While waiting for the tank to fill at the gas station last night ($1.49 / gal - whoo-hoo!),  I had a great idea for a fruit pizza, and since patience is not one of my virtues, we made it for breakfast this morning.

Here's how we made it: Start with some biscuit dough. Don't have a biscuit recipe? No harm, I've included one below, to make as healthy or unhealthy as you like:

mix together:

3 cups wheat of white flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tblsp white or cane sugar, or use honey, but if you do, don't mix it in at this step!

cut in, with a fork or pastry blender:

1 stick of butter

Add 1 cup milk (if using honey, stir it into milk first, then add to dry ingredients). stir to moisten.

Roll out dough, thinner than you would for regular biscuits, on a floured surface. Pat it into a lightly buttered cookie sheet, folding over the edges to make a crust. I wish I had a pic of this, but I alas, I do not. Anyhow, bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, smash up some fresh or frozen strawberries - I think I used about 2 cups. Add a little sugar to taste - we used a tablespoon. When the crust is ready, spread with strawberry sauce and top with any other fruit you have in the house: we had bananas and apples, canned mandarin oranges and pineapples:  

I wanted to sprinkle coconut over it all, you know, so it would look like cheese, but my non-coconut appreciating kids vetoed the idea. So I put it on my own slice:

See, doesn't that look better? Either way, out fruit pizza was a smashing success, and the kids declared they could eat it for breakfast EVERY morning

I've been tagged by Mariposa.

Eight Things I'm looking forward to:

1.  Christmas!
2. my Mommy coming to visit
3. Christmas cookies
4. our history studies
5. more lapbooking
6. Noelle learning to read
7. Emily learning to walk
8. "Christmas on the Farm" tomorrow night

Eight Things on my wish list:

1. land
2. my dream house
3. bunk beds for the kids
4. wood floors
5. a new digital camera, new TV, and maybe a new computer
6. chickens and goats
7. a few dogs and a cat, maybe an aquarium
8. BOOKS! Currently there are more than 8 on my wishlist ;)

Eight TV shows that I watch:

well, I don't watch TV, but I used to watch

1. ER
2. Monk 
3. those birth stories on TLC
4. those house makeover shows
5. House
6. ummm...Oswald? He was on Nickelodeon :)
7. SNL
8. I currently watch Psych online - that show is SO funny!

Eight things I did yesterday:

1. made breakfast (ha! that happens every day!)
2. devotions with the kids
3. finished decorating the house for Christmas
4. went to Target to get DH a Christmas present
5. went to Lowe's but they didn't have what I wanted
6. went to the library
7. started a new LibrabryThing list - you'll see it soon
8. made dijon chicken for dinner after I realized we were out of tomato sauce and therefore could not have pizza as planned

Here are some more birthday pics from the Big Z's Big 3:

The Cake:

I asked him, "Do you want a car cake or a train one?" Cars it was. The girls watched me decorate it, and when I asked how it looked, Noelle said in a dissapointed voice "I thought you were going to make a car out of frosting." HA! It's kinda cute that they think I am superwoman  - for my next trick I will squeeze water from this rock :D But I hope the realization that I am not comes slowly and painlessly. Anyhow, the serious business of candles:

And gifts. He recieved a couple trains, a Thomas the Train Treasury, a 12 peice wooden truck puzzle that he did over and over and over....and some clothes. This is Adam's favorite picture:

Can you see his face? HA! He is actually not disgusted with the clothes, I promise! They were very nice - Thanks Aunt Joanne and Aunt Deborah! He even put one of the shirts on right away. He was just being silly, but it sure makes for a funny picture! I didn't get any other gift pics unfortunately, because after this Emily needed attending to. And even though he had a nice birthday, I have to say, I liked two better than I like three so far. Can I have my 2 year old Zeke back, PLEASE?

Rats! I had a whole blog post typed up about our Thanksgiving and Zeke's birthday, and I lost it when IE froze. Since I am jsut not going to retype it tonight, I will leave you with this picture of what Papa made for Ezekiel for his birthday: 

Because every little guy needs a place to dig. It's huge, as you can see - plenty of room for friends (or more siblings) and even with only six bags of sand (it will eventually have at least 20) they have been having a blast already. I like it because now that the yard is fenced I can send Ezekiel out when we are doing table work; he plays away happily and I can see him the whole time. I didn't even get mad the other morning when I found sand on my pillow after he joined me in bed  Great Job Papa!

As an added bonus to tonight's post, here is a portion of a poem I remember from childhood:

Sand at the door,
Sand that screeches
On the new-swept floor;
In the shower, sand for the foot to crunch on;
Sand in the sandwiches spread for luncheon;
Sand adhesive to son and sibling,
From wallet sifting, from pockets dribbling;
Sand by the beaker
Nightly shed
From odious sneaker;
Sand in bed;

Season at the shore by Phyllis McGinley

Two weeks ago, Adam came home and said "Let's take a hike!" So a-hiking we went, after driving out to a park we'd never been too. It boasted two trails that seemed just right for our clan - both were only about 1.8 miles, the signs claimed. We could handle that.

By the way, you can totally hike in a skirt, but if the grass is high, you may want knee socks. Just sayin'.... It doesn't look like it, but there really is a path under all those leaves. It had been real windy the two days prior to this, and we crunch crunched the whole time.

We made sure to observe a little nature, so we could "call it school."

Everyone was enjoying themselves and the nice weather....

...and then disaster struck!  While trying to cross a (very shallow - think 1") creek on a log, Noelle lost her balance, and got a little wet  

But like the trooper she is, she rallied her spirits and carried on. I was so proud of all the kids, they walked the whole way, and without complaining. Well, Zeke did get a little help at the end.

We fully plan on going back again soon to do the other loop trail. Though maybe when it warms up a bit - the kids don't walk THAT fast

HA! It never fails, I chastise people for not commenting, and then I don't blog for a week or more! Well, I will try to get a few up this week, since school will be "light."

I had a few lessons in quilting from a wonderful, Godly woman a few years back (if you're reading this, Hi Peggy!). That said, she is no way to blame for how this quilt turned out  I started it when Arianna was just a baby, maybe a few months old. I was so excited about it! I planned to hand quilt it, and I thought about how she could take it with her when she went to college or got married....then what with taking care of babies, and being in too much pain to do much of anything with my hands, the days months years went by, and it began to seem that I might not be finishing it UNTILL she got married! But this past year or so I tried to work on a little at a time, and this month I realized just how close I was to being done, so I worked a little each day, and now, I've finally finished!  Hooray!

The thing is, all these years when it was just safety pinned together and unbound, DH was still using it! He said it was the softest and warmest one in the house. But the result is, that though I've technically just finished it, it already needs to be both mended and washed, LOL! Ah well, at least it's done, and much appreciated by Arianna on these COLD nights we've been having. DH asked, "How does it feel being finished finally?" 

Unreal. But warm and cozy all the same  

Alright people. here's the deal: I've been posting - A LOT. Well, a lot for me. Seven posts already this month! That's one every third day - not too bad! But you're just not commenting. It's no fun talking to myself! So please, leave me a little note - let me know you've been here. Tell me I am not uploading all these pics in vain. Tell me you love me (I'll let you off the hook on that one, Mariposa!) Tell me anything, just please comment!

Please?

Thank you

So tonight we had a tornado scare   (I don’t care if I live here the rest of my life, I will NEVER get used to tornados). However, all is well, so I thought I’d share the kids reactions with you.

Arianna (6): It disturbed our dinner!

Noelle (4): It just freaked me out! (um, yes, she heard that phrase from us )

Ezekiel (2): Silly goose mouse helicopter! (His idea of an insult, LOL. The house vibrated like a helicopter was landing on the roof!)  

Emily didn’t say anything, but she seemed unperturbed

And here is a totally unrelated picture, for your viewing pleasure.

Emi got a new chair and now reigns imperial from the head fo the table during meal times. Not that she eats real food, oh no. But she must be a part of what is going on, and a silicone spatula makes great teether. She also sits here while the older girls get their table work done, making Emily head of the class as well.

Oh, and do you see our centerpiece? The kids collected acorns, pinecones, and stick in the yard, I piled them in this vase I had with a few fake leaves for color, and viola! Fun, fall, festive, and FREE!

***caution: if you try this, you WILL bring bugs in the house. I'm just sayin'...

*** Oh, and in case you are wondering - I LOVE the chair.

We have one thin rose tree in the back yard, but it has been blooming continually since May. There are actually 5 buds on here now, despite the fact that we've had a few nights in the 30's lately! I never imagined it would bloom so long and so beautifully.

 And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing...They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellencey of our God.  Isaiah 35:1-2

We don't celebrate Halloween over here, and never have, but we DO like to dress up and play act. When the girls were younger, this mostly consisted of dressing like Disney Princesses:

Arianna, 2 1/2

More recently though, they have wanted to act out the stories we read aloud. They've been Heidi,  Laura and Mary Ingalls, Fa Mulan, and Kirsten and Singing Bird. These required a different sort of clothes however, and so on Nov 1st we went a-hunting for discount costumes and came home with these:

Arianna spent most of the day in her Egyptian tunic, minus the scratchy gold "necklace". And for those of you who were worried about Ezekiel's last foray into the world of make believe, I just have to ask: doesn't he look much happier now? I hope you are too.

I know Katie would, I want to know, would you let your kids out like this?

At the time I thought they looked pretty raggedy, but in the pic I think, "Eh, not so bad." On the left we have Arianna modeling a too large, second hand, green long sleeve shirt, that may have sequin detailing at the neckline, I can't recall exactly. Over it she is wearing a dress of many colors, not one of which is green. Her tights have seen whiter days, but her shoes at least are new. Oh, and she styled her own hair.

Noelle is wearing a purple sweater under that green sundress. When I suggested she might be more comfortable with the sweater over her dress, she looked at me blankly, before simply stating that No, this was the way she wanted to wear it. Later, she and Arianna laughed over my naivete. Lavendar tights compliment the outfit, and at least her shoes are on correctly, though usually she has, as my friend expressed it, "her feet on the wrong legs." Oh, and I'm pretty sure that random barrette in her hair is her sisters' doing.

So tell me, do your kids look like the just stepped out of the pages of GAP KIDS? Or do they look much worse than mine?  My rules for dress are: It must be (95%) clean, weather appropriate, and modest. What are yours? Do you give your kids creativity, or desire to look more 'put together' to aid your witness? 

Finally, I have saved perhaps my most important question for last: Am I too old to wear these?

Would it help if I told you they are clean, weather appropriate, and modest?

you might later be surprised by what you find on your camera card. Everyday objects make a nice still life,

but people make interesting subjects too.

If your sisters are reluctant to participate -

- don't worry. It is not difficult to find more compliant subjects.

And if that gets boring, you can always try a sneak attack.

All photographs copyright of Arianna, age 6. These are original and unedited.

We took this two weeks ago at the state fair. I am pretty certain that this is the first and only picture with all of us in it since Emily was born. She's 8 1/2 months old. Right after this pic, we got funnel cake, my whole reason for going to the fair in the first place. Mmmm, fried dough.....

You have a giant map in your living room....right next your couch, so that when you are studying about a place, the teacher does not have to get up to point out it's location in the world. An end table is also a handy place for a homeschooler's books.

If you are visiting someone and are unsure of whether they homeschool or not, just check the kitchen: if there is a bookshelf in the kitchen, they are most likely homeschoolers

I don't really like to cook. Or do dishes. So this is really my favorite part of our kitchen. See all the fun schooly things? That blue box is a huge box of paper Adam brought home from Costco for the kids to draw on, because they are rather prolific in that area. You might have guessed that the 50 pound bag of flour is also from Costco. I DO like to bake.

And as my final offering: You might be a homeschooler IF your six year old asks to do math on a Sunday evening  *gasp* We hadn't done any today!

Of course I let her