a snake....aaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Chicago Museums on the Cheap

2010-09-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Husband, kids and Sue

Yes I know I haven't written much lately and this trip happened a few weeks ago - but that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about writing a number of times.

We've wanted to visit Chicago with the kids, for a long time. A couple of things hindering such a trip was that we wanted to wait until the kids were old enough to really enjoy things and that they would be up to all of the walking. A lot of walking. Also the cost. Did we really want to spend upwards of $500 to see some museums? Then we heard about the museum free days.

A number of museums in Chicago are required to have 52 "Free Days" per year (you can check their websites to see which days - usually they are in the off season) - so we scheduled our trip around the free days. The free days are NOT just for Chicago residents as some might think.

We drove up Sunday afternoon and came home late Tuesday night.

In that short span of time we were able to visit: Frank Lloyd Wright's studio/house (outside only) and neighborhood, The Shedd Aquarium, The Field History Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry and Ikea.

We had a great time. Except for the traffic. And our sore feet/legs.

Our first stop was early Sunday evening when we stopped at Oak Park to visit the area where Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) lived and worked.

FLW designed house

Since the FLW studio was closed when we got there - we just walked around the buildings, peered in the windows and walked down the street which contained a number of cool houses and a church that Frank designed. Any of those houses on the street, even the non-FLW houses - I'd be happy to live in.

We only had about an hour of daylight left when we arrived in Oak Park, so our tour was unfortunately brief.

We stayed at a Motel 6 about 20 minutes from downdown (well 20 minutes if say you were flying - but about 90 minutes if you were driving during rush hour, as we were).

Kids and sea creature

Monday morning our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. It was incredible to see all the beautiful and unusual fish and other aquatic creatures…we saw some beluga whales – fun to watch them being trained. The girl loved the aquarium especially and was often heard saying “Oh” and then “it’s a ___”. She’s pretty good at identifying creatures she likes – and was happy to be able to see things up close – she has wanted to go to an aquarium for a number of years and her dream was finally fulfilled. When we left around noon there was a huge line of people waiting to get in to the aquarium. The line was in fact, all the way outside (canopies are set up to protect folks from the elements while they wait for ??? maybe an hour or two). I think they let people in rather slowly as space indoors is limited and you don't want to have to try to climb on the shoulders of the 50 people in front of you to see the seahorses or paddlemouth fish. So my advice - GET THERE EARLY. Make sure you take into consideration that it might take you a whole lot longer than you think - to drive the short distance to the aquarium.

In the afternoon we visited the Field History Museum where the dinosaurs were a favorite – especially “Sue”. We also enjoyed seeing the large Egypt exhibition.

Since the aquarium and Field Museum are next door to each other - we parked at the nearby football stadium parking garage and so only had to pay once for parking (we stayed all day). Cost - about $17

Lunch was at McDonalds in the Field Museum - McDonalds is usually cheap - but this McDonalds - no doubt due to its convenient location - was a total of about $5 more than usual.

On the shore of Lake Michigan - I could have stayed there a long time enjoying the view.

When we were finished at the Field Museum, we took a picnic lunch and ate it down on the beach of Lake Michigan – the weather was perfect and the kids (and I) enjoyed taking off our shoes and socks and walking along the beach (a good therapeutic massage for our very sore feet). Later we walked to Buckingham Fountain and then to downtown Millenium Park and the Crown Fountain and the giant steel “bean” Cloud Gate. We were very weary by the time we got back to our car that we left parked at the museums. Tylenol was dispersed.

The "Bean"

Our Tuesday morning drive downtown was less stressful as we now knew what to expect and we arrived at the Museum of Science and Industry before it even opened. We spent the day there – just leaving for a picnic lunch on the grounds. The kids went on a tour of the enormous German submarine that was captured during WWII and is in the basement of the museum. The girl and I especially enjoyed watching the chicks hatch in the incubator. Note about parking - here is a metered parking area in front of the building that says Space Center (or some such thing) that is to the left of the entrance of the Museum of Science and Industry and parking was cheaper than parking in the underground parking garage mentioned on their website ($7 vs $16).

Periscoping

We left for home around 3:30- though we stopped in at an Ikea store just outside of Chicago and shopped around for about an hour and then had supper there. Fun. BUT can someone please tell me why, the one item that I wanted from Ikea, that I have wanted for over two years, has not been in stock the only two times I have ever visited Ikea (this one plus the one in Minneapolis) ??

All in all the trip was a great experience – one that hopefully the children will remember.

In total our trip cost about $250. This includes gas to and from Chicago, two nights at a cheap motel, 2 days of museum parking, entrance to 3 museums (there was an additional charge of about $12 total for both kids to tour the inside of the submarine - but the tour is optional - unless you have a boy that loves all things military and wanted to go inside the sub very badly - then it's not optional but a desperate necessity) and a walking tour of FLW neighborhood, and 4 fast food-ish restaurant meals (we brought breakfast foods to eat in our motel room and had a picnic lunch for two of our other meals).

Though $250 isn't "peanuts" to a lot of folks - this is cheap for all the things we were able to do in Chicago. Admission to the 3 museums alone would have been approx. $250 for our family of four - which would have doubled the cost of our trip.

A Note

2010-09-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is a note that greeted me when I first stepped into the kitchen this morning.

In case you can't read it: "Thank you 4 making this 4 your loving son! xoxoxo"

It was written by the boy and propped up against a box of pancake mix.

The note was a clever way of asking and his handwriting so nice - that of course I did it.

The Girl is Now Eleven...

2010-08-22T17:08:00.001-07:00

We had a little photo session on her birthday - these are a couple of photos she really wanted Grandma S to see :)

And yes that is a real snake...(skin that is)!

The girl would have been mighty excited to meet the snake that fit that skin...

Transformation - Junonia coenia Hubner

2010-08-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, the girl found a caterpillar.

Into the critter catcher (CC) it went.

Very soon a chrysalis formed at the top of the CC.

This morning the girl placed a damp paper towel in the bottom of the CC.

This afternoon she noticed something different...the chrysalis was broken open and standing outside of it was a butterfly.

We took the butterfly outside for a photo and after a few shots (most too blurry to post) she flew away.

Early tomorrow we are leaving for the farm - what a blessing for the butterfly to be "born" while the girl was still here :)

The girl just looked it up and found out that the butterfly is the Junonia coenia Hubner otherwise known at the Common Buckeye.

Grandma R. told the girl that they recently saw a black snake in their garage and an 8-inch walking stick on the front porch. You can imagine the girl is excited at that news!

Gregory the Praying Mantis

2010-08-11T06:10:00.001-07:00

I love this photo! Which is the real artwork? Both are unique - both have a Creator/creator.

Gregory is the Praying Mantis the girl found about a week ago. We were just walking along the sidewalk between Hobby Lobby and the fabric store when the girl spotted him on the pavement.

Of course she had to have him. But what to capture him in?? I dumped out my cosmetic case into my purse and she used that. He tried to allude capture by flying across the parking lot into a bush...but the girl was persistent.

Gregory on the girl's arm

We've witnessed Gregory consuming his lunch...not for the faint of heart...live crickets having their heads cut off and their guts consumed...

World Bird Sanctuary

2010-07-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

After our hike we drove on over to Lone Elk Park and the World Bird Sanctuary.

We had been to both places about a yr and a half ago (in the winter) - so it was nice to actually be back during the summer time.

Lone Elk Park is a park that has - you guessed it - some elk. Also some bison . We drove along for quite awhile before we saw the bison all huddled together. They really are immense creatures and their heads are rather frightful looking. Not something I'd like to meet up with on a dark night on a lonely trail.

The elk all appeared to be female, and at rest - so little excitement there.

The World Bird Sanctuary "The World Bird Sanctuary rests peacefully on 305 acres of Missouri hardwood forest, next door to Lone Elk County Park and Chubb Trail. We are open daily from 8am - 5pm, and closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas. The World Bird Sanctuary features free seasonal shows, nature trails, educational programs and picnic pavilions. Free entry and parking. Live displays of Bald Eagles, Owls, Hawks, Falcons, Vultures, Parrots, Reptiles and much more!"

We happened to arrive around "lunch time" and actually saw the workers throwing in carrion for the birds. It was very fascinating to watch the eagles and vultures tear and eat their lunch. Their beaks and talons are not something you'd like to meet up with.

We were also in time for the free bird show - approx. 30 min show of 5 birds with discussion about each bird and flying demonstrations. There was even a demo. of a recycling raven...a few volunteers in the audience hold up empty soda cans - the raven will fly to the volunteer, grab the can and drop it in the recycling bin :)

More Hiking - Chubb Trail

2010-07-17T17:42:00.001-07:00

Last night around 10:30 PM my husband asked what our plans were for Saturday. A conversation like this usually occurs on Friday, perhaps Thursday and worse case scenario, Saturday morning.

Of course at 10:30 PM I am usually just thinking about how I'd like to be sleeping.

Seems like Saturdays usually come around so suddenly that I haven't thought much about what to do on that day - unless we already have something scheduled.

The kids will usually ask Saturday morning if we are going to do something "fun".

Around 10:45 PM the hub made a suggestion. "What if we get up at 5:00 AM and take a hike on the Chubb Trail?" The early hour, in part, due to the hot, humid summers up here.

The Chubb Trail is "...the most challenging trail in the St. Louis area. It is a seven-mile dirt and gravel trail between West Tyson County Park and Lone Elk Park (14 miles round-trip). It has very challenging hills and some nice flat stretches. Terrain is rocky and can be muddy long after rains or floods. After those tough climbs you are often rewarded with great views."

Unpaved trails through the woods, happen to be a favorite of our children. Throw in some rockiness and a little danger and they are game!

Personally getting up early for a morning of garage-saling sounds a whole lot more exciting to me...but I'm usually out-numbered. And I know the hike is a good healthy activity for us all.

We had never been on the Chubb Trail before and the online descriptions sounded a little daunting to me - I pictured it to be a whole lot more treacherous than it was. Of course if there had been a recent rain the trail could have been more tricky.

There were a few falls and scrapes for the kids but nothing bad at all.

We only walked about 1/2 of the distance - starting at the Tyson Trailhead and turning around after about 1.5 hrs (total time was about 3 hours with about 30 minutes of that being rest stops).

The first real excitement of the hike came within about 30 minutes when the husband suddenly stopped. Right in the middle of the path was a COPPERHEAD. My first Copperhead siting in "the wild" (though the girl claims she actually saw one at the park with me, in the water, a month or so previously...which I may or may not have seen and which may or may not have been a Copperhead - though the girl with her encyclopedic brain retention of all things "critters" may have correctly identified it).

We gave the snake a "wide berth" (risking poison ivy) and stepped off the trail into the grass, briefly.

The second excitement - at least for the children - was that they spotted close to 20 little toads as we walked along.

The third excitement - at least for the girl - was when dad spotted a teeny, tiny skink which the girl successfully caught. She had been wanting a lizard of any kind for a very long time. He was only an inch or so long...but very sadly - he did not survive the journey home :(

We all enjoyed the Chubb Trail - I especially liked the fact that for the most part we were very shaded by the trees.

Walking

2010-07-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

We went to the Laumeier Sculpture Park again today - went early in the morning while it was still cool-ish outside. Here are the kids doing what they enjoy most...walking through the woods - more specifically walking through a little creek in the woods...walking through a little creek in the woods looking for "something" exciting...

We did have a couple of fawns jump out right in front of us and startle us.

The Three Little Bunnies

2010-07-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Dh and I were sitting out on the front steps last night, when these three fellas came out from their hiding place. Very sweet and very small - smaller than a squirrel.

Earlier in the day one of the bunnies had run out of the flower bed when I started watering the flowers and I saw the "mom" in there when we first sat down on the steps (but she took off running).

Free Meal at Chick-Fil-A

2010-07-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Kids with Chick-Fil-A Cow

Now what would you do for a free meal?

Would you dress in a cow costume?

We did! Well the kids and I - the hub wanted no part of it :)

Spelling errors in sign intentional... :)

Today is "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-Fil-A and if you dress from head to toe (or head to hoof as it were) you get a free combo meal. The kids and I decided this would be a fun summer activity and we whipped up some costumes (basically white/black clothes with paper colored spots and some paper masks).

We met my sister-in-law and her kids at Chick-Fil-A and enjoyed our free food (our meals would have cost about a total of $18 for my two kids and I).

Once I got to Chick-Fil-A I started to feel nervous about donning my spots and mask - but did it anyway (but waited til my sister-in-law arrived).

Trip to Alabama

2010-07-05T19:41:00.001-07:00

We made a trip to Alabama (Muscle Shoals area) last week as my dh was doing some accounting volunteer work for a missionary organization.

While the husband worked, the kids and I didn't. The area was rather weak in activities/tourist sites - but we filled in the time gaps with lots of swimming (much to the delight of the girl and boy) and insect collecting :)

Our favorite site was Tom Hendrix's wall (which actually my dh did get to see as well as we visited it on our way home).

Tom is a 77 yr old man who built the largest un-mortared stone wall in the USA, as a commemoration to his great-great-grandmother who was forced to leave the area during the "Trail of Tears", but made her way back after a 5 yr journey.

The wall is incredible to behold. To think of someone working on such a project day in and day out for over 20 yrs, is amazing.

Here is an article on Tom's Wall.

We actually got to meet Tom and hear a little of his story. He is very friendly and talkative...he enjoys talking about the wall and the different special rocks it includes (rocks from every state, various countries, a meteorite (he suggested I take a photo of the kids holding the rock), giant geodes - bigger than a basketball, and "the ugliest rock in Alabama" :)

Holding the meteorite.

Tom's wall is just off of the Natchez Trace Parkway at approx. milepost 338.

Geodes

Critter Update

2010-07-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

Giant Leopard Moth

All the tadpoles turned into frogs before we had to leave for our trip to Alabama a week ago Sunday.

The girl had planned on keeping one of the frogs - Beaver - for her pet collection. Sunday before we went on our trip, she went out to get Beaver from the little critter catcher and with great sorrow realized he was gone!

We have no idea how he got out - my theory is that the other frogs that she voluntarily let loose, mounted a mission to rescue Beaver and helped him escape. So now the girl is frog-less. Sad.

BUT she did not come home from Alabama empty-handed.

At a thrift store in Alabama we found a critter catcher - which was greatly needed as the girl was using a disposable beverage container to house her rapidly growing insect collection ... a small katydid like insect, a giant leopard moth (rescued from the swimming pool), a mysterious beetle, a strange lichen-ish insect that looks like a small piece of lichen or moss, and just as we were packing up to leave on Saturday - a full sized katydid (it was actually sitting on the back of the minivan).

As we were leaving the girl said, "Having a katydid is almost as good as having a lizard." (she had hoped to return home with a lizard - a green anole to be exact).

I'll need to try and get some photos of the other critters...especially the strange lichen-ish insect...I'd love to know what it is.

I generally dislike moths but the leopard moth is beautiful.

Wednesday Tadpole/ Froglet

2010-06-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Beaver checking out the scenery.

The girl looking in - Beaver looking out. Note - the water is not as green as it appears in the photo - the water is regularly changed.

Here he is today...the girl decided it's time to give him a name..."He looks like a beaver so his name will be Beaver". Hmmm not too many frogs out there named Beaver...

This afternoon we came home to find Beaver sticking to the glass of the aquarium. When we transfer him to a smaller home of his own - right away he hopped out of the water up onto the glass side.

Beaver's tail is much smaller today and he looks smaller than the tadpoles...we think at this stage he is actually considered a froglet...and the girl thinks he is a Spring Peeper (which is a type of tree frog).

Time to find him some "real" food.

Tadpole Tuesday 22nd

2010-06-22T16:34:00.001-07:00

This morning we observed the tadpoles and they didn't look much different - the back legs were perhaps a bit "meatier" but that was it.

After supper tonight I went to check on them and a couple of them now have their front arm(s)!! The kids and I are excited. I believe at this point they stop eating and will absorb their tail for food. As far as we can see (they move quickly and hide amongst the rocks and shells) one tadpole has both front legs and one tadpole has one front leg.

We added a thick stick to the tank and one of the tadpoles crawled onto it - fun.

Tadpoles Today

2010-06-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'm just amazed how much these fellas change overnight - hence the need for more photos :)

Tadpoles - 3 Weeks After Hatching

2010-06-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Click on the photos to see the tadpoles better.

These are photos of the tadpoles at 3 weeks old...I love how their little back legs are bowed just like a miniature version of a fully grown frog.

They are fed diced up boiled lettuce and goldfish flakes.

Siamese Cherries

2010-06-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I purchased a bag of delicious cherries from a roadside market in town.

When the girl and I started devouring them we noticed something strange. Almost every single cherry was a "siamese twin". The "twins" had separate pits. The girl ran to get the camera and took some photos.

Tadpole Update

2010-06-16T06:39:00.001-07:00

The tadpoles are doing great!

They move super fast now when you approach the tank - diving out of sight. I took a couple of photos but they were blurry. When the girl cleans out the tank today we'll try to get some better pictures.

Last night we noticed that the back legs have started to appear. Fun!

Botanical Garden "Dinoquest"

2010-06-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

We've visited the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) before - but Saturday was our first visit this year.

As we walked to the entrance of the MBG we saw a large sign advertising "DINOQUEST A Tropical Trek Through Time". The MBG Climatron "becomes a time machine transporting visitors back to the age of the dinosaurs as dozens of these realistic prehistoric creatures take up residence in this lush, tropical environment."

Sounded cool - ended up being tacky!

The Missouri Botanical Garden - "Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is the nation's oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark.

The Garden is a center for botanical research and science education, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis. The Garden offers 79 acres of beautiful horticultural display, including a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, Henry Shaw's original 1850 estate home, and one of the world's largest collections of rare and endangered orchids."

The MBG is such a beautiful, wonderful, interesting place to visit - adding the dinosaurs throughout the Climatron and outside of the Climatron, looked tacky - something you'd expect to see at a theme park...adding the dino "roaring" sounds occasionally did not help matters at all.

It's as if the marketing folks thought how can we get parents to take their kids to the Botanical Garden? Why don't we add dinosaurs!!

The Climatron itself is worth visiting but I sure wouldn't pay extra to see the dinos lurking about.

I have nothing against dinosaurs and I actually enjoy seeing the large, moving, dinosaurs at the Science Center :)

The kids loved seeing and feeding the koi fish - they are super cool to see up close...though their mouths wide open look kind of creepy :)

Tadpoles - 1 Week Old

2010-06-07T12:43:00.001-07:00

The tadpoles are one week old today and large enough for a photo.

I'm not sure whether these fellas have been officially named yet or not. There is actually a total of 7 tadpoles.

I've enjoyed seeing how much larger they have grown everyday :)

Rendezvous - Fort de Chartres

2010-06-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

For a number of years we have talked about attending the Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres in Illinois.

Unfortunately we'd usually think about the Rendezvous at the wrong time of the year and the planets were never aligned properly for us to attend during the correct time of year - until today :)

"Fort de Chartres State Historic Site hosts the largest rendezvous in the Midwest with over a thousand participants, hundreds of encampments, and thousands of visitors joining in on the festivities. Based on the traditional French fur trapper’s rendezvous where trappers and traders would meet at a predetermined location to trade furs for necessities, the rendezvous was the highlight of the fur trapper’s year...."

The boy didn't seem all that excited about the whole deal - which is somewhat surprising knowing his bent towards all things military-ish. I thought it was interesting but a one-time visit is enough for me...I did enjoy listening to the bagpipes.

The girl bought a bag of mixed beads and the boy bought a large wooden sword :)

"Ice-cold lemonade" called the man pulling the wagon with the crock of lemonade. The girl and I were "dying of thirst" so I bought some. It was NOT ice-cold and it was rather watery. But it was liquid :)

The prices on the food and goods being sold seemed reasonable.

I think some of the "savages" (unlike the two at the top of the page) were a bit too uncivilized in their attire (or the lack thereof)...I guess they were trying to be historically accurate...or maybe just trying to stay cool.

Revolving Critter Collection

2010-06-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

Well it seems like there is a revolving door in regards to the girl's critter collection.

We still have the two hermit crabs and the small toad - but Myrtle the Turtle was returned to the park and the two large toads were let go in our backyard.

THEN a couple of weeks ago the girl found a white moth and kept it in her room in an empty cool whip container with holes poked in it. A day or so later she excitedly showed me some "eggs" in there. They were not much bigger than a grain of sand.

Then a week ago Sunday, we arrived home from church and the girl came running to find me, all excited - the eggs hatched and there were caterpillars! The caterpillars were not much bigger than an ant...thing is the holes in the container were large enough for them to crawl out of and so her room and my house could be swarming with hundreds of micro mini caterpillars! If we have a moth infestation in the days ahead you'll know why! Though I figure they won't have anything to eat and hopefully die before doing any damage.

Recently the girl let the caterpillars go except for a small amount which she put back in a smaller container with some grass etc. It's been fun to watch the little critters grow - they've probably tripled in size.

THEN the day we left Arkansas - Sunday - less than 1/2 hr before we got in the car - we took one last look around the swimming pool for some of the girl's dive sticks. We didn't find the sticks. But the girl (in her mind I'm sure) found something much better - she held out her palm - there was a slimy mass with little black dots. Tadpole eggs!!

She put them in an empty water bottle and brought them home. The very next day they hatched! Much excitement.

The girl transferred them into her aquarium - previously housing the toads - and by today (Wed) they are already looking more tadpole-ish.

Who says education can't be fun?

Another Double Rainbow!!

2010-05-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

It was almost a month ago that I spotted a double rainbow from my front yard.

Today there was another one!

It's hard to tell from the photo...click on the photo to enlarge and that will help a bit - trust me there are two rainbows.

Driving home from church tonight I saw another huge beautiful rainbow (or is it the same one but from a different angle?) - it was out in an open area so I was able to see both ends of it - I drove through the "arch" two different times :)

My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George

2010-05-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

I wrote about this interesting book for children here.

This morning I ordered a hardcover copy on Amazon for about $16.00.

I don't normally buy books new - unless I can't find it anywhere else and it's a great book. And I don't normally pay $16.00 for a book for my kids - but it was a hardcover and a favorite book and 3 books in one.

This afternoon I was at a huge library book sale and found a hardcover copy of "My Side of the Mountain". Actually I found NUMEROUS copies of "My Side of the Mountain". I bought more than one :) The sale was $5 for all the books you can fit in a grocery store plastic bag. My kind of sale.

Now it isn't the trilogy of books - just the first book in the series - but usually the first book is the best anyway.

Needless to say, when I got home I canceled the book I ordered for $16.00 from Amazon. The price of that one book was more than I paid for 3 bags STUFFED with books. My dh saw all my books and said "just leave them in 4 bags". But I knew I could fit them all into 3 bags :) and I did!

Puffed Wheat Cake / Squares

2010-05-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I made an old family recipe - Puffed Wheat Cake.

I've probably never tasted it during the 15 years I've lived in the USA - it seems to be more of a Canadian "delicacy".

The first batch turned out hard as rock...as I lay in bed after making the cake I got to thinking that that was not how I remembered it being. It needed to be softer and much more chocolaty.

I made another batch the next day and it turned out WONDERFUL. I'm kind of wishing that I had some right now...but probably best for my waistline that I DO NOT have a big pan of it cooling on the counter right now.

I'm not sure what recipe my family uses - here is a recipe I found online. It's not quite the same one that I used - I made some alterations that I did not record... I know I used waaaaaaay more cocoa - like 6 or more HEAPING tablespoons. Some recipes I read said to bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. DON'T!!!! That will turn this into a pile or rocks. Once it hits boil - take it off the stove.

I remember Grandma McLeod making this when we'd all have a picnic/BBQ down by the lake...sigh

Puffed Wheat Cake
Ingredients:
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
• 6 cups puffed wheat
Directions:
1. Combine butter, syrup, sugar and cocoa
in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil while stirring over
medium heat.
3. Measure 6 cups of puffed wheat into a
large bowl.
4. Pour mixture over puffed wheat and stir
until all puffed wheat is coated.
5. Press into an 8x8 inch greased pan and
let stand to cool.

End of an Era

2010-05-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we sold my old car.

It is old. Almost 20 years old. A 1991 Toyota Camry. If it had gone to school it would have graduated last year. Or maybe two or three years ago since everyone knows Toyotas are superior :)

We bought a (used) minivan about a month ago and so we needed to get rid of one of our two cars - mine being the oldest, had to go.

I felt a bit nostalgic about losing the Camry...my dh bought it 15 yrs ago just before he made his maiden voyage to Canada - to visit me for the first time in my native land (we had met before but always in the USA).

It was the car we drove on our honeymoon, the car I learned to drive on, the car we brought baby #1 home from the hospital in, the car I've driven almost daily for the past 10 years.

It had it's problems...a transmission rebuild the year after we bought it -some mysterious undiagnosable stalling problems for a year or so a few years ago (that finally did get diagnosed and fixed) and a number of minor annoyances and body deterioration - but I still "loved" it. If it weren't for the minivan purchase (necessitated by the need for a (hopefully) more reliable vehicle after dh's car showed evidence of slowing down in its old age -14 yrs) -I would have driven it until it died or fell apart due to rust!

Camping - Part Three

2010-05-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

We headed on over to the lodge to admire the beauty of the old structure, and to take advantage of the heated, clean restrooms (the campground restrooms were being cleaned and were thus out of service.

The visitor center was not open yet, so we consulted a map we had brought along and decided to take a hike on the "Goat Cliff Hiking Trail". All four of us enjoyed the hike, in spite of the wind and cold. The trail was unpaved (the girl's favorite type), there were some large rock formations and "caves" along the trail - which were also a hit with the children. The girl was all set to enter a small cave - not caring that we had no light - not caring that there could be a 100 ft drop off inside not caring that there could be a bobcat bobbing about inside...

We wandered around on some other trails after Goat Cliff and then headed back to the visitor center. We watched three short videos (less than 15 min each)...one on the park, one on eagles and one on the CCC (n the 1930's, with the advent of the Great Depression and with the nation’s natural resources in jeopardy due to poor environmental practices, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created. At Pere Marquette, the CCC built many buildings and shelters, fences, bridges, water reservoirs, foot and horse trails, riprap and streambank protection. Work was also done to create parking areas, campgrounds, and the clearing of overlooks and vistas. In addition, archeological and other types of surveying activities were conducted. Many of these CCC structures are still standing.)

After the videos we were ready for some lunch, so we headed back to our campsite. I had planned on just having some simple sandwiches for lunch - but we wanted to see what all we could cook on the Coleman stove - so I made spaghetti and sauce - which worked out well - albeit very bland since the canned sauce definitely needed some spicing up.

We then rested awhile and then "broke up camp" and headed on home.

The girl inside a replica of an eagle's nest.

Camping - Part Two

2010-05-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the campground around 4:30 PM and proceeded to pick out a spot for our tent. Though the tent area was pretty empty - it still took us a couple of drives around the loop and much hemming and hawing, to figure out the right spot.

And after we chose our spot- we realized that yes it was in fact the best spot b/c it was set back in the woods and very private. Yes we had further to walk to get water and use the bathroom and we had to park our minivan a short distance away and hoof in our gear - but it was worth it.

The kids liked that the spot was "woodsy" instead of out in the open.

It was very WINDY. DH and the kids set up the tent while I drove back into town to get some firewood...my first drive of the minivan over 40 MPH :) Because of how things were set up at the house selling the wood - I parked on a small paved road in front of the "barn". I then went in search of the sellers of firewood. An elderly lady came out of the house and asked where I parked. I told her. She got concerned and said "you are parked on the bike trail - they will fine you $75 if they see you parked there!!" I quickly moved the minivan.

I eventually got back to the campsite and thankfully the tent was all put up :). DH was able to get a fire started pretty quickly and before too long we were feasting on hotdogs, beans and s'mores.

We all settled into our tent around 10PM and seemed to fall asleep quickly. I woke around 2:30 to a flat mattress and a shivering husband. It was VERY cold. I hadn't brought much in the way of warm clothing for any of us - other than sweatshirts and very light jackets. I hoped my children were not freezing to death in their sleeping bags.

DH inflated the mattress some more and shut the "windows" and that helped a little I guess. It probably took me an hour or more to fall back asleep and then I was awake for good around 6 AM.

I tried starting the Coleman stove myself, to make something hot for us all to drink, while DH tried to sleep awhile longer. The stove lit easily but then flames were shooting out where they shouldn't be - so I told the girl to get her father up - so much for "sleeping in."

The stove was fixed, hot beverages and porridge served...and it was still very cold outside...and we still had some hiking ahead of us.

Teacup Toad

2010-05-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Here is the baby toad posing in a toy teacup...

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T16:45:00.001-07:00

I wouldn't be a mother without these two...I'm thankful for two precious children.

Still More Critters

2010-05-09T16:34:00.001-07:00

The girl's critter collection has been growing rather rapidly with the spring weather.

The count is now:

Two Hermit Crabs (both have changed shells in the past 2 weeks - a fun event - unwitnessed but still cool and an indication that they are doing well). Tarquin and Minnie.

Three Toads (the girl thinks two are American Toads and the other is a Fowler's Toad). The latest acquisition is a baby American Toad that is actually smaller than the snail...and was given to the girl today by a friend. Gollum, Mr. Frodo and Tommy.

One Box Turtle. Myrtle

One Snail. Zipper

Camping - Part 1

2010-05-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday we took a "surprise" camping trip out at Pere Marquette Park in Grafton, Illinois.

It was a surprise because we didn't plan to do it until early Friday morning.

Over the past few days I had been going through our camping gear - weeding stuff out and making a list of stuff we probably still need. Most of the camping things are stored out in the garage and since we haven't gone camping much, I wasn't too sure what was all in the boxes.

Since we recently got a minivan, it's been making us think more about camping. So on Thursday I packed up the minivan to see how much gear we could fit in it and how we could organize things best.

Thursday dh decided to do a trial run in the backyard - see how long it would take to put up the tent and take it down (I think the last time we camped was about 2 yrs ago). We of course slept in the tent. I always have a hard time sleeping in a new place and especially in a tent.

Friday morning we cooked breakfast outside on the Coleman stove and dh said "hey why don't we go camping today?" (real camping). So he went in to research some parks and we decided on Pere Marquette for one night.

We hoped to leave that morning (since most of our gear was already packed in the minivan) but due to the craziness of the stock market - dh felt he needed to go into work until the afternoon.

It ended up working out well to leave later since it gave me time to purchase those oh-so-necessary camping essentials of hot dogs/buns and s'more ingredients and hot cocoa.

Double Rainbow

2010-04-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

It had been raining a bit this evening when I looked out the window and spotted a rainbow.

We don't see many rainbows around here - so it was noteworthy (and photo worthy). The kids came running to see it. Then I went further down the steps and saw it was a double rainbow. So the kids came running out to see it again.

Genesis 9:13 "I do set my (rain)bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth."

Introducing Myrtle

2010-04-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

After many visits to the park to try and capture a turtle - the girl was finally successful.

Yesterday I told the kids we'd go to the park for a picnic today. Since the weather was mediocre (windy and rain on the horizon) I wasn't feeling so picnic-ish so we opted for a park near home which happens to be "Turtle Paradise".

We had just arrived at the park and we were heading to the picnic table when I looked over and saw something that looked turtle-ish, but it was on land and we'd never seen any on land before. So I thought it was just a pipe or something sticking out of the ground. I looked again and realized it was a turtle.

The girl had come prepared - and swooped in with her net. Thankfully we had a "critter carrier" in the car. The girl proclaimed the turtle beautiful -"It's a 3-toed Box Turtle". And then she told me how it's called a turtle but it's actually a tortoise...

We went to Walmart and bought some garden fencing stuff and set up a little enclosure for Myrtle.

And yes I know turtles can carry salmonella but there shouldn't be much need for anyone to actually touch Myrtle.

Edible Hibiscus Flowers

2010-04-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can eat hibiscus flowers? You can and they are delicious.

Well at least the dried and SWEETENED variety of hibiscus are.

We picked up this package of "dried fruit" from Trader Joe's...the 4.4 oz package cost about $2.

They are the color and flavor of dried, sweetened cranberries -without the bitterness of the cranberries.

It does feel kind of odd popping them in your mouth because of the shape/feel - almost like popping an insect into your mouth.

The girl and I love them! The boy tasted one and didn't like it - I think more from a psychological point rather than taste, because I know he LOVES dried cranberries.

The ingredients are just: hibiscus, flower, sugar, sulfur dioxide.

Portrait of a Toad

2010-04-19T14:34:00.001-07:00

The girl wanted me to take a photo of her critter while he was outside getting some "hop around" time. We've enjoyed watching him eat crickets :)

"The Dinner Party"

2010-04-19T08:47:00.001-07:00

"The Dinner Party", the boy quickly (and mistakenly) read the title of the book I was pulling out of the large stack of library books.

The title was "The Donner Party". Hmmmm maybe not so far mistaken...

We have begun reading "The Donner Party" and all three of us are quite intrigued...I have read it before and so I know some of what will happen - but the read was some time ago so perhaps there will still be some surprises for me.

Amphibians - Beware!

2010-04-15T19:01:00.001-07:00

The girl is on the loose. And she won't give up until she gets you!

Her motto is - anything roaming around at ground level is fair game.

The day after finding and then losing her pet frog - she captured a toad (no photo yet).

We were at another park, near some "creekishness", and just as we were leaving, the girl, feeling rather disheartened at having not located a frog/turtle/toad/snake/lizard - suddenly called out "LOOK!" And of course I jumped out of the way not wanting to step on or be attacked by a cottonmouth/copperhead/any-kind-of-snake...but it was only a poor helpless toad. Too slow for a girl with an empty Taco Bell strawberry/lemonade "slush cup.

Today the girl went out and spent her money on a 10 gallon aquarium (she already has a 5 gallon aquarium in her room housing her two hermit crabs) and some crickets. The toad - named Gollum (very aptly named) is now living in the girl's bedroom...the girl is happy. Here's hoping Gollum lives a long and prosperous life :)

Coincidentally the library had a homeschool program on frogs today, which we attended.

Speaking of frogs and toads - there is a new Frog and Toad book by Arnold Lobel that I spotted at the library today - The Frog and Toads All Sang.

The Great Escape

2010-04-14T04:35:00.000-07:00

His name was Puddleglum but should have been Steve McQueen...unlike Capt. Hilts his captivity was very brief.

Creve Coeur Park Adventure

2010-04-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

This morning we took a picnic lunch to Creve Coeur Park.

The girl brought along her net (at the last minute) and her creature cage.

A beautiful sunny morning.

After a quick lunch we walked along the shore of the lake and saw many schools of fishes - some of the fishes quite a bit bigger than the little minnows we usually see. We walked along the trail by the water, through the woods and the boy spotted a snake in the water. Mean old mom wouldn't let the girl chase after it and try and catch it. Unhappy girl.

A little further down the trail someone told us that there was an eagle in the tree up ahead. We stopped and watched it for awhile. There just so happened to be a rocky area by the water by the eagle tree and the kids spotted another snake or two. "It was a copperhead" said the girl - so she wasn't gonna try and catch it. Whew!

Then mom became the hero of the day by spotting, right at our feet, a GIANT frog. The girl whipped out her net and nabbed him! He struggled some and got away when she tried transferring him into the cage but he was no match for the girl who had seen too many turtles get away from her in the past few weeks.

"This just about makes up for not getting an anole (a lizard that she's been greatly desiring to have for the past week or so)".

We headed on back home - the park outing a success...large schools of fish, snakes, an eagle and a captured frog.

The girl is now doing research on her frog - looks like science has been taken care of for the day.

Birthday Boy

2010-04-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Such a sweet little face and now he is eight...

Here he is when he was less than a year old...same sweet face.

His birthday started with his monthly "Men's Breakfast" meeting at church with dad, then back home to open some presents.

He was very surprised and happy to finally receive a pocket knife...he was expecting to have to wait a couple of more years, but dad decided that he could have one now.

We then headed out to Jefferson Barracks (Jefferson Barracks was a U.S. Army post from 1826 to 1946) - a first time visit for both of the kids. There are a couple of restored buildings that now house museums (we only had time to go through one of them) and also a national cemetery.

In the evening we had some friends over for supper and the boy declared it his best birthday ever! I think he might have said that after last year's birthday - but that's OK.

Necessity and the Daughter of Invention :)

2010-04-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

What do you do if you have a pet hermit crab and want to let him "play" in the backyard without losing him?

You put him on a "leash" and tie the leash to a stake.

How do you attach a leash to a hermit crab? I don't think they really have a neck that you can loop something around do they?

Well the girl (my daughter of invention) just placed some Silly Putty on the shell of her crab and attached some twine to the Silly Putty. The twine was attached to a stake set in the ground.

So far it's been working well...do we need to get a patent for it??

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Our holiday weekend began Friday afternoon.

The weather was glorious and the hub was able to take off the afternoon, so we headed out to the zoo. No parking space was to be found (we only do the free on-street parking) anywhere close so dh dropped us off at the entrance and went to look for a parking spot further away and he would meet us by the bears when he got back.

We were hanging out with the bears and my cell phone rang. The only parking spot dh could find was so far away it wasn't worth him walking to meet us (it was less 1.5 hrs until closing) - so he headed off to the History Museum and we just zoo-ed around by ourselves. I called the hub when we were ready to leave, he picked us up and we went off in search of a supper picnic spot.

No photos were taken as I didn't have my camera with me - actually I did - but I didn't realize it.

Saturday we ran some errands, had our traditional (as of late) $1.99 kids' meal at Lion's Choice, played some tennis, and colored Easter eggs.

In conjunction with the eggs - the girl took her first solo trip to the grocery store which is 15-20 min away (walking) - which she was very happy to do.

Sunday our church had a sunrise service, breakfast and regular worship service - which we attended.

After lunch we took a nap and then headed out to the August A. Busch Conservation Nature Center to hike and explore. It was our first visit - and we arrived late in the day so we didn't get in much hiking. It's the type of place you'd want to arrive at early in the morning (if you are a morning person like me), bring along a picnic lunch - and plan to stay all day.

The boy and his dad in front of one of the bunkers...we did find one bunker that had a "window" open so we were able to look inside a bit (not much to see other than a couple of empty beer cans) - the amazing thing is how totally cold the air was inside...just like being in a cave.

The conservation area was used in the 1940’s by the Department of Army as a TNT munitions plant to support the WWII effort. One hundred of the old TNT storage bunkers still exist on the property, which of course the boy enjoyed seeing.

The girl quickly climbed onto the top of the bunker and the boy followed suit. No broken necks ensued.

"The 6,987-acre Busch Conservation Area contains 3,000 acres of forest in addition to grassland, cropland, old fields, prairie, and wetlands…also has 72 fishable lakes and ponds …The visitor center has 120 rental boats, bait, tackle, and licenses."

We did a 3 mile hike and the weather was perfect for being out there and we definitely want to go back when better prepared.

Trying to climb the Leaning Tree of the BCNC.

We finished off the day with a large Wendy's Frosty for supper :)

Back Home

2010-03-29T05:03:00.000-07:00

We are glad to be back home after spending 6 days out at the farm...

Columbia Bottom Conservation Area

2010-03-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

The boy and his dad...click to enlarge - but you'll still have a hard time seeing them. They got quite a bit ahead of the girl and I...

Today we went hiking for about 5 miles in the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area CBCA (where the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers meet).

The first half of the hike was in a wooded area on a mud packed trail next to the river - the second half was on a paved road out in the open. The open area was much colder/windier and though they don't like to admit it - the kids were glad that mom "encouraged" them to dress warmly and bring hats and gloves.

I planned on taking a photo of the spot where the rivers met but my camera battery died. Though it worked awhile later when I tried taking some other photos.

There is a large visitor center at the CBCA which the kids enjoyed - especially seeing stuffed Trumpeter Swans (we read a book last week on Audubon which mentioned Trumpeter Swans so it was fun to get a look at how gigantic they really are), a bobcat, giant catfish etc.

There were a number of these cool mosaics at different points in the trail...

Free-Range Kids (Book)

2010-03-19T06:06:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting book recently...Free-Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy. The book is about giving children more freedom...like we had when we were kids.

You may recall hearing the story of Lenore's son a few years back...when he was just 9 years old she gave him some money and maps and let him find his way back home on the subway from a store.

Her son of course arrived home safely, and supposedly the "adventure" was his idea.

Many people applauded Lenore - others called her the worst mom and thought she was crazy.

Growing up in a small town, one of 5 girls - I don't remember there being many restrictions on us running around the neighborhood. I don't remember there being a lot of concern that one of us girls might be kidnapped and never seen again...(perhaps as in the story "The Ransom of Red Chief" my parents figured the kidnappers would be bringing us back).

My daughter is 10 and I know she would LOVE to have an "adventure" like Lenore's son...but we don't live in a small town and though I know the odds are greater that a meteorite will fall on her head while she is playing in our backyard, than getting kidnapped - I'm still hesitant to give her as much "free ranging" as she'd be happy with.

The book was encouraging to read and there is also a website that you can check out for more ideas about free-range parenting.

Determined!

2010-03-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

The girl is D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E-D to catch herself a turtle.

She purchased her brother's bamboo pole and attached her small handled net to it with black plumber's tape.

Usually as soon as the turtles hear/see us they plop into the water and don't return until we are safely gone. BUT there was one big fella that was taunting her. He came back out of the water promptly and stayed out on the log just out of her reach. He seemed to know it. He didn't flinch as her net came close - he just sat there staring with a smug look on his face (if turtle's could have such a look).

Eventually it was time to leave...empty handed once again.

His & Hers

2010-03-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Matching tennis shoes - rather pathetic I know. It wasn't intentional.

I was playing tennis in running shoes when I broke my ankle last summer, so we decided that I should buy some "real" tennis shoes.

We had tried a number of shoe stores searching for shoes specifically for tennis... stores either carried wimpy tennis shoes (more for show) or like the Nike store, had only ONE style for women and one style for men. I tried on both but neither was satisfactory. The last store we went to had a pair of tennis shoes. Problem is they only had them in mens'. The other problem is that they were identical to the ones my dh bought for himself last fall (I know our feet look about the same size in this photo but my feet are in fact a number of sizes smaller :)).

Now here is the confusing part - at least for me. Growing up in Smalltown, Canada we referred to all gym type shoes as "runners" (maybe it was just a family thing???). Growing up in Hicksticks Midwest, USA my dh referred to all gym type shoes as "tennis shoes".

But now I have "real" running shoes for running and "real" tennis shoes for playing tennis. And then "fake" tennis shoes for everything else. Sounds easiest just to say "go put on your runners".

Misty Moisty Morning

2010-03-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to see all this green coming up in our garden!

Picnic on a Stump

2010-03-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

The weather was GLORIOUS today!

We had a picnic at the park and then spent much time searching for frogs (unsuccessful) and then turtles (successful in that we saw a TON but unsuccessful in that the girl was unable to catch one - much to her chagrin).

Before Helen Keller

2010-03-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Did you know that there was another famous blind/deaf woman before Helen Keller? I mean one that was known world-wide?

Her name was Laura Bridgman and she was born 50 years before Helen.

Her story is just as amazing, if not more so, than Helen's. Why have I not heard of her before? Well actually I may have read a passing reference to her in a biography on Helen - but nothing significant enough that it made me want to read more about her.

The other day I spotted a book on Laura at our library. It's called "She Touched The World" and it's a juvenile book.

Our library has only one other book on Laura, for adults, and I just put it on hold.

In contrast there are at least 66 books on Helen Keller in our library system.

Laura was even more disadvantaged than Helen. At an early age she became blind and deaf PLUS she had little or no sense of smell or taste (due to Scarlet Fever). She never learned to say more than a few words. Because she was born 50 yrs before Helen, there was even less known about how to deal with her condition. Incidentally, at least from what I've read, she did not misbehave quite like Helen did.

Laura was sent away to school when she was about 7 - within a year or two she had learned to fingerspell, read braille, and more. By the time she was about 10 - she was known around the world. Parents and teachers held her up as an example...and she was and is an inspiration.

I read the book aloud to the kids and we all enjoyed it.

A Little Hike

2010-03-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we all went for a little hike.

There is a park about a mile from our house and across from it there is a brushy/woodsy area that the kids really enjoy. They prefer hikes that do not involve paved paths. Getting dirty and smacked in the face with thorny branches just seems to add to their fun.

In total our hike was about 2 hours.

Just as we were exiting the brush, I stepped up to my ankle in some muddy/ashy "stuff". Ugh.

Creamed Tuna on Toast

2010-03-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

I have quite a few cans of tuna in my cupboard and have been trying to figure out what to make to use them up.

I was this close to making a tuna casserole when I remembered the creamed-tuna-on-toast (CTOT) of my youth. I am not a casserole kind of person - the most casserole-ish item I make is lasagna...and my kids are less-so casserole kind of folk.

When the kids asked "what's for supper?" and I told them, there was definitely some grumbling. The boy seemed kind of shocked when I mentioned that I had even thought about making a tuna casserole.

CTOT is basically flour, milk, butter and canned tuna.

When I sampled what I had made - I thought it was very bland - so I added more butter and some salt and pepper. Once it was poured over the buttered toast, the flavor improved.

To be honest it wasn't as good as I remembered it to be. The girl bravely ate her CTOT and claimed it wasn't too bad. The boy had his creamed tuna on the side and did not like it. The buttered toast though seemed to be a hit with him :)

I don't think I'll even attempt a tuna casserole in the future...

Letters of Friendship Letters of Love

2010-03-07T04:16:00.000-08:00

I spent a goodly portion of a recent Saturday, going through old letters. As I have mentioned before, my dh and I have pretty much held on to most of the letters we have ever received from friends and family and each other. In addition, not too long ago my dh's mother gave him a bag with all the letters he wrote to HER during his college years.

That adds up to a HUGE stack of letters. Hundreds I'm sure.

One of the boxes of letters had been sitting in my closet for a few years and I got to thinking "do we really need to hold onto this FOREVER?"

Evidenced by the fact that the letters have been in our possession forever, these were important and special letters from important (to us) and special people, during the 1980's and 1990's primarily (before the time of everyone having email).

But we have a small house with little storage space.

My dh agreed that it was time to part with many missives.

There was no way I could read every single letter before I decided to keep or pitch - but glancing at something, if it was basically a post card or "thank you" letter, it went into the discard pile. I tried to keep a sampling of letters from regular writers for each year and some writers had all their letters saved (I won't say whose - that way everyone can just assume it was all their letters we kept rather than pitched).

It was interesting, fun, sometimes sad, and in some cases enlightening, to re-read those letters...

We did hold on to enough of the letters (I hope) to give a sampling of our family/friend histories , as well as all the letters my dh and I wrote to each other.

As the letters sat for days in a trash bag in the laundry room - I had second thoughts. Did I really want to pitch them? What benefit was there in keeping them? Future blackmail opportunities? Email letters from the same folks today are not all being printed out and saved. When I'm 98 years old and bedridden (due to a broken leg mind you, from skiing) - would I pull out those dusty letters and enjoy reading them? Probably. But I guess I'll have to amuse myself with only reading 500 hundred letters rather than 1000. Not everything can be kept for every possible necessity - including memories.

I'm saddened over the end of letters written on beautiful stationery and posted in the mail. I'm part of that problem. It's so much easier and quicker to send someone an email. And the important part is not the mode of communication - it's the fact that we take the time to communicate in the first place, right?

Shrimps Snacks

2010-03-06T09:18:00.001-08:00

These shrimp "potato chips" were a huge success!

Both kids devoured them and I had to keep reminding them to not finish them off before I got around to taking some photos.

They are made with real shrimp - second ingredient after tapioca flour. "They taste just like shrimp" the boy declared.

I thought they tasted fine - but I'll stick with my Salt n Vinegar potato chips.

Tennis Comeback :)

2010-03-05T17:20:00.001-08:00

Today I played tennis for the first time since that fateful day some 7 months ago.

I wasn't too sure I'd be brave enough to attempt playing...every time I'd think about it I'd flash-back to the ankle breaking and feel apprehensive...

But today it was beautiful outside and at supper we were talking about tennis and I decided to give it a try.

We drove to the tennis court and it was full - we drove to another park and the court there was empty.

We didn't actually play a real game, there was no score-keeping (thankfully!) and I didn't go overboard trying to make difficult plays.

Every once in awhile there would be a ball coming towards me in a certain way and I'd think "this is how it happened 7 months ago"... but I enjoying playing nonetheless.

Guess the tennis season has officially begun.

Breadfruit

2010-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

We've been trying some new foods lately so hopefully I'll get around to posting them.

We purchased this breadfruit for about $3.00 - I forgot to check what country it originated from.

I was eager to try it until I read that it needs to be cooked - ugh! I put it off for a few days and then went ahead and cooked it before it went bad.

There were streaks of what looked like white paint on the outside of the breadfruit, and it felt kind of sticky after I rinsed it off. I read that all parts of the breadfruit tree produce latex - so maybe that's what caused the stickiness.

I cut the breadfruit in half and placed it cut side down in a casserole dish filled with about an inch of water and popped it in the microwave until soft. Cutting the breadfruit was a bit difficult though not as hard as a squash.

The girl and I tried the cooked breadfruit and neither of us begged for more. It was soft - kind of spongy and at first bite it did have a nice flavor but after chewing it a bit it became very bitter - reminded me of a cooked eggplant. The flavor was kind of bland...probably would have been better if it was prepared properly.

"Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical regions. They were propagated far outside their native range by Polynesian voyagers who transported root cuttings and air-layered plants over long ocean distances. They are very rich in starch, and before being eaten they are roasted, baked, fried, or boiled. When cooked the taste is described as potato-like, or similar to fresh baked bread (hence the name)." Wikipedia

What Has One Hundred Eyes But No Nose

2010-02-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

The other day I read the old riddle "What has one hundred eyes but no nose?" to the kids. (answer potato)

The boy thought for awhile and then said "A box of needles."

Great answer :)

Cookie Decorating

2010-02-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the kids and some friends decorated Valentines' cookies.

Christmas and Valentines' cookies are pretty much the only cookie decorating we do all year. Last year we decorated Valentines' cupcakes - not as exciting but faster and easier.

This year we went back to our 2008 cookie decorating theme.

Eskimo Picnic

2010-02-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

On Friday we decided to venture out to our HQ library and the girl asked if we could have an "Eskimo Picnic" out there.

The library has a couple of picnic tables (balanced rather precariously on some very uneven ground) at the end of the parking lot near a small wooded area.

The girl packed her Bento Box, the boy had a sandwich and we brought hot cocoa in a thermos. It was rather coolish and windy (which of course is just perfect Eskimo Picnic weather) - so I just sat in the car while the kids braved the cold.

Clara's Kitchen - Book Review

2010-02-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

A year or so ago I stumbled upon some YouTube videos of an elderly woman named Clara.

Clara talked about growing up in the Great Depression - and shared some simple recipes she remembers from way back when. The videos are quite short, but they were fun to watch.

At the library a few days ago I found a book displayed on a rack "Clara's Kitchen" Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression.

It was about the Clara!

It's just a small little book - not very many recipes and the recipes in it are far from exciting - but Clara makes them all sound delicious! Makes me wish I had spent more time with my grandmothers' - cooking with them and listening to their stories. I wish that I had asked them more questions and had written down their answers so that I could remember it all now.

The book is being sold online for about $15 and up...not something I'd spend $15-$20 (once you add in shipping) but it is interesting - so see if you can find it at your local library.

Snow Fun

2010-02-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well we didn't get the predicted 2-4 inches of snow over the last couple of days, but we did get enough snow for the kids to play in this morning.

The girl was ready to go out at 8 AM...

The kids spent a good part of the time building snowmen - but they are not just ordinary snowmen ...the kids explained it all but I've forgotten. Two of the snowmen have their hands tied behind their backs for some reason...

Old vs New

2010-02-05T13:04:00.001-08:00

What is it about an old edition of a book that is so intriguing? And who wouldn't prefer a hard cover edition to a paperback edition...

Why would I rather have an old worn copy of a classic story than a brand new copy from Amazon?

Old or new the words are still the same. The new copy would be clean and neat with no scribbles, no torn pages.

Old books seem to have more "character"...and unfortunately sometimes you have to pay double the price to have a little character thrown into your book.

What the Girl Has Been Up To

2010-01-28T09:21:00.001-08:00

Ever since we got back from Alabama, the girl has been crocheting. She witnessed a couple of people crocheting and became interested in learning herself.

She bought herself a crochet hook, found an article in one of her kids' magazines on basic crochet and went to work with some previously purchased yarn (from other craft projects she's worked on).

She struggled with learning from just a couple of pictures along with written directions. Mom tried helping her but all mom could do was a single strand - which is totally useless unless you are planning on making a scarf for an earthworm. I'm glad children are not limited by their parents' knowledge...(or lack thereof).

But she didn't give up (she's definitely more like her dad). She kept at it until pretty soon she was making squares.

And then she made this.

She said it's not quite finished b/c she wants to add a face to it - but she still granted permission for me to post a picture.

I wish she lived closer to her maternal grandma or one of her aunts so they could help her with her crocheting...

What the Boy Has Been Up To...

2010-01-26T19:16:00.001-08:00

For Christmas the boy received a book on how to draw military aircraft. As you can see he's been using the book a lot.

BIG NEWS!! EXCITEMENT!!

2010-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

We got a library card for the St. Charles library system!!

There is a library close to our church in St. Chuck and it has a large kids' area, a fireplace and even a place you can sit and drink some hot cocoa or a soda.

I took the kids there today for the first time - figuring we'd just hang out and they could read books/magazines for an hour or so. But as I was looking through the kids' books - seeing many COOL and exciting books - I thought I'd ask, even though I figured the chance was remote - if they'd allow us to get a library card even though we were not residents of St. Chuck.

The answer was YES!!

They have a reciprocal relationship with our county library so all I had to do was show my driver's license and fill out a form and VOILA!

We do have a library close to our house - but it gets a little boring going to the same old library and I think the boy feels like he has exhausted their selection of books on WARS! WEAPONS! SOLDIERS! and the like.

He checked out: "Great Escapes of WWII", "US Warplanes The C-130 Hercules", "The WWII Soldier at Monte Cassino", "Secret Armies - Resistance Groups in WWII", "Bombers", "War on Terrorism - Weapons of War".

Hmmm what did the girl check out? One book. "Black Holes".

I checked out various books that she'll be reading as well - books on the Holocaust, a kids' biography on Tolkien, and a bunch of others.

I was so impressed with all the old books they had - I wished that they were all being sold :) Seems like our county library weeds out their old books and sells them - which I always enjoy pawing through.

So that is my big news. Pretty pathetic, some would say, to be excited about a new library card - but for the amount of time we spend at the library and the high volume of books and DVDs we sign out - it's reason to be excited.

Rambutan (Fresh)

2010-01-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Over a year ago we taste-tested some canned rambutan, but when we saw some FRESH (relatively speaking) rambutan we knew we needed to buy some and try it.

They are so cool!

You make a little cut into the outer "shell", press, and the little eyeball like fruit pops out. :)

It was sweet and juicy with a little seed in the center. The girl and I both loved it.

Helen's House

2010-01-04T12:36:00.001-08:00

When we found out we were going to be staying in Tuscumbia for a few days, I checked on-line to see what "tourist attractions" might be in the area. I was excited to find out that it was the birth place of Helen Keller and that her home was available to tour.

The girl in Helen's dining room - the same dishes Helen ate off of. Who cannot forget the scene of Helen walking around the table grabbing food off of everyone's plates. We had a great tour guide - the rooms were actually gated off but she asked the girl if she wanted her picture taken by the table. The girl goes in, I snap the picture and the guide tells her to come out quickly...then she whispers to me "usually you have to be blind to be allowed in there to have your picture taken".

The four of us with the famous pump where Helen first connects the feeling of a word spelled out into her hand with the water trickling over her hand.

Frank's House

2010-01-04T06:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend we visited our third Frank Lloyd Wright house - Rosenbaum.

Rosenbaum is the only FLW house in Alabama and it has been wonderfully restored. The interior and exterior have similar features to the FLW house in Kirkwood that we visited back in October.

I love all the built-ins especially the long hallways filled with bookshelves and storage cabinets...I love the countless doors opening each room to the outside ("A thieves delight" said the boy) - though home alone - late a night - in bed - after watching a "scary movie" - hearing a noise - would make one rather paranoid and concerned that all 599 doors were closed and locked!

Can you believe this photo below was the KITCHEN? It once held a small fridge and stove as well...

Girl in Grey/Gray (depending on your country)

2009-12-29T04:45:00.000-08:00

Boy in Beret

2009-12-29T04:40:00.001-08:00

The boy cheerfully sporting a favorite Christmas gift...

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas..."

2009-12-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

It was a white Christmas for our little family out at the farm.

We drove out to the farm in rain Thursday night and awoke Christmas morning to a winter wonderland.

Christmas Memories

2009-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

I found this old photo of me and Jolly Ole' St. Nick...

Here is the story behind the photo - at least what I remember of it from over 30 yrs ago!

I was shopping at The Met Store (where I later got my first "real" job) with my mom. I had just made a purchase, on my own (evidenced by the paper bag) and was on my way to find my mom. I was clutching my change in my hand as a child typically will do, rather that putting it safely into a pocket.

I noticed that you could have your picture taken with Santa. I think I was about 8 years old in this photo - I'm sure I was not still believing in Santa. A lady working at the Santa photo set-up, asked if I'd like my picture taken with Santa. I said "sure". She held out her hand and took my money (which I naively thought she was just going to hold for me while I had my picture taken).

I had my photo taken and THEN realized the lady was keeping my money b/c even though Santa is a very generous fella - giving gifts to ALL the good little girls and boys - he had to make money somehow.

When I finally found my mother and told her the story - she was not pleased. We did not have much money back then and the $2 or however much it cost for the photo - was surely not to be "wasted" on a photo - especially when the girl having her photo taking with Santa - needed to have the grape kool-aid stain washed off her face BEFORE the photo was taken.

Clove Apples

2009-12-16T18:48:00.001-08:00

Today the kids worked for 2 hours cloving some apples.

Last year they made clove oranges that ended up rotting...I made a clove apple last year and it dried successfully, so this year we just stuck with apples.

The kids worked on the apples up in the kitchen and yet I could smell that delicious clovish scent when I was in the basement!

Christmas Cookie Decorating

2009-12-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was our annual Christmas Cookie Decorating "party".

I'm thinking this is our 4th year decorating cookies with friends of ours.

Back in Business!

2009-12-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

OK - it didn't take me long to decide that I like the format of blogging better than Facebook...besides my mom isn't on Facebook so she wouldn't be able to see photos and the like.

Hopefully my few regular readers will find their way back :)

THE END...

2009-11-29T17:35:00.000-08:00

Two years ago in November I began this blog...so it seems fitting to end it in November.

During out weekend trip there was much time for talking while we drove hither and yon, and during one of our discussions I decided that it was time to end my blog.

Thank you to the faithful few who read my blog and posted comments throughout the past two years.

The kids and I have enjoyed our journey on the food frontier - and though we'll no longer be posting - we'll be continuing our journey...

Happy Ending

2009-11-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

Husband was feeling better Friday morning, so Friday afternoon we drove out to his aunt and uncle's home.

We had a fun time with dh's relatives...

The kids enjoyed the chickens...

The girl brought along her hermit crabs and they survived (and didn't get forgotten!).

The weather was beautiful...

The kids went to the creek and found some geodes (something the girl has been wanting to do for many moons)...

There was much good food...

Saturday we drove to Kirksville, MO to visit another aunt and uncle...had supper at hub's cousins' house...

Sunday we attended the church dh went to while he was in college and dh preached...

We enjoyed getting to see family and old friends...

Our Thanksgiving "Feast"

2009-11-27T07:08:00.001-08:00

We sometimes like to do things a little different around here at Exotic Eating...

Instead of Thanksgiving Dinner at a relatives home...a dinner we were thankful for at Hardees (sure thankful it was open!).

Instead of turkey a Spicy Chicken Sandwich...

Instead of mashed potatoes some french fries...

Instead of green bean casserole with fried onions some onion rings...

On Wednesday we were packed and ready to leave for dh's aunt/uncle's home Thursday morning. Wednesday evening dh started feeling crummy...Wednesday night he got sick. Ugh.

By Thursday morning he was feeling some better but we certainly didn't want to chance bringing a bunch of germs to all our family (I doubt they'd be thankful about that!) ...and dh really just needed to sleep and we needed to see if it was going to turn into some long drawn out sickness.

We had nothing Thanksgiving foodish in the home...save a cran-apple pie and some fall leaf cookies I was planning on bringing to our Thanksgiving celebration. Dh was not hungry.

I decided to take the kids out for lunch. Wasn't sure what kind of places would be open - I phoned a few restaurants but no answer. So I thought we could just get in the car and drive around and see what restaurants had cars parked outside.

We didn't have to drive far to spot a Hardees with a handful of cars. The kids thought Hardees sounded good.

We then went to pick up some ice-cream from Walmart - for the hub (well and for us too of course). While browsing around Walmart someone stole the girl's nice gloves out of our shopping cart! This was the first time she wore the gloves and they were sitting in the bottom of the cart...which sometimes was somewhat "unattended". The store only had a few shoppers . When we went to check out we noticed the gloves were no longer in the cart. Too big too fall through the cracks in the cart. There is a slight chance that at some point the girl took the gloves out of the cart and then left them somewhere - but we're leaning toward the thievery...pretty pathetic to spend your Thankgiving Day stealing little girl's gloves from a shopping cart.

Our supper meal was even more spectacular - Ramen Noodles :)

Hey - the girl said it's one of her most favorite foods ever and that she could eat it every day!

Even the dh had some.

Then we had root beer floats for dessert.

Everyone likes root beer floats!

You don't need to have a big Thanksgiving Dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving. You don't need to have a room full of people and food to be thankful.

In spite of sickness, in spite of a Hardees meal instead of a turkey dinner (I'm mostly sad about missing out on stuffing/dressing and gravy!), in spite of new gloves being thieved - we have so much to be thankful for.

"...And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." 1 Timothy 6:8

Fall Colored Leaf Sugar Cookies

2009-11-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

This morning the kids and I have been working on these fall colored leaf cookies for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

They are super simple - I got the idea from a Country Living Magazine article (they "glued" the leaves onto a cardboard wreath) a few years ago.

I'm not too happy with the pinkish leaf color -was hoping for more burgundy-ish or red, but oh well. I added a bit of black to the red to alter it and still not happy...the girl said "that's what you did last time too!" I really like the orange color - wish I had made more of that one.

I just used a sugar cookie recipe I found online.

All you do is make your cookie dough recipe and then divide up the dough and add different food colorings to each batch. Roll out your dough - pressing two or more colors together. When cutting out the cookies - make sure you place your cutter in an area where two or more colors will meet. Then draw leaf "veins" on with something pointy (I used a cake tester) and sprinkle on a little colored sugar.

Easy Christmas Shopping

2009-11-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

The other day I asked the kids what were three things they really wanted for Christmas. I made a point of telling them that didn't mean that they were going to get those three things - but I was just curious to know what they were.

Here is the girl's list:

Swiss Army Knife
Pitchback
Coconut

Yes the third item is in fact a coconut. And she did stress that she was not joking - she really did want one. "I've been thinking about them lately...".

I'm sure it's true b/c the last couple of times we've been in the grocery store she has asked if we can purchase one. We had a bad experience with the last coconut we bought(it was rancid and nasty) so I haven't allowed her to get another one.

Well I guess I'll pass the list along to Santa and see if maybe he can pick one up when passing through Hawaii...

The Joys of Discovery

2009-11-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

The other day the kids came running excitedly into the house to show me some unusual "critter".

The boy claimed to have seen some "legs" on it.

At first I thought it was just a bit of moss - but it did seem to curl up into a ball when we touched it.

Using a pair of wooden chopsticks - we prodded the little ball and if we looked super close we could see that it was some type of "critter"...maybe a grub or a tick or a ??? but it was all covered with a greenish mossy coat.

Whatever it was, it caused some excitement for about 10 minutes...

Snapea Crisps

2009-11-19T12:18:00.001-08:00

Snapea Crisps from our friendly Trader Joe's Store...cost $1.49.

Definitely a bizarre idea for a snack - baked peas??

They were wonderful! Nice and crisp - kind of melt in your mouth like Popcorn Puffs or Popcorn Twists. Salty.

If you closed your eyes, popped one in your mouth and didn't know what you were eating - you sure would not guess that it was a vegetable. I did not notice much of a green pea flavor.

The girl enjoyed them as much as I did...the boy says they were "OK" - not a ringing endorsement from him.

The ingredients are: green peas, corn oil, rice, salt, calcium carbonate, ascorbic acid.

As one cup of peas has about 120 calories and only about 6 of those calories from fat...and the snapea crisps (22 pieces) contains 150 calories and 70 of those from fat - you can see that this has moved quite from from the realm of a health food dish.

Jeopardy!

2009-11-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

Lately the kids and I have started turning the t.v. on at 3:30 to watch Jeopardy!

We had the most fun last week when it was Teen Jeopardy (the questions were easier!).

And hey - it counts as school - right?

Taco Bell Kids Meals "Rip-off" - Kids Miffed!

2009-11-16T06:06:00.001-08:00

Sunday after church we headed out to Taco Bell b/c I love Taco Bell.

We went to a TBell that we have been to many times before and I ordered what I normally order for the kids - a 2-soft taco kids meal...comes with, you guessed it, 2 soft tacos plus a small soda and an order of cinnamon twists (oh yeah and a lame toy - it was a Halloween themed toy and Halloween is long gone).

I brought the bags to the table and lo and behold the bags only consisted of one taco so I went up to the counter to inquire.

"The Kids Meal only comes with one taco now" the guy said. "It started a week ago."

I asked, "Well did the price change?" "It's a little cheaper" he said.

I'm sure there was a change on the overhead menu that stated that it only came with one taco but as it was our usual order I never thought to check that out.

I'm not sure how much cheaper the meal might be b/c I couldn't remember the previous price...but I know it was not reduced by the full cost of one soft taco.

The kids were STEAMED. They felt like they were totally ripped-off...even though it was MY money not their money :) Their reaction was that they don't ever want to go to TBell again!

Personally it would seem to have made more sense, if it's a money issue with TBell (and everything would be) that they should have just raised the price slightly on the 2-taco meal rather than reduce the price a bit and remove HALF of the meal!

The kids specifically asked me to blog about this so that other hapless families would not be caught unawares! :)

Red Banana

2009-11-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we made an impromptu trip to the world food store, on our way to the library.

The girl was wanting some "Happiness in a Bottle", the boy was wanting some "Ginger Beer" and after having re-read an old childhood favorite Enid Blyton book, I too wanted some "Ginger Beer".

Once we got to the store - the girl (perhaps also influenced by having read the above mentioned Enid book) changed her mind and bought "Ginger Beer".

We found some red bananas. They were small and plump and as the girl eats her bananas partly green - I figured it would have to be pretty nasty for her not to eat it.

This morning we cut open the banana and had a taste. The girl thought it looked a little pinkish and though I couldn't see that - I did read up on it later and it said that the banana ranges from a creamy color to a slight pinkish color.

The banana was sweet and tasted to me like a regular banana. The girl, who really loves bananas, thought it was yummy but tasted "different"...hmmm

Sesame Seaweed Rice Balls

2009-11-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

The girl spotted these at Trader Joe's and asked if we could buy them. Can't say that I'm crazy about seaweed (and probably would be if I was) - but we went ahead and bought them anyway.

They were DELICIOUS! They remind me of popcorn twists...but they taste a bit sweet when you first bite into them and then you taste salty goodness. I sure didn't notice any odd flavors. Both kids liked them and we quickly gobbled them up.

They cost $1.49.

Thick Ankles

2009-11-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

This is one of my all-time favorite greeting cards...and with my ankle still swelling - I can relate to the thick ankles. I found a batch of them about 4 years ago at a used electronics store (??) . As I was paying for them the cashier told me that they were found in a dumpster behind a store...hmmm

Regardless - I did send some out (though hopefully I remembered to moisten the envelope with something other than my tongue) but kept one b/c I liked it so much. Sometimes I just have it sitting out on my desk.

I was not blessed with large hair like Nancy - though my husband might look similar to that if he let his hair go a few months without a cut...it grows up and out rather than down.

Treasure Exhibit - Missouri History Museum

2009-11-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Last week we visited the new exhibit "Treasure" at the Missouri History Museum.

It sounded like it was going to be pretty exciting...I envisioned an exhibit filled with unearthed (unsea-ed) treasures and pirate artifacts (Bluebeard's beard perhaps?).

I was disappointed.

The exhibit is more of an inter-active play area for children...which of course my kids enjoyed.

We went on Tuesday when the exhibit is free for St. Louis City and County residents...and free is about the price I'd expect to pay for what I saw.

The boy loved the "video game" where you shoot a cannon at a passing pirate ship and try to sink the ship. But I'm not sure I like the idea of taking my kids to the museum only to have them be sidetracked by playing a video game (which really had no educational value).

The girl enjoyed panning for gold and other precious stones (they are allowed to keep one rock).

The exhibit room was almost empty when we were there - Tuesday around 3:00 PM - so that was great. Being that there are not that many activities I cannot imagine how unpleasant it would have been with a group of 30 or so children in there at the same time...all trying to do the same thing.

There are a lot of write-ups on pirates and treasure hunting posted on the walls...my theory is that kids will rarely read those things, rather they'll race to the cannon shoot or the medal detecting area (problem the large items that set off the metal detector are not really hidden).

This exhibit seemed better suited for the Magic House than the History Museum...at least from an adult perspective.

After visiting "Treasure" - we checked out the World's Fair Exhibit and Seeking St. Louis Exhibit...both are worth seeing.

Boston Market (almost) Free Meal!

2009-10-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Last night was my first visit ever to Boston Market Restaurant.

My impetus being an online coupon for a $1.00 meal.

Go to the Boston Market website and click on "online coupons".

Our family of four was able to print off and use four coupons. The only "glitch" was that each order had to be rung up separately and paid for separately. The deal is one coupon per person per VISIT and the promotion is running until November 1st.

So looks like if one lived handily close to Boston Market and liked that kind of food, they could eat 2 meals a day there for a few days at a small cost of $1 per meal :) We do not live handily close to a Boston Market - though looks like we may be in that vicinity again on Friday - and so I'll have some coupons with me just in case.

The food was great! I think the dinner we received generally costs $7.00. Beverages are not included in the price - a soda is almost an extra $2.00 - yikes!

The Zoo

2009-10-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

The girl had been wanting to take a trip to the zoo for some time. Being that we have been there numerous times over the past years - the parents were not too enthused to go again.

But she asked again on Saturday and the afternoon weather was so GLORIOUS - that we let her have her trip to the zoo.

Unfortunately we did not check the zoo website before going and found the place to be packed. No doubt in part due to the beautiful weather - but also because they were having a Halloween event "Boo at the Zoo" that day.

The hub dropped us off at one of the entrances and went looking for a place to park. He eventually found one :)

The kids had a great time. We usually find out ahead of time what exhibits they mostly want to see so we don't end up running out of time and the kids end up being disappointed b/c they didn't see such and such.

Hippos, elephants, and snake house were on the "to see" list. We saw all of those minus the elephants that were not out. We also made sure to check out the penguins & puffins, the primates, the bears and the bird house.

After taking the bear photo the boy asked if he could have a copy for his bedroom :) I didn't know he was so fond of bears...I think it's for the same reason he likes dinosaurs (though ONLY the meat-eating variety!).

The girl thought it would be fun to pose alongside the photo wall of her ancestors :)

Yet Another Ankle Update

2009-10-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon...he took a look at my ankle and said looks good. I pointed out that actually it was still swollen when compared to my other ankle (which I showed him).

I told him that two weeks ago when I tried running it was instant pain - but I tried again yesterday and it seemed mostly fine. "You need to walk fast first" he admonished...which I definitely have already been doing for weeks.

Soooo he wants me back on the Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory) for another month. He said that if I continued stressing my ankle while it's inflamed - it would stay inflamed.

He ended with "Call me in a month to let me know how it's doing."

My plan is to take the Meloxicam for another month and never see the doctor again - unless things get worse or stop improving. I feel like things have improved slowly - but continuously...so we shall see.

Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park

2009-10-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my dh and I went for a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (which is located in Kirkwood, MO).

We've been interested in FLW architecture for some time now and this is the second FLW house we have toured (the other being the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, MO) in the past year.

The unique feature in the FLW Ebsworth Park house is that there are no right angles (or only a very few) - the house is built based on the equilateral parallelogram - there is even a bed shaped like one (how would you like to have to find sheets to fit that bed?)! No indoor photos were allowed otherwise I would enjoy showing the interesting furniture.

This house was built in the 1950s and all the furniture is original (designed by Frank). There is no basement and no attic but lots of beautiful wooden shelves.

We enjoyed the tour of the house...it made me want to own one just like it - minus the furniture which I thought was actually quite unattractive.