Hard Tack and an Award

This has been a hard week for me in the sense that I feel like I haven't accomplished much. I don't know why, but for some reason I felt like I was fighting every day to accomplish anything outside of school. At least school happened.

 

I did try making some hard tack this week. My husband thought this would be a good thing to have for backpacking with the boys. It seems like it turned out, but I kind of messed it up when I shaped it so it's not pretty. My husband was impressed though, and I'll probably make more. I know how to fix my mistake so I'll take some pictures for you then.

 

I made some rolls for a company meal this week. It was a new recipe that only takes 35 minutes from the first ingredient to being put in the oven. It only takes ten minutes to bake so these are super fast. And let me tell you, they are so delicious. You can find the recipe on my Pinterest board under "Food-Bread" or "Completed Projects". They are actually called "30 Minute Rolls", but they really are 35 minutes.

 

At the beginning of this week we actually had some weather that was nice enough that we went for a walk as a family. It felt so good after the long winter we've had (are still having) to get out as a family and take a walk in the neighbourhood. I love walking. I had the baby on my back in the mai tei carrier, and it felt good to have him cuddled up against my back.

 

I am very pleased that this week saw the launch of a semi-regular post from my youngest sister on the subject of dressing modestly AND fashionably. The two are mutually exclusive. I look forward to more posts from her. If you missed it you can find her first post here.

 

The biggest news this week was my oldest daughter winning the short story writing contest at our library. We went to the awards ceremony tonight. We are so proud of her. In case you didn't read her story check out my post here where I put it at the end of the post. It is such a joy to watch our children growing up and beginning to develop their talents and skills. I know someday my daughter will be a published author - she is that good.

My Wonderful Husband

I want to spend a few minutes today bragging on my husband. ☺ Last night we watched our wedding video, and it's been a long time since we have seen it - too long really. Anyway, it made me feel all mushy and sentimental reliving all the memories of our early love. It is so true what they say about love growing and maturing. I look back now and laugh at my naivete. Yes, I was in love, but how much more my love has grown through all the hardships and fun times of the last sixteen years including the births of eight children and early miscarriage of a ninth.

 

One thing I love about my husband is that he is a man who knows what he believes and is willing to make that clear. I learned this from the start. The second time we met he was at my parent's home for dinner. Afterwards he and I talked until after 11. I was pretty sure we had covered everything except a proposal when the next thing he did was to propose. Knows his mind - acts. He's a man of conviction.

 

He's also not afraid to cry. He cried his way through our wedding as I was reminded of last night watching it. He cries sometimes when he's preaching. He's cried with me. I love his tender heart which does not take away from his strength at all but enhances it in my opinion. 

I waited a long time for God to bring Hugo into my life. I am so glad I waited. He's helped me through eight pregnancies, births and recoveries. He works so hard to make my life easier during these times when my body is under so much stress building and nourishing a new life. He was super supportive during my miscarriage - gentle and loving. He's a huge advocate for breastfeeding. It isn't always easy so he does what he can to help. He loves watching our babies nurse as the numerous pictures he takes of them nursing attest to.

 

Our children think he's the greatest thing. I've heard so many people worry about how Daddy will bond with his baby if Mommy is breastfeeding and Daddy can't feed them. Believe me, Hugo has never had a problem bonding. He makes up songs just about the child he's singing to. He reads them books from the very beginning. Lately he and our toddler have been bonding over Sesame Street YouTube videos - the rubber ducky song and some of Big Bird's songs. My six-year-old loves the Cookie Monster because Daddy introduced him to "C is for Cookie" on YouTube. He loves going for walks/hikes and taking the children camping. He works hard to spend one-on-one time with all of our children. And of course, he encourages our children's interests. He enjoys hearing about their day and what has interested them.

 

 

This is a biggie for me - He LOVES to shop. I hate shopping. How perfect is that for me? He does about 90% of our shopping including clothes for me. One year I needed a new winter coat. I told him I wanted something dark and long in a classic look. That is exactly what he came home with. He has bought most of my clothes, and 95% of the time I love what he buys. I'm so happy he's happy doing this because as I said I hate shopping. I think my youngest sister got most of the shopping genes in our family. I quit going shopping with her and my mom when I was single because I was ready to go home about three hours before they were.

 

He makes me laugh even though for the most part he's a fairly serious person. We have a lot of fun together. In fact, if our oldest had been a boy we were going to name him Isaac because that means "laughter".

 

Something else that was so important for me - really above all other considerations - he loves the Lord. It is wonderful to marry a Christian - to be able to pray together, read the Bible together and do some kind of ministry together even if it's just bringing a meal to someone in need.

 

taking our daughter to see Les Mis for her 15th birthday

He has always encouraged my interests. He's also pushed me beyond my comfort levels to branch out and grow in other areas of my life - this blog being one of them. For years he's been saying I should have a blog. I didn't think anyone would be that interested in what I had to say, but finally one day told him I would give it a try. It's been fun, interesting, scary and a huge learning process for me. I'm thankful I listened.  

 

He loves people and helping them which is why I think he makes such a great pastor. He loves to see people's lives enriched and made better. This spring he's looking forward to the wedding of two of our church members (I think he'll cry at some point during the ceremony). We prayed for these two to get together and are excited to see it happening. He prays with people when they have problems. If you called my husband up with some concern, after discussing it with you he would pray with you. I had a pastor who did this with me so I know how comforting it is.

 

Really I could go on and on. Thanks for bearing with me this long. I love my husband and am so glad God brought us together.

A Book List for Little Ones

Because I have been asked more than once what books I would recommend for young children I thought I would do a post devoted to a few of my recommendations. Some of these are not readily available anymore so you'll have to keep your eyes open at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. I'm listing these in alphabetical order by the authors' last names not necessarily in order of favourites. Not all of the lists are a complete list of every book written by the author, but they are the ones we have read and enjoyed.

Jim Arnosky

• ALL NIGHT NEAR THE WATER
• COME OUT, MUSKRATS
• DEER AT THE BROOK
• EVERY AUTUMN COMES THE BEAR
• GRANDFATHER BUFFALO
• OTTERS UNDER WATER
• RABBITS AND RAINDROPS
• RACCOONS AND RIPE CORN
• WATCHING FOXES

Beautiful, realistic artwork. Simple stories – only one phrase or sentence per page. Some of his later books have more writing on each page. 

  

Mary Calhoun

• AUDUBON CAT
• BLUE-RIBBON CAT
• CROSS COUNTRY CAT
• HENRY THE SAILOR CAT
• HIGH WIRE HENRY
• HOT-AIR HENRY

Most of these books are about a cat named Henry and his adventures. The story is told from Henry's point of view, and being a cat his view of himself is pretty high.

 

 

Nancy White Carlstrom

• BETTER NOT GET WET, JESSE BEAR
• GUESS WHO'S COMING, JESSE BEAR
• LET’S COUNT IT OUT, JESSE BEAR
• JESSE BEAR, WHAT WILL YOU WEAR?

Jesse Bear is a cute little bear that two to four-year-olds will especially relate to. The books are written in rhyme that easily trips along. He experiences what many little ones do and makes it all seem like fun.
 

 

Barbara Cooney

• ISLAND BOY 

This story follows the life of one boy Matthias from babyhood to grandfather and his life on an island on the eastern seacoast. Life was hard but simple and full of character.

 

Lee Davis

• P. B. BEAR 

A series of books about a little teddy bear and his adventures. Pictures are realistically set up photos of real stuffed animals and their toys and etc. Little ones especially love these appealing stories and real and make-believe adventures.

 

Amy Hest

• IN THE RAIN WITH BABY DUCK
• MAKE THE TEAM, BABY DUCK
• OFF TO SCHOOL, BABY DUCK

Baby Duck is a "preschooler" who is afraid of rain, swimming and the first day of school. Her parents don't understand her, but her grandpa does and always seems to say and do the right thing.

James Herriot

• BLOSSOM COMES HOME
• BONNIE'S BIG DAY
• MOSES THE KITTEN
• ONLY ONE WOOF
• OSCAR, CAT-ABOUT-TOWN
• SMUDGE, THE LITTLE LOST LAMB
• THE CHRISTMAS DAY KITTEN
• THE MARKET SQUARE DOG

These are stories taken from James Herriot's books for adults and rewritten for children. The illustrations are gorgeous. Any child who loves animals will love these stories. These books can be bought individually or in one "Treasury" volume.

 

 

Shirley Hughes

• ALFIE GETS IN FIRST
• ALFIE GIVES A HAND
• ALFIE WEATHER
• OUT AND ABOUT
• TWO SHOES, NEW SHOES

My children love the "Alfie" books. He's just like any average little boy and has adventures easily related to. His little sister Annie Rose is absolutely adorable and tags along on Alfie's adventures.

 

 

Jane Pilgrim - BLACKBERRY FARM SERIES

• A BUNNY IN TROUBLE
• EMILY THE GOAT
• ERNEST OWL STARTS A SCHOOL
• HIDE AND SEEK AT BLACKBERRY FARM
• WALTER DUCK AND WINIFRED

These books are written in a similar way to the Peter Rabbit books. They have sweet stories and beautiful illustrations to match. The stories are the tales/adventures of the animals who live at Blackberry Farm with a small, moral undertone. We love them. They are hard to find though. We've found most of our at thrift stores and used book stores.

 

Brinton Turkle

• THE ADVENTURES OF OBADIAH
• OBADIAH THE BOLD
• THY FRIEND OBADIAH

These books record the troubles and triumphs of a little Quaker boy living on Nantucket Island around the time of the founding of America. My children (2 and 4) love these stories. In the first book Obadiah tells “stories” of adventures no one believes. Then he has a real adventure and cannot understand why no one believes him. In Obadiah the Bold a gift of a spyglass makes Obadiah want to grow up and become a pirate. A talk with Father finally helps him see what a truly “bold” man is. Finally, a seagull, much to Obadiah’s dismay, adopts him as a friend. In the end Obadiah comes to love the seagull.

Of course, we also have all the classic favourites: Winnie-the-Pooh, Peter Rabbit and friends, Madeline, Babar, Curious George, Richard Scary, Dr. Seuss. In case you haven't figured it out yet our home is full of books. We read all. the. time. What do you recommend that we add to our shelves?

 

Snow Cream and Pictures

We are all starting to get back to normal health-wise. It feels so good and is a great reminder to me to never take my health for granted. Last night my three littlest guys slept all night without coughing - wonderful. We were able to start school again on Tuesday. We were off most of last week because everyone was so sick. This week we did about 50% of our normal work, and hopefully next week we'll be able to be back at school 100%. I love routine and have sorely missed it.

 

 
Today we had a treat - snow cream. I've seen a couple of blogs talking about this here and here so decided to try it today. The children loved it. I did a diet version for myself which totally underwhelmed me so I turned it into a protein shake. The children topped theirs with some homemade chocolate sauce and pronounced it wonderful.

 

Speaking of diet, after several months of playing around with the Trim Healthy Mama diet I decided to get serious with it again. I lost 22 pounds last year using it, and I would like to lose another 8. So on Monday I started up again and I've already lost two pounds...and this with very tempting foods being brought into the house by others - waffles, ice cream, muffins. My husband did take me out and I didn't follow the plan. One night I was up in the middle of the night with insomnia and ate off plan, but still I managed to lose two pounds in five days. I'm happy. I truly do enjoy this diet.

 

I've also been doing some organizing and purging this week. That feels good too. For a year now I've had some of the children's artwork on the wall in our entryway. The problem is that sooner or later one of the pieces would fall down. Then I would have to figure out what to do this time to make it stay up. The end of this story is that I took them all down, scanned them, and now I'll print them up and scrapbook them.

See what I mean? One down. I'm ready for this wall to be empty.



 

Please indulge me for a minute as a mother - the artwork I am so proud of...

 

Finally, I am gearing up for my husband's 50th birthday party next week. My mom has always taught me to see it big but keep it  simple. My decorations are going to be very simple but I think the winners are going to be 8x10 photos from various stages of my husband's life. I formatted them in my digital scrapbook program. Then when I had them printed someone made a mistake and I ended up paying only fifteen cents a print - bonus. I then bought frames at the dollar store so they can sit on the tables. Here's a sample...

 

 

It feels good to be productive again. How was your week? Have you ever eaten snow as a dessert? ☺

 

 

 

 

What I'm Up To

Just for fun...

The idea for this post came from here.

Now it's your turn. What are you currently doing?

"Up" and "Frozen" - Reviews

So we haven't been feeling well in our family for about a week which always means the children get to watch more movies. We have a hard time finding a movie that will interest everyone from the toddler to the fifteen-year-old and boys and girls. Not only that, I'm not a huge fan of Disney or cartoons. That being said we recently watched two Disney movies that I enjoyed and have no problem letting my children watch again - "Up" and "Frozen". I need to warn you that there are spoilers if you're like me  - one of the few moms left not to have seen these movies.

The first I knew of "Up" was when my daughter had me watch this short sequence from the movie. I mistakenly thought the movie would "fill in the details" that the sequence missed. I was wrong. It tells what Carl did after Ellie died. I loved it - the house that floats because of helium balloons, the kid Carl unknowingly brings along, Dug. I'll stop right here and say I love Dug. He's a talking dog and absolutely funny. He talks like a person, but it's "dog" thoughts. This video will show you better than I can explain...

I love how Carl starts as a cranky, sad, lonely old man and through his adventure learns to love again - not a wife this time, but a lonely little boy who needs someone to love him.

The plot interests everyone from 15-2 in our house. The little ones don't understand all the nuances of the plot, but they understand the basics and so enjoy it.  I cried my way through Carl and Ellie's Love Story and I cried at the end of the movie. The children borrowed it from the library, and I promptly asked my husband for my own copy for my birthday. He managed to find the last available copy in the store - sweet man looked in more than one store and then watched it with me.

 

This probably isn't the greatest movie review you've ever read because I'm kind of all over the place. Just trust me - this movie will not disappoint you.

 

The second movie is "Frozen". I wasn't too excited about watching this because I am so not a fan of Disney princesses. But one day we were all sick and bored so I said okay and was pleasantly surprised. First of all there are two princesses. Well, one becomes the queen eventually. This has a love story in it, but mostly it's a story of the love of two sisters.

 

I will admit that I was scrapbooking while this was on, and when the songs came up I kind of zoned out. There was one song though that I loved, but then my favourite character was singing it. And who is that, you ask. Glad you asked. It's Olaf - a snowman. He's funny, cute, loyal, loving, just an all-round great guy. Here's the song Olaf sings...

 

 

There is a scary scene with a snow monster, but Olaf keeps it from being too scary so that even my two-year-old can watch it. And in case you're wondering, Olaf gets his wish to be a snowman in summer...safely.

Again, this movie pleasantly surprised me. There was still a need for "love's true kiss", but the main theme of the story was the love the two sisters have for each other and how that love overcomes their troubles. If you want to read a good review, my daughter did a great one on her blog.

Do you have a movie(s) that spans all ages and both genders? We're always looking for ones we can all enjoy.