Wednesday, May 25, 2011
road ways
The other morning I wasn't sure what we were going to do for the morning. Can you tell I'm a "fly by the seat of our pants" kinda girl. We don't usually have many plans...and I like it that way. We do have structure to our day ...eat, rest, eat at the same time each day ... but we don't have a strict schedule to follow. I like just letting the kids direct most of the play time and intervening when needed.
On this day they were playing with Micah's race cars a lot. So, I decided to jump in and make a little road for them. I wanted to help direct their play a little bit and give them something to add to their "make believe". I just used painters tape and you can tell by the crazy road layout that I didn't have a plan and just starting taping roads on the floor. Micah really like the race track and they also enjoyed the garages for their cars. It's fun to just do things on a whim...but I guess I better prepare for some things so we can do some more learning...
On this day they were playing with Micah's race cars a lot. So, I decided to jump in and make a little road for them. I wanted to help direct their play a little bit and give them something to add to their "make believe". I just used painters tape and you can tell by the crazy road layout that I didn't have a plan and just starting taping roads on the floor. Micah really like the race track and they also enjoyed the garages for their cars. It's fun to just do things on a whim...but I guess I better prepare for some things so we can do some more learning...
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
a typical afternoon
If you were to drive by our house on most days around 4pm this is what you would see. Well, something along these lines anyway. We LOVE to play outside, have a snack outside, ride bikes, play family, and just hang out. And most often you can see our neighbors hanging out with us as well. Can't wait to bust out the swimming pool and sprinklers!!! The kids LOVE their new helmets and they are actually getting the hang of riding a bike. We never really practiced much in San Antonio so they're both learning at the same time. Naomi does really well. Micah did great one day, fell off the bike once, got back up and rode some more and now won't touch the bike. He rides his "big wheel" though. Silly kid. We'll get him back on the bike one of these days!
Sometimes it's hard to say, "we have to go in now and make dinner" I'd rather just keep playing...but our bodies need energy so we can play right?
Sometimes it's hard to say, "we have to go in now and make dinner" I'd rather just keep playing...but our bodies need energy so we can play right?
Monday, May 23, 2011
baseball
Greg took Micah to the Jackson Generals baseball game on Sunday...but it got rained out. Since he had already bought his ticket and the Junior Generals thing for Micah we thought it would be best to use that ticket. So, I took the big kids to the game today and my sweet neighbor watched Hannah. We bought the Junior Generals thing for Naomi as well. What is the Junior Generals thing? Well, it's this: a free "dog tag" (lanyard with a "press pass" ticket), a free t-shirt, a free haircut, they can get into games on Sun-Wed for free and Thurs-Sat for half price, plus entrance to two special extra activities. So, now if we decide to go to the game it'll only cost us $12, if we go on Sun-wed. Good deal if you ask me. Plus it'll give Greg a chance to impart his baseball knowledge to all of us! Here are some photos from the day.
Blurry pic but you get the idea. Since it was a Monday afternoon and a rain out make up game there were not many people there. The kids had fun running laps around the seats.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
mixing colors
I was working with Naomi the other day on one of her little pre-school workbooks. Sometimes I plan ahead and get things together for certain activities and sometimes we just wing it. This happened to be a "just wing it" day and it turned out to be lots of fun and a great learning experience.
She was to color some circles and then mix the colors together to see what they would make. The book suggested to make something to physically show her how the colors mix to make new colors. So, I got out two glasses and some food colors. The first time I added too many drops of food coloring, you only need one drop of each to make it work. It's pretty self explanitory as to what we did. She loved watching the colors mix. She asked me to do it twice for each color and wanted to see if it worked the same if I poured the other color in first. It was a great learning experience.
She was to color some circles and then mix the colors together to see what they would make. The book suggested to make something to physically show her how the colors mix to make new colors. So, I got out two glasses and some food colors. The first time I added too many drops of food coloring, you only need one drop of each to make it work.
It's pretty self explanitory as to what we did. She loved watching the colors mix. She asked me to do it twice for each color and wanted to see if it worked the same if I poured the other color in first. It was a great learning experience.So, I don't think we're going to homeschool...I'm not an organized person and lack follow through. Plus, I'm trying to get my photography business re-launched here in my new city. So, even though I don't think I will homeschool I will always be a teacher at home. Teaching her things about our faith and the way the world works along with her numbers, letters, etc. I am always on the lookout for great homeschooling resources and blogs and am all ears if you want to share any with me!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
on her knees
Hannah started getting to her knees and rocking two days ago. Better get this house baby proofed.
calling all brides...
Have you recently gotten engaged? Were you married within the last year? I would love it if you would help me out. I have a 10 question questionnaire that I am looking for brides to answer for me. This questionnaire is about wedding photography websites. If you have a photographer and didn't search online this is not for you. But if you found your wedding photographer online or have at least looked online for wedding photographers and would be willing to answer my questions I'd greatly appreciate it. Just email me (jamie at jtphoto dot org) with the word BRIDE in the subject line and I will send you the questionnaire. Thank you for taking the time to help me out!!!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
tomato soup cupcakes
I've got another great and easy, yummy cupcake recipe for you!
This recipe comes from Cupcake Confidential ...
There are 98 more recipes that I need to try but I really wanted to share this one with you.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 can (15oz) undiluted tomato soup
3/4 cup water
Lightly grease cupcake tins. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs. In a separate bowl; mix together soup, water, baking soda. Add alternately with dry ingredients to the shortening mixture. Stir well. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool. Makes 24.
Alternatives:
I used butter and added one more egg to make up for the fat content in the shortening (that's what google told me to do :) ). And I was able to make 32 cupcakes.
Minute Fudge Frosting
1 ounce bittersweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat, and beat until lukewarm. Beat with an electric mixer until thick enough to spread.
Again, I used butter and did not add an egg this time. I had to use the mixer for quite a few minutes and while it was thick enough to spread it was still runny. So, while it's called "one minute" frosting that's just because you boil it for one minute.
This recipe comes from Cupcake Confidential ...
There are 98 more recipes that I need to try but I really wanted to share this one with you.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 can (15oz) undiluted tomato soup
3/4 cup water
Lightly grease cupcake tins. Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs. In a separate bowl; mix together soup, water, baking soda. Add alternately with dry ingredients to the shortening mixture. Stir well. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool. Makes 24.
Alternatives:
I used butter and added one more egg to make up for the fat content in the shortening (that's what google told me to do :) ). And I was able to make 32 cupcakes.
Minute Fudge Frosting
1 ounce bittersweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat, and beat until lukewarm. Beat with an electric mixer until thick enough to spread.
Again, I used butter and did not add an egg this time. I had to use the mixer for quite a few minutes and while it was thick enough to spread it was still runny. So, while it's called "one minute" frosting that's just because you boil it for one minute.
So, I bet you're wondering what they taste like. They're good. They do not taste like tomato soup. In fact they taste more like pumpkin cupcakes without the pumpkin flavor (if that makes sense). With the nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon in there these are good "fall" cupcakes, but really, good enough to make any time. My husband and kids really liked them and so did my next door neighbor. Give them a try and let me know what you think! It's another great way to add something healthy to something not so healthy :)
Friday, May 13, 2011
my "garden"
I've never really attempted growing my own fruits and veggies before. Okay, I'll admit it, I did try once when we lived in Texas.But if you've never gardened before Texas is NOT the place to try for the first time. You will kill things faster than you can imagine, things will dry out, curl up and die...or at least that's what happened to me. Well, we now live closer to the midwest (where I know a little more about gardening because my dad always had a HUGE garden every summer) and I thought I'd give it a try again. But since we are renting our home I didn't feel right about planting a permanent garden. So, I decided to try the bucket garden method...or pots if you want to call them that, whatever you wish. I got all my plants from Wal-Mart...yes, I shop at walmart...don't sue me. I also bought my soil there (of which I need to get more) and my buckets. I got plants that had already been started because that just seemed dummy proof to me.
We've had lots of rain and some good sunshine. I put the plants under the cover of the overhang for a while when it was raining non-stop and I'm glad I did so that they didn't drown. I put them out in the sunshine for a while too. They are all doing pretty good so far. And imagine my surprise when I went out to water them the other day and saw to strawberries growing. I only bought the strawberry plant because Naomi asked me to, I figured that would just be a plant to look at with pretty flowers...didn't imagine it would be the first one to produce anything! One of my tomato plants looks like it has issues and my cousin told me to get some insecticide/pesticide spray for it. Anyway, if I don't get a good crop that's okay. I've got lessons to learn. And I can't wait till I can plant a proper garden and plant a LOT more things! I love the idea of going out to my garden to get some fresh veggies for dinner. I'm also going to get some herbs to plant and will probably keep those inside. Anyway, that's my gardening story for now. I'll keep you posted on my progress!
We've had lots of rain and some good sunshine. I put the plants under the cover of the overhang for a while when it was raining non-stop and I'm glad I did so that they didn't drown. I put them out in the sunshine for a while too. They are all doing pretty good so far. And imagine my surprise when I went out to water them the other day and saw to strawberries growing. I only bought the strawberry plant because Naomi asked me to, I figured that would just be a plant to look at with pretty flowers...didn't imagine it would be the first one to produce anything! One of my tomato plants looks like it has issues and my cousin told me to get some insecticide/pesticide spray for it. Anyway, if I don't get a good crop that's okay. I've got lessons to learn. And I can't wait till I can plant a proper garden and plant a LOT more things! I love the idea of going out to my garden to get some fresh veggies for dinner. I'm also going to get some herbs to plant and will probably keep those inside. Anyway, that's my gardening story for now. I'll keep you posted on my progress!
Tomato plant...
Three more tomato plants...
Left to right: long neck squash, cucumber, two red bell peppers...I realize these probably need more room. I may go get another bucket and transplant two of these...
...and it's fun to have another thing to photograph.
Any tips or pointers for me and gardening...really, I am new at this so I'm all ears!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
what to wear
So, I let the four year old dress herself. She should right? She's four. I love to send her into her room to get dressed and just imagine what she's going to come out wearing. Her fashion sense is...unique. I usually only object to a couple things 1. Clothes that are not weather appropriate and 2. When she wears her "under the skirt shorts" or leggings by themselves. The only time I would change what she is wearing is if we are going to church...and really on Sundays she wears a dress so she can't really mess that up. The other day she came out wearing this and I just had to document it. While we "grown-ups" would normally say that purple and red don't go together, it really started to grow on me and I really liked her choice of outfit that day!
Sometimes I do make her wear something that I pick out. Like this cute top and slim jeans! Sometimes it's just nice to be simple and cute. But most often she's got lots of patterns and colors going on! I should start documenting her outfits more!
Sometimes I do make her wear something that I pick out. Like this cute top and slim jeans! Sometimes it's just nice to be simple and cute. But most often she's got lots of patterns and colors going on! I should start documenting her outfits more!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
messy eaters
Are your kids messy eaters?
Does it bother you (if they are)?
Naomi was a still is a very clean eater except on rare occasions. Micah was a little more messy as a baby than Naomi but is a lot messier now than he was when he was small. He's a boy I've learned to deal with it...but it still bothers me a little bit. Not too much though. Hannah, however has turned out to be our messiest baby eater. She likes to stick her hand in her mouth after we give her a bite and then it gets everywhere! It's not like it grosses me out and I realize she's a baby but still I just wish it wasn't such a mess. It would probably be better to just feed her without clothes on, then I wouldn't have green and orange stained clothes! Oh well, they're only little once right? I thought I'd grab a few pics of my messy eaters...these were taken the day before Easter!
Does it bother you (if they are)?
Naomi was a still is a very clean eater except on rare occasions. Micah was a little more messy as a baby than Naomi but is a lot messier now than he was when he was small. He's a boy I've learned to deal with it...but it still bothers me a little bit. Not too much though. Hannah, however has turned out to be our messiest baby eater. She likes to stick her hand in her mouth after we give her a bite and then it gets everywhere! It's not like it grosses me out and I realize she's a baby but still I just wish it wasn't such a mess. It would probably be better to just feed her without clothes on, then I wouldn't have green and orange stained clothes! Oh well, they're only little once right? I thought I'd grab a few pics of my messy eaters...these were taken the day before Easter!
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