New Kids Picture How Awesome!

www.crystalxpression.com
Amazing photo of my kids done by the above photographer, she made the kids feel so relaxed!

Missing Tooth and Electric Blanket Joys

A wail was heard from my son last night, originating from the bathroom, "I lost my tooth but I don't know where it is!".
Dan and I couldn't figure out how Jonathan could lose a tooth immediately after it came out. Our son stood looking at the floor of the bathroom in grief, "Where is it?"
Guess what? Down the heating vent the tooth had fallen and my husband went in hot pursuit after it! Great guy that one.
Very hard to keep a straight face while comforting a 7 year old who has lost a tooth down a heating vent let me tell you!
The tooth was found and Jonathan happily went to bed with it under his pillow. I went to set up a new electric blanket on our bed just purchased that evening. A little trickier than I had thought, Auto On or Off? With dual controls the chances are 50% of having your control on the right side, you guessed it, it was the wrong side.
By the time I had wired our bed up for the winter Dan had dug us out of the snow fall that had hit our town that afternoon and we crawled into a warm, OK my side was hot, bed for the night.
Lights out warm under our blanket I was drifting off to sleep when I heard my husband mumble sleepy
 "Tooth Fairy?"

Who thought up that winged creature anyway?
Ah well, I knew I had a warm bed to come back to.........

Geography homeschooling style - The Roman Empire

We had done enough paper maps and labeling so we decided to shake things up a bit! Victoria and Jonathan were given a regular ( paper ) map of the Roman Empire and a cake with icing and candies. With my help they iced the outline then colored in the water and land. Then they had to find a list of locations on the map print out the names on flags and mark the locations with smarties. Hershy kisses for mountains. It was great to hear Jonathan running from the map to his cake map with a candy telling Victoria " I want to label Sicily ! " and then " I love map work "

This is cool!

We did a great job! It was fun! When do we eat?

Ta DAAAAA!

Sarah and Rebecca got a harder job. Create a salt dough map of the Roman Empire 3D. Yes they worked together and learned the joys of a group project! They handled it very well and did a great job ( still to be painted ). Way to go girls!

We are working together!

Diet tip - Instead of Starch

Diet tip for those of you trying to cut back calories

Boil a head a cauliflower mash it to a pulp add 1-2 tbsp of fat free sour cream add salt and pepper and stir it in

makes a great substitute for mashed potatoes or rice!

It is better with a topping than on it's own

Laundry Soap Recipe

I have had several requests for the recipe of laundry soap we made. The recipe wasn't mine but the Duggers ( the soap is great, not even my redhead is reacting)

For those that don't have the time to look it up the recipe is as follows:

1 bar ivory soap large size ( grated )

1 cup arm and hammer washing soda not baking soda

1/2 cup borax

add grated soap to enough water to cover it in a sauce pan

melt

put washing soda and boax in a 5 gallon bucket

pour in hot melted soap mixture

stir until completely mixed

fill bucket to top with tap water

let set over night

fill half of a smaller dispenser with mixture add water to fill container to top

Shake before using

top loading machines 1 cup

front loading machines 1/2 cup

It has been working great for me!

Our Trip to Florida

We were blessed with the chance to go to Florida for 7 nights in January recently. We ended up staying in Embassy Suites south of Fort Myers. Dan and I have been reading and praying about creative perspectives and solutions for our money. One of the results was this trip debt free! Thank you God!

The kids and Dan bird watching at Sanibel Island Conservation Area, they learned to walk quietly and use binoculars. We even saw a pink bird much to Victoria's delight and Sarah spotted a lizard.

Rebecca loving the pool

Victoria and Jonathan, two little fish

We met up with friends staying in Florida. We had a great time at the beach!

School did continue at a slower pace. Daddy kept up with the reading for Victoria and Jonathan, I think they fell asleep before he finished that night!

Sarah reading Roman history in Florida, now that is a clash of cultures!

All ready for dinner at the Olive Garden! Does any else miss that restaurant besides me?

Getting ready to drive back home

We followed this truck out of Florida. Wonder where all those oranges were going? Makes me think about shopping locally. I wouldn't want to give up oranges in winter though.

Dan's Broken Foot

Before I tell about our first ever trip to Florida I need to update this blog on our latest event. Yes my husband is sporting a lovely cast! Thankfully it came off a few weeks before Florida. Enough time to get his feet wet walking again ( literally )!

Making Laundry Soap - We did it!

Yes, we now use homemade laundry soap, so far so good,... no rashes or anything weird. It was really easy to make and will last a long time! I am hoping to add a scent sometime soon, I'll have to check for allergies though. Victoria got to be my helper since she was the most enthusiastic about the whole project. I probably would have taken a lot longer to get it done if

it wasn't for her !