Wordless Wednesday

Pay It Forward

A thank you to Jamie, who sent me these lovely home-made notecards when I responded to her Pay It Foward post.  They are beautiful.  She also included a treat (not home-made, but a surprise and enjoyed, none-the-less!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is how it works:

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange.

All the gifts will be made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!

What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THE SAME PAY IT FORWARD PICTURE AND THIS MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG.

Monday DayLook - January 11, 2010

For Today: January 11, 2010

Looking out my back porch... about 3 more inches of snow added to the depth in the back yard since last Monday; the wind blew it around and deposited the excess in drifts that will now need to be moved once again.

I am thinking... babies grow so fast.  Babies make all the other kids seem so big and grown-up, too. 

I am thankful for... snow, my home/house, and friends who share our Catholic faith and are raising their children in a similar way.

From the sewing/craft room (aka. laundry room!)… glad to report that the piles of folded clothes have been put away and the kids are busy filling up the hampers again.

From the school room... the Wii has been a good thing (ie. a form of reward for work completed) in our home.  The kids have been motivated to get their schoolwork done in a timely manner and haven't complained as much about chores.  Hopefully this week will be more of the same...

From the kitchen... last week was a sourdough frenzy.  Sourdough buns, Sourdough Chocolate Cake, Sourdough Bread, Grilled Cheese on Sourdough, Sourdough pancakes and Sourdough Waffles were sampled by all.  Also made another Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake to bring to a friend's home this past weekend.  It's amazing how much flour one can use in baking sourdough goodies!

I am reading... just reading to keep up on magazines and newsletters.

I am hoping... for mild temps this week and for an uneventful appointment on Thursday.

I am hearing... small sounds - it's early morning and since Christmas break, the kids have been sleeping in a little later ... and I've been letting them. 

State of the house… good enough for me to be calm about it.  The dining room is put back together - just a few items that need to find a home still remain (the plaster handprints & a new digital photo frame - actually I should just ask Dash to set up the frame and keep it on the dining room table for all to see/view).  The Christmas decor is still up, I plan to take it down little by little over the next couple weeks.

A successful moment… I was up by 7:30a every day this past week.

A few plans for the rest of the week…
Monday: Angelina's dance class is back to Monday nights.
Tuesday: Hopefully we'll get some cleaning done today.
Wednesday: We are at home today, but wish we could be in Fargo for a homeschool field trip.
Thursday: Trip to Fargo for Louis and me.  It'll be a late night ... I hope to drive home after the evening meeting.
Friday/Saturday/Sunday: No big plans for the weekend.  It'll be nice to stay home and get some general house cleaning and organizing completed.

A picture memory...

This was a Christma gift for Louis ... CUTE book!  The story is sweet and it has a lesson even my 3yo can pick out.  In fact, after the first reading, Graham has been asking me to read it just about every night.  The kicker is that he could just about repeat the story by flipping through the pages after that first reading.

One of my favorite Christmas decorations.

We visited Graham's Godparents the first week in January.  This is a pic of Graham with their VERY patient and kid-friendly cat!  The cat is dressed in a newborn baby sleeper ... it reminds me of how my cousin & I used to dress up the kittens and stroll them around in a baby buggy on the farm.

Graham with his Godparents.

What's happening here ...

We plan to visit friends this weekend.  Leo's excited!

THE - one and only one - narcissus will fully open soon ... we just won't be home to see it  ... darn.  The other bulbs are still firm, so they haven't spoiled.  I check everyday because they are pretty much sitting in water.  Just keep waiting for them to 'take' root.

Up close, the flower looks like a bunch of tulips.

Glad to have a flower in the house, because it's so bitterly cold outside.  -40 to -50 wind chills last night and a temp of  -27 ... yep, that pretty much keeps everyone inside and prevents outdoor fun of any kind.

I'm thankful for the Wii and the distraction it  provides!  The kids and I have been doing our daily check-in and two training activities using Wii Fit (amounts to about 10-15 minutes of 'training' on games ... sometimes more if they decide to do the running, which Angelina and Zeke like to choose).

Maple Syrup Recipe

** This is by request ... for Christine!

Suzie's Maple Syrup
Yield:  Approx. 3 cups

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup water
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
1/2 tsp. butter flavoring*

Mix sugars, syrup, salt and water.  Boil 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove from heat; add flavorings.  This recipe will not sugar.

*This is my sole change to this simple recipe, but it makes the syrup taste like Mrs. Butterworths - a childhood favorite!

Art-A-Roni

Pasta Abstract by Graham, above.

Dog House, flowers, tree on the right & sun in the upper left corner by Zeke.

This week's art project for Graham and Zeke.  I gave Graham permission to use 'lots' of glue to make sure the macaroni stuck to the paper.  Thankfully, the artwork needed to be moved or it could have been more permanently stuck to the table!  The glue soaked through the construction paper ... guess Graham & Zeke didn't need quite that much glue.